Amy Rose

February 15th, 2013 by

When I first started working with Erik I was prepping for my second national show. The first show’s prep was a learning experience, I was a typical 22 year old girl, eating and drinking whatever I wanted, only “exercising” maybe twice a week. I was uneducated and inexperienced about food, exercise and my body. 

For my first show I paid a hefty price for a well known trainer, for an 8 week cookie cutter diet and workout plan, which I didn’t hardly follow, but with enough cardio and carb cuts I was able to pull off a pretty good body and win the overall Bikini title. But I was miserable, and tired, and a bi***. The whole prep I was OBSESSED with what I couldn’t eat, and what I wanted to eat as soon as I was done. I cheated on my diet almost daily. When the show was over… well, I ate myself sick, and gained 10 lbs within a week of my competition. It was bad. 

When I prepped for my second show, the NPC USA’s pro qualifier, I had my boyfriend prep me. He is a bodybuilder himself and has contest prep experience. I know he had my best interest in mind when he was writing my program, but he only knew one way of prepping someone, the bodybuilder way. So my program was full of food, and full of cardio. My weight training program was looong… and some days I was at the gym for 2 1/2 hours lifting and doing cardio. Plus an hour of AM cardio on an empty stomach everyday. I was even more miserable, even more tired and an even bigger bi***!! He also had me on a long list of supplements. I was taking almost 20 pills a day. Pills for fat loss, pills to expel water, pills for digestion, pills for muscle recovery, muscle building, muscle enhancements. I know it wasn’t because he was trying to make money selling them either because he wasn’t making any money off them or me. He had me taking what he read, and researched other bikini competitors taking. He was telling me to do what even some of the big Pros were doing. Just as so many other trainers believe, he thought it was the only way of reaching a competition goal. He really believed everything I did and took was beneficial to me and my prep. And truth be told I did amazing I placed 2nd at my first national show, and only my second show ever. It was amazing, but once again after my show I lost control and ate myself sick before I even made it home from Vegas. it was bad.

Before I began prepping for my third show my boss had been urging me to contact LBC, she had been using him and couldn’t say enough good things about his programs. So I finally sent Erik an email, with no real intention of using him, I just wanted to see what he had to say and maybe get an idea of pricing. Well in the mean time of Erik getting back to me I began to really look over his site and actually read his articles and blogs… Wow, I knew I wanted to work with him. 

It was hard at first to give over control completely, I was unsure this new program of NO cardio would work, I must have emailed Erik 5 times within the first 2 weeks asking when cardio would be put in my program. The beginning of my program was muscle building, so he continually reminded me that there would be no cardio while I was building. Holy metabolic shoulders!! I couldn’t believe the size I was putting on in such a short time, and I was still leaning out, still feeling good, still eating a lot of food. My workouts were shorter, but tougher. It was exercises I had never seen or heard of but I loved it, they were fresh and dare I say, FUN! The results were more than enough for me to no longer ask questions of Erik, there was no way I was going to question his program with how amazing I was looking, but more importantly, how amazing I was feeling. I wasn’t tired, I wasn’t miserable and I wasn’t a raging bi***. Truth be told I was the most energized I had been in a while, while prepping at least. Then, with 3 weeks till show time Erik changed it all up. I went from building to leaning out. He added two short cardio sessions twice a week. 3 weeks out and I was just starting my cardio, lets just say other woman who were prepping for the same show were shocked!! They even began questioning their own trainers, who were having them do cardio twice a day. But three short weeks was all I needed. I didn’t think it was possible, but I leaned out even more and still held all my muscle. The best part, I wasn’t even fantasizing about food I couldn’t eat. In fact I was the most disciplined I had ever been while prepping. With such amazing results there was no way I was going to screw it up, especially not for a few bites of anything. I went into my show feeling on top of the world, I was the best I had ever looked and felt. I was confident and regardless of how the show went, I was satisfied with where I had taken my body. 

The best part though, I am now 3 weeks post show and even tho I did indulge a bit after my show, I am still within 3 lbs of where I was when I stepped on stage. I still feel and look great and am actually looking forward to my off season instead of dreading the weight I normally gain post show. I now have control over what I eat and it feels amazing!! I now know so much more about portion control, and am so aware of what I eat. It feels good to be in control of my body and mouth. Dieting and contest prep, even everyday eating, will never be the same for me. I will never train with anyone but LBC. Thanks Erik.

– National-Level Bikini Competitor, Amy Rose, Parker, CO