Mindi Smith - IFBB Figure ProfessionalIf you look at most of my beautiful women Hubs, you'll see that I usually feature dark haired, dark skinned women. But every now and then a blonde comes along that I think is so amazing that I have to write something on her. This stunning young lady is IFBB Figure Professional, model, host and actress Mindi Smith. Mindi has been involved in the fitness industry for over 10 years, and she is a certified personal trainer. See all 8 photos Mindi Smith She has never been one to shirk the physical side of life, being active in ballet, jazz, tap, gymnastics classes, running cross country, track and field, basketball, and volleyball before even starting her fitness career. Well at least her pro fitness career, it looks like she's been involved in fitness all her life. Mindi has appeared on the HBO series Entourage as a Beverly Hills Pedestrian and on the Spike TV show, Mananswers. She's was on the TurboFIRE Kickboxing DVD and the The Ultimate Workout DVD series as a fitness instructor. Mindi has also appeared in commercials for AXE Body Spray, Power Platform and 6 PakJak Crunch & Curl. Here is Mindi in the AXE Body Spray commercial She has appeared in several fitness magazines like Muscular Development, Planet Muscle, Register Magazine, Zoo Magazine and Muscle & Fitness Hers. Here is Mindi's photo-shoot for Register Magazine Mindi has appeared at Fitness Expos like the Arnold Classic, Mr. Olympia, LA Fit Expo, and the National Karate Championship Expo. She also apperaed at the E3 Convention and Comic Con representing Sony Online Entertainment and for Rockstar Energy Drink at the X Games. Here she is at a bikini photo-shoot for LAMuscle.TV Mindi is five foot seven and weighs 125 pounds. Her measurements are 34-24-34. This blonde haired, green eyed beauty is originally from Michigan, but now resides in Los Angeles, California. Female Fitness Competition History 2009 NPC National Bodybuilding, Bikini & Figure Championships - 1st Place 2009 NPC Sacramento - 1st Place 2009 WBFF World Championships - 5th Place 2010 IFBB Europa Super Show - 7th Place 2010 IFBB Arnold Classic, Ms. International, Fitness International & Figure International - 4th Place 2010 IFBB Phoenix Pro - 1st Place More Mindi Smith Pictures Source: http://www.richcutronephotography.com/ Source: http://www.richcutronephotography.com/ Source: http://www.amaginations.com/ Source: http://www.amaginations.com/ Mindi Smith on the Web * Mindi Smith on Facebook * YouTube - MindiLSmith\'s Channel Share your videos with friends, family, and the world * Mindi's Twitter * Mindi Smith (Mindi Smith) | MySpace MySpace profile for Mindi Smith. Find friends, share photos, keep in touch with classmates, and meet new people on MySpace. * ModelMayhem.com - Mindi L Smith - Model - Los Angeles, US Model Mayhem is the #1 portfolio website for professional models and photographers. Create a profile, upload your photos and connect with other professionals

If you look at most of my beautiful women Hubs, you'll see that I usually feature dark haired, dark skinned women.
But every now and then a blonde comes along that I think is so amazing that I have to write something on her.
This stunning young lady is IFBB Figure Professional, model, host and actress Mindi Smith.
Mindi has been involved in the fitness industry for over 10 years, and she is a certified personal trainer.

Mindi Smith

She has never been one to shirk the physical side of life, being active in ballet, jazz, tap, gymnastics classes, running cross country, track and field, basketball, and volleyball before even starting her fitness career.
Well at least her pro fitness career, it looks like she's been involved in fitness all her life.

Mindi has appeared on the HBO series Entourage as a Beverly Hills Pedestrian and on the Spike TV show, Mananswers.

She's was on the TurboFIRE Kickboxing DVD and the The Ultimate Workout DVD series as a fitness instructor.

Mindi has also appeared in commercials for AXE Body Spray, Power Platform and 6 PakJak Crunch & Curl.

More Mindi Smith Pictures

Mindi Smith on the Web

• Mindi Smith on Facebook
• YouTube - MindiLSmith\'s Channel
  Share your videos with friends, family, and the world
• Mindi's Twitter
• Mindi Smith (Mindi Smith) | MySpace
  MySpace profile for Mindi Smith. Find friends, share photos, keep in touch with classmates, and meet new people on MySpace.
• ModelMayhem.com - Mindi L Smith - Model - Los Angeles, US
  Model Mayhem is the #1 portfolio website for professional models and photographers. Create a profile, upload your photos and connect with other professionals

Noemi Olah - Figure Competitor and Fitness Model

This lovely young lady is figure competitor and fitness model Noemi Olah.
She was born on December 26, 1986 in Hungary.
You will most likely be hearing a lot more about Noemi, not just because she is drop dead gorgeous, but because she just took first place at the 2010 IFBB Arnold Amateur International Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure & Bikini Championships, Medium Bikini.



Of course Noemi is no stranger to the spotlight.
In 2005 she won Miss Hungary 2005 and in 2006 she was first runner up at Miss World Hungary.

Here's a video of Noemi working out posted on YouTube...

Noemi Olah - Figure Competitor and Fitness Model

Fitness Model: Kathleen Tesori

The lovely Kathleen Tesori is Americas Fittest Model Magazine's "Fittest Model Champion"
This 5' 4", 114 lbs beauty from Salt Lake City, Utah has done a lot of fitness modeling.
She's appeared on the Hawaiian Tropic website and poster, and she's appeared in Max Muscle, FLEX and Muscle and Fitness Hers.
Contest History:
2005 Hawaiian Tropic Utah State final-1st place
2005 Hawaiian Tropic US Finals – top 12
2007 Hawaiian Tropic Nevada State final – 1st place
2007 Hawaiian Tropic US Finals – top 12
2007 Northern States NGA Finals – 1st place
2008 Flex Bikini Model Search-1st place

Fitness Competitor - Tara LaValley

This beautiful young lady is model, dancer, actress, personal trainer, diet coach AND NPC fitness competitor Tara LaValley.
Is she really doing enough?
LOL
Tara was born in Chicago on April 25, 1981.

This five foot four inch, green eyed beauty was on the December Cover of Muscle & Fitness Magazine.
And she appeared in the comedy/ romance movie "The Rebound" with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Justin Bartha.
Besides that, she has appeared in Law & Order: Criminal Intent, As the World Turns, All My Children and Guiding Light.

Contest History:
2009 NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships - 4th Place

2009 NPC Bev Francis Atlantic States Bodybuilding Fitness & Figure - 2nd Place

2009 NPC Bev Francis Atlantic States Bodybuilding Fitness & Figure - 2nd Place

Allison Frahn

Awhile back I did a write up on the lovely K.L. Frahn.
Well here is her sister, the equally beautiful Allison Frahn.
Allison was born on September 27, 1980 in Nanuet, NY.
She definitely has a ripped lean look, and if you go to her website and check out her bio, you'll see that this young woman overcame a tremendous obstacle to get to where she is today.
It's a very inspiring story.
Besides doing figure competitions and being a fitness model, she has a BA in Communication from the University of Delaware.

