New Release: Explosive Vengeance
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Showing posts with label FEMALE BODY BUILDING. Show all posts
Showing posts with label FEMALE BODY BUILDING. Show all posts
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Saturday, April 11, 2009
REPORT ON THE BODYBUILDING SHOW - FIGURE COMPETITION - AGAIN
It was soooooooooo long.
I was always taught that it is rude to arrive late and leave early during a live show.
I learned something today. You frigging have to do it at a body building show or die of starvation,dehyration and extreme boredom.
The 'theatre' does not allow food to be consumed inside (not even a damned protein bar although the lobby is full of sales booths) yet people were bringing the judges food and snacks - I almost grabbed stuff off their plates and I was a spectator. And eating in front of starving competitors - how mean is that?
It is the second show I have attended. The first was in November in Toronto. That show was short and sweet.
There were a whole bunch fewer competitors in Toronto. I don't know why that was. It is a very big city. Perhaps the competition had qualifiers such as prior wins where the Kelowna one does not.
It was the "Western Canadian Tested Bodybuilding Show"
Categories: body building men - junior, light, medium, heavy and ?light heavy, masters, grand masters - same with womens - minus the junior category. Then short, medium, medium tall, tall figure competitors, masters figure and fitness.
Yikes there were a lot of competitors. Particularly women. The other interesting thing is most of the figure competitors had far better physiques that the ones in Toronto. Go figure! Way to go BC - you are getting it right.
All I could say - was - how the heck are the judges going to pick? They all have similar beautiful physiques - I have no idea how they will choose.
That is when the fun began. Jeepers Creepers. Because there were so many in each lineup they had to bring up smaller sub groups and put them all through the poses, then the next subgroup and so on...it was a blur
The morning prejudging which I though should be over in no more than 2 hours - went on for 5 hours. I ran out of steam at 4 hours and had to leave. My tapeworm fainted at least three times. I wasn't even competing. Those poor women having to hold their poses soooo long and in the starving and dehydrated competition mode.
I would not leave however, until I saw the entertainment part. For me that is watching the fitness class routines - holy cow those women are flexible, strong and entertaining.
The evening show was no faster - for that part, they give 'bios' too. As well as the manditory I'd like to thank my mother, father, cousin Emilio, sister Sheila, Body Fit Gym etc etc...2 1/2 hours into the evening show, they still had not yet made it to the figure competition class - the group I really wanted to see. We were only about 1/3 way through the show. Heck - had to leave without seeing what I went for so I will have to look up the winners on line.
Yes the male body builders were hot and one Vernonite Darrin won his class but believe it or not I don't have time to spend looking at hot men. Although I very much admire the female body builders dedication and accomplishment, it is just not my area of interest either. Just not me. So both those categories and sub categories of each were first.
And hubby, bless him, sat through all of it with me uncomplaining (him not me)but in the end it was me who wanted to leave first - weird. But I am not toning my @$$ as long as I am sitting on it watching others pose for hours on end.
I was in learning mode so I did learn a few things.
Lesson 1. Get the schedule ahead of time and go only in time to watch the class of interest and leave when they are done. That is acceptable spectator behaviour for this type of show. Some people just attend to see one competitor and leave immediately after.
Next.
A group of older women I met last year were lobbying to have the grand masters figure added otherwise we over 50 year olds are competiting against 35 year olds. I am 26 years older than that. For some reason they have grandmasters bodybuilding but not figure. I guess the group I mentioned did not succeed because the category is still absent and I see they did not bother to compete this year. I don't blame them. What is the point.
So.
Lesson 2. If I want to compete in this show next year it would have to be in the women's grand masters body building not figure and I don't I am not interested. So...I'll find another show.
And
I find it is easy to strike up conversations at these things. So I happened to notice the woman behind me was very 'bodybuilding' looking and had a perfect tan. I was 'pre-worried' about the tanning stuff and was hoping to find a sunless, tanning bedless method of tanning. So I asked her "What tanning method do you use?"
She said it was an airbrush method which she does herself and told me she air brushed her competitors the day before. She said it was much better than the tanning spray booths and added that no pre-tanning in the sun or tanning bed was required. It was awesome - I got her business card. She also mentioned she was a personal trainer and had 6 girls in the competition. She teaches posing and I have been looking for someone who at least lives in the Province who teaches posing. But I was most interested in the tanning method.
Lesson 3.
One of her competitors was sweating a bit holding excessively long poses under hot lights. OMG. Big brown/black streaks with a streak of white where it dripped off streamed down her neck, chest, and tummy. I don't think she knew. We were very very embarassed for her and I have no idea how she would feel when she realized what happened when she got backstage. I for one would kill my trainer/tanner. Or at the very least maim them.
Eeeewww kay back to square one on the tanning.
On to the next lesson.
During the morning pre-judging I recognized a Vancouver personal trainer/promoter who I happened to know had a bunch of her personal training clients in the show - she was at the judges table. I thought that is weird. I said out loud isn't that ..........so and so??!!!!What'sup with that?
A guy beside me whose wife was competing in figure said - yeah and oh boy is it hot backstage. The competitors are livid and saying what a conflict of interest it is.. and how unfair is that... and it is all so political....
Lesson 4. Appears body building may be like olympic skating. Just great.
Lesson 5 - ignore, put head in sand, train, eat clean, get ripped ;)
I was always taught that it is rude to arrive late and leave early during a live show.
I learned something today. You frigging have to do it at a body building show or die of starvation,dehyration and extreme boredom.
The 'theatre' does not allow food to be consumed inside (not even a damned protein bar although the lobby is full of sales booths) yet people were bringing the judges food and snacks - I almost grabbed stuff off their plates and I was a spectator. And eating in front of starving competitors - how mean is that?
It is the second show I have attended. The first was in November in Toronto. That show was short and sweet.
There were a whole bunch fewer competitors in Toronto. I don't know why that was. It is a very big city. Perhaps the competition had qualifiers such as prior wins where the Kelowna one does not.
