Lakewood Ranch bodybuilder gives tips to those making fitness resolutions

Danielle Dosne smiled when asked if she makes New Year's resolutions.

"I make resolutions weekly, monthly, yearly — decades," she said from her Greenbrook home in Lakewood Ranch. "I go full blast."

Dosne, 63, has been going full blast for more than 40 years, and she always has thought resolutions, and goals, are important.

While some people who make New Year's resolutions about fitness aren't committed to the process, she felt she had no choice but to become committed in her early 20s while living in Canada. She was diagnosed with scoliosis, which results in a sideways curve of the spine. The cause of scoliosis is unknown.

While physical therapy and exercise programs have been known to keep scoliosis from getting worse, Dosne's plan to begin bodybuilding was discouraged by her doctors and nurses, who told her she would not be able to handle the strict regimen that would lead to her competing on a stage.

"I went into body building to straighten my back," she said. "I had a scoliosis tilt. A nurse said to me, 'You are dreaming. This is an impossibility.' 

"I got on stage for those who were told they couldn't. I wanted to be an example for others. I wanted to accomplish the impossible."

She did better than just getting on stage. A wall of her home is lined with dozens of bodybuilding trophies and awards.

Photo by Jay Heater

In 1982, she won the Women's Canadian Bodybuilding Championship. It came from hard work and dedication.

"I studied anatomy to the umpteenth degree," she said. "I wanted to acquire the knowledge to prevent injuries. My goal was always to get to this age (her 60s) and not have to complain about my shoulders and my back.

"I have been lifting weights for 40 years, and I have had zero injuries."

While Dosne, a personal trainer, knows most people are not going to be as committed as she has been through her lifetime, she does say they can use some of the important factors that have guided her when it comes to realizing their own resolutions.

She said No. 1 is to get informed.

"People do not appreciate the knowledge behind it," she said of training. "I want everyone to stop hurting themselves."

Injuries are just one reason people don't follow through on their fitness resolutions. She said finding a personal trainer to put together a plan can be an important step.

Another factor that is important is the diet, and she said getting rid of bread and sugar in the diet would be a major positive step that would help everything else to follow.

Dosne, who has lived in Greenbrook for three years, said people should realize they don't have to use weights to get fit. Plenty of exercises can lead to impressive gains and a lot of emphasis in any program should be on cardio.

"The heart is a muscle," she said.

Once the first few weeks of a fitness program begins, life's complexities can take over and push fitness to a lower priority.

Scheduling and staying on schedule is important to the process. Dosne, who is 5-foot-6, doesn't believe in not having the time to stay fit.

Besides her various jobs that have included modeling and being a lifeguard, Dosne is a stamp collector, has learned to speak four languages, does various arts and crafts, including miniatures and making jewelry, trains people in massage, and is a lapidarist (grinds, cuts and polishes stones).

Courtesy image

How does she manage everything?

"I vacuum at 90 mph," she said.

Dosne has had a busy lifestyle since birth. Her father, James Dosne, was a forestry and agricultural engineer whose specialty was problems in tropical areas. James and Grace Dosne (who worked for the United Nations) moved their six children around the world due to his assignments. From ages 1-2, Dosne lived in Canada, then in Italy from 3-9, then Turkey from 10-11, various countries in the South Pacific from 12-14, back to Canada from 15-28, and then to the U.S. from 29 on.

She said her father taught her how to shoot a bow and throw a knife. She says she remains proficient in both even today.

Besides shooting a bow or throwing a knife, she has plenty of other things to keep her busy. She said her own resolution for 2024 is to "be a hard body again."

Currently at 130 pounds, she said her competitive weight is 128.

"Here's the thing," she said. "I can't stop. If I do, my body will go back (to a spinal curve)."