A couple of thank yous (and did you watch the Jodie Marsh bodybuilding show?)

I’m feeling particularly fortunate at the moment. And a few thank yous are due.

I told you a while ago that Castle Gym, a bodybuilding/powerlifting gym not too far from me, offered me free membership. I love training at Castle (I tend to go there for my “big lifts” days – legs, back, chest) and am convinced it’s going to transform my training this year. In fact, it already has. So, a massive thank you to Jason and everyone else at Castle. I really am grateful for the membership and love training at your facility.

Then there’s my local gym, St Crispins (a Harper’s gym). A while ago, their PR people asked me to send a few bodybuilding photos and give a little comment about my experiences of training at St Crispins. I was happy to; I’ve trained there for years, during my swimming days, my triathlon days, my oh-my-god-I-love-Les-Mills-classes! days. The staff are wonderful, have been so supportive of my bodybuilding training, and are the first people I ran to with my trophies last season.

What I didn’t anticipate was the offer of free PT. Not just a couple of sessions, but a session a week throughout my 2012 prep. Thank you, thank you! (Although I’m not sure “thank you” will be quite the two words I’ll utter doing a conditioning PT session at St Crispins the day after doing legs at Castle…!)

On another note, the Jodie Marsh bodybuilding TV show was aired last night, but I didn’t get to see it because I don’t have Sky or Virgin. Jodie competed last year with the NPA and placed 5th at the Mike Williams Classic. I’m sure I’ll catch the show at some point but, in the meantime, did you see it? What did you think? If you didn’t know much about competitive bodybuilding, did anything surprise you?

Oh, one more thing! My fellow Physique competitor Anna Millington (who had a completely stellar year in 2011, culminating in a World Title) has written a fascinating report of her 2011 season – and everything which led to that high point in her bodybuilding career – on the NPA site. Read it here – it’s long, but worth it.

A couple of thank yous (and did you watch the Jodie Marsh bodybuilding show?) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Leg training with Helen Stack

I’ve said before that I believe in the law of attraction. Remember when I wanted to interview Kelly Rennie, then ended up sitting next to her boyfriend (now fiancee: congrats, guys) at a conference, without knowing who he was? Yes, I do believe that if you put requests “out there”, sometimes they get answered.

So, I wasn’t altogether surprised to find myself training legs last weekend with WNBF Pro Helen Stack: former NPA overall champion, INBF World Champion and WPF Miss Universe.

You see, when I started to get focused on my own 2012 goals, I put together my mood board thingy for the kitchen. It comprises a slightly tongue-in-cheek, slightly disturbing mathematical equation, played out in picture form:

(A x B) + C = X, where A is Helen Stack, B is Patricia Beckman and C is me. X is unknown outcome.

It’s highly doubtful I’ll ever train legs (or anything else for that matter) with Patricia, what with her living in America and everything. But the law of attraction (and…er…the fact that she lives locally) meant that, a few days into 2012, I found myself training with Helen.

And what a session it was! Want to know what we did? OK.

- Box squats (new to me – sitting back and down onto a low box which is placed within the squat rack). I think I did 2 warm up sets and 7 working sets (ay caramba).
- Vertical leg press – single legs and both legs. Helen did immensely more weight than me, I can’t even remember what she did but it was crazy. I did 5 sets.
- Leg extension (machine) – single legs and both legs, with a horrible “pulse and hold” thing dreamed up by Helen in the depths of her Pro-bodybuildery brain. I ended up covering my eyes and kind of screaming during these. 4 sets.
- Standing hamstring curls, 6 sets
- Lying hamstring curls, 4 sets
- Donkey calf raises, 3 sets

Helen doesn’t often train at Castle Gym but, from time to time, she pops in, and hopefully we’ll get to train again soon. I’m absolutely loving training there! The kit, atmosphere and other people are really motivating.

Which athlete from your chosen sport would you like to train with? From my “other life”, I’d love to swim in the sea with Lynne Cox (and some seals).

