Miss New Jersey Talks Beauty And Fitness Ahead Of Miss America Pageant

By Stephanie Stahl

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The new Miss America will be crowned in Atlantic City this Sunday.

And for Miss New Jersey, beauty starts with fitness.

We first met the pageant contestant back in February as she was training for a fitness competition.

Now, Brenna Weick hopes all those workout sessions will get her the Miss America title.

These days Weick is back in the gym getting ready for the Miss America pageant at Training Aspects in Voorhees, New Jersey.

It's the same gym that she says helped her win the Miss New Jersey title.

"Rather than trying to pinpoint target areas I want to work out, or trying to look like someone else, I've just decided to work out and be the best I can be," says Brenna.

In the New Jersey pageant, she won the bathing suit award.

She says competing in a bathing suit can be intimidating.

But the 22-year-old from Mantua says exercises like hoping push-ups made her feel more confident because she knew she was in good shape.

"The workouts are a mixture of a lot of different things," says Brenna. "So we always try to have high intensity workouts."

Gym owner Kirill Vaks has been training Brenna since he started a fitness competition for the Miss New Jersey contestants.

"It's about how do I make myself move better, how do I make myself look better, how do I make myself feel better," said Vaks describing the goal of his workouts.

The Miss New Jersey training sessions that began back in February incorporated exercises that required teamwork along with getting the contestants fit and pageant-ready.

"I've always struggled with appearance which I think a lot of young girls have," says Brenna. "Growing up today can be hard because there are some beauty standards that are hard to meet."

But she says she learned that the most important thing is to be the best you can possibly be.

And now Brenna is hoping that all the hard work will end with the big crown on her head.

"It's so cliche, because everybody uses this term, but it's a dream come true for me," she said.

Brenna's pageant platform is raising the awareness about the dangers of cyber-bullying.

For more information, visit:  trainingaspects.com