Everything Else In Bodybuilding podcast

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55: Weekly Discussions With Vassilios & Michele: Pre Workouts, Fat Burners, and The New Miracle Weight Loss Drugs 42:47

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Together Vassilios and I share our experiences and opinions on all things pre-workouts, weight loss drugs, and workout performance (both good and bad). We discuss the truth behind weight loss drugs, how they work, and a statistic that will make your eyeballs pop out when you hear it! We discuss the psychology behind getting a good workout in, and supplements and protocols we believe actually work for long term success with your fitness and bodybuilding goals. Share away! Post in your groups and on your socials to spread knowledge. Want to chat about everything I discussed in this episode? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for an OCB or NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW Class on Sundays for Women’s Figure & Men’s Physique (Class #3)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW Class on Thursdays for Bikini & Wellness Competitors (Class #4) http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Our experiences with pre-workouts (4:00) *Our opinion on Creatine (13:00) *How consuming Salt, electrolyte, and energy based supplements changed our workout performance - good and bad (15:00) *How the “miracle weight loss drugs” like Ozempic work & their side effects (24:25) *Suggestions on how to have weight loss & competition prep success without extreme protocols (28:00)…

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54: We Are Going On Tour Across The USA! Exclusive Peek At What’s To Come This Year 16:14

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A couple months ago I woke up with an overwhelming feeling to grab my notebook and write down the words, “United States Posing Clinic Tour.” Tune in to find out how this idea all came about, where we will be heading this year, who has endorsed the tour, and all the things you will learn when you attend a clinic. Want to chat about everything I discussed in this episode? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -2024 USA In Person & Virtual Posing Clinic Tour Dates, Info, & Registration: http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW Class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Posing Mechanics)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *The moment I knew I was going to be a bodybuilder (2:43) *Why posing and stage presence became my focus (4:07) *The challenges of being a posing coach today (6:08) *How I discovered my virtual posing clinics and classes for all divisions and federations (7:55) *The birth of my collaboration with the OCB (10:33) *What you learn when you attend a clinic (13:02) *2024 USA posing clinic tour dates and locations (13:48) ---TRANSCRIPT--- There have been many times in my life when an idea pops in my head followed by a strong feeling to do something with this idea. It becomes overwhelming. I can’t stop thinking of this idea and what I can create with it. An outpouring of thoughts and feelings keep coming and coming as if a dam just broke loose. When this happens you can tell me all kinds of reasons why the idea isn’t going to work and I will still feel the strong need to pursue it. Often I do not have a clue how it’s all going to work out, but I just know I have to keep the faith and put things in motion. My latest idea that I have an overwhelming need to pursue is my United States Posing Clinic Tour this year. But first, let me give you some background on how it all came about. It first started over 20 years ago when I went to my first bodybuilding competition to support my friend Shelley at her first show. At the time the only divisions were fitness and bodybuilding and Shelley was a bodybuilder. I remember that overwhelming feeling coming over me while in the audience watching her on stage. The feeling told me that I absolutely was going to be a bodybuilder starting right then. I was 20 years young and bodybuilding at the time didn’t have the appeal to as many people as it does today because there weren’t all the different categories that there are today. In fact, after my first show I brought a picture of me with a thank you note written on it to the gym I worked out at and gave it to the staff at the front desk who always seemed so supportive of me while I was there training for my show. The next day, I noticed the picture was missing, so I asked the people at the front desk what happened to it. They said they were told to remove my picture because they didn’t want to promote “that type of stuff” here at this gym. I’ll never forget how that made me feel. But I had that overwhelming feeling that told me to keep going regardless of how other people thought or treated me. There will be judgement by others for anything you want to do, no matter what it is. But, we wake up with our thoughts and live with ourselves all day long. I’d rather be inspired by myself than repressed to please others. And now today over 20 years later bodybuilding is still a major part of my life, including here with this podcast, where I talk to you guys about all things bodybuilding. Bodybuilding is also a major part of my life with my posing business too, which also came about from a strong, overwhelming feeling that I needed to create products and services all about posing and stage presence. I started this business 11 years ago at the gym I owned by hosting weekly posing classes and booking private 1 on 1 lessons. When I sold the gym and focused primarily on posing and stage presence I definitely received a lot of backlash. People thought I was crazy to not want to focus on the nutrition and training component of bodybuilding in addition to the posing. To others, posing was this thing over here that didn’t need its own focus. But I knew differently. After my experience with people literally traveling 4 hours each direction to come and learn how to pose and perform from me (before there was ever something called a posing coach), I knew 100% there was a market for what I do. I knew that there are people out there that have never been on stage before and will spend money to learn how to perform their best on stage in their underwear. I knew from experience there are people who do care how they present themselves and would pay for the right help. I also know as a bodybuilder myself that at the end of the day we want to win and will leave no stone unturned in order to give it our best shot. I don’t need the world to agree with me. In fact, if you don’t value what I can do for you, then you aren’t my customer anyways, and that’s ok. Even today with the popularity of everyone wanting to be a posing coach, it’s risky to focus on just posing because you still have coaches who do the nutrition and training component and want to control their clients in every way. I don’t blame them because they want their clients to look their best on stage, and with the amount of terrible posing instruction out there, how do they know who to trust to send their clients to that is actually going to elevate their client’s posing and stage presence skills? But on the flip side some coaches are holding their clients back from looking their best by not outsourcing the posing component to a true specialist. 100% of what you do on stage on show day is nonverbal. And when you are on stage with a ton of people, every little detail counts in order to stand out. Those details need to be isolated and refined by a specialist. Today everyone is a posing coach. It’s challenging to separate the quality of instruction out there and find a true specialist. If you want to know if someone is decent posing coach, ask him or her to show their client transformations. If someone can take a person from hot mess to show stopper then you have my attention. If you are seeing transformations of customers who were already decent at posing and they show just a small tweak in the transformation, I’m not impressed. It’s like advertising an Olympian as your best student. They are an Olympian because they are already above average versus people just starting out are often awkward at posing. I’ve had clients go from placing 4th and 5th in their contests to winning their shows. I know with every ounce of my being that posing wins shows. But to those who don’t know me, I’m just another person showing people how to pose. I have students that are always so supportive and posting about me in the groups on Facebook that they are a part of, but their comments are overwhelmed by tons and tons more comments of other posing coaches too. It’s not easy to stand out in a saturated market and some think that what I do won’t survive, but the overwhelming feeling inside me tells me otherwise. I’ve also had a lot of naysayers tell me that people want in person posing instruction and I’ll never be successful with an online posing business. I know with every part of my being that my virtual classes are not only effective, countless students have become really phenomenal with my 100% virtual class method. So I don’t need the world to approve of what I do. I know differently. Plus, there are students in my weekly group virtual posing classes that have been a part of them for a year, so I know there are people who enjoy what I teach in my classes, because I teach more than just how to pose. The way I see it, I’d rather have a smaller pool of people who are driven to succeed, and happy to be there, than a large pool of people who don’t care as much as I do. My husband always says I care too much. He is right, so I’d rather have people want to be a part of what I do and care about it too. A few years ago I created a program that included a bunch of posing courses and digital products I made for bodybuilding. These products were designed to make people better at posing. The students that bought my program were willing to spend good money for all the things I made. They were excited to have all of my tools. But there was one major problem. The people that bought my program weren’t who I thought they would be. The people who bought my program were either brand new to bodybuilding and had no clue how to pose, or they had some experience with competing, but their posing skills needed a lot of improvement. I remember waking up with this overwhelming feeling that I needed to do something about their lack of basic posing knowledge. I couldn’t in good conscience allow people to spend good money on the products that are meant to *elevate* their skills without them having a foundation of skills to build off of. It wasn’t right. I felt the overwhelming need to help them. So for no extra charge I added 16 weeks of weekly live virtual calls to the program where we met as a group online so I could teach them the foundation skills on how to pose properly for their divisions and federations. 16 weeks was excessive, but I cared about their success, and I wanted to help them. The classes HAD to be virtual because the people in the program were worldwide and not local to me. I had men and women students getting ready for shows in different divisions and federations too, and since I have experience first hand in all of them, I discovered I had no issue switching hats between divisions and federations with my posing instruction right on the fly on every call. Over the 16 weeks each and every student not only learned the foundation skills they needed to pose correctly, they utilized the additional tools they bought from the program to elevate their skills. It was 100% group virtual instruction and 100% digital products, and the combination worked. It worked incredibly well. They all became really good at posing. I learned from this experience that not only could I teach a group of people how to pose at once, I could instantly switch between men and women divisions and federations on the fly. And I could do this 100% virtual. And every one of my students had great results. And from this experience, my virtual posing clinics and weekly virtual classes for all men and women federations and divisions were birthed. I started hosting one-time virtual posing clinics to teach people how to pose for all divisions and federations followed by an invitation to join my weekly virtual classes. My clinics went from being generalized for all federations to growing to the point where there was enough demand for me to separate the clinics by federation. So far I have hosted virtual clinics for OCB, NPC, WNBF, and USBF. At first none of the organizations promoted my clinics. I simply promoted them myself and through word of mouth referrals. But then it changed in late 2022 after interviewing Sean Sully Sullivan from the OCB organization here on on my podcast. Sully and I hit it off so well that when I asked Sully and his organization The OCB if they would endorse my virtual posing clinics, they agreed to promote them to their athletes starting January 29th, 2023. For all of 2023 I hosted my virtual posing clinics every single month for the OCB with the OCB’s blessing and the incredible promotion skills of OCB powerhouse Marjorie Thrash. The clinics proved to be a success for the organization, the athlete, and me. The relationship worked because the OCB and I together believed that the service I offer for athletes is valuable to the athletes and actually helps them, so it is a win win for all involved. Then, a couple months ago, I woke up with a new idea that I couldn’t shake. I had to pull out my purple notebook and a pen so I could physically write down my thoughts as they poured out of me. The first thing I wrote was…United States Posing Clinic Tour. I am so passionate about my method of instruction in my posing clinics and how quickly I can help people get up to speed with their posing skills, that I woke up with an overwhelming desire to take my clinics on the road to get the word out as much as possible. The goal is to continue to host my monthly virtual posing clinics and weekly virtual posing classes to reach people globally, but during 2024 I mapped out in my notebook a coast to coast posing clinic tour across the United States. The #1 thing I wrote in my notebook on why I want to do this USA tour is because I thought it would be a lot of fun. And the #2 thing is that I truly believe that what I do helps people learn things the right way from the start on becoming their best on show day. But there is a lot of noise out there and I want to reach as many people as possible. So my goal is to pound the pavement and get the word out that my method of instruction is the starting place to becoming a champion poser. Pounding the pavement means reaching people anywhere and everywhere both in person and virtual. And to my surprise, when I asked the OCB if they would endorse this in person posing tour, in addition to my monthly virtual posing clinics, I got the full blessing not just from the organization, but the promoters in every single location you will see on my tour. These promoters are stand out promoters in my eyes. They truly believe in what I am doing and how it helps the athletes so much, that they, too, gave their full blessing and cooperation to host a live in person clinic in their region of the country. These clinics are not giant expos that showcase the most famous athletes in the organization. They are not celebrity showcases that make you feel intimidated for being new or newer to the sport. They are not events that say you are going to learn how to pose, only for you to be SHOWN how to pose by the pros with no actual method of instruction to take home with. My clinics are about you the athlete. When you come to my posing clinics whether they are virtual or in person, you will learn how to pose for your category, whether it’s men’s bodybuilding or women’s bikini, I teach all the divisions. You will learn what you really need to focus on for your stage walks and posing routines so you feel your best and not awkward on stage. You will learn strategy so you score your highest on show day. You learn everything you need to know so you can look and feel like a champion. They are the starting place to becoming your best on show day. My United States posing tour starts March 2nd in Daytona Beach Florida followed by March 9th in Nashville Tennessee. March 16th I’ll be in Columbus Ohio, followed by April 13th in Rochester NY. In June we head west starting in Dallas, TX June 29th, Orange County California July 20th, and then Las Vegas NV on July 27th. There are a couple of mystery locations that will be added in May and June too since a few more additional promoters are reaching out wanting us to add their location to the tour! I also have virtual clinics planned for March 23rd, April 20th, and ongoing every month during the entire year. My virtual NPC clinics will continue during the year as along with all of the virtual posing classes that I teach every single week for all divisions and federations. In fact, after a clinic, you should totally join my virtual classes so you can take what you learn at a clinic and elevate your skills. Even if you know how to pose, come to a clinic and join me live in person or online! This year is going to be a lot of fun and you can never know enough when it comes to posing and stage skills. For details on each of my posing clinic locations and to register for one, head on over to learntopose.com ! Click on the tour tab and it will take you to all the in person locations this year. If you keep scrolling the page you’ll also find information on my virtual OCB and NPC clinics as well. It’s all there at learntopose.com ! I hope to meet many of you either in person or online this year! If you are a podcast listener, be sure to tell me. I love hearing from you guys. I’ll keep you posted on the behind the scenes details of our tour here on the podcast this year. I also have some cool interviews planned this year too. Plus, stay tuned as I finish the series I’ve been working on these past few months with my top 10 tips for your first prep. Ok guys, signing off. See you soon!…

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53: Weekly Discussions With Vassilios & Michele: Things We Wish We Knew When We Started Lifting 34:43

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Together Vassilios and I share stories and insight on our experience over the years with nutrition, training, and bodybuilding. We discuss things we know now that we wish we knew when we started. Hear about that one time I passed out in the gym too. Tune in for some real talk and some laughs too. Share away! Post in your groups and on your socials to spread knowledge. Want to chat about everything I discussed in this episode? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” ...and come join the conversation! Additional Resources: -Getting ready for an OCB or NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW Class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Posing Mechanics)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *How long it takes to make a significant body composition change (2:25) *Weight loss vs Bodybuilding (6:50) *That time Michele passed out at the gym (16:25) *Food before workouts (18:00) *Deload weeks (22:15) *The hip thrust (28:50)…

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52: 2023 In Review: Gossip and Opinions on The IFBB, OCB, WNBF, PNBA, and WBFF 23:01

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Welcome to 2024! Thank you for listening to the show and sharing it with others. 2023 was an incredible year and I’m excited for what’s to come in 2024. But first…to kick off the first episode of the new year, I’m going to do a 2023 recap and review some of the biggest shows of the year in bodybuilding across a few of the larger organizations. So tune in and get ready for an honest assessment of all of them. Want to chat about everything I discussed in this episode? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for an OCB or NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly posing class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Class #3 on Sundays)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Updates including the new Strut in Heels program (2:00) *Thoughts and observations on the IFBB Olympia (3:45) *Thoughts and observations PNBA Natural Olympia (11:35) *Thoughts and observations on the OCB Yorton Cup (13:05) *Thoughts and observations on the WNBF World Championships (15:55) *The mass exodus of athletes from The WBFF and rise of a new organization (18:35) *OCB and NPC virtual posing clinics coming up (21:25)…

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51: Weekly Discussions With Vassilios And Michele: Food Timing & Workouts 40:04

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In this week's episode Vassilios and I talk about how we position our nutrition in and around our workouts. We discuss the various nutrition protocols we have tried, the difference between food timing in the off season vs when cutting for a show, and our experience with pre-workouts. Even hear about Vassilios' experience with the raw food diet! Want to chat with us about the episodes? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for a NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at https://learntopose.com/NPC -Getting ready for an OCB show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next *OFFICIAL* virtual posing clinic at https://learntopose.com/OCB -New to competing and want to learn how to pose correctly from the start? Join my Posing Mechanics Class HERE ! http://www.weeklyposing.com -Know how to pose but aren’t sure how to bring your best package to the stage? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Vassilios’ food timing and workout protocol (5:00) *The body’s ability to adapt and how it affects gains (7:00) *Vassilios’ experience with various nutrition protocols and how it affected his workouts (9:45) *How nutrition in the off season vs cutting phases affects our training (15:05) *Our experience with pre-workouts (21:50) *Vassilios’ raw meat diet story (27:40) *How time of day affects our workouts (31:25)…

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50: 10 Tips For Your First Prep Part 3: How Much Time Is Needed To Learn Various Posing And Performance Skills 13:15

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The #1 thing you need to do on stage at a bodybuilding show is present yourself to a judging panel for consideration on how well you meet the judging criteria for the category and organization. You aren’t doing a workout for the judges. You aren’t food prepping for the judges. You are 100% performing on stage. Making this connection from the beginning and preparing for the expectations of the show day itself will ensure that you avoid scoring lower than you should and instead you receive your highest possible placement at your show. Tune in as I elaborate more on what it takes to prepare your posing and stage performance for show day in part 3 of my new 10 part series, "10 Tips For Your First Prep." Want to chat about the episodes with other listeners? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for an OCB show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com/ocb -Getting ready for a NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com/npc -Ready for the next level? Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Justing starting to learn how to pose? Come to my beginner posing class on Sundays on Zoom (called Posing Mechaincs)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Posing is an add-on service (3:08) *Watching Posing tutorials vs creating the poses yourself (4:30) *Standards in bodybuilding versus other sports (6:00) *Four common posing and stage presence skills people want to learn and an estimated timeline on how long it takes to achieve these goals (7:20) *Upcoming posing clinics (11:45) --Transcript-- Welcome back guys! Today is part 3 of my new series called 10 Tips for your first prep and it’s all about the #1 thing you need to do on stage on show day…and that is to pose and perform in front of a judging panel for consideration on how well you meet the judging criteria for the category and organization. Most people focus on the training and nutrition component to get their physique ready. And then underestimate the importance of presentation on show day. When people first learn about bodybuilding and are encouraged to give it a try, it’s likely because they have a great physique or had a really great body transformation. It’s not because they randomly hit a front double bicep and someone said, man that front double was awesome man, you should give bodybuilding a try. Or you were standing in line at Starbucks holding a bikini back pose with your feet apart, glutes high, and ordering a triple grande mocha loca frappacino latte and someone tapped you on the shoulder and said, man you have amazing mobility in your lower back, you should give bikini competitions a try. When you were introduced to bodybuilding it had nothing to do with posing and everything to do with your physique. In addition, if you are going to hire someone to help you prepare for a show, you are likely going to hire a nutrition and training coach first. Posing is the afterthought. Your training and nutrition coach might offer some posing assistance too as an add on as well. Like the last minute impulse purchase you made but didn’t know you needed after waiting for 15 minutes in the check out aisle at the TJ MAXX store. For me just the other day I grabbed socks that I didn’t know I needed. The time before it was chocolate with hazelnut pieces from Belgium that I never heard of but were freaking amazing and didn’t last long in my house. I put the candy in a bowl on a table and every time I walked by the bowl there was a huge dent in the amount of candy in it. Apparently my husband liked them too. Who would’ve known. TJ Max check out aisles are full of things you didn’t know you needed. So when you start in bodybuilding you are aware it’s a physique driven sport but when you look into things a little further you realize that there is a presentation component to bodybuilding too. So you start looking up posing tutorials, you start following people that are actively competing, and you might even attend a show too. Then it occurs too you that there is a lot more that goes into preparing for a show than just training and nutrition. This epiphany occurs at different points for everyone. I’ve had people attend my virtual posing clinics who are a week or two from their first show and think one clinic is going to be enough to prepare their posing and stage presence. And then they learn that looking at a tutorial or a photo is a lot different than recreating the poses themselves. Being able to move and shape our bodies in the unusual shapes required in bodybuilding poses requires a lot of mind body connection. Sometimes there are areas of our body that we don’t have a connection to, like for example, the lats. There are divisions that require you to have your lats engaged in a certain position in your poses. This engagement is absolutely critical. But sometimes people aren’t able to make this connection with their body and can’t recreate the pose. I always say there are two reasons people aren’t engaging their lats in their poses. One is a simple fix and requires a specific execution style that they so far learned backwards. And the second requires a literal mind body connection change. In my 12 years of teaching men and women how to pose, the #1 most common reason people started coming to me was for this one thing, to engage the lats. I had some students back in the day nickname me the lat whisperer. I have it down to a science now and if you don’t have lat engagement it takes about 2-3 weeks to get it. And then after that it’s all about improving the engagement. If you are showing up to a posing clinic a week or two before your first show and you are one of those people that needs to build a mind body connection to lat engagement, you are not going to be prepared on show day. Plain and simple. But now you know better for the next show. Things like this happen because no one emphasized to you the importance of learning how to pose. Posing was an add on to the service you were given so it is perceived as being of less importance. You wouldn’t find this in any other professional sport. Football or baseball there are different coaches for different aspects of the game. The needs of a linebacker are different than the needs of a quarterback. The needs of a pitcher are different than the needs of a catcher. There are different coaches that specialize in these different positions of the game because the level of competition is that much fiercer in these sports. Every little detail and skill can make or break you even being considered to be on a team. In bodybuilding, the stakes aren’t as high as they are in other sports. In bodybuilding when you win a pro card the only thing most people earn are the opportunity to spend more money to compete. Even as a pro you pay entry fees to compete. In other professional sports you get paid to play. In bodybuilding you might get some free supplements or become an affiliate for a company you purchase products from versus in other professional sports you can earn major endorsement deal opportunities. You have to be that top 1% in the bodybuilding industry with a million followers to get any paid endorsement deals. And you don’t even have to compete to get these endorsements if you have the following and industry reach. When the stakes aren’t as high, the standards aren’t as high. In bodybuilding posing, which is the #1 most important thing you have to do on show day, it is still an add-on service for many coaches. Which means you will learn the basics, but you won’t learn how to be great. You will learn average skills. My students learn skills from basic to advanced and there is an order in which they learn these skills. Let’s take four example goals that students have come to me with and I’ll break down the timeline on how to achieve these goals. In fact, I’ll take four of the most common reasons people have stated they are attending my virtual posing clinics. I ask every person that attends my clinics why they are there and here are four of the common answers and an estimated amount of time it will take to learn the proper skills to achieve the goal. First one: I don’t want to look like an idiot on stage Well, you are at my clinic so you are already not going to look like an idiot. So BOOM done. Second one: I don’t know how to make the poses look flattering on me. No matter if you are a bikini competitor, classic physique, figure, wellness, women’s physique, men’s physique, or bodybuilder, you will learn the poses for your category and proper execution that day of my clinic. That is step one. Making them look flattering requires more practice and refinement and that happens at my weekly classes just by coming to them and practicing with the rest of the students on a consistent basis. You can do a lot in 4 weeks, but a good 8 weeks of practice will help you feel much more comfortable in your poses. And then to become really good, you need consistent practice year round, like what we do in my weekly virtual posing classes, where you build upon what you already know and learn more advanced skills. Third reason people say they come to my clinics: I don’t know how to transition from pose to pose and make it look flowy and natural. The first thing you need to do is learn the proper execution of the poses first and stop focusing on all the fancy stuff right away. When building a house, you pour the foundation first, don’t you? Learning the basics on poses is building your foundation first. Learning improper execution of poses in the beginning is like building a foundation that cracks right away. Take the time to learn the poses with proper execution. Only when you are confident and consistently doing the poses correctly, only then start to focus on the transitions. You can learn the footwork pretty quickly so don’t stress about it. Most of my students laugh and joke with me when I show them how simple the footwork really is with my signature style of teaching footwork. Transitions are less complicated than you think. Plus, making the poses look flowy and natural also comes with more consistent practice. Give yourself 8 weeks minimum of structured practice to get confident at posing and moving in and out of the poses. Get through your first show. And then keep going so you can learn some more advanced skills for your next show. You will be good your first year of competing, but you will be unrecognizable on stage in your second year of competing from learning and practicing more things. And finally, the last reason people say they come to my clinic is: I want to win and earn my pro card. If you really want to earn your pro card and actually be competitive as a pro then your journey to the stage is going to be different than the average person. Students who come to me to learn to pose and be a stand out on stage, need 8 weeks minimum for a posing overhaul. However, someone with only 8 weeks is going to be provided a different path of skill development than someone who comes to me 6+ months out from show and wants to be undeniable. I can do a complete posing overhaul in 8 weeks, but with more time, you’re gonna learn more skills, and skills build upon skills, and it is only with time do skills become engraved in you to become exceptional. One of my students has been in my virtual Classes for 10 months. She competed in the bodybuilding division a couple weeks ago on a world stage and her individual posing routine was so captivating, she had people coming up to her after the show at the hotel wanting to take pictures with her. There were hundreds of people that competed at that show but SHE was the stand out. That didn’t happen from 8 weeks, that happened from 10 months. So in summary, you can never start too early when it comes to learning how to pose. Most people underestimate how long it really takes to become good at posing. Many of my students tell me that they wished the started sooner. If your show is in the spring starting to learn how to pose NOW is an emergency. If your show is summer or fall next year, starting now will ensure that you build a proper posing foundation and have enough time to build some of your own unique style and personality on stage. If you are a pro, you should never stop practicing and learning new things. When you stop practicing posing, just like when you take time off from exercise, you will get rusty and out of shape, so plan accordingly. Alright guys, I hope this episode sets your expectations up a little better on when and how to learn how to pose before a show. If you are an ocb or npc competitor I have virtual posing clinics coming up that you should attend. The ocb one is an official one and they run monthly. The next one is this Saturday. Go to learntopose.com/ocb for info and register. The next virtual NPC clinic also runs monthly and the next one is the following Saturday. Go to learntopose.com/npc for info and to register for that one. You can also just go to learntopose.com where I have free posing tutorials, info on my clinics, and keep scrolling and you will find my weekly virtual posing classes too. Thanks for listening! I’ll be back again soon with another weekly gathering episode I did with my husband vassilios followed by part 4 of this series of 10 tips for your first prep. Talk soon…

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49: Weekly Discussions With Vassilios And Michele: All About Confidence 33:02

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In today's episode Vassilios and I discuss what it takes to increase your confidence when you are new, after situations when results do not meet your expectations, or coming back from self perceived failure. Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for a NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at https://learntopose.com/NPC -Getting ready for an OCB show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next *OFFICIAL* virtual posing clinic at https://learntopose.com/OCB -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Posing Mechanics)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Internal vs external validation (4:34) *Vassilios experience with Battle of the Bands in LA for the Ozzfest (6:45) *Michele’s parent’s 50th wedding anniversary grand entrance (10:15) *New competitors hyper focus on details to feel more confident (13:45) *Your WHY dictates your attitude (18:50) *Practice builds a knowing which builds a confidence (22:15) *How self imposed pressure affects confidence (27:28)…

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48: Meet The Federations Part 4: The NPC And IFBB With Guest IFBB Head Judge Becky Clawson 1:28:11

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My guest today is IFBB Pro League Head Judge, and Mr Olympia & Arnold Classic Judge, Becky Clawson, who chats with me about the NPC and IFBB organization as a whole, each of the men and women divisions, the judging for each of the divisions, pro cards, drug testing, and so much more! Today’s episode continues the series that spotlights each of the organizations in bodybuilding and what makes them special and unique. Tune in for a full well, rounded picture of the NPC and IFBB! Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for an NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at https://learntopose.com/npc -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Posing Mechanics)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Meet Becky Clawson (2:32) *Is the judging process the same for the NPC and IFBB locally and internationally? (8:20) *Why Becky thinks you should compete with the NPC/IFBB (11:55) *What do “natural” vs. “not natural” shows mean in NPC and IFBB (14:14) *How to get your pro card (16:40) *Why doesn’t the NPC and IFBB drug test all of their shows? (23:04) *A breakdown of each of the different men and women divisions (27:23) *Biggest change Becky has seen in the sport (43:56) *Why is the IFBB pro card so sought after and does Does Becky believe it gives an advantage in life (47:41) *Does the IFBB have standards, expectations, and certain “looks” they go for and want to see on stage (posing, suits, hair, stage walks, etc)? (52:25) *How does the NPC and IFBB score their athletes in each of the divisions (and do the scores change?) (53:47) *How do you become an NPC and IfBB Judge and learn how to judge? (1:04:30) *Does the NPC and IFBB require you to use certain coaches, suit designers, makeup, wear specific hair, etc.? (1:09:57) *What division does Becky think is the most difficult to judge and least difficult to judge? (1:16:45) *Becky’s favorite competitor of all time across all divisions (1:18:03) *Will there be any new divisions added to the NPC and IfBB coming up? (1:20:10) *What’s next for Becky? (1:21:08)…

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47: 10 Tips For Your First Prep Part 2 - Get Bodybuilding Lean (And What To Expect) 14:31

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Bodybuilding is about sculpting our bodies into muscular works of art. Instead of a tangible sculpting tool, to unveil our masterpiece for a contest, we prioritize losing body fat and preserving as much muscle as possible. Bodybuilding is far beyond general weight loss and the expectations surrounding preparing for a show should be set accordingly from the beginning for best results. Tune in as I elaborate more on getting lean in part 2 of my new 10 part series, "10 Tips For Your First Prep." Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for an OCB or NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW Class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Posing Mechanics)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Bodybuilding often means being hungry (2:50) *There are those who struggle to keep weight on (3:38) *The "sorority of suffering" (5:00) *The new weight loss pills (7:15) *What is "bodybuilding lean" (8:13) *The process of getting lean for a bodybuilding show. (9:18) --Transcript-- What’s up guys! I’m back again with part 2 of my new series where I break down in detail 10 tips for your first prep. If you listened to part 1 you are well versed on the different categories there are in bodybuilding and now know how important it is to choose the right one since what you are being scored on will differ depending on the category. Today I’m going to talk about what it means to get lean for a show and how hunger is often confused with leanness. Food, including excess food, or the opposite, hunger, are a major part of what makes bodybuilding unique. For the average person, if you are preparing for a bodybuilding show, there will come a time when you are going to have to just be hungry. But there is a difference between being hungry and actually starving. We are not starving when doing a bodybuilding show. Everything we are doing is our own doing and choice. There is a fridge with food in it, even if it’s not for you, it’s still there. You can still eat it. There is choice. Starving would mean you have no food and limited access to it. There is this sorority of suffering out there that loves to be overly dramatic about how hungry they are in their prep. Hunger when preparing for a show is your own will. And it’s part of being a bodybuilder for many, and it’s part of what it takes for many to get really lean. And in my opinion most of the people complaining about how hungry they are, don’t look lean or very close to contest ready. More on this in a minute. First let me put in perspective that there is also a group of people who can’t keep weight on and in order to grow muscle they have to eat excess food beyond what their hunger tells them in order keep the weight on. We all know people like that, and it may be you too. They are always lean and struggling to put on size, and never do cardio. So again, they are lean, but they aren’t complaining about being starving. In order for them to be lean and muscular, they have to eat more food and be mindful of calorie expenditure. The extreme to this is with the IFBB open men’s bodybuilding division. Their struggle in bodybuilding is that they have to eat an extreme amount of food in order to keep the mass on. 4x Mr Olympia, Jay Cutler, used to wake up in the middle of the night to eat or he would drop too much weight. Derek Lungsford just announced last week he is withdrawing from the 2023 Olympia after a year of preparing for this show because he has been throwing up food and can’t keep it down, despite trying to force it down even after vomiting. He is having stomach issues and is now prioritizing his health and not the contest. He believes that once he gets things figured out he will be back to focusing on bodybuilding again. So there are two types of people, those who have to put extra effort into keeping weight on, and those who have to put extra effort into taking weight off. Those who have to eat a lot to keep weight on, you don’t really hear complaining from them on the internet. Those who are a part of the sorority of suffering are those who are being drama about having to be hungry while controlling their calorie intake to drop weight. And they are also those who tend to not come close to being lean enough for a show, complain a lot about how hungry they are their entire prep, stuff a luggage size bag with junk food to eat the minute they get off stage, continue for the next week to eat like an asshole after their show, and then gain a ton of weight after the show, and blame their weight gain on “metabolic damage.” This behavior is all over the internet and gives bodybuilding a bad name. Some people are legit hungry from bad coaches with protocols that include 800 calories, white fish, and gobs of cardio, which you guys have heard me talk about in one of my first podcast episodes on what I call the death of credibility. But for the majority of people who have to control calories to get lean for a bodybuilding show and are not a part of the sorority of suffering, I think most new people get into bodybuilding with grandiose expectations on weight loss and underestimate how long it really takes, and how much consistency you need to have following the protocol, in order to get bodybuilding lean. Personally, when I want to drop weight, I know that for about the first 4-6 weeks I am not going to see any positive reinforcement from my efforts to lose weight. I have to keep my head down and stay consistent, and just not think about it. During this time I’m always hungry too. Plus I love food. Besides bodybuilding, I would say eating good food is one of my favorite hobbies in life. There is nothing like a good meal. I don’t like complete junk though. I like real good food. And I’ll pay good money for it too. After all the years of bodybuilding I learned some foods aren’t worth the calories or some foods are just a chemical shitstorm that I don’t want to put in my body. But real good food. I’ll travel for it. So when preparing for a show or even just trying to lose the 15 pounds I’ve been telling my husband I plan to do for a few years now, amazingly good meals go away. And that makes me sad. Plus, I know that I just have to be hungry and pull out some of my tricks from my competition toolbox to help me suppress my appetite. So the process of getting lean is really not that fun for me until the freaky shreds appear. Until then, it’s freaking boring. So I understand how controlling hunger is what makes weight loss a challenge for anyone, not just a bodybuilder. And tackling this issue is big business. You guys have all probably heard of the new weight loss drugs that are flying off the shelfs across the country. Drugs like ozempic for example. I will be launching a separate podcast here shortly all about these drugs and fat burners and pre workouts too. Vassilios and I recorded it live last week in our Facebook group Everything Else in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders at our Thursday 1pm EDT show. Come join the conversation if you haven’t yet. This one caught a lot of attention in our group. In summary, these new weight loss drugs control hunger. That’s pretty much it. If you have a medical condition like type 2 diabetes or severe obesity then these drugs would be considered a medical intervention. For the rest of society, they are, in my opinion, not needed and do more harm than good. Especially if you are a bodybuilder, one of the side effects would be especially detrimental to you. I explain it all on the recent show we did and again you can check it out in our group or stay tuned here because I will be launching the audio here shortly. So what is bodybuilding lean and how do you get there? The goal of being bodybuilding lean is to be able to view the shape and detail of your muscles under the surface of the skin. In order to do this, your #1 goal is to drop body fat while trying to preserve as much muscle mass as possible. The lower your body fat, the more detail we will see in your muscles. How much muscle you have and the detail we want to see will depend on your division, with the bodybuilding division requiring the most visible muscle, and the bikini and men’s physique divisions requiring the least amount of size and detail of all the categories.. Regardless, at a minimum, for women, no matter what your division, you need to make sure your abs are tight and your glutes and hamstrings are tight. Whatever body fat you need to be for this to happen will be uniquely you. For men, same thing, you need to make sure at a minimum your abs are shredded for all your divisions. Again, whatever body fat you need to be to get there will be uniquely you. If you are in divisions that require more muscle, these same suggestions apply and are an understatement because you will need to show additional detail, which likely means you need to be even leaner. So it’s not a magical scale weight or a dress or a pant size. It’s a specific look. Your first prep is a quest to discover your muscle in all is glorious detail for the first time. It’s hard to say how long it’s going to take to get you there. I highly suggest you stay open minded about the literal show you are doing. If you want to pick a division and federation, cool, that will give you somewhat of a target to focus your training and nutrition on. But wait on picking your first show until you are in beach shape. I often say there is a difference between looking hot on the beach and looking contest ready. If you are looking great on the beach, you are not lean enough for the stage. But you are in great shape and with some extra focus you can be contest ready very soon. If you aren’t inn beach shape and still have excess weight to lose, my suggestion is to not pick a show but to lose the excess weight first and then pick a show that is 10-20 weeks out. Don’t pick the show first and torpedo into it. Get your body ready and take the time to do so. The shows will always be there. And the process of weight loss is not linear. So if a week goes by and you didn’t lose a pound, your bodybuilding life isn’t over, you just need to stay the course and give your body time to budge. You also need to start the process a lot sooner than you think. I feel like a lot of times people set themselves up for failure by picking a show and under-estimating the time it’s going to take to prepare for the show. What makes bodybuilding special is the ability to lose body fat and preserve muscle so that should be the priority, not the literal pounds. You want to give your body plenty of time to slowly lose the body fat so you can not just preserve as much muscle as possible, but also allow ample time for your body, your hormones, your psyche, to adjust to the weight loss. Ever see someone continuously yo-you diet? They lose all the weight fast, only to gain it all back and then some. Weight loss, especially a lot of weight loss, if done slowly will likely become something you can sustain rather than purge after. Many people who have done these extreme weight loss protocols to get on stage never come back from it. Their relationship with food sucks. Their relationship with exercise sucks. And they disappear from bodybuilding. And this was all completely not necessary. What’s the rush to get to the stage for? There are hundreds of shows all throughout the year. Why is it such a big deal to wait another 6 months to do a show? What is so important about that one particular plastic trophy that makes you willing to compromise your health over it? For myself, I estimate a pound of weight a week is good. But this is an average. I am not expecting to literally lose a pound a week. One week it might be a half, another zero, another 2lbs. It’s an average. But right now, if I wanted to do a show, I’m carrying what I consider excess weight to a show anytime soon. If a show was a goal for me, I would make it a year to a year and a half from now. I would first lose about 15-20lbs over a 20 week period of time, so about 5 months, and then live there for a while at maintenance calories before even setting my sights on a show. So in summary, getting lean for a show is the same process as regular weight loss. We just do it longer. How long it will take for you will depend on where you are right now. Are you beach ready? Then you are within target of a show 12-20 or so weeks depending on your category. Still have excess weight to lose? Take the time to lose that first, live there for a bit, and then go back to dieting to get bodybuilding lean. Your goal would be to stay at hot on the beach or now hot for the holidays for those of us in America for just your regular lifestyle. Then take the 12-20 weeks to get ready. Having healthy expectations for the time it will take you to get lean for your show will set you up for success. If you dial in sooner than expected, that’s a beautiful thing. Your coach will pull back on the throttle a bit. It’s better to be early than behind in the process. There is so much nonsense out there. So please spread the word about this show to even one person today that is competing or thinking about competing. Also, if you can take a moment to leave me a review in iTunes, or post the podcast in the groups you are a part of on your socials to neutralize the nonsense that would be cool. Thanks guys for listening. I’ll be back later in the week with another episode with my husband. I also have a really great interview coming up for those interested in the NPC and IFBB federation. You won’t want to miss this one. Speaking of NPC, I have another NPC virtual posing clinic for all men and women categories from bodybuilding to bikini coming up October 28th. Get the scoop on the judging differences, what makes NPC unique, and how to be a stand out on stage. Competing in OCB? I have an official virtual posing clinic coming up November 4th too. Info on both these clinics and my weekly virtual posing classes can all be found at learntopose.com . I’ll be back later this week. Talk to you then!…

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46: Weekly Discussions With Vassilios and Michele: What Does It Mean To Live A Bodybuilding Lifestyle? 51:48

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Vassilios and I discuss what it means to us to live a bodybuilding lifestyle and share our own personal fitness tips and tricks we utilize every day. Guess what.. we also went to <<< Dairy Queen.... >>> :) Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for an OCB or NPC show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW Class for new people beginning to learn how to pose (Posing Mechanics)! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Our gym obsession (4:00) *Our interpretation of a bodybuilding lifestyle (5:50) *Bodybuilding then and now (13:45) *We went to Dairy Queen (19:25) *Protein as a secret weapon? (25:30) *Additional Tips (30:00) *Getting Lean (36:25)…

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45: 10 Tips For Your First Prep Part 1: Picking The Right Category 22:12