Leg training with Helen Stack is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Blind date training

Happy new year! I’m away at the moment in Wales, staying with friends to celebrate the New Year. This time last year, I blogged with a few ideas for training in the house whilst you’re away and can’t get to a gym. This year, too, I’m keeping the training going. But this year, I’ve gone one better.

Some time ago, I started chatting with first-time Figure competitor Amie Lloyd over Twitter (she’s friends with Kenny Mudoola, who won the BNBF Welsh qualifier with me and Lucy last year). By coincidence, I happen to be staying about 10 minutes from Amie at the moment. Once we realised this, we decided to train together. Amie kindly sorted me out several guest passes for her local gym, and we’ve been training together every morning. It’s been great!

Yesterday, we got stuck in straightaway with a hefty quads and calves session: sumo squats, regular squats with the Olympic bar, split squats, leg press, calves and then a nasty finisher (I think I blogged about it here). Then some abs (Amie’s abs are to die for and I was hoping some of it would rub off on me!)

Today, we went to town on our chest and delts: some mobilisation work, then bench presses (50kgs for me – yay!), incline dumbbell flys, shoulder supersets, some sneaky things Kenny told Amie (and, with shoulders like his, who’s going to argue?), chest press machine superset with reverse fly machine then some shoulder finishers. Ouch!

Tomorrow we’re going to meet one final time to work whatever we feel needs working! Possibly glutes and hamstrings, possibly biceps and triceps, maybe back. It’s great to have someone here with whom I can train hard, chat about prep and talk through all the feelings, joys and fears of competing. Amie is hoping to compete in the Figure class at the BNBF Welsh this coming July. I think she’s going to do brilliantly. She has a beautiful shape with the tiniest waist, and she’s tall and elegant. She’s overcome some challenges to put on an impressive amount of muscle, and she works damn hard, so she’ll no doubt put on a bit more yet. I’m so pleased we got to train together! Thank you, Amie!

Blind date training is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Training at Castle gym

Christmas came early for me today. I was invited to go and train at an independent gym run by bodybuilders and, when I got there, they offered me free membership. You realise what this means. I can now train at a gym which has things like a squat rack, and more than one Olympic bar. :-O

Today was the best training session I’ve had in a long time, and I am very grateful to the guys at Castle for offering me membership. To say that it will benefit my bodybuilding training is an understatement. Training in that environment, with other bodybuilders and competitors, and with all that kit and equipment, will transform things for me. I’ll be able to do more, I’ll always have someone to spot me, and the atmosphere will be hugely motivating.

Look, there’s a squat rack! And a hack squat machine! And a vertical leg press machine! And… and… I was like a kid in a sweet shop, just looking round and beaming (and wondering what half of the stuff was).

As if free training at a proper bodybuilding gym wasn’t enough for one day, I ended up being coached by the guy who coaches one of the women who inspires me most in this sport (in fact, her picture is on my kitchen wall this year). As Castle’s owner Jason Joyce (no relation, but a fun co-incidence!) showed me round, he introduced me to Jerry. I recognised Jerry immediately as powerlifter Jerry Fox, the partner and coach of Helen Stack, former NPA overall women’s Champion, INBF World Champion and now WNBF Pro.

Jerry kindly ended up giving me some coaching points and helping me through a few sets of squats (in an actual squat rack! ) and his advice was so helpful (and his encouragement greatly appreciated).

I ended up doing a fantastic leg session, and could have stayed there all day – but there’s this thing called Christmas Day coming up soon, and we have a fair few things left to do.

You may thinks it’s a bit sad that I’m so excited about training at an independent bodybuilding gym, but you have to understand that my regular gym is not equipped for (nor populated by) bodybuilders. It’s a great gym, I love it there, and will continue to train there too, but I often wish I had access to various bits of kit, a spotter, or the company of other bodybuilders. I now have all of those things.

If you’re in the Windsor area, I really encourage you to go along to Castle Gym. It’s fantastic. I’ll see you there.

Jason, thank you so much for inviting me to your facility, and for your kind offer of membership. It was a fantastic surprise and an amazing opportunity which I’m delighted to take up!

