The travelling competitor…

Summer is upon us, and for many competitors it is a time for rest, recovery, and reflection. Some are likely using this time to sculpt new goals (literally), and trying to settle into a state of balanced nutrition and training for the summer months. Along with a new summer routine comes a break from school for the kids, vacation days that need to be used, and longer days of sunshine. For most, a holiday is a time of anticipation, excitement, and jubilation, but for some competitors (depending where you are in your training schedule/cycle), it can be a stressful and an apprehensive time!

So you’re off on a camping weekend excursion, a wedding in the Okanagan, or a shopping trip to the States. These are all very do-able, even if you are weeks out from a show! First and foremost, your nutrition needs to stay in check… and the only way to do this is with access to some form of a kitchen. I’ve done this with as little as a hot plate, microwave and sink, but it helps if the place you are staying has a stove and a fridge. Consider using websites such as www.vrbo.com (Vacation Rentals by Owner) instead of booking hotels. This websites will give you access to condo’s/ apartments/ houses …all over the world. The thought of hitting up another all-inclusive, cookie-cutter resort in Mexico, will only leave you standing in a massive dining hall, staring at sodium-loaded, mass-produced food, that’s been sitting under the heat lamps for a couple of hours. Your own accommodation will allow you to shop for fresh food at local markets, thoroughly wash and prepare your own fruit and veggies, and will allow you to wander the streets and try local delicacies! Now THAT’S a vacation! Finding a gym anywhere in North America is relatively simple using a simple Google search, and if that fails, searching for a public park for a quick, body weight, functional workout will do just fine!

Here are some notes to consider when travelling for an extended period of time or travelling internationally. A big trip to somewhere exotic may de-rail your training and nutrition plans further than you anticipated if you are a few weeks away from a competition. But like anything, you should always make the best of it, and careful planning may be your best action for staying on track. Consider doing some homework prior to your departure, especially if hitting up a gym is important. Depending where you are travelling, men and women may be required to go to different locations. For women, check with local customs in terms of appropriate work-out gear, as that brand new lulu sports bra top worn on its own may be inappropriate, no matter how many abs you have carefully sculpted. Be prepared to pick through your food order in restaurants, as language barriers and order-customization practices of North America are often not recognized in other countries. Do the best you can, and check with local customs on how your actions may be perceived; your host may be extremely insulted if you don’t finish the entire plate (this is common in many Asian cultures). Awareness and self-education is everything. You are in their country, so be respectful. Trying to explain you are fitness competitor/body builder may not be comprehendible to them.

On a final note, competitors often spend several months of the year making decisions that are self-focused; the lifestyle can be very exclusive, especially if your lifestyle is not shared by other family members. For instance you are used to grocery shopping a certain way, food prep is a precise art, not a chore, and your husband or partner gets used to your new boyfriend “gym” (or “gymnasia for the wives). My priorities during my holidays are to rest and recharge. It’s a time to shift my focus to my family and friends, and to enjoy the sweet tastes of summer, train outdoors, sign up for a local race, and play leisure sports. There is a time for focus, discipline, and sacrifice and it will always be available to you. Pick your battles, and FIND YOUR BALANCE.

Happy Travels and Have a great summer everyone!

NPAA All-Canadian/IFPA PRO

Steph Marques

Training Hard-Gainers

These days when we see someone utilizing the services of a personal trainer, we often assume the person needs a program for weight loss.  We are living in a society where obesity is on the rise. According to Statistics Canada, obesity is lower than our U.S. neighbours to the south.  Canadians still recorded an obesity rate of 24.1% during 2007-2009.  Rather than typically assuming that personal trainers are only used to assist with weight loss programs, we should consider it in terms of ‘weight management’.  But what about those individuals at the opposite end of the weight management spectrum?  More specifically, those individuals who are attempting to increase their muscle mass for weight gain.  We have a way of overlooking people that have a difficult time in gaining muscular size.  Perhaps our society does not generally view this as a problem or health-related issue.  But for those ‘hard-gainers’ out there, their challenges and frustrations can be very similar to those looking to lose weight.

