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In this episode, we are answering our most asked questions from listeners and our social media audience! We discuss our favorite gym outfits, guilty pleasures, and favorite prep condiments and seasonings as well as answering you questions about booty growth and share our top tips for building glute muscles. We’ll cover the factors you should consider when determining the length of an improvement season, how to interpret judges feedback and the steps to earning an IFBB Pro Card.
We hope you enjoyed this episode and we would LOVE it if you would rate, subscribe, and leave us reviews on how much this podcast has helped you 💕 We’d love to hear from you about future topics you would like us to discuss so please leave us a comment or reach out to us with your questions and suggestions!
2024 NPC Universe LIVESTREAM Friday, July 5, 2024 → https://www.fitximagery.com/uls
Products mentioned in this episode
Mandy and Gillian’s Fave Crop Tops from Amazon →https://amzn.to/4ezsVFA
Other fave cute workout clothes from Amazon → https://amzn.to/4eDAzyJ
About Momshell Method Fitness:
We hope you enjoyed this episode and we would LOVE it if you would rate, subscribe, and leave us reviews on how much this podcast has helped you 💕 We’d love to hear from you about future topics you would like us to discuss so please leave us a comment or reach out to us with your questions and suggestions!
2024 NPC Universe LIVESTREAM Friday, July 5, 2024 → https://www.fitximagery.com/uls
Products mentioned in this episode
Mandy and Gillian’s Fave Crop Tops from Amazon →https://amzn.to/4ezsVFA
Other fave cute workout clothes from Amazon → https://amzn.to/4eDAzyJ
About Momshell Method Fitness:
Ready to embark on your fitness journey? We would love to help you reach any fitness goal from losing the baby weight to crushing your competition goals!
Follow this link to schedule a discovery call with one of our team members and learn how Momshell Method Fitness can provide you with the tools you need to be successful with customized nutrition and training plans for busy moms → http://bit.ly/loseweightgetsexy
Contact your hosts:
Mandy Rochon
Facebook: Mandy Rochon
Gillian Hughes, IFBB Bikini Pro
Facebook: Gillian Hughes
Mandy’s Posing Sessions
1:1 In Person (KC Posing Studio) → https://bit.ly/inpersonposingwithmandy
1:1 Virtual Posing → https://bit.ly/virtualposingwithmandy
Posing with Gillian Hughes, IFBB Bikini Pro
1:1 In Person (St Louis Posing Studio) → https://bit.ly/stlposingwithgillianifbbpro
1:1 Virtual Posing → https://bit.ly/virtualposingwithgillianifbbpro
Nuethyx Formulations Supplements →
(Use code “Momshell” to save 10% off your order)
Toxic Angelz Bikinis → https://toxicangelzbikinis.com
(Use code “GILLIAN” or code “MANDY” to save 15% off your order)
MISAJO Sports —> https://shopsiham.com/collections/workout
(Use code “GILLIAN10” to save 10% off your order)
Squeeze Me Skinny Waist Trainers → https://www.squeezmeskinny.com
(Use code “MOMSHELL” to save 10% off your order)
The Shoe Fairy competition heels → https://www.shoefairyofficial.com
(Use code “momshell” to save 15% off your order)
Labwork and Personalized Recommendations: Practitioner Depot: https://bit.ly/practitionerdepotxmomshell (Use code “momshell” to save 5% off your order)
Our Amazon storefront- fitness outfits, more supplements, beauty items and competition needs → https://amzn.to/46GL1nd
Creators and Guests
Host
What is Bikinis After Babies?
Bikinis After Babies is the one and only podcast where real moms talk about their bodybuilding contest experiences. We are sharing the inside scoop, the nitty-gritty, the hardships and the victories as we navigate the rigors of competition prep while juggling family and careers. We’ll be joined by IFBB bikini pros who share their incredible stories of managing many responsibilities as athletes while defying stereotypes as women who compete in bikinis after babies!
Whether you’re a new mom thinking about stepping on stage for the first time, or a mom looking for inspo and insight on how to manage contest prep as a busy mom, this podcast offers helpful tips and inspiring stories for moms with big goals!! Make sure to rate, subscribe, and leave us a review to let us know how much this podcast has helped you 💕
About Momshell Method Fitness:
Ready to embark on your fitness journey? We would love to help you reach any fitness goal from losing the baby weight to crushing your competition goals!
Follow this link to schedule a discovery call with one of our team members and learn how Momshell Method Fitness can provide you with the tools you need to be successful with customized nutrition and training plans for busy moms → http://bit.ly/loseweightgetsexy
Mandys Posing Sessions
1:1 In Person (KC Posing Studio) → https://bit.ly/inpersonposingwithmandy
1:1 Virtual Posing → https://bit.ly/virtualposingwithmandy
Posing with Gillian Hughes, IFBB Bikini Pro
1:1 In Person (St Louis Posing Studio) → https://bit.ly/stlposingwithgillianifbbpro
1:1 Virtual Posing → https://bit.ly/virtualposingwithgillianifbbpro
Contact your hosts:
Mandy Rochon
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mandyrochonfitness/
Facebook: Mandy Rochon
Gillian Hughes, IFBB Bikini Pro
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gillianhughes_momshell/
Facebook: Gillian Hughes
Momshell Method Fitness Supplements → https://www.momshell-method-fitness.myshopify.com
(Use code “BAB” to save 15% off your order)
Toxic Angelz Bikinis → https://toxicangelzbikinis.com
(Use code “GILLIAN” or code “MANDY” to save 15% off your order)
Squeeze Me Skinny Waist Trainers → https://www.squeezmeskinny.com
(Use code “MOMSHELL” to save 10% off your order)
The Shoe Fairy competition heels → https://www.shoefairyofficial.com
(Use code “momshell” to save 15% off your order)
Labwork and Personalized Recommendations: Practitioner Depot: https://bit.ly/practitionerdepotxmomshell (Use code “momshell” to save 5% off your order)
Our Amazon storefront- fitness outfits, more supplements, beauty items and competition needs → https://amzn.to/3zySJ4C
Mandy (00:00)
Hello everyone and welcome to Bikinis After Babies. Thank you so much for joining us today. I am one of your hosts, Mandy Rochon here with your other lovely host.
Gillian (00:10)
Hello everyone! Thank you for tuning in. We're so excited to have you. We're back with another episode and today we're gonna be doing a June Q &A. But first, we like to always begin with a little touch base and see what we're up to and just catch you guys up on where we're at in our journeys. So Mandy, why don't you share with everybody how your reverse is going and what you've been getting up to. Looks like you've been having lots of fun.
Mandy (00:39)
this last weekend was absolutely fantastic. This was my very first weekend. This was my very first weekend at home in about six weeks. It was my first Friday in my own bed in about six weekends. And that is incredible. It was just so relaxing. I haven't been able to just relax.
and so long to the point where really a majority of my weekend was like, what do you want to do? What do you want to do? And actually we got a lot accomplished, but we just had a really good time. We chilled. I spent time, you know, with my husband. We went to a river market here in Kansas city, walked around. I feel like I got so many steps in, walked everywhere. we went biking. Really this weekend was just super chill. We finished off.
Gillian (01:24)
Yeah.
Mandy (01:32)
We had one more soccer game and then we have no soccer until August. So everything's really just coming. I know no camps. Yes. It's getting there because Wednesday of last week I was like, my gosh, I need my chicken cooked. I need this stuff done. I need to pack my food. And I'm like, no, you don't, Mandy. No, you don't. Like, it's OK. But no, we also had some pretty fun dates. We, you know, just.
Gillian (01:40)
Are you like unsettled? Like what am I gonna do with myself? Because I get that way a little bit.
Yeah.
Mandy (02:02)
We went out to lunch, we went out to dinner, we tried to do a murder mystery. It was an epic fail. I don't.
Gillian (02:06)
my god, that story though is hilarious. my gosh. I would have done the same thing. I don't want to waste my calories on not great food.
Mandy (02:15)
And it's funny, I was joking with my coach about that. I was like, I'm not wasting my calories on shitty food. So long story short, Erin planned and booked a murder mystery for us to go to, just something different. And the way that it read was it was supposed to be more of a show instead of like an immersive thing. So I was really excited for it, read the menu. I was like, this is super easy, really nice like chicken piccata with these garlic herb potatoes, you know, and it was hosted at a five -star hotel downtown.
