# 28 y/o female from Northern Ireland thinking of Competing



## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

Hi everyone

I am new to the forum and wanted to introduce myself - I have been lifting for 3 years and am considering competing this year at the NABBA event in Northern Ireland 30th April - I have never even been to one of these events before so I am looking for any advice people can give me.

I currently weigh 68kg, am 5ft 4", approx. 20% body fat and have approx. 17 weeks to get in shape. I currently run 4 times a week in prep for a half marathon in March - I have reworked my diet this week as I know I have not been eating clean recently - I am now eating 5/6 times a day - mostly lean protein / complex carbs and EFAs in the form of flaxseed or peanut butter.

Any and all advice is welcome :thumb: .


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## Jonnyboi (Aug 23, 2009)

Have you never been to a show at all or just never competed?


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

Never been to a show at all - I have watched them on YouTube though  Hoping to get details of a trainer in the next couple of weeks but just looking for some general advice at the minute - thanks for the reply


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## Paulieb (Jan 1, 2008)

Post up your diet in full Jen and I am sure you will get some good advise.........................Oh and welcome to the forum


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## flinty90 (Jul 1, 2010)

Hello and welcome to the forum. you might want to also post this somewhere in the ladies section, there are a few on here that compete already and im sure they will be invaluable sources of information.. good luck

You got any pictures of your current physique ??


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## Milky (Nov 30, 2008)

Do you want tips on training, posing, dieting, tanning ???

A few clues would help TBH...

OH and welcome...


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## MissBC (Apr 29, 2008)

Welcome

Good luck with your plans

One thing i would say is IMO marathon training is counter productive to competitive figure/physique training so you may wanna pick which one you really want to do. Unless your thinking more the bikini class where muscle isnt of importance as with all that running you will, again IMO, loose alot of muscle mass.



Hope it all goes well for you though, what ever you decide


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## Tommy10 (Feb 17, 2009)

hi java jen...best of luck with ur goal of competing


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

Paulieb - shall I post my diet in full here or is there a section for that?

flinty90 - current pictures - I will put some up soon but camera not playing ball - here is one from during the year but I am about 4lb heavier at the minute - http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2009/11/17/15008912/progresspic/1AerxOq0SPTQsMnyR0KaS8nrKX1zg0003.jpeg

gemilky69 - yes I was pretty vague sorry - at the minute I suppose advice on diet and training would be the main areas as I hope to get a trainer for posing and tanning etc

MissBC - the run is on March 19th and show April 30th - it is only a half marathon - and I was thinking the training would help me lose weight as I need to lose about 20lbs - I was thinking I would go for the toned figure and not trained this time round - from my limited knowledge that is bikini


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## Ser (Aug 10, 2008)

Hiya chick! Welcome to uk-m, good luck with your goals.

There is a journal section where you can keep a journal of all your going-ons together, there is also a diet and nutrition section if you swish to post your diet info in there separately

Looking forward to reading about your progress:thumbup1:


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## Paulieb (Jan 1, 2008)

Java_Jen said:


> Paulieb - shall I post my diet in full here or is there a section for that?


Either here

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/food-diet-nutrition-info/

Or here Jen

http://www.uk-muscle.co.uk/diets-nutrition/


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## Irish Beast (Jun 16, 2009)

Where abouts in n.Ireland are you from? From enniskillen myself originally.


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

Ser - cheers will get a journal sorted I think - love your signatures 

Irish Beast - I live near Carrickfergus - Enniskillen is a lovely part of the world went for a cycling trip there last year near Lough Melvin I think


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## Irish Beast (Jun 16, 2009)

Aye its not bad for a short trip. When you lived there most of your life it becomes pretty torturous though!

Best of luck with the competing


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## MissBC (Apr 29, 2008)

Java_Jen said:


> MissBC - the run is on March 19th and show April 30th - it is only a half marathon - and I was thinking the training would help me lose weight as I need to lose about 20lbs - I was thinking I would go for the toned figure and not trained this time round - from my limited knowledge that is bikini


IMO running is not going to help you drop purely fat, you are going to loose muscle and no offense but from that pic you posted you need to keep all that you have unless bikini is the look you are wanting to achieve.

