Hammer Time

A former basketball phenom, IFBB Pro League figure pro STEPHANIE HAMMERMEISTER is now devoted to a life of fitness, and her message for others is simple: Be yourself.

- Shawn Donnelly

Once upon a time, Stephanie Hammermeister could ball.

“I still hold a couple of school records,” Hammermeister says. “And I was team captain my senior year.”

A standout guard at Southern New Hampshire University, Hammermeister had opportunities to extend her basketball career overseas after graduating.

Instead, she hung up her high-tops, moved to San Diego with her fiancé, and began lifting weights at a local gym. That’s where she kept hearing the same advice from fellow gymgoers: “You should compete!”

Finally, she decided to listen. Hammermeister prepped for 15 weeks, entered an amateur figure show, and promptly took first. Within a year and a half, she was finishing just outside the top 10 at the 2016 Olympia.

And while Hammermeister is currently taking a break from competing to focus on training others, she still boasts an admirable physique. Here’s what the former hoops star told us about her fitness philosophy, her fantastic last name, and her favorite cheat meal, which sounds both insane and delicious.

M&F: Within one year of competing, you were going toe-to-toe with Olympia competitors. How did you rise so fast?

SH: I put on muscle fairly quickly. But I have never been the biggest onstage in terms of muscular development. It’s always been about my symmetry. That’s how I beat out some of the bigger, denser girls.