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.