The ‘hard-gainer’ client may pose a real challenge for trainers looking to assist them in achieving their goals.  This is not a 12-week fix where the trainer outlines the importance of a balanced nutritional program consisting of complex carbohydrates, lean proteins and essential fats and prescribes an hour of HIIT cardio in conjunction with an all body workout to help decrease body fat while increasing their metabolism.  When a client’s goal is to gain 5-10 pounds of lean muscle, this can be a difficult and lengthy process.  The trainer may encounter more than the physical barriers hampering success.  There may also be some psychological obstacles which play a factor in this situation as well.

Working with a hard-gaining client looking specifically to gain muscular size potentially requires a unique training approach and planning.  Some individuals may require constant reassurance from their trainer that they will not simply just get ‘fat’.  Proper nutrition is the key in assisting the muscle gain along with specific training.  One of the biggest challenges in the mindset of the individual is the concern of ‘looking fat’.  If the person is having a difficult time gaining weight/muscle, the chances of looking fat will be non-existent.  With the increase of caloric consumption, their appearance may be smoother than normal. This is the process in order for them to gain size.  By eating clean and increasing the consumption of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates and essential fats, the client is on the right path to assist in building size and slightly altering their body composition.  The more lean body mass a person has, the more carbohydrates one must consume in order to gain size.  The metabolism of the ecto-mesomorph body    (extremely lean and muscular body composition) is extremely high and this body-type needs to load up on carbohydrates in order to increase glycogen to allow them to build muscle.  

Focusing on lower, heavier reps and reducing the number of total sets in a workout will assist in building muscle and helps to keep the client’s body in this state. Due to their high metabolism, higher reps and multiple sets would have the reverse effect and increase this client’s metabolism, depleting their glycogen stores required for building muscle. It is important to avoid supersets and high rep training as these methods would likely increase the body’s metabolism.  All bodies require adequate rest and sleep in order to rebuild. These body types are no different. In fact, it’s imperative to get enough sleep allowing the body to rebuild and avoid over-training.  

Cardiovascular training for the person looking to gain size should be minimal.  Avoiding high intensity training is important in order to keep the metabolism at a lower rate. A slower cardio pace is better for these body types, typically because their metabolism is already fast. The duration of cardio session is kept low as well.  In order to gain lean body mass it is important to keep the glycogen stores in the muscles full and not deplete them through cardio sessions.  Some clients may have difficulty with this concept because the reinforcement to train with high intensity is embedded in their training philosophy.  Altering this training mindset to slow down and allow their bodies to gain size can be a battle.  This is where constant reassurance and guidance by a trainer is important in the clients’ overall success. 

Next time you see someone working towards their personal goals with a trainer, take a second look and consider that perhaps the objective is to increase their overall muscular development!

You only have one body, one life.  Live it well.

Lisa Schirok-Dardis, BPhed , AFLCA and Owner Schirok Hard Bodies

Reasons to Compete

It is interesting to watch some of the people attending a Bodybuilding/Fitness & Figure contest and hear the comments from them as they leave, noting they could have easily stepped onto that stage and claimed some of the shiny hardware.

It seems that there are some “wannabes” out there that think the time, energy and effort to step on stage is merely hitting the gym a couple of times a week and cutting their ice cream and wine consumption down to two or three days per week. It’s indeed a HUGE commitment that needs to be considered very carefully before you decide to order your posing suits and tanning products.

I have addressed the topic of competing numerous times with friends and family over the past couple of years. I started on the path to competitive bodybuilding a couple of years ago.  Over this time period I have learned much about the “intangibles” of competing in bodybuilding. When I say “intangibles” I’m referring to those events leading up to the event itself. The contest is merely a culminating exercise of all your efforts over the past several months. It is a tremendous effort of the time, energy, knowledge and financial commitment required in the months leading up to the contest that one must understand.