Training at Castle gym is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

(Body) building works

**First up – the winners of the GOOD Hemp protein samples. Thank you all for entering and taking part. My five winners – chosen at random – are Anna, Karryann, BarnesFitness, Helen G and Dorthe Nielsen. Please get in touch to organise sending me your postal addresses.

Onto today’s post:

As bodybuilders, we spend so much of our year dieting (or maybe it just feels as if we do!) that it’s quite a novelty to be eating at maintenance or even at an excess. But this is body building, after all, and you can’t grow if you’re always dieting. My Facebook is full of such status updates at the moment, from bodybuilder friends for whom being off the competition diet is still a novelty. “If your abs are showing, you ain’t growing” is my current favourite. The point, of course, is that you’re not going to make any significant improvements in physique unless you back off the diet, eat up, and give yourself the chance to grow. Diet is for condition. Eating is for muscles!

My Mum is currently building a house. (I promise this is all one blog post, I haven’t just pasted two different ones together. Bear with me). For months, the structure was hidden behind roof-height scaffolding, which was covered in thick plastic. You couldn’t see what was inside. You could see a vague house kind of a shape, and of course we all knew she was building a new structure. We’d seen the plans and had regular updates. But, from the outside, it just looked like a big rectangle of scaffolding and plastic. Until the big reveal…

That, to me, is what off-season is like for me as a bodybuilder. It’s about building a structure, even if the finished item is under wraps, waiting for the scaffolding to come down.

I no longer look as I did when I stepped onstage for this year’s competitions, that’s for sure. But that version of me is still here, it’s just underneath. It’s still with me, I carry it around wherever I go. There’s just an extra me on top of it! And that extra me is helping to build the stage version of me to something bigger and better, ready for the big reveal.

On Facebook the other day, a few of us took this house analogy and ran with it. We were all under scaffolding and tarpaulin, we declared, working hard on our foundations and structures (and, for some, internal redesign and plumbing). We don’t care that from the outside it looks like a bit of a building site. After all, this is the building part of bodybuilding.

“I’m going to be a lovely art deco 1930s building next year,” I posted. “Streamline Moderne, lots of sweeping curves and long lines but with solid hard corners too. Lots of metal and sparkly glass, nice smooth finish. Ha! You? Some kind of big timber structure made out of solid oak?”

My bodybuilding friends indulged me, posting the kind of building they’re constructing under their winter scaffolding. We had some Colonial mansions, some solid oak beams and even an updated shed.

How about you. What kind of body are you building? There’s a certain beauty in scaffolding, you know. Strong, stable and supportive.

Eat up!

(Body) building works is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

“But will you carry on?” (aka “What’s next?”)

A quick update post from me, 4 weeks or so after my final competition and 4 weeks or so into “off-season”.

I went out to dinner this week with some girlfriends. They all asked about bodybuilding, competitions, prep and of course the diet – everything I’ve been through in this past year or so. One of them told me she hadn’t realised I’d competed “for me”. She thought I’d done it for work (?!)

Once I’d stopped choking on an olive, I told her that I doubt there’s a magazine out there which offers rates high enough to make a year of bodybuilding prep financially (or emotionally) viable. (As an aside, I did get one commission off the back of bodybuilding – the ever-lovely Editorial folk at Bodyfit magazine commissioned a short first-person piece which I will upload here at some point. Did you see it?)

“But will you carry on?”, all three of my friends asked.

Hell yes!

Does this look like the face of someone who never wants to compete again?

I guess it hadn’t occurred to me that anyone would think I wouldn’t be planning to train, prep and compete again next year. So, for the record, yes. Yes I will carry on. I love this sport, I love the training, I’m fascinated by the nutrition, I adore being on stage. I wouldn’t say I will never do endurance sport again – as Prince once wisely said, “forever is a mighty long time” – but, for now at least, the iron game has my heart. And off-season is flexible enough that I can head out for a run, get on my road bike and plough up and down the swimming pool should I want to. It’s all good!

