Danielle Ruban - The Process Is Primary

Danielle Ruban interview

To pick up where we left off last time, you competed six times in 2012, with two fourths and a third being your highest place finishes. Then you took 2013, essentially your sophomore year of being an IFBB pro, completely off from competing. Why?

I wanted to take some time to work on building my physique up a little more. I had gone from getting my pro card to competing in so many shows, and that makes it very difficult to make any sort of gains when you’re staying that lean. I was also dealing with a couple of shoulder injuries, so I felt it would be detrimental to go into prep with those things.

Was it hard to take the time off, psychologically? Did you crave it as you saw your friends and colleagues get onstage at the Arnold and the Olympia?

It took me a while to accept that I needed to take that time off, but I’m extremely glad that I did. It was the best decision that I could’ve made.

What did the year off teach you about yourself, and training and diet?

I learned to find new ways and new approaches that were different than what I’d done in the past. For diet and training, I thought there were things I could’ve done that would’ve been more beneficial for me, personally. So taking the time to find those things and try them out, luckily, has worked to my advantage. They’re helping me strive towards the goal of changing my physique.

What are you bringing that's different to the stage this year? What did you want to change in 2013?

I felt I could’ve had more balance in my upper to lower body, so I wanted to build thickness and width in my back and shoulders. Regarding routine improvements, I wanted to focus mastering the basics, the mandatory movements that like to be seen in the routine. I wanted to perfect them, so I worked on explosiveness with my training, and I think it’s going to translate well into my routine this year.

You have new coaches this time around. How drastically different is your training and diet now than it's been in the past?

In the past, I’d done meal plans with coaches—meal 1 to 6/7 the same every day, and that got really exhausting mentally. I also felt that I should be eating more for these performance and physique goals, so I started working with Layne Norton and using “macros.” We first worked on building my metabolism with reverse dieting, so that when it came to start prepping for the Arnolds, I was in a better place to start dieting metabolically. I compare where I’m at today to where I was a month out from the first time I did the Arnolds, and I’m probably eating twice as much. I found a coach around here that’s a strongman, and I went to him originally because I wanted to learn how to do heavy lifts and not hurt myself doing them. It turned out he also had valuable tools to help me through my shoulder injury. After seeing him a few times, I decided this would be a really good person to help me get stronger and work towards my goals and work through limitations I have. He’s also an extremely big motivator, which I didn’t realize was so important until I had it.

Layne also has me doing much less cardio than my past coaches, which is nice because I can focus that energy on my fitness routine performance training. I do HIIT training. I used to do 35 to 40 minutes in length; now I only do 7 cycles of 20 seconds going as hard as I can, and about 1 minute 40 off, three times per week. That’s not a whole lot. I practice my routine 4 days a week for maybe 2.5 to 3 hours. It takes me a good hour to warm up for that routine practice.

Now that you’re on the IIFYM diet, has your opinion on the diet itself changed since you started on it? Would you suggest it to other competitors? Has it made a difference in your prep and off-season?

When I first heard about it, I wasn’t really convinced that you could achieve the same results eating any kind of food you wanted, versus these “clean foods” that are used for dieting athletes for competitions. But now, I’m convinced because I eat much more than just those typical foods. I think it’s made a difference; it’s kept me sane this time around.

I now have half my clients doing meal plans, and half doing macros. Macros takes some getting used to, some organization, and some planning. But in the end, those are skills you’ll have for life. So it’s great to use macros and those tools to get to your end goals. Whereas I refer to meal plans as the “spoon fed” method because they don’t have to think about it, and they just like going into auto mode. But I hope that everybody gives macros a shot one day, because it’s made a difference for me.

What's the goal going into 2014? What are your expectations this season? Which shows will you hit?

I am going to do as many shows as I can, again. I’m planning the Arnolds Brazil (if I get an invite), Toronto Pro, Tampa Pro, Chicago Wings of Strength, and the goal here is to place top five at all those shows and get enough points to make it back to the Olympia. That is the plan. What I want to do at each show is focus on the process, not the outcome. If I focus my energy on what I can control, then the outcome can take care of itself. I used to invest way too much time and energy into the things that were beyond my control. This new mindset is going to help me reach my potential as a competitor.

How do you handle the mental aspects of training in such a caloric deficit? What do you do when your mind tells you to quit, or your body says it’s had enough?

I just have to remind myself why I can do it, why I want to do it, and how I will do it. It’s just redirecting my focus. It’s hard when your body is screaming at you, and honestly, any competitor knows the last month is when your mind directs what your body is going to do. So if I truly believe I can, then I’m going to do it. It’s just a matter of will I do it.

I have a great support system, and when I look back, I think it’s something I was lacking. I had my one online coach, and that was about it. I had my husband, who’s always been there for me. But this time I have my nutrition coach, my training coach, and friends that are coming with me to the Arnolds to help me stay focused and positive, and cheer me on.

What show are you most looking forward to this year?

The Toronto Pro. It’s my home turf, and it’s also sharing the same weekend as Provincials, and I have a lot of athletes who are doing that. It’ll be exciting for me to compete, and then take care of them the next day. It’s a very special weekend for me.

Advice to future and current competitors?

I used to be one of those girls who would worry a lot about the other competitors. I would compare myself to them, and that used to take a lot of the positivity out of my focus. So now, if you focus 100 percent on your training, dieting, and trusting in your process and working with your coach, then that is what’ll give you the confidence to show your best package onstage, and be as prepared as you can. When you’re confident, that really helps you to be happy because you know that you put everything you could into something.