The Last...

Yep, the countdown is on! Today was the last 'chest and back' day, tomorrow will be the last leg day before the competition, and now the focus has completely moved to 'POSING'.

Two days ago it was the first time that I felt I nailed it, didn't forget anything and was pretty well timed to the music.Hubby saw it and was impressed, so 'YAY!'

But still a lot to do. Today my friend Imola saw it for the first time and approved of it... although she mentioned that I do look a bit grumpy... Acknowledged! Although I don't want to smile, I surely don't want to look grumpy.

And I took the video camera for the first time. I have to see myself from the back, and I have to practice different directions of the room. That is so weird, as soon as I am turning round I keep forgetting my routine. It now is essential that I learn and feel it from my point on stage and not from what I see in the mirror and the context of the room. Due to lack of trainer, I have a hunch that the camera will be my best friend during the next week.

Here is my first video. It was meant to happen a bit differently, though. I had brought a bikini and decided to set up the camera first before changing. By the time that was done I was so knackered that I couldn't get the routine straight anymore.

 

The footage is good enough, though, to see where all the major flaws are. There is definitely attitude and confidence missing; because I am usually controlling myself in the mirror I am not always posing into the optimal direction because I am trying to get a good look rather then to feel (especially on the triceps, which is one of my best muscles); some arm and hand positions are not well aligned; I have to calm it down, there is too much wiggling going on, and legs definitely need work but I will focus on those when I will have footage in a bikini.

Oh my, one week to go. But as I said before, a week ago I could hardly remember the moves, and now I at least know how to train. Wish me luck!

PS: I am doing this challenge as a fund raiser for my favourite charity Orangutan Land Trust. Please consider sponsoring me for 1 year of hard work, sweat and worries - well, and maybe for seeing me on stage in a bikini with horrible sticky fake tan and oil, trying to remember my routine. And here is a currency converter for all my non-UK friends  ;o)

Bikini Decission Needed

Time is flying and I need to order my bikini. There are not too many options, and since I might only be doing this once I wasn't keen on paying too much money. To my delight 'Fit for U Bikinis' has a standard model on offer which cost only 40 quid. And then the sizing page didn't work.

Finding myself in a mode of desperation by now, I decided to write an email and pointing out the fault... and... oh well, as I am on it... I might want to ask for the cost of a bikini with a bit of a sparkle as well. Turns out that it is affordable and really rather pretty.

pix courtesy to Tracey, Fit for U Bikinis
without deco - pretty

... and with deco
- very pretty -

It makes quite a difference. With the sparkle it feels more like a stage costume rather than a bikini, but that might just be me.

So, Dears!

It is decided that this woman is going to get herself some crystals for the show. It is a once in a lifetime event after all, lets just have it with a nice, big Bang! 

Now the question of colour arises. I instantly fell in love with the blue pictures Tracy sent me. So vibrant and elegant. But I have to be reasonable - blue is the colour that suits me least. On the other hand I will be fake tanned like hell, so skin tone will not make any difference.

One should not forget however, that I own a head full of rather fiercly red hair which might go well with  green velvet. Unfortunately on the screen, the sample colour of the website looks rather dark, and green in general is not a vibrant colour unless it is of the 'swimming pool lining' variety.

I am confused!

I am herewith summoning my supporters for advice. Shall I use velvet or some other material? Which colour is best? Tell me, tell me... !

Now I have to go and measure myself .

Ta ta!

Shoulder Dumbbell Fly, seated - 2010

The 3rd shoulder exercise targets the middle head of the shoulders.

This exercise is usually executed while standing, I used to do it that way. Then a lot more weight can be used and it looks rather impressive, but it is all too tempting to use the momentum of the down movement to get the weight up again.

When I tried Oaks Gym - where all the big boys are training - I didn't find small enough weights and had to do the standing version. Result: Horrible muscle ache in the neck and none in the shoulders the next day. That means that with too much weight and using the momentum of the swinging weight there is no real focus on the target muscle. Additionally I am not keen to get a bigger neck than I already have, hence I am doing the not so impressive version which fully targets the middle head of the shoulder.

Additionally I would like to stress that in all shoulder exercises, the neck is actually never clenched, meaning that the shoulders are kept down even in the lift.

Some more information on shoulder training you can find in the Incredible Ladies Sport section.

Diary 10/04/10 - One Week In

So one week ago I took the decision to compete in a bodybuilding championship in 2011 and it is time to have a look what has happened so far.

• The first assessment is done.
• I sorted my diet for now, which is basically sticking with the food that I know the calories of, having my protein shakes regularly (once in the morning and on training days in the evening as well), and
• I am training regularly and hard

I had picked up the training a week before already and I can tell that it is kicking in. The muscles feel denser and more in control when lifting. Additionally I am not getting muscle aches anymore. I had a great leg/ABS/shoulder workout yesterday and I feel a bit tender today, but no aches.

