Everything Else In Bodybuilding

25: Sponsorships, Scandals, and Superstar Brands: The Evolution of the Supplement Industry with Rich Gaspari

You might know Rich as one of the best bodybuilders of all time. Or you might know him for his quality supplement brand, Gaspari Nutrition, which has outlasted countless other brands since the 1990s.  Or you might know both! 

But on this episode you are going to learn things about Rich, his work ethic, and his resilience, that will make you even greater of a fan. 

And together with my co-host Vassilios, we do a deep dive with Rich on the evolution of the supplement industry over the past 30 years, looking at it through Rich’s eyes.

Rich Gaspari can be found on instagram @RichGaspari and Gaspari Nutrition can be found at www.gasparinutrition.com and Gaspari Ageless at www.gaspariageless.com 

Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to discuss episodes and follow the podcast tour as we travel the USA promoting the show.

Additional Resources:
-Need accountability for your ongoing posing practice? Jump on my weekly posing practice classes for all divisions and federations at http://www.weeklyposing.com
-Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 
-Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome

Key Takeaways:
*Introducing Rich Gaspari and how he got started in the bodybuilding and supplement industry (2:05)
*The vibe of bodybuilding gyms in the 1980s (7:05)
*The importance of posing in bodybuilding preparation (12:30)
*Will Rich Gaspari compete again? (21:00)
*How and why did Rich start his supplement company Gaspari Nutrition (22:28)
*How did Rich bring Gaspari Nutrition from local business to global brand (27:00)
*How have sponsorships of athletes by supplement companies changed over the past 30 years? (32:40)
*How Rich recovered from filing bankruptcy and re-built Gaspari Nutrition (39:19)
*Rich’s advice on building a brand in today’s market (43:10) 
*Gaspari Nutrition's best selling product of all time (52:53)
*Gaspari Nutrition’s top selling products during Covid (55:02)
*How does Rich come up with new product ideas (55:43)
*What kind of quality control is there for products in the supplement industry? (57:02)
*Before its downfall, how did Blackstone Labs get away with spiking products with illegal ingredients where there is supposed to be quality control in the supplement industry? (59:11)
*Why did Rich start the Gaspari Ageless line of products (1:02:00)
*Rich’s thoughts on the current state of bodybuilding and the evolution of the open men’s division (1:04:45)
*Viewer Question #1 from Isaiah regarding trends with body conditioning (1:14:30)
*Viewer Question #2 from Jennifer regarding how to decide which supplements to take when you are just starting out (1:21:07)

Episode Mentions:
Lee Haney
Joe Weider
Big Ramy
Dennis James
Flex Lewis
Hidetada Yamagishi
Branch Warren
Jay Cutler
Phil Heath
Derek Lunsford
Shaun Claurida
Hadi Choopan
Paul Dillette
Kevin Levrone

24: The Tour Begins!

We are off! The first leg of the Podcast tour began this past week. We are now traveling around the entire United States so if you see our van with the podcast name, “Everything Else” in Bodybuilding, and my giant mug on it, be sure to honk and wave! 

On this episode I am going to share about our experiences so far as we traveled through Pennsylvania and Chicago, IL while out on tour — and our life living in a van! 

Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” where I share pictures and videos of the tour and you can connect with like-minded people.

Additional Resources:
-Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation via Venmo! https://account.venmo.com/u/Michele-Welcome
-Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Need accountability for your ongoing posing practice? Jump on my weekly accountability classes at http://www.weeklyposing.com
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:
*The three 9s on my grocery bill (2:03)
*Gym review and 1 on 1 posing lesson with Lisa Faser at Quads Gym in Chicago (3:30)
*Exploring Hershey Pennsylvania (8:25)
*Exploring Chicago, IL (9:38)
*Life so far living in a van (11:43)
*New announcement! My new program, www.weeklyposing.com will provide ongoing accountability for your posing practice. (13:35)

---Transcription---

We are off! The first leg of the Podcast tour began this past week. We are now traveling around the entire United States so if you see our van with the podcast name, Everything Else in Bodybuilding, and my giant mug on it, be sure to honk and wave. I posted pictures and videos on social media and you can check them out on either TikTok, Facebook, or instagram.  Stuff on YouTube will be coming shortly.

The day before we left, I was at the cash register at the grocery store and the cashier comments to me about the three 9s on my bill.  She says to me that it is an angelic sign.  Whether you believe in it or not, it was a nice message. She didn’t have to say that to me. It made me feel good to think of a presence with us while we embark on this adventure.

Not long after this, I get a message from a movie producer’s assistant about a potential role in a movie.  We were prepared to reroute our entire trip and to drive to the movie set.  For a second there I thought about the three 9s and wondered if something bigger was in the works. The stars didn’t align this time because they needed me across the country THAT DAY but our van was in the shop so the timing was bad. It did feel good to be considered for a part in a Hollywood movie, no matter how small, and that got my wheels turning in my head about other things I can do while on the road to make extra cash so our life on the road will be more comfortable.  And who knows what’ll come up in the future.  I’m always open to new opportunities that make sense. 

Speaking of opportunities I’m very grateful to those of you listening who have reached out for potential posing clinics at your local gyms while I’m out on tour. As you know by now, or at least I think you do, that with my 20 year background in all federations and divisions, I have the unique ability to TEACH all federations and divisions from actual experience.  So my clinics are not going to be the same woo woo “look at me” posing clinics you might have already gone to. In fact, I’m going to go as far as to say that you will walk away from my clinics never thinking about posing and presentation the same. 

Special shout out to Lisa Faser from Chicago for her efforts and going out of her way - and her comfort zone - to post flyers in her gym to try and round up interest for a clinic.

Lisa didn’t manage to round up a group of people for a clinic this time, so I offered her a rare opportunity for a 1-on-1 posing lesson. I don’t do individual 1-on-1 posing lessons as much anymore because I have my Posing Wins Shows signature group program; however, since we are traveling the country, I thought it would be fun to pop in on people like you that are listening to the show who would normally NEVER have the opportunity to work with me in person. So I will continue to be doing these 1 on 1 lessons for listeners that want a posing and stage presence overhaul while Im on the road. We posted the tour dates and locations at eeinbb.com so check out our tour and see if I’ll be in a city near you. If so, just text our dedicated line 702-637-0091 to set something up at your local gym. 

Lisa’s gym is called Quads gym and is located on North Broadway in Chicago. The parking situation there is a challenge because there are a ton of businesses and residential housing in the area…and ALL the parking is ON street. We arrived about 30 minutes early and spent the entire 30 minutes looking for parking. At the last minute my husband was just going to drop me off, so I wouldn’t be late, and by luck a spot in front of the gym opened up so we grabbed it quick. 

At the front door there is a sign that says that Muscle and Fitness magazine has designated this gym as one of the top gyms in America so immediately I was intrigued.  When you walk in there is an immediate good vibe to the place. I could tell that this is a place you come to to get work done.   Apparently we just missed Mr Olympia Phil Health who was in the area a week ago and trained out of this gym while he was here. The day pass is $17 so for my husband and I it was a $34 visit. 

But let me tell you, there is a LOT to offer here for equipment. You would never know when approaching from the street the sheer size of this place. There are two floors plus an additional room on the third floor with the boxing room, which is where I taught my posing lesson with Sarah. The amount of equipment packed into this place is, I don’t even know, how many thousands. The most impressive part is the amount of leg equipment. And I don’t mean a bunch of the same equipment you see at every gym, I’m taking about very unique equipment. Many old school nautilus machines too. My favorite body part to train is legs, so I was like a kid in a candy store with the amount of different leg devices there are to play with.  When you walk the gym there are photos of competitors throughout the gym on every wall.  It made me think of the gym I owned where I had photos posted throughout the gym of members doing great things. I called it the walls of inspiration. So it was nice to see all the photos here celebrating the gym members and visitors.      

As mentioned Lisa and I used the boxing room on the third floor for our session. She was warm and enthusiastic and that only made my time with her more fun and rewarding. Even though she booked an hour session, I ended up spending like three hours with her. Sarah spent weeks trying to create a clinic at her gym. Weeks. She made and posted flyers.  That’s a lot of effort.  Her efforts did not go unnoticed, so even though she paid for a 1 on 1 session, I decided to bring the whole clinic to HER.  Lisa is 51 years young getting ready for her first show. How inspiring is that? 

She has gone to competitions to watch and has watched online posing tutorials to learn how to pose. And just like everyone that has come to my virtual clinics can attest, When you try and recreate what you see in posing tutorials, 9 times out of 10, you don’t look anything like what you see….and you have no idea what to do about it. That’s where I come in. Sarah learned not just the mechanics of the poses she needs to do, she learned specific foundational exercises, drills, and skills that will help her to not be good as posing, but be incredible at it. You can’t build the house without building the foundation first, right? 

We also worked on her stage walk since the bikini division requires you to focus on your stage presence just as much as you do your posing. Lisa learned some of my signature techniques and drills that have taken people from walking with two left feet to walking like they own a runway.  I truly love what I do and I can honestly say that the time flew by. Vassilios knows me and how I lock into a zone when I’m teaching, so he spent the entire time working out and testing out all the fun equipment throughout the gym. I took a few videos while I was teaching so I could provide Lisa some before and after footage, and in the background of one of the videos, you can hear Vassilios grunting. I love always having him nearby.

So this gym and my session with Lisa were both a highlight of this trip, but not the only highlight.

As mentioned, I’ve been setting up for my classes in random locations on the road. So far we have traveled through Pennsylvania, stopping in Hershey PA for a day. If you haven’t been you should stop in sometime.  The town is so clean and very pretty.  Last time we were in the area we stopped at the Hershey Chocolate Factory and I made my husband Vassilios ride with me around the factory in the cart in the shape of a gumdrop with me.  Isn’t he a great sport?  He really is my ride or die. 

This time I didn’t make him ride in a gumdrop with me. Instead we stopped for a piece of chocolate at the museum where they just so happen to also have chocolate tastings. Naturally the tasting lasted like 10 minutes. We aren’t those people that need to sit there and swirl our glasses around and ooh and ahhh over the flavor of each and every sample.  We did notice the different flavors in each of the samples and both agreed that Mr. Hershey’s chocolate was superior to the 5 other chocolates we sampled. So we were in and out in less than a half hour. If you ever travel with a husband, you will know, that a stop at a museum that ends in less than 30 minutes will make for a very happy husband. Afterwards we got a workout in and then headed for Pittsburg for the night before we drove to Chicago, where we are now.  

My husband grew up in Chicago and this is the first time we have gone here together. We have been together for 8 years so this is actually quite special for me. He is showing me around where he grew up and taking me to some of his favorite places to eat. We have had a great balance of getting our macros in while also enjoying some of his favorite places to eat in Chicago. He took me to Gene and Jude’s for a hot dog. And then to Johnnies to split a combo steak and sausage sandwich on a hogie. We also met up with some of his family he hasn’t seen in years and they treated us to some Chicago deep dish pizza.  I’m from a small town in Winsted CT that has a lot of really good homemade food. There are a couple of pizza restaurants that are absolute standouts because of their distinctly different styles and flavors of pizza.  Shout out to Kent Pizza in Winsted and Marzano’s pizza in Torrington CT. Both these places serve thinner crust so this deep dish Chicago style pizza was a treat for me.  The only thing is, the pizza is so thick that I was full after one piece.  

I do have to say Chicago is a lovely city. The amount of boutique restaurants and shops, the green trees and forest, and the river and bridges, are all stand outs. As you might know I’ve been a real estate agent and broker for 17 years in CT and I have an app on my phone where I can look up properties anywhere around the country. So as we drive around and I see for sale signs I pull out my handy app and see what the prices and stats are on the houses. I can even see what properties recently sold and how much they sold for. This is how I learn about areas as I travel through them.  

One of the suburbs we drove through the houses are going for $400/square foot. And you are on .11 acres. I asked a couple workers in the Whole Foods store we stopped in at what the biggest draw is of the area.  They both looked at me like I was talking riddles. One person said she lived 15 minutes from here and didn’t know the area.  The other person said that he used to live somewhat near this area and now lives downtown.  Neither could tell me why anyone would live here except to be in the suburbs near Lake Michigan and raise a family. Well there you go.  $400/sqft for a house in the suburbs.  And here we are strolling on through living in our van.  

Speaking of the van, you are probably wondering how van life is going.  I’d say the most challenging part is the heat at night. The weather has been hot and humid and if you think about it, there is very little air flow in a van unless you have the engine on and running the ac.  So we did sweat for a few night before Vassilios got us a battery operated fan.  We have been pretty fortunate to find places to sleep every night.  

We did splurge for two nights after getting a killer deal on a hotel from Hotwire. Sometimes you can really luck out with this app with the flash deals. The trick is you don’t know what the hotel is, you only know how many stars it has and you get a list of possible hotels it could be.  This time we ended up with a Hampton Inn and Suites hotel.  The look on Vassilios’ face when we pulled up made me so happy.  He was so excited to have a hotel room with air conditioning.  That first night we stayed up and watched movies together.  It was a real treat.  Now we are back in the van but we have our fan now.  I’m hoping we have some good luck on the road and we can treat Vassilios to a hotel again.  Nothing makes me happier than seeing him so happy.

