No Nonsense Newsletter                                           October/November/December 2005

Here’s How I Went From Wife, Mother,
& Trying To Stay In Shape To a 3-Time
Champion In Less Than 1 Year

By: Amy Sibcy

I’m a 37-year-old wife and mother of two girls Abby (7) and Emma (4). I worked for 15 years as an office manager. A little over ten years ago my husband, Eric and I started a sideline purchasing real estate. Now we own more than 70 properties that we manage and maintain ourselves. I now devote my fulltime energies to this venture. The good thing is my mornings are freed up to train. I also coach both my girls’ soccer teams in my spare time.

I gained 4 pounds of lean mass
and dropped 1.5% body fat while
prepping...amazing! I won the
lightweight and women‚s overall
titles at the NPC Ohio.

Although I’ve always been interested in training I really got the bug two years ago when Emma turned two. I finally had a little discretionary "me" time. First, I just decided to workout a little more consistently and eat a little better. I started my exercise program by going to the YMCA every morning before starting the day with my real estate duties. As my training and focus grew I joined Power Station Gym. What a change, Power Station is a hard-core, results oriented gym.

One day Mike Ferguson, the owner, came up to me and commented on the amount of weight I was bench-pressing. I really thought nothing of the weight. I just went in, did my thing, and left. Mike saw it differently and said that with some training I could be a successful power lifter. Since I was already putting the time in the gym to stay in shape, power lifting would give me a goal and provide more structure to my training. I was up for the challenge and decided to give it a shot.

Mike provided the training plan and recorded my weights and reps. All I had to do was get under the bar and lift. My training was now built around the squat, deadlift and bench press. Every other week I tried for a new one-rep max. To recover from training my eating and supplement habits had to get better. Supplement-wise I’d been taking Beverly for years so this was a no-brainer. I just needed to be more consistent. I already ate pretty well and now I just needed to eat more protein and a few more calories. This plan worked - I got stronger and leaner and won some meets and set some state records.

As I got leaner, my husband suggested I try bodybuilding. My initial thought was "he is my husband, of course he thinks I look great!" Then I had Mike check my body fat. To my surprise I was 16.7% at 121 lbs. I really was pretty lean. Mike said I could be ready for the NPC Cincinnati 16 weeks away. I’d followed bodybuilding and read the NNN for years but never thought "I" could get on stage. And there I was - tossing my hat in the bodybuilding ring.

I continued to train with Mike but now as bodybuilder. Five days a week we weight trained for half an hour. (Yes, that’s right – thirty minutes per workout.) I was shocked that I would not have to spend all day in the gym. Cardio was four, thirty-minute sessions per week on the stationary bike. As the weather warmed I did sprint work or stairs at a local stadium on Sundays. Mike stressed the importance of posing and began taking me through the mandatories after weight training. Posing, surprisingly, turned out to be quite a workout in itself! By the time my competition came around I have to say I was prepared. I could hit the poses with confidence and really concentrate on showing my physique to its best advantage.

Workout Rotation:
Bodybuilding Season
  Monday: Chest/Calves
  Tuesday: Legs/Abs
  Wednesday: Back/Forearms
  Thursday: Shoulders/Calves
  Friday: Arms/Abs
  Saturday/Sunday: Off

Cardio: 4 days a week/30 minutes
Lifting: Rotate heavy one workout (3-6 reps
per set); light (15-100 reps - yes, sometimes
100 reps in a set) the next workout; and
moderate (8-12 reps) the following workout.
Example: Chest 1st week Heavy/2nd week
Light/3rd week Moderate/4th week Heavy, etc.

Workout Rotation
Power Lifting Season   
  Monday: Chest/Calves (Heavy)
  Tuesday: Legs/Abs (Squat Every Week)
  Wednesday: Back/Forearms
  Thursday: Shoulders/Calves
  Friday: Arms/Abs
  Saturday: Deadlift (Heavy)
  Sunday: Off

Cardio: 4 days a week/20 minutes

Example: 1st week Heavy 3-6 reps (1 rep
max every 2 weeks) / 2nd week Moderate 8-12
reps / 3rd week Heavy / 4th week Moderate,
etc. No Light day for powerlifting cycles.

Before I get into the nutrition part of my preparation in depth I’d like to give you an outline of my training schedule. I think you’ll find it different than the typical "do the same thing each week" type of workout.

Nutrition
My approach to nutrition and supplements was far from bad when I started powerlifting. Powerlifting forced both to get better. I was eating and supplementing to get stronger and just happened to keep getting leaner as a bonus. (Note to the ladies out there, "Don’t be afraid to lift heavy weights. You’ll build a sculpted and toned physique if you pay attention to your diet and supplements.") Bodybuilding was more than just trying to lean out. I had to lose max amounts of fat and keep max amounts of muscle. In the past when I tried to lean out I ended up starving and would give up. How was I going to do this with out starving?

I found my answer in Rick Ruether of "Body by Rick." I started to work with Rick on nutrition and supplementation. Rick checked my body fat and said I was not eating enough. To lose fat and keep my muscle I needed to eat more. I’d read this before in the NNN but it sure went against all the popular notions about weight loss. No wonder I was starving in the past, I simply needed to eat more good clean bodybuilding food!

