Why I Hate Power Lifting - bet that got your attention!

I don’t Power Lift. I don’t want to Power Lift. Ever. Ever ever.

Liberating just saying it! I hate lifting so heavy that I feel I’m going to pop a foo-foo valve. I hate trying to get ‘PB’s’ and set gym records. I don’t want to compete against others while pretending that I’m only really competing against myself (whateves!). I don’t care whether I ever bench my own body weight for reps. And what’s more …. while I’m quite interested and often enthused by others’ achievements – the bottom line is that I don’t really care if you do either. That’s not meant to be offensive – on the contrary – I am a follower of many ‘strengthi̅es’ but your achievements are yours and the greatest delight in your achievements should belong to you. Does that make sense? I think it does because it means that what I do I should only do for my enjoyment and not some perceived greatness that I might be receiving from nameless others on silly social media sites.

What has inspired this ramble today? Yet another trend has hit the fitness world and yet again I don’t seem to ‘fit’. Throughout my life I have often felt like a square peg trying to jam myself into a round hole. That’s my own dumb fault and I’ve come a long way since high-school when I truly suffered for my quest. I have (and do) read and re-read the story about the apples and bananas. If you don’t know it, here it is in a nutshell;

If you are an apple and you meet someone who doesn’t like apples, you can try to be a banana – because you know they love bananas and you want them to like you. But you’re an apple. Not a banana. So all you can ever hope to be is a pretend-banana, which would make you a low-grade of apple because all energy is going into being that pretend banana. But guess what? You will never be a true banana, and that person only likes bananas. So, in short, you’re still an apple and will always be an apple and nothing you can do will make that person like apples.

Back to training. It seems to take me a while to get into new trends. I tend to balk at all things ‘celebrity’ and by that I mean all highly popular trends. I prefer to take a back seat and see if they are credible for me. There are many that I have not felt drawn to when the masses flocked there; I don’t do kettlebells – they hurt my wrists. I have never picked up a battle rope – none at my gym and no inclination to buy one. I have never tried official Crossfit – but I have done plenty of workouts in my garage that I could probably call ‘Kirsten’ and it would fit into the WOD books. And I don’t care for power lifting/strength lifting – ie. lifting ultra-heavy shit with the goal being to get it from Point A to Point B.

I’ve been told, I’ve read articles and I've listened to podcasts that strongly state that lifting heavy really is the only way to increase muscle. Who am I to disagree? Maybe they are right – though anyone who claims to be the ‘god’ of what is right just turns me off big time, especially when they mock others to get their own point across – maybe they are wrong. Who really cares? I just know it’s not for me.

Why? Well I tried that heavy stuff for a while and I found the following things happened quite rapidly;

·         I took all focus of my muscle connection, putting more effort and energy in technique. For example, this meant that a lot of my bench press strain was in my back and my legs – less so in my chest. I’m sure it did actually work my chest – but there were many other muscles in play too – quite possibly due to the aforementioned bad technique. In short, I lost that connection that I rely on to really make my muscle scream.

·         My mind took a huge hit when I started to lift for strength progress. I know there are a dozen different apps and programs that are designed to spur along the trainee with automated weight increases etc etc. I detest them. Can’t think of anything that I would like to do less than be challenged to lift heavier by a robotic app.

·         And most important of all, by a country mile – I started to hurt. The heavy squats (most definitely performed badly by me) caused some sort of awful strain and ongoing pain in my lower back and in the middle of my upper back. I had never, ever had these injuries before and, all of a sudden, I had pain and strain. The ache lasted post workout and into the night and I had to find certain ways to sleep and sit to offer relief. I had a nasty screaming in my elbows from my arm position with the low bar squats and they would start paining when I even looked at that bar! This put deadlifts in the same boat. I just started hurting!

With the niggling injuries came the mind games. I was going backwards in weights rather than forwards. Oh that wonderful feeling you get when you get to the gym and know that, not only am I unable to lift heavier – I can’t even lift the weight I was on not 6 weeks ago!!! And I was indoctrinated to think that a nice ligh/high volume program was completely useless for anything. So I found ways to skip the gym. And that, quite frankly, for me – is unheard of.

So I stopped with it. I jumped off the strength train and right back into what I love most. Training my muscles in any way that makes them scream, with a progressive program in place for the long term. Just to clarify – I still train as heavy as I can with the rep range I am undertaking. I try to leave nothing behind. I’m no wimp. But I’m no power lifter either. And I don’t want to be one. If that means I look less than I could – so be it. I can live with that. Because the joy I get from training comes from the style of training I undertake.

