In the first video of the Travel Bag Essentials Series, IFBB Pro Dani “Lil Monstar” Reardon, shows us what she packed in her food bag as she prepares for the 2017 Olympia.

In the second video of the Travel Bag Essentials Series, IFBB Pro Dani “Lil Monstar” Reardon, gives us an inside look into her toiletry essentials as the 2017 Olympia quickly approaches.

In the third video of the Travel Bag Essentials Series, IFBB Pro Dani “Lil Monstar” Reardon, shows us what she packed in her clothes bag as she prepares for the 2017 Olympia.

Catch this new posing video from Redcon1 athlete and IFBB Pro Dani “Lil Monstar” Reardon. Dani meets via FaceTime with her posing coach this week, Kenny Wallach, as they refine her 2017 Olympia mandatory poses. Kenny is an old school coach whose style and preference works extremely well with Dani’s aesthetic physique and classic lines. Their friendship and bond make for a truly unique athlete/coach relationship. With just 1 week until the Olympia expect for Lil Monstar to shock the world in Las Vegas.

Want to find out the secret to IFBB Pro Dani “Lil Monstar” Reardon’s amazing conditioning she displays on stage? Look no further than to this High Intensity Interval Training cardio routine. Dani performs 20 seconds of all-out effort on the stationary bike, followed by 40 seconds of rest. She completes 10-20 rounds of this and feels it’s the biggest factor in her crisp conditioning we’ve come to expect on stage. Learn more about the advantages of Excess Post Oxygen Consumption (EPOC) and why you need HIT for maximum fat burning.

IFBB Pro Dani “Lil Monstar” Reardon is back to share a new update as she sits 15 days out from the 2017 Ms. Olympia Women’s Physique competition. This prep has gone extraordinarily smooth for the 2016 runner-up. Her cardio has been scaled back and her muscles are staying round and full. In fact, Dani has been enjoying some higher carb meals which has allowed her training in the gym to really intensify. She is currently training body parts twice per day (on smaller body parts) and the added fuel due to being ahead of schedule has paid off tremendously this prep.

Dani “Lil Monstar” Reardon is out with this sick new back training video just weeks out from the 2017 Ms. Olympia Women’s Physique competition. Dani hits 2 exercises to start: straight arm pulldowns – superset – underhand pulldowns. And then she heads into back thickening exercises utilizing barbell rows and seated cable rows. Dani isn’t a huge fan of compound mass builders, but instead uses more refining movements to bring out all of the details in her physique. Look for Lil Monstar to bring home her first Olympia championship in less than 3 weeks!

Highest Priority: The Stage Stuff

This is your main priority because this is the end result that you’ve been working for, even if you look your best ever, but you have no suit to wear, no tan, or missing food. No one will get to see you the way they should, the way you envisioned and the way you deserve.

• Suit/ Trunks and possibly an extra suit if you have it just in case. Don’t forget boobs for the top if they come with it!
• Routine Music and an extra copy just in case!
• Heels
• Jewelry- Bracelets, earrings, rings, necklaces, hair jewelry, anklets, pretty much anything sparkly, and of course- good luck charms ?
• NPC Card/ IFBB Pro Card
• Cash
• Nails done? (clear for guys, watch out for the tan)
• Tan Appointment Booked? Day and Times? Paid?
• Loose fitting, dark clothes to put over your tan, no bunchy waistlines, no tight bands, stay covered as much as possible to make sure you tan stays nice and even. 2-3 options depending on the length of the show.
• Black sheets to sleep in so the hotel doesn’t charge you for sheets!! Because that tan gets everywhere.
• Make sure you have been exfoliating and taking good care of your skin for a few weeks before the show. Shave and exfoliate one good last time before the show, and before you get sprayed (no oils or lotions after exfoliating) you want your skin to soak it all up! Your tan will love you for taking care of your skin.
• Bring or make a pee cup- you will love this, cut the hole out of a cup, and when you pee, go through it. Its sounds silly at first… but because you can’t sit on a toilet seat with the tan on, which means you have to hover to go to the bathroom. Well this little cup trick kind of funnels and controls the stream lol I’m serious though, pee leaves spots on your legs, you’ll thank me after your first pee spot ?
• Hair and Makeup? Did you make an appointment? Did you pay in advance?
• Bring your own hair and makeup stuff even if you’re getting it professionally done, you might still have a few days before and after the show that you might want to get ready for. Also, don’t forget tan makeup for your face- powder or liquid! After the show, you’ll want your face and body to match.
• Teeth Whitener
• Shower stuff: Shampoo, conditioner body wash, razor (no Nair), exfoliating stuff, Epsom salts, face mask
• Hair stuff: Hair spray, dry shampoo, flat iron or curling iron, clips, bobby pins, and hair ties
• Scale to weigh yourself on everyday
• Pump Up Bands

