What Is a Fitness Model?

I love receiving questions from people wanting to enter fitness modeling or general interests in the sport itself.  While I am no longer considered a novice in the sport, I am certainly not a veteran or a pro.  But I cannot help but feel a sense of pride when I am asked questions about fitness modeling and hear myself speaking in a way that suggests I’ve been in the sport for years.  I can only speak on what I’ve researched (and I did a lot of research before getting into this) and what I’ve experienced.

So, for inquiring minds, fitness modeling is modeling one’s physical form or physique.  Think of body building competitions or Arnold Schwarzenegger.  When you enter fitness modeling competitions you are competing with others in your desired division.  These divisions include bikini, figure, physique (men and women), fitness, and body building (men and women).  Each division has a different body type requirement:

·         Bikini (female) – usually seen as lean, visible muscle definition but not more muscular than other female fitness division.  Bikini fitness models are classified as exotic, curvaceous, sexy and flirty. 

·         Figure (female) – well defined and visible muscle definition.  While female figure competitors are not as overly flirty on stage during their posing, they are still considered appealing to the eye due to size, shape and sculpting of their muscular form.

·         Physique (male and female) – muscle shape, size and proportion are determining factors within this division, for both men and women.  Muscle size is a size down from body building.

·         Fitness (female) – this is a size down from figure competitors.  They are leaner in size but still have relative muscle definition that determines their overall ranking. 

·         Body Building (male and female) – muscle size, shape and proportion is the largest of all categories. 

Depending on your size, ability to gain muscle mass and compete determines what division you should be competing in.  I chose bikini because of my body type, ectomorph.  I decided, for myself, this division was more along my speed and one I could keep up with in training, rather than trying to gain massive amounts of muscle mass to compete as a figure or physique competitor.  This worked out for me.  This is not to say everyone is cut out to be a bikini model.  Some may chose figure or women’s body building.  It is the same for the men’s divisions. 

The decision should ultimately be yours, one that you will have no regrets and feel happy throughout the entire training and competing process.  After one of my competitions, I saw a fellow bikini competitor crying when we got off stage.  I spoke to her coach to find out what was wrong with her.  The young lady felt as if she did not do as well as she had hoped and wanted to quit.  After learning she was unhappy with her body development and how the process was not as enjoyable as she thought it would be, I asked her if she thought bikini was the division she wanted to compete in.  She thought about it and said no.  We sat and watched most of the show until it was time to get back on stage and she said became mesmerized by the figure competitors.  I told her she may want to consider it but to make sure the decision and experience was one she would be content with.  She agreed to take some time to think about it but would do another show in the figure division. 

Your body takes time to develop and mature.  The same can be said about your mental state around body building/fitness modeling competitions.  Competing is not for everyone.  I can honestly say I never thought I would like fitness modeling but have grown to enjoy it more than I ever thought I could.  One word to best describe fitness competitions: exhilarating.  You meet like-minded individuals that have prepped just as hard if not harder than you for their 15 minutes (if that) on stage to pose and smile.  Some of the things to take into account when prepping for a competition is:

·         Tanning (2 coats and a touch-up)

·         Hair and makeup (women)

·         Jewelry (women)

·         Suits

·         Diet prep (6-8 weeks)

·         Posing

·         Training

It can be thrilling but also overwhelming, and it takes a person that is willing to jump through all the hoops to give their body the shine they’ve worked hard to prep for.  Ask yourself, can I do this and is it worth it?  What am I getting into this for?  The decision is yours.

The Bodybuilding Introvert

Many people do not believe me when I tell them this, but I am an introvert.  For the majority of my life, I’ve been fairly shy and quiet, very private and to myself.  I’m still that way to this day, in some regard.  A lot depends on the company around me.  Now, what does this have to do with fitness modeling?  Everything.  Because I am an introvert, it is out of the ordinary that I would choose to associate myself with a sport where I have to expose most of my body and open up to people and swap “prep” stories.  I don’t mind talking and networking with people at all, in fact, I enjoy it.  Sometimes.  I’m not nervous talking to another bikini or figure competitor in the pump up room when we’re getting ready to show our stuff on stage.  I just get to a point where, internally, I ask “what do I have to say remotely interesting to this person that they would want to engage in conversation with me?”  And then I shut down.  But I have to think about who I’m around.  These are men/women that have gone through the same prep that I’ve gone through to get where they are now, in the same place I am.  There is no reason for me not to open up.  Their story may help me, and vice versa. 

The exposing my body portion of it all is somewhat different.  I stopped being shy about my body a long time ago.  I figured because I was working out consistently this would be the perfect way to showcase my rock hard body, dazzling smile and the sparkle in my eye for the lights.  But a small part of me wanted to hold back.  I did not know how I would be perceived.  But I suddenly realized I did not care what anyone thought of me because it was my body.  If I kept up with this introverted “behavior” then I would miss out on a lot of things in life.  So, to the stage I go!