On that, I have been with the wonderful Jo Mountfort for about 4 months now and I have to say that I’m loving every second of it! I’m challenged, my butt is whopped and I can see progress. I really do love the programs and it’s a different style of programming than I’m used to, which is a great change. I feel very renewed and revitalised. And guess what? Jo is a Miss Universe a few times over (WFF) and now a Pro – and she doesn’t do power lifting.

Nutrition is also going pretty darn well. I’m 2kg lighter at this point of my prep than I was last time so that gives me wriggle room. There is always pressure in prep to get as lean as necessary while not getting there too quickly or too soon. But I fought the weight-clock last time around and I have no intentions of doing that again. I would rather stand down from a comp than frantically scramble for a date with my weight. I have Giselle (NZ) looking after me and she works closely with Jo. Together they are a formidable team. That makes our little trio pretty darn awesome in my eyes.

It's finally time for a pic. I don’t do them often and the higher the onslaught of ‘selfies’ on FB, the less inclined I am to post them least I be grouped in with the regular monotony of asses and biceps that inundate our feeds as a comp gets near. But I will post them here and it takes a concerted ‘click’ to get to them so I feel better about that – haha – ‘taking the moral highground’ = PUKE!!

INBA 2012                                                           Clearly not 'comp lean' - yesterday

So all in all, everything goes well right now. House renos are beginning in a few weeks, work is as busy and challenging as usual - but I gotta say that I love it! - and this ol Darwin comp is looming in a few weeks. Apart from that, my three children are booked to the brim with school work, sports, dance, social lives and even a part time job for my oldest princess. Around all of this I'm trying out some new healthy recipes for them (thank you Ms Stringer!) and we are planning some pretty outstanding holidays for the year ahead.

Never a dull moment. Ever.

There are plenty of interviews in which the trainer asks questions of the competitor. What about  something different? How about the competitor asking the trainer questions about why they did what they did? Chose what they chose? Guided in the way they guided?We saw a hole in the market and we jumped in there! Here is our Reverse Interview. Candice asks me the hard questions about her training regime. Remembering Candice was and is still an incredibly close friend of both mine and Michelle's and I have to be honest that I was shit-scared about getting her ready for that comp.

Why? Because I already knew some of her weaknesses. I knew what she did and didn't like and some of it isn't negotiable in training. So the things we laughed and joked about in the past were things I knew I'd have to implement into her training.And seriously speaking here - for those that continuously mouth off with motherhood statements that sound something like, "I would never follow a trainer that .....(prescribed such little food/gave me too much cardio/allowed me to get hungry/didn't alter my program to suit my precious list of 'wants')" - you can feck off. Candice said it much more nicely than that in her interview but I'll say it straight. There are tons and tons and tons of liars on Facebook. You can debate and argue with them forever and a day but they'll never admit to the untruths so it's a waste of good energy.

I put that out there because I'd like to say that we could prep a person on tons of food with absolutely no cardio and the whole experience is mildly uncomfortable at worst. But that'd be bullshit. Your level of comfort is subjective and each person handles it differently. Some say they are uncomfortable and allow their support team to do just that - offer support. Others won't admit the discomfort, preferring to put on a "it's all bloody great!! Not hungry at all!! So much food - even when I'm leaning down - that I can't keep up with it!!" and that's a tactic in itself - a good one. But let's not forget that being "full" in comp prep is not the same as being "full" after the buffet sitting at the local Sizzler. So let's not assume that Miss Noname on FB who says she ploughs through 2000cals per day and is shredding before our eyes is being completely honest - chances are she's telling big pork pies.


Wow - that feels better. Now time to start;

Candice: Were you hesitant to take on a friend as a client? Why/Why not? When you started talking about competing and mentioned that you would like to train with us, my knees started shaking and my stomach went into a few knots. I had to really sit down and think about what was going on with me and why I was so nervous about the thought of training you. Firstly, you are an incredibly dear friend and I was terrified that you wouldn’t be happy and fulfilled with your end result. I trained someone once who did not fulfil what she wanted to and she clearly blamed me for that. I worried that this scenario might undo our friendship and that just couldn’t happen as far as I was concerned. So on one hand I would have been less anxious if you had gone with someone else as your coach….. BUT…. On the other hand, you are so precious to Michelle and I and we didn’t want to miss out on the chance of being right by your side as you got back up there and showed off what you had. I have a great memory and I could not ever forget the way you mesmerised the INBA Darwin stage that first year and took out the overall title. I wasn’t actually there but I saw the pics and heard what the audience had to say and clearly you have a special gift for being able to transform yourself into the most graceful and commandeering competitor – we cannot take any credit for your stage presence (unfortunately!) – but Candice - you’ve just got ‘it’! Don’t ever for get that.

