Blog Post by Clare Ross: INBA Figure Superstar

I’m a great talker. I love talking to people and I really love it when I get some great advice. It’s like a piece of gold when its advice from someone that really knows their stuff, or someone who has gone through the same thing as me and has come out the other side. Some words or great advice have stayed with me throughout the years and some I have lived by and chanted to myself when I needed it.

This week, whilst sitting on the couch with my glute/hamstring injury it became very apparent that I am not very good at all at taking some of my own advice.  It became very apparent after an acquaintance (upon knowing my dilemma) messaged me and asked me to recite the advice I gave him about combining bodybuilding and basketball. I remembered it well and although I stand by the advice, it seems I don’t take my own advice. Swallowing my own medicine would have prevented an injury which has grounded a large chunk of my training and all of my cardio.

Actually when I look at it very closely it seems telling some people one thing and doing another is a bit of a habit of mine.  I started to recall some of the pearls of wisdom I have been giving out and contemplated; if I had taken my own advice on, how would it have worked out for me?

Let’s start with the obvious and recent one,

• If you are going to partake in an intense team sport along with bodybuilding you are going to need to rethink your training. Intense team sports like basketball are very hard on your body. There are a lot of hard sprints, jumps and changes of direction. Bodybuilders don’t work on these things in a usual week. You are going to need to commit to training for the team sport as well as bodybuilding and if you don’t commit to your chosen sport don’t be surprised when your body doesn’t cope well.

If I had taken my own advice here the deadlifts which I just PB’d the previous week would still be improving! I would not have to be so tight on my diet because I could have done some cardio. My husband would be much happy because I could have gone out and had a lovely dinner with him.

RESULT-definitely should have taken my own advice!

Now for the one which I truly believe…or do I?

• True Fat loss is a slow process. Not water and sodium loss, not muscle and fat loss, nor water only loss. True fat loss takes time and time is something most of us are not prepared to give.   The traditional offseason is no longer the norm and it’s no longer the norm due to fact that most people accept true fat loss when dieting for a comp is slow. It takes months and months and some of those (mostly later) the callipers are just not moving. Patience, hard work and determination are the key, not looking in the mirror everyday hoping for a miracle result.

Why can’t I accept this one? It seems I need to stop looking in the mirror and understand fast results are probably not in my best interest in retaining muscle. I am not very patient, but patience in this instance would actually have me in a very lovely ‘head space’ for a long time.

RESULT-Definitely would be advantageous to start believing this one…For real!

Lastly the one I wish everyone (including me) would take on.

• Be kind to yourself and celebrate what you are doing right. When you are in the thick of training, eating clean, cardio and supplements it is so hard to get it all right all of the time.  We sometimes get 3 out of the 4 and then the BCAA’s run out and what does everyone focus on, yes, the supplements not being perfect!  Sometimes it’s good to look back and remember where you came from and how well you do now. You didn’t always have your BCAA’s during training. Time to pat yourself on the back!

I am the biggest perfectionist there is and I hate not having my nutrition and training dialled. I only have to forget my training diary and I’m out of whack for the day!  When I think back to my coffee scrolls and hot chocolate days, I can’t believe how far I’ve come but I don’t think I ever give myself enough credit for it. I know myself well enough to know the months and weeks before a comp I will have it all dialled but once comps are finished, I think it’s for the best I am not 100%, 100% of the time.

RESULT-Need to work on this!

Just as my injury is healing my soul reflection time is up. Maybe it wasn’t such a disaster I didn’t take my advice; it is not often you get to really look within when combining this sport with a life. So whilst I found time to understand what comes out of my mouth is something I had better be practising, is it time you asked yourself, “ Are you taking your own advice?”