Thursday, January 29, 2009

Making it feel real...




5:00am has become the magic hour...at least it is three days a week now! Tuesday: posing session, Wednesday: cardio class, and Friday: cardio class, strength training, and measurements. Truly, one of the hardest things about training is getting up that stinkin' early for me especially when it's three degrees outside!! Who wants to get out of their warm cozy bed into a frrrrreeeeeezing car...NOT ME!! It's those kinds of mornings where my dedication and willpower HAVE to kick into overdrive. Sure, I'm fine and ready to go when I'm actually at the studio but, man oh man, it's tough!

This past Tuesday marked our first 5am posing session. It was the first time all of the competitors have been together....a huge group! It was great to see the new faces. Many filled with overwhelmed expressions but that's to be expected at this period. I knew EXACTLY how they felt since it was only last year I was in that very spot of confusion. "It gets easier," as I repeated myself to several different girls only to be met by apprehensive responses. Trust me, it really does. If you've never seen a figure show before, learning how to pose correctly while making it appear effortless is sooooo EXTREMELY difficult. The walk must be smooth yet display a touch of your personality. The transitions between front to side to back poses must be seamless while keeping every muscle from head to toe flexed. It's not one of those things where you can just "wing it" and hope for the best. Like anything, it takes practice practice practice.

NANBF holds a comparison round where the girls from each category and height class walk out on stage together. They are then judged on front, side, and back poses. There is also a "relaxed" pose for when the judges are deciding who to compare and what not. But don't be fooled, the relaxed pose is just as hard as the other poses!! The girls can be on stage for as little as five minutes to thirty minutes all depending on how many participants are involved and comparisons the judges are making. After the line up round, the next segment is the T-walk presentation which I'll mention later. We only focused on the four basic poses in the first session. Oh, and if trying to remember how get into those poses correctly wasn't enough, try to do it in five inch heels!

Jessica and I are the two veterans out of the group and demonstrated all of the poses for the girls. Putting on a suit wasn't as horrible as I imagined; it actually made me excited. Wearing a suit always makes everything more "real." It's funny how natural all of the poses came back to me(took me awhile to do them correctly last year..hell, I flubbed my back pose the first time ON stage)...kind of like riding a bike. Unfortunately, Jessica and I were the only ones wearing one that morning. Michelle and Kristie wanted to hold off until they had enough suits for everyone. They will be buying a few new ones at the Arnold Classics in the beginning of March. Kristie asked me what color I preferred this year and wanting to be completely different from last year, I'm leaning towards red. Can't wait to see what she can come up with!! I'm not required to attend every posing session until really six weeks before show but I think I might just go here and there to help the girls in anyway I can.

Enough for tonight..sweet dreams. I'll list my shoulder work out tomorrow for ya!

Til next time,
LM

1 comment:

  1. I am was thinking red too. Will look great on you with that tan.

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