Nicole Snell’s Training Blog

I just finished my 2nd show and had a fantastic experience!  Peak week is always the most exciting and complicated part of the process so let’s start this re-cap on Thursday night when I worked out with my brother for my last weight session before the show.  He decided that I needed to carb up on Friday too because I was still a little flat.  Eat more carbs?  That was fine with me!  Friday was my day of rest.  I had been pounding water since Wednesday and Friday I still felt like I was going to float away.  I was peeing every hour but I know it’s all necessary for the water depletion.  Friday afternoon I met up with my brother for lunch at his office and he told me to add in some honey to my meals to help fill out my muscles.  So I went home and continued to rest and pose and get everything ready for Saturday.

My brother came over Friday night to apply my tan.  I was using Jan Tana, which is what I had used on my last show, but there was a problem this time.  The tan wasn’t blending in and was leaving big splotches and streaks and scaly marks all over my skin.  We couldn’t figure out what the problem was, so he said to just let it dry and I would wake up and smooth it out in the AM.  He also said that I needed some more carbs before bed so I was instructed to eat 2/3c oats with 2tbsp honey and whey protein…I was ecstatic!  I love being told to eat more!

I woke up on Saturday morning at 5:30am to meet my make up artist at 6am at my place.  She did my make up and we were running a few minutes behind ( I had to get out the door by 7:25 to make it to the venue by 8am check in) so I was a little stressed.  I checked out my tan in the mirror while I was getting ready to throw on my clothes and my heart stopped and my mood tanked… my tan was streaked, mottled and utterly horrible.  NONE of my lines were visible and I looked awful.  I started to panic.  I mean, 3 months of cutting and now none of my hard work was visible.  Karma (my make up artist) kept telling me to relax that it wasn’t anything that couldn’t be fixed, but I was already doomed in my mind.  I rushed out of the house and jammed over to the venue.

I arrived at 8:10 but I wasn’t too worried that I was late because the last time I did a show they didn’t even start the briefing until 8:30am.  Of course, this was the time they started on time.  As soon as I walked in they called all figure competitors to the stage for the briefing.  As I was standing there I felt someone tap my back. I turned around and how did I see, but my friend from FB.net, IMA!

I was like, ohmigosh, I can’t believe we’re in the same show!  I had seen her pics from the San Diego show the previous weekend but I didn’t know she was competing at Max Muscle Naturals!  We found out that we were in the same class for Unlimited and we stood in line behind each other at check in so we’d get to stand next to each other on stage.

After the briefing I got my height measured ( I grew 1/2″ because I’m now 5′8″) and got my NPC card.  Then I registered, received my number (#43) and signed up to get pictures taken of me on stage from muscular development.

I had been texting my brother during this time telling him that my tan was a mess.  We came to the conclusion that the tanner I bought must have been old and that the distributor must have just shipped me a bum bottle.  He asked if they offered spray tanning at the venue and I said that they did so he suggested I ask them if they could help or if I should go to a local hotel and wash it all off and start fresh.  I asked Ima to watch my bag and I hurried to the Jan Tana spray booth to ask for their help.  I showed them my tan and started freaking out to them about how I was so upset that all my work was invisible under this tanning nightmare and they were so helpful in calming me down and explaining that they had seen worse and that they could fix me.  Kevin (the guy doing the airbrushing) told me to come back 1hr before I was supposed to go on and they’d fix it, but then when he saw that I was still really freaking he said that he could do it for me right then so that I would be able to relax and that everything would be ok.  So he carefully rubbed out the streaks with moisturizer and then went over my tan with the airbrush smoothing things out.  I was so relieved.  I asked how much I owed him and he said nothing!!  So of course, I got my money and came back and tipped him.   Him and the woman helping him out also touched me up and oiled me up before I went on for pre-judging and finals too.

