2009 NPC Jr. Nationals Recap

July, 8 2009

The 2009 NPC Jr. Nationals took place at the O’Hare Hyatt Regency in Rosemont, Illinois on Friday, June 19th and Saturday, June 20th, 2009. This national level show is always one of the biggest events on the NPC calendar and this year was no exception. With a total of 344 competitors, the championships were a huge success! Congratulations to promoter Pam Betz and her crew for putting together such a tremendous show.

This year, the NPC added the Bikini division to a line-up that already included Men’s Bodybuilding, Women’s Bodybuilding, Figure, and Fitness. The NPC Jr. Nationals is a pro-qualifier for Fitness, Figure, and the new Bikini division. Four IFBB Pro Cards were handed out for both Figure and Bikini, and three IFBB Pro Cards were awarded for Fitness. The Men and Women’s Bodybuilding titles were not pro qualifiers, but are an important stepping stone for bodybuilders with professional aspirations.

In Men’s Bodybuilding, Light Heavyweight Champion Jonathan Delarosa also won the Overall. Albert Lalonde was the Bantamweight champ, Brandon Williams won the Lightweight, Luis Santa took first in the Welterweights, Malachi Walker beat out 20 other competitors to win the Middleweights, Zinjun Croon won the Heavyweight class over 27 competitors, and Nick Zak won the Super Heavyweight crown.

In Women’s Bodybuilding, Middleweight winner Suzanne Germano also won the Overall Title. Christina Taylor won the Lightweight class, Kristi Bruce won the Light Heavyweights, and Dana Richards won the Heavyweights.

In the extremely competitive Figure division, Terri Turner beat out 147 other competitors to win the Overall Title. Earning their IFBB Pro Cards in the Figure division were Terri Turner (Class D winner), Jodie Minear (Class F winner), Karly Woodle (Class C winner), and Christina Vargas (Class A winner). Other class winners included Josie Zamora in Class B and Elizabeth Earhart in Class E.

In the Fitness division, Camala Rodriquez was the Overall Champ. Camala earned her IFBB Pro Card along with the other class winners, Victoria Larvie and Desiree Walker. Then in the brand new Bikini division, veteran competitor Marzia Prince won the F Class as well as the Overall over 46 other competitors. Marzia won her IFBB Pro Card along with other class winners Sonya Vecchiarelli (Class A), Janet Harding (Class B), and Jennifer Celeste (Class C). Other division winners included Shay Monroe from Class D and Jamie Baird from Class E.

What follows are interviews with a variety of competitors…



ABB: How many years have you been training, Suzanne?
Suzanne: I started working out in 1995 to lose weight. I used to weigh 180 pounds and I’m 5’1”. I started competing in 2002.

ABB: What was your first show in 2002?
Suzanne: The San Diego Worlds Gym Classic.

ABB: So, you’ve been competing for seven years now. What did you compete in this year to be qualified for the NPC Jr. Nationals?
Suzanne: I competed in the Jr. Nationals in 2007 so that qualified me for this show. I took 2nd place in the Lightweight Class that year.

ABB: What’s your training routine like? How many days a week do you train?
Suzanne: I like to vary my training a lot. In the off-season, I train 5-6 days of lifting and cardio 3-4 days a week. For contest prep, 6 days a week of lifting and cardio starts out less but then I get it up to 7 days a week, twice a day.

ABB: You’re doing cardio seven days a week, twice a day? How many weeks out are you doing that?
Suzanne: This year, I started 16 weeks out. It all depends on how my body is responding.

ABB: What is your diet like? Is it low carb?
Suzanne: No, I actually eat complex carbs at all seven meals all the way up to the show. My body just does better with them in the diet.

ABB: How many grams of carbs are you eating? Are you counting the grams you eat every day?
Suzanne: No, not really. I know that 200 grams is a lot and I get down to about 150 or so.

ABB: What was your bodyweight when you started your diet and what did you compete at?
Suzanne: I started my diet weighing 147 pounds and I weighed in at 123.

