I have competed for 2 years in the novice woman’s figure category for international federation of bodybuilding NZ, taking 3^rd place in my first show I had to come back for more. Knowing what it took and what I had to do I came away with gold at Wellington Regionals and a silver placing at NZ Nationals. There is a lot of research and things to consider, take a look below if you are thinking about competing in a show. 

1. Why do you want to compete?

Ask yourself why you want to do a bodybuilding competition?  

2. Cost

Bodybuilding is a very expensive sport here are some estimates of what you will be looking at.  

• Trainer $60 per session 
• Posing coach $60 per session 
• Nutritionist $80 per session 
• Supplements $100 plus a month 
• Bikini Suit/Trunks all are custom made to fit your body $500 plus  

3. Time

Your life will consist of training, work, training, sleep, and repeat.  You will spend at least 4 hours if not more a day in the gym, as well as food prepping, trying get everyday life chores done, work and ensuring you get enough sleep.  

4. Will it affect your job or studies? 

Ask anyone who has competed, becoming a zombie really does exist. This can and will start to take a toll on you career or studies, you won’t even know its happening to you until you start to hear the comments from everyone around you.  

5. Have you done your research?

Do you know which category you want to compete in or which category best suits your body type, what federation do you want to represent? Do you know what they stand for or how long until you get to stage? 

There are multiple federations and all are different to each other, see which one you like best. 

6. Support

The battle of “I can’t do this, this is too hard, I’m too tired to train” will slowly start to creep in when calories become less and less. It is so important to have family and friends around who support you and understand and know how to pick you up. 

7. Coach/Trainer

Do your research on trainers. I recommend getting someone who has competed multiple times and also having someone who has done the same category you have chosen is beneficial.  

8. Do you know what a diet of a bodybuilder looks like when cutting down?

Get use to the taste of plain food, the endless amounts of chicken and fish with delicious broccoli and beans for every meal and oats in water for breakfast. Yum.  

9. Are you willing to sacrifice a lot of things to get to where you need to be for stage? 

Think it’s going to be easy? Think again! You will sacrifice drinking and nights out, you’ll have to give up a lot of the foods you love for 16 + weeks. You will no longer go out to social dinners with friends cause you can’t eat the food and sitting there watching them eat is just torture.  

Make sure to consider the above before competing.  This gives you an insight into what a preparation for a competition is like and the reality of the sport.  Competing isn’t made for everyone.   

If you want to know more about bodybuilding competitions, training or posing please contact me on: 027 222 7660 or sashatemaru@hotmail.com

Read more about me on my Personal Trainer page click here

While enjoying the beautiful weather that Wellington has to offer, the last thing you want to be worrying about when heading to the beach is cellulite.

Cellulite is the fat beneath the skin, making the skin look dimply and soft. Unfortunately women tend to suffer more from this than men do, we especially get it around our bums, thighs and hamstrings. Men don’t tend to get cellulite that often due to the fact that they have thicker skin which makes it harder to actually see the cellulite. The most common place a man gets cellulite tends to be their abdomens.    

What causes cellulite?

• Poor diet
• Fad dieting
• Slow metabolism
• Lack of physical activity
• Hormone changes
• Dehydration
• Total body fat

Tips to Fight Cellulite

Avoid Too Much Salt and Sugar
By eating a healthy diet, you can help reduce cellulite. Sugary foods gets stored in fat cells and causes them to expand. Limit your salt intake since sodium causes fluid retention, making cellulite appear even worse. Consume no more than 6 teaspoons of sugar each day, and stay away from foods containing more than 200 mg of sodium.

Drink Plenty of Water
Water helps flush out toxins that hide in the fat layers beneath the skin. Drink 8-10 glasses of water every day. Hydration also works to plump the skin and make it look less lumpy.

Regular Exercise
Ensure you are doing both cardio and weight training.  Cardio will help to strip the extra body fat off, and weight training will help to tone and tighten up the softer areas on your body.

Best Exercises to Fight Cellulite

1. Cardio
   Running is not only an awesome form of calorie-burning, heart-pumping cardio, it also doubles as a strength training workout for your lower body.

   Top Ride – this will help you build muscle and tone. The workout will focus on your glutes, hamstrings, thighs and calves. A 45min Top Ride class will also help you burn up to 500 calories!

2. Walking Lunges
   Targets your glutes, quads and hamstrings all at the same time
3. Plyometric Training 
   Fat burning workout and tones your body 

Squat jumps

Lunge jumps

Frog hops

Box jumps

4. Stiff Leg Deadlifts with Dumbbells/Barbell.
   Best exercise for your “butt smile” – the line where your glutes meet your hamstring

These are all tips and exercises that I follow myself and with great results!

For improved gains and faster results contact me for more advanced exercises such as Barbell Squats. Or if you would like some help and advice on reducing overall body fat please get in touch with me for a FREE consultation.

Email: sashatemaru@hotmail.com
Phone: 027 222 7660