The Building of a Champion!
Ever wonder what exactly is involved in entering into a Bodybuilding/Figure Contest? Well, I am going to give you a very brief look at it...
Jennifer Nixon is 43 years old, stands all of 5’1” and weighed in at 114.5 lbs. for her first Figure Contest ever on December 1, 2007 -- the Excalibur Bodybuilding and Figure Championships in Culver City, California.
Our original plan was to get Jennifer ready for a show in March of 2008, but we decided to push the schedule up quite a bit and enter her into the Excalibur in an attempt to gain experience for the March show. We made this decision in late October, and began seriously training for the show on Halloween.
Jennifer weight trained 5 days per week, and performed cardio for at least an hour a day for the 5 week period of serious training. She also ate a diet that was very specific to her needs, which was to maintain and develop as much muscle mass as she could while getting as lean as possible.
By training hard, and adhering to the nutritional and supplementation plans that I created for her, Jennifer took 4th place in her category in her first contest. That is quite an accomplishment when you consider that the Excalibur is one of the biggest amateur shows in the area each year!
Following the victory at Excalibur, Jennifer entered into the San Diego Bodybuilding and Figure Championships that we had originally started training for back in October. Our training for this show was a little different than what we had done before due to the length of time that we had to prepare for it.
Jennifer’s diet and supplementation plans were significantly different, as well. We needed to add a few pounds of muscle to her body, so she ate quite a bit for a number of weeks then we tapered her calories back week by week until show time. We also performed a carbohydrate depletion and loading phase in the week prior to the contest in order to maximize Jennifer’s muscularity and lean appearance.
Jennifer also placed 4th in her second Figure Contest, but her overall standing in the show had risen from 8th at Excalibur to 5th in the San Diego show. This was extremely encouraging!
So, we decided to continue on to the Max Muscle Natural Bodybuilding and Figure Championships two weeks later. This is the largest NATURAL bodybuilding and figure contest in the U.S. each year!
Jennifer remained on her cutting diet and supplementation plans for the two weeks between shows and came in very femininely chiseled. She took FIRST place in the two categories that we entered her into ~ Master’s 35+ Short and Open Figure Class A(up to 5’2” tall)!
Think about it... from thought to reality in about five months! That is dedication to a plan!
The training and nutrition regimens that Jennifer follows throughout these training periods are extremely strict and strenuous. The training alone is nearly twice as much as the average woman would ever need to do in order to stay in great. The strict nutrition and supplementation plans are designed to provide her body with only what it needs to get her through the next few hours of activity each day ~ despite the nature of the activity. This type of routine can be grueling, and is extremely difficult to adhere to, which is why so many people fall short of the mark.
The collaboration of fitness trainer, nutritional specialist and trainee has been amazing to date, and we plan to continue to compete together as a team in future contests. Jennifer is currently training for the 2008 NPC Tournament of Champions in September.
Jennifer is a true champion, and an integral part of the Muscle Mechanics L.A. team!
Tom Nelson
owner/operator Muscle Mechanics L.A.