It was the "Western Canadian Tested Bodybuilding Show"
Categories: body building men - junior, light, medium, heavy and ?light heavy, masters, grand masters - same with womens - minus the junior category. Then short, medium, medium tall, tall figure competitors, masters figure and fitness.
Yikes there were a lot of competitors. Particularly women. The other interesting thing is most of the figure competitors had far better physiques that the ones in Toronto. Go figure! Way to go BC - you are getting it right.
All I could say - was - how the heck are the judges going to pick? They all have similar beautiful physiques - I have no idea how they will choose.
That is when the fun began. Jeepers Creepers. Because there were so many in each lineup they had to bring up smaller sub groups and put them all through the poses, then the next subgroup and so on...it was a blur
The morning prejudging which I though should be over in no more than 2 hours - went on for 5 hours. I ran out of steam at 4 hours and had to leave. My tapeworm fainted at least three times. I wasn't even competing. Those poor women having to hold their poses soooo long and in the starving and dehydrated competition mode.
I would not leave however, until I saw the entertainment part. For me that is watching the fitness class routines - holy cow those women are flexible, strong and entertaining.
The evening show was no faster - for that part, they give 'bios' too. As well as the manditory I'd like to thank my mother, father, cousin Emilio, sister Sheila, Body Fit Gym etc etc...2 1/2 hours into the evening show, they still had not yet made it to the figure competition class - the group I really wanted to see. We were only about 1/3 way through the show. Heck - had to leave without seeing what I went for so I will have to look up the winners on line.
Yes the male body builders were hot and one Vernonite Darrin won his class but believe it or not I don't have time to spend looking at hot men. Although I very much admire the female body builders dedication and accomplishment, it is just not my area of interest either. Just not me. So both those categories and sub categories of each were first.
And hubby, bless him, sat through all of it with me uncomplaining (him not me)but in the end it was me who wanted to leave first - weird. But I am not toning my @$$ as long as I am sitting on it watching others pose for hours on end.
I was in learning mode so I did learn a few things.
Lesson 1. Get the schedule ahead of time and go only in time to watch the class of interest and leave when they are done. That is acceptable spectator behaviour for this type of show. Some people just attend to see one competitor and leave immediately after.
Next.
A group of older women I met last year were lobbying to have the grand masters figure added otherwise we over 50 year olds are competiting against 35 year olds. I am 26 years older than that. For some reason they have grandmasters bodybuilding but not figure. I guess the group I mentioned did not succeed because the category is still absent and I see they did not bother to compete this year. I don't blame them. What is the point.
So.
Lesson 2. If I want to compete in this show next year it would have to be in the women's grand masters body building not figure and I don't I am not interested. So...I'll find another show.
And
I find it is easy to strike up conversations at these things. So I happened to notice the woman behind me was very 'bodybuilding' looking and had a perfect tan. I was 'pre-worried' about the tanning stuff and was hoping to find a sunless, tanning bedless method of tanning. So I asked her "What tanning method do you use?"
She said it was an airbrush method which she does herself and told me she air brushed her competitors the day before. She said it was much better than the tanning spray booths and added that no pre-tanning in the sun or tanning bed was required. It was awesome - I got her business card. She also mentioned she was a personal trainer and had 6 girls in the competition. She teaches posing and I have been looking for someone who at least lives in the Province who teaches posing. But I was most interested in the tanning method.
Lesson 3.
One of her competitors was sweating a bit holding excessively long poses under hot lights. OMG. Big brown/black streaks with a streak of white where it dripped off streamed down her neck, chest, and tummy. I don't think she knew. We were very very embarassed for her and I have no idea how she would feel when she realized what happened when she got backstage. I for one would kill my trainer/tanner. Or at the very least maim them.
Eeeewww kay back to square one on the tanning.
On to the next lesson.
During the morning pre-judging I recognized a Vancouver personal trainer/promoter who I happened to know had a bunch of her personal training clients in the show - she was at the judges table. I thought that is weird. I said out loud isn't that ..........so and so??!!!!What'sup with that?
A guy beside me whose wife was competing in figure said - yeah and oh boy is it hot backstage. The competitors are livid and saying what a conflict of interest it is.. and how unfair is that... and it is all so political....
Lesson 4. Appears body building may be like olympic skating. Just great.
Lesson 5 - ignore, put head in sand, train, eat clean, get ripped ;)
Thursday, April 9, 2009
BODY BUILDING COMPETITION - HOMEWORK - ATTENDING ONE - AGAIN
Attending as many body building competitions as I can is part of my homework for training for the body for one.
Ok for those who wished me luck today......I am not competing! I am watching.
It is educational and inspirational. Sometimes long and boring too :)
My first was the IDFA Natural Body Building competition in Toronto in November 2008. It left me a bit confused at the time although I found it exciting. Tosca Reno and Robert Kennedy of Oxygen Magazine were sitting right in front of me.
Tosca explained on one of her blogs that even though the figure category sort of came about for the 'in between competitors' the ones who weren't interested in model competition and the ones who did not want to compete in body building, it appears that the judges are tending to pick the more muscular women. This almost requires another category once again - I guess it would be the in between in between.
I found that in most cases I did not understand the judging choices but Tosca's comment probably sums it up - the contestants seem to be migrating toward the body building physique again in figure competition. So I am very interested to see what the upcoming competition is like in the judging.
In was in the Gym Bag buying my tickets when a very tall attractive woman came in. I overhead the conversation and it was not a stretch that she was competing.
I thought thank God I am not tall - or young - I would hate to have to be competing against her. At the same time she inspired me.
So ..we'll see what the local competition is like....
Ok for those who wished me luck today......I am not competing! I am watching.
It is educational and inspirational. Sometimes long and boring too :)
My first was the IDFA Natural Body Building competition in Toronto in November 2008. It left me a bit confused at the time although I found it exciting. Tosca Reno and Robert Kennedy of Oxygen Magazine were sitting right in front of me.
Tosca explained on one of her blogs that even though the figure category sort of came about for the 'in between competitors' the ones who weren't interested in model competition and the ones who did not want to compete in body building, it appears that the judges are tending to pick the more muscular women. This almost requires another category once again - I guess it would be the in between in between.
