The 2013 Oxygen/MuscleMag Fitness/Bikini Model Search

This weekend at the Toronto Pro Show in the Metro Toronto Convention Center there were many events going on to entertain any fan of the fitness world. I however was there for one reason, to watch Team Emerge members Ally and Emilee compete in the Oxygen Fitness Model and MuscleMag Bikini Model Search respectfully. Ally is just coming off of her second place finish at the OPA show in London and this would be the first time on stage for Emilee since her second place finish at last years OPA Provincial Championships.

Since Ally wasn’t able to compete this weekend in the Open Provincial Championships she decided to do the Oxygen Fitness Model Search as the competition bug has clearly bitten her after her last show. Funny how a great showing and lots of props from people can make someone want to compete again;) Emilee wanted to do the MuscleMag Bikini Model Search just to get back on stage again before she heads to Vancouver in August to compete at Nationals.

Ally had the largest amount of competition in the Oxygen Model Search, they split the women into a short and tall class. Ally was in the short class (25 competitors), and as far as I was concerned only had one person to worry about in that class. The thing with competitions like this is that there is no standard, there is no specific look that is posted that they are looking for so you don’t know if your client should be leaner, softer, more muscled or less. They are a crap shoot and often judged by editors, photographers and other random people, not actual fitness industry judges. Needless to say that the judging is very subjective, therefor I tell any of my clients competing in such a show “do it for fun” because we have no idea what they are looking for.

 

Anyway, Ally rocked the stage and was a real stand out. When comparing her to the other girls in her round it was clear that she had the best overall physique and condition, again not necessarily what the judges are looking for. When they called all the competitors on stage at the end of her round they made their top 5 call out, Ally was the first person they called. Right beside her was the one other girl I thought had the best chance besides Ally to win. But bottom line, getting the first call out was the best she could do for the day as the results weren’t going to be given until Sunday.

Next up was Emilee and the MuscleMag Bikini Model Competition, her category was not as large as Allys and short and tall competitors were all grouped together. Watching each person come out is always interesting at show, I (as a judge for Fitness STAR International) tend to look for physique and presentation flaws in everyone, including my own clients. When Emilee walked on stage it was like the competition went to a whole other level. Since Emilee is aiming for Nationals mid August she was not in typical competition shape, she still has a few pounds of fat to drop before Nationals but we thought that for this competition her softer look might work in her favour.

Once Emilee's class was finished I had seen some competitors that were extremely soft to ripped to shreds. Again, not knowing what the exact look is that the judges are looking for the physiques were all over the place. When it came time to call the first call out once again Team Emerge was standing there, Emilee also made the first call out. Her group was a mixed grab bag of soft and extremely hard physiques, therefor I compared her to the other softer girls. Out of the softer girls in the first call out she had the nicer overall look, Emilee most definitely blew away every other girl on stage with her back pose and looked great from the front too.

After the judging was over Ally, Emilee and I met for a little pow wow. Basically I told them how i felt they did and what we need to work on for the next show (not much luckily). It was nice to see an “Emilee Fan” request a photo with her and of course she dropped her dress to reveal her bikini body again for his picture, such a gracious girl;) At that point we went our separate ways and I wished them both luck for the awards ceremony on Sunday which I unfortunately wouldn't be able to attend.

 

The results are in and as expected they are good. Ally came in second overall in the Oxygen Fitness Model Search and Emilee came in first in the MuscleMag Bikini Model Search!! Both girls did an amazing job on stage and even though they both had different looks they clearly had looks that the judges couldn’t overlook. On to bigger and badder competitions with a little bit more air in everyone’s tires. Look for even more improved performances the next time they step on stage, sure glad I chose both these girls to be sponsored they are doing exactly how I expected;)

D

Belated update for 2013 GNC Stephanie Worsfold Classic

Im sorry to be posting this so late but I was in France for 10 days while Ally was competing at the 2013 GNC Stephanie Worsfold Classic an OPA Natural competition. Today is the first chance I got to sit down and review her performance in the show and post about it.

Anyway, I wanted Ally to do this show as I wanted her to qualify for the OPA Provencal Championships this coming weekend, as it turns out since it was a “Natural” competition she wouldn’t qualify for the show this weekend in Toronto but the Natural Provincials in Sept in Hamilton. Either way I gave Ally less than two weeks notice that she was ready to step on stage and this was the event she would be doing. Needless to say she was very nervous and thought that she didn’t look ready, even though she looked amazing. I had to send her pics of top IFBB bikini competitors on stage and compare her body to theirs to convince her she was ready, physically anyway.

We only had one day to actually practice posing and work on her stage presence which is where I knew she needed the most work. I hated the fact that I wouldn’t be there for her on the day of the show as I know how important the mental side of stepping on stage is as well as how a few tweaks on the day of the show to her poses etc. But unfortunately I couldn’t be there physically even though I tried my best through texts, but thats not even close to the same. A good thing is that Ally looked so ready weeks out from the show that there would be no complex prep required to step on stage, I wanted her to eat and drink like it was a normal day. One less issue to worry about.

