Barack Obama to get body-building help from Arnold Schwarzenegger
By Tom Leonard
Last Updated: 12:01am GMT 24/11/2008
Barack Obama: mainly free weights, 50lb overhead dumbbell extensions, 80lb calf rises, 45-minute gym sessions six days a week. Michelle Obama: cross-training, a mix of strength and cardio exercises usually involving weights, treadmill and stair-stepper, 90-minute sessions three times a week.
The President-Elect gyms six times a week
How do we know? Because the intimidating details of the First Couple-Elect's workout schedules have been dug out by an admiring US media and relayed to a similarly impressed nation.
I worry that the consensus among American and European fans about the Obamas' wonderfulness may not survive the increasingly lurid revelations about their devotion to the gym.
In London, such behaviour would generally be regarded as borderline sociopathic. A British politician need only be photographed on a bicycle to denote a man of action.
Over here, a newspaper can report that Obama has a resting pulse of 60 and not feel that it needs to tell readers whether that is good or bad. Few need to be told what such gym-honed body adjectives as "ripped", "pumped" and "buffed" mean either.
And now Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed that he and Obama have been talking serious weights and possible job opportunities.
The California governor and former bodybuilding champion's jibes during the campaign about "scrawny" Obama seem to have struck home. Arnie says the President-Elect intends to build a huge gym in the White House and wants his help in "bulking up".
No more skinny Mr Nice Guy, just two ripped dudes with troops to pull out and bad guys still to nail in Afghanistan. The boys on the weights machines may be whooping, but it sounds ominous.
Showing posts with label Bodybuilding Championships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bodybuilding Championships. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Keeping Fitness Interesting
Professional figure competitor Debbie Leung keeps her workouts varied
By Cary Castagna
Variety is the spice of gym life for Debbie Leung.
The 34-year-old Alberta bombshell, you see, doesn't like to do the same workout twice.
It's a training concept developed partly to stave off boredom. But it also ensures that Leung blasts her taut, shapely muscles from different angles. Blindsides 'em and keeps 'em guessing, in other words.
"Every workout, I'm trying to do something different. ... You're switching it up constantly, so your body doesn't know what's hitting it," she explains. "Because each workout's different, my body is always shocked with it and it stimulates the muscle fibres."
Leung knows what she's talking about.
The five-foot-two hard body competes in professional figure contests - a streamlined offshoot of bodybuilding - in the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB).
She's also vice-president of the Alberta Bodybuilding Association (ABBA).
The Winnipeg-born Leung, now living in Calgary with hubby David Leung - who is serving as ABBA president - began religiously pumping iron about a decade ago.
She recalls that she first dabbled with weights while studying physical therapy at the University of Winnipeg.
Thanks to a sedentary post-secondary lifestyle, Leung had succumbed to the dreaded Freshman 15.
"I just sat on my butt and ate, and put on my 15 pounds," she says, noting she soon managed to sweat off that excess weight and found a new hobby in the process.
In 1998, a couple of years after graduating as a physical therapist, Leung took the Body-for-Life challenge - a 12-week healthy living contest based on the book of the same name by American fitness guru Bill Phillips.
By then, Leung was already hooked on weights.
After making some solid progress in the gym, she decided to take her bulging biceps and hop onto the posing dais in 2000.
Leung won the lightweight class in her first show - the 2000 Southern Alberta Bodybuilding Championships - which heralded a meteoric rise through the sport's tiered ranks.
She captured a provincial bodybuilding title in 2001 and a national title in 2002, before making the switch to figure competition.
The following year she took her class at figure nationals. And in 2004, she turned pro by virtue of an overall triumph at figure nationals.
Leung's pro career has been highlighted by a 16th-place finish at the IFBB's prestigious Figure Olympia and three top-15 appearances at the Figure International.
These days, Leung - who competes at around 115 pounds while weighing 125 pounds in the offseason - hits Gold's Gym in Calgary three times a week.
The owner of a physical therapy and acupuncture business doesn't waste much time during her 45-minute weight-training throwdowns.
While taking minimal rest between exercises, Leung strives to perform as many sets as she can in the short period of time.
She describes it as "boot camp-style," noting she executes a variety of athletic-type exercises, including plyometrics.
"It almost seems like I'd wither away doing what I do," she explains. "But you don't lose a blink of muscle and it keeps everything tight year-round."
In addition to weights, Leung does cardio four times a week for 30-45 minutes. As expected, she's not partial to one particular piece of cardio equipment.
"I'll use everything - the StepMill, different ellipticals, the treadmill, inclines, flats, sprinting," she says. "That's the key - keep changing it."
Prior to a contest, Leung jacks up her training frequency to five weight workouts and 10 cardio sessions per week.
She also follows a stringent pre-contest diet.
"Right now, I eat everything. If I'm dieting, it's obviously stricter," she says, pointing out that she consumes a lot of high-protein foods, fruits and veggies, dairy and some starch fare.
Although bodybuilding has been a big part of her life for the past eight years, Leung - who ran track in her younger years - isn't afraid to give new sports a go.
She tried skeleton (similar to bobsled and luge) for a year, has her yellow belt in judo and recently took up Aussie rules football with the Calgary Kookaburras.
"I'm always up for trying new sports. If I like them, I stick around," she says. "I don't necessarily get bored. I just like to keep things a little bit more interesting."
As ABBA vice-president, Leung is helping to organize an entry-level bodybuilding show this weekend in Edmonton. The 2008 Alberta Annual Fall Classic is slated for Saturday at the Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts, 10210 108 Ave. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
For more on Leung, visit www.debleung.com.
By Cary Castagna
Variety is the spice of gym life for Debbie Leung.
The 34-year-old Alberta bombshell, you see, doesn't like to do the same workout twice.
It's a training concept developed partly to stave off boredom. But it also ensures that Leung blasts her taut, shapely muscles from different angles. Blindsides 'em and keeps 'em guessing, in other words.
"Every workout, I'm trying to do something different. ... You're switching it up constantly, so your body doesn't know what's hitting it," she explains. "Because each workout's different, my body is always shocked with it and it stimulates the muscle fibres."
Leung knows what she's talking about.
The five-foot-two hard body competes in professional figure contests - a streamlined offshoot of bodybuilding - in the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB).
She's also vice-president of the Alberta Bodybuilding Association (ABBA).
The Winnipeg-born Leung, now living in Calgary with hubby David Leung - who is serving as ABBA president - began religiously pumping iron about a decade ago.
She recalls that she first dabbled with weights while studying physical therapy at the University of Winnipeg.
Thanks to a sedentary post-secondary lifestyle, Leung had succumbed to the dreaded Freshman 15.
"I just sat on my butt and ate, and put on my 15 pounds," she says, noting she soon managed to sweat off that excess weight and found a new hobby in the process.
In 1998, a couple of years after graduating as a physical therapist, Leung took the Body-for-Life challenge - a 12-week healthy living contest based on the book of the same name by American fitness guru Bill Phillips.
By then, Leung was already hooked on weights.
After making some solid progress in the gym, she decided to take her bulging biceps and hop onto the posing dais in 2000.
Leung won the lightweight class in her first show - the 2000 Southern Alberta Bodybuilding Championships - which heralded a meteoric rise through the sport's tiered ranks.
She captured a provincial bodybuilding title in 2001 and a national title in 2002, before making the switch to figure competition.
The following year she took her class at figure nationals. And in 2004, she turned pro by virtue of an overall triumph at figure nationals.
Leung's pro career has been highlighted by a 16th-place finish at the IFBB's prestigious Figure Olympia and three top-15 appearances at the Figure International.
These days, Leung - who competes at around 115 pounds while weighing 125 pounds in the offseason - hits Gold's Gym in Calgary three times a week.
The owner of a physical therapy and acupuncture business doesn't waste much time during her 45-minute weight-training throwdowns.
While taking minimal rest between exercises, Leung strives to perform as many sets as she can in the short period of time.
She describes it as "boot camp-style," noting she executes a variety of athletic-type exercises, including plyometrics.
"It almost seems like I'd wither away doing what I do," she explains. "But you don't lose a blink of muscle and it keeps everything tight year-round."
In addition to weights, Leung does cardio four times a week for 30-45 minutes. As expected, she's not partial to one particular piece of cardio equipment.
"I'll use everything - the StepMill, different ellipticals, the treadmill, inclines, flats, sprinting," she says. "That's the key - keep changing it."
Prior to a contest, Leung jacks up her training frequency to five weight workouts and 10 cardio sessions per week.
She also follows a stringent pre-contest diet.
"Right now, I eat everything. If I'm dieting, it's obviously stricter," she says, pointing out that she consumes a lot of high-protein foods, fruits and veggies, dairy and some starch fare.
Although bodybuilding has been a big part of her life for the past eight years, Leung - who ran track in her younger years - isn't afraid to give new sports a go.
She tried skeleton (similar to bobsled and luge) for a year, has her yellow belt in judo and recently took up Aussie rules football with the Calgary Kookaburras.
"I'm always up for trying new sports. If I like them, I stick around," she says. "I don't necessarily get bored. I just like to keep things a little bit more interesting."
As ABBA vice-president, Leung is helping to organize an entry-level bodybuilding show this weekend in Edmonton. The 2008 Alberta Annual Fall Classic is slated for Saturday at the Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts, 10210 108 Ave. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster.
For more on Leung, visit www.debleung.com.
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