My initial nutrition plan was nearly 3000 calories and more than 300 grams of protein. Rick checked my body fat every week and would make adjustments to my diet. Carbs were gradually lowered and eventually cut out. In their place a carb meal every third evening, again something I had read about in the NNN. My protein and caloric intake would vary with my condition. Sometimes I ate over 400 grams per day. Muscle Provider and Ultra Size shakes and puddings made this possible and curbed any cravings for something sweet.

I was not on a diet! This was a lifestyle change. Nutrition was 24/7. Sometimes I even ate 9 times per day. To stay on my plan meant planning and being organized. My husband made things easier. He weighed, prepared and packaged my food in individual containers for me. I was always prepared with my food and even got used to eating cold food in the car. Six days a week I stuck to my plan allowing the seventh to be a free day of whatever I wanted. As the competition neared the cheat day was eliminated. At this point I relied on Muscle Provider and Ultra Size pudding to keep my sanity, it seemed like I was cheating!

Amy with her supplements

Supplements
I’ve used Beverly products for years, occasionally trying out other brands, but I always come back to using Beverly. The other brands just did not match up to Beverly quality and results. If other brands did not work like Beverly when I was not dieting, what was going to happen when I needed to drop fat and hold onto muscle? Add to that the recovery and strength results I got with Beverly as a powerlifter. No way would I take a chance, quality supplements were a must and that meant Beverly.

My day started with a Super Pak at my first meal ensuring no vitamin or mineral deficiencies. I took 4 Ultra 40 and 4 Mass Aminos with each meal increasing the protein content and utilization of my meals. Ultra 40 also increased my energy - a welcome bonus when eating carbs just every third day. I used 2 Energy Reserve between my first three meals to make sure my body was burning fat and keeping muscle. The Branch Chain Amino Acids in 6 Muscle Mass before and after training further ensured I was hanging onto my lean mass. Muscle Provider was my favorite Beverly supplement. Three scoops post workout provided the amino acids for recovery, made getting hundreds of grams of protein a day easy, and the great taste curbed cravings.

Amy side pose

Sample Meal Plan

Meal 1                       Amount
Chicken . . . . . . . . . . .   150g/5 oz
Egg Whites . . . . . . . . . .  200g/7oz

Meal 2/Post Training Amount
Muscle Provider. . . . . . . . 3 scoops
Meal 3                       Amount
Chicken . . . . . . . . . . .  150g/5 oz
Broccoli . . . . . . . . . . . 170g/6 oz

Meal 4                       Amount
Chicken . . . . . . . . . . .  150g/5 oz
Broccoli. . . . . . . . . . .  170g/ 6 oz

Meal 5                       Amount
Green Beans. . . . . . . . . . 200g/7 oz
Chicken . . . . . . . . . . .  200g/7 oz

Meal 6                     Amount
Egg Whites. . . . . . . .  200g/7 oz
Broccoli . . . . . . . . . 100g/4 oz
Meal 7                     Amount
Muscle Provider. . . . . . 3 scoops

Every Third Day in
Place of Meal 7           Amount
Sweet Potato . . . . . .  300g/10 oz
Brown Rice . . . . . . .  60g/2 oz dry

Supplements               Amount
Super Pak. . . . . . . .  1 with Meal 1
Ultra 40. . . . . . . . . 4 per Meal
Mass Amino . . . . . . .  4 per Meal
Muscle Mass . . . . . . . 6 Before/After Training

3 competitions and 3 wins!
My first competition was the Cincinnati Bodybuilding Championships in April. I competed as a lightweight (115 lbs at 7% body fat) and won my weight class, the overall women’s and the masters division. I had 5 months until my next competition. This allowed me time to further tweak my nutrition and supplement plan. My protein was upped even further. There were days I took in nearly 500 grams! Mass Aminos went to 30-40 daily. I was eating more going in to my second competition and watching my lean mass go up while I was losing fat.

Competition number two was the NPC Ohio Championship in September. This time I weighed 119 lbs at 5.5% body fat, again a lightweight. I gained 4 pounds of lean mass and dropped 1.5% body fat while prepping...amazing! I won the lightweight and women’s overall titles. Two down but my competition year was not over. I set my sites on one more competition in October.

I had now been in contest prep mode for ten months and still had one competition left. At this point I was relying heavily on Glutamine Select, Creatine Select and handfuls of Muscle Mass to get me through my workouts. The Mass Aminos and Ultra 40’s were helping me hold onto mass and provided energy. The Mid-Atlantic Bodybuilding Championships arrived, my third competition in 11 months. I won the lightweights, the overall AND the award for women’s best Poser.

I watched my body go through incredible changes during the past eleven months. Now it’s time for a break. My current goal is to maintain single digit body fat while incorporating more variety in my nutrition. I have my sights set on the Masters Nationals and a top three finish. I look forward to having fun and enjoying the results of my hard work and new lifestyle.

Bodybuilding World : Body Muscle Journal : Client Profile : Back Issues : Order Online : Beverly International Net Vitamin Supplement Guide

Here’s How I Went From Wife, Mother, & Trying To Stay In Shape To a 3-Time Champion In Less Than 1 Year

Here’s How I Went From Wife, Mother,
& Trying To Stay In Shape To a 3-Time
Champion In Less Than 1 Year