We are now off to Wisconsin for a few days before we head to Minnesota. 

I am hosting my virtual group posing clinics Monday through Wednesday every week.  It’s been fun finding and setting up my classes at various locations while on the road. Finding places with wifi has been relatively easy so traveling and teaching online is very doable.  By the way, if you are planning to compete in the fall or next spring, you really need to jump on a posing clinic to learn the fundamentals so you know what to practice and WHY. The time is going to fly by and you work too hard to leave any stone unturned. You will leave the clinic with an entirely new perspective. Go to posingpractice.com and grab a spot for only $47. Everyone that has come to one so far has left with their eyes wide open and no longer looks at posing and presentation the same.

Another thing going on, I guess this is as good of a time as any to announce it before I sign off, is a new program I have been beta testing.  It’s a new group program that you might be interested in if you struggle with accountability for your posing practice. Let’s face it, practicing the same poses over and over gets old.  Posing in front of a mirror isn’t super effective because you are staring at yourself and when you are up on stage you do not have a mirror. So if you know the poses you need to execute and want the weekly accountability for a formal posing practice, then go to weeklyposing.com for more info and to join my classes.  They are fun, informative, and will take the boring out of posing practice. 

I’ll be posting another recap next week.  But before then, stay tuned because we have a special podcast episode launching where we interviewed Bodybuilding Legend Rich Gaspari and talked about the evolution of the supplement industry.  You are going to want to hear this one. It jammed packed.  

Alright guys, I’ll see you on social media, or come join my podcast insiders group on Facebook to interact with me. And if you are loving the show, please share in fitness groups on social Media, text it to friends, and, as always, rate and leave a review to help podcast platforms know this show is cool.  Talk to you again next week! 

23: How To Get Shredded And Avoid Post Show Rebound With Dr. Bill Campbell, Phd

Dr. Bill Campbell, PhD is a pioneering researcher in the area of female physique enhancement.  He is the director of one of the only research labs in the world that studies lean people getting leaner.  Today he joins myself and my co-host Vassilios Metropoulos for a discussion about getting lean for competitions, strategies for post show nutrition, and shares the latest research surrounding all things physique enhancement.

Dr. Campbell can be found on instagram - @billcampbellphd
and his NEW Research Review can be found at www.billcampbellphd.com

Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to share your thoughts.

Additional Resources:
-Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb
-Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:
*Introducing Dr. Bill Campbell (2:30)
*Memorable moment for Dr. Campbell since he started the physique lab (6:04)
*Dr. Campbell’s thoughts on sustainability and long term affects of bodybuilding (7:42)
*What is “off season” in bodybuilding (9:32)
*Suggestion on a strategy to begin the process of going from off season to stage ready (11:22)
*Dr. Campbell’s 3 Principles of Physique Enhancement (12:19)
*The amount of protein Dr. Campbell recommends and how to structure it in your nutrition plan (16:19)
*What are safe levels of leanness in males and females (29:20)
*Can females maintain muscle mass when prepping for shows? (32:00)
*Reverse diet vs. Recovery diet (35:12)
*Dr. Campbell asks me if what protocol used in one competition prep works in every competition prep (42:00)
*How to track macros in apps when ratios differ based on your selection (45:48)
*Advice on how to get the separated look to the muscles (48:32)
*Dr. Campbells’ launches his new Body By Science! — his new Research Review! www.billcampbellphd.com (51:30)

22: Bodybuilding, Addiction, and Mental Health

In my 20 years in the sport I’ve observed some consistencies with WHO this sport attracts.  We don’t talk about the psychological components to competing and how it affects people’s mental health.  This episode provides a deeper look into addiction and mental health in bodybuilding. 

Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to share your thoughts.

Additional Resources:
-Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb
-Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:
*What exactly is addiction? (3:00)
*Compulsive behavior in bodybuilding (3:26)
*The affect of social media’s illusion of bodybuilding (7:06)
*The multiple levels of addiction (8:54)
*Exercise for mental health vs bodybuilding (10:42)
*Addiction and common substances in bodybuilding (12:24)
*How my own standards have changed since discovering bodybuilding 20 years ago (15:24)

—TRANSCRIPT—

This episode is going to provide you zero scientific data and purely my thoughts and observations on addiction and mental health in bodybuilding. I’m not a physician nor am I giving any medical advice. Please consult a doctor if this episode brings up any concerns. 

In my 20 years in the sport I’ve observed some consistencies with who this sport attracts. Besides the people whose egos are bigger than their careers, which by the way, man there is a lot of “I am so important” in this sport.  Like, no you’re not. Just because you work out and look good doesn’t make you important. What’s amazing to me is, you guys, in the next month I have some really great guests that you are going to be surprised to see on the show. People that you could say are “important” and whose CAREERS are bigger than their egos.   The episodes are going to be fun and informative. Some day I’ll talk about the egos of people that you think would be cool but really aren’t from my behind the scenes encounters when approaching them for a spot on the podcast.  Let’s make it to 1,000,000 downloads and I’ll spill the beans.  So be sure to share the podcast with fitness enthusiasts to get the word out. 

Ok back to the consistencies I’ve observed with addiction and mental health.

First, what exactly is addiction?   

“Addiction is a treatable, chronic medical disease involving complex interactions among brain circuits, genetics, the environment, and an individual's life experiences. People with addiction use substances or engage in behaviors that become compulsive and often continue despite harmful consequences.”

The key phrase I want to talk about is the “compulsive behaviors that continue despite harmful consequences” and discuss this in the world of bodybuilding. 

Many might have heard of bigorexia also known as muscle dysmorphic disorder. It’s become more high profile with the documentaries that have walked us through the day to day of people with this issue. You might’ve seen some of them yourself.  

What happens with bigorexia is the person sees a distorted image of ones body, they are obsessed with muscle mass to the point that relationships are affected, their life revolves around the obsession to get big, and it’s so extreme they ignore health issues and might avoid appearances or events because they are worried about their appearance.  It’s more common in men than women and is on the rise. 

There is a case of a young man who was obsessed with biceps so he injected them with petroleum jelly to inflate them to an extreme level. He looked like the Popeye cartoon but he was a real human.  The tissue was so damaged from lack of blood flow that it turned purple. The damage became life threatening and he was forced to remove the implants or risk losing his arms or his life. Now he is left with hardened slabs of the jelly and dead muscle in his triceps and will have to undergo more surgeries to remove the rest of the hardened jelly.

Another extreme example is a woman physique competitor who became so sick from extreme protocols that included multiple different compounds including multiple diuretics and anabolics that she ended up with multiple organ failure. Despite being extremely sick, months later, while still recovering, she started posting about wanting to compete again and not caring what people think.

Although both cases are extreme, the obsession with one’s body, getting ripped, getting huge, feeling invincible, these are all common things you will see in bodybuilding, no matter which division.  It might not be to the extreme as getting Popeye arms, or multiple organ failure, but it’s still there.  We only hear about the extreme cases and think that well, that’s not me, so I’m fine.  But are many people actually “fine” in bodybuilding?    Are you really ok if you compulsively look at yourself in the mirror and are never satisfied no matter how hard you work and how many gains you see in the gym?  Are you really fine if no matter what you do it’s never enough and you are never happy?  Are you really “fine” if you are only happy with the way you look the 5 seconds you are ripped to shreds for a show and then for the rest of the year you cover up with moo moos and sweatpants?

You don’t have to have a compulsion or be classified as mentally ill to not be “fine.”  It’s ok to acknowledge you are not fine.  You are human and once you experience bodybuilding and all the extremes it has to offer, you will never be the same.  You may not be fine now, but you can learn to adapt.  

We don’t talk about the psychological components to competing and how that affects people’s mental health.

In fact, I think people UNDERESTIMATE the psychological component to competing.  Many think it’s going to be this fun thing that fills a check box on their bucket list.   They think they are going to look great so they will be happy.  Social media doesn’t help with all the fancy photos of competitors making it look like everyone is stage ready year round. Plus all the attention people get when they post a photo all ripped and the muscle worshippers come running with their 50 emojis and a marriage proposal.  Think about all that attention and how intoxicating that can be for people who have never felt good about themselves or felt important before. Oh and let’s not forget that every time you turn around someone is getting a pro card too so there is a status component to competing that has become very attractive.    

I’m going to go as far as to say that social media has created an illusion that bodybuilding is achievable for anyone. Technically anyone can register for a show, slap a tan on, and compete, but to be competitive is a different story.  Anyone can get motivated for something.  For example you are motivated to go to work so you can make money to pay your bills.  You receive a pay check consistently so that reward keeps you motivated.  But bodybuilding is different.  It’s a hobby.  It’s optional.  You don’t HAVE to be a bodybuilder, but you have to WANT to be a bodybuilder to be a bodybuilder.  To stay motivated for the months it takes to prepare for a show, with an unknown outcome, takes a specific mindset and skillset.

Not everyone has a strong WILL that will keep them on track during the process when things get tough.  You can’t have a bad day at work or a fight with a spouse and use it as an excuse to go off track with your nutrition and training.  Bodybuilding has a compound affect.  Everything you do this week will affect how you look in the weeks ahead.  To get your body fat down to extreme levels requires you to be precise and consistent.  You have to have a strong will that can’t be broken no matter how difficult life gets….or just don’t do the show.  If life is that tough then you need to consider your priorities. 

There is also a cost to getting really lean.  Although you think it’s a great idea, and it’s glorified on social media, your body sure doesn’t agree. This battle between you and your body’s #1 goal of survival, will be brought right to the surface. Who wins will, once again, be determined by your pain tolerance and will power. 

So now let’s talk about what happens when you actually win that battle and you get on stage looking all freaky.  The satisfaction you get from accomplishing that goal is only going to happen when you are stage lean. 

Which brings me back to the word addiction in bodybuilding. 

When people think addiction they think substance abuse and rehab. But I think there are levels to addiction.  For example, you can be addicted to coffee.  There are a lot of health benefits to coffee and a recent study that showed moderate amounts of coffee are a good thing. Moderate meaning more than a couple of cups of coffee.  A lot more than you would think.  But just not like 50 though.   So despite there be an addictive quality to coffee, we don’t think of it as taboo unless you are packing it full of sugar and fat in your triple venti latte and then all of a sudden we become all judge-y in line watching others grab their dessert coffee while we wait for our regular old coffee at Starbucks.

But can you be addicted to getting lean?  I don’t think the answer is really black or white. With bodybuilding there isn’t instant gratification.  You can’t just jump into the back of a cab with a suit and come out the other side all jacked with a cape on and fly away like superman.  Getting lean takes a lot of time and consistency.  You feel like dog poo during the process too.  It’s fun in a crazy way, but it’s really not all that fun.  The endorphins you get from working out, now I do think you can get addicted to that. The reward occurs after every workout.  Which is why I have seen many people go from having an actual substance abuse addiction to using exercise as a recovery agent.  

I’ve also heard mental health experts with a research background talk about how exercise causes the brain to release chemicals that mimic the affects of multiple mental health drugs taken at once. So in essence instead of taking two different pills for a specific mental health issue, exercise itself would have the same effect. For goodness sake talk to your doctor before stopping any medication.  But if you are curious about the latest research you can look up Dr. Jennifer Heisz who is an expert on the connection between exercise and mental health.

So there is exercising for mental health and then there is bodybuilding.

Things start out great with exercise.  Your intentions are good.  And as you continue to exercise you naturally start to make better choices with food.  Your body transforms and you are on a great path.

But then you go to a bodybuilding show and see your friend on stage and you decide to give it a try yourself.  You participate in your first show and now have the bug because you just watched your body morph into a cartoon character version of yourself.  For some, the high is so great, that the comedown after the show can be unbearable without that major goal driving them to the finish line.  The finish line becomes just that - and ending.  You now have to dial out of the show and put body fat back on.  You watch all the hard work you put into getting lean disappear under a healthy layer of fat.  And now you feel fat.  You might lose the desire to train at the gym or eat the foods you were eating on prep because there is no longer a reward keeping you motivated. 

It can be a hard crash for many people. I think some of this has to do with the protocols of course. I’ve been very vocal about how the protocol you use when preparing for a show matters. If you have bro science Jake with the 6 pack abs feeding you tilapia and asparagus for 16 weeks, the minute you have a burger and fries after the show, you are done. These unnecessary protocols bring out their own laundry list of mental issues that I’ve talked about in other episodes so I won’t dive into this since we are talking about the nature of bodybuilding and addiction from more of a 30,000 foot view. So for some the only way to combat how they feel after a show….is to pick another show… and start the cycle over again.  So in a way, you are chasing the lean physique….and in these cases I would consider the behavior to be more of an addiction.

But I have a question for you.  Do you think that the people who battled substances or those who battled eating disorders to achieve a physical goal before finding bodybuilding, are also the people that are more likely to become addicted to substances in bodybuilding that are so commonly used in non drug tested federations?  With the use now being rampant and what seems to be an unspoken acceptance, and even an encouragement among coaches training bodybuilders, to use anabolics, are people who had issues with substance abuse and eating disorders before bodybuilding MORE likely to abuse anabolics despite them being illegal and despite them altering their facial features and body structure permanently inside and out?  Something to think about. 