So after my tan was all fixed I went out to get my stuff and call my bro and tell him everything was all good.  I still didn’t know exactly what time I would go on, but I texted and facebooked to everyone the time I estimated that our division would start.  Then I went backstage to try to zen out for a bit.  It was only 9:15am and we were way down the order of events for the day, and yet there were girls already putting their suits on and pumping up.  I was a bit perplexed by this, but I just sat in my sweats (commando style, christina!) with my iphone listening to music. All the girls were so sweet and friendly and it was many of their first shows.  So they kept asking me questions, which is fine, but I needed to focus on what I needed to do and I kept feeling distracted. But I made a lot of new friends and all the girls were great!

Then the backstage organizers started calling for Master Figure to get ready.  What????!!  You mean we were already through novice men AND unlimited men and it was only 11:30?  Unlimited is right after Master Figure! I started panicking and texted like crazy to let everyone know that I might be going on earlier than I had originally thought.

I hurried into my suit and then rushed over to the tanning area to get touched up and oiled, then I rushed back to the holding area to get my bling and start pumping up.  Of course, after all that, my class didn’t go on until almost 1pm which is what I had originally estimated.  Oh well!  What’s a little panic first thing in the morning, right?

For the pre-judging, they told us that we weren’t supposed to do model turns.  They just wanted us to do a front pose, back pose and exit to the side of the stage.  WTF?  Some girls didn’t listen and did model turns anyway, but I didn’t want to be “that” girl that didn’t listen to the instructions so I did what we were told to do.  Oh, and instead of doing the “figure bow with arm in the air” that everyone else does, I gave the pistol finger and a wink.  LOL!  It’s “my thing”.  At least it made me stand out from the rest, but I’m sure my red and purple hair helped with that too.  ?

I smiled at the judges and took my place to the side of the stage when I felt something dripping down my arm. Oh yes, that was sweat and as it rolled down the inside of my arm it was leaving a trail of tanner.  Great!  So I had to discreetly try to wipe it off…which I think I did rather well!

After everyone came out (there were 11 of us in D class) the judges did the first call outs and #43 was called!  That’s me!  I made the first call outs!  So they rearranged us a few times, we did all of our ¼ turns and I just kept smiling and flexing and doing what I came to do which was show off the best package.  The girls next to me kept opening up their arms so wide (and brushing me) trying to look big, and I just did what I’ve been practicing and what Christina helped me to do: squeeze my lats, squeeze down on my triceps to make my delts pop.  There’s no need to open up my arms like a bat.  I just kept my cool and kept my hands relaxed and squeezed my lats and smiled.

Some of the girls also moved their arms back and to the side in the side poses even though we were told at the briefing to keep our arms at the side.  So when I met up with my brother later he was like, you were the only one who didn’t do the arm twist and it made you look smaller than the others.  I told him that I was only doing what the judges had told us to do, and I didn’t know the others were all bringing their arms back instead of keeping them at their sides.  Whatevers.

When we got off stage we were told to come back at 6:30pm for the finals.  I went back to the holding area to get my things and my friends that had come to support me came to the side door to say congrats!  It was great having everyone there and to have such a great support system.  I was so happy and excited and appreciative to have so many friends from all aspects of my life come out to share in my big day.  I feel so blessed!  We all took some pics and my brother said that he was pretty sure that I placed in the top 5 but that he wasn’t sure where the judges were going with the placements because they could either go hard or soft.  He said I was the hardest one in the top 5 group so it would be hard to tell what they would decide.  I was just happy to have made the first call out and to have the chance to take a Top 5 spot.  How exciting!

We had a 5 hour break, so my bro and I went to eat at this rib place in Culver City.  He said I could have some beef, so I had 1/4lb of trip tip (oh it was damn good!) and grilled veggies.  Then for dessert my bro let me have a few bites of chocolate cake.  It was great!  Afterwards we went to Starbucks so I could take a nap and then we headed back to the venue.  Since Figure finals were last I had a chance to go out into the audience and chat with my sister, brother and several friends that had come out to support me.  It was great seeing everyone being able to share in the excitement with them!