To become a true competitor you must understand that bodybuilding is an incredibly challenging sport. It will push you to extreme physical, mental, and psychological limits unforeseen by any other athlete in any other sport. I’m not discrediting other sports here by any means, but the discipline and dedication in bodybuilding is extreme. How many athletes can say that their success is solely dependent on highly focused diet restrictions, almost inhuman amounts of physical training and carefully prescribed levels of supplementation that can stress your personal finances and at times tax your physical health during final preparations before getting on stage. As such my first piece of advice to anyone thinking of competing is this: You will need to know that your life will be a virtual hell for 16 weeks and those that dare to be near you to endure your caustic disposition will need to wear a HAZMAT suit. 

My best performance on stage was a result of putting my bodybuilding first. I refer to a bodybuilder who does it right (many of my Pro athlete friends know what I am talking about here). By doing it ‘right’ I’m stating that in order to compete to win, you need to place everything else on the backburner. You must not waiver from you diet or training whatsoever.  I have seen other competitors lose friends, girlfriends and worse yet almost their families because of this insatiable quest to be the best on stage. I don’t say these things to scare people away from competing but I feel obligated to advise you that it would be beneficial to have the support of your family and friend before deciding to compete as there have been a number of competitors who went against the grain and created a health movement despite their odds.

My second piece of advice for those thinking of competing for any other reason than to push yourself through one of the most challenging experiences of our life, you shouldn’t compete. If you are competing to make a former girlfriend jealous or become as wealthy as a sponsored athlete or to even secure a spot in a movie, stop now and select a new hobby. Bodybuilding is the toughest sport I have competed in and as a former Physical Education teacher I have been involved in many sports and there has never been an experience that has brought me to unbearable levels of pain, discomfort and sheer meltdown at times. If you have been training for a long time and are ready for the challenge I commend you. When you have competed for the first time you will feel like you are on top of the world, it is an incredible rush, and it is almost contagious. I did two contests in a span of one week when I started competing and it was an incredible experience. I can remember vividly each contest and every class I entered. It is euphoric; 16 weeks of complete torture for 90 seconds in the limelight, showing my physique to a crowd that is filled with some people who would love to step on that stage, and they can, because it is an achievement that is realized by thousands of us bodybuilders across the world and in every city. The best advice that I could give is to understand that when you take that plunge of training to compete you also take with you your girlfriend/boyfriend, spouse, your kids, your friends, co-workers, boss, the list goes on…

Duane De Jager, M.Ed, B.Ed, BPE
DYNAMIS Natural Bodybuilder
NPAA All-Canadian/IFPA Pro Masters Bodybuilder

A testimonial from NPAA Bodybuilder, Paul Carman

Hi, my name is Paul Carman, an NPAA Bodybuilder with a special note for all of you athletes:

  

Coming out of the show with the placing I got (and I'll be honest) was very humbling and hard to swallow. Dieting for over 20 weeks and pushing my body to its limits, with countless nights of turning down junk food and alcohol with my friends, can bring up a lot of emotions when it all boils down to one evening on stage. As with most competitors I'm sure my placing weighs heavy on my head the day of the show; but the bigger picture of my continual progression over the years is what I'm confident and optimistic about the other 360 odd days of the year. I know I'm disadvantaged by my height and age, but I know that at 24 I'm way ahead of the game, just at the horizon of my muscle maturity and size potential. By the time I hit my prime, most of my current fellow competitors will be masters athletes or retired from competing in the sport. As a health professional I feel my knowledge, education, and experience in the sport have helped me a long way. With guidance from my professors in University, working with the legend Dr. Joe Klemzeski, and the experience from other competitors, especially my friend Chuck Thompson, I always feel like I can do better and grow as an athlete and as a person. With the potential of winning a pro card in my sights, I grind it out and dig deeper and deeper with every rep, every set, and in every workout. Seeing my progression over the years is what keeps me driven and reaching ever so much more to attain my dream. I know with organizations like the NPAA striving to keep our sport natural and accessible to everybody, more athletes will be able to see their potential and make their dreams their reality!

