Muscle Talk

Mike Davies Fitness Weekend – Day 1 – PM

“Women empower each other, Girls compete against each other”
– Colleen from The Crystal Suit

ITINERARY:

12:08pm – About to enter the gym again; questioning my sanity, and whether I want to go through this again.

12:08:30 -  Feet start moving before brain. I’m already in the gym. Too late.

12:15 – The “seminar” portion of the weekend begins. I’m told to relax and grab a seat. I’m confused. I feel like there is a catch. I haven’t stopped moving since last night.

12:20–1:00 - Melissa Shadd, herself an OPA judge, teaches us about what judges are looking for in terms of suits, physique, posing and presentation. She tells us that for the Natural stream (vs untested) the OPA uses Olympic standard testing both offseason and on the day of the show. Colleen from The Crystal Suit talks specifically about what a suit should look like, how it should fit, where it should sit on your body, etc.

Critical Points: 1) When it comes to choosing shows, give yourself an  offseason between Provincials and Nationals. Take your time, earn your dues,  work for your Pro card. You need to give yourself time to grow, add density,  “Get fluffy”
2) “If your suit’s off, you’re off” – Stressing the importance of suit selection 3) No butt crack
4) “Don’t pose like a whackjob” (this is a judging technical term)
5) How you stand when you’re in the line-up to the side is how you get called  out
6) Shows are lost from behind (emphasizing the importance of rear poses)

1:00-2:00 – All ladies, except me and IFBB Pro Kim Tilden, don posing suits and heels. They pose, I get motivated - It’s a good trade-off. Mike, Melissa and Kim help the women out with posing; correcting each one, encouraging, helping.

2:00 – Shoulders, Arms and Ab Workout
TRAINING:  1) 1-arm hammer curl to press w/ a slow release negative s/s     with leg lifts on the group
            2) Supine DB bicep curl s/s with underhand shoulder press
            3) 15 Plyometric ab tucks with 3 pushups
** At some point here, Mike refers to me as “ButterCup” and “Princess”; perhaps because he forgot my name, perhaps because he thought I needed the encouragement, or perhaps because he was patronizing me. I’m having that “I regret life, and ever cheating on my diet” feeling again… **
          4) 1-arm DB snatch s/s with 10 walkout pushups
** Note: My shoulders are now 10” wider/more pumped than they were this morning, and I’m thinking about telling Melissa. This probably requires some sort of First Aid intervention. I don’t find her, so I just keep snatching. **
           5) DB Upright rows to rear lateral raises s/s with 30 hops over
            a bench.

3:00 – Mike dismisses our group, and tells us he’s looking forward to seeing us at dinner tonight. It throws me off when he’s nice. I take the statement at face value though.