Please note: This series of articles details the experiences of training one individual and is not meant to be used for your own training needs. Everyone's needs are different, so every training and nutritional program will vary from person to person. It's intended for informational and entertainment purposes only and we cannot be held responsible for any accident or injury that may result by following any part of this program.

January 1, 2006

Natalie Waples: A Two-Time Figure Champion in Just Three Months

Part One: Starting Out and Planning Properly

In the "Focus" article called "'You can do it. We can help.'" that I wrote in November, I mentioned that Natalie Waples had just won her first figure competition, the Tall class of the Western Ontario Championships, with only two and a half months of preparation. I said that in future articles I was going to describe in detail what we did to win that title in such a short timeframe. Well, since that article something else happened – two weeks after the Western Ontario Championships, she won yet another competition, the Tall class at the Eastern Ontario Championships.

Natalie, a figure novice, took home two figure titles in two weeks, all done with a total of three months’ worth of preparation. That’s very impressive progress for anyone, and quite an accomplishment in such a short time, particularly for someone who had never done the type of training or dieting necessary to be in that sort of competition. This article is the first of five that will describe what we did to get Natalie into shape for those competitions to achieve her goals, and perhaps some of the information will help you reach your goals too.

Starting out right

Natalie’s transformation started in the first week of August when she approached me about entering a figure competition in three months’ time. She wanted to know if I’d be interested in working with her to accomplish that goal. I could see that Natalie had physical potential to do well in figure, and she seemed quite earnest to get started. My answer was yes, on the provision that she put in the kind of effort that was necessary to do well in figure competitions, which is often quite a bit more effort than many people think.

I explained that to achieve what she wanted required no less than 100 percent effort in and out of the gym – there was simply no room for slacking off with either the training program or the nutritional plan, particularly with the timeframe we had. Natalie readily agreed. We also agreed that I’d train with her, which was the best way to monitor her progress as well as push her forward and motivate her as required. In other words, she would have me looking over her shoulder every step of the way.

My understanding from Natalie was that she approached me to help her because of the coaching I had done for Chantal Dicaire to help her win three Canadian national-level fitness titles in a row (the fitness division of the CBBF National World Qualifier in 2003, 2004 and 2005). She’d also seen the result of the coaching I did for Stéphane Bussière, a male bodybuilder who won the heavyweight men’s bodybuilding division of the 2005 CBBF National World Qualifier with seven months of similar preparation. Chantal and Stéphane are both all-natural, national-level champions, and to compete nationally one day was also one of Natalie’s goals. For now, though, we’d be focusing on regional-level competitions, hoping to go national in 2006 after competing at the provincial level.

She also knew from speaking to me, by knowing the people I had helped, and from various articles I’d written, that the methods I use are completely natural. In other words, no types of drugs, artificial stimulants, or other such products are used that would jeopardize her health. This is very important to Natalie who has absolutely no interest in pursuing the other path. The methods I use involve hard training done on a consistent basis and proper nutrition that focuses on real food. The only types of nutritional supplements Natalie used were vitamins and food-type products that improve overall health and well-being (I’ll explain more about these in future articles). For me, the acid test for a training and nutritional program is if it works without drugs. Simply, if it works that way, no one can dispute the results. On the other hand, if you have to employ drugs or other types of unnatural and oftentimes illegal products to make the program work, then you have to question the effectiveness of what you’re doing.

The training and nutritional programs I use are not my own – they were developed by legendary trainer Vince Gironda decades ago and there’s an abundance of proof that they work. In his heyday, Gironda produced more champions than anyone. Later on in his life, he turned more to training television and movie stars, again with great results. I believe these are the very best methods a natural physique competitor can use. In fact, I think so highly of these methods that over the last year I have produced two training DVDs, The Vince Gironda Exercises: Vol. 1 and The Vince Gironda Exercises (and More!): Vol. 2, that show in detail his unique training methods. Both are available through our "Shop" section.

Planning properly for a great body

It wouldn’t be honest to say that Natalie’s transformation in three months was one that took her from someone grossly out of shape to someone in superb shape. No, when she approached me she was a woman who trained regularly in the gym, was in good shape already, and was capable enough to undergo the intense training program that we were about to undertake to turn her into a topnotch figure competitor with an eye-popping physique. Her transformation wasn't subtle, but it wasn't a night-and-day difference either.

But while Natalie already looked pretty good when she approached me, she still had plenty of work to do. She didn’t have nearly enough muscle mass to enter a figure competition, she wasn’t lean enough, and, just as important, she didn’t have the required "shape" to get up on a competition stage and wow the judges and the audience with a unique look – at least not yet. What I explained to Natalie was that she had to gain muscle, lose bodyfat, and "re-shape" her body to give her the look of a figure competitor, this latter point being something many people overlook, thinking competing means just training and dieting with no real plan of what they really want to look like when they appear onstage at the end of it all.

I wrote about this concept of "body shaping" (as opposed to simply training and dieting with no real game plan) in October in an article called "Your Own Custom-made Body." I hope some people reading that article took it to heart because Natalie did and the results showed. It’s also what I believe accounts for the biggest difference between someone who ends up with a so-so body versus someone who creates a really great body. Creating a truly great body is something I strive for with the people I coach, and I definitely had a plan for how I wanted Natalie to look at the end of the next three months. At the beginning, though, I wanted to make sure that we were on the same page and that she understood that if we planned properly for it, we could achieve it. We were.

So, with the concept of training for adding muscle mass in the right places, proper nutrition for feeding that muscle and for reducing bodyfat, and then, finally, keeping in mind the overall body "shape" we were trying to create, Natalie and I had a rock-solid plan in place for the next three months. Next month, I’ll tell you more about the kind of body shape we were trying to create for Natalie and how we approached the first month of training to ensure we got the best start.

...Doug Schneider
das@seriousaboutfitness.com

You can learn more about Natalie at her website, www.NatalieWaples.com.

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