KRIS MURRELL: THE FINISHING TOUCH
“All parts of the whole equal the sum. One without the other is zero”
To attain a winning look, attention to detail is critical. When the bulk of the work has been done, the accessories of contest prep are what give a competitor a finished look. This is a chronicle of the last six days of Kris Murrell’s prep.
MONDAY, APRIL 9:
This was the third day of Kris’s zero carbs. She started on Saturday, April 6. There are several reasons for carb depletion prior to a show. Our purpose was to deplete her glycogen levels. During this process, Kris maintained a water intake of no less than one-and-a half gallons a day. She did morning cardio on an empty stomach and her workouts were in the evening. She did body pumps. A body pump is a low-intensity, low-volume routine that is executed like a posing routine. Every upper body part is trained daily for six consecutive days. The goal is to squeeze the muscle and deplete glycogen levels. During this process, the body will utilize more water, causing a drying out effect. The muscles constrict, the waist and glutes become smaller. She will also pose daily, as much as possible.
Kris’s carb depletion was from April 6 to April 11. Below was her diet:
Meal 1: 6 oz chicken with ½ bunch of asparagus
Meal 2: 6 oz tilapia with 1-2 cups of broccoli
Meal 3: 6 oz tilapia with ½ bunch of asparagus
Meal 4: 6 oz tilapia with large serving of spinach/mushrooms
Meal 5: 6 oz tilapia with ½ bunch of asparagus
Meal 6: 6 oz chicken with ½ bunch of asparagus
Kris used Custom Swimwear to make her suits. They are based out of Jupiter, Florida, about 30 miles north of my home. I drove to Jupiter to pick up Kris’s suits. There was a lot of detail to the suits and they had to be redone a couple of times to get the perfect cut and ornamentation. We decided it would be better for me to pick up the suits to avoid any potential problems that might occur sending it via FedEx.
TUESDAY, APRIL 10:
My flight left Fort Lauderdale at 7:10 am. I arrived in Los Angeles at 10:30 am Pacific Standard Time. Kris’s schedule was the same as Monday. Kris is a regional manager for Europa. She has her own territory with vendors and employees she manages. I went to see other clients while waiting for her to get off work. When she was finished, we wen
t to the gym for her body pump.
Afterward, Kris tried on her suits. They both fit perfectly and her condition was exactly where it needed to be. Her body was dry, her waist and glutes were small and her symmetry was perfect. At midnight, it was lights out. This was a long day for me and I was still on East Coast time. Kris is used to long days and getting to bed late, but Wednesday was an important day. There was going to be a lot going on.
Wednesday, April 11:
When Kris was competing as a bodybuilder, Wednesday was the first day for carbing up. This was not going to be the case for women’s physique. The goal was to bring her in tight, small and shapely, with no striations or deep separations. The top competitors at the previous shows had been small and shapely, but smooth. I did make a slight change to Kris’s diet, however. I added two servings of red meat. When competitors have been on a diet with very low fat and little animal protein, the body will react to red meat like a carb. The fat causes a filling effect that makes the muscles look fuller. Kris has great shape and full muscle belly. Her weight was about 159 lbs at this point. I expected her to drop about 5 lbs once she dried out. Two days of carbing up wasn’t enough time to maximally fill her muscles. The problem with maximally filling her muscles was that it brings out her striations and vascularity and would make her look too muscular. The compromise was to give her red meat on Wednesday and begin her carb-up Thurday and Friday.
Her diet was as follow:
Meal 1: 6 oz chicken with ½ bunch of asparagus
Meal 2: 6 oz tilapia with 1-2 cups of broccoli
Meal 3: 8 oz lean beef with ½ bunch of asparagus
Meal 4: 6 oz tilapia with a large serving of spinach, mushrooms and peppers
Meal 5: 6 oz chicken with ½ bunch of asparagus
Meal 6: 8 oz lean beef with ½ bunch of asparagus
Wednesday was busy also because Kris and I had interviews scheduled with various websites and Kris had her third call-back for a movie role. Bodybuilding is a segue, not a destination. When one lives in a media mecca such as Los Angeles and is a professional athlete, one should take advantage of every opportunity to advance once’s career.
Thurday, April 12:
In my opinion, Thursday is the most important day in the final week of contest prep. One cannot win the show on Thursday, but one can lose the show on Thursday. The most fre
quent mistakes competitors make the Thursday before a Saturday show is to restrict their water intake too much, and not eat enough, or eat too late. This day was even more important for Kris, because her carb-up was only two days before stepping on stage. This was also the last day for her body pump, but she would spend more time posing. It is important to stay active and keep working the muscles without depleting them. The worst thing that can happen is to introduce carbs to a depleted body and have them sit in the stomach. Pumping and flexing muscles becomes important to ensure the body adequately loads. Thursday is also the first day of tapering down water consumption. Until now, Kris was drinking no less than a gallon and a half. Thursday, her water intake was reduced to one gallon.
