Separating winners from non-winners (must they be losers?)

Setting aside the issue of politics visited here a few posts ago, the hallmarks of winners in the figure competition are legs. They are what separate winners from non-winners. Glenn explained it all to me at the beginning of my training and he reiterated it today. Many women can develop great upper bodies, he said. It takes work, but it's achievable. The tougher part is to develop well defined legs. This aspect is harder because women retain more fat in their lower body, particularly in their legs. Many women will have solid but not defined legs. Part of it is genetic, as are many body sculpting elements. It's hard to say exactly where one, um, stands with this issue until just before the competition when the hardcore dieting comes into play and dramatically transforms one's appearance. Glenn believes I'm doing very well with my upper body, so a big factor will be how much definition I can get in my legs. I fully intend to emphasize this area, to maximize whatever genetics are at my disposal.

Public Service Announcement

During my boxing session at King's Gym on Monday, the guy pictured here walks into the room with all of his boxing gear. OK, whatev. Then Ed King tells me who he is. Shawn Porter, a rising boxing star from Akron. A real talent. A good guy with an unbeaten record. 12 wins, 10 knock outs in the middleweight weight class. Also, he was an alternate on the 2008 U.S. Olympic team. To his credit, he is the sparring mate of the top-ranked boxer, Manny Pacquiao. Now, I'm no fan of boxing, but I highly respect someone who is dedicated to his sport and has gone far. And he's local, just like our LeBron. So I guess I'm kinda proud of him. But he didn't stick around. Ed thinks that's because I might have scared him with my wild right hook.

The Posing Suit

Michelle, my posing coach and guide to all things related to competing, suggested that I consider renting a posing suit for my first couple of competitions. This sounded like a nice idea since she made me aware of several options, all the suits being kick-ass cool and costing way less than owning. I'd say it would be worth it for me to purchase my own suit if I planned to do lots of competing, but at this point, I'm not sure what the future holds, so I'm holding back on making the investment. To be honest, while the suits are important, I recall barely noticing them when I watched the competition in March. I was more distracted by how ripped everyone was. Total shocker. One lead Michelle gave me is her friend Denise, a professional figure competitor and hair salon owner. She has a suit worth approximately $1,200, encrusted with Swarovski crystals. As one who loves bling, I think it's totally hot. She and I are the same size, so her suit is a great candidate. I visited her today, saw two of her suits and expressed interest in one of them. Then she told me that the ties on the top can break. "I've seen it happen," she said. The solution? Have a second suit. So I may be renting two suits, to cover my ass, so to speak. Once she sends me a photo of herself in the suit, I'll post it here. Both Denise and the suit are highly impressive.

Drugs to cover drugs

Not to further bemoan some of the unfairness in bodybuilding competitions but...I'm going to register another complaint. According to my credible source, those who take certain body enhancing drugs (not sure which ones, but it doesn't really matter, the point is that they enhance, 'nuf said) can take further drugs to cover up and mask the original drugs they took. So, you think you're entering a non-juiced competition, but really, you're not. Apparently, some organizations do not take "drug free" very seriously. Others, however, do mean drug free and competitors respect it. How that all works, I have no idea. I guess the trick is for me to rely on informed people to guide me to the right competitions. Or, I can enter the drug-free wink-wink ones with the understanding that the playing field is not even and I can scale back my expectations, but that kinda sounds like a waste of time. I'll need to give the matter further consideration.

My New Best Friends

My NEW PROTEIN POWDER which is made with no artificial sweeeteners. It's not as sweet as two others I've been using (that have artificial sweeteners which is something I try to avoid), but it goes down just fine.

YELLOW MUSTARD! It has no calories! I dip my turkey off the bone in it.

BALSAMIC VINEGAR for salad dressing, with cilantro mixed in. Wicked!

CHIVES, cut and tossed on my sweet potatoes.

ROASTED RED PEPPERS out of the jar containing barely a calorie in each pepper, soaking in a liquid that contains no added sugar. I toss them on brown rice.

I've been thinking that the way I'm eating now can become a permanent thing. It's not torture, it's healthy and for the most part, it's tasty. I mean, why not?