Poor Ally had to endure delays with her hair and make up on the day, just a couple more things to add to the list of stressful events on show day. I assured her that everything would get done in time and that she would look amazing. Finally hair and make up was done and a pic was sent to me and like I predicted she did look amazing:) Its always funny seeing my super pale clients painted up and stage ready, what a difference.

I asked Team Emerge member Emily Zelinka to keep an eye out for her as she was there working a booth for her new sponsor Advanced Genetics (free plug). Fortunately they got to meet up and Emily sent me a message saying how great Ally looked on the day, I trust Emily's opinion 100% as I know, like me, she will always give me the straight goods. Emily told Ally that after watching her on stage she felt it was her show to win. That made me feel very confident, that along with Ally informing me that she was in the first call out.

Since I was in France and six hours ahead of Ontario time I was in bed when the evening show was complete and trophies handed out. I awoke to find texts and pics from Ally informing me that she came in second place! Second place is great, obviously, but I always hope for a first place finish. After reviewing some pics from the show I felt that Ally honestly had the most IFBB pro bikini physique. Saying that her abs are quite hard which isnt going to be an easy fix to soften since her upper body leans out easier than her lower.

The major difference I saw between her and the winner, keeping in mind I only had pics to go by, wasn’t that the winner looked better but the pictures showed that she looked way more comfortable on stage. Stage presence can come across in pics just as easily as being there watching, and I knew this was our week area. Saying that, Ally did awesome for a week and a half notice and only one hour to practice posing with me. I can assure everyone that the next time Ally steps on stage her presentation is going to be improved big time!

Ally's physique would enable her to compete in figure too with an easy addition of a few pounds of muscle, but bikini is where we both want her to be. Bottom line Ally did great all things considered and she did it without anyone else to be with her through the day which isn’t easy for most. As a sponsor I am proud to have her represent me and I know Karen from KHP was also proud to have her in one of her beautiful suits. I am looking forward to Provincials in Sept and Ally moving on to nationals to compete for her IFBB pro card in bikini.

D

Update on Sponsored Clients

It has been a month since I started working with my sponsored athletes Candice Kay. Emilee Farmer, Ally Reith. I would like to give an update for Emilee and Ally so far, Candice's update will come next week.

With Ally the goal was to put on a little more muscle and lose fat, she was only 14% bf day one and in less than four weeks dropped to 10% bf, while increasing her muscle mass! Ally has increased her lean mass by 4lbs and dropped 7lbs of fat. Just a few more tweaks to go and she will be stage ready in no time.

With Emilee the goal was to gain 5+lbs of lean mass to fill out her 5'9" frame and to lose 12lbs of fat to be contest ready, her diet was tuned to focus more on the lean mass gain to start. Her starting body fat percentage was 17.2% day one and in less than four weeks it has gone down to 13.6% and she has lost 5lbs of fat and gained 8lbs of lean mass!!!

Funny what a nutrition program based on science and not what fitness people have followed for decades can do in a short period of time. That along with a workout regime that takes recovery time into account more so than gym time and reduced both women's time in the gym dramatically. Great job ladies, keep it up:)

By the way, no progress pics as I don't want to unveil anyone until we have a finished product.

D

Exciting new additions to the Team and Sponsorships

I am proud to announce both a new Team Emerge member and a fitness industry internet phenom we will be working with.

First I would like to welcome Fitness STAR pro Kerry Mcnie to the team.  I will be working with Kerry to her body to the next level to get her ready for the Fitness STAR World Championships as well as get her ready to compete in the OPA.  Stay tuned for what I know will be an amazing transformation!

Secondly I would like to announce that I will be working with fitness internet powerhouse BodyRockTv.com and The Daily Hiit.  I will be helping on air personalities get into even better shape as well as becoming their resource for information on nutrition and training.

Go to their website, facebook and Youtube page and check them out! With over 600,000 subscribers on their Youtube channel and over 600,000,000 (thats right, six hundred million) views they are obviously doing something right! BodyRockTv will also be sponsoring Team Emerge providing team attire for both competitions and the gym.

Keep checking back for more exciting news and updates on how the new team members are coming along.

D

It's Been a While....

...But we are back baby!! So, I haven't posted anything in a while on the Team Emerge blog. A big part of that reason is that I stopped working with competitors, yes there were a couple people that I helped over the last year and change but nothing formally. If you have been following the blog its not hard to see when working with competitors started to decline. Posts were less and less as was the content. Anyway, not the case anymore.

Sometimes in my line of work working with top notch fitness industry women can effect your home life. Some women don't feel comfortable knowing their man is surrounded by fitness models all the time (to put it mildly). To make someone happy I reluctantly took a step back from the competition scene. Now that that chapter is over and I am no longer with an insecure person, I started thinking about working with competitors again. I realized as much as I would complain about judging and standards that aren’t being followed at competitions I actually missed being part of the competition world, mainly watching my clients shine on stage, so I am back and I am putting a team together.

Ok, enough relationship and competition hiatus talk and onto some exciting news. A couple weeks ago I put the word out on facebook that I was looking for 2 women to sponsor for one year of competition. Full sponsorship including, training, diet, contest prep, posing, and even had Karen Phillips from KHP (the best of the best in competition suits) offer to sponsor who ever I did as she knows that I am only going to put a quality product on stage. Within a couple days I had messages from over 30 women (and a couple men) that were very interested in sponsorship. After reviewing applicants pictures and stories I arranged 6 face to face meetings.

