Keep in mind, I can't give away specifics. I pay my coach good money for her plan! And she designed it especially for me and my body and my goals. But there's some very important and awesome things I learned this time competing that many people can find beneficial.
Also, yes I started out in pretty good shape. I've been training for years! My lifestyle is healthy, and if it weren't, this would have been a much harder process.
Bikini prep:
The bikini division is fairly new- like, I dunno 5 years? It was created to add a new dimension to bodybuilding for women that wasn't as muscular as figure, but still demonstrated fitness with a "softer," (and I say that loosely because they're still pretty lean and ripped!) more feminine look.
The pros, to me, look AMAZING. On a local level, here in Utah, all I saw for a long time was skinny girls (do you even lift?!) winning shows. Not for me. Duh.
But it's gotten better, and I wanted to see how I could switch my physique to a little bit slimmed down version. But let it be known: BIKINI GIRLS LIFT!!
Training:
I can proudly say I never missed a workout. Not for road trips/traveling, not while on vacation, never. It's habit, I just don't skip it, there's no excuses.
I hit every muscle group every week.
One day was shoulders, another glutes and hamstrings, etc. I did cardio most days of the week. And here's the kicker- My cardio the ENTIRE prep was never over 30 minutes a day. I'm so grateful for that.. NOBODY has time to be in the gym for like 3 hours. I'm a mom, I have a real life outside of fitness.
At the cost of your metabolism. That's crap and it's miserable and if you have a coach that says that, RUN. No trophy or title or "bikini-body-for-a-day" is worth that.
I love lifting weights so that was no hard adjustment. Not saying it wasn't "hard," because you gotta push it and get uncomfortable if you wanna grow! And lift HEAVY! Don't think you can pick up 5-pound dumbbells, do a few lunges, and transform your backside!
My reps and sets and cardio changed when my coach told me to change them. During prep, I sent Robyn weekly pictures so she could see how progress was coming. And having seen the stage pictures back, I can see some areas that I need to improve still.
So in bikini division, you gotta push the glutes hard- get em up and tight! (Flat butts do not win, I promise you that). But a lot of judging is also based on your silhouette, and if your body is in proportion. I struggled A LOT thinking I was too muscular. In fact, 4 days out, I was practicing posing and literally had a breakdown because I didn't feel I was looking how I needed to in order to place well. I thought I'd step out on stage and people would think I should be doing figure.
And also, I am a Quadzilla. I rarely even work my quads and calves, and they are massive. (Ex-gymnast curse maybe). Plus it doesn't help that I have the shortest legs in the world. So I was super self-conscious about that. In future shows, I might have to see what (not) to do if I need to slim them down. Also I worked hamstrings more than I ever have in my life. I really wanted that glute-hamstring tie-in showing, but didn't quite get there. Not yet anyway..
In a nutshell.. Trainer harder, and smarter, but not longer. That's how I like to do it =)
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