I blew it

Last night, one of my kids had a few friends over to watch the NFL draft. This required the placement of a pizza and nuggets order for delivery. I had already eaten dinner (three scrambled eggs with sauteed mushrooms thrown in, a salad with balsalmic vinegar and a brown rice cake with peanut butter), so I wasn't hungry. Then the pizza arrived. Large, half pepperoni, half cheese, thin crust, cut like a checker board, not the traditional way, making for much smaller pieces. The kids didn't devour it like I thought they would. I stared at the remains. I took a taste, just a tiny piece. OMG. I haven't broken this diet in any major way for a month and a half. I've been as disciplined in the kitchen as I have been in the gym. Plus, I lost another pound. Plus, I had a tough workout earlier with Glenn. I even dead lifted 65 lbs. (barbell) for three sets of 8 lifts. But the pizza tasted sooo good. I had another bigger piece, 1 1/2 in. x 1 1/2 in. Fuck it! If I'm in for 2 pieces, then I'm in for one more. It's so good! There was still a lot left in the box, so I took another. Did I have 5 pieces? 6? I don't know. What I do know is that Donato's pizza is insanely amazing. Do I feel guilty? Sort of. But it was worth whatever damage I did, it really was. The way I see it, if I'm going to blow it, I better enjoy every single calorie and I did. Now I'm done with being bad.

Politics

I've been hearing about "politics" within bodybuilding competitions ever since I dedicated myself to this activity. I really didn't understand it at first. We're all a bunch of strangers who don't know the judges, so how could the notion of politics come into play? I've since learned how it works. The competition promoters, the ones putting up the money to stage a show, have some influence over the judges and they can let their opinions be known. According to this theory, let's say that the promoter of the Oct. show I'll be competing in wants the clients from his gym to be favored, then...maybe those girls move up in the rankings. Of course, if his people take all the top spots, then this would become obvious and no one from other gyms would bother competing in his show. But other entities have interests in the show including product sponsors, etc. Glenn told me a story about first-hand experience with this issue back in the early 90s which, granted, was a long time ago, but still. He hung out with a promoter and this person told him, without equivocation, that he wanted a certain girl to win because that's the look he wanted to represent the show. So she won and it was her very first show. Therefore, a competitor such as myself must wonder about all of this. I can't say that it alters my approach in any way, but it does make me a little suspicious. All I do can, in the face of it, is work hard, look my best and give Miss Favored Status a run for her money.

A Fine Example

Meet my posing coach Michelle. She's a 45-year-old personal trainer who competed about a year and a half ago in several fitness shows. In this shot, she's wearing her (roughly) $800 custom made bathing suit adorned with Swarovski crystals. This should be understood as a costume, no different from what ice skaters or ballroom dancers wear. It's part of the game. She won 5th place in the show for which she is pictured. She reached about 7% body fat here which may frighten some people and therefore deserves further explanation. This is a look and a body fat percentage that can't be maintained for very long. Competitors pace themselves to achieve this look just in time for a show, then afterward, they adhere to a less strict diet and put some weight back on. This look also involves releasing water from the body, most importantly from the skin, so that muscle definition is better revealed. Again, as soon as they start drinking normal quantities of fluid, their skin will become more inflated. So it's all very transitory and not meant to be a permanent condition. Clearly, it reflects a high level of discipline. At first, these were issues that repelled me from wanting to compete. But once I grew accustomed to them and understood that they are goals toward which you work over a stretch of time, I became more comfortable with everything. I showed the picture to some friends and they all asked, "Is that what you're going to look like?" If I do everything right, the answer is yes.

Body weight used as resistance

Yesterday at King's Gym, Ed King whipped out the TRX suspension trainer. I've used it once or twice before with him, so I know it's an intense workout. At the risk of sounding like an infomercial, I offer a brief summary of its merits, largely lifted from its own marketing material. Born in the U.S. Navy SEALs, suspension training is a revolutionary method of leveraged bodyweight exercise. Easily set up, the portable TRX® Suspension Trainer™ puts you in control. One can safely perform hundreds of exercises that build power, strength, flexibility, balance, mobility and prevent injuries, all at the intensity of one's choosing. Weighing less than 2 lbs., the TRX® delivers greater performance and functionality and sets up in seconds. OK, with that out of the way, I can attest to the deceptive nature of the workout. It looks easy but it ain't. One might think that weights deliver the best form of resistance, but one's own body weight can be equally as challenging. We did some super sets, moving from the suspension trainer to weight machines or to complimentary exercises using a bench (step ups and tricep presses). By the end of the hour, I was fried. And that's the key to having a trainer. He pushes me harder than I could ever push myself.