I found that in most cases I did not understand the judging choices but Tosca's comment probably sums it up - the contestants seem to be migrating toward the body building physique again in figure competition. So I am very interested to see what the upcoming competition is like in the judging.
In was in the Gym Bag buying my tickets when a very tall attractive woman came in. I overhead the conversation and it was not a stretch that she was competing.
I thought thank God I am not tall - or young - I would hate to have to be competing against her. At the same time she inspired me.
So ..we'll see what the local competition is like....
Sunday, March 1, 2009
NATURAL BODY BUILDING - IS IT? NATURAL?
I gotta tell you when I read ahead (I am a control freak what can I say) about figure competition, I seriously thought I just might not be able to make it jive with my new found love of health and fitness or my nursing “hat.
"Why you say?"
Well I was not feeling that there was anything natural about natural body building and figure competition.You know, the muscle hypertrophy, the tanning, the leaning or cutting, the 5” heels, the supplements, the temporary lost breasts,dehydration to make the muscles pop, pre-comp enemas, preparation H muscle wraps. I have been wrestling with this for some time.
It hasn’t kept me from continuing training – I love that too much to give it up..but I was concerned. Then I really thought about it (not much else to do on the commute to work) and figured, what the heck IS natural these days. Even NATURAL stuff can make you sick.Some examples..people who try to grow 'organically' and are not aware of some dangers like – improperly composted or rotted heifer dust (manure) AND can infect themselves with Ecoli.
I read about a person who took all kinds of Chinese herbs without proper advice and ended up hallucinating and becoming psychotic. Have you BEEN to a natural treatment appointment? Bet you can’t leave without a whack of medicinal herbs supplements, and testing with a plethora of strange machines for which there is no or little scientific research to support. Most of our foods have been tinkered with over the years to produce better bigger more copious crops while we have not evolved as fast to be able to assimilate the end result. So what is ‘natural’ about what we eat?
But still...there are some challenges I will have to work on and see if I can come up with a compromise.Tanning for example. I have spent years protecting my skin. I thought in this day and age there would be a product to put on topically and there are…but apparently you still need a ‘base’ such as the sun or tanning beds or the products look streaky. That really is not an option for me - tanning that is.
My clinical esthetician says it well “A tan is damaged skin.” Not to mention the skin cancer risk. So I will have to do more research on that.
During my initial weight loss program which had worked too well for a short period I lost weight fast and furiously (my trainer adjusted everything very quickly to slow the weight loss down) but for a brief period I had lost quite a bit in the ahem…hooter department. Actually with my weight loss I actually enjoyed that part of the downsizing – it sure spared my overtaxed shoulders and I had a lot more clothes choice. Not to mention I could wear some of most gorgeous bras comfortably from Victoria's Secret or La Senza. Before I was only able to wear ugly elastic garments.
Now I feel am am the perfect size but I worry after perusing numerous body building pics devoid of breasts (except for the obvious tear drop silicone ones) that I would have a boy figure. I guess I should have tried to find some ‘off season pictures’ because apparently the cutting and leaning is a very brief period for competition and everything including the ‘girls’ come back when out of the competition mode.
Phew.. I really really did not want to be mistaken for a boy – I was once on the beach when I was 12 and I certainly do not want to relive that experience!
In a later post you will find out how you actually get a breast lift through weight training - along with a healthy body fat level - you will retain and enhance your breasts better than ever before.
So..onward … I have a strong feeling that everything will work out fine. If you want to know a lot about figure competition or women’s body building you may want to check out Karen Sessions ebooks. They are excellent.
Iron Dolls
Figure Competition Secrets
The Competitive Edge
Her books are very professional, and detailed and she gives great online support. You can also train online with her and it is very very reasonable.
And always remember to Eat Clean AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER - IT IS FREE (well at least till they put the water meters up - but still good value for the money ;)
"Why you say?"
Well I was not feeling that there was anything natural about natural body building and figure competition.You know, the muscle hypertrophy, the tanning, the leaning or cutting, the 5” heels, the supplements, the temporary lost breasts,dehydration to make the muscles pop, pre-comp enemas, preparation H muscle wraps. I have been wrestling with this for some time.
It hasn’t kept me from continuing training – I love that too much to give it up..but I was concerned. Then I really thought about it (not much else to do on the commute to work) and figured, what the heck IS natural these days. Even NATURAL stuff can make you sick.Some examples..people who try to grow 'organically' and are not aware of some dangers like – improperly composted or rotted heifer dust (manure) AND can infect themselves with Ecoli.
I read about a person who took all kinds of Chinese herbs without proper advice and ended up hallucinating and becoming psychotic. Have you BEEN to a natural treatment appointment? Bet you can’t leave without a whack of medicinal herbs supplements, and testing with a plethora of strange machines for which there is no or little scientific research to support. Most of our foods have been tinkered with over the years to produce better bigger more copious crops while we have not evolved as fast to be able to assimilate the end result. So what is ‘natural’ about what we eat?
But still...there are some challenges I will have to work on and see if I can come up with a compromise.Tanning for example. I have spent years protecting my skin. I thought in this day and age there would be a product to put on topically and there are…but apparently you still need a ‘base’ such as the sun or tanning beds or the products look streaky. That really is not an option for me - tanning that is.
My clinical esthetician says it well “A tan is damaged skin.” Not to mention the skin cancer risk. So I will have to do more research on that.
During my initial weight loss program which had worked too well for a short period I lost weight fast and furiously (my trainer adjusted everything very quickly to slow the weight loss down) but for a brief period I had lost quite a bit in the ahem…hooter department. Actually with my weight loss I actually enjoyed that part of the downsizing – it sure spared my overtaxed shoulders and I had a lot more clothes choice. Not to mention I could wear some of most gorgeous bras comfortably from Victoria's Secret or La Senza. Before I was only able to wear ugly elastic garments.