As I’ve stated in earlier posts, fitness modeling is completely out of the box for me.  It is something that I, surprisingly, took naturally too and enjoyed.  While there are those stressful, panic stricken moments of discouragement, fear and lingering thoughts, I have to give myself credit for sticking it out as long as I have and making it work to my advantage.  I do not regard my personality trait as being a character flaw.  I think of it as being that one trait that sets me apart from everyone else.  One may question, what in the world would an introvert be doing body building/fitness modeling competitions for?  Just debunking the myth that you have to be defined and confined to the demarcation of said trait, one competition at a time.

If You're Confident & You Know It, Pose & Smile!

It takes a lot of courage to stand in front of family, friends, fans, and complete strangers, and show off your body that is covered with very little material; very little left to the imagination.  So, going into a competition takes a person with a lot of self-assurance in themselves to make even an effort in entering in this arena.  Not only do you have to be physically strong but you have to be mentally strong as well, as cliché as that sounds. 

My nerves begin jumping a week before a competition, and they do not stop until I approach the stage, smile and pose.   I’ll admit, my very first competition, I was a deer caught in headlights.  Literally, I couldn’t get adjusted to the lights blazing on the center stage and I ended up staring at them the entire show!  I didn’t think I would do so well in that show, my confidence level was at a solid 2.5.  I wasn’t secure mentally or physically.  My pose was a little awkward and my smile was not as shiny and bright as it should have been.  I had several factors working against me.  Ambivalence started to weigh on me, questioning my reason as to why I was subjecting myself to such physical and mental stress.  Naturally, when your confidence feels shattered or at least shaken, you tend to give up.  Not me.  I told myself, for the next show, I would have everything in place, confidence being at the very top of the list.

And I did.  My second show I was more together.  My pose was so spot on my back and legs started hurting, which I didn’t realize until the very end of the show.  My smile was so big my cheeks hurt.  I was told if I was having all of these ailments, I was doing it right.  Confidence level was a whopping 10.  I knew what I had to do to get where I wanted and what I wanted.  My resolve could not be broken at that point.  All I could do was be confident, pose and smile.  And it earned me a 2nd place trophy and qualifier for NPC National shows. 

It hurts, physically and mentally, but that confidence knowing you’ve done everything you are supposed to do to get where you are is the greatest reward.  I say, no matter what it is you’re subjecting yourself to, whether it be a competition, a test in some form, or just challenging yourself to be a better person, you have to have an unwavering, impenetrable confidence that you can look back and say this is what I did to get where I am and nothing can stop me.  Then, just pose and smile, because you’ve got it like that!

Toning...What Does It Really Mean?

At some point, everyone has said or heard this phrase, “I want to tone.”  I’m guilty of saying it to my trainer when I first began training with him.  After I heard myself say it, I couldn’t help but wonder, what did I mean when I said that?  At the time, I really wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.  I knew I wanted to exercise on a consistent basis and have someone there to push me along.  But where did the toning part come from?  What was I wanting to “tone” and what does that word even mean? 
I had to do some research because it didn’t sit well with me, saying this and not really knowing what it really meant and what I really wanted to do with my body.  I figured because I was already lean and semi-satisfied with my look, all I needed was some tightening in a few areas—stomach, legs.  I wanted some definition in those areas, but I did not want to be overly muscular.  In fact, that wasn’t even a factor--of course, all of this changed when I began competing. 

After reading a few articles and seeing how my own fitness regime was being conducted, I concluded there is no such thing as toning.  Toning is, what I like to call, a filler word for people who want definition and shape to specific areas of their bodies without gaining excessive muscle.  They want the “painted on” look rather than putting in all the work to actually get the definition they want.  Low weight/high reps does not get you the gains.  You’re just moving dust particles around at that point.  You have to actually grind in order to gain muscle.  Fat is replaced with muscle when they are worked.  It doesn’t happen overnight either.  Consistent training will do this, and over time, the muscles and the tightening of them are achieved. 

So, now the cat is out of the bag.  There is no such thing as toning.  Period.  At least in my opinion. I don't allow people to say it in my presence, and if they do, I either politely correct them or ask what do they mean when they say they "tone"?  It’s a word that developed and remained in the gray area between getting lean and gaining muscle.  There is no in between in fitness.  Either you want to lean out (cardio, cardio, cardio) or pack on the muscle (lift, lift, lift).  The choice is yours.  