Finally it was time to go back onstage for finals.  All of us had been taking pics backstage and talking about our diets and our training programs.  It’s such a unique environment and a unique camaraderie builds when you realize that these other ladies have been through the same grueling prep as you.  We helped each other bikini bite our suits to our butts and oil up before we lined up for Class D finals.


During the finals presentation I was so excited to be on stage again that I forgot to wave to the judges during my model turns, but oh well!  I was having fun!  Once everyone presented themselves we walked off stage where I was stopped and told I was in the top 5!  I got to go on stage again!

They marched all 5 of us back out on stage and then they announced the placings.  I was called out as #5 and I was so excited!  I smiled, waved and took my spot on the #5 next to my trophy.  They called out the rest of the winners and we all posed for our pictures.  Then I picked up my trophy and went backstage to get my things and hurry out to see my friends and family.  I was so happy!  I was beaming!  5th Place! I was ecstatic that I reached my goal of placing in the top 5!

Once backstage I took pictures packed up my stuff and met up with my friends and fam who had come backstage to congratulate me.  I was flying so high!

I made reservations at Libertine for my victory meal (fried peanut butter and banana sandwich) so my sis and I headed to my place so I could wash the tan off and get ready.  Then we headed over to Libertine where our table was waiting for us.

Here’s a little backstory on Libertine.  I went there with my bro a few weeks ago and looked up their menu online and was drooling when I read that they had a deep fried peanut butter and jelly sandwich on their dessert menu.  So I decided that this was going to be my victory meal.  But when I called to make reservations here a week or so ago, they said that they no longer had that on their menu.  I explained that this was the whole reason I was coming, so Susie said she’d talk to the chef to see if he could make it and go get the ingredients.  She called back and said they would do it!  So they specially made the PB&Banana ( I asked for banana instead of jelly) dessert just for me and my special day.  It was DELICIOUS!  With a side of Nutella for dipping.  Wowzers!  And it was great to share the experience with my big sister and brother.

This was a great experience.  The whole day, although long, was so exciting and rewarding.  It’s a little sad to think that a year’s worth of training and 3 months of cutting all comes down to a few minutes on stage, but it’s so worth it.  My brother is already talking about when I’m doing my next show!  He thinks I should keep training hard and go for Excalibur in December.  I’m down to do it if my work schedule isn’t too crazy, but it always is at that time of year.  We’ll see. I’m quite happy with 5th place for now!

My only regret is that I didn’t get a chance to talk to the judges afterwards to ask them for some feedback.  And it dawned on me after it was all over that one of the judges that I thought looked familiar was actually Gina Aliotti!  I wish I would have realized that earlier so I could have taken a picture with her and gotten her feedback.  Darn!

Thank you everyone for your support and your love.  I love you all and I sincerely appreciate all that you have done to help me through my 2nd contest prep.

I also did a photoshoot the next day (Sunday) and here is a shot of my make up artist extraordinairre, Karma Ritchie and my fantastic photographer Hristo Shindov.  We had a great day and got some great shots that I can’t wait to post!

Tomorrow is the big day.  Tomorrow is the day that I have sweated for, sacrificed for, trained for.  It’s the day that represents the culmination of 12 weeks of hard work- Show Day!  Tomorrow I take the stage for the 2nd time for the Max Muscle Naturals Championships.  I am excited and exhilarated and anxious to finally show the judges all the hard work that I have put in over the last year.  I want to show them the improvements in my physique and the fine-tuning I have trained so hard to achieve.

I sit here running through my show checklist in my head: no water after 6pm, applying tan tonight, makeup first thing tomorrow morning, head to the venue and check out the competition and then enjoy the day!  It’s such an experience.  Meeting new people, making new friends, checking out the vendors, supporting each other and enjoying some great bodies. I’m also excited for my friends and family that are coming out to support me.  It means so much to me that so many people are coming to watch me compete and cheer me on.  I love all of you! And your support means the world to me.

