Ava Cowan 3 weeks out

[steve_d]

She competes in Figure, personally I think she looks great.

agreed. This is not a matter of someone not reaching their 'potential'...she has the potential to be huge, thats good for her, but she competes in figure, and if they aren't going for huge, then don't get huge...if that means not taining heavy, then that is what it means - it's not archaic.

It bugs me when people think figure or bodybuilding rules for that matter or 'archaic' or discriminating against women or whatever you wanna call it. It is a sport (well, a beauty pagent) and there are criteria to follow, and if that means not training heavy, thats what it means. Same can be said about the drugs a figure girl might take vs. a bodybuilder...is it archaic that figure girls don't need as much as a bodybuilder to reach elite? same comparison to training....figure girls don't need to train as heavy as bodybuilders. Bikini girls don't need to train as heavy as figure girls. But that doesn't mean they aren't reaching their 'potential'....

Not only that, 1 girl training as hard and as heavy and as often as a male bodybuilder may actually only genetically get to the size of a bikini competitor...whereas another girl could barely train and still have the muscle size to be an elite figure girl. Genetics dictate what these girls need to do in and out of the gym...and how to eat and what supplements to take. Ava Cowan in this example likely falls into a category of needing to take it easier in the gym than someone else to reach her potential as an elite figure competitor.

These sports are NOT about who trains the hardest or diets the most, or takes the most supplements. It's about who looks best on stage given the criteria. If the criteria were who looks like they train the heaviest, then the sport they would enter might be powerlifting. This again, is a beauty contest. Beauty defined specifically to a certain body type. Athletes do what they need to given their genetics to get to that certain look they might be judging for.

[steve_d]

This is a physique and workout routine I'd expect from bikini class not figure.

as mentioned above, you could be right. for some bikini competitors this is how they might train...How do you think Iris Kyle would have train for a figure contest? My guess would be: lay down on the couch all day and not eat protein.

Figure and bikini is not the same as male bodybuilding. Male bodybuilding is about adding muscle. Because more is basically always going to be better. Figure and bikini is about showing a sexy body, therefore more is not going to be better for some. but more is better for others who have to work harder to gain muscle.

So I can't really agree with you and drvgirl...those divisions are not about seeing how far your body can go. female bodybuilding maybe.

[Dryvrgrl]

Of course you boys are right.. she looks great!!
Its great that us "girls" have boys like you to look out for us all and create classes we can fit into so that we stay pretty and cute and NOT TOOOOOOO strong cause that might step on your masculine little tootsies a bit.. *giggle giggle* gonna go do my nail;s now hug hug xoxo

[countrychic]

Of course you boys are right.. she looks great!!
Its great that us "girls" have boys like you to look out for us all and create classes we can fit into so that we stay pretty and cute and NOT TOOOOOOO strong cause that might step on your masculine little tootsies a bit.. *giggle giggle* gonna go do my nail;s now hug hug xoxo

I actually agree with the guys..... SHE needs to do what she needs in order to get to where she needs to go.....which you are also doing DG. I think you take things a bit to personal I know your dieting (no attack here).

I have been through a few trainers in the past few years, and one trainer had me doing high reps and not heavy to gain what I needed to. Another trainer had me lifting heavy right through my prep. This was all for bodybuilding!!!

Personally it is not all about lifting as heavy as you can..... I was talking to a fantastic bodybuilder on the week-end and she commented on the same thing....how annoying it is when people always ask how heavy can you lift? It's not about the weight it's how you lift and do it to make personal gains. You can go in and throw heavy weight around all you want...BUT if your not doing it right WTH is the point. IW is great for that if I am lifting to heavy and my form sucks.....well my weight goes down!

[Talo]

Of course you boys are right.. she looks great!!
Its great that us "girls" have boys like you to look out for us all and create classes we can fit into so that we stay pretty and cute and NOT TOOOOOOO strong cause that might step on your masculine little tootsies a bit.. *giggle giggle* gonna go do my nail;s now hug hug xoxo

WOW! You really think that? It has nothing to do with strength and she is not in bodybuilding is she?

If you don't adapt to the way the rules are going then your going nowhere and she is adapting to what has to be done in HER event.

[ironwill]

WOW! You really think that? It has nothing to do with strength and she is not in bodybuilding is she?

If you don't adapt to the way the rules are going then your going nowhere and she is adapting to what has to be done in HER event.

You betcha....Thats what its all about...Being the best you can be in the parameters chosen and communicated by the judging group.....
Some have it, some dont....It is reality..

[ironwill]

Of course you boys are right.. she looks great!!
Its great that us "girls" have boys like you to look out for us all and create classes we can fit into so that we stay pretty and cute and NOT TOOOOOOO strong cause that might step on your masculine little tootsies a bit.. *giggle giggle* gonna go do my nail;s now hug hug xoxo

I highly doubt you are intimidating any men in the gym, if so, then you need to find a real one...lol

[steve_d]

Of course you boys are right.. she looks great!!
Its great that us "girls" have boys like you to look out for us all and create classes we can fit into so that we stay pretty and cute and NOT TOOOOOOO strong cause that might step on your masculine little tootsies a bit.. *giggle giggle* gonna go do my nail;s now hug hug xoxo

if ava cowan worked out the way you might work out, she'd be too big for figure.

Figure is not about being pretty and cute. some figure girls look downright nasty if you ask me. I am not saying female bodybuilding is dumb...I am saying the division one wishes to succeed in will dictate the way you work out given your own genetics.

If jay cutler actually wanted to be a fitness model, how do you think he would train? Ava wants to be in figure, not bodybuilding.

The way you talk about it makes it seem like there would simply be no distinction between divisions. either that, or you think bikini and figure should be knocked out, because those divisions require some girls to not train as hard as you to succeed.

PS: there are girls that will be completely natural, and train half as hard as you and get double the results. It's a fact of life. Same as me...I train harder than many of the people I know, and yet still don't get the same results. For me to be a bodybuilder, it requires training to my limit. And the other part of this reality is that if YOU wanted to compete in figure, your genetics would still require you to train as heavy as a bodybuilder, and you'd still be smaller than what figure is looking for.

So don't knock down figure just because 1 or 2 girls post videos saying they have to tone their workouts down. they are not complaining about toning it down...I am sure they are actually quite happy they don't need to look like Iris Kyle to succeed.

[japh]

^^^^I don't disagree with anything you've said steve. It all makes perfect sense. Her routine is still quite difficult and requires hard work.

I personally find my powerlifting routines to be the easiest and when I was training as a competetive boxer that was by far the hardest with 100 rep dropsets with 1 minute rest and running up hills getting my heartrate into the 180's.

My perception based on my own personal preference is just that things have been toned down a little too much with regards to fitness/figure and bikini. They all look great still and depending on genetics have to put the work in. Iris kyle could compete in figure by doing cardio only. She could just take up swimming for developement and watch her diet.

It really is a beauty pageant more than ever now though.
All the top competitors are beautiful facially as well which is no coincedence. Thats OK too I suppose just so long as its recognized as such I suppose and accepted.

Cory everson in the early 80's when she was winning olympia's before she played the size game seems like a nice figure/fitness physique to me. The current fitness/figure athletes seem like nice bikini physiques to me. The current bikini competitors have no real muscle tone to speak of and so it seems a strange to me that they are part of a fitness show but I understand why things are the way they are.

They all look great but my personal expectation in developement is just a little higher than it is right now for these classes. I'm not saying I'm right or wrong. Just my expectation still and preference.

[cog]

I think she looked better last year.My suspicion is that the change in her physique might be due to other factors...