So you want to do a bikini competition – Part 2 – What to expect during prep
Part 1 – So you checked out part one and read the cost of competing…..next is what you should expect during prep
Again, this is my opinion, my personal experience, and my experience with coaching clients. I do not know your exercise history, your current body type, or how your body will respond – so in the end- listen to your coach. (you will want to read, ask opinions of others, seek more information – all this noise will leave you confused – so trust your coach and listen to just one person). They have a plan for you and if you do not follow the plan - the results they are trying to achieve with you won’t be as effective as it should.
Typically, competitors start prep at 12-20 weeks out from a show. Again, depending on how much you need to lose – you may start sooner. Ideally, you could determine your target stage weight and figure out how much you have to lose. Then reverse engineer losing at a realistic weight loss = how many weeks out you should start. For example- current weight 125, target stage weight 110 = 15lbs. 15 weeks out would have you losing 1#/wk. Take into consideration that weight loss isn’t linear, you can lose, gain, or stall from week to week. Again, best to hire a coach if you want the most effective plan.
Order of Importance for prep -
· Nutrition Plan
· Posing Sessions
· Cardio Sessions
· Sleep
· Healthy mind
· Weight training (I know most people focus on this area– but at this point, when you are starting a prep and cutting weight what you built is what you built – it’s now time to cut and see what you are working with, or what you built during your off season – so the eating and cardio is going to shred you and the posing is what’s needed to show up on comp day)
Nutrition plan – Most competitors need to lose fat to get into competition shape. You need to get lean in order to show definition and achieve that bikini look. So, following your meal plan to the T is a must. There is no “free eating”, aka just one small bite of this, just add a little bit of that. There is no more eating out and no more cheating. Whatever your coach tells you
Is on your meal plan – you need to follow. Remember – you will be on stage in a bikini – If you cheat on your diet, it will show.
Posing – Posing is so important!! You have 10 seconds to impress the judges so every pose, every angle, needs to be on point! There are no “do overs” – you get one shot.
Posing is uncomfortable and unnatural – so you have to practice it so much, that it becomes natural and fluid.
I recommend practicing posing daily at 12 weeks out – start off 5-10 minutes a day and add more as the show gets closer. If you are not accustomed to wearing heels, I recommend practicing walking in them around the house as well.
Your prep coach may or may not include posing – if you feel you need more practice talk to your coach about adding more sessions or their recommendation on posing coaches. Again, I don’t believe in conflicting advice – so it would be confusing for your one coach to be telling you to do a certain angle and another coach changing your routine.
Learning your routine can be very exciting- but once you start you will see there is so much more to it. The twist, the angle, the hand here, the push there, the arch here, tight tummy, stand straight, oh and don’t forget to breathe and smile.
Cardio – Again, without knowing your body type and exercise history I can’t really say – but in general you will most likely need to do doubles. That means cardio in the am and cardio and lifting in the pm– add the posing practice you will be doing daily – daily stretching - you could be looking at spending up to 3 hours at the gym.
Sleep
You build and recover while you sleep- the more rest you can get the better your performance will be at the gym. You will be asking your body to do a lot these next few months – so you need to do what you can to help your recovery by sleeping.
You are going to be tired. Grumpy. Moody. You may feel so excited one day and want to cry the next. There will be days where you don’t want to lift, days where you are craving everything, days where you absolutely do not want to do cardio, and your back will be sore from posing and you won’t want to “hit it”, and days you just want to throw in the towel. So making sure you have adequate rest will help you to push through along with strengthening your mind.
Healthy mind
Competition will also take a toll on your mental health (well it does for me) Forcing yourself to exercise so much, eating the same food, not being able to eat what you want, having to pose and do this and do that – worrying about being ready in time, critical on your posing and body parts. So much mental junk – so you really have to work on being positive – looking for the good – meditate, pray, whatever you need to do to quiet the voices. Lol.
With that being said, if you are married and/or have children you will have a bit of an extra challenge – spousal support is important – they should also know what is expected of you so they can be on board. No more dinners out, you will be eating differently than they will, you need to follow a schedule, you will have days when you are tired, hangry, moody, grumpy, you’ll be at the gym a lot, and you might need help with kids, chores, laundry, errands.
But the family will get to see you strive for a huge goal and accomplish it – your kids will see how hard work and dedication pays off. And your hubby will have a “new” wife who feels confident and sexy af.
Weight training
Although we are not “building” during prep. we want to make sure we keep as much muscle while we are cutting – so make sure you are pushing yourself hard. If you are still hitting your rep range your last set, you can probably start at that weight on your next week versus ending your sets at the heavier weight. It’s not about hitting your max on the 4th set, you want to push yourself on every set.
I know some of this might sound “negative” – not trying to scare you off, just let you know what you should expect. I think competing is so exciting and such a great experience in the end. It’s addicting. You wait and see Also, it depends on your competitiveness, your goal, and your why……there are people who just want to get on stage and don’t care what they really look like or to place well….if that is you, then you probably won’t stick to the program to a T. If you are all in, want to bring the very best you can, you will probably be the type to do everything that needs to be done to be successful.
At the end of this journey, you will look back and see how far you came, how much you overcame, how much you changed your body, and…..be so damn proud.
You ready?
Stay tuned for Part 3 – What to expect on show day