Gillian (02:21)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (02:45)
So we went there, the show was running late. It was kind of messy. It was just chaotic, but that was okay. It's just like a fun show. But I just spent six weekends being around masses of people. And I just, I didn't realize how immersive this was gonna be and neither did Erin. So like we're in this murder mystery and they're like,
Gillian (02:54)
Yeah.
your social battery was on E. I get it.
Yeah.
Mandy (03:09)
Here's like a sheet of paper. Go talk to all these people. It's like a room of 80 people. And I'm like, what did I just do? Like, I just want to sit here and eat my dinner. And then on top of that, they were delayed on dinner. They, I don't know what happened with that, but the dinner didn't arrive until like over an hour later. I was hungry. And for you listeners, I don't get angry hungry. I get more sad hungry. So like, I just get frustrated. I usually might cry or just out of frustration.
Gillian (03:16)
Yeah.
My girl was hungry.
Yeah.
Mandy (03:40)
But this was so bad I couldn't stop laughing. Because when we did get our food, when I say I think I know what prison food is, I couldn't believe it. Like I couldn't believe it. And again, this is a five star hotel downtown Kansas City. And they served us boiled chicken with an ice cream scoop of shitty mashed potatoes. And I'm talking like cheap 99 cent veggies. I looked at my plate.
Gillian (03:42)
my gosh.
It's like prison food.
Yeah.
God.
Mandy (04:06)
looked at Aaron and I just started laughing like hysterically. I was like, I'm not gonna eat this. Like I'm far, I'm starving, but I'll wait till I get home. He was like not having it because he didn't want to eat it either. And so we got up, walked out and went down the... We already knew who the actors were. Like you could see the way that they had actors implanted at different tables and you immediately like if you were paying attention, I guess, could tell like who was kind of the actors.
Gillian (04:20)
What if you were the murderers? Like what if you ruined the whole thing because you were the killer?
Mandy (04:36)
So no, you could tell that Erin and I weren't involved in it. And so, no. But yeah, anyways, we walked out and we went to a beautiful seafood restaurant and had dinner and it was really good. So yeah, but what about you at the very beginning of your peak week next week?
Gillian (04:40)
You weren't having it. Yeah.
Nice. Yeah.
Yeah, technically it starts tomorrow because I compete on Friday of next week. So tomorrow is P -week. my god. It's just scary. Well, I've been ready like last week. I was like, I wish it was here now. Like, I just want to get on with it because, you know, the ending of this.
Mandy (04:59)
yeah!
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (05:14)
you know, show weekend coming up is like, you know, I've been preparing for this for two years. So it was a lot of anticipation and, you know, just I'm not nervous. I feel very prepared. I'm just like the worst is like the time between prejudging and finals. And then I think waiting on the line and waiting to see if you're in first call out and then kind of how that all plays out. Like that's that's the part that gets my me nervous when I think about it, just because it's anybody's day. Everybody looks so good for a hot minute there in between.
Mandy (05:35)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (05:44)
And like right when I got home from DC, I was doing a lot of comparing, researching people and like every big show that I saw, I was going straight to the class that I'm in and looking for the winner and comparing myself. I'm like, I gotta stop. Cause I don't know what people are doing, who's gonna show up. There's gonna be people I don't see coming show up, new people or people that are coming back after a long break. So it just doesn't make any sense. It's a waste of energy. And so I just have to bring my best. And so I leave Tuesday, flying out.
Mandy (05:56)
-huh.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (06:15)
And yeah, I'm excited. We got to plan a little bit of a different strategy for this peak week to bring me in just, you know, right for that show, the one that means the most. And then we'll just see what happens and then go from there. My season will not end after that. Regardless of the outcome, there is another show two weeks later. It just depends on how universe goes, where I'll be. So I have more hotels booked.
Mandy (06:24)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
which show you go to.
Gillian (06:40)
you know, kind of depending on the outcome from Universe. So we'll just see. So everybody can tune in. I'll actually link the livestream below because it is active now. So I'm competing in Masters Bikini Over 40 at NPC Universe in Teaneck, New Jersey next Friday, July 5th. Holy shit balls.
Mandy (07:00)
I'm gonna be sitting in St. Louis watching the livestream.
Gillian (07:04)
I know. And then I'm coming home on Saturday and we're having a big dinner. Girls night. I'm so well and husbands. But but yeah, I'm excited. I'm letting you plan it. So so Brian didn't screw it up. I let you plan it. I can't wait. Well, it's just cool because like we haven't.
Mandy (07:08)
Yeah!
They're there too. It's a they're there. I am I'm so I have embraced planning life
Gillian (07:22)
Yeah, you do a good job. You're like a very thoughtful person. And I'm that way for other people, you know, but it just never like seems to like Colton back this way. And so I'm really excited just to, you know, just celebrate with you because I mean, even like the last time we socialized quite a bit, but I feel like one or both of us have been in prep. So it'll just be nice to, you know, and I I'm the this is how I roll. I do not do what I say or do what I do, but I have a cheat mail.
Mandy (07:27)
Mm -hmm.
Always.
Gillian (07:52)
that weekend. Like, I don't...
I don't really overeat. Yeah, like some people, like when I was in DC, like the girls were like, well, I have the universe in four weeks. I'm probably not going to cheat. I'm like, like am I, am I a fat ass? Like, cause I, I was going to have a cheat meal that night, which was Saturday. And then Sunday I was going out to dinner. I'm like, I'm not not doing that for 19 years. I've always done this. Right. And it, if anything, I feel like it gives me like the best workouts that week. You know, my weight within a couple of days, it's back down to what it was on show day. Like I just know my.
Mandy (07:55)
after your show.
No.
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (08:24)
body and so regardless of when I'm what what show I'm doing whether it's another national show or it's a pro show it's two weeks later you know I've been at this stage condition for a couple of you know four or five weeks now so I'm like it's not gonna hurt it'll be fine but I never I like you'll see like I'm like I'm gonna eat all this I eat like five bites I'm like I'm so full but yeah I'm super excited yeah
Mandy (08:34)
Yeah.
But also like you said, you know, you're, you know, I think there's a difference, like, you know, your body, so you know, like you can go do that. Whereas like somebody knew it's like, I'm going to go eat a burger and fries. And then they go eat a burger and fries. Yeah. And then they eat ice cream and then they eat cookies and then they eat donuts and then the exact, and it's just like, it keeps going and you really don't know if, yeah, like I've tried different things before, like to where I've gone out and had
Gillian (08:55)
Yeah, listen to your coach. Just do what your coach tells you if you're new. Yeah.
Yes, I would never do that because I would shit myself.
Yeah. Yeah.
Mandy (09:13)
a bunch of carbs. I've gone out and had a smaller meal and then I've done like the breakfast thing, you know, like gone out the next day and had like a big car breakfast. So I don't like it. I think it just depends.
Gillian (09:19)
Yeah.
Sugar seems to be the just the thing that I just have to stay away from because that I feel like makes me feel the worst out of everything. But it's not what I usually crave anyways. And I don't take anything with me. Like sometimes I'll take like, you know, a little mini bottle of champagne or something. But like I don't have any, I don't have anything packed. You know, but I mean, Brian's coming to New York. So we'll go to dinner in New Jersey on Friday and then dinner with you on Saturday and then Sunday. I'll just be back on plan. So I'm not worried about it, honestly. But I think that that it's just taken time to get there to
Mandy (09:27)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (09:53)
understand my body and you know I've been able to like increase my food over the last like four weeks so like I'm not really craving anything you know just I just more food like I still have a lot of small meals and I'm kind of like like it really smashed like a whole cup of rice right now but but yeah so feeling good so excited and today we'll just kind of have a little girly chat and do some Q &A because you know we get a lot of questions throughout the month and we love your questions we always answer
Mandy (10:02)
It's always the best.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (10:23)
them I don't save them for this podcast but if you aren't in my DMs then you know I just kind of went through and grabbed some of the ones that I've been speaking with people about and so yeah yeah
Mandy (10:32)
Yeah, especially if our clients have questions after show or during their prep, like, you know, common questions that we kind of see, see here here a lot. It's just we start thinking about like, well, we can easily talk about that on a podcast. So it's a perfect time to throw it all together.
Gillian (10:41)
Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So I thought it would be fun to start with a rapid fire. So these are like questions that people, yeah, actually put on like that intense like Jeopardy music, like, you know, so, yeah. So maybe in post we can add some music. Just kidding. I don't know how to do that. We probably screwed up anyways. A rapid fire Q and a ready Mandy. Okay. So these are quick answers.
