Posing Routine

These photos were all taken as I performed my posing routine at the night show or "finals" at my may 11, 2013 competition, I had a blast! I actually had a big cheeseburger with sweet potato fries and iced tea prior to this.....not sure what I enjoyed more, the food and drink or the performance!

You are not scored on your routine, it is purely for entertainment of the audience. The routines vary quite a bit, and usually they are a good indication of the personality of the performer.

Prior to the Women's Physique division, the only people who did a routine were BodyBuilders. You have seen the big guys up on stage, usually to some very loud, head banging rock and roll; or just the opposite:  very slow and flowing, but in my opinion, painfully boring music. 

Here is an example of a bodybuilders routine I like! (email subscribers will need to navigate to the blog link at the top of the page to view the videos).

I am not going to show you one I don't like, that would be silly. A posing routine is supposed to show off the physique,  the hard work that has been put into the building of each muscle and it's supposed to be entertaining. 

Mine was more dancing than posing, I think my physique showcased just fine! 

Below is a video that Sakura's mother took, my entrance is not shown, I was the only one who actually started from behind the curtain, so she wouldn't have known to video at the start of the music, but she got most of it! 

The division of Women's Physique brings competing to a whole new level. There is more required to develop larger muscles, and a leaner body, then the posing is strenuous and so important to how you can show off your physique, and then the routine! I love the routines.

Notice no shoes? I love the fact that this is all done in bare feet. My feet didn't hurt at the end of the night!

Three Weeks Out till Women's Physique Competition

Yes, I am still here! Busy, busy, busy! When I post this it will really be only two weeks from my competition, but I just got around to doing this. It's been a fast and furious few months in preparation of my first Women's Physique competition, I almost feel like it's my very first show, but it's not, I should be calm and collected, but the thought of this new REAL posing and a dance/posing routine to music is starting to make me a bit anxious. 

I spend as much time as possible practicing my posing, videoing it and critiquing myself. There is always room for improvement. Luckily I have some awesome people nudging me along and checking in now and again. It's exciting that my friend Sakura Barrientos and I will be sharing a room the night before. We have our tans scheduled together and we can talk and laugh all evening long. Usually I am all by myself, posting pictures on Facebook of my cheesecake that I am eating, which drives all the other competitors absolutely crazy! I get lean, super lean and that's my "secret" to filling out the night before. That  along with a huge baked potato and steak. Then I eat the same thing in the morning. The fun is just about to begin.....

I have maintained my weight higher than usual on purpose. In these pictures I am 124 pounds, but as I write this I am at 122 and have been for almost a week. I will drop only a little bit more and hopefully, will look perfect once I dehydrate. That will make the skin tight and hard looking, it already looks thin. In fact, Wednesday night as I sat attempting to breathe (after Roy had me doing squats with a whopping 162 1/2 pounds!!!!), he looked at me and said "Your skin on your arms and chest is paper thin" yes, it looks white, translucent, delicate and....thin now. The only part left is the abs and upper hip area a bit, but it will go shortly.

I have not curtailed my lifting, at least not intentionally. No weights have been lowered, but Thursday at 5:00 a.m. as I trained hamstrings and lower back on my own, I felt so fatigued, that at times I wanted to crumple to the ground and just cry.

Then I thought of my dad who has been struggling with real fatigue, brought on by his Acute Myeloid Leukemia (bone marrow cancer). His will not go away when he rests or eats a cheeseburger, mine will. It made me cry a bit thinking how selfish I was being and reminded myself that I hate whiners. I pushed on and finished my training, at the dictated reps and weights. I know I was making a lot of noise as I performed set after set of back extensions on the Glute Ham Raise, while holding a 50 pound dumbbell to my chest, people were looking, but I didn't care, I never do.

I have been training two, and sometimes (often) three times a day. I don't do a long bout of cardio, the 20 minutes on the stairmill or treadmill has turned to 30 minutes. Then the stairs at work, usually 3 times a week, but not for long, I don't have the energy to run up and down, and jump rope for more than 20 minutes.

So any free time I have is spent grocery shopping, preparing food, eating or sleeping. That's about it. 

And there is the lifting, the part I love, every single day, sometimes twice a day just to fit it all in. My shoulder training has changed a bit and I have added in cables to round everything out. So on Tuesdays I have to go back to the gym after work to finish up shoulders. Then on Fridays after I train shoulders with Roy, I eat and make sure I have fuel, then it's back into Gold's to finish on my own. It's not a good idea to train for a long extended period of time, just like fasted cardio - you are just making your muscle eat itself all up!