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Welcome back to the show! Today I’m starting a new series where I share 10 tips to help you better prepare for your first competition. The first tip I'm sharing today is to pick the right category. I break down each of the categories in detail to help you better understand what they are, the goal of each of the categories, and help you better determine which one fits you best. Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Want to learn how to pose for NPC, OCB, or Fitness Universe? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly posing class called “Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisions” now available on Sundays! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *The Bikini Category (3:15) *The Men’s Physique Category (4:30) *The Wellness Category (5:50) *The Figure Category (7:52) *The Women’s Physique Category (9:21) *The Classic Physique Category (12:30) *The Bodybuilding Category (16:05) *Pageant style shows and their categories (16:20) Welcome back guys! Just me here on the mic again today with a new podcast series I’m doing that breaks down my top 10 tips for all you new people thinking about doing shows. This is also a great refresher for you veterans too. A lot of you new people probably stumbled across this podcast after a lot of bumps and bruises while combing through all the nonsense out there trying to figure out this thing called bodybuilding. My federation is better than yours. Our federation is better because we are natural. My federation is the most prestigious. My federation is the most glamourous. You will hear me say over and over that the best federation is the best option for YOU. This is the most exciting and one of the most expensive hobbies you will ever take part in. So regardless of which federation you choose, today, I’m going to talk about the first of my 10 tips to help you better prepare and feel more confident for your first prep. Starting with the different divisions. There are so many to choose from it can get confusing. You’ve got bikini, wellness, men’s physique, figure, classic physique, open bodybuilding, women’s physique, and then you have other divisions that are more glammy like fitness model, model, muscle model, and so on. Knowing where you best fit is important because it can be discouraging to spend all the time an money preparing for a show only to place really low in a category for no reason except your body was better suited for a different category. So let’s start with the bikini, men’s physique, and the wellness divisions. Bikini is looking for an athletic amount of muscle and a proportionate physique. The amount of muscle required in the bikini division is the least amount you are going to see on a bodybuilding stage. This is usually where people start when they are new to training and bodybuilding, and especially after a weight loss transformation. You will see the bikini competitors in non drug tested federations leaner and more muscular than drug tested federations so if you are brand brand new you might want to make note of this. It can get confusing when you start looking at pictures. In fact, I saw a social media post recently of a side by side competitor photo from a coach who only works with clients training for NPC and IFBB shows, which are not drug tested. The “before” photo of his competitor looked like the “after” photos of what many new competitors look like when competing for the first time on drug tested bikini stages. So this might help you put things into perspective when I say the look of bikini is different in drug tested versus non drug tested organizations, but it’s still the least amount of muscle required among all the different categories. Men’s physique is the entry level division for the men’s categories and requires the least amount of muscle compared to the bodybuilding division, so this is a perfect starting place for men who have had a significant weight loss or those who are somewhat new to training and are hitting a stride with their workouts. The biggest stand out with men’s physique is the tight abs and a dramatic shoulder to waist ratio, so make sure your 6 pack is showing and you know how to flare those lats. There has been a dramatic upswing in the amount of men’s physique competitors coming to me to learn how to pose and who are over 50 and looking to do their first show. It’s a perfect division for you! My over 50 men’s physique posing clients start off a little shy at first. In a private session I asked one of my students to do something with hit foot and his initial response was, “I feel like a ballerina.” I took a screen shot of him and pulled it up for him to see what he looked like with the foot position change and compared it to a screen shot I took of him without the adjustment. His response was not only did he not look like a ballerina, he looked pretty freaking good. And slowly the confidence blossomed. So, men, you can look strong, athletic, powerful, and artistic at the same time. Just freaking let go and watch the magic happen. I won’t let you look like a ballerina, ok? Wellness is probably the division that confuses people the most. Wellness isn’t an out of shape bikini competitor. Or a soft and thick bikini competitor. Wellness is a division that rewards a very specific body shape and appearance. Wellness is for women with trained physiques that are structurally lower body dominant. Many women are confusing this category because they are assessing their body when they are carrying excess body fat and thinking that this is their structure. Remember, I said wellness is looking for a trained physique. In layman’s terms, you need to be muscular. So assessing your physique when you are leaner is important. For example, me, I’m nowhere near contest shape right now and am loving lifting heavy and getting stronger. I have a boootay right now. And some thick legs too. If I wear shorts I got a little SWISH going on with my quads as they sweep past each other with every step. My fat distribution is lower body dominant at the current moment. But if I drop 20lbs and show my trained physique this is not the case. Structurally I am quite symmetrical. When I drop weight the symmetry shows. So you can’t be analyzing your body in the off season when it’s not looking as trained and detailed. I’m seeing a lot of symmetrical bikini girls thinking they are wellness and doing some super squatty posing to create more lower body dominance. I don’t advise doing this. I advise you get an honest assessment on your structure and best category from the beginning so you can start posing and learning better stage presence for the category you want to score your best in. Feel free to post in my Everything Else in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders group on Facebook and ask more questions on this. It’s a free group where we have conversations on all of these episodes and all things bodybuilding. Moving on to the more muscular categories like Figure, Women’s Physique, Classic Physique, and Bodybuilding. Starting with Figure. Figure is looking for a trained, symmetrical, physique. Figure was designed originally to provide another option for Fitness competitors who were required to do an athletic performance as part of their scoring. Many fitness competitors didn’t want to have to do the routine that included things like strength holds, flexibility, gymnastic tumbling, dance, and more. Many suffered injuries. So figure was born and it was meant to look a fitness competitor. Over the years it has evolved into being a division that looks for a very specific style structure. A wide shoulder to waist ratio. Very trained physique with visual cuts in the quads and detail in the hamstrings. Broad shoulders with dense caps to them. And of course tight abs and a small waistline. You don’t develop this type of physique with 2 years of training. So the figure division is for very athletic women who have many years of training under their belt and are symmetrical, not lower body dominant. But don’t be scared by the description of capped shoulders and quad cuts. The posing that is required for the figure division is meant to dramatize these features on you. The poses are not shapes we stand in in everyday life. In fact, I remember my friend Shelley calling me a “sleeper” because when I stood normal I look unassuming and small. But when I flared my lats and flexed, poof, I look like a completely different person, and joked that I looked like a flying squirrel. So don’t be intimidated by this division. It’s a great option for those who have developed and carry more muscle. Women’s physique is a relatively new division that was started because the bodybuilding division in the non drug tested federations evolved into having an extreme amount of muscle, yet women still loved the concept of bodybuilding poses. I started in the bodybuilding division. My foundation is bodybuilding. And I will always love bodybuilding poses and I love teaching all of it to men and women in my weekly virtual posing classes and 1 on 1s. But with the evolution to an extreme look in the bodybuilding division in non drug tested federations, popularity decreased and there was even a time that the women’s bodybuilding division was removed completely from the Olympia competition, which is the largest bodybuilding competition the world, until die hard women’s bodybuilding fan Jake Wood bought the show and brought it back. Women’s physique became widely popular when it first started and Dana Lynn Bailey won the first Olympia in 2013. She has since gone on to become a mega star. The distinct difference between women’s physique and the bodybuilding division is the amount of muscle and definition of the competitors, although over the years, since about 2017, this line has blurred in the non drug tested federations, and if you ask me, women’s physique is barley recognizable from when it first started. It’s super super lean and very muscular now.. The posing is also distinctly different with women’s physique competitors being required to do muscularity poses with open hands rather than with closed fists. Both divisions do not require women to wear the high heels like you have to wear in the figure divisions. Since it’s inception, drug tested federations have adopted the women’s physique category and over time its popularity trumped the popularity of the women’s bodybuilding division and now some federations don’t even have women’s bodybuilding anymore and their most muscular division stops with women’s physique. This is not the case everywhere though. Some drug tested federations don’t have women’s physique at all and still have bodybuilding, because again, the initial adoption of the division was because there was a need for it in non drug tested federations where the jump in muscle from figure to bodybuilding was significant. This is not the case in the drug tested - also called - natural bodybuilding. The evolution in the natural bodybuilding federations that added the division was based on popularity of the look with the open hands and style of posing. In addition there are federations that have physique style posing where they do require you to do them in high heels, which can be super fun. So there is merge of the concepts in some places as well. I love teaching the posing for these divisions. In fact I have a weekly virtual posing class every Wednesday night at 6pm EDT for women’s physique, bodybuilding, classic physique, men’s physique, and the division with heels called Fit body. Come learn to flex and look like a badass ladies! Go to weeklyposing.com for more info. Next up the men’s classic physique division. The reason for the creation of this division is similar to the story I just shared about women’s physique and bodybuilding. The open men’s bodybuilders in the non drug tested federations became what is called “mass monsters.” These competitors are still hitting 300lbs in their off season! Not every one wants to carry this amount of size or do what is required to obtain this amount of size. People starting comparing the look of Arnold and the guys from the golden area of bodybuilding and saying how aesthetic bodybuilding used to be. From this was born the classic physique division and the first Olympia was in 2016 with Danny Hester claiming the first title. Although since then the current champion Chris Bumstead has gone on to be debatably the most popular bodybuilder in the world right now. The natural organizations have different opinions on this division. Some natural organizations say that classic physique IS natural bodybuilding and don’t see a need to adopt it. And other natural organizations have included the division because of its popularity all over the world and created their own distinct judging requirements for this division that separates it from the bodybuilding division. It’s a very fun division because the posing styles are more artistic. I’m seeing a rise in popularity of this division among the young bodybuilders who love the posing style. Plus you wear classic style shorts and not the banana hammock you need to wear in the bodybuilding division. So if you are a proportioned, trained athlete who loves bodybuilding poses, this is a great option for you. My best suggestion for you guys is to have an honest conversation with yourself about your best angles, shapes, and really focus your posing your body to accentuate all of this. I work on this a lot in my weekly group virtual classes too. In fact there is such a desire for this division from OCB competitors that I had to create a whole separate class. This class runs on Sundays at 12pm eastern. Go to learntopose.com and scroll down to the ocb class to find out more info. Ok so let me summarize all of this for you. A quick way to choose the right division is to assess how much muscle you have. Bikini and men’s physique are for those who are new or newer to training with a couple years under their belt; however, in the non drug tested federations this is still true but you might need a few more years of training to build the muscle that they tend to reward there. Figure and wellness are for those with more trained physiques and with more years of building muscle under your belt. Wellness is just as trained as Figure except where you carry your muscle is more lower body dominant than in the figure division. Men’s classic physique and women’s physique are spin offs of the bodybuilding division and have gained popularity over the years for their uniqueness in posing styles and the celebrity of athletes like Chris Bumstead and Dana Linn Bailey who really helped expand the popularity of these divisions worldwide. These divisions require more muscle and more leanness in body fat compared to the bikini, figure, wellness, and men’s physique categories, but not as much as the bodybuilding divisions. So if you have been training for quite a long time and love the idea of muscularity poses, classic physique and women’s physique are great options. And the bodybuilding division, is the most extreme of all divisions, and requires your body fat to get down to extreme levels to showcase all of your muscle and detail. Besides all of these bodybuilding options are organizations that provide a completely different style of competition that is more pageant like than what you get with a standard bodybuilding show. You might really enjoy lifting and want a fun goal. Or you have had an incredible weight loss transformation and you want to be judged more on your uniqueness not how well you fit within a specific bucket of criteria, or how tight your glutes are, or how lean you are. You want to celebrate and showcase your uniqueness on stage and be scored on that. You want more stage time and not be spun around in a circle 1 or 2 times and then shuttled off stage. You want to wear costumes and design something fun that showcases your personality and style. You want more focus on how glamorous the stage looks and the best lighting for your moment on stage. If this is you, there are options for you. Fitness Universe and Musclemania are the longest running organizations for this style of show. It was originally a television show that was on mainstream ESPN back in the day. The men’s options include physique, classic, and Model. The women’s options include Model, bikini, and figure. The judges are modeling agencies, actors, choreographers, and other industry experts. You are 100% scored on your uniqueness. And the look is not extreme. You don’t have to have the most etched glute and hamstring tightness on stage to win. This is a perfect option for those who want a fun fitness goal without the extremeness of a bodybuilding show. Come to one of my official virtual posing clinics to learn more about the categories. More info at learntopose.com and scroll to the clinic section The WBFF is also more of a fitness meets fashion show but they are under a lot of heat lately for their judging and financial practices. They just made a huge announcement about many changes happening in 2024 with their scoring and judging practices. They have a bikini, fitness model, wellness, and the figure category for the women and a male model and muscle model categories for the men. Similar to bodybuilding organizations, the amount of muscle rewarded in the categories is what makes each of them distinctly different. What makes the organization unique is there is more than just a swimsuit round for most of the divisions. Theme wear or evening wear are required as well, which can be super fun for people. They do reward a more muscular physique so this is definitely a glamorous organization but you have to have some muscle too. The bikini girls aren’t ripped but they do have full round quads. The fitness model girls have cuts in their quads. The figure girls are super jacked. The men’s categories are lean too with the muscle model being simply just more muscular than the model category. The biggest difference between this organization and a regular bodybuilding organization is you better be able to work a stage. There are also theme wear divisions like this in the INBA/PNBA and the OCB even has a glamour division they just added to a couple of their shows too. These divisions are an add on to the bodybuilding style shows so the show experience isn’t like a tv show like the Fitness Universe and Musclemania, but the divisions are still super fun for those looking for more than just a standard bodybuilding experience. So as you can see there is something for everyone. If you love to perform and the idea of theme wear excites you, there are options for you. If you would rather stick a needle in your eye than wear a costume, there are more traditional options for you too. But for the most part, even if you are competing in a pageant type show or a traditional bodybuilding show the difference between the categories is….yup, you guess it…. The amount of muscle you carry and how lean you need to get to be competitive. The difference in the categories from federation to federation is their interpretation of acceptable muscle and level of leanness for each category with the drug tested federations rewarding less muscle and leanness than non drug tested organizations. Ok guys I hope this help you weed through all the different options there are out there. Share this with your friends that are competitors or thinking about competing. Help spread the word and even consider leaving a review! If you want to continue the conversation in our private group, come join the everything else in bodybuilding insiders Facebook group. Also, I have upcoming virtual posing clinics for competitors preparing for NPC, OCB, and brand new clinics for the Fitness Universe organization coming up. You can find out more info on all of them and my weekly virtual posing classes by going to learntopose.com I’ll be back later this week with another weekly discussion episode with my husband Vassilios. Talk to you then!…

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44: Weekly Discussions with Vassilios and Michele: How To Know You Are Ready To Do A Show 47:56

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This week Vassilios and I discuss how to know when you are ready to do a show and how it relates to Vassilios’ experiences as a touring and signed artist. We discuss the different divisions, expectations, peak week, where to start if you are new, and a healthy mindset in and around competing. Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” on Facebook and come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for a OCB, NPC, or Fitness Universe show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW COMPETITORS - weekly posing class called “Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisions” that breaks down all the poses! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Expectations when competing (3:45) *Being ready for the Bikini division (10:05) *Being ready for the Figure and Men’s Physique divisions (15:19) *How Vassilios knew he was tour ready and how it relates to bodybuilding (16:25) *Being ready for the Bodybuilding, Classic, Women’s Physique, & Wellness divisions (22:10) *Peak week (26:15) *Where to start if you are new (28:25) *A healthy Mindset in and around competing (36:00)…

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43: Switching Federations: What Are The Rules? 18:58

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Welcome back guys! Just me on the mic today addressing the question I get all the time about what the rules are on competing in multiple organizations. Can you? What happens if you do? Tune in to find out. Want to chat about the episodes and be a part of our weekly podcast group gatherings? Search for the group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” And come join the conversation. Additional Resources: -Getting ready for a OCB, NPC, or Fitness Universe show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly posing class called “Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisions” now available on Sundays! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *My background on this subject (3:40) *Why people want to switch between organizations (6:30) *An overview of the rules on switching organizations (11:10) *Why some of my virtual posing clinics are official and some aren’t (13:15) *Why where you hold your Pro card status matters if you want to switch organizations (14:55) *Virtual posing clinics at learntopose.com (17:33) --TRANSCRIPT-- Welcome back to the show guys! I hope you have been enjoying listening to the men’s perspective on bodybuilding and fitness with the addition of my new weekly discussion episodes with my husband Vassilios hosting with me. He and I will be back again later this week with another episode. We also record these live every week in the Everything Else in bodybuilding podcast insiders Facebook group in case you want to watch these episodes and participate in the discussion in real time. But today it’s just me here sharing some of my thoughts on a topic that I think is very important for those who wish to compete in more than one federation. Over the years the bodybuilding industry has changed a lot and more and more federations have popped up giving people new opportunities to compete in their local area. There are also the federations that have grown into empires with a large pool of participants and a large number of shows around the country and world. With this many organizations and opportunities to compete, I’ve had many people ask me what are the rules on changing federations? I’ve mentioned it before that many coaches will align with a particular federation and only coach athletes for shows within that federation. Some coaches will only coach athletes for drug tested federations because of their strong belief in natural bodybuilding. Some coaches will only coach for NPC because they believe that their federation is the only one of value in the bodybuilding industry. And some don’t care where you compete and will coach you anywhere you wish to go. This is relevant for posing coaches too. Many stay in their lane and coach for the division they competed in themselves. Some will only coach for the federation they competed with. There is nothing wrong with specializing in one area. For example, when I was searching for an orthopedic for an injury, I had to weed through the orthopedics on the office roster to find a doctor that worked on the area of the body I needed help with. Just like in bodybuilding there are specialists within specialists. This is very common. I consider what I personally do uncommon because because my speciality is posing for ALL bodybuilding federations and all men and women divisions. I work with hundreds of athletes a year and this year alone I’ve taught posing for athletes in over 10 federations. My current roster includes men and women bodybuilders, classic physique competitors, wellness competitors, figure competitors, bikini competitors, men’s physique competitors, women’s physique competitors, fit body competitors, glamour, and the list goes on. In any given day I will switch between all the divisions by the hour. And my virtual group classes will include anywhere between 3-5 divisions in one hour. Yes, in one of my classes, I will manage, teach, and provide value to men and women in 5 divisions at ONCE. Wonder how I provide value to so many? Well you have to come and see. Right now in one of my classes that has 5 divisions, most of these students have been in the classes for 9 months. Those who leave tend to come back. And many tell their friends and teammates about the classes. So my speciality is very specific in that it’s posing for all of bodybuilding, but it is much broader than what you are going to find anywhere else. The reason I say all of this, is because my experience means I know all the different nuances among the federations. And today I’m going to share my thoughts on some dos and don’ts and spoken and unspoken rules when switching between federations. Let me first say that there are two very different paths you can take in bodybuilding. One path is drug tested federations like the OCB, WNBF, INBA/PNBA, Musclemania, Fitness Universe, USBF, and so on. And the other path is the non drug tested federations like the NPC/IFBB and the WBFF. Some people are surprised to hear that WBFF is not drug tested. It is in fact not. By the way just because you compete in a drug tested federation doesn’t mean everyone is honest. There have been many people caught using banned substances in drug tested federations. The INBA/PNBA even has a “wall of shame” where they will put your picture on their website to make sure everyone knows you are banned from their federation for lying about drug use. And just because you compete in non drug tested federations doesn’t mean you are on drugs. I’ve competed and won shows in the NPC and competed on the WBFF pro World stage too. I am 100% natural. You can absolutely compete in these federations if you are drug free. I think the biggest issue today with people coming into the sport is that these non drug tested federations have a different interpretation of acceptable amount of muscle. So it’s not that you can’t compete there, it’s a question on whether you will be COMPETITIVE when you compete there. This is one reason people switch between federations. If you look at the amount of muscle on the figure, women’s physique, classic, wellness, and open bodybuilding competitors in the IFBB, which is where you compete when you get your pro card in the NPC, and compare it to the amount of muscle in a federation like the OCB for example, you will see there is a dramatic difference in overall size and hardness of the muscles. I think it’s safe to say that if you are a pro in any of these divisions in the IFBB you are on a completely different path than the OCB. In my opinion, you cannot build the amount of size these people carry without drugs. Unless you are that 1% of the population like 5x Figure Olympian champion Cydney Dillon who claims to be a natural athlete. Which leads me to the bikini and men’s physique categories. These categories were introduced to bodybuilding as more entry level divisions for those who are new to the sport and don’t have the years of training and muscle building behind them to be competitive in the other categories. Originally the descriptions of these categories even said “beach body.” Adding these categories was the boost bodybuilding promoters needed because it dramatically increased the amount of people capable of competing in shows. Which increased registrants and audience attendance. This goes for all bodybuilding federations. The beauty of these divisions has made it possible for people from all walks of life, all ages, to have an incredible physical transformation and compete in a show as a way to showcase it. In fact, the largest growing age group reaching out to me for posing assistance are men and women over 50. It’s a beautiful thing to hear their stories and how many of them always wanted to compete but things never aligned in life to do so until now. So where do they go? Where do they compete? NPC non drug tested? Drug tested? A lot of them compete in BOTH. Because from a physique and acceptable level of muscle standpoint, as an amateur, and let me be clear that this is an an amateur, there are much more people capable of being competitive in either drug tested or not drug tested federations on the local and national level. Once you get to the pro level with the non drug tested federations, it’s a different conversation because the level of muscle and leanness is on another level. But locally as an amateur, you can absolutely do well in either federation if you are a bikini or men’s physique competitor. Many new to competing look to see what shows are offered in their local area. With NPC being a very large federation they have thousands of shows around the country. Not every drug tested federation has competitions in every state like the NPC does. In fact many drug tested federations have a presence in a specific region of the country. So if you are in a state that doesn’t have shows offered, especially if you are new, you are not likely to want to pay for airfare, car rental, and additional hotel time just because you want to do your first show. So most people compete locally at first. Which brings me to the rules on switching federations. Many new people to bodybuilding compete and win their pro status very quickly in the non drug tested federations but for various reasons want to compete with other organizations besides the one they are a pro in. These reasons range from: wanting more stage time, not feeling like they are ready to compete with the pros yet, and many competitors who get a master’s pro card (which is a pro card for those in a category over a certain age), are disappointed to see the number of shows offered to master’s only pro competitors is very limited, and they want to compete more. Can you do this? Overall as an amateur you can do whatever you want. And I encourage you to get on stage more than once for more experience. Plus you worked really hard to get on stage for your show, why would’t you want to do more than one after all that work? The day goes by so fast. However, once you get a pro card, the rules as a professional in each organization are different. And you have to read the fine print. Or feel free reach out and ask me or ask in our podcast insiders group. In general, if you get a pro card in the NPC and become an IFBB pro, you are discouraged from competing elsewhere. You sign contracts when competing too. IFBB is very restrictive. In fact, I have judged for 4 federations in the bodybuilding industry. A couple years ago I reached out to the NPC district chairman in my region and offered to judge the local NPC shows in my area. I was asked to provide a resume so I did. I described my experience as both a head judge and a panel judge for multiple organizations, a champion competitor in the NPC, my decades of experience, and so on. The response I received was black or white. I was told that if I wanted to judge for the NPC then I can no longer judge for any other federation. This was just judging you guys. You don’t make a living judging. In fact you get paid pretty much just gas money when you judge a show. You are a judge because you love the sport and want to give back to it. Which was my intent. Needless to say, I decided not to judge for the NPC and to instead give back to NPC competitors by continuing to help with their posing and choreography with the business that I own and operate full time and make my living with. I am proud of being versatile in the bodybuilding industry and love that in the past year alone I judged the Fitness America and Musclemania weekend in Hollywood last November, head judged for the WNBF pro am show in NY, and judged multiple pro am shows for the OCB too. Not one of these three federations ever asked me to not judge anywhere else. In fact, I have the honor of doing the official OCB virtual posing clinics every month. Marjorie and Sully both thank me for doing them and tell me how much they appreciate what I am doing for their athletes. They tell me they appreciate me. They feel that what I do is a service to their athletes. And they know I teach and judge for other federations. In addition, I’m about to launch official virtual posing clinics for the Fitness Universe and Musclemania organization too, beginning October 1st. Fitness Universe is nothing like the OCB organization. Competing in OCB and Fitness Universe is nothing like the other. They are completely different so they aren’t competitors if you ask me. Regardless, each owner knows I teach across all federations for my full time job and they both believe that what I provide their athletes is a great service to them. I do also have NPC virtual posing clinics going on monthly right now, but they are not official, and, as you probably guessed, this is because I teach for other organizations. They provide the athletes in the NPC the exact same in value and education custom to the federation. In fact, one of my previous NPC clinic attendees said she learned more in 15 minutes at my virtual posing clinic than she did at an in person event run by the organization. So if you are thinking of competing in any of these organizations I highly recommend you start with one of my virtual posing clinics. I have them all listed on my website learntopose.com if you scroll down to the services section. So again, what you can and cannot do once you are a pro or working professionally within an organization depends on the organization. Many competitors fear they will lose their pro card if they compete elsewhere. If you are an IFBB pro, you will be discouraged from competing elsewhere. As an amateur, no one is going to prevent you from competing at a NPC show if you ran across the street and did an OCB show. Again, it depends on amateur versus pro status. Now let’s talk pro status in the natural federations. The OCB had a rule that if you were an OCB pro and you competed in a non drug tested federation you would no longer be eligible to compete as an OCB pro. A large number of athletes reached out the OCB and voiced their concerns that they wanted to compete locally so they didn’t need to fly to compete and there were NPC shows in their area. Last year the OCB heard the athletes and removed their rule. So going forward as an OCB pro athlete you can compete where you want and not risk losing your pro status. A large number of other drug tested federations have actually signed a pact amongst each other that allows you to compete as a pro in their federation no matter where you received your pro status. A pro is a pro to them. So you are not discouraged at all to compete in other federations. They don’t care. Other federations will discourage you from competing elsewhere but don’t make a big stink out of it and disallow you from coming back. They prefer that you not win a show and take money and to leave, but that’s not a requirement. The three main pro federations that draw a line in the sand once you become a pro are the IFBB, WBFF, and Muclemania/Fitness Universe. You do risk your pro status when you leave and compete elsewhere. You will have to re-qualify for it. But again this is the pro level where you are now competing on stages and, with the exception of Fitness Universe and Musclemania, you are earning money within that organization. Once you start earning money things change. Up until that point as an amateur you can pretty much do whatever you want. Some coaches will say you can’t cross over but that’s really just their opinion and people being drama. Alright guys I hope you found this episode helpful. Let me know by commenting, liking, and subscribing to the podcast! Head on over to the everything else in bodybuilding podcast insiders group on Facebook and join the conversation too. And if you are getting ready for a show and want to learn how to pose and be competitive on stage in your category, I have official virtual posing clinics for the OCB every month, next one October 7th. and, beginning September 30th, I’m starting back up my NPC virtual posing clinics too, and finally one more big announcement, on October 1st I will be hosting my first official Fitness Universe virtual posing clinic. Fitness Universe is great for those interested in trying a federation with production like a tv show and divisions that include male and female model. A list of all clinics can be found on my website learntopose.com in the services section. Alright I’ll be back later this week with my husband for our weekly discussion. See you later!…

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42: Weekly Discussions with Vassilios and Michele: Hiring and Firing Coaches 45:40

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This week my husband Vassilios and I discuss coaches in bodybuilding and now to best weed through all the noise and confusion when it comes to choosing or parting ways with one. Come join the conversation and be a part of these weekly LIVE episodes in the group: “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” . Additional Resources: -Getting ready for a NPC or OCB show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly posing class called “Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisions” now available on Sundays! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Professionalism in the music industry vs bodybuilding industry (3:20) *Expectations in the music and bodybuilding industries (9:00) *Tips when shopping for a coach (13:58) *When to fire your coach (21:35) *Red flags to watch out for (30:45) *Final thoughts (42:00)…

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41: Weekly Discussions With Vassilios And Michele: Post Show Diet And Mindset 53:35

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Welcome to my new weekly podcast series that includes discussions on various topics in and around bodybuilding with my husband Vassilios Metropoulos. These topics were chosen from suggestions made by the listeners in the "Everything Else" in Bodybuilding Facebook group. Come join the conversation and be a part of these weekly LIVE episodes in our group! The group is called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” . Additional Resources: -Getting ready for a NPC or OCB show and want to learn how to pose? Register for the next virtual posing clinic at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Join my weekly posing classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly posing class called “Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisions” now available on Sundays! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Welcome to our weekly discussions! (2:15) *Meet Vassilos (4:15) *Post tour blues vs post show blues (10:00) *Preventing post show blues: goals (18:00) *Preventing post sow blues: nutrition (24:20) *Preventing post show blues: mindset shifts (38:00) *Listener responses to why they are competing (49:00)…

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40: Attach To The Transformation Not The Trophy 14:39

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14:39

Welcome back guys! I had a thought today that I really felt the need to put out there for you all to consider. Not everyone wins a show but no one should feel like a loser. Tune in to hear my thoughts on this and come join the conversation in my Podcast Facebook group! The group is called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to discuss episodes and follow the podcast tour as we travel the USA promoting the show. Additional Resources: -Want to feel fully prepared on stage at your competition? Jump on my weekly posing practice classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -NEW weekly posing class called “Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisions” now available on Sundays! http://www.weeklyposing.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, Wellness, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com Key Takeaways: *Why are you doing a show (2:47) *Our existence is 100% in our head (3:52) *There can only be 1 winner (5:50) *There is more to celebrate than a trophy (7:15) *Examples of attaching to the transformation not the trophy (10:46) *My weekly virtual posing practice classes (13:15) —Transcript— Welcome back! It feels really great to be here. Its been a minute, huh? Well there is so much to still talk about so plan for more episodes coming. I’m also going to start bringing my husband on here for the male perspective of things which I think is going to add a really great layer to the show. Let me start this episode by saying.. Bodybuilders are really hard on themselves. I talk about this to my posing students all the time how there is a switch that happens at about the 4 week mark from show. You all get freaking crazy. You start mentally stacking all kinds of nonsense. “I’m not lean enough.” “I don’t think I’ll be ready.” “I’m not this, I’m not that.” This kind of self sabotage happens all the time. It’s very common in new people to bodybuilding because you don’t know what to expect from competing and you are putting yourself out there in public in a way that you likely have never done before. The truth is you are never going to feel like you are ready if you hyper focus on being ready. Let’s talk about why you are doing this show in the first place? Maybe you had a really awesome body composition change and decided to make a bodybuilding show your next goal. Maybe you have been thinking about doing a show for 20 years and finally got the courage to go for it. I’m meeting a lot of people who are coming to me for posing assistance in their late 50s which is really awesome. Maybe you were an athlete and you want a new goal to keep you motivated in the gym. Or maybe you were encouraged by the people at your gym to try a show and you figure what the heck you’ll try it out. Regardless of why you decided in the first place to do a show, at some point you will realize you are about to be on stage in your underwear wearing orange paint and posing in front of a live audience for a group of 5-7 people to then analyze your appearance. As you get closer to the show day, the anticipation becomes greater and greater. It’s almost as if the long process to the stage is a slow peel of a bandaid. Like if you were physically ready the minute you decided to do a show you might run out on stage and be much more confident than you do when you have months of time to obsessively think about the show day and sink further and further into your head. Do you realize that this existence is something you have created in your head? That you are stressing your own freaking self out? I’ve had people reach out to me and say that they are thinking about a show but their cortisol levels are high. First off what does that even mean. What barometer was used to measure your cortisol levels. Although there are people with medical issues, sure, but most of you are responsible for your own stress and it’s because of the things you choose to focus on. Our existence is 100% in our head. It’s a perception. Everything that has happened to you in the past is stored away in your head. Everything that will happen in the future is also in your head because it is all just a visualization and a possibility. No matter how bonkers it is, it is ALL possible. Your current state, the NOW, is your reality. How do you want to spend this reality? Do you want to spend it obsessing about the zero.185 pounds you gained that you can’t snap your fingers and change in this moment. Obsessing about these magical body fat numbers that really mean nothing in a bodybuilding contest that is based on an aesthetic not a number. The constant comparison of yourself to others you see on social media who have completely different bodies, are in different stages of life, and are possibly even enhanced in a way from PED use which means you won’t likely look like them unless you are enhanced too. Is this how you want your existence to be? Would you want to hang out with you? Steve Reeves was a professional bodybuilder in the 1950s who was considered to have one of the most perfectly proportioned physiques. If you know his history you might also know he went on to be a Hollywood super star and played iconic roles like Hercules. Steve is a legend. So is Arnold for his one of a kind physique. Bodybuilding was all about rewarding incredible physiques. These people became legends because they were far above average and had a uniqueness that was untouchable in their time. Their physiques were really special and iconic. Arnold and Steve weren’t without competition though. There were many people that wanted to be considered legendary too and gave them a run for their money, but in the end, there can only be one winner. One legend. One icon. There can be only 1 winner in each category at a bodybuilding show. If you don’t win, does that mean you suck? No, it just means someone was better that day and it’s an opportunity for you to evaluate your strengths and weaknesses and continue working on improvement. You were the best version of you that day. Next time you can be even better. If you have nothing to work towards you have no goal. Having no goal is boring. I am a part of some fitness groups on social media that have a lot of new people to bodybuilding. I see a lot of posts about their contest prep and some even post show. This one post the other day was from a girl who was obsessing about her placement. She placed 4th and after obsessing about the 3rd place person’s physique and overly analyzing this other person, she concluded that she should have beat her, and because she didn’t, she felt insecure and upset about it. OMG you guys there is a reason there are 5-7 judges on a panel. The goal of the judges is to find a consensus however, judges most of the time don’t vote unanimously. Because of the differences between the judges scores you can place a spot up or down just by how the numbers fell. This is a subjective sport. Which leads me to the point of this podcast episode. I realize it’s been a minute since my last episode and I promise I will be coming back more regularly. But this thought I had today was one I really felt the need to put out there. I wanted to say it loudly that there has to be more to celebrate when competing in a bodybuilding show than just a 1st place trophy. Only 1 person is going to win that day and if it’s not you, you can’t let it lead to your demise. The 5 people judging a show should not have that much control over your inner joy and value. Step on another stage or compete in another federation and the scoring will likely be different. One group of people is not the end all be all. Many of you are putting yourselves out there in public in a way you have never done before. That is incredibly courageous. Many of you have never been on stage except maybe that moment you walked across a stage to receive your high school diploma in front of a large audience. Many of you have spent years taking care of everyone else and finally decided to do something awesome for yourself that can also be incredibly fun. Many of you who are former athletes have a platform where you can continue being an athlete for the rest of your life if you approach things in a mindful way. And most of you are about to discover that with your hard work and perseverance you can mold your body into a shape and appearance that you never thought was possible. You did that. Why not let yourself live in this space. Let yourself have it! If you watch Arnold’s documentary on netflix you will see that Arnold didn’t just build an incredible physique, he built a mental toughness and a confidence that helped him achieve things far beyond just his Mr Universe and Mr Olympia titles. When you start to train, I mean really train, not just go through the motions at the gym and rush through the reps to get the workout done, when you really start to train, you start to build a new conversation with yourself. When you start to see the physique changes and know you did that, you start to believe that you can do more things. When you get closer to your contest and you experience the challenges in getting your body stage ready, you realize you have a higher will power and inner strength that will change your perceptions forever. When you push your strength training, mindfully of course, and push through the pain, you learn your pain tolerance is much higher than you ever thought possible. So much that I remember a couple years ago I had pain in my stomach that wouldn’t go away but I told myself I would just sleep it off and see if it goes away on its own. The next day the pain got to the point that when I stood up, my body said, NOPE, and I went straight back down. It was only at that level of pain that I called my Mom to come pick me up and take me to the hospital. Turned out to be appendicitis. In my head I didn’t think the pain was all that bad. I’ve experienced worse. It was my body that said NOPE. This is obviously extreme but my point is that pain is also a perception. There is the extreme warning pain like appendicitis that will tell you need to go to the hospital. But the extra rep or two on a leg press machine isn’t the kind of pain that is going to take you to the hospital and require surgery. There was a recent post by Arnold where someone had asked him to take a look at his form on a bench press. This person stopped at 10 reps. Arnold told this person that he couldn’t tell him about this form because he wasn’t done with the set. Arnold said he had at least 5 more reps in him. The more you train, the more you work on stage presence and performing, the more you challenge yourself and put yourself out there, the more you learn about yourself and will become proud of. The first place trophy is awesome, not gonna lie, but the transformation that you will experience is far more valuable. The trophy will sit on a shelf somewhere and collect dust. your friends and family will be excited for you but over time your show last year is not going to be the conversations you have with them. You are going to carry YOU around you all day. The confidence you exude, the motivational attitude you project, these are things you will carry with you every day if you allow yourself to focus on them and they will likely inspire others to want to do better for themselves. A recent men’s physique student of mine came to one of my official OCB virtual posing clinics I hold for the OCB every month. By the way I teach the posing and stage performances for over 10 federations full time every day so it’s an honor to be recognized by a federation for my capabilities, and given the opportunity and the trust to serve their athletes in a very unique way. So this men’s physique competitor comes to my clinic wearing a long shirt and a baseball cap. He is planning to do a show in 8 weeks. He has never posed before and keeps his shirt on the whole time. After the clinic he signs up for it weekly virtual posing classes and some virtual 1 on 1s. 8 weeks later you guys would not recognize him. The confidence, the smile, he is beaming with enthusiasm and pride. After the show for an entire week he was telling me he was still feeling the high and excitement from the entire experience and couldn’t wait to do it again. This is exactly what I mean about attaching to the transformation not the trophy. Another example. 50+ women’s bikini competitor. Says she wants to do one show after thinking about it for 20 years. Is naturally very shy when you meet her. In fact when she first started my virtual posing classes she was stiff, her facial expressions told a story of someone thinking way too much and just going through the motions. Two months later after my signature methods of pulling the super star out of you, she walks on stage for her individual routine and you can hear the audience cheering loudly and in the video you can see the judges nudging each other and clapping for her. She said she was doing one show but is now focusing on doing another in the spring. You guys, THIS is the stuff you should be focusing on. Competing is your chance to be star for the day! To learn things about yourself you never knew possible. To challenge yourself and have a lot of fun in the process. Your vibe attracts your tribe. You can align with people who are alll about the trophy and pro card, there are plenty of those people all over social media. You can focus on and do things that might not be in your long term best interest for the superficial acceptance of winning. Or you can focus on bringing out the uniqueness in you, the transformation within, and FEELING like a champion both on and off the stage whether you win first place or not. The transformation is your greater trophy. Being proud of yourself and motivated by yourself is a far better higher vibrational existence than beating yourself up every day over 5 people’s opinions. Ok guys, thanks for listening! I appreciate all of you who reach out and tell me you are listening to the show. It’s really great to know! If you are preparing for a show, no matter if you are brand new or a seasoned veteran you should join my weekly virtual posing practice classes so you are fully prepared for show day. I have 5 of them now. 2 Wednesday nights for all federations broken up by category. I have 2 for the OCB on Sundays by invite only to those who attend one of my official monthly virtual posing clinics for the OCB. And the 5th class is brand new. I just launched it on Sundays at 10:30am EST and called Posing Mechanics for all men and women divisors. All federations too. In the Posing Mechanics class I go micro into the proper execution of all the poses. You will also get a great practice session. Surround yourself in the excitement of competing and let me help you with a transformation you will be proud of. Check out my classes at weeklyposing.com Till next time!…

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39: What Your Family Can Expect From Your Show Prep (...and when to step in) 24:47