Candice: Were you worried about how much weight I was carrying at the start of prep or did you see it as an achievable challenge?? 

Okay. Hard question. Yes. I certainly did have concerns that we were looking at about 10 kgs to have you in a competitive condition. My concerns were stronger than Michelle’s because I had ‘been there/done that’ and I knew how awful it was to claw back from being on the higher end of the weight spectrum than is optimal for prepping. Michelle consistently reminded me that we were going for a look and not a weight and that really helped me to keep my eyes on your physique changing in front of us and not just your scale weight.

I knew it was achievable but Michelle and I made a vow that we would not delve into the area of starvation and cardio combined – we are seriously opposed to anything that will cause hormonal damage. Of course I did not want egg on our face when we got close to the end and found that we needed some drastic measures to get the result we needed and we certainly did need to lower your food more than I would have liked to. Being a competitor myself, I am keenly aware of how much food I need in me to stay satisfied and I literally jumped right into your ‘diet’ with you because I just had to feel what you would be feeling so that I would know whether we were asking too much of you. Drastic measure I know!!! And it was uncomfortable for me too!! Haha. Not something I would do for any Tom, Dick or Harry!

So yes, I knew it was achievable but I knew it would be really hard work. And I have to mention how proud we were of what you managed – especially during those last few weeks. Michelle and I knew that you went through a terrible tragedy and we knew that the possibility was there that it would de-rail you. Instead you took the challenge of achieving your goal and you ran with it. And from there on in, nothing was a problem to you. If we could relay to you the difference in your psychological state from that point on ….

Candice: For you and Michelle, what were the hardest things about coaching a friend? From my end, it was a good mix of sympathy and tough love, but what did you guys think?

Hardest things … mmm … as opposed to training someone we don’t know;

-          The number one hardest thing is that we ‘chat’ on messenger every day (Muscle Chicks are still a force to be reckoned with!!), and we could not hide from you! And you could not hide from us!! Haha – and funnily enough we are closer than ever – thank god.

-          Making nutrition changes and impressing the importance of strict adherence. I can be a little sharp and to-the-point with trainees if they don’t get with the program. With you I always had that fear that I would upset you too much and that our friendship would be damaged. As I said before, that simply could not happen! And now and again I had to remember our old slogan – “friends that tan butt naked together, are friends forever” despite strong messages being sent and received.

-          We were really, really tough on you at points. I’m not a huge fan of long preps – they did not work for me and I felt that weren’t the best way with you either. My experience is that long preps start with a hiss and a roar and they peter out after about 5-6 weeks and the weight loss either stalls or goes backwards and it’s quite hard to kickstart both the body and the mind. My preference is to maintain a weight within kicking distance of where I want to be and have a short sharp prep from there. I sense this would be a better option for you too but we started a long way out and the stalling happened and it took a few tough-love sessions to get back on the straight and narrow. Not my favourite thing to do but I’m so glad we persevered.

-          Not being at your comp and having to rely on messages was really, really hard!!! Getting teary-eyed at my computer and not being able to give you the biggest hug ever – hard!!!!

-          But I have to say that your comp prep and outcome is something I am immensely proud of.

Candice: Training with you guys was very different to what I had done in the past. Why did you opt for higher rep sessions? They definitely tested me mentally every single day and there were many,  many tears shed in the gym!! I fondly remember one of my leg sessions that contained about 7 billion friggin lunges...

I have to honestly say that your gym tantrums just brought a smile to my face .. haha!! In all seriousness though, we had spoken at length about training styles and, like myself, you had expressed that the low rep/ultra-heavy (relatively speaking) training programs were not a style that you enjoyed. We also canvassed your limitations and quickly ascertained that heavy squatting was never going to be an option for you. With all of that in mind, I took the mindset that what you enjoy doing, you’ll do your best with.

Okay – let’s just get one thing straight here too; I think you are an amazing competitor with some real spunk up your sleeve and a stage-auora that radiates for miles. But I don’t think for you, for me, for just about anyone I personally know – that it’s worth training in a way that you dislike just for the sake of a physique competition. I hold the opinion that what you love doing, you’ll do best, and long-term enjoyment and fulfilment in training is of way, way, way more importance than trying to conform to a certain style because it is supposed to be the optimal way to train for a comp. I firmly believe that relative intensity is the key to any workout, whether you are doing a high rep/ high volume session, or mid-range.  For me it doesn’t really matter whether your weights would be termed ‘heavy’ by the status quo – as long as you lift with the intensity that sends you to failure, then I’m happy. And if there truly was only one superior way to train, there wouldn’t be so many champion bodybuilders all doing it differently. So your high rep, quick-paced workouts were designed especially for you with the info I had about you in mind.