So, an update on me:

- I trained as I wanted for a few weeks, enjoying a bit of sweaty cardio, a bit of circuit-style lifting and a bit of wandering into the gym and doing whatever I fancied. I now have my new programmes from my coach Kat and wow are they tough! It’s great and I’m loving it. We have definite plans for my physique and this is the first set of building blocks to get me there.
- transitioning into off-season eating, and finding a balance, has been tricky. In truth, I believe this is something that every single competitor wrestles with. I just think it’s not spoken about much – the final taboo if you like. It’s no biggie and I’ve (finally!) got a handle on it, but it’s a prickly problem you don’t necessarily think about (or perhaps don’t want to think about!) when you’re deep in contest diet mode.
- leading on from that point, I have sat down and thought long and hard about the things bodybuilding prep has taught me. What have I learned about myself? What works for me, and what definitely doesn’t work? What makes me feel good, and what should I really avoid if I want to stay happy and healthy? This is all fodder for another blog post, another time.
- I have set myself some plans, goals (dreams?) for next year’s competitive season. I am a firm believer in the law of attraction. If nothing else, goals are good because they give you something to aim for. If you don’t make it, you probably ended up further ahead than you would have done if you were goalless the whole time. I have my new mood board in the kitchen, I have my path planned out. If it happens – amazing. If it doesn’t – still amazing. I know I’ll have a great time next year and enjoy whatever happens. For now, I like having dreams!

So, in answer to the “what’s next?” question, which I seem to get asked a lot:
- off-season eating, which for me means more calories, more carbs, less structure and more intuition
- heavy lifting in order to build and grow
- a focus on certain areas of my physique
- some cardio, but not much at the moment (the focus is on growing my muscles)
- enjoying holiday, Christmas, New Year and general “real life”!
- competing again next year: bigger & better!

Over & out

“But will you carry on?” (aka “What’s next?”) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

NPA British Final – last show of my first year

So, the season is over. I’ve competed in my final bodybuilding competition for 2011. It was a long time coming (my competitive season started in the first week of July, and of course dieting for the first show started long before that). I feel a mixture of emotions now it’s all over, mainly a real sense of contentment in what I achieved and how I achieved it all.

This time last year, I had just finished a pretty full-on triathlon season, done several bike sportives and a half-marathon. I was just starting a personal body-transformation type challenge, based on weight training and nutritional tweaks. The idea of competing in bodybuilding hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Fast-forward 12 months.

First place, BNBF Welsh qualifier (and Best Presentation).
First place, NPA South East qualifier (and Best Presentation).
Runner-up, BNBF British Final.

And – the subject of this blog post – 3rd place, NPA British Final. (Photos are here.)

It’s been quite a year.

I had a few goals for this Final. In an ideal world, I wanted to place, to not come dead last, to get a trophy to show to my long-suffering, ever-supportive family. But honestly? My main goal, over and above all of those, was to enjoy the day. I simply wanted a completely positive, happy and fun end to the season. And I knew I wouldn’t find that in a first-place finish or a trophy. I knew it had to come from my own attitude and from the atmosphere of the show.

Happily, I got it. From the moment we turned into the car park and I saw Anna Millington (against whom I’d competed at the BNBF Final), who spotted me and waved madly through the window, to the moment we left at the end of the night, the NPA Final was nothing but happy for me. And that means so much.

But let’s back up a bit. My class – ladies Physique (aka women’s bodybuilding) – was going to be split into two weight classes: U55kg and O55kgs. At my first show of the season, I’d weighed in slightly under 55kgs, and at my NPA qualifier I’d been bang on 55kgs. A few weeks ago, I’d thought I’d be able to diet aggressively and come in just under the cut off, therefore being the biggest in the lightweight category. However, as the show got closer, I realised this probably wasn’t going to happen. I’d been dieting for an extremely long time and my body (and my mind) had started to run out of oomph! So, as it was, I weighed in at a fraction over the cut off. My worst fear had come true: I was going to be one of the lightest, if not the lightest, in the heavier of the two classes.