Paul Carman

NPAA Bodybuilder

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A LETTER TO OUR ATHLETES

Dr. Wendy Carvalho-Ashby, NPAA Co-PresidentWe are proud of every athlete that steps on a competition stage, regardless of federation or category.  We know that each individual has a story, a personal goal and a reason for competing.  Almost every athlete that has entered a physique competition can tell you that they conquered something to reach their goal. For some individuals the struggle and hill they have climbed was so large it dented their character with an impact that forever changed them. For other individuals competition was just that, a competition, a game, a sport; it is a truth that some of our fellow sportsmen and sportswomen have experienced other life challenges that made walking on the stage a fun adventure or a celebration of life. The simple truth is that each individual has a personal story and it can only be summarized as that “personal”. 

As a retired competitor and now proud co-president of a physique and athletics federation, I want to shed some light on what I have noticed recently regarding athletic sportsmanship. I have seen great divides created in our industry and very little said about it. We believe in our community and the athletes that train, play and work in it.  We feel that in the recent climate of our industry it is a fiduciary duty of federation leaders to remind our athletes of what the true spirit of our sport is.

If we use the Olympic ideology to shed perspective, Pierre de Coubertin (founder of modern Olympic games) stated that the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well. The Olympic Games celebrate the spirit of sportsmanship. The Games are also a medium to spread the message of unity and peace.

In our sport should we not follow some sort of example, creed or code that pushes us to perform at the highest level but also guides us to conduct ourselves in the same manner? What is sportsmanship? By definition: Sportsmanship is conduct (as fairness, respect for one's opponent, and graciousness in winning or losing) becoming to one participating in a sport. The Olympic Creed mentions that the most important thing in life is not the triumph but the struggle and that the essential thing is not to have conquered but to have fought well. 

I think that with the technology that we have at our disposal it is very easy to unite with other athletes, and create support networks and friendships that last a lifetime in our sport. However, social media platforms have also been used to degrade the sportsmanlike behaviors that are exhibited on stage. Athletes, please remind yourselves that sportsmanship and character are directly affected by decisions made in the social media platform. Words hurt, comments are not anonymous and photos posted are visible. Please take some time to assess how your actions or words may affect the feelings of one of your peers. We are all peers in sport!

An incredible analysis by Dr. Alan Goldberg sports psychologist, brings to light an important aspect of our sport; “Your opponent is not the enemy”: Too many athletes mistakenly view the competition as the "enemy." As a consequence, they somehow get it in their head that they have to hate this person or team. Your opponent is NOT the enemy. He/she is your partner. The better they are, the more opportunity you will have to play to your potential. Think about it. How inspired do you get when you have to face a much weaker opponent? You DON'T! In fact, it's really tough to play well against inferior competition. Getting caught up in angry feelings about an opponent will most often distract you from the correct focus, tighten you up too much and get you performing badly. Don't waste your energy getting angry with an opponent so you can’t get "up" for the game. 99 out of 100 times this strategy will backfire and mentally take you out of the contest. 

As a federation we take responsibility and ownership for decisions we make. We clearly follow a set of guidelines for competition, judging and results management. It would be an error of judgement for any individual to assume that any decisions made are off the cuff or based on social media commentary. We follow guidelines, and pride ourselves on transparency and conflict resolution in our sport. When an athlete deserves a placing, a title, or recognition they will be awarded as such, this is our mandate.

It is important to conclude that every athlete that walked the stage (in fact any stage, at any show) deserves recognition, but only a few win. Those who step on the podium must realize that with a title comes a position of responsibility and what they do with it will define their character in our sport. I encourage new athletes in the spot-light to accept their positions with humble spirit and to set exceptional examples for all of the novice athletes who are training to “become them”.  As well for athletes who don’t achieve a goal that was set, to use their experience to grow and to accept their positions with grace. Some of the most amazing examples of sportsmanship have come from the history of our sport, and I believe our sport will continue to create “exceptional history” if we protect our core values and remind ourselves of what true sportsmanship is.

Sincerely,

Dr. Wendy Carvalho-Ashby

Co-President

Natural Physique & Athletics Association