With the world of women’s fitness, figure and body building booming, it has become more apparent to me that the desire and drive which fuels the competition fire needs to rest solidly on the individual competitor’s shoulders.
Too often contest prep is begun for all the wrong reasons such as; my husband or boyfriend thinks it would be a good idea for me to compete, every body at the gym say’s I should give it a try, and thus can begin a struggle in futility.
Competition training is a great goal and can be a very fun experience as long as you are prepared for what’s in store and as long as it is primarily YOUR choice to step into the contest arena!! With my own clients I make sure they understand that each competition is a chance to be the best they can be rather than to have them constantly comparing themselves to other competitors. It’s important to focus on bettering your physique and approach to your prep and not overly focus on the final contest placings. Sometimes we get so distracted by thoughts of beating a certain individual or group of individuals, or we get so locked in on having to be #1, that our main goal of bringing the best package to the stage gets lost. I have seen this mentality rob girls of the positive experience of competition.
I say make sure you’re competing for yourself because in the end you are only accountable to yourself!! You may have a supporting cast that loves and cares about you and that helps you stay focused and motivated towards achieving your goals, but the bottom line is you are the one who has to put in the effort and hard work. No one can do this for you and when your motivation and decision making comes from within you, your chances of succeeding greatly improve. I have tried to make it a policy not to talk clients into competing unless I feel it is what they truly want for themselves. I want to give them as much good information as I can about the challenges that lie ahead so they are well prepared for success. There will be times when you feel like giving up and the question will enter your thoughts of “why am I doing this?” It is at this time that the answer, “because I choose to!” will get you through it all.
It has been my experience that the clients and competitors who have the most rewarding competition journey are the ones who focus on preparing themselves to be the best THEY can be, understanding that placings will usually take care of themselves as long as they have done their homework. When you become so focused on the thought that if you don’t win you have failed, then the competition experience becomes quite negative and that is a terrible waste of your time and energy. Just because you may not win doesn’t mean you haven’t succeeded!! The mere fact that you set and accomplished an extremely tough challenge is successful in and of itself!! Competition prep is one of the most grueling and time consuming endeavors you will ever attempt to accomplish. It touches every part of your life and your families life, as it is a 24/7 process which often controls much of your thoughts.
Here are a few guide line questions to ask yourself to determine if this is YOUR choice:
1) What is my real choice for wanting to compete?
2) What am I expecting to get out of this endeavor?
3) Does competing currently fit into my life style and my current economics?
4) Have I truly studied all the aspects of competing in order to give myself a better idea of what contest prep entails and what will be expected of me in order to be my best?
If the answer to the first two questions leads to 1)MY OWN DECISION & 2) FOR ME! and if the answers to questions 3 and 4 are YES!, then I would say you have given yourself a formula for success and you will thoroughly enjoy the thrill of competing. Many competitors have aspirations of attaining pro cards and to achieve that they must climb the ladder of winning local and national level NPC shows. Often the competitors who are the happiest are the ones who have allowed their competition path to unfold naturally without too many pre-conceived notions of where they should place, what their status in the industry will be, etc. Instead they focus on just doing their absolute best in the prep phase for each competition. I honestly believe these individuals have found their reward to be even sweeter at the end of each competition!
Ultimately, you are all accountable for your OWN choices. No one puts a gun to your head - the choice to compete lies with you and you alone. You are to be held accountable for the countless number of hours you put into your prep, just like you enjoy the accolades when you succeed. So make a smart choice by researching everything about competition prep thoroughly before you decide to take the plunge! Make sure that you are ready to dedicate the necessary time and focus to your competition prep so that you are rewarded with an exciting and fulfilling journey!
With the world of women’s fitness, figure and body building booming, it has become more apparent to me that the desire and drive which fuels the competition fire needs to rest solidly on the individual competitor’s shoulders.
Too often contest prep is begun for all the wrong reasons such as; my husband or boyfriend thinks it would be a good idea for me to compete, every body at the gym say’s I should give it a try, and thus can begin a struggle in futility.
Competition training is a great goal and can be a very fun experience as long as you are prepared for what’s in store and as long as it is primarily YOUR choice to step into the contest arena!! With my own clients I make sure they understand that each competition is a chance to be the best they can be rather than to have them constantly comparing themselves to other competitors. It’s important to focus on bettering your physique and approach to your prep and not overly focus on the final contest placings. Sometimes we get so distracted by thoughts of beating a certain individual or group of individuals, or we get so locked in on having to be #1, that our main goal of bringing the best package to the stage gets lost. I have seen this mentality rob girls of the positive experience of competition.
I say make sure you’re competing for yourself because in the end you are only accountable to yourself!! You may have a supporting cast that loves and cares about you and that helps you stay focused and motivated towards achieving your goals, but the bottom line is you are the one who has to put in the effort and hard work. No one can do this for you and when your motivation and decision making comes from within you, your chances of succeeding greatly improve. I have tried to make it a policy not to talk clients into competing unless I feel it is what they truly want for themselves. I want to give them as much good information as I can about the challenges that lie ahead so they are well prepared for success. There will be times when you feel like giving up and the question will enter your thoughts of “why am I doing this?” It is at this time that the answer, “because I choose to!” will get you through it all.
It has been my experience that the clients and competitors who have the most rewarding competition journey are the ones who focus on preparing themselves to be the best THEY can be, understanding that placings will usually take care of themselves as long as they have done their homework. When you become so focused on the thought that if you don’t win you have failed, then the competition experience becomes quite negative and that is a terrible waste of your time and energy. Just because you may not win doesn’t mean you haven’t succeeded!! The mere fact that you set and accomplished an extremely tough challenge is successful in and of itself!! Competition prep is one of the most grueling and time consuming endeavors you will ever attempt to accomplish. It touches every part of your life and your families life, as it is a 24/7 process which often controls much of your thoughts.
Here are a few guide line questions to ask yourself to determine if this is YOUR choice:
1) What is my real choice for wanting to compete?
2) What am I expecting to get out of this endeavor?
3) Does competing currently fit into my life style and my current economics?
4) Have I truly studied all the aspects of competing in order to give myself a better idea of what contest prep entails and what will be expected of me in order to be my best?
If the answer to the first two questions leads to 1)MY OWN DECISION & 2) FOR ME! and if the answers to questions 3 and 4 are YES!, then I would say you have given yourself a formula for success and you will thoroughly enjoy the thrill of competing. Many competitors have aspirations of attaining pro cards and to achieve that they must climb the ladder of winning local and national level NPC shows. Often the competitors who are the happiest are the ones who have allowed their competition path to unfold naturally without too many pre-conceived notions of where they should place, what their status in the industry will be, etc. Instead they focus on just doing their absolute best in the prep phase for each competition. I honestly believe these individuals have found their reward to be even sweeter at the end of each competition!
Ultimately, you are all accountable for your OWN choices. No one puts a gun to your head - the choice to compete lies with you and you alone. You are to be held accountable for the countless number of hours you put into your prep, just like you enjoy the accolades when you succeed. So make a smart choice by researching everything about competition prep thoroughly before you decide to take the plunge! Make sure that you are ready to dedicate the necessary time and focus to your competition prep so that you are rewarded with an exciting and fulfilling journey!