I knew they were going to get more challenging as we moved on and, to cut the cardio aspect as low as we could, we ‘upped’ the intensity of your weights sessions to include; volume, timed rest periods and varied reps/sets with a few added bonuses in there like; finishers, drop sets and supersets. We needed to cut your legs so I focussed your workouts around those legs and pretty much smashed them as much as I could while still allowing you to crawl to work each day. The tears were tears of gratitude really .. weren’t they?

Candice: They weren't gratitude tears I can assure you. Haha!! And in terms of nutrition - we followed IIFYM for the first portion (cue gasps, head shakes, snickers from the fitness community...) why? What are the merits of this? Again is it finding what works for you and what you will enjoy/stick to?

We followed IIFYM for a start for a few reasons. First and foremost, both you and I are what I would call ‘foodies’. We eat emotionally and love to jump on a bandwagon that tells us what to eat, when and how much. We don’t care for the ‘why’ as what we really want is someone to take responsibility for our choices and our outcomes. For both you and I, that resulted in too much weight gain – in my opinion anyhow. I don’t subscribe to unlimited weightgain all for the sake of gaining muscle. As per above, neither of us make a living from competing (thank god!!) and it is therefore important that we enjoy life day-to-day first and foremost. Being able to sculpt ourselves into a certain look is only a hobby that can be all-consuming but isn’t the be-all of life.

So I really wanted you to think about what you were eating, when you were choosing to eat it and why you chose what you chose. I wanted you to track your progress and be able to say that a certain formula of food combined with a certain training program would produce a certain result. Knowing what breakdowns of macro-nutrients you were eating, craving, cheating with and including or excluding is a huge key in the menu you should write for yourself, regardless of any competing. I really did not want Final Stage to be another meal plan system and I admit to forcing you to look at nutrition more than perhaps you wanted to at times.

It did become quite quickly obvious that simply following macro-nutrient splits was not going to be effective for the whole prep. You were prone to stock-piling your food to the end of the day .. eating minimally throughout the morning and afternoon and then having a disproportionate dinner. This still met your macro split but it wasn’t and isn’t an optimal way to eat and I think a system like Intermittent Fasting would be terrible for you (and don’t get me started on how many people I think bastardise this concept to suit their need for a semi-binge style of evening eating!). So that’s when we started giving you some pretty firm guidelines about when we thought it was best to eat, the spacing out of proteins in particular, and the clumping of carbohydrates around certain times of the day.

For the 5 weeks from one comp to the next (which is incredibly hard to maintain momentum in), I trialled a carbohydrate timing system where I changed your carb-intake weekly and we really did get some fab results in my opinion. Your feedback was that carbs pre-workout were great for training boosts so I gave you that timing twice but I insisted on changing it weekly to pre-empt any sort of plateau.

Yes – it’s always about finding out what suits someone best. And that is not all down to just physical results, it’s about keeping your head and heart as happy as possible too because, as I’ve said twice now, what you love most is what you’ll do best with.

CANDICE - FINAL RESULT
To summarise our final result with Candice - she was down by 8-9kgs for the first comp in which she came a fierce second. We then lifted the intensity and was down 11kg for the second comp in which she flew in at 3rd - we did it!!

I have an amazing blog interview for you - if I do say so myself. I pride myself in asking the hard questions - not ones designed to prop up federations or sell supplements, I have no interest in that. I just want honest answers to the questions I want to know about. So here they are;

Part 1;

·         First Competition Season vs Second

·         Weight Gain Post Comp ..... Fuelled by Clean Eating ...shock/horror/gasp

·         A New Direction

·         The Dangers of Social Media 

Candice - IFBB Nationals/Amateur Olympia - 3rd Place Figure Novice Tall 

We know you just competed at the IFBB Competition in Qld two weeks ago – and you placed 3^rd which is fantastic – but let’s start at the start. I happen to know you had another competition season that didn’t end optimally. Tell us all about that.

My last prep was actually quite good, it was the aftermath that was the issue! My first prep (might be what you are referring to) was awful. I had a 'coach' who was a famous fitness model and is/was quite well known and had a cookie cutter food and exercise plan (unbeknownst to me, it was the exact same one she gave ALL of her competitors regardless of body composition etc). Needless to say, I wasn't lean enough. I did win that comp (fitness model INBA NT) however I think that was in large due to my stage presence. I jumped straight into another prep under a wonderful coach and got the conditioning I was after, but didn't place that time. 

The aftermath from that was a 17kg weight gain. Yep, 17kg. I ate, and ate and ate some more for good measure. 