ABB: From watching the pose down, it looked to me like your legs and your back really dominated the competition. What do you do for those two body parts?
Suzanne: Legs have always been my favorite part. I just love to kill ‘em in my workouts. My back was actually my worst part. During my early years, one of the reasons I left bodybuilding and switched over to Figure was that I didn’t think I could ever hit a lat pose. Even with figure, I didn’t have enough of a back. But then I changed trainers, I made sure we hit the angles differently when I trained back, made sure I hit different areas of the back, and started eating more food (that always helps).

ABB: When did you do Figure contests?
Suzanne: 2004 and 2006.

ABB: So you went to Figure and then came back to Bodybuilding?
Suzanne: Yeah, I left Bodybuilding for a couple of reasons. Because I was overweight in the past, I didn’t think I would be able to get the abs that I needed. I just wasn’t getting them. I was getting lean but I wasn’t getting the abs. Also, having been overweight in the past, I had a fear of being big. I kind of equated being big with being fat, kind of psycho I know but that’s how I was thinking. I finally came back around though. I actually moved up a weight class in 2007.

ABB: What’s the future look like? What are you going to do next?
Suzanne: Looks like the NPC Nationals in Dallas in 2010 but that’s what we have in the works for right now. I have to bring a couple parts up that need improvement so I can be competitive.

ABB: Great, congratulations again and good luck next year at the NPC Nationals.



ABB: How many years have you been weight training?
Ann: 20 years.

ABB: 20 years? What got you into it?
Ann: My husband Craig. I met him 16 years ago.

ABB: So, he was obviously into working out?
Ann: Yes.

ABB: Did you do any sports before you started weight training?
Ann: No, not at all. I’m actually a very shy girl. I started becoming more outgoing when I was in college.

ABB: How old were you when you started training?
Ann: I was 18.

ABB: What was your body like when you started training? Were you skinny?
Ann: Just regular. I’ve always been about the same size. I’m little but now I have good muscularity.

ABB: Were you involved in any other sports when you were younger?
Ann: Not at all. I was a very shy girl, no sports, no nothing.

ABB: When you started training, how often did you train?
Ann: I started training on the Nautilus machines in the girl’s workout room. I never touched a regular weight.

ABB: Are you doing more free weights now?
Ann: A little bit, yeah. I use lighter weights, not really heavy. As my body matures, I am building more muscle.

ABB: So, for Figure competitions, you don’t really train that heavy?
Ann: No, not at all!

ABB: What’s a typical week like for working out? How many days a week do you train?
Ann: When I am training for a competition, I train six days a week. When I get to three weeks out, I start leveling out my cardio depending on where my weight is. I really cut down on my weight training at this point and do more plyometrics, a lot of cardio, and a lot of just practicing my posing.

ABB: How about in the off-season? What is your weight training schedule like?
Ann: Not really heavy. It’s more for maintenance of the body, more for shaping. I don’t really do heavy, heavy weights.

ABB: How many reps?
Ann: Depends on the exercise. Like, if I do leg extensions, I might do 25-50 reps. I do that to get my legs tighter and get the lines in.

ABB: Do you do a different body part every day?
Ann: Yes, I’ll do legs on Sunday and Wednesday and then upper body on the other days. I’ll hit legs twice a week, to get the lines in. That’s my weakest area so that’s why I train it so hard.

ABB: Are there certain areas you want to concentrate on to compete in Figure?
Ann: For me it’s just basic, I need to get my posing down. I already have the balance in my physique. I don’t really need to grow anything bigger. It’s just mostly presentation and hitting it really good.

ABB: What about diet, how long do you diet for?
Ann: 12 weeks.

ABB: What’s your bodyweight off-season compared to a show?
Ann: 118 pounds to 113 pounds. The most I’ll get up to is 120 and then I’ll compete at 113.

ABB: So, it’s only like 5-7 pounds you have to lose?
Ann: Yeah, I don’t really try to gain weight because it’s too hard to lose it.

