Regen Morgan

3/19/2018

ENC 2135 15

Professor Wenzel

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            When the average person sees a woman NPC bikini competitor, they probably think of a tanned, bulky girl wearing a sparkly bikini. They don’t see the hours of weight training and cardio, the strict diet, the mood swings from months being in a caloric deficit, the financial sacrifices, and the mental strength and discipline that it takes to get to a level of stage lean. I always aspired to be an NPC bikini competitor and took an interest in weightlifting and bodybuilding, but I worried that I didn’t have the self-discipline and support system to succeed in the sport. NPC bikini competitors are extremists, and every aspect of your life is controlled and recorded when you are preparing for a competition. I decided in January of this year that I was ready to commit to the sport, and I have been training since then. I plan on competing this fall, and I will continue training every day until I am ready to step on stage.

            My life has changed drastically since I decided to compete in an NPC bikini competition. I track every gram of food I eat, I train for 2 hours a day, and I weigh myself at least once a day. This sport pushes me mentally and physical every single day. When outsiders get a glimpse of what it is like to prep for a competition, they are quick to say that you have an eating disorder or are obsessed with exercise. It is hard to object because I have realized that you have to be extreme to succeed, and as much as I try to keep a balance in my life, it is nearly impossible at times. It is hard to spend time with friends and family because I no longer can do the things that they do. I become anxious when eating out or when travelling because I am thrown off from my routine, and this is something I am working on improving. Most days I feel as if my mind is battling my body. Physically I am tired and hungry, but mentally I know that I have more in me and I can push myself harder. It is an amazing feeling to watch your body transform, but it’s even better to see how much you have grown mentally. I spend a lot of time alone due to my strict diet and training schedule, and this is tough at times, but it has allowed me to become more independent. The reason I chose to compete is to challenge myself, and to prove to myself that I am disciplined enough and hardworking enough to be successful in this sport.

In 1985, Wally Boyko produced the first women’s fitness competition, and it was held in Las Vegas, Nevada (Fitness and Figure Competition). Prior to this competition, women rarely were bodybuilders, but after the competition the sport has grown and continues to expand every day. NPC bikini competitions are becoming more popular for women, and this popularity is most likely due to social media. There is a lot of information on Youtube and Instagram regarding NPC bikini competitions, and social media is what influenced me to compete. Bikini competitions are associated with a lot of mental and physical health risks, and it is interesting to analyze how social media contributes to these risks.

When I decided that I wanted to compete in an NPC bikini competition, my first task was to find a coach. I chose my coach, Adison Barnhart, through Instagram, and she has been a huge part of my fitness journey so far. On her instagram she portrays her success in NPC bikini competitions, but she also portrays the life balance that she is able to maintain during competition prep, which appealed to me. I’ve wanted to compete for years, but I also want to enjoy my college years and Adison has taught me that I can do both. She has helped me find so much balance in life and nutrition, and mentally I am much stronger than I was a few months ago. Without social media I most likely wouldn’t have met Adison, and I would have risked working with a coach that doesn’t focus on life balance, which ultimately wouldn’t have been a good fit for me.

            I chose to interview my coach, and I asked her several questions about her feelings towards social media while being a bikini competitor. She became a bikini competitor in 2017, and won the title of Ms. Bikini Ohio. She also placed in the top 10 in her class at Miami Nationals, and she is chasing her IFBB Pro Card this year. She has always wanted to compete, but felt as if she never had the right support system. After deciding to finally give it a try, she had an impressive season and seems to have a bright future in the sport. Body image is a struggle for many competitors, but Adison feels as if her body image has improved through competing. She feels strong, and she knows that she is in control of her body and nutrition. Adison feels as if social media sites such as Instagram and Youtube affect her in both a positive and negative way. She says that these sites motivate her and bring out her competitive edge, but it is easy to fall into the trap of comparing herself to others, which is not a healthy habit. She believes that most bodybuilders are affected by what they see on social media, but they are affected in different ways depending on how they use these sites. Bodybuilding is more of a mental sport than it is a physical sport, and this would surprise many people that have not experienced the sport. Mentally, it is hard to have a group of judges critique your body after months of preparation. Adison believes that NPC bikini competitions are built for extremists, and it takes a special type of person to be successful and happy in the sport (Barnhart).

            Youtube is a great tool for future or established bikini competitors. There is a lot of useful information and inspiring stories that can be found. Taylor Chamberlain is an IFBB bikini pro, and she has a youtube video that discusses everything you need to know about competing in bikini. She focuses a lot on mentality in this video, which is the key to being a great competitor. She warns viewers that if they struggle with an eating disorder or other mental disorder, to get their mind right before stepping on stage. This sport makes you analyze your body more than you ever have, which can be challenging mentally for some people. I have watched my own friends and teammates go from having a successful prep to having binge eating disorder and bulimia within a matter of weeks, and this side of the sport isn’t spoken of much. Taylor says that she waited nearly 5 years to step on stage because she was battling an eating disorder and knew that she couldn’t compete until she dealt with her disorder. She speaks in a serious tone, and she gives her viewers a sense of security and hope if they are dealing with eating disorders. Some girls that have previously struggled with eating disorders thrive in this sport and find peace with their body, and then other girls who have never had an eating disorder in their life develop one during competition prep. Mentality trumps all in the sport, there are no shortcuts, and a lot of patience and strength is required to be a bikini competitor (Chamberlain).

