01: Meet Michele Welcome and What To Expect From The Everything Else In Bodybuilding Podcast

Is bodybuilding about selfies, steroids, magazines, and muscles? How do I become a successful bb or fitness competitor? Where do I even start if I am new? How do I gain a competitive edge and place higher? How do I gain confidence and stand out on stage…if I’ve never really been on stage? And the biggest question of all, What are the judges looking for anyways?? Hi! *friendly wave!* My name is Michele Welcome. This is my new show, and I’m so excited about it! You may know me as a posing teacher, a bodybuilding competition judge, or maybe as an athlete, but in this show, I’m going to talk about all the secrets to pre and post competition success. Competing in bodybuilding and fitness is so much more than a nutrition or an exercise plan. Nutrition and training are important, don’t get me wrong, but what federation you compete, who you choose to work with, the advice you listen to, and your mental and physical health are all equally as important. But first, before we get into all this juicy stuff, in this first episode, I’ll tell you a little bit about how I started out 20 years ago, and what I learned from my early years of competing and how it all changed for me. I’ll then go on to share some key points about the sport as a whole and share some takeaways that are important to consider before you even think about competing. So buckle up, and let’s dive in! Key takeaways: Why I’m doing this show and the purpose of it (2:10)How my first contest prep was a scam and since then I’ve never been the same (5:54)Struggles with stage freight (19:24)The phone call that changed it all (28:17)That having a great physique is only going to get you so far (32:20)Things you should question when competing (34:09)How the diversity of my background applies to you (37:55) Additional resources Download the 5 Secrets Every Bodybuilder and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show at http://www.eeinbb.com So if you want to learn about all the “other” things in bodybuilding, be sure to subscribe and tune in for new episodes! --TRANSCRIPT-- Hey, Welcome to the first episode of EE in BB. I created this show specifically for two reasons. To cut through all the misinformation and bias in the bodybuilding and fitness industry , you know, like about the pink elegant in the room everyone pretends they don’t see… and to have a platform to teach strategies on how you can gain a competitive edge no matter where you compete, because let’s face it… your entire experience, good or bad, will depend on the federation you choose. This subject is near and dear to me because of my personal experiences early in my career when I did not understand these concepts or the industry as a whole plus the many eye openers I’ve had over the years as an industry veteran wearing different hats, like judging competitions or when doing complete posing and presentation makeovers on men an women competitors. I understand how much competing means to every athlete no matter what division or federation. And if you are a fitness fan and not a competitor I know how much you respect and love being a part of this sport and learning all about it too. So in this show I am your host Michele Welcome and I am going to be here the whole time with you. It will largely be just me sharing strategies and answering burning industry questions over the course of the podcast itself. But prior to understanding this stuff I started bodybuilding at a very young age and experienced many ups and downs and hard lessons. I got my start …. It was really at 20 years old when I was fresh out of college after graduating a year early and I was conned by a local startup modeling agency into competing for a fitness modeling contract. So I want to tell you about the purpose of this show and what it’s about. It was from this first fitness transformation at a very young age and then spending about 8 years or so continuously dusting myself off and getting back up after many crash and burns competing in bodybuilding competitions. That’s a lot of years of hard lessons! 8 or even 10 years of them. I am going to reference contest prep a lot. If you have never heard of contest prep it’s literally the process of transforming your physique to a level of leanness and preparedness required for the show and division you are competing in since every division has a different level of muscle and leanness. So I want to share all these strategies and shed light on secrets in the fitness and bodybuilding industry and what actually changed it all for me. Because ever since about the 10 year mark everything changed for me, it was a pivotal time, when i started judging shows, owned a gym, I was hosting competition prep workshops and I was teaching 1 on 1 sessions to competitors on how to break out of their comfort zone and slay the stage…way before it became the thing to do like it is today. It took me a while to ...