dvsness, dedication and desire

Interview from Bodybuilding Weekly

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And here we are at season’s end.  After what I thought was a successful offseason and prep, I had extremely unsuccessful showings.  Now is the time I have to contemplate my competitive future; I don’t want to make any rash decisions and I need to make sure the path I choose makes me happy all year long.  This is the body I have to carry every day, not just the day I stand on stage to be judged.  My training must be enjoyable to me, not a chore to emulate a certain standard.

I have come away with some valuable lessons.  I cannot do two shows a week apart - it’s simply too soon to regain water balance.  I need to have Nicole do my makeup every show.  Self love is more important than any placing.

So whether you see me return barefoot or in heels for 2009, I’ll be even better and more proud.  Thanks for following this season’s competitive journey; please introduce yourself to me at the Prolab booth if you are attending the Olympia.

Meal 1

• BioBeads
• Prolab Isolate - Chocolate
• peanut butter
• psyllium husks

Meal 2

• chicken breast
• baby spinach
• Vigor

Meal 3

• Thermo Fire
• Prolab Isolate - Chocolate
• almonds

Meal 4

• Cuts
• bison steak

Meal 5

• Glutamine and Creatine
• Prolab Isolate - Vanilla

Meal 6

• sole
• macadamia oil
• Cuts

Random thoughts:

I am really getting tired of people asking me how I did at the show.

I want to go to Roll n Roaster.

Ron Brown from Team Prolab will be in the LHW class at TU with me this weekend.    I hope this is a great comeback for him!

Where you are is as important as who you are; without atmosphere a painting is nothing.

-Rembrandt

BY WILL BRINK

Top Ten Stealth Strategies for Maximizing Your Strength Training Results

1) Never sacrifice quality for quantity. This is the first commandment for athletic success. Violate it and prepare to fail.

2) Target the weakest link. If you’re naturally strong, train for speed and/or endurance. If you’re naturally fast, train for strength.

3) For athletes, strength training is a supplementary, not a primary, activity. If time and energy are at a premium, focus your efforts on your sport practice sessions before supplementary training activities.

4) Minimize redundancy: Redundant systems are a great safety feature in aircraft design, but not such a good idea when it comes to program design. Since there are specific limits to one’s time and energy (and since injury and overtraining are a constant threat to athletes and fitness enthusiasts alike), it makes sense to use that time and energy wisely. - ” the two movements are almost identical save for the slight variation in hand position. Instead, a better choice might be single-arm 45-degree dumbbell incline curls and straight bar preacher curls. Now we have effectively reduced redundancy to a bare minimum.NOT when you are completely unable to function!

Thus, a fundamental premise of intelligent program design is that of minimizing redundancy. As an example, during a workout, if you decide upon 2-3 exercises for a single muscle, make the exercises as dissimilar as possible. In other words, if you perform two biceps exercises in the same workout, don’t use standing barbell curls and standing EZ-bar curls

5) When switching to a more quality-based style of strength training, work your way to higher intensities gradually. If you typically perform 10-12 reps a set, don’t immediately switch to maximum singles. Instead, spend some time in the 4-6 rep range for several weeks, and then continue toward higher levels of stress as your body becomes accustomed to harder training.

6) Terminate the training component when the quality of the performance erodes by 10% of more,

7) Select strength training exercises on the basis of how well they train large numbers of muscles simultaneously, and also by how well they correspond to fundamental movement patterns. Some examples would be squats, deadlifts, and bench presses (and their variations), various types of pull-ups, lunges, and abdominal exercises.

8) Try to reduce your dependency on soreness. If feeling bad is your goal, sign up for a job as Lennox Lewis’ sparring partner. If progress is your objective, make sure you perform gradually increasing workloads from workout to workout.

9) Avoid RES (Repetitive Error Syndrome): Don’t continue to do workouts or programs that don’t work. Do something else…ANYTHING else.

10) Do all of the above and pick up your medals

Meal 1

• BioBeads
• egg whites
• eggs
• Beta Alanine Extreme

Meal 2

• chicken breast
• baby spinach
• Vigor

Meal 3

• Thermo Fire
• Prolab Isolate - Chocolate
• macadamia oil
• Beta Alanine Extreme

Meal 4

• Cuts
• bison steak

Meal 5

• Glutamine and Creatine
• Prolab Isolate - Vanilla
• psyllium husks

Meal 6

• sole
• peanut butter
• Cuts

Random thoughts:

I already miss my post-comp goodies. These next few days are going to be tougher than I anticipated. I need to get my conditioning back so I don’t make a fool of myself in front of the home crowd!

The idea of force is usually more compelling than its actual use. When you clearly display that you know when to push and shove and when to chill, you’re likely to avoid ALL conflict AND STILL WIN THE GAME! (Remember!) Revolutions are won in the mind, not in the streets.

I’m back home now.  I am pleased with my conditioning and the package I brought, not so pleased with the judging, lol.

I asked 4 different judges what I can do to improve my placings and got an earful! 

Judge 1:  She wanted me to work on getting my lats wider to distract from my waist being so big.  My waist is under 22 inches.

Judge 2:  He wanted me to add more size and said I wasn’t carrying enough muscle.  He would like to see more caps on my shoulders are more separation between muscle groups.  He must have missed the meeting before the show when they told us that ‘Figure girls are not bodybuilders, don’t flex like one!’
Judge 3:  He would like me to bring down my delts and have less separation in my legs.  He said they don’t want to see Figure girls too hard.  Apparently he and number 2 don’t talk a lot!
Judge 4: He sis not remember me, but said I will get better placing when I do more shows and they start to recognize me.  Funny, I thought they are supposed to judge what is in front of them??

All in all, I am glad to have completed my first National level show/Pro qualifier.  Hopefully I will experience more consistent  criteria in the future.  Off to Team U in 5 days!