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24:47

Hey guys! In this episode, I offer some guidance to the loved ones that will be putting up with you during your contest prep so they are better prepared for the process. Be sure to have them give this episode a listen! As always, like/subscribe/and share! And come join the conversation in the private Facebook group for listeners to talk about show topics. The Facebook group is called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” so head on over there and request to join! Additional Resources: -FREE posing assessment and road mapping call at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to learn skills that will help you look and feel more confident in your posing and transitions from pose to pose? Learn more at: http://www.weeklyposing.com -Interested in posing courses and custom made tools? Shop Here: https://learntopose.podia.com -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Wellness, Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ Key Takeaways: *An invitation to your loved ones ( 3:40 ) *Gaining an understanding on the overall goal ( learntopose.com There are also entry fees to the contest and travel expenses to factor in, especially if there is a flight and hotel involved. There are also many show day necessities you need to purchase such as specific attire to wear on stage, a very dark tan applied to the skin before the show, and even show day makeup and hair requirements. By the way, the stage tan is not a regular tan. There is a solution applied to the skin a couple days or even the day before the show that will darken to a level that is quite extreme compared to a regular tan. This is also normal. For women, the stage makeup applied and the hair style is also much extra than the regular hair and makeup done on an every day basis. I always joke that my hair and makeup makes me look like a drag queen version of myself. Because this is a physique competition, the attire for the stage, also called “a competition suit” or “suit,” for short, must be customized to fit to your measurements, which means these suits are often hand made. The sky is the limit on how much you can spend for a suit, but at the end of the day, the most important thing for any suit is that it fits and flatters. For women, a suit can cost as little as $300 for a hand made suit if you get a Maggie Suits suit and tell her you want a Michele Welcome suit. My collaboration with Maggie is to make sure that anyone can get a quality suit that fits like a glove that also doesn’t break the bank. I do not get any affiliate fees for this collaboration. This is purely to help competitors get a suit for an affordable price. For men your suits typically are less than $100. However, if your loved one is competing in an organization that also require costumes, gowns, and tuxedos, this is where things can get super costly. This is normal. The suits, hair, makeup, tan and accessories are all normal costs of doing a bodybuilding show and will add up so be prepared for all of these expenses. Ok so far you’ve learned that being in a relationship with someone competing in a bodybuilding show requires adherence to diet and training, since a competition physique is much leaner and more extreme looking than just being hot on the beach fit. This adherence to diet and training must also be done over an extended period of time as well to allow enough time to bring body fat levels down to stage ready levels. You’ve also learned there are many different organizations and levels of muscularity required depending on where people compete. You are aware that performing on stage is the most important thing, really the only thing, you need to do on show day and all the scoring is 100% opinions. And you’ve also learned there are quite a bit of expenses involved in competing that requires you to budget for and set aside money. There are a few other considerations to be prepared for as your loved ones get ready for shows. Some of these considerations I am going to tell you because I want you to be aware of things that might seem like red flags but are normal, and things that might be presented as normal but are actually potential red flags. For one, emotions are going to run high. This is normal. As the process gets further and further into full swing and your loved ones get leaner and leaner, the amount of effort they put in and the changes they will see in their body will affect their everyday mindset. The focus and dedication can be stressful, even if the results are great, because it still take a lot of effort to stay focused day in and day out while also working full time jobs and/or handling everyday family obligations with the household and kids. Plus getting super lean can be uncomfortable so there might be an undertone of irritability at times from the discomfort. By the way, no matter how lean they get,they will probably still not think they are lean enough. The mind can play some head games as time goes on and stress levels increase. Remind them that competing is a hobby and that they are doing everything they can to look and feel their best. Another thing for you to consider as a loved one watching from the outside in is that who they affiliate with with will influence decisions. There are many different bodybuilding organizations. There are many different coaches too. And people are people no matter where they compete and naturally, in any sport, people are competitive. Some coaches will only train clients for specific organizations. Some organizations will say they are the best and the other organizations don’t matter. Some competitors will think their shit don’t stink because they won a trophy or a pro card. The competitiveness of the sport and the attitudes of those your loved one affiliate with can influence their decisions. As a loved one looking in from the outside I suggest you remind your loved one that once again bodybuilding is a hobby and on some level should always remain fun and decisions should always be in their best interest, not the interest of the coach, organization, or anyone or anything else. One thing to note on the topic of who your loved ones affiliate with is you are going to see a lot of people walking around sporting team logos at shows. You will hear things like, “I’m with my team.” “My team is…” This might be confusing for you as a loved one because Bodybuilding is not a team sport. The individual takes home the trophy, and part of that trophy is their physique. The team thing is just for fun and camaraderie. At the end of the day, everyone that competes should make decisions that are best for them, not the team. I repeat, bodybuilding is not a team sport. Another major consideration you must know about if your loved ones are competing in bodybuilding is that there are drug tested and non drug tested federations. Drug tested federations are organizations that do not allow performance enhancing drugs and will test their athletes for banned substances and disqualify anyone from competing should any banned substance be found in their system. Some drug tested organizations add an additional layer of testing by also requiring their athletes to take a polygraph test before a show and disqualify anyone that is found lying about taking performance enhancing drugs. These drug testing measures help weed out those who use performance enhancing drugs to increase muscle size and assist with getting super lean. Drug tested bodybuilding organizations believe taking substances to increase muscle and decrease body fat is an unfair advantage in a competition that is scored on muscle size and level of leanness. Non drug tested bodybuilding organizations do not test for any performance enhancing drugs. Over the past 20 years I have been in the bodybuilding industry I have watched the amount of performance enhancing use in non drug tested federations skyrocket. The winning physiques of competitors in these organizations has evolved greatly as a result of performance enhancing substances to the point that it is debatable whether anyone who is not using performance enhancing drugs will be competitive in these organizations no matter the division, no matter if male for female. Because of the common use of performance enhancing drugs, there is a nonchalant attitude towards the use of them. As a loved one you should question any substance that is recommended to your significant other. You should also remember that this sport is unregulated and remember what I said about coaches and how many have no formal education on human physiology. Any chemical that is recommended should be questioned and researched. Especially anabolic steroids of any kind. For the women in your life, please hear me today when I say, there is not ONE safe anabolic compound. Some compounds are said to be meant for women and safe from side effects - that is completely inaccurate. There is no such thing an an anabolic that has zero androgenic affect (androgenic meaning male characteristics) So any anabolic will run the risk of causing male side effects in women. It will start off subtle but the thing with anabolic compounds is not the acute dose, but the dosage over time, that is the problem. You will hear that there are preferred ones for women because of the lesser degree of side effects with an acute dose, but I assure you, women are very sensitive to androgens and the level of response from taking anabolics is going to be unique to the individual and many of these side effects are permanent. There are no short cuts to building muscle that don’t have consequences. As someone watching from the outside I recommend you be a part of these decisions and remind your loves ones that once again bodybuilding is a hobby and there is no trophy worth ones mental and physical health and overall well-being. As a loved one you might be wondering why on earth anyone would compete in bodybuilding. Why does anyone compete in any extreme sport? You learn a lot about yourself when you compete. You learn willpower, pain tolerance, structure, and the incredible capabilities of the human body to transform its shape. It’s a challenging goal too. Bodybuilding is an extreme sport that requires a lot of time, dedication, and patience. The things we do to prepare for a show are really just the same things we do the rest of the year, like adhering to a nutrition plan, exercising, but just with more precision, and with a specific goal in mind. If done right, competing can be done for many decades. In fact many of the people I work with are in their 50s and 60s. Preparing for a show is only a small part of life but during this time it can change the dynamic of your relationship. I hope you become involved in your loved ones journey to the competition because your support, trust, and having their back during the process I assure you will mean the world to them. I know from experience the difference this support makes. My husband today is extremely supportive and involved in everything I am doing and that adds a layer of excitement to the experience. I encourage you to do the same for your loved one. Thanks for listening to the show! As always like, subscribe, and share to others that could benefit from listening. And don’t forget to go to learntopose.com to find out more information about all the ways I can help with posing and presentation for both men and women in all federations and divisions. There are some free tutorials there along with information on my signature weekly virtual group posing classes that are an absolute hit. Again that’s learntopose.com . Till next time!…

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38: Things Bodybuilding Taught Me 14:51

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14:51

Hey guys! After a little time off I am back on the mic today with a brief update on all that I have been up to since my last episode. I also share some insight on some of the things that bodybuilding has taught me over the years and how these lessons and skills have had a positive transfer into my every day life. As always, like/subscribe/and share! And come join the conversation in the private Facebook group for listeners to talk about show topics. The Facebook group is called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” so head on over there and request to join! Additional Resources: -FREE posing assessment and road mapping call at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to learn skills that will help you look and feel more confident in your posing and transitions from pose to pose? Learn more at: http://www.weeklyposing.com -Interested in posing courses and custom made tools? Shop Here: https://learntopose.podia.com -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Wellness, Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ Key Takeaways *Update on what I have been up to for the past month (1:50) *Bodybuilding teaches you courage (5:00) *Bodybuilding teaches you self improvement (5:58) *Bodybuilding teaches you work ethic (6:44) *Bodybuilding will change how you look at the human body (8:07) *The skills you learn in your off season (10:08) *The power of finding and learning your weaknesses (11:20) *How learning performance skills will reshape you and your confidence (12:10) *Go to weeklyposing.com and let my classes be your secret weapon (13:55) --TRANSCRIPTION-- What’s up guys and welcome back to the show. It’s been a minute since I published one of my solo episodes so thanks for the patience. A lot of changes have been going o n since January and it actually sparked my thoughts for this episode. As you know if you have been listening to the show that my husband and I toured the USA last year and drove over 20,000 miles promoting my podcast. Our living conditions were quite challenging and it didn’t make for the best environment for consistent workouts, sleep, or teaching my online clients. Since we got back to the east coast in late December we have settled in and really capitalized on all the networking we did last year. Many new opportunities surfaced for my posing business. A year ago I created a new way of teaching posing and stage presence that is unlike anything in th e industry. I’ve been fine tuning the structure and processes for the past year and have now really hit a groove. It’s pretty cool to see my students transforming in ways I don’t think THEY every imagined. And, get this, it’s all virtual. After making new connections and from networking over the past year, a couple of industry professionals and owners of federations agreed to offer and promote my custom programs to their athletes. What an incredible opportunity! I mean really. Think about how much trust and faith it takes for a federation to offer my programs to all of their athletes. I don’t take this opportunity lightly. So for the last couple months I have been customizing my programs to each federation that is on board with me. The programs are different for every federation because the federations are different from each other. The athletes have different needs from one federation to another, the judging is different, and there are different divisions in each federation too. I still have my classes for all athletes at weeklyposing.com that emphasize the fundamentals of posing and help people build better skills so they can overall become better at posing. These classes have people across all federations which is cool. It makes for a unique dynamic. These new classes I built are federation specific so they help you get ready for your show in your federation. For example, I have classes for OCB competitors only on Sunday. I teach bodybuilding, classic physique, women’s physique, men’s physique and figure in one class. And I teach bikini and wellness in the other class. The classes prepare people soup to nuts for an OCB show. I am building new classes for other federations as we speak. A new announcement will be coming up very soon on another collaboration. My schedule is rounded out by the on 1 lessons I also teach virtually, and the services I provide my real estate clients too, since I’ve been selling real estate for 18 years and own my owner brokerage. Real estate and teaching posing actually does have similarities. I just spent a couple weeks staging a 6,000sqft home for the market. So I stage people’s physiques and I stage homes to present them their best so my sellers get top dollar for them. I have just now hit a stride with all of this stuff going on and finally have a chance to join you guys here again. I was thinking the other day how much bodybuilding really changed my life in ways far beyond just the competition. I think if you start your competition journey for the right reasons and don’t let heavy influence from the popular crowd lead you down a dark path, your life will transform in so many incredible ways. And the benefits compound over time. Like for example, starting with your first show, that adrenaline ride to the stage and the unknown of what to expect as you goo yourself up with stage tan and/or drag queen make up and walk out in front of a crowd in your underwear is a freaking rush. And if you are in a division that requires a 60 second posing routine choreographed to music you will have even more reason to feel anticipation. Especially if you haven’t busted a move in 20 years. Courage is the first thing bodybuilding will teach you. It takes a lot of courage to do that first show. Win or lose you did something that is unlike anything else you will ever experience. It’s like the Tony Robbins fire walking lesson where he has people walk over fire in one of his mass events. When people walk across the fire, something changes in them. It’s empowering to know they did something extreme and courageous. A bodybuilding show isn’t walking over fire, but it sure does take courage to apply yourself in a way that requires 24 hour structure to your life for an extended period of time for a one day event that is scored 100% subjectively. That’s courage. Bodybuilding also teaches you to always want to self improve and do better for yourself. After the first show the adrenaline rush wears off and you go back to your every day life. Except you aren’t the same anymore. Something has changed inside of you. The adrenaline rush of preparing for a show might be slightly addictive for one and you might already be planning on your next show before the current show is over. But the biggest change is with your self improvement goals. You did the first show and hopefully had a lot of fun and enjoyed the day. But now you are driven to get better. Maybe better means looking better on stage. Maybe better means improving areas of your physique so you better represent the judging criteria and score better at your next show. Whatever “better” is you now have created new goals that will keep you motivated and driven to get up and keep going day in and day out. Another thing that bodybuilding teaches you is pain tolerance and work ethic. Even in a simplistic way bodybuilding does this. Lifting weights is supposed to be hard. You push your pain tolerance when you feel the burn. In return, your body builds resiliency from lifting weights by building more muscle. The dedication to structure and consistency of your workouts helps you build better work ethic too. You also learn pain tolerance in ways like when you resist temptation to eat foods you might be craving, or just resisting eating in general when you get hungry during contest prep. Doing hard things makes you more resilient and this carries over into every day life too. I remember hearing 4x Mr Olympia Jay Cutler talk about his childhood and how he was doing hard labor as a kid growing up working in his family’s concrete business. He was up at 6am and worked till the sun went down and sometimes with headlights on. There were no weekends off, and after school he was working too. This was normal for him. I’m not promoting hard labor at 11 years old, but what I’m saying is that because he grew up doing harder things than most his perspective on what is hard is far different than the kid who was coddled his whole life and finds it laborious to have to brush his teeth twice a day. It’s not a surprise that Jay went on to win 4 Olympias. The demands of his youth equipped him for the extreme demands of bodybuilding, like having to set an alarm to wake up and eat during the night or risk losing some of his enormous size. I also think there is something to being said about bodybuilding and how it will permanently change your perspective on the human body and its capabilities. I remember being in absolute awe the first time I saw my abs popping out of my stomach. To know that my hard work did that changed me forever. In good ways and bad. I see the human body in contest shape as a work of art. It’s like a sculpture to me. I think it’s absolutely beautiful. The bad side of this perspective is the years it took me to still find beauty in my physique when not in contest shape. My standards for my physique are permanently higher because I can’t unsee or unfeel what I’ve accomplished many times getting into contest shape. Instead of focusing on being in contest shape, I focus and create physical goals that make me proud of myself instead. Little things like working my way up to 100lb dumbbell rows. I’m at 95 at the moment and working my way up to 100. Doesn’t seem like a big deal to you, but for me, small wins are positive reinforcement and self love. Today I focus on mini strength goals and embrace the muscle I’m still building in my 40s. All these qualities you learn from bodybuilding from patience, courage, self improvement, and a change in perspective on what really is hard carries over into every day life too. Life has its ups and downs, relationships have their ups and downs, and so does work. You become better equipped to handle struggles and have better patience to persevere through them. Striving for self improvement carries over into career and home goals too. With bodybuilding you surprise yourself with how much more you are capable of so you don’t settle for mediocre in every day life. Plus you have the courage to go after things and not sit on the sidelines while life passes you by. Belief in yourself is everything in life. And that self confidence radiates from you. All of these benefits from competing assume you are working with a coach that knows human physiology and doesn’t starve or over cardio you during your contest prep. It also assumes you aren’t the person banking on winning a pro card in your first show and instead are focusing on ongoing self improvement. And it assumes you aren’t running for the nearest PED dealer before you have even maxed out your genetic potential. Speaking of genetic potential, it’s not just contest prep where you learn a lot about yourself and your body’s capabilities. It’s also giving yourself time off from competing where you fuel your body and re-structure your training so you can build more muscle where you learn a ton. If you are new to competing listen when I say that your physique right now is not the best it will ever be. It is the best it is right now. If you just started lifting and maybe had a really great transformation, listen when I say, this is the best you are right now. Not the best you will ever be. Every week, month, and year you train you can continue to make improvements if you apply yourself. Don’t you want to? Even in my 40s there are things I see in my physique that still need improvement so I custom program my workouts accordingly. Having things to work on keeps me motivated and goal oriented. If you showed up to your first few shows with the best physique you will ever have, what else do you have to work towards? Plus what’s the rush for? Bodybuilding is one of the few sports where being over 35 and 40 is not old. One of my posing students is in his 70s and still competes regularly. You have plenty of time to build your masterpiece. After over 20 years I’m still building mine. You can even look at competing this way too. You can think about getting on stage as a way to find out what areas you need to improve too. It’s one thing to see yourself posing in the mirror or flexing in your hot workout outfit for social media. But once you stand on stage next to other people, that’s where you find out out your strengths and weaknesses. You then take that information back to the drawing board and restructure your program to build up your weaknesses. Not just in your physique but in your posing and stage presence too. Sometimes the best body doesn’t win on stage because of really bad posing. People underestimate the amount of time it really takes to become great at posing and stage presence. Learning this skill of honest self reflection and identifying room for improvement will also transfer into every day life when you start looking at your life as a whole and looking for ways to self improve. It’s not such a new concept to want growth, change, and new challenges and pushing past mediocrity. Learning how to become great at performing will bring out a new type of confidence that will transfer into every day life too. Some of the new people I work with in 1 on 1 lessons try to give me that “this is hard” nonsense before I crack the whip and tell them it’s not hard, it’s just new. Telling yourself something is hard will only engrave if further in your subconscious. Just the other day I bluntly asked one of my students which scenario she preferred. To look dull and forgettable on stage doing what she is currently doing. Or challenge herself by doing the uncomfortably new things to become a stand out. Her response was “good point” and then pushed past the negative self talk and put some effort into the skills I was teaching her. Learning to love constructive feedback and new challenges that push you outside your comfort zone will only help you to become more flexible and open to growth in every day life too. Changing something about your life whether it’s career or general self improvement won’t seem so cumbersome. Instead of crybaby talk about things being hard, you’ve learned to take a deep breath and tell yourself it’s not hard it’s just new. Maybe you are going through a difficult time in your life right now where you might deck the person who says “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.” Just like you learned in the later stages of contest prep when you are hungry, tired, but still trucking along and staying the course until your show, you learned that even difficult times will pass and you just have to suck it up and wait it out. With bodybuilding you learn to sit with the discomfort during these difficult times and wait for them to pass. If this is resonating with you right now, I promise, you so got this. Alright guys it’s great to be back on the mic with you again today and I hope you took even one valuable nugget from today’s show. I’d love to hear what that was so feel free to join my group Everything Else in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders on Facebook to chat with me. Also, if you are getting ready for contest prep and want to learn the exact skills you need to become great at posing and stage presence, go to weeklyposing.com to join my classes. As always, if you are listening on iTunes please leave a review to let the podcast people know this show is cool. I’ll be back again soon!…

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37: Meet The Federations Part 3: The WBFF with Guest Holly Baxter 2:04:53

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2:04:53

This episode continues part 3 the podcast series I am doing called " Meet the Federations. " My goal is for you to learn first-hand all the different options there are in the sport of bodybuilding by highlighting people in the different federations and having honest conversations about the federation they know best. Today we are talking all about the WBFF federation and how it differs from all other federations. My guest today, Holly Baxter, has claimed 2 World Championship-level wins in the Natural Fitness Division. She has been competing with the WBFF as a Professional Diva Fitness Model and achieved runner up in the Pro World Championships. In addition, Holly is also a registered dietitian and the co-founder and director of a number of health and fitness related businesses. Expect some golden fitness nuggets dropped during the show. As always, like/subscribe/and share! And come join the conversation in the private Facebook group for listeners to talk about show topics. The Facebook group is called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” so head on over there and request to join! Additional Resources: -FREE posing assessment and road mapping call at http://www.learntopose.com -Want to learn skills that will help you look and feel more confident in your posing and transitions from pose to pose? Learn more at: http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose for your show? Start Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Wellness, Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ Key Takeaways: *Meet Holly Baxter (3:14) *Dietician education versus contest prep (10:55) *What it is like to compete in Dubai (14:40) *How Holly’s experience in the WBFF differs from her experience in the INBA/PNBA and NPC/IFBB (18:04) *Diva Bikini Model (29:30) *Men and Women Transformation (31:00) *Male Fitness Model (32:00) *Attire and presentation requirements for each of the divisions (33:00) *Diva Fitness Model (36:40) *Holly breaks down her show expenses (38:00) *The different divisions in the WBFF - Diva Wellness and Diva Figure Model (47:50) *The judging criteria for all the divisions (56:50) *The Men’s Divisions (1:06:00) *The WBFF and PEDs (1:09:06) *The negative consequences of dieting (1:32:50) *How Holly coaches people how to handle the challenges of dieting for shows (1:46:25) *How Holly manages realistic expectations with her coaching clients (1:49:47) *Does competing in the WBFF provide the most opportunities in the industry (1:54:00) *Holly’s upcoming competition and business plans (1:58:04) Find Holly on instagram as Hollytbaxter and YouTube as Holly T Baxter and online at hbnutrition.com.au…

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36: Advice I Would Give A Teenager Who Wants To Compete In Bodybuilding For The First Time 28:02

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A recent conversation I had sparked my thoughts for today's episode on where I would suggest a teenager consider competing for the FIRST time. Find out why my answer isn't black or white and how if I competed again myself, why my decision would be different than you might expect. As always, like/subscribe/and share! And come join the conversation in the private Facebook group for listeners to talk about show topics. The Facebook group is called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” so head on over there and request to join! Additional Resources: -Want to learn skills that will help you look and feel more confident in your posing and transitions from pose to pose? Learn more at: http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose for your show? Start Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -1 on 1 Training and Nutrition at http://www.killitwithdrive.com -FREE posing tutorials for Wellness, Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -FREE posing assessment and road mapping call at http://www.learntopose.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ Key Takeaways: *What I told a friend whose teenager wants to do her first show (2:10) *What it means to drink the Kool-aid (4:55) *How federations fuel the narrative (5:45) *Social media and PEDs changed bodybuilding (10:10) *PEDs in the bikini division (13:08) *Other ideas for competition goals (19:10) *How factoring in psychology affects my recommendation on where someone should first compete (20:44) *Where I personally would consider competing today and why it might surprise you (24:22)…

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35: Sudden (or FAKE) Muscle Growth With Synthol And Other Site Enhancement Products In Bodybuilding With Guest Larry Pollock 1:13:17

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1:13:17

Today’s guest, Larry Pollock, has a 40-year history in the bodybuilding industry that includes some experiences that you are more likely to hear in a movie. His no-holds-bar attitude and honesty is what piqued my interest to come on the show today to have the conversation in and around the subject of site enhancement injections like synthol and their prevalence and use in bodybuilding across the men and women’s divisions today. Come join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and let me know your thoughts and key takeaways! Find Larry at undergroundperformancegym.com and Larry Pollock on Facebook and Instagram Additional Resources -Want your posing skills to go from “meh” to awesome? Learn more at: http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose for your show? Learn Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -1 on 1 Training and Nutrition at http://www.killitwithdrive.com -FREE posing tutorials for Wellness, Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -FREE posing assessment and road mapping call at http://www.learntopose.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ Key Takeaways: Meet Larry Pollock (3:10) Anabolics in the 1980s and its evolution to becoming illegal (7:32) Misconceptions regarding anabolics (15:32) Site enhancement of muscles with substances like synthol appears on the scene (19:00) What is Synthol, the goal of its use, and does it hurt (23:31) Larry trains for the Mr USA with Nasser Sonbaty and fist uses Synthol (25:30) How does synthol affect performance at the gym (29:30) Water based site enhancement versus oil based (33:40) What percentage of the top competitors does Larry think use site enhancement products (35:50) Site enhancement products in the muscles in women’s divisions including PMMA plastic (38:12) Rich Piana and PMMA (40:20) Side effects of site enhancement products and synthol (42:15) How do bodybuilding judges score when site enhancement is evident (45:53) What is the distinct difference in the look of the muscles after use of synthol/site enhancement (47:05) Do synthol and site enhancement products have an anabolic affect on muscle growth (49:00) Who is administering these site injections and are they legal (50:30) Larry’s personal thoughts on synthol/site enhancement (56:17) Muscle implants versus synthol (58:35) Larry’s life story becomes a movie script (1:04:00) Mentions: Mike Sable, Mike Mentzer, Nasser Sonbaty, Shawn Ray, Arnold schwarzenegger, Boston Loyd, Milos Sarcev…

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34: Reflections, Observations, and Gossip on the 2022 IFBB Olympia 26:30

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26:30

In this episode I break down the results of each of the categories that competed at the 2022 IFBB Olympia competition and I provide some insight on the things I observed over the weekend. I talk about the venue, I highlight some of the competitors, and I provide overall feedback on the show and the expo. Mixed in there is some gossip too! Come join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and let me know your thoughts and key takeaways! Additional Resources: -Want your posing skills to go from “meh” to awesome? Learn more at: http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose for your show? Learn Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -1 on 1 Training and Nutrition at http://www.killitwithdrive.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -FREE posing assessment and road mapping call at http://www.learntopose.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ Key Takeaways: *How the IFBB social media hype and promotion differs from other federations (2:40) *My experience watching the prejudging live at the expo (5:20) *My thoughts on the results for each category - fitness (7:03) *My thoughts on the results for each category - men’s physique (7:20) *My thoughts on the results for each category - figure (7:34) *My thoughts on the results for each category - women’s physique (9:20) *My thoughts on the results for each category - women’s bodybuilding (10:04) *My thoughts on the results for each category - classic physique (10:29) *My thoughts on the results for each category - 212 (12:02) *My thoughts on the results for each category - bikini (13:16) *My thoughts on the results for each category - wellness (20:12) *My thoughts on the results for each category - open men’s bodybuilding (21:41) *My 2 cents on the commentary for the divisions during the night show (23:27) *Las Vegas versus Orlando for the host city (23:55)…

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33: Meet The Federations Part 2: ”The WNBF” With Guest Nancy Andrews 1:27:37

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Welcome back! This is Part 2 of the podcast series I am doing is called "Meet The Federations" where you are going to learn first-hand all the different options there are in the sport of bodybuilding by highlighting people in the different federations that know each of them the best. Today we are talking all about the WNBF (World Natural Bodybuilding Federation) and my guest is Nancy Andrews, 4x WNBF Pro World Champion, promotor, judge, head judge, and WNBF co-owner. Learn what makes the WNBF different from other federations and how it has evolved over the past 30 years. Also, learn which of the most successful IFBB bodybuilders were also champions in the WNBF! Come join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and tell us your favorite part about this week’s episode. Additional Resources: -Want your posing skills to go from “meh” to awesome? Learn more at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose? Learn Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways (and minute markers): *Meet Nancy Andrews (2:48) *Difference between promoting today versus pre-internet (5:18) *Why did Nancy choose to promote with the WNBF versus other federations (8:28) *Was Nancy ever tempted to pursue non drug tested competitions (14:50) *Why Nancy believes the growth of natural organizations has been difficult (18:13) *What does “natural” mean to the WNBF and does the WNBF make any exceptions? (19:39) *What makes the WNBF different/special/unique (24:54) *Is there a difference in the quality of the competitors that come from the International scene? (29:21) *Why does Nancy think there is passion for natural bodybuilding (35:00) *What measures does the WNBF take to make sure the judges are well versed in the judging criteria and the scoring is fair (39:08) *Which division does Nancy think is the most difficult to judge? (46:56) *Which division does Nancy think is the least difficult to judge? (50:33) *How has the federation as a whole evolved over the past 30 years? (51:53) *What is “Fit Body” and why is there not a “Physique” division (57:07) *“Fit Body” versus Bodybuilding (1:01:18) *Any recent changes to the WNBF rules like there has been with the OCB about competing outside of the natural federations (1:03:28) *Where does Nancy see the sport of bodybuilding going in the next 5, 10, + years. (1:09:07) *How has the WNBF kept the level of muscle in the bikini division from getting out of hand (1:16:48) *Future of the WNBF federation (1:19:47) *Nancy’s upcoming shows (1:21:28) *Find Nancy at www.nancyandrewspresents.com worldnaturalbb.com @wnbfpres and @wnbfofficial on instagram (1:24:58) Episode Mentions: Jay Cutler Shaun Clarida Kai Greene Bob Bell Tina Smith Duane Broadway Mike Ryan…

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32: How To Transition To Off Season (And It Not Suck) 22:16

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22:16

Welcome back guys! The holiday season is in full swing and chances are you are focusing on other things besides contest prep. For most competitors this is what we call the “off season.” I have found over the years that the transition from contest prep mode to “off season” can be challenging for people. Today I talk about how to make it suck a lot less. I also provide some strategy on how to structure your off season based on your specific goals, whether it’s to be leaner at your next show, build muscle, or improve stage presence. Come join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and talk to us about your post show experience(s). Additional Resources: -Want your posing skills to go from “meh” to awesome? Learn more at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose in less than an hour? Learn Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -1 on 1 Training and Nutrition at http://www.killitwithdrive.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways *How my perspective on off season has changed over the past 10 years (2:20) *Working out is made out to be such a big deal (4:24) *The dreadful 1 mile run (5:08) *Better is Better (6:12) *You just need to move (6:55) *Transitioning your diet to off season (8:15) *Alcohol and post show (11:34) *Post show goals - getting leaner (14:14) *Post show goals - building muscle (15:50) *Post show goals - better your posing and stage presence (17:19) *Post show and PEDs (19:27)…

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31: Meet The Federations Part 1: ”The OCB” With Guest Sean ”Sully” Sullivan 1:43:01

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1:43:01

Welcome back! This new podcast series I am doing is called "Meet the Federations." My goal is for you to learn first hand all the different options there are in the sport of bodybuilding by highlighting people in the different federations that know each of them the best. Today we are talking all about the OCB federation. My guest today, Sean "Sully" Sullivan, has been affiliated with the OCB federation since it’s inception 20 years ago. He is also a head judge, a promoter, and a part owner of the federation. In addition to talking all about what makes the OCB different from other federations and answering some key questions about what is considered "natural," Sean shares some real cool stories that I think you are going to love. We had a bad signal that day so some parts are a little choppy but you can still make out the message... so go easy on the feedback, lol. Come join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and tell us your favorite part about this week’s episode. Additional Resources: -Want your posing skills to go from “meh” to awesome? Learn more at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose in less than an hour? Learn Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways (and minute markers): *Meet Sean Sully Sullivan & why he chose to compete and promote with the OCB(2:22) *The surreal moment Sean was introduced to bodybuilding as a teenager and ended up at the Olympia as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s guest (6:45) *Sean keeps running into Arnold Schwarzenegger in Massachusetts and gives back to him in a quiet way to thank him for changing his life (14:56) *Sean asks Arnold how he got people to love him? And Sean describes how the Arnold Sean met is different than the one portrayed in Pumping Iron (17:55) *Why Sean decided to promote in a drug tested federation (26:57) *What was the WHY behind Sean’s competition goals (37:11) *What does "natural" mean according to the OCB federation? (45:47) *Is hormone replacement therapy a blanket “no” in the OCB for men and women including women during menopause (53:27) *Information on Waivers in the OCB (55:33) *The time that Sean was duped by a contestant that faked a doctors note and an illness to get a waiver for testosterone supplementation (57:52) *The process of urine testing in the OCB and how it affects when contest results are posted (1:00:00) *OCB adopts some new positions including with the masters divisions (1:03:47) *Why Sully thinks the bikini division is the most difficult to judge and some insight on how Sully teaches how to score this division (1:07:12) *What are the requirements and the process to becoming a judge in the OCB (1:19:27) *Why The OCB removed the rule that pros cannot compete in non drug tested federations and why the rule was adopted in the first place (1:26:42) *Future Goals and planned improvements of the OCB (1:31:08) *Sully’s two podcasts, the Zen of Bodybuilding and Chevrons (1:37:00) Be sure to subscribe to the show and leave a review with any key takeaways from the episode!…

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30: Why I Am Frustrated With The Bodybuilding Industry 27:32

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Welcome back to the show! Tune in as I share the disturbing events that happened at the local show I was at last weekend. Find out what I think has led to things like this happening frequently in bodybuilding…and why issues like this continue to get swept under the rug. I woke up in the middle of the night thinking about it and sure enough this episode runs a little longer than usual due to my passion behind the topic. If there as ever an episode for you to consider sharing, I hope it’s this one. Thanks for listening :) You can also join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and tell us your favorite part about this week’s episode. Additional Resources: -Want your posing skills to go from “meh” to awesome? Learn more at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose in less than an hour? Learn Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways: *Quick background on the bodybuilding and fitness divisions (2:57) *FIVE things wrong with bodybuilding today that has created a very dangerous environment (6:05) *First thing wrong - Trust (6:14) *Second thing wrong - Regulation (8:47) *Third thing wrong - To be competitive no longer requires time (10:05) *Fourth thing wrong - big business (11:08) *Fifth thing wrong - the new look (12:17) *The real origins of bikini and men’s model divisions (12:38) *The current attitude of PEDs in the industry (15:45) *What happened this past weekend that has me frustrated with bodybuilding (17:09) *Where do we go from here (20:05) *Our industry is divided and why I speak about the industry in entirety (21:51) *Comparing bodybuilding to real estate (24:22) *My goal of this episode and how you can help (25:57) --TRANSCRIPT-- What’s up guys from Las Vegas! Looking at the mileage on the van this morning it looks like we have driven about 20,000 miles promoting this show around the USA. We will be settled here in Vegas for a few months so we can attend various shows on the west coast. This month I will be judging a show for a different federation than the one I judged in NY in September. This will actually be the third federation I have judged for and all three judging styes and criteria are different, which is cool. I love that there are so many different options to choose from in bodybuilding. I think people hear about only one and don’t realize there are many more. In addition to judging here on the west coast, my husband and I are hosting booths at shows getting the word out about this podcast and of course my posing business as well. It’s been a minute since I’ve been able to launch one of these episodes but events from this past weekend really sparked the idea for this episode. In fact I was so affected by the events, I woke up in the middle of the night last night with thoughts and ideas, and I had to get up to jot them down in a note. I know if I don’t do this, I won’t remember them by morning. I will tell you what happened this weekend but first I need to give some background so you will understand why I am going to say that I am absolutely frustrated with bodybuilding. You might recall, when I started competing 20 years ago, I competed in the bodybuilding division. The only other people I knew that competed were my friend Shelley who was the one who inspired me to compete in the first place, Coach John Yobst, and my friend Ann who I met at the John’s personal training facility that Shelley went to. That was it. Bodybuilding was exclusive. Because it was hard. Not everyone could do what we do to compete. You have to have massive patience, massive work ethic, and you would NEVER hear someone say that their goal is a pro card their first season. Why? Because bodybuilding required muscle and muscle takes time and patience to build. Bodybuilding was not an everyone gets a trophy sport and it was reserved for us odd balls that enjoyed the challenge. Our reward was a level of self discovery that became life changing. Besides bodybuilding there was the fitness division. If you are over 40 you might remember seeing the fitness division on regular ESPN television. Imagine? Fitness was mainstream. It was broadcasted so the regular family could watch and be entertained by it. These competitions were much more mainstream. Fitness was a huge deal too and there were actual exercise programs on tv that you could follow along and do from home. Back then you didn’t have to be an Olympic level gymnast to win a show either. In fact people with zero gymnastic backgrounds won many times. I even had this crazy dream that someday I was going to do a fitness routine to the theme song for the movie Flashdance. Fast forward 20+ years and the female bodybuilding division is tiny. Many shows have maybe 1 entry. Some federations like the OCB got rid of it completely and just have the Physique division. The IFBB removed the pro division from the Olympia only to bring it back a couple years ago after private support and a new owner brought it back to life on the pro level. Fitness, you can’t find that division pretty much anywhere on a large scale except the IFBB where you find the same fitness girls that have been competing for the past 10 years plus. You aren’t seeing very many new additions to this division at all. Most of the local shows don’t even offer the fitness division because there is no demand for it anymore. There is no demand for it because if you watch the fitness routines in the IFBB you will see the level of difficulty and gymnastics skills that these girls have. It’s incredible to watch, but definitely not an achievable division for the masses. The only other federation that has a history of the fitness division on a large scale is the Fitness Universe federation. Their presence has moved to a much more international presence so you don’t see a lot of people posting about it here in the US. I will be at one of the few large US shows for this federation in Hollywood coming up so I’ll let you know how the fitness division looks there today. It’s been a minute since I’ve been to one of their big shows. I give you all of this background so you can understand the evolution of the industry and why I am frustrated with it today, especially after what happened this past weekend. In fact I’m going to give you even more context before I dive into the events from this past weekend. I’m going to share with you FIVE things wrong with bodybuilding today that has created a very dangerous environment…and then share what happened this weekend. For one, Bodybuilding was originally an exclusive sport and you really needed to know someone and get a referral in order to find a coach that understood what it takes to help you prepare for a show. That hasn’t changed. Today, bodybuilding coaching, and finding out about bodybuilding shows to begin with, are still built by referral. Except what HAS changed is the WHO people are getting referred to. It’s no longer exclusive. There is a reason for this and I’ll get to it in #2 coming up. No longer is there a small circle of coaches that work with people. It’s literally a free for all today with tons and tons of coaches with the smoke and mirrors of their social media profiles as their only credentials. And since bodybuilding is still a word of mouth sport, the level of trust is much greater when someone is referred a coach. Think about it, no matter what industry we are talking about, if you are given a referral by someone you respect and trust, you automatically feel a level of comfort with that person. If so-and-so says this person is awesome and has worked wonders for them, you are going to feel differently making that call to connect than you would a cold call from an ad. So TRUST has become a problem, because I think a lot of people don’t question as much as they should the protocols they are given. They put more trust and faith into their coach because this person came from a referral, or maybe you know him or her from seeing them work with others at your gym, so there is that crowd psychology that happens too. And for financial motives, mass marketing has over-complicated weight loss, nutrition, and exercise and made it seem like this ridiculous undertaking that requires a special diet or workout in order to have any success with obtaining any kind of fitness goal. So now add the mystique of being a bodybuilder and wanting to achieve this mysterious and oh-so-fabulous stage look that is far beyond a regular weight loss transformation, and it becomes an impossible undertaking on your own….so you seek out a coach….by referral….and trust the process. And you should seek out a coach. But never stop questioning the process, especially if something seems off. Second, there has never been any regulation whatsoever on coaching practices so the level of dangerous practices has escalated with no oversight. Coaching is a big popularity contest. Oh I’m with Coach Awesomeness and he is so incredible. What makes him incredible? The list of pro cards? Ok, I’ll just come right out and say it. How many of those pro cards were achieved without PEDs? Are you even aware that many, if not most, of these girls are on PEDs to achieve those fast results? Remember my last episode with Dr. Mike T. Nelson about 5 stupid things competitors still do despite basic physiology saying otherwise? Dr. Mike has a phd in exercise physiology, a masters in biomechanics, and is a professor. He has been called in to share his techniques with top government agencies. Good enough for the government, but not for the popularity contest that has become coaching in bodybuilding. The information Dr. Mike shared on that podcast was priceless. But get this…we have less than 1,000 listens to that episode. While the podcasts that are all about gossip on who Chris Bumstead’s new coach is will get the tens if not hundreds of thousands of views collectively. So coaches like Mike don’t get the visibility and the parade of bro science coaches continues to march on. The Third thing wrong with bodybuilding, is not the new divisions themselves, but what has happened since the addition of new divisions to non drug tested federations that do not require the amount of time to build muscle. Bodybuilding is a sport that has evolved into one where you no longer need the years of preparation to be competitive. I’ve seen girls who, no joke, started formal exercise for the first time in their life and within 6 months won a pro card. A pro card. The same accolade that a bodybuilder with 10 to 20 years of lifting walks home with. And in many federations, the same amount of prize money too. I’m not talking down on any division, I’m talking complete FACTS and truth with no sugar coating about what is happening in the sport. You want to know the truth, that’s what you are going to get here on this show. No bubble gum talk about how everything and everyone is inspiring. There are plenty inspiring stories and inspiring people, but the fact that this industry has become a major business that attracts anyone with a physique transformation is a fact. Which leads me to the fourth thing wrong in this sport, which is that it has become a big business. More divisions with different levels of muscle requirements, means more people able to compete, which means more registrations, which also means more audience tickets, and from a coaching standpoint, means more Pro card opportunities, which also means more client pro cards to use as credentials in their social media profiles. There are coaches that if you look to see what their formal education Is that makes them qualified to coach others you will often see two things. One, they competed. And two, the number of pro card wins their clients have won in total. That’s it for credentials. You might find someone with a nutrition certification or a personal training certification too. Bonus if there are additional degrees. One coach in particular that coaches a lot of IFBB pros….I looked for credentials beyond pro card wins and couldn’t find ..any. And the fifth thing wrong is that the physiques rewarded in the divisions like bikini and men’s physique that were originally developed in bodybuilding-style federations to display just a foundation of muscle, a healthy appearance, a more hot on the beach look, has evolved over the past 5 years in particular to favor a much leaner and more muscular physique. If you are new to bodybuilding you might think that these divisions started in federations like the NPC. They didn’t. Bikini and model like men and women’s divisions started in places like the Fitness Universe federation, which as you might recall from what I said earlier, was a mainstream federation you could watch on tv. It wasn’t a bodybuilding driven federation and there were no such thing as Pro cards. The judging was done by modeling agencies, photographers, and other people in those kind of industries. You didn’t win a pro card, no, instead you won magazine covers, modeling contracts, and worldwide exposure. This federation never had a medic on standby for dehydration. There was a medic in case someone got hurt in a fitness routine. The look of bikini and men’s modeling and even figure and the more muscular men’s divisions was always healthy and the judging factored in marketability, which is why even today, although this federation is more popular overseas than in the US, it’s still alive and well and maintains a healthy and achievable look. And still no medic on staff for dehydration. I’m talking about the the changes in The bikini, mens physique, and figure divisions in the other federations that are judged with a BODYBUILDING focus. Fitness Universe has been around for like 40 years and these issues were never present. It’s the bodybuilding drive. federations where the issues have come up. Although today’s rewarded look is more muscular and leaner than when these divisions were introduced, still achievable without PEDs, maybe not figure in the NPC or men’s physique in IFBB, or Figure in the WBFF. Definitely possible in the OCB, WNBF, INBA and such. But here’s the problem. The amount of muscle in the drug tested federations is considerably smaller than non drug tested federations. Same divisions. All of these divisions would normally require a few years of training to build the muscle. But there is a major disconnect because what’s being promoted on social media by coaches are these drastic transformations in a short amount of time too. And the elephant in the room is that to accomplish this, people are being encouraged to use PEDs and making it seem like they are no big deal. In fact many of these transformations wouldn’t be possible so quickly without PED use. Not because the look is unobtainable. It’s the time it would take to achieve them without PEDs. Muscle takes time to build. Women’s lower bodies don’t just erase fat magically. Many don’t want to wait a few years to be competitive when they see their friend do one show and win, since again, this sport has become perceived as achievable for everyone. But no one is talking about this. Instead I was listening to a podcast recently where the coach literally said to his audience that you can compete naturally, but competing enhanced makes the process less difficult. So basically the reason a woman should use anabolics and hormone adjusting concoctions is so her prep can be easier. I can’t even with this crap. Remember what I said earlier about bodybuilding and how exclusive it was originally because not everyone could do it? Well now you have coaches that say the reason to take things that are potentially body altering is because it will make bodybuilding easier. And my favorite bro science line is the fake reassurance that what they are given is super mild so it’s no big deal. Guys, No amount of PED use is without some sort of potential sides. And some of these sides you will be living with for the rest of your life. YOU are. Not your coach. If you know this and don’t care, that’s fine. I’m not talking about those of you who have lifted for 10-30 years and understand the pros and cons of PED use and choose to go that route fully educated and feeling good about your decision. Even Victor Black, who was my recent guest expert on PEDs also says to get to your genetic potential first before even considering PED use. I’m not talking to you that are in the know except to ask you to share this message I’m sending out to the bodybuilding industry. Let’s find those men and women who really need to hear this message. Which leads me to this past weekend and what happened. I was at a local bodybuilding show and six women were treated for dehydration and it was suspected to be due to use of diuretics. They were ALL women. All newer competitors. Again, local show you guys. One was even sent to the hospital. Apparently this women was treated at first, brought back to adequate hydration levels, only for her coach to give her another diuretic, which then resulted in her being sent to the hospital. I thought to myself that I wonder if she died who would be held responsible. Probably not her coach because she willingly took that pill. In fact, there are coaches in the industry who have had a few client deaths under their supervision. They still have a long book of business. The information spread for five seconds and died because of majorly life changing information like Chris Bumstead getting a new coach. So let’s review what I said earlier about the 5 things wrong with this sport and then you can decide for yourself who is at fault. First that trust issue. Coach was trusted. Clearly, because she took not one but two pills even after she was treated for dehydration. Whose fault was that? Not so obvious. Second, there is no regulation in coaching practices so the perception of there being a magic peak week protocol runs rampant in our sport when true scientist like Dr Guillermo Escalante who was a guest here recently said it himself that no one needs a diuretic and instead just needs to get leaner. So general acceptance of peak week protocols is a thing in our sport. Third. New divisions created a new sport where competing is achievable for anyone. Bodybuilding is a new sport. It’s not for the exclusive anymore. In fact, I saw a girl drunk and high at the same show rolling around on the floor back stage. Fourth bodybuilding is a business, so more divisions, more competitors, means more coaching and attendance opportunities. Do one show and you can now make money being a coach because there is enough competitors to go around. So there is a lot more money pushing attendance at shows, an abundance of posing clinics, and a lot more coaches promoting their services. And 5th is the level of leanness. I was taken back by the level of leanest of competitors at this local amateur show. The stakes have gotten higher in divisions that weren’t originally designed to be that shredded …. and from experience, I know that getting shredded requires a level of discomfort mentally and physically. Not everyone can handle that. And it’s not going to change. I was talking to a head judge in the IFBB recently and asked about the Leanness. They like lean. And muscle. So there is no turning back. So where do we go from here? I really don’t know. I know that the world of bodybuilding is still a sub culture so a lot of things easily get swept under the rug. And that even deaths don’t change anything. A posing client of mine did her first local show in Canada and at that show someone actually died. Didn’t see any posts about it anywhere. Nothing on the national news either. Did a Google search and found no coverage of it either. Bodybuilding isn’t all bad. I talk about the good the bad and the ugly here on this show and this topic is one of those ugly ones. Bodybuilding has transformed me mentally, physically, and I have had the privilege to help men and women find the super star within and bring it out of them on stage at their shows. I’m working with a make bodybuilder that is about to turn 75 and he told me recently that from working with me he has discovered things about himself he never knew. And he has never felt so confident on stage before. I love the self discovery and continuous self improvement that happens with bodybuilding. I don’t like seeing people making bad decisions with lifelong consequences that were preventable. I don’t like seeing people build poor relationships with their body, mind, and self love. And I don’t like seeing people’s trust get taken advantage of. The only thing I can do besides work with people one on one or with my classes at learntopose.com is bring these conversations forward and try to reach the masses. I will continue to real-talk with you all here, and ask you guys to share it. I’m glad you are listening and enjoying the messages, but we need to get these messages out to the masses so we can bypass the word of mouth information. If everyone shared this episode somewhere, a group, to a friend, anything, that will help. I’m creating a mass consolidation of info here on this show so that it will be a one stop resource for any competitor, male or female, no matter what level, what division, what federation you compete in. Our industry is divided. Many federations have the attitude that if you aren’t with us you are against us too which doesn’t help. I almost couldn’t have a booth for my posing business at a show because I teach and judge for other federations. I was told at first that the federation only allowed those who are a part of the federation in exclusivity to be a part of their shows. And I was a paying customer promoting my personal business that helps ME make a living. This word of mouth attitude about one federation being better than others is all across our industry. Don’t you see how divided this makes our industry and how this affects how information is spread? If you are being told these are the only coaches to listen to, these are the only shows to consider doing, you are not welcome here if you aren’t part of our federation, don’t you see how that creates a bubble around someone new to competing that keeps them from hearing other perspectives that might be better for them or HELP them? And do you see how valuable information will only continue to be segmented and not issued to people across all federations unless it breaks these industry bubbles and people see the sport as a whole? I am partial to no federation because a bodybuilder is a bodybuilder no matter where he or she competes. And I’ve competed in 6 federations, coached for pretty much all of them, and coming up I will have judged for 3 of them. So my experience and view on the industry is going to be a lot different than the person that only competes, cares about, or allows their competitors to compete in one federation. Or only teaches one division. And only women. Or only men. And my perspective will be without the industry popularity contest nonsense. You will continue to learn the good the bad and the ugly across all federations and I will not sugar coat the truth to make friends. As an athlete wouldn’t you want to know all of your options? Wouldn’t you want to know dangers, warning signs, pros, cons and things of the such when you are pursuing something that could legit harm you? Or things that could help you become freaking awesome in this sport? Super successful without the harm to your health? On a side note, at a recent show, It was eye opening how many people shunned the flyers with info on my posing business, learntopose.com , we handed out. It’s cool, I get it, that not everyone wants help, and I’m not trying to say if you didn’t grab a flyer you are a dick. I’m talking about the attitudes we got and how those were more surprising than anything. The attitude like, they didn’t even want to consider another perspective. Hand up, talk to the hand. Why this doesn’t make sense to me me is that bodybuilding is an individual sport, not a team sport, so improvement should be self motivated. Let me give you a comparison to think about. As you might recall in addition to my professional posing business for all divisions and federations, I’ve been a real estate broker and agent for 17 years. I remember going to real estate conventions and everyone there was wearing the colors of their real estate firm and proudly stating what company they are with. But everyone stopped at booths to hear about how they, an individual, can get better at real estate. Everyone. Why? Well there’s money involved with real estate. These realtors didn’t say, “well my real estate firm knows everything so I don’t need to hear anything more about what I can do to improve.” No, they were hungry to improve because they were hungry to make money. Real estate is also an individual profession where you are a part of a company, but you are your own business within it. Like in bodybuilding you can be a part of a team, but at the end of the day, it’s not a team sport. Similar. Your trophies are stored in your home. If you earn prize money, YOU take it home. Plus to be successful in real estate, which is also, like bodybuilding, a word of mouth industry, you are reliant heavily on referrals. Do you see how similar this is? Here’s where the similarity send. In real estate, you can make a lot of money if you learn new tactics and strategies. In bodybuilding, will you earn more money if you hear a new perspective? Nope. In fact you might earn ZERO money your entire career in bodybuilding. Unlike in real estate you really don’t earn money at all in bodybuilding. Instead, you spend a helluva lot and walk away with a plastic trophy, a line item in your social media profile, and super market flowers as my friend Kim says. My goal in all of this is for you to not end up on a hospital gurney rushed to the hospital for something preventable. To not make decisions you will regret for the rest of your life. To not get caught up in the high school popularity show and focus on doing what’s best for you. I want you to walk away with self love, confidence, and looking and feeling like a champion. I need your help to spread the word. All right guys I think that’s enough of a rant for today don’t you think? Thank you again for listening! I have a really great new series that I’m starting beginning next week where I am profiling each of the Federations one episode at a time. I think you guys are really gonna love this. My first interview for this new series will not disappoint. In the meantime head over to learntopose.com if you want a free assessment on your Posing and a roadmap on how to get better, and dare I say, awesome at it. It’s free so head on over. And as always please share this podcast in all of your Facebook groups and all of your friends so we can get the word out there. I appreciate you very much and will talk to you again soon.…