Oh well! It was what it was and I really didn’t mind. Both classes were extremely competitive and quite honestly I wouldn’t have liked to choose which one to go in. Rocks and hard places spring to mind! Michael from the NPA gave me the opportunity to go away and “try again” but I knew that, realistically, I’d have to drop one or two internal organs down the toilet in order to come in under 55kgs and really I wasn’t that bothered. I’d weighed in over the cut off, so that’s where I would compete. I could only do my best anyway.

I was in the weigh-in queue with two of the other O55kg competitors and we chatted, laughed and joked the whole time. We followed each other upstairs to bagsy ourself a dressing room and the lighthearted, amicable atmosphere only got better from there. I truly had a ball with these ladies (and the others who later joined us in the dressing room) all day long. Despite it being a British Final, there was not an ounce of tension in the air. We shared food, makeup and tan, glued each other, glazed each other and chatted all day long. It was absolutely lovely – and, if any of those ladies are reading, I’d like to officially thank you now for helping make the day such a happy and positive experience.

We were on relatively early in the running order, so just about had time to finish off makeup, glue ourselves into our suits and spray ourselves with glaze before it was time to eat some sweets and get down to the pump up area. The U55kg ladies were on before us, and all three of them looked razor-sharp.

I was first out, and led our group of four onstage for the prejudging. Ahhh…. this is it…. the final time onstage for this year. I felt so relaxed and happy – possibly too relaxed, because I came off stage unsure that I’d worked hard enough. I was shaking and sweating from the exertions of posing, but I felt so happy that I couldn’t tell whether or not I’d done myself justice. I do remember being put through the 1/4 turns and compulsory poses at least three times, and being moved about in the lineup three times.

I went to join my family in the auditorium, watched some of the other classes and then watched the phenomenal Helen Stack (WNBF Pro) do her guest posing spot. She was truly inspirational to watch.

After an interval (I wasn’t hungry or particularly thirsty, but I could have killed for a simple cup of tea!) it was time to go and change into our sparkly bikinis, because it wouldn’t be long before the nightshow, where we’d do our individual routines. Once again, we were able to watch the U55kg women from the wings, and they all looked amazing. I wouldn’t have liked to be judging that class!

As usual, I had no inkling of where I might place in our class of four. I was 100% certain I had not won – I felt as sure as I could be that Anna M had won. She was in incredible shape. Other than that… I really couldn’t have told you. 2nd, 3rd, 4th? Who knows! I quite fancied coming 2nd or 3rd, because that would mean a trophy, but by this point I was really having such a lovely day that I was happy just being there. Backstage had been like one big party all day long: bodybuilding friends gathered together to put on our gladrags one last time and have fun posing onstage. Competitors and spectators both had baked cakes or bought sweet treats for friends, and you couldn’t walk through the auditorium without someone handing you a thoughtful little foodie gift.

Before long I was being announced on stage and I walked on, waved and paused for a moment before lowering myself into my first pose. I just wanted a split second to think to myself “this is it, this is the last time I’ll do this routine and, in about 5 minutes, my season will be over”.

My music started and I began my routine, turning one move into “blowing a kiss” (directed at my family; I’m not sure they saw!) I messed up two of the moves – I couldn’t believe I did that! – but got back on track. I finished, bowed and smiled, thanking the judges and the audience before running offstage to watch the other three do their routines.

Then we were all back onstage for the posedown. I was determined to have fun with this bit! In my previous three competitions, I’d either been too scared or not known what on earth to do, typically getting stuck on one side of the stage and just doing a side-chest pose about a bazillion times. Between us, we’d discussed the fact that we all wanted to have a lot of fun and put on a show, and we really went for it. Back to back, busting out rival side-triceps. Face-to-face, popping a quick most-muscular. Spotting someone else doing a rear-double-bicep, dashing over and trying to out-do them. It was such fun and we were actually laughing out loud on stage, which perfectly summed up the atmosphere we’d enjoyed all day in our dressing room.

It was time to stop laughing and start lining up at the back of the stage. Results time.

Best Presentation and 4th place were announced.

I relaxed, safe in the knowledge that I’d met all my goals. I wouldn’t be last, I would place (if we call “placing” 3, 2 or 1) and I would get a trophy.