Now I feel am am the perfect size but I worry after perusing numerous body building pics devoid of breasts (except for the obvious tear drop silicone ones) that I would have a boy figure. I guess I should have tried to find some ‘off season pictures’ because apparently the cutting and leaning is a very brief period for competition and everything including the ‘girls’ come back when out of the competition mode.
Phew.. I really really did not want to be mistaken for a boy – I was once on the beach when I was 12 and I certainly do not want to relive that experience!
In a later post you will find out how you actually get a breast lift through weight training - along with a healthy body fat level - you will retain and enhance your breasts better than ever before.
So..onward … I have a strong feeling that everything will work out fine. If you want to know a lot about figure competition or women’s body building you may want to check out Karen Sessions ebooks. They are excellent.
Iron Dolls
Figure Competition Secrets
The Competitive Edge
Her books are very professional, and detailed and she gives great online support. You can also train online with her and it is very very reasonable.
And always remember to Eat Clean AND DRINK LOTS OF WATER - IT IS FREE (well at least till they put the water meters up - but still good value for the money ;)
Saturday, February 28, 2009
FIGURE COMPETITION TRAINING - EAT MORE WORK OUT LESS - EVERY WOMAN'S DREAM
FIGURE COMPETITION TRAINING: LIVING EVERY WOMAN'S DREAM: EAT MORE WORK OUT LESS
I know. Isn't it great. For the hypertrophy phase of training, that is the part which builds bigger muscles, an althlete is in the gain part of their training. Believe it or not - I have to eat more (good stuff of course) and train less. That is, less cardio, and heavier weights with less reps. Even when you are not training for a body building event, you need to work harder, not longer.
I recently read that gyms have 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 ratios - for example 5:1 means that for every one person attending the gym, 5 paid up members have dropped out. Why do you think that is?Because they were not successful. They either did not get RESULTS, or their results did not last.
Results are what will keep you motivated; it certainly was what kept me movitated.Very generally there are all sorts of reasons people quit but I will bet they just can't sustain the time commitment because they are working out too long and not hard enough. They do way too much cardio and far too little weights. So, the long time spent in the gym cannot be sustained on a long term basis and it just sets up the person for failure. Before I got fit and healthy I did two hours per day of cardio while away from home with minimal results and did this over almost two years. I was working too long but not hard enough. When I got home I just could not sustain this time commitment and certainly it wasn't worth it. Once I hired a PT to set me straight, I got phenomenal results and with a very manageable time commitment.
So don't be mad at me that I can eat so much and still stay in shape with reasonably short workouts. I worked hard to get here!
I know. Isn't it great. For the hypertrophy phase of training, that is the part which builds bigger muscles, an althlete is in the gain part of their training. Believe it or not - I have to eat more (good stuff of course) and train less. That is, less cardio, and heavier weights with less reps. Even when you are not training for a body building event, you need to work harder, not longer.
I recently read that gyms have 2:1, 3:1, 4:1, 5:1 ratios - for example 5:1 means that for every one person attending the gym, 5 paid up members have dropped out. Why do you think that is?Because they were not successful. They either did not get RESULTS, or their results did not last.
Results are what will keep you motivated; it certainly was what kept me movitated.Very generally there are all sorts of reasons people quit but I will bet they just can't sustain the time commitment because they are working out too long and not hard enough. They do way too much cardio and far too little weights. So, the long time spent in the gym cannot be sustained on a long term basis and it just sets up the person for failure. Before I got fit and healthy I did two hours per day of cardio while away from home with minimal results and did this over almost two years. I was working too long but not hard enough. When I got home I just could not sustain this time commitment and certainly it wasn't worth it. Once I hired a PT to set me straight, I got phenomenal results and with a very manageable time commitment.
So don't be mad at me that I can eat so much and still stay in shape with reasonably short workouts. I worked hard to get here!
FIGURE COMPETITION DECISION 2010
I varied my potential (or real - who knows) competition goal date for a number of reasons.
At the competition I attended mentioned in a previous blog, it leaped out at me through the bios of the competitors, including novices, that they had trained at least two years prior to competition.
A few bumps in the road slowed me down a couple of times. I just keep picking myself up, dusting myself off and keep going.
Challenges can more easily be overcome with time. I had been in a rush to meet my goals because of my age. Does it really matter if I am 60 or 62. I think not. I think Heidi's (the body building trainee I met in Toronto) goal of 2010 is a fantastic one. It arrives during a milestone - the Vancouver Olympics.
Am I going to stop training or eating clean 99% of the time. Absolutely not. This is the time I NEED the stress release. I have an athletic goal whether I compete or not - likely not. If I do this just for me, I won't have to worry about tanning, costumes, posing classes and all the other time consuming non training part of the competition prep right now.
I am researching and learning a lot about body building. Wow - there is a lot to learn.I will share what I learn and anyone who is interested can visit and read about it. I will have to do it over time because if I spend all my time blogging I won't be able to balance the time needed for training and personal responsibilities.
I will provide what I learned as a beginner as well as some of the more intense body building info.
At the competition I attended mentioned in a previous blog, it leaped out at me through the bios of the competitors, including novices, that they had trained at least two years prior to competition.
A few bumps in the road slowed me down a couple of times. I just keep picking myself up, dusting myself off and keep going.
Challenges can more easily be overcome with time. I had been in a rush to meet my goals because of my age. Does it really matter if I am 60 or 62. I think not. I think Heidi's (the body building trainee I met in Toronto) goal of 2010 is a fantastic one. It arrives during a milestone - the Vancouver Olympics.
Am I going to stop training or eating clean 99% of the time. Absolutely not. This is the time I NEED the stress release. I have an athletic goal whether I compete or not - likely not. If I do this just for me, I won't have to worry about tanning, costumes, posing classes and all the other time consuming non training part of the competition prep right now.
I am researching and learning a lot about body building. Wow - there is a lot to learn.I will share what I learn and anyone who is interested can visit and read about it. I will have to do it over time because if I spend all my time blogging I won't be able to balance the time needed for training and personal responsibilities.
I will provide what I learned as a beginner as well as some of the more intense body building info.
FIGURE COMPETITION/ATTENDING ONE/TOSCA WAS THERE!!!