From what I understand the feeling you get when on PEDs is a feeling of invincibility and strength. Plus, your gains come much faster than you’ve ever experienced, and you get more compliments. So imagine in a few months of time you see more gains than you have with years of training.  You have a ton of energy.  You are stronger.  Everyone around you admires your physique. Your number of social media super fans grows exponentially.  Then it’s time to cycle off of them.  Energy goes down, strength goes down, and your body doesn’t look the same.  Remember what I said earlier about contest prep and how a show physique often sets a new bar for your physique standard?  Now imagine adding PEDs into the mix and the even greater gains of strength, size, and energy and the crash when you come off of them just like when you dial your physique out of a show without them?  In addition to the physique changes, without PEDs you have a noticeable energy change.  You now have a new bar set for what it feels like to have amazing energy.  Kind of like when you get that first buzz from drinking alcohol.  That high changes how you feel about going out and socializing.  Have you ever heard the saying, no good time ever started with a salad?  It’s because you know the difference.  With PED use you know the difference of what it feels like to feel invincible.  You know what it feels like to build more strength and size in a fraction of the amount of time.  So your standards have now changed forever.  How would this NOT affect your mental health?  And once again, let me ask you….do you think that he people who battled substances or those who battled eating disorders to achieve a physical goal before finding bodybuilding, are also the people that are more likely to become addicted to substances in bodybuilding? 

And for those who use substances, you can’t un-feel that high.  The bar has been set.  I’m honestly not sure how people manage this feeling.  Coming off the substances in bodybuilding has multiple letdowns.  When coming off alcohol or hard drugs you lose the high but physically you get healthier.  But with bodybuilding, you not only lose that feeling of invincibility and energy, you also lose the physical gains you worked so hard for. 

I bring all this to the surface to get you to think.  Not just about your own mental health but the health of your friends who might consider bodybuilding as well.  The mental health components of bodybuilding aren’t talked about, and  if they are, it’s about extreme cases that aren’t as relatable to the masses.

Whether right or wrong, I can say for myself that my standards with my own physique are much different after competing. I have a drawer I jokingly call my “hot girl drawer.” Hot girl drawer has clothes that are only worn when my physique looks a certain way. I wouldn’t be caught dead in any of these clothes otherwise. I am always amazed at people wearing half shirts with bellies hanging out. Or short shorts with cellulite on their legs. And they are all walking around like it’s hot girl summer.  And they do look hot because you can tell they believe they are hot.  Confidence is everything. But my idea of hot girl summer is extreme. I think muscle is beautiful and when that muscle is dialed in and you can see all kinds of cool details, that is my personal standard. If I don’t see that on myself, then I look just “meh” because I know myself different. 

I thought it was just me that had this attitude in my early years but after talking with people, from fellow competitors, to posing clients, I realized it is actually quite common.   It’s almost as if a show day physique sets a new bar.  A bar that you’ve never known possible, seen before, and absolutely love how absolutely bonkers you look. These feeling are so common that you’ll now see a lot of people jumping on the bandwagon on social media and posting messages about how a show day physique is not maintainable year round. We know that captain obvious.  But once you witness something extreme, impressionable, and life changing, you can’t un-see it.  Once you feel something extreme, you can’t unreel it. Instead, you learn to manage it. Or you don’t.

Alright guys, this was a heavy one, I know but I hope it sparks some thoughts and helps new people to better prepare.  Bodybuilding is an incredible sport.  I love it because it’s challenging.  But most people focus on the physical aspect of bodybuilding and don’t understand that there are mental skills that also need to develop in order to be successful in this sport. Speaking of mental skills, if you haven’t done so yet, come to one of my virtual posing clinics at www.posingpractice.com . Why do I say mental skills and posing? Because stage performance also requires specific mindset skills to get you out of your head and looking incredible on stage.  Do you want to look like a robot?  Or like you have no idea what you are doing up there?  I didn’t think so.  Your starting place is my clinics. Go to posingpractice.com and let me help you.  I’ll be back next week with another episode. In the mean time, please leave a review if you are on iTunes and like, share, and subscribe wherever you are listening from.  And post about this podcast in your favorite fitness groups to help reach more people in this sport that would appreciate the conversation.  Ok, I’ll talk to you next week!

21: Podcast Tour Prep - Part 1

We’re getting ready! My podcast tour of the USA promoting THIS SHOW starts July 2022 and today I talk about all the updates on the tour plans.  
From tour life in a van…
Where we are heading…
What will be doing on tour…
..and WHY…
This episode is the official kick off of to all things pre-tour planning going on.
Be sure to join the Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!” to share your thoughts.

Additional Resources:
-Support my podcast tour of The United States with a donation! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb
-Doing a show? Not sure if you are posing correctly? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:
*The details of our tour van! (2:22)
*Previous life in airbnbs (3:58)
*My husband Vassilios’ packing “lightly” skills (7:35)
*Pop up posing clinics (9:07)
*My “why” for doing the tour (11:20)

----TRANSCRIPT----

Hey guys I hope you are all having a great start to your week.  As mentioned in my last episode I will be on the road promoting this show throughout the United States on a Podcast tour beginning next month. I will be posting episodes at least twice a week sharing the inside scoop of our tour, visiting various gyms, attending events, and of course hosting interviews. I will continue to share tips, strategies, and my personal thoughts on the industry in separate episodes as well.  I might even broadcast right from our van, which by the way, my husband and I picked up this past week. Things are getting really exciting!

By the way, I’ve never owned a mini van before so I had no idea when the listing said “stow away seats” that the seats literally stow into the floor. It was like a transformer movie.  I had no idea that mini vans were capable of so much storage.  We will have just enough space for the stuff we are planning to bring on the road and for the two of us to sleep.  We plan to hit all 50 states during the next year and, like I said, broadcast from different events and locations. If you think there is a location or event that really needs some publicity, let me know and we will consider putting it on the list.  Join the Everything Else in Bodybuilding podcast Insiders group on Facebook if you haven’t. I’ll post a link here in the show description.

Speaking of stuff, because it’s two of us and a van, we are going to need to pack strategically. I’m somewhat prepared for this because twice in my life before literally everything I owned was in my car. The first time was after a divorce and the second time was maybe four years ago when my husband and I traveled the country and stayed in various locations around Los Angelos California for about 6 months.  We rented the house back home out and sold all of our extra stuff so we could pack lightly.  

I definitely learned my lesson about packing lightly on that trip.  At the beginning of our trip we had black garbage bags packed up to our ears because I thought I might want my own pillow and stuff, and plastic bags are the easiest to stuff these things into.  At this time airbnbs were still affordable so we traveled and stayed in airbnbs the whole time.  About halfway through the trip we ended up tossing a bunch of extra stuff, and the pillows and blankets went out the door and we could actually see out the rear view window now.  Plus we didn’t look so homeless anymore without garbage bags piled high behind us in the back seats.  I did insist on carrying a set of dumbbells across the country and back that I was not willing to get rid of.  They are the convertible kind that goes from 5lbs to 50lbs.  I only used them once on the beach in Venice California, because we went to gyms instead.  Didn’t matter. There was no way they were getting tossed.  Haven’t used them since either.   And still not getting tossed.  Absolutely zero logic.  I know. But I guess this is what we call bodybuilder problems.  

On the trip 4 years ago, like I said, airbnbs were still affordable, but I didn’t say they were great.  Some were downright gross.  I can’t tell you how many places in California we stayed at on that trip that weren’t clean.   Back then it wasn’t uncommon for me to go to the store and buy cleaning supplies and clean the places we paid to stay at. True story.  

One place was so gross the dirty towels from the people that stayed there before us were still on the floor.  Dirty dishes were still in the sink.  And the accumulation of crumbs and food on the counter looked like it had never been cleaned.  Apparently the person that was supposed to clean the place had an emergency and couldn’t do so before we got there.  We were backed into a corner because pickings were already slim, especially last minute pickings in LA, so it was either try to hunt down a new place to stay, or just roll up my sleeves and clean the place myself.  I opted to clean because at least I knew if I cleaned it, it would be clean.  I’m telling you, pickings are slim in the LA area.

There was one other place we stayed at in Malibu that had incredible views of the ocean, but your bedroom wasn’t a bedroom.  It was literally someone’s living room.  So here we are in someone’s condo sleeping in their living room.  There were two other people living here at the same time who each had their own private bedroom.  It was so weird and awkward.  The condo had an open floor plan so the living room was open to the kitchen. This meant that at any time one of the residents wanted to come out of their room and grab something from the fridge, we were right there on full view on full display.  So weird.  I couldn’t wait to leave. So when I say pickings were slim then, I’m not kidding.  

And now, with airbnb prices, fees, cleaning fees, and all other fees are so expensive it’s not worth it to stay in a dump place for $5000 a month. $6,000/month if you want a decent place in the LA/Venice/Santa Monica area.  Even in Las Vegas air bibs used to be reasonable, but not so much anymore there either.  The prices are about double now.  So not worth it.  I’d rather live in a van.  So we are.

Having downsized multiple times I’m prepared to pack much lighter and only bring essentials.  We are going to buy a grill so we can cook from anywhere. We plan to have a cooler and buy food fresh daily since we won’t have the means to store food for long periods.  I have meal replacement shakes that have 36 grams of protein, 21 grams of carbs, and 6 grams of fat so I’ll have 1-2 of them a day which makes it easier to figure out food too.  I will share how we manage our food in more in detail while on the road.  This episode is more of a snapshot in time of our pre-trip planning.  It will be fun to see how things play out and evolve while on the road.  

My husband on the other hand, isn’t going to pack lightly so we will probably still be up to our ears while driving.  He is  bringing two bmx bikes and refuses to stick them on the back of the vehicle due to weather concerns and theft.  So I insisted on dumbbells on the first trip around the country and this time it’s him and our BMX bikes. He used to bmx and do tricks on his bike his entire youth so he is excited to stop at skate parks around the United States while we are on tour.  He wants me to be doing bmx tricks on my bike like him. I’ll keep you guys posted on how that goes. 

In addition to the bmx bikes, my husband is also bringing an electric and acoustic guitar.  For those of you who don’t know, my husband Vassilios is a musician and was signed to a record label and traveled for many years with the band Otherwise.  He has since been writing all new original music and was just in the studio in NYC earlier this year with multi grammy award winning producer Michael Mangini producing one of his songs.   So as you can imagine, there is no way we are leaving the guitars behind either.  So we will be cuddling with not just bikes, but guitars too.  

Right now we are finalizing all the details of our trip and making preparations.  For one, we are looking into wrapping the van with the name of the podcast all over it.  So if you see our van on the road, be sure to honk and wave! 

We also have a spreadsheet with all the locations and events we are going to stop at around the country.  We will continue mapping things out over the next week or so.  We plan to do some in person interviews of guests while on the road instead of just the virtual ones I have done so far.  

I’m also excited to announce that I plan to do pop up posing clinics while on the road.  I’ve reached out to a few of promotors from different federations to see if there are locations in the country that they might need an expert teacher to host a clinic or two for them.   Perhaps you and a group of friends might want a pop up clinic too. Perhaps you are a promoter or coach and want a clinic yourself.  If you have a group of people that want to learn posing skills, hit me up, and we might just add you to the tour.

As you know, I have experience in 6 federations so my niche is being able to switch between teaching the posing requirements for every federation and division.  I also consult people on what division and federation is the best option or options for them base on their look and best attributes.  And, I see this all the time, when people look up posing tutorials they don’t realize the requirements aren’t the same among all federations so they show up on stage doing the wrong poses.  I ensure my clients are always prepared.  

I plan to do pop up posing clinics on the road for all federations and divisions. NPC, OCB, WNBF, Fitness Universe, The WBFF, you name it.  You want to learn bodybuilding posing?  How about classic physique?  Figure? Wellness, or maybe you are a bikini competitor and you walk like a baby giraffe in high heels and want to learn how to walk a runway. I’m a one stop shop.  

Plus, most people go to a clinic right now and learn ONE federation’s posing, and honestly, I’m seeing a lot of hot mess posing coming out of these clinics.  Some people teaching these classes are decent posers but crappy teachers.  

My clinics are the starting place to being an incredible poser and performer on stage.  I still have my posing wins shows program for men and women who are the most driven in this sport to win, but if you just want to learn the basics on posing and find out if you are posing correctly, right now, you can come to a virtual posing clinic if you go to posingpractice.com . I’m excited to offer these clinics live in person while on our podcast tour. So again, hit me up if you would like me to host one for you and your people.

And let’s be real, people compete in bodybuilding shows to win them.  A perspective from someone new or different than what you are getting now could be that thing that you need to go from "meh" to awesome. There is always room for improvement.

Speaking of improvement and winning mindset….I’m also going to share on this part 1 episode of my podcast tour prep the reason I’m doing the tour in the first place. 

Have you ever heard the saying, “a dream without action is just a wish?”

I believe that if you want to achieve something, you can’t sit by passive and wait for it to happen.  Or it’ll never happen.  You’ll never win the bodybuilding show if you don’t pick a show, you know? 

You’ll never get the job offer if you don’t apply.  

You have to put yourself out there or you are only wishing for a result.

And the result I want is to bring massive attention to this podcast and grow it to a million downloads.  

I want this show to be the #1 resource on all issues in bodybuilding for competitors across all federations and divisions.  

