20 Questions with Cover Model IFBB Pro Figure Monica Brant
1) Please introduce yourself?What makes you special? Who is Monica Brant-Peckham?
I don’t know that I am so special.. I have been in the industry for along time and maybe that is why I am so known!
As for who I am, I am a God fearing lady who wants to do God’s work and try daily to hear His voice so that I don’t waste time.. NOT that I always succeed, but I do try and that is my heart!
2) Please tell us a bit about your family, friends and surroundings?
My family is small. Mom lives here in Austin and is a Realtor. My Dad lives outside of San Antonio at his lake house and is a retired Account Executive from Merrill Lynch. My brother and sis in law live in San Antonio, he works in residential construction and she is a registered nurse in the OR.
My hubby, Scott Peckham, and I live in Austin now for 1 year! We built a home here during my last year in LA, CA and moved in right before Christmas 2005. We love it here and feel very blessed to be in this beautiful hill country area! We live near the lakes and have 2 Mini Dachshund puppies (Fenway- Red Male and Camy-Chocolate/Tan with Dapple pattern, Female) Maybe someday they will have puppies! They are both great pups and have fabulous and very different personalities!
Also, we have a cat named Lucy Blue- she was a rescued kitten from our vet. She lives half inside and half out! She is a sweet cat who likes to go on the walks with pups! She is very friendly and LOVES to play with the dogs! They are all great friends!
3) How did you start competing in fitness and then in figure?
From Bio "Just a few months later in 1991, Monica competed and won her first show! After competing for a few more years based in TX; she decided to make the move to Los Angeles where she turned her hobby into a full-blown career. Since her move in 1995 and earning her Pro Card in the IFBB, Monica competed in 1-3 contests a year through 1999. After the Fitness Olympia in 1999, she decided to retire from the Fitness stage, however, she was still continually booked for appearances around the world (Germany, Italy, Austria, France, Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Japan, South Africa, Argentina and many tropical islands too!) promoting a healthy lifestyle!"
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Monica Brant-Peckham & Scott Peckham |
4) What is your personal policy (not what the judges want) about conditioning and muscularity when coming into a show? Soft or hard?
For my body style, I feel that coming in a bit harder looks best on me. So I do my best to bring my condition in for stage!
Since I am a shorter and thicker-muscled gal .. I have to appear smaller the best I can- to be comparable to the taller, longer limbed ladies!
I do enjoy having muscle; I wouldn’t want to be a ‘stick chick’!
I have always had more muscle on my legs so I don’t have to train them much, but do have to train shoulders and back heavier to be competitive and work that V taper!
5) What is your idea of what judges want in a Figure competitor? Do you think judges are clear enough with competitors about how they want you on stage? It seems in Canada they are very clear unlike in the USA.
To me it seems the judges want a taller lady with more muscle on top and thin legs- almost untrained legs in some cases.
Possibly even less glutes too!
It doesn’t seem the judges are too clear .. but I think it would be really hard to judge this type of competition anyways!
Maybe they need to have height classes in the pros too- this way the ladies would be more easily comparable.
6) For the next shows what do you think you need to work on physique-wise/conditioning-wise? If anything!
Ha! We ALWAYS have to work on something- otherwise it would get really boring to prepare!
For me, I will always work on strong, round shoulders, wider and denser upper back and only conditioned legs! The last year and a half I have been dealing with a shoulder issue.. haven’t really had a professional look at it, but will after the holidays! I haven’t been able to train shoulders like I was in the past! OUCH!
For Conditioning, I work with Kim Oddo (www.bodybyo.com) and we always keep me low in carbs and medium protein/fats
For me it is just repetition and consistency that brings my body into contest shape! Focus!!!
7) What is your typical training routine in the gym (per day, include sets and reps!) How much cardio do you do before a show?
Shoulders and Back once a week
Heavier weights
4-5 exercises with sets of 15, 12,10,8 (reps)
Legs - circuit training once a week with cardio mixed in
30 mins cardio, 4-5 exercises for one set of 15-20 reps each then back to cardio for 10-15 mins
Will do this type of workout so that I end up with 60 mins cardio and 20-30 mins exercises
Cardio will be everyday for 60-180 mins – 1 or 2 sessions
8) What is your pre-contest diet? (per day, 1 week before the show)
Can’t share this info! That’s why I have a nutritionist.. he takes care of the decisions for me with this!
However, almost every show is a bit different depending on where my body is at that time!
9) How do you go about dropping your water before the day of the show? How much water do you drink the day of the show. Please be specific.
Again, this is different each time.. if I am leaner I don’t have to drop as much! This is also something I can’t disclose as it is what I pay my nutritionist for!
10) What motivates you to train/diet and compete? Are there any competitors you looked up to? Being such a Fitness icon were there any competitors you admired when you started?