Contest History:
2004 NBI Tri-State - 1st Place in the Figure Short.
2005 INBF Naturalmania - 1st Place Figure
2005 WNBF Pro World Champs - 3rd Place Figure Short
2005 WNBF Pro World Champs - 2nd Place (Best Body)
2006 WNBF Pro Natural Cup - 4th Place Figure Short.
2006 WNBF Pro World Champs - 2nd Place Figure Short
2007 WNBF Pro World Champs - 4th Place Figure Short.
2008 WNBF World Championships - 2nd Place Figure Short.
2008 WNBF Kansas City Pro International - 2nd Place Figure

Dora Trikoupis, National Figure Competitor

Dora Trikoupis is a National Figure Competitor, a Fitness Model and she does online training and nutrition.
She has competed in:

2006-Eastern USA Championships-Figure: Class A (4th place)
2007-Bev Francis Atlantic States Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Championships-Figure: Class A (10th place)
2008-NPC Mike Francois Classic Bodybuilding and Figure Championships (8th place)
2008-NPC Lehigh Valley Bodybuilding and Figure Contest (3rd place)
2008-NPC Junior National Bodybuilding, Fitness and Figure Championships (13th place)
2008-NPC USA Bodybuilding and Figure Championships (10th place)

Marie Claire Says TV Show about "Fatties" is Socially Irresponsible

This Dr. Phil poster may be a joke but many people are serious about their cruel comments.

Marie Claire has done it again! After the article that rocked the food-blogging world (which was nasty, sneaky and unfair... and also made some very valid points that I am still thinking about) last month, the lady mag is back in fine foot-in-mouth form with a new article titled "Should Fatties Get a Room (Even on TV)?" that claims to explore whether programming starring happy fat people is "disturbing" and "implicitly promoting obesity." Their unsurprising fashion-mag answer: yes and yes. (Which I find hilariously ironic considering their main complaint about the food bloggers is that they promote unhealthy ideals with their obsessive food restriction and exercise. Apparently you can't win unless you spring forth from the womb perfectly formed.)

I don't watch TV. If you didn't know that explicitly you have probably guessed it from how culturally clueless I am. And yet I do remember one thing from hazy college TV-show obsessed days (Holla Felicity and America's Next Top Model!) and that is this: You don't mess with Sookie. Gilmore Girls was brilliant and not just because I couldn't decide who I wanted to be more - Alexis Bledel or her "mom" Lauren Graham as they were both so witty and adorable. All of the characters on the show were funny, relatable and entertaining. One of the standouts on the show Sookie, played by Melissa McCarthy, who was a chef, a spitfire of a best friend and a comedienne in her own right. Oh and did I mention she was a bit chubby?

Well the (un-Kirstie Alley) fat actress has a new show out called "Mike & Molly" about an overweight couple who meets at Overeaters Anonymous and falls in love. Typical schlocky sitcom hijinks ensue and the show would probably have barely shown up on the radar if it were not for Marie Claire blogger Maura Kelly's post on how a show featuring two obese people in love is disgusting. In her own words, "So anyway, yes, I think I'd be grossed out if I had to watch two characters with rolls and rolls of fat kissing each other ... because I'd be grossed out if I had to watch them doing anything. To be brutally honest, even in real life, I find it aesthetically displeasing to watch a very, very fat person simply walk across a room - just like I'd find it distressing if I saw a very drunk person stumbling across a bar or a heroine addict slumping in a chair."

Wow, did she really just say that out loud? Yep. And she continues with the tired I-have-a-fat/gay/black/grinder monkey for a friend trope, "Now, don't go getting the wrong impression: I have a few friends who could be called plump. I'm not some size-ist jerk. And I also know how tough it can be for truly heavy people to psych themselves up for the long process of slimming down. (For instance, the overweight maintenance guy at my gym has talked to me a little bit about how it seems worthless for him to even try working out, because he's been heavy for as long as he can remember.)"

Oh well if you know a fat janitor then it's totally okay! She goes on to tell obese people that if they just try hard enough they can lose the weight writing, "But ... I think obesity is something that most people have a ton of control over. It's something they can change, if only they put their minds to it." and then giving overly simplistic, albeit true tips like "eat more fresh and unprocessed foods" and "visit your local YMCA." Yes, it really is that bad.

But now that I've pointed out the egregious error - and it is as easy as falling of the curb to jump on Kelly, heck half the Internet is (the other half is too busy arguing over whether Christine O'Donnell is a moronic constitutional illiterate or a nuanced legal genius) - I feel inclined to point out that she's really not the problem. Many, many people feel this way. Remember Anna Wintour being horrified at the Mall of America not by the fact that Forever 21 sits right next to Prada but because she thinks all Midwesterners look like "little houses"? Most people just don't say it out loud. Kelly is the whipping girl because she wrote it in black and white (and doesn't have the entire fashion world at her back).

Jezebel points out that, to her credit, Kelly tries to atone in the comments by saying her remarks are lingering effects of her previous history of anorexia. "Though I don't think of myself as anorexic any more, being freaked out by obesity to the insensitive, even cruel, point that I was is certainly a vestige of the anorexic mindset; maybe so was being righteous about how easy it is to lose weight. (Because once I lost an extreme amount of weight, of course—about half my body weight—etc.)." I can personally attest to the mental havoc that eating disorders wreak. Not only do you have no concept of what you as a person look like, you really don't see other people accurately either. And the crazy doesn't go away just because you start eating again.

So I don't fault her for thinking these thoughts - she is just parroting the cultural zeitgeist of body-hate - but I think we should focus on the larger issue of challenging the validity of these thoughts. For me I don't care whether or not obese people are "gross" to watch kiss or more expensive to insure or are taking up two airplane seats or are riding zebras in Kenya whilst singing "I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts." The point for me is that they are people before they are anything else. And all people, whether they be obese or elderly or handicapped or colicky infants or felons or rogue inflatable-slide-riding flight attendants, deserve to be treated with respect and kindness.

IFBB Figure Pro Erin Stern

IFBB Figure Pro Erin Stern is from Wellington, Florida.
She's a fairly new face, but I'm sure you'll be seeing a lot more of her.
Before entering competition, she competed in track and field at the University of Florida. Her specialty was the high jump and hurdles.
When she's not competing, she works in the real estate industry.
Contest history :
2003 NPC, Gainesville
2008 NPC National Figure, won F class (over 5'7") and got her IFBB Pro Card.

This 5'8", 136 pound beauty can bench press 193 lbs, deadlift 230 lbs, and squat 230 lbs.

Jamie Eason

Who doesn't like Jamie Eason?
She's very popular on the internet, and she seems to be a very nice young lady, who actually goes into forums and posts.
To get into the incredible shape you see here, Jamie used a personal trainer and nutritionist.
It looks like it really paid off.
I can't really find much on her in the way of contest history....
Maybe someone out there can tell us where she has competed.

Besides being a fitness model, she is a computer software consultant.
Jamie has been on the cover of Oxygen Magazine twice.

