I asked Christine to write an article for the Blog! Christine has a great future in our sport, and is well loved by the team! In a discussion we were having, she made a couple of REALLY great points, and wanted to share them with you all. Enjoy


The Figure Athlete’s Weight Watchers

This is a shout out to all you SG2Victory and Fitness Factory girls. The other day Shannon and I were talking about the importance of posing. I had brought a perspective to the act of attending posing practice and Shannon asked me to share a little bit about what I said. So here is my food for thought….

 I know as strong iron-pushing women with powerful physiques and the aspiration to be the best we can be; sometimes we may feel like we can take on the world. That we can handle whatever situations play out in our individual daily lives. But sometimes this just isn’t the case and like Shannon would say to me, “Suck up your ego and do not be ashamed to reach out for help when you need it!”
 
I know as a competitor, the stresses to be perfect are high, and the expectations you hold yourself to are high as well. I will be the first to admit that sometimes I need an extra push, no matter how much I love what I do, no matter how much I love to step on stage and present my best package, we are human too, and we cannot be perfect all the time.  Life happens, good AND bad, and it all affects our daily decisions. But it’s how we handle those decisions that make the difference.
 
Being a figure athlete is a world of its own, we are unique to any other athlete, we are meticulous, driven and selfish at times, but we are also in a sport that requires A LOT of energy, A LOT of dedication, and A LOT of time,  all of those things not many of our population can handle. And so that brings me to my point…

When you start to get tired or start to stray and think that it’s ok to skip out on posing practice just because you are not prepping for a competition, please think again!

I’m going to blast myself and say yes this was me. After my last competition I busted ass, placed second, entered off season and as Shannon told me, “(I) fell of the face of the earth for a minute.” I still trained, and tried to stick to my diet for the most part, but by this I mean I underestimated the importance of actually attending posing. And it’s not what you think it is.
 
Yes, posing helps keep our muscles sharp, helps with conditioning and our presentation, to really set us apart from other teams and athletes; it definitely is all of these things. But what I really like to compare it to is a figure athlete’s Weight Watchers meeting!

Think about it! Attending posing helps hold us accountable, to check in once a week and make connections with our peers and teammates. To have support in a sport that a lot of people do not understand, to keep us motivated and on track with our goals, but most importantly having a band of sisters that all know the exact sweat and sacrifice we all go through to make it onto that stage and push our mind, bodies and souls past its limits.
 
I know after a long week of busting ass on the stepmill there’s no one I’d rather gripe about #18 to than Shannon and my other SG2Victory teammates.
 

So before you start to stray, Shannon had a great suggestion to use the 48 hour rule, if after two days of bullshit you are still struggling to get it together, call, email, text, twitter….whatever your choice of communication may be.

You are not alone, we all deal with it, so reach out and ask for help no matter what the situation, because this is just as much of a mental sport as it is physical, and you know what….we aren’t perfect and we all need a little help sometimes!

~Christine Moore