My suit bottoms should be back to me Saturday, so Sunday I have to take some video of myself posing in my suit. It does make a difference and I haven't had it this whole time, so I am only guessing how I will look. I sent it back to Celeste Harsa of Suits by Celeste who made my suit for me because....my glutes have changed. They have gotten bigger (this is a good thing) and more muscular, so when I lost bodyfat they pretty much stayed bigger than usual. My suit did not care for that, it wanted to be a permanent wedgie and those are forbidden in the rules! The funny thing is, most of the suits look like wedgies anyway!

So I have been wearing some "boyshort" undies when I pose. It doesn't seem to bother anyone and allows me to see my body better.

I am also very fortunate to belong to a gym where so many people support me. It's almost all men, there are very few gals at the gym (who lift) first thing in the morning. But they're all encouraging, tell me how great I look, offer advice and are generally fun guys to be around. 

Below is a video of my posing, if you are an email subscriber you will need to click on the blog link at the top to go directly to the blog to view this (that means you dad!)

Women's Physique Competition in 9 weeks

Life has been quite busy these days. I realize that only my closest friends and family really know that I have a competition coming up soon. 10 weeks when these were taken, 9 weeks now! 

To the average person that's a long time - like two and  a half months! But to a competitor, that's just around the corner.

It means time to buckle down and stick to the diet, be religious with cardio, weigh myself everyday, scrutinize my physique, practice posing and now...now, I need to add in the routine!

Actually, many competitors have been doing the "diet" thing for many, many weeks. I actually went on vacation to Mexico and enjoyed lots of great food and drinks, at a time when most competitors would be on a hard diet. I stay lean year round so I can do that.

I have actually been humming along quite nicely  I enjoy the routine, the structure. I do well with that. Don't get me wrong, I love to be spontaneous (as long as I have all my food prepped and gym time scheduled!) LOL!

I find it all very interesting to see how different individuals handle the preparation for a competition and all of the added steps that go along with it. Everyone handles it differently based on their own personalities and their comfort zone. Of course, it also depends on if this is their first competition or they are a veteran. (Notice my deltoids in the picture below - those are what they call "striations", almost like groves or lines running down the muscle you can see just underneath the skin). 

I was scared as hell the first time, and I always get nervous as I lead up to it each time now, but I have an unusual sense of calm this time.

I don’t tend to be a reactionary person in life anyway, nor do I get freaked out over things, as David always says “You NEVER worry about anything! I have to worry for both of us!” ha ha 

I am a planner - I hired a posing coach since Physique was all so new and I wanted to feel comfortable. She did a great job, gave me many tips and feedback (good and bad); but I am no longer posing with her. I learned a lot but needed to venture out on my own. I am a person who likes to learn how to do something, not have it done for me. I do practice on my own almost everyday. I feel comfortable, very comfortable and in fact, am having quite the time posing in the gym these days!

I have been quite happy with how my physique has changed in the last year. I stayed lean, maybe too lean, so that is making my diet very, very easy. I didn’t say it was fun, but it is easy (there is a big difference).

Last night I finished cardio (my treadmill in the guestroom) and then took a nice long shower. I walked into the kitchen naked (and I think I opened the refrigerator and just looked at the homemade almond butter), and David says “You are looking pretty awesome you know! Before when you did Figure you used to look all (then he scrunches all up and makes himself look skinny and drawn). Now you look all (he hunkers down, holds his arms out from his sides and makes himself look short and bulky).

I think he was trying to say I look fuller, more muscular and healthier. I do like the look better myself!

I have reached the stage where I honestly feel it is the journey and not the destination. Getting up on the stage on May 11 will not alter my life, it won’t really change anything, and it isn’t the start of something. It’s an event that I am working towards right now, a goal with an ending date, and like any other event, I will enjoy it and move on when it is done.

I enjoy the weight training and staying lean and healthy, so I haven’t made many changes to prep for this.  I have stopped snacking, stopped eating out at restaurants, cut out my occasional wine or sparkling wine and added in cardio.  If I had started at a very high body fat percentage (I was at 7.8% 15 weeks out from my competition), then I would be singing a much different tune, but I remained lean and so I’s more mental that anything right now.