ABB: Is your diet pretty clean all year?
Ann: Yes, I cheat once in a while but we don’t really go out that much. We eat inside the house most of the time. The only thing I really crave sometimes is sweets.

ABB: Is your husband a bodybuilder?
Ann: He competed in the NPC USA and the NPC Masters Nationals last year. He did really well. He’s been around in the sport for a long time.

ABB: What type of diet do you follow?
Ann: Well, for me, I don’t really eat too much chicken. I eat mostly fish and vegetables like asparagus. My body is very carb sensitive so I can’t really eat rice or any kind of potatoes.

ABB: Is that just pre-contest and do you stay away from the carbs all the time?
Ann: Yes, all of the time because otherwise I would get really heavy.

ABB: What’s your next show?
Ann: The NPC USAs in July. I’ll do the best I can. I always try to do the best I can.

ABB: Is your goal to turn Pro?
Ann: Of course! That’s my goal. I’ll never stop until I achieve it. You know, you work so hard and so long. I’ll never give up.

ABB: How many years have you been competing now?
Ann: Well, I started in 1994. Then, I stopped because I had to finish college and then I started up again in 2002. In 2003, I competed in the NPC Jr. Nationals as well as 2004 and 2005. I did pretty good, coming back from 15th place five years ago to 4th place today.

ABB: That’s great! Congratulations on your improvement Ann and best of luck at the 2009 NPC USAs in July.



The highlight of the 2009 NPC Jr. Nationals for me was getting the chance to see Sergio Oliva Jr. compete onstage. Obviously, he’s the son of the great Sergio Oliva, 3-time IFBB Mr. Olympia and one of the true legends of bodybuilding. Sergio won the IFBB Mr. Olympia contest from 1967-1969, beating Arnold Schwarzenegger in the process. He walked away from the Mr. Olympia for more than a decade but he returned to that contest in 1984 at the age of 43. After he was awarded eighth place, Sergio held his six month old son in his hands and announced that he was holding the “future Myth”. How wild it was to see that six month old baby all grown up now and competing onstage while his legendary father watched from the audience. I actually got chills watching Sergio Jr. hit the classic poses made famous by his father.

ABB: I have to tell you that I was looking forward to seeing you compete tonight. The first bodybuilding contest I ever attended was back in 1976 and your dad was the guest poser so it was pretty cool seeing you up onstage up there.
Sergio Jr: Wow, I wasn’t even born yet.

ABB: Yeah, I know! So you were born in 1984 right?
Sergio Jr: Right, ’84.

ABB: And that was the year your dad held you up on the Olympia stage?
Sergio Jr: Exactly!

ABB: So when did you become interested in bodybuilding?
Sergio Jr: Well, I’ve always been interested in bodybuilding, but I was into track in high school and my dad always did his best to keep me out of the gym until I was about 19. I’ve been bodybuilding since I was 19 so I’ve been training for about 5 years.

ABB: Really? Only 5 years? So you weren’t training with weights when you were a teenager?
Sergio Jr: No, I was 150 pound track and field hurdler.

ABB: So obviously your genetics were really great for the sport.
Sergio Jr: Definitely!

ABB: What did you look like when you were a teenager?
Sergio Jr: Tall and skinny. I was really lanky, about the same height I am now just 100 pounds lighter.

ABB: What was the response to your body when you first started training?
Sergio Jr: The first three months, I gained about 35 pounds. I gained size immediately so it was definitely a good sign.

ABB: Were there certain body parts that grew very quickly?
Sergio Jr: Yeah, my arms. I actually didn’t work my arms directly because they do all the work with other exercises like for my chest. My chest is one of my lagging areas. But the arms grew with no problem. The back width was no problem, I just need to thicken it out and that will come with time.

ABB: I noticed your legs looked pretty awesome too. Was that a body part that responded quickly too?
Sergio Jr: Yeah, I don’t know why they came in as good as they are. Maybe it’s the strict form I use with squats. I’m a real stickler for form. That’s all I can think of but yeah, that’s one of my best body parts.

