Musclemania

MM Pro Ed Mazzuchelli runs a highly successful professional personal trainer service. In his blog this month, he explains the journey of one of his clients as she selected a new competition.

"This past weekend I attended a local bodybuilding show. A client of mine was competing for her first time and I had the pleasure of joining her and her family to coach and encourage her. Sometimes I think we forget the true pleasure of what’s it’s like to compete for the first time."

"That morning you wake up early, eager with anticipation unaware of how long your day is ahead of you. You pound down that first meal, as if anything you really do that day is going to make or break you. You drive to some local high school you’ve probably never seen before, with a really bad tan and dying for a drink of water. In the parking lot you see half naked people with friends applying tanning product. You think to yourself that’s so strange, but yet somehow on this day it makes perfect sense."

"Next your sizing up the competition, asking the promoter or whoever you can how many people are in your class? Like the size of your class dictates your ultimate success later that evening. For the first time in your life your nose starts to hurt and you can’t breathe that well as contestants begin prepping and pumping up with some strange spray that they swear makes you super vascular. You see both men and women using bands and dumbbells, pushups and squeezing their muscles as if they are constipated and only then do you see a human put pan spray all over there body as if they are going to fry and egg on themselves! Yet this too seems perfectly acceptable today."

"The anxiety builds you start to realize that this is really happening and all the pain and torture of months of dieting lifting and cardio has gotten you to this point. Your about to go onstage for the first time in your life and you think your going to pass out, but you gather your composure and take that first step towards the lights!"

"Oh the lights, thank god… they practically blind you, and you can barely make out the panel of judges in front of you. Your competition begins! You hear the head judge; call out numbers moving people around and praying for that coveted middle spot. The head judge calls out that first pose your heart is beating out of your chest, and just like that the muscle memory kicks in and you execute your poses!!! As soon as begins it ends, and you have accomplished what millions of people have only dreamed about, you are now officially a competitive bodybuilder!"

"I can’t speak for my client only she can look back someday and reflect on her experience, maybe it sounds like this and maybe it doesn’t, but it sure reminded me of that day in June, when I took my first steps onstage, the fear and then ultimately the rush of competition, I was hooked and haven’t stopped in 18 years. My message to you if you've been competing for a long time and especially the pros, go to these shows route on and help back stage, it truly reminds you of why we started in the first place. Remember it’s not the finish. It’s the journey."