Bootcamp time! "Strike a pose"

Musclemania Britain - here I come!

So today is the day I get a taster of my first ever competition bootcamp - and I cant tell you how excited I am! Im slightly nervous as well to be meeting some of the other competitors as i don't know how I will look in comparison. I guess i have to wait and find out...

Anyway, i haven't got time to think about that - Ive packed my bag with my heels, some leggings and a crop top ready for walking in. I've got the tunes pumping in my car on the way to Studio ELB to get myself in the mood to strut my stuff! Im sure I'm going to be inundated with information after today and I bet theres still lots of stuff I need to do..

Lets get ready to pose!

So I arrived at the studio and got introduced to some of guys who are also competing. It was such a relief - the girls were all really lovely and friendly and I got to catch up with Laura Jane Williams, a fellow bikini competitor. I hadnt seen her since the nutrition course that we did at Studio ELB back at the end of June. God that seems so long ago - and look at whats happened since! Its amazing how time flies when your working hard towards something.

Once everyone had arrived, we all sat down and Ty-Og and Emma introduced us to the bootcamp and what we would be doing for the day. Ty spoke about creativity and got us to think about our personality and how we can re-create that on stage. For me it would be elegance and sophistication (some of you may be going "yeh right"!) so how can i replicate this on stage in front of judges?? Time to get my thinking cap on..

We also spoke about theme wear; which for those girls competing in bikini get to do. This has to fit in with your personality as well, so the first thing that popped into my head was hockey. It involves a prop  (aka: hockey stick) which will help and I think i could make the outfit quite sexy - knee high socks, hot-pants and a sports bra... not a bad outfit i think! Ill have to bling it up for the stage a bit though..

After all the introductions, we got down to the nitty gritty. The girls went into the glass studio to practise our T-walks and the boys stayed out in the main part of the studio to work on their posing. The mens posing is very different to the women's; men's is all about quarter turns and having set poses to do, whereas the ladies is a little more routine focused and bringing your personality through in your walk. Some of the girls hadn't done T-walks before (which made me feel a little more at ease, as i've only done it once with emma). So we ran through this first - Emma nominated me to be the guinea pig;  talk about nerve racking! I think I managed to pull it off as I tried to remember all the key points from Emma's stage session with me (look at the audience, smile and breathe!).

We got to practise this for a while in the studio, then afterwards Emma brought us back into the room with the guys and we all had to run through our T-walks and poses in-front of everyone! Being dropped in at the deep end like this was good; you've got to be confident in your own skin and not care what the rest of the guys think. Which is easier said than done!

The feedback from my T-walk was that I've got to work on keeping the arch in my back and always look at the judges. So my aim this week is to get some practise in the gym and work on this. Constantly arching your back hurts after a while, so I have to make sure I stretch it out often. Its definitely not natural!

After showing everyone our bits and pieces, we went back into practising and fine-tuning things. Vivy, our resident photographer for the day carried on taking pictures, which I cant wait to see the finished images. Whilst practising our T-walks a 2nd time, Em gave us some good tips and advice on spray-tans, blinging up our costumes and asking us how we were going to have our hair/make-up on the day. Ive decided to go for curly hair on the day - as i think this will be elegant and sophisticated. Make-up has to be over the top, so that my eyes stand out underneath the bright lights on stage - you cant look pale on stage; hence the spray-tan too!

One of the most memorable parts of the day was towards the end when Ty gave a motivational speech. It was moving and definitely touched a nerve, as it brought it all back home as to why i'm doing this and why i'm putting all the hard work in. He spoke about 3 D's - Determination, Dedication and Discipline. If you don't have these 3 things to try and achieve your goals then you will always be heading for failure. One quote that he said a lot and that will always stay in my head was "failure is accepting defeat. You've not failed if you keep trying." So all those small victories; like saying "no" to that burger, or that bottle of wine - each of these will help achieve that dream goal. Ive got mine and i know i need to push and dig deeper now, to achieving it. Its possible, because nothing is impossible!

The team at the Musclemania Britain bootcamp

A great reflective bootcamp and i'm so psyched for the next one on the 7th September. Yes I still have a lot of things to do in the meantime, so i've got to get cracking! We have already been pre-warned that the 7th September will be a mock competition. Im pretty sure that Em and Ty will be the judges - oh dear! Im getting some much needed practise in on my rest days now!

Till next time - stay fit!

Little miss fitness

Xx