Tim J Vance

The Reigning QueenDan Ray

It seems like every female fitness competitor I know has a girl-crush on 32-year-old Erin
Stern. Check out her website for
more photos, and you’ll understand why. Erin is the current Ms. Figure
Olympia. ‘Nuff said. But she wasn’t always the sculpted image of
awesome. “I was a tomboy growing up, but I put on 30 pounds after college, where I
did high jump, pentathlon and heptathlon.” It was seeing a picture of herself from
behind that prompted her to start running track again. She just missed qualifying for the
2008 U.S. Olympic team in high jump, and that was when she got into figure
competitions. I completely endorse and personally live by Erin’s first piece
of advice: “Focus on compound movements,” she told me. “A
lot of people do a bunch of isolation movements like arm curls and triceps extensions, but
with pull-ups and bench press and squats, you’ll get better results, burn
more calories and spend less time in the gym. You don’t need to spend hours a
day. Thirty to 60 minutes will do it.” Erin is also a fan of supersets. “If you combine push and pull exercises, you’ll keep your heart rate
up even more and be spending less time in the gym. It’s almost like cardio, but
you’re not on the treadmill.” Stern doesn’t do traditional
cardio except to spend some time on a treadmill to warm up and cool down. “I prefer
high-intensity training,” she told me. “It’s more challenging and
exciting, and it gets more done in less time.” She is also a fan of Tabata workouts, which is 20 seconds of balls to the wall, followed
by 10 seconds of rest, for 8 rounds. “You can do one, and it’s four minutes
total, so it’s a great way to finish off a workout. You can do it with dumbbells or
with body weight.” As for motivation, “Just put your sneakers on
and tell yourself you’re going to go to the gym and warm up, and it will happen
anyway. Remember the last time you didn’t feel like working out and did it anyway.
It’s a great feeling.” I will put my support behind that. Every time I
don’t feel like exercising and just suck it up and go, the sense of accomplishment
afterward is awesome. “If you schedule it like a business meeting,
you’re less likely to skip it. Don’t put it off.” When it
comes to getting started, Erin advises caution. “Start moderate with a new program.
Don’t try to match your PR from 10 years ago right away. Give your body time to
adapt. You don’t want to overdo it and injure yourself.” Erin has
some diet
advice, too. “A lot of folks think they need to eat less, but just
focus on eating more balanced meals,” she said. “Make sure you get protein
with every meal and healthy snacks, like Greek yogurt or a handful of mixed nuts.”
Stern prefers to focus on one-ingredient foods, like chicken, rice, vegetables and
quinoa. And on the treat side of things, “It’s hard to resist junk
food, and you don’t want to feel like you’re depriving yourself. You have to
eat clean most of the time, but I recommend you schedule your treat meals around a heavier
day in the gym.” This is because she feels less like having a treat after a really
hard workout. There is actual science to back this up — intense exercise inhibits cravings for junk
food. For motivation, Erin cautions about too much focus on vanity, and so do
I. “I think vanity helps push all of us, but it shouldn’t be the main
motivating factor. Consider the toxic stew that is professional bodybuilding and the words
of four-time Mr. Universe Bill Pearl: “The guy left standing on the stage today at
the end of a bodybuilding show is probably the guy in the arena who is closest to
death.” That’s messed up. Don’t sacrifice health or
performance for vanity. And Erin is careful not to do anything stupid, even
when it comes to competition prep. “A few days out from competition, I cut carbs,
and two days out, I cut sodium. This way, you don’t need to stop drinking water. If
you do that, you get headaches and feel miserable and your skin gets dry, so it’s
important to still drink water.” It’s important to note that this carb and
sodium cutting is just for a short period of time in order to look best for
competition. So there you go, fellas. Advice from three super-fit women on how
to kick ass in the gym and get an awesome body. Go be inspired.

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