Today was spent figuring out what my body was doing as far as holding water and flattening out so my trainer was making adjustments to my diet throughout the day.  Tomorrow I should wake up dry and full and ready to take on the stage.  My goal for tomorrow is twofold.  I want to bring my best package to the judges and I want to place in the top 5.  No matter how I place, I will be proud of what I have accomplished because the body I have worked for is mine with or without a trophy to show for it.  No one can take my body away from me.  No one can take my discipline away from me.  And that is the real trophy.

Am I nervous?  No.  I am ready.  I am excited.  I have nervous energy for sure because I enjoy being on stage and I can’t wait to show off the hard work in front of my family and friends. Oh and of course I’m looking forward to the victory meal as well!

So here I am again.  Ready to step on stage.  During my prep for my first show I said that I would stick with it and if I never wanted to do it again I wouldn’t have to.  Well, looks like I’m doing it again and I love it!  I went into this prep knowing what to expect and yet still tackling every challenge head on.  So although I may be dehydrated, hungry, thirsty, tired and craving peanut butter like crazy…I will not flinch or fold until the finals are over and the show is done.  This is my time to shine, so put your sunglasses on cuz it’s gonna get bright in here!

More changes!  My legs are hardening up big time and that makes me so happy!  I worked out with my bro last night and was shocked at how hard they were.  He also admitted that he was getting worried that they weren’t going to com in on time since they lose fat so slowly.  But they are responding now and it’s not a minute too late!  It’s funny how in the final stretches your fat just sort of melts away and each day you notice yourself getting smaller and smaller.

Another change is happening in my face.  I’m getting the extra smile lines because there is no fat on my face anymore!  So my skin looks extra stretchy and pliable which makes me look weird IMHO when I smile, but it’s all part of the process I guess.

Let me just say that I LOVE being in contest shape.  I love wearing small clothes.  I love showing off my body in the gym because I’ve worked hard for it and there’s not a whole lot of other places you can wear practically nothing to show off, you know?  I like fitting into my size 3 and 5 jeans with room to spare.  I like going out to get new clothes.  I love that  my old itty bitty cutting clothes are fitting me again.  I love feeling confident and happy.  I love walking around in a tank top and having people comment on my arms or ask me if I work out (well duh!).  I’m enjoying every minute of this.  My work isn’t done until I finish up on stage on March 28th but I am proud of everything I’ve accomplished so far.

