Female Fitness Competitions

Here's a Q&A I recently did for a website called www.ptonthenet.com It was about Female Fitness Competitions Question: I am looking for information on training programs and requirements on fitness competitions for women. I would like to know how to prepare routines for maximum results to be achieved along with some diet tips for caloric intake to maximize the "shredded" yet toned physique. Answer: While the judging criteria for fitness and figure competitions continues to evolve, a few of the common denominators that all judges look for are symmetry, proportion and a certain degree of muscularity and conditioning. It's in these latter two areas that the criteria seems to be constantly changing, which sometimes makes it hard... read more 9 comments

Hamstrings and Leg Curls

Leg Curls .... Do them? Don't do them? There's a lot of villfying of leg curls going on by various people these days. Now, I'm not going to argue their logic, because well, in the context of their arguement, they're right. One of the criticisms is that leg curls aren't 'functional' (popular word these days), and the hamstrings don't function in isolation of the glutes in the 'real world' - hence the alternatively recommended SHELC (supine hip extension w/ leg curl) exercise. With this execise both the glutes and hamstrings are working together. So, much of the criticism stems from an 'athlete' or functional versus non-functional standpoint. Beyond saying that more people would be better... read more 6 comments

Bridezilla Recap

So, it's 7:40pm and I'm sitting at JFK airport in New York, eating some beef jerky and almonds and waiting to head back home. It took 90 minutes to get to the airport and I just found out my flight is delayed 50 minutes. :(

So, to recap my short trip to New York ....

I arrived yesterday evening and was picked up at the airport by a nice stretch limousine. From there I was taken to the W ($500/night), a nice hotel in Union Square. As I walked in, I was greeted by lots of noise. I looked to my right to see what looked like the hotel bar. It was only 8pm, on a Thursday... read more 9 comments

Motivation ...

How do you stay motivated? What does it mean to be motivated?

Stop and think about it. What motivates you? Why are you doing
this? The tightly controlled eating, the 'saying no' to those
off plan meals, the tough workouts (anyone want any more
Bulgarian Squats?), the always challenging interval workouts?

Obviously you're doing this for a reason right? That reason being
that you want to get in better shape, look better, feel better,
and so on.

That goal certainly doesn't change I'm sure so why does motivation
sometimes start to dwindle? Is it lack of progress? In some cases
sure. But stop and look back to when you started on this endeavor.
I'm sure you look... read more 3 comments