We see them every day:  the uber-fit.  They gaze at us from the covers of glossy magazines.  Occasionally we’ll run into one of them in real life, lifting massive weights at the gym or trolling the supplement aisle.  These aren’t average folks who have dropped a few pounds, but the true fitness elite: physique competitors, fitness models, bodybuilders.  The folks for whom looking ripped and muscular isn’t just a by-product of a vigorous pursuit of health, or a means to an end in a competitive sport, but a vocation in itself.  If we’re fitness dabblers who lift here and Spin there, we’ll almost certainly wonder:  what can I do to look just a little more like that?

Physique competition isn’t everyone’s cup of tea:  you strut about wearing next to nothing in front of a few hundred pairs discriminating eyes.  You’re evaluated on the quality of your flesh like a show pony.  But even those of us with no greater fitness goal than looking good in our college jeans can learn a thing or two from the fitness elite. 

"Developing a body that looks good onstage is a totally different animal from exercising for fitness," warns Tony Wisniewski, a trainer and owner of Ultra Body Fitness in Los Angeles.  He should know:  a shelf of physique trophies adorns his gym, engraved with titles like ‘Mr. Michigan,’ ‘Mr. Universe,’ and ‘Mr. World.’  "The training, and especially the diet, are very different, and much more intense." 


Karen Williams is a musician and a trainer in Wisniewski’s gym.  As a former track athlete and self-confessed fitness nut, she’s already got the kind of physique that most women would kill for. 

But last year, she decided to take her physique to the next level, entering Los Angeles’ annual  ‘Model America’ contest under Wisniewski’s tutelage.  Ever the perfectionist, Williams wasn’t happy with her placing—22nd out of 39 women--but photos indicate she very well could have placed much higher. 

"Judging is very subjective," says Wisniewski, who mentors Williams.  "It will probably take a few appearances before the judges get used to her and place her higher."  During his competitive years, Wisniewski was famous for his conditioning—the crucial last weeks of preparation that separate the contenders and the also-rans--and he encourages his protégés to do likewise. 

"The first thing the judges do is separate the people who are in shape from the ones who aren’t," he says, now drawing from his experience as a physique judge as well.  "You want to do everything you can to be on the judges’ short list right from the beginning." 

Which means three things:  diet, diet, diet.  "That’s the thing people screw up the most.  It’s the hardest thing to get right." 

Williams agrees:  "The hardest part by far was the dieting," Williams says.   Starting ten weeks before the show, she went cold turkey on virtually everything except, well, cold turkey:  "Every meal consisted of a high-quality protein, veggies and maybe some fruit," she says.  "You cut all sugars, you only eat good carbs.  No breads, pasta, or much of anything white, and no alcohol."  Over the ten weeks, Williams never cheated. 

Competitors who schedule a weekly cheat day tell stories of lying in bed waiting for the clock to reach midnight, at which point they can gorge unchecked for 24 hours.

Williams didn’t alter her training much, however.  "I lowered my weights and did more reps, and was even more religious than usual about getting in five days of cardio and four days of lifting.  But the exercises and volume didn’t change aside from that.  And my strength was pretty much the same, too." 

Wisniewski agrees with Williams’ approach, but adds that she was prepping for a ‘fitness model’ contest, which rewards a more streamlined look.  To reach the awesome proportions of a bodybuilder is a bigger commitment, requiring "Something on the order of twenty to thirty hours a week of training."   

Sounds like a gig for the tireless, the childless, and the independently wealthy—not to mention the masochistic. But for Wisniewski, the sacrifice was plainly worth it:  "If I hadn’t put in all the work and sacrifice for all those years, I’d still be a heavy equipment operator back in Michigan. It was the best thing I ever did."

Williams has no regrets about her foray into competing, either.  She even has her strategy mapped out for her second crack at the Model America this year:  "I’m going to ease into my diet a little more, and come in a pound or two heavier.  I think I was too skinny last year.  But it was great seeing my abs so sharp.  And when I saw the other girls backstage looking so good, it was nice to look at myself in the mirror and think, ‘They look fantastic—but, hey, I look great, too!’     

Tomorrow in Part II:  Top Five Elite Fitness Tips!