Chikondi's First Figure Competition

I am a personal trainer, and not to sound too cocky I think I am pretty good one, at least thats what my wife Chikondi says, so there you go :). In August 2008 Chikondi, came to me with a toothy smile and said “guess what I am going to do a figure show and you are going to train me.” I wanted to say hell no, because to tell you the truth I had no idea who or what a figure competition was. But like I said she had a toothy, oh wait a minute a mean beautiful smile, and you guess it I couldn’t say no.

The irony of all this was that neither of us had a clue where to start. The most we had done was train together, and I always thought that she had a great physique (I am so jealous of her calves LOL). Plus a couple bodybuilder friends had mentioned that she should consider doing show. To be honest I never really listened when they spoke. But unbeknownst to me Chikondi had dreams of being featured in Oxygen magazine which she had been a fan of for a while. So like true champs we started her training with an eye for a show in November 08.

So we found a posing coach, bought a meal plan, and off we went to conquer the figure world, YAY and a happy ending. Not! The first thing Chikondi didn’t realize was that I was going to turn into the evil trainer. You see, I started doing my own research on Figure shows, and the one thing that jumped out at me, was how fit and tight these women were. Yes Chikondi has a great physique, but when you are wearing heels and a bikini under bright stage lights, and standing beside fit looking women, you can come out looking two to three times your normal size. So I realized very quickly that in order to be competitive, she needed to come down from her 127lbs while maintaining muscularity in only 2 ½ short months. So I had to increase the intensity of her workouts, and let me tell you we bump heads. I pushed her weight training to another level, and upped the intensity and length of her cardio sessions. Combine with the diet, her abs started to show and her legs began to tighten up. That was the turning point, because then she began to realize why I was pushing her in that manner.

This was round about mid October, and the show was early November. So she started learning what appeared to be the easy task of figure posing: realization number 1 posing is hard as hell and we should have started earlier. There is an old bodybuilding saying, ‘you can have best physique, but if you can’t present it you can forget about winning.’ Not that it was perfect, but after a million quarter turns to the right, her package was starting to come together. Realization number 2, competition diet kicks your ass. True story, there were days when Chikondi would eat a plain salad in orgasmic pleasure, uttering weird statements like “spinach taste better than ice cream.” Needless to say there were other days when she would cry at the site of another protein shake.

But through it all my little pocket Hercules as I call her, preserved. We made it to the November 08 show through a few tears, “I hate you Peter you evil bastard,” a millions quarter turns to the right, and a couple breakdowns from the diet. So how does the story end? Well Ms. Thang won Novice Short, Novice Overall, and came fourth out of 30 women in the Open Short. Pretty cool huh?! Check out a photo journey of Chikondi’s progress at KooYah Fitness, in the Before and After section.

A parting thought, my wife and I have always been extremely close, but I have to say that the process made us closer. I also developed a passion for the sport of Figure, and have since trained and prepped Chikondi for three shows in 2009 and she won them all. As a result I am now working with several other women.

Is It Ok For A Fitness Instructor To Be Overweight?

During my soccer career, one of the most inspiring coaches I ever had, was obese. He had a magnetic type of personality that would make you want to jump off bridges for him. But during training he could barely get around the field. So basically my two cents is that its more about the individual and their personality than their outward appearance. If they can inspire you to new heights with just their oratory skills, I say amen to that. With that being said, when my wife, Chikondi Mseka, and I created KooYah Fitness, we made a conscious decision to follow a healthy lifestyle, one that our clients would want to aspire to.

What yours point of view on this matter? Be honest :)

WANT THOSE KILLER LEGS

Its true, there are a few folks genetically predisposed with great legs. The rest of us literally need to bust our behinds to get them in gear. But don't think for a second that genetics will just simply say “hey here are your Beyonce or Larry Fitzgerald legs,” the work still needs to be done. I often observe people working their legs over the course of many months with little to no improvement. I attribute this to four simple things; lack of intensity, variety, improper technique, and recovery time.

What do I mean by intensity? Before I answer that, do note your legs contain the largest muscles in your body. Therefore, they need to be pushed harder, to get improvements. If you have been doing the same weight, and rep count on a particular machine, try increasing the weight by 5% every three weeks, or hiking your rep count. Stop cheating yourself, and start the process of really challenging yourselves. Yes you will be sore, but improvements you will begin to see.

Ah variety the spice of life. Take note, you cannot keep doing the same things, and expect a different result. Your body is an amazing machine and will quickly become adjusted to your routine. So don’t just stick to the typical squats, leg extensions, curls, presses, lunges and so on. Mix it up, go for long hikes, take spinning classes, instead of walking on the treadmill try running, go dancing more often with less alcohol. Simply put try many different things, so that you are constantly keeping those muscles off balance. Plus, its breaks up the monotony.

Ok so now you have upped the intensity and starting to mix things up. Unfortunately, this will only go but so far if the proper techniques are not used consistently. Doing any exercise is difficult, that is why I always say seek help in the form of magazines, youtube, pay for professional help if you feel lost, look at yourself in the mirror when possible to make sure your form is correct. Technique folks is icing on the cake.

So since technique is the icing, then proper recovery time is the low fat strawberry topping. I always tell my clients, you need to give trained muscles a chance to recover. That means not doing the same body part everyday. When muscles are allowed to recover, they develop density and strength. So what is an ideal recovery time? As rule of thumb I always say least four days between very intense resistance weight training sessions. For things such as group classes, a day of rest will suffice.

So in your quest for those sought after show stoppers, I say good luck, and have fun with it. But if you ever need a little push in the new year, don't hesitate to get with KooYah Fitness.

By Peter Gordon

The Tao of Kooyah Fitness

“KooYah”—an old Jamaican patois word used to introduce something new or interesting—is the first thing that came to mind when Peter Gordon saw his wife, Chikondi Mseka collecting her figure competition trophies. Her journey to that moment included a rigorous weight training, flexibility, balance, nutrition, and massage therapy program, buoyed by a strong social support network. He then realized that the key to fitness success is to develop a synergy between the mind and body that contributes to overall wellness—the Tao of KooYah Fitness

The KooYah Fitness experience was specifically designed to allow anyone to meet their fitness goals through a holistic approach, as mind and body wellness are the key to overall fitness. KooYah fitness professionals will challenge you physically, and inspire you mentally. When you meet your goals, you will be able to say the world KooYah!