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29: Five Stupid Things Bodybuilders Still Do That Physiology Has Shown Is Incorrect With Guest Dr. Mike T. Nelson 1:18:59

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1:18:59

Welcome back to the show! On this episode we bring on Dr. Mike T. Nelson to talk about the disconnect of basic physiology and the things bodybuilders do that just don’t make sense. It’s a fun listen with Dr. Mike’s quirky sense of humor. Give the show a thumbs up or leave a review on iTunes if you enjoyed it! You can find Dr. Mike at www.miketnelson.com or on instagram at @drmiketnelson You can also join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and tell us your favorite part about this week’s episode… and find out the latest on the podcast tour as we travel the USA promoting the show. Additional Resources: -Want accountability with your ongoing posing practice? Learn more at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose? Learn Here: http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways: *Meet Dr. Mike T. Nelson (3:08) *#1 thing holding people back from reaching their [fitness] goals (8:06) *Mike’s experience working with the government (11:00) *What is Metabolic Flexibility (16:56) *Where is the disconnect with fitness athletes with learning from their failures (18:55) *1st stupid thing competitors do that doesn’t make sense - re: holding water (25:15) *3 Types of people that prepare for shows (30:10) *2nd stupid thing competitors do that doesn’t make sense - re: water loading (38:40) *3rd stupid thing competitors do that doesn’t make sense - re: training during peak week (42:50) *4th stupid thing competitors do that doesn’t make sense - re: complete depletion (47:00) *5th stupid thing competitors do that doesn’t make sense - re: drug expectations (50:40) *Is there such thing as “super responders” to anabolics? (54:25) *Research and "MEsearch" i.e. individuality (59:40) *The basic importance of salt (1:02:02) *Salt and hypertension (1:10:32) *How to follow Dr. Mike: MikeTNelson.com , instagram @drmiketnelson, Flex Diet Certification www.flexdiet.com Podcast: Flex Diet Podcast…

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28: The Three Types Of Competitors - Which One Are You? 15:38

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15:38

Welcome back to the show! I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting while on the road and while judging and spectating at various bodybuilding shows. I was thinking the types of people that compete in bodybuilding shows and came up with three of them. Join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” and tell us which one reflects you the closest… and find out the latest on the podcast tour as we travel the USA promoting the show. Additional Resources: -Want accountability with your ongoing posing practice? Join my weekly group posing practice classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to learn how to pose? Come to a LIVE virtual clinic! http://www.learntopose.com/virtualclinic -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at https://shop.killitwithdrive.com/ -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways: *Why are people showing up so unprepared for shows despite deep down really wanting to win? (4:15) *When poor placement is NOT the coach’s fault (7:52) *The three types of competitors in bodybuilding (9:47) *Doors to the all new second edition of Posing Wins Shows just opened! (14:30) --TRANSCRIPT-- Welcome back guys! Wasn’t that interview on the last episode with Victor Black quite the listen? By the way as it’s looking, that episode might surpass the episode 7 interview I did with IFBB Pro Physique competitor Jamie Pinder which is currently my top downloaded episode of all time. I’m super happy about this because it shows me that the conversations we are having on this show are important to you and not necessarily because they align with your personal decisions. They interest you because they are… interesting. And that is why I started doing this show. I didn’t want this podcast to be another pile of episodes of people sharing inspirational stories …or a bunch of show recaps for one federation of bodybuilding and leaving out the rest of the bodybuilding industry as if it doesn’t exist. I’ve said it from the beginning that a bodybuilder is a bodybuilder no matter what federation. No matter what division. Someone doesn’t work any less hard preparing for a show because they chose one particular federation and not another. I’ve competed in 6 federations over the past 20 years and I can honestly say that I gave it my all for every show. Why? Because I wanted to win. This podcast is for everyone in bodybuilding and fitness that wants to have interesting conversations in and around the industry as a whole, no matter how taboo the topic is. It is also for people who want to win their shows and want cutting edge science based information that will help you achieve your goals. And it is a show where I share a lot of my first hand experiences and perspectives on the industry over the past 20 years. I appreciate all of you listening and especially those who are starting to tag me on social media in posts of you either spotting our podcast van or taking pictures of you next to the parked van. Speaking of podcast tour, we had to make a change in our tour schedule this week due to hurricane Ian. We were scheduled to be in Tampa next week for some appearances but we decided to rerout west to avoid the storm as a whole. So we are now on our way west and will be arriving earlier than planned to the Las Vegas and Las Angeles areas. We will be on the west coast for the rest of the year going show to show and trying to reach more listeners. In the mean time, I’ve been doing some reflecting after head judging the Pro/Am WNBF show in New York last weekend and spectating at various other shows around the country while we have been on this podcast tour promoting the show….and I had a thought. I’ve been thinking about the attitudes of people in this sport during their contest prep. Everyone wants to win. I think we all know that. But what I’m thinking about is WHYYY many people show up so UNPREPARED for their show…despite deep down wanting to win? I’m the most surprised at the amount of people who are pros and competing on pro stages and are really bad at posing. I believe this is unacceptable. A pro should look polished on stage. But it’s not just one person here or there with bad posing. It’s a LOT of people. Perhaps it’s because people are getting their pro cards left and right and aren’t truly READY to be a pro? And if everyone is posing like a hot mess, at the end of the day someone has to win, so people with bad posing skills still win so bad posing can squeeze by at shows. But it’s not just posing. I’m also surprised at how many people on stage truly aren’t lean enough to be competitive and could have used quite a few more weeks of dieting. And again, this goes for pros too. So I go back to the question….why are people showing up so unprepared for shows despite deep down really wanting to win? I think it’s two fold. For one, I think it’s the culture we are in where everyone wants instant gratification and underestimates how much time it really requires to become great at something. Just because you achieved pro status doesn’t mean the improvements should ever stop either. For example, it was known that NBA basketball legend Larry Bird would begin his morning with 500 jump shots. And then there is Michael Jordan and what was called the Breakfast Club, which was he and a group of teammates, that got together every morning for 2 hours to work out whether it was practice day or game day with the goal of being more prepared than anyone else. These guys made it to the NBA and their work ethic was freaking awesome. They were always seeking improvement. They didn’t start shooting a basketball and then within 6 months make it to the NBA like in bodybuilding where people have been known to start exercising and after a few months get a pro card. I think with the influx of fitness influencers on social media making fitness look cool, I think people forget that bodybuilding is an extreme sport. Looking hot under expensive lighting with just the right angle in a photo will not translate to total domination on a bodybuilding stage. You most likely won’t be lean enough. Being super lean kinda hurts. Again this is an extreme sport. The psychology of preparing for a show is equally as important as the physical part. And there is a difference between being starved and consuming poverty calories for a period of time and actually being lean. You can be on poverty calories and still not be lean enough for your show. I hear people at shows crying about how much they miss carbs but they still look 4 weeks out. An extreme drop in calories will make you hungry no matter what. Being starved doesn’t mean you are lean. They are two separate things. You aren’t lean, you are just hungry. Which leads me to the second part of why I think people are showing up unprepared for shows despite deep down really wanting to win. It’s your level of inner drive. The how bad do you want it kind of drive. Your ability to embrace the suck. You can want something and it only be a wish. It’s easy to get motivated for something for a few days or even a couple of weeks. But can you be like Michael Jordan and crew and keep the routine for 15 years straight no matter what? What exactly IS it that will keep you getting up and slaying the day to reach your goals? What type of motivation do YOU need and where are YOU going to pull it from? Which is why when it comes to how well you looked and placed on show day, I want to talk about how often I think it’s NOT the coaches fault. Coaches get all of the blame, whether it’s warranted or not. One show and now a pro Coach Joe and his 800 calorie diets and 2 a day workouts deserves alllll of my sarcasm. Not talking about that. There are coaches who are actually phenomenal at what they do. They have the knowledge and the heart to make you a champion. And coaches like this get frustrated when they see the talent and potential in a client, give them the protocol, advice, and support to make them a champion…..but said client doesn’t follow the protocol, or follows it half ass, and never reaches his or her fullest potential. But people will judge the outcome of the competitor on stage and attribute it to being all because of the coach’s skills. How frustrating. I admit I understand what that feels like from my own experiences with people as a posing and stage presentation educator and coach. I’ve taken people with two left feet and turned them into total show stoppers. So I know it’s possible to make anyone look and feel like a champion on stage. And then … I have had the client who has a ton of potential to be great and they book a session with me once in a while and then never practice anything they learned, so every time they come to me, I am covering the same material I taught them at the previous lesson and never really get anywhere with them. I’ll also get inquiries from people looking for an overhaul of their posing skills who think we are going to accomplish that in one session. To become great at ANYTHING takes TIME, patience, and consistency. Partly why I created my weekly posing practice classes. I found that people will practice if they have accountability. So I am that accountability for weekly posing practice year round. If you haven’t joined, go to weeklyposing.com and stop procrastinating. So after reflecting on the various reasons I think people show up unprepared for their competition despite wanting to WIN I came up with three types of competitors in this sport. Which one are you? There is the silent champion that puts the work in day in and day out, year round, and never complains. She or he follows whatever plan is given, bodybuilding is truly a lifestyle and the nutrition and training requirements aren’t a big deal. They enjoy it. They are also the ones I’ve noticed as a posing coach come to me more regularly. And in between sessions they practice everything we work on diligently. And on show day they show up looking their best. Even if they win their show, afterwards they immediately look for things they can do to improve on all aspects of competition including both the physique and the stage presentation. They start on making improvements right away. This person is driven and their own motivation. Does not need outside encouragement to become a champion. Competitor #2 has the hash tag “beast mode” on every social media post when in reality it should say “least mode.” They are overly dramatic about all the woes of contest prep but somehow still look 8 weeks out when it comes show time. Secretly they are struggling with contest prep. They hire the most popular coaches thinking that they must have an easier magic pro card formula. From a posing standpoint they will only hire someone in person to teach them posing because they need the feeling of having extra attention on them. It’s all about finding the easiest and most attention grabbing route. What they are really looking for is extra outward motivation, accountability, and encouragement, not for the love of the sport, but for the love of the attention and compliments. Competitor #2 doesn’t last long in a sport. And then there is competitor #3. Loves fitness and leads a relatively healthy lifestyle year round. Doesn’t live for bodybuilding so gains a little extra weight in between shows. Loves to compete but loves to eat too. When competitor #3 finally commits to a show, that commitment alone is the drive that carries him or her to do all the work needed to get to a show. With the show date in sight, they now Put 100% effort into tracking food and training. Also, they come out of nowhere and reach out to me for posing assistance because she/he is super rusty. Competitor #3 feeds off of the crunch time vibe of a show date in sight, but often underestimates the amount of time needed to dial in their physique in order to be fully prepared. That extra weight they gained in the off season might mean 8 more weeks of prep but they decide to dial in without the extra 8 weeks of prep because they are motivated…and would rather work harder in a shorter amount of time. In addition, Competitor #3 underestimates the amount of posing practice time needed and the benefit of learning nee posing skills that will help them look their best on stage. This is the competitor that often shows up not lean enough and performs good but not great on stage. Bodybuilding is a sport that requires a unique kind of commitment. It’s the most demanding and the least paying of all sports. It’s a 24 hour, 7 days a week commitment. But Winning doesn’t give you the $30mil per year contract like a Major League Baseball player. The pay outs are so low I don’t think many pro bodybuilders even know how much the prize money even IS for their win. Why? Because we are only talking maybe $5,000 for first place. No one is going to make a living off of $5,000 per year win. The achievement of Winning is the ultimate goal, not the money. HOW one goes about preparing for the competition day to vie for the plastic trophy is determined by ….the motivation he or she is driven by. Basically…what’s their motivation to win if it’s not money? Are you your own motivation? Or are you looking for outside validation to feel more worthiness within? Orrr are you just a terrible procrastinator who has the capability of being awesome but needs better planning skills and more accountability when not in show season? The silent champion competitors will become awesome in this sport. The least mode competitor, I can’t help you. And the procrastinator you are the one with a ton of POTENTIAL to be awesome. You are the one that can go from “meh” to superstar with better planning and year round accountability . The drive is in there…it just needs better structure. All right guys I hope if anything this episode gets you to think about contest prep a little differently. I’ve got a really great interview coming up about the contest prep mistakes that keep happening despite science telling us otherwise. It’s a fun listen coming up next week. Speaking of next week, I just opened the doors until next Saturday on the all new second edition of the Posing Wins Shows program for those who are competing this fall or spring next year and want to go from Meh to freaking awesome on stage. It’s an 8 week program and you will get a lot more of my personal support in this all new Fall edition of the program. The enrollment closes next Saturday though so better go to posingwinsshows.com now before enrollment closes for the season. See you guys next week!…

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27: Why 90% of Current PED (Performance Enhancing Drugs) Models Are Dangerous And Inaccurate With Guest Victor Black 1:44:44

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1:44:44

PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) have become a constant topic of conversation in the sport of bodybuilding. Our guest today, Victor Black, has a massive knowledge base on PEDs (i.e. performance enhancing drugs), hormones, metabolism control, and vitamins. He ruffles a lot of feathers in the fitness and bodybuilding industry ... because he calls out highly influential and well known people on their lack of facts regarding the quality of information they share about PEDs and how it affects physiology. Tune in as Victor Black raises new and uncomfortable conversations surrounding PEDs, myth busts some of the protocols given today, and offers a new approach to PEDs via his self proclaimed "Safer Use Model." Find Victor on YouTube by searching Victor Black Masterclass And on instagram at VictorBlackMasterclass Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to discuss episodes and follow the podcast tour as we travel the USA promoting the show. Additional Resources: -Want accountability for your ongoing posing practice? Go to: http://www.weeklyposing.com -Doing a show? Want to Learn How To Pose? Go to: http://www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: http://www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at http://www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at http://www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at http://shop.killitwithdrive.com -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways: *Meet Victor Black (2:34) *What are the credentials of those who have published Information on steroids in bodybuilding (9:22) *What are the origins of anabolic steroids (12:23) *What is the difference between anabolic and androgenic (16:24) *The historical use of PEDs (18:10) *What is the Black Basal Model (21:18) *What is an “anabolic steroid cycle” (23:47) *How do anabolic steroid protocols differ rom men to women (24:58) *What is the average dose given to a transgender person changing from a female to a male gender (27:30) *Does the idea of a superhuman man/woman exist and is it sustainable? (33:30) *What affects do steroids have on mental health? (39:45) *Who made up the current guidelines on TRT and other hormones and how does it compare to the Black Basal Model? (43:44) *How levels of testosterone and the entire endocrine profile are affected in natural bodybuilding (53:00) *Why is anavar the first anabolic steroid usually given to women and why does Victor Black think it should be the last? (55:00) *How does the dose given to a transgender female to become male compare to the doses of anavar given to female bodybuilders (1:04:00) *PED protocols in women’s divisions (1:10:00) *What does the future of aging look like? (1:21:00) *What drives people to specific diets (1:24:40) *How does the legality, issuance, and supply chain of anabolic steroids and other hormones differ around the world (1:28:00) *Why is Victor Black’s WHY behind the conversations he brings forward to his audience and the bodybuilding community (1:40:08)…

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26: How To Travel And Still Be A Bodybuilder 12:56

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12:56

We are about a month into our travels taking this podcast on tour of the United States, and have settled into somewhat of a groove with getting our nutrition and training in while on tour. Today I’m going to talk about the things we have done to adapt to getting our nutrition in while not having the luxuries of a stove, fridge, or much storage at all. I’m also going to talk about how we are adapting to changes in elevation, time zones, and lack of sleep. I’ll also touch on some of the gyms we have stopped at and the people we have met along the way. Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to discuss episodes and follow the podcast tour as we travel the USA promoting the show. Additional Resources: -Need accountability for your ongoing posing practice? Jump on my weekly posing practice classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways: *Responses from people on the road (2:21) *How we are getting adequate protein in (3:29) *Suggestions on how to get adequate protein when flying (5:28) *How we are getting adequate carb sources in (5:54) *How we are getting adequate fat sources in (6:50) *Current status of workouts (8:00) *Meeting Ken Weber from The Brickyard in Milwaukee, Wi (9:39) *Meeting Dan Pasholk from Midtown Fitness in Madison, WI (9:57) *Check out our tour dates and locations at eeinbb.com and text me 702-637-0091 to schedule a 1 on 1 in person posing lesson when we are in your area (10:47) —Transcript— We are just about a month into our travels as we take this podcast on tour of the United States. As you might know by now we are living in our van so we don’t have the luxuries of a refrigerator, stove, or really much storage at all. We are traveling through multiple time zones and adapting to the various weather conditions as we migrate from place to place around the country. We are meeting a lot of really great people, visiting a lot of really great places, and building new relationships with people you just can’t do over the phone. We’ve only been flipped the bird once so far by another driver. Not quite the honk and wave if you see us response, but after many hours of driving it was a nice change in scenery. A young guy did walk into a pillar checking out the van at a gas station and I had to speed walk to get inside to hide my laugh. I’m not very good at holding back when things are funny. Especially if someone trips. The obnoxious flailing of the arms……the ridiculous fall…I’m done. We did get an honest question from a young guy asking us what the podcast, the everything else in bodybuilding, is about. Vassilios was stuck for a moment not sure how to respond, but he was great about it and encouraged him to listen to the show. I’m actually talking to you right now from Santa Fe New Mexico in a 2 star hotel room I got a last minute deal on from the Hotwire app. It feels good to have some space that we can sit down in and kick our feet up. Vassilios has been inspired to write music so it’s been nice to have what I call living room concerts while I work on my computer. We haven’t had a good night sleep in weeks so it is a real treat to be here. As you can imagine there is a lot of instability when living in a van and not having simple pleasures. So how do we manage being a bodybuilder during all of this? We’ve settled into somewhat of a rhythm now with our eating patterns. We both consume a lot of protein so we supplement with at least 1 meal replacement shake a day so Vassilios doesn’t have to grill our protein on the side of the road more than 1-2x per day. We ran out of those meal replacement shakes that I love and grabbed a box of some generic chemical shitstorm meal replacements from the grocery store until we can re-supply ourselves with the good stuff. The store bought shakes taste gross and give me heartburn from all the gums and fake thickeners in them but it’s an easy way to get 30 grams of protein in. It takes me forever to drink them but eventually I get it down. Meal replacement shakes in powder form are good for flying too because you can bring a shaker cup and a packet of protein with you and just grab an overly priced water bottle from the airport and mix up a shake during flight. The shakes I drink have 36 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbs, 6 grams of fat, and loaded with vitamins and minerals. It’s not just a whey protein shake, it’s a complete meal replacement. So when traveling I have 2 of them a day and that gets me 72 grams of protein. Vassilios sometimes does 3 shakes since he eats over 300 grams of protein a day. Besides the shakes, Vassilios cooks me burgers on our grill every day unless we grab a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods or, out west ,there is a nice small store called Sprouts that I like to get groceries at. Once in a while we grab steak from a restaurant and I take half of it to go so I can eat it cold as a snack later. Instead of a giant to-go box for my little bit of steak, I ask for tin foil to wrap the steak in so it fits in my purse. Vassilios gives me gross face when I whip out my foil covered steak from my purse and start munching on it. He then proceeds to drink one of those store bought generic shit storm shakes so I give him gross face right back. If you are flying somewhere and don’t care about eating meat cold like me, you could always get a solid meal at the airport with steak or chicken and take the extra protein with you on the flight too. Sometimes you get stuck with an airport that only has fast food though so meal replacements and jerky will be your best bet in those situations. If you are flying and in contest prep, and need to measure your food extra closely, you can cook your meat ahead of time and freeze it. Frozen meat will keep on a flight, especially if you wrap it in frozen veggies. You can’t bring liquids on a flight, but you can bring food, so I use frozen veggies over freezer packs. Measure your meat out ahead of time, pack them in individually wrapped zip lock bags, label them, freeze them, and then pack them. For our carbs sources while we are on tour, Vassilios likes bananas and I like clementines, especially the smaller ones that tend to be sweeter. By the way, they are easy to bring on flights too. The key with fruit on a road trip, though, is to make sure the fruit has a natural casing so it is less likely to attract flies. While traveling through Idaho where it is pretty much all farms and there are flies everywhere you go, If Vassilios cut into a pineapple, within seconds there was a swarm of flies. I got so frustrated one day I went to battle with the flies. I bought a $1 fly swatter from the gas station and hopped in the back of the van and flung that fly swatter around like a mad woman until every fly was gone. Every time I got one I would let out a good cheer. At first Vassilios thought I was going crazy until I caught him grabbing the fly swatter, catching a fly, and letting out a “take THAT mother fr”. As you can imagine I wasted no time laughing and teasing him! See! Getting our sources of fat in is pretty easy. Although I get the leaner ground beef, there is still fat in the beef. I supplement the fat with butter. Vassilios really loves the Kerigold brand of butter and just bites into it like a candy bar. He gets a lot more fat and carbs than me so our challenge is making sure we keep his volume of food UP every day. For fats you can do things like almonds and other nuts too, but I’m liking the butter right now because it has barely any carbs, and nuts have carbs, so having butter means I get to have more clementines for my carbs. On our long travel days between cities our go to protein snack is beef jerky. Beef jerky travels easy and is packed with protein so it’s great for when you are on the run. It’s great if you are flying too because you don’t have to worry about liquids. It’s not easy finding beef jerky that is either tender or not loaded with chemicals. I grabbed an all natural bag of jerky at a health food store one day and I had to stop eating the jerky halfway through the bag to let my jaw relax. It was so tired of chewing. Plus the flavor after a while became pretty pungent too. So I always make sure we have a bag or two of the brand we like on hand. We even found it at Walmart for much cheaper than at a gas station, so we stock up whenever we are there. As for our workouts, I’ve been pretty fatigued from driving, lack of sleep, and intermittent sleep, so I’ve been listening my body and making sure I get the work in to sustain my muscle, but I haven’t been training to make gains for a few weeks now. My strength is still up, and is actually climbing with some exercises, so I know I’m still ok for the time being. Plus, we have been in areas with a high elevation and that has greatly affected our workouts. Man has it been a challenge to train in high altitude. People say it all the time, but you have to experience it sometime to know what it’s like. We were in Colorado and Utah a week ago where the elevation was around 5,000 and when trying to train I would get light headed with every set. My strength was good, but the cardiovascular component restricted my total output. Right now in Santa Fe, the elevation is over 7,000 feet, so I’m taking more time in between sets to make sure I don’t pass out. Even getting up and down from the floor when doing laundry makes me light headed. In another day or so we will be heading to the San Antonio Texas area so we will be back to a lower elevation soon. But in the meantime, the goal is to get enough work in to keep up the momentum with my strength and muscle mass. We have a membership at a corporate gym that has a ton of locations around the country so we have this gym as a fallback to get our workouts in no matter where we are in the country. What’s been cool are some of the really cool non-corporate gyms we have stopped at along the way to get our workouts in. We did a couple pop up mini interviews of the owners of a couple of these cool gyms and I filmed a bunch of footage of the facilities too. I will be making some YouTube videos of these experiences so be sure to search my name on YouTube and find my channel. We spoke with Ken Weber at his facility, the Brickyard, in Milwaukee which is known for it’s old school machines and talked with him about the evolution of the gym environment over the past 40 years, since he has owned facilities and competed in bodybuilding since the 1970s. It was a great interview. We also did a pop up interview of Dan Pasholk from MadTown Fitness in Madison Wisconsin. You might have seen the interview and tour John Meadows did a few years ago when he stopped by this facility. Since then a lot has changed and you’ll hear about it in the mini interview we did with Dan in his parking lot. The gym has a ton of unique equipment and I especially loved all the leg machines. One stand out for me that I absolutely loved about his gym, is his new posing room. Dan built it himself and there are mirrors from all angles so you can see your physique from all angles. I filmed the room and the facility and I will show you on YouTube. Dan, by the way, was a really nice guy. We even talked with him about doing a pop up posing clinic for all his gym members the next time I am in the area, and he was excited about it. Speaking of, you guys, we are still on tour and will be in Texas for a bit before heading on over to North Carolina and then New York. Check out our tour dates and locations at eeinbb.com and text me 702-637-0091 to schedule a 1 on 1 in person posing lesson when we are in your area. You will get film footage and custom drills to do after your session so you know the things to work on to help you excel at posing. So send me a text and let’s connect! In the meantime, let me hold you accountable with your posing practice, and jump on my weekly posing practice classes going on right now at www.weeklyposing.com or if you are new and want to learn how to pose correctly from the start come to a virtual posing clinic at posingpractice.com . I’m signing off for today since it’s time to check out of our hotel but I will be back next week with another interview. The most listened to episode of my podcast so far was episode 7 with Jamie Pinder and all about performance enhancing drugs. My next interview is with someone who gives the male perspective of performance enhancing drugs and turns the protocols out there for both men and women upside down. He is known for ruffling quite a few feathers because he calls out so-called gurus in our sport. I think you guys will find what he says very interesting. And if you get chance, like, subscribe, and leave a review on iTunes if you are listening there. If you are listening elsewhere you can’t leave a review but you can share it in fitness groups to spread the word. If you see us on the road, honk and wave, or you can flip us off too. Talk to you next week!…

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25: Sponsorships, Scandals, and Superstar Brands: The Evolution of the Supplement Industry with Rich Gaspari 1:24:54

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1:24:54

You might know Rich as one of the best bodybuilders of all time. Or you might know him for his quality supplement brand, Gaspari Nutrition, which has outlasted countless other brands since the 1990s. Or you might know both! But on this episode you are going to learn things about Rich, his work ethic, and his resilience, that will make you even greater of a fan. And together with my co-host Vassilios, we do a deep dive with Rich on the evolution of the supplement industry over the past 30 years, looking at it through Rich’s eyes. Rich Gaspari can be found on instagram @RichGaspari and Gaspari Nutrition can be found at www.gasparinutrition.com and Gaspari Ageless at www.gaspariageless.com Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to discuss episodes and follow the podcast tour as we travel the USA promoting the show. Additional Resources: -Need accountability for your ongoing posing practice? Jump on my weekly posing practice classes for all divisions and federations at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome Key Takeaways: *Introducing Rich Gaspari and how he got started in the bodybuilding and supplement industry (2:05) *The vibe of bodybuilding gyms in the 1980s (7:05) *The importance of posing in bodybuilding preparation (12:30) *Will Rich Gaspari compete again? (21:00) *How and why did Rich start his supplement company Gaspari Nutrition (22:28) *How did Rich bring Gaspari Nutrition from local business to global brand (27:00) *How have sponsorships of athletes by supplement companies changed over the past 30 years? (32:40) *How Rich recovered from filing bankruptcy and re-built Gaspari Nutrition (39:19) *Rich’s advice on building a brand in today’s market (43:10) *Gaspari Nutrition's best selling product of all time (52:53) *Gaspari Nutrition’s top selling products during Covid (55:02) *How does Rich come up with new product ideas (55:43) *What kind of quality control is there for products in the supplement industry? (57:02) *Before its downfall, how did Blackstone Labs get away with spiking products with illegal ingredients where there is supposed to be quality control in the supplement industry? (59:11) *Why did Rich start the Gaspari Ageless line of products (1:02:00) *Rich’s thoughts on the current state of bodybuilding and the evolution of the open men’s division (1:04:45) *Viewer Question #1 from Isaiah regarding trends with body conditioning (1:14:30) *Viewer Question #2 from Jennifer regarding how to decide which supplements to take when you are just starting out (1:21:07) Episode Mentions: Lee Haney Joe Weider Big Ramy Dennis James Flex Lewis Hidetada Yamagishi Branch Warren Jay Cutler Phil Heath Derek Lunsford Shaun Claurida Hadi Choopan Paul Dillette Kevin Levrone…