Mandy (10:53)
I love that you call it that. Rapid fire. Let's go.
Da da da, okay.
Gillian (11:15)
Favorite workout clothing, outfit or brand in prep shreds.
Mandy (11:21)
I got Amazon. No, I actually really don't. It really is just Amazon because Amazon, like, listen, here's the deal. I have gone to all like in -person brick and mortar, all the cutesy little stores. Here's the thing. I've gone to the cutesy little crop top shore stores that are called all these different names at the mall and they're adorable. They look adorable. I go in there and the cute little crop tops like 40,
Gillian (11:23)
Just Amazon? Do you have a brand?
Mandy (11:51)
$50. I and again, no sure that crop top It's ridiculous. I have learned to like go to Amazon look at different stuff Majority of like the cute like you said you have the shreds you kind of want to show them off you have these adorable crop tops or tank tops or sports bras and You can order a haul of them and a lot of people will do this with sheen too. They'll do sheen hauls Yeah, I like to do Amazon exactly
Gillian (11:52)
No thanks. For one of my daughters to steal it? No, ma 'am. Mm, no.
Yeah, but sheen you cannot send back though. There's no point. And Amazon's great because you can, you know, because I think some of it's finicky. Like I'm picky about my leggings and my shorts. And so.
Mandy (12:20)
That's why. You can send anything.
So I know that MomShall has like, we have our Amazon storefront, but I daily, daily in -person DMs get asked about my clothes. And I always, I keep a store link. This is it, yeah.
Gillian (12:39)
Me too, me too. I send the link. Like, if you like something I'm wearing, just ask me, I'll send you the link. Cause I'm not a gatekeeper. I like to share. So.
Mandy (12:49)
Yeah, so like I will order a bunch of stuff from Amazon because it's 19, 25, 14. And then if it doesn't fit, I'll just like the next day I'll just go take it back. And then I'll just, usually it's like same day credit or you can like, of course put it back on whatever card you bought it with. But that, and also I will say recently has been Target. If you're watching on YouTube, like this top I'm wearing right now, it's a cute little like crop top tank top. I got it at Target for like $8. I love it. Love it.
Gillian (12:55)
I know.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yes, love it. Use your red card and save five percent. Okay, mine, okay, rapid, yes. Okay, so my favorite shorts in prep are tiny waist shorts by Bombshell Sportswear. I love them. They don't dig into my thighs. They don't make my butt look weird. They aren't, they're just comfortable. I love them. I have them in every color. And then I love like our
Mandy (13:20)
5%. So your turn rapid fire, what about you?
Gillian (13:46)
those cramp crop tops that have the U shape here in the front. We're always wearing them. Like I have them in like 10 different colors. The three, the three pack of the they're like a sports bra crop top. I've been wearing the shit out of those. Yeah, I have them in every color. I don't either. I'll link it. But yeah, so typically like some sort of a cute like crop. I don't like my boobs out of the gym. I just don't. So it's usually something that's I just don't. I don't know. I just.
Mandy (13:52)
The meshy ones?
yeah, yeah, yeah. I have no idea what that brand is, but it's Amazon.
I do.
I don't know why, like, it's just my, it, I do, like, I've embraced it, like, all my friends, like, if you guys see me at the gym, I am always wearing some low cut sports ball crop top, tank top, always, like, it's, you know what, years ago, I just, like, it's, it, it fits my personality somehow, and it's really cute, and my husband thinks it's cute, and it's just, it's me, even when I go out to dinner.
Gillian (14:15)
You're like, God, I do.
Tuts out.
Yeah.
Well, you are like me. You have cleavage and a t -shirt, so anything you wear, your boobs are out. So yeah, I try. I mean, I just try to maybe not have, you know, I have really cute sports bras from,
Mandy (14:41)
Yeah.
Gillian (14:49)
bomb shall I always end up listing them on my car because I'm like, I'm never going to wear this to the gym. I'm just not. And well, and my my kid goes there, you know, and I'm just like, you know, so whatever. But OK, that was really slow for a rapid fire. We got rapid through these. OK, so this is a fun. I love this question. Guilty is pleasure, habit or activity that you do in prep but would not do outside of prep.
Mandy (14:55)
Mm -hmm.
You're a rat.
This might not be rapid, because I really don't know, that I do inside of prep. Okay, I know, but I really don't know that I do, because I like, I'm such a habitual person that I do inside prep. I think this, well, the stupidest thing I do is I do cardio on the treadmill instead of walking outside, even when it's really nice, I won't do that. It's weird. I think that's stupid though, it's not. Okay, you say some and it might click on me. Like I might think of something.
Gillian (15:16)
I sent you this hours ago.
Yeah.
Well, I have a couple. I guess they're just like idiosyncrasies. Like, OK, I have like.
14 lists going in my notes of my phone all the time and I'm fanatical about them and then once prep is over I will not touch them or look at them again. It's like my training it's like I have another list that's like to do's like prep to do's like for every single day it's posing stretch training cardio food on point water intake and I have to take it off every day. So that's another one that's kind of like weird and then the other thing is I like binge watch shows like Love Island and like
Mandy (16:04)
I do that.
Gillian (16:13)
perfect match and then I'm like invested and like I just think it's an escape from you know thinking about prep or thinking about how hungry I am and I'm just watching like just you know hot people like date each other on a beach and they're all couple swapping and I'm just kind of like this is entertaining as shit and I enjoy it and every summer Love Island usually comes on around the time that I'm prepping so it's like very nostalgic I'm like this feels like prep you know so that's my guilty pleasure
Mandy (16:15)
Haha.
Mm -hmm.
Really, like, everything?
Gillian (16:41)
And I'm losing brain cells, I'm sure, watching it, but I don't care. I do not care. I love it.
Mandy (16:45)
I feel like everything I do in prep I almost like I just don't do as intensely because I do the listing
Gillian (16:50)
There's nothing that you like, you ditch when you're out of prep, like you like any habits or anything. yeah, I never pose after, it's terrible, I should but.
Mandy (16:54)
I will pose. I'm like really bad at posing. Like, yeah. I'm really bad about it. Like I'll still, I've gotten way better at it. Cause I have so many posing clients and I help a lot of women. So I do it way more. Yeah. But before, but I will say, I mean, I guess it's not really a guilty guilty pleasure, but it is kind of weird. I just being in like how we are, I do the list thing. I actually have it on my phone right now. Even in my, even now, like in my reverse, I still do it.
Gillian (17:06)
That helps, yeah. I do it with clients, but I wouldn't go downstairs and pose.
Mandy (17:24)
I have a, I use my notepad and I have like bulletin points and I'll lay out, cause I eat six times a day, I lay out like protein, veggie, carb, and I know the grams in my head and I will just tick them off and I'll do that like right now too. And it helps me especially like, okay, Friday for example, it helps me a lot because like, I know how like Aaron and I are. I know like most likely he's gonna wanna go out to dinner.
Gillian (17:27)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (17:47)
And I know like if we go out to dinner, how am I gonna fit that into like my reverse? So like I'm mindful of it. And if I like have those tick marks, I'll be like, well, I just won't, I'll use the carbs from this meal and move it to dinner and stuff like that.
Gillian (17:54)
Yeah.
That's really smart, actually. I should do that in my reverse as well, because I'm just like, you know. I'm sure I go over, and I don't really track much in my reverse. I just eat the same things. And I'm like, it's been five days since a cheat meal. That's a good idea.
Mandy (18:05)
Yeah.
Like.
I can't, I can't do, I can't do the macro. Like I can't. You talk about our obsessive nature. You give me like, if you give me like, you're supposed to eat this many, like, just give me 20 grams, six meals, let's call it a day. I'll split it up and move it around.
Gillian (18:17)
I can't either. I can't.
Like I can take my macros. Like when I worked with a coach that did macros, I would write out a meal plan and I would never track anything. Like I would just do that one day and then I was like, this is what I'm going to eat. And I would just write it on like a piece of paper and stick it outside of my fridge. cause I just, it's too complicated. And like, maybe if something came up, I would then go in and retool it. But like, otherwise I really ate the same thing all the time. But I love that idea for, cause then sometimes I think, you know, that can happen where, you know, Hey, you want to go out to eat tonight? And then you can kind of look ahead.
Mandy (18:34)
Mm -hmm.
Like.