Creatine Supplementing for Women: The Good, The Bad and The Bloated

Proof that even the skinniest girl will look bloated if she stands wrong. And this is how 80% of Star magazine's headlines are born...

Increased muscle growth, faster recovery, increased endurance, less body fat, reversal of the beginning stages of heart failure and greater mental acuity (about a 10 point increase in IQ!) are just a few of the many benefits of the supplement creatine. Benefits, I might add, that are very well supported by reliable research as creatine is possibly the most researched athletic supplement out there. So why isn't everyone running to take this miracle in a powder? Indeed, it's estimated that upwards of 75% of professional athletes and Olympians take it so why aren't more of us average Janes taking it?

That's the question I found myself asking as I read about it in several fitness books this past week. It isn't that I've never heard of it before - you can't spend more than 10 minutes on a weight floor without somebody sprinkling white powder into their drink (note: if they're sprinkling white powder into your drink you are in one of the few situations in which it is totally appropriate to drop a weight on someone's foot) - I just figured it was one of those kooky things that bodybuilders did, you know like wrapping chains around their bench press bar and making sex noises during every rep. But after reading breathless reports of its amazing powers and virtual lack of side effects, I took it as a sign when I found a small canister on clearance at Target. I bought it.

Perhaps I should not buy supplements on clearance at a mega-grocery store but that's a discussion for another day. At any rate, I took my first dose yesterday. The white sparkly powder (seriously, Edward Cullen is jealous) didn't dissolve well in the recommended 8 oz of water but it also didn't taste like anything so I chugged it down and went about my business. An hour later this was me:

Okay so this isn't ME me but my belly was so swollen I pretty much looked 4-months pregnant like J.Lo. here (p.s. Elvis only wishes he could design a maternity line this awesome). While creatine doesn't have any serious side effects - anecdotal reports of severe cramping and dehydration have been disproven in studies - it does have one very uncomfortable side effect: Bloating. And not just "my period is imminent, hide the cookies" bloating but "holy crap, if you poke me with a pin I'll turn into an elephant sprinkler" bloating. While I peed like a racehorse for the rest of the day and the bloating was gone within a few hours, still, I was not happy. Before I tell you more about my little experiment, here are some FAQs about the supplement. (Read here for more info and hilarious answers.)

What is Creatine?

Creatine, an organic compound produced naturally from amino acids in our kidneys and liver and stored in our muscles, was first discovered in the 1800's. By the early 1900's it was already in use as a performance aid (and I mean that in the non-Levitra sense, egads marketing has warped me!). This extensive history has made it one of the most studied supplements on the planet.

There are several different types of creatine and prices range from pennies a serving to $120 for a small canister. Creatine monohydrate, the kind I took that made me inflate like a Macy's Parade float, is the cheapest and most common. Other types of creatine like creatine ethyl ester are supposed to not have the bloating/gas side effect but of course they cost more. And you don't find them on clearance at Target, precluding any "the universe made me buy it" arguments.

How do you use Creatine?

Most sources recommend "loading" for the first 4-5 days by taking 20-30 grams a day with afterwards taking 5-10 grams a day for maintenance. You maintain this load for about 6 weeks and then you stop the creatine for 2-6 weeks before starting a new cycle. Although I did read several recommendations that said to never stop taking it, just to repeat the loading every couple of months.

Most sites I read recommend taking one dose within a half hour of finishing your weight workout and a second right before bed (presumably so you go through the distended-whale stage in your sleep). Make sure that no matter when you take it, you are drinking a ton of water.

What are the effects of Creatine?

It works by drawing water into your muscles and because of this it has the dual effect of 1) making your "pump" or the visible size of your muscles look larger and 2) making you gain weight about 1.5-6 pounds during the first week as your body retains this extra water. The water weight is lost after stopping the creatine but you retain the extra muscle you built - in studies athletes on creatine gained about 5 pounds more of muscle than athletes not on creatine doing the same training program.

Should I be capitalizing Creatine?

I have no idea.

After doing all this research on it, I am super intrigued by the benefits but I have one main concern. It's the weight gain. Don't even pretend you are surprised. While I'm still not weighing myself (two months now scale free, yay me!!) the thought of doing something that could make me gain 5 pounds in one week makes me want to run and cry in my closet just for old time's sake. I don't care if it is water weight. When your pants don't fit, your pants don't fit. I also am not thrilled about my muscles getting "bigger." Yes, I love my new Rachel Cosgrove muscles and I love being strong but I don't necessarily want them any bigger. Less body fat? Higher metabolism? More energy? Yes, please! But I'd like those without the hypertrophy.

Unsurprisingly, when I threw this question out on Twitter, the only people who responded that they had taken it were men. I think a lot of women are scared away from creatine for the same reasons that I am: we don't want to gain weight and we don't want bigger muscles. But what about our lack of testosterone - wouldn't that inherently limit our muscle growth? (And since creatine is not a hormone it would not impact our testosterone or estrogen levels.) And if we're gaining weight but it's all muscle, isn't that a good thing? Plus: TEN IQ POINTS. Who doesn't want to be smarter? (Notice how the reversal of heart disease doesn't even make my top 3? Hahaha...)

Fawnia Mondey

Fawnia Mondey (Fawnia Mondey-Dietrich) was born in September 24th,1975, in Kamloops, BC Canada.
She has appeared in Flex, Muscle & Fitness, Oxygen, MuscleMag International, American Curves, and Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness.
Fawnia is a dance instructor, fitness model, producer, actress and columnist.
Ever notice how these ladies diversify?

Contest History:
1st Canada's Edmonton Champion 95/96
1st Canada's Western Champion 95/96
1st Canada's Rookie of the Year 95/96
3rd Miss Hawaiian Topic - British Columbia, Canada 97and 99
1st place 1999 Muscle & Fitness Mania Women's Lightweight Bodybuilding
2nd place 2003 BC Championships Figure – short
5th place 2003 Sophie’s Swimwear Pageant
9th place 2004 Canadian Nationals Figure – medium
3rd Place 2005 Emerald Cup Figure 5’3” - 5’4”
2005 NPC Pittsburgh Amateur & Pro Show – up to 5’4”

And this lady also wrestles.
No not for the WWE, she REALLY wrestles as in she got 4th place at the FreeStyle Wrestling B.C. Provincials in 1993.

And if she still looks familiar and you don't know why, she's appeared in "The Outer Limits", "The X Files" and "Millennium".

Top Ten Gym Buddy Approved Gift Ideas for Fitness Fanatics

Prediction: those drinks are about to go flying right out of their hands!

I try out a lot of things for this site and I'm not just talking workouts. Part of the fun of doing this site is that I also get to try out lots of new cool fitness stuff and - in the best situations - get to pass it on to you too.