I had wanted to attend the Sandra Wickham Classic November 8th 2008 in Vancouver (as an observer). However, in place of the cancelled Paris trip (which was to be a birthday present) my daughter Jen generously spent many hours on the Internet getting tickets to a Tina Turner Concert in Toronto for my 60th birthday.
I was going to be in Toronto for the date of the competition in Vancouver. So, I searched for shows in Toronto and got in touch with IDFA. Just so happens there was a pro and amateur body building competition on the same night in Toronto November 8th 2008. There were two parts to the competition. The morning session - presentation - and the evening - judging. I hear that the judges actually know who they are narrowing it down to from the presentation portion.
It was quite the experience. I arrived in the lobby in the morning after a harrowing drive - the tall downtown TO buildings made it impossible for my GPS to locate the satellites. Anyway - there was a sign in the lobby something like - You will be on camera, there is a filming of a documentary about Tosca Reno for W Network. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Holy cow - my favourite magazine guru and somewhat of an idol for me. Wonder if she is going to be there?Well I had a great seat up front. She and the publisher of Oxygen Magazine, her husband Robert Kennedy were a couple of seats in front of me. I thought maybe I'd had another mini stroke :) I struck up a conversation with a number of people in the crowd, many of them body builders. I met Heidi, a body builder in training and the mother of a friend of Heidi's who was competing in the body building part (the daughter was competing not the mother). The crowd was very warm and friendly.
I did not want to pester Tosca Reno or shove a camera in her face, so I hung back but with Heidi trying to convince me to go speak to her. I said I will go home before the evening part and bring back my O2 Magazine and get up the nerve to ask them to sign it. Alas - they did not come back to the evening portion. You snooze you lose.
My daughter decided to attend the evening session with me but as her ticket was bought late - she ended up in the balcony. She met a PT. I googled him later and found he was associated with a training method known as 'slow burn' theory - or superslow. Yikes!!! My former personal trainer (in answer to my question about it) blogged negatively about it and WOW the reactions... very lively and controversial....But I digress.....
I picked my choices for anticipated winners. I was right on for the men's and women's body building and the men's body building posing but not even close for the women's figure, the women's masters body building or the women's masters figure choices. I will make a point of reading some of the articles I have filed without reading as to what judges generally are looking for. I think I was looking at overall esthetically pleasing outcome but they likely were looking more closely at other things like muscle development, symmetry, shape and tone, posing etc - not sure but I assume they know what they are doing.
Hopefully it is not political judging like in figure skating. The crowd around which included body builders was similarly confused. There was a contestant in the novice category I believe represented by Oxygen who did not place I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! She was awesome.
But it is important to say that all the competitors stepped up to the plate from a dedictation, hard work, point of view and that it is incredibly brave of them to be there. I was also surprised to hear in their bios that many had been training two years prior to competition.
It sure was having me rethinking any possibility of me competing. I was in a hurry because of my age but having to spend even more time training to their level, I will only be all that much older - not fair competition at all - I might have to wait for a grand grand masters division.
The bios of the competitors gave a long list of the people they thanked for support. So that makes it even clearer that you have to have a supportive family and fitness network to help with your success.
I was going to be in Toronto for the date of the competition in Vancouver. So, I searched for shows in Toronto and got in touch with IDFA. Just so happens there was a pro and amateur body building competition on the same night in Toronto November 8th 2008. There were two parts to the competition. The morning session - presentation - and the evening - judging. I hear that the judges actually know who they are narrowing it down to from the presentation portion.
It was quite the experience. I arrived in the lobby in the morning after a harrowing drive - the tall downtown TO buildings made it impossible for my GPS to locate the satellites. Anyway - there was a sign in the lobby something like - You will be on camera, there is a filming of a documentary about Tosca Reno for W Network. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING! Holy cow - my favourite magazine guru and somewhat of an idol for me. Wonder if she is going to be there?Well I had a great seat up front. She and the publisher of Oxygen Magazine, her husband Robert Kennedy were a couple of seats in front of me. I thought maybe I'd had another mini stroke :) I struck up a conversation with a number of people in the crowd, many of them body builders. I met Heidi, a body builder in training and the mother of a friend of Heidi's who was competing in the body building part (the daughter was competing not the mother). The crowd was very warm and friendly.
I did not want to pester Tosca Reno or shove a camera in her face, so I hung back but with Heidi trying to convince me to go speak to her. I said I will go home before the evening part and bring back my O2 Magazine and get up the nerve to ask them to sign it. Alas - they did not come back to the evening portion. You snooze you lose.
My daughter decided to attend the evening session with me but as her ticket was bought late - she ended up in the balcony. She met a PT. I googled him later and found he was associated with a training method known as 'slow burn' theory - or superslow. Yikes!!! My former personal trainer (in answer to my question about it) blogged negatively about it and WOW the reactions... very lively and controversial....But I digress.....
I picked my choices for anticipated winners. I was right on for the men's and women's body building and the men's body building posing but not even close for the women's figure, the women's masters body building or the women's masters figure choices. I will make a point of reading some of the articles I have filed without reading as to what judges generally are looking for. I think I was looking at overall esthetically pleasing outcome but they likely were looking more closely at other things like muscle development, symmetry, shape and tone, posing etc - not sure but I assume they know what they are doing.
Hopefully it is not political judging like in figure skating. The crowd around which included body builders was similarly confused. There was a contestant in the novice category I believe represented by Oxygen who did not place I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT! She was awesome.
But it is important to say that all the competitors stepped up to the plate from a dedictation, hard work, point of view and that it is incredibly brave of them to be there. I was also surprised to hear in their bios that many had been training two years prior to competition.
It sure was having me rethinking any possibility of me competing. I was in a hurry because of my age but having to spend even more time training to their level, I will only be all that much older - not fair competition at all - I might have to wait for a grand grand masters division.
The bios of the competitors gave a long list of the people they thanked for support. So that makes it even clearer that you have to have a supportive family and fitness network to help with your success.
FIGURE COMPETITION - WHAT IS IT?
