A few days ago I introduced you to Grace Marlin, who was days out from her first show ever as an NPC Figure Competitor.
Well, I have an amazing story of triumph to share with you today, as Grace went into her first show ever as a first time figure competitor and wins in a big way!
It truly takes a lot for a competitor to win their class. Imagine now, being on stage for your first time EVER, and all the things going through your mind, just looking to not trip on stage and make sure you’re trying to simply hit your poses correctly, and do your best.
What I like to tell my clients is that you simply never know where you can end up if you show up looking amazing, looking like what the judges expect to see for your division, and simply ready to play the game.
Grace couldn’t have displayed this any better.
Grace competed at one of Southern California’s first shows of the year – the Ironman Naturally held at the Los Angeles Fitness Expo. This show alone, due to the fact that it is done at the expo, draws a large crowd and lots of eyes focused on the stage. But despite any of that, I felt it was a great opener for her as her first show experience.
Grace traveled down from Oakland to compete here in LA, which was GREAT because I had an opportunity to be right by her side throughout the entire stage process for her.
She arrived on Thursday evening, and had a nice full day on Friday to get her tan done, relax, and get her mind into the groove of what she needed to do to bring her best.
By Saturday morning, I was headed to the expo, just really excited to see her in person. It’s a rare occasion for me to see a first time competitor on stage – unless they head down here to the Los Angeles area to compete. So being able to cheer Grace on from the stands was an awesome treat not only for her – but for me as well.
To say she looked stunning was an understatement!
As she had come out on stage, I was doing what any dedicated coach does – cheer her on, and shout out some directions to her to open her back, tighten her legs, smile big, and show off that great work!
I could tell she was a bit nervous, but with all of the preparation that we put in from her training to her diet, her suit selection, presentation, and posing – she had a lot to fall back on, and just do what has now become second nature due to weeks of practice.
In fact, I was really QUITE impressed with how well she displayed her physique.
At the end of the day, the thing that was amazing was seeing in action all of her hard work, and our sane and healthy way of prepping for her show get rewarded – and rewarded BIG time on that stage.
She walked away from her first show a winner! Placing 1st in her class was everything we could ever hope for – or imagine.
So you’re probably wondering what’s next for Grace…
Well, our first call to action will be reverse dieting her to a higher caloric level. The process of getting back to normalcy is an important part of any prep, so I will give you a bit of an inside look of how I’ll be doing that for her over the next few posts.
Reverse dieting should definitely be a part of every competitor’s plan, and is crucial to help avoid that dreaded post show rebound. Grace’s will now start about 3 days after her show, and last a few week as we look to improve her shape even further as we plan her next moves.
We plan on hitting up another show later this year – in June – so this adventure isn’t done yet! Stay tuned!
Looking to start on your own contest prep – and do it the healthy way – and WIN…?
Contact me today so I can send you some more info on my services, and exactly how you can get started on the road to bringing your best look to the stage – the right way.
