Monique Cormier, who has overcome obesity and severe depression en route to becoming a world class amateur bodybuilder, joins Dave [ ... ]
Spotlight On IFBB Womens Physique Pro: Casie Shepherd
Category you compete in: Physique
Date of birth: 1-7-1986
Hometown: Prior Lake, MN
Career: Personal Trainer/Fitness Professional
Competition history:
NPC Northern Colorado April 08'- 3rd place figure F class
NPC North Star 08'- Last place (out of 20?) Figure tall class
NPC Rocky 08'-Last place (out of 14?) Figure tall class
NPC Gopher State 09'-7th place figure tall class
NPC Minnesota State 11'-2nd place figure F class
NPC Minnesota State 12'-Physique Class B (only 2 classes) 2nd place
NPC Jr. Nationals 12'- Physique Class D-1st place
Next competition: Undecided at this point everything has happened so quickly! I need to reflect upon the last few weeks and determine where I would like to go next.
How has your life changed since you adopted this lifestyle and started competing?
I did my first show my senior year of college in 2008 back in CO. I had started the lifestyle after my sophomore year when I was finished playing college basketball. I was always told through high school that I had exercise induced asthma and was on many inhalers and medications that never did anything for my breathing or energy. Close to the end of my sophomore season of college ball I thought I had mono for a few months because of the lack of energy, inflammation, and trouble breathing. I soon after was diagnosed with celiac disease and also lactose intolerant. All of these foods containing gluten and lactose we giving me all these symptoms that over time got worse and worse. I then cut out all lactose and gluten from my diet and decided to end my career of playing college ball after a coaching change. I started working out for myself and eating clean. I loved how I felt and the results physically and mentally I was getting! After my first show I was hooked and even though I didn’t do well at many of my first shows I was adamant to prove to myself I could make progress each and every show.
What have you found to be the best way to balance family, friends, career, this lifestyle, etc…
When you adopt a lifestyle like us competitors have, you truly learn who your real friends are. Those who are not supportive of the lifestyle try and talk you out of eating a certain way or reaching your personal goals. Competing can be a lonely road, but it a very .jpg)
rewarding one. Some of us even enjoy the loneliness in some strangely addicting way. I think it is sort of a control thing for most. I always tell my clients “When everything else in your life is out of control, managing your workouts and health is one thing only you can control. NO ONE ELSE. JUST YOU”. I surround myself with good people who have a positive effect on my life and bring me happiness. If I do that, nothing ever holds me back or adds negativity to my life. I am lucky to be in a career where I am surrounded by health and wellness! My family has always been very supportive of everything I do....anytime we ever have a family get together I am asked if the food being prepared is something I am “allowed” to have. I am lucky not to be judged poorly by my family for making better nutritional choices like many are!
I feel like the best way to balance everything is to make a little time for everything. Competing in season can be tiring with dieting and workouts but I always make time to see family and friends. Competitors are SOOO structured and robotic that it is nice for me to take time away from that and not have to think about every little detail. My boyfriend/trainer John and I are both trainers and work out of the same gym. We spend so much time there training clients and working out that we make sure to schedule time outside of the gym and home to get a mental break together.
If you could change places with one competitor for the day who would it be and why?
I can honestly say I have no idea! I have thought and thought and cannot come up with someone or guess I know about anyone enough to decide. But, if I could describe someone I would want to switch with it would be someone who:
-has been in the industry for a while and has experience in all that it entails.
-is very humble
-deep down does it for themselves
-has a good balance with personal life, family, and friends
-is happy and a truly genuine person
-has overcome a lot to be in that position
I would like to switch with someone who is similar to me but has been in it for a while so I could get a 
look into the future to what it would be like :)
Name two of the most inspirational people in your life and tell why they inspire you.
My boyfriend John is the most inspirational person I have ever known. He motivates me every single day to be a better person and push myself for what I really want. He is not only an amazing person and the love of my life, but he is the smartest man in the industry and has taken my body to the next level in the past 9 months. He knows what it means to dig deep within yourself for what you want and go after it. John has always been an incredible athlete defying odds through college football at the U of M starting as a walk on and earning a full ride scholarship to getting recruited to the NFL and playing for many years and overcoming injuries along the way.
My other inspiration is not one person but many of my clients. They inspire me every single day to keep pushing myself and succeed as a trainer. They come into the gym each day they train trying to get past their own personal obstacles to push themselves closer to their goals. These are obstacles that I have also pushed through myself in the past. It is a reminder of why I push myself so hard to reach new goals and keep going harder each day.
Tell one recipe or supplement you can’t live without.
Ok I’m going to give you this recipe but it might sound gross….but the reality is that when you compete you do whatever necessary to get through and come up with a lot of crazy recipes to make things taste just a little different! This recipe started over a year ago when my last trainer had me splitting up my carbs into only about 15g or 20g of carbs from rice at a meal….that is maybe only about 1/4c cooked which is like nothing in this big body! Instead of cooking up the rice normally I would pulverize the uncooked brown rice in the magic bullet so it was similar to cream of rice. I would mix it with a few servings of egg whites and water in the microwave so I could “bulk” it up more and fill me up. After it is cooked you mix either stevia or splenda, cinnamon, and then I put nut butter or coconut oil on top :) Now I am eating a lot more so I use the same recipe but use more rice and egg whites. I have gotten a little creative with it and will use cocoa powder, or pumpkin as well for different flavors!
Tell about a typical training day for you. What exercises, how many sets/reps…etc…
John has me doing a lot of Olympic lifts, trap bar dead lifts, sled pushes, pressing from the pins, band work, chains, and explosive jumps/movements….he will break down some movements in order for me to get better at that specific lift (power cleans, snatches). We focus on strength and progressing those movements. Lifts are broken down into movement patterns (horizontal pressing, vertical pressing, 
lower body posterior chain day, lower body quad focus days). The prowler sled was a huge part of my training during this prep and was done about 5 days/week on average…sometimes twice/day (this made all the difference in my legs as I always hold the most in that area).
This style of training is not typical for bodybuilders but is what I enjoy and prefer being a prior athlete. There is minimal to no eccentric so I can recover quickly and get in multiple workouts for the same muscle groups each week. He has taught me to really listen to my body and create MINIMAL neurological fatigue. I do some isolation work on my back and arms but it is typically between my main exercises on my bigger lifts. I don’t rest much during my workout and am constantly moving/working. I have really developed my work capacity and my metabolism has DEFINITELY increased from training this way! I can happily say I did hardly any cardio for this prep AT ALL. My cardio was pushing the sled and keeping a good pace during lifts.
In closing, Who would you like to give a shout out to?
I would like to give a shout out to everyone who has always supported me and believed in me. Also, to anyone else who has doubts in themselves or was told they couldn’t do it. Defy the odds and prove it to yourself!
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