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Published on Friday, 02 November 2012 21:48
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Written by Natalie Waples
Canuck Corner:Installment #14
Hey Everyone
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With winter setting in most of us are going into a little bit of a hibernation and it is no surprise that thoughts of vacations down south, and the holidays start to set in. This year has been an absolute whirlwind and I am so glad that I finally have a few months to relax (just a little bit), make some concerted effort to improve my competition physique for the 2013 season, and keep doing what I love – being part of the fitness industry!
Here’s a rundown on how the past 52 weeks looked for me (outside of my day to day as a Manager in Human Resources):
Oct 2011, competed in and placed 4th at the IFBB Border States Pro Figure
Nov 2011, relocated to the East Coast of Canada
Dec 2012, joined the NSABBA executive and became a provincial level judge
Jan 2012, started my competition prep for the Europa Show of Champions, and assisted the NSABBA with their Competition Preparation Seminar
Mar 2012, attended the Arnold Sports festival,shot with Oxygen Magazine
Apr 2012, competed at and placed 7th at the Europa Show of Champions in Orlando, Florida. In my own opinion, I thought this to have been one of my best ‘looks’ to date, but I’m not a judge ;-)
May 2012, competed at and placed 9th at the California Pro Figure. Not my greatest show, but when life stress collides with competition, it manifests itself in the form of a flat physique – onwards and upwards!
June 2012, competed at and placed 5th at the Toronto Pro Figure. Very happy with this result – after a 13th last year I was gunning for top 5 so I was stoked with this placing – plus Ontario is my home turf! I also shot with Oxygen Magazine that same week as well as did a guest stint on City TV’s Breakfast Television with Inside Fitness magazine, to promote the Toronto Pro Supershow
July 2012, competed at and placed 2nd at the Chicago Pro Figure. A 2nd place finish!!! My highest ever as an IFBB Pro in a tough 22 women line up – ecstatic at this show :)
August 2012, took a much needed vacation to Vancouver and also attended the Nutrabolics’ Black Out party – celebrating 10 years of Nutrabolics success with great friends and exceptional athletes.
Sept 2012, competed at and placed 11th at the Tournament of Champions. Not my best show, but heck it was a great warm up for the Olympia and who doesn’t enjoy a trip to LA?! Later that month I signed with the prestigious FMG (Fitness Management Group) which exclusively manages the best athletes in the IFBB – go Team FMG!!! This was a great lead into the 2012 Figure Olympia where I competed for the second year in a row, representing both Canada and Nutrabolics – such a blessing! Being on stage with the best in the world is an amazing experience. I placed 16th in a competitive 25 women line up – do I need to make improvements? Absolutely, but I have definitely worked my butt off to get onto that stage. I also had the privilege of appearing in the October Issue of FLEX magazine as “Canada’s Finest” which was on newsstands the same week -- what an amazing Olympia :)
Oct 2012, competed at and placed 5th at the Ft Lauderdale Cup. Hurray!!! A top 5 finish and Olympia Qualification Standings Points for next year – made my goal of a Top 5 “end of season” finish after 36 weeks of dieting, competing and working hard in every aspect of my life. Post show I shot with FMG (JM Manion) on the beautiful beaches of Ft Lauderdale with my figure comrade Candice Lewis, and bikini beauties Yesheira Robles and Yarelis Gonzalez. This week I am celebr
ating my Halloween birthday and finally getting an off season :)
So there you have it – my year in review, and what an exciting roller coaster it was. I cannot wait for the big things that are going to happen in the future. I am going to be switching gears on my training, arming myself with my Nutrabolics product arsenal to fuel all my training needs, and work hard at coming into 2013 with a bang. I am going to be reverting back to a lot of basic bodybuilding type movements to help build some size onto my upper body, as well as beefing up the quad sweep. Winning a pro card was and is a huge feat, but all the work it takes to ‘make it’ as a pro is incredible. With a different panel of judges at each show, physiques rewarded differently from coast to coast, and your own personal battle of constantly improving, it seems like there is never enough information out there to answer all a competitor’s questions or enough time in a day to make everything come together.
Time to hit the gym, but make sure you check back next month for my holiday waist explosion ‘avoidance’ tips, as well as some winter recipes – Eat, Sleep, Train, Repeat!
Yours in health,
Natalie
Natalie Waples
IFBB Figure Pro
www.nataliewaplesfitness.com
