ANSWERS?? Fitness/Figure Competitions....

Hi. I created my account but never got "in" to the site much. It didn't suit me (the calculators I mean, because they told me to eat much less than I was willing to go for).

I'm 19, about five feet ten inches tall, and 130 pounds. I have some visible fat but also quite a bit of muscle I've built up over the past few weeks. I've gone from 'skinny-fat' to 'almost athletic' in my body type.

I started doing my co-op placement (co-op is a course in high school where you get a work placement and work for 220 hours and write about what you learned for 2 credits for school) at Algonquin College's gym, The Fitness Zone.

A woman I work with at the gym competed in her first fitness/figure competition (not sure if it was fitness or figure competition, or what the difference is) last July and won first place. After noticing my new muscle development I've been thinking that maybe I could try it just once. And if I back out of it, well, at least it gives me something to strive towards, lol.

Anyway, my workout routine is not what I would like to talk about, but more the food. I know that in the last month or two of training the diet gets very strict and becomes unhealthy.

I have 8 months to train. I was wondering if this is enough time for me to get competition-grade muscle definition without too much time of strict dieting. Another person at the gym is competing in a competition in November and he is a real space-case because of his strict diet. I don't want to get like that if there's some way I can work around it, but if I can't work around it, hell, I'd be a space-case for a month or so as long as I could compete. I think it would be a fun experience.

Anyone out there compete in fitness/figure competitions before?

What's the difference between a fitness and a figure competition?

If I just eat really healthy and work hard, can I achieve the results I need to compete without being a "space-case" for the last few weeks before competition?

I don't know much about it, but I do know that strict dieting is, I think, pretty essential to get into competition-grade shape (though it doesn't mean that you shouldn't or can't still go for it!).  If you haven't already, look around figureathlete.com .  It's a great site that has tons of info about nutrition, workouts and supplements and it's geared toward those interested in competition (and often written by figure competitors).  Be sure and scroll through the backlogs of articles, there are quite a few that you might find helpful.  Check under "Articles" for "Figure Athlete" and there should be some introductory information around there.  Good luck!

my sis is actually going to be in one on SATURDAY in our area. It's her second one. A figure competition is just for the women...they want to see your muscle tone but also overall beauty of the body...so it's NOT a body building competition, but close.

My sis decided to be in her first one when she was 6 months out....she had to diet pretty strictly cuz it was so close...this time, she's maintained a lower body fat, so she's not as crazy.

She's very disiplined and can live on chicken, brown rice and veggies...that's basically the diet. Granted, there are other things, too, but it is a strict diet. The week before you have to go 2 or 3 days with NO CARBS whatsoever...and then 2 days before you cut out WATER all together to prepare.....so, it's kind of nuts, but it's do-able!

I could ask for a more specific diet plan if you are interested.

incidentally, here is her blog about when she competed the first time...there are pics and diets and her workouts....mixed in with some personal stuff, too...but if you want a taste of the day to day here it is: Julia's Blog...if you scroll to the bottom you will see the start of the entries, w the photos.
 

Hi there :)

8 months is definitely enough time to train-although at 130 you're going to need to bulk for around 3 months in order to build as much muscle as possible. By bulk, I mean eat about 200-500 over maintenance daily (probably more so 500 because you are slender already).  Then you'll have 18-20 weeks to cut, which should be plenty.  just fyi, most girls your height will come in stripped for the comp at ~140-145...I'm guessing you'll come in around 125ish.  Figure is focused mostly on symmetry and ideally you should see shoulder caps, 6ish abs (or 8 depending on your genetics), and quad seperation. No striations.  Figure is just like bodybuilding except you are smaller, less muscle mass overall and you are less cut.  figure girls come in around 10-12% bodyfat while bb girls are in the 6-8% range (crazy!).

Fitness is a comp that is designed to show off your muscle but you also have a "routine" you do to music--one arm pushups, fancy costumes, etc.  It is more focused on your flexibility and showmanship.

Typically people are space cases because of the lack of carbs the last month or so.  your diet will be meat and fibrous veggies for the most part that month.  This quickly goes to your head when you will also be doing more cardio + extra sessions at the gym.  You probably won't be too bad because you're already slender--the bulking will be harder for you to get enough mass so that when you cut you aren't just bones.  The last week is especially hard before a comp because you will be cutting sodium and increasing water which tends to put the body's electrolytes out of balance temporarily.  The last few days before the comp you will slowely take water OUT and perhaps take a diuretic to get the last remaining water out of the space between your muscles and skin (this will also be the counteracting measure against a carb-up the night before to "puff" up the muslces).  If all is done perfectly, you will dial in to your peak in the morning of the comp and be able to maintain it all day until the night judging.

The diet IS unhealthy for the last month but that is what comps are all about--taking your body to a place it does not like to go for 1 day....and then dealing with the bounce back up the next. 

Good luck!  I think it is very doable for you but just make sure you are okay with bulking, gaining some fat, and then stripping it off.  You should ideally gain about .5 lb per week (the first week might be slightly more).  Let us know how it goes!

thanks for the replies. im totally fine with possibly gaining fat, im going to be training enough that it wouldnt be there too long anyway. i think ill keep a journal on here of my food/workouts. just for fun, lol.

i was a little confused as to the difference between fitness and figure competitions, but now its all clear. figure is like bodybuilding but not as "big", in terms of muscles lol. and fitness, as you said inittowinit1, more about showmanship and such. i want to do this competition so badly. i know theres one in november which i want to go see, just to check it out. you know...see what the other girls are like and such. ive seen pictures but id like to see it "live and in action" lol.

thanks for the replies! im currently working on adding more things to my workout routine and coming up with meal idea

You might want to check out How to Become a Figure Competitor from Jen Heath and - well, basically everything on figureathlete.

 Don't buy into everything you see there though, FA is sponsored by Biotest and their supplement recommendations reflect that. And Chad Waterbury has some odd hangups so take anything he writes for FA with a grain of salt.

 (Fitness - Figure competitors who can do tricks :-P)

 Figure is like bodybuilding, except you don't need to take insane amounts of drugs to be competitive.

Thanks melkor. I'm checking out some Ottawa figure websites, and getting a lot of info from my co-op placement. as i had said before, a girl at the front desk won first place last year, one of the trainers at the gym is a bodybuilder, and another guy who works there is competing in a competition on the first of november. they are all friends and we share quite a bit of info, although i havent yet told them i plan on competing in july. I just told my trainer i want to look like them, and am getting adive from students in the Fitness And Health Promotion course (i want to take that course next year). I do a lot of my own research as well.

I understand that many sources of information will have a bias and tend to lean towards promoting their sponsors. So, I don't go for the supplements that I see on websites. I just stick with my whey protein shakes and protein bars, and my multi-vitamins on days i dont have my whey shake (my whey shake is basically a protein filled multivitamin, not sure how other whey blends are but i love this one)

Thanks guys. I love this site, heh!

what whey protein shake are you using? I really have only tried one, the one my sis recommended...mainly cuz she's tried just about all of them and this one is the cheapest for the taste (being my sis she knows how picky I am and less likely to use if I don't like it haha).

multi-pro whey i think its called. they sell it at the gym im doing my co-op placement at. it's belgian chocolate flavoured. i also tried the vanilla one. both good. i also snack on protein bars :) Lean Body is my favourite but because of hurricane Ike we dont have any lean body bars (the company who makes lean body was hit by the hurricane). and being all the way up here in canada, even after they get things up and running again it would still take a while to get here.

oh, my caramel peanut and almond fudge lean body bars. i miss you. </3