This is Ian Lauer and me in Malibu from a couple of years ago, shot by the amazing George Kontaxis. I think you can tell that Ian and I were very much a couple then, but we are now just very good friends. He remains one of the most important and special people in my life and I am blessed to know him.
Orignally published on mensphysique.com on Saturday, 01 October 2011
Perhaps you have already competed in risk-bookshelf-board-game-2one or more shows, or you are thinking of entering your first competition in men’s physique. The last thing you should do is enter a show with no forethought as to which shows might be better for you than others. If you want to get your feet wet, you may want to avoid the bigger shows right out of the gate because they can be intimidating and downright discouraging.
If you are selecting your first show, choose one that is local to you, a national qualifier, and one that is scheduled far enough out so that you have enough time to prep. I have seen many male and female competitors jump into a show at the last minute with little to no prep. If you are a seasoned competitor who always looks show ready, that’s one thing, but if you are not yet stage-worthy, you could damage your chances of placing high at future shows in the same region.
Remember that there are countless shows all over the United States throughout the year, so don’t rush into it. Plan things out and take your time. If you get a national qualification, great! But don’t rush onto that national stage just yet. The national circuit is quite different from the local and regional ones, and you could end up being a very small fish in a huge pond. This can be quite deflating, especially if you have done well at the local level. Keep in mind that the national shows gather the best of the best from all over the country (and Canada and Mexico for the North American), so don’t be surprised if your jaw drops when you see the caliber of competitors at national events.
While NPC USA and NPC Nationals are outstanding shows, they are huge shows and perhaps not the best ones to select for your national debut. If possible, ease into one of the other events. If you are in the south, consider Jr. USA. If you are near Chicago, consider Jr. Nationals. East coast residents could target Team Universe, while Canadian and Mexican citizens will have IFBB North American as their only national option.
Whichever competitions you select, make sure you bring your best physique possible onto that stage, and above all else, have fun up there!
Originally published on RxGirl on Wednesday, 15 August 2012. The original post was published with white text on white background, so the only way to read it on the site is to highlight the text. To make things easier for everyone, I have copied and pasted the article here for you to read.
http://www.rxmuscle.com/rx-girl-articles/6311-booty-building-superset-routine.html
Booty Building Superset Routine
If I had given into my natural genetic setpoint which gave me a relatively flat booty due to my Japanese ancestry, I would never have transformed my posterior into what it is today. In recent years the quest for a round butt has been one of the most highly coveted physical attributes for women. In keeping with this highly sought goal, I am providing readers with a superset routine which will create the full and curvaceous look which fills out a pair of jeans nicely and turns heads in a good way!
THE ROUTINE
Make sure to move from one exercise within a superset to the next quickly, without rest. Once you have completed a superset, rest for 30 seconds then begin your next superset. Complete all sets in Superset 1, then complete all sets in Superset 2, etc.
Superset 1 –
5 sets of the following:
25 jump squats
20 stiff-legged deadlifts with dumbbells
15 stride jump crossovers How to do: Using a bench or plyo box, place one foot up on bench with that leg almost parallel to floor. Jump explosively over bench, springing off bench and landing with your other foot on the opposite side of the bench. Repeat on other side.
Superset 2 –
5 sets of the following:
15 walking dumbbell lunges
20 Butt Blaster
15 prone leg curls
Superset 3 –
4 sets of the following:
20 one-legged dumbbell deadlifts
20 one-legged cable kickbacks
Superset 4 –
20 one-legged leg press (lying on your side and pushing through your heel)
20 plie dumbbell squats holding dumbbell between legs with wide stance and squatting LOW
12 barbell good mornings
Taken in November 2014 by Trudge Photography.
Copyright Zoltan Vegh Photography
Shot in September by the amazing Zoltan Vegh. All rights reserved.
https://www.yahoo.com/style/whats-the-deal-with-the-corset-training-101355906803.html
I am posting an article which I found the other day on Yahoo! Style which made me chuckle. Here is the original link as well. I will reserve comments until the end of the article.
To the ways you can attempt to whittle your waist — Slim-Fast, side planks — add one more: Corset training.
The method, which requires you to cinch yourself into a corset for four to six hours a day, is popular with celebrities and has been intriguing many other women seeking hourglass shapes.
Both Kim and Khole Kardashian have tried it. Kim posted a picture of herself yesterday in her mom’s foyer wearing a corset — hers is from a company called “What A Waist” — with the caption “I’m really obsessed with waist training!”
Jessica Alba is a fan, too. She actually wore two at the same time to help her lose weight after both of her pregnancies. “It was brutal; it’s not for everyone,” she told Net-A-Porter. “I wore a double corset day and night for three months. It was sweaty, but worth it.”
