Weight: 122 contest; 129 off-season

Height: 5’4 1/2”

Hometown: Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Residence: Guam

Occupation: Personal trainer

Contest highlights: ’11 NPC West Coast Classic, figure, D-class, 1st, and overall; ’11 Arnold Amateur, figure, D-class, 4th; ’09 NPC New England Classic, figure, 1st in class, and overall

Factoids: A single mother of two sons, ages four and two, she works with the armed forces and their families, helping them prepare for deployment. Recently engaged, she loves to bake.

Contact: www.facebook.com/ashleyhornerfitness

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Good guess, but according to The Science of Kissing by Sheril Kirshenbaum, “Subconsciously, both partners are picking up on clues about the other’s health, reproductive potential and even whether their very genetic codes may be compatible.”

—Becky Holman

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Weight: 128 contest; 135 off-season

Height: 5’9”

Hometown: Scottsdale, Arizona

Residence: Las Vegas

Occupation: Personal Trainer, MGM ring girl

Contest highlights: ’11 NPC West Coast Classic, bikini, F-class, 1st, and overall; ’11 Flex Bikini Model Search, 1st

Factoids: She trains under the guidance of Zero Gravity’s Ryan Bentson in San Dimas, California. She ran track in high school and also competed in swimming, soccer and basketball.

Contact: inshapewithmichelle@gmail.com

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

HDAC inhibition is an emerging field of cancer treatment and represents a promising pharmaceutical and dietary approach. Emily Ho, from Oregon State University, and colleagues have investigated the effects of sulforaphane in normal, benign hyperplasia and cancerous prostate epithelial cells. They observed that 15 micromoles of sulforaphane caused cell cycle arrest and cell death in benign hyperplasia and cancerous prostate epithelial cells, while it did not affect normal cells whatsoever.

Sulforaphane also selectively decreased HDAC enzyme activity. The researchers conclude that sulforaphane “exerts differential effects on cell proliferation, HDAC activity and downstream targets in normal and cancer cells.”

Clarke, J.D., et al. (2011). Differential effects of sulforaphane on histone deacetylases, cell cycle arrest and apoptosis in normal prostate cells versus hyperplastic and cancerous prostate cells. Mol Nutr & Food Res. 55(7):999-1009.

—Dr. Bob Goldman
www.WorldHealth.net

Editor’s note: For the latest information and research on health and aging, subscribe to the American Academy of Anti-Aging Medicine e-zine free at WorldHealth.net.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

“Step 1: Clasp his hand as if to arm-wrestle. Pull him toward you.

Step 2: Quickly turn your face 45 degrees to the left. He should do the same.

Step 3: Give him at most three hearty pats on the back, as if you’re burping a baby. Keep all body contact above the waist.

Step 4: Push back, release your grip, smile with embarrassment, and pretend it never happened.”

If you can’t pretend it never happened, at least bring up your favorite sports team to reignite testosterone counts. —Becky Holman

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Height: 5’9’’   Weight: 129

Goals: My goal in the fitness industry is to create opportunities in modeling and competitions that will one day provide me with the means to make a difference in the lives of those who struggle with health and fitness. As a former pageant girl, I strive to bridge the gap between mainstream modeling and the fitness world. Fitness modeling gives me a platform for showing that a balanced life is attainable and within reach. I genuinely enjoy what I do and can only hope to bring my unique spark and knowledge to the industry and one day open my own fitness studio.

Fitness and Sports Network’s FMI is a professional development, networking service and conference for fitness and sports professionals. By way of conference events, online consultation and other teaching methods, it aims to become the fitness-sports industry’s top resource for the discovery and escalation of fitness model and athletic talent careers.

For more information go to FMI-Events.com.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

I retrieved my wraps, grips and water from my mangy gym bag and tossed it in the corner. I was in no rush. Rushing is a thing of the past. I used to rush when I had time, and time quickly passed me by. Now, as if I know better, I struggle to reclaim time by urgently slowing down.