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24: The Tour Begins! 15:29

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15:29

We are off! The first leg of the Podcast tour began this past week. We are now traveling around the entire United States so if you see our van with the podcast name, “Everything Else” in Bodybuilding, and my giant mug on it, be sure to honk and wave! On this episode I am going to share about our experiences so far as we traveled through Pennsylvania and Chicago, IL while out on tour — and our life living in a van! Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” where I share pictures and videos of the tour and you can connect with like-minded people. Additional Resources: -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome -Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Need accountability for your ongoing posing practice? Jump on my weekly accountability classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com Key Takeaways: *The three 9s on my grocery bill (2:03) *Gym review and 1 on 1 posing lesson with Lisa Faser at Quads Gym in Chicago (3:30) *Exploring Hershey Pennsylvania (8:25) *Exploring Chicago, IL (9:38) *Life so far living in a van (11:43) *New announcement! My new program, www.weeklyposing.com will provide ongoing accountability for your posing practice. (13:35) ---Transcription--- We are off! The first leg of the Podcast tour began this past week. We are now traveling around the entire United States so if you see our van with the podcast name, Everything Else in Bodybuilding, and my giant mug on it, be sure to honk and wave. I posted pictures and videos on social media and you can check them out on either TikTok, Facebook, or instagram. Stuff on YouTube will be coming shortly. The day before we left, I was at the cash register at the grocery store and the cashier comments to me about the three 9s on my bill. She says to me that it is an angelic sign. Whether you believe in it or not, it was a nice message. She didn’t have to say that to me. It made me feel good to think of a presence with us while we embark on this adventure. Not long after this, I get a message from a movie producer’s assistant about a potential role in a movie. We were prepared to reroute our entire trip and to drive to the movie set. For a second there I thought about the three 9s and wondered if something bigger was in the works. The stars didn’t align this time because they needed me across the country THAT DAY but our van was in the shop so the timing was bad. It did feel good to be considered for a part in a Hollywood movie, no matter how small, and that got my wheels turning in my head about other things I can do while on the road to make extra cash so our life on the road will be more comfortable. And who knows what’ll come up in the future. I’m always open to new opportunities that make sense. Speaking of opportunities I’m very grateful to those of you listening who have reached out for potential posing clinics at your local gyms while I’m out on tour. As you know by now, or at least I think you do, that with my 20 year background in all federations and divisions, I have the unique ability to TEACH all federations and divisions from actual experience. So my clinics are not going to be the same woo woo “look at me” posing clinics you might have already gone to. In fact, I’m going to go as far as to say that you will walk away from my clinics never thinking about posing and presentation the same. Special shout out to Lisa Faser from Chicago for her efforts and going out of her way - and her comfort zone - to post flyers in her gym to try and round up interest for a clinic. Lisa didn’t manage to round up a group of people for a clinic this time, so I offered her a rare opportunity for a 1-on-1 posing lesson. I don’t do individual 1-on-1 posing lessons as much anymore because I have my Posing Wins Shows signature group program; however, since we are traveling the country, I thought it would be fun to pop in on people like you that are listening to the show who would normally NEVER have the opportunity to work with me in person. So I will continue to be doing these 1 on 1 lessons for listeners that want a posing and stage presence overhaul while Im on the road. We posted the tour dates and locations at eeinbb.com so check out our tour and see if I’ll be in a city near you. If so, just text our dedicated line 702-637-0091 to set something up at your local gym. Lisa’s gym is called Quads gym and is located on North Broadway in Chicago. The parking situation there is a challenge because there are a ton of businesses and residential housing in the area…and ALL the parking is ON street. We arrived about 30 minutes early and spent the entire 30 minutes looking for parking. At the last minute my husband was just going to drop me off, so I wouldn’t be late, and by luck a spot in front of the gym opened up so we grabbed it quick. At the front door there is a sign that says that Muscle and Fitness magazine has designated this gym as one of the top gyms in America so immediately I was intrigued. When you walk in there is an immediate good vibe to the place. I could tell that this is a place you come to to get work done. Apparently we just missed Mr Olympia Phil Health who was in the area a week ago and trained out of this gym while he was here. The day pass is $17 so for my husband and I it was a $34 visit. But let me tell you, there is a LOT to offer here for equipment. You would never know when approaching from the street the sheer size of this place. There are two floors plus an additional room on the third floor with the boxing room, which is where I taught my posing lesson with Sarah. The amount of equipment packed into this place is, I don’t even know, how many thousands. The most impressive part is the amount of leg equipment. And I don’t mean a bunch of the same equipment you see at every gym, I’m taking about very unique equipment. Many old school nautilus machines too. My favorite body part to train is legs, so I was like a kid in a candy store with the amount of different leg devices there are to play with. When you walk the gym there are photos of competitors throughout the gym on every wall. It made me think of the gym I owned where I had photos posted throughout the gym of members doing great things. I called it the walls of inspiration. So it was nice to see all the photos here celebrating the gym members and visitors. As mentioned Lisa and I used the boxing room on the third floor for our session. She was warm and enthusiastic and that only made my time with her more fun and rewarding. Even though she booked an hour session, I ended up spending like three hours with her. Sarah spent weeks trying to create a clinic at her gym. Weeks. She made and posted flyers. That’s a lot of effort. Her efforts did not go unnoticed, so even though she paid for a 1 on 1 session, I decided to bring the whole clinic to HER. Lisa is 51 years young getting ready for her first show. How inspiring is that? She has gone to competitions to watch and has watched online posing tutorials to learn how to pose. And just like everyone that has come to my virtual clinics can attest, When you try and recreate what you see in posing tutorials, 9 times out of 10, you don’t look anything like what you see….and you have no idea what to do about it. That’s where I come in. Sarah learned not just the mechanics of the poses she needs to do, she learned specific foundational exercises, drills, and skills that will help her to not be good as posing, but be incredible at it. You can’t build the house without building the foundation first, right? We also worked on her stage walk since the bikini division requires you to focus on your stage presence just as much as you do your posing. Lisa learned some of my signature techniques and drills that have taken people from walking with two left feet to walking like they own a runway. I truly love what I do and I can honestly say that the time flew by. Vassilios knows me and how I lock into a zone when I’m teaching, so he spent the entire time working out and testing out all the fun equipment throughout the gym. I took a few videos while I was teaching so I could provide Lisa some before and after footage, and in the background of one of the videos, you can hear Vassilios grunting. I love always having him nearby. So this gym and my session with Lisa were both a highlight of this trip, but not the only highlight. As mentioned, I’ve been setting up for my classes in random locations on the road. So far we have traveled through Pennsylvania, stopping in Hershey PA for a day. If you haven’t been you should stop in sometime. The town is so clean and very pretty. Last time we were in the area we stopped at the Hershey Chocolate Factory and I made my husband Vassilios ride with me around the factory in the cart in the shape of a gumdrop with me. Isn’t he a great sport? He really is my ride or die. This time I didn’t make him ride in a gumdrop with me. Instead we stopped for a piece of chocolate at the museum where they just so happen to also have chocolate tastings. Naturally the tasting lasted like 10 minutes. We aren’t those people that need to sit there and swirl our glasses around and ooh and ahhh over the flavor of each and every sample. We did notice the different flavors in each of the samples and both agreed that Mr. Hershey’s chocolate was superior to the 5 other chocolates we sampled. So we were in and out in less than a half hour. If you ever travel with a husband, you will know, that a stop at a museum that ends in less than 30 minutes will make for a very happy husband. Afterwards we got a workout in and then headed for Pittsburg for the night before we drove to Chicago, where we are now. My husband grew up in Chicago and this is the first time we have gone here together. We have been together for 8 years so this is actually quite special for me. He is showing me around where he grew up and taking me to some of his favorite places to eat. We have had a great balance of getting our macros in while also enjoying some of his favorite places to eat in Chicago. He took me to Gene and Jude’s for a hot dog. And then to Johnnies to split a combo steak and sausage sandwich on a hogie. We also met up with some of his family he hasn’t seen in years and they treated us to some Chicago deep dish pizza. I’m from a small town in Winsted CT that has a lot of really good homemade food. There are a couple of pizza restaurants that are absolute standouts because of their distinctly different styles and flavors of pizza. Shout out to Kent Pizza in Winsted and Marzano’s pizza in Torrington CT. Both these places serve thinner crust so this deep dish Chicago style pizza was a treat for me. The only thing is, the pizza is so thick that I was full after one piece. I do have to say Chicago is a lovely city. The amount of boutique restaurants and shops, the green trees and forest, and the river and bridges, are all stand outs. As you might know I’ve been a real estate agent and broker for 17 years in CT and I have an app on my phone where I can look up properties anywhere around the country. So as we drive around and I see for sale signs I pull out my handy app and see what the prices and stats are on the houses. I can even see what properties recently sold and how much they sold for. This is how I learn about areas as I travel through them. One of the suburbs we drove through the houses are going for $400/square foot. And you are on .11 acres. I asked a couple workers in the Whole Foods store we stopped in at what the biggest draw is of the area. They both looked at me like I was talking riddles. One person said she lived 15 minutes from here and didn’t know the area. The other person said that he used to live somewhat near this area and now lives downtown. Neither could tell me why anyone would live here except to be in the suburbs near Lake Michigan and raise a family. Well there you go. $400/sqft for a house in the suburbs. And here we are strolling on through living in our van. Speaking of the van, you are probably wondering how van life is going. I’d say the most challenging part is the heat at night. The weather has been hot and humid and if you think about it, there is very little air flow in a van unless you have the engine on and running the ac. So we did sweat for a few night before Vassilios got us a battery operated fan. We have been pretty fortunate to find places to sleep every night. We did splurge for two nights after getting a killer deal on a hotel from Hotwire. Sometimes you can really luck out with this app with the flash deals. The trick is you don’t know what the hotel is, you only know how many stars it has and you get a list of possible hotels it could be. This time we ended up with a Hampton Inn and Suites hotel. The look on Vassilios’ face when we pulled up made me so happy. He was so excited to have a hotel room with air conditioning. That first night we stayed up and watched movies together. It was a real treat. Now we are back in the van but we have our fan now. I’m hoping we have some good luck on the road and we can treat Vassilios to a hotel again. Nothing makes me happier than seeing him so happy. We are now off to Wisconsin for a few days before we head to Minnesota. I am hosting my virtual group posing clinics Monday through Wednesday every week. It’s been fun finding and setting up my classes at various locations while on the road. Finding places with wifi has been relatively easy so traveling and teaching online is very doable. By the way, if you are planning to compete in the fall or next spring, you really need to jump on a posing clinic to learn the fundamentals so you know what to practice and WHY. The time is going to fly by and you work too hard to leave any stone unturned. You will leave the clinic with an entirely new perspective. Go to posingpractice.com and grab a spot for only $47. Everyone that has come to one so far has left with their eyes wide open and no longer looks at posing and presentation the same. Another thing going on, I guess this is as good of a time as any to announce it before I sign off, is a new program I have been beta testing. It’s a new group program that you might be interested in if you struggle with accountability for your posing practice. Let’s face it, practicing the same poses over and over gets old. Posing in front of a mirror isn’t super effective because you are staring at yourself and when you are up on stage you do not have a mirror. So if you know the poses you need to execute and want the weekly accountability for a formal posing practice, then go to weeklyposing.com for more info and to join my classes. They are fun, informative, and will take the boring out of posing practice. I’ll be posting another recap next week. But before then, stay tuned because we have a special podcast episode launching where we interviewed Bodybuilding Legend Rich Gaspari and talked about the evolution of the supplement industry. You are going to want to hear this one. It jammed packed. Alright guys, I’ll see you on social media, or come join my podcast insiders group on Facebook to interact with me. And if you are loving the show, please share in fitness groups on social Media, text it to friends, and, as always, rate and leave a review to help podcast platforms know this show is cool. Talk to you again next week!…

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23: How To Get Shredded And Avoid Post Show Rebound With Dr. Bill Campbell, Phd 56:17

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Dr. Bill Campbell, PhD is a pioneering researcher in the area of female physique enhancement. He is the director of one of the only research labs in the world that studies lean people getting leaner. Today he joins myself and my co-host Vassilios Metropoulos for a discussion about getting lean for competitions, strategies for post show nutrition, and shares the latest research surrounding all things physique enhancement. Dr. Campbell can be found on instagram - @billcampbellphd and his NEW Research Review can be found at www.billcampbellphd.com Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to share your thoughts. Additional Resources: -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb -Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com Key Takeaways: *Introducing Dr. Bill Campbell (2:30) *Memorable moment for Dr. Campbell since he started the physique lab (6:04) *Dr. Campbell’s thoughts on sustainability and long term affects of bodybuilding (7:42) *What is “off season” in bodybuilding (9:32) *Suggestion on a strategy to begin the process of going from off season to stage ready (11:22) *Dr. Campbell’s 3 Principles of Physique Enhancement (12:19) *The amount of protein Dr. Campbell recommends and how to structure it in your nutrition plan (16:19) *What are safe levels of leanness in males and females (29:20) *Can females maintain muscle mass when prepping for shows? (32:00) *Reverse diet vs. Recovery diet (35:12) *Dr. Campbell asks me if what protocol used in one competition prep works in every competition prep (42:00) *How to track macros in apps when ratios differ based on your selection (45:48) *Advice on how to get the separated look to the muscles (48:32) *Dr. Campbells’ launches his new Body By Science! — his new Research Review! www.billcampbellphd.com (51:30)…

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22: Bodybuilding, Addiction, and Mental Health 18:36

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18:36

In my 20 years in the sport I’ve observed some consistencies with WHO this sport attracts. We don’t talk about the psychological components to competing and how it affects people’s mental health. This episode provides a deeper look into addiction and mental health in bodybuilding. Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to share your thoughts. Additional Resources: -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb -Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com Key Takeaways: *What exactly is addiction? (3:00) *Compulsive behavior in bodybuilding (3:26) *The affect of social media’s illusion of bodybuilding (7:06) *The multiple levels of addiction (8:54) *Exercise for mental health vs bodybuilding (10:42) *Addiction and common substances in bodybuilding (12:24) *How my own standards have changed since discovering bodybuilding 20 years ago (15:24) —TRANSCRIPT— This episode is going to provide you zero scientific data and purely my thoughts and observations on addiction and mental health in bodybuilding. I’m not a physician nor am I giving any medical advice. Please consult a doctor if this episode brings up any concerns. In my 20 years in the sport I’ve observed some consistencies with who this sport attracts. Besides the people whose egos are bigger than their careers, which by the way, man there is a lot of “I am so important” in this sport. Like, no you’re not. Just because you work out and look good doesn’t make you important. What’s amazing to me is, you guys, in the next month I have some really great guests that you are going to be surprised to see on the show. People that you could say are “important” and whose CAREERS are bigger than their egos. The episodes are going to be fun and informative. Some day I’ll talk about the egos of people that you think would be cool but really aren’t from my behind the scenes encounters when approaching them for a spot on the podcast. Let’s make it to 1,000,000 downloads and I’ll spill the beans. So be sure to share the podcast with fitness enthusiasts to get the word out. Ok back to the consistencies I’ve observed with addiction and mental health. First, what exactly is addiction? “Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual's life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.” The key phrase I want to talk about is the “compulsive behaviors that continue despite harmful consequences” and discuss this in the world of bodybuilding. Many might have heard of bigorexia also known as muscle dysmorphic disorder. It’s become more high profile with the documentaries that have walked us through the day to day of people with this issue. You might’ve seen some of them yourself. What happens with bigorexia is the person sees a distorted image of ones body, they are obsessed with muscle mass to the point that relationships are affected, their life revolves around the obsession to get big, and it’s so extreme they ignore health issues and might avoid appearances or events because they are worried about their appearance. It’s more common in men than women and is on the rise. There is a case of a young man who was obsessed with biceps so he injected them with petroleum jelly to inflate them to an extreme level. He looked like the Popeye cartoon but he was a real human. The tissue was so damaged from lack of blood flow that it turned purple. The damage became life threatening and he was forced to remove the implants or risk losing his arms or his life. Now he is left with hardened slabs of the jelly and dead muscle in his triceps and will have to undergo more surgeries to remove the rest of the hardened jelly. Another extreme example is a woman physique competitor who became so sick from extreme protocols that included multiple different compounds including multiple diuretics and anabolics that she ended up with multiple organ failure. Despite being extremely sick, months later, while still recovering, she started posting about wanting to compete again and not caring what people think. Although both cases are extreme, the obsession with one’s body, getting ripped, getting huge, feeling invincible, these are all common things you will see in bodybuilding, no matter which division. It might not be to the extreme as getting Popeye arms, or multiple organ failure, but it’s still there. We only hear about the extreme cases and think that well, that’s not me, so I’m fine. But are many people actually “fine” in bodybuilding? Are you really ok if you compulsively look at yourself in the mirror and are never satisfied no matter how hard you work and how many gains you see in the gym? Are you really fine if no matter what you do it’s never enough and you are never happy? Are you really “fine” if you are only happy with the way you look the 5 seconds you are ripped to shreds for a show and then for the rest of the year you cover up with moo moos and sweatpants? You don’t have to have a compulsion or be classified as mentally ill to not be “fine.” It’s ok to acknowledge you are not fine. You are human and once you experience bodybuilding and all the extremes it has to offer, you will never be the same. You may not be fine now, but you can learn to adapt. We don’t talk about the psychological components to competing and how that affects people’s mental health. In fact, I think people UNDERESTIMATE the psychological component to competing. Many think it’s going to be this fun thing that fills a check box on their bucket list. They think they are going to look great so they will be happy. Social media doesn’t help with all the fancy photos of competitors making it look like everyone is stage ready year round. Plus all the attention people get when they post a photo all ripped and the muscle worshippers come running with their 50 emojis and a marriage proposal. Think about all that attention and how intoxicating that can be for people who have never felt good about themselves or felt important before. Oh and let’s not forget that every time you turn around someone is getting a pro card too so there is a status component to competing that has become very attractive. I’m going to go as far as to say that social media has created an illusion that bodybuilding is achievable for anyone. Technically anyone can register for a show, slap a tan on, and compete, but to be competitive is a different story. Anyone can get motivated for something. For example you are motivated to go to work so you can make money to pay your bills. You receive a pay check consistently so that reward keeps you motivated. But bodybuilding is different. It’s a hobby. It’s optional. You don’t HAVE to be a bodybuilder, but you have to WANT to be a bodybuilder to be a bodybuilder. To stay motivated for the months it takes to prepare for a show, with an unknown outcome, takes a specific mindset and skillset. Not everyone has a strong WILL that will keep them on track during the process when things get tough. You can’t have a bad day at work or a fight with a spouse and use it as an excuse to go off track with your nutrition and training. Bodybuilding has a compound affect. Everything you do this week will affect how you look in the weeks ahead. To get your body fat down to extreme levels requires you to be precise and consistent. You have to have a strong will that can’t be broken no matter how difficult life gets….or just don’t do the show. If life is that tough then you need to consider your priorities. There is also a cost to getting really lean. Although you think it’s a great idea, and it’s glorified on social media, your body sure doesn’t agree. This battle between you and your body’s #1 goal of survival, will be brought right to the surface. Who wins will, once again, be determined by your pain tolerance and will power. So now let’s talk about what happens when you actually win that battle and you get on stage looking all freaky. The satisfaction you get from accomplishing that goal is only going to happen when you are stage lean. Which brings me back to the word addiction in bodybuilding. When people think addiction they think substance abuse and rehab. But I think there are levels to addiction. For example, you can be addicted to coffee. There are a lot of health benefits to coffee and a recent study that showed moderate amounts of coffee are a good thing. Moderate meaning more than a couple of cups of coffee. A lot more than you would think. But just not like 50 though. So despite there be an addictive quality to coffee, we don’t think of it as taboo unless you are packing it full of sugar and fat in your triple venti latte and then all of a sudden we become all judge-y in line watching others grab their dessert coffee while we wait for our regular old coffee at Starbucks. But can you be addicted to getting lean? I don’t think the answer is really black or white. With bodybuilding there isn’t instant gratification. You can’t just jump into the back of a cab with a suit and come out the other side all jacked with a cape on and fly away like superman. Getting lean takes a lot of time and consistency. You feel like dog poo during the process too. It’s fun in a crazy way, but it’s really not all that fun. The endorphins you get from working out, now I do think you can get addicted to that. The reward occurs after every workout. Which is why I have seen many people go from having an actual substance abuse addiction to using exercise as a recovery agent. I’ve also heard mental health experts with a research background talk about how exercise causes the brain to release chemicals that mimic the affects of multiple mental health drugs taken at once. So in essence instead of taking two different pills for a specific mental health issue, exercise itself would have the same effect. For goodness sake talk to your doctor before stopping any medication. But if you are curious about the latest research you can look up Dr. Jennifer Heisz who is an expert on the connection between exercise and mental health. So there is exercising for mental health and then there is bodybuilding. Things start out great with exercise. Your intentions are good. And as you continue to exercise you naturally start to make better choices with food. Your body transforms and you are on a great path. But then you go to a bodybuilding show and see your friend on stage and you decide to give it a try yourself. You participate in your first show and now have the bug because you just watched your body morph into a cartoon character version of yourself. For some, the high is so great, that the comedown after the show can be unbearable without that major goal driving them to the finish line. The finish line becomes just that - and ending. You now have to dial out of the show and put body fat back on. You watch all the hard work you put into getting lean disappear under a healthy layer of fat. And now you feel fat. You might lose the desire to train at the gym or eat the foods you were eating on prep because there is no longer a reward keeping you motivated. It can be a hard crash for many people. I think some of this has to do with the protocols of course. I’ve been very vocal about how the protocol you use when preparing for a show matters. If you have bro science Jake with the 6 pack abs feeding you tilapia and asparagus for 16 weeks, the minute you have a burger and fries after the show, you are done. These unnecessary protocols bring out their own laundry list of mental issues that I’ve talked about in other episodes so I won’t dive into this since we are talking about the nature of bodybuilding and addiction from more of a 30,000 foot view. So for some the only way to combat how they feel after a show….is to pick another show… and start the cycle over again. So in a way, you are chasing the lean physique….and in these cases I would consider the behavior to be more of an addiction. But I have a question for you. Do you think that the people who battled substances or those who battled eating disorders to achieve a physical goal before finding bodybuilding, are also the people that are more likely to become addicted to substances in bodybuilding that are so commonly used in non drug tested federations? With the use now being rampant and what seems to be an unspoken acceptance, and even an encouragement among coaches training bodybuilders, to use anabolics, are people who had issues with substance abuse and eating disorders before bodybuilding MORE likely to abuse anabolics despite them being illegal and despite them altering their facial features and body structure permanently inside and out? Something to think about. From what I understand the feeling you get when on PEDs is a feeling of invincibility and strength. Plus, your gains come much faster than you’ve ever experienced, and you get more compliments. So imagine in a few months of time you see more gains than you have with years of training. You have a ton of energy. You are stronger. Everyone around you admires your physique. Your number of social media super fans grows exponentially. Then it’s time to cycle off of them. Energy goes down, strength goes down, and your body doesn’t look the same. Remember what I said earlier about contest prep and how a show physique often sets a new bar for your physique standard? Now imagine adding PEDs into the mix and the even greater gains of strength, size, and energy and the crash when you come off of them just like when you dial your physique out of a show without them? In addition to the physique changes, without PEDs you have a noticeable energy change. You now have a new bar set for what it feels like to have amazing energy. Kind of like when you get that first buzz from drinking alcohol. That high changes how you feel about going out and socializing. Have you ever heard the saying, no good time ever started with a salad? It’s because you know the difference. With PED use you know the difference of what it feels like to feel invincible. You know what it feels like to build more strength and size in a fraction of the amount of time. So your standards have now changed forever. How would this NOT affect your mental health? And once again, let me ask you….do you think that he people who battled substances or those who battled eating disorders to achieve a physical goal before finding bodybuilding, are also the people that are more likely to become addicted to substances in bodybuilding? And for those who use substances, you can’t un-feel that high. The bar has been set. I’m honestly not sure how people manage this feeling. Coming off the substances in bodybuilding has multiple letdowns. When coming off alcohol or hard drugs you lose the high but physically you get healthier. But with bodybuilding, you not only lose that feeling of invincibility and energy, you also lose the physical gains you worked so hard for. I bring all this to the surface to get you to think. Not just about your own mental health but the health of your friends who might consider bodybuilding as well. The mental health components of bodybuilding aren’t talked about, and if they are, it’s about extreme cases that aren’t as relatable to the masses. Whether right or wrong, I can say for myself that my standards with my own physique are much different after competing. I have a drawer I jokingly call my “hot girl drawer.” Hot girl drawer has clothes that are only worn when my physique looks a certain way. I wouldn’t be caught dead in any of these clothes otherwise. I am always amazed at people wearing half shirts with bellies hanging out. Or short shorts with cellulite on their legs. And they are all walking around like it’s hot girl summer. And they do look hot because you can tell they believe they are hot. Confidence is everything. But my idea of hot girl summer is extreme. I think muscle is beautiful and when that muscle is dialed in and you can see all kinds of cool details, that is my personal standard. If I don’t see that on myself, then I look just “meh” because I know myself different. I thought it was just me that had this attitude in my early years but after talking with people, from fellow competitors, to posing clients, I realized it is actually quite common. It’s almost as if a show day physique sets a new bar. A bar that you’ve never known possible, seen before, and absolutely love how absolutely bonkers you look. These feeling are so common that you’ll now see a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon on social media and posting messages about how a show day physique is not maintainable year round. We know that captain obvious. But once you witness something extreme, impressionable, and life changing, you can’t un-see it. Once you feel something extreme, you can’t unreel it. Instead, you learn to manage it. Or you don’t. Alright guys, this was a heavy one, I know but I hope it sparks some thoughts and helps new people to better prepare. Bodybuilding is an incredible sport. I love it because it’s challenging. But most people focus on the physical aspect of bodybuilding and don’t understand that there are mental skills that also need to develop in order to be successful in this sport. Speaking of mental skills, if you haven’t done so yet, come to one of my virtual posing clinics at www.posingpractice.com . Why do I say mental skills and posing? Because stage performance also requires specific mindset skills to get you out of your head and looking incredible on stage. Do you want to look like a robot? Or like you have no idea what you are doing up there? I didn’t think so. Your starting place is my clinics. Go to posingpractice.com and let me help you. I’ll be back next week with another episode. In the mean time, please leave a review if you are on iTunes and like, share, and subscribe wherever you are listening from. And post about this podcast in your favorite fitness groups to help reach more people in this sport that would appreciate the conversation. Ok, I’ll talk to you next week!…

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21: Podcast Tour Prep - Part 1 14:57

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We’re getting ready! My podcast tour of the USA promoting THIS SHOW starts July 2022 and today I talk about all the updates on the tour plans. From tour life in a van… Where we are heading… What will be doing on tour… ..and WHY… This episode is the official kick off of to all things pre-tour planning going on. Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to share your thoughts. Additional Resources: -Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb -Doing a show ? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com Key Takeaways: *The details of our tour van! (2:22) *Previous life in airbnbs (3:58) *My husband Vassilios’ packing “lightly” skills (7:35) *Pop up posing clinics (9:07) *My “why” for doing the tour (11:20) ----TRANSCRIPT---- Hey guys I hope you are all having a great start to your week. As mentioned in my last episode I will be on the road promoting this show throughout the United States on a Podcast tour beginning next month. I will be posting episodes at least twice a week sharing the inside scoop of our tour, visiting various gyms, attending events, and of course hosting interviews. I will continue to share tips, strategies, and my personal thoughts on the industry in separate episodes as well. I might even broadcast right from our van, which by the way, my husband and I picked up this past week. Things are getting really exciting! By the way, I’ve never owned a mini van before so I had no idea when the listing said “stow away seats” that the seats literally stow into the floor. It was like a transformer movie. I had no idea that mini vans were capable of so much storage. We will have just enough space for the stuff we are planning to bring on the road and for the two of us to sleep. We plan to hit all 50 states during the next year and, like I said, broadcast from different events and locations. If you think there is a location or event that really needs some publicity, let me know and we will consider putting it on the list. Join the Everything Else in Bodybuilding podcast Insiders group on Facebook if you haven’t. I’ll post a link here in the show description. Speaking of stuff, because it’s two of us and a van, we are going to need to pack strategically. I’m somewhat prepared for this because twice in my life before literally everything I owned was in my car. The first time was after a divorce and the second time was maybe four years ago when my husband and I traveled the country and stayed in various locations around Los Angelos California for about 6 months. We rented the house back home out and sold all of our extra stuff so we could pack lightly. I definitely learned my lesson about packing lightly on that trip. At the beginning of our trip we had black garbage bags packed up to our ears because I thought I might want my own pillow and stuff, and plastic bags are the easiest to stuff these things into. At this time airbnbs were still affordable so we traveled and stayed in airbnbs the whole time. About halfway through the trip we ended up tossing a bunch of extra stuff, and the pillows and blankets went out the door and we could actually see out the rear view window now. Plus we didn’t look so homeless anymore without garbage bags piled high behind us in the back seats. I did insist on carrying a set of dumbbells across the country and back that I was not willing to get rid of. They are the convertible kind that goes from 5lbs to 50lbs. I only used them once on the beach in Venice California, because we went to gyms instead. Didn’t matter. There was no way they were getting tossed. Haven’t used them since either. And still not getting tossed. Absolutely zero logic. I know. But I guess this is what we call bodybuilder problems. On the trip 4 years ago, like I said, airbnbs were still affordable, but I didn’t say they were great. Some were downright gross. I can’t tell you how many places in California we stayed at on that trip that weren’t clean. Back then it wasn’t uncommon for me to go to the store and buy cleaning supplies and clean the places we paid to stay at. True story. One place was so gross the dirty towels from the people that stayed there before us were still on the floor. Dirty dishes were still in the sink. And the accumulation of crumbs and food on the counter looked like it had never been cleaned. Apparently the person that was supposed to clean the place had an emergency and couldn’t do so before we got there. We were backed into a corner because pickings were already slim, especially last minute pickings in LA, so it was either try to hunt down a new place to stay, or just roll up my sleeves and clean the place myself. I opted to clean because at least I knew if I cleaned it, it would be clean. I’m telling you, pickings are slim in the LA area. There was one other place we stayed at in Malibu that had incredible views of the ocean, but your bedroom wasn’t a bedroom. It was literally someone’s living room. So here we are in someone’s condo sleeping in their living room. There were two other people living here at the same time who each had their own private bedroom. It was so weird and awkward. The condo had an open floor plan so the living room was open to the kitchen. This meant that at any time one of the residents wanted to come out of their room and grab something from the fridge, we were right there on full view on full display. So weird. I couldn’t wait to leave. So when I say pickings were slim then, I’m not kidding. And now, with airbnb prices, fees, cleaning fees, and all other fees are so expensive it’s not worth it to stay in a dump place for $5000 a month. $6,000/month if you want a decent place in the LA/Venice/Santa Monica area. Even in Las Vegas air bibs used to be reasonable, but not so much anymore there either. The prices are about double now. So not worth it. I’d rather live in a van. So we are. Having downsized multiple times I’m prepared to pack much lighter and only bring essentials. We are going to buy a grill so we can cook from anywhere. We plan to have a cooler and buy food fresh daily since we won’t have the means to store food for long periods. I have meal replacement shakes that have 36 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbs, and 6 grams of fat so I’ll have 1-2 of them a day which makes it easier to figure out food too. I will share how we manage our food in more in detail while on the road. This episode is more of a snapshot in time of our pre-trip planning. It will be fun to see how things play out and evolve while on the road. My husband on the other hand, isn’t going to pack lightly so we will probably still be up to our ears while driving. He is bringing two bmx bikes and refuses to stick them on the back of the vehicle due to weather concerns and theft. So I insisted on dumbbells on the first trip around the country and this time it’s him and our BMX bikes. He used to bmx and do tricks on his bike his entire youth so he is excited to stop at skate parks around the United States while we are on tour. He wants me to be doing bmx tricks on my bike like him. I’ll keep you guys posted on how that goes. In addition to the bmx bikes, my husband is also bringing an electric and acoustic guitar. For those of you who don’t know, my husband Vassilios is a musician and was signed to a record label and traveled for many years with the band Otherwise. He has since been writing all new original music and was just in the studio in NYC earlier this year with multi grammy award winning producer Michael Mangini producing one of his songs. So as you can imagine, there is no way we are leaving the guitars behind either. So we will be cuddling with not just bikes, but guitars too. Right now we are finalizing all the details of our trip and making preparations. For one, we are looking into wrapping the van with the name of the podcast all over it. So if you see our van on the road, be sure to honk and wave! We also have a spreadsheet with all the locations and events we are going to stop at around the country. We will continue mapping things out over the next week or so. We plan to do some in person interviews of guests while on the road instead of just the virtual ones I have done so far. I’m also excited to announce that I plan to do pop up posing clinics while on the road. I’ve reached out to a few of promotors from different federations to see if there are locations in the country that they might need an expert teacher to host a clinic or two for them. Perhaps you and a group of friends might want a pop up clinic too. Perhaps you are a promoter or coach and want a clinic yourself. If you have a group of people that want to learn posing skills, hit me up, and we might just add you to the tour. As you know, I have experience in 6 federations so my niche is being able to switch between teaching the posing requirements for every federation and division. I also consult people on what division and federation is the best option or options for them base on their look and best attributes. And, I see this all the time, when people look up posing tutorials they don’t realize the requirements aren’t the same among all federations so they show up on stage doing the wrong poses. I ensure my clients are always prepared. I plan to do pop up posing clinics on the road for all federations and divisions. NPC, OCB, WNBF, Fitness Universe, The WBFF, you name it. You want to learn bodybuilding posing? How about classic physique? Figure? Wellness, or maybe you are a bikini competitor and you walk like a baby giraffe in high heels and want to learn how to walk a runway. I’m a one stop shop. Plus, most people go to a clinic right now and learn ONE federation’s posing, and honestly, I’m seeing a lot of hot mess posing coming out of these clinics. Some people teaching these classes are decent posers but crappy teachers. My clinics are the starting place to being an incredible poser and performer on stage. I still have my posing wins shows program for men and women who are the most driven in this sport to win, but if you just want to learn the basics on posing and find out if you are posing correctly, right now, you can come to a virtual posing clinic if you go to posingpractice.com . I’m excited to offer these clinics live in person while on our podcast tour. So again, hit me up if you would like me to host one for you and your people. And let’s be real, people compete in bodybuilding shows to win them. A perspective from someone new or different than what you are getting now could be that thing that you need to go from "meh" to awesome. There is always room for improvement. Speaking of improvement and winning mindset….I’m also going to share on this part 1 episode of my podcast tour prep the reason I’m doing the tour in the first place. Have you ever heard the saying, “a dream without action is just a wish?” I believe that if you want to achieve something, you can’t sit by passive and wait for it to happen. Or it’ll never happen. You’ll never win the bodybuilding show if you don’t pick a show, you know? You’ll never get the job offer if you don’t apply. You have to put yourself out there or you are only wishing for a result. And the result I want is to bring massive attention to this podcast and grow it to a million downloads. I want this show to be the #1 resource on all issues in bodybuilding for competitors across all federations and divisions. To become the #1 resource and achieve a million downloads, it’s not going to happen from sitting by passive. Competing in bodybuilding shows taught me how to be patient and persistent while pursuing my goals, and to not be afraid to put myself out there for people to critique me. To become awesome in bodybuilding you HAVE to be patient. You HAVE to put the work in day in and day out in the gym. And do it again, and again, and again. For years. And people weighing themselves every day freaking out over a half of a pound of weight gain from the cookie they had the day before need to go and take a big dump and get over it. One day doesn’t kill your progress. It’s having the ability to detach from the emotional component of eating and look at food as fuel. And do it again the next day, and the next day, and the next. I’m fully prepared to be on the road for the next year in our van promoting the show. I’m prepared to put the work in day in and day out just like I’ve always done as a competitor. I’m prepared to put myself out there for my dream. I also know when there is room for improvement. And right now, there is a lot of room for improvement getting eyes on this podcast. It’s actually a little ironic - the title of this podcast episode. I called it podcast tour prep….. I didn’t mean it this way, but doesn’t “tour prep” sound a lot like “contest prep?” Well there you go. Alright guys now that you have a little more background I’ll continue to share with you the inside scoop on the tour going forward. I also have a lot more to talk about regarding this industry and will continue to share my thoughts going forward. I might even post a second episode this week for you so if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to like, subscribe, and share this podcast to get notified of new episodes and let others know about them too. If you are listening on apple podcasts please leave a review too. I have some really good interviews on some juicy topics lined up too so be on the lookout for more great content coming. And before I go if you want to show some love to our tour, you can make a contribution to our tour support and help keep us going on the road at https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb . The link will also be in the description of this podcast. Ok guys all for now. I’ll be back very soon.…

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20: A Day In The Life Of A Bodybuilder 14:59

for 3 years siden14:59

14:59

What does it mean to be a bodybuilder? Is it really that hard? In today’s episode, as a 20 year bodybuilding veteran, I share the specifics on what my diet, training, and cardio all look like. I also share how I structure my day in and around my training and nutrition. And then…at the end of the episode I make an exciting announcement about my upcoming podcast tour of The United States! Link below if you want to show tour support. Also, episodes are coming weekly, and while on tour, at least 2x a week. Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” Additional Resources: -Donate to support my podcast tour of The United States! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb -Want to learn how to pose effectively for your category from the start? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com Key Takeaways: *Examples of nutrition protocols of some professional bodybuilders (3:28) *The effects of labeling foods as good or “illegal” (5:05) *My view on the “bodybuilding lifestyle” vs contest prep (6:16) *My current nutrition protocol (8:11) *My current training protocol (10:37) *My current cardio protocol (11:15) *Announcing my podcast tour of The United States! (12:27) Welcome back to the show guys! There are many misconceptions about what it takes to be a bodybuilder. It goes without saying that when I say bodybuilding, I’m referring to not just the bodybuilding division, but the physique, classic physique, figure, wellness, bikini and model divisions. So when I mention bodybuilding just know I mean alll of you. I recently watched some vlogs on YouTube where people shared their contest prep journeys. They seem to all include doing a lot of cardio and eating no carbs. There was one person who was doing 2 hours of cardio a day on top of her lifting workouts like 8 weeks out from her show. The crazy part is…all that work, effort, and time, and she didn’t look anywhere near lean enough on show day. A lot of people are frustrated when hopping on the bodybuilding journey and trying to figure out the right formula to get them ripped. Getting someone to lift is rarely the problem, although I don’t think many people lift heavy enough or take enough rest time in between sets to keep the quality of work up. Most of the time it’s the nutrition component that has people pulling their hair out. It’s to the point where I saw the word illegal used in a fitness group. This person actually referenced certain foods as being illegal. I can only imagine the mental agony this person feels on a daily basis categorizing foods as illegal. I can feel the stress in my belly just thinking about what it must be like walking by an illegal food. Like if you decide to have an illegal food, do you need a bandana and a gun when grabbing it from the aisle at the grocery store? I mean, really, what a stressful existence that is totally not necessary. A lot of people are curious what a bodybuilder eats to achieve a ripped physique. So much that some bodybuilding influencers are posting what they are eating in a day. Hunter Labrada , who is an Olympia level pro bodybuilder was just roasted on YouTube for posting that all of his meals are liquid. He has protein shakes for some of his meals and for others he blends the chicken and other solids so he can drink it instead of chewing it. He also eats a lot of Rice Krispies and that brought out the trolls in droves just waiting to pounce. Speaking of, what’s up with YouTube anyways. It has to be the most troll infested social media platform. Anyone with me on this? If you don’t know what I mean, post something and see how fast the keyboard warriors come out to click the dislike button with utter joy. Lauralie Chapados who has one of the most incredible bikini physiques this sport has ever seen posted what she eats before a show. The typical chicken, rice, and asparagus. No shocker there. If you have been around in bodybuilding long enough, you know what I mean. There is so much confusion and stress around food in not just bodybuilding but everywhere. So many diets. The grapefruit diet, the carnivore diet, the intermittent fasting diet, the paleo, keto, you name it diet. Food is such a mystery for people. And now we live in a time where people are cherry picking parts of studies to use as “proof” that their diet works and pushing their new diet on all of us. All this labeling of foods as good or illegal, all this does, is continue the narrative of an unhealthy relationship to food. And if you are planning to do a bodybuilding show, you better have a good relationship with food before you start your prep or you are going to be in big trouble after your show when you don’t have the weight of a competition goal keeping you from eating everything illegal in sight. I recently saw a post in a fitness type of group on Facebook by an aspiring competitor where she beat herself up for eating like an A-hole over the weekend. She feared that she completely blew her chance of getting on stage and was full of regret. She was looking for support and validation that everything will be ok. What an unnecessary amount of stress to feel around food. Tomorrow is another day. If you don’t get lean enough in time, so what, there will always be other shows. Apparently that binge is what you needed at that moment. Likely because your body is sounding the alarm that you have an imbalance of nutrients in your current nutrition, or, you are eating such a strict diet and labeling foods as illegal so when you finally allow yourself a treat, you cram all the treats in at once and next thing you know you just pounded down 2 pints of ben and Jerry’s ice cream like a champion. If you can’t control yourself from having an eating binge, then there is more going on than just will power. There is an imbalance somewhere and you need to take care of you. I’ve never committed to doing a show unless I knew I could fully commit. There is a switch that goes off inside of me when I commit to something. If I don’t have that feeling, then I know I’m not all in on a goal, so I won’t bother committing to it. But if I’m all in, then step aside. But committing to doing a show isn’t THAT much different than living a bodybuilding lifestyle. At least for me. Swapping from living a bodybuilding lifestyle to actual contest prep just means I need to have a lot of patience and precision to keep track of my nutrition and overall daily output. So basically I have to pay attention a lot more. With the bodybuilding lifestyle, you still have to be consistent, you still have to get your training in, you still have to fuel your body adequately, and you still need to respect rest and recovery. When contest prepping, the literal calories and macros are precise and must be consistent. And your overall movement is precise as well. Not just cardio, I mean overall movement. I keep an eye on my movement with step count since as you start to get leaner and your body wants to conserve energy, your overall movement without thinking about it can decrease. So I take that variable out of the equation. Overall the general structure of life when contest prepping and living the bodybuilding lifestyle is quite similar. The difference is you get more into the weeds with contest prep. I find the lifestyle to be somewhat automatic these days. I spent many years building a healthy relationship to food for one. And two, I’m working on getting my physique photoshoot ready so I have a goal that keeps me motivated. I mentioned in earlier shows that I want to do a competition, but I’ve decided to hold off on an actual show for now while I focus on making my Posing Wins Shows clients look and feel like champions in their shows. Plus I mentioned on the last episode that I just launched my virtual posing clinics for all divisions at posingpractice.com . Head on over there if you haven’t done so yet. It’s a great starting place for new people and a great resource for veterans that believe there is always room for improvement. And they are only $47 to attend. Getting my people stage ready is my priority right now and their investment in me matters more to me than anything. So a photoshoot will do for now. But even if I didn’t have a photoshoot as a goal, there are consistencies to my daily bodybuilding lifestyle routine I’m living. For one, the simplest thing I do, is make sure I get my protein in. Even before the science nerds told me that protein doesn’t get converted to fat, I alway made sure I got my protein in. For one, it makes me feel satiated. 2, I want to build and preserve as much muscle as possible. And 3. With more protein I can keep my calories high while I dial back my physique. I’m around 200 grams of protein a day right now. I have a lot of 93% beef because it’s quick and easy to make. I have a meal replacement shake with 32 grams of protein when I wake up too because it’s quick, easy, and tastes good. It’s chocolate too. I also like Whole Foods rotisserie chicken. It’s cheap and you get a lot of meals out of one chicken. Plus it gets major bonus points because I don’t have to cook it myself. Right now I have 5 meals a day. I wake up and have my meal replacement shake around 6:30am. And coffee too. I love my morning coffee. My brain is the most creative and focused in the morning so I dedicate the first few hours of my day to everything creative for all of my businesses. I have my Learn To Pose posing business, this podcast, and I’ve also been a real estate agent and broker for 17 years so I handle all the transaction details in the mornings too. Details range from check lists and to-do lists for clients, managing details of contracts, and assisting my agents with their contract details. After a few hours if I go to the gym I’ve been having Dina and Brett at energy fitness factory make me another shake. Not because I prefer shakes, but they have this oatmeal cookie shake that is to die for. It’s oats, a little raisins, protein powder, cinnamon, almond or peanut butter, and unsweetened almond milk. If I don’t go to the gym, I’ll have a solid meal. I consider this shake a treat. The rest of my meals are solids. They all consistent of around 6 ounces of protein each, vegetables, fruit, rice, and I like to add either coconut oil, butter, or almond oil to my meals as well. I find that a lot of flavor can make foods a little too taste specific and for me I can burn out from the flavor too fast and not like the meal anymore. So I keep the spices pretty simple. My uncle Barney has the most elaborate garden you’ve ever seen and he feeds me lettuce and veggies all summer so I’ll make some salads too - not because you need a salad to contest prep, but you guys, this lettuce actually tastes like something other than crunchy water. As for my training, I lift 4 days a week. I have a goal of building my entire back side from the thickness in my back to the development of my glutes. My workouts are tailored towards my personal goals. I train legs 3x a week at different levels of intensity. I hit my back 2x. As a figure competitor, we are required to build balance throughout our whole physique. So I don’t skip any body parts. The amount of intensity, duration, and sets will depend on the body part I’m trying to bring up. Although I don’t have a show in sight, I still train like a figure competitor because you never know when the time might come that I pick another show. My workouts are about an hour total. My cardio is just making sure I get my movement in on a daily basis because I can get so wrapped up in my work that before you know it, it’s 9pm and I’ve walked 2,000 steps. So I get up and take walks during the day and add some walking before workouts as a warmup too. I don’t do any HIIT cardio. I find it too stressful on my body. My priority is keeping my calories high so I’m not one of those people that hits a plateau 10lbs out from their goal weight with very little food left to manipulate. Starting high in calories is my preference. When making an adjustment to bring on more weight loss, I’d rather move a little more than drop my calories. Hence the high amount of protein. I always feel satiated, don’t have energy drops, and have zero cravings. Higher calories for the win. So my lifestyle does surround eating. That is part of being a bodybuilder. In order to reach your goals, you have to prioritize getting in your meals. Some people prefer meal prepping ahead of time. I prefer fresh food and choose meals that are quick to make or already prepared. At the most I’ll do 2 meal replacements. I focus on getting as much solid food as possible to keep me satiated. Even when traveling I prioritize my meals. In fact, I guess this is a good time to announce, that my husband and I are going to hit the road in a few weeks to put this podcast on blast and tour the United States with it to get the word out. I’ve got a couple really great guests lined up that are going to talk about some topics that I think you guys are going to really enjoy learning about. We plan to record the show at different destinations and share with you our experiences on the road. I’ll be sharing how we get our meals and workouts in while on tour too. Right now we are in the process of purchasing a van so we can repurpose it for the tour and mapping out our destinations. I have to be in New York to head judge a competition in September, but other than that, you might see us in your home city this year! We will be posting and announcing our destinations as we tour them, so be on the lookout for us and stop in to say hi if you are in the area! If you would like to show your support of our tour, you can grab some of our merch at shop.killitwithdrive.com or you can donate to the podcast. https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb . These links will be in this episode’s description too. Also, if you have any suggestions on must visit gyms or specific locations around the country, let us know! You can post in the comments of the show or join the podcast Insiders group on Facebook and chat with us there. Well its about that time I get my workout in so I’ll be back next week with another episode. You asked for more shows sooner, and I listen. I will be posting episodes weekly instead of the bi-weekly format I’ve been doing. And while on tour, I will be recording and uploading special tour episodes with my husband as well so expect new shows at least twice a week. If you like what what you are listening to, please be sure to like, subscribe and share the show in fitness groups to get the word out. Talk to you guys next week!…

