From 1993 to 2003, I was a competitive, natural body builder. I ate, slept and breathed the lifestyle. I know many of you will be saying "Egad, body building?!" Well - maybe you wouldn't say egad, but you might be quite put off by the idea - BB doesn't appeal to the majority of people. "Ewww, all those muscles!" That's another comment I hear even today, when I mention my past life of sweating and grunting in the gym. People tell me, that they like the way I look now. Squashy around the edges ?
The small populace of people that admire and follow the circuit of competition BB are extremely faithful to the sport. Many have never competed themselves, rather they had a spouse, partner or a friend who appeared on stage for competition and they attended the event to be supportive. Many get hooked this way and some, even take up the physical challenge themselves, in hopes of reaching their goal of performing on stage. How did I get drawn into a strange hobby you might ask - read on:
Twenty three years ago, immediately after having my second baby, I began to get painful, chronic migraines. I can't remember ever having a headache before this. The pain was so severe, it kept me in bed for a good four days out of every week. Cold sweats, chills, shaking limbs and nausea signaled the end of every spell - this was the routine. And because I was nursing my daughter, the doctor refused me any type of medication for pain. Not only did I have a newborn, I had a three year old as well. After about eight months, the headaches eased to sporadic episodes, but when I did get one, it was the same experience - I'd be sidelined by debilitating pain. Two years on, I remember lying on the living room, suffering intense pain and wondering if I was to spend the rest of my life in neuralgia hell. I had tried all variety of headache meds - they did little good. Okay - enough of the dramatics, you get the picture - it was bad. I decided that very moment, while lying on my carpet, that I would start walking for one hour everyday. Maybe, the fresh air would clear the pain. After three weeks of long walks, not one headache. I had my life back ! I was determined now, to join a gym and get really healthy. It was in the gym that I met my mentor, Greg Monical. Greg was a seasoned trainer with all sorts of degrees in exercise physiology pinned on his wall. He was constantly sought out by professional basketball athletes from the local university - they looked to Greg for advanced training. He'd been observing me for many weeks and always said hello in passing. One day, he said to me "your arms are looking good, have you ever thought about bodybuilding?" That was the day that changed my life.
I was a single Mum by this time, living on a budget, and could barely afford the gym membership much less pay for a personal trainer. Although I didn't hire him, Greg designed a work out for me, told me to follow it for six weeks, then come back to him for an evaluation and he'd change the work out accordingly. He gave me a short demonstration of every exercise and sent me downstairs to the weight room, telling me to get started. It was an intimidating experience, to walk into a room filled with grunting, sweaty, muscular guys. I soon found out, that under those big stony, lumps of muscle were a great group of guys with huge, soft hearts. They took me under their wing, giving me an abundance of help and advice on proper form. They even did sets with me ! These scary looking guys turned out to be my greatest supporters, encouraging me at every stage of my training. After only three months of training, I did my first competition. Little ol' shy and modest me, now up on a stage in front of hundreds of people with just two little pieces of fabric covering my body. How my legs were shaking ! I had trained hard and lost a lot of weight - not perfect in the derriere region - but what a change on my back and arms. I never did, in all the years of training, take any drugs or steroids to enhance my growth - it was all done with hard work and diet.
Anyone reading this blog, that has any knowledge about BB competition, will spot right away that I was crap at posing. I watched videos and practiced for hours, grimacing and posing in front of the mirror, not really sure what I was doing. I did get help for a short time from an older woman, who used to do competition but she was worse at posing than I was and so, I was on my own here - too shy to ask my gym posse for advice. BB posing has a profound effect on the success of whether you place first, third or even go home with home a title at all. You might have the best overall physique on stage, but if you don't pose correctly, accentuating your best attributes, you will lose points to the person next to you who knows how to showcase his or her muscularity. You have one shot to get it right - your performance on stage is only a few precious minutes and you must make every second count ! It's all about attitude and confidence.
My back was my best feature, but I never showed it well. Have you ever watched a nature show where the male bird species, when attempting to impress the female during courtship, will puff himself up and exaggerate his chest or feathers ? Whenever I watch a nature programme and see critter strutting their attitude, it always reminds me of posing. This, is what a body builder should do, puff him/herself up giving the illusion through posing, that he or she, appears bigger than they really are. Not just bigger, but defined and hard. It's hard work, this posing - it can leave one feeling knackered out . Try it sometime. Hold a pose as hard as you possibly can, for ten seconds and then go on to several more poses in succession for two or three minutes. You WILL need a beer after doing this !
Competing drained me of my physical and mental resources. Here I am looking like I haven't slept for a month. No make-up, big dark circles and a lovely cold sore on my lip from actual lack of sleep. It was a learning curve for me - I over trained and now I was feeling the effects. A BB's diet in my opinion, is not a healthy one. Any where from six to eight weeks out, depending on body fat percentage, the competitor starts eliminating many things from his/her diet. The higher the body fat, the stricter and more extreme the dieting. In the off season, many BBs' try to maintain a low body fat percentage. This way, they can easily snap back into competition form in the shortest time possible. This method is kinder on the body. Lack of discipline leads to eating like a glutton in the off season and then have to pound yourself into shape through overtraining and harsh diet methods. This yo-yo effect is really dangerous on the body's organs. A healthy, balanced approach is the best. When I ran into diet problems, I would do food combining and the weight dropped off easier. I felt better also.