There have been some epic failures: how do I write in 500 words how insanely unflattering these pants are? The stripe goes right over the largest part of the thigh! Their model, naturally, looks gorgeous in them but I am evidence that real women... not so much. Another lame one were the "pinhole glasses" that looked like the eye wear brainchild of Kanye West and Napoleon Dynamite. (I couldn't even bring myself to write the review.) The biggest diet fail was probably Sensa, the powder crystals that you sprinkle on your food that are supposed to decrease your appetite through some science-y way with real research! I wanted these to work so badly I did that Experiment twice. Never lost an ounce. Also bombed: Carmen Electra's Aerobic Striptease Collection - maybe it's a good workout but I couldn't stop laughing long enough to find out. But then I'm guess stripperobics aren't meant to be done in flannel pjs dotted with polar bears wearing scarves and sipping hot cocoa. We won't even talk about some of the downright insane stuff I get offered and have the good sense to say no to (more male enhancement products than I can shake a stick at, har har.)

Honestly though, the bad ones are prettyrare; most products I try out either fall into the "Eh, it works but I wouldn't go to the effort of using it very often" or "Holy balls of toilet-sore awesomeness, how have I lived my life without this?" categories. So today I'm giving you my list of AMAZING fit gear. Every item on this list I have loved so much I've ended up buying with my own money. Plus I've enjoyed working with these companies so much that I want to sing their praises as much as I can! I'm not being paid for this review, I don't get any kind of kickback from these companies; these are things I just really really love.

1. The handful bra ($40). You might remember my post crowing about how great it worked as a nursing sports bra but now that my girls are back to being single-serving I love it even more. I bought the Handful in nearly every color they have. (Dear Handful, make a gray one already! Also, your "nude" is totally not my "nude", just saying.) These are the only sports bras I wear anymore. (Although if I have to do something really high impact, I will layer a compression bra over the top.) Many of the Gym Buddies are converts as well with one wearing hers day and night for all occasions. They are that flattering. One downside: they are made for us small-chested sisters. They only go up to a c cup.

2. Kettlebells($20-$50 ish, depending on weight). At first I was not convinced that these weren't just dumbbells with a handle. They are so not! I have fallen in love with the versatility of these iron balls-o-wonder. Even the basic swing is an amazing functional, multipart exercise. (Just don't copy Jillian Michael's form.) These are the #1 workout tool the Gym Buddies and I request in our boot camp classes. Downside: Really expensive to get a whole set. If you have to choose just a couple, pick one lighter one (but nothing less than 15lbs, seriously - with KBs you can go heavier than you're used to because of the swinging action. Those stupid 5-pounders are useless.) and a decently heavy one, like 35-45 lbs for swinging.

3. TRX Suspension Trainer($150.00). Definitely the priciest item on the list (if you workout at a gym, put in a request that they get one!) but totally worth it. This is the #1 item I recommend to people looking to build a home gym or who workout almost exclusively at home. You can hit every body part and with much more efficiency than by just doing bodyweight exercises. Plus it only weighs a couple of pounds, sets up in about 5 seconds and is super portable. And they have tons of free exercise vids on their site. Downside: $$$ If you can't afford a TRX, you could do a little DIY-project and whip up something similar with some nylon rope and handles.

4. Dove Ultimate Visibly Smooth Anti-Perspirant Deodorant($4 ish). Oh sure it'll look strange sticking out of your loved one's stocking ("Um, honey? Are you trying to tell me I'm hairy? Or stinky?" "Both, Love!") but as a girl with armpit issues, this is my favorite stuff. They say that it's supposed to reduce armpit hair over time and if it does, the effect is pretty small but it sticks with me through my workouts and doesn't leave white marks on my tank tops or those little white balls in my pits. Downside: what is the point of wearing deodorant to workout in? I sweat, literally, from head to toe so what's the point of making my pits the oasis in that swamp? I'm a slave to convention...

5. Cute-butt pants. You know I love my Fila toning pants (55$) but sadly they only come in 1 color (black) and one length (short-ish). But have you heard about Lululemon's groove pant's ($98) legendary butt-shaping abilities? It's all true. Plus they come in so many colors and patterns even a clothes-horse like me would never get bored. Even better, they're reversible so it's like two pants in one! Downside: Spendy! My tip - buy them on eBay or craigslist. I only own one pair (so far...) but I got them on eBay for about half the price and they were brand new with the tags still on and everything. I've seen the pre-owned ones go for as low as $15.

6. Weight lifting gloves ($12). Call me a princess but I hate ripping my hand open in the gym (Hi open wound! Have you met my friend MRSA?) and so gloves are a necessity. Having gone through several pairs now, I'm not really brand loyal but my current pair are Nike. Gym Buddy Megan bought them for us last Christmas and we all wear them on a nearly daily basis. So far nobody's gloves have ripped, stretched, torn or gotten that awful "weight glove" stank. Plus we get to keep all our callouses intact. My only tip is to look for gloves with mesh on the outside (your hands sweat too!) and no seams across the palm and thumb (those will really start to dig in after 6 or so reps!). Downside: Your hands will really hate you if you happen to forget them once.

7. The Skinnygirl Dish: Easy Recipes for Your Naturally Thin Life by Bethenny Frankel ($10.88). So help me I wanted to hate this. I hate the whole idea of a "skinnygirl" brand. And yet when I read it, it was... probably the best cookbook I've ever read. I assumed that Bethenny would be self-righteous and require crazy ingredients and the recipes would turn out awful because I don't have all the fancy chef's utensils but it was the exact opposite. She is totally down to earth, all about budgeting, not wasting ingredients and making do with what you've got in the fridge. Her recipes are simple enough that a cooking buffoon like me got them all to turn out wonderfully. It also helps that she follows the Intuitive Eating principles very closely in her food philosophy book Naturally Thin: Unleash Your SkinnyGirl and Free Yourself from a Lifetime of Dieting, which is also really good. Winner winner chicken dinner! Downside: I had to swallow my pride and admit I actually like Bethenny, baby onesie debacle and all. Crap.

8. My heart rate monitor. Are you working too hard? Is your sprint really "maximal effort"? How many calories have you burned? The Gym Buddies and I look like total geeks syncing up our watches at the beginning of a tough workout but there is something really motivating about seeing that heart rate climb. I've gone through several different models over the years but my current favorite is the Sportline Duo 1060 ($100 ish). Monitors come in every level from super-simple (but not super informative or reliable) to crazy-tricked-out (but require a PhD to read the manual and set the sucker up) and this one is a nice compromise. It has heart rate monitoring through a touch pad and a chest strap, a calorie counter, an interval timer (perfect for Tabatas!), a pedometer, a visual zone chart and lots of other goodies and it even looks really cute. Yes, you could go fancier (no GPS) but for what most of us do, it's perfect and for the price it's awesome. Downside: Can be expensive. You don't want the $30 heart rate monitor, I promise. You'll hate it. At least get one with a chest strap - they are way more reliable and therefore useful. Other downside: can be addictive. Gym Buddy Allison and I once wore ours for 24 hours straight just to see what our heart rates did over the course of a day and how many calories we really burned.

9. A BPA-Free Water Bottle($5-$20). No workout bag is complete without a water bottle and because we want your cellular structure to stay un-mutated you need to make sure it's BPA free. Water bottles can be as simple as the ones at the dollar store all the way up to this fancy model: the Sportline Hydracoach Water Bottles($20). This baby monitors how much you drink (yeah, that's a little computer on the front), how much more you need to drink and motivates you to meet your drinking goals. Anything that holds water without leaking will do the trick though. Downside: wide neck bottles spill too easily, straw bottles lose parts in the dishwasher and pop tops make you feel like a baby.

