Muscle Ventures Podcasts

In this podcast (Quicktime, 18.4 MB; Google Video, no download), we cover Mary Reiter's transition to her second male coach, Kevin Kelsey. Kevin was also Nancy's coach for her bodybuilding competition in Flint this past April.

Mary met Kevin as Frank was preparing to move on from the gym where she trained and worked. One morning during her training for a show, Mary came to the gym, only to discover that it had flooded. Frank suggested she go to another gym, Champions. It so happens Kevin owns Champions.

It took Mary some time to convince Kevin to accept her as a trainee. They trained together several times, and it was only after Kevin saw her willingness to train intensely that he agreed to take her on. Mary makes several remarks about feeling the need to gain the respect of the men in the establishment.

Additional Links

• Many female bodybuilders choose male trainers. However males and females respond differently to weight training, in part because women have more slow twitch muscle fibers than men.
• Over time, hormonal differences between men and women affect flexibility and morph as well as the potential for gaining muscle mass. These differences impact the effectiveness of different exercises by sex. They also impact susceptibility to injury.

It's hard to believe, but we are one week from Nancy Arnold's competition on April 29. In this conversation, I talk with Nancy about her final game plan (download the 35 MB Quicktime video by clicking on Nancy's picture). Nancy has decided, in consultation with Kevin her diet consultant, to alter her carb depletion regimen by supplementing with Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT). The theory behind MCTs is that they provide a more easily digested fat that can act as an energy source, raising the metabolic rate, and thus increasing the rate of glycogen reduction. Recall that the goal of carb depletion is to initially reduce glycogen before reloading it back into the muscles so that they look relatively larger.

The press on the effectiveness of MCTs is highly mixed. Even sellers of MCTs, such as bodybuilding.com, note that they may only be effective in certain cases, and even then provide scant evidnce. Other sources are less charitable, flatly stating that MCTs have no athletic benefits, although they may show other therapeutic benefits.

In the podcast, Nancy is in an upbeat mood, typical for a Wednesday during these last two months. Later, as we worked out, the owner of Outback Gym offered to sponsor her entry fees in the contest. We discuss her good fortune as the podcast closes. And, it is good fortune. Female bodybuilding is a dying sport. Most sponsorships are going to more “feminine” aesthetic sports such as figure competitions.