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19: Trends In The Bodybuilding And Fitness Industry 21:56

for 3 years siden21:56

21:56

What’s up guys and welcome back to the show! Today I’m going to talk about the changes in the bodybuilding industry that I’ve noticed over the past 10 years with the increased presence of fitness and bodybuilding all over social media. I’m going to cover many different areas that I’ve seen change from attitude, influence, trends, and I’ll even touch on the evolution of haters and trolls for fun too. Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” Additional Resources: - NEW! Want to learn how to pose effectively for your category from the start? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com Key Takeaways: *How the look of a figure competitor has changed over the years (3:33) *How the look of men’s classic physique has changed (4:16) *How bikini and women’s physique has changed (5:21) *How open bodybuilding, men’s physique and women’s wellness has changed (6:35) *Trends in OCB, WNBF, Fitness Universe, and The WBFF (8:51) *Health trends (10:38) *The trend of the youth and the desire to be a fitness influencer (11:25) *No one knows what a “natural” physique looks like anymore (12:32) *2 unexpected things I uncovered about the industry from teaching my signature program (15:06) *What I’m doing about the abundance of surface level education in our industry (18:18) —-TRANSCRIPT— What’s up guys and welcome back to the show. Today I’m going to talk about the changes in the bodybuilding industry that I’ve noticed over the past 10 years with the increased presence of fitness and bodybuilding all over social media. I’m going to cover many different areas that I’ve seen change from attitude, influence, trends, and I’ll even touch on the evolution of haters and trolls for fun too. For the past year and a half to two years I’ve become more active on social media as I come out of my creative cave after spending years making various products for the bodybuilding industry. The last time I was heavily present on social media was about 10 years ago while I was preparing for shows. It sure has been an eye opener to see the evolution. While preparing for shows, I documented the whole journey on my Facebook page and posted my checkin photos every week with my no glam, pasty white skin, and wild hair to showcase the process in a real and raw way. I had a tremendous amount of support and even had a line of tank tops made with mottos and anthems I used as motivation leading up to my shows. One was called, “eat lean train clean” and the other was called “kill it with drive.” On show day, my supporters from countries all over the world would wear the tank tops and tag me in them on social media to show their support. It was such an incredibly supportive environment. The changes to social media from the last time I was heavily active has been an eye opener to say the least. My observations and experience with today’s social media is what sparked my thoughts for today’s episode. For one, the look of a bodybuilder has changed quite a bit over the years. The new standards of size, and the level of conditioning, or leanness, is mind blowing. I’ll use 4x Figure Olympia champion Nicole Wilkins as my first example. Google Nicole in the Olympia 2009 when she first won the Olympia and look at her side by side from the 2014 Olympia when she won for her 4th and final time. The amount of separation in her muscles, the caps on her delts, the detail in her legs, and increase in overall size is dramatic. Now compare Nicole in 2014 to the top Figure Olympians of today, such as Cydney Gillon who hasn’t been beat since she first won in 2017, and you will see that the level of detail that Cydney displays on stage is even more dramatic than Nicole in 2014. Let’s now look at the men’s classic physique division. Look at the first winner of this category ever - Danny Hester in 2016. Now look at Chris Bumstead, current champion, and compare the level of detail he brings to the stage. Now let’s talk about the weight limits of this class. This class requires the athletes to remain below a certain weight to try and keep the integrity of the style and build of physiques that this division is meant to embody, which is from what is called the golden years of bodybuilding from 1965-1985. For example, In 2016 the weight limit for men who were over 6 foot and up to 6’1” was up to and including 225lbs. This class has since increased the weight limit from 225lbs to what is now 230lbs. So the allowable amount of size these guys are allowed to have in order to still qualify to compete has increased by 5lbs. So it’s not just detail that has increased over the years, so has the size. More examples. Bikini and Women’s Physique. Let’s Look at Sonia Gonzalez, the first bikini Olympia champion in 2010. Besides the obvious changes in the posing of this division, look at the amount of muscle she has and the level of leanness of her physique. Now look at today’s bikini competitors and check out how much leaner and more muscular they are. The bikini girls today look more like the early days of figure. The IFBB has done a good job keeping the size of bikini down in comparison to the figure division of today. I can’t say I agree they have kept the size of the competitors in the women’s physique division down though. The physique division from the Dana Linn Bailey days is barely recognizable. I remember when I first heard of physique and saw Dana Linn Bailey win and thought I could do this division. My background is as a bodybuilder and I always loved the posing of bodybuilding. But today if you look at the reining Olympia champion Sarah Villejos and the striations she has across her glutes, there is no way I would want to compete in this division anymore because of the risks it would have to my health to get that lean. It goes without saying that the men’s open bodybuilding division has evolved into 300lbs of solid muscle. Not much else to say about this except WOW. Last examples, Men’s Physique and women’s wellness. Men’s Physique competitor Mark Anthony Wingson won the first Olympia for this category in 2013. Check him out. He had a very fit and athletic physique but not overly lean. Now look at Brandon Hendrickson from 2021. Significantly bigger and significant leaner. And what’s crazy is Women’s wellness category just had its first Olympia in 2021 when Francielle from Brazil won. Over the past year the division has kept growing and there are a lot more competitors. And in just one year, it’s crazy to see, how much of of an increase in size there has been with the women who are winning shows. In just one year. For example, look at Dr. Sunny Andrews when she first won her Wellness Pro card and qualified for the Olympia (which by the way was at a show labeled “natural” because it was drug tested) and compare to how much more muscular, vascular, and hard her physique is now. And the time in between wasn’t that long. Are you noticing a trend here? Not only has the size and conditioning of athletes exponentially increased since 2015/2016, the increases over the past couple of years alone is becoming even greater. In my opinion the ability to win in professional divisions of the IFBB like women’s Physique and men’s classic physique without the use of PEDs to obtain the level of size, conditioning, and hardness displayed by the athletes is very small. Open men and women’s bodybuilding, 1 in a billion. I’ll even go as far as to say the figure, wellness, and men’s physique divisions are very small too since the look of these divisions has only gotten harder and bigger too. I already know that there are competitors in the bikini division using PEDs but I believe the look of this division is still something that is obtainable with diligence. Of course if you are competing in drug tested competitions like OCB, WNBF, and fitness universe, the look of these federations hasn’t changed dramatically and every division is meant to be achievable without PEDs. The WBFF federation doesn’t drug test but their scoring isn’t as much on the physique as it is on your marketability so in itself this has kept this federation from evolving into a super extreme look. What has become extreme are the costumes in this federation though. The amount of glam and glitz that people put int their costumes, suits, and bikinis is over the top. I’ve heard of people spending $6,000 just on a costume. So really it’s the NPC and IFBB where I’ve seen massive changes in physique size, conditioning, and overall hardness. I’m also seeing an exponential rise in number of competitors in this federation too with the addition of more divisions. As an athlete myself first I can see how people would be discouraged hearing all of this. I do plan to compete again someday but I am not really discouraged since there are still divisions I can do well in as someone who isn’t into doing PEDs. This sport is me against me anyways. Besides, as someone who doesn’t do PEDs how cool would it be to hold my own on stage with others that are using PEDs. To hold my own and look and feel like a champion would be the greatest win. The only way to do this is with time though. Muscle requires time to build. The leanness is another issue since having paper thin skin as a women isn’t healthy. I will only go as lean as my body will let me without causing harm. But this idea of health isn’t really pushed in the industry. This is another trend I’ve been seeing. I sent a newsletter out to my subscribers last week talking about the different competition prep protocols and someone hit me back and said that she has been told by multiple people in the industry that she will not be competitive if she doesn’t use PEDs in her protocol. So people in the Industry of influence are pushing this narrative of PED use and encouraging it. No one is really talking about the side effects and safer use (not safe, I said safer) except maybe Jamie Pinder who was on my show in episode 7. It’s a great episode if you haven’t’ heard it. It’s also on my YouTube channel as a video too. Another trend that is probably the most frustrating is the trend of the youth and their desire to be fitness influencers for attention and money on social media and YouTube. Especially young men. These young men are using PEDs in their TEENs. I said TEENs guys, Young men, who at that time in their life have the highest amount of testosterone raging through their veins are taking PEDs to grow their physiques faster so they can look like people such as Chris Bumstead. What’s crazy about the youth is you can be young and hot and make a ridiculous amount of money as a fitness influencer. 10 years ago that wasn’t the case. 10 years ago people still grabbed magazines from newsstands for fitness guidance. Now the hot chick on TikTok hiking her shorts up to accentuate her crotch or the hot guy YouTuber with his pants around his ankles flexing his quads will show you the way. Not the people with Master’s degrees and PHds though. Oh no. Not hot enough to know enough. Speaking of PEDs, The PED use is so rampant, I’m noticing an even more interesting trend in our industry. The lack of knowledge of what a “natural” physique even looks like anymore. Now a-days if someone posts a picture or a video showing any muscle at all, the trolls come swarming, flying around waving their keyboards like swords, and accusing people of PED use. This discussion is also a common narrative on Youtube with some YouTube bloggers regularly calling out people in episodes titled “Natty or Not.” Some episodes are actually quite fun to listen to. I’ve been in the industry long enough that I can see common traits in people and often tell they are using PEDs. I’m not an expert by any means, but there are sure signs. Facial changes in both men and women, voice changes in women, bulging red face in men, huge increases in muscle size over a short period of time to name a few. But not everyone with muscle is on PEDs. Muscle growth is totally achievable. Even the industry experts on PEDs suggest you build a base of muscle first, tap out your genetic potential, before considering PEDs. This issue of no one knows what a natural physique looks like is so bonkers to me. Dr. Layne Norton, he is a very vocal person on social media. I appreciate his blunt honestly and willingness to call out the b.s. in people. He had a moment last year where he did this regarding his wife, Holly Baxter, and the hate she was getting as she was preparing for the fitness model category in the WBFF world championships last year. Layne got so ticked he posted a close up picture of Holly’s face and said, something like, look at her face, and goes on to say that it would not look like this if she was on PEDs. Many people don’t really know what is achievable without PEDs. So many people just assume people with muscle are on PEDs since their use is so common. I’ve been told something crazy like 90-95% of people that are using PEDs are actually NOT even competitors. The biggest market of users are not competitors. They just want to look buff. This is a huge trend that is very concerning. And it’s not just the kids. There are idiot parents that ask what they should give their kids to help them perform better so they can get a scholarship. Isn’t that crazy? Everything seems to have evolved into being highly superficial. Less regard for health, science, and more regard for one’s appearance. Solid education often gets buried in the nonsense. Over the past year I’ve been talking to you guys about my signature program Posing Wins Shows which was originally designed for veteran competitors that wanted to level up their game and go from "Meh" to awesome. But a couple of unexpected things happened. First, most of the people that joined my program weren’t seasoned competitors. It was the opposite. Most of the people that joined were new people who out the gate wanted to NEVER be mediocre. My kind of people. I share the same mindset. So when people joined, I had them post their posing videos in our private group for feedback and ongoing instruction. If they were new to competing, I had them watch the online posing tutorials as their starting place. But here’s the thing… when they posted their posing videos….they looked nothing like the posing tutorials. Like nothing. So I had to pivot my program to add additional instruction because I wasn’t going to let these people who trusted me with my signature program be less than awesome. And then the second eye opening happened. I also hold weekly group classes for these people in my signature program and, among other things, I educate on various topics in these classes. Over months of teaching, I noticed another trend…another unexpected trend. So one day I decided to quiz everyone to see if my suspicions were right. I went person to person, from new competitor to seasoned competitor, to male competitor, to female competitor, and asked everyone….what do you think you are being judged on? After going from person to person I realized…. They really didn’t know. The information they have obtained up until this point is all ….surface level. Just like I said before, things have evolved into being surface level. I’m a very process driven person. I went to a 4 year college and finished in 3 years with an accounting degree and was working for, at the time was a big 5 accounting firm, doing corporate taxes for large companies at the age of 20. A few years later I tested a different type of accounting firm that was more about portfolios than taxes. When I got there I was sort of given instructions on what exactly my job was. The job had daily tasks, monthly tasks, quarterly tasks, and annual tasks. Over a couple months I had it all down and was good to go but wondered why I had to learn these processed over months. Why couldn’t someone have just given me a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual list of instructions. Then one day, a new person was hired and I noticed she was lost on the job, just like I was on day 1 without a mentor. I couldn’t understand why procedures were never in place, so I made them and gave them to her. She was up to speed in weeks and management ended up using my procedures for future hires. My brain is constantly problem solving. And how it solves problems is by breaking things down into minute details and then putting things back together, new and improved, in sequence, and in stages. So when I had this epiphany moment realizing just how surface level people are receiving information on how to pose, and how disorganized the information as a whole is, I decided to do something about it. I realized people don’t understand the fundamentals of posing. They don’t understand what they were being judged on so they can be more competitive. And, worse, they lack confidence on stage due to lack of preparedness. I realize that it’s not that people WANT surface level education, I realize that surface level education is all that there is out there. Like at that accounting firm - it’s not that no one wanted a process that helped new hires get up to speed in weeks and not months, it was that there just wasn’t a process created to provide this fast track to success. So just like I did as an accountant, I am doing it now for bodybuilders. After over two decades in the sport of bodybuilding, and 10 years of teaching and judging shows, I know how easily all of these things can be avoided with the proper education. And that’s exactly what I’ve created with my LIVE Learn To Pose Virtual Clinics for every category in bodybuilding. Go to posingpractice.com to find out more on how to pose effectively from the start. At these clinics I’m teaching the specifics on what you are being judged on in your category (ALL federations are covered!). I’m teaching how to build a proper posing foundation (where you will follow along as I break down the proper execution of every pose in your category into specific steps). And you will practice all the new posing skills you just learned and let me guide you through them like you will be required to do on stage! (as a head judge of bodybuilding shows, I will give you a taste of what your experience will be like on stage!). Again go to posingpractice.com for more info on how to learn to pose effectively from the start. Let’s bring awareness to foundational education and not surface level education. And I’ll continue to do this on my podcast for all other topics as I bring in more experts on the show to shed light on topics that are often full of misinformation. It’s really eye opening to see just how much our industry of fitness and bodybuilding has changed. During Covid everyone was an at home workout expert. Bands were the new booty builder. And people became even more connected with their phones as the only way to socialize outside of the home. As if social media wasn’t big enough, it’s even bigger now. I don’t see these trends I’ve talked about in this episode getting any less extreme in the near future. I started just posting on YouTube for the first Time in many years and I have to laugh at the amount of negative comments I get. Everyone is an expert there in case you didn’t know. It’s definitely not the super supportive environment I remember from 10 years ago. I hope if anything this episode gets some people to think a little deeper about decisions and where they are getting their information and their influence from. It’s not easy to weed through the nonsense and appearances can be very deceiving. Ok guys, I’ve got some really cool topics coming up and an extra special interview in a few weeks that I think you are going to love. As always, if you like this podcast and want to see it continue, tell the podcast people it’s cool by leaving a review and sharing it in fitness groups on social media for others to hear about and tune into too. More to come!…

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18: Do Custom Competition Suits REALLY Matter? With Guest ”Maggie Suits” Designer Maggie Keaveny 1:41:50

for 3 years siden1:41:50

1:41:50

But reallllyy….do you need to spend money on a custom made competition suit? Does it really matter on stage? Today’s guest is Maggie Keaveny who has been a custom suit designer for 17 years and an IFBB Pro Fitness competitor for 32 years. She knows the ins and outs of competition prep, and on this episode, she provides a ton of insight on competition suits. We discuss suit trends, the differences in suits among federations and divisions, and the different options available for purchasing suits. We also deep dive into how to choose colors, design, and how a designer is able to nail the fit when he or she doesn’t meet you in person. This is just the tip of the iceberg. We talked about so much! Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “ The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” Additional Resources: -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com -FREE ebook, “5 Things Every Bodybuilder and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com Key Takeaways: *Introducing Maggie Keaveny (3:00) *Maggie’s most memorable high maintenance client (5:29) *How suit designs have changed over the years (8:55) *How the suit designs differ among federations (13:15) *Why should people be looking for in a suit designer (19:08) *Men’s suits, how they differ among federations, and trends (26:20) *Why not just borrow a suit? Or buy off the rack? (32:45) *How does Maggie nail the measurements of long distance clients? (36:27) *What is the estimated turnaround time of a custom made suit? (38:58) *Levels of suit design and costs (41:30) *How to pick out suit colors that flatter (45:15) *What suit colors should you avoid wearing on stage (49:41) *How often should you buy a new suit? (53:00) *How to wash and care for your suit (53:55) *The techniques and strategies for the back side of the suits (58:00) *How does Maggie decide on the pattern design of the stones on the suits (1:00:26) *How does Maggie create illusions that give competitors a competitive edge in her designs? (1:02:20) *How Maggie custom designed IFBB Pro and Olympia Champion Cydney Gillon’s competition suit (1:08:03) *What does Maggie suggest for padding and cup style for large natural breasted women (1:11:45) *How Maggie uses different cup sizes to affect symmetry and balance (1:26:35) *Will Maggie compete again? And if so what division? (1:31:13) *The full details on a BIG announcement: The Michele Welcome custom line of designer suits made by Maggie Suits! (1:36:25) -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com…

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17: Hated For Winning? Society v. Ashley Kaltwasser 20:23

for 3 years siden20:23

20:23

Welcome back guys! This episode is about society’s perception of winning and defeat. I use a case study of IFBB Pro Bikini Competitor Ashley Kaltwasser and some of the heat she is getting from peers as an example. I offer a different perspective about winning and how I believe you can think more like an unapologetic competitor. I also talk about how the “more is more is better” attitude is hurting our sport. Lots of personal opinion and passion in this one! Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” Key Takeaways: *Handling defeat (2:54) *Why people are mad at Ashley (3:45) *How to qualify for the Olympia (4:41) *How to analyze like a competitor (6:34) *Story of Sara Blakely’s, founder of Spanx (11:45) *Why the “more is more is better so I can win a trophy like everyone else” attitude is hurting our sport (14:08) *Story of Rich Strike (15:54) Additional Resources: -Want To WIN Your Next Competition? I Can Help! Go to www.posingwinsshows.com -Do you want to LOOK AND FEEL BETTER at any age or fitness level? Go to www.killitwithdrive.com -Grab your FREE Bikini, Figure, or Men’s Physique Posing Tutorial at www.learntopose.com -Grab a “My Own Motivation” tank top, hat, or sweatshirt at shop.killitwithdrive.com ----TRANSCRIPT---- What is so wrong with wanting to win? Wanting to be the best? Why is there this mentality that we have to soften the blow of defeat like it’s the end of the world? We are so caught up in protecting people’s emotions, that we forget that we need to build resilience to BE more resilient when times get tough. If you live long enough, life will teach us resilience. Amiright? But the perception of what is a tough time will change the more resilient we become. Situations won’t feel or seem as bad if we have gone through, and worked through, them before. When we do this, we in essence, have built the resilience to manage the stressor. We are stronger and less panicky. We have all been through rough patches that tested our will. I remember one time everything I owned was packed in my car after I sold all of my belongings. I watched people come and take all of my things like piranhas like no big deal. It WASN’T a big deal for them. Why would it be? They were getting a deal on stuff for a fraction of its worth. It was a good day for them. For me, it was the ultimate defeat. Looking back on that time in my life I now see that the defeat build a more resilient me. After many rough patches I now sit here today with a perspective that is unrecognizable to the me before those times. Not much surprises me, nothing is impossible, and no one is going to save you except yourself and your inner drive. We don’t teach people how to handle defeat, beginning with our youth. We don’t teach that not winning means you weren’t voted the best up there. Instead we give participation trophies. We don’t teach that defeat is an opportunity. Let me say it again, defeat is an opportunity. Instead we coddle people and their emotions and stroke their ego or hate on others to make them feel superior. We don’t teach that shitty times happen and there are other ways to channel the emotions. Instead we live in a society where medications are overprescribed at an alarming rate. Which leads me into what I’m calling the case of Society v. Ashley Kaltwasser. Guys hopefully you’ve been listening to me long enough to know that I’m being sarcastic. I hope at least. If not, stick with me and it’ll all make sense. So recently I came across some commentary about a pro bikini competitor, Ashley Kaltwasser, who is ruffling feathers in the industry……because she keeps …winning. Let me give you a little background. Ashley won the ultimate title, the Olympia title, from 2013-2015. So let me put it in perspective. At the time of this recording the last time Ashley won the Olympia was 7 years ago. However, Ashley still continues to compete on the pro stages and wins quite often. So often that today she has the most professional wins, among all competitors, of all time. You might be thinking…..annnnnnnnddddd….the problem is? Well the PROBLEM is other competitors are mad that she keeps winning. If you are still confused, let me explain it further. Bodybuilding in the IFBB federation has a competition once a year for all the professionals that requires you to qualify for it. Kind of like the all star teams in baseball. Or the super bowl in football. It’s the ultimate prized win. And just like with any of these major events, you have to qualify. In bodybuilding, there are 3 ways to qualify. One is to literally win the Olympia competition and you are qualified for life. The second way to qualify is to win a pro show. And the third way is by a point system. You build points when you compete at pro shows and get certain placements. These placements are given a value and if you add up these values and hit a certain number, you qualify for the Olympia. So the complaints are that whenever Ashely wins a show, she removes the chance of another competitor getting that one and done shot to the Olympia. Instead, competitors will have to qualify by accumulating enough points or perhaps by continuing to compete and hoping to get a 1st place trophy. So let me summarize…people are mad that they will have to either keep competing to earn their ticket to the Olympia or figure out a way to win a show, or better, find a way to beat Ashley if she keeps showing up at shows. Iain Valliere, a pro men’s open bodybuilder got flack last year for already having qualified for the Olympia and having competed in another Pro show too. Same thing - he was accused of blocking someone else’s spot at the Olympia. So it’s not just Ashley, but Ashley is getting the most heat because she didn’t just do it once. In my opinion this crybaby mentality is because we don’t teach people how to handle defeat. How to EARN the win and not expect it. And we don’t teach that defeat is an opportunity. Instead we have built a society that feels entitled to things even when it isn’t earned. We built a society where everyone gets a trophy. A society where everyone should let everyone win, instead of a society where everyone gets a chance to participate and THEN rises to the occasion and EARNS the win. It’s like telling Tom Brady in the NFL one of the best quarterbacks of all time that he shouldn’t compete anymore because he should let other athletes have a chance to play. Please. Maybe those athletes should just be better. How about that? I think maybe I should’ve titled this episode, Crybabies v Ashley . Post a comment on this episode if you think so. I’d like to offer some perspective from a fiercely competitive and unapologetic approach. You guessed it, I’m talking about from me. Let’s together pretend we are both fiercely competitive and not sorry to say it. Now that we established that baseline, let’s talk about the opportunity at hand with Ashley competing like every weekend and slaying the stage. Think of it like game tape. Like what my Dad did as a coach. My Dad was a high school basketball coach that brought a no name school to win back to back state titles. My Dad watched the tape recordings (and I mean literal tapes….with the fuzz and all) of games to analyze weaknesses of his opponents so when the team had a re-match later in the season his team was better prepared. He didn’t just bring the same team to the game that lost the last game. He analyzed the weaknesses and looked for opportunities to one up the opponent and re-built his team to be more competitive. Let’s take this same concept and talk about Ashley. Ashely placed 3rd at the last Olympia. So this means she is beatable. If you aren’t beating Ashley, then you have a long way to go to actually WIN the Olympia. And something noteworthy is the first and second place winners of the Olympia so far haven’t competed very often, so opponents haven’t had many opportunities to stand next to those top 2 winners, and probably won’t, until possibly the Olympia anyways. So you only have Ashley to try and beat during the year. As of right now, if you aren’t beating Ashley, then there is room for improvement. If you keep showing up with the same package and continuing to lose, then you aren’t thinking like a competitor. Ashley competing nonstop allows you a chance to test different packages against her every time. What are her weaknesses? What are your strengths? What are YOUR weaknesses? Analyze like a competitor and not a crybaby and come up with some new options. Bring a completely different look. Your current look clearly isn’t going to do it. Test. Test. Test. She is beatable. Everyone is beatable. In fact, Janet Layug who won the Olympia in 2020 hasn’t competed since that competition until this recent show in Pittsburg. She looked stunning on stage… and got third. Everyone is beatable. You need a new strategy. And if you don’t have people around you that can see the minute details, the angles, shapes, weaknesses, strengths, then you need to be open to another perspective. If the TEAM you are competing on all looks like carbon copies of each other, then there’s your sign. Be open to new ideas. I’ve been to modeling and acting schools. I’ve gone to school for my yoga teacher training in something called embodyboga because of its emphasis on the body at the cellular level. I’ve been to dance schools. Despite 10 years of teaching men and women in all federations and divisions, and building my own curriculums, I went to all these schools to learn more. I believe it’s my duty as a teacher to continue learning and evolving. The minute you stop learning, the minute you stop growing. My intent of going to these schools was to build a bigger arsenal of information to be a better teacher for my posing students. It’s essential that to be competitive and be a winner, you need to be open to change. You need to be open to the concept that you might NOT have it all figured out. Even Ashley herself just tested a new package at that Pittsburg show I’ve been talking about and it paid off. In that Pittsburg show she changed her posing slightly. I’ve commented on her posts here and there, among the thousands of other comments she gets, and I’m sure it went unseen, but whatever, I’ve been saying that her hips in her front pose need to be more profile to show a smaller waist on her….which is critical when you stand next to Lauralie Chapados and Janet Layug who both have incredible genetic structures. And sure enough, I finally saw her hips more towards the side in this last show and she looked phenomenal. Best I’ve ever seen her look. With this new look, she beat Janet, who, again, won the Olympia the last time she was on stage. But Ashley still got second. She is beatable. So even with her current best package there is still room for improvement. And Ashley, if you happen to listen, I love your tenacity and drive. I love that you think like an athlete and don’t follow the crowd. I love that despite winning and losing Olympia competitions, you are still competing after many years and always working on improving. You don’t get all wah wah if you don’t win. You keep going. And you keep creating your best you. You have a champion mindset. With that in mind, with all the crybaby naysayers, I’d love to see you keep winning. I think you should test a completely different persona on stage. You’ve talked about bringing up your shoulders, but I am going to go rogue here and suggest that you try something completely different beyond your physique. The judges have seen you for many years on stage. Try something new. P.s. I’ll be in Vegas soon and would be happy to pop in and work with you on my ideas. If any of my clients from the past 10 years want to jump in here, go for it. So again we don’t teach that with defeat there is opportunity to improve. That studying new ways to get better and testing new methods is what it means to have a champion mindset. That’s what I love about the clients I work with in my Posing Wins Shows program. Every single one of them has admitted they want to win. Some of them took a bit to come around to verbalizing it. It’s almost as if we have built some sort of shame in owning our drive to win. This idea that everyone SHOULD get a chance is not building resilience, it’s building an acceptance for mediocrity. Follow the crowd, you will get no further than the crowd. Walk alone and you will find yourself in places you never dreamed of. Do you guys know who Sara Blakely is? She is the founder of Spanx which specializes in body shaping panty hose that gives women a smooth appearance under clothes. There is even Spanx for men too. She is also the youngest female self made billionaire. Not millionaire. Billionaire. How did she do it? She didn’t do it by following the crowd. By putting her “everyone gets a trophy last place trophy” on Mom and Dad’s mantle for all to fake fawn over. Nope. I listened to an interview with her and she described what it was like growing up in her household. Her father would literally ask her every day what she failed at. It was considered NOT a good thing if she didn’t fail at something. Why? Because it meant she didn’t learn anything that day according to her Dad. She didn’t push herself to do better, be better, and not follow the crowd. And look where that landed her. A freaking billionaire. It didn’t happen overnight. It took like 14 years. And here we are in bodybuilding and everyone wants a pro card their first season competing. Or 2 year transformations with a shit ton of PEDs to grow obscene amounts of muscle just to get a pro card with no regard for what is happening to their insides and health. Let me be clear. I don’t care if you do PEDs. Do you. But what I care about is the influence that young people or even new people to the sport of bodybuilding, that these transformation have on them. These results are happening incredibly fast so that the pro card can happen faster. I’ve been competing for 20 years and this evolution is really hurting our sport. Long before social media and these unrealistic transformations became the norm, there were a lot of people that I competed with that disappeared after shows. Like gone. Never heard from them and have no idea what happened to them. There were some friends that had eating disorders to begin with that were only enhanced by the nutrition protocols they were given. And many had health problems from supplements that they didn’t realize were dangerous. I remember one competitor who showed up to a show not looking as lean as she usually looked. We got to talking and she said that her thyroid was a mess from the supplements her coach had told her to use. Granted, she is an adult and could’ve looked into what she was putting in her body and said no, but she didn’t. So here she was at this show and looking much less lean and she said that her body is struggling. She went from first place at the prior show to placing third at the current show. I haven’t seen her compete since. Again. Gone. And now we have this “more is more is better so I can win a trophy like everyone else” mentality. I’m shocked with how many women are virilized on amateur stages. Like local stages, you guys, in small local scenes….not even national stages. So many women I see on stage, their physical appearance has changed drastically from PEDs, and they aren’t even on pro stages. I never saw this 10 years ago, and certainly not 20 years ago when I competed. Again, I don’t care if you do PEDs unless you do them and go and compete in a drug tested federation. The moral issue of PEDs isn’t today’s discussion. Today’s discussion is winning and society’s perception around it. And with this “expecting to win right away” attitude, we now have PEDs given at the local level to people so they can win faster now too. All you new people to the sport of bodybuilding, please hear me. Be unapologetic about winning but don’t expect it to happen overnight. Consider the consequences of your choices. And I’m not just talking about PEDs. Demonizing food and doing ridiculous amounts of cardio just to hurry and get on stage is not healthy. So many of the people I saw disappear from competing back in the day, it wasn’t because of PEDs, because like I said, PEDs weren’t as rampant as they are now. It was because of a poor relationship to nutrition and exercise. Your health matters more than a trophy. If you are continuing to struggle with a healthy relationship to nutrition and exercise and want a solution I do have one. Go to killitwithdrive.com and check it out. Anyways, back to Society v. Ashley Kaltwasser, here we have fellow competitors who don’t want her to compete as much, so they can get a better placement, and get to the Olympia competition. I can’t people. I just can’t with this mentality. Personally I want to earn my wins. You know what mentality I resonate with today? I’ll give you a hint. It’s not human. I don’t know if you saw the Kentucky Derby race, but if you haven’t seen the overhead view of the horse, Rich Strike’s, comeback for the upset, you have got to see it. It’ll give you chills. The horse was towards the back of the pack and you can see him muscle his way through the cluster of horses, kind of like my husband in highway traffic. If you don’t know then just imagine me with my hands covering my eyes at certain times during the ride and it’ll give you a great picture of how all this went down. It was quite intense. So this horse is at the back of the pack. He pushes and pushes and muscles his way through a large cluster of horses and then finds a straightaway. It’s like someone hit the NOS button on a car, because all of a sudden, you see him surge forward with ridiculous speed. The the other horses were trucking along with a similar, much slower, intensity. Rich Strike, now his energy was different. There he was on this straightaway and you see him surge forward. His legs outstretched, galloping with so much speed, I’m amazing his jockey was able to hold on. It’s a sight to see you guys. So Rich Strike goes on to pass like 16 or so horses and makes it to the front of the pack where there are two horses left to beat. These two horses are neck and neck at the front of the pack and have the complete focus of the announcer. In fact, the announcer didn’t even see Rich Strike coming until he pretty much won. It wasn’t until he literally smoked past the other two horses that everyone was like, what the heck just happened? You guys, what a display of heart, perseverance, and utter drive to win. It’s something to see if you google it. How does that make you feel? For me I felt a little adrenaline when watching. Not gonna lie. That horse understood the assignment. That drive I watched come out of that horse hit me deep. Pushing hard to go after a goal with everything you got. I can relate to that. I swear Rich Strike is going to be a movie some day. But even a horse has haters. A horse. People saying that the horse must be on drugs to have done that, and that’s all they have to say. It’s like our society doesn’t know what to do when they see something or someone push forward with incredible force, energy, and drive. Now don’t get me wrong, the horse will be tested for drugs and if he is found to have drugs in his system I’ll be incredibly disappointed because the horses are not supposed to be doping. It’s a drug tested event. Kind of like a bodybuilder who knowingly does drugs and competes in a drug tested federation. Total douche-baggery. Cheating isn’t a winning mindset. People cheat because they don’t believe they can win otherwise. That’s a loser mentality. And assuming a horse “must” be doped to have smoked the competition is not my first thought. My first thought isn’t to drag down something or someone because he, she, it, they whatever won. My thought was WOW. What an incredible display of heart. What an inspiration while I continue to push forward towards my own goals with laser focus and drive. And I hope you do too. Find that drive within, that competitive nature, and never stop improving. Don’t be afraid to lose because it was never a loss if you learned from it. Be strategic. Be competitive. And be unapologetic about it. Thanks guys for listening, as always like, review, subscribe to let the podcast people know the show is cool. And share in fitness groups so others can learn more about the whole sport and not just one federation or one division. In the mean time, if you want to pull out the big guns and strap on your competitive hat, come join my posing wins shows program. Allow me to transform you into a champion and hold you accountable over a 16 week period and then receive ongoing critiques for the life of your competition career in the Insiders group where there are men and women from all divisions and federations. 20 years of knowledge wrapped up in a bow just for you.. Go to posingwinsshows.com and book a zoom call with me. Ok guys I’ll be back with more topics soon. Take care.…