To become the #1 resource and achieve a million downloads, it’s not going to happen from sitting by passive. 

Competing in bodybuilding shows taught me how to be patient and persistent while pursuing my goals, and to not be afraid to put myself out there for people to critique me.   

To become awesome in bodybuilding you HAVE to be patient.  You HAVE to put the work in day in and day out in the gym.  And do it again, and again, and again.  For years.  And people weighing themselves every day freaking out over a half of a pound of weight gain from the cookie they had the day before need to go and take a big dump and get over it. One day doesn’t kill your progress. It’s having the ability to detach from the emotional component of eating and look at food as fuel.  And do it again the next day, and the next day, and the next. 

I’m fully prepared to be on the road for the next year in our van promoting the show.   I’m prepared to put the work in day in and day out just like I’ve always done as a competitor. 

I’m prepared to put myself out there for my dream.

I also know when there is room for improvement. And right now, there is a lot of room for improvement getting eyes on this podcast.  It’s actually a little ironic -  the title of this podcast episode.  I called it podcast tour prep….. I didn’t mean it this way, but doesn’t “tour prep” sound a lot like “contest prep?”   Well there you go.  

Alright guys now that you have a little more background I’ll continue to share with you the inside scoop on the tour going forward.  I also have a lot more to talk about regarding this industry and will continue to share my thoughts going forward.  I might even post a second episode this week for you so if you haven’t done so yet, be sure to like, subscribe, and share this podcast to get notified of new episodes and let others know about them too.  If you are listening on apple podcasts please leave a review too.  I have some really good interviews on some juicy topics lined up too so be on the lookout for more great content coming.   And before I go if you want to show some love to our tour, you can make a contribution to our tour support and help keep us going on the road at https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb . The link will also be in the description of this podcast.

Ok guys all for now. I’ll be back very soon.

20: A Day In The Life Of A Bodybuilder

What does it mean to be a bodybuilder? Is it really that hard?

In today’s episode, as a 20 year bodybuilding veteran, I share the specifics on what my diet, training, and cardio all look like. 

I also share how I structure my day in and around my training and nutrition.

And then…at the end of the episode I make an exciting announcement about my upcoming podcast tour of The United States!  Link below if you want to show tour support. Also, episodes are coming weekly, and while on tour, at least 2x a week.

Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!”

Additional Resources:

-Donate to support my podcast tour of The United States! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb
-Want to learn how to pose effectively for your category from the start? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:

*Examples of nutrition protocols of some professional bodybuilders (3:28)
*The effects of labeling foods as good or “illegal” (5:05)
*My view on the “bodybuilding lifestyle” vs contest prep (6:16)
*My current nutrition protocol (8:11)
*My current training protocol (10:37)
*My current cardio protocol (11:15)
*Announcing my podcast tour of The United States! (12:27)

Welcome back to the show guys! There are many misconceptions about what it takes to be a bodybuilder. It goes without saying that when I say bodybuilding, I’m referring to not just the bodybuilding division, but the physique, classic physique, figure, wellness, bikini and model divisions. So when I mention bodybuilding just know I mean alll of you. I recently watched some vlogs on YouTube where people shared their contest prep journeys. They seem to all include doing a lot of cardio and eating no carbs. There was one person who was doing 2 hours of cardio a day on top of her lifting workouts like 8 weeks out from her show.  The crazy part is…all that work, effort, and time, and she didn’t look anywhere near lean enough on show day. A lot of people are frustrated when hopping on the bodybuilding journey and trying to figure out the right formula to get them ripped.  Getting someone to lift is rarely the problem, although I don’t think many people lift heavy enough or take enough rest time in between sets to keep the quality of work up.  Most of the time it’s the nutrition component that has people pulling their hair out. It’s to the point where I saw the word illegal used in a fitness group. This person actually referenced certain foods as being illegal.  I can only imagine the mental agony this person feels on a daily basis categorizing foods as illegal. I can feel the stress in my belly just thinking about what it must be like walking by an illegal food. Like if you decide to have an illegal food, do you need a bandana and a gun when grabbing it from the aisle at the grocery store? I mean, really, what a stressful existence that is totally not necessary.  

A lot of people are curious what a bodybuilder eats to achieve a ripped physique.  So much that some bodybuilding influencers are posting what they are eating in a day.  Hunter Labrada , who is an Olympia level pro bodybuilder  was just roasted on YouTube for posting that all of his meals are liquid. He has protein shakes for some of his meals and for others he blends the chicken and other solids so he can drink it instead of chewing it. He also eats a lot of Rice Krispies and that brought out the trolls in droves just waiting to pounce. Speaking of, what’s up with YouTube anyways. It has to be the most troll infested social media platform.  Anyone with me on this? If you don’t know what I mean, post something and see how fast the keyboard warriors come out to click the dislike button with utter joy.  

Lauralie Chapados who has one of the most incredible bikini physiques this sport has ever seen posted what she eats before a show.  The typical chicken, rice, and asparagus. No shocker there.  If you have been around in bodybuilding long enough, you know what I mean. 

There is so much confusion and stress around food in not just bodybuilding but everywhere.  So many diets. The grapefruit diet, the carnivore diet, the intermittent fasting diet, the paleo, keto, you name it diet. Food is such a mystery for people.  And now we live in a time where people are cherry picking parts of studies to use as “proof” that their diet works and pushing their new diet on all of us.   All this labeling of foods as good or illegal, all this does, is continue the narrative of an unhealthy relationship to food.   And if you are planning to do a bodybuilding show, you better have a good relationship with food before you start your prep or you are going to be in big trouble after your show when you don’t have the weight of a competition goal keeping you from eating everything illegal in sight.

I recently saw a post in a fitness type of group on Facebook by an aspiring competitor where she beat herself up for eating like an A-hole over the weekend. She feared that she completely blew her chance of getting on stage and was full of regret.  She was looking for support and validation that everything will be ok.  What an unnecessary amount of stress to feel around food. Tomorrow is another day.  If you don’t get lean enough in time, so what, there will always be other shows.  Apparently that binge is what you needed at that moment.  Likely because your body is sounding the alarm that you have an imbalance of nutrients in your current nutrition, or, you are eating such a strict diet and labeling foods as illegal so when you finally allow yourself a treat, you cram all the treats in at once and next thing you know you just pounded down 2 pints of ben and Jerry’s ice cream like a champion.   If you can’t control yourself from having an eating binge, then there is more going on than just will power. There is an imbalance somewhere and you need to take care of you. 

I’ve never committed to doing a show unless I knew I could fully commit.  There is a switch that goes off inside of me when I commit to something. If I don’t have that feeling, then I know I’m not all in on a goal, so I won’t bother committing to it. But if I’m all in, then step aside.

But committing to doing a show isn’t THAT much different than living a bodybuilding lifestyle.  At least for me. Swapping from living a bodybuilding lifestyle to actual contest prep just means I need to have a lot of patience and precision to keep track of my nutrition and overall daily output.  So basically I have to pay attention a lot more. With the bodybuilding lifestyle, you still have to be consistent, you still have to get your training in, you still have to fuel your body adequately, and you still need to respect rest and recovery.  When contest prepping, the literal calories and macros are precise and must be consistent.  And your overall movement is precise as well.  Not just cardio, I mean overall movement.  I keep an eye on my movement with step count since as you start to get leaner and your body wants to conserve energy, your overall movement without thinking about it can decrease. So I take that variable out of the equation.  Overall the general structure of life when contest prepping and living the bodybuilding lifestyle is quite similar.  The difference is you get more into the weeds with contest prep.

I find the lifestyle to be somewhat automatic these days. I spent many years building a healthy relationship to food for one. And two, I’m working on getting my physique photoshoot ready so I have a goal that keeps me motivated. I mentioned in earlier shows that I want to do a competition, but I’ve decided to hold off on an actual show for now while I focus on making my Posing Wins Shows clients look and feel like champions in their shows. Plus I mentioned on the last episode that I just launched my virtual posing clinics for all divisions at posingpractice.com. Head on over there if you haven’t done so yet. It’s a great starting place for new people and a great resource for veterans that believe there is always room for improvement. And they are only $47 to attend. Getting my people stage ready is my priority right now and their investment in me matters more to me than anything. So a photoshoot will do for now. 

But even if I didn’t have a photoshoot as a goal, there are consistencies to my daily bodybuilding lifestyle routine I’m living. For one, the simplest thing I do, is make sure I get my protein in. Even before the science nerds told me that protein doesn’t get converted to fat, I alway made sure I got my protein in. For one, it makes me feel satiated. 2, I want to build and preserve as much muscle as possible. And 3. With more protein I can keep my calories high while I dial back my physique. I’m around 200 grams of protein a day right now. I have a lot of 93% beef because it’s quick and easy to make. I have a meal replacement shake with 32 grams of protein when I wake up too because it’s quick, easy, and tastes good.  It’s chocolate too.  I also like Whole Foods rotisserie chicken. It’s cheap and you get a lot of meals out of one chicken. Plus it gets major bonus points because I don’t have to cook it myself. 

Right now I have 5 meals a day.  I wake up and have my meal replacement shake around 6:30am.  And coffee too.  I love my morning coffee.  My brain is the most creative and focused in the morning so I dedicate the first few hours of my day to everything creative for all of my businesses. I have my Learn To Pose posing business, this podcast, and I’ve also been a real estate agent and broker for 17 years so I handle all the transaction details in the mornings too. Details range from check lists and to-do lists for clients, managing details of contracts, and assisting my agents with their contract details.  After a few hours if I go to the gym I’ve been having Dina and Brett at energy fitness factory make me another shake. Not because I prefer shakes, but they have this oatmeal cookie shake that is to die for. It’s oats, a little raisins, protein powder, cinnamon, almond or peanut butter, and unsweetened almond milk. If I don’t go to the gym, I’ll have a solid meal.  I consider this shake a treat. The rest of my meals are solids. They all consistent of around 6 ounces of protein each, vegetables, fruit, rice, and I like to add either coconut oil, butter, or almond oil to my meals as well.  I find that a lot of flavor can make foods a little too taste specific and for me I can burn out from the flavor too fast and not like the meal anymore. So I keep the spices pretty simple. My uncle Barney has the most elaborate garden you’ve ever seen and he feeds me lettuce and veggies all summer so I’ll make some salads too - not because you need a salad to contest prep, but you guys, this lettuce actually tastes like something other than crunchy water. 

As for my training, I lift 4 days a week.  I have a goal of building my entire back side from the thickness in my back to the development of my glutes.  My workouts are tailored towards my personal goals. I train legs 3x a week at different levels of intensity.  I hit my back 2x. As a figure competitor, we are required to build balance throughout our whole physique. So I don’t skip any body parts. The amount of intensity, duration, and sets will depend on the body part I’m trying to bring up.  Although I don’t have a show in sight, I still train like a figure competitor because you never know when the time might come that I pick another show.  My workouts are about an hour total.

My cardio is just making sure I get my movement in on a daily basis because I can get so wrapped up in my work that before you know it, it’s 9pm and I’ve walked 2,000 steps. So I get up and take walks during the day and add some walking before workouts as a warmup too.  I don’t do any HIIT cardio. I find it too stressful on my body.  

My priority is keeping my calories high so I’m not one of those people that hits a plateau 10lbs out from their goal weight with very little food left to manipulate. Starting high in calories is my preference. When making an adjustment to bring on more weight loss, I’d rather move a little more than drop my calories.  Hence the high amount of protein.  I always feel satiated, don’t have energy drops, and have zero cravings.  Higher calories for the win.

So my lifestyle does surround eating. That is part of being a bodybuilder. In order to reach your goals, you have to prioritize getting in your meals.  Some people prefer meal prepping ahead of time. I prefer fresh food and choose meals that are quick to make or already prepared.   At the most I’ll do 2 meal replacements.  I focus on getting as much solid food as possible to keep me satiated.  Even when traveling I prioritize my meals. 

In fact, I guess this is a good time to announce, that my husband and I are going to hit the road in a few weeks to put this podcast on blast and tour the United States with it to get the word out. I’ve got a couple really great guests lined up that are going to talk about some topics that I think you guys are going to really enjoy learning about.  We plan to record the show at different destinations and share with you our experiences on the road.  I’ll be sharing how we get our meals and workouts in while on tour too. Right now we are in the process of purchasing a van so we can repurpose it for the tour and mapping out our destinations.  I have to be in New York to head judge a competition in September, but other than that, you might see us in your home city this year!  We will be posting and announcing our destinations as we tour them, so be on the lookout for us and stop in to say hi if you are in the area!  

If you would like to show your support of our tour, you can grab some of our merch at shop.killitwithdrive.com or you can donate to the podcast. https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb . These links will be in this episode’s description too.  Also, if you have any suggestions on must visit gyms or specific locations around the country, let us know! You can post in the comments of the show or join the podcast Insiders group on Facebook and chat with us there.  Well its about that time I get my workout in so I’ll be back next week with another episode. You asked for more shows sooner, and I listen. I will be posting episodes weekly instead of the bi-weekly format I’ve been doing. And while on tour, I will be recording and uploading special tour episodes with my husband as well so expect new shows at least twice a week.  If you like what what you are listening to, please be sure to like, subscribe and share the show in fitness groups to get the word out. Talk to you guys next week! 