With all of that in mind, why on earth did you decide to compete again?

Long story short - because I adore this sport. I really, really do. I love pushing myself, I love the dedication and commitment but most of all I love the people that this sport attracts. I love being surrounded by driven, strong, passionate people and this sport is full of them! I've often felt that I didn't fit in anywhere, but I've definitely found my niche now. 

Candice - Darwin INBA 2013 - 1st Place

Your first season was 2013 and you have only just competed again now in late 2015 – why the long wait?

Well...I've always wanted to be a figure girl. I needed to put on size, especially in my arms as they are overpowered by my lower body. Also, I wanted to make sure that when I started prepping I wasn't doing it purely to 'lose weight' and get lean. I wanted to make sure first that I got my eating under control and addressed the 'whys' of the eating instead of throwing myself into prep hoping that being forced to eat a certain way would fix all of that for me (because IT WON’T!). I started to get that sorted in about August 2014 with the help of some wonderful people and then felt ready to start prepping in about April 2015. 

Candice - Tropix INBA - No Placing

Before we move on, let's talk more about post comp. Acknowledging just how tough these questions are;

How is it possible to go from comp-lean to 17kg over that weight?

Well...A number of issues. This is why reverse dieting is so important! Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing!? After eating at a calorie deficit for a really long time during prep (and remember I did two preps back to back, so even longer than normal), the metabolism slows down. Post comp I didn't pay attention to reverse dieting and just went on with life as per usual despite all the warnings...I ate 'clean' but ate what I wanted, when I wanted, didn't really meal prep etc etc. It was also a big time of change for me - I finished uni, moved and got my first proper job, so I think my health was definitely pushed down the priority list. At the end of the day it was my own laziness and ignorance that got me there!

Candice - Post Comp

So what protocols did you try to follow? Why did/didn't they work?

I didn't really - I mean I tried to 'eat clean' as much as possible but I didn't pay attention to quantities at all. Just goes to show there can be too much of a good thing...too much food is still too much food whether it is chocolate or chicken and veg! 

When I got to my turning point moment I started on a recomposer program which I loved, but also still felt that it was too restrictive for an off season for me. For those that don't have experience with recomp it is a software program that is used by coaches. You basically eat the same foods every day for a week; progress is then measured via weight, skin folds and strength gains during training, and then food is adjusted accordingly. It’s a fabulous way to track progress, but I didn't want to feel like I was prepping during my off season...maybe I just wasn't ready? Who knows? I do love the idea of the program though.

After this I started researching IIFYM (gasp!!) and after many discussions with Kirsten and lots and lots of reading and podcasts I decided to give it a crack...and it worked! For those who don't know IIFYM is a method of food tracking/dieting whereby you set yourself targets for protein, carbs and fats and you must hit these every day, eating foods of your choice and keeping track of it in an app such as my fitness pal. I managed to increase my food up to about 2300 calories (which was important for me at this time as I was almost feeling ready to start prepping again) and lose a few kilos in the process. It gave me control back over my food, but also allowed me enough flexibility to eat out when I wanted to (which I really love). 

So are you trying to tell us that 'Clean Eating' still had you putting on excess weight?? Gasp…horror.

Yes...

And did you try IIFYM in it's raw form - that is, eating whatever, whenever as long as it fitted your macros? 

Yeah I did. I don't generally eat junk food anyway, but when I did I made sure it fit the numbers required for the day.

What was the result of following it that way?

Over the course of a few months I got my calories up to about 2300 and managed to drop 4kg meaning I started my prep at 70kg. Getting calories up was really important to me - I could have lost more weight but decided that it was more important to get my calories up as high as possible whilst maintaining weight before prep started. 

Did you ever try IIFYM with modifications or changes to the method?

Once I started prep I used this method for the first few months. We quickly realised that I needed to spread my calories more evenly throughout the day and pay more attention to the types of foods I was eating. I did get a little bit carried away with the whole 'eat whatever you like as long as it fits' mentality and ate a lot of foods I wouldn't normally eat just because I could! 

How did you feel about yourself through the weight gain?

Awful. Horrible. Embarrassed. I don't think I looked 'overweight' but I was incredibly unhappy and uncomfortable.  I didn't look like someone that trained. 

What did you think of the competition world while this was going on?

I still loved it. I became very interested in the different athletes and their 'methods' and had started doing a lot of reading of blogs and listening to podcasts about nutrition, training styles etc. I couldn't help but feel a little jealous of those that seemed to be able to maintain a rocking' bod with seemingly little effort year round. This is where social media got a bit dangerous for me...Easy to forget that people aren't always honest!

What was the turning point if there was one?