Food

Normally your coach will give you an exact list for show day, but here is a pretty solid one that I always use, and then once I get there I find out if I need to grab extra stuff from the store. And honest, I personally love doing grocery shopping trips when we travel, it’s kinda fun!

• Pump UP Goodies! Typically, this is something sweet, sugary, quick absorbing, or something specific like a Karbolyn type thing that your coach will tell you… I have had a slew of different things back stage with me, among them….
• Karbolyn or similar. Rice cakes. Skittles, Peanut butter. Jelly. Nutella. Banana. Salt. A burger. Fries. Steak. Reese’s. Snickers. Wine. Swedish Fish. White rice. Sour patch kids. Water. Coke. White potato. Granola. Candy bars. Granola Bars. Oreos! Cookies. Pop Tarts. Donuts. Pancakes. Honey. (You know your dieting when you can’t stop listing things to pump up with)

Normal Diet Food and Cooking Essentials:

• Meals Prepped? Sometimes if you pack them in little baggies they travel easier… sometimes I even put a few separated meal baggies in one Tupperware and then pack it up nice like that.
• Shop when you get there?? Do you know where the grocery store nearest store is? This is not the time to buy cheap food. Spend a little extra at whole foods or on organic choices. The cleaner the food the better at this point.
• Food Scale
• Proteins? Veggies? Carbs? Fats? Salt and Pep? I would avoid throwing anything new into your diet for any of these categories. I keep it as consistent as possible at this point.
• Cook wear (yes, I sometimes cook in hotel rooms, the ones that don’t have kitchens) … A Nuwave hot plate or a George foreman, I seriously can do anything on a George Foreman. If this is you too, get paper towels, tin foil, pan spray, extra tupp, and a fork and knife.
• Water! Lots and lots of gallons of water
• Snacks and meals for whoever is with you… they don’t necessarily want to eat cold asparagus and rice cakes with us!
• Supplements: Dailies, Electrolytes, Pedialyte, Benadryl in case you need to sleep, suppositories just in case you need to… Tea, Advil or Tylenol, Extra protein shakes and quest bars for those traveling with you

Other Necessities

• Clothes: Depends on how long you are staying how many choices you bring
  • Slips- first and foremost… Slips… Good luck slips, travel slips, hard bottom slips, back stage slips, and walking around the hotel room slips.
  • Travel Clothes- Comfy and comforting. Normally I wear my Fit Hustle sweat pant track suit, that they make for me every year… It my favorite thing ever.
  • Everyday clothes- depends on what you’re doing, I normally bring 2-3 options
  • Training Clothes – Typically I bring 3 sweat outfits with some pro fits and t shirts and sports bras for under.
  • Tanning Clothes- a few pairs to sleep in and function during the day in 2-3
  • Back Stage Outfit- For me it’s always the sweat pant outfit that makes me feel the most comfortable, and confident
  • Photo Shoot Options- Gym, sexy, cute, athletic, creative… you
  • Sneakers and Heels (training, going out to a nice dinner/ shoots)
• Bun and Blank- My baby bunny and blanket, I don’t travel without them, one its weird if they are not here and two… it’s kind of a traditional good luck charm.
• Phone and electronic chargers- Drones, cameras, laptops and boosted boards

Oh yeah and your family and all their stuff!!

Happy packing, preparing and conquering. Have a blast and take in every moment!

Last Sunday, IFBB Pro Dani Reardon and her fiancé Ian, drove from Orlando to Tampa to meet with her close friend and posing coach Kenny Wallach. Kenny helped Dani to her 2nd place finish at last year’s Mr. Olympia competition and she is back with him this year to fine-tune her posing as she heads into the final weeks of her prep. Kenny said upon first meeting Dani, “I’m surprised she got as far as she did given how she posed.” That speaks volumes into the improvements Dani has made, as she’s easily one of the best and most entertaining posers in the IFBB Women’s Physique division.