19: Trends In The Bodybuilding And Fitness Industry

What’s up guys and welcome back to the show!

Today I’m going to talk about the changes in the bodybuilding industry that I’ve noticed over the past 10 years with the increased presence of fitness and bodybuilding all over social media.

I’m going to cover many different areas that I’ve seen change from attitude, influence, trends, and I’ll even touch on the evolution of haters and trolls for fun too.

Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!”

Additional Resources:

-NEW! Want to learn how to pose effectively for your category from the start? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 

-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com

 -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 

-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com

-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:

*How the look of a figure competitor has changed over the years (3:33)
*How the look of men’s classic physique has changed (4:16)
*How bikini and women’s physique has changed (5:21)
*How open bodybuilding, men’s physique and women’s wellness has changed (6:35)
*Trends in OCB, WNBF, Fitness Universe, and The WBFF (8:51)
*Health trends (10:38)
*The trend of the youth and the desire to be a fitness influencer (11:25)
*No one knows what a “natural” physique looks like anymore (12:32)
*2 unexpected things I uncovered about the industry from teaching my signature program (15:06)
*What I’m doing about the abundance of surface level education in our industry (18:18)

—-TRANSCRIPT—
What’s up guys and welcome back to the show. Today I’m going to talk about the changes in the bodybuilding industry that I’ve noticed over the past 10 years with the increased presence of fitness and bodybuilding all over social media. I’m going to cover many different areas that I’ve seen change from attitude, influence, trends, and I’ll even touch on the evolution of haters and trolls for fun too.

For the past year and a half to two years I’ve become more active on social media as I come out of my creative cave after spending years making various products for the bodybuilding industry. The last time I was heavily present on social media was about 10 years ago while I was preparing for shows.  It sure has been an eye opener to see the evolution.

While preparing for shows, I documented the whole journey on my Facebook page and posted my checkin photos every week with my no glam, pasty white skin, and wild hair to showcase the process in a real and raw way.  I had a tremendous amount of support and even had a line of tank tops made with mottos and anthems I used as motivation leading up to my shows. One was called, “eat lean train clean” and the other was called “kill it with drive.”  On show day, my supporters from countries all over the world would wear the tank tops and tag me in them on social media to show their support.  It was such an incredibly supportive environment.

The changes to social media from the last time I was heavily active has been an eye opener to say the least. My observations and experience with today’s social media is what sparked my thoughts for today’s episode. 

For one, the look of a bodybuilder has changed quite a bit over the years. The new standards of size, and the level of conditioning, or leanness, is mind blowing.  

I’ll use 4x Figure Olympia champion Nicole Wilkins as my first example. Google Nicole in the Olympia 2009 when she first won the Olympia and look at her side by side from the 2014 Olympia when she won for her 4th and final time. The amount of separation in her muscles, the caps on her delts, the detail in her legs, and increase in overall size is dramatic. Now compare Nicole in 2014 to the top Figure Olympians of today, such as Cydney Gillon who hasn’t been beat since she first won in 2017, and you will see that the level of detail that Cydney displays on stage is even more dramatic than Nicole in 2014.

Let’s now look at the men’s classic physique division.  Look at the first winner of this category ever - Danny Hester in 2016. Now look at Chris Bumstead, current champion, and compare the level of detail he brings to the stage. Now let’s talk about the weight limits of this class. This class requires the athletes to remain below a certain weight to try and keep the integrity of the style and build of physiques that this division is meant to embody, which is from what is called the golden years of bodybuilding from 1965-1985. For example, In 2016 the weight limit for men who were over 6 foot and up to 6’1” was up to and including 225lbs.  This class has since increased the weight limit from 225lbs to what is now 230lbs. So the allowable amount of size these guys are allowed to have in order to still qualify to compete has increased by 5lbs.  So it’s not just detail that has increased over the years, so has the size.

More examples. Bikini and Women’s Physique.  Let’s Look at Sonia Gonzalez, the first bikini Olympia champion in 2010. Besides the obvious changes in the posing of this division, look at the amount of muscle she has and the level of leanness of her physique. Now look at today’s bikini competitors and check out how much leaner and more muscular they are.  The bikini girls today look more like the early days of figure. The IFBB has done a good job keeping the size of bikini down in comparison to the figure division of today. I can’t say I agree they have kept the size of the competitors in the women’s physique division down though. The physique division from the Dana Linn Bailey days is barely recognizable. I remember when I first heard of physique and saw Dana Linn Bailey win and thought I could do this division. My background is as a bodybuilder and I always loved the posing of bodybuilding. But today if you look at the reining Olympia champion Sarah Villejos and the striations she has across her glutes, there is no way I would want to compete in this division anymore because of the risks it would have to my health to get that lean. 

It goes without saying that the men’s open bodybuilding division has evolved into 300lbs of solid muscle. Not much else to say about this except WOW. 

Last examples, Men’s Physique and women’s wellness. Men’s Physique competitor Mark Anthony Wingson won the first Olympia for this category in 2013.  Check him out. He had a very fit and athletic physique but not overly lean.  Now look at Brandon Hendrickson from 2021. Significantly bigger and significant leaner. 

And what’s crazy is Women’s wellness category just had its first Olympia in 2021 when Francielle from Brazil won. Over the past year the division has kept growing and there are a lot more competitors.  And in just one year, it’s crazy to see, how much of of an increase in size there has been with the women who are winning shows. In just one year.  For example, look at Dr. Sunny Andrews when she first won her Wellness Pro card and qualified for the Olympia (which by the way was at a show labeled “natural” because it was drug tested) and compare to how much more muscular, vascular, and hard her physique is now. And the time in between wasn’t that long.

Are you noticing a trend here?  

Not only has the size and conditioning of athletes exponentially increased since 2015/2016, the increases over the past couple of years alone is becoming even greater. In my opinion the ability to win in professional divisions of the IFBB like women’s Physique and men’s classic physique without the use of PEDs to obtain the level of size, conditioning, and hardness displayed by the athletes is very small. Open men and women’s bodybuilding, 1 in a billion.  I’ll even go as far as to say the figure, wellness, and men’s physique divisions are very small too since the look of these divisions has only gotten harder and bigger too. I already know that there are competitors in the bikini division using PEDs but I believe the look of this division is still something that is obtainable with diligence.  

Of course if you are competing in drug tested competitions like OCB, WNBF, and fitness universe, the look of these federations hasn’t changed dramatically and every division is meant to be achievable without PEDs. 

The WBFF federation doesn’t drug test but their scoring isn’t as much on the physique as it is on your marketability so in itself this has kept this federation from evolving into a super extreme look. What has become extreme are the costumes in this federation though. The amount of glam and glitz that people put int their costumes, suits, and bikinis is over the top.  I’ve heard of people spending $6,000 just on a costume. 

So really it’s the NPC and IFBB where I’ve seen massive changes in physique size, conditioning, and overall hardness. I’m also seeing an exponential rise in number of competitors in this federation too with the addition of more divisions.  

As an athlete myself first I can see how people would be discouraged hearing all of this. I do plan to compete again someday but I am not really discouraged since there are still divisions I can do well in as someone who isn’t into doing PEDs. This sport is me against me anyways. Besides, as someone who doesn’t do PEDs how cool would it be to hold my own on stage with others that are using PEDs. To hold my own and look and feel like a champion would be the greatest win.  The only way to do this is with time though.  Muscle requires time to build. The leanness is another issue since having paper thin skin as a women isn’t healthy.  I will only go as lean as my body will let me without causing harm. 

But this idea of health isn’t really pushed in the industry.  This is another trend I’ve been seeing.  I sent a newsletter out to my subscribers last week talking about the different competition prep protocols and someone hit me back and said that she has been told by multiple people in the industry that she will not be competitive if she doesn’t use PEDs in her protocol. So people in the Industry of influence are pushing this narrative of PED use and encouraging it.  No one is really talking about the side effects and safer use (not safe, I said safer) except maybe Jamie Pinder who was on my show in episode 7.  It’s a great episode if you haven’t’ heard it. It’s also on my YouTube channel as a video too.

Another trend that is probably the most frustrating is the trend of the youth and their desire to be fitness influencers for attention and money on social media and YouTube. Especially young men.  These young men are using PEDs in their TEENs. I said TEENs guys, Young men, who at that time in their life have the highest amount of testosterone raging through their veins are taking PEDs to grow their physiques faster so they can look like people such as Chris Bumstead. What’s crazy about the youth is you can be young and hot and make a ridiculous amount of money as a fitness influencer. 10 years ago that wasn’t the case.  10 years ago people still grabbed magazines from newsstands for fitness guidance.  Now the hot chick on TikTok hiking her shorts up to accentuate her crotch or the hot guy YouTuber with his pants around his ankles flexing his quads will show you the way. Not the people with Master’s degrees and PHds though.  Oh no. Not hot enough to know enough. 

Speaking of PEDs, The PED use is so rampant, I’m noticing an even more interesting trend in our industry.  The lack of knowledge of what a “natural” physique even looks like anymore.  Now a-days if someone posts a picture or a video showing any muscle at all, the trolls come swarming, flying around waving their keyboards like swords, and accusing people of PED use. This discussion is also a common narrative on Youtube with some YouTube bloggers regularly calling out people in episodes titled “Natty or Not.”  Some episodes are actually quite fun to listen to.  

I’ve been in the industry long enough that I can see common traits in people and often tell they are using PEDs. I’m not an expert by any means, but there are sure signs.  Facial changes in both men and women, voice changes in women, bulging red face in men, huge increases in muscle size over a short period of time to name a few.  But not everyone with muscle is on PEDs. Muscle growth is totally achievable. Even the industry experts on PEDs suggest you build a base of muscle first, tap out your genetic potential, before considering PEDs.

This issue of no one knows what a natural physique looks like is so bonkers to me. Dr. Layne Norton, he is a very vocal person on social media. I appreciate his blunt honestly and willingness to call out the b.s. in people. He had a moment last year where he did this regarding his wife, Holly Baxter, and the hate she was getting as she was preparing for the fitness model category in the WBFF world championships last year.  Layne got so ticked he posted a close up picture of Holly’s face and said, something like, look at her face, and goes on to say that it would not look like this if she was on PEDs.  Many people don’t really know what is achievable without PEDs.  So many people just assume people with muscle are on PEDs since their use is so common.  I’ve been told something crazy like 90-95% of people that are using PEDs are actually NOT even competitors.  The biggest market of users are not competitors.  They just want to look buff. This is a huge trend that is very concerning. 

And it’s not just the kids. There are idiot parents that ask what they should give their kids to help them perform better so they can get a scholarship. Isn’t that crazy?  

Everything seems to have evolved into being highly superficial.  Less regard for health, science, and more regard for one’s appearance. Solid education often gets buried in the nonsense. 

Over the past year I’ve been talking to you guys about my signature program Posing Wins Shows which was originally designed for veteran competitors that wanted to level up their game and go from "Meh" to awesome. 

But a couple of unexpected things happened. 

First, most of the people that joined my program weren’t seasoned competitors. It was the opposite. Most of the people that joined were new people who out the gate wanted to NEVER be mediocre. My kind of people.  I share the same mindset.  So when people joined, I had them post their posing videos in our private group for feedback and ongoing instruction. If they were new to competing, I had them watch the online posing tutorials as their starting place.  But here’s the thing… when they posted their posing videos….they looked nothing like the posing tutorials. Like nothing. So I had to pivot my program to add additional instruction because I wasn’t going to let these people who trusted me with my signature program be less than awesome. 

And then the second eye opening happened.  I also hold weekly group classes for these people in my signature program and, among other things, I educate on various topics in these classes. Over months of teaching, I noticed another trend…another unexpected trend. So one day I decided to quiz everyone to see if my suspicions were right. I went person to person, from new competitor to seasoned competitor, to male competitor, to female competitor, and asked everyone….what do you think you are being judged on?  

After going from person to person I realized…. They really didn’t know.  The information they have obtained up until this point is all ….surface level.  Just like I said before, things have evolved into being surface level.  

I’m a very process driven person.  I went to a 4 year college and finished in 3 years with an accounting degree and was working for, at the time was a big 5 accounting firm, doing corporate taxes for large companies at the age of 20. A few years later I tested a different type of accounting firm that was more about portfolios than taxes.  When I got there I was sort of given instructions on what exactly my job was. The job had daily tasks, monthly tasks, quarterly tasks, and annual tasks. Over a couple months I had it all down and was good to go but wondered why I had to learn these processed over months. Why couldn’t someone have just given me a daily, weekly, monthly, and annual list of instructions. Then one day, a new person was hired and I noticed she was lost on the job, just like I was on day 1 without a mentor. I couldn’t understand why procedures were never in place, so I made them and gave them to her. She was up to speed in weeks and management ended up using my procedures for future hires. 

My brain is constantly problem solving.  And how it solves problems is by breaking things down into minute details and then putting things back together, new and improved, in sequence, and in stages. 

So when I had this epiphany moment realizing just how surface level people are receiving information on how to pose, and how disorganized the information as a whole is, I decided to do something about it. 

I realized people don’t understand the fundamentals of posing.

They don’t understand what they were being judged on so they can be more competitive.

And, worse, they lack confidence on stage due to lack of preparedness.