10. My book The Great Fitness Experiment: One Year of Trying Everything($8.03). I know, I know, you are so sick of hearing about my book but it's great for people just getting into fitness - it summarizes most of the popular workouts out there and tallies up their pros and cons - and it's great for more seasoned exercisers who are just glad to know that they are not the only one who has fallen off their step in Step Class. It's funny! It's heart breaking! It's a quick read! Plus, they've dropped the price again! Downside: Nothing!

The First Review of My Book! Squeee!

Tracey over at I'm Not Superhuman posted her excellent review of my book. To which I responded by stalking all her commenters and thanking them for even considering reading my book. 'Cause that's not at all weird. Nope.

Catherine Holland (Catherine Boshuizen)

Catherine Holland (Catherine Boshuizen) is a IFBB Pro Figure Competitor, a fitness model and personal trainer
She was born on March 21, 1980 in Portland, Oregon, but she now resides in Orlando, Florida.
Catherine stands 5’7”, weighs in at 130 lbs (contest weight) and 140-145 (off season).
She has a BS and MS degrees in Exercise and Sport Science from Oregon State University and she is a business owner and instructor of Celebration Boot Camps.

Contest history:
2004 NPC Northwest Natural Figure Championships: Overall
2005 Oregon Ironman Figure: 1st place over 5’6”
2005 Emerald Cup Figure: 7th place 5’6-5’8”
2006 Emerald Cup Figure: 13th place 5’6-5-8”
2006 NPC Jr. National Figure Championship: 9th Place Class D
2007 NPC Jr. National Figure Championship: 12th Place Class F
2007 NPC Figure Team Universe: 16th place Class F
2007 NPC Figure USA’s: 16th place Class E
2008 Emerald Cup Figure: 2nd place Class F
2008 NPC JR USA Figure Championship: 1st place class E
2008 NPC JR NATIONALS Figure Championships: 1st place, Class E
2009 IFBB Europa Super Show of Champions Pro Figure: 16th

Amanda Latona

Amanda Latona isn't just a fitness model.
She's a print model, M.C., spokes model, host, actress, bikini and fitness model competitor and a singer!
See?
None of these ladies just do one thing.
But this lady has a really diversified past.
Amanda was born on March 24th, 1979 in Pittsburgh, PA.
When she was 15 her family moved to Orlando, she got involved with Universal Studios there when she was 18, then she got involved in an all girls singing group called Innosense.
Innosense may not sound familiar to you, but let me tell you the bands line up.....
The original members were Danay Ferrer, Mandy Ashford, Nikki DeLoach, Amanda Latona, and ....Britney Spears.
Yes that Britney Spears.
Amanda also dated Backstreet Boy A.J. McLean for two years.
Jump forward a bit and Amanda had been working with a personal trainer.
She thought it would be fun to enter a fitness competition and set her mind to that.
You can see from the above picture, she more than succeeded.
As a matter of fact she became a two time Model America Champion, and she'll be in Muscle and Fitness this summer.
I think this lady can do whatever she puts her mind to.

Foam Rolling: Fitness Miracle or Fad?

"Hurts so good!" "Absolute must-do!" "MIRACULOUS!!" It was that last one that got me and not just because it turned exercise into a religious experience on par with seeing the Virgin Mary in a pancake. For all my professed cynicism (not really, I'm like an eager puppy), I'm as interested in the next fitness "miracle" as the next girl. Twitter schooled me today. As is often the case with me in social mediums I don't understand, I was randomly eavesdropping on other people's conversations and came across several people singing the above praises of the foam roller. Personal Trainer Deb Roby even tweeted, "I teach all my clients to foam roll before a workout," adding that it is "magical*." Magical! Yes, this thing:

My first reaction was, "Really?!?" We have used foam rollers before, both in stretching and in actual workouts. The Gym Buddies and I even dedicated an entire month during the Core Performance for Women Great Fitness Experiment to getting intimate with this cheap piece of plastic (made even more awkward by the fact that our Y only has one roller basically making all of us sloppy seconds.) We were, to a woman, unimpressed. The tennis ball produced more of a good massage and muscle release although Gym Buddy Megan broke my heart and refused to share hers. Did I mention I love the tennis ball to get deep into my glutes (a la the piriformis-beleaguered MizFit)? It's probably all for the best we did not share the butt ball.

My second reaction to all the hype was, "Clearly I'm doing it wrong." After all, all those Twitter folks are way smarter than I am. (And I'm not being facetious - they really are a bunch of smart sugar-free flourless protein cookies.) But after watching this video tutorial, from Ryan at No More Bacon, where a girl (whose hair I deeply covet) demonstrates how to use a foam roller, I realized: I've totally been using the foam roller right. And it hasn't done a thing for me. Stymied! By a piece of bike-helmet foam!

What to do? Consult the experts of course! The CrossFit Nor'easter blog commands you to repeat, "“I want to roll everything! Rolling is good! Rolling is our pal!” Which I did. And then snickered. A lot. Because I'm immature like that. They add,

"Foam rollers offer many of the same benefits as a sports massage, without the big price tag. The foam roller not only stretches muscles and tendons but it also breaks down soft tissue adhesions and scar tissue. By using your own body weight and a cylindrical foam roller you can perform a self-massage or myofascial release, break up trigger points, and soothe tight fascia while increasing blood flow and circulation to the soft tissues."

Well, now I see my problem. First, I have never had a sports massage. (Confession: I've never had any massage ever because I have an irrational fear of being naked alone in a room with a stranger. On second thought, that fear seems totally rational.) So I have nothing to compare the beautiful torture of the foam roller with. Second, I have no idea what a myofascial release is. But it certainly sounds like something I would want - especially because then I would only have to get naked with myself! Ahem. The Nor'easters to the rescue again, quoting about.com:

"Myofascial release is a body work technique in which a practitioner uses gentle, sustained pressure on the soft tissues while applying traction to the fascia. This technique results in softening and lengthening (release) of the fascia and breaking down scar tissue or adhesions between skin, muscles and bones. Myofascial release has also been shown to relieve various muscle and joint pains such as IT band syndrome and shin splints as well as improving flexibility and range of motion."

Now I definitely want a piece of that! Google tells me that a fascia is "band of fibrous connective tissue separating or binding together muscles and organs." Obviously you would not want those to get overly tight (except perhaps in the bladder region and then, you know, all of us moms would like them to cinch back up like a paper bag if you please) and I hope I don't have scar tissue either.

