September 25, 2005

#1: Getting Ripped and Turning Pro!

Q: Hi Autumn,

You looked amazing at the Canadian Championships and you certainly deserved to win. I noticed, too, that your condition was incredible. I want to know how you get so ripped. Do you diet for the entire year? Do you do tons of cardio? Please tell me. And when will you first compete as a pro?

...Janice Rickets

A: Hi Janice,

Thank you very much for the compliments. I am so happy to now be an IFBB Pro! It really is a "dream come true." I know, though, that all the athletes on the stage at the Canadian Championships worked very hard to get there and should be very proud too. But, at the time of the competition, it is up to the judges to decide who wins.

Last year at the Canadian Championships, I was a Heavyweight competitor and weighed in at 129 pounds. This year, I wanted to push a little harder and get a little tighter, and I got myself into the Middleweight class. I knew it would be a tough go, but I was up for the challenge – in bodybuilding you challenge yourself as it is an individual sport. To get so ripped you must follow the right sort of diet, and before the competition you have to do some "water manipulation" to achieve that "shrink-wrapped" look.

For the 2005 season, I have actually been dieting since February. IFBB Pro Denise Masino came back to Canada again to finish her "vampire" movie as well as some other projects she is working on that I was involved in too. I had to diet for this work, which I began in February of this year. Then, I was booked to guest pose at the "Northern BC Classic" right after Denise left. This actually helped me this year because by the middle of June I was getting close to competition conditioning, so all I had to do was slowly diet until the contest day, September 3rd. I actually preferred this method because it gave me so much time and made it so gradual to get into contest shape. I don't like to go more than 20 pounds over my contest weight as a rule, but dieting for such a long period of time really paid off. Too often competitors don't give themselves enough time to diet for a competition and this is something that I don't want to ever overlook.

OK, since dieting is not that easy, know that I do live for Sundays – Sundays are my "cheat days," which I can tell you more about later if you really want to know. (Simply write in to the e-mail address below.)

When it comes to cardio, I am very blessed with good genetics and a fast metabolism so I don't actually do any cardio. (Now, I do have a dog and sometimes I have to run after her – does that count?)

Onstage conditioning is something that has taken me a few years to achieve; each time I compete I seem to be able to have better conditioning than at the previous show because my body is getting more used to it and I know how long it takes me to get into shape.

As for my first professional show, I am hoping to get an invitation to the "Arnold Classic" in March of 2006.

...Autumn Raby, IFBB Pro

If you would like to ask Autumn a question, please e-mail: askautumn@seriousaboutmuscle.com.

SeriousAboutMuscle.com contributor Autumn Raby is from British Columbia, Canada, and is the 2005 CBBF Canadian Bodybuilding Championships Women's Middleweight and Overall Champion. Autumn's win at the Canadian Championships earned her an IFBB Pro Card. Autumn plans to make her pro debut in 2006.