Classes depend on what federation your going to do

NABBA

Fitness

Toned figure

Trained figure

Physique

UKBFF

Fitness

Bikini

Bodyfitness

Physique

You would prob fit best in the bikini class based on that link to the pic you posted as you dont appear to have much muscle but its hard to tell what your muscle mass etc is like without seeing a whole body pic and without you posing properly

If you have never been training specific for a comp i suggest that you would need more than 17 weeks especially if your trying to prepare and train for a running comp as they are so different in the way you prepare and one will not benefit the other IMO. Running is high intensity at at that level for that length of time you are going to be burning muscle without having loads of expendable carbs to fuel your run, and giving your body simple carbs to give you energy to run a marathon and keeping your body in a catabolic state for any length of time is not going to benefit you when thinking of standing on stage IF you want to look at figure/bodyfitness or higher.

So many poeple think stepping on stage is easy, i have been training for 7 years, 3 of which have been specific to competing and i had more than enough mass to allow me to diet for 17 weeks last year to stand on stage looking how they wanted us to look

I would suggest going on the UKBFF sites and NABBA sites and reading the judging criteria, also look at Natural Federations as if you arent taking anything to aid your prep you might be best suited to them.

http://www.ukbff.co.uk/home.html

http://www.nabba.co.uk/

Ofcourse this is all my opinion and i hope you dont take offense but in this sport people need others who have been there and done that to tell them upfront whats what and what is realistic


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## iron head case (Jul 2, 2008)

Welcome and i like your positive attitude


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## coflex (May 10, 2010)

MissBC said:


> IMO running is not going to help you drop purely fat, you are going to loose muscle and no offense but from that pic you posted you need to keep all that you have unless bikini is the look you are wanting to achieve.
> 
> Classes depend on what federation your going to do
> 
> ...


good post missBC.....

my advise would be to go to the N.Irelands this year as a spectator and see if you can get backstage to talk to some of the girls competing. there's no point in trying to do a marathon and then try to compete on stage....you will NOT do yourself justice.


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## mr power (Dec 7, 2010)

Welcome


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

MissBC - I wouldn't take offence as I came here for some honest advice - from what you have said I would rather do the competition than the run though I appreciate that I may not have been training long enough - this is a picture taken this week - I am about 20% body fat so need to drop that - I don't think the pictures pick up the muscle I do have -










This is a side view:










If I simply stick to 3/4 runs at high intensity - 3/4 miles max as my weekly cardio is that a better plan - as I said I am planing to get a trainer just waiting to hear back from them. I am going to post my training and diet in the correct sections - so if you get a chance would you take a look?

CoFlex - I may do that but want to see what I look like with the fat stripped off so I can see what I need to work on - plus perhaps I could go for bikini this year and work on building more muscle for next


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## MissBC (Apr 29, 2008)

Now il be honest there looks to be some muscle under there but a decent amout of fat also (dont worry i have been there, i had to drop 60lbs for my last show) You would need a very VERY structured diet plan for the next 17-20 weeks depending on when your show is. TBH babe if you HAVE to run i would limit it to 1-2 and no more than about 20ish mins as you will burn away your muscle big time and running unless his HIT cardio is not an effective part of prep (especially for women as we need to work dam hard to maintain the muscle we do have) running is to high intensity and you will be working your body well above its fat loss threashold. To drop FAT you need to be working about 60-70ish of your max HR. For me being 27 i aim to be abround 130bpm ish not that i measure it but all i do for my cardio is fast walking including hills, if im doing it in the gym cross trainer or a slow deep stepper. You should be still able to hold a convo, all be it with short sentances but thats how you should feel when doing cardio to be sure your not working anaerobicly and having to pull on protein/muscle sources for fuel.

If you are deciding to prep for a show and not the run then i suggest 5-6 sessions of cardio in the morning before food. 60min sessions. or you could do say 4x60mins and 1-2 HIT cardio for 15-20mins.


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

Ok I chatted to the girl I run with and explained to her about wanting to do the comp instead of the run and she was grand (I was more worried about letting her down than missing the run) - to be honest when I say run I am more of a plodder we can hold a convo the whole time LOL suppose I do a mile in 12 mins but I can change over to morning cardio speed walking the course instead. What about cardio after weights I would sometimes do that and have read it is pretty effective? I am a bit like yourself in having to start work early and it means I would have to start my morning cardio at 5.45 to be in on time.I have a heart rate monitor so I will get it strapped on nd see what my heart rate is like - with being 28 I guess mine will be roughly the same as yours.