The Joys of Being an Ectomorph; My Body Type

As I've stated in earlier posts, I am an ectomorph.  I was not made known of this until I started taking fitness more seriously and got into fitness modeling.  At that point, it was important to learn my body. I couldn't figure out why I could not gain weight or keep muscle, no matter how much I ate, how much I lifted, and how much I prayed for the weight gain (exaggerating).  I dismissed it and said it must be genetic, so I better eat all I can now because when I get older it is not going to be the same.  This was easy to do, but being that I was now competing and showing off my body against other females who could pack on more muscle in a day than I could in a month made me more alert and wanting to know more about my body and what I needed to do to gain size.

The basics: an ectomorph body type is lean/skinny, less muscle mass, small bones and joints, high metabolism, and essentially, everyone hates you because you are this way.  Maybe not so much the latter, but not much of a stretch.  Because your body is already lean you have sort of an edge in the competition, but not by much.  You still have to gain and maintain muscle mass.  This is probably the hardest part. 


Because our bodies naturally burn a lot of calories and our metabolism is high, ectomorphs are advised to keep cardio training at a minimum.  Cardio is still essential, but it can include certain types of cardio workouts such as circuit training or HIIT style (kettle bell swings, push ups, sprints, etc.).  These should be kept to at least 30 minutes. Workouts such as dead lift, lateral pulls, jump squats with the bar, dumbbell curls, calf raisers, bench press, squats (the list goes on and on) are vital in muscle growth, in addition to eating the right nutrients and supplement intake (amino acid, protein shake, creatin).  Some are against ectomorphs taking supplements because our bodies do not need it.  However, if you are in a sport like body building or just want to gain it is essential in getting them into your system because of how it works consistently with your workouts and dieting.  At least for me it does.

One other challenge I continued running into was eating.  I did not know what to eat, how to eat, when to eat, etc.  All I knew was that I had to eat properly because my brain has been trained that when your body feasts on improper eating habits (fried fatty foods, high sodium, high glucose, fructose, sucrose, dextrose...sugar) it will suffer and the end results, at least the ones I've seen in my family, are not good.  My mother suffers from high blood pressure which has resulted in her having multiple strokes.  I saw this and immediately wanted to change my eating habits and maintain an active, healthy lifestyle.  Everything comes with a price.  Literally.  The price of organic vs. non organic is about $5, and that is not an exaggeration from the stores I shop at.  Or taking organic out of the equation, a box of cookies at $2.50 vs. a bag of kale chips at $5.60.  Seriously, if you don't grow your own foods you're liable to go broke if you live on a budget and trying to eat healthy.  This is a sacrifice I was willing to make for competing.  The key to remember for ectomorphs is we can essentially eat what we want, in moderation of course, but smart and healthy.  Breaking up large meals into smaller portion sized meals throughout the day is beneficial.

 

At the end of the day, ectomorphs are rare and unique in true form.  While our bodies, for the most part, appear lean and lanky, there are tricks of the trade to learn in order to even out our body, and by that I mean shaping it into a form that suits us.  My form consists of tightness and definition, one that I am proud to say took hard work to develop, so naturally I cannot go back to the way I was just to start over again.

But I'm Tired....Days When I Feel Like Giving Up

Not everyday is happy, sunny, running barefoot in the meadows wonderful when I workout.  There are days when I'm physically and mentally exhausted.  Too tired to think, speak, and even move. Somehow, I manage to do it, but barely. There are times where I actually argue with my trainer, completely blow-up. Cuss, fuss, then storm out.

During these times, when I'm completely drained, I get into discourage mode and want to give up.  I'm talking throw up both hands, back away dramatically and say, "F this s*it!"  Many things play a role in this state of mind; work stress, finances, the physical pain and strain to my body, results not showing fast enough, and, the biggie, what is the end goal here and what am I doing this for?  I've mentioned my whole stress process in a previous post, it gets pretty ugly, fast, and before I know it everything has spiraled out of control. The days where I feel like giving up I have to think of the things that have gotten me to that point and is the end goal, what I'm working hard to achieve, worth all of this.

One side of me says, "But I'm hangry (combination of hungry and angry) and I just want a cookie and to punch somebody!" The other side of me says "Stop being a baby, get it together and quit trippin'!" The results aren't going to get there without hardwork behind it. So, I wipe my face, dust off my shoulders and get back in the lab and do, what I consider, is my best.   

Days I feel like giving up don't last long because my fight, dedication and determination is stronger than it ever has been. I figure something that's hanging on as tightly as fitness and fitness modeling isn't worth giving up on. It's more push to keep it going and fight those urges I have to "give up" as hard as I can. 

So I continue dieting when I don't want to, workout when my body aches, and shake off those sissy "give up" feelings.  Because at the end of the day, proving to myself I can conquer all of this and finally be great at something is not just the push but the "shove" I need to step up to the plate and get it. I'm hangry for it!