Muscle Ventures Podcasts

In this podcast (Quicktime ipod compatible, 31MB; Google streaming flash video), I (Bud) report some unfortunate news. Due to professional conflicts, Nancy Arnold has had to move on from Muscle Ventures. I have agreed with Nancy not to publicly go into the details of her decision beyond what I have just related. Instead, I'd like to spend the post chronicling Nancy's contribution to this site that she helped me start 14 months ago.

Nancy and I started Muscle Ventures in February 2006 after we had been training together for a bit over a year. She was in the midst of dieting and preparing for a bodybuilding competition, and we were doing exercise analyses. We had started on my now suspended Michigan Muscle Boy blog and wanted to share the credit.

We didn't really kick into high gear though until April when we chronicled the last month of her competition preparation. If you look in that month, you'll see some things that are similar and some that are different from what had become our recent posting pattern. There was an intense focus on bodybuilding and many interviews with different players. It was a fun, focused, intense time. You might have thought the site was dedicated to bodybuilding competition. Since, we kept up the interviews but diversified the focus covering things like the gym business and the Michigan Mountain Biking Association.

Nancy's recent trip to Northern Kentucky was a continuation of that diversification. Unfortunately, we won't be able to continue that series at this time but may be able to complete it in the future. The last episode, which we won't show now, goes into her indecision on whether or not to compete in Kentucky. She liked the venue, but the show was long.

I would be remiss if I didn't mention how close Nancy and I became personally. All of this fitness blogging business started around the time of my mother's death, and Nancy was a tremendous support. I enjoyed working out with her immensely. She will be missed from this site and from our gym sessions together.

As I mention in the podcast, the site will continue. I have several ideas planned at Gold's Gym, Ann Arbor as well as other gyms in the Southeast Michigan area.

Additional Links

• We started the exercise analysis series on Michigan Muscle Boy with this gem.
• Here, I reviewed Nancy's hometown gym, the Outback, in Dexter.
• Nancy continues at NCAFitness, her business that we discussed in this series.

In this podcast (Quicktime ipod compatible, 52MB; Google streaming flash video) Jim and I continue footage from the Northern Kentucky Bodybuilding Competition.  We begin with video in front of the Ohio River.   I am checking out the show this year and may decide to compete here in 2008.  While attending the prejudging I was able to interview some competitors and get their thoughts on the show.  There is also video of the women's heavyweight division.  This would be the weight class that I would be competing in so I was quite interested in this division.

The first interview is with Rich Lurow.  He is from Columbus, Ohio and  competed in the Men's Open Welterweight Division.   At the time of this interview Rich was still waiting to get on stage for the prejudging. He was kind enough to share his thoughts about the show and give a bit of background on himself.  He had competed in two shows approximately a year and a half ago.  After those shows he felt that he wanted to put on more muscle so he could move up a weight class.  During his time off he was able to make gains in the gym and decided that he would compete in the Northern this year.

The next interview is with Carrie Walend.  Carrie has competed many times but never in the Northern Kentucky show.  Carrie and I actually competed against one another in the Flint Mid Michingan in 2006.  She won her weight class and the overall title (beating me in the posedown!) at that show.  Carrie states that she changed a couple of things preparing for this show.  First of all she made an adjustment to her diet.  She changed her last meal from chicken to beef and really felt that this helped her come in leaner for the show.  She also kept her training heavy through her entire prep phase.  Although she was tired from the heavy training she believes this also contributed to her being leaner for this show.

This video concludes with commentary from both Jim and I about the prejudging and if he thinks I would do well here next year.  We both thought the judging was quite thorough.  Evidenced by the fact that the women were asked to perform a most muscular pose.  This is usually a pose only the men are asked to perform.  We also noted that the judges were asking for side triceps and side chest from both sides rather than having the competitors chose their best side. Jim's final thought was that I could compete with the women that were at this show.  Something to think about!!

Additional Links

• Here are professional photos of the female heavy weight prejudging.
• Why is nutrition important in bodybuilding?  Here are some basics.

This podcast (Quicktime ipod compatible, 27MB; Google streaming flash video) marks the first in a series that my husband, Jim, and I (Nancy) did while checking out the NPC Northern Kentucky Bodybuilding and Figure Championships.   We decided to combine a weekend getaway with the Kentucky show for a couple of reasons.   My husband coaches varsity softball at a local high school and his already busy schedule becomes even more so when the season begins in March.  The season doesn't end until June and his schedule remains crazy for the entire time.  We wanted to use this weekend to spend some time together and regroup.  I also wanted to take the time to investigate the Northern Kentucky show. I'm thinking  ahead to 2008 and what shows to compete in. I have heard and read quite a bit about this show and decided to see what it was all about.

Also on this video you will see 2005 Mr Indiana, Michael Barnes. He was supposed to compete in the show but due to some confusion with the check in time was told by show officials that he could not compete. He was gracious enough to explain his story to me and also performed his routine. Check out his routine-he looks like he would have done quite well in Kentucky. He will next compete in the Junior Nationals in Charleston, South Carolina.

Additional Links

• Check out photo's of all the competitors at the NPC Northern Kentucky 2007