I sat where I seldom sit, at the end of a bench press with my back to the rack. Once upon a time, boys and girls, a great big Olympic bar amassed with 45s stretched across those sturdy uprights, awaiting my sudden and powerful clutch, responding to my down-up directions like an eager student to a master, an obedient child to a parent, a broken captive to a captor. Now I plop there ’cuz I’m stiff and sore, worn out and daydreaming.

What time is it? Am I done? Is it over? Can I leave now?

Quiet and alone, I heard music drifting from the speakers. Wait… that’s the Drifters drifting: “There goes my baby, moving on down the line.…” In 1959, 52 years ago, I was 17, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, sitting at the end of a chrome-legged bench with gold-flecked red vinyl upholstery in a Vic Tanny’s Gym in Jersey City. The Drifters were the sound, and in the rack was a stiff, one-inch chrome bar strewn with 20-pound chrome plates and chrome collars on the ends just to be sure.

The whole catastrophe weighed 395 pounds. I added up the weight 10 different ways, but could not make it total 400. Rats! Too dumb to be afraid, I clearly remember pressing that bar with record-setting wonder, strain and pain. No one resembling a spotter hung out in the fluorescent-lit, mirror-lined, shiny health club featuring those revolutionary electric rollers and belt massagers.

Whoa… listen: Brenda Lee is singing “I’m Sorry.” My favorite. Spring of 1960. I had a bar at the end of my bed in a dismal yet airy room rented from the Scambatis in Secaucus—perfect for curling and pressing and rowing and pullovers. The floor was slanted by time and creaked fiercely with each rep. I hated the collars and the wrench and the bloody knuckles but loved the pump and the burn and the notion I lifted iron in solitude.

I decry the bench press for its terror on the shoulders and its role in imperfect chest development, but let’s face it, plate-heads: It’s the original, our very first heavy-metal love affair.

I racked the three-inch Apollon’s axle and stuck a plate on the ends to be sociable. Ever-so-slowly and with focus, precision and mature fear, I plodded through six sets, the last four of which were supersetted with wide-grip pulldowns.

Danny and the Juniors, “At the Hop.” I was a junior in high school, and my arms were 15 and a half, sometimes three-quarters. “Let’s go to the hop, oh, baby.…”

It had been a long time since I assumed that familiar position at the end of the bench and recalled the clanging plates and impossible tonnage, the hesitation and anticipation, the doubt and certainty, the dream and drama, the chalk and gripping, the pause and deep breath, the absolute glory—the devastating defeat.

“Momma said there’d be days like this, there’d be days like this, my momma said.” I’ll never forget the Shirelles and how they made me tingle all over. I’ll bet girls like strong muscles. Life, though taking shape in a hurry, was new, undiscovered, an adventure full of hope. Barrels of laughs were yet untapped, and furrows of worry had not yet plowed their way across my brow.

Yes, sisters and brothers, it was oldies weekend at the Weight Room Santa Cruz. I finished my workout with one-arm lateral raises, wrist curls and hanging leg raises. The drive home was dreamy.

Two days later my right shoulder was in a cast, in traction, swollen, aching and the color of tar mixed with road kill. The pain level was between 9.5 and 9.9 on the chart measuring deplorable and despicable things. Nobody listens to me. I’m telling ya, girls and boys, the bench is murder on the delts.

I’m okay today, day four, ’cuz I’m tough and durable; I eat road kill occasionally and drink Bomber Blend all the time. Besides, I lied about the cast and traction and excruciating pain and roadkill. Did you know Fats Domino was a strongman? That he pushed his grand piano across the stage with his gut muscles as he sang, “I found my thrill on Blueberry Hill”? Me neither…

We rock on… El Bombo

Did I mention the women soccer players are seriously, totally awesome athletes: courageous, dynamic, inspiring and gracious? I’d say lovely and cute, too, but that might be a little sensitive.

Editor’s note: For more from Dave Draper, visit www.Dave

Draper.com and sign up for his free newsletter. You can also check out his amazing Top Squat training tool, classic photos, workout Q&A and forum.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Not only do individuals have a chance to win over $100,000 in cash and prizes, but everyone is provided with a free custom nutrition, exercise and motivational guide led by industry experts Kris Gethin and Jamie Eason. Weekly personal emails provide entrants with exclusive deals and words of advice from top athletes. This interactive, revolutionary approach ensures every 2012 transformation can be a long-lasting success.