I have already starting thinking after the competition! I want to sit down and scientifically work out my diet so that I can gain but not bulk. There is no reason in this day and age, with the knowledge we have regarding nutrition and training that anyone needs to gain a lot of weight to add muscle. Yes, you need to have a calorie surplus and will gain bodyfat, but no one should turn into a hippo “off season” unless they just want to get fat and eat without being responsible about it all.

I have the competition diet down, and frankly the off season diet down too, I think I still tend to eat a bit less starch than I should to gain properly, so that will be the next goal.

But I am jumping ahead, I still need to drop a little fat, but not quite yet. So I am sticking to the diet, doing my cardio and lifting as heavy as I can.  I will reassess each week.

But back to the posing....I hit these poses in the locker room and always have my phone or camera. The other women no longer look at my quizzically  Competitors stare at themselves, a lot!  Many people think it's vanity but it's not, it's constant self doubt, constant anxiety, constant worry that you ate something at the wrong time, or you ate the wrong meal, or even (god forbid!) missed a meal and your whole being will crumble.

Posing is very, very important. Of course, the physique comes first, but once all those beautiful bodies are up there, what separates them? The posing. I can stand relaxed and look like a normal, regular woman, but if I hold my lats out, pump my chest up, bring my shoulders up and pull in the abs, all of a sudden, I am amazon woman! 

The posing is important to show off the muscles, the definition. 

Practicing the posing also ensures you learn to hold the poses, often a judging panel will make you hold them for quite some time, you need to get used to it.

If you plan to compete, I cannot stress how much you need to practice- I started six months prior I think, I know people who will start six weeks before their show.

Soon, the "routine"!

What is Women's Physique?

My last competition was May of 2012, and it was in the division of Figure. I am moving to Physique. I have worked hard, I have eaten well, slept as much as possible and stayed as lean as possible while still growing. So what is it all about anyway? What is Physique?

I have a video or a Vblog (email readers must navigate to the blog link at the top to view this). It is my longest so far, just over 8 minutes, but you can hear me explain first hand my journey to Physique.

The NPC guidelines state that Women's Physique competitors should have the overall aesthetics and look that is found in Figure with a little more overall muscularity. When it was first introduced a couple years ago I was intrigued and immediately wanted to do it, but I decided to wait and watch what the other women looked like, and which "look" was being awarded by the judges. 

At first most of the women looked like Bodybuilders, I think many Bodybuilders decided to move "down", perhaps because they couldn't add the size necessary for Bodybuilding, or they didn't want to get that big. I didn't think I could compete against them, so I waited. More and more bigger Figure gals started competing in the division, now this was more to my liking and along the lines of my own physique!

After my last competition I made the plunge. I explain it in my Vlog. 

My shoulders  look big and round, I have always had great shoulders and they are my pride and joy.  I look a little "bigger" than most of my friends who are Figure competitors, Physique is the place for me. I also tend to be leaner than most, so this is a plus. While they don't want competitors as lean as Bodybuilders, they can be slightly leaner than Figure.

It's not Bodybuilding, not in any way. If a Women's Physique competitor gets too big, they will be told to move to Bodybuilding or reduce their size.  

Women's Physique is another avenue for me (and other women) to display my hard work and showcase my stunning physique.  For me, it's a way to set a goal, so I have a date and a time, a plan, something to push me just a bit harder each day. It's easy to become complacent, to become bored of the routine. By competing, I keep myself sharp and on my toes all the time. It's that feeling "I can just stay in bed and sleep longer" that quickly dissipates when you then realize sleeping in could make or break the difference between first and second place. 

Please take the time to watch my Vblog below.

Women's Physique Posing Routine Music

I have finally selected music for my posing routine! It's been a very difficult decision, and the funny thing is, whatever I do really has no bearing on my score or placement really! The routine is simply entertainment for the audience, thanking them for sitting through the long and (sometimes) very boring day or evening of judging.

These pictures were taken 16 weeks out from my next competition, I have just stated cardio and...a modified diet. I don't have a lot to lose!

The routine is part of the excitement of Women's Physique for me though. I love to dance, I love to move, and just being able to do my own thing, instead of "quarter turn to the right" over and over will be fun and rewarding.