ABB: What’s your training routine like now? Do you train four days a week, six days a week?
Sergio Jr: I train 5 days a week until I was getting ready for this show and then I trained 7 days a week where I was going in on some days and maybe just doing some cardio and abs. I was going twice a day and getting the smaller body parts worked also.

ABB: Were you going real heavy or more moderate with the weights?
Sergio Jr: Yeah, this was actually the first year where I kept going heavy even through the diet. Normally, I go high in reps.

ABB: How is your diet? Do you have to go low carb or is your metabolism so fast that you don’t have to worry about that?
Sergio Jr: No, I cycled my carbs. I did three high days and three low days. When I got closer to the show, it was one high and three low. I never went to low carbs or any of those drastic measures.

ABB: Is your metabolism pretty fast?
Sergio Jr: Yeah, my problem is gaining weight.

ABB: What did you weigh in the off season compared to your weight onstage?
Sergio Jr: I got up to 255 this year so I gained 100 pounds from when I started working out. I competed at 224 ½ pounds.

ABB: What are your future plans for competing?
Sergio Jr: I think they said I am qualified for two years now after competing tonight so this will be the last year I am a Heavyweight. I don’t need to be in this class. I just barely made the weight for the Heavyweight class. I came in at 224 so I only had a pound to go for the class limit. That was because I work the night shift and I got off at 1:30 am and my flight was at 5:30 am the next morning.
I didn’t even get in here until about 6:00 when the weigh-in started. So, that was about 8 hours of not eating and I barely made weight. So, yeah, I will be a Super Heavyweight for the next competition and that will be at least a year from now.

ABB: Are you going to do the NPC Jr. Nationals again or are you going to go to the NPC Nationals or the NPC USAs?
Sergio Jr: No, no, no - no NPC Nationals and no NPC USAs. I need to keep the momentum on my side so it will either be the NPC Jr. Nationals or the NPC Southern States contest in Florida, which is where I live. That would be right in my backyard.

ABB: Can you see yourself on the IFBB Olympia stage one day?
Sergio Jr: Uh, I already was on the Olympia stage. But, absolutely, I want to be a Pro and I plan to be one.



ABB: Hi Jodi, where are you from?
Jodi: I’m from Houston, Texas.

ABB: How long have you been competing in Figure?
Jodi: About two years, but I’ve been in the whole Fitness scene for about six years and then I decided to compete.

ABB: So, you were weight training for six years. Were you in any other sports when you were younger?
Jodi: I was into dance when I was in college and I was also into volleyball.

ABB: How old are you now?
Jodi: I’m 27.

ABB: And you just won your IFBB Pro Card tonight.
Jodi: I did, I’m so happy!

ABB: What does the future look like?
Jodi: Well, I really love the sport so you’re going to see a lot more of me.

ABB: Do you have aspirations of doing the IFBB Figure Olympia or the IFBB Arnold Classic?
Jodi: Oh yes, that’s my biggest dream! Yes, I’ll be working my way, trying, trying and trying every year.

ABB: What’s your training routine like for Figure competitions? How many days a week do you weight train and is it heavy or do you go lighter with the weights?
Jodi: I actually train pretty heavy. I train at a gym in Houston called One 2 One and I weight train about six days a week and I do cardio 3-4 days a week, depending on if it is the off season or if I am training for a show. But it takes a lot for me to hold muscle so I need to train heavy, heavy, heavy.

ABB: So, your body type is naturally thin?
Jodi: Oh, yeah. My nickname used to be “stick walker”.

ABB: Do you do different body parts every day?
Jodi: Yes

ABB: And you go six days a week?
Jodi: Yeah, I rotate body parts. Some of my weaker areas, I might throw in twice a week and once a week for the other parts. So I just kind of look at myself every week and see what I need to hit harder.

