Competing is not for the faint of heart.

 

Or for those who dislike asparagus.

Body building requires a lot of hard work and discipline.  I love the weights – that part doesn’t seem like work to me (most days).

The diet… well, those few weeks leading up to a competition get a little rough.  You probably didn’t want to be near me the last week because I was a total bitch tired of chicken and asparagus.

 

This post isn’t about asparagus.  Today’s Work It Out is a guest post from a friend and fellow comptitior.  Jennifer trains at my gym, House of Payne.

We competed together in the NPC Jen Hendershott Big Shott Bodybuilding Classic last year (Jenn in Physique and myself in Figure).  She was such a great friend – calming my beginner nerves and raising a margarita toast to out successes post-competion.

 

Jenn is a big inspiration.  Like me, she’s a former runner.  The muscle she’s gained in the ~7 months I’ve known her is absolutely incredible.

Below is the story of her transformation.  I hope it inspires you – even if you aren’t interested in competing, it’s a great reminder that we can do anything we want to, if we want to badly enough.

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Close to 2 Decades of Fitness

The year is 1994 and I sign up for my first jogging class at Gainesville State College.  Little did I know at the time what my fitness future would hold.  I had an amazing coach who shared his passion of fitness with me.  He gradually took us, beginners, and taught us how to build up stamina and endurance in running.  Through the class, I developed a liking to running.  I’ll never forget how I felt when I completed running 2 miles without stopping.  My coach told me if you can run 2 miles, then you can run 6 miles.  Well, I kept on running.  I even thought I was “Forrest.”  Forrest Gump, that is.

I ran all the way through college, 3 pregnancies, and into mid 30’s.  Then all of a sudden, I realized my body had massively changed.  I was fat.  I was flabby in a lot of areas.  I couldn’t eat the junk that I ate in my 20’s and look good.  I felt as if my muscle tissue was a lot less than it was in the  previous years.

 

I took a huge leap and decided to change my eating and my training.  I always loved the way girls looked in Muscle & Fitness Magazine.  I wanted that look.  I wanted biceps and a 6-pack.  So I started weight training at home.  I started out with a beginner set of barbells and a pull-up bar.

I trained 1 year at home and starting transforming my body gradually.  I mainly did strength training 4 days a week and 2 days of cardio.  But I wanted to do more and continue to transform my body.  So I hired a personal trainer.  Also at that 1 year mark, my pursuits became a little different.  At first, I just wanted to get fit and lose some weight.  Gradually as I transformed my body and learned more about weight training and its results, I decided to enter a figure contest.

 

So I entered my first figure competition.  I will be real honest, my first time out I was not even close to the top 5.  However,  that first competition set me on fire to compete.  This was the best thing to happen.  I went into that competition thinking that I was going to win.  Oh Yes!  However, I left that competition and decided I was going to put in the time and build some serious muscle.  I was going to be a competitive figure athlete.

For the next 3 years, I studied and researched training methods.  I also hired a nutritionist/coach who monitors all of my food and helps develop my training splits.  He has developed a plan to help me build lean muscle mass in the off-season and he knows how to turn me into a lean competitor for the stage.

I have competed in 4 figure competitions since 2010.  However, in November of 2012, I stepped on stage as a physique competitor and placed 3^rd in the competition, which qualified me for the national stage.

 

Physique is a new division in the body building world.  This division is for women that have a little more muscle than figure.  The Physique division also requires a routine that enables you to present your physique and display your muscles in a way that figure girls don’t get to do.  I absolutely adore it.  I love being on stage and the center of attention.  I especially love showing off my hard work that I have done in the gym and through my nutrition.

As I write this, I am in prep for Team Universe in July 2013.  This is my first national show.  I am giving my 110% to this competition.  I still have the same fire in my soul as I did with my first competition.  I love the structure, workouts, and the discipline required for competing.  Every time I do a  show I feel as if I learn something new about myself.  I have also learned in order for you to succeed, you must step out of your comfort zone and push a little bit harder.

Train Hard and You will be Amazed at Your Results!

XOXO

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Follow Jennifer’s journey on Facebook and Instagram, and be sure to check out her blog!

Did anyone try last week’s Super Slow technique?

Would/have you ever considered competing?