3rd place: me!

I stepped forward, elated, relieved and… satisfied. That may seem a weak word to describe the feeling of coming 3rd in a British Final but it’s perfect for how I felt. Contentment, happiness, a sense of peace. 3rd was just right. The last few weeks of this prep hadn’t been perfect, I’d struggled to keep pushing and my focus had shifted from a burning desire to win to a sincere wish for a positive end to a great season. You know when something just fits? Well, 3rd place felt a perfect fit for me.

So, there we have it. 3rd place at my second British Final of the year. And I feel great.

What’s next? That’s probably the topic for a future blog post. I know I have a long way to go in this sport, and that’s fine by me. That’s what I want. I love that this sport is about the long-haul, the patient approach, the long-term gains. I already have a very vivid, very precise picture in my mind of how I want to look next year. I’m not sure how I’ll get there, but I know I will, and I’m excited to see it!

Thank you for reading.

NPA British Final – last show of my first year is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

Top 3 and a trophy (NPA British Finals)

Hi all!

Work is very busy this week, after taking last week off in the run-up to the NPA Finals. But I wanted to pop on to update those of you who aren’t in my Facebook or Twitter.

The NPA Finals – my second British Final of the year and my final competition this year – was on Sunday. I took 3rd place in my class and am delighted! The entire day was happy and positive from beginning to end and it was the perfect way to sign off my debut competitive season. I couldn’t be happier, and have a sense of real contentment. It’s a lovely feeling.

I will write a show report soon (probably this weekend) but, for now, I’ll leave you with a few pics.

For those of you in the area, I’m going to be on BBC Radio Berkshire this afternoon (!) on the appropriately-named Afternoon Show. I’m guessing it’s live; I don’t really know. Wow, I’m on the ball, aren’t I! Remember when they sent Maggie Philbin over for a chat about bodybuilding? The same researcher rang me up a few weeks ago and asked me to come in to the studio. I don’t really know what they want to ask me, but tune in if you like… I’ll try not to sound too dumb!

Top 3 and a trophy (NPA British Finals) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

You ask, I answer (bodybuilding Q&A)

A while ago, I put a general shout-out for bodybuilding questions you would like to see answered here. I’m far from an expert but, as ever, I’m just writing from my own perspective. So, here goes!

“Firstly – why no dairy? Secondly – what difference does 8l of water make to the government recommended 2l, for example?”

OK: the dairy. It’s a personal choice but I choose to leave dairy out of my diet from about 8 weeks before competition, partly because I want to use my limited calories for things which are chock-full of nutrition (I’d rather have more veg than a bit of yoghurt) and partly because dairy tends to be pretty high in carbs which normally isn’t a problem, but I do limit my carbs when I’m dieting for a comp. Again, I’d rather get the carbs I am allowed from loads of veg, or something with chew-factor like potato, than a glass of milk. There is also a school of thought which suggests dairy can make you look a bit soft, smooth or bloated. I’ve never tested this properly but I’d rather not risk it. Interestingly, since cutting out dairy, I’ve found that I really don’t like the taste of cows milk. It tastes kind of… claggy? And leaves me feeling a bit phlegmy. (Lovely) Having said that, I am looking forward to greek yoghurt and cottage cheese – I love both of those. I don’t think I’ll go back to drinking cows milk though (I like coconut milk – the stuff in cartons, not tins – and have even been known to make my own almond milk, although those uber-productive, spring-in-my-step days seem a long time ago at the moment!)

The water thing. This is in reference to the fact that I drink a lot of water every day at the start of “peak week”, tapering it off towards the show. This is something many bodybuilders do but, at the same time, many others don’t do anything special with water at all. Bodybuilders want to appear “dry” on stage (“ripped”, “cut”, etc) One of the theories is that you can drop some subcutaneous water (the layer between the muscles and the skin) on the day by minimising water intake. The theory then goes that, if you water “load” in the days leading up to the show, you’ll encourage your body to release or flush out extra water. I’m not sure there’s any definitive proof that one approach is better than the other (water load/deplete vs just drinking as normal) but in this sport people tend to do what works for them until such a time as it doesn’t work, then they’ll try a different approach. Having only done 3 shows, I haven’t had much of a chance to play around with ideas and approaches so, for now, this is how I do it. It does mean I need to be near a toilet for the first half of peak week!

