Meriza Figure

Hi, everyone!

What follows is a full week of training, specifically designed to shape and tone the athletic female body, in preparation for competition. I used this training program with Miss Stephanie Perkins, one of my hard-working clients, who recently placed top 5 in two very competitive Southern California NPC Bikini contests. Stephanie stood on-stage against at least 25 other girls in each of her shows, and strutted her Swagger right into the final placings! Steph uses Body Octane and Figure Fuel to keep her strong, especially during the final phases of her nutritional prep. She also utilized Scorch and Vaporize, the Sex Appeal stack, for her fast weight loss supplement program.

Stephanie always trains hard, but we really stepped it up this fall, as she set her sights on her very first official NPC Bikini contest. In Southern California, the NPC competitions are no joke! (like most of the country) – So Steph knew she had to be on her A-game every workout! The supplementation program helped keep her energy up, her focus strong, and protected her body while fueling her muscles through some rigorous training sessions, designed to get her FIT and LEAN! The results? Judge for yourself!

Miss Stephanie Perkins, MAN Sports advocate and NPC Bikini competitor

Stephanie Perkins Bikini/Figure Circuit Training program #09, week of Oct. 4, 2010
Complete the following circuit by performing each exercise consecutively, without rest, except to change weights or move from one machine/station to the next. At the completion of the 6-exercise circuit, pause for 1 minute, drink water, and repeat. Perform 3 full cycles of each circuit. Work hard! Out there, somewhere, someone is training harder!

Machine leg press ( close stance): set1: 140lbs x 15;set2: 180lbs x 15;set3: 230lbs x 15 reps
With feet high on the plate, feet close together, the glute/hamstring tie-in region is the focus of this lower body blaster. Keep weights heavy, don’t be afraid to build shape and tone in this region!

Machine leg press ( wide stance): set1: 140lbs x 15;set2: 180lbs x 15;set3: 230lbs x 15 reps
The Wide-stance variation of this exercise, again with feet up high on the plate, will target inner thigh, shape the quad sweep and bring overall tone to the entire lower body.

Cable wide pull downs: set1: 5plates x 25;set2: 6plates x 20;set3: 7plates x 15 reps
Be sure to keep your torso up and tall, shoulders low and chest high, with elbows driving down toward the hips (rather than pointing back, behind your torso). This exercise builds that width to accentuate that hourglass “v-shape”, making the upper body wider and the waist appear narrower.

Walking lunges w/35lbs bar: set1-4: 35lbs x 15 steps each leg
Be careful with lunges to keep the knee from ever extending beyond the toes. Perform this exercise with slow, deliberate natural strides, and be sure to focus on complete, full range-of-motion, keeping strides deep by bending fully at the knees and hips. Slow, steady, squeeze quads and glutes with each stride.

Cable narrow pull downs: set1: 60lbs x 25;set2: 70lbs x 20;set3:80lbs x 15 reps
Perform these with a v-bar grip that allows your hands to face each other if possible. Changing the width of the grip brings the focus of this exercise down into the middle back area, and lower on the lats. This exercises emphasizes v-shape, but also focuses on toning the middle back region as well. Perform each rep slowly, and squeeze at the bottom to really feel the back burn! Keep chest up, shoulders low, and arch your back for maximum contraction.

Walking lunges w/35lbs bar military press: set1-3: 35lbs x 10 steps each leg
This tricky compound movement takes balance and some coordination, but it’s a killer for the core, stabilizers and to stimulate the deltoids while effectively targeting the lower body as well. A great finisher for a lower-body glute/hamstring focused circuit, perform this exercise slowly, carefully, as you’re likely to be fatigued from the 5 previous exercises.

There you have it! This circuit training program will focus on exactly the target areas most Bikini and Figure athletes need (and most of us women, in general!) – glutes, hamstrings, total lower body tightening and toning, and v-shape upper body to minimize the waistline and accentuate the hourglass curves. Try it for yourself, and remember –
Work Hard, Work Smart!

xoxo
Meriza

Meriza, MAN Sports sponsored athlete, is an IFBB Figure Professional, 2x Olympian competitor and a professional physique consultant and posing coach. Meriza is currently training for competition herself, with her sights set on the professional stage at several shows starting in the late spring of 2011!
“I’m always training, eating healthy and preparing for my next show. I’m also super proud of my girls, including Stephanie…the hard-working athletes around us that we’re blessed to share our time with keep me inspired as a professional to keep on pushing hard myself. Thank you to MAN Sports, and thanks everyone! See you next time!” xoxo Meriza