Individuals have until January 31, 2012 to register for the $100,000 Transformation Challenge. Upon registration, their official twelve-week transformation begins. On May 20, 2012 two grand prize winners and ten runners up will be chosen based on the following factors: biggest physical improvement (fat loss or muscle gain) and most inspirational to others.

The $100,000 Transformation Challenge will award each grand prize winner (male and female) $25,000 cash, a $1,200 Bodybuilding.com gift certificate for Optimum Nutrition products, a one year gym membership, an all-expense paid trip to the Bodybuilding.com Fitness Expo, a personal training session with an ON fitness celebrity and a professional photo shoot. Ten runners up will receive $2,500 in cash, a $350 Bodybuilding.com gift certificate for Optimum Nutrition products and a one-year gym membership. In addition, one person will be chosen randomly each week to be the “Contestant of the Week” and will receive $250 worth of supplements and prizes.

“We set out to create the biggest transformation challenge anyone has ever heard of – no strings attached. Not only that, it was our goal to equip everyone with the tools needed to truly be a success. I must say, we have done just that. If this doesn’t motivate you, I don’t know what will,”
– Ryan DeLuca, Bodybuilding.com CEO.

Over 14,000 contestants set out to transform last year, with winners Trelas and Nikia Dyson taking home the prize. They not only won $50,000 as a couple, but they have turned into transformation spokesmodels. Their workouts and transformation stories are seen daily by thousands of people and their transformation images have been used in a nationwide ad campaign. More than that, they personally inspired their friends, family and community to truly transform their lives for the better.

For more information on the $100,000 Transformation Challenge, go to www.Bodybuilding.com/Challenge

Bodybuilding.com offers more than 13,000 health & fitness supplements and accessories to help more than 11 million people every month achieve their health, fitness and appearance goals, as well as over 35,000 pages of FREE information, including more than 20,000 articles and videos, expert online trainers, and new content added daily.

For more information: http://www.bodybuilding.com
Contact: Crystal Matthews
Email: crystal@bodybuilding.com
Phone: 208.472.9311

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Weight: 225 contest; 240 off-season 

Height: 6’

Hometown: Albuquerque, New Mexico

Residence: Santa Monica, California

Occupation: Personal trainer, model and nutritionist

Contest highlights: ’11 NPC West Coast Classic, heavyweight, 1st, and overall; ’11 NPC California Championships, heavyweight (closed division), 1st; ’08 NPC New Mexico Championships, heavyweight, 1st, and overall

Factoids: He began lifting weights in middle school to get stronger for basketball, his favorite sport. His first contest was the ’03 NPC Mid-USA, which was held in Albuquerque.

Contact: www.DerekDOnline.com

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Also, other research shows that what you think about your health is a very accurate predictor of your longevity—so act, as in exercise and eating right, and think positive health thoughts to live longer.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

According to the June ’11 Health, it’s also an all-natural painkiller: “In a recent study, people who had a pain-inducing heating device placed on their legs were able to reduce the hurt by 40 percent simply by meditating.” Subjects used something called “focused attention”: “Close your eyes, breathe through your nose and concentrate on the air coming in and going out.”

Sounds as if it’s something you can do before and during a set to blast through the pain barrier and get more reps.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Age: 25

Bodypart split: Monday: quads; Tuesday: calves, hamstrings; Wednesday: chest; Thursday: back; Friday: quads; Saturday: off; Sunday: shoulders, biceps, triceps

Sample bodypart routine (back): Pulldowns, 4 x 15; bent-over rows, 4 x 15; one-arm dumbbell rows, 4 x 12; iso-lat pulldowns, 3 x 15; cable rows, 4 x 15; pullups, 4 x 10

Factoid: I’m studying to be a radiologist, and I’m a certified personal trainer. The tattoo of bones on my arm are not anatomically correct.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

A placebo given to patients with irritable bowel syndrome led to significantly reduced symptoms over subjects who got the same doctor attention but no placebo.

One researcher suggested that in order for a placebo to work in most patients, you have to convince them that they are taking a real drug. Maybe that’s why you bought some supplements that were packaged to look like pharmaceuticals.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Someone from Phoenix, a B-72, asked me how he can get huge and ripped for his 50th wedding anniversary in July. Yeah, right! I congratulated him on his marital fortitude and his aspiration and suggested he train hard, eat smart and step judiciously off a small cliff (ha-ha). “The swelling from the impact and the gashes from sliding down the rock face,” I explained, “is your only scheme for achieving size and cuts these days, Pops.”

He wrote back expressing mild disappointment because there are no adequate cliffs in his desert-bound neighborhood. Were there pills he could take?

Seriously?

I dared not suggest he step in front of a speeding bus, a clever alternative. I might get sued by the bus driver.

I don’t have any of the answers, though the questions are endless. Answers, when stretched out in words on reams of cosmic paper, are errantly replaced like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

You want muscles? Lift weights, hard and consistently. You want trim and lean? Don’t eat like a pig. You want endurance? Run hills and stairs and hike with a weighted backpack. You want good health? Do it all with sensibility.

My favorite biceps developer is the standing barbell curl done with full ROM and a lovable, coaxing thrust. The Oly bar is fun till the wrists groan; then it’s time for the bent bar. Dumbbell inclines work, preacher curls have their say, and any of your unique variations of the curl are, no doubt, worthwhile.

Bi’s are engaged, more or less, every time we pull: chins, rows, pulldowns, crossovers, pullovers. They get lots of work when we least expect it, which can catch up with us when we least expect it. Be aware.

Triceps are engaged every time we extend our arms. They, too, work like oxen at the plow. My gripe is that tri’s are more complicated than the biceps; they’re in the back and I can’t see them when training; they don’t endure aging well (they wither), and they’re connected to the elbows, which have been known to complain loudly when the tri’s are beaten lovingly and relentlessly.

My favorite moves are lying and seated overhead triceps extensions with a barbell—Olympic or bent—for mass and power, and pulley pushdowns for health, shape and specific recruitment. Dumbbells fit in here and there, as desired, for change and relief and interest.

Some guys I know, the dirty rats, do nothing more than close-grip bench presses and get meaty, shapely and powerful triceps. I think they have mental defects and, probably, have never been on a date with a girl.

You notice in my incoherent ramblings about nothing, I began with biceps and triceps, a dead giveaway of the important order of things in life. And now a word or two about shoulders: Call me dangerous, foolish, careless and adorable, but seated behind-neck presses have always made my heart sing. I love them. Bill Pearl loves them. They also make me scream. They wreck the shoulders but, hey, they work. Who said lifting was safe and sane?

My advice: Stick with dumbbell inclines and front presses on the Smith machine. I love one-arm lateral raises with improvised grooves and thrusts and dips on the dip machine with accents where needed or permissible. I press every other workout and perform laterals alternately.

My chest is big enough for me and my T-shirt and gets enough pressing action from the incline dumbbell presses and dips (got to love those two-for-one deals when you’re a senior citizen). Besides, as the years go by, big pectoral muscles become a liability. They seek gravity enthusiastically. Cable crossovers, one-arm and two-arm movements with tight contractions, strengthen and tone the area better than any other. Low-incline flyes are fun three times a month just to be sociable.

The bench press took a permanent leave of absence when I grew up 20 years ago. It had something to do with open rotator surgery and shredded stuff. I do not miss the overrated lopsided painster one bit. Dumbbells are where it’s at, the little ones on the left end of the rack.

Deadlifts were a joy not so long ago. Today, I get all the back work I can handle from pulldowns—behind and before the neck, close-grip and wide-grip—and seated lat rows with full range of motion. One-arm rows, done with care and no rigorous twisting, are worthy; however, reaching for the heavy stuff is costly. The ensuing pain and stiffness and immobility are mean and nasty and unhealthy.

Squats took a hike just in time. I now do extensions and curls and freehand squats and calf thingies throughout the week to keep me agile as a robotic rhino or a hamstrung hypo. I’m glad I can walk across the gym floor without a stick.

When discussing abs and torso work, bombers, did I ever mention rope tucks? Must have slipped my mind. They are the greatest invention since the wheel or the Top Squat even. I commence my two heady weekly workouts with four sets of 40 to 50 R.T.s (R.T.s—we cool). I can enter the gym feeling like 50 cents and within a set of delicious tucks, pulls and yanks, I feel like a million bucks.

The whole upper body from the hips to the traps can be delightfully engrossed by the skillful application of the rope attached to the weighted cable. Practice and focus, intensity and knowing. Sometimes, after four sets of 50 reps with some freehand squats between, I feel that I’ve done all I can to keep it all together. 

Drink your Bomber Blend.… Avoid contact with moving buses.… Never quit.…

Editor’s note: For more from Dave Draper, visit www.DaveDraper.com and sign up for his free newsletter. You can also check out his amazing Top Squat training tool, classic photos, workout Q&A and forum.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

According to the July ’11 Bottom Line Health, 72 percent of cart handles tested showed fecal bacteria—and some were contaminated with E. coli.

It’s best to wipe down cart handles with antibacterial towelettes—many markets now provide them—and wash your hands after buying your groceries, or you could have a shitty shopping experience.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

• Get enough sleep. Your body needs proper sleep in order to stay healthy. Adults typically need seven to eight hours of quality sleep per night.

• Take a vitamin D supplement. Many Americans are deficient, which can undermine your immune function. Get your blood levels checked. Normal levels are 30 to 60 nanograms per milliliter of 25-hydroxy vitamin D.

• Monitor your alcohol consumption. To keep your body at its healthiest, drink alcoholic beverages only in moderation.

• Exercise regularly. Ideally, you should get at least 30 minutes of aerobic exercise at least three to four days per week.

• Eat a well-balanced diet. To stay healthy, make sure your diet includes plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean sources of protein.

• Quit smoking. Smoking weakens your immune system, so stop smoking, or even better, never start!

• Wash your hands. Keeping your hands clean is one of the most effective ways to avoid illness. Also avoid touching your mouth or eyes with your hands.

• Increase your intake of vitamin C.  Excellent sources of vitamin C include citrus products, red peppers, strawberries, watermelon, potatoes and pineapple.

• Take probiotics. Essential for the normal function of digestion, probiotics can be found in foods such as yogurt and Kombucha tea, and they are also available in supplement form. A healthy digestive tract helps to keep you healthy.

• Use adaptogentic herbs.  Adaptogens are herbs that help keep the body’s immune system strong and in balance. Herbs such as ginseng and astragalus have been used for centuries in Chinese medicine to boost immunity and help protect against colds and flus.

• Drink tea. Green, black and oolong teas are packed with antioxidants, so they are especially helpful in keeping your body healthy.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

What can make you feel better when you partake too much? According to the May ’11 Reader’s Digest, caffeine and aspirin appear to be the most reliable hangover cure. That combo taken four to six hours after drinking “blocked the effects of ethanol.”

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Height: 5’1’’   Weight: 105

Goals: My goals are constantly evolving, but my one steadfast goal is to help, inspire and learn from those around me. I want to continue to grow and learn, always.

Fitness and Sports Network’s FMI is a professional development, networking service and conference for fitness and sports professionals. By way of conference events, online consultation and other teaching methods, it aims to become the fitness-sports industry’s top resource for the discovery and escalation of fitness model and athletic talent careers.

For more information go to FMI-Events.com.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Do good deeds during the day, even small ones like letting someone go ahead of you in line at the grocery story. Remembering them at the end of the day or even writing them down will have your mood soaring.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

According to the December ’10 Prevention, “The first thing you see when you enter your home should be something you love, whether that’s a piece of art, a vase of flowers or a special souvenir.” Or in the case of bodybuilders, a first-place trophy.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com