I realize that it’s not that people WANT surface level education, I realize that surface level education is all that there is out there.  Like at that accounting firm - it’s not that no one wanted a process that helped new hires get up to speed in weeks and not months, it was that there just wasn’t a process created to provide this fast track to success. 

So just like I did as an accountant, I am doing it now for bodybuilders. After over two decades in the sport of bodybuilding, and 10 years of teaching and judging shows, I know how easily all of these things can be avoided with the proper education.  And that’s exactly what I’ve created with my LIVE Learn To Pose Virtual Clinics for every category in bodybuilding. Go to posingpractice.com to find out more on how to pose effectively from the start. 

At these clinics I’m teaching the specifics on what you are being judged on in your category (ALL federations are covered!).

I’m teaching how to build a proper posing foundation (where you will follow along as I break down the proper execution of every pose in your category into specific steps).

And you will practice all the new posing skills you just learned and let me guide you through them like you will be required to do on stage! (as a head judge of bodybuilding shows, I will give you a taste of what your experience will be like on stage!).

Again go to posingpractice.com for more info on how to learn to pose effectively from the start.  

Let’s bring awareness to foundational education and not surface level education. And I’ll continue to do this on my podcast for all other topics as I bring in more experts on the show to shed light on topics that are often full of misinformation.

It’s really eye opening to see just how much our industry of fitness and bodybuilding has changed. During Covid everyone was an at home workout expert. Bands were the new booty builder. And people became even more connected with their phones as the only way to socialize outside of the home. As if social media wasn’t big enough, it’s even bigger now. I don’t see these trends I’ve talked about in this episode getting any less extreme in the near future. I started just posting on YouTube for the first Time in many years and I have to laugh at the amount of negative comments I get. Everyone is an expert there in case you didn’t know. It’s definitely not the super supportive environment I remember from 10 years ago. I hope if anything this episode gets some people to think a little deeper about decisions and where they are getting their information and their influence from. It’s not easy to weed through the nonsense and appearances can be very deceiving. 

Ok guys, I’ve got some really cool topics coming up and an extra special interview in a few weeks that I think you are going to love. As always, if you like this podcast and want to see it continue, tell the podcast people it’s cool by leaving a review and sharing it in fitness groups on social media for others to hear about and tune into too. More to come! 

18: Do Custom Competition Suits REALLY Matter? With Guest ”Maggie Suits” Designer Maggie Keaveny

But reallllyy….do you need to spend money on a custom made competition suit?  Does it really matter on stage?

Today’s guest is Maggie Keaveny who has been a custom suit designer for 17 years and an IFBB Pro Fitness competitor for 32 years. She knows the ins and outs of competition prep, and on this episode, she provides a ton of insight on competition suits. 

We discuss suit trends, the differences in suits among federations and divisions, and the different options available for purchasing suits. 

We also deep dive into how to choose colors, design, and how a designer is able to nail the fit when he or she doesn’t meet you in person. 

This is just the tip of the iceberg. We talked about so much!

Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!”

Additional Resources:

 -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com

 -FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 

-FREE ebook, “5 Things Every Bodybuilder and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com

-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:

*Introducing Maggie Keaveny (3:00)

*Maggie’s most memorable high maintenance client (5:29)

*How suit designs have changed over the years (8:55)

*How the suit designs differ among federations (13:15)

*Why should people be looking for in a suit designer (19:08) 

*Men’s suits, how they differ among federations, and trends (26:20)

*Why not just borrow a suit? Or buy off the rack? (32:45)

*How does Maggie nail the measurements of long distance clients? (36:27)

*What is the estimated turnaround time of a custom made suit? (38:58)

*Levels of suit design and costs (41:30)

*How to pick out suit colors that flatter (45:15)

*What suit colors should you avoid wearing on stage (49:41)

*How often should you buy a new suit? (53:00)

*How to wash and care for your suit (53:55)

*The techniques and strategies for the back side of the suits (58:00)

*How does Maggie decide on the pattern design of the stones on the suits (1:00:26)

*How does Maggie create illusions that give competitors a competitive edge in her designs? (1:02:20)

*How Maggie custom designed IFBB Pro and Olympia Champion Cydney Gillon’s competition suit (1:08:03)

*What does Maggie suggest for padding and cup style for large natural breasted women (1:11:45)

*How Maggie uses different cup sizes to affect symmetry and balance (1:26:35)

*Will Maggie compete again? And if so what division? (1:31:13)

*The full details on a BIG announcement: The Michele Welcome custom line of designer suits made by Maggie Suits! (1:36:25)

 -Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com

17: Hated For Winning? Society v. Ashley Kaltwasser

Welcome back guys! This episode is about society’s perception of winning and defeat.  I use a case study of IFBB Pro Bikini Competitor Ashley Kaltwasser and some of the heat she is getting from peers as an example.  

I offer a different perspective about winning and how I believe you can think more like an unapologetic competitor. 

I also talk about how the “more is more is better” attitude is hurting our sport.

Lots of personal opinion and passion in this one!

Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!”

Key Takeaways:

*Handling defeat (2:54)
*Why people are mad at Ashley (3:45)
*How to qualify for the Olympia (4:41)
*How to analyze like a competitor (6:34)
*Story of Sara Blakely’s, founder of Spanx (11:45)
*Why the “more is more is better so I can win a trophy like everyone else” attitude is hurting our sport (14:08)
*Story of Rich Strike (15:54)

Additional Resources:
-Want To WIN Your Next Competition? I Can Help! Go to www.posingwinsshows.com

-Do you want to LOOK AND FEEL BETTER at any age or fitness level? Go to www.killitwithdrive.com 

-Grab your FREE Bikini, Figure, or Men’s Physique Posing Tutorial at www.learntopose.com
-Grab a “My Own Motivation” tank top, hat, or sweatshirt at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

----TRANSCRIPT----

What is so wrong with wanting to win? Wanting to be the best? Why is there this mentality that we have to soften the blow of defeat like it’s the end of the world? 

We are so caught up in protecting people’s emotions, that we forget that we need to build resilience to BE more resilient when times get tough.   If you live long enough, life will teach us resilience.  Amiright?  But the perception of what is a tough time will change the more resilient we become. Situations won’t feel or seem as bad if we have gone through, and worked through, them before. When we do this, we in essence, have built the resilience to manage the stressor.  We are stronger and less panicky.  

We have all been through rough patches that tested our will. I remember one time everything I owned was packed in my car after I sold all of my belongings.  I watched people come and take all of my things like piranhas like no big deal.  It WASN’T a big deal for them. Why would it be? They were getting a deal on stuff for a fraction of its worth.  It was a good day for them.  For me, it was the ultimate defeat.  Looking back on that time in my life I now see that the defeat build a more resilient me.   After many rough patches I now sit here today with a perspective that is unrecognizable to the me before those times.  Not much surprises me, nothing is impossible, and no one is going to save you except yourself and your inner drive.

We don’t teach people how to handle defeat, beginning with our youth.  We don’t teach that not winning means you weren’t voted the best up there.  Instead we give participation trophies.

We don’t teach that defeat is an opportunity.  Let me say it again, defeat is an opportunity.  Instead we coddle people and their emotions and stroke their ego or hate on others to make them feel superior. 

We don’t teach that shitty times happen and there are other ways to channel the emotions.  Instead we live in a society where medications are overprescribed at an alarming rate.    

Which leads me into what I’m calling the case of Society v. Ashley Kaltwasser. Guys hopefully you’ve been listening to me long enough to know that I’m being sarcastic. I hope at least. If not, stick with me and it’ll all make sense. 

So recently I came across some commentary about a pro bikini competitor, Ashley Kaltwasser, who is ruffling feathers in the industry……because she keeps …winning.  

Let me give you a little background.  Ashley won the ultimate title, the Olympia title, from 2013-2015.  So let me put it in perspective.   At the time of this recording the last time Ashley won the Olympia was 7 years ago. However, Ashley still continues to compete on the pro stages and wins quite often.  So often that today she has the most professional wins, among all competitors, of all time. You might be thinking…..annnnnnnnddddd….the problem is?

Well the PROBLEM is other competitors are mad that she keeps winning. If you are still confused, let me explain it further.  Bodybuilding in the IFBB federation has a competition once a year for all the professionals that requires you to qualify for it. Kind of like the all star teams in baseball.  Or the super bowl in football.  It’s the ultimate prized win.  And just like with any of these major events, you have to qualify. 

In bodybuilding, there are 3 ways to qualify.  One is to literally win the Olympia competition and you are qualified for life. The second way to qualify is to win a pro show. And the third way is by a point system. You build points when you compete at pro shows and get certain placements.  These placements are given a value and if you add up these values and hit a certain number, you qualify for the Olympia. So the complaints are that whenever Ashely wins a show, she removes the chance of another competitor getting that one and done shot to the Olympia. Instead, competitors will have to qualify by accumulating enough points or perhaps by continuing to compete and hoping to get a 1st place trophy.

So let me summarize…people are mad that they will have to either keep competing to earn their ticket to the Olympia or figure out a way to win a show, or better, find a way to beat Ashley if she keeps showing up at shows.  

Iain Valliere, a pro men’s open bodybuilder got flack last year for already having qualified for the Olympia and having competed in another Pro show too. Same thing - he was accused of blocking someone else’s spot at the Olympia. So it’s not just Ashley, but Ashley is getting the most heat because she didn’t just do it once. 

In my opinion this crybaby mentality is because we don’t teach people how to handle defeat.  How to EARN the win and not expect it.  And we don’t teach that defeat is an opportunity.    Instead we have built a society that feels entitled to things even when it isn’t earned.  We built a society where everyone gets a trophy.  A society where everyone should let everyone win, instead of a society where everyone gets a chance to participate and THEN rises to the occasion and EARNS the win.  

It’s like telling Tom Brady in the NFL one of the best quarterbacks of all time that he shouldn’t compete anymore because he should let other athletes have a chance to play. Please. Maybe those athletes should just be better. How about that?

I think maybe I should’ve titled this episode, Crybabies v Ashley. Post a comment on this episode if you think so. 

I’d like to offer some perspective from a fiercely competitive and unapologetic approach. You guessed it, I’m talking about from me. 

Let’s together pretend we are both fiercely competitive and not sorry to say it.  Now that we established that baseline, let’s talk about the opportunity at hand with Ashley competing like every weekend and slaying the stage. Think of it like game tape. Like what my Dad did as a coach.  My Dad was a high school basketball coach that brought a no name school to win back to back state titles.  My Dad watched the tape recordings (and I mean literal tapes….with the fuzz and all) of games to analyze weaknesses of his opponents so when the team had a re-match later in the season his team was better prepared. He didn’t just bring the same team to the game that lost the last game. He analyzed the weaknesses and looked for opportunities to one up the opponent and re-built his team to be more competitive.   

Let’s take this same concept and talk about Ashley.  Ashely placed 3rd at the last Olympia. So this means she is beatable. If you aren’t beating Ashley, then you have a long way to go to actually WIN the Olympia. And something noteworthy is the first and second place winners of the Olympia so far haven’t competed very often, so opponents haven’t had many opportunities to stand next to those top 2 winners, and probably won’t, until possibly the Olympia anyways. So you only have Ashley to try and beat during the year.  As of right now, if you aren’t beating Ashley, then there is room for improvement. If you keep showing up with the same package and continuing to lose, then you aren’t thinking like a competitor. Ashley competing nonstop allows you a chance to test different packages against her every time. What are her weaknesses?  What are your strengths?  What are YOUR weaknesses?  

Analyze like a competitor and not a crybaby and come up with some new options.

Bring a completely different look. Your current look clearly isn’t going to do it. Test. Test. Test. She is beatable.  Everyone is beatable.  In fact, Janet Layug who won the Olympia in 2020 hasn’t competed since that competition until this recent show in Pittsburg. She looked stunning on stage… and got third. 

Everyone is beatable. You need a new strategy.  

And if you don’t have people around you that can see the minute details, the angles, shapes, weaknesses, strengths, then you need to be open to another perspective.  If the TEAM you are competing on all looks like carbon copies of each other, then there’s your sign.  Be open to new ideas. 

I’ve been to modeling and acting schools.  I’ve gone to school for my yoga teacher training in something called embodyboga because of its emphasis on the body at the cellular level.  I’ve been to dance schools.  Despite 10 years of teaching men and women in all federations and divisions, and building my own curriculums, I went to all these schools to learn more.  I believe it’s my duty as a teacher to continue learning and evolving.  The minute you stop learning, the minute you stop growing.  My intent of going to these schools was to build a bigger arsenal of information to be a better teacher for my posing students.  

It’s essential that to be competitive and be a winner, you need to be open to change. You need to be open to the concept that you might NOT have it all figured out.

Even Ashley herself just tested a new package at that Pittsburg show I’ve been talking about and it paid off. In that Pittsburg show she changed her posing slightly. I’ve commented on her posts here and there, among the thousands of other comments she gets, and I’m sure it went unseen, but whatever, I’ve been saying that her hips in her front pose need to be more profile to show a smaller waist on her….which is critical when you stand next to Lauralie Chapados and Janet Layug who both have incredible genetic structures.   And sure enough, I finally saw her hips more towards the side in this last show and she looked phenomenal. Best I’ve ever seen her look.  With this new look, she beat Janet, who, again, won the Olympia the last time she was on stage.  