Well first and foremost it is an athletic endeavour. Body building is different than most sports in one single way. How often would you be able to look at a ball player, soccer player, or triathlete on the street and know that is what they do? Not often. A body builder - you pretty much know what they do - they wear their sport.
I admire women body builders - holy cow the work, the strength the muscle development. I look at Heidi's stuff (a bodybuilder I met at the IDFA competition) and think she looks ready now - but she won't compete till 2010. But it is really not for me.
The main difference between body building and body building figure competition is muscle mass and body fat. Body builders have huge muscle mass and are extremely lean with low body fat for competition. They are stronger, harder, leaner. Figure body building is more feminine with good muscle development, but much less muscle mass than body builders and they are less lean.
ALAS. I have heard from reliable sources that with figure, although it is supposed to be a category with more feminine lines, the judges often choose the most muscular contestant. Soon there will have to be another category or perhaps a totally different competition with different judges?
Figure modelling - for that you also need to have a drop dead figure type body and be quite attractive and photogenic and I imagine - young or famous. There are figure competitors who do figure modelling as well, and there are figure models who only model.
Ok. So far I have found that many people mix up figure competitor and figure/fitness model. Now people, I am sixty and I have no illusions that I am going to be a figure model! I am stretching it to train to the figure competitor level but I know I can do it.
Seems there are more over 60 body builders than figure competitors.
For a brief period (might have had a mini stroke) I thought I might try to find a sponsor and compete for real. So I started with the Oryx the protein product I use. I emailed the distributor and asked if they sponsored women's figure competitiors? Guy must have been sitting at his computer - a nano second later I was asked to send posing pictures and advised I could work at a booth in California.
Hah! I didn't send a picture - he would have croaked to see a bikini clad 60 year old - told him I wasn't looking for a job - I was looking for sponsorship - nope - don't do that -I briefly though maybe Depends or Geritol would sponsor me but gave up that idea.
I would rather be working out that trying to come up with my off season training plan. But I have to get on it. There is a huge amount of info out there - lots of it conflicting - my head is swimming. But, I will approach it like I do everything else - like a business plan. I have read copious amounts about the 'look' the V taper - dont overdevelop obliques - overdevelop upper lats, tone and underdevelop lower lats etc - there is some critical thinking to do on how to get the end result.
There are also different plans for each stage - e.g. off season, pre-season, pre-comp etc. So I will start at the end and work my way backwards to try and figure out the business plan. Most of all, I will concentrate on the basics of competition training, most of the other 'out there' theories are to get past plateaus and to zero in on specific areas. I have to keep it simple for now. I don't want to get so bogged down in the process that I can't actually do the work.
And I want to try the "competition leaning out process" just to see if it is doable and if my abs pop out :)
I admire women body builders - holy cow the work, the strength the muscle development. I look at Heidi's stuff (a bodybuilder I met at the IDFA competition) and think she looks ready now - but she won't compete till 2010. But it is really not for me.
The main difference between body building and body building figure competition is muscle mass and body fat. Body builders have huge muscle mass and are extremely lean with low body fat for competition. They are stronger, harder, leaner. Figure body building is more feminine with good muscle development, but much less muscle mass than body builders and they are less lean.
ALAS. I have heard from reliable sources that with figure, although it is supposed to be a category with more feminine lines, the judges often choose the most muscular contestant. Soon there will have to be another category or perhaps a totally different competition with different judges?
Figure modelling - for that you also need to have a drop dead figure type body and be quite attractive and photogenic and I imagine - young or famous. There are figure competitors who do figure modelling as well, and there are figure models who only model.
Ok. So far I have found that many people mix up figure competitor and figure/fitness model. Now people, I am sixty and I have no illusions that I am going to be a figure model! I am stretching it to train to the figure competitor level but I know I can do it.
Seems there are more over 60 body builders than figure competitors.
For a brief period (might have had a mini stroke) I thought I might try to find a sponsor and compete for real. So I started with the Oryx the protein product I use. I emailed the distributor and asked if they sponsored women's figure competitiors? Guy must have been sitting at his computer - a nano second later I was asked to send posing pictures and advised I could work at a booth in California.
Hah! I didn't send a picture - he would have croaked to see a bikini clad 60 year old - told him I wasn't looking for a job - I was looking for sponsorship - nope - don't do that -I briefly though maybe Depends or Geritol would sponsor me but gave up that idea.
I would rather be working out that trying to come up with my off season training plan. But I have to get on it. There is a huge amount of info out there - lots of it conflicting - my head is swimming. But, I will approach it like I do everything else - like a business plan. I have read copious amounts about the 'look' the V taper - dont overdevelop obliques - overdevelop upper lats, tone and underdevelop lower lats etc - there is some critical thinking to do on how to get the end result.
There are also different plans for each stage - e.g. off season, pre-season, pre-comp etc. So I will start at the end and work my way backwards to try and figure out the business plan. Most of all, I will concentrate on the basics of competition training, most of the other 'out there' theories are to get past plateaus and to zero in on specific areas. I have to keep it simple for now. I don't want to get so bogged down in the process that I can't actually do the work.
And I want to try the "competition leaning out process" just to see if it is doable and if my abs pop out :)
I GOT FIT AND HEALTHY NOW WHAT?
How I became unfit and unhealthy.
I was always skinny but probably not a healthy skinny. Having kids and getting older did not make much of a difference in my weight. I always enjoyed dancing and aerobics. I briefly discovered strength training in my thirties.
In my 40s I had a series of injuries and surgeries and finally a fractured ankle. These injuries left me quite inactive. I began to pursue quiet sedentary hobbies and crafts. TV was my friend and I sat for hours studying to get my degree as well. It didn’t help that my husband is a junk food fanatic.
Eventually my five foot frame was enormous. I hid behind oversized clothes and avoided cameras and destroyed most pictures I could find. My family and friends, if they noticed me getting obese over the years either didn’t care or didn’t comment. I was not happy but was really too sick to do much about it. I stopped weighing myself at 170 lb.