Self-described “corset fetishist” Kelly Lee Dekay, 27, has been doing corset training for seven years, and claims she has a 16-inch waist because of it. “I loved how Batman’s outfit let him channel a different side of himself,” she told the Sun. “That’s what the corset does.”
Women have worn corsets for ages. In the 1500s, they smashed down their entire torso. Later, in the late 1800s or Victorian era, they were used to help define the waist. It’s thought that the reason ladies back then were always fainting was because their corsets were squeezing their internal organs and restricting their breathing.
In these modern times, however, women now think that wearing a corset can actually help you lose weight. The Cincher by AMIA claims, “[It can] sculpt inches from your midsection and enhance your curves while increasing thermal activity in your core.”
According to TheCorsetDiet.com, you can shed up to six pounds a week by wearing one of their custom-made waist shapers. The UK-based company describes the pressure from its corsets as “gentle hugging feeling.”
But when writer Rebecca Harrington tried wearing one, albeit from a different brand, she wrote on NYMag.com, “My breathing is slightly impaired, but I can still breathe; I just have to take short, staccato breaths. I try to drink coffee, and it’s very difficult. After four hours, I whip off the corset and throw it across the room. My waist has red welts on it.”
In reality, doctors say that the corset is not — I repeat not — helping you reshape your body with simple pressure. It’s simply so tight around your stomach that you won’t — or can’t — eat too much, and doctors roundly decry any kind of corset diet or waist training as a viable long-term weight loss method.
“It’s outrageous, and it just absolutely makes no medical sense whatsoever,” Keri Peterson, M.D., a physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York told Women’s Health.
It also could be dangerous. Wearing one could actually shift or compress your internal organs and fracture your ribs, Dr. Jyotindra Shah said. “People might put it so tight that the liver, spleen and kidneys could get bruised,” she told The Huffington Post.
Even “corset fetish” Dekay knows she has to remove hers sometimes. “It can be restrictive when climbing stairs,” she told the Sun. “You can’t carry heavy things as you could hurt yourself. I don’t go to the gym in it. That would be very dangerous as I lift weights.”
Okay, here goes my commentary. I jumped on the corset bandwagon back in 2011 when I was informed that it was a very effective way to whittle the waist. During the time in which I diligently wore a corset (or two) several hours a day, every day, I noticed my waistline whittle down from 24 inches to 22-1/2 inches. So do I think it works? I KNOW it works.
I have to say I disagree with so-called doctors’comments that the corset prevents consumption of large amounts of food, thus resulting in weight loss. This just sounds like something one of my male colleagues would mutter. If caloric consumption is kept constant, women and men who engage in corset training WILL have a reduction in inches no matter what. This sounds like the typical uber conservative medical snobbery which makes other doctors the types of people I will NEVER choose to spend extensive periods of time with. I do agree that the practice of wearing a corset is outrageous, painful, and could be dangerous. But it DOES work. What price beauty?
Over the centuries, women have compressed their waistlines effectively with corsets, so it blows my mind that these narrow minded physicians have decided to toot their horns and express skepticism. As a physician who competes, I chose to give corsets a chance and had great results. I am glad that I didn’t allow the part of my brain which is trained in traditional Western medicine talk the competitor in me out of doing all that I could to make my waist smaller.
I would usually wear a neoprene wrap underneath my corset (or Squeem as it is somewhat affectionately called in the bodybuilding world due to one manufacturer brand), or one corset over a second. I would do this for at least 6 hours, sometimes as long as 14 hours. Was I uncomfortable? Yes. Did I sweat like a pig? You bet. Was it worth it? I think so.
I have dealt with the metal boning poking out as the corsets would wear out, and would glue them back into their channels, so I know all too well the sensation of metal poking into my underboob, my ribcage or my hip bone when the corsets began wearing out. I would have digestive upset, abdominal pain, and at times had difficulty breathing. During one stretch of time when I was wearing latex corsets, I developed painful lesions all over my back from the yeast overgrowth which resulted from the long hours of wear and the constant sweating. It took me over a year for my skin to heal from all those lesions, and I have a couple of permanent scars to mark my determination to sculpt a waistline that would win a Pro Card. Thankfully, I won that Pro Card in 2013 and almost immediately tossed the corsets aside.
Now I wear corsets from time to time if I feel the need to squeeze out extra water from my midsection, but I will probably never return to the days of wearing corsets for many hours, driving to work in pain because a metal boning was jabbing me in the rib, sweating profusely under nice clothing, and dealing with skin around my midsection which was constantly macerated, lighter in pigment, and showing signs of skin breakdown.
I know you ladies want to slim down the midsection, but please be careful when you wear corsets! It isn’t worth ruining your skin and compressing organs to wear these torture devices for extended periods of time. Give your skin and your torso a rest in between the sessions during which you are training your waist. I recommend wearing corsets for a 4 hour stretch.
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