Gillian (18:57)
Plan and then but then I also think too. It's good to kind of see Okay, like cuz you can have a random Tuesday that you're going out with friends and you get to Saturday and you're like I can have a cheat meal, but you kind of like forget that you went out Tuesday And so maybe like keeping better better track of that I think the list the list making is definitely goes away when I'm not in prep because I think that is the one thing that I just need a little break from is the rigidity and the structure and like I'm a pretty organized person anyways, but every hour of my day is scheduled
Mandy (18:58)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (19:27)
and it's ticked off and there's to -do lists and it's just a lot. So like I enjoy being spontaneous a bit. Yeah.
Mandy (19:30)
Yeah, in the morning, I've gotten more relaxed. Yeah, in the mornings is I did. OK, that is a little that is a thing that has changed relatively recent. So like I am so good about during prep, like I go to bed so early, like I'll go to bed at eight, nine, like I'll go super early. I'll wake up four or five. And and then so that's where I'm like the morning parent and then Aaron's like the night parent. And we've always divided and conquered. But we like.
Gillian (19:48)
Yeah.
Mandy (19:56)
we have noticed how it's affected our time together a little bit. Cause like it's seven o 'clock, I can't start a movie if I'm gonna go to bed. And then he's busy at work and he can't do anything till later. So I told him after the show that I'm gonna mess with my sleep schedule to be able to stay up later. So now I stay up till like 11 ish, midnight. Midnight's hard, but I'm getting there. I know.
Gillian (20:04)
Yeah.
Yeah.
You texted me late last night. I was like, girl, what are you doing up so late? I read it this morning at four when I woke up. that's so fun.
Mandy (20:26)
Yeah, no, we had game night yesterday. That was so much fun. I went on like a five mile walk with some friends and then came back from the friends and went straight into dinner. And then because we had nothing scheduled, we just had this open time. We played Uno, which was so funny that my husband forgot how to play Uno. Let's all laugh about that for a minute. And we had to read the rules.
Gillian (20:47)
I forget, I haven't played it in a long time. It's like riding a bike though, yeah.
Mandy (20:51)
It really was. And then we played Mario Party. So we had like kind of game night. It was fun. But okay, rapid fire. You said guilty.
Gillian (20:57)
Next question. This is the slowest rapid fire ever. That's probably why they have music on when they do these so people don't like talk too much. Okay, favorite prep condiment or seasoning? Don't explain why, just say what it is.
Mandy (21:04)
Okay.
hands down, no sugar added ketchup. Mm, live off that, love it. Or salsa, hot sauce, everything bagel seasoning.
Gillian (21:15)
Really?
one. I'm just kidding. Okay, I have one. I don't I don't play around. It's I know girl I could take a bath in this stuff. It is Melinda's truffle hot sauce.
Mandy (21:24)
I need like three. Your turn. Go.
I already know what yours is.
Gillian (21:39)
I love this shit, it's so good.
Mandy (21:41)
I need to try it, I haven't tried it yet.
Gillian (21:43)
I'll give, I have it in, I have a big box of 200 packets coming today. You can buy it in bottles, but I hate measuring condiments. It's so annoying. I'm like licking the little baby tiny teaspoon. And then with traveling so much, I've been on like frigging 12 trips as prep. It just makes it simple. Good for measuring. Now I can, you know, and I can measure sodium, things like that. It's prep friendly. I will link it below. It's so good. It's good on anything. It's good on eggs. It's good on everything. It's my absolute favorite. There is nothing I love more.
Mandy (21:47)
Of course you do. Yeah.
That's how I feel about peanut butter.
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Gillian (22:15)
Okay, and I'm gonna skip past the next one because that's gonna be too long. We'll save that for another one. Favorite exercise for upper body? Just one.
Mandy (22:26)
lateral raises, shoulder lat raise. Yours. Yeah.
Gillian (22:30)
Okay, I like face pulls. All different angles of face pulls, like standing bent over, like that motion. Favorite exercise for lower body. This is so personal. Everybody has a different one.
Mandy (22:38)
Mm -hmm.
recently actually mine changed reverse hack squat
Gillian (22:52)
good one. Okay, I have a machine that isn't at my gym, but it is at Gold's in Teterboro, New Jersey, which I will be visiting next week twice. Can't wait to see my people there. It's the best gym. It's like one of the last Gold's gyms in this country. Anyways, they have this machine. I don't know what it's called, but you put your legs in it and then you like you put a little belt on and then you push your legs out in like an adductor.
Mandy (22:53)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
our gym has something like that. No, our gym has that.
Gillian (23:22)
What's that called? Lots of gyms have them, but mine doesn't and it is like the best machine. Cause it's a, it's like a hip thrust, but also an adductor. It's the tits. Yeah.
Mandy (23:28)
No, I remember our owner. Mm hmm. Yeah, you're seated, right? And you have the belt and yeah. man, we have it. And our our owner said that it took forever. Our owner said it took forever to get.
Gillian (23:37)
Looks like you're giving birth.
You do, I've seen you, yeah, yeah. So that's my absolute favorite. That's great. And if I don't have that, for me, the exercise that has made like the biggest difference in my shape is Smith Machine wide raise or wide leg deadlifts as game changer.
Mandy (23:47)
I can't remember what it's called.
So close I was gonna say I've I loved Smith I love Smith Machine wide stance squats
Gillian (24:14)
And I love those like reverse hypers too on the Smith machine where you lay on the bench and you put your feet on the bar.
Mandy (24:19)
We have a machine that has that, that like is that.
Gillian (24:22)
I know there's and I think that I always say to people like I have to adapt everything because I'm so short. I have a whole bag of tricks. We're going to go to the gym to like make everything hit the spot the way that it should. Like they have a hip thrust machine at the gym I go to, but it doesn't work for my body. Like I feel like it's all quad. So I always do them in the Smith machine with double benches and all this be like, you know, we have a machine for that. I'm like, yeah, yes, I know. I practically live at this place. But but yeah, that once you get that exercise to work, it hits just right. It's just such a little like
Mandy (24:33)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Gillian (24:52)
builds the peach. So yeah.
Mandy (24:54)
It's the best when you can feel it. Cause we have girls that will do that at our gym. Cause we have two different hip thrust machines and one is perfect for me. So it's great. But I'm also almost five, seven. And there's some girls that will do, it's not really the hip thrust as other things, but they'll modify things around the gym and use bench and all sorts of different stuff for things. But it's whatever works for our bodies.
Gillian (25:03)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, that's a really good segue into our full Q &A. And one of our big questions was booty growth. And so the question I got was, I feel like I've tried everything and my glutes will not grow. What are your tips?
Mandy (25:30)
I feel like this was a perfect segue. Did you plan this? That was like a perfect segue. Flawless.
Gillian (25:33)
Maybe? Maybe. I know, it's beautiful. What a transition. What a pro. Is this episode 30? It is! It's episode 30. We've come a long way. Okay, moving on, sorry. Oops, squirrel.
Mandy (25:45)
What? It is! That's crazy. So long.
Okay, booty growth.
Gillian (25:54)
Okay, you have a beautiful, beautiful peach. So share with our listeners if you've always had a beautiful peach or if you had to build that baby up from a pancake.
Mandy (26:00)
Mm -mm.
it wasn't a pancake, but I had to build it. girl. I will never forget when I realized I had to build it and it was, I felt like, I felt like that. I felt like Squirrel.
I was backstage at a show and I was talking to a girl and this was back in 2022 and I was like just BSing with her and she's like I just lift really heavy. She was a lot younger than me and she's like I've just been lifting really really heavy. I after that show weekend I went to the gym and I was like I wonder how heavy I could actually lift. Girl I was only hip thrusting like maybe it was a straight bar for one and it was only like 60, 70 pounds. Yeah, no.
Gillian (26:27)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (26:47)
girls listening, like do not underestimate how strong we are with no, I just decided that day to hop on one of, this was a different gym at the time, a machine and do a hip thrust and I easily could just go, I can't remember exactly, but it was over 150, almost 200. And it was just like, of course it wasn't easy, but I'm like, I can do this.
Gillian (26:52)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (27:11)
you just, it's time and it's realizing that you can lift heavy and it's lifting heavy. It is, that's what it is. So that's what, like what? I took 2023 off, that was the rest of 2022.