Bikini Shot #2

So here is where things, literally and figuratively, stand. I still have work to do, but I feel like I'm on the right track.

Positive progress with body composition!

The stats are in! I'm very excited to report that I've gained muscle and lost fat!! Glenn took my measurements today during our workout, punched them into some chart and came up with the following:

23% body fat
26 lbs. of fat
86.8 lbs. lean body mass

This compares to my stats taken March 18, exactly 4 weeks ago:

26.75% body fat
30 lbs. of fat
83.5 lbs. lean body mass

Progress is a very hard thing to notice and qualify on your own body, particularly when it's gradual. I was even thinking that maybe I went backwards - lost some muscle - because I just took several days off of the gym to deal with a nasty cold. I still don't feel ripped, but Glenn told me that I have very good definition in my arms, so I'm encouraged by that. I guess the idea is that when I tell someone I'm training for a body building competition, I want to look like I am and not have the person wondering if I've ever shown up at the gym. Yesterday, I had this type of experience when the water delivery man arrived with an order of 5 gallon bottles of distilled. I told him that I was excited because I recently became strong enough to lift up the bottles and flip them into place on the dispenser. I explained that I attribute the newfound strength to my weight training for a body building competition. I was wearing a long sleeve shirt and jeans, and it's kinda hard but not impossible to rock that look, but I don't think I had him convinced that I am a real contender. Nevertheless, he said he thinks it's great that I'm pursuing the competition and, at one of his delivery stops, he knows of another woman who has competed and won several trophies. Anyway, I think I'll be a little more confident when I have some more pronounced curves everywhere, defined by muscle.

Freaking out!

OMG, I know that on the scale of issues, this does not rate very high, but it reached a fevered pitch last night, so I did what anybody would do, I fired up an internet search and unfortunately, it initially did nothing to assuage my concern. It's a matter of hair loss. I used to have tons of it, too much, an annoying amount that in the summer time felt like a long heavy blanket draped around my head. It took forever to get my hair highlighted because there was so much of it. It was excessive. Then I turned 40 a year and a half ago and I noticed that it seemed to be falling out at a rate more rapid than the normal amount. OK, whatever. And it continued. OK, whatever. And it still continued and I figured that this is what happens when you turn 40, though I've never heard anyone say anything about it. OK, whatever. Then a friend mentioned that her hair has been falling out. She's a few years older than me and her hair still looks amazing, so OK, whatever. Then I hit a tipping point a few days ago. I really seriously have less hair. When I put a rubberband around it for a ponytail, it's not nearly as tight as it used to be. It falls out everywhere. Brushing it, washing it, running my fingers through it. WTF??? The internet tells me that too much testosterone, when converted to DHT (whatever that is) can cause hair loss. I tell my husband and he says, "It must be the weightlifting that's building up testosterone in your body. You might grow a dick next." Hahaha. Except that I realize it all started shortly after I began working with weights, right around when I turned 40. I race back to the internet and refine my search. There is no hard evidence, but there is speculation. And for certain, there are people out there trying to make a link, but mostly, they are left (pardon) scratching their heads. Now look, I told myself, I went to the body building competition and there weren't a bunch of bald chicks up on stage, for sure. But still...so I called Michelle, the lady who has competition experience and is helping me with all matters related to it aside from training (that's posing, tanning, bathing suit, heels, make-up, HAIR EXTENSIONS, etc.). She's never heard of a link between weight lifting and hair loss, and she's been in the business for a long time. However, she is 45 and has been losing hair for the last 5 years. BINGO! She knows it happens to other women, too. BULLSEYE! So we both agree, this is an age-related thing and not a weight lifting-hormonal thing. Not very scientific, but there's no real science out there supporting the link either. So without a doubt, I'm going to be asking all of my friends about how their hair is holding up. They better tell me the truth!

