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"You Are Stronger Than You Think"
"You Are Stronger Than You Think"
Stronger Than You Think
Blog
Competition Perspective…Under your control or not so much? Pt 3
Posted on May 15, 2013 at 8:13 PM |
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How committed are you?
Before you start putting your competition prep plans into
action, you REALLY should take a moment to figure out WHY you are
competing. Whether it is part of your
bucket list/pushing yourself to the next level/seeking notoriety…your reason
will determine how committed you are and which path you will take to reach your
goals. Truth be told, no matter what your reasons are for
competing, there will be many sacrifices needed to be taken to reach your
goals. Time, food, friends/family and
sleep are usually the main factors in your life that will be sacrificed. How may you ask? Here’s how: ·Time – Be prepared to spend plenty of time in
the gym. Whether it is doing cardio,
weight training, posing or practicing your routine (fitness/physique/bodybuilding),
you will be spending much time in the gym to prepare for your competition. Cardio= 45-60 minutes, weight training= 45-60
minutes, posing= 60 minutes, routine= 60 minutes (physique/bodybuilding),
routine= 2hrs (fitness). Now if you add
all this up, it turns out to be a lot of time doesn’t it? If you compete, it turns out to be a part
time job. You should really sit back and think if this will be all worth
it. · Sleep- Speaking from experience, a good portion
of my fitness competition years, I probably averaged 4-5 hours of sleep a night during
the week days. During a majority of this
time, I didn’t have a regular full time job.
I was a free lance trainer and group fitness instructor. If I didn’t teach/train, I didn’t get paid. Therefore, I had to teach/train during peak
times. (before work, lunchtime, after work)
So I had to get up at 5 am to get to work to teach or train. Meanwhile, for a good period of time, I was
going Monday- Thursday to train my fitness routine from 8:30 pm – 10:30pm. I would not get home until 11:30pm. After cleaning up from the day and preparing
for the next day, I would go to sleep at 12am.
Long day? Not enough sleep you
say? Please keep in mind, this was
during my fitness competition years.
When I switched to figure and physique, I did get a few more hours sleep, but
not by that much. I was very fortunate enough to have a husband who is very
supportive. He helped cook and prepare all my meals. That saved me quite a few hours a week. I know NOT everyone is as lucky and have to
do everything themselves. As I stated
before, you really need to sit down and think very carefully if you are ready
to make this sacrifice. You know the
saying, “Behind every successful man is a successful woman”. Well, this also applies to a successful
competitor. Let me just say, “Behind
every successful competitor, is a SUPPORTIVE team (family/friends)”.
This post is part 3 of the Competition Perspective
series. If you missed the previous post,
you can check here. Please check back
for my next post… How far will you go to
compete? If you have any questions
in regards to this topic or general fitness, you can reach me at [email protected]. Looking forward to hearing from you.
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Competition Perspective…Under your control or not so much? Pt 2 Why are you competing?
Posted on May 4, 2013 at 10:02 PM |
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Competition Perspective…Under your control or not so much? Pt 2 Why are you competing? This is the question you should ask yourself before you take
your first step towards competition preparation. Are you competing because: ·You want to push your fitness to the next level ·You want to use this as a marketing tool for
your business ·You want to get your face into fitness modeling ·You want to cross it off your bucket list ·You want to attain “pro” status Whatever your reason to compete is…keep in mind that it is all
about you! From my experience, I have
seen many competitors (myself included) get wrapped up with the supposed
stardom from competing. If you are clear
on your reasons why you are competing, nobody will be able to detour your goals
or make you do things that you DO NOT want to do.
If you have read my website you know: ·That my competition career started out as a way
to push myself to the next level. At
first, I started as a bodybuilder just to see how far my body can go. ·As I competed in a few smaller competitions, I
realized I would love to get a fitness modeling career going. All I had to do is to place well in nationals
or better yet turn “pro” as a fitness competitor. ·At my first NPC Fitness Nationals, not only did
I placed 5 out of 50 competitors, I earned my “pro” status. Not too shabby?
Once I turned “Pro” with the IFBB, I thought it was going to
be easy to get sponsorship, fitness modeling and/or spokes model jobs.
Boy was I wrong…It seems “Pro” status isn’t what it cracked up to
be. It seems that you don’t have to be a
“Pro” to get the work. As time went on,
I had come to realize that if you have a few connections, a good marketable
look and persistence, you may have a chance. Just remember, if you do not get the jobs or attention that
you were hoping for, please do not think you are worthless. You have no idea, how many competitors I have
seen go down the dark road of inadequacies. Don’t forget, you did something that about 80%
of the population would not even do. Get on stage in a skimpy little bathing
suit that barely covers your body.
At the end, if you can remember why you wanted to compete,
90% of the time from my experience, is you want to push yourself to the next
level. You are winner…you are worth
plenty…nobody should make you feel otherwise….. This is the second post of “Competition Perspective…Under
your control or not so much?” series. If
you missed the previous post, please check here. If you have any questions in regards to
contest prep or post competition schedule, please contact me at www.marieallegro.com. I am also available for everyday
fitness/wellness questions. Check back
soon and thanks for visiting.
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