I was in hospital for an operation and had to do the dreaded weigh in - something I had avoided for a long time! And the scales hit 74kg...Not too long after that was the WFF Universe Titles where I was immersed in the world again after such a long break and I knew it was time to get my shit together. 

And let's touch on social media - you and I talked quite often about the girls that put up posts of "shredding" while eating 2000 cals plus a day. Hell, some even ate that and did no cardio and still claimed to shred down. What's your thoughts on those posts?

Ahhh. I'm not sure. I don't like to think that people blatantly lie about things. I'm sure they do, but I will give them benefit of the doubt. I just know that what they were claiming was working miracles for them definitely was not working for me, which made me a little mad...How come I wasn't shredded on 2000 a day, let alone the no cardio part!? Haha. It's all relative, and it’s hard to be rational and reasonable during prep sometimes. 

You touched on social media being a little dangerous for you. Tell us more. 

Incredibly. There was even a point throughout my prep that I was banned from it for two weeks. Two whole weeks! But, I spent way too much time looking at my competition, comparing photos, looking at their food and training...ridiculous stuff!! I was constantly doubting myself, comparing myself and talking myself out of competing purely because of a few well posed photos and posts. 

What would you suggest for others who get their training, advice, self-esteem and everything else from Facebook?

Don't get me wrong I think it is a wonderful tool when used in the right way. It gives us so much access to health and fitness information and 'gurus' that even our freaky little sport has become more mainstream, but I think information on there needs to be taken with a grain of salt. Absorb the information, research the theories yourself and don't get stuck on the 'right' and 'wrong' ways to lose weight or train or grow muscle. There isn't a right and wrong. There isn't a quick fix or a magic fat burning pill or powder. Those abs on the girl advertising all of the above are probably there because she has just competed and is still hungry and has a wicked spray tan and/or is in exceptional gym bathroom lighting. For most of us, all that will work is CONSISTENCY, hard work, consistency, consistency and a little more consistency. 

Part II is coming soon - more questions - more honesty.....

I have a mental strength when I put my mind to something. I don’t deny this. I like to think it’s my inner strength. It’s been called other names in the past though;

-         Obsessive – just can’t seem to let that shit go!

-         Compulsive – how will I sleep if I don’t just do it??!

-         Dogged – is there really such a colour as grey?

-         Maniacal – there are many ways to skin a cat and I like to put a few together sometimes.

-         One-eyed – there is grey. Dark grey or light grey. Nothing in between.

-         Even … gulp .. a zealot – ouchie – that one hurts just a tad!

I have an update on me. I’m not nearly as much of any of those things as I used to be. But I do retain just a bit of each of them, that’s undeniable. And I won’t even apologise for it. I’d rather have an opinion and give it a good crack, then be a cream shade of vanilla and not bother to get passionate about something.

Once I decided to give bodybuilding a crack, on 1 January 2012, I threw myself into head-first. Those around me at the time are probably smiling about now. You see, from that point on, I just had a one-track mind and pretty much every move I made was to get one step closer to that goal. And I won. I won my class and I won the Overall title that year. I have no regrets, but I would do it differently if I knew what I now know.

Of all the lessons I have learned, the methods and techniques I have picked up and the tips I have up my sleeve, the best one I have is to never call my way the only way. Never ever. It has been hard when I’ve learned something new and it works almost immediately and I feel like I can save the world with this little titbit - so hard not to announce it in such a way as to be a smidgin condescending, a little bit smug and oozing a little slice of mentalness.

It hasn’t always been my fault though. People desperately looking for weight-loss are pretty easy to impress upon. More than easy – they tend to want to jump into anything that promises the world. In fact, the crazier and more ‘hard-core’ the better. Why simply eat less shit and up the ante on exercise, when you can pay one of Michelle Bridge’s office girls to write you a personalised (snort!) program with exactly what to eat and when, matched with over-the-top cardio on 6 days, with a special “Super Saturday” extra-long session for good measure. Michelle and her wallet wins every time.

The other thing I can say about myself these days is that I am truly grateful for my career that runs alongside my training. I was chatting with a beautiful lady at the gym today and it dawned on me that so many girls (not so many guys that I know of), get a taste of bodybuilding and next minute they are focused purely on how to immerse themselves in that world from morning til night. Suddenly they are studying their Cert III & IV and surprisingly pushing their professions/careers/jobs to the side and pursuing a life as a trainer/coach – and it feels like they think the total immersion in all-things-and-people-gym makes them a more dedicated/pure/hard-core trainer. I wish them well. As for me, I went the other way. I was a PT when I first started out and I quickly returned to the career that I love, and I love it all the more as a perfect contrast to training. I love every day of my job and I am sincerely grateful that I am there and thriving in a career that will keep me very comfortably into my retirement (which is still a bloody long way away for your information!!). Something that personal training will not achieve for about 99% of people. And to be honest, pt’ing is bloody hard work!! It’s like being a life-coach without the training and it doesn’t pay particularly well, has no super attached and, here’s the real kicker, can be fairly unforgiving as we get older and don’t wish to be our own walking training advertisement. All things to consider before re-locating from the 'office' to the gym.