But Ashley still got second. She is beatable.  So even with her current best package there is still room for improvement. And Ashley, if you happen to listen, I love your tenacity and drive. I love that you think like an athlete and don’t follow the crowd.  I love that despite winning and losing Olympia competitions, you are still competing after many years and always working on improving.  You don’t get all wah wah if you don’t win.  You keep going.  And you keep creating your best you.  You have a champion mindset.  

With that in mind, with all the crybaby naysayers, I’d love to see you keep winning.  I think you should test a completely different persona on stage.  You’ve talked about bringing up your shoulders, but I am going to go rogue here and suggest that you try something completely different beyond your physique. The judges have seen you for many years on stage. Try something new.  P.s. I’ll be in Vegas soon and would be happy to pop in and work with you on my ideas.  If any of my clients from the past 10 years want to jump in here, go for it. 

So again we don’t teach that with defeat there is opportunity to improve.  That studying new ways to get better and testing new methods is what it means to have a champion mindset.  That’s what I love about the clients I work with in my Posing Wins Shows program.  Every single one of them has admitted they want to win.  Some of them took a bit to come around to verbalizing it. It’s almost as if we have built some sort of shame in owning our drive to win.  This idea that everyone SHOULD get a chance is not building resilience, it’s building an acceptance for mediocrity.  Follow the crowd, you will get no further than the crowd.  Walk alone and you will find yourself in places you never dreamed of. 

Do you guys know who Sara Blakely is?  She is the founder of Spanx which specializes in body shaping panty hose that gives women a smooth appearance under clothes. There is even Spanx for men too.  She is also the youngest female self made billionaire.  Not millionaire. Billionaire. 

How did she do it? She didn’t do it by following the crowd. By putting her “everyone gets a trophy last place trophy” on Mom and Dad’s mantle for all to fake fawn over.  Nope. I listened to an interview with her and she described what it was like growing up in her household. Her father would literally ask her every day what she failed at.  It was considered NOT a good thing if she didn’t fail at something. Why? Because it meant she didn’t learn anything that day according to her Dad.  She didn’t push herself to do better, be better, and not follow the crowd.  And look where that landed her.  A freaking billionaire. 

It didn’t happen overnight. It took like 14 years.  And here we are in bodybuilding and everyone wants a pro card their first season competing.  Or 2 year transformations with a shit ton of PEDs to grow obscene amounts of muscle just to get a pro card with no regard for what is happening to their insides and health. Let me be clear. I don’t care if you do PEDs. Do you.  But what I care about is the influence that young people or even new people to the sport of bodybuilding, that these transformation have on them.  These results are happening incredibly fast so that the pro card can happen faster.

I’ve been competing for 20 years and this evolution is really hurting our sport.  Long before social media and these unrealistic transformations became the norm, there were a lot of people that I competed with that disappeared after shows.  Like gone.  Never heard from them and have no idea what happened to them.  There were some friends that had eating disorders to begin with that were only enhanced by the nutrition protocols they were given.  And many had health problems from supplements that they didn’t realize were dangerous.  I remember one competitor who showed up to a show not looking as lean as she usually looked. We got to talking and she said that her thyroid was a mess from the supplements her coach had told her to use. Granted, she is an adult and could’ve looked into what she was putting in her body and said no, but she didn’t.  So here she was at this show and looking much less lean and she said that her body is struggling.  She went from first place at the prior show to placing third at the current show.  I haven’t seen her compete since.  Again. Gone.

And now we have this “more is more is better so I can win a trophy like everyone else” mentality.  I’m shocked with how many women are virilized on amateur stages.  Like local stages, you guys, in small local scenes….not even national stages.  So many women I see on stage, their physical appearance has changed drastically from PEDs, and they aren’t even on pro stages.  I never saw this 10 years ago, and certainly not 20 years ago when I competed.  Again, I don’t care if you do PEDs unless you do them and go and compete in a drug tested federation. The moral issue of PEDs isn’t today’s discussion. Today’s discussion is winning and society’s perception around it.  And with this “expecting to win right away” attitude, we now have PEDs given at the local level to people so they can win faster now too.  

All you new people to the sport of bodybuilding, please hear me.  Be unapologetic about winning but don’t expect it to happen overnight.  Consider the consequences of your choices.  And I’m not just talking about PEDs.  Demonizing food and doing ridiculous amounts of cardio just to hurry and get on stage is not healthy.  So many of the people I saw disappear from competing back in the day, it wasn’t because of PEDs, because like I said, PEDs weren’t as rampant as they are now.  It was because of a poor relationship to nutrition and exercise.  Your health matters more than a trophy.   If you are continuing to struggle with a healthy relationship to nutrition and exercise and want a solution I do have one. Go to killitwithdrive.com and check it out. 

Anyways, back to Society v. Ashley Kaltwasser, here we have fellow competitors who don’t want her to compete as much, so they can get a better placement, and get to the Olympia competition.  I can’t people. I just can’t with this mentality.  Personally I want to earn my wins.

You know what mentality I resonate with today?  I’ll give you a hint. It’s not human.  

I don’t know if you saw the Kentucky Derby race, but if you haven’t seen the overhead view of the horse, Rich Strike’s, comeback for the upset, you have got to see it. It’ll give you chills. The horse was towards the back of the pack and you can see him muscle his way through the cluster of horses, kind of like my husband in highway traffic. If you don’t know then just imagine me with my hands covering my eyes at certain times during the ride and it’ll give you a great picture of how all this went down. It was quite intense.  

So this horse is at the back of the pack.  He pushes and pushes and muscles his way through a large cluster of horses and then finds a straightaway. It’s like someone hit the NOS button on a car, because all of a sudden, you see him surge forward with ridiculous speed.  The the other horses were trucking along with a similar, much slower, intensity. Rich Strike, now his energy was different. There he was on this straightaway and you see him surge forward.  His legs outstretched, galloping with so much speed, I’m amazing his jockey was able to hold on.  It’s a sight to see you guys.  So Rich Strike goes on to pass like 16 or so horses and makes it to the front of the pack where there are two horses left to beat.  

These two horses are neck and neck at the front of the pack and have the complete focus of the announcer. In fact, the announcer didn’t even see Rich Strike coming until he pretty much won. It wasn’t until he literally smoked past the other two horses that everyone was like, what the heck just happened? 

You guys, what a display of heart, perseverance, and utter drive to win.  It’s something to see if you google it.  

How does that make you feel?  

For me I felt a little adrenaline when watching. Not gonna lie. That horse understood the assignment.  That drive I watched come out of that horse hit me deep.   Pushing hard to go after a goal with everything you got.  I can relate to that. I swear Rich Strike is going to be a movie some day.  

But even a horse has haters.  A horse.  People saying that the horse must be on drugs to have done that, and that’s all they have to say.  It’s like our society doesn’t know what to do when they see something or someone push forward with incredible force, energy, and drive.  Now don’t get me wrong, the horse will be tested for drugs and if he is found to have drugs in his system I’ll be incredibly disappointed because the horses are not supposed to be doping.  It’s a drug tested event.  Kind of like a bodybuilder who knowingly does drugs and competes in a drug tested federation.  Total douche-baggery.  Cheating isn’t a winning mindset.  People cheat because they don’t believe they can win otherwise.  That’s a loser mentality.  And assuming a horse “must” be doped to have smoked the competition is not my first thought.  My first thought isn’t to drag down something or someone because he, she, it, they whatever won.  My thought was WOW. What an incredible display of heart. 

What an inspiration while I continue to push forward towards my own goals with laser focus and drive.  And I hope you do too. Find that drive within, that competitive nature, and never stop improving. Don’t be afraid to lose because it was never a loss if you learned from it.  Be strategic. Be competitive. And be unapologetic about it.

Thanks guys for listening, as always like, review, subscribe to let the podcast people know the show is cool. And share in fitness groups so others can learn more about the whole sport and not just one federation or one division.

In the mean time, if you want to pull out the big guns and strap on your competitive hat, come join my posing wins shows program.  Allow me to transform you into a champion and hold you accountable over a 16 week period and then receive ongoing critiques for the life of your competition career in the Insiders group where there are men and women from all divisions and federations.  20 years of knowledge wrapped up in a bow just for you.. Go to posingwinsshows.com and book a zoom call with me. 

Ok guys I’ll be back with more topics soon.  Take care.

16: Why You Didn’t Win Your Competition

Welcome back guys!  The minute you get off stage I’m sure most of you will agree that you want to see pictures and video of you up on stage. You will ask everyone you know how you did and how well they think you placed.  After the competition, if you didn’t place as well as you hoped, you might even take a moment to visit the judging table or email the promotor to get feedback to find out how to improve. 

Many times you still don’t get the answers you seek.

So in today’s episode, I put on my Competition Judge's hat, and break down in detail the various reasons you didn’t win your competition from a judge’s perspective. 

From open heavy weight bodybuilders to bikini competitors, from NPC competitors to WBFF competitors, this episode is for all of YOU.

After you listen to the episode, head on over to our Facebook group called The “Everything Else” In Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders and let me know what resonates with you!

Key Takeaways:

*What being a subjective sport means as a bodybuilder (1:43)
*My experiences as a panel judge and head judge of bodybuilding shows (2:55)
*Using the open men’s bodybuilding division as a judging example (5:02)
*Using the Wellness the division as a judging example (9:51)
*Using the Men’s Physique division as a judging example (12:01)
*The good and the bad on getting judging feedback after a show (15:15)
*Using the Bikini division as a judging example (16:45)
*How judging for the WBFF and the Fitness Universe pageants are different than traditional bodybuilding competitions (18:14)
*Things you CAN control when competing in bodybuilding competitions (22:19)

Additional Resources:
-Grab your free bikini, figure, or men’s physique posing tutorial at www.learntopose.com
-Go to posingwinsshows.com to learn how the program solves 3 big problems holding you back from winning and then schedule a zoom call with me
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

 ——TRANSCRIPT——

Bodybuilding is a subjective sport where you prepare months, even years, for a show only to have minutes of time to be evaluated by a judging panel full of opinions deciding how well you compared to the people on stage. Can you spot how many unpredictable layers there are to this statement?  Let’s break them down and then ask ourselves again why you didn’t win your show. 

Starting with the word subjective which means based on personal taste, influence, or opinions.

Next the concept of only having minutes of time to captivate the judges.  

Followed by the word opinions, meaning more than one opinion.  

and Lastly, the idea of being compared to others. 

So in essence, you have to impress more than one person that each comes from different walks of life, backgrounds, experiences, and experience levels, no matter if you are having a good or a bad day, and you have no control over who you are standing up on stage next to and what they look like.

Do you see yet how difficult judging really is and how little you have control over what happens that day?

Let’s add some more layers.

I’ve judged and head judged for multiple federations.  As a panel judge I’m one of a group of people that is scoring the competitors on stage. 

In more traditional bodybuilding shows, when tallying up the scores, the highest and the lowest scores get dropped from the group of judges to remove the outliers.  So think about that. It is built into the scoring system an expectation that there will be outliers. No matter the experience level of all on the panel, there are still differing opinions. The goal of the scoring is to find the most consistent opinion among the group.  And this will change depending on who is judging, the region you live in, and how well the judge knows the criteria being scored. 

Next let’s talk about the influence of the head judge. When I am head judging, I am not scoring competitors. My job is to position the competitors on stage in a way that tells a story to the judging panel.  I move people around on stage and position those who I believe are top 5 next to each other in the center of the stage. I move people to compare body types.  I cue all the competitors through all their mandatory poses which of course depends on the division.  It is then up to the panel judges to score the competitors based on their own opinions.  There have been times where I’ve sat through the awards portion of the show and seen people win their division who I did not have as the winner in my opinion.  

Very rarely are decisions unanimous in the open categories.  Open categories include all ages, height, and weight.  Some divisions segregate weight, like bodybuilding for example.  Some divisions like bikini, figure, and men’s physique segregate by height on the amateur stage when there are a lot of competitors but then once you are a pro you can be 4’11’ standing next to a 6’ competitor. A pro is a pro.  Some pro federations do have weight limits and height limits for pro categories like the 212 division or the classic physique division in the NPC/IFBB.  

But not with the IFBB open bodybuilding division - it’s open.  So you can be 5’10 and 300lbs standing next to 5’2” 250lbs. 

To win the coveted prize, the ultimate championship title, it’s the best competing against the best. And WHY someone would pick the 300lb person over the 250 person isn’t so simple as saying, well, bigger the better. The bodybuilding category isn’t just about size. Two other pieces of judging criteria are symmetry and conditioning. So you can have big muscles but can’t look like the Michelin man and win. You have to be lean enough to show all the shapes and lines of your muscles.  But even having size and conditioning won’t make you a slam dunk winner.  You need balance among the muscles from top to bottom and from one side to the other.  

So, again, using the open men’s bodybuilding division as an example, what if someone is super shredded but not the biggest guy on stage?  And let’s just say this person is standing next to someone that has a LOT of muscle mass, beautiful shape and symmetry, but he comes in soft, meaning he isn’t lean enough to show the definition of the muscles like the guy who showed up shredded where you can see every line and every detail. Who would you choose as the winner?  If you are a judge, you are probably answering me in your head saying, it depends.  Judging is not cut and dry.