ABB: Do you do 6-8 reps when you are going heavy or do you do 8-10 reps?
Jodi: No, I usually stick to around 10-15 reps. I’ll do 15 reps the first set and then I’ll add weight each set and the reps will go down.

ABB: Are there certain body parts you concentrate on for Figure?
Jodi: For me, because of my height, I’m in Class F, my legs are a little bit harder to hold muscle. So, I really try to do my legs more than any other body part. Like I said about the “stick walker” thing, I really try to target my legs so they are not straight up and down and they have good shape.

ABB: Do you do heavy squats and lunges?
Jodi: Yes, you wouldn’t think it because I don’t have a whole lot of muscle on my legs but I do a lot of squats, a lot of lunges, a lot of presses.

ABB: So, these women who are always training very light in their weight training programs, that doesn’t apply to you?
Jodi: No, I’m always going heavy, heavy, heavy just to add a couple of inches.

ABB: What’s your diet like in the off-season compared to when you are training for a contest?
Jodi: I get a lot more carbs in the off-season, but I do watch what I eat. I only get one cheat meal a week because I want to maintain a healthy figure just in case work comes up. I always want to represent the sport well by looking good.

ABB: How many weeks do you diet for a contest?
Jodi: When I diet for a show, I drop my carb meals down to half. The closer I get, I adjust my diet depending on how I look. I usually lean out pretty fast so I don’t have to take my carbs too far down.

ABB: Do you count your calories, your carbs and protein, or do you go by feel?
Jodi: I count them but I usually increase my protein to hold onto my muscle close to a show. Everything else, like I said, I lean down pretty fast so I can be pretty lenient with my carbs. I gotta keep that protein up or I lose my size.

ABB: What about cardio, do you do a lot of cardio?
Jodi: I do cardio about 3-4 times a week but as I get closer to my show, I do it every day. Like I said, I just kind of eye my body and make adjustments. Every year, it seems like I lean down a little faster so I don’t want to get stringy so I really have to watch it and play with it. I also mix-up my cardio, I do stairs, I do track, I do Precor, anything so my body doesn’t adjust to what I’m doing.

ABB: When you say “track”, you mean running?
Jodi: Yes, I do sprints.

ABB: What kind of supplements do you take?
Jodi: I take a lot of Arginine, so I get that recovery. I also like the Whey Protein for post-workout. Other than that, I really don’t take a lot of Creatine or anything because it can make me hold extra water.

ABB: What’s your next show now that you got your IFBB Pro Card?
Jodi: Wow, I’m on cloud nine right now so I’m not sure but I’ll put some thought into it. I want to really plan it out and work on my weaknesses so I can make a big impact.

ABB: What do you think your weaknesses are?
Jodi: Every year I think my legs can be a little bit bigger. I feel like I have really good arms and a really good back but I just feel like my legs can have a little more size.

ABB: OK, great, best of luck to you Jodi, I think you’re going to have a great career as an IFBB Figure Pro.



ABB: How many years have you been weight training?
Emily: Well, I’ve been training for competitions for the last four years but I’ve been working out my whole life.

ABB: When did you start weight training?
Emily: Since I was a little girl, I’ve been lifting weights. I asked for a weight set for Christmas one year when I was 10 years old and I started then. I loved looking at the bodybuilding magazines, looking at the pictures and putting them up on my wall. I just loved it!

ABB: Wow, that’s cool. That’s how I was too when I was about 13 years old.
Emily: Yeah, I just love it. I love building muscle and the look of it.

ABB: So, you were lifting weights when you were 10 years old. Were you in any other sports when you were in school?
Emily: Well, I did a lot of weight lifting when I was in high school but I did do track and softball, cheerleading and gymnastics.