“What I would be interested in hearing about is how you keep your focus during the bit where you’re all on stage (pose-down??)- I wasn’t prepared for how physically close you would be to the other competitors.”

Yes, there can be a bit of jostling during pose-down (and sometimes during the compulsory poses) either by mistake (we can be a bit wobbly under the lights, and sometimes lined up quite close together) or by design (pose-down is a time to have a bit of fun, and – if you know the other competitors – really go for it by posing sort of as a duo). I’m not sure how I keep my focus, I hadn’t thought about it! I guess I am just very focused on getting my poses right, on listening to the person calling the instructions, on trying not to shake too much and on trying to remember the squeeze/spread/hold bits of me in. It does break my focus a bit when I touch another competitor – it’s happened more than once to me during the compulsory poses and I am always torn as to whether to be terribly British and say “sorry!” at the time or just get on with it! Honestly, though, I don’t find it difficult to focus when on stage. The lights, the audience, the judges sitting there… they all focus the mind pretty sharpish!

“You look very elegant and almost balletic when you go into your poses – is that innate or something you’ve been coached to do?” (bless you, Sally – I promise I didn’t pay her to say that!)

Well, first of all a big thank you. Elegant is one of the last words I’d use to describe myself so to hear that I come across even remotely like that on stage is very nice to hear. As for balletic – here’s a funny story for you: family legend goes that, when I was little, I was kicked out of ballet classes had it gently suggested to me that tap might suit me better than ballet. I can’t remember this and I’m sure it’s been hammed up over the years, but certainly I was not a balletic child. Anyway, the short answer is no I wasn’t coached to be particularly elegant. My coach Kat and our friend Annie U did coach me through all the poses, and I practice lots, but the focus is on posing to show the muscles and shapes and symmetry we need to try and show. The bits in between – how you get into and out of the poses, how you choose to stand during “free moments”, is up to you. I do feel very happy on stage, perhaps that comes across!

“I’m wondering if you would do 2 comps so close together again.”

This is with reference to doing the NPA South East and then the BNBF Finals just a week apart. You know what, I think I would. It really helped my motivation: instead of prepping, peaking, waiting, peaking, it meant I was on a roll and just trucked on through. It was logistically easy: I had all my peak week foods in, lots of food prepped, I was in the zone in terms of what to cook and prep and eat. And I think I found it pretty easy to maintain my condition and mindset in those few days between the comps. I actually think it’s tougher to do competitions further apart. 6-8 weeks between comps seems to be pretty hard going for most people I’ve asked.

Thanks for asking! If I can (try to) answer any other questions, please leave a comment.

You ask, I answer (bodybuilding Q&A) is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.

17 days of prep left to go!

Hi all! Sorry I haven’t updated in a while. Work’s busy. Prep’s busy. Life (yes, I do have one!) has been pleasantly busy.

(See, I’m not always in gym kit! The little chap is my nephew, the larger chap is my husband)

But I owe you an update, and here is it!

I’m glad you liked my report on the BNBF Final. I’m still buzzing from the result, or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that I still don’t think the result has sunk in! I’ve put my “lady” (this one’s called Tina, named after the female bodybuilding judge who came over to sit on the judging panel) with the others and found them all a home. I knew that strange shelf above our stairs was there for a reason!

So, what’s new? I’m now 17 days out from my final show of the year – the NPA British Final which will be held on 23rd October in Bedworth.

How am I feeling?
As always, a complete mixture of emotions and physical feelings too. Physically tired, emotionally exhausted yet enjoying bursts of energy (a PT session at 7:30am yesterday?) Loving prep, hating prep. Counting the days until it’s over, and already missing it. Looking forward to show day, and looking forward to being able to indulge aspects of real life which I’ve had to put on hold. More than anything, I can’t wait to get on stage again and do it all one last time (this year!) Whenever I think about being on stage, particularly doing my routine, I get goosebumps. This will be the final show this year for me and I want to give it my all, enjoy every moment (of the entire day) and go out on a high note: celebratory, positive and happy. That’s my goal for the NPA show!