Rachel Cosgrove (of this month's Experiment fame) is totally on the foam rolling bandwagon as well. At the end of each workout she instructs us to do "15 minutes of foam rolling" even on off days. We've ignored her advice. First there's the one diseased roller issue (although they're not that expensive so I suppose I could invest in one - marketing opportunity: anyone want to send me one for free? Either that or I could sew a cloth foam-roller condom and instruct the Gym Buddies not to wear shorts.) and second there's the whole disaffected problem. But after today, I am resolved to give the roller a second chance. Especially because I don't want to get to the end of this Experiment and wonder if my results could have been better had I done everything she told me to (which, for the record, I am doing everything else she instructs including drinking a nasty protein shake after my weight workouts, on the stretching mats even!).

The whole reason I didn't think much of the roller in the first place was it never felt like anything. People talk of screaming pain and crying and whatnot and all I got was a little shaky from having to hold myself up on my already-worked out arms for so long. Why don't I feel anything? Should I add weights? Help me to love the roller! - how can I make the foam roller work for me? Do you love the foam roller? Do you use it before or after a workout? Both? What benefits have you seen from it? Do you have to be injured to benefit from it?

Amber Elizabeth Fournier

Oxygen covergirl and rising fitness model Amber Elizabeth.
To stay in this condition, she does Pilates, kickboxing, weight training and CrossFit.
I would say it appears to be working for her.
Besides Oxygen, she has appeared in Muscle & Fitness, HERS and Mens Fitness among others.

Diet Tweaks: Carb Cycling and Protein Shakes

This can't have ended well. And also, why is there a can of whipped cream??

photo credit: professional recreationalist

"Chug, chug, chug!" "Just slam it!" and my personal fave: "I should have brought my beer helmet." This month's Great Fitness Experiment, continued from last month's Rachel Cosgrove: The Female Body Breakthrough*, has the Gym Buddies and I releasing our inner frat boy. Not that that's hard to do what with all the burping, pit sniffing, grunting and "adjusting"- albeit more northern than southern -going on in our group. (Side note: Speaking of bizarre noises in the gym, you should have heard Gym Buddy Krista and I trying to explain to the others what Zuzana sounds like in all her videos. We got more weird looks than usual that day. The girl has crazyintense workouts but take my advice and watch them with the volume turned waaaay down.)

While I have mainly focused my posts on the workout portion of Cosgrove's book (this last phase is killing us! Send help, and Icy Hot, stat!), she does include a section on diet. It's nothing you haven't heard before: eat 5-6 mini meals a day with a protein and fat at each meal, eat lots of veggies, watch the fruit, ditch the sugar. She tells you to strive to eat healthy 80% of the time. Some of you asked me how this fit in with my Intuitive Eating. I did - and am - sticking with IE as it has been so successful for me, both mentally and physically but I will say that the way I eat intuitively matches up pretty well with her recommendations. There were only two dietary points I had problems with: the protein shakes and the carb cycling.

Protein Shakes for Better Muscle Growth and Recovery

The source of all the aforementioned beverage-induced chanting is our daily protein shakes. R.Cos instructs you to drink a protein shake within 15 minutes of finishing each weight-lifting workout. Her reasoning is that some studies have shown that eating a blend of quick absorbing protein and carbs right after a weight workout builds more lean muscle than with no post-workout refuel or with just a carb drink like Gatorade. Not being a fan of protein powder, I originally considered showing up to the gym with a chicken breast and an apple but apparently "quick absorbing" macronutrients is the key so it had to be a shake. Another option is chocolate milk but I'm not a huge fan of drinking milk and I'd prefer to get my sugar from fruit rather than high fructose corn syrup.

Many of you love your protein shakes. Whole blogs are dedicated just to the art of shaking. I, however, am the girl who made turd cookies so clearly I can't be trusted with fancy recipes. Here's my super uncreative shake recipe: handful of frozen berries, couple chunks of frozen avocado, BIG handful of spinach, big scoop of full fat plain yogurt, 1 scoop protein powder and enough water so my Vita-Mix (also known as the only appliance that has a permanent home on my countertop, I love it that much) doesn't have a heart attack. Deb the Smoothie Girl even took pity on me and sent me a package of xanthan gum and guar gum which are supposed to improve the texture of the shake. (Dear Post Office: please ignore the shipments of baggies filled with white powder arriving at my door. Thank you.)

I still don't love my protein shakes and here's why: I like to chew. Nay, I need to chew. I still chew my protein shake even though there is nothing to bite down on and this makes me sad for my poor deluded jaw muscles. I'm not the only quirky one though. Gym Buddy Jeni insists on plopping a scoop of protein powder straight into her water bottle and shaking it up: baby formula for grown-ups! Krista cannot be bothered to make a shake but she does love protein bars and even brings some to share. It's like a big, unhygienic protein potluck on the stretching mats! Allison, also a big fan of chewing, absolutely refuses to have anything to do with the protein shakes.

In the end, I decided to go ahead and stick with the shakes because while I don't really love them, the research is pretty compelling and frankly I feel better when I eat right after my workout. I'd often leave the gym feeling a little light-headed and shaky and if I had to run errands that meant I wouldn't eat lunch until a couple of hours later. The shakes fixed that problem right up!

Carb Cycling for Greater Fat Loss

The other interesting dietary tidbit in Cosgrove's book is the age-old bodybuilding concept of carb cycling. The gist of it is that you have a certain number of low-carb days - three is popular - followed by one high-carb day with the theory being that you'll lose fat on the low-carb days but get the crucial glycogen to your brain and muscles on the high-carb day. Another reason bodybuilders use this to lean out is because they say carbs cause your body to retain extra water to store them so when you drop the carbs, it can help you de-bloat as well.

I didn't do this. First because it wouldn't work at all with my IE and second because I have already tried this. And tried this. And tried this. Back in my macronutrient-tracking days I did many iterations of carb cycling. It didn't seem to do much for my body except to make me binge on carbs on the high days. I know some bodybuilders swear by this - Cosgrove does - but I haven't had much success with it physically and it also makes me crazy.

Conclusion: protein shakes, surprisingly, thumbs up! Carb cycling, thumbs down.

Do you have a fave smoothie recipe that's simple enough even I can't screw it up? (Feel free to leave links in the comments!) Have you ever tried carb cycling? How did it work for you? Do you have any frat boy gym habits??

Toning Clothing - Fitness Fad or Wave of the Future?

Truer words were never spoken. Take note Nicki Minaj.

Every day before I write a post, I ask myself, "How can I uplift my readers today?" Well today I get to uplift you in a whole different way! As in, your butts! And no, no TSA employees will be involved, I promise.

You've seen the ads:

"Think like a work in progress... Look like a work of art!" (Fila)

"Recover quicker, perform better." (SKINS)

"A better body with every move." (Reebok)

And my personal fave: "Underwear and a workout in one!" (Shapercise)

You can't swing a kettlebell these days without hitting an ad for "toning clothing" - fancy workout duds that claim to activate more muscles, burn extra calories, improve posture and make you look better while doing it. Sounds great, right? Who wouldn't want a workout in their underwear?? (I can't even keep a straight face typing that.) But the (multi)million dollar question for this burgeoning industry is: Do they work? While the toning shoes have been thoroughly discredited - not only do they not work your muscles but they also put you at a higher risk of injury- you might be surprised by what I discovered about the clothing.