Onto exciting stuff. This new trainer of mine, she writes a brutal program. I’m flogged at the end of every workout and, just quietly, there is one in there that plays with my mind when I know it’s scheduled for the day. The scheduled split is different from what I have ever done and there is a combination of styles within one workout which is quite exciting. There are changes happening and that’s pretty exciting.

I also have a nutritionist looking after me and that’s a first. I struggle to trust myself with food sometimes so it’s even harder to trust someone else. But I am and it’s paying off. I have the type of personality that likes to do everything very correctly so following her plan is no exception. It helps that it includes hummus and strawberries and eggs and rice cakes and berries and porridge and quinoa and chickpeas and meat ….. all the usuals but some great combinations and a very user-friendly format.

I’m still looking at Season A, 2016. I need to seriously practise more posing so I can lose the 1980’s robot dance moves, or maybe I’ll keep them in there and go for the sympathy vote!

Food Rules Can Create Food Prisons - Or Is Just Me Who Does This??

DON’T MAJOR ON THE MINORS!!! (or… stop making health rules into your own personal prison!)

Guess what. People – girls, in particular - are very, very good at making a religion out of food and training ‘rules’. Tell them not to do something and suddenly the baby goes flying out the window with the bath water. Suddenly it’s no longer ‘ok’ to eat a certain food combination, or use a certain oil – least the heavens open and a bolt of hot lightening strikes you down and adds a big fat kilo of cellulite right on the widest part of your hips! I dare you to tell me you don’t know what I mean – dare you!!

The fads surrounding nutrition are very clear and they generally start on social media and make their way onto mainstream media before the world explodes into a new religion!! Paleo. Cross-fit. Diets. Get a few celebrity names on-board and we have ourselves a new religion.

Here’s something I know to be true; Too much information is NOT helpful for most of us. Between FB posts (which are always truthful and/or researched of course – no question about that!), seminars, e-books, newsletters and loud-mouths – the overload of information is rampant.

On that; if you are taking a random FB comment as gospel, on just about any topic, without finding more out yourself, well… you sort of need to give yourself a sharp uppercut. I seriously do not care if it is said by an “IFBB pro” (cos there aren’t many of them around are there?), a ‘Sponsored Athlete’ (who has no interest in pushing their sponsee’s product of course), or an all-round honest person – a comment with no back-up (including my own!) is just there for entertainment and to pique your interest. Not to build one of the walls of your personal prison from.

If your bread-and-butter is dependant on training, nutrition, health and selling your product, I am certain that every detail is important. Staying in touch with the cutting edge of science and also balancing that with the latest fads and putting it all into one attractive marketing bundle will be the way to win likers for sure. I get that.

But for the majority of us who love to train and want to stay healthy, fit and happy – it’s pretty damn important to keep a balance on our approach. If you’re scratching your head and wondering what the hell I’m on about, I’ll try and make this really simple;

How To Make Food Rules Into Your Own Personal Prison

-          I would eat fruit because it is a brilliant source of vitamins and hardly upsets my fragile little insulin monster at all

-          However I may consider giving it away altogether because, sadly for fruit, it has those magic ‘ose’ (as in fructose) letters attached. Meaning it is sugar. And sugar is Satanic. Capital ‘S’.

-          I would definitely hold on to broccoli. That’s what bodybuilders eat. Broccoli.

-          But I wouldn’t admit to it. Because only fanatical bodybuilders eat Broccoli.

-          I would eat tons of cauliflower. I would use it as my pizza base; I would cook it whole in the oven; I would use it as ‘fake’ mashed potato. Cauliflower is Godly. Capital ‘G’.

-          I would not drink milk!! Give me a “Hell No!!” Milk is bad. Really Bad.

-          Almond milk is ok. Rice milk is ok. Soy milk is bad.

-          Actually – apparantely full cream milk is ok but low fat milk is still bad.

-          F***K it!! All too hard to figure out. Just give anything ‘milk’ a wide berth.

-          Chicken breast is still the most angelic and celestial meat in the whole world.

-          But never would I eat it with broccoli because Chicken & Broccoli is a terrible cliché.