During the video Dani hits all of her mandatory poses and works on her classical poses as that is her coach’s speciality. Blessed with great lines and symmetry, you’ll get a behind the scenes look into her working out the kinks on the posing routine to be used in next months competition.

Diet: Well, the diet has been very extreme this week. A few days of very low lows, and one day of a very high-high day! The low days consisted of a few rice cakes and the high day was stuffed to the brim with rice and a burger at the end of the night. The low days just so happened to be over the course of the weekend we were traveling to Boca for the guest posing! Which sounds terrible but kind of worked in my favor. Having lower carbs, yes definitely hungrier, but it also keeps my body a little tighter. I was exhausted to say the very least by Sunday when we were driving home. After traveling and training and then guest posing I was plain just beat up. However, I woke up at a new low weight Monday morning and was rewarded with a huuugggeeee high carb day. So, the hunger and energy I put in over the weekend paid off wonderfully. The high day was lots of jasmine rice and cream of rice all day long, and then a double burger with fries and halo top ice cream! (was supposed to be half the pint… supposed to be). I went to bed in gastric pain, and woke up with a huge food baby. In a good way though. I felt on top of the world and went to bed a happy prepper. So moral of the diet story is to keep pushing and doing the next right move, as hard as it may seem, it’s temporary, this too shall pass and the other side if you can stick with it, is oh so abundant and sweet.

Training: Training is nothing crazy different. We may be super setting more and drop setting more to keep the heart rate higher for longer. But the typical rep range I find myself in now is 10-20 reps with shorter rest periods. Quick and intense! Something I do want to tell you guys about in regards to training that I do frequently, is mimic poses with some of the exercises I choose, as well as posing in between sets. The way I see it is, practice how you compete. The more I can choose exercises that mimic poses, the more I grow in that particular pose, essentially because I am adding weight to the pose. I find when I pose in between sets, the better the mind muscle connection becomes. And then when I go to train that specific muscle group, the proprioceptors are primed and ready to be damaged by the weight ? So in a nutshell, high volume, lots of mind muscle connection, just sculpting and getting to know my body more.

Cardio: We have switched up this week, and thank the universe for that! For the last few weeks I was doing 55 minutes in the morning, and then 25 minutes post workout a few times a week. The 55 minutes was on the stepper or step mill, and I could get into it and enjoy it, but after a few weeks of that I began getting restless and I found myself having to switch between machines to keep interested. I don’t typically do the treadmill or elliptical, most times it doesn’t get me in the zone enough. On that same token, I don’t know that I ever do steady state cardio anymore. There is always room for intervals. Like I mentioned this week we switched it up and we are doing less time, around 30 minutes and more High Intensity Interval Training on the stepper or spin bike. I personally like that better. It hurts like a frick, especially with sore legs, but there is something about the pain and intensity that really lights my spirit up. I know it’s go time, and it’s almost show time. It’s like I trust the energy I am putting in will come back as results, so every pedal I push, every step I take is harder than the last… my mind is focused, the tunes are up, bring it on.

Supplements: My new jam this week from Redcon1 is the Double Tap Powder fat burner. I have never really tried a powdered fat burner before this one, and I am a huge fan. I have been using it frequently to get me through my workouts. What I notice is that my body heats up quite a bit faster and I break a sweat quicker than if I don’t take it. I also notice an increase in energy, kind of a big increase in energy to be honest, and that is so awesome because my energy is beginning to get lower as the prep gets harder. Right now, this supplement is perfect for what I need because it keeps my workouts intense, and the name of the game for me is calorie burn with muscle maintenance. So, the thermal effects are highly sought after. I also like that it has dandelion root in it, this is great for ridding excess water, so you can see all the shreds. I like it so much Ian and I even put together a fun little special effect video for it. (check it out on my Instagram) One more thing about supplements, the Isotope protein shake, I have both the chocolate peanut butter and the cake batter. This past weekend while we were traveling I brought a few shakes with me just in case I needed extra meals… and man was I pleasantly surprised! I did try both of them over the course of the weekend, and they were very very good. Especially for an isolate. Definitely not your typical dirty water isolate protein shake. And my favorite thing to do is make it a cereal meal with some crushed up rice cakes in it, mmmmmm so good forgetaboutit!

With less than 5 weeks until I hit the stage again, I am in a very good positive spot, I feel like I’ve already conquered the world and I am Redcon1 for what’s to come!! Talk to you soon!

Great vibes and lots of light.

Dani