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16: Why You Didn’t Win Your Competition 25:18

for 3 years siden25:18

25:18

Welcome back guys! The minute you get off stage I’m sure most of you will agree that you want to see pictures and video of you up on stage. You will ask everyone you know how you did and how well they think you placed. After the competition, if you didn’t place as well as you hoped, you might even take a moment to visit the judging table or email the promotor to get feedback to find out how to improve. Many times you still don’t get the answers you seek. So in today’s episode, I put on my Competition Judge's hat, and break down in detail the various reasons you didn’t win your competition from a judge’s perspective. From open heavy weight bodybuilders to bikini competitors, from NPC competitors to WBFF competitors, this episode is for all of YOU. After you listen to the episode, head on over to our Facebook group called The “Everything Else” In Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders and let me know what resonates with you! Key Takeaways: *What being a subjective sport means as a bodybuilder (1:43) *My experiences as a panel judge and head judge of bodybuilding shows (2:55) *Using the open men’s bodybuilding division as a judging example (5:02) *Using the Wellness the division as a judging example (9:51) *Using the Men’s Physique division as a judging example (12:01) *The good and the bad on getting judging feedback after a show (15:15) *Using the Bikini division as a judging example (16:45) *How judging for the WBFF and the Fitness Universe pageants are different than traditional bodybuilding competitions (18:14) *Things you CAN control when competing in bodybuilding competitions (22:19) Additional Resources: -Grab your free bikini, figure, or men’s physique posing tutorial at www.learntopose.com -Go to posingwinsshows.com to learn how the program solves 3 big problems holding you back from winning and then schedule a zoom call with me -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com ——TRANSCRIPT—— Bodybuilding is a subjective sport where you prepare months, even years, for a show only to have minutes of time to be evaluated by a judging panel full of opinions deciding how well you compared to the people on stage. Can you spot how many unpredictable layers there are to this statement? Let’s break them down and then ask ourselves again why you didn’t win your show. Starting with the word subjective which means based on personal taste, influence, or opinions. Next the concept of only having minutes of time to captivate the judges. Followed by the word opinions, meaning more than one opinion. and Lastly, the idea of being compared to others. So in essence, you have to impress more than one person that each comes from different walks of life, backgrounds, experiences, and experience levels, no matter if you are having a good or a bad day, and you have no control over who you are standing up on stage next to and what they look like. Do you see yet how difficult judging really is and how little you have control over what happens that day? Let’s add some more layers. I’ve judged and head judged for multiple federations. As a panel judge I’m one of a group of people that is scoring the competitors on stage. In more traditional bodybuilding shows, when tallying up the scores, the highest and the lowest scores get dropped from the group of judges to remove the outliers. So think about that. It is built into the scoring system an expectation that there will be outliers. No matter the experience level of all on the panel, there are still differing opinions. The goal of the scoring is to find the most consistent opinion among the group. And this will change depending on who is judging, the region you live in, and how well the judge knows the criteria being scored. Next let’s talk about the influence of the head judge. When I am head judging, I am not scoring competitors. My job is to position the competitors on stage in a way that tells a story to the judging panel. I move people around on stage and position those who I believe are top 5 next to each other in the center of the stage. I move people to compare body types. I cue all the competitors through all their mandatory poses which of course depends on the division. It is then up to the panel judges to score the competitors based on their own opinions. There have been times where I’ve sat through the awards portion of the show and seen people win their division who I did not have as the winner in my opinion. Very rarely are decisions unanimous in the open categories. Open categories include all ages, height, and weight. Some divisions segregate weight, like bodybuilding for example. Some divisions like bikini, figure, and men’s physique segregate by height on the amateur stage when there are a lot of competitors but then once you are a pro you can be 4’11’ standing next to a 6’ competitor. A pro is a pro. Some pro federations do have weight limits and height limits for pro categories like the 212 division or the classic physique division in the NPC/IFBB. But not with the IFBB open bodybuilding division - it’s open. So you can be 5’10 and 300lbs standing next to 5’2” 250lbs. To win the coveted prize, the ultimate championship title, it’s the best competing against the best. And WHY someone would pick the 300lb person over the 250 person isn’t so simple as saying, well, bigger the better. The bodybuilding category isn’t just about size. Two other pieces of judging criteria are symmetry and conditioning. So you can have big muscles but can’t look like the Michelin man and win. You have to be lean enough to show all the shapes and lines of your muscles. But even having size and conditioning won’t make you a slam dunk winner. You need balance among the muscles from top to bottom and from one side to the other. So, again, using the open men’s bodybuilding division as an example, what if someone is super shredded but not the biggest guy on stage? And let’s just say this person is standing next to someone that has a LOT of muscle mass, beautiful shape and symmetry, but he comes in soft, meaning he isn’t lean enough to show the definition of the muscles like the guy who showed up shredded where you can see every line and every detail. Who would you choose as the winner? If you are a judge, you are probably answering me in your head saying, it depends. Judging is not cut and dry. We need to take things a step further and start breaking apart the physiques from top to bottom, side to side, then also scoring the bodybuilding muscularity poses themselves. You can be overall big but have lagging body parts and the smaller guy might edge out the bigger guy by bringing an overall better package. And by better, remember, this isn’t simple. So for example, big guy can absolutely dominate on his rear lat spread pose but his chest pose might not be as good as the 250 guy so he would lose on this pose. These small details become even more important the higher the level you compete on. Which you will hear me say like a broken record, you need to know how to pose your body. As the stakes get higher, your posing will make or break your placement. You might get away with it on smaller stages where there bad posing can sadly be the norm, but not for long, if you start climbing the ranks or compete in federations where there is an incredible amount of competition on the amateur stage, never mind the pro stage. You need to work or consult with someone who SEES these small differences. Sees the best in your physique and the areas that need improvement. And can shape and angle your body in a way that highlights your best features and minimizes the flaws. I was teaching my weekly virtual class for my Posing Wins Shows signature program the other day and we had some new people join the program. I had the group provide feedback to the new people about their experiences so far and one person’s response to the new people was that I see every. Small. Detail. Another person said they just went to a bodybuilding show as a spectator and left the show feeling so confident that her preparedness is so far beyond what she witnessed on stage at the show. And another person said that she was excited to be a part of the program where she will hear what she needs to hear to get better after spending years competing in competitions and not really knowing why she wasn’t winning and what she needed to do to improve. And it’s true. I see people differently. I see shapes, angles, details. And I am able to spot that extra something about you that makes you a stand out. I don’t say this to get all high on myself. I’m saying this because it’s these small details that will either make you a champion or cost you a title.. Why I am even going to go as far as to boldly say that I think the amount of posing coaches out there is diminishing our sport. Yup I said it. If you think I’m being a snob, oh well. Love me or hate me I’m always going to tell it how it is. Every single detail matters when competing and not everyone can see these details. Most posing coaches see people at the macro level. Macro meaning, from a distance. Here is the pose, watch and follow. They don’t see these small details in each person so everyone’s posing looks like a clone of the others. But here’s the thing, the same look isn’t flattering on everyone. People come in all shapes and sizes. From short and stocky, long and lean, to short waisted, to long torso. None of these physiques are better than the other, just different. Here’s an example. Wellness competitors. Wellness is a new category that everyone is trying to figure out how to pose for. Wellness has 4 poses. Front, left side, back, and right side. I’m seeing this particular move where a majority of people are bending over when they turn to the side before standing upright into their side pose. They are sliding their hands down their leg, sticking their but out, and then standing up. You know what it reminds me of? Have you seen the movie Legally Blonde? There is a moment in the movie where Elle Woods demonstrates at the beauty salon the “bend….and snap.” move to her friend because her friend is super shy and really likes this guy that comes in every day to the salon. Elle leans over and drags her hands down her body only to abruptly stand upright or “snap” up to standing. It’s supposedly THE MOVE that will get the attention of the guy. Google it and you’ll see what I mean. So lots of bend and snapping going on in Wellness now. I see it in bikini competitors too and I even saw it on a WBFF stage too. Everyone is watching the same videos. I get it. You want to stand out. But here’s the deal. If you are copying everyone else’s posing, you aren’t standing out. If you have a short waist, squatting down when doing the bend and snap will make you look shorter and thicker. Sitting down into your legs and shoving your glute towards the judges condenses your body and makes it look thicker. Wellness is looking for thick legs, but not a thick waistline. You want to show a small waistline and if you naturally do not have one, you do not want to follow the same posing techniques as someone who does. You are only making HER look better. I’ll say it again, you have to impress more than one person that each comes from different walks of life, backgrounds, experiences, and experience levels, no matter if you are having a good or a bad day, and you have no control over who you are standing up on stage next to and what they look like. My point about the posing is that Every. Detail. Matters. In every division. Men’s physique. Guys, the way you angle and shape your body is critical. You are not being scored on your legs so your legs are more like an accessory. An accessory. I say this all the time about arms and hands to my posing clients. They are an accessory that contours and shapes your body or a complete distraction. If your arms are shaping your body like you are riding a motorcycle…some of you know what I mean….think about it what you see when someone drives by on a motorcycle. Their arms are out in front of them, hands clenched around the handles into fists. I’m seeing this shape with arms out front and fists clenched all over the place in men’s physique division. I’m not sure who started this move, but people saw it and it became a trend. I remember I asked a men’s physique competitor to help me demonstrate something for an audience. He had a great physique and won a show so I thought he was a perfect fit. When demonstrating the back pose, he lifts he arms out front to grab the invisible motorcycle handles. I ask him to drop his hands and he pushes back and says, this is how we pose in men’s physique. Remember, he won a show so why would he think there is nothing to improve. What he doesn’t realize is he won because he had the best physique compared to what was on stage THAT DAY. He might not be so lucky if he stands next to a guy with a similar physique and a better presentation. Remember, winning depends on who you are standing next to. By shifting your arms out front you lose the lower lats. So in essence you are shrinking the appearance of the width of your back and the V shape. This is critical for men’s physique because again, you aren’t being scored on your legs so the focus is on the upper body. This posing error is even more costly in this division. So I ask him. Do you know what you are being scored on? He couldn’t really answer the question. He really didn’t know. I asked this same question to my Posing Wins Shows class the other night. Each week I have a topic of discussion for everyone to learn about. This week I asked everyone to answer if they knew what the judges are looking for in their division and federation. I have men and women from all federations and divisions so I thought this would be fun. Once again, no one had a real definitive answer. If you don’t really know what you are being scored on, are you ever really going to know why you didn’t win? Or what to improve on? No one is teaching the details. And these details will make or break your placement. Bodybuilding no matter the divisions is all about the details. As a judge we have to pick apart all these details to determine the winner. As a competitor you might be focusing on the wrong things or not be aware of what you are missing in your presentation that is throwing things off. And it’s not just posing I’m talking about. Presentation includes your total package including the amount of muscle you have and the level of conditioning, or leanness, you bring. It ALL matters. You will hear many say to get feedback from the judges after the show. Feedback can be critical but you need to consider your source. Even on the last episode of the podcast, if you haven’t listened, be sure to do so, on the last episode, Dr. Escalante said that one of the biggest flaws in peak week is that you just weren’t lean enough. Many people will try to do last minute adjustments and take diuretics to look leaner when in actuality, you were just not lean enough, so no amount of diuretics will come to the rescue. And it doesn’t help that there are judges who are unable to make that distinction. Or like Dr. Escalante said, judges might be sugar coating their feedback to not make you feel bad when you just worked months to get to show to not be lean enough. I’m not sure if that’s the case or if literally they don’t know that what they are seeing is too much body fat, not water. Sometimes the judges feedback ISN’T good. They might not have the experience yet to know the difference between holding water and not coming in lean enough. And here’s a big one, they might SEE that your presentation on stage is “off” but might not know why or what to say to you to make it better. So they might say a blanket answer like, get better at posing. And you might not know any better so you don’t realize that not all posing coaches are the same. Not all have the same eye and attention to detail. So you might end up being that girl doing the bend and snap on stage or that guy riding your motorcycle. Every detail matters. Judging for categories like bikini and wellness is even more subjective than all the other categories. I think it’s actually quite difficult to win a bikini competition. In bikini, no matter what federation from NPC to OCB to WBFF the amount of muscle and level of conditioning is less than the rest of the categories. The standards of what constitutes an acceptable amount of muscle is different between the federations, but what is not different is that the level of muscularity and conditioning for the bikini division will always be less than the other divisions, no matter the federation. With the bikini division, the judges are looking for a foundation of muscle, tight waist, enough conditioning to show shape but not excessive leanness or striations, and a great overall presentation. What’s great presentation? What’s a foundation of muscle that isn’t too much? What is enough conditioning without being too lean? It really depends on who you are standing next to on stage. And it depends on who is judging too. If the panel of judges have bodybuilding backgrounds, the opinion on amount of muscle and level of conditioning might be different than a panel of judges with no strong history of bodybuilding. Or even men versus women judges. What the men think it acceptable for amount of muscle on a women might be different than the women on the panel. I see some federations choose physiques where it’s the leaner the better. And others go for the softer the better, like more of a beach bikini look. And again, it depends on who shows up. Bikini isn’t an easy category to nail. Which leads me to judging for other federations where the scoring is not the same as more traditional bodybuilding federations. Two that come to mind are the WBFF and the Fitness Universe pageants. I’ve judged and head judged for traditional bodybuilding federations and I’ve also judged for the WBFF which is more like fitness meets fashion meets photoshoot modeling. I can tell you from experience that you are not being judged anything like other federations like the NPC, OCB, and WNBF. In the WBFF you will never see someone win the bikini division and win the fitness model division. In comparison, I was just at the NPC nationals and saw the winner of the Figure category win the physique category. I’ve also had posing clients of my own show up to a WNBF show and win figure and fit body, which is their version of the physique category. This is an important distinction. If you are someone who is accustomed to crossing over divisions and you show up to a WBFF show and think you might clean house and win all the divisions at the show you will be very disappointed. WBFF fiercely protects the look of their category and will show a clear line between winners of categories no matter who shows up. But here’s the deal with WBFF. You might win a pro card at a local show in the figure category or a men’s muscle model category but when you step on the international pro stage you might not have enough muscle to compete against the pros in that category so you might transition to the diva fitness model category or the men’s fitness model division instead. Once you are a pro in the WBFF you can change divisions. So back to the scoring for these federations. What are they looking for? In the WBFF. 40% of your score is marketability. 20% is stage presence, poise, and confidence. And 40% is your physique. So let’s do the math together. 60% of your score has nothing to do with your physique. Male muscle model is 60% physique but still….40% is marketability. What’s marketability? How do you prepare for marketability? The Fitness Universe federation is similar in that they are looking for marketability also. Many of the people that graced the covers of magazines back in the day when getting on a cover of a magazine was the ultimate goal, many of these people won the Fitness America contests. So marketability literally meant getting modeling gigs in magazines. This has changed a lot in the last 10 years with social media. Now we are seeing more influencers and people who dominate fitness on social media in these magazines. People who have never won a show or even stepped on stage before. What makes them so marketable? One thing that is consistent is there is an “it” factor about them. A certain look that is pleasing to the eye. A “look” and an “it factor” that is most likely to captivate a large percentage of the population. So how do you prepare for these shows that are looking for an “it factor?” When 40% of your scoring is on your physique and 60% is everything else. I can tell you as someone who has judged for these shows, you have to be an absolute stand out on stage. Think about everything I talked about and then let’s all ask ourselves again why you didn’t win your show. It depends on your division. Your federation. The skill of the judging panel. Who you are standing up on stage next to. The presentation you brought from level of muscle, level of conditioning, and the shapes you are making with your physique on stage and how well it compares to the others. The answer isn’t cut and dry. As you can see, there are things you cannot control, but what you CAN control is YOUR level of detail. Pay attention to all the details in your division and what you are being judged on. Align yourself with people who are detail oriented who can help you refine these details. Be open to changing federations that might be a better fit for you. You might do better in a more traditional bodybuilding federation, or you might have an “it” factor and totally slay in a federation that judges heavily on marketability. Try competing in different regions, different federations, and in front of different judging panels. And most importantly, bring your absolute best physique to life and give it all you got on stage. And almost even MORE important, remember, it’s you against you! There has to be more driving you than just the trophy. All bodybuilders, no matter if you are a men’s open heavy weight or a women’s bikini competitor, everyone, wants to WIN. Your physique is your trophy. Your confidence is your trophy. Your physique transformation is your trophy. Your transformation from Nervous Ned or Nervous Nelly to a crowd loving superstar on stage is your trophy. Your ability to do something extraordinary is your trophy. Alright guys I hope you took away a lot from this episode on scoring for competitions and won’t be that guy that throws his medal across the stage because he didn’t win his show. Yes, this happened. Don’t be that guy or that girl. Details Determine Destinies. Thanks guys for tuning in. Be sure to tell the podcast people that this show is noteworthy and leave a review on iTunes or share the show in groups on social media to spread the word. In the mean time, if you want someone to help you with the details, like what federations or divisions are good fit for you, things you specifically need to work on that are holding you back from winning, and someone to put all the pieces together that will help make you look like a champion for whatever federation or division you want to compete in, come join my signature Posing Wins Shows program. When you are in, you are in for all of your shows. I’ve got men and women across all divisions and federations preparing for shows in as soon as a few weeks to over a year away. Go to posingwinsshows.com to learn how the program solves 3 big problems holding you back from winning and then schedule a zoom call with me to get started. Alright see you on the next episode!…

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15: Peak Week Strategies For Both Natural And Enhanced Athletes: Debunking The Myths And Delivering The Science with Guest Dr. Guillermo Escalante and Co-Host Vassilios Metropoulos 1:27:24

for 3 years siden1:27:24

1:27:24

Welcome back guys! This week I’m very excited to have a guest on the show to shed some light on "peak week" and talk about a recommended protocol from a scientific viewpoint. Today with my special co-host, and husband, Vassilios Metropoulos, we interview Dr. Guillermo Escalante who has a doctorate in science, is a professor of Kinesiology, an athletic trainer hired by bodybuilding promotors to oversee the health of the athletes on show day, and is a high level bodybuilder. Together we deep dive into the history of peak week, we talk about the different variables used in peak week protocols, the misconceptions, and Dr. Escalante shares his recommended strategies for a peak week protocol outlined in the published paper he co-wrote with other scientists and PHDs. The direct link to the paper on peak week and the specifics on the protocol can be found here: Escalante G, Stevenson SW, Barakat C, Aragon AA, Schoenfeld BJ. Peak week recommendations for bodybuilders: an evidence-based approach. BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 2021 Jun 13;13(1):68. doi: 10.1186/s13102-021-00296-y. PMID: 34120635; PMCID: PMC8201693. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34120635/ Key Takeaways: *Introducing Guillermo Escalante (2:30) *Dr. Escalante talks about his experience pulling people off stage at a show (5:20) *How Dr. Escalante got into bodybuilding (7:48) *Where “peak week” started and the concept of drying out came from (12:45) *What does it mean to actually “dry out” (14:43) *What it means to be “flat” versus “spilled over” versus “holding water” on stage (17:00) *How healthy is this sport? (21:25) *How much of the “peak week” protocols out there is actually necessary and scientific…and where did they originate from? (25:10) *Deep dive into Dr. Escalante’s evidenced based paper on recommended peak week protocols and how he and those who co-wrote the paper with came to their conclusions (36:04) *How “peak week” differs depending on the division you are in (52:39) *Does Dr. Escalante’s peak week recommendations apply to every bodybuilder regardless of age, whether you are on PEDs or not, etc. (58:36) *Dr. Escalante responds to high versus low carb diets (1:05:14) *How to address flying on an airplane as a variable in your peak week protocol (1:11:20) *Dr. Escalante and his wife are getting ready to compete (1:16:33) *The worst bro science move Dr. Escalante has ever done when preparing for a show (1:17:38) *Whether you are on PEDs or not…Do you need a diuretic? (1:22:16) *Find Dr. Guillermo Escalante on social media at @doctorgfit on instagram and Guillermo Escalante on Facebook (1:24:11) Additional Resources: -Grab your free bikini, figure, or men’s physique posing tutorial at www.learntopose.com -Discover The Proven Strategies to Winning a Bodybuilding Show That You Will Never Learn At Any Posing Class... Competitor Workshop... or Anywhere Else! (and… What to do about it) at www.posingwinsshows.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com…

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14: Show Prep Fails - Part 2: When Peak Week Goes Wrong 23:21

for 3 years siden23:21

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What you do the final week before your competition can literally make or break how well your physique shows looks at your bodybuilding show. The “fail” occurs when you make changes during this final week of show that have a irrepairable outcome...and in a bad way. In part 2 of Show Prep Fails, I go into detail on some personal experiences I’ve had with some final week of show protocols. I share the ugly truths on how things can go very, very wrong. I share some pointers on things to look out for so these instances don’t happen to you. And I provide some suggestions on how to avoid your own peak week fails. Coming up there will be a part 3 to this sequence that I think you are going to love. In the meantime, let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” Key Takeaways: *What is “peak week” (3:15) *My story about 8 months of prep down the drain (3:34) *There is no one size fits all peak week protocol (9:18) *My story about identical peak week protocols and drastically different outcomes (13:00) *Some common sense thoughts about peak week (18:50) *How and when to test your peak week protocol (20:09) *What’s next! (21:04) Additional Resources: -Grab your free bikini, figure, or men’s physique posing tutorial at www.learntopose.com -Discover The Proven Strategies to Winning a Bodybuilding Show That You Will Never Learn At Any Posing Class... Competitor Workshop... or Anywhere Else! ( and … What to do about it) at www.posingwinsshows.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com ——TRANSCRIPT—— The week before your bodybuilding competition is exciting. You will feel a flood of emotions. You might feel a sense of accomplishment that all of your hard work has finally got you to the point of getting on stage. You made it. You might also be a nervous Ned or a nervous Nelly and completely doubt yourself and whether you are ready. These are all fears and false beliefs of course. I’ve had to talk sense into some posing clients in the past here or there who start pulling the only skin they have left on the sides of their waist and telling me to “look at this.” Can you see my eyes rolling right now? It’s the same look I give them. I’m like, yes, you are contorting your body to MAKE skin squeezable. Of course I’m being silly sarcastic to them like I always am, and I do stop joking and level with them. I remind them of the road, where they started, where they are now… and that now is the time to put their game face on. It’s been a long road and now is not the time to take their eye off the ball. How do I know this? Because I’ve been there done that many times myself and I have experienced a high like you will never believe when I got on stage and knew I nailed the look. And then I’ve also got on stage and knew the opposite. And walked off stage knowing I looked better a week before the show. This is exactly what I’m going to talk about today. I’m going to talk about some of my own experiences with peak week and share in detail how they can go very wrong. If you don’t know what peak week is, it refers to the final week before a bodybuilding contest when many people make last minute tweaks to their nutrition and/or training to try get their body a little leaner or dryer. The goal is to make their muscles display that much more prominent on show day. Sounds exciting, right? One time I prepared 8 months for a show only for a peak week disaster to cause me to miss the mark with my physique on show day. 8 months. Of. Work. Think about that. These shows are not like every weekend for most people. If you are constantly trying to improve your physique, it’s in your best interest that you NOT compete very often. So you have time to actually make the improvements. If you are on PEDs you are a different breed. That’s a topic for another day. In addition to the 8 months of work, there were financial costs that were wasted. I had to fly for this show so there was flight, hotel, rental car, and of course the entry fees, tan, among other things that had to be factored in. You’ll hear me say it many times, competing in bodybuilding is not an inexpensive sport. I had no problem spending this money for something I loved, but to spend it and my physique look worse than it looked literally one week before is a tough one to swallow when I didn’t know how long it was going to be before I got back on stage. So what happened, For the 8 months leading up to the show I was drinking two meal replacement shakes a day and found them easy on the stomach. Yhey gave me a lot of energy for my workouts too. Plus they had 36 grams of protein in them, plus essential vitamins, and enzymes to break down the shakes for better absorption so they were a powerhouse of nutrition. The shakes were the only changes I made to my nutrition. I worked them into my macros and ate the same amount of meals a day, just swapped out two of them for the shakes. Visibly my shoulders were growing like weeds, energy was great, and the biggest benefit I found was I had no problem staying lean throughout the year. I didn’t have any cravings either. I had them in my nutrition all the way up to the final week of show. Then peak week came around. I was advised to pull out my two shakes and swap them for solid food. The theory was it would dry me out and I would come in looking leaner and my muscles more prominent at my show the following Saturday. You are probably guessing by now that this did not happen. So let me tell you what DID happen. At first, the thought of removing my shakes, I was like, ughhh, bummer everything has been going so well. Very quickly I switched my attitude to that of, “if this is what it is going to take to come in my best, then let’s do it.” I never back down from putting the work in to make me a champion. Plus, I was making my pro debut on a new pro stage and I wanted to win. This pro stage was different than other stages I had been on. From the posing, the judging, the stage walks, basically everything was different. I think you all know by now I have three pro cards in three very different federations. Some people say they have two or three pro cards but often that is in the same federation. So for example, they might be a figure, bodybuilding, and physique pro, or a bikini and figure pro, but it’s all in the same federation or among similar federations. But when you cross over to completely different federations with completely different judging, posing requirements, you are in completely new waters. The overall experience will be completely new. So here I was, getting ready for this new pro stage, excited for a new experience, and I’m one week out from the show. I pull the shakes as recommended and swap the shake meals for solid proteins. At the end of day 1 my stomach felt full from all the solid food but I figured it would pass since I was also doing additional cardio. I hoped the cardio would help me utilize the food better. By mid day, day 2, it became more difficult to get the food down. I wasn’t hungry and my stomach felt full all the way up to the spot underneath my breast bone. I still got my food in though. By the evening of day 2 my stomach started to physically hurt. The morning of day 3 I was battling being able to eat at all. By lunchtime day 3, I could not eat any more solid food. My stomach felt full to the brim, hurt quite a bit, and I felt like I was going to vomit if I ate anymore. I struggled getting through my workouts too. So I skipped a meal or two and ate a lighter meal at the end of the day with maybe about 3 ounces of protein and a tablespoon of some fat. By day 4, which was the Thursday before the Saturday show, I added back in just a plain whey protein shake, not a meal replacement, to at least get some protein in. I did the same on Friday too. By Friday the pain had subsided, but I still wasn’t 100% well. Plus, by now, the effect of the nutrition changes was visible…and not in a good way. My body was stressed. The cuts that were in my legs the weekend before were soft and I did not have the prominent muscular look that we hoped for. The resulting changes to my physique were completely opposite of what was the goal of peak week. So not only was it a miserable week being sick to my stomach, there was literally nothing I could do on show day to reverse the negative effects from the week. But here’s the thing. There was no science that backed this peak week protocol. And not only was the week of show memorable in not a good way, 8 months of hard work got thrown down the drain because I did not bring my best physique to the stage. What a waste. Kind of like when someone shows up unprepared with their hair, makeup, suit, or posing and stage presence skills and looks like a hot mess on stage when they could’ve avoided it. Such a waste too. At least with proper hair, makeup, and posing and stage presence preparation you can control looking prepared. You can just redo your hair for example. To me there is so much help in these areas these days that there really is no excuse for being unprepared in any of these areas. With peak week protocols, not so much. Did you know that there is not one exact peak week protocol that works for everyone? The person you are working with, no matter who they are, how many years they have been coaching, or how many degrees he or she has, is still testing their protocols on you to find out what works for you? And don’t get me going on these contest prep coaches that literally have the only credential of winning a pro show next to their name now calling themselves expert coaches. Please. Often there is zero science education behind him or her and most likely no real knowledge of human physiology at all. I know top level coaches who resort to giving their bikini athletes specific PED protocols to minimize their room for error peaking you. Look, if you are general wellness and lifestyle and not looking to do contest prep, by all means, work with the fancy named coaches. When I owned my fitness facility I would give nutrition consults to the general public that came to my gym to work out. Heck I even had an entire movement in my community called the Michele Approved movement where I designed healthy menu options at various restaurants and even took it as far as to have a grocery list at a super market with about 250 shelf tags throughout the store for shoppers to cross reference the grocery list. Sales of the menu items and grocery list items skyrocketed for these businesses. I never took a penny from them either. Instead I wanted people to know my fitness facility was unlike any other. When I did 1 on 1 nutrition consults with gym members, I would look at what they were eating and I would make recommendations based on their goals, lifestyle, and always took into account their current nutrition regimes. I have found that a lot of nutrition is about psychology too so everything was customized to the person and what was doable to them. All the little improvements did in fact help them improve. I didn’t want to be that gym where everyone showed up looking the exact same month after month, year after year, especially when they worked with someone from my personal training staff. You’ve probably seen this occur yourself in your own gym.. People spending thousands of dollars to work with a personal trainer only to look NO different. Nope, didn’t want that for my gym members. For this reason, anyone that incorporated my nutrition advice, transformed. I knew from years of competing that nutrition was an integral part of making physique changes. The exact nutrition changes are specific to the person and where they are in their journey. But I currently draw the line at nutrition for contest prep. Even with the nutrition certifications I have and continue to acquire, including the latest one I did called The Flex Diet Certification under Dr. Mike T. Nelson, one of the smartest people I know, I still won’t, as of today, do someone’s contest prep nutrition. I will be coming out with a program that is lifestyle related in the near future with my husband Vassilios that will address common pitfalls in nutrition and training, for nominal amount you guys, so nothing crazy. I’ll share more about it when the time comes. As for contest prep, as of right now I refer contest prep nutrition to the smartest people I know who understand its complexity from a science backed approach. Instead, my focus is the Posing Wins Show program which is the gold standard in the industry with tools and strategies you won’t find anywhere else. I can’t say enough about it obviously because it’s a passion of mine. My point about nutrition for contest prep is that not everyone is qualified to be an expert in it. Tons of likes and followers, a trophy, or a pro win doesn’t make someone an expert. Especially when it comes to contest prep. So I talked about how not one exact peak week protocol works for everyone but let me also ask you… Did you also know that your body will not necessarily respond the same way to the protocol you did for the show you did prior? I can remember a show where I came in ON POINT. The look was absolutely nailed and it was another pro debut. I remember being on stage and being in, wait for it, LAST callout. I was standing in the back of the stage under the lights with like 2 other people. What you would consider the best in the group of women on the stage had already been called up to the front of the stage and compared amongst each other while the rest of us stood like potted plants at the back of the stage. I remember that sinking feeling when it was down to like a couple of us and I hadn’t been called up yet. I was like, well, no turning back now. When I was finally called up with those two other people, I did not let what I was feeling inside change my presentation. It was time to perform, so step up. This was pre-judging. I walked off the stage and was ok because I knew I brought my best package to the stage. That was my win. And no one could take that away from me. I didn’t wallow in my sorrow and kept my nutrition on point between pre judging and finals so I would continue to hold my conditioning and not lose the look that I worked so hard to achieve. So finals comes around. We are pros so the MC introduces us individually by our first and last names to the audience. I come out, hit my signature power pose, flash a few more of my best poses, and get back in line. The MC then starts to do callouts again because the judges weren’t finished judging. The first batch of people are called out. Nope, not me in it. As expected. Another few people are called up to stand with them. Nope not me. Still not surprised. Then all of a sudden, I hear my name. I’m like, wow, that’s an improvement from being last. I try to contain my excitement, breathe, and walk up to the line with the rest of the women. Here I am standing at the very end of the row. There is a little bit of a pause in the judging. I look over to the judging table and I see whispering going on. We are all waiting for the next call. To my surprise, I hear my name called, and I am asked to move all the way to the center of the stage next to last year’s Champion. What a moment. I walk over, get into my pose, and we go through another round of comparisons with me staying right there on stage. It was such a drastic change of events that I’ll never forget. You just never know you guys. When you come in on point, you need to never fall off your game and present yourself your best. I absolutely nailed the look for this show. It wasn’t easy and a couple days before the show my body dried out so much that my arms would suction at the elbow when I did a lat pull down. My legs looked sick and the quad cuts were deep. And nope, I never took a diuretic, in fact never have taken one. This was literally accomplished ALL with nutrition. It was literally the best I ever looked and the worst I ever felt. It paid off and I walked off stage going from last callout to finishing with a 2nd place trophy behind the champion from the prior year who re-claimed her crown. So the following year, when it was time to get back up on that SAME stage, the idea was to NOT. Change. anything. So I followed the exact same protocol that I did the year before to a T. You know what happened? Absolutely nothing. No deep quad cuts, no crazy dryness. That exact same protocol did NOT work. I was still really lean, but I didn’t have that crispness and deep separation that I had the year before. So again, my body did not respond the same way to the protocol I did for the prior show. This wasn’t as obvious as a peak weak disaster as the one I told you about where the food was drastically changed. But this is still a fail. I’ve speculated many times about the WHY on the cause of this fail. I’m not a scientist, but I believe our bodies are constantly evolving. So my body was literally not the same body it was at the year before. Think about it, if you are constantly improving your physique, in theory, you should have an improved package in some way. Maybe you have more muscle overall, like me, I had accomplished building more size in the year between shows. Or maybe if you took extra time off and you were successful in making a body composition change, meaning you added muscle to areas that are lacking and/or trim areas that are over dominant. So overall you ARE different. Or maybe it’s overall stress too. I had torn a hamstring about 8 weeks prior to this show and trained through the pain. Let’s also add in the fact that when you are doing contest prep for a bodybuilding show, you are bringing your body fat levels down much further than just looking hot on the beach. There will come a point when your body literally thinks it’s starving. In addition, for women, this can mean a loss of your menstrual cycle because your body fat levels are too low for your body to focus on reproduction. I remember for one show it took me 6 months to get my cycle back after a show. 6 months. Crazy huh? And I’ve never used any performance enhancing drugs, so this was purely a loss of menses from low body fat levels and the stress on the body that comes with the territory. Overall the scenario from the prior show to the current show I was doing wasn’t the same. So the moral of this is to not think that there is a cookie cutter peak week protocol that is going to work for every show. Now if you have a coach that resorts to giving you PEDs like estrogen blockers, like nolvadex, to lean out your legs and glutes, then that’s a whole different scenario. So as you can see, contest prep is no easy feat. And what you do the final week before the show can literally throw out the window all that you did to prepare for the months leading up to the show. In my opinion, from many lessons learned from 20 years of doing this, I do believe that no two show preps are the same, but there should be some common sense involved. I do not believe anything drastic should be done the week of show at all. I think that at the end of the day, if you aren’t lean enough and you are trying to do something quick to fix it, you are setting yourself up for disaster. Your body is in a super sensitive condition and even small changes can have a drastic effect. If you aren’t lean enough, you should push out the show. There will always be another show. Your stress levels have to be factored in and action should be taken to minimize them as well. Your health and wellness should always be a priority. By the way, some contest prep coaches will not dial you into a show with protein shakes in your nutrition and will ask you to pull them out. If you want to pull out protein shakes for whatever reason, in my opinion, I would not do it last minute. I would slowly taper the shakes down over many weeks prior to your show to allow your body to adapt to changes in nutrition. I would also plan to be ready for a show weeks before the show, not torpedo like you’re sliding into home base head first to score the point. I literally mean weeks before. If you want to try any peak week protocols, let them be small changes, that you know will have a positive affect on you because you tested them….on YOU, not heard about them from a friend. So it’s with the testing that you find out which peak week protocol you should do for THIS upcoming show…and it is also the time you will find out whether the protocol you did for the prior show will even work this time. This testing should be done weeks prior to the show, so you have time to make adjustments should any tests not have a favorable outcome. Again, be ready weeks before the show so you can test with a contest ready physique for more accurate results. Even small changes like adjustments to your carbs or fats can make your muscles look flat or full. I’ve come into shows with my physique on point and I’ve come into shows where I was flat as a pancake. A lot of how to do this is backed by science so don’t waste your time with anyone that doesn’t have a science background or a solid understanding of the human body. Peak week should be small changes, nothing drastic and you should prepare for this before the show, and not do any last minute tests right before you get on stage. So no guessing the week of show. In fact, I’m going to be having a guest on the show in the near future who, along with four other people that are PHDs and scientists, who together published a paper recently that reviews the current pre-contest peaking protocols that are most commonly used by bodybuilders. This review provides evidence-based recommendations on safe and effective strategies for peak week protocols. We are also going to talk about the differences in peaking someone who only uses nutrition and training to prep for shows versus someone who uses PEDs to prepare for shows. These scenarios are completely different and I think a lot of people who start with coaches who automatically use PEDs with their clients don’t realize that this is not the only way to prep for shows. And that there is a science based approach to peak week that will optimize your chances of actually peaking when you are NOT on PEDs. Swapping out liquids to solids the week of show was a bro science protocol. There is too much bro science in this industry and it’s time to elevate the science. I think you guys are going to love hearing exactly what people with actual scientific background have to say about peak week. I will continue to bring you guys more truth talk from credible people and no bro science or fluff. So stay tuned for the follow up to this episode. I’ve got a lot more coming. In the mean time, if you are ready to do something completely awesome for yourself and leave no stone unturned in your show prep, then go to www.posingwinsshows.com and Discover The Proven Strategies to Winning a Bodybuilding Show That You Will Never Learn At Any Posing Class... Competitor Workshop... or Anywhere Else! ( AND ... WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT). Learn things you won’t learn anywhere else and go to posingwinsshows.com Also, like I said before join the discussion in the Podcast Insiders group if you haven’t already. I’ll see you on the next episode!…

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13: Show Prep Fails - Part 1: When Relationships Go Wrong 22:25

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What is unique about bodybuilding that can cause stress in various relationships? How do you prevent it? Today I’m starting a new series on my show with the main topic being “show prep fails.” The first discussion I’m going to tackle is where relationships can go wrong. I dive into three specific types of relationships in life and the potential issues that can surface when you compete. I provide suggestions on how to maneuver potentially awkward situations and suggestions on how to minimize future issues too. My goal of this show is for you as a listener and potential bodybuilder to always feel empowered in your decisions and to not feel like you are being selfish if you make decisions that will ultimately fill up your cup. I want people to know it’s ok to do what’s best for you in bodybuilding. And you will always have an unbiased resource here (me! hi! *waving*) shouting from the rooftops, cheering for you, wanting to see you manifest the greatness within you. Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” Key Takeaways: *My story from childhood on how change affected a key friendship (3:00) *Why relationships in bodybuilding are special (5:49) *Why the “team” concept has exploded (6:31) *Bodybuilding is not a “team” sport (11:02) *Control vs Influence (13:26) *Navigating relationships with your significant others (15:00) *Finding your voice (19:57) *Do something awesome for yourself (21:19) Additional Resources: -Find out three secrets you won't learn at a competitor workshop or posing class at www.posingwinsshows.com -Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com ----TRANSCRIPT---- Welcome back guys! I have a new series I’m going to do that is all about show prep fails. In this series I am going to cover common themes and things that go wrong in show prep. Today in Part 1, I’m going to talk about all things regarding relationships and things that go wrong. If this podcast hits a chord with you, feel free to share your thoughts in the group I have on Facebook called the “Everything Else “in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders. Throughout our lives we try to make friends and build meaningful relationships so that we have people to share our experiences with. At some point we come into our own and start new paths that take us in completely different directions. This can mean the end of a chapter and the beginning of a new one. Often there are friends in our lives that don’t understand our new paths and don’t want you to change. They don’t understand that you are evolving and growing. They might even say or do things that are hurtful to try to keep you in their life as they know you. I remember one time I was in grade school and I was starting to make new friends in school. These girls were part of the “cool” crowd. I had a friend that was not part of the cool crowd who lived on the same street at me. Growing up we hung out a lot and always created dance routines together to music on the radio. The 80s was all about dance scenes in movies and I embodied this to the max. I was always dancing and creating choreography either by myself, with my cousins, or with this friend. When I started making new friends, my old friend got jealous. One day, I was at her house playing again and got hungry. By the way, I don’t know about you guys, but there was always food at my house and my grandparents houses. My grandmother would feed me a stack of waffles and when I got through one of them, five more showed up. So I never understood when I would go to friends houses there would never be food. Like ever. It would come time for lunch and I’d end up with a piece of bread or something. I mean does no one eat? So anyways, here I am making dance routines and I’m freaking hungry. I ask for a snack and she goes and gets this coffee cake thingy her mom made. I mean really, coffee cake. I’m like, mmmm YES finally something good to eat. So she goes to hand me the piece of cake and then pulls it back and says, I am only going to give you this if you promise you will never change. That you won’t be friends with these new people and you will stay the same person. I was really young but I knew this wasn’t right. I didn’t know it was blackmail at the time, but I knew it wasn’t fair. I mean, really, I’m freaking hungry and am being served an ultimatum by a close friend while a piece of coffee cake is being waived in front of my face. I left her house that day and felt funny about the whole situation. I felt deceived and I couldn’t shake the feeling. That was the last day I went over her house to play. Walking away from friends that don’t align with your path is never easy. It becomes harder when you actually do evolve, and they don’t like the new you. You might be more confident, you might have a physical transformation that they don’t like, or you might be overall spending less time with them and they feel left out. I think after that friendship I distanced myself from all friendships. I kept people at arms length so that I wouldn’t be cornered again. I didn’t see it coming and I never wanted to be backed into a corner like that again. It wasn’t until I was 20 and got into bodybuilding that I met my best girlfriend Shelley in the gym while she was getting ready for a bodybuilding show at 47 years old. She became my closest girlfriend and is still near and dear 20+ years later. Why? I don’t know. There is something about the friendships you make in bodybuilding the are different. There is like this unspoken code amongst competitors. It’s like when you see two motorcycle riders pass by each other and they wave to each other and nod. It’s a thing. With bodybuilders I think it has to do with having gone through show prep and knowing what it really takes to do a show. You will never really know unless you do one. I think it also has to do with how alone you feel in the environments around you unless you are in a bodybuilding Mecca or something. Most people don’t have that luxury and prepare for shows in their local gyms where you might even be the only bodybuilder in the whole facility. So when you meet people at the shows often times you make friends back stage and these friendships carry on long after the show. I think this is why teams have become so popular because they provide a support system that many do not have anywhere else, including at home with their families. Cathy Savage pioneered the concept of teams before anyone in the industry. I remember meeting Cathy in 2004 at one of her camps and then by 2007 there was literally hundreds of competitors flying in from all over the world to her annual Camp Savage event. It was in the middle of January in Boston so there was zero weather incentive to be there. But people came anyways despite 20 degrees and windy temperatures. That’s how much people wanted CONNECTION. Since then the team concept has exploded and now you have teams everywhere, all around the world. The irony of the “team” concept is I think they can become quite isolating for competitors, and can even bring on a feeling of peer pressure. Sounds weird, I know, but hear me out. Remember that idea of evolving I was talking about? Think about what happens when a competitor who started on a team and now wants to try something new and the team or the coach doesn’t approve. They feel a pit in their belly because they don’t want to leave the support system of their team, but they also don’t want to be limited on what they can do with their competition career either. “Can Do.” Those words. Geez, just verbalizing it irritates me. I honestly don’t understand why grown adults allow themselves to be told what they can and can’t do with something that is a hobby. That’s like being a golfer at a particular golf club and deciding that you want a change. So you find a new golf course to spend your thousands of dollars at, but when you tell your friends at the old golf club about your switch, you are faced with little to no support and a lot of push back. Sounds ridiculous, right? But, how is bodybuilding any different? Unless it’s your literal career, bodybuilding is a hobby where you will ABSOLUTELY spend thousands of dollars to participate. From suits, entry fees, travel, tanning, contest prep coach, and posing coaches, it is absolutely going to rack up into the thousands. Just my clients alone, when I was doing 1 on 1 sessions, I went through their accounts recently and added up how much they have spent with me over time. YUP, THOUSANDS. Part of why I made the Posing Wins Shows program. It is a curriculum that you have lifetime access to no matter when and where you compete. It’s a one time cost. Want to compete in NPC? OCB? WBFF? WNBF? Fitness Universe? NANBF? I could go on you know…plus what’s cool is includes a community that is like an ongoing posing lesson and accepts everyone, men and women, all divisions, all federations. The unique support system that is growing in the group because of the diversity is incredible. I just did one of our group classes the other night, yes there is weekly face time with me included, and there was a moment we talked about different federations. I told the group that the cool part about being a part of this program is you can compete anywhere, and you will have not just the support, but the education from the only person qualified to teach the posing for all federations and divisions. Someone in the group is doing her first show in the NPC federation and wants to switch to OCB or WNBF in the future. Guess what, she not only feels empowered to make those changes, but has the support from the group, and will receive the proper instruction to make those changes to her posing when the time comes. Another person is doing an OCB show coming up, but in the future is thrilled by the idea of the glam and over the top concept of the WBFF federation. When the time comes for her to make that switch, she can make those changes effortlessly from someone who can help her. She won’t feel peer pressure to stay in a federation. She won’t feel like she needs to go seek out a whole new teacher to help her with the posing and stage presence requirements either. She has a one stop resource for life that encourages her and supports her no matter where she wants to compete. And another person in the group, one of our male competitors, got served some awful news last week. The competition he was planning to do got canceled and he was left spinning wondering what to do. You know what he did? He knew he could ask me for guidance on what to do next. He knew he was going to get an unbiased answer on where and when to compete. He has pivoted and now has a brand new show to focus on. I think the team concept has blinded people to the fact that bodybuilding is not a team sport. It is an individual sport. And that the team should be the support system lifting you up no matter what your goals are. What I loved about Cathy Savage and her team concept back in the early 2000s was that she never told someone they couldn’t compete in one federation or another. She was very honest about her opinions on the various federations and would freely tell people what she thought, but ultimately, she never disallowed a competitor to compete somewhere. She still prepped them no matter where they wanted to compete. I think all teams should be supportive and not suppressive. Having a support system is a must and teams do fill that void, but from a career standpoint, when a team is more suppressive than it is supportive, it can keep you from growing as well. Just like that feeling I had when my friend wouldn’t give me a snack because she didn’t want me to change, if you feel a pit in your belly that you “can’t” do what you want to do or compete where you want to compete because your coach says no, then you got things twisted up real good. Let me repeat, bodybuilding is not a team sport. One person gets one trophy. YOU did that. YOU won that trophy. You don’t see any contest results that list off the team name, do you? No it’s the individual person. You don’t hear that Lebron James won the NBA championships do you? No, he wasn’t the only contribution to that championship. You hear the Lakers won the championships because it was the efforts of ALL on the team who did the work.. Lebron might win a MVP award that showcases his excellence on the team, but again, it was the efforts of the team that won, so the banner that goes up in the gymnasium with the championship title on it says “Lakers” not Lebron. In bodybuilding, there is no such thing as the contribution of the entire team being the reason You won your trophy. The team is your support system. Your friends. But make no mistake that it was YOU that measured every ounce of food that you put in your mouth, YOU that got up at ungodly hours just to get your training in, YOU that lifted every dumbbell or barbell, YOU that pushed your self in the gym every day, week after week, month after month, YOU that went rogue from your team and contacted me to immerse yourself in my signature program because YOU wanted to do something for YOURSELF to level up your stage presence and increase your chances of winning. YOU did all that. And all this happened regardless of who was on your team. It absolutely baffles me how many bodybuilders, and I mean all of you, from bodybuilding to figure to physique to bikini, how may of you allow your decisions to get better, improve, change, evolve to be controlled by others. Not influenced. Influenced is not the same as controlled. You can ask for someone’s opinion or guidance as influence but weigh your options in your head yourself and ultimately make your own decision. I’m talking about control. When it’s like you are asking for permission from the people around you on decisions as if you have no say. At the end of the day, I think being on teams can be really fun and produce a camaraderie you might not find anywhere else. But where I draw the line is when the influence of the team environment keeps you from growing. One of my favorite quotes by Einstein goes something like, follow the crowd and you will get no further than the crowd. The person that walks alone is likely to find himself in places no one has ever seen before. Think about that for a second. I mean, really. Think about it. You are influenced by your environment, but you can change your environment at any point. If you are around people who don’t support your growth and evolution, you can change that. You are in control of your decisions. And being a part of an individual sport requires you to do what’s best for you to reach your highest potential. If you are just looking for friendships, this sport will provide you connections you will never find anywhere else while you are on your individual path to greatness. It’s important to keep that distinction. That teams will provide you support, but the team is not responsible for your success. YOU are. But let’s talk about relationships of a different kind. Relationships with your significant others. Relationships with significant others aren’t so easy to navigate when your significant other knows you one way, and you start to evolve, and one day decide you want to try something like a bodybuilding show. Up until this point so much of your life has been built around this other person. You might even feel like life is passing you by and you want not do something great for yourself. And the affect on the relationship can go one of two ways. Either your significant other will be genuinely excited for you and want to see you do something for yourself. Orrrr, your significant other will dislike your attention going elsewhere and not support you at all. Just the other day, I had someone reach out to me to join my signature program, Posing Wins Shows. I had never met her before so I didn’t know anything about her or her goals. So we chatted for a bit and she told me how excited she was to do her first show and wanted to get on stage late summer. She wanted to look incredible and give it her best shot and was beyond excited to have the opportunity to work with me through my program. She was like, I need this! and couldn’t wait to get started. Next thing you know, I get a message from her saying that her boyfriend told her absolutely not and called her crazy. And then out of nowhere, she blocks me on social media. In my head I said forget working with me, girl, there is nooo freaking way you are ever going to do a show with that kind of attitude at home. Am I right guys? A lot happens during the time you prepare for a show. The show prep becomes life consuming. Food. Training. Sleep. Posing Practice. Add family commitments and children in there, you still have to find time for all of this stuff. And somehow you do! Without a support system from your significant other, it will add a whole other layer of stress to an already stressful endeavor. This person I was talking about is never going to do a show because the ONE person in her life that is supposed to lift her up and encourage her, thinks doing something for her that excites her is CRAZY. How freaking controlling is that?! It’s actually quite sad. No one should ever dim your glow. But there is one more thing that happens during show prep. Especially for new people. You CHANGE. And in more ways than just one. You learn a lot about yourself. You discover things about yourself you didn’t know before. You grow more confident. Your aesthetics change. Your body morphs into a shape you have never seen before. When you go places people compliment you. And these changes will either bring out the best or the worst in your relationships. I’ve seen significant others be the biggest cheerleaders. Imagine families wearing shirts with your name on it at your competition to show their support. And then I’ve also seen these changes cause a strain in relationships because the other person becomes jealous and doesn’t like that the new you is getting this attention and that you are delegating some of your focus onto yourself. Unless you are becoming an arrogant ass, their disapproval is usually because this new you means you are dedicating some time to filling up your cup instead of pouring yourself into everyone else’s cup, including theirs. This is not support. And this eye opener doesn’t often come until you are deep into your show prep. So the girl who wasn’t allowed to make a decision for herself because her significant other called her crazy, isn’t even into show prep yet and already has little support for her desire to do something great for herself. This, my friends, is exactly what I mean about a relationship disaster during show prep. The bottom line here is you absolutely need to be in control of your life, and your decisions, or you won’t make it through prep. And if you actually do putter your way through and somehow make it on stage, the strain on the relationship won’t go away until you return back to the “old” normal or the other person has a come to Jesus moment seeing you on stage, starts to acknowledge all your hard work and your joy from it, and then evolves WITH you. You need to have a conversation with your significant other before you begin the process. I highly suggest you include this person in some capacity as well. He or she might not want to do a show, but perhaps he or she can be a part of a physical transformation as well. If they are already in decent shape, maybe they can plan to do a photoshoot right around the time of your show with you. Ultimately I suggest you try to include them in some capacity if you can. Or maybe, if they have their own hobbies that they enjoy and simply want to see you do something for yourself, and they don’t need to be intimately involved in your show prep process. That’s fantastic too, but let’s say golf is their hobby. Going to play golf on the weekends as their expensive hobby isn’t the same as your expensive hobby of doing a bodybuilding show. Your hobby isn’t a weekend thing. It’s an every day thing. And I think it’s a good idea for them to be in the know on this beforehand. I also think they need to know more than just the specifics on the show prep itself. You should really share how much this hobby means to you. Many might not understand and think competing is all about total vanity at first. And that’s ok. Not everyone is really going to “get” bodybuilding. At the end of the day, you don’t have to “get’ why they love golf and how they can even watch it on tv for more than 2 minutes without falling asleep, right? So he or she doesn’t have to “get’ why you love bodybuilding. What you both do “get” is that each of you loves your hobbies and you both love seeing the other person happy. You also “get” that you are both allocating money and time towards your hobbies and neither hobby is more important than the other. Relationships are a two way street. And communication is an absolute must. In fact, have your significant other listen to this episode so they can gain a better understanding of what this sport entails. Help them understand more. Ok guys, I hope the biggest takeaway from this episode is to find your voice and communicate your dreams and desires. Whether it’s with your close friends who don’t get why you want to do a show, your family, your coach, your team, and your significant other, it’s important to provide info about what it is you want to do and ask for their support. How about saying, “I really want not do this thing, it means a lot to me, and I would love your support.” Instead of just putting up with naysayers, come out and ask for their support. If they truly care about you and seeing you happy, they will want to support you. You so got this! And by the way if you are ready to do something completely awesome for yourself then go to www.posingwinsshows.com and find out the three secrets that are holding you back from looking your best and winning a show….annnnd what you can do about it. It’s never too early to get started. If you want to be great at something your efforts have to be great. Also, like I said before join the discussion in the Podcast Insiders group if you haven’t already. I’ll see you on the next episode for part 2 of this series of show prep fails! See you soon!…

