Michelle Hannan - Fitness at the Ultimate Level

“It was the first figure contest I’d ever done,” said the five-foot tall personal trainer.

Fitness and figure competitions are subcategories of bodybuilding where the focus is less on muscle mass and more on muscle tone and presentation. The fitness category requires a physically active stage performance that often includes aerobics, dance or gymnastics routines while in the figure competition participants are judged solely on symmetry and tone.

“There’s a fine line between too big and too small (muscles),” said Hannan.

While participants don’t attain the same bulk of muscles as body-builders, the training requirements are no less demanding.

“There is a huge amount of commitment as far as diet and eating properly,” said Hannan.  Add to that the hours of weight training, cardio conditioning and stage presentation practice and Hannan spends a minimum of 15 hours per week devoted to fitness competitions.

Ten weeks prior to competitions, athletes embark on a strict diet routine aimed at maintaining muscle mass while shedding away extra body fat.  Hannan’s weight fluctuates from 106 pounds when not competing to 100 for the contests.

Taller competitors would lose between 12 and 15 pounds to optimize their muscle definition. Hannan said, that although she has fewer pounds to shed, they are more difficult to lose.

The diet that the physique competitors follow for 10 weeks involves six small meals a day with no sugars or complex carbohydrates and lots of protein.

“The discipline for the diet leading up to the competition is a big portion (of the challenge),” she said. “It’s mentally draining.”

Some athletes will allow themselves a cheat day to help maintain their discipline throughout the 10 weeks, but Hannan only allows a single cheat meal.

Both categories require a time on stage where they hold poses for the judges as they slowly make quarter turns in a circle.

“You hold a pose and try to smile at the same time. Each turn is held for a minute at least,” she said, with a total rotation often requiring over five minutes of constant flexing for the fitness category. “After one competition, my back was killing me for two days.”

The figure competition involves posing in a one-piece bathing suit, followed by a two-piece and avoids the physical exertion of the fitness component in the fitness category.

“There is a side of it that is somewhat like a (beauty) pageant,” said Hannan. Dark tans make muscle definition easier to see, and competitors have their hair professionally done and wear specialty suits that range in price from $500 to $1,000.

“(The sport) is growing in popularity because of the model category,” said Hannan. “It’s such a huge category.”

Hamilton was Hannan’s first figure competition but she said her preference is the fitness competitions that she has travelled to in Los Angeles, Florida and New York.          

There are athletes who make their living through competitions but, as owner of The Training Studio where she trains and coaches other competitors, Hannan limits herself to two shows per year.

She loves the discipline needed to attain personal goals and recognizes it appeals to a certain personality type. “It goes hand in hand with what I do (as a personal trainer),” she said. “It doesn’t appeal to everyone.”

For more information, call Hannan at 309-6037.

Source:  Simcoe