Her diet was as follows:
Meal 1: 6 oz chicken with ¾ cup oatmeal made with 1 cup water
Meal 2: 6 oz tilapia with 1 cup cooked white rice
Meal 3: 6 oz beef with 6 oz sweet potato
Meal 4: 6 oz tilapia with 1 cup of white rice
Meal 5: 6 oz beef with 6 oz sweet potato.
Friday, April 13:
Friday is when a lot of the prep details need to be finished. Kris had her pedicure and manicure appointments. She also had an early evening tanning appointment. She had one heavy coat of tanning stain applied Thursday evening and another coat Friday morning. Kris has fair skin and it is important to start early with her tanning process.
Friday was also the last day of her carb loading. Kris will also intensively decrease her water intake. I opted not to use a diuretic. When carb loading is effective, a diuretic will make the body more transparent, revealing the maximum striation and separation. When carb loading is ineffective, a diuretic will make an athlete look flat and smooth. Kris’s carb loading was having the desired effect and her shape was becoming more pronounced, with a smaller waist.
Her diet was as follows:
Meal 1: 6 oz chicken w ¾ cup oatmeal made with ½ cup water
Meal 2: 6 oz tilapia with 8 oz white potato
Meal 3: 6 oz beef with 8 oz sweet potato
Meal 4: 6 oz tilapia with 1 cup toasted oats
Meal 5: 6 oz beef with 1 cup toasted oats
Meal 6: 6 oz tilapia with 1 cup toasted oats.
Kris’s water was limited to 96 oz. Her cutoff was 5 pm. The only physical activity Kris had on this day was posing after meals. By the end of the evening, Kris was looking the best she had for the entire prep.
Saturday, April 14:
Wake-up was at 5 am and Kris’s first meal was at 6 pm. The meeting for the pros wasn’t until 10 am, so there was plenty of time. The luxury of being a pro is you don’t have as many competitors to contend with, and there is much less stress. The pros also have their own changing room which is more spacious. The atmosphere is more relaxed.
The show started promptly at 11 am. Lee Thompson was the head judge and ushered competitors through their call-outs promptly. The pro women’s physique athletes were onstage before noon. There was a field of 20, the largest to date. Half of the class showed in very good condition. To my eye, the level of condition was the equivalent to a top regional women’s bodybuilding contest. The other half of the class followed the trend of previous competitions, coming in tight and shapely, but with no striations or deep cuts.
Murphy’s law is, “What can go wrong, will go wrong.” Our prep was perfect and Kris looked the way we wanted her to look. Prior to this show, a 20 percent rule has been established by Jim Manion. It stated that the women’s physique competitors should demonstrate 20 percent more muscle. In my opinion, there is a difference between more muscle and more conditioning. People have a tendency to consolidate the two. The head judge interpreted more muscle to mean better conditioning. The class was judged according to conditioning and Kris got a 3rd call-out.
In my opinion, the change in the judging is better for the category. The direction in which the pro women’s physique began wasn’t a good look and wasn’t going to breed better competitors nor draw fan consideration. Sara Hurle won the class but Patricia Mello was the toast of the class. Her lines were symmetrical with deep splits and enough glute striations not to compromise her aesthetic. Mello would later move on to the Orlando Europa and win the class.
In retrospect, Kris’s placing calls to mind several unspoken rules:
1. Be who you are. A competitor must know what makes her physique stand out onstage. Too many competitors try to present their physiques as something they are not.
2. Don’t try to anticipate what the judges are looking for. Clear criteria are used as a guideline for judging, but the individual interpretation creates a variable that is like anticipating the weather. You just don’t know. Judging panels change from show to show, thus their body preferences will also differ from show to show. I have been going to shows since 1976. I have seen shows when the winner didn’t win. That’s bodybuilding, regardless of the category. Jon Lindsay told Kris after her win at the 2009 Nationals, “ To be a good pro, you have to be able to lose.” That is something for many amateurs to think about.
3. Don’t validate your worth as a competitor with a placing. Bodybuilding is a marathon not a sprint. Very few competitors can run the gamut and rise to the top without losing. Shawn Ray is a hall-of-fame bodybuilder and only won two pro shows in his career. Jenny Hendershott turned pro in 1999 and didn’t win her first pro show, Fitness International, until 2005. She got her 2nd win later that year with the Fitness Olympia and would repeat that again in 2008. If competitors of this caliber have difficulty winning, the overwhelming majority of us should never complain. I tell people that bodybuilding is very much like golf. Anyone can beat anyone in a given day and one will lose the overwhelming majority of competitions. Placing in the top five is always the goal. If you’re consistently in the top five, you will get your share of wins.
WHAT’S NEXT:
The plan was to do the New York Pro on May 19, but there’s been an unexpected change. Kris not only got a 4th call-back for the movie audition, she got the role. We’ll be prepping for her movie debut. Next stop, the red carpet.
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