Gillian (27:19)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (27:26)
And so now I've just been lifting heavy even with my back injury like I just modify things like or back pain I don't want to say injury like hip issues But like I just modify stuff like there's workouts that i'm like, this doesn't feel good today Or this doesn't you know, I can't do this and I still lift heavy I just might have to drop weight or change the machine and like It works So what about you, especially being especially like in your 40s? Like i'm not there yet, but you've been you know, growing your glutes. What is your advice?
Gillian (27:30)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's a lift heavy.
Yeah, well, so I have several challenges. I don't really have the genetics for like this sport at all. I've had to really just build my body. Like I was, you know, athletic in high school and college. Like I was a cheerleader, but like I, you know, don't, I don't come from like a line of athletes and people with, you know, great structure and whatnot. So, so yeah, I really had to build my glutes. So, but by the time I started to really get into like progressive overload and like actively trying to grow my glutes, I just hit a
wall because I'd been training for so long and my body was just kind of like more of the same and so I realized a lot of mistakes that I was making one of them was under eating so
Mandy (28:28)
Mm.
That's what I was about to say. Yeah.
Gillian (28:38)
just always dieting, you know, that doesn't really help you, you know, perform your best. So new old way, dieting new way is, you know, timing my carbohydrates around my workouts, which for me looks like 60 or 70 % of the carbs that I eat for the day are like in the morning around my workouts before and after. And so that has that strategy has really worked for me. And then heavy lifting, yes, but intensity. Like I don't think that until I met
Mandy (28:48)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (29:08)
James, who's my current coach. I don't think that I focused on intensity. I was just like, this girl I follow on Instagram can hip thrust 280 pounds. I'm going to make that my goal. It's totally not even the best exercise for my body. And I'm trying to, what am I doing? So I really started to focus on intensity and, that's been a game changer, you know, like really just getting to the point where you can't even complete, you know, two more reps, but then you do it anyways, training to that level.
Mandy (29:22)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (29:38)
intensity. I mean, I used to get stressed about going to the gym in a good way, but nervous because I'm like, you know, I got to really think about, you know, this exercise and getting that really pushing. Did I push hard enough leaving the gym and going like, did I really push myself enough? Once I realized, man, all these years, I just didn't have the intensity in my training. so, so that was a big one was intensity and just like, you know, okay, well that was, you know, 10 easy reps, like, you know, let me make sure I take enough of a rest break so that I
Mandy (29:57)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (30:08)
and recoil and and come back and next set make it harder. So that really helped.
Mandy (30:13)
And if you continuously, I feel like we also don't have to think of when we are lifting heavy that we need to be a couple things. If you're lifting like 10 reps and it's not easy, but it's challenging, but it's not like really challenging, you don't have to sit there and add like plates onto it. Like add five pounds, add 10 pounds. Like babies, there's like little things. Exactly.
Gillian (30:32)
There's so many ways to like, you know, pulses or, you know, add a band. Like there's a lot of different ways, because I think that what has happened is like, you know, you see these incredible feats of strength and you're like, my gosh, look at this girl, how much she can deadlift. And like, it's not about that. Like the judges are never going to be like, and how much can you squat? Like they don't care. And especially if you're hurt.
Mandy (30:51)
just like they don't care about how much you weigh.
Gillian (30:53)
Don't get hurt. Like the last thing I want to do at my age is get hurt and like, who this house, this place would burn down without me if I was hurt. So I I'm really cognizant of that. So, so yeah, I think that was huge. And then I think too, then other, another thing was like doing a million different exercises. Like I've done the same like core exercises for glutes for nine months. Like I found the things that worked. They are in every workout and they're in a different sequence.
Mandy (31:10)
Yeah
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (31:22)
but they're the same movements, you know, I've got four leg days a week. That's the other thing is I train lower body a lot. but I, I do, I hit the same motions or movements every week. And then as my like strength has decreased in prep, I'm doing, like you say, like finding ways to find a little bit more intensity, either doing like drop sets or like some forced reps, pulses holds like squeezes, like on a kickback, you know, I might hold and squeeze at the top for like five seconds until like my legs going to fall off.
Mandy (31:29)
Yeah.
you
Gillian (31:52)
So that's been ways to find intensity when your strength decreases when your energy levels are like So Yeah, and then creatine I take creatine which a lot of people are scared of but I wouldn't never stop taking that I think it's amazing you have to make sure you stay hydrated but that's not a problem, but I think that's been something that's been great for recovery and for muscle growth, so I know I might
Mandy (31:53)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I always have a little, I always think, cause it's a baby scoop, you know there's little tiny scoops. A little creatine in the morning, baby. It's just, with my, with my drink for the gym. But yeah, I feel like that. And then, I was gonna say it.
Gillian (32:20)
Yeah.
baby. Yeah.
Yeah, those are some good tips. Yeah. Okay, next question. How much time, sorry, how much time should you take off? I got my list up on the menu over here. Okay, how much time should you take off in an improvement season?
Mandy (32:40)
Get it. Girl, get it.
It's gonna be different for everybody is the answer to that. I mean, every... So if you're getting done with a show and your judges feedback is that you need more muscle definition, you know you need it, your coach knows you need it, the judges say you need it. Really, I would look at...
Gillian (32:51)
general guidelines.
Mandy (33:07)
I want to say eight months ish timeframe. And when I say that you have to first consider your first month or two. So your first eight weeks is going to be bringing your calories up. So you have to still take away eight weeks out of that. So you're bringing your calories up. You're getting into maintenance calories. You're starting to have more energy. You're starting to be able to be able to lift probably what you were previously at the gym. Now that your calories are raising and your energy is going back. And then now that you're kind of at that level, it's a math.
of like, okay, we need to focus on growing. We need to keep trying to raise your calories and keep getting you to a place where you're able to lift heavy and grow. So from there, I mean, that kind of turns into six months, I would say. But even after six months, it's like, what do you want to do? Are you wanting to go back to stage? Do you want to lean out? You can do, my gosh, I'm blanking out what people call it, a mini cut. I think that's what it is. Where people, right?
where okay you're you're eating really high calories you're doing a great job you're been lifting heavy you kind of want to see what you look like if you start leaning out a little bit you're not really wanting to commit to a long prep but you want to see what you kind of lean out or lean out and look like a little bit so then you do a mini cut and you kind of drop some calories down see what it looks like see how your body reacts too because what if you're what if you drop calories and your cardio is really low and all of a sudden
Gillian (34:23)
Yeah.
Mandy (34:29)
your body's not responding to those calories that are dropping. And so it's kind of just, you figure out what works for you. But that would kind of be my way of looking at it.
Gillian (34:32)
Yeah.
Yeah, I think it depends on the journey of each person, you know, and also how long you were prepping for and what your season was like and then what the feedback is, you know, and if you're real serious about it and you got pretty far and let's say, you know, you won an overall at a regional show, you went to nationals and you didn't place inside the top 10. I think you should take a couple of years. And here's why I think that because let's say.
Mandy (34:44)
Mm -hmm.
Hmm.
Gillian (35:08)
you come back, you turn pro.
You want to be able to go into the pro league and be ready for the pro league. And you know, they have more muscle. These are very experienced athletes. So if you take off two years and you really dedicate yourself to building muscle, you know, you, you behave like an athlete, you're really intentional and you come back and eat your pro cart. Then you can go right into rather than doing a, doing like eight to 12 months, then doing a six month prep competing at
Mandy (35:34)
Like a pro debut, yeah.
Gillian (35:41)
three national shows, finally in your pro card, then going to pro league, getting last and having to take another year off. So I think that saves time in the long run. and then I also think it's person to person because there are people that put on muscle fast, newer athletes, and you can be a new athlete in your forties and fifties. I'm not saying young athletes, I'm saying everyone's different, but if you're new,
Mandy (35:44)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
muscle age.
Gillian (36:03)
And yeah, you can put muscle on fast. You don't need to take that much time, but everyone's a little bit different. And then also depends on how intentional you are. If you're dicking around, you need to just need more time. Like, and that just might be because you are burnt out and you just need more of a break and that's fine. But you can't like have like a crappy like year and then like do like four months of a build and be like, I took a year and four months off. You didn't work hard that whole time. So because I see that a lot too.
Mandy (36:09)
you
I actually have met, I've met, what's interesting about that is like I've met more men that that happens to. I've met quite a few men that'll be like, and they freely admit it. They're like, I ate like sh, after my show I ate like shit. I was just a terrible eater. And they're like, yeah, they're like, I just, you know, fucked around, whatever. And.
Gillian (36:36)
Mm -hmm. I was going to say that.
twice a week.
