NPC GNC Teen, Collegiate and Masters National Championships 2009

My husband Jimmy just competed in the 2009 NPC GNC Teen, Collegiate and Master's National Championships held July 16-18 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. This was a remarkable national level competition by promoter Gary Udit. There were over 400 competitors in the categories of bodybuilding, figure, bikini and fitness. The event was held at the Sheraton in Station Square in the area of Pittsburgh called the "South Side". We encountered friendly and helpful people everywhere. It was a tremendous effort and a very well organized show. This is definitely a show to see. The official photographer is J. M. Manion but you can see competitor pictures and competition results (placement) already on Muscular Development.

The interesting thing about this one was the fact that it was focused on particular age groups; teen, collegiate and masters. The masters group is basically defined as men age 40 and older, and women age 35 and older. Teens must be 19 or younger and collegiate had to be 25 years or younger. All competitors had to be members of the National Physique Committee (NPC) and US citizens. In addition, the event was an IFBB Pro Qualifier. Pro cards were awarded to the Overall Winner of Men over 50, Men over 60, Women's Bodybuilding over 35 and over 45, Figure over 35 and over 45, Bikini over 35 and the top 2 placers in the Men's Over 40 Overall. Needless to say it was quite an exciting weekend and the energy was palpable for three days solid.

We arrived on the day of weigh-in/check-in. Jimmy weighed in at 180 for this one, about 7 pounds shy of the top weight for his class, which was Men Over 60 Middleweight. He had put in a lot of work on his training, diet, posing and general preparation all year, but especially during the last 3 weeks. We packed a lot of the food he would need, and figured out that the way to fly with a cooler is to use bags of frozen veggies as ice packs to get through security! He also measured 6.4 % bodyfat two days before prejudging. This was his leanest ever.

Front Double Biceps pose before Prejudging

On stage at Prejudging

I'm slowly learning some of the tricks to prep week for these competitions. For many, the beginning of the week shows the nice results of a very lean diet and being fully hydrated. Then the real fun begins by manipulating sodium, potassium and water for the leanest, driest look possible. This makes a big difference in muscle and vein appearance during judging. Oh, but that's not all. Many competitors (my husband is now one of them) also have to throw in strategic carb manipulation during the last 24-48 hours to fill the muscles out if they have a flat look. This is quite a tricky process and while there are some basic guidelines, it varies from individual to individual. Not so lucky for me was the fact that Jimmy's trainer, Chris Caudy was not there! Chris is a bodybuilder, personal trainer, event promoter, NPC judge and owner of Next Level Training in Memphis. He gave me a crash course before we left and we were on our own to get it right.

Most Muscular pose before the Evening Show

The competitors were fascinating to me. I enjoyed walking around and seeing them all during the weekend. We watched a few photo shoots from a distance and met several competitors and their friends/families. It's amazing to see what bodies over age 35 can accomplish. The hotel lobby was quite a site at any given time of the day. Chairs were covered with sheets due to all the spray tanning and everywhere you looked you could see competitors eating from disposable containers. Most of the time it was chicken, oatmeal, eggs, white or sweet potatoes, brown rice, steak, etc. The guys have it tough enough with all the exfoliating, shaving or waxing, tanning, and posing, but it's hard to believe what the women go through. They have to do all of those things plus pick out a suit, decide on hair and jewelry, and for the figure girls, learn how to walk in 4-6 inch heels!

I'm very proud of Jimmy. He looked and presented himself the best ever at this one. It's not easy when you are doing it naturally. He won 1st place in his weight class, Middleweight Men Over 60. He did a super job and earned it! Once you win your class, you then compete against the winners of the other classes in your age group. After being taken through some quarter turns and mandatory poses, the pose-down begins. It's a fun free-for-all style posing for 30-60 seconds to determine the overall winner. The heavyweight guy won it, but Jimmy had fun and it was good experience! Of course I'm not biased, but I thought Jimmy looked the best! He feels very blessed to be able to train the way he does, especially going into his sixties.

Posing for the photographers at the trophy presentation. It's hard to take a picture while you're screaming.

A sign the grandbabies made before we left for the trip!

This year one of the long-time competitors, and a several-time winner of the Men Over 70 group, turned 80 years old. He called the promoter and said "what do we do now?". The promoter discussed it with the NPC and a category for Men Over 80 was added. He was the sole competitor in his age group and took home a first place trophy. He still looks good and presents himself well! He rocked the house with his 60 second routine to music at the evening show and got a standing ovation.

Whether you compete or not right now, if you're not training, get with it. You never know if you might find yourself on stage in front of a packed house in a posing suit at 80 years old!

Chris Caudy of Next Level Training is Jimmy's trainer in-season. Jimmy is a member of the NPC for competition purposes. See my disclosure statement.

2009 NPC Battle on the Bluff Review

The 2009 NPC Battle on the Bluff Bodybuilding, Figure and Bikini Competition was held Saturday June 27 at 7pm at the River Palace Entertainment Center at Sam's Town Hotel and Casino in Tunica, MS. The event promoter is Chris Caudy, and he hosted a tremendous event. Competitors had to be NPC registered athletes and NPC registration was conveniently made available at check in. Approximately 84 athletes turned out for this event and the group was quite impressive. If you've never been to a bodybuilding competition you should definitely plan to attend this one next year. It's growing in competitor numbers and sponsorships, so if you've ever thought of competing, keep this one on your list. You have about 12 months of prep time!

