KRIS MURRELL: CHAPTER 2, ROAD TO THE JR. NATIONALS
I met Kris in July of 2004. I went to Jacksonville, Florida, to prospect with the intention of relocating. I was working for a personal training company in Pennsylvania that was based in Jacksonville. 
We were contracted by Gold’s gym. Gold’s gym was expanding to downtown Jacksonville. The plan was for me to train trainers and manage the new program. Jacksonville is beautiful, especially the city. I thought moving to Jacksonville was a no brainer. At that time, it was the best business move I could make. Meeting Kris was a bonus. I relocated in September of 2004.
BUCKETS OF BEER:
After meeting Kris, we spent a couple of months communicating by email. In those emails, I outlined descriptions of protocols. I went into great detail explaining why I do what I do. I have always said, the more an athlete know, the more I can enhance their performance. Our first meeting was at a tavern called The Stadium. Kris is a great athlete. She is also a sports fan. One of her favorites sports is football.
When I first met Kris in July, she was 169 lbs. When I met her in September, she was 190 lbs. She had legs that the god’s would die for. Her legs and butt could only have been built with heavy squats, or so I thought. I don’t remember what she ordered to eat, but I do remember what she had to drink. She ordered a large tin bucket. Everyone who has lived on a farm or watched old westerns knowswhat the tin bucket is. It’s the metal bucket farmers used to slop hogs or what was used to in the old west to wash clothes. Kris’s bucket was full of ice and beer. Let me emphasize, a lot of beer. I don’t remember the exact amount, 12, 24. I lost count, but never had I seen someone drink so much beer, not blink or belch and not be full. The lesson learned, girlfriend not only works hard, she plays really hard.
An Achilles heel is what keeps an athlete from being their best. Every athlete has one. One of the measures of a trainer’s skill is his ability to teach a competitor how to overcome their liability. The art of making it someone else’s idea is a unique skill that I have mastered. Giving a directive doesn’t ensure the athlete has taken ownership of the idea. If it’s the athlete’s idea, there is a higher level of commitment. Our workouts would have to be so intense, the incentive to drink beer would be diminished. At that time, Mike Davies was a big influence on my training style. He was the first big time-trainer of Figure and Fitness competitors. His functional training protocols, combined with traditional bodybuilding protocols remain the blueprint. Kris had all the mass she would need to be a top national competitor. Refinement was the objective. This style of training requires more explosive moves, with plyometrics, volume, and a high anaerobic threshold. Kris was doing compound movements with heavy weight. The change proved to be the stimulus she needed to give up her weekend bucket.
NPC PITTBURGH CHAMPIONSHIPS:
Every state has its own bodybuilding culture. I have seen many new competitors enter national shows and fail because they weren’t prepared. Every state runs its competitions according to the district chairman’s design. This design isn’t necessarily the same as an NPC national show. Kris needed to qualify for the Jr. Nationals, and I wanted her to compete at the best regional show to justify being at the Jr. Nationals. In my opinion, Jim Manion’s Pittsburgh Championships is the best regional show on the East Coast. It has a long history of winners competing successfully at the national level. Many earn their pro card. Jim’s shows are run according to NPC standard. The judges are all national level and some are IFBB judges. Kris’s introduction to the big-time would begin in Pittsburgh.
MS. ARMSTRONG:
Contest prep is stressful. Competing for the first time at the best regional show on the east coast has an anxiety all its own. Kris’s anxiety was heightened by Rebekka Armonstrong. Rebekka was a light-heavyweight bombshell from California. She was absolutely stunning with a body to die for. She was also a master at intimidation. As soon as all the competitors were backstage in the pump-up area, she stripped down to her posing suit and pranced around the room. She was letting everyone know she was the best in the show. Kris took notice and immediately became nervous.
I never let my competitors strip down until about 20 minutes before they’re about to go onstage. It is important for a trainer to facilitate an environment that keeps the competitor relaxed and free of distractions. Rebekka made this very difficult, and I could see the pressure building in Kris. I n
oticed that Rebekka kept looking at Kris. Kris was the only one in the pump room who hadn’t taken her sweats off.
I took advantage of the opportunity. I said to Kris, “You know she is as nervous about you as you are about her,” and like clockwork, Rebekka walked over to Kris and said, “Take your sweats off so I can see what you look like.” That immediately broke the ice and Kris relaxed. Kris is a charismatic person, and they began chatting.
When Rebekka walked away, I said, “See, I told you she is just as nervous about you as you are about her.”. The lesson learned; if you’re thinking it, they probably are, too.
Kris went on to win her class convincingly. She was so impressive at the night show, the MC, Gary Udit said, “Can you believe a 169 lb. girl can move like that?” A star was born. She would lose to Rebekka in the overall, but Rebekka paid her the highest compliment. She said, “I won the overall, but you were the best bodybuilder in the show.”
2005 JR. NATIONALS:
The most difficult prep for a trainer and an athlete is the first prep. It’s like a first date, there are uncomfortable silences. For a trainer, these silences become more deafening when the competitor is a neophyte. The learning process takes time and there is no substitute for experience. I like to use metaphors or parables as a method of teaching. I call it planting seeds. This method requires more time to teach and learn, but it leads to a competitor with a higher bodybuilding IQ. In my opinion, one of the biggest mistakes competitors make is to migrate from trainer to trainer without giving the relationship time to mature. If a competitor is working with a new trainer, the prep is measured by whether or not the athlete gets in the best shape of their competitive career. If this doesn’t happen, then the competitor should get a new trainer. Whether a trainer and competitor should stay together is measured by continuous improvement. If the athlete is not improving, then the working relationship should be dissolved. I knew Kris would be in the best condition of her young career, but the best condition of your career isn’t necessarily winning condition. We would have to rely on her overwhelming genetics and stage presence.
JUNE 17TH 2005:
Competing in the Pittsburgh Championships proved to be the turning point for Kris. I have since learned that confidence is a tremendous thing. It allows someone of lesser ability to rise above their given talent. It also allows someone of great ability to do things other cannot. One of the difficulties of competition is that there is no barometer for the level of talent that is going to show the day of the competition. In power lifting or even track, one can look at the winning lifts or times and compare them to one’s own performance. It’s a good indicator of how competitive an athlete is going to be. There were six weeks between the Pittsburgh Championships and the Jr. Nationals. Kris’s prep during that time was perfect. It needed to be.
The 2005 Jr. Nationals was a talent-laden competition. There were a number of competitors who went on to be top national-level competitors and pros. This was the show where Phil Heath made his national debut. We all know how that turned out. Kim Buck who just took 5th place at the Arnold classic took 3rd in the heavyweight class in this show.
Kris didn’t get a first callout. The head judge called four in the first callout. The 2nd callout, the head judge called four again. Kris was in the second callout. She was fighting for 5th place.
When the night show came, Kris was in the top five and placed fifth at her first national show. When she walked off stage with her trophy I said to her, “There are four other competitors in your class that are happy you only trained six weeks for this show.” The light turned on. The lesson learned; first place is the only place acceptable for Kris.
PHASES:
One of the lessons I have taught Kris is that life moves in phases. There are phases of prosperity and phases of struggle. I thought moving to Jacksonville would be a great business move. It turned out to be a catastrophe. Unknowingly, myself and the other trainers were a part of a Ponzi scam. The owner of the personal training company was stealing money from the gym and the trainers. I was hurt the most because I was training full-time and had no other source of income. I was forced to find a new gym. That took me 300 miles south to Delray, Florida. I lost my house, my life’s savings and even had my vehicle repossessed.
During that period, I even lost my father to cancer. Kris, however, was going through a phase of personal prosperity. She was in her first good relationship and her job was doing well. Competing at the 2006 Jr. Nationals was a foregone conclusion. We had a year to prepare. Kris had a solid support system and she was as focused as an athlete could be. She won the class with straight 1st places. Later that yea
r, she competed at the nationals for the first time and took 7th place.
PERSPECTIVE:
When the student is ready, the teacher will appear. This has been a theme in my life. There were many years when I was the student. In my adult life, I have been the teacher to many students. Despite the losses I incurred, it is obvious that my purpose in Jacksonville was to meet Kris. Our relationship has spanned eight years now. Although most of our working relationship has been apart, I know Kris better than any woman I have ever known, even women with whom I have been in long-term intimate relationships.
I would say she knows me better than any of those women. The lesson learned; one can be the best trainer in the world and one can be the best athlete in the world, but if you’re not a match, it’s not going to work. Kris and I are a match.
NEXT: THE 2007 NATIONALS
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