If a picture can tell a thousand words seeing someone in person can tell a million words. After meeting everyone, from experienced competitors to first timers, I ended up choosing to work with three women not two. Today I would like to introduce the three women I will be working with:

Ally Reith – 31, never competed. I will be grooming her for bikini competitions and fitness modelling.


 Emilee Farmer – 21, came in 3rd place for bikini OPA regional show, came in 2nd place at OPA Provincials against 15 competitors, qualified for CBBF Nationals in August. I will be grooming her for nationals as well as fitness modelling

Candice Kay – 30, never competed. Established fitness model and spokes person, wore and wears many hats in the fitness industry. Also a working single mom with limited spare time. I will be grooming her for fitness modelling opportunities and we MIGHT see her on stage at some point.














I am very excited to work with these three very different woman all with great potential. I look forward to watching them change week to week and keep you posted on how they are coming along.

Stay Tuned

D

2012 CBBF National Naturals

This weekend was the 2012 CBBF National Naturals in Winnepeg Manitoba. Team Emerge members Simone and Shannon were there to compete in Bikini, Simone representing Ontario and Shannon representing Nova Scotia. Both of them looked great as usual bringing top notch stage presence as well as amazing physiques to the stage. Shannon started prepping for the competition a little late and really had to do everything right in order to come in stage ready in time. She wasnt able to achieve her best physique on stage but her physique at 90% is still an amazing physique! Her amazing physique along with her professional stage presence and wow factor were enough to achieve 2nd place in her class! With a little bit more time 1st place would have been hers no doubt, but given the time frame Shannon had she did awesome! Simone went into the show as the National CBBF Champion from the Saskatoon show this past summer. She also came with a great level of conditioning and as she puts it "a new bum". Her hard work over the past several months has paid off and she walked on stage looking the best she ever has. As usual she brought her A game and like Shannon, she also brought amazing stage presence. Once again Simone took the first place trophy!! Unfortunately didnt not win the overall and her IFBB pro card. Dispite not winning the pro card she carried herself like the champ that she is. Funny thing is, SImone scored the best out of any other competitor on stage including the winner of the pro card, strange how the best person doesnt always win... Both women are looking forward to the next step and will bring even better packages to the stage next time (if its even possible;)). D

Belated show update

Sorry for the delay in posting recent Team Emerge results, I have so many things on the go right now it slipped my mind! Anyway, lets go back a few weeks to the 17th of September when new Team Emerge member Ania competed for the first time. She competed in the Fitness STAR Model Search World Championships in both the Athletic Fitness Model category and the Bikini category.

As many of you know I am the Head Judge for Fitness STAR International but I do not actually score competitors competing, I write comments down so when competitors ask for feed back I have it. Therefor there is no conflict of interest if I have a competitor competing in the show. Anyway, back to Ania... I told Ania that she looked great the week of the show and knew she would do very well in the Athletic Fitness Model round, the Bikini class in Fitness STAR is a smaller softer look than in other organizations and I felt Ania was too lean and muscular for that category but let her enter for more stage time.

It was clear when Ania's fitness model class came on stage that she was the standout, she looked great (despite a less than perfect spray tan). I decided to have her compete without doing a prep, no depletion what so ever, she walked on stage like it was a normal day. Her stage presence was very good for her first time (we have a few things to work on) and she showed herself very well.

When she came on stage for the Bikini category I knew she was too conditioned and muscular but she still represented on stage bringing a Bikini body more suited for the OPA stage.

When the awards were presented Ania came in 1st in the Athletic Fitness Model category and won best female abs too. She didn’t place in the Bikini category but we knew that wouldn’t be the case going in. All in all a great day and first show for Ania, already the photographers have been setting up photo shoot dates with her. Ania has more shows coming up this fall, stay tuned!

On September 24th Team Emerge members Pam and Simone both competed in the 2011 Natural Ontario Championships. I wasn’t able to attend this show so all I can mention is their placings but before I do I would like to mention Pam's dilemma pre show. Pam and I met up a week before the show, she wasn’t planning on doing the show and had not been dieting for a competition but thought maybe she would try it to place top 5 and qualify for the National Naturals in the spring.

Pam came to see me too access how she looked, she was not even close to her best but I told her to follow our depletion prep for a week and come see me the day before the show and we would decide at that point if it was worth stepping on stage. I do not like putting clients on stage if they are not at their best or damn near. When I saw her the day before the show she had improved but not where I would have liked her to be, we were sitting on the fence about having her compete but decided why not, it was worth the chance.

Pam competed in Figure short class and masters. Pam came in 1st in the short class and 4th in masters qualifying for the Nationals in the spring, mission accomplished!!

Simone was competing in Bikini and since she was the main athlete featured in the poster for this show she had to represent big time. Simone not only won her height class but also the overall again! Needless to say both girls represented very well and I cant wait to see what happens in the spring!!

D
(Pictures to follow)