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So You Think You Can Compete?

February 12, 2013
by Kyra
So You Think You Can Compete?

 

 

Are you thinking of doing a bikini competition?  How about figure?  I can’t vouch for figure girls, or even vouch for every bikini competitor, but here’s a few questions you should ask yourself if you are thinking of competing……

 

1. Do you like to workout?

I love to workout.  I’d do it 24 hours a day if I could.  So this part is easy.  But if you don’t workout that often, this definitely gives you a reason to!  If you do already workout regularly this is a great reason to push yourself a little more – maybe lift a little heavier or change it up a bit to challenge yourself to make progress.

To get ready for a competition you need to make sure you lift about 3 – 4 times a week (i.e. chest/ back day; leg/ abs day; shoulders/ arms day; another butt day), do HIIT 3 times a week, and get in steady state cardio anywhere between 30 – 90 minutes a day.   For those of you counting that could be 2 hours of training a day, 6 days a week.  Which leads us to….

 

2. Do you have time to workout a lot?

3. Do you cook most of your own meals?

If you already cook most of your meals or do the batch cooking thing, this will not impact you so much.  Batch cooking is very helpful to competitors or anyone conscious of their eating habits.  For myself, every Sunday involves  a major batch-cooking session.  It may take a while on Sunday to cook enough chicken, turkey, sweet potatoes, kale and cut enough veggies, etc to last a week, but it requires very little time from my busy week to grab something and go.  Measuring all of your food can be tedious but it’s part of dialing in.

Getting on stage is a good reason to tighten up your diet, and it allows you to find out what your body is capable of if you eat a little better, but you will cook a lot of your own food and eating out, especially as you get closer to the day of show, becomes increasingly difficult.

 

4. Are you looking for something new to train for?

The whole reason I competed the first time was because I had been eating very well for a few years, I love to workout and have been for years and I was just kind of bored and needed a goal to push me to get out of my comfort zone.  Preparing for a bikini competition was the perfect goal for me because it took me to that next level of fitness, gave me something to work harder for and got me out of my comfort zone.

 

5. Do you feel like you just want a reason to eat less or restrict more foods from your diet to get even smaller or lose weight?

I will warn you right now – DO NOT COMPETE FOR THIS REASON.  The diet can become fairly restrictive and this can be very dangerous if you are competing just because you want to lose weight.  It is not a healthy diet to follow 365 (for the most part) and I highly recommend finding a way to obsess less over losing weight, getting smaller, etc.  Finding a new goal such as finding balance, getting stronger, getting faster, etc is far more healthy than obsessing over a strict diet.

You will learn a lot about Eating Clean and being healthy, which is great, but if you already are highly restrictive, don’t compete as an reason to be even more restrictive.

 

6. Do you like primping ?

When I first decided I wanted to compete in Bikini I did it because I really liked the look of the Bikini competitor’s body and because I like working out and Eating Clean.  I had NO IDEA what goes into it and that working out is only a very small piece of the puzzle.  Before the day of show lots of primping is involved.  It’s kind of fun getting to be super girly, like you are preparing for the red carpet!

You may need to be waxed.  You have to get super tan.  You bedazzle EVERYTHING  (hello sorority style arts and crafts!!)  You learn to walk in your heels and pose tons to get ready for the stage.  You have to glue your tiny bikini to your butt!!  hahaha.. im not kidding.  I can’t help but laugh because honestly, how many times in your life can you say, “Hey, can you come over here and glue this bikini to my butt?”

You have to get your make up done.  You have to get your hair done.  You have to wear crazy high heels.  And depending on what kind of show you are doing and what division you are in – you may have to wear theme wear and a gown.  It’s legit like preparing for a red carpet event.

 

7. Do you have the money?

Competing is expensive.  I’ll give you an idea based on some of things I paid for of have known other girls to pay for….

– Registration – app. $300  (could be more or less, depends on the show and federation)

– Suit – app. $150

– Heels – app. $40

– Tan – app. $40 (I went for 2 sessions of spray tanning and applied Bronze Angel myself for day of show darkness, airbrushing can be more expensive)

– Hair/ Make up – app. $100 for professional stage make up

– Nutrition coach – app. $150

– Posing classes – app. $100

– Food – app. $100/ week  (you would spend this anyway, but now you are probably eating out less!!)

– Gym membership – app. $50/ month – $150

– Mani/ Pedi – app. $100

– Waxing – app. $50

– Gown – app. $150 (if necessary)

– Theme wear and bling – $200 (if necessary)

– Hotel – app. $300 (if necessary)

See where I’m going here……..  I know some of these things like food or gym memberships aren’t extras, and there are some on there that you can get away with not paying for like the hotel or professional hair styling.

 

8. Do you want to do something to get out of your comfort zone and learn a lot about yourself?

This is one of the few things that gets me out of my comfort zone.  I would workout 7 days a week if I could.  I always try to sprint faster, lift heavier and push myself as hard as I can.  I try to eat healthy 90% of the time, but I definitely enjoy my cheats.  This is one of the few things that gets me out of my comfort zone.  Following a set meal plan is very difficult for me and it has taught me a lot about myself.  I have gone through a lot of ups and downs because of it.  Then stepping on stage.. wow.. that makes me soooooo nervous!  But for what I want to do with my career I need to get used to being in front of a lot of people and doing it in a scrunch butt bikini brings it to a whole new level!

 

9. Do you have a strong support system?

I hope so because you’re gonna need them.  On low carb days you may get cranky and tired, you are going to need people around to pick you up and tell you that you can handle it.  On weekend nights it’s hard when you are tempted by texts from friends to come out to the bars.  On Sundays you don’t want to come home to your family having a pizza and ice cream party.  You want friends who support and respect what you are doing and want to make it the easiest they can for you.  My boyfriend has admitted to eating pizza in the car to save me from smelling it!  You can’t expect everyone to understand what you are doing, but you can ask them to respect you and help you out when you need them!  Having a group of “friends” like my Get In Shape Girls in my Facebook group have helped me so much!

There’s a lot of really good reasons to compete!!!!  It’s awesome to challenge yourself to get out of your comfort zone and to try something new.  You could really, really love it!  But there’s definitely a few things you have to take into consideration as well aside from the body you get from it.

I know that going through the process last year was a lot for me to handle mentally and emotionally and I let it defeat me, which was part of the reason I needed to compete again this year – I couldn’t let something get the best of me!  And I’m glad I did it and I’m glad I am doing it again because it has pushed me to be a better person, better trainer and better Kyra.  But I also think there’s a lot more to consider than just the glitz and the glamor.

So leave me a comment below or message me if you have any questions.  I always try my best to be honest and open with you guys!!!

 

Kyra,

 

The post So You Think You Can Compete? appeared first on About Time.

February 12, 2013
by Kyra

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