From Bio "In 1991 Monica started lifting weights and noticed a photo of Marla Duncan winning a fitness competition in a national fitness publication. Marla’s beauty and physique impressed her so much that she wanted to try her hand at the fitness competitions."
11) Please tell us an interesting experience you had at a show recently, be it a fun thing or something rather not so fun?
Can’t think of anything specifically fun or interesting, but I have been around a long time and been to MANY Olympia and AC events!
As of now, I worked the Olympia and Arnold Classic events 12 times each! Every year since 1995 (my first) I have attended and worked in a booth!
I have competed in:
5 Fitness Olympia competitions
2 Fitness Internationals (there weren’t any IFBB competitions at the AC in the beginning of my competing or I would have done them too)
4 Figure Olympia
4 Figure International
Interestingly I have been 2nd in all Fitness and Figure International events competed! Hmmmmm…
12) What is your personal opinion about the figure, fitness, bodybuilding industry we are in? Anything you would like to see changed?
It is such a small but largely populated industry! I wish there was a way to get it more mainstream but I am afraid the ‘powers that be’ don’t want that.. they might not be able to keep control of the money/athletes like they do now.
Yes, I would like to see better representation of the athletes and more unity with us. However, there is a large division of the female athletes and it keeps us from having more unity.
That’s all I can say about that –right now!
13) From the shows you have competed so far during your career which one was the best (or most fun) for you and why?
The best had to be the winning of the Fitness Olympia in 1998!
For obvious reasons I am sure you can guess why it was the best; however the Jan Tana Pro Fitness win in 1995 was my most fun!
I truly enjoyed the diversity in the ‘fitness’ round. I trained very hard for that particular round and excelled in each category! I trained for months to be able to do 63 complete pushups in one minute! That was HARD!
Also, it was the first competition that I had a real choreographer work with me on dance, strength and the transitions.. She was awesome and continued to do most of my fitness routines-
Check out her website when you can.. she has some great dance videos too!
http://www.dancewithlisa.com/
14) Did you make any changes to your contest prep for this show? Water intake, carbing up, etc...
No, nothing much to talk about! Definitely don’t EVER have to carb up! HA!
15) What is your opinion about the 20% rule the IFBB issued to some female athletes? Why do you think they did it? Do you think competitors will follow it? Or it will get lost around somewhere?
I don’t know that it really made a difference.. I can’t see it has changed anything!
16) How much has the fitness industry changed since you started competing? Can you name some differences that others might not see?
Mostly the change is that there are so many other ladies involved now! More opportunities for competitions too; however, not much money still for the ladies! Bummer!
The fitness competition routines have increased in overall creativity and performance! Before there was always 1-3 fabulous routines, the rest were average, now they ALL are fabulous! Especially if you could see the routines from 1995 and before! WOW! They have changed drastically!
17) Please tell us about how you were raised and did you have any interesting experiences while growing up?
From Bio "Taking a step back in time, Monica has grown up accustomed to hard work! Raised on a 20-acre ranch, where her mom was a professional horse trainer for 15 years."
18) Do you have an athletic background? Gymnastics, soccer, volleyball or what?
From Bio "Monica was riding and showing horses of all disciplines since the age of 7. To this day Monica still enjoys riding; Jumpers being her favorite! Along with the horses, Monica was also a zealous athlete in school– running sprints during track season and playing volleyball. In her sophomore year of high school she was on the Texas State Mile Relay Winning team, running her leg of a quarter mile under 60 seconds!"
19) What is a typical day in the life of Monica Brant-Peckham? From waking up to until going to bed?
-Wake around 7-8 AM
-Take the dogs for a short walk
-Fix a Lean Dessert Protein shake (www.BSNonline.net)
-Wait for about 30-60 mins in which I’ll make Scottie something to eat if he wants me to, clean up the kitchen or laundry, domestic stuff!
-Cardio outside in the hills around my home- 45-60 mins
-Clean up and eat
-Work in the office for a few hours &/or run errands, make necessary calls, etc.
-Head to the gym (if training day) fix food, work on house projects, walk the pups again
-Dinner with Scottie in or out depending on our diet!
-Bed around 11-1am
Of course when I am preparing to travel the days are quite different and hectic! Returning home as well the days are hectic trying to get back on track, organize and refocus!
Traveling is tough!
20) What is your current occupation? Please tell us more about it, what do specifically do in your job?
I do fitness stuff year round!
Currently I am an endorsed athlete with BSN Supplements which means I make personal appearances for them about 5 times a year and shoot photos for their ads. Also, I run my official website (www.monicabrant.com) answer all emails, fulfill orders off the MALL section of my site, negotiate all contracts and personal appearances (outside of BSN’s) on my own (sometimes Scottie helps in the decisions now that we are married too) and compete at least 2x yearly since 1991!
Also, I am hosting camps across the country called the F.E.M. Camp (Fun, Educational, Motivational)
If you are interested in attending one, email me at femcamp@monicabrant.com or visit my website too!
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