Why Women Compete in Bodybuilding and What Prep Teaches

Nikkiey: What was it all about? Why compete?

Ida: The glam.

Nikkiey: Okay, no, seriously.

Ida: The feeling. No, seriously though, the feeling of stepping up on stage, all made up, with your hair done, in a very shiny, nice bikini, showing off what you built. I think from the very get-go I was very aligned with the fact that people are different. If you are one of those who actually make up your mind to go up on stage and stand there and say, "Hey, judge me in comparison to the others," you need to be okay with that. And all I could do was, okay, just bring your A-game. It doesn't matter what everyone else looks like. If they like you, they're going to give you good points.

Nikkiey: Love that.

Ida: I just always enjoyed the feeling of having a date to work really hard to get to my best shreddedness, or just best shape, because in figure it's not always about being the most shredded. You need to be so symmetrical, so balanced. You have to have the way of being, you need to have the aura, and then you have to be ripped in the right places. I guess I was never the most ripped.

Nikkiey: But for the four wins that you had, you were symmetrical though, right? For the four wins that you did win, they judged you basically off of your symmetry and the level of leanness you brought to the stage compared to the other girls.

Ida: Yeah. Yeah.

Nikkiey: So I know there is a decent number of people listening to this podcast who are interested in bodybuilding or have done bodybuilding, and they have questions about some of the aspects you mentioned there. So I want to unpack a couple of things. When you talk about leading up to the show, you said that was one of the reasons why you love stepping on stage, second to the glam. You're going to put in the work for the couple of weeks, months, to get ready to step on stage. What do you experience in that timeframe?

Ida: Everything. You experience absolutely everything about yourself and about other people, and especially about your body. Our beings are so unique and so cool. And at some point in time, to really put yourself to the test of doing uncomfortable things is so self-developing. For me it was just like, okay, I'm going to challenge myself, because that is what bodybuilding is about. Because, as I said, you can never compare yourself to others, because you don't know what the judges want. But during that time of getting there, there's going to be so much work on yourself to be able to cope with the different things. Because there are going to be days when you feel like, wow, I am not heading in the right direction. Or, today I'm so tired and I still need to put in the work. I still need to do my normal daily job if you're not a professional. So it's a lot to actually handle and take care of. It's really hard.

Nikkiey: You're learning so much about yourself. You're learning so much about your mindset. You're learning so much about what you're fully capable of. And elaborating on it too, it's a lonely road unless you have friends or a boyfriend or somebody who knows what you're going through. It's you versus you every single day.

Ida: So I actually do think that many people rely too much on other people. We are an animal that moves in groups, and I'm totally fine with that. But I just think that if we focus on ourselves first, and that sounds very selfish, I know, but...

Nikkiey: Let's keep going here.

Ida: Because it's not. If you just focus on the things that you need for your being to feel good, to be balanced, you will take care of other people way better, you will handle what comes your way so much better, and stress will not agonize you in the same way as if you are not in a good place. And I think that the people around you will always be super important, and I've always been so, so blessed with the people that I have around me, because they are such amazing human beings. But that also makes me want to be a better person too, which makes me need to focus on myself to make sure that I can greet them the same way that they greet me. So a competition diet is an extreme diet. It's not something that I recommend to anyone who is not willing to actually go the full length of uncomfortableness, because it is uncomfortable.

Nikkiey: Amen, sister. It's freaking uncomfortable. Say that louder for the audience.

Ida: It is so uplifting too, because it is when you understand that you are capable of doing something like that, that you're like, holy shit, Sherlock, life ain't too bad. And this is something that shows for me. So I better not whine about it, honestly.

Nikkiey: Yeah, dude. Oh my God, babe. Spot on there. If there's anything to take away from a competition prep and the journey that you're on, it is definitely learning and uncovering your best self. And also, if you're going to take it seriously, like you said, it's uncomfortable and you have to take it seriously. If you're going to go to the extreme, go to the extreme, full send. Be proud of yourself for going that far, stepping on stage and doing all the things. But if you do stick to the extreme and get ready in the right way, you're there giving your best when you step on stage. Not only do you learn so much about yourself, but man, there's so much discipline in those actions on a daily basis that you build for yourself. Don't you feel like that's literally why you're as successful as you are now, still maintaining your body? You've most likely built some of those discipline habits during competition that carry through your whole lifestyle.