Getting jiggy with the rope

This is the Marpo Kinetics VMX Multi-Mode Rope Climber that Ed King threw me on today for our training session. No, that's not me in the picture, in case that's a source of curiosity. Ed just bought it for his gym and was excited for me to give it a try. I worked at it for 2 minute intervals, alternating with a tricep exercise on a cable machine. The 4 sets I completed provided both cardio and strength benefits. The rope climber is an interesting contraption, offering a range of tension levels and a variety of positions from which to use it (vertical, horizontal and diagonal). The objective is to "climb" the rope with your hands, pulling it down with each grasp. Since it's on a loop, you never reach the end. It was intense but not overwhelming, however, at higher tension levels, I'd be wiped out. Essentially, the formula for the rope climber is New Equipment = Novelty = Fun. We stayed away from the quads today because, as expected, I couldn't walk right for 2 1/2 days after the Thursday workout. I might add that, despite coming down with a cold on Friday and not working out for the past 3 days, the scale has gone down by a pound and a half which I'm going to assume is the loss of fat and not muscle. I consider this a small victory and I'm happy to accept such a thing wherever I can find it.

Mid-life Crisis?

Recently, I told a friend in an email about my body building activities. Her reaction?
"You're doing WHAT!? What possessed you? Are you having a mid-life crisis? You know there are other ways to have a crisis other than this...like, lots of shopping therapy, huge trips, alcohol, young men. Really, the choices are endless. This is very creative. We will need to discuss over massive amounts of wine what you are up to!" That will be next week. Of course, I won't be drinking massive amounts of wine on my present diet, but I can have one glass if I play my calories right that day. I find her reaction entertaining because it's not easy to surprise a close friend, even though that wasn't my intention. I've already heard the mid-life crisis comment, first from my husband, but I deflected it completely. Can this possibly qualify as a crisis? Wouldn't I know for certain if it was one? Are people's reactions more a reflection on themselves than on me? It doesn't really matter, but it's a strange occurrence to be accused of having a crisis when you don't believe you're having one.

Measures of progress

If I'm lucky, I'll be able to walk tomorrow, but there are no guarantees. It was a lower body workout today with Glenn and he maxed me out. Lunges with 25 lb. dumbbells in each hand. Squats with toes pointed out and the same dumbbells in play. Squats with hands clasped behind my neck then leaping up in the air. Plus several other exercises that I'd never do on my own - out of fear, wimpiness and disbelief that I could actually do it. We also talked about measuring my body composition next week - yippee! I raised the topic because I'd like to quantify my progress. The scale has become meaningless with the potential loss of fat but gain of muscle. The two can neutralize each other with a static reading on the scale, so weight alone is no longer a measure of anything except gravity. I'll do another bikini shot next week, too, either to shame me into harder work or to mark some real progress. Not sure which way it will go.

A Cautionary Tale

Finally, I succeeded in completing a split body workout. It was all upper body, for a little more than 45 minutes. I only used 7.5 lb. dumbbells because I find that lower weight/higher reps works better for me than higher weight/lower reps. Although, I could probably go with 10 lb. dumbbells next time. When I was done with my work at the gym, I spotted a guy who looked familiar. I recognized him as being the husband of a trainer at King's Gym. I became acquainted with his image when I searched his wife's background as a highly successful, award-winning bodybuilder in the fitness category. They have a fitness-related business together and feature pictures of themselves on their website. I introduced myself and after we spoke for a few minutes, he asked what made me want to do a bodybuilding competition. I could answer that in about 5 different ways, but the truth is that one of the reasons is his wife, Stacy Helfinstine. I said that I want to look like her. In fact, I'm sure a lot of people want to look like her, I added. He smiled and said that she lives the life of bodybuilder and she's been doing it for ten years. 10 years??? In other words, it might take more than 6 months of training to get that look. Nonetheless, she is still very inspiring. Wouldn't you agree?

Where the Wild Things Are

When I was at King's Gym yesterday, the first thing trainer Ed King did with me was address my experience with negativity last week (see Little Miss Sunshine post). He described a somewhat parallel situation many years ago when he was planning to compete in a bodybuilding competition but he intended to do it without drug use. The trainer he worked with said no way, forget it, you'll lose, don't bother. Drug use was rampant then, but Ed was vehemently opposed to them. He trained hard and won. Won, as in first place, with no drug enhancement. The point: ignore the naysayers. His words overlap with my recent viewing of Where the Wild Things Are, and while I didn't love the film, it made me think a lot. Essentially, the film captures many of the frustrations of being an 8 -yr.-old child. People get mad at you - your friends, your parents, maybe strangers - and you feel like there's nothing you can do. Things aren't fair, and again, there's nothing you can do. Max, the child in the story, creates an alternate reality for himself as king of the wild things, but eventually the wild things figure out he's not really a king. "What are you then?" they want to know. "I'm Max." That's all he is. That's all any of us is. But the difference between a child and an adult is control. Max gets out of control frequently because he can't manage his emotions. He also can't control his environment, at home or anywhere else. Some neighborhood kids smash his igloo and he's infuriated. But an adult can act with greater freedom, can mentally process with greater sophistication and can filter out others' negativity by rejecting or compartmentalizing it. I don't know what my outcome will be because my story is still unfolding, but what I do know is that I can control which messages I take to heart and which ones I set aside. So let the wild rumpus continue....