By this time I was taking four kinds of medication for asthma; medication for hypertension, hypercholesterolemian, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, IBS, chronic pain and bladder problems to name a few. My blood sugar was testing high normal and I was advised to watch my diet. I could not walk up the stairs with a basket of laundry – I got too short of breath. I had a respiratory stress test which had to be stopped due to a rapid heart rate and shortness of breath. However, the asthma for which I had been taking steriods was actually in remission. Two years later after revolving around the health care system for tests of my heart, lungs, gastrointestinal and endocrine systems – twice – the result was – I was obese.
No surprise. I was told to lose weight and get fit. It was an effort just to walk a block. I could not see how I was going to do this. But I accomplished the first step – RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM.
What made me start on my fitness journey?
I believe that every health and fitness success begins with a catalyst. In 2007 I changed jobs in my organization which required that I train away from home for 18 weeks. I was the oldest person in the training group. Over 50% of my coworkers are expected to retire in the next five years and there had been a recruiting program which yielded quite a few 20, 30 and 40 somethings. I realized very quickly that due to my age and my obesity, I was invisible. I quickly began to lament the loss of my youth and health in clear contrast to the youth, vitality and energy of the class. I had no idea what I was going to do to fill my time isolated from family and friends and as a persona non grata in the class.
My health testing was complete so my doctor had given me the ‘go-ahead’ to start getting in shape. I walked for hours. I walked to and from class and walked endlessly through the streets of Vancouver. I spend at least one hour a day on the hotel treadmill. I ate frozen dinners for portion control I only lost about 8-10 lb in 18 weeks. I gained knee tendonitis, Achilles tendinitis, and shoulder tendinitis. I could not figure out how I could work so hard and gain so little.
What I did to get fit and healthy
When I got back home I complained to my daughter how much effort I put in for so little reward. She suggested that I needed a personal trainer.
Coincidentally, my husband received a cash gift for Christmas which he decided to use to set up a home gym. We both detested commercial gyms. I felt we needed someone to teach us how to use it. I am RN but nurses training is more about the treatment of illness and disease than health promotion. I asked the gym owner if she knew of any kinesiologists who did personal training. She put me in contact with a personal trainer.
We bought the equipment, hired a personal trainer and the rest is history.
Back on track
At the very first assessment with my trainer, I found that I underestimated my food/calorie/carb intake and overestimated my exercise effort. I had blamed my lack of progress on my age. He taught me that age is not a barrier or excuse to finding health or a fabulous body. I learned to set short term and long term goals. I also learned that in order to achieve success, this could not be just another diet or attempt at fitness, it had to be a lifelong lifestyle change. He stressed keeping records to measure my progress. Soon I was finding changes week after week, in my weight, my shape, my energy and my health. This kept my motivation going. At one point I asked for a special program for my arms. It was so successful he has marketed it in a version that others can benefit for their fitness level with less equipment and time commitment.
The more success I had, the more I wanted to learn. The trainer introduced me to fitness magazines. Health and fitness literature became one of my only reading interests. Since I discovered Oxygen Magazine with Robert Kennedy and Tosca Reno, it is the only magazine I buy.
By April of 2008 people who I had not seen for awhile ignored me in the street. Not because I was a persona non grata but because they could not recognize me. I had to reintroduce myself to numerous people who had only seen the obese me for over 20 years.
After I met goal after goal I wondered what do I do next? I love training. I love being an "athlete."
A physician friend of mine once said if you want to get rid of depression and improve self esteem, find something you love and become an expert at it. Become an instructor, or a competitor - do something with it. So did I want to get one of those fitness certificates - maybe work with older women? Maybe. but not likely.
I have other interests. I can't even remember how I zeroed in on it - but I think it might have been magazines. As I became interested in weight training I was exploring the magazine racks and I came upon Oxygen Magazine. I think pretty much all fitness mags get their income from supplement ads. I ignore the supplements ads - I won't take most of that stuff. The magazine has awesome articles. It is my favourite reading now. I don't watch tv or read novels anymore (except my niece's books) I read all I can about fitness and nutrition.
I came to admire Tosca Reno (wife of the publisher of Oxygen Mag and contributor and body building guru). She found fitness and body building after age 40. I found her to be quite an inspiration to women in that she promotes you can grow older - healthy fit and sexy. I have all her books. I also found that for me I liked the bodies of figure competition contestants over female body building contestants in the magazines. I decided I had come so far that I could do it.I soon learned that not all the competitions have a masters or grand masters component but even the ones that do - I am a bit older than the range. This does not mean that I cannot compete just that I would be up against a number of lower age contestants in the same category.
Sort of a lost cause a 60 year old competing with a 35 year old don't you think? There are more older competitors in body building than in figure competition for obvious reasons. I thought that even if I did not compete, I would like to go through the training process. I searched for a training pro.
I explored that locally but remained unimpressed. I tried a few online trainers and although it was a fairly cheap training method, I seemed to gain more body fat and less lean muscle and they seemed to be more group oriented and definitely could not seem to get my training body response right. Nothing really fit me.
I set out to learn all I could and found some good e programs which expanded my knowledge base. Along with this and my Oxygen Magazines I became quite adept at managing my own training programs.
If you are interested in competing - it is not cheap. There is the expense of going to competition, the training, tanning, costumes, shoes, etc. There is a great deal of dedication, commitment, time and money put into training by competitors. They train for years. They are athletes pure and simple. It is a lonely world and it helps to have a family who is really supportive of the time and money commitment.
Now What?
For me fitness has become a way of life. I will continue to train and as well as maintaining my good health and great body at over 60, I am hoping my continued efforts and example will encourage other women my age to change their lives for the better. If even one person becomes healthy as a result, I will be greatful.
I was always skinny but probably not a healthy skinny. Having kids and getting older did not make much of a difference in my weight. I always enjoyed dancing and aerobics. I briefly discovered strength training in my thirties.
In my 40s I had a series of injuries and surgeries and finally a fractured ankle. These injuries left me quite inactive. I began to pursue quiet sedentary hobbies and crafts. TV was my friend and I sat for hours studying to get my degree as well. It didn’t help that my husband is a junk food fanatic.
