The Feelings of Competing

This blog post is LONG overdue. As some of you know I had my very first bikini competition in May 2016. I did better than I ever dreamed I would do. My goal was to get up on stage and do it and if I placed that was just frosting on the cake. I entered two divisions; Novice Bikini and Open Bikini Class F. Novice is for those who have not competed or placed before. Open Bikini is open to anyone who would like to compete, F is my height division. I decided to do both divisions because I really wanted to get a tiara! But if you are trying to save money and enter only one division enter open. Open is really what counts, no one really touts a novice trophy in the big pond.

I came away from my show with two pieces of hardware; 2nd in Novice Bikini and 1st in Open!! Talk about blowing the goal out of the water! I was so excited! I worked my tail feathers off and it was apparent and I won!

To get up on that stage was one of the most exciting and scary things I have done. I was really doing it. I was really going up in front of a ton of people and then asking seven strangers to judge me on my looks and my sassy nonverbal skills.

All the girls I went up on stage with were really great. We were all so excited and back stage everyone was friendly even if we were all going to be gunning for the same trophy in just a few minutes. In a sport that can be perceived as a vanity sport I met a lot of really great people. I feel like I was adopted into a family of sorts. We cheer for each other and give encouragement to each other. It is a God send to have like-minded people around when “normal” people look at you like you have lost your marbles because you are weighing an apple.

After all that training finally came to fruition I was excited to have some time off. Unfortunately, I am a dummy and set my sites on a marathon later in the year. I shifted my training from lifting to running. I still lifted just not as aggressively. I was ready to be not as regimented with my time and my diet. I needed to take the time to bask in my victory and eat cake. It was actually very difficult to let the measure everything, track everything mentality go. I could see where eating disorders could arise out of this sport if you were not careful.

 My boobs came back. I put my body fat back on and the world turned warm once again. I am so happy that I did it. Some days there were tears and some days I was angry. I was so tired and ready to be done. But there is not one day that goes by that I regret it. If you are on the fence about competing I say do it! Nothing will make you stick to a diet and exercise goal quite like a competition. You don’t have to win trophies and tiara’s to be a bad ass.

Shut Up Left Arm You're Drunk!

Today both of my arms are hungover and it's no surprise since they were obviously drunk at training on Tuesday.  You know "drunk arms" where you attempt to lift something and your arms go every direction except where they are supposed to.  See the video for an example of my drunk arms.  My left arm being clearly drunker than my right.

Which made me wonder about one sided weakness and the best ways to work on evening out.  It turns out what Mike had us doing is exactly what you should do to even things out.  So here is some advice for my left arm:

• Left arm - no more relying on the sober right arm to carry to load while you drink away.
• Use dumbballs instead of barballs (yes balls not bells...we’ve had this conversation).  This allows each arm to work by itself to complete the movement and doesn’t allow the stronger arm to do more than the weaker

•  Left arm - no more waiting until the right arm is done and then pretending its overall tiredness and not your left arm drunken lazines.
•  Use your weaker arm first. 

•  Left arm - you get off easy on this one. 
• Work each arm equally.  Don’t do extra sets or more weight with the weaker arm.  Using the same weight an reps will even them out over time.  

• Left arm - you won’t get off so easy on this one.  You will be my official beer lifting... I mean protein shake lifting arm from now on.
• Outside of the gym… use the weaker arm more for everyday activities… I suppose this is more of a use both arms equally instead of settling into the habit of just using the stronger arm.  Apparently it can also help you become more comfortable using it in the gym which will allow for better mind muscle connection. 

Right arm - Keep up the Good work!

~ Biz

Strap me down, I’m gonna lose it

Dead Lift for Sweet Booty

So I kind of hate dead lifting but we’ve been doing it a lot lately. It makes my lower back sore and my neck and shoulders. I have the laptop disease so it’s always a mess in that region. “Well that’s probably why you should be doing dead lifts,” say World’s Most Sensible Personal Trainer Mike Welch.

No need to soil the screen with my internal reply to that.

So it turns out there are two great things about doing dead lifts. Number 1, getting strapped down! I live on a laptop so in addition to my neck and shoulder issues, I have to be careful about the carpal tunnel parts. In other words, my grip can not keep up with my ample banging-trained booty.

And here’s where it’s great to be in a gym with World’s Best Take-No-Excuses Personal Trainer Mike Welch. I say “I can’t do it!” and he says, “Let me strap you down.” Yes please! Once I take the focus - both physical and mental - off my grip, all the sudden I can dead lift! Being strapped in allowed me to lift a TON more than I would have without them.

Strapping Biz Down!

So look for straps in your gym and ask a friendly fellow banging trainer to strap you in. You won’t regret it! Check out the pics to get an idea of what they look like - I’d seen them before but not known what they were about. 

The Number 2 reason to dead lift, watching Biz max it out. AMAZING! She is freaking strong and in the sexy freaky way. We put plate after plate of weight on her bar and she murdered them! She left me in the dust and I believe I have mentioned my ample banging-trained booty. If you ever need a car lifted off your baby, call Biz. If you need to save the Wicked Witch of the East, Biz can hold the house while she escapes. I will not say she’s at Atlas level but a few more weeks with World’s Best Yes-You-Can Personal Trainer and I might put the whole world on her shoulders - but only if she’s strapped in!