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12: What Are The Differences In Show Prep At 20, 30, and 40+? 20:04

for 3 years siden20:04

20:04

Does age matter when competing? The topic of age is on the forefront lately with some federations changing their rules on age minimums and what age quantifies as “masters” divisions. I started competing at 20 years old all the way through my 30s and now into my 40s. On this episode I’m going to talk about the differences I’ve noticed with competing at 20, 30, and 40+ years of age. I’m going to walk through seven different topics like training intensity, aesthetics, metabolism, recovery, emotional, belief, and reasons for competing. Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” Key Takeaways: *Training Intensity and Recovery (4:23) *Pain Tolerance (5:51) *Metabolism, NEAT, and Sleep (8:41) *Aesthetics (11:10) *Emotional (13:09) *Reasons for competing and level of belief (15:42) *If you are ready to do something awesome for yourself then go to www.posingwinsshows.com (19:17) Additional Resources: -Find out things you won't learn at a competitor workshop or posing class at www.posingwinsshows.com -Grab some “My Own Motivation” swag at shop.killitwithdrive.com ----TRANSCRIPT---- Welcome back guys! Wow the last episode sparked a lot of conversation which I really love. hope you do join us in the everything else in bodybuilding podcast insiders group on Facebook to chat about the episodes, contest prep, and the industry as a whole. There are men and women from all federations and divisions there. One question that has come up a few times in the feedback on the shows I’ve been doing and the conversations we are having in the Facebook group for listeners of this podcast is the subject of AGE in bodybuilding. In fact the topic of age is coming up more and more. 20+ year olds in the NPC/IFBB are breaking records as youngest pro card winners of divisions with the amount of muscularity not typically seen in the youth. Just this year, the NPC announced they are restricting the age of contestants to a minimum of 18 years of age. On the flip side federations are continuing to add more opportunities for competitors over 35. You can get a pro card at 35 and 40 and not have to stand next to a 20 year old to do it. Jake Wood, the owner of the Olympia contest in the IFBB federation just announced that he plans to bring back the Master’s Olympia by 2023. It has yet to be determined if the Master’s Olympia age requirement will start at 40 or 45. The debate over the starting age of the Master’s divisions is found across all federations. The WBFF starts at 35 and as of 2022 the OCB just dropped the age from 40 to 35, while currently the WNBF master’s age category starts at 40. Why does age matter when competing? Does it? Well I can tell you from experience that preparing for shows at 20 is much different than preparing at 40. Some of it has to do with experience alone. You figure out your body and what works for you and what doesn’t. No matter how many studies there are out there, there are always people in the studies that are outliers. I remember listening to an analysis of study that tested different levels of carbs and weight loss. Calories were kept the same. Some people with less carbs lost weight and some poor soul gained weight. Over time as you continue to do shows you will build an intimate relationship with your body and learn how it responds to different nutrition and training strategies so you don’t have to waste time and effort on things that don’t work for you. This is an advantage of age. But I want to talk about some other differences competing at 20 versus 30 versus 40 for you to consider. I came up with about 7 of them. And again these are all my thoughts and opinions. Let’s talk about training intensity and recovery. I’m going to lump these two concepts together. I hired my first trainer at 20 years old when preparing for that fitness modeling contest. This experience was both good and bad. The good part is I learned proper form quickly and didn’t have to waste time ping ponging around the gym trying to figure out what to do all day. My energy levels where really good and I could handle whatever was thrown at me. More was more with this trainer, and I didn’t know any better, so the weights I was pushing was super heavy. About six months in I had to visit a chiropractor and have a rib adjusted after it slipped out of place. I bounced back pretty quickly and didn’t think much of it. By the time I hit my 30s I had enough time and experience under my belt to realize that consistency was key but was still training 6 days a week with a lot of volume. The amount of output was very taxing and I found my recovery from this was not the same as it was in my 20s. In my 20s I could hang, but in my 30s it was getting to be too much. Aches and pains were starting to pile up. There is only so long you can push the gas peddle full throttle before the car has had enough. Am I right? Now at 40 I train a lot smarter and wish I knew then what I know now. Now I have de-load weeks where I drop the volume and then over the next few weeks I slowly bring it back up. So my intensity is cycled and not full throttle 7 days a week anymore. Which leads me to pain tolerance. At 40+ I respect my recovery and listen to my body, but I’m not lolly gagging around the gym. I don’t just grab heavy weights to do them or have a training partner that forces a ton of reps out of me. Instead, I methodically build up my strength with both weights and reps. I can be on a leg press and gauge the level of suck pretty good. I have been at 15 reps and know that I have been able to withstand a greater level of pain, good pain that is, so I know I can handle more, so I push out another 5 reps. These are quality reps by the way, I don’t just toss the weight up for ego. I breathe through the pain and keep going. Knowing your pain tolerance is also something that comes with time. I can tell you that if you haven’t been training long, whatever age that is, you probably don’t know your threshold and most likely can handle a lot more than you think. Perfect example is my husband. He was doing prescribed workouts on his own and would ask me questions here or there. He wasn’t making as much progress as he liked so he asked for my help. So for a couple weeks I was with him as he did his prescribed workouts. And here is the difference. He let me dictate the amount of weight he used. After those couple of weeks he realized he was capable of a lot more and learned how to progress up in weight safely and effectively. Another example was back when I owned my gym one of my favorite posing clients asked if I would help her with her HIIT cardio for fun one day. After the session she turned to me and said, “I have never felt like this when doing HIIT cardio before. I clearly have not been doing HIIT.” In both examples, they learned that they were capable of more than what they thought. If you are wondering if you are capable of doing more, hire someone with a lot of experience to train with you for a week or two to help you determine your thresholds. Don’t start a new program with them. Literally do the program you have been doing and have then take a look at the weight you are using, watch you do the exercises, and give you feedback. You’ll likely be very surprised! Pain tolerance also comes with time. The earlier you start training the more time you have to learn this. My husband is learning this in his 30s and this posing client I was talking about was in her 40s. Both were relatively new to structured training. So pain tolerance is a time thing, not an age thing. Just because you are 40+ doesn’t mean you need to baby yourself because you don’t think you will recover or don’t want an injury. I’m not saying you need to train like an idiot, what I’m saying is you are probably capable of more than you think. Let’s talk about the controversial topic of metabolism. When I trained for shows in my 20s the weight fell off of me pretty easily. Today in my 40s there is a big difference. Want to know what it is? NEAT. Non exercise activity thermogenesis. Think about it for a second. What activities outside of the gym are you doing? If you are in your 20s, are you working two jobs, chasing children all day, and barely have enough time to eat a snack? If you are in your 30s are you working a desk job for 8 hours and the only movement you have in your day is getting up to use the restroom or the walk to the car? And in your 40s are you achy and not motivated to move around a lot? I think a lot of people say their metabolism is crap but don’t realize that they might just move a heck of a lot less than they used to. I know I do. I started paying attention to my step count to see how much movement I was doing during the day. On days that I am on the computer all day, if I didn’t go to the gym, I was maybe 3,000 steps. Yikes. I remember when I was in college I probably moved 3,000 steps before 10am just going to classes. Track your steps for a few days and see how much you are moving and then let’s talk about your metabolism. If you are less than 5,000 steps a day don’t even try to tell me you have metabolic damage. Please. I can’t. And how about sleep? There is a recent sleep study where 15 subjects of average body fat (approximately 21%) were locked up in a Chamber for 2 days. During one day they were allowed to sleep normally. Sleep was measured by an EEG. On the other stay, they were only allowed to sleep 1 hour at a time, yet for the same duration as they did on day 1. They were woken up 8 times in one night by an alarm. What the study found was the night of fragmented sleep resulted in direct impair of fat oxidation thus decreasing their fat loss results. Literally two times as much of a reduction. Two times. So the idea of metabolism isn’t as straightforward as saying I’m just old and my metabolism has slowed down. You might have either slowed down, literally, with less NEAT or perhaps you are slowing it down yourself with poor sleep habits. Another big difference in 20 versus 30 versus 40 is your actual aesthetics. I think there are divisions where youth is on your side and I think there are divisions where age is on your side. In the divisions like bikini where they are looking for a foundation of muscle but not the density of the other divisions, you can start competing at 20 and do great. In fact that youthful look will be an advantage. Same with men’s physique. That fresh look will be an advantage. When you start getting into the divisions like classic physique, bodybuilding, and figure, muscle density and maturity are the advantage. People in their 20s have thicker and fuller skin; as we age our skin gets thinner. Thinner skin can be an advantage to the more muscular divisions by making the muscle tissue more visible. One thing to note is regardless of age, you have to put in the time to build muscle. If you are 40 or 50 and you started training a few years ago, you might have a foundation of muscle but not the density to be competitive yet. I often see competitors think they just need to get leaner to see their muscle. This is a major misconception because if the muscle isn’t developed, I don’t care how lean you get, you won’t see it. Many competitors get the feedback from the judges that they need to build muscle. So they take a couple months to build muscle and then pick a new show and start dialing in for it. Such a big mistake. Muscle takes time. If building muscle is the goal, the last thing you need to do is spend most of the year in a caloric deficit dialing in for a show. My best body composition changes happened with a year of work. No one wants to hear that though. If your show pictures look the same then you need to take time off and train. This goes for 20, 30, and 40+. From an emotional standpoint I think another differences in 20 versus 30 versus 40+ is level of fucks given. I don’t know about any of you listening but I can honestly say that where I am emotionally today at 40+ the level of care that I have for what people think of me is zero. I’ve weathered a lot of storms and not much phases me today. Why? Because no matter how bad it got, I got through it and learned what I am capable of. So today if get the comments that I look like a tranny with all my muscle, I just laugh. I think many trans people are gorgeous not for just their outer beauty, but the inner strength it took them to flip the bird to society and be who they are before the world told them who to be. One of the things that I loved the most when I worked with men and women posing clients was not the outward transformation, but the inward confidence that each and every one of them experienced. Which is why I built the Posing wins Shows curriculum so that I could work with hundreds and hopefully thousands of people instead of being limited by the hours in the day working people one on one. Those of you who are in your 30s, 40s, and even 50s and 60s that have weathered storms and want to do something for YOU, something that makes you feel special, something that lasts far beyond show day, YOU are the reason I built Posing Wins Shows. Posing Wins Shows isn’t just about making you look like a star, it’s about making you FEEL like one too. Think about it…when is the last time you ever really did something for yourself? Do you remember what it was like to pull all nighters, fly by the seat of your pants, be daring, and …. Fun? Life has a way of flying right by us. We take care of kids and eventually parents, we work 40+ hour weeks doing a job that is just that, a job, something we do but not who we are. So many years go by and we forget that part of us that was fun, youthful, effortless, daring, and next thing you know, you are looking in the mirror wondering who you even are anymore. Where did that part of you that made you, you, go? When you tap into that part of you again, you will feel invigorated, and never let it go again. And the added bonus? You don’t have all that care you might have had before about what others think of you. So you are fearless AND do YOU, not what others think you should do. Guys and girls; I’m waiting for you at www.posingwinsshows.com Two other topics I think are relevant when talking about the differences in competing in your 20s, 30s, and 40s are your reasons for competing and your belief. I think the reasons for competing are actually quite similar regardless of age. The difference is the level of appreciation we have for the competition journey. When I was competing in my 20s I wanted to see what I was capable of. I believed I could so I did. In my 30s and 40s I had the same mindset of wanting to see what I was capable of and still believed I could. The difference is that seeing that I COULD still do it in my 40s created an added layer of appreciation. Knowing I still got it. Losing friends to cancer, heart attacks, addiction, and even losing family members from illness or old age built a new relationship with time and the reality that it goes fast. Mortality is real and can happen at any time. I wasn’t thinking of these things at 20. Doing something that makes me feel alive was just a part of life in my 20s. In my 30s the amount of responsibilities I had overshadowed my zest for life. Now in my 40s I have a lot more life to reflect on and it makes me appreciate what I am capable of still doing that much more. It also makes me not want to ever compromise who I am as a person. I will never not incorporate doing things for me that make me me. It took a while to realize that doing things for me is not selfish. At 20 living life was not selfish, it was being a kid. Responsibilities change us. Too many years I poured out my efforts to the world and never took the time to fill up my cup. Too many years I undervalued my time and capabilities and this didn’t allow me to reach my highest potential. Today I know my worth and am unapologetic about no longer undercharging for my skills and capabilities as an educator. There are plenty of discount stores out there. But there is only one Tiffany. There are generic posing coaches out there in every federation. But there is only one me. And what people get from working with me they will never find anywhere else. I’m ok with saying that. I no longer work with people that aren’t a part of my Posing Wins Shows program. Why? Because I actually want people to become not good, but great. Too many people rely on posing sessions for their posing practice and work with generic teachers that are only good for teaching the mechanics of posing. I teach people how to be great. And I educate on things no one else knows how to or has the experience to be able to. Competing in shows in your 30s, 40s, and 50+ you have no choice but to connect with your body and your mind. You might even tap into a level of competitiveness you never knew you had. You realize what you are capable of, and if you have weathered a lot of life lessons, you might even develop a level of appreciation for you and what you are capable of that you took for granted. You doing something for you breeds life within you. Competing at 20 you are fearless. Competing later in life allows you to find that fearlessness within you AGAIN. Guys thanks again for listening! I hope your big takeaway is that bodybuilding is about an evolution of more than just your physique changes. Also that nothing is really black or white and there is always room for growth both literally and figuratively at every age. Your attitude and outlook on yourself will change over time if you continue to push yourself past your comfort zone. If you are ready to do something awesome for yourself then go to www.posingwinsshows.com Also, join the discussion in the Podcast Insiders group if you haven’t already. I’ll see you on the next episode!…

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11: Who Should NOT Compete? How To Decide ... 30:17

for 3 years siden30:17

30:17

Competing in bodybuilding competitions no matter what federation or division is no easy feat. There is a lot to consider before you take the plunge and pick a show. This goes for both new people and veterans. My goal of this episode is to share with you seven things that I believe are absolute MUSTs for you to think about beforehand…long before the prep goggles go on. And to tell some of you that need to hear it that you might want to reconsider the timing of your show until you are REALLY ready, for the right reasons. I hope this helps some of you hear the things you NEED to hear right now. Let’s jump in! Key Takeaways: *Assessing your mindset and overall stability (3:59) *Your relationship with food and exercise (10:42) *The importance of the contest prep protocol used to prepare for a show and three examples of them (12:55) *Which protocol I am currently using as I prepare for a show (18:30) *Considering the affect of contest prep on family and friends (22:08) *Your expectations from doing a show (24:02) *Factoring in the costs of competing (27:10) Additional Resources: -Fill in all the missing pieces of your show prep that you won't learn at a competitor workshop or posing class at www.posingwinsshows.com -Grab some “My Own Motivation” swag at shop.killitwithdrive.com ----TRANSCRIPT---- I remember one of my show preps there was so much buzz around the gym leading up to the show. It was so motivating to feel that support and encouragement every day. The day before I left for the pro World Championships I was surprised with a Good Luck video that included video clips from a bunch of members of the gym giving me personal good luck messages. I had never been so moved in my entire life! Like who does that? I didn’t win that show but it didn’t matter. They treated me like a celebrity anyways. The road leading up to that competition was a lot of fun. Backing my way out of the show was a lot less fun, naturally. The competition was over, the buzz was over, and it was time to take the feedback I got from the judges and go back to the drawing board. The aftermath is the part that, if you are planning to compete more than just once as a bucket list item, is equally as important as the actual competition itself. I don’t care what level you are competing on, there is always room for improvement. Post show is really where the magic happens. When the improvements happen, if you let it. If you are too caught up in yourself and what you looked like on show day and obsessing about keeping that physique, then you are prolonging the improvements. Eventually you will crash. Hardcore dieting, whatever diet that is, is not sustainable. If you are smart, you take constrictive feedback and start thinking like a competitor, someone who wants to win, get better, improve, and focus on the things that will move the needle in that direction. Post show your mindset needs to go from being attached to your show physique and shift it to thinking more competitively. By the way, the show day itself goes by with a blink of an eye. You prepare for this day for months and everything about it is on your mind constantly. Often when the day itself comes, it’s a LONG day, it’s often cold back stage so you are freezing, and it’s a lot of waiting around. At some point you might even say to yourself that you can’t wait for it to be over. And before you know it, it’s over and all that focus you just had leading up to the show needs to be recalibrated into a post show mindset. So moral of this is there has to be more to wanting to compete than just being all about the day itself. Or the trophy. Like the video my gym members made for me…that was more a memorable moment than the show itself! An assessment of your mindset and overall stability in life is the first thing you can do to determine whether you should compete or not. And this goes for both new people AND veterans, because these things can change from unforeseen circumstances. Things you don’t see coming test your faith and your strength. If your mindset isn’t prepared to compete, you shouldn’t compete. Competing should only happen when your financial, emotional, and overall life stability are all in a good place. Let me give you an example of when it’s not. I hate talking about this time in my life because it brings me back to a dark place I don’t like to remember. But it’s part of what has built me to who I am today so I’ll share it. I’m a veteran but I am not perfect. I’ve earned pro status in three different federations, and you know what? Life happens. Plus one of you listening might be feeling down in the dumps today and need to hear that everything will be ok. So, about 5-6 years ago I didn’t think I was going to compete again. I was going through a very difficult time in my personal life and survival became my #1 goal. I thought about competing here or there, but I knew that I did not have the mental capacity to balance show prep with my every day life. In fact, during this time, I hit an all time low. I was like 50 or 60 pounds over weight and eating and drinking every day were my only comforts. One day I ended up in the hospital with pain in the middle of my back that was so severe I couldn’t sit, stand, lie down, nothing to get comfort. My fever was 104 degrees too. The ER doc found fluid in my lungs and immediately put me on broad spectrum antibiotics. I’ll never forget the fun-sized giant needle that was used to extract the fluid from my back. I remember during the hospital stay while they were trying to manage my fever, I would wake up hallucinating and screaming from crazy nightmares. A team of people rushed to my bedside to stack tons of ice packs on me to try and cool my fever down. I was in the hospital for a week and to this day they never figured out what caused the fever or the fluid in the lungs. I was tested for everything. Nope wasn’t pneumonia. Even Lyme disease was checked and came up fine. This low was an eye opener for me. I knew that I wasn’t taking care of myself and needed a change. I would look at my contest pictures and cry about how far I fell from my goals. It was very humbling and humiliating to have to start over. I felt like I was starting over in every area of my life. I thought about competing again and said no. I didn’t want to use a show as a goal to get myself back to healthy. I knew that competing isn’t about health; it’s about competing. I wasn’t ready to compete because I wasn’t mentally or physically healthy yet. And I knew I had greater priorities at the moment. So instead I told myself I am stronger than this and took my health back one day at a time. At first I just did things at the gym that I enjoyed. Just being there was better than the day before so I was winning. I purposely did no cardio during this time to not teach my body to need it. ANY change I made would be better. I lifted maybe 3 days a week at first. At first I could only handle 20 minutes and maybe 2-3 sets of exercise because my cardiovascular health was in the toilet. Over time my cardiovascular system improved, my strength came back, and eventually so did my motivation to want to compete again…but I still knew this was far out. And I refused to make it a goal and instead just took it day by day. During this time of taking back my health, I purposely kept dove dark chocolates in the kitchen cabinet and had them as dessert every night. Again, this wasn’t about deprivation. I wasn’t trying to make a quick fix. I knew from years of competing it’s the slow crawls that reap the longest benefits. That change takes time and consistency. And that 4 dove chocolates a day weren’t going to kill my progress. Lack of consistency would. In fact, keeping the doves in my nutrition and STILL losing all the weight I knew would have a positive effect on my mental well being. You see, if you don’t feel deprived, you won’t stress about being deprived. I can eat a couple bites of a dessert and count it in my calories for the day and not freak out that I had a couple bites of something. Stressing about food and then going on a month long bender eating the foods you think are bad and hating yourself afterwards- now that is far less healthy, if you ask me. If it’s trackable, and I stay within my goal macros for the day, it’s on plan. It took me a couple years to balance all these things out. Yes, I said years. But it did happen. And as you know if you’ve been following me here how, I’m currently 18 weeks out from my next competition. The progress has been slow but I feel zero angst. This isn’t my first rodeo with show prep and life. This detached from perfection mindset allows me to focus on other things that need my attention, like my curriculums that I’ve built to help all competitors fill in the gaps that keep them from feeling confident with their posing. Check it out at posingwinsshows.com if you haven’t. It took years for me to get back to a healthy weight and mindset and that’s ok. Taking care of me was worth it and so is it for you. Shows will always be there. Your health comes first. Which leads me to your relationship with food and exercise as another determining factor on whether you should compete. One thing I can say happens the most from my experience over the past 20 years in the industry is people’s relationship with their body changes forever when they do a show. This goes for you men too! You will love being ripped. I know I do! If you are a competitor, think about it for a moment, how many times do you show your contest pictures and say, this is what I “really” look like. I’ve heard that saying quite often. The funny thing is, you looked like that for like 1 or 2 weeks and then dialed back out of the show to a healthier bodyfat level. So no, that is not the “real you.” This reality is something that takes a long time for some people to come to terms with. Some never do. Some never recover from finally achieving the body of their dreams and not being able to keep it year round. This is not everyone. Some people are naturally lean and stay that way year round. I’m talking about the ones that aren’t. I know there are a lot of you. This sport also attracts many with eating disorders, which can be both a good and a bad thing. It can be really good for someone who has had a fear of eating and for the first time finds positive reinforcement from eating when their body starts to morph into a more fit and healthy shape. I’ve seen some top level pros share some seriously disturbing before pics of them suffering from anorexia and/or bulimia before they found fitness. WBFF fitness model champion Hattie Boydle from Australia comes to mind. And so does IFBB Bikini Olympia champion Elisa Pecini from Brazil. Both are at the top of the sport and stay fit and healthy year round, despite competing. So why do some people fall apart after a show and others who have every reason to fall apart and develop body image issues avoid a post show disaster? I can’t speak for the exact protocols of people so let me put that disclaimer out there. I can only speculate and offer insight from my own experiences as both a competitor and as a posing coach with clients that come from all different contest prep coaches. I think one MAJOR determining factor on whether someone will fall apart after a show and develop body image issues is quite simple. It comes down to the protocol they follow when preparing for their first set of shows. HOW they prepped for that show. This protocol either comes from their own research or from a contest prep coach they hire. One of my first shows of this podcast was about the death of credibility. I talked allll about contest prep coaches and how anyone that can type the word coach can say they are a coach on social media. Because of this, there are a lot of people who struggle with not just mental health but physical health after a show that should never have had to. Never. No reason for it. They could’ve dialed into a show and probably looked better too. So having said that, I’ve summarized three types of contest prep protocols used to prepare people for a show. Protocol #1. Cuts a ton of carbs right away no matter how far out the show is. You lose a quick 5lbs and are hooked but progress hits a plateau so it must be because of carbs. At some point carbs are barely there or nonexistent. Eating fruit means getting second place. Tons of cardio is a must too. Might even get up to 2, 3 hours a day. Bonus points for your hair falling out. Protocol #2. Includes PEDs, regardless of whether this is your first show, or how long you have been training. The supplement list is nonchalantly included with your nutrition and training protocol. You think this is normal because the coach touts having turned more people into pros than everyone else so you go with it. Don’t know any different. Body changes happen quick which is exciting. Some other weird things happen to your body and face too but you don’t think much of it because you are “trusting the process.” Protocol #3. Long and slow decent into a show with a coach who might actually have a PHD in nutrition or exercise. Coach might not look the part or have hundreds of thousands of followers either. Lots of science involved. Might even include diet breaks. Changes in macros can be as small as 20grams of carbs and ample time given to let the changes to the body take affect. No dramatic weight loss for an ego boost. Facts are greater than your feelings. Think about this for a moment, which of the 3 protocols do you think are less likely to encourage a post show shit storm? Let’s talk about #1. Teaches you to think carbs are going to ruin your physique so you try to keep them to a minimum post show too. You build an unhealthy relationship to carbs too. Also, 2 hours of cardio is hard to maintain but your body has adapted to this level of output. But you don’t have a goal grand enough to keep you motivated to do all that cardio. Plus, you are trained to think that cardio is key to show prep. There is so much that can go wrong post show with this protocol that can impact your relationship to food and nutrition for years. You might just say fuck it and eat whatever you want post show. You might never do a show again. Or you might do shows as a way to chase the physique you had on stage. Protocol #2. I have no experience with PEDs but from what I’ve seen and heard from those who have shared their experiences is that this type of protocol teaches you to “need” drugs to get into contest shape. You never learn the power of manipulating nutrition and training alone in contest prep. Never! You never really get the chance to learn your body. If you want to add PEDs in later, that’s up to you. But in the beginning, learn your body. You’d be surprised what just diet and exercise alone can do with consistency. I remember one time I was Director of US and International Sales for a supplement company and was sent to the Body Power show in England to meet with customers and potential customers. I remember chatting with this girl at the VIP dinner after the show and not realizing that she was a competitor. She honestly, and I don’t mean this with disrespect, she genuinely looked like she didn’t train. I almost fell out of my seat when she told me she was an IFBB Pro figure competitor and was planning to do a show in a few months. I was like, a few months? I would think it would take a year to get back into shape alone. It was sad, she was self conscious, because she knew she didn’t look like she competed and was honest about it with me. I asked her how she was planning to get into shape and she listed off clenbuterol, winstrol, and some compound I can’t remember. It was some sort of an anabolic. She literally came out and said that using these compounds is the secret to her contest prep and she will be ready no problem. I don’t remember seeing her on stage that season so I don’t know what happened to her. So again, the moral of this is that starting off with PEDs doesn’t teach you how to contest prep. It doesn’t teach you how to dial in your physique for anything, forget a contest. And lastly, protocol #3. Probably the hardest protocol and not for reasons you think. Staying on plan isn’t the issue. It’s PATIENCE and violent consistency that’s an issue. And it’s only getting worse with society wanting everything immediate mentality. How may times have you left your phone aside and someone sent you a text while you were away. They didn’t get an immediate response so they either text again to ask if you got it. I’m currently in the protocol #3 camp right now as I prepare for a show this spring/summer. I’m 18 weeks out from my goal and so far nothing dramatic is happening except maybe my waist is getting a little tighter. Cardio is still a couple days a week of 20 minute desaturation work. Lifting days are 4-5. A couple weeks ago calories were reduced and I’m just this week starting to see a downward trend on the scale. I don’t care about the number per se. The scale is one measure of improvement and I’m just looking at it to see trends. I’ve been doing this for 20 years so I know that it’s a patience game and I don’t freak out about not seeing big changes on the scale. There are a couple reason for this. I learned from the very start how dramatic a small change in macros can have on body composition. The physique changes don’t happen the day after you make the adjustment though. That can be frustrating for some and they give up before the magic happens. Hence the existence of protocols 1 and 2. For me, after a macro adjustment, small changes can occur in as soon as one week, and sometimes as I get down to lower body fat levels, a drop might not happen for a couple weeks. Body fat loss isn’t linear. If you are trying to lose 1-2lbs a week, it’s an average. You might go weeks where you see no change and then a big drop. Many get frustrated and want to see immediate results but don’t realize that large swings in weight are likely to be more than just body fat. That they are most likely losing some of that hard earned muscle they spent the rest of the year building. Slow and steady preps also keep stress levels in check. Once you get to the low body fat levels there is no way around the stress it has on the body. But that is short lived and remedied pretty quick when you dial out of the show to a body fat level your body is happier at. The key to having a great experience with contest prep really does come down to the protocol you use to get to the show. If you start off working with someone who starves you and puts you on a cardio machine for 2 hours prior to your first show on a pop up stage in a budget hotel, you are less likely to have a healthy relationship with food after the show. If you work with someone who has some actual credibility regarding nutrition and you dial into a show over a longer and slower period that includes minimal cardio, and the highest calories possible, you are more likely to dial out of a show without a massive rebound. You can really learn a lot about your body when you prepare for a show. I likened it to being like my own science experiment when I first started. I was fascinated by the changes that occurred to the body and am grateful that I had a contest prep coach for my first bodybuilding show who did not starve me. The diet itself was really bland, which created its own set of issues, and I didn’t learn until many years later that food doesn’t have to suck to be on plan. But overall, keeping a slow and steady pace and having an overall positive relationship with food is key to deciding whether or not to do a show. As you can see there is a lot more to consider if you are thinking about doing a show either for the first time or coming back into prep after a long layoff. Ask yourself, which protocol am I following? 1, 2, or 3? If you’re in the protocol 1 or 2 camp, I highly encourage you to reconsider competing. Not forever, just reconsider competing until you find someone that can help you in a way that will not wreak havoc on your mental and physical well being. There are plenty of them out there if you can look further than the amount of likes they have on social media and dive into their real credentials instead. Another thing to consider when determining if you are ready to do a show is that preparing for shows, regardless of what you THINK is going to happen, is all consuming. You will need to find time to make workouts happen even if your schedule changes. There will come a point, whether you are doing protocol 1, 2, or 3, where you will need to be able to control what you eat more closely so you are less likely to be able to eat out at restaurants. Your friends and family will miss hanging out with you. They will at first be excited for you that you want to do this thing in 3-6 months, but they don’t understand that just because they are bored with your contest prep doesn’t mean you are going to go off plan. They don’t understand that contest prep has a layering affect. That you aren’t trying to lose some body fat to look good in a bathing suit. You are bringing your body fat level down to contest shape, which is far beyond just a hot bod on the beach. What you do this week will determine what you look like in the weeks ahead. There is no way to know if something is working if you don’t keep it consistent and remove as many variables as possible. Consistency is key even when it’s boring. I’ve had many posing clients on the verge of divorces because of unsupportive spouses. This unsupportive home life can be challenging. The only way I’ve seen it work is when the spouse is involved in the journey in some way. I’m lucky today with my current contest prep that my husband also aspires to compete and cooks most of my food for me. I’m still in disbelief every time he says he made me some food. Like, who are you? My first husband was the opposite. He resented my competition lifestyle and it drove a wedge between us. Sharing the experience of contest prep with your significant other in some manner is very important. Oh and remember, this is a hobby. There is no excuse for you to be a jerk to your spouse during contest prep because you are hungry. You are willingly doing this prep and they love you and should be rewarded for putting up with you. Another thing I want to touch on to help you determine whether you should do a show is your expectations. I’ll never forget the time I was casually talking to someone about contests and this person expressed interest in a show but said he didn’t want to compete unless he was going to win. I was stuck for a moment. Like, dude, no matter how incredible you look and how hard you prepped, you can’t control who shows up on stage. Don’t get me wrong, I always compete to win. You don’t put the effort in day in and day out for anything less than to bring the best package to the stage. And as you get closer and closer to the show it’s completely normal to not be sure if you will be ready and have doubts. This is normal. And is also why it’s good, no matter how many years you have been doing shows, to have an outside opinion that you trust who will monitor your progress. Going into a show and expecting to win is unrealistic. Despite specific judging criteria, the judging itself, if you think about it, is really just opinions. Some federations in my opinion do a better job in their vetting process of their judges so you will see a lot more consistency in the results. For example, the NPC/IFBB has judges on a local level that have to pass a test in order to judge a show locally. Of those judges, there are ones that are better than others. The ones that are better are the ones that you will see judging the national shows. From there you have to really be a stand out to judge pro shows. Often you will hear people complain that the show was “political” and there was favoritism on the judging panel, when really, there is a lot more to consider. What it comes down to is where you compete. And I mean both the division and the federation. Are you competing locally where some judges might be new to judging? Are you competing nationally where the judging is much more refined and the criteria more dialed in? The judging panel on a local level might not have the level of consistency you see at the larger shows. Also something to consider is that the same federation often has different judging panels based on region. You might fare better with one panel over another. Especially in a category. There are too many variables with judging, the level you are competing on (local versus national, and the nuances between the federations and what their judging criteria are). You can’t put all your energy and faith into one show. There is too much unknown about the day with things, like who shows up, to put all of your eggs in one basket. Plus if you have an amazing physique and show up a hot mess express on stage, aren’t able to open your lats, can’t hold your poses, bobble all over the place, you are costing yourself a higher placement. Especially as you get to the pro ranks and everyone looks amazing. Which is part of the reason I designed the Posing Wins Shows curriculum, and a new one I’m about to launch called The Lat Whisperer’s Essentials which teaches you everything you need to know to flare your lats and look effortless in the poses where you need lat engagement. Oh man, that’s a big one. I’ve had to score people down as a judge because they couldn’t flare their lats so they could not display symmetry. And this was a pro! Highly unacceptable. True story. And the last thing I want to touch on if you are deciding whether you are ready to compete is…..COST. OMG you guys this is not an inexpensive sport. Just the suits alone I’ve heard people spend over $1500, not because they needed to, but because they wanted to display their physique their best. Granted you don’t need to spend thousands on a custom suit, but you do get what you pay for. If you are broke, this is not the sport for you. You should not be allocating your rent money to your entry fees. And skimping on things like hair and makeup at the show. Unless you are a hairdresser or makeup artist, buy the hair and makeup packages. Don’t try and do your own tan unless you have had a ton of practice at it and know what you are doing. These small things can make or break placements especially as you get to the higher level. Maybe not so much at the local level, but then again, if everyone around you looks like a mess and you are put together, you will essentially stand out and look that much better. This is a sport about looks. Everything about your look matters. Your posture, your confidence, your hair, skin color. Having a great physique will only get you so far. Don’t skimp on the things that have to do with your presentation. And I mean all of it. How many times have you heard me say Posing Wins Shows? My goodness you guys so much money is wasted on the things you don’t need and not enough allocated towards the things that are really going to matter. Start a savings account where you put money aside every month and wait until you have enough to cover all the costs before you even consider doing a show. Mindset, focus, goals, relationships with nutrition and exercise, relationships with family and friends, your finances. All of these things needs to be considered before preparing for a show. And this goes for not just new people, but veterans too. Oh man I touched on a lot of stuff today. My goal is for you to think about doing shows for the enjoyment of the sport, and not go into competing and think it’s going to solve any problems in your life. If anything, competing can add stress to an already stressful life, so I hope you take the things I shared to heart and really THINK about WHY you want to do a show. Guys I hope you found this episode helpful and you share it with others that might need to hear some or one of the things I covered in this episode. As always, please rate and review so iTunes knows this is a cool podcast. If you are on other platforms I think you can only share the podcast so be sure to spread the word! Stay tuned guys, lots more to come.…

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