Liz Maurice: Sticking to Principles Realizing A Dream and Doing it Naturally

   But Beverly was different. No question (and I have asked a whole lot of them) was too inconsequential or minimal to be answered. Beverly showed me how to put it all together. They told me what supplements to take, what to eat, and why. This was a major help when trying to balance training for fitness competition with the demands of real life. Instead of spending every waking hour guessing, I just let Beverly take care of it. They give me a plan, and then I just follow it and get the results I’m after.

   Now I’ve been taking Beverly for so long, following their plans and reading their literature, that I’m the gym guru. People come to me, and ask me what to do. In my work environment there are a lot of corporate fitness junkies. I try to help them by showing them ways that they can balance their jobs with a healthy lifestyle. For most of them, I find it’s as simple as cooking their meals in advance and finding a protein powder that they really enjoy taking. Muscle Provider has been a big hit at work, because even the most anti-fitness advocates love the smell of Provider in the office. Maybe one day I can put the vending machines out of business and get everybody on protein shakes!

At left – the day Sharon Henderson introduced me to Beverly.
At right – My winning condition at Monica Brandt’s Body Rock Classic.

   Since I don’t have the luxury of planning my life around my training, I plan my training around my life. I do my weight training before I go to work. I usually don’t eat before I go to the gym, but I always take Muscle Mass BCAAs (precontest) or Mass aminos during my workout session. Besides coffee, the only other supplement I take before I train is Muscle Synergy for gaining or Energy Reserve and GH Factor when I want to burn fat. It all depends on what phase my training is in.

   A typical day for me (which starts at 5:30 a.m. and ends sometime between 11 p.m. and 1 a.m.) looks like this:

• First I head to Gold’s for a weight workout from 7-9 a.m.
• It’s off to work I go from 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.
• If I’m getting ready for a contest I’ll go to various New York Sports Clubs at noon, to practice my fitness routine.

   After work I go to Sutton Gymnastics to practice my jumps and routine from 7:30 p.m. - 8:30 p.m.

   This year I have stuck more closely to my diet, so I haven’t had to do a lot of cardio. I usually get enough from practicing my routine. I’ll start with two or three days per week for 20 minutes, and if my bodyfat is dropping then there’s no reason for me to do more. If I’m not dropping quickly enough, I’ll go up to as much as five days per week. When I do cardio, my favorite activity is sprint intervals at a track.

   My goal has never been to just win, but to improve personally. I know that if I continue to improve in each area of the competition, winning will take care of itself. I’ve certainly found that it’s not an eight or even twelve-week sport like many people think. I start planning for shows a year in advance. I allot that much time to find the perfect music, choreograph it with a professional, and work with a costume designer, not to mention the actual training that’s involved.

   Steven, at Beverly, suggested that I work on my shoulder width and lats for the 2001 contest season. This would enhance my shoulders to waist differential and give me more of an hourglass physique. So I started training back twice per week and often added pull-ups at the end of a leg day. Well it worked so well, that my leg development fell behind my upper body. I needed more sweep to my quads, so this year we focused on legs. I trained legs twice per week. The first day was heavy, and then three days later I would do a second workout using 85% of the weight I handled on the heavy day. I know this played a large part in my improved placings this year.

Training Plan:

   For Legs: Do a heavy day once per week and a light day in which you do the same number of reps that you did on the heavy day, but only use 80-85 percent of the weight you used on the previous heavy day. A good schedule would be Heavy day Monday and Light day on Thursday. Focus your leg workouts around the following exercises:

   Do them in this order (pre-exhaustion for the quads)
   - Leg Extension
   - Leg Press w/ feet low
   - Front Squats
   - Hack Squats with feet hip or shoulder
width (1 1/2 reps. Go all the way down breaking parallel and then come up half way, then go all the way back down and then come up all the way - this equals one rep.

   Do 3 sets of 10-15 reps on all the above exercises.

   Also, do calves three days per week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday would be a great rotation.

   Alternate a heavy and light day on this too. Do Standing Calf Raise, Donkeys, and Seated: 3 sets of 20-25 on heavy days, and 2 sets of 15 reps (with same weight as heavy days) on light days. Do them fairly slow, and squeeze at the top and come all the way down. Work the muscle, not the weight!

   After improving from sixteenth place to third at the NPC USA, I felt I had a great shot to step up and take my Pro Card at the NPC Nationals in November. I didn’t want to waste this chance; so right after the Team Universe in August I consulted with Steven via email to find out what to do for the upcoming twelve weeks. I generally follow a low carb diet with a carb up meal every three or four days. This has always worked for me, so I stick with it. What we did this year though, was add in a small amount of carbs and calories every day while keeping the carb up meals. I also started taking Muscle Synergy. (See my diet at left and my Beverly Supplement strategy below.)

Realizing a dream! Liz has worked tirelessly to silence the doubters and become an IFBB Pro the Natural way.

   After all the hard work and dieting I did it! I finally realized my goal, and am now an IFBB Pro. And best of all, I’ve done it naturally. This is important to me, because fitness is just one part my life. It’s not the end all and be all – drugs are just not worth the risk. I’d like to thank my mom for all her faith and support, also Ken, Marie, and Dan, my friends and coaches for showing me balance in life and sports can equal excellence.