I’ve decided to definitely compete in another figure show, most likely in the Spring. Iâ??ll update this thread as a way to stay accountable before beginning an official prepâ?¦ There were a couple of things that led to this decision, 1) my recent trip to the Biotest Training Lab in Colorado, 2) watching the video of the Hercules contest this past week for the first time, 3) I got on the scale this morning for the first time since my contest (yikes)!
If I had to sum up my trip to the training lab @ Biotest in one word - it would be INSPIRING! After Colorado, and seeing how hard everyone trained (through injuries and exhaustion), Iâ??m inspired to get stronger and work harder. Iâ??ve never before seen so many people working so hard in a gym, everyone was giving 110% at every single moment of every single day. I worked out in the womenâ??s group with Dani S. and Genevieve. Our workout routines were various complexes with â??active rest.â?? Working out in a group was new for me and really cool. If you have a great group & coach (like we did), I think the group dynamic really motivates you to work harder, especially when youâ??re tired and want to give up (but you canâ??t stop because you donâ??t want to be the weak linkâ?¦ also Christian was watching us, so there is no giving up or stopping.
We finally got the DVD of the Hercules competition and watched it the other day. There are definitely a number of things I need to improve on for next time. For the Hercules INBF show, you could either enter the Novice or the Open, not both. I choose to enter the novice, but after watching the video, I think I would have done respectable in the openâ?¦ which makes me think, I should improve on the things I need to and then see how well I do in the open next year.
I lost a total of 15 pounds for the Hercules and I kind of figured that I gained a lot of it backâ?¦ the scale confirmed my suspicionâ?¦ after a cruise and summer of enjoying myself, Iâ??m currently 2 pounds heavier than I was at the beginning of my contest prep back in March . The funny thing is I still have definition in a couple of places, like my legs (which only came in during the last week or so of my prep). Stu keeps telling me not to worry about the scale, just to go by the mirror. But even going by the mirror, I would like to be a little leaner than I am now.
Summer has been great, but once September hits itâ??s back to work (Iâ??m a teacher), back to a regulated diet and revised workout program. And hopefully, Iâ??ll be in a good place for a spring contest prep.