On Friday, October 8th, the tight and taunt went head to head in the annual bodybuilding, figure and bikini competition dubbed "The Paradise Cup." Held at the Sheraton Waikiki, this event brought over 100 competitors to pose down and strut their stuff. I had a personal VIP pass backstage as my 2 Crazy Wahines Fitness Bootcamp Partner and Sister in Crime, Nicky Perry was to make her tall class debut. This profile will give you an "insider's look" into the mind of a figure competitor, in her very own words; from her personal "diary," the words of Nicky Perry...
5 days out from my second figure competition
Well, here I am at Peak Week. What a long grind it’s been. I never planned on training 10 long months for a show. I started in January and aimed to compete in April. But my coach at the time was of the opinion that I needed to cut down body-fat before building muscle, so a grueling diet and cardio schedule began. By April, I had lost 12 pounds but also a lot of muscle and didn’t look like I belonged anywhere near a stage. I decided to set my sights on a show in June and switched coaches.
New coach told me that honestly June might be too soon to rebuild quality muscle, and that my metabolism was so shot from years of consistent dieting that I should realistically spend some time fixing that before looking at training for a show. I set my sights on a show all the way out in October, and started the slow process of rebuilding my metabolism and muscle. I also had to let go of a lifetime of fear that lifting to my max potential would make me bulky. As a woman who had always put on muscle easily, I had always battled my genetics worrying I would grow too much. I had always stayed in the high rep ranges and had never lifted to failure.
This year I decided if I wanted to really earn a competition-worthy physique and get to the level in this sport that I was shooting for, I would have to put 100% of my faith and trust in my amazing coach whose knowledge of the sport had been well proven, in both his own physique and his notable clients. And you know what? Everything that new coach said would happen, happened. And every time I doubted his plan and did my own thing, I learned the hard way that I didn’t know better! I lifted in both the power and size rep ranges, I got over my fear of carbs, and I got over my fear of Creatine.
During this process, I also learned a lot about myself. Watching other girls train for 3 months and then hit the stage was humbling, feeling like I was a bench-warmer sitting on the sidelines. I had to learn patience and perseverance. I had to let go of my own distorted body image issues and commit to my prep. I had to hit the gym hard every single day and not have a single "throw away lift day". I had to cut down my cardio and stop using it to help purge when I was a little too "lenient" with my diet. Now even when I was building muscle, I had to make sure my diet stayed spot on. Most importantly though, I had to let go of my ego. I had to stop telling myself I knew my body better than my coach and just take in the instructions I was being given. And I had to stop worrying about what my competition was doing and how they were training, and understand that the only thing I could control was my own physique and making it the best I possibly could.
Now I am 5 days out from my second show, and the difference in my physique is staggering. I learned that I still have a few more competition preps before I can get my body to the ultimate level of some of the big time competitors, but I am pretty impressed with what I accomplished, with new coach’s help, in just one year. We’ll see what happens at the show on Friday, but at the end of the day, I can say without a doubt that I did everything I possibly could to look my best, and that I look exponentially better than I did last time I was on stage. And that’s all I can ask and hope for.
Stay tuned!
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