Yeah.
Mandy (36:51)
then they're like, now I need to, now I'm ready to get serious again. And then they'll do like a six month prep and they'll go on stage, but it's like you said, it's like at what level. And then I think another thing is that to really consider where it's person to person is not only how long was your prep and how long were you in, you know, a prep low calorie, high cardio. What do your hormones look like? Is your body even?
Gillian (36:57)
Yeah.
Yeah.
I was gonna say, how healthy are you? Yep, yeah, 100%. Yeah.
Mandy (37:14)
Right? How healthy are you? Because what like what is your estrogen and progesterone? What is your cortisol? What is you know, your thought your t3 t4 like what? Where is everything is everything plummeted and do you have to get everything regulated again? Are you gonna do that naturally? Are you gonna do it synthetically? Like how long are the how long is that medication gonna take? Because if that medication is gonna take several months, well, then your body's not even gonna respond to any metabolic changes because your
Gillian (37:22)
Yeah, what about your mind and your... Yes.
Hmm?
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (37:44)
hormones are all over the place.
Gillian (37:46)
And how's your relationship with food? Like, how's your mindset? Like, how's your motivation? Like, if those things are all like in a bad place, then, you know, you're going to need more time just to get those things optimal. And I think putting pressure on yourself of like, I'm just going to take six months off is just, you'll just be disappointed. It just comes a point where like, I think once you've done, you know, a couple of shows, it's like, okay, next time I come back, I don't want to just like, you know.
Mandy (37:48)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (38:13)
look good, I want to be competitive. So if you want to be competitive, I think it's just smart to, you know, get healthy and, you know, good digestion, good hormones, good mindset, all of that, you know, really be solid. And it can be hard. Like it's a long time to think about taking that much time off, but you don't have a lot more money in the bank. So like just save your money and it'll be so worth it when you come back because you know, you'll really be able to look at your body and go look at what I did. Like look at the improvements that I'm
Mandy (38:34)
I will, yeah.
Gillian (38:43)
made like, and it doesn't happen fast. So you just have to like buckle in and, and you can still stay involved. Like the girls on our team, when they're in off season, like they put on a team shirt, they come to the shows, they pose in the team photo. Like they come to like our group meetups, like it doesn't just cause you're not competing around with something. You're not competitor, you know, and you're still training. So it just can feel like you get FOMO and people start like prepping and you're like, not now, you know, but your time will come. Yeah. Seminars and going to things. Yeah.
Mandy (38:44)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, it's so fun.
Yeah.
I love all the different stuff. I will easily use myself as an example for this because I have gotten asked.
many times like when are you going on stage again when are you going on stage again and my answer is so it's so rapid rapid fire it's so rapid i'm like i have no idea like i have zero idea but my answer is because of kind of everything we named everything we talk one i've next time i go on stage i want to be competitive not that i wasn't competitive before but i know i wasn't conditioned as conditioned as i needed to be for my physique to get as conditioned as it needs to be the things that i need to do
I just couldn't do anymore without being an astronomical amount of pain with my hip. I knew that four weeks prior to going into the Omaha show. I knew I could get to the Omaha show that I did. I knew I could have fun, be competitive, have a good time. And but I knew I wasn't as conditioned as I could be because I couldn't my body wasn't going to do it anymore. It just wasn't. And I knew that and I accepted that. But I also knew after the show I needed to get healthy. Right. And so
Gillian (39:52)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Mandy (40:17)
I need to go back, focus on rest and recovery and massage. I can't do high cardio right now. I can't, even my cardio didn't get that high, but like I couldn't do, I can't even remember what it was. I think I got like 60 minutes, 40 minutes, like in between that range. But I also had to do it on an incline and on a treadmill and early in the morning. And then I was traveling a lot. So, but I had to listen to my body tell me.
Gillian (40:23)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (40:44)
Like this is what I have to do. If I want to be competitive next go round, then, you know, let's enjoy the improvement season, love my body for what it can do, heal, recover, you know, of course get hormones checked, everything, you know, do all of the work, do all the health and go into an improvement season until I can come back and be competitive and be healthy. So it's like, you know, everything we kind of just touched on.
Gillian (40:46)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, every it's, it's not a straight answer. You know, there's just so many different, but I think, you know, I think building muscle is the key to the sport. This division is bodybuilding. Like even though it's bikini bodybuilding, it's still bodybuilding. So you have to build your body if you want to be competitive. So, so yeah. Okay. Next question. sorry. Anything else? Okay.
Mandy (41:12)
Mm -mm.
Yeah, and no, I was just gonna say like getting like staying involved in the sport too, like going to the shows. Like I there's there's so many.
Gillian (41:34)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's so many opportunities. Go to the, like, go get like a pass and go to Ohio and go to the Arnold Expo. And, you know, if you live out, if you live near things like go to shows, you know, it's, it's still like, you're still a part of it, you know? So, okay, so next question. I'm new to competing, but I want to take it as far as I can. What are the steps to earning your IFBB Pro Card?
Mandy (41:42)
yeah! That was fun.
Mm -hmm.
Yeah Jillian, what are the steps to earning your IFBB from?
Gillian (42:02)
you
Well, I wish I had a straightforward rapid fire answer, but 19 years later. Okay, well, you know, we we do see two show pros. Those lucky sons of bitches. They are very lucky, but that's rare. You know, generally, you know, you have to you know, you do a regional show. If you win top two in your open class, then you can go to nationals.
Mandy (42:10)
you
Yeah.
Gillian (42:34)
depending on the show, if you know, they're giving away one pro card per height class or there's two in the overall. There's several national shows throughout the year, kind of starting at the Arnold amateur going all the way through till December with Masters USA. Well, Olympia is now September Olympia amateur. Is it September? And then December is Masters USA and Nationals Nationals is in Texas now. So it just depends. Like some of the bigger national shows like USA's and Nationals at the end of the year are two pro cards.
Mandy (42:44)
Mm -hmm. The Olympia.
that's right. Is it?
Gillian (43:04)
height class and I think North Americans in the open and universe in the open. Yep and then if you're a masters competitor to qualify you just have to have you compete like in that 365 days and then you're qualified just by competing and then you go to nationals and then there's depending I mean in 40s and 50s typically there's one pro card per height class at nationals. I do think wellness and men's bodybuilding over 50 I think
Mandy (43:06)
North Americans is too now, yeah.
The Ben Wheater.
you
Gillian (43:34)
it's like top two in the overall in those two particular divisions at universe only because that's the one I'm doing and I know that and then
Mandy (43:35)
I'm not sure.
I will say like at Arnold's and all the like international for like the Olympia, they have different rules. So if you're, whenever you're going to register for a show, like strategically plan your registration because I know at some of these shows, like not just like you said, like there's only one or two pro cards, one pro card handed out in different high classes, two pro cards or overall. But I know like with the Arnold and the Olympia, they have different like rules as far as like entering to be able to get like your pro card.
Gillian (43:45)
yeah.
Yeah.
Mandy (44:12)
only do it for like the overall. But then they like it all can change yearly too. So every year you should like read on the NPC news online.
Gillian (44:14)
Yeah. Yeah, it's different for everybody.
Well, yeah, even like nationality, because back in like 2009, I'm a Canadian citizen with a green card, so I could only do North Americans. I couldn't do masters nationals. I couldn't do like any of the other national shows, because you had to be an American citizen, but they have since changed that. And now green card holders can do, shows like USA's and nationals and all of that. So that opened the playing field though, because you know, there's
you know, people from all over that are living in America that, you know, bring their amazing Brazilian genetics to the stage. so yeah, so just, you know, if, if that's what you want to do, you know, I think it's important to, because it's so expensive, like national shows cost so much money. Like one division is like $400. Whereas if you go to a regional show, you can do four, four classes for $400 and stay at a hotel for $89.
Mandy (44:55)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (45:17)
night. Like, you know, you don't usually have to fly. Like, you know, if when you're going to go, like it'd be nice to say, I just want the experience. It's not a very expensive experience. Yeah.
Mandy (45:18)
Mm -hmm.
It's a very, you can have a very similar experience for a quarter of the cost.
Gillian (45:30)
Yeah. So, you know, I don't, and, and I think it could be really defeating too, as if you're like, it's only your second show and somebody told you go to nationals. Like if you, you know, if you won and you did well in your competitive and you've got a great coach and who can guide you, you know, then Hey, that's how these people get their pro card at their, at their second show. But that's so rare. And, you know, I think the smart way would be just to, you know, get feedback and make sure that you're really ready when you get there, because it's the best of the best. Like doesn't matter.