ABB: What got you into finally competing in Figure?
Emily: Well, at different times in my life, people would say to me, ‘do you compete’? I had gone to other people’s competitions but I hadn’t done it myself. Then, I finally got a little chance, an opportunity, time wise, in my life. I had gone through college and I was finally at a nice, easy spot in my life where I could really train for something. So, the next time someone at my gym asked me if I competed, I said no, but I kind of want to, I want to talk to someone who has competed before and find out how I go about it. I couldn’t even believe I was saying that but then someone introduced me to a girl at my gym who had competed before and she gave me all the information and I started doing it.

ABB: How old were you when you did your first show?
Emily: That was in 2005 so I was about 30 years old.

ABB: Did you ever have the desire to do Women’s Bodybuilding when you were younger, before the Figure competitions started?
Emily: Exactly. I almost think that some of the pictures I was looking at in the magazines when I was telling people, “I want to become a professional bodybuilder when I grow up”, and those girls looked like what the professional figure girls look like now. In my mind, I was always saying bodybuilding but the look I wanted was what I am doing right now.

ABB: Exactly, if you look at how the women looked when Women’s Bodybuilding started in the early 1980’s, those women look just like the Figure competitors look today.
Emily: Yes!

ABB: So, let’s talk about your training for the NPC Jr. Nationals. What was your bodyweight in the off season compared to what you weighed onstage for the show?
Emily: I lost 14 pounds from the off season to the stage. My weight at the contest was 109.

ABB: What type of training do you do as a figure competitor?
Emily: I used to lift pretty heavy so I have a good base for muscle size. I started training with Mike Davies and he has a training routine that is very high-intensity. It was kind of going from exercise to exercise and supersets and giant sets. So, a lot of my training is doing a lot of different exercises but not real heavy. I mean, heavy enough where I’m not going over 10-12 reps but it’s not down to the 6-8 reps anymore.

ABB: How many days a week do you weight train? Is it 4 days a week or is it everyday?
Emily: It’s Monday through Friday. Five days a week, I train with weights and six days a week, I do cardio, twice a day although Saturday is only once a day.

ABB: So, you’re doing cardio twice a day everyday?
Emily: Yeah.

ABB: How about in the off-season? Do you do cardio then too?
Emily: In the off-season, I like to go back to lifting a little heavier because it’s exciting and it’s fun. So, I end up lifting heavier in the off-season and cardio is 2-3 times a week.

ABB: What is your diet like in the off-season compared to a show?
Emily: In the off-season, I just enjoy myself. I do eat healthy because I feel better when I eat healthy and when I have quality food in my body. But it’s not really strict; I just try to keep up a good eating schedule. Not skipping meals and things like that. When I get ready for a contest, I weigh and measure all my food out, my chicken and asparagus, etc.

ABB: Now, do you count your calories and your protein, carbs and fats when you’re getting ready for a show?
Emily: I don’t count everything, I get my diets made for me from Mike Davies. I don’t have to think about it, I just follow what he gives me.

ABB: What are your favorite supplements to take?
Emily: I love Glutamine! When I get closer to the contest, I cut out my multi vitamins but I take Vitamin E, Vitamin C, and B. For awhile, I didn’t take any fat-burner at all because I just didn’t like the way they made me feel. But, right at the end, for a little something extra, a diet pill, but it was just one in the morning. I don’t drink coffee so that was nice to get some caffeine in the morning.

ABB: Was this the highest you have ever placed in a national level show?
Emily: Last year, at the NPC North Americans, I had gotten second. So, I kind of tied myself and repeated my personal best. It was really exciting to do well in my hometown. My family came into town from California for the contest so it was really fun.

ABB: What’s your next show?
Emily: I’m going to do the 2009 NPC USAs in Las Vegas.

ABB: So, you’re going from the NPC Jr. USAs to the NPC Jr. Nationals to the NPC USAs?
Emily: That’s right; I’m going to keep going.

ABB: Are you aspiring to be an IFBB Pro Figure competitor?
Emily: Yes, it is. That would be a dream! That would be so exciting.

ABB: Well, I’m sure you’ll make it happen soon. I wish you the best of luck in Las Vegas in July at the NPC USAs!

By John Hansen
Natural Mr. Olympia