Team Emerge and the CBBF 2013 National Figure and Bikini Championships

This past weekend was the CBBF Nationals and Team Emerge members Emily Zelinka and Emilee Farmer were both bringing their personal best packages to Vancouver. Emily Z was competing once again in Figure and Emilee F was competing for her first time at Nationals in Bikini. Unfortunately I was unable to attend the show as I had Head Judge commitments at the Fitness STAR World Championships at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre but was never far from my iphone to receive updates via text.

So how did it go for Team Emerge? Lets start with Emilee and her first time on the National stage. I was receiving texts regarding nerves early in the day, obviously this is normal for anyone competing let alone competing for the first time at Nationals. I was hoping that both girls would be able to meet up with one another at the event to support each other physically and emotionally but sadly the categories were divided in such a way that this wasnt possible. I assured Emilee that her nerves were normal and to focus on what we have worked on in the studio and walk out and own that stage.

After Emilee came off stage she messaged me to inform me that she wasnt in the first call out and that she thinks she made errors in her presentation and posing. Again, first time out on a big stage little mistakes can happen and this is why I HATE not being able to be with my competitors before they go on stage to go over everything again. Anyway, not being in the first call out doesnt always mean a bad placing but it doesnt do anything to instill confidence either. I told Emilee to stay focused and positive and we will see what happens later in the evening.

Now to Emily Z, she contacted me in the morning feeling very positive, happy with how she looked and felt. For Emily this is almost second nature as she has stepped on this stage and dominated many times before. She was looking forward to getting on stage and showing off her post baby body, which funny enough was the best her body ever looked.

When Emily came off stage she informed me that she was in the first call out and if she was to guess she figured she was in 1^st or 2^nd place. Again, you never know what your position on stage in pre judging means but with Emily's experience on stage if she feels she is in the top two she probably is and that’s enough for me to be excited.

The Results

As it turned out Emilee F not being in the first call out did prevent her from breaking the top 5. She ended up placing 8^th out of 18 competitors which is great for anyone to break the top 10 first time out, especially at 21 years old and having only a couple shows under her belt before heading to Nationals. Obviously she wasnt happy with the placing and I dont blame her but she brought the best physique she ever has to the stage and that is the main goal from there its up to the judges and whatever they are looking for that day. From the pictures I have seen of Emilee on stage I think she looked great and has so much potential to compete in high level bikini and fitness model competitions.

Now back to Emily Z, when the awards were being presented her hunch about placing first or second was correct. Emily ended up placing first in her class and headed off to face the rest of the class winners for the overall. She has been in this position before and the result was not what we had hoped for but this time was different. Emily ended up not only winning her class but also winning the overall and FINALLY being presented with something that should have been hers years ago, an IFBB Pro card!! Needless to say there are many people other than myself that are super proud of Emily and pumped about her becoming a pro. I cant wait to see how she does on the Pro stage in the future, what a great story she has earning her pro status only months after giving birth! She is an inspiration and I am so happy that we started working together, she has come a looooooooong way since I gave her my honest opinion on the package she brought to the stage at the North American Championships years ago. She has blossomed into the best of the best on stage and no one deserves it like she does:)

That's it for now, next step for Team Emerge is on September 14^th at the OPA Natural Provincial Championships where Team Emerge member Ally will be competing to earn her place on the National stage. Stay tuned.

D

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