Muscle Ventures Podcasts

In this podcast (Quicktime ipod compatible, 20MB; Google streaming flash video), I (Nancy) provide an exclusive interview to Bud Gibson on my decision not to do a bodybuilding show in April.

As Bud and I discuss the fall of 2006 proved to be quite challenging for me on many levels.  The unexpected passing of my mother-in-law, Virginia, in late October was the beginning of a series of events that have me re-evaluating many aspects of my own life.

  The very same week that Virginia passed on my husband and I had to make the difficult decision to put our dog, Indi, down.  We had been monitoring Indi's renal failure and it had become apparent that she was suffering too much.  I never wanted her to suffer.

As mentioned in the podcast these two events took their toll and I ended up getting pretty sick and missed time from work.  In addition to the missed work days I also missed two weeks of working out.  Although I am back to working out my strength is not where I believe it should (or could) be.

As I state in the podcast I don't feel mentally, physically or emotionally ready to enter into contest prep.   The mental portion of the prep requires 24-7 dedication and I don't believe I can commit to that right now.  The physical prep obviously requires the workouts and cardio coupled with ever decreasing energy intake which puts quite a strain on the body.  I can feel that my system is not ready for that  challenge.  It is for these reasons that I haved decided not to compete in April.  I need to allow myself more time. 

In the podcast, Bud talks about our continuing with Muscle Ventures despite my decision.  Although Muscle Ventures was born out of the contest prep it has evolved into much more over time and we will continue with that aspect of the site.

Additional Links

• For a complete list of the specific requirements of contest prep look at these articles at Bodybuilding.com
• [Added by Bud]  You can also see all of our posts on Nancy's preparation for her last contest in our Bodybuilding 2006 series.  We go through all of Nancy's experiences in the last month of her preparation and provide footage of her show performance.
  
• [Added by Bud]  Nancy also provides a whole series on how to perform bodybuilding poses, a surprisingly difficult aspect of contest prep.