Mandy (45:51)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (46:00)
if you're like the fittest lady at your gym like it's the you're competing at the fittest ladies at every gym in the country you know so
Mandy (46:07)
Yeah, that's a good way to look at it. Always look at it like that, like just because you're the fittest and the like best looking person, even it it is.
Gillian (46:14)
Which is a huge accomplishment. That's amazing. But imagine you feel so good about yourself. You're, you know, everyone's telling you, you look so great, you're going to win. And you are the fittest person at the gym. You've never looked this way and you go to a show and you get last.
Mandy (46:26)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (46:31)
Like you, cause you went to national, somebody was like, yeah, just do it. Like then it's like, it just really puts pops of your bubble. Right? So make sure if you're going to go to these big shows that you've got some guidance, like, and I think you should have a posing coach because they're, they are like, they're moving you quick and you know, it's the, it, there is one chance one shot to do it. Yeah. So, it takes a, it takes preparation. I don't say any of that to scare people. I just want people to have a good experience and you know, it would, it would suck for somebody to like, be like, well, I did that.
Mandy (46:39)
Yeah.
You need somebody that's experienced.
Gillian (47:01)
and got my ass into an envergapedia again, right? Like, so, you know, I think that...
Mandy (47:04)
Yeah, I also think I also really
Really really want listeners to understand that you should really do your own research And I mean you have a put like even if you have a posing coach you have you know your coach if you've gone to Regular like regional shows you've done really well. You've won your class. You've won your open Let's say you even run overall multiple times go to MPC news doc go and like See what's went. Mm -hmm. See what they're
Gillian (47:15)
Yeah.
Yeah, see what's winning. Look at the criteria that they list. Yeah, don't look at the pros, but look at who's winning these national shows. No, no, don't look at things that are filtered and you know what not. You know what's a good resource though is our guide Gilco.
Mandy (47:39)
Don't look at Instagram. Don't. Don't look at social media.
Mm -hmm What wait, can we pause wait stop I have to I have to say something I love do you pronounce resource differently? Cuz you're Canadian you say resource resource. It's just the way you say it resources Probably Okay, continue I just I like there was a pocket
Gillian (47:58)
I don't.
Resources? You say treadmill.
You
Is that American? Do Americans say treadmill? Or is it just, I mean, it's Mandy. My daughter says it treadmill too. You in Brooklyn. Resources.
Mandy (48:16)
Treadmill. No, I think it's just me. I think it's just me. I don't even... Treadmill. Anyways, but yeah, see you say, you say resources. It's the, it's the er that you're pronouncing. Anyways, I noticed it when I was doing like the studio work. Yeah, but anyways, it's cute.
Gillian (48:33)
Yeah, I know. OK, I think we have time for one more question. There's like 20 on this list, but I'm going to just scoot down to the bottom because I think this is a juicy one, kind of, kind of. I feel like it comes up a lot. And I think that I've scratched my head before too. OK, so the question was, what do you do with judge feedback? Particularly, what do the judges mean when they say tighter, more density, fuller?
Mandy (48:41)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (49:01)
softer or more balance? Because that is like you need a glossary to be like what do you mean especially when they're like you could be a little bit fuller and a little bit tighter but make sure you're not too hard be a little bit soft and it's like excuse me like it sounds like like a laundry like I'm going to the dry cleaner what that's a lot
Mandy (49:08)
Yeah.
When you say it. Like I understand what you're saying but like I can I totally understand how it can be confusing but when you talk like that I'm like yeah okay but like having to say okay so
Gillian (49:29)
Yeah. So let's start with tighter.
Keeping it tight.
Mandy (49:38)
I was gonna keep being a tight. So I would say like, if a judge, I would say mainly in your legs would be like the best way to start with that, especially with bikini wellness competitors. So, and it can be, exactly. So this is where it gets all like, it gets tricky because judges are just judging what is brought to the stage. Here's why judges feedback. Okay.
Gillian (49:46)
Yeah, that's a conditioning question conditioning feedback. I think like you just need to be leaner. Well, but go ahead.
Yeah. It is tricky.
Mm -hmm.
Mandy (50:06)
I'm gonna probably go down a rabbit hole just trying to explain it.
Gillian (50:08)
That's why I figured we'd start now so we don't go over seven hours on this episode.
Mandy (50:11)
So the judges only see what you're bringing to the stage. You walk on stage, do your front back, and then go to the diagonal. So when judges see that, they could look at you and say, she could be tighter. Okay. So you go to you, get your judge's feedback saying you could be tighter in your glutes. So your coach will take that and when they say tighter, they mean like you, you're just.
Gillian (50:29)
Mm -hmm.
Mandy (50:39)
They can't see like your hamstrings popping. They can't see your glute definition. They can't see your roundness, your fullness from the top to the bottom, the sides. And at a regional level, they don't have, like you don't have to have tie -ins. So don't let that like stop you from stepping on stage by any means if you're tie -ins. And when we say tie -ins, we're talking about your glute to hamstring insertion right there and be able to have that pop. Yeah, I've just had people not know what a tie -in is. So, but when they say that, like you could be tighter.
Gillian (50:58)
That little diamond at the bottom of your glue.
Mandy (51:08)
you could be tighter or you just might need to be more conditioned. Therefore you may need to be leaner and if you leaner and so if you were leaner in your legs, so maybe more cardio, lesser calories and let's say you kind of fine tune this in a couple of weeks and step back on stage, you could be perfect, right? So.
Gillian (51:13)
Be leaner.
Yep.
just a, just a little bit. I mean, your conditioning was off basically means that you're just, you know, need to lose a little bit more body fat or build a little bit more muscle because sometimes you can lose body fat. And then if you don't have the foundation underneath, you're not going to be tighter. So, you know, I think generally they're kind of talking about things jiggling or not being tight, like, you know, high, tight, round glutes and minimal, body fat. I mean, some body fat is natural.
Mandy (51:31)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (51:56)
healthy and and that's what makes the softer look. So it's a fine line and that's where it's it would be so hard to coach yourself in this sport. I know people who do it but like it'd be so hard because you could look at your body and think you need to be you know leaner and you know and you don't and you overshoot and you're too lean you know.
Mandy (52:14)
I think the mixture, yeah. I think the mixture between density and fullness is tricky too. Because again, a judge is gonna see you on stage and be like, her shoulders could need to be fuller. Do they though? Because like maybe you just did like a massive carb load. You did everything you possibly could. You came as full as you could without spilling over, which you can explain that. But yeah, spilling over.
Gillian (52:20)
Yes.
Ooh, that's high level. Yeah.
Mandy (52:39)
And your coach knows that, but the judge says you need to come in fuller, but you can't come in fuller. So therefore you need more muscle. You actually need to be like denser, but the judge doesn't know that, but they're gonna think fuller. Whereas like you need to have more muscle. But let's say you didn't carb load, you might need to be fuller. So you need to do a different peak week or a peak protocol.
Gillian (52:44)
You're as full as you can be. Yeah, you have to grow. Yeah.
Yeah, and I think that's, yeah, maybe you were a bit flat. Mm -hmm. Yep. Yeah. I think these words are so, so, they're so complicated, but you know, the density one is one that I like to talk about because sometimes people don't need to be bigger. Like you don't need big, giant glutes and big, giant shoulders.
Mandy (53:18)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (53:23)
But you might just need more density, which means that there's more projection, like in your glutes, when you're standing in your back pose, that they are nice and round and the skin is tight on the glutes because they're nice and full because you just built up that density, you know, and some people just, you know, they're not born with it or they just don't have the muscle maturity. So you don't need to go away and build a giant, but you just need to take what you've got and really build that density. So, you know, like, and, and, and you can come into a show, like you said, flat, either you just, you didn't carve up enough.
Mandy (53:37)
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (53:53)
or you're too depleted and then your your muscles like a little balloon and you just got to fill that balloon up but if you push too hard or if you're trying to fill up something that isn't there and you're just pushing a bunch of carbs hoping that you fill out and it's done filling it spills into the space between the skin and the muscle and then you look softer and you'll look like you've got more body fat but all that really happened is just that you you just went too far with trying to fill up and you filled yourself some
Mandy (53:58)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (54:23)
as you could. So that's a tough one.
