Canuck Corner With Natalie Waples #24
Hi Everyone!
I hope that the first half of summer has treated you all very well, and that you are now ready to kick it into high gear! There is a lot of contest action going on this month – north of the border we have the 2013 Canadian Bodybuilding Federation Nationals for Fitness, Figure, Bikini and WPD. Canadian athletes will be vying for the title of IFBB Pro at the always popular Sandra Wickham event in beautiful British Columbia, Canada. On the IFBB side of the house there are only 6 Pro Figure shows left before the 2013 Figure Olympia, so the shows are stacked (this weekend’s show in Tampa has 32 girls!) and getting tough. Tampa falls on Aug 10, Dallas Europa Aug 17, Lake Tahoe Aug 24, Nordic Pro and Valenti Cup on Aug 31 and finally the Tournament of Champions in LA on Sept 7th. I will be competing in Dallas next week in hopes of notching myself up a few more points and heading towards the Big Dance aka Olympia in Las Vegas, for my third year in a row --- VERY EXCITING!!!!! As you can see from the point standings below, there are currently only 10 women qualified for the Figure Olympia, therefore any new winners of the next 6 shows will be added to that, plus whomever is Top 5 in points in the standings after September 7th.
2013 FIGURE OLYMPIA
Erin Stern, USA
Nicole Wilkins, USA
Candice Keene, USA
Heather Dees, USA
Mallory Haldeman, USA
Candice Lewis, USA
Ann Titone, USA
Alea Suarez, USA
Gennifer Strobo, USA
Camala Rodriguez, USA
POINT STANDINGS
1. Dana Ambrose, USA, 15
2. Natalie Waples, Canada, 13 --- WOOT!!!!!!!!!
3. Aleisha Hart, Canada, 9
3. Swann Cardot, France, 9
5. Kamla Macko, USA, 8
6. Kati Alander, Finland, 6
6. Allison Frahn, USA, 6
6. Bernita Stuckey, USA, 6
9. Ava Cowan, USA, 5
9. Kimberly Sheppard, USA, 5
All of the point standings can be found here http://www.ifbbpro.com/2013-olympia-qualified-athletes/
So in true Canadian fashion I have been spending some time cottaging (yes that is now a verb ;-) and having a great time with friends and family. I have spent weekends running the hills of Quebec, pontoon boating, swimming and enjoying Mother Nature (minus the bug bites - argh!), and am now home just in time to ramp up my last week of prep for Dallas. As Dallas will be my 6th show of the year, I have had a hard time keeping my muscle (being slight of frame makes multiple shows difficult) but my coach Damian Segovia is a mastermind and I’m feeling more than prepared to take the stage in Texas J Thank you D! Couple this competition with a big birthday coming up for my sister, and some more outdoor fun, and we’re already looking at September!
For those of you who are looking for an outdoor cardio challenge, may I suggest incorporating hill training into your workout regime? It is challenging, time efficient and muscle building. Here’s how you do it:
-Perform a 5-10 minute warm-up (jog) outside
-Find a hill that takes you approximately 1 minute to ascend, when sprinting from top to bottom (you may want to map this out beforehand to ensure the hill is challenging enough).
-Interval starts at the top of the hill: jog down the hill and when you reach the bottom turn around and sprint up as fast as you can (time this if possible)
-Repeat the downward jog/uphill sprint 5-10 times. Endurance will vary and as you get better at this you will be able to do more intervals.
-Finish up with a 10 minute jog and some stretching
*Track the time it takes you to do your uphill sprints and strive to improve your time each session.
Happy August Fit Folks – look forward to touching base again in September!
Yours in Health,
Natalie
Natalie Waples
IFBB Figure Pro
Exclusively managed by FMG
Twitter & Instagram: @natwaples
Facebook: Natalie Waples IFBB Pro
www.nataliewaplesfitness.com
Subscribe to RxMuscle on Youtube