Eventually my five foot frame was enormous. I hid behind oversized clothes and avoided cameras and destroyed most pictures I could find. My family and friends, if they noticed me getting obese over the years either didn’t care or didn’t comment. I was not happy but was really too sick to do much about it. I stopped weighing myself at 170 lb.
By this time I was taking four kinds of medication for asthma; medication for hypertension, hypercholesterolemian, depression, anxiety, sleep problems, IBS, chronic pain and bladder problems to name a few. My blood sugar was testing high normal and I was advised to watch my diet. I could not walk up the stairs with a basket of laundry – I got too short of breath. I had a respiratory stress test which had to be stopped due to a rapid heart rate and shortness of breath. However, the asthma for which I had been taking steriods was actually in remission. Two years later after revolving around the health care system for tests of my heart, lungs, gastrointestinal and endocrine systems – twice – the result was – I was obese.
No surprise. I was told to lose weight and get fit. It was an effort just to walk a block. I could not see how I was going to do this. But I accomplished the first step – RECOGNIZING THE PROBLEM.
What made me start on my fitness journey?
I believe that every health and fitness success begins with a catalyst. In 2007 I changed jobs in my organization which required that I train away from home for 18 weeks. I was the oldest person in the training group. Over 50% of my coworkers are expected to retire in the next five years and there had been a recruiting program which yielded quite a few 20, 30 and 40 somethings. I realized very quickly that due to my age and my obesity, I was invisible. I quickly began to lament the loss of my youth and health in clear contrast to the youth, vitality and energy of the class. I had no idea what I was going to do to fill my time isolated from family and friends and as a persona non grata in the class.
My health testing was complete so my doctor had given me the ‘go-ahead’ to start getting in shape. I walked for hours. I walked to and from class and walked endlessly through the streets of Vancouver. I spend at least one hour a day on the hotel treadmill. I ate frozen dinners for portion control I only lost about 8-10 lb in 18 weeks. I gained knee tendonitis, Achilles tendinitis, and shoulder tendinitis. I could not figure out how I could work so hard and gain so little.
What I did to get fit and healthy
When I got back home I complained to my daughter how much effort I put in for so little reward. She suggested that I needed a personal trainer.
Coincidentally, my husband received a cash gift for Christmas which he decided to use to set up a home gym. We both detested commercial gyms. I felt we needed someone to teach us how to use it. I am RN but nurses training is more about the treatment of illness and disease than health promotion. I asked the gym owner if she knew of any kinesiologists who did personal training. She put me in contact with a personal trainer.
We bought the equipment, hired a personal trainer and the rest is history.
Back on track
At the very first assessment with my trainer, I found that I underestimated my food/calorie/carb intake and overestimated my exercise effort. I had blamed my lack of progress on my age. He taught me that age is not a barrier or excuse to finding health or a fabulous body. I learned to set short term and long term goals. I also learned that in order to achieve success, this could not be just another diet or attempt at fitness, it had to be a lifelong lifestyle change. He stressed keeping records to measure my progress. Soon I was finding changes week after week, in my weight, my shape, my energy and my health. This kept my motivation going. At one point I asked for a special program for my arms. It was so successful he has marketed it in a version that others can benefit for their fitness level with less equipment and time commitment.
The more success I had, the more I wanted to learn. The trainer introduced me to fitness magazines. Health and fitness literature became one of my only reading interests. Since I discovered Oxygen Magazine with Robert Kennedy and Tosca Reno, it is the only magazine I buy.
By April of 2008 people who I had not seen for awhile ignored me in the street. Not because I was a persona non grata but because they could not recognize me. I had to reintroduce myself to numerous people who had only seen the obese me for over 20 years.
After I met goal after goal I wondered what do I do next? I love training. I love being an "athlete."
A physician friend of mine once said if you want to get rid of depression and improve self esteem, find something you love and become an expert at it. Become an instructor, or a competitor - do something with it. So did I want to get one of those fitness certificates - maybe work with older women? Maybe. but not likely.
I have other interests. I can't even remember how I zeroed in on it - but I think it might have been magazines. As I became interested in weight training I was exploring the magazine racks and I came upon Oxygen Magazine. I think pretty much all fitness mags get their income from supplement ads. I ignore the supplements ads - I won't take most of that stuff. The magazine has awesome articles. It is my favourite reading now. I don't watch tv or read novels anymore (except my niece's books) I read all I can about fitness and nutrition.
I came to admire Tosca Reno (wife of the publisher of Oxygen Mag and contributor and body building guru). She found fitness and body building after age 40. I found her to be quite an inspiration to women in that she promotes you can grow older - healthy fit and sexy. I have all her books. I also found that for me I liked the bodies of figure competition contestants over female body building contestants in the magazines. I decided I had come so far that I could do it.I soon learned that not all the competitions have a masters or grand masters component but even the ones that do - I am a bit older than the range. This does not mean that I cannot compete just that I would be up against a number of lower age contestants in the same category.
Sort of a lost cause a 60 year old competing with a 35 year old don't you think? There are more older competitors in body building than in figure competition for obvious reasons. I thought that even if I did not compete, I would like to go through the training process. I searched for a training pro.
I explored that locally but remained unimpressed. I tried a few online trainers and although it was a fairly cheap training method, I seemed to gain more body fat and less lean muscle and they seemed to be more group oriented and definitely could not seem to get my training body response right. Nothing really fit me.
I set out to learn all I could and found some good e programs which expanded my knowledge base. Along with this and my Oxygen Magazines I became quite adept at managing my own training programs.
If you are interested in competing - it is not cheap. There is the expense of going to competition, the training, tanning, costumes, shoes, etc. There is a great deal of dedication, commitment, time and money put into training by competitors. They train for years. They are athletes pure and simple. It is a lonely world and it helps to have a family who is really supportive of the time and money commitment.
Now What?
For me fitness has become a way of life. I will continue to train and as well as maintaining my good health and great body at over 60, I am hoping my continued efforts and example will encourage other women my age to change their lives for the better. If even one person becomes healthy as a result, I will be greatful.
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