The science of bodybuilding is total body manipulation. It's deceiving the body into giving up it's layer of body fat and at the same time convincing it to hold on to and build muscle. This is not natural to the body. When starved for fat, the body naturally wants to burn muscle for fuel. Supplying the body with small meals of protein throughout the day, constantly fuels and protects the body's stores of lean muscle mass.
As I continued with my training, I was getting denser and more defined. I look so much improved from my first competition. I placed 1st here in the Middle Weight Class, but lost the Overall Title to some out-of-towner who wanted one more win, to qualify for the Pro Circuit. Smart girl - she chose an insignificant contest in the middle of Montana, where she would not get any big girls to go up against. She was a huge black girl, who entered above me in the heavy weight slot, pumped up on steroids, big blocky jaw and looked like a bloke. I swear she had a package - if you get my drift. I'm second from the left, in the magenta suit. The stunning girl with the dark hair, to my right - this was Connie. She was an aerobic teacher and had great stage presence. The girl in the middle, in the black suit, looked as if she never lifted a weight in her life. I think she decided to just walk in off the street and compete. She had a cutesy cowgirl routine (gag me out) but absolutely no muscle tone. The two girls on the end - great potential ! The one in the blue suit had the best legs, awesome hamstrings - I coveted those hamstrings. Both girls were very barrel-chested though and really full of themselves. There's a difference on stage, between confidence and conceit. The audience is intelligent and will pick up on this.
I admired Connie for her grace on stage - she had a great smile that girl, and a pleasant personality. I think Connie and I presented better here than anyone else on stage. All the rest was sloppy posing. I was really trying hard with the posing this time as I was in my hometown and would be in front of all my friends. I was pleased with my stage routine as well. Still, those problem legs of mine needed more work. I used to ride my stationary bike twice a day to shape and define them.
During a contest in California, I was approached by Paula Crane, photographer for Muscle Mag. Paula invited me to Gold's Gym for a magazine photo shoot session. I was just a little excited. When I rang to tell my friends, my voice was squeaky - like I was trying to hold back a scream the entire time I was talking. I sounded really strange I think. So here I was at last, Gold's Gym in Venice Beach - home to the Royalty of body building. In this photo, I am trying to look my most glamorous, with sunglasses, tight jeans and arching the chest out. I was hoping to find a hot sports car to pose against but all I could find was this Nissan. What can I say - it kept me humble.
Here I am with Paula Crane. WOW - were those really my arms ??!
In the photo below, you can see how much my legs improved - the quads had more shape were more defined. I had a great time at Gold's - but never really relaxed during the shoot. Paula wanted me to wear a thong and while we were shooting, there were several people standing behind me, ogling my bum. A friend gave me a ride to the shoot and took a few pictures and sent these to me. Yes - he also took one from behind but I'm not posting it on the blog.
As I was leaving Gold's - I walked smack into veteran body builder, Robbie Robinson. When I say walked into, I mean that in the most literal sense. I was not looking where I was going, gawking at the photos of legends, lining the walls of Gold's Gym, when BAM ! It was like walking into a brick wall. Robbie had just won the Master's Title - dressed in black leather jacket, black work out trousers, black shoes, black gym bag and a black beret perched on his head - he made a formidable personality. I looked up and saw this huge black guy staring down at me - I was gobsmacked ! I believe I apologized three times over. He smiled wide and said "that's okay" I think my jaw was on the floor.
During my BB days, I met quite a few notable personalities. Lou Ferrigno for one and also Laura Creavelle. I trained at the same gym where JJ Marsh trained and was even a guest at his house for a few social occasions. Although I had a few trophies presented to me by famous personalities - I'm afraid I don't remember their names. How daft is that ?! I trained and prepared for seven contests but because of my finances, only competed in three. Never the less, I dedicated myself for over twelve years to the strictest of training rituals with heart and soul. After my contest in California, I had interest from a West Coast agent, he wanted to promote me for magazine ad and other promotional work. I decided that it was not what I wanted to do in life. I liked keeping fit but found the bodybuilding lifestyle, especially the higher level of it, a bit pompous and artificial. I recall the California contest, I was handed my trophy by a very famous blond, body builder - a real pretty boy. I later looked at his photos in several different BB magazines and it impressed me that in every picture, he had the same plastic smile and an expression that reminded me of a deer when it's caught in the headlights of a car. Soon after the California contest, I backed off of the serious training.
I think I looked my best in the photo below but what is up with the hands ? Bad posing habits die hard. I'm in my fifties now - trying to get comfortable with this evil aging process and the fact that gravity is now my worst enemy. I'll admit I've become very lazy and have sloughed off from exercise since moving to England. But one look at my bum in the mirror and the fact it resembles the backside of a sumo wrestler, is enough to scare me back to the workouts. Long gone are the days where my body fat registered 6%.
I had to post a photo of my all time favourite BBs - Bill Pearl. He first started competing in the 1950's. Not only is he an intelligent, articulate man - he's a true gentleman. He must be in his 70's now and still as dedicated as he ever was. I really respect and admire his philosophy on body building and am doubly impressed that he's eliminated virtually all meat from his diet. Even on a veggie diet, he has been able to maintain a solid amount of muscle mass to his frame. I'm also eating a more vegetarian diet these last three years - I was a vegetarian for many years before my body building adventures. I was told back in my competition days, that I needed to eat meat to build muscle. Not true ! No more battery raised chickens with hormone fillers for me. I'm including a link to a wonderful interview with Bill Pearl - I hope you are as inspired by him as I am. Bill Pearl is one body building legend I always hoped to meet but never did.
Thank you for reading Prairie - Share the love !