Mandy (54:24)
And then on the flip side of that is being flat. And this is also why people after shows will look super poppy. Because like you just, you know, quick way to explain what flat is, is easily off what you just said. You know, there are muscles, you know, like our shoulders, they're just balloons and they need to fill up. You didn't fill them up and therefore you look flat.
Gillian (54:28)
Yeah.
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah. And either you just didn't, maybe you pulled water too hard, which you shouldn't do. some people still like old school coaches, like still will cut water from girls. And it's just like, okay, well, something has to shuttle the carbohydrates around. And then, you know, if there's not enough water, then the muscle is not going to, you know, fill out the way that it should. And I think everybody just thinks it makes your waist big. I'm like, it's water. I don't know.
Mandy (54:48)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (55:08)
weird. but that's, again, that's we've learned so much over the years and I've, I've done that old way of doing it where you tried to get rid of as much water as possible and you'd be on stage. I like so thirsty. but yeah, it wasn't a good look, not like it is now it's much healthier. balance. If somebody is gets the feedback that they need to balance their top and bottom has, this is me 2018 balance. Get my grow into my boobs was my feedback.
Mandy (55:12)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah.
Gillian (55:38)
So what does that piece of area of improvement mean?
Mandy (55:45)
It means you're off balance. No, so the criteria for, again, bikini is what we're talking about. You need to have that hourglass shape. Your delts and your clavicle need to have a good round shape to them. You need to have a tapered waist, not a harsh V, tapered waist with a round glutes and a slight separation of your quads to your hamstrings. Slight, like very slight, no.
Gillian (55:53)
Mm -hmm.
Mandy (56:12)
no striations, which means you can see the muscle fibers in them. But anyways.
I literally just had a brain fart. my gosh!
Gillian (56:19)
I knew it was coming. I could see it. I could smell it and see it. I'm looking at your face and like, here it comes. I know you too well. Balance. I should have like cue cards.
Mandy (56:26)
I really did. Balance, my gosh, like balance, no. So like, let's say I just like, my goodness, stop it. I don't need that. No. poor girl. No, I did not. But okay, so balance. So let's just say you love lifting upper body more than lower body. Let's just say you're that person. Let's say your shoulders come in, beautiful, nice, full, bubbly, perfect little.
Gillian (56:35)
Did you see Taylor Swift had a brain fart on her own song at her own concert the other night? Yeah, I know. I love her. Yeah, she did.
Mandy (56:56)
delts, right? Well, your glutes didn't. So your top is way bigger than your bottom. You're not balanced. Your hourglass shape isn't balanced. So when you get this feedback, you need to figure out what is off balance and you need to be able to work on in those like areas. So that's what it means.
Gillian (57:11)
Yeah.
I think that's very common for new athletes to like have imbalances. It's really hard to build a balance because he could take time. So, you know, and it's top to bottom, front to back. So you don't win shows with one body part. you win them with overall conditioning and overall development and like that, you know, upper body matches the lower body glutes, match the quads, match the hamstrings. You know, it sounds like a tall order, but you know, if you just design your program or somebody who coaches you designed your program appropriately.
Mandy (57:16)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (57:42)
So that you can, you know, stay balanced and fit the criteria. So, you know, sometimes girls come in and maybe they have a very developed upper body from, you know, playing softball or whatever it might be, or they've got, you know, really powerful legs, not quite big enough for wellness, but maybe a little bit too big for bikini or, you know, overpowering quads and their glutes are not developed. So, you know, that's what building balance means is not training for what you like, but training for the division. You know, people ask me all the time, like, do you train chest? And I'm like, what for? Like it's literally.
Mandy (57:47)
Mm -hmm.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (58:12)
not judged and so I don't waste my time on it and it doesn't bother me but something like I like to bench I'm like okay well bodybuilding isn't like about what you like it's about what what builds your body for yeah like I didn't train quads for years years I always thought my quads were too big well then my butt grew and now I'm training quads again so you just have to do whatever you need to do for your body for that you know improvement that you're trying to make so so yeah
Mandy (58:12)
Yeah.
It's about creating.
Mm -hmm.
Gillian (58:42)
I think that about, well softer is the other thing, which I think honestly, I think a lot of girls, well, I think one thing that is important to mention is like girls my age, like we have like really thin skin, we don't have really thin skin. We start to get thinner skin as we get older. It's just like part of it. Like younger girls have thicker skin. And so, you know, they might be really, really lean, but they're not going to always look as shredded as like somebody who's older because their skin is just thicker. It doesn't mean they have more body fat. The body fat could literally
Mandy (58:46)
I feel like we kind of touched on that though.
Mm -hmm.
Hmm.
Gillian (59:12)
be the same. I mean, I have like literally paper thin skin almost everywhere on my body. Like I have veins on veins on veins on veins. I did not look this way 10 years ago. Like it's just as I've gotten older, it's just part of it. So you have to be careful when you get up on stage that you don't look emaciated because I've seen
Mandy (59:32)
That's interesting you say that. No, yeah.
Gillian (59:34)
I've seen girls in the 40s and 50s that they're turning in their back pose and you can see striations on their glutes because you know, they are too hard and they aren't, you know, their skin is so thin and they're very lean and conditioned. But it's that fine line of like, do you gain body fat and lose a bit of the conditioning so that you look softer, but you just can't have that like paper thin skin where they can see literally your, the sinew of your hamstrings on the back of your legs because they don't want that for bikini. So, but I do think it gets harder.
Mandy (1:00:00)
Yeah.
Gillian (1:00:04)
in the like, you know, 40s and 50s and 60s, you know, just cause that's our, that's just how it is. And men too, right? So, and I think that's the reason why, yeah.
Mandy (1:00:08)
Mm -hmm.
Yeah, you definitely get vainier because I've never ever, ever been this veiny. And I've gotten that a lot, especially like, cause I've been lifting for, you know, 10 years or something. And I've done multiple shows and I've just, I've never had poppy veins per se, but I even have veins that are in my like shins now. And I have veins in my forearms and it's like, well, I built up a lot of muscle and I'm older. I don't know.
Gillian (1:00:20)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah. I mean, you look at like guys at my gym that are in their sixties and they have literally just like veins everywhere, like just all over their body, you know, just because they're so muscular, they're lean and then their skin is thin just from being older. So, you know, that's just how it is. And that's why I'm grateful for the master's divisions. James was asking me if I was competing in open at universe. I'm like, you are hilarious. No, I do not. Hey, it's like nine hours later. It's such a big show.
Mandy (1:00:45)
Yeah.
Mm -hmm.
Ha ha ha!
Gillian (1:01:07)
And like they start with like wellness starts at nine and then they go 60s 50s 40s 35 then open starts. So I'm like, no, I am no, that's no, I'm going back to my room and I'll see you at finals. So anyways, all right.
Mandy (1:01:08)
that's right, yeah. I remember you telling me that.
Well this was a fun Q &A! These are always fun. But -
Gillian (1:01:28)
It's these are my favorite. I love these like I love guests, but I'm always nervous when we have a guest I'm like, what if my Wi -Fi goes out? What if I mispronounce their name? What if I burp? Yeah, I just don't want to screw it up. Yeah, I know and everyone's been so nice. I know I know so well
Mandy (1:01:40)
It always ends up being fun. It's always just like the first five, like five, 10 minutes and then we're like, yeah. Yeah, it's just cause we're always so grateful. Mm -hmm, yeah. But the Q and A's are fun cause it is, I always hear like, you know, at the gym, it's like you have girly talk at the gym. Like this is kind of what girly talk is. You know, you just BS about like really common things and we all talk about it. So, but yeah, but also listeners, we will not be having an episode next week because somebody will be competing.
Gillian (1:01:56)
Yeah.
Mandy (1:02:07)
on Friday next week. So we will have an episode the following week recapping Jillian's amazing universe. Yes.
Gillian (1:02:14)
And we have an awesome guest coming up too. We're bringing on IFED Pro April Conley. She is amazing. I'm really excited to talk to her. So she will be coming up this month as well. Well, July. So yeah, as well as some other amazing guests. So if there's somebody that you would like to see us interview, granted they have to be a mama. We don't interview dudes on this show. Then let us know and we can reach out to them and see if they will come on and share their story with us. Yeah. Yes.
Mandy (1:02:22)
Yeah.
That's crazy. Yeah.
Thank you guys for listening and we'll talk to you here in two weeks. Bye!
Gillian (1:02:44)
Yes, bye everybody.