June 1, 2008

Getting the Basics Right – My Five Key Principles to Compete Successfully

Over a number of years, I have developed a reputation for coaching physique competitors and putting them on the fast track to success. For example, there’s Chantal Dicaire. In 2001, a national-level fitness title was only a dream for her. I started coaching her at the beginning of 2002 and she ended up not only winning her class at the CBBF National World Qualifier that year, but the Overall title as well. Since then, she’s won that title three more times!

Then there’s figure competitor Natalie Waples, whom I started to coach in 2005. In the first three months of coaching Natalie, she won two regional titles in a row. In 2006, she won a provincial title. One year later, she won her class and the Overall title at the CBBF National World Qualifier (Chantal won the fitness competition that same year). Most recently, Natalie won her class at the 2008 Arnold Amateur IFBB Figure Championships. Natalie’s not just a national champion now, but an international one as well. Few people have had that kind of success that fast.

I’ve helped many other people in that time, including other figure champions and even some male bodybuilders, and with all of them I’ve used the same approach to achieve success quickly. As a result, people want to know what some of the "secrets" are that help these people get ahead. However, most are surprised to learn that there are really no secrets at all. In fact, what I’m going to explain below is common sense and, to some, it may seem too simple to be true.

But, as simple as it seems, these are some basic principles that many people hoping to succeed overlook and often completely neglect – to their detriment. With the people I coach, mind you, these are the first things I teach them to instill in them the key principles it takes to succeed and, eventually, become a champion. So, here are what I believe are five keys for competing successfully:

1) Training consistently: Far too often, people don’t train regularly. They might not go to the gym frequently enough, often finding the flimsiest excuse to skip a workout, or they don’t train for weeks or months at a time. At the end of it all, they wonder why they don’t make much, if any, progress. The people I coach take breaks from time to time – recuperation and rest are important – but over the long term, their training is consistent week after week, month after month, year after year. You need that kind of consistency to succeed

2) Understanding the importance of nutrition: To build a great body, you need to supply it with the proper nutrients. As a matter of fact, many believe that for physique competitors, nutrition is more important than training! Of course, that doesn’t mean that if your diet is perfect, you don’t need to train – they go hand in hand. It just means that you must realize that what you put in your mouth has a huge impact on the results you achieve. For the people I coach, proper nutrition is never neglected.

3) Possessing the proper mindset: If you look at any great champions, you’ll find that they have minds as powerful as their bodies. In fact, the most successful champions often "train" their minds just as hard as they train their bodies. Just ask Vanda Hadarean, an amazing athlete who has a string of competitive accomplishments (she was in the 1992 Olympics!) and who is also part of our SAF Elite. Vanda places just as much emphasis on the mental aspects of her training as the physical. So it’s not just about training and eating well, it also has to do with having the mindset necessary to succeed.

4) Maintaining "balance" in everything: When I coach people I use the word balance a lot; however, when it comes to physique competitions, it means more than one thing.

First, there’s balance in the physique, something many competitors overlook. If they overlook it, they’ll probably end up with some body parts that are strong and others that are weak. For the people I coach, we minimize their weak body parts by focusing our efforts on them so, over time, they match the strong parts. When they get on stage, their physiques are usually so well-balanced that, to the judges’ eyes, they look as faultless as possible.

Second, there’s balance in life, which means keeping everything in check. Although competing is important and training consistently is crucial, it’s just as important to have other interests and to take the occasional rest. Otherwise, burnout usually occurs. For the people I coach, we train hard and often in the months leading up to the competition, but afterwards we pull back a little and take time off, or greatly reduce the training time, to recharge the batteries before we go at it again.

5) Staying away from drugs: Drugs are all over the news today, and when you talk about physique competitions, the subject often comes up. Without doubt, drugs are a huge issue and a big problem. Furthermore, because I achieve results so quickly with certain people, others often think that I must have some trick up my sleeve – like drug use. I can assure you, that’s certainly not the case.

The fact of the matter is that while some drugs can increase muscle size, decrease fat and do many other "miraculous" things that physique competitors want, drugs also have nasty side effects, many of which present grave health hazards to the user. In my opinion, from a health perspective, it’s just not worth the risk.

Furthermore, I firmly believe that for female physique competitors, drugs like steroids decrease any chance for long-term success despite the fact that they might build some muscle size. The reason is that when women take these drugs, they often develop masculine characteristics – a change in the appearance of the jaw line, increased facial hair, deepening of the voice, etc. When that happens, "femininity" is decreased, and so, too, are their chances of winning – in fitness and figure competitions, the judges usually want to see an attractive, athletic-looking woman, not a woman with the characteristics of a man. What’s more, these masculine characteristics don’t always go away when the drug use stops. Instead, they’re usually there forever. That’s why all the people I coach – men and women – don’t take any drugs whatsoever.

Conclusion

In my opinion, adhering to these five keys is critical for success, which is why I instill these things in the people I coach right off the bat. And while some people might succeed without following some or even all of these key points, I’d say that they’d be very lucky if they did. I believe these five points form the basis for long-term success.

So don’t neglect the basics. Women like Natalie and Chantal had dreams of becoming well-known champions and now they are. By putting in the same kind of hard work that these women did and adhering to these five key principles, perhaps the same thing can happen to you.

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com