While most people are still asleep at 4:30 a.m., Dan and Ursula Brady’s day is just beginning.

They are getting their morning workout in, before both have to go off to their regular jobs. Hitting the weights and doing cardio. In fact, they will do 2-3 cardio sessions a day, eat six times a day, all in preparation for an upcoming contest.

And all this hard work and dedication paid off recently, when they traveled to Louisville to compete in the NPC Kentucky, where Dan won the Master’s bodybuilding title, while Ursula took the Master’s Figure title. For their wins, they were both awarded swords as their trophy.

“When you are up there, you are a winner,” Dan said. “Whether you win a trophy or not. Trophies are just something to dust off. The fun part is getting to that point. I was going to throw all my old trophies away recently, but my sons said no.”

Both are no strangers to competition, with Dan being a two-time Mr. Kentucky winner. In fact, the two met in a gym 24 years ago, their love of physical fitness drew them to each other, and they have been each other’s biggest supporters ever since.

“We never quit training,” Ursula said. “Our philosophy is love, give, laugh and train.”

And their love of training has trickled down to their oldest son, Clay, who has taken up bodybuilding and recently competed in his first competition.

“I’m glad for him,” Dan said. “He set a goal and reached it.”

The two workout in seclusion, and admit that training together for a competition really helped.

“Everything has to be real organized in life,” Ursula said. “We started our strict regiment in July, about 16 weeks out of the show.” The show was held Nov. 14 at the International Convention Center, and drew competitors from all over the United States.

Both admit that getting their diet right is the hardest part of preparing for a competition. “That’s always the biggest challenge,” Ursula said.

“I do all the cooking,” Dan said.

“I do the vegetables, while Dan prepares the meat,” Ursula added.

“It would be pretty hard if one of us eats junk food while the other doesn’t,” Dan said. “Not that you couldn’t do it, but their might be some fighting.”

Dan started weight training when he was 25 (he’s now 50). He used to arm wrestle professionally, and attended his first bodybuilding show to give support to some friends from the gym who were competing.

“It was an awesome experience,” Dan said. “I was hooked. I decided to give it a try.” He also became friends with Porter Cottrell, a professional bodybuilder from Louisville who has competed in the Mr. Olympia contest.

“Porter helps me a lot,” Dan said. “In fact, he’s helping me get ready for my next show.” Brady’s ultimate goal is to win the Master’s National. His next competition will be the Northern Kentucky in March.

And Ursula just recently received an e-mail from Jen Hendershott, congratulating her on her win and inviting her to compete in the Amateur Figure division at the Arnold Classic, also in March, but she’s not sure if she’s going to compete.

“The ultimate goal for both of us is the Master’s National,” Ursula said.

“Then it’s to the rest home,” Dan noted with a grin.

“Fitness has always been a part of my life,” Ursula said. “When we first met, Dan already had a couple of titles under his belt. He said I should compete, but I wasn’t excited about packing on muscle mass. This was in the days before fitness and figure competition, when there was only female bodybuilding. When I found out a few years ago they had a figure division, I did some research to find out what it was all about, and that’s when I decided I wanted to do that.”

Unlike a bodybuilding competition, where you do mandatory poses, then a posing routine, in figure, it’s all about mandatory poses and muscle separation, but with no visible striations.

“Bodybuilding looks for striations, but in figure, it’s a no-no,” Dan said. “That makes it tough to achieve.”

“A couple of times Dan said to me, ‘you are getting too lean, you have to back off,” Ursula said.

While many people make excuses for not getting into shape, Dan said there really are no excuses.

“Anyone can do it,” he said. “We both have two jobs, a busy lifestyle, but we’ve been able to achieve our goals. You make time to watch TV, or go to the movies. You can make time for getting into shape.”

“We are two busy people,” Ursula added. “If you can make it in your mind, you can make it happen. We like to say, if you want to look like others don’t, you have to do what others won’t.”

Ursula said even though she’s 45, her body has never been in better shape or condition getting ready for the contest. She noted that they run a large, steep hill, located somewhere in London, and that played a huge role in getting them in shape.

With bodybuilding and figure, the outcome rests in the eye of the judges. Even though a competitor might think they are in the best shape of those on stage, ultimately it comes down to the judges. Both admit that can be a hard pill to swallow when their name isn’t called out in first.

“It makes me mad, and work harder,” Dan said. “But I’ve never not placed in an event. Porter trains you for first; there is no second place, nothing else to shoot for.”

“You are disappointed,” Ursula noted. “But it makes me work harder, also. I think there’s another girls working harder than me, and I’ve got to know I’m working harder than the next girl.” She said that during preparation, she would do chin-ups every day, to achieve that tapered V-look.

“And it paid off,” Dan said.

And both said they will continue to workout and stay in shape.

“What else are two old people to do?” Dan said. “This will always be our lifestyle. It feels too good to quit.”

“This is our hobby,” Ursula added. “It’s challenging.”

Denis House can be reached at sports@sentinel-echo.com