A figure competitor’s path

I was at the gym today and I found myself wondering when going to the gym became just another place to socialize. First of all, I am not a huge fan of big gyms, especially since Terry’s place is small and intimate - you can work out without people on the machines you want or feel like you’re being watched. So being in the gym today, (Terry took the day off).

I was there for just about 35 minutes and the entire time I was there, this young girl stood and talked to a guy the whole time. She didn’t work out once! Too funny. I am not crazy hardcore, but I also don’t like to be bothered too much when I am in the gym. I’m there to do my thing and get out. I really don’t like to be stopped and spoken to either. I want to get the most of my workout but not stay there forever! So anyway, that’s today’s subject!

You all know that at one point after this past season I really thought I was going to give this up, but you know what? I just think I needed some rest. I had been training for 3 years non stop and my body and mind were just tired. I am so lucky that Terry pushed me to get back into working out. I am truly blessed to have a trainer who is committed to helping me reach my goals and be the best I can be. While we don’t have as much face time as we used to, he is there to help me through off-season training and building and we’re hoping the next time on stage is even better. Our workouts have been super intense!

You have to have a goal and I can’t believe I almost gave that goal up. When Terry emailed me a couple months ago and said that he couldn’t wait until I got back into the gym with him, I just was ready. I had definitely had my time off and i was ready to get back to it better than ever. And what’s even better is the team we make together. I am helping him train his figure competitors and get them ready to rock it out on stage.

Stay tuned too, because we’re going to be making a video about the entire figure process. There’s so much info out there about how to train for a show, but this is going to be a complete training guide and documentation about what really goes into it. I’m pretty excited about it. I think we can make a great team and really go placed.

So now I am working on getting my training certification and who knows where we’ll go from there! Anybody out there taken their certification exam lately? Have any advice for me? I can’t wait! I am hardcore on this training and competing. It has changed my life!

So my workouts in the mornings have been completely concentrated on my butt, hams, and calves. I want to beef them up for the next competition season. I have been sqautting light weight because I really don’t want to build my legs and butt too much, but I definitely want to firm them up.

 Now that I am back with Terry (having some great workouts by the way) i have been in the gym about 3 times a week in the mornings doing legs. I enjoy it. It’s a great way to start my day. Plus, I have been doing this for about 3 weeks now and my husband even commented yesterday that it felt like my butt was getting firmer. Yay! Keep plugging.

I went to theMr. Rochester show in Rochester, NY with my Trainer, Terry Stokes yesterday. He had a competitor, Alicia Kowalski who competed. I just wanted to say that the level of competition at that show would have blown away and show I have ever been to - period. Those figure girls were fantastically beautiful and their bodies were absolutely incredible. It remotivated me to think about getting back on stage and when I am going to do it. How I want to do it and where my mind is going to be when I do it. I can’t wait. Alicia was fantastic and she won first place in her class. She lost the overall in what I can only assume was a very very close decision. Now I can’t wait to get back to the gym!