            Jen Heward is a fitness youtube star, and she has a wide variety of knowledge in all areas of fitness. In her youtube video titled “Bikini Competition: My Story”, she talks about her bikini competition story. Her video is setup in a vlog style, and she sits down and speaks directly to her viewers as if she was having a one on one conversation with them. She speaks in a serious tone, but occasionally will laugh as she is reminiscing about her days as a bikini competitor. Before competing, she was very into fitness and always enjoyed living a healthy and balanced lifestyle. She discusses her reasons for competing, and why ultimately the sport was not for her. “Whatever it is you’re doing you have to make sure you are truly doing it for yourself and that you actually love it and have a passion for it” (Heward). Jen said that social media sparked her interest in competing, and there was a lot of outside pressure to do a bikini competition. She didn’t think it through clearly, and she quickly spiraled down a bad path. Her coach was not knowledgeable, and she was doing 2 hours of cardio a day while eating little to no carbohydrates. She went into her competitions lean, but afterwards she suffered severe health problems. She was incredibly bloated and gaining weight quickly because her coach did not know the correct way to reverse diet. At first competing was a new challenge for her, but then she got burnt out and decided she would never step on stage again. A lot of competitors step on stage once and decide they never want to do it again, but that’s okay. Fitness comes in so many different forms, and Jen is a perfect example of this. Years after her competition days, she is still a fitness model, owns her own gym, and inspires and educates thousands of people on youtube every day.

            Heidi Somers is a very popular fitness youtuber and has recently designed her own fitness clothing line, Buffbunny Collections. She created a youtube video about her fitness journey that has over 2 million views. In her video her bubbly personality shows, and she mainly talks about positive experiences that she has had in her fitness journey. Heidi started out as an overweight college girl, and she transformed her life. She first got involved with crossfit, but then decided she wanted to do something more extreme, which led her to NPC bikini competitions. Heidi stressed the importance of not only looking good, but also feeling good. Her videos are always very upbeat and positive, which is refreshing for most people in the fitness world. Heidi was a successful bikini competitor, but decided to walk away from the stage and just focus on living a healthy lifestyle. Since then, she has maintained an impressive physique, and has continued to grow her following and her business. She has taken an intuitive eating approach with her nutrition. A lot of people track their macronutrients, but Heidi doesn’t do this because she knows she would obsess over the numbers, which isn’t healthy mentally. Her optimistic and positive attitude helps so many people in the fitness community, and her youtube videos give viewers information while also giving them hope and motivation (Somers).

            As I dive deeper into my own competition prep, I have chosen to use social media as a tool opposed to using it to compare myself to others. The fitness community is rapidly growing, and social media is the driving force. Bikini competitors tend to use Instagram and Youtube religiously to get their names out there and to document their journeys. This can definitely be a good and bad thing. Some people thrive off of followers and positive comments, but others obsess over these things and never feel satisfied with themselves. As humans we naturally compare ourselves to others, but it is unhealthy to do this all the time and to beat yourself up over it. When I decided to prep for a competition I knew the mental and physical risks, so I try to stay as positive as I can no matter what is thrown my way. I have experienced ups and down, and I don’t allow myself to compare my weight loss to other competitors because everyone is different. I choose to go into the gym every day and challenge myself while staying on track with nutrition. I don’t obsess over social media because I know that ultimately this will lead me to failure.

             As a bikini competitor, you begin to wonder if social media is a positive or negative thing. Social media is what introduced me to fitness, and I have learned so much through Instagram and Youtube. I am inspired by the stories of many competitors, and it motivates me. Some days I see photos of other girl’s physiques and immediately become envious or upset. This is something I work on every day. I think the people that think social media has a negative effect on bodybuilders are the people that compare themselves to others and expect quick results. Every fitness journey is unique, and it’s all about enjoying your personal journey. If you have a purpose, you will find ways to achieve your goals as things go wrong or get tough. Without Instagram and Youtube I would not be where I am today, so I am thankful that the fitness community is so prevalent on social media.

            My team, Bair Aesthetics, is based out of Columbus, Ohio. I never get to see my teammates, but we keep in touch and have a great support system through social media. Even though I train alone, I know that my teammates are doing the same training in Ohio and throughout the country, and that motivates me to keep going on the tough days. We communicate through instagram primarily, and I feel like I have a connection to all of my teammates even though I don’t know most of them personally outside of social media. It is hard to understand what it is like to train for a bikini competition until you do it, and I am thankful to have a support system of girls that understand what I am going through and want to see me succeed. This journey has been eye opening for me, and I have learned to embrace all of the criticism and support that people throw at me. Most people reach out to me to support me and ask me for advice, but there’s always a small group of people that will say that I have an eating disorder or don’t look good enough to eventually compete. Criticism is what motivates me the most, I want to prove everyone that doubts me wrong, and I want to show people that you can do an NPC bikini competition and still have a balance in life.