Jillian Michaels

Jillian Michaels is the fitness expert that rose to fame on the NBC TV show The Biggest Loser.
She was the Red Team trainer until 2006, when she was replaced by Kim Lyons.
Jillian returned to the show in 2007 as the Black Team trainer.
She and Bob Harper are also the trainers on the Australian version of the show.

Jillian was overweight as a child, and her mother enrolled her in martial arts classes.
She took hold of that, got herself in shape and became determined to help others get in shape as well.
(She's been practicing Muay Thai and Akarui-Do for 17 years now)

Jillian's workout for her clients blends kickboxing, yoga, Pilates, plyometrics, and weight training together, giving them a total package.

Besides The Biggest Loser, Jillian hosts a Sunday talk radio show on Los Angeles' KFI (640 AM).

Jillian released a video game for the Nintendo Wii called Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum 2009 in October 2008.

Do Women Need Different Weight-Lifting Routines Than Men? [November's Great Fitness Experiment!]

The question you should be asking is not why these men are running nearly naked in the snow but rather why are they wearing swimming caps...

Nothing is as mythical in fitness lore as the Protein Shake. Whole websites are devoted to getting the most out your smoothie, entire books of workout-shake recipes have been published, and it's become so omnipresent in our exercise culture that it has even become its own pick-up line. Hey baby, what say we re-rack these weights and hit the juice bar. I'll even let you pick two add-ins! So naturally I hate it. Between my general distrust of protein powder (Why is it that every health guru tells you to only eat whole unprocessed foods and then recommends protein powder? Do they not watch Sesame Street? Do they not see that one of these things is not like the other??), my disinclination to drink my calories and my sensitive gag reflex that precludes me swallowing anything from the "mooshy" food group, there isn't a lot of love lost between protein shakes and I.

And yet for day 1 of November's Great Fitness Experiment, I shocked all the Gym Buddies by showing up this morning with a half gallon of post-workout chocolaty goodness and enough paper cups to go around. See, this post-workout refueling is Unbreakable Rule #2. (For those of you who think I can't count - I've got mad Sesame Street skillz, yo - Unbreakable Rule #1 is coming.) Who picks these things?!

Me. Right.

After the disastrous end of last month's long(ish) distance running Experiment* - and having been sufficiently chastened by the not one but TWO doctors who took the time to e-mail me to tell me that I could have killed myself OD'ing on caffeine and then running hard (take home lesson: Despite its prevalence, caffeine is a drug and not to be trifled with) - I was ready to take on something completely different. So November's Great Fitness Experiment is The Female Body Breakthrough by Rachel Cosgrove.

At first glance it seems like your ordinary weight-lifting tome filled with pictures of the difference between the Romanian dead-lift, the regular dead-lift and the drunk-roommate dead-lift (hint: if you have a roommate from the Soviet Bloc you've got a two-fer) but Cosgrove is no ordinary lifter. She is, as she reminds you about 300 times, a lifter in proud possession of lady bits. As a lifter with lady bits myself, this spoke to me. I have long maintained that men's bodies and women's bodies with their different hormones respond differently to exercise and therefore should not be given a one-size fits all prescription. This does not mean she is giving you permission to pump two-pounders so you don't bulk up but rather that we need to focus more on compound movements and timing issues than a man would. This concept is rather controversial as many fitness experts recommend women train exactly like men, just perhaps with lighter weights.

Cosgrove came to her epiphany after finishing her first Ironman competition (and no it didn't involve a hand mirror and a copy of Our Bodies, Ourselves in the biffy at mile 50). She realized that despite training 30+ hours per week biking, running and swimming, she had not only gained body fat and injuries but lost muscle tone and definition and was all around squishier. In her article "The Final Nail in the Cardio Coffin" (a must-read: go, now!) she details all the reasoning behind this but the end result is that in 8 short weeks of lifting heavy and dropping all the cardio, she lost 15 pounds, leaned out so much that she had a visible 6-pack again and was all-around healthier. This, combined with former elite-triathlete Mark Sisson's post about the heart damage inflicted by long-distance running, led me to an epiphany of my own. After gaining 2% body fat last month, it is time to bring out the heavy iron again!

The Workout

Cosgrove's 16-week plan is broken up into four four-week segments. The Gym Buddies and I are jumping in at week 9 as we feel we've been lifting long enough that the first 8 weeks won't be challenging. She prioritizes workouts with putting three lifting workouts a week as priority number one, followed by two "metabolic circuits" a week (a form of high-intensity interval training using bodyweight exercises) and, lastly, one cardio workout a week. If you want it.

The Rules

There is so much great stuff in Cosgrove's book - her section on "chunky thigh syndrome" is worth the whole price of the book right there (and no I don't get any kickbacks for recommending her book, moreover I didn't even get it for free - I bought this one myself!) - so it feels overly reductionist to distill it to this, but here you go:

Unbreakable Rule #1: You do not miss a weight-lifting workout. You lift three days a week but if you have to miss a day, take out the cardio or the circuits but do not miss your weights.

Unbreakable Rule #2: You must drink a post-workout shake (gah!) within 15 minutes of finishing your weight-lifting workout. Yes, that means you will be drinking it warm out of your water bottle in the gym. (I lobbied for a chicken breast and an apple but Rachel points out in her book that the fat, carbs and protein need to be easily digestible so a smoothie is ideal.)

Those two rules are the gist of it but to really amp up your results here are a few other suggestions:

Rule #1: Lift heavy. Really heavy. As heavy as good form will allow. No wussy Barbie weights. (Side note: she even shows you how to work your weight routines around your menstrual cycle to get the most bang for your buck. Did you know you have the potential to burn the most fat during that week than during any other time of the month?! It sounds counterintuitive, what with the bloating and all, but she's got research to back it up. I will let you know how it works for me - period talk, ahoy!)

Rule #2: Eat 5-6 small meals a day, each containing a fat and a protein.

Rule #3: Eat clean 90% of the time, which means you get a couple of "cheat meals" a week but the rest of the time stay away from sugar and processed foods.

Rule #4: No running! The treadmill is dead to you. Also no elliptical, step mill, arc trainer etc. Her metabolic circuits will definitely get your heart rate up but they use bodyweight exercises like jumping lunges and other plyometrics.

I plan on sticking as close to her plan as described in her book as I can as I'm hoping to get close to her results! Some of the other Gym Buddies are not happy about Rule #4 so they'll be doing the weights but also keeping their cardio. It's almost like a real experiment! I'm super excited to see how this pans out.

Any of you tried this program? Anyone else in with me?? What do you think - do women need different workouts than men or is a human body a human body regardless of gender?

Fitness Model and Competitor, Laura Coleman

Laura Coleman is an up and coming fitness model and competitor.
She's 5'7" and weighs 127.
I was only able to find two competitions Laura has been in, she placed 4th at the 2005 Los Angeles Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships, Class F and she came in 1st in Figure F at the 2007 Los Angeles Bodybuilding, Fitness & Figure Championships.
Laura has appeared in Oxygen, Ironman, Muscle Mag and Muscular Development.
And as far as I can tell, she is in a relationship with retired IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Eryk Bui.