Something I've never done before

I recently raided the PH8 store (that's pronounced "fate," in an ill-advised renaming of the store, Bebe Sport). It sells workout clothes featuring industrial strength spandex in a nice range of colors and styles, most recently including a neon pink - love that color! - collection. I dragged an armful of tops and bottoms into the changing room. As a rule, when I buy clothes, the intent is to wear them immediately, not stash them away for a later date, like, say, when I lose a bunch of weight. I've never needed to lose a bunch of weight, and if I did, I'd never buy clothes for a different, eventual shape. But here I am. I bought a pair of super cute short shorts, something I'd never consider for myself in my recent and present shape. Let's just say that they wouldn't flatter my legs. But they are soooo cute! And my shape is supposed to change. At least, that's the plan. So I bought them, to sit on my shelf until I reach a stage when my legs won't embarrass me in them. As soon as that day arrives, I'll slap them on and feel a sense of accomplishment. I can't wait. In the meantime, they taunt and tease me, but motivate me as well.

An Encounter While Walking My Dogs

This afternoon, I had an interesting encounter when I took my dogs for a walk on a path near my house. [This was after a morning workout involving dead lifts with 20 lb. dumbbells in each hand, squats holding a 15 lb. dumbbell with both hands, shoulder extensions with 10 lbs. in each hand, adduction and abduction at a peak of 110 lbs. and some tricep work on a cable machine set at 30, then 35 lbs.] I met up with a woman I know but only see a few times a year, one of those times usually being the dead of winter when we wave and that's about it. She asked me what I'm doing these days and I mentioned my body building pursuit. She was intrigued by this, then took the liberty to ask about my arm. She wondered if I have multiple sclerosis. I've heard this sort of misdiagnosis before and I don't take offense. Really, how's she supposed to know what's wrong? More importantly, I like having the opportunity to explain since it's not something I always raise on my own. Furthermore, it is highly unusual to have a stroke at age 10. "Was that the scariest thing that ever happened to you?" she wanted to know. Scary is not a word I usually attach to the incident, but it was that. It also was bizarre. Crazy. Baffling. Disorienting. At the time, of course, I didn't know that I was becoming paralyzed and would never fully recover. Anyway, she didn't judge me and, taking my interest in competing quite seriously, she asked about my training schedule. What I took away from the conversation was an appreciation for what appeared to be her confidence in me and belief that I can do this.

Body parts

I am struggling with the upper body/lower body split whereby a single workout is devoted to one or the other. The problem is that I'm so conditioned to do full body workouts that I don't feel balanced if I stray from that formula. I think I also might fear devoting that much work one half of me. I feel that if I spread it around, I won't risk overdoing anything. However, I'm no stranger to the occasional overdone act. With weight lifting, it's mostly impossible to know what "damage" you've done until the next day when maybe you can't walk right because your quads are fried or your back is aching. That blind aspect is a little unnerving, although it certainly doesn't make me shrink from any activity. In fact, I really like the tight feeling that comes with a great workout, and that's usually the result I leave with and/or feel the next day. I'd even say that I'm disappointed if I feel nothing the next day. I had a conversation with Ed King (King's Gym) about this - the no pain, no gain principle - and he largely confirmed it. Without some discomfort, a muscle isn't being broken down. Instead, it's only in a conditioning mode where you are maintaining it rather than increasing its size. Of course, my goal is to increase dimensions. Glenn (Bodywize Training) suggested a week composed of Mon. devoted to upper body, Tues. devoted to lower body and Thurs. and Friday as full body workouts. I think that might be a nice middle of the road solution for now.