Nadine Young IDFA Ms Pro Universe Athlete Posing Tip

Nadine Young IDFA Pro Universe Athlete goes through a quick tip for posing.  The pose that she goes through is the relaxed pose.  This is pose is presented to both the audience and judges as soon as you come out on stage.  Nadine let’s viewers know that your body want’s to create a “C” shape.  Nadine says “you want to get your butt out a little bit” to help create the “C” look during the relaxed pose.  Furthermore, you want to bring your shoulders out a little bit and keep your hand on your hip.  The opposite arm that is not on your hip you want to keep relaxed.  No matter what pose you are working on front, side, or back, you always want to make sure you are always creating that “C”.  Nadine Young is a full-time firefighter who started competing several years ago, but it was about one year ago when she got serious about it and had a very successful season that culminated with her winning the IDFA Pro Universe Figure Championship in November 2010. This is the IDFA’s top pro figure event and she now holds the title of IDFA Ms. Pro Universe.

Better Chest?! Do Flies!

Jean Luc-Boissonneault from Free Form Fitness talks about the importance to do flies as part of your chest workout.  He mentions the fly get’s a bad “rap” because with the difference of opinion of functional training versus traditional training.  When doing a chest workout many people do more chest press which then flies and this recruits a lot of front deltoid.  If you want to get a bigger chest flies are an excellent movement for the pectoral major.  This in turn will recruit a lot of upper chest fibers.  The upper chest is where a lot of people are weak area mainly becuase it’s a hard area to target.  One of the better way to target the upper chest is to do flies.

Debbie Laurin-Leclerc IDFA Pro Bikini Tips

Debbie Laurin-Leclerc who recently obtained her pro card with the IDFA give some tips to first time competitors getting ready to hit the stage.

Meals

1. Stick to your meal plan, but be prepared to add additional “trigger foods” shoud you warrant the need.
2. Speaking of “trigger” foods, it is important for you to be very aware of your body and how it responds to different foods.  This will come over time by default, but now that you know, go ahead and keep a journal.
3. In addition to traveling with all your food for the weekend, bring a smaller cooler for the day of the event so you do not have to lug around a giant cooler.

1.  It is important to bring mouth wash!  Debbie recomends this because it gets rid of the pasties from cutting water leading up to compeition!

2.  A treat! Debbie likes to bring Peanut Butter Cups!!  You deserve if for all the hard work!

3.  Bring Water for after the show!

4.  After the event, plan to treat yourself to a reward meal.

5.  Do not under estimate the need to be dark.  As crazy as you look off stage, the darker you are the better you will look on stage

6.  A small rolling suitcase to put all your stage prep items in.

7.  Flip flops to wear with you warm up.

8.  Posing shoes and a second pair just to be  safe.  If something happens to your  primary pair, e.g., broken heal, MIA, you will be covered if you have a backup  pair.

9.  Your suit.

10. Glue.  I  used a product called Bikini Bite. .  This is important to keep you suit covering  you correctly.  Also know it might hurt  when you finally try to take your suit off at the end of the night.

11.  Make-up and hair items for touch up

12. A mirror

13. Something to wear after the show is over

Jelf Aldham Pre-Workout Warm Up

What is the Stick?
The Stick is a flexible plastic rod made up of two handles and a number of independently rotating spindles designed to roll over the muscle for compression, stretching, and trigger point massage. It claims to prevent injury, improve strength, flexibility, and endurance, prepare muscles for physical activity, disperse lactic acid, and accelerate recovery.The Stick should last a lifetime.

What is Muscle Fascia?
“Fasha” (correctly spelled fascia) is the thin netlike layer of connective tissue under the skin. When you slide your skin back and forth the skin is actually slipping moist properties in the underlying fascia. When you receive a subcutaneous injection of a drug (under the skin), the drug distributes itself in the fascial layer and is absorbed from there into blood vessels.

What Does Jeff Say?
“People need to be doing this.” Jeff uses the stick to warm up his fascia starting with ball rolling on the bottom of his feet. The stick Jeff uses mimicks a massage and he uses it on his calf, quads, and hamstrings. Jeff suggests that you go through this warm up daily or if you can before you begin exercise. The warm up usually takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes. Jeff says “it will give you your best performance while doing your workout.”

James Elliot Free Form Fitness

VARY YOUR GRIP FOR YOUR PULL UPS!!

Pull-ups, or wide grip pull-ups, are essential because they stimulate the
body in a way that no machine can emulate. It is man against gravity, and man
must win. Every possible stabilizer in the upper body comes into play, and the
abdominals and arms get a heck of a workout as well.

If you’re looking for a way to spurn some new growth, then use pull ups – the ultimate body weight compound movement!

James demonstrates a great way to superset your chin ups.  Going from wide
grip to shoulder width then to inside grip.  Many of us do just one exercise at
a time. Form is important. Using your legs to ‘swing’ your way up will only remove
stress from your back, and place it on your core, and allow momentum to remove
some of the workload. This will make the exercise a poor arm movement, and do
little for your back. Don’t even waste your time if you plan to cheat like this.Static hangs are another movement which help to deliver a great deal of stimulation to the back,
even if you no longer have the ability to complete any more reps of chins, or if you aren’t strong enough to complete them to begin with. Grab a pull-up bar and
hang. Flex your back muscles, and just keep them flexed for the duration of your
hang. Spend 60 to 120 seconds stretching out in this manner.