How’s the diet?
Not a lot has changed from my other preps to be honest, although I think each one is a little stricter and tighter simply because I don’t bother to reintroduce things after each show only to take them away again. For instance, I was still eating dairy at this stage before my first show (I believe). But I never did bother to bring it back in again (seemed a bit of a faff only to take it out again after a few weeks), so I’ve now been sans-dairy for a good few months. I’m really enjoying my exotic meats (what can I say – some women buy shoes. I buy springbok steaks) and quality grass-fed beef. Meat and veg for breakfast? Yes please!

What’s the training?
Grrrrreat! I love the training and never struggle with that side of things. It’s the dieting which is toughest for me. I’m still lifting heavy heavy heavy. I’m focusing on legs and lats (as per judges’ feedback). For cardio, I’m walking the dog (we walk quickly!) and doing some interval-type training either by myself or with a PT at my gym. Sometimes, I’ll pop my weighted vest on and hop on the cardio machines for 20 or 30 minutes, but mostly I look to my diet to take care of fat loss, and to my training for muscle building/maintenance.

Got any piccies?
Um, no. I did take one of me at the gym the other day but it was just to show my coach. It was of me crying. Yes, I am that sad – in both meanings of the word. I was so very exhausted that day that I sat down and cried in the gym. And then took a picture of myself. I’m not sure which one of those two sentences is more tragic!

I have taught my dog to do a couple of bodybuilding poses (although they both look the same, to be honest, “front relaxed” is just “front double bicep” with extra barking). I will endeavour to take a picture, or a video.

Off-topic but speaking of dogs, here’s one of my favourite recent pics. Our dog is some sort of cross (any guesses? tell me in the comments section). Whatever he is (or isn’t), the way he looks is enough to make some people pick up their dogs when they see him coming, or pull their small children out of the way. It infuriates me. Because he’s as soft as butter, as evidenced by this photo of him allowing my 13-month-old nephew to take his beloved football from him in the middle of a game of ball.

Well what have you got for us then?
How about an interesting read from my homeslice Lucy Oakman, who won the Figure class at the BNBF Welsh (where we both qualified for the Final) and then took 2nd in her class at the Final? She’s one of my lovely new bodybuilding friends and I’d like you to read her story. Feel free to leave a comment – it’s her first blog post and I think she’d appreciate the feedback.

Also, how about an insight into another lady’s first year of female bodybuilding? I’m sure you’ve seen press reports of Jodie Marsh’s first competitive foray. Unsurprisingly, the stuff in the newspapers is full of hyperbole at best, horribly misquoted at worst. I’m not alone in really liking this bit of footage, from Jodie’s interview on This Morning (a daily TV show here in the UK). She answered all the questions (most of which we all come across on a regular basis!) really well and what I loved most is that she is obviously completely in love with the sport. Check out her massive smile when she talks about getting a trophy.

Stay tuned for:
- videos of a mixed-breed rescue dog doing bodybuilding poses
- recipes using GOOD Hemp protein powder (after my comp!)
- videos detailing some of my peak week
- show report from the NPA Final
- anything you guys specifically request – ask in the comments and I’ll do my best to deliver

Well, that’s about all from me. I’m off into London today to bid farewell say see you again soon! to my coach, Kat, who’s off on her travels before relocating to the other side of the world. I hate goodbyes, so I refuse to let this be a goodbye. It will simply become an excellent excuse for me to finally visit that part of the world. And, in the meantime, thank goodness for Skype. Let me just say here that I am indebted to Kat for all that she’s done for me over the past year. She’s taught me more than I thought it possible to learn and has become a true and very valuable friend. Safe travels, Kat!

17 days of prep left to go! is a post from The Fit Writer blog.

Nicola Joyce – the Fit Writer – is a freelance copywriter and journalist who writes for the sport and fitness industry. Her main website is here.