I have 16 weeks from this Saturday - have been dieting this week and so far lost 3.3lbs (prob mostly water LOL).

Thanks very much for the advice - hope you are feeling good from getting back to training after your break


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## RACK (Aug 20, 2007)

16 weeks should be plenty of time for you, I'd know lol

Welcome to the forum


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## stuboy (Nov 1, 2010)

Good luck with it all chuck, if you put in the hard work and listen to advice given to you from members on here i'm sure you will achieve your goals.


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## Soul keeper (Jul 7, 2010)

Hello and Welcome


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## bizzlewood (Dec 16, 2007)

welcome and good luck with your goals


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## lolik (Apr 24, 2010)

hello and good luck


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## SteamRod (Oct 1, 2007)

Im about 5 up the road from Carrickfergus in Greenisland, What gym do you go to?

The comp is in the Ulster hall this year isnt it?

Miss BC seems to be helping you out anyway. All I can think of is to squat and deadlift as heavy as you can. never did me any harm


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## SteamRod (Oct 1, 2007)

btw there is a UKBBF in the waterfront hall this year on the 2nd of July if you feel you need more time.


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## Conscript (Sep 5, 2010)

Welcome to the board Jen and good luck!


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## Another Excuse (Sep 22, 2010)

Hi good luck!


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

SteamRod said:


> Im about 5 up the road from Carrickfergus in Greenisland, What gym do you go to?
> 
> The comp is in the Ulster hall this year isnt it?
> 
> Miss BC seems to be helping you out anyway. All I can think of is to squat and deadlift as heavy as you can. never did me any harm


I work out in Carrick Leisure Centre or at home - what about yourself? Yeah the show is in the Ulster Hall.


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## nogger (Mar 4, 2010)

Good luck jen....Will be great to see what you can achieve in the time given.


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## SteamRod (Oct 1, 2007)

Java_Jen said:


> I work out in Carrick Leisure Centre or at home - what about yourself? Yeah the show is in the Ulster Hall.


Just at fitness first on the shore road. Was wanting to do one of those shows myslef this year but I going to give it some more time to get some more LBM.

good luck anyway.


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## dawse (Mar 22, 2007)

Welcome to UK-M hun, best of look with your training!

:thumbup1:


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## Jonnyboi (Aug 23, 2009)

Java_Jen said:


> I work out in Carrick Leisure Centre or at home - what about yourself? Yeah the show is in the Ulster Hall.


Cool to hear folk near you im up in Larne myself been in Carrick Leisure Centre a few times with the kids at the pool some money spent on that place.


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

Jonnyboi said:


> Cool to hear folk near you im up in Larne myself been in Carrick Leisure Centre a few times with the kids at the pool some money spent on that place.


Yeah loads of money spent on it but the free weights area is very small and there are no dipping bars or pull up bars or smith machine - all because of insurance problems - think someone claimed against them before they closed for referb - but great for the kids I take my niece to the fit kids club which is a great way of getting them into fitness


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## SteamRod (Oct 1, 2007)

Java_Jen said:


> Yeah loads of money spent on it but the free weights area is very small and there are no dipping bars or pull up bars or smith machine - all because of insurance problems - think someone claimed against them before they closed for referb - but great for the kids I take my niece to the fit kids club which is a great way of getting them into fitness


Thats true my bro was commenting on the lack of oly stuff there I thought it was becasue of people getting crushed via squats. Good for cardio though with thiose usb pens and all.

there used to be a cracker spit and sawdust bit in the basement before that done it up. It was never replaced and all the equipment went to the rugby club. Its v.good squat racks and Db's up to 65kg  good atmosphere too.


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## Ninja (Apr 28, 2010)

Welcome and good Luck!


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## Java_Jen (Jul 25, 2010)

SteamRod said:


> Thats true my bro was commenting on the lack of oly stuff there I thought it was becasue of people getting crushed via squats. Good for cardio though with thiose usb pens and all.
> 
> there used to be a cracker spit and sawdust bit in the basement before that done it up. It was never replaced and all the equipment went to the rugby club. Its v.good squat racks and Db's up to 65kg  good atmosphere too.


What does it cost to train in the rugby club? take it you mean Carrick Rugby Club


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