We need to take things a step further and start breaking apart the physiques from top to bottom, side to side, then also scoring the bodybuilding muscularity poses themselves.  You can be overall big but have lagging body parts and the smaller guy might edge out the bigger guy by bringing an overall better package.  And by better, remember, this isn’t simple. 

So for example, big guy can absolutely dominate on his rear lat spread pose but his chest pose might not be as good as the 250 guy so he would lose on this pose. These small details become even more important the higher the level you compete on.  Which you will hear me say like a broken record, you need to know how to pose your body. As the stakes get higher, your posing will make or break your placement.  You might get away with it on smaller stages where there bad posing can sadly be the norm, but not for long, if you start climbing the ranks or compete in federations where there is an incredible amount of competition on the amateur stage, never mind the pro stage.  

You need to work or consult with someone who SEES these small differences.  Sees the best in your physique and the areas that need improvement. And can shape and angle your body in a way that highlights your best features and minimizes the flaws. 

I was teaching my weekly virtual class for my Posing Wins Shows signature program the other day and we had some new people join the program.  I had the group provide feedback to the new people about their experiences so far and one person’s response to the new people was that I see every. Small. Detail. Another person said they just went to a bodybuilding show as a spectator and left the show feeling so confident that her preparedness is so far beyond what she witnessed on stage at the show.  And another person said that she was excited to be a part of the program where she will hear what she needs to hear to get better after spending years competing in competitions and not really knowing why she wasn’t winning and what she needed to do to improve. 

And it’s true. I see people differently.  I see shapes, angles, details. And I am able to spot that extra something about you that makes you a stand out.  I don’t say this to get all high on myself. I’m saying this because it’s these small details that will either make you a champion or cost you a title.. 

Why I am even going to go as far as to boldly say that I think the amount of posing coaches out there is diminishing our sport. Yup I said it. If you think I’m being a snob, oh well. Love me or hate me I’m always going to tell it how it is.  Every single detail matters when competing and not everyone can see these details.  Most posing coaches see people at the macro level.  Macro meaning, from a distance.  Here is the pose, watch and follow. They don’t see these small details in each person so everyone’s posing looks like a clone of the others.  But here’s the thing, the same look isn’t flattering on everyone.  People come in all shapes and sizes. From short and stocky, long and lean, to short waisted, to long torso.  None of these physiques are better than the other, just different.    

Here’s an example.   Wellness competitors.  Wellness is a new category that everyone is trying to figure out how to pose for.  Wellness has 4 poses.  Front, left side, back, and right side.  I’m seeing this particular move where a majority of people are bending over when they turn to the side before standing upright into their side pose.  They are sliding their hands down their leg, sticking their but out, and then standing up. 

You know what it reminds me of?  Have you seen the movie Legally Blonde?  There is a moment in the movie where Elle Woods demonstrates at the beauty salon the “bend….and snap.” move to her friend because her friend is super shy and really likes this guy that comes in every day to the salon.  Elle leans over and drags her hands down her body only to abruptly stand upright or “snap” up to standing.  It’s supposedly THE MOVE that will get the attention of the guy.  Google it and you’ll see what I mean. So lots of bend and snapping going on in Wellness now.  I see it in bikini competitors too and I even saw it on a WBFF stage too.  Everyone is watching the same videos.

I get it. You want to stand out. But here’s the deal.  If you are copying everyone else’s posing, you aren’t standing out.  If you have a short waist, squatting down when doing the bend and snap will make you look shorter and thicker. Sitting down into your legs and shoving your glute towards the judges condenses your body and makes it look thicker. Wellness is looking for thick legs, but not a thick waistline.  You want to show a small waistline and if you naturally do not have one, you do not want to follow the same posing techniques as someone who does. You are only making HER look better. 

I’ll say it again, you have to impress more than one person that each comes from different walks of life, backgrounds, experiences, and experience levels, no matter if you are having a good or a bad day, and you have no control over who you are standing up on stage next to and what they look like.

My point about the posing is that Every. Detail. Matters. In every division.

Men’s physique.  

Guys, the way you angle and shape your body is critical. You are not being scored on your legs so your legs are more like an accessory.  An accessory.  I say this all the time about arms and hands to my posing clients. They are an accessory that contours and shapes your body or a complete distraction.  If your arms are shaping your body like you are riding a motorcycle…some of you know what I mean….think about it what you see when someone drives by on a motorcycle.  Their arms are out in front of them, hands clenched around the handles into fists.   I’m seeing this shape with arms out front and fists clenched all over the place in men’s physique division.  I’m not sure who started this move, but people saw it and it became a trend. 

I remember I asked a men’s physique competitor to help me demonstrate something for an audience. He had a great physique and won a show so I thought he was a perfect fit. When demonstrating the back pose, he lifts he arms out front to grab the invisible motorcycle handles. I ask him to drop his hands and he pushes back and says, this is how we pose in men’s physique.  Remember, he won a show so why would he think there is nothing to improve. What he doesn’t realize is he won because he had the best physique compared to what was on stage THAT DAY.  He might not be so lucky if he stands next to a guy with a similar physique and a better presentation. 

Remember, winning depends on who you are standing next to.  By shifting your arms out front you lose the lower lats.  So in essence you are shrinking the appearance of the width of your back and the V shape.  This is critical for men’s physique because again, you aren’t being scored on your legs so the focus is on the upper body.  This posing error is even more costly in this division. So I ask him.  Do you know what you are being scored on?  He couldn’t really answer the question. 

He really didn’t know.  

I asked this same question to my Posing Wins Shows class the other night. Each week I have a topic of discussion for everyone to learn about.  This week I asked everyone to answer if they knew what the judges are looking for in their division and federation.  I have men and women from all federations and divisions so I thought this would be fun.  Once again, no one had a real definitive answer.  

If you don’t really know what you are being scored on, are you ever really going to know why you didn’t win?  Or what to improve on?  

No one is teaching the details. And these details will make or break your placement. 

Bodybuilding no matter the divisions is all about the details.  As a judge we have to pick apart all these details to determine the winner. As a competitor you might be focusing on the wrong things or not be aware of what you are missing in your presentation that is throwing things off.  And it’s not just posing I’m talking about.  Presentation includes your total package including the amount of muscle you have and the level of conditioning, or leanness, you bring.  It ALL matters.

You will hear many say to get feedback from the judges after the show.  Feedback can be critical but you need to consider your source.

Even on the last episode of the podcast, if you haven’t listened, be sure to do so, on the last episode, Dr. Escalante said that one of the biggest flaws in peak week is that you just weren’t lean enough.  Many people will try to do last minute adjustments and take diuretics to look leaner when in actuality, you were just not lean enough, so no amount of diuretics will come to the rescue.  And it doesn’t help that there are judges who are unable to make that distinction.  Or like Dr. Escalante said, judges might be sugar coating their feedback to not make you feel bad when you just worked months to get to show to not be lean enough.  I’m not sure if that’s the case or if literally they don’t know that what they are seeing is too much body fat, not water. 

Sometimes the judges feedback ISN’T good. They might not have the experience yet to know the difference between holding water and not coming in lean enough. And here’s a big one, they might SEE that your presentation on stage is “off” but might not know why or what to say to you to make it better.  So they might say a blanket answer like, get better at posing. And you might not know any better so you don’t realize that not all posing coaches are the same. Not all have the same eye and attention to detail.  So you might end up being that girl doing the bend and snap on stage or that guy riding your motorcycle.  Every detail matters.

Judging for categories like bikini and wellness is even more subjective than all the other categories.  I think it’s actually quite difficult to win a bikini competition.  In bikini, no matter what federation from NPC to OCB to WBFF the amount of muscle and level of conditioning is less than the rest of the categories. The standards of what constitutes an acceptable amount of muscle is different between the federations, but what is not different is that the level of muscularity and conditioning for the bikini division will always be less than the other divisions, no matter the federation.   

With the bikini division, the judges are looking for a foundation of muscle, tight waist, enough conditioning to show shape but not excessive leanness or striations, and a great overall presentation.  What’s great presentation?  What’s a foundation of muscle that isn’t too much?  What is enough conditioning without being too lean?  It really depends on who you are standing next to on stage.  And it depends on who is judging too.  If the panel of judges have bodybuilding backgrounds, the opinion on amount of muscle and level of conditioning might be different than a panel of judges with no strong history of bodybuilding. Or even men versus women judges.  What the men think it acceptable for amount of muscle on a women might be different than the women on the panel.  I see some federations choose physiques where it’s the leaner the better.  And others go for the softer the better, like more of a beach bikini look. And again, it depends on who shows up.  Bikini isn’t an easy category to nail.

Which leads me to judging for other federations where the scoring is not the same as more traditional bodybuilding federations. Two that come to mind are the WBFF and the Fitness Universe pageants. I’ve judged and head judged for traditional bodybuilding federations and I’ve also judged for the WBFF which is more like fitness meets fashion meets photoshoot modeling.  I can tell you from experience that you are not being judged anything like other federations like the NPC, OCB, and WNBF. In the WBFF you will never see someone win the bikini division and win the fitness model division.  In comparison, I was just at the NPC nationals and saw the winner of the Figure category win the physique category.   I’ve also had posing clients of my own show up to a WNBF show and win figure and fit body, which is their version of the physique category.  

This is an important distinction. 

If you are someone who is accustomed to crossing over divisions and you show up to a WBFF show and think you might clean house and win all the divisions at the show you will be very disappointed.  WBFF fiercely protects the look of their category and will show a clear line between winners of categories no matter who shows up.  But here’s the deal with WBFF.  You might win a pro card at a local show in the figure category or a men’s muscle model category but when you step on the international pro stage you might not have enough muscle to compete against the pros in that category so you might transition to the diva fitness model category or the men’s fitness model division instead.   Once you are a pro in the WBFF you can change divisions.  

So back to the scoring for these federations. What are they looking for?

In the WBFF.  40% of your score is marketability.  20% is stage presence, poise, and confidence.  And 40% is your physique.  So let’s do the math together.  60% of your score has nothing to do with your physique. 

Male muscle model is 60% physique but still….40% is marketability.

What’s marketability?  How do you prepare for marketability?  

The Fitness Universe federation is similar in that they are looking for marketability also.  Many of the people that graced the covers of magazines back in the day when getting on a cover of a magazine was the ultimate goal, many of these people won the Fitness America contests.  So marketability literally meant getting modeling gigs in magazines.  

This has changed a lot in the last 10 years with social media. Now we are seeing more influencers and people who dominate fitness on social media in these magazines.  People who have never won a show or even stepped on stage before.  What makes them so marketable?  One thing that is consistent is there is an “it” factor about them. A certain look that is pleasing to the eye.  A “look” and an “it factor” that is most likely to captivate a large percentage of the population.

So how do you prepare for these shows that are looking for an “it factor?”  When 40% of your scoring is on your physique and 60% is everything else.

I can tell you as someone who has judged for these shows, you have to be an absolute stand out on stage.  

Think about everything I talked about and then let’s all ask ourselves again why you didn’t win your show. 

It depends on your division.  Your federation.  The skill of the judging panel.  Who you are standing up on stage next to.  The presentation you brought from level of muscle, level of conditioning, and the shapes you are making with your physique on stage and how well it compares to the others.  

The answer isn’t cut and dry.  

As you can see, there are things you cannot control, but what you CAN control is YOUR level of detail.  Pay attention to all the details in your division and what you are being judged on.  Align yourself with people who are detail oriented who can help you refine these details.  Be open to changing federations that might be a better fit for you.  You might do better in a more traditional bodybuilding federation, or you might have an “it” factor and totally slay in a federation that judges heavily on marketability.  Try competing in different regions, different federations, and in front of different judging panels.  And most importantly, bring your absolute best physique to life and give it all you got on stage.  

And almost even MORE important, remember, it’s you against you! There has to be more driving you than just the trophy.  All bodybuilders, no matter if you are a men’s open heavy weight or a women’s bikini competitor, everyone, wants to WIN.  Your physique is your trophy.  Your confidence is your trophy. Your physique transformation is your trophy.  Your transformation from Nervous Ned or Nervous Nelly to a crowd loving superstar on stage is your trophy. Your ability to do something extraordinary is your trophy.   

Alright guys I hope you took away a lot from this episode on scoring for competitions and won’t be that guy that throws his medal across the stage because he didn’t win his show.  Yes, this happened.  Don’t be that guy or that girl. 

Details Determine Destinies.

Thanks guys for tuning in. Be sure to tell the podcast people that this show is noteworthy and leave a review on iTunes or share the show in groups on social media to spread the word. In the mean time, if you want someone to help you with the details, like what federations or divisions are good fit for you, things you specifically need to work on that are holding you back from winning, and someone to put all the pieces together that will help make you look like a champion for whatever federation or division you want to compete in, come join my signature Posing Wins Shows program.  When you are in, you are in for all of your shows.  I’ve got men and women across all divisions and federations preparing for shows in as soon as a few weeks to over a year away. Go to posingwinsshows.com to learn how the program solves 3 big problems holding you back from winning and then schedule a zoom call with me to get started.  Alright see you on the next episode!