fitnessprincess’s BodyBlog

My Rant today is going to be on Vitamins. LOL! A picture is worth a thousand words in this case! On the left is one serving of Animal Pak vitamins and on the right one serving of GNC be Whole multivitamins & minerals. Which is better for you? Which gives you everything you need to support your active lifestyle? I bet you are saying well, PAM of course the Animal Pak, right? After all you have to swallow all those big BAD pills - gotta be more good stuff, right? Well, no not really. Let’s look a bit under the hood:

9 wins for Animal Pak, 13 wins for GNC so GNC is DEFINITELY the WINNER. LOL!  So, why so much stuff to swallow in the case of Animal Pak well they give you lots of other “stuff” - some aminos, digestive enzymes, and what they call performance optimizers - stuff like ginseng, milk thistle, liver, etc. Oh and I almost forgot Animal Pak charges an arm and a leg. Even if you buy discount, GNC comes out ahead. So it’s your call. If you think it makes you more of a “muscle man” or “muscle woman” go ahead! Just don’t choke on your Animal Pak vitamins in the process. Now excuse me I am going to go and eat some real food for lunch! LOL!

I get asked a lot by friends and folks interested in doing figure what I do and therefore what do you need to do in order to compete? So, I thought it might be worthwhile blogging on this topic. Many people seem to think that all that’s involved is dieting down or dieting down and exercising. There’s quite a bit more required if you really want to do it right - enjoy the process and feel good about your very short time on the competition stage.

So here are the key elements:

1) Diet - key elements here? a diet filled with healthy, whole foods (meat, poultry, veggies, fruits, and breads/crackers) that delivers the right amount of calories and the right macronutrients (protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats, vitamins, minerals) in the right amounts! And please note we are not talking starvation diet here ladies! unless you want saggy, baggy, unhealthy looking skin and no muscles when you stand on the stage in your little bitty competition suit! For a variety of reasons not the least of which is our modern world and what we have done to the animals and plants on it, you are going to need to use supplements and I am not talking about fat burners here (no such thing by the way ladies!). I mean vitamins, minerals, amino acids, creatine.

2) Exercise program - key elements here? solid, old-fashioned weight training with heavy weight DBs, Bbs and some cardio (mix of HIIT, plyometrics, and ss cardio). Your program should not be hours of cardio each day ladies. You should be working your whole body and your workouts should emphasize compound exercises like deadlifts, squats, lunges, etc. 

3) Stress management - yoga (also great core training!) - I got introduced to yoga by Cathy Savage Fitness’ Ms. P (my eternal thanks lady!), adequate rest, and sleep!!! You have to manage your stress if you want to lose weight, maintain your sanity, and your health and get up on that stage!

4) Posing - It may look to you like those figure ladies are just standing up there, smiling, and all relaxed but that’s far from the truth! To get the most out of your physique you have to flex your muscles and it isn’t easy and you have to figure out how to do this in such a way that it emphasizes the best aspects of your hard won physique and hides your flaws (everyone has some by the way! everyone!). Walking in 4" high heels isn’t easy either and you have to make it look that way smiling the whole time. All of this takes practice - months of practice! in your high heels in front of a mirror! and near the end in your posing suit.

5) Appearance - posing suit, makeup, hair, tanning, fingernails. To compete in figure you need to get a figure suit (these aren’t cheap!) and these typically have to be ordered 10-12 weeks in advance of your competition date. Even if you tan outside or in a tanning bed (I hope you don’t do the latter - very bad for your skin’s health!) you will need to learn how to apply competition tanner so you look nice and dark on the day of your competition (your tan needs to look ridiculously dark but will look great under the harsh stage lights). You will need makeup (many women use false eyelashes) that compliments your figure suit, hair, etc. Lots to learn and lots to do here and you can’t do it at the last minute.

Many of us hire a coach to help us navigate the labyrinth of figure prep.  Some folks hire someone to help them with diet. Others hire someone to help them with training. Still others hire a coach who will help them with diet, exercise, and some of the other elements of figure prep including suit selection, makeup, tanning, posing training, etc.  You can get a coach who will design a program for you on-line.  Of course, it is harder to get assistance with certain elements, e.g., proper exercise form, posing, etc. many of us use this approach (on-line coaching).

Over the past couple weeks I have been trying out several pre-workout supplements, specifically, Endorush by BSN, FirstOrder by BodyWell, and SuperPump250 by Gaspari. I became interested in trying the latter (SuperPump250) because of the positive reviews Fern (Ms. Fitness) gave the product and she’s someone I really respect on this Board (you rock woman!!). At any rate, here’s my two-cents worth offered from the perspective of a figure competitor looking to build muscle and cut fat.Endo Rush by BSN