Well and the reduced calories show as well - I try to stick with 1800 per day. The tummy is not bulging anymore and the pants are not as tight. I know, that part of it is water that has gone and which might to a degree come back, but it feels great nevertheless.


The biggest change though, is the lack of hunger.

The first two days I had about half of my calories by 11AM already - well, I am getting up at six, but that is no real excuse, because today I only had a protein shake and a cappuccino (worth 300 cals) then went food shopping, had breakfast at 10:30 with another 400 cals (not even being that hungry) and now I don't expect to become hungry again before 1PM.

I have to say: That saves a lot of money as well.

So far: 1st week is a full success!

60 more to go...

More info on training: Shoulders, Legs

A First Assessment

Bloody Hell...

Bloody Hell, it seemed such a good idea yesterday. Today is the day after, every muscle is aching and I have another one and a half years of days like this ahead of me.

A quick recap on who I am - the more elaborate story you can read on my personal blog:

• Me, Rika, born in June 1961 and thus age 48,
• started training with weights when I met hubby to be in 1882,
• had a phase some time around ’86 when things went bumpy at university and I thought that I should become a real bodybuilder/trainer instead of a computer scientist,
• although at the moment I am neither, I dug my way through university, trained on and off, and settled into a comfortable life after the exam,
• moved from Germany to England, got house, cats and garden, and became fat while training was more often ‘off’ than ‘on’,
• got severe back pain and migraines and all of a sudden the comfortable life was a bad life,
• went back to the gym regularly from early 2005, age 43, and
• started the Incredible Ladies website as a record of this experience in June 2007 at age 46.

Apparently I am feeling too well now, because yesterday I decided to start a journey paved with pain and sweat: I am going to compete in a Bodybuilding contest in 2011.

Why now?

Well, do the math: firstly I am going to be 50 in 2011, and secondly this idea is bugging me since 35 years and if I don’t do it now, that might well mean ‘never’. I came across this competition for the first time shortly after having started training regularly again, and I have to admit: Even I thought that those competitions have a bit of a dodgy, door bouncer atmosphere about them. Bodybuilding is not a really mainstream sport, is it? And what we see on the telly, on how professional female bodybuilders have to make a living because there is almost no sponsorship in this sport, is not helping either. So hubby and I went to see the show armed with prejudice and mixed feelings: Does one really want to belong to this sort of scene?

But see, one should not judge without having seen it: when we got there we were amazed how professional and fantastically skilled these people were. Nothing dodgy, no door bouncer atmosphere whatsoever, and they put on a great show, it was entertaining and inspiring... and I felt that I could have competed with the lady who came least – well, there were only four ladies anyway. Isn’t it sad that a sport that has so many benefits, especially for women, is not kicking in? It did for the guys. These days almost every guy tries to put on a bit of muscle in the gym, or at least is flirting with the idea.

C’mon guys – don’t lie to mummy! While you are sweating on the treadmill you must be thinking of the one or the other muscle when a well trained guy is passing you by.

For women however, it is out of the question. Oh yes, I see them with 1 kg dumbbells doing a bit of triceps on a stabilizing ball – that is NOT bodybuilding. That is rubbish. Well it is a start... but I so rarely see it taken to the next level. These ladies just vanish from the gym because they never experience the full power this training could give them. Oh I have written piles of pamphlets about why muscles are a good thing. But honestly: Nobody wants to read or hear it!

OK, I am ranting again: So back to my plan. Back then in 2005 the competition bug bit me the second time in my life, but just briefly: I wasn’t confident enough and scared of thousands of things, mainly embarrassment.

And then only two weeks ago the bug bit me again – all good things come in three, apparently – at the whiteboard of my gym there was an advert for a bodybuilding championship - hanging there very innocently. Whoof... this time it hit right into the stomach: I want to do this!

While the stomach was recovering, my brain tried to understand: “No you don’t! You might want to visit it again, but you DO NOT WANT TO COMPETE! You are scared of competitions”.

‘No I’m not! Not anymore, and if I do it next year then I can do it for my 50th and hence I can’t actually lose. It will be fun, and I always wanted to be on a stage and bodybuilding is the only thing I am good at, and hence I am going to do it!’

I checked with the trainers if they would know somebody in the region who could teach me how to pose. I know how to train, but I don’t have a clue how to put on a show. When I got the address of a gym where the head trainer is competing I had to come out of the closet: I just had to tell hubby. And you know what: He loves this idea!

And then we made a deal. This will not be like any other of my projects during which I work, and do, and document, and then see how it goes, and THEN might decide whether or not I will take on the challenge.

This time I will not play it safe. It will be a commitment from the beginning. I herewith declare: If this show is on in 2011, and if I will be fit enough to crawl onto that stage, then I will compete. No matter how I look. I may not be able to get rid of lose skin, I may... oh don’t get me started:

I will look my best, promised!

And with this blog I am inviting you to join me in this journey. Ideas and comments welcome: I will need any help I can get! Oh well, and maybe I see you in mid 2011 in Great Yarmouth!