Months of dieting, countless hours in the gym and weekends spent at home to avoid drinking temptations are sacrifices University of Idaho senior Angel Sigman has to endure for a few minutes of competitive-fitness fame.
In less than a month Sigman will compete in her first National Gym Association fitness competition in the bikini division. As it is her first competition, she said it can be difficult to balance all the while in college.
“It’s hard as a college student because there’s not a lot of students who watch what they eat or work out like I do … I really don’t have much (of) a social life. I stay home on the weekends to avoid the temptation of the bars and drinking,” Sigman said.
Sigman said it’s hard because her friends normally have free time on the weekends and they want to go out to the bars, but said she still goes to movies with them or has gym dates to get in social time. The temptations of beer, pizza and other college staples aren’t the end of the struggles Sigman faces. The price of competing without sponsorship is high and difficult for a college student to afford.
“It’s hard in college because it’s hard to afford rent without working your butt off, but to balance it out with school, work and everything else, that’s tough,” Sigman said.
The price of women’s bodybuilding competitions vary depending on entrance fees, lodging and travel, but some of the essentials necessary for catching the judges’ eyes are also pricey. Spray tanning that will show under the bright stage lights is approximately $100, and Sigman’s custom-fit bikini cost $200.
“I’m hoping that maybe someone will see me in the audience, like a supplement company or just a really nice, generous person that’s like, ‘I want to make your dream come true,’” Sigman said.
One of those dreams, Sigman said, is becoming a professional model for the International Federation of Body Building and to appear on the cover of Oxygen, a women’s fitness magazine.
Sigman said competing in events such as the Northwest Natural Pro-Atlas Bodybuilding and Figure Championships April 30 are opportunities to make her known in the fitness world.
“Competing opens so many door because if a photographer sees you, and maybe will go up to you later on about a shoot,” Sigman said.
Getting the attention of sponsors or photographers is always a goal for Sigman when competing because she said they would help her fitness career.
“It’s who you know and who you meet, you have to pretty much be your own agent when you start out in this sport,” Sigman said. “You have to sell yourself because in the fitness industry it’s a very dog-eat-dog world.”
There are four different categories in the competition Sigman is entering: Women’s body-building, figure, fitness and bikini.
“Figure is not as muscular as the women body building. They wear five-inch heels and have two-piece suites. They’re symmetrical and you can see their muscles,” Sigman said.
The fitness category is almost exactly like figure but contestants do gymnastic routines on stage to music.
“Bikini is the last category and they’re not as muscular as figure or fitness, but they still have that tone,” Sigman said. “They look like fitness models and it’s pretty much like a fitness pageant.”
Sigman said the fitness and body building categories have poses to do in order to show off their muscles where as the bikini contestants do a “model walk” across the stage.
In order to get ready for the stage Sigman said she works out two hours a day, six days a week.
Sigman also eats a strict diet consisting of six to eight healthy meals a day. She said she prepares these meals on Sunday so they are packed and ready to go for her busy week. Currently Sigman is carbohydrate-cycling, which means she rotates between a day of high-carb intake, normally around 120 grams, and low-carb days, around 60 grams of carbs. Sigman said she will adjust her workouts to her diet so she has more energy for the days she works large muscle groups like legs.
“Today is a low-carb day and I feel sluggish, fatigued — well more than usual,” Sigman said. “Sometimes I’ll get confused, just have slower thinking.”
High protein, low-carb diets are proven to shed fat, but Sigman said it alternates every day, and fluctuating between high and low carbs helps so the body doesn’t get used to a certain way and hit a plateau.
Sigman encourages anyone who has a passion for fitness to give body building a try.
“If you have the drive, compassion dedication and discipline then go for it. Because not only will you be happy with how you look but you’ll be so much more confident as an end result,” Sigman said.
Sigman said the change has to come from within, and no amount of nagging from a spouse, family or friends can change someone.
“It’s your competing against yourself. It’s being the best you can be,” Sigman said. “Husbands telling their wives, ‘You’re fat, go work out’ won’t work, you have to want it for yourself.”