Articles IFBB Journals Real Talk With IFBB Pro Toni Perdikaki: Dating During Competition Season: Inspired Idea or Crazy Mistake?
Real Talk With IFBB Pro Toni Perdikaki:
Dating During Competition Season: Inspired Idea or Crazy Mistake?
Competition season. Not only does it mean diet and cardio, but if you’re single, it means answering the all-important question: To date or not to date? I tell my clients they shouldn’t give up their “normal” lives or dating to compete. But the truth is, some of them aren’t very good at dating in the first place….even in off-season.
They find the wrong guy or the wrong guy finds them and the next thing you know they’re showing up at the gymwith tear-stained faces, their sleep goes sideways, they’re too depressed to train and the excuses begin. Allthose gains they made during improvement season gosideways. I put myself on the line right along with my clients and when they hurt, I hurt. I want them to succeed. So it’s horrible for me to see a relationship-gone-bad threaten to sideline them at the very time they should be peaking.
Don’t get me wrong: some competitors and clients are great daters. They lay down the law of what it’s going to take for them to successfully compete and live on the right side of that law, no matter what. They expect no less of the people they let in their lives. Failure isn’t an option for them. Others, though, aren’t that strong or lucky. They start dating a person and it quickly turns into a relationship that fairly rapidly begins causing them emotional and mental duress. It’s stress they can ill afford during an already demanding competition prep and sometimes it just gets to be too much.
If you’re single, are you a good dater? How do you school the new person or people in your dating lineup about the realities of what it means to prepare to compete?
Do you call the shots and tell the guy right up front that you won’t be going to that Italian restaurant he wants to try? Or do you go and bring your food? Or try to find chicken and salad on the menu? Do you find men get sick of hearing: “No! No! No!” when it comes to drinks on the beach, ice cream sundaes post-movie or any of their other thoughtful dating ideas? Or do you try to date fellow competitors who intimately know what it’s like to prep to get on stage? That’s
been easiest for me so far – dating guys who know the demands of our sport.
It’s an austere life for sure and can be difficult to try to explain. But the realities don’t change.If you’re prepping with me, you’re not going to be drinking alcohol or eating pizza and you certainly won’t have the energy to stay out until all hours of the night. The training programs I design are vigorous and many competitors will be doing two to three hours of cardio in the last few weeks before competition, in addition to lifting. That’s a lot of training hours out of the day, especially if you have a career and/or family demands. How do you fit dating into your busy schedule?
Will dating a hottie entice you to skip that last cardio session of the day, quaff a glass or three of champagne or go AWOL on the weekend?
If you’re asking yourself these questions, you’re not alone. I find myself in the same position, as a single IFBB PRO level physique competitor, whose first show of the 2013 season is the IFBB Titan Grand Prix. I enjoy dating and being treated like a princess by a guy. At the same time, I know that if things hit a bump in the road, it can take a toll on even the most dedicated competitor.
In reality, only you know if you’re a good and sane enough “dater” to manage dating during competition season and especially during prep.
Now answer me this: Does anyone really have the brain power to do adequate due diligence on a new guy when they’re totally carb depleted….?
--Toni Perdikakis is an actively competing IFBB Physique Pro and a dedicated coach and trainer in Baltimore, MD. She likes to date….when she can have carbs.
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