I’m 2 weeks out from my show and I feel great! I feel confident.  I feel like going to the store and trying on every piece of clothing I’ve always wanted to try on but haven’t because my ass was too big.  LOL!  Last week was tough, and not because of the training.  It’s been tough because my regular job has been out of control busy and trying to get my workouts in, plus do all my job related responsibilities, plus handle my daily life chores, PLUS trying to sleep has been beyond taxing.  But, after a long week and a 14hr shoot on Saturday, I have 2 weeks of a semi-normal workload in order to focus more intently on training.  Yesterday (Monday, March 16th) I noticed a few things on my body that have changed in the past week or two.   1) I’m getting that weird separation thingy at the top of my glutes where my "crack" is.  When my BF gets really low and I lose fat there, my butt cheeks separate a bit at the top there…that’s the best way I can describe it.  It means the fat on my ass if finally melting off…gosh it’s taken a long time.   2) My chest is freakin striated to a T and so are my arms, abs, back and pretty much every other part of my body.  My face is also getting that very angular look which means the bodyfat is coming off!  This morning I woke up and decided to weigh in.  I was 135.4!  My goal was to come into my show 5lbs of muscle heavier than my last show and I think I did it.  After I drop water next week, I’ll probably enter the show at 130-131 which is 5lbs more than last year…Yeah!!  And I got another surprise this morning.   My size 3 itty bitty jeans I got on my cut during 2007 fit!  They fit without a muffin top!  And I think I grew an inch or so because they aren’t long enough for me anymore.  But who cares!  It’s amazing how your body changes from day to day.  There are times when you know you are busting your ass and yet you feel like the changes aren’t coming so you feel nothing but despair.  Then when the changes start to happen its a rapturous feeling.  I can’t wait to go out and show off my contest body! The clubs of LA better watch the hell out!  Of course, it can’t all be a silver lining.  After meeting with my trainer last night he broke the news that I won’t be able to eat into this show like we thought.  He says I had too much bodyfat to lose, but I think it’s really that my body fat came off slower than we would have liked since I’m not any bigger entering this cut than I was the last time.  So, I have to keep depleting through the show but thankfully I’ll get a big carb up meal on Wednesday of next week.  Then he says I can eat whatever I want after my show and the Sunday after and then a few cheats during the following week before I get back onto my diet.  I’m also supposed to kick up my cardio to a higher HR to get my fast twitch muscles firing.  So the next 2 weeks will be brutal.  We’re in the home stretch.  But I’m up to the challenge.  My goals after the show is to maintain.  No bulking.  No growth phase.  I just want to stay lean. Sure, I won’t be as lean as I am now, but I think staying around 138-140 is a realistic goal.  I’m not going to think about this now though.  I have a show to prepare for.  What happens after the show is best worried about AFTER THE SHOW.  I have 2 weeks to focus and keep my eyes on the prize.  My body is my trophy.  My discipline is my trophy.  My dedication, mental focus, inner strength and overall health are all my trophies.  It would be nice to have a  physical trophy to set on my desk to remind me of all that I’ve accomplished, but I don’t need it. I have my reward right here with me and I see it every time I look in the mirror.

Last week I was 5 weeks out and had made some changes to my training and diet to speed the fat loss process along. Mainly I reduced my cals, increased my cardio intensity and tried to get in an extra session of cardio. All went well, but on Friday I was beat. I was one grumpy monkey. I was tired..more tired than hungry if you can believe it and it took all my willpower to get to the gym on Friday night. I took a nap after work and then hit the gym…glad I made it there even if my workout was lackluster.

On Saturday I had plans to hit the beach for my double cardio. I started with a 1hr rollerblade, then I vegged out on the beach for a few hours and read, then I went for a run. The run was only going to be for 30min but I loved it so much that I just kept going. Running along the water was so zen and relaxing that I felt like I could just run forever. It was a nice way to spend a Saturday!

Now that I am 4 weeks out from my show I just have to keep powering through everything. My brother says I’m right on target and I can’t wait to start going out and showing off this body that I have spent the last 8 weeks sculpting. I get to enjoy it while I have it since we all know you can’t stay in contest shape year round. But for the next few weeks/months I plan to rock it!

The latest changes I notice in my body now are that my shoulders are already striated and my veins on my deltoids are visibly whether I’m pumped or not (which is a change from my last show). My biceps and chest are striated as well and my ab "V" is cut really deeply. My rear end is not as wide and is getting a bit flatter from the side view which means my hips are finally slimming down…they’re always last.

Is it weird that I’m already making plans for what I’m going to do when my show is over? I already know that my goal will be maintenance and not bulking. I want to stay as lean as is realistically healthy for me. I also want to switch to Full body workouts so that I can have more time to be social and not live in the gym so much. I mean, I like the gym, but it would be nice not to have to be tethered to it in order to keep my body. So the less time I can spend there while getting the same or better results is a win/win for me.

I am also going to start Brazilian Jiu Jitsu classes. I’ve taken Martial Arts before and I’ve always enjoyed them, but I’ve never had the chance to practice the grappling/wrestling forms of martial arts. Now is my chance! I just want to experience new techniques and new ways to stay fit without having to strictly run or endure the gym machines.

I won’t mention my cheat meal plans here because I’m too hungry and depleted and to do so would be absolute torture for me and my brain can’t handle that right now. No way. I won’t do that to myself. I LOVE broccoli and asparagus with egg whites and I can’t imagine wanting to eat anything else. I mean it!