-          I would stick with quinoa – but I wouldn’t call it “Quin – O – A” again, because I really did feel like a dick. I now know it to be “Keen-Wa”. What a stupid word for a yummy carb!

-          I would keep rice because “no one ever got fat eating rice” – right? Is that still applicable?

-          Unless I subscribed to Perfect Paleo Pete. And then I would have to make do with organic eggs and smallish piece of grass fed beef. Yummy as it is… watching a bowl of lettuce would become more exciting than eating this every night.

-          I would eat more smoothies. Green of course. Is there any other colour for a smoothie? Have you heard of a Crimson Smoothie? Of course you haven’t. Because the only smoothies that exist are Green Smoothies. Overpriced Green Smoothies. Thank you Boost – you rock!

-          Coffee is good. But bad. But great. But evil.

-          Green tea is ok. It tastes like horse-wee – but I’m told it’s great. I’m sure it is … because it tastes so bad. Even the very cool and uber popular (love that word. ‘Uber’. So sophisticated) X-50 Green tea. Guess what – I hate it. Horrible. Strong, nasty after-taste that keeps on giving for an extra hour or two. YUCK.

Supplements

-          Creatine, protein, glucosamine, ALA, glutamine, BCAA’s, leucine, tourine, casein, glutamine, magnesium, tyrosine, vitamin C, vitamin B, vitamin E – I’m so overwhelmed by the whole lot and every time I delve into it, I find information that negates the way I’m doing it – so I give up and pretty much don’t take any of them.

-          Protein powders should be ‘raw’. No added nasties. Sweetened naturally. Except they taste freakin terrible. Horrible. Awful. Close-nose-and-down-the-trap material.

-          Protein bars are chalky tasting chocolate bars. Demonic to their low-grade-protein core and the fibre content does not negate the carb content. Only fools (like me) are taken in by this and continue to chew-longtime on them. And I like the taste – gasp, shock, horror. Fancy admitting to liking them and eating them!! Occasionally.

Training

-          Reps, sets, rest periods, rest days, heavy weights, light weights, techniques, range of movement, partial sets, dropsets, matrixes, giant sets – all of it needs to be combined to a perfectly set program that interacts beautifully and is part of an overall progressive program. No wonder personal trainers are an essential expense – how the hell do you make sense of the information overload? And the ‘rules’ that are touted by some FB self-proclaimed gurus?

Estrogen

-          This is the word that is beginning to haunt my very soul!! I’m surrounded by estrogen information and I’m seriously worried about what I need to do to run far away from this fat holding, dimple making hormone!! To avoid it at all costs I need to avoid;

Heating anything in plastic, drinking from warm plastic bottles. Using makeup, perfume, deodorant, jewellery, hair dyes, cleaning products, gardening products and soaps that contain nasty hormones.

While I am fascinating and horrified and wanting to clean my life up at all costs – I seriously love perfume, and my fancy smelly soaps, and I’m not opposed to a bit of colour in the old locks. I can’t imagine trying to find ‘raw’ eye liner and, in the Northern Territory, seriously – any deodorant is better than none!! But I have immediately stopped all plastic heating! That one I could cope with easily.

Biggest Scams I Have Fallen For  - according to me only – sure to offend someone, somewhere…

·         Green smoothies – being full of goodness of course, this is not in question – but what people are prepared to pay for these things is truly unbelievable to me – I’d rather cook up a big batch of ‘green’ and drizzle with my favourite topping, sprinkle with some crushed almonds and serve along side a steaming steak – and probably still come in cheaper than a store bought green smoothie.

·         Raw food. It’s not even raw!!!! I thought Raw = Uncooked. How could I get this so wrong??

·         Oils – the do’s and don’ts that go with oils is amusing to say the least. Coconut, Canola, Palm, Flax, Sunflower, Olive, hell, let’s throw margarine and butter in there. Who to believe? Who not to believe? Does a dash of any oil really factor in that much in the big scheme of things? I tend to think IT DOESN’T!! But what would I know?

·         Pre-post shakes. If not consumed between picking up gym bag and reaching gym door – CATABOLIC!!!!!!! Hahaha – gotta laugh at myself sometimes. Ridiculous. Haven’t had pre/post workout shakes for well over a year now.

As always, most of the pitfalls I write about are ones I have fallen in myself. I can be very rigid in my approach to anything and I am now rigidly attempting to keep my life unrigid. Don’t try to make sense of that because it just won’t make sense. But I know what I mean and that’s all that really matters.

AT ALL COSTS –MAINTAIN COMMON SENSE. IF IT SOUNDS SENSIBLE – GO WITH IT. IF IT DOESN’T ….