Hardbody – Female Sports, Health and Fitness

Another week has past and IFBB Figure Pro Erin Stern shares her second part in the Countdown to C-bus.

It just isn’t enough – the extra hours in the weight room, early morning cardio, or even the weeks of dieting. It isn’t enough to win a show. Often times in figure, we talk about bringing “the total package” to a show. Going into my second year of competing, I now realize that the total package is made up of more than just the physical appearance. It is stage presence, confidence, posing the body in the most flattering way and making the presentation look comfortable and natural.

Let’s face it, we all train to win. No matter what a competitor says, she doesn’t enter a show in hopes of 10th place. But… do we all go into the show believing that we will win? Do we lie in bed at night, visualizing the trophy presentation – down to the last detail?

Last year, I couldn’t see it. I didn’t believe that I would win, or that I could win. I had no stage presence. In looking at some of the pictures, my smile is strained and I look a little frightened. Track and field prepared me for grueling workouts, taught me to love the discipline, and how to shape my body…but, it taught me nothing about strutting on the stage in heels. So, for the next month, I am working on conditioning myself mentally for the show…bringing that “total package.”

I realize that our sport is subjective, and as competitors, the final outcome is out of our hands. But when you give something 100% – with body, heart, mind, and soul – how can you lose?