I have competed exclusively in Figure, its where I belonged when I started, in fact, the division of  Physique did not exist when I started and Bikini began my first year competing, in fact, at my first competition was a woman competing in Bikini who went on to become the very first Bikini pro! She looked great and really seemed to set the bar, but Bikini got softer and softer. I never would compete in Bikini, it's not for me. I don't have the physique nor am I comfortable with the posing (and I have friends who compete in Bikini, so I will end my comments here).

As Bikini expanded, the look for Figure changed, it became "softer" and I liked looking "harder". I also grew and developed my physique more, and basically made myself too muscular for Figure. At least, that is the feedback I received from the judges and other competitors. That's great news to me, I like a more muscular look and it suites me better, I have wider shoulders and narrow hips. I worked hard to add more muscle, eating right, letting myself get a little "big" in between competitions, but never fat. 

My last competition was May of 2012, and although I placed first in my category, when I asked for feedback from the head judge, she said:

" You are too hard, striated and separated for both figure and physique. You have the size to transition into women's physique if you wanted. If you want to stay in figure then you need to soften the look and bring your muscle size down some. The new criteria for either division is a softer look. No striation and no hard/deep separation. The difference in the figure and woman's physique is size. Physique competitors can have more muscle but must maintain a softer feminine look. It is not woman's bodybuilding.”

No one could have said anything better to me! As a natural athlete (drug free), to be told I am too hard, striated and separated, especially for a woman of 51 is quite an accomplishment. It shows a lot of dedication to diet and training, rest and recovery.

Picking my music has been tough because being on stage is a very scary event for me, so I needed something I was completely comfortable with. Much of the advice I received said to pick something "feminine and slow", but I am not a particularly "feminine" woman and I never do anything slowly! So why would I start with this. I decided to forgo the advice and picked what I liked, something that I felt I could move to and enjoy. 

I was referred to JSinn at MasterMindz Productions, and put my trust in him. I was glad I did, just as I have experienced most of my life, trusting others is always the right decision. I sent him the song and asked "what next"? He said just to tell him the length, where to start and where to end and he would do his magic and he would cut out "the swears". The rules state that the music cannot have profanity or explicit content  and there were a couple problems, this song had some swear words, and the entire song is about nasty sex! The more I thought about it though, I realized that all music seems to be about sex doesn't it? Either wanting sex, having had sex, wishing they were having sex, talking about sex, or breaking up with someone they already had sex with! I decided to move ahead with the song.

He pushed me to make a decision, don't wait! I made it, emailed him and he quickly emailed me right back. He told me I couldn't do what I wanted. I didn't understand and I tried to explain. "I like the chorus, so I need you to start here so I can have some of the chorus and some of the other part". He explained that I need an intro, a middle and an outro.

JSinn sent my music right away, with a watermark (his voice over) so I could listen and let him know my thoughts. And what were they? I was dancing the happy dance! I loved it! I never could have imagined it this way, he took bits and pieces, cut them and spliced them (I guess that's' the lingo) and created a smooth song with a lead in (intro) and the middle and a definite end!

I have known a few people who did their own, but at what cost? JSinn's prices were amazingly affordable,  I had thought it would have been much more expensive, but I was wrong. And, he was great fun to work with too, he's got quite the personality, but then he's an artist so that makes sense huh? Why would I work so hard dieting, training, calculating, paying entry fees and going through all the emotional ups and downs of competing just to save a few bucks on my music? The place to save money is on a hotel room (share one) not on the important stuff. 

I have inserted a YouTube of the original song I liked, remember that I have only 60 seconds to perform my routine, so it's not long! JSinn started in with some of the intro, then the chorus and the real end, its fabulous! Keep in mind this version has his "watermark" on it (MasterMindz over and over) for copyright protection.

I could only add this as a widget on the main blog page, so just look for the hot pink arrow right under the woman with the snapping whip on the right hand side! You can hear his fantastic version of the there.

Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog- the blue Ready In 5 Weeks link at the top to view the video).

Shoot JSinn and email, check out his Facebook page, and talk with him before you make a big mistake with your routine and music! 

Now...I can start practicing the routine!

I attempted to add an MP3 player to my blog, but after a week of reading and setting up accounts to host my files, I was unsuccessful and very frustrated. So.....I will have to write another post when I finally figure it all out. Any techies out there who can help me, please do so!

I set up a Dropbox account and copied the files into the public folder, but nothing! If you want to hear his magic just email me and I can send the file to you!