Catherine Holland (Catherine Boshuizen)

Catherine Holland (Catherine Boshuizen) is a IFBB Pro Figure Competitor, a fitness model and personal trainer
She was born on March 21, 1980 in Portland, Oregon, but she now resides in Orlando, Florida.
Catherine stands 5’7”, weighs in at 130 lbs (contest weight) and 140-145 (off season).
She has a BS and MS degrees in Exercise and Sport Science from Oregon State University and she is a business owner and instructor of Celebration Boot Camps.

Contest history:
2004 NPC Northwest Natural Figure Championships: Overall
2005 Oregon Ironman Figure: 1st place over 5’6”
2005 Emerald Cup Figure: 7th place 5’6-5’8”
2006 Emerald Cup Figure: 13th place 5’6-5-8”
2006 NPC Jr. National Figure Championship: 9th Place Class D
2007 NPC Jr. National Figure Championship: 12th Place Class F
2007 NPC Figure Team Universe: 16th place Class F
2007 NPC Figure USA’s: 16th place Class E
2008 Emerald Cup Figure: 2nd place Class F
2008 NPC JR USA Figure Championship: 1st place class E
2008 NPC JR NATIONALS Figure Championships: 1st place, Class E
2009 IFBB Europa Super Show of Champions Pro Figure: 16th

Kristina Rojas, IFBB Fitness pro athlete

Kristina (Tina) Rojas is an IFBB Fitness pro athlete and personal trainer from McAllen, TX.
One of the people that helped train Kristina is Fitness Olympia and Fitness International Champion Adela Garcia.
Working with Adela must have payed off because Kristina earned her pro card at the age of 20.

Contest history:
2007 NPC John Sherman Classic Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Championships - 1st place
2007 NPC National Championships - 1st place
2008 IFBB 15th Annual Sports/Fitness Weekend and Europa IFBB Super Show - 9th place
2009 IFBB Europa Super Show and Supplement Expo

Fitness 101: What To Do With Body Hair

There are many healthy activities that I wish I could do but for various reasons can't get away with. Take running at night - it feels like flying but there are myriad safety issues. And now that I'm a responsible mom-person, I can't risk a twisted ankle or, worse, a mom-napping. I'd also love to wear a sweat band - They are the epitome of functional! Plus they look like Muppet eyebrows! - but I still haven't found one that my fashion sense will permit. It'd feel really good to hawk a loogie into the spittoons at the gym (I'm not sure what they're called - bidets for your mouth? Oral urinals?? - but they're right next to the drinking fountains at my Y and their express purpose is to be spit in.) and yet it just seems the height of impropriety to spit in public, indoors. And so I don't. I don't run at night, I don't wear sweat bands and I don't spit (unless it's on my fingers and I'm using it to wipe the muck off my baby's face, in the grand tradition of mothers everywhere).

But there is one healthy "don't" that I'd really really like to do.

It all started with CrossFit a few months ago. Like Jen Sinkler pointed out on her blog, the stronger your shoulders get, the harder it is to shave your pits. But I used the "star method" and while it took a bit longer, it worked. This would have just stopped at entertaining over-share fodder at dinner parties except that during last month's Great Running Until I Barf Experiment (if I ever get the privilege of writing another GFE book, that's gonna make an awesome chapter, which is my only consolation for putting myself through that idiocy) my pit hair tried to kill me.

Thanks to a tank top and a lack of bodyglide, my pit hair stubble - it's like a 5 o'clock shadow except I get it at 11 a.m. - chafed so badly that I ended up with two open sores under my right arm. And as everyone knows, the gym is the last place you want to have an open sore thanks to MRSA, impetigo and other scary bacteria. See? Nearly killed - or at least maimed - by my prickly hair. Thank goodness my immune system is still on my side and rallied.

So many questions: Do I just have sharper hair than other people? Or does this happen to other people and they just don't talk about it? Why was it just my right armpit that was afflicted? Would this have been fixed by running in a t-shirt instead of a tank, as suggested by Gym Buddy Megan? And why has this never happened to me before, despite the fact that I've been in possession of said hair ever since puberty? I don't know the answers but there is a solution: stop shaving. Legions of men will attest to the fact that unshaven underarm hair doesn't chafe, nor does it give you razor nicks which then burn like crazy when you put your deodorant on. Why should men get to be the only ones with non-stinging soft braid-able pits?

Then there's leg hair. While I have never been attacked (yet) by razor sharp leg stubble, it can also be a problem. When you are as pale-skinned and dark-tressed as I am, even clean-shaven my legs still look, as one of my sons put it, "all polka dotty." (Poor boy was so disappointed when I told him he couldn't have polka dot legs like mommy.) Anytime men complain about having to shave their faces, I like to point out that for sheer acreage needing harvesting we women have got them beat by a mile. Besides the worst hair-removal damage I have ever done to myself was a lip waxing gone horribly horribly wrong. And we won't even discuss the many many issues with maintaining the hair that is between the pits and the legs.

Before you start mailing me daisy chains and fringed vests, there is a precedent for this. Behold the beautiful yet unshaven:

The most recent example of this is the gorgeous Russian supermodel, Natalia Vodianova, who stepped out in a gown accessorized by some serious fur on her million-dollar gams. (Click through the link to see the close-up if you don't believe me.) And does she look ashamed? Not even a little! As Lauri Apple on Jezebel posits "Hm, maybe she saw herself in the mirror and thought, 'I look awesome,' instead of, 'my legs will displease the gossip press'."

And who can forget the awesome Drew Barrymore sporting her pit hair loud and proud on the red carpet?

One website even put up a poll about which is worse: M'onique's shaggy leg hair or Julia Roberts fluffy pit hair. (Click on picture to enlarge... you know you want to.)

All this shaving business is a fairly new phenomenon. While women have had body hair since the dawn of time, we've only been routinely shaving it off since 1915 when safety razors were invented. (Although it should be noted that many Muslims shave their body hair as part of their religion and have been doing it ever since Islam was founded.) That said, I've never grown out any of my body hair. I've been shaving, waxing and plucking things since the fifth grade when I stole my mom's pink plastic bic and butchered myself in the shower. (I still shudder remembering that early lesson: never slide the razor sideways. Owowowowow.) And honestly, Even though I wish hirsuteness would come back into fashion, I'm probably not going to quit shaving now. I can't even go to the gym in unflattering workout pants much less sport a full arm bush, slave to society that I am.

As to the myth that shaving hair makes it "grow back thicker", wikipedia debunks that - although it notes that pit hair grows faster than other body hair and may require multiple daily shavings to reduce stubble. That's just great. I can barely get one shower a day in and I'm certainly not going to dry-shave under there. I've also tried those deodorants that claim to thin and soften pit hair over time and they so totally do not.

What about you - do you shave, wax or otherwise pillage your body hair? Have you ever grown out your body hair? Have you ever been mauled by your pit stubble? Does it gross you out to see lady pit or leg hair?? Lastly - do you feel weird spitting in those loogie-catchers too?