In the latest Olympia video diary from IFBB Pro Lil’ Monstar Dani Reardon, we get to see a very personal and humble athlete as she reveals her mindset 5 weeks out from the biggest bodybuilding competition in the world. You’d think the #2 Women’s Physique athlete on planet Earth wouldn’t have anxiety headed into competition, well think again. Dani is human just like the rest of us. Her physique may be like Wonder Woman, but she faces real deal problems that all of us face. Not only is she prepping to win the title, but is getting married on November 11th and trying to close on a new home with her fiancé Ian. And for anyone who has bought a home, you know the circus it can be. But through it all, you can see the passion and excitement that Dani has for the sport of bodybuilding. She loves the challenge of carb cycling and doesn’t just sleep walk through cardio, but instead treats it as intensely as a lifting session. Stay tuned for more updates from Dani as we get closer to the Olympia this September.
]]>Today, we are 46 days out from the 2017 Olympia. My goodness its coming quick. I have not competed since last year’s Olympia, where I was awarded second place!! (still in shock over that one). This offseason I learned a lot about myself. Not so much physically, as I would have predicted, but more so, mentally. I learned a lot about myself as a competitor, role model, who I have been, and most importantly the person I want to be. I’ll tell you that what I have realized about the difference between first and second is simple. It’s far from easy… but it’s simple. My off-season lessons had a lot to do with me dissecting this idea “it is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us”. I won’t get too deep into it but a simple question I have learned to ask myself constantly is, “to be, or not to be”, and in my case, I finish it with, Ms. Olympia. I guess the take home lesson is that, every moment we have a decision to make, and it can go one of two ways. Either in alignment getting us closer to our goal, or out of alignment bringing us further away from our goal. Its inescapable, and can be your best friend if you just do the next right thing. So out of a dark offseason came a lot of light and lessons. The acquisition of new mental tools and insight about myself, my intentions, and my purpose for bodybuilding. And so here we go 46 days out from the biggest show of my life. No Pressure or anything, I am Redcon.
Diet: The diet is really going smoothly this go around, my body changes daily, and it feels as if my cells are conspiring to make something amazing happen. I think it’s because I am truly sticking to it 111%. Its funny what happens when you don’t cut corners, or add in nibbles, and do the right thing. I find that the time I had off from the structure was a great reset for my body and mind. I am excited to prep again, and I am responding quickly to changes. The other day I was given a huge refeed with tons of carbs coming from white rice and cream of rice mostly, and then at the end of the day I got to eat a huge burger, fries and halo top ice cream!! It sounds amazing, and was for the most part. I ate so much that I was in literal pain. And my digestion still isn’t one hundred percent back to normal. So yes cheat meals are great, and helpful if necessary but they do come with a price (water retention, messed up belly). To be completely honest, sometimes cheat meals are not as worth it as our brain leads us to believe. My advice about diets and cheats would be…. Diet for conditioning. That should come first and foremost, and then you will get cheats and refeeds because of your awesome conditioning and progress. If you find yourself dieting so you can have the next cheat meal or refeed (instead of new level of progress), it would be a good idea to double check your motives and intentions behind contest prep… we can make this so much easier on ourselves if we just switch our focus off peanut butter and onto progress. See doesn’t that feel better already?
Training: My training has been great! I feel like I have a better connection with my muscles than I ever have. Strength is never really a huge factor for me. So when I get a little bit weaker as contest prep progresses it doesn’t bother me at all. In fact I prefer volume training over strength training. Something new that I have been doing is Yoga. I absolutely love it, and wish I could fit it in more. And do you want to know I think that my increased mind muscle connection is due to yoga. Whats cool is that you can take any approach that you would like. You can make it more of a stretching practice or a strength practice. I kind of do both, sometimes I want a challenge and sometimes I just want to move better at the end of the class… Either way my conclusion with yoga is that its awesome and has been helping me… if I can lengthen and move my muscles better I can contract my muscles better, thus making me better at what I do. Also energetically, I find it’s a nice balance to the constant aggressive nature of training intensely in the gym all the time.
Supplements: Being a new athlete for Redcon1 has opened up a whole world of supplements. Some of the supplements I have been taking daily are RPG, the glucose disposal agent, as well as both fat burners, double tap and silencer. I like them both, I notice good energy, and I like a little stimulant here and there. Before writing this, I actually took mental trigger.. and I think its safe to say, its effective. ? Pre workouts I took a break from a while ago, however, now I am back in action with them… I forgot after not using them for so long that they really do help your workout… I have just started using total war, big noise and breach. So far so good, flavors off the chain!! Pumped and focused!!
Exciting and Positive News: The most recent piece of news I have is becoming a sponsored athlete with Redcon1!! Super excited and grateful for this opportunity. Thank you all very much!! I am guest posing in South Florida August 12th at the Florida Muscle Classic!! And omg, pretty much minutes ago as I am typing this, our offer was accepted on the house we wanted!!!! It’s a lateral move financially and spaciously… but the back yard for the dog is just magical. If you guys don’t already know, one more exciting life thing, just around the corner in November my fiancé Ian and I are getting married!!! 11-11-17. So woa, yes we have a big exciting year ahead of us and it coming quick. Need to be on my A game for this. Thanks for your time and energy if you made it down this far ?
Until Next time… Good Vibes, Hoodie up, Bel1eve
Dani
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