My husband Jimmy weighed 10 pounds more than last year at the check-in on Friday evening, reflective of added muscle. He was still somewhere under 8% bodyfat we believe. It's hard to tell without exact measurements when you've just been through the final week of preparation which includes manipulation of protein, carbs, fat, sodium and water. Here's a picture we took in the hotel room (before the spray tan!).

The divisions available for entry included teen, men's novice, men's junior, men's open, masters (men over 40), grandmasters (men over 50), women bodybuilders, figure, masters figure (over 35) and bikini. Unfortunately there were no bikini competitors this year. C'mon girls! I know there are some of you out there that should be signing up. One of my favorite bodybuilding categories to watch is the novice group. You can tell they are so nervous but they always do well.

Jimmy's primary entry is Grandmasters, and since this competition was a week out from his 60th birthday, he was on the older end of the competitors. There were 8 guys that competed in this one, and Jimmy won 3rd place. He did a great job on his posing and his body looked very good. The 1st place winner has been competing for over 30 years, and the 2nd place winner certainly showed up with a lot of mass. That said, I still believe (surely I'm not biased) that overall Jimmy's stage presence and posing was better than the other 2 guys. Of course I'm not sure he believes me, but there were others that thought the same!

That's my baby, and I don't mean maybe...

The other division he entered was the Open Division. This is categorized by weight and not age. In this case the extra weight didn't help so much, because he was two pounds away from making middleweight and instead ended up in light heavyweight, which also includes guys up to 198.25 pounds. He did not place in this one, but still presented himself well alongside some very impressive guys who were 20 years or more younger, which was good experience!

Friday night was the night for spray tanning. We had been working on his tan at home for a couple of days (much less frightful now that I know what I'm doing). This is quite an ordeal because it involves exfoliating, shaving, knowing when to shower, not using deodorant (it turns your armpits green!) and layers of application of tanning product. The spray tan really finishes it off. His color was the best it's ever been thanks to Jay and Liz Bramlett of SunBlast Mobile Tanning. The process was very easy. The crazy part was putting a blocking lotion on his moustache and then having to clean it up afterwards without messing up anything else!

Prejuding is a separate session that occurs on the morning of the event usually. It was 9am Saturday morning and lasted until around noon or so. This is where the judging really happens. Tickets are sold to the public for this portion of the weekend too, so you can come and take pictures and cheer for your favorite competitors. I do not envy the judges because there were so many fantastic physiques there. In this event, the bodybuilding competitors must hit the 8 mandatory poses on command, plus their favorite most muscular pose. That means you can't just work what you can see in the mirror! They may put you in "front double biceps" but that doesn't mean they aren't looking at your pecs and your quads, etc. Symmetry matters and the best posers are those who have taken the time to really learn how to make as much muscle pop as possible during any pose. The figure competitors are completely dressed out in either a two-piece or one-piece suit depending on the competition requirements. They are taken through quarter turns for a complete view. I can't imagine how much time it takes to practice walking in those shoes! I did learn that they also have to glue their suits to their glutes.

The evening show feels like more of a celebration. This is when most of the public shows up and it's very entertaining. Most shows have an opening act and a guest poser. This show started off with the Star Spangled Banner and an opening fitness act and 3 guest posers! Then the show features each bodybuilding competitor performing a 60 second posing routine to music. During this routine they can pick and choose to show off their best muscle. This year I fixed Jimmy up with 60 seconds of Enter Sandman by Metallica. He got the house rockin'. The music selection is always fun and some of these competitors really get creative with their routines. The figure competitors are also presented. Their categories are short, medium and tall, and there's also a master's category for figure. Gotta hand it to those ladies, there were some awesome looking women over age 35, many of them well into their 40's. Winners of all divisions are announced as each division performs. For the divisions such as Men's Open that has several weight classes, the winners of each division are then brought out for a pose-down for an overall winner to be chosen. These guys really ham it up and strut their stuff. The same is done in the figure division, so at the end of the show there is an overall men's bodybuilding winner, an overall figure competitor winner, and an overall female bodybuilding winner. The overall men's bodybuilding winner was a 43 year old guy that had some unbelievable quads, lots of symmetry and really presented himself well. The overall female bodybuilding winner was 50 years old! She looked awesome! The overall figure competitor had the whole package going on - great muscle and symmetry, looked beautiful in her suit and presented herself with the best stage presence.

I will post more pictures as I have them. I get so excited I forget to snap pics so my niece helped me out! Also, the official photographer for the event was TR Stewart Photography. He will have pictures of the event as well as all the competitors, so check it out!

Chris Caudy has a lot to be proud of with this show. He's also Jimmy's trainer that I have mentioned before. He never ceases to amaze us with his talent and ability to bring out the best in everyone he trains. I imagine he will be posting more about the results on the website. I will be sure to at least provide a reminder link when they are up.

Now we have 2 weeks before the 2009 GNC NPC Teen, Collegiate and Masters National Championships in Pittsburgh...should be amazing.