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20 Questions with IFBB Figure Pro and Cover Model Michelle Adams
1) Please introduce yourself? What makes you special? Who is Michelle Adams?
Why am I special?? Well, because I am not anyone else, that’s why! Not to be sarcastic, but honestly, I’m special since I’m me and not anyone else. If you take a minute to get to know me, you’ll see that right away—I’m not trying to be someone else.
2) Please tell us a bit about your family, friends and surroundings?
My family, huh? Well, my parents are still married (40 years!!)…I have an older brother who is married with 4 children-14, 7, 16 months and 3 months—so they pretty much have their hands full! I am married to the greatest man there is—Bryan Adams. No, not the singer. The dentist. Soon to be the Oral Surgeon! We don’t have any children, but we do have 2 cats and 1 dog (an English Bulldog). I am currently living in South Carolina-not exactly the mecca of the bodybuilding/fitness/figure industry so it is often interesting to see people’s reactions to my physique as well as my career.
3) How did you start competing in fitness and then in figure?
Believe it or not, I started competing in fitness back in ’95 (that was the first year of fitness in the NPC-man, I’m old!) at the urging of a friend. I didn’t do so well in that first competition, but that didn’t matter, I was hooked and that’s all there was to it. Except for a few years off due to injuries I competed in fitness through the 2000 USA where I placed 4th. I suffered a few more injuries in that 2000 season and was unsure if I would make it back to the stage. In order to get my mind back into the game, I decided to prepare for my first figure show. I was not planning to give up trying my hand at fitness, but after having such quick success in the figure scene, I decided it would be best to stay on that course and avoid further injuries from the fitness routines.
4) What is your personal policy (not what the judges want) about conditioning and muscularity when coming into a show? Soft or hard?
MY policy?? JC, you are a funny guy—you know my answer to that before you even asked—I am a bodybuilder at heart, and I like the muscular, vascular, dry look, BUT I know that that is not the look that will get me where I want to go, so I try to bring it down a bit. Lean enough to see separation, but not grainy hard.
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.
Yes, actually I do think that the judges are clear with competitors as far as what they are looking for from us. They want a certain “structure” or “shape”. Wide back, rounded shoulders, small waist and slight flare to the legs. Now it is up to each individual competitor to do their homework in order to present this package on stage—for some, that may mean coming in leaner, and for some that may mean coming in softer..it is all dependent on that individual’s physique.
6) For the next shows what do you think you need to work on physique-wise/conditioning-wise? If anything!
I was very pleased with the changes that we made for this 2006 season. For 2007 we are aiming for more of the same….add some width to the shoulders and back and possibly a bit more sweep on the quads. I am naturally a very narrow person, so I need to appear a bit wider to avoid looking straight up and down.
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?
Typical training for me has gone back to basic moves, with plenty of weight. Like I said, I am a very narrow person, and I have a difficult time holding on to muscle, so it is imperative that I move some weight when I train! I try to stay within 8-10 reps on most all of my sets. I don’t have a certain number of sets that I do for each body part—I just like to make sure that I feel I have completely challenged the muscle group that I am working—I go on how I feel. I do tend to decrease the volume of training as the show gets closer to avoid depleting myself too much.
8) What is your pre-contest diet? (per day, 1 week before the show)
Again, very hard to answer this question as it changes from show to show. But may look something like this:
Meal 1: cream of rice, flaxseed oil
Meal 2: chicken, flank steak, oatmeal
Meal 3: chicken, sweet potato
Meal 4: tilapia, oatmeal
Meal 5: tilapia, asparagus
Meal 6: chicken, asparagus
Meal 7: tilapia, oatmeal
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.
I generally increase my water intake the Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday prior to the show (~2.5 gal), and then drop it back to 1.5 Thursday and then to .75 Friday. Depending on what time prejudging is I may only have12-15oz Saturday morning. Keep in mind though, that any of this may change depending on my conditioning at that point.
10) What motivates you to train/diet and compete? Are there any competitors you looked up to?
That’s easy-I am motivated to compete because I am constantly seeking improvement. I like to see that changes that I can make to my physique through my training and dieting-both pre contest AND off season!
As far as competitors that I look up to-well, I have to say I have always admired Monica Brant. As I was coming up through the sport she was an ever present figure and she was (and still is) an inspiration. Honestly though, I respect and admire ALL of the competitors—it takes a ton of work to do what we do day in and day out. Many of those competitors do it all while going to school or raising a family-OR BOTH!!
11) Please tell us an interesting experience you had at a show recently, be it a fun thing or something rather not so fun?
Well, the best experience I had at a show recently was being there to see Jay win the Olympia!! I was so excited for him, and I was very glad that I was there to see it first hand. Jay is a great ambassador for the sport
12) What is your personal opinion about the figure, fitness, bodybuilding industry we are in? Anything you would like to see changed?
Well, obviously I like it other wise I wouldn’t participate in it…I think both the NPC and the IFBB are great organizations that give all of us an opportunity to compete in arenas that we love. If I could change something about the industry I would have to say it would be to increase the number of competitors in both the fitness and bodybuilding (female). We need to keep our sports going!!
13) From the shows you have competed so far during your career which one was the best (or most fun) for you and why?
Well, the best show would have to be the 2006 Montreal Pro Classic-because I WON!! J
14) Did you make any changes to your contest prep for this show? Water intake, carbing up, etc...
Yes, I made some changes to my contest prep this season—but most of those changes came in the off season (TRUE contest prep!!). I took a much longer off season in order to make some needed improvements in my physique. I went back to the basics as far as training goes, and made sure to consume enough calories to support the growth that I was looking for. The aim coming into the show was to stay as full as possible, so I probably did take in a bit more carbs than I had in the past.
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 cannot honestly say what other competitors will do regarding the 20% rule as I am not much into mind reading, but if they would like to place well then I would advise them to heed it! J It is up to each individual competitor as to what they ultimately display on stage-if they decide not to follow the 20% rule because they ‘feel better’ looking bigger then that’s great-just don’t complain if you don’t place where you’d like to.
16) How did you feel about winning your first show in your career? Describe a bit of that whole experience. Did you expect to win that show?
I was very excited to have won the 2006 Montreal Pro Classic-especially having been the only competitor from the USA. The whole event seemed to flow smoothly for me and it almost seemed surreal. No, I didn’t expect to win the show. However, I was coming off of a 2nd place finish at the Europa the week before and I knew I was tighter than I had been there so I felt very good about the package that I was bringing.
17) Please tell us about how you were raised and did you have any interesting experiences while growing up?
I grew up in Westminster Massachusetts-a very small community in central west Mass. I guess I would say I had a ‘normal’ upbringing. I played soccer as a child and then moved into running cross-country as well as indoor and outdoor track. I was always busy doing something physical-never really one to sit around and just stare at the TV
18) Do you have an athletic background? Gymnastics, soccer, volleyball or what?
No gymnastics background here—just running; which MAY have something to do with the hamstring development J Anyway, my lack of experience in dance, cheerleading/gymnastics made it all very interesting when I decided to try my hand at fitness. Routines were ALWAYS a challenge for me, and NO I never won a show because my routine was the best LOL!!
19) What is a typical day in the life of Michelle Adams? From waking up to until going to bed?
Funny, I’m sure a typical day in my life is far less interesting than one would think. If I am dieting, then it’s out of bed by 3am to do cardio , eat, shower, feed the dog and the cats and then take the dog out before getting to the gym to train my first client. (if I’m NOT dieting, I’ll sleep in until 4am). So I’m at the gym by 5am, and depending on the day, I may have a break between clients around noon, so I’ll go home and take the dog out, answer emails, run errands and MAYBE get to take a nap. Most often I’ll get up and do my training after my nap, train a few more clients and head home around 7pm to feed the animals (and myself), answer more emails and head to bed by 9pm.
20) What is your current occupation? Please tell us more about it, what do specifically do in your job?
I am a certified strength and conditioning specialist (NSCA CSCS) as well as certified personal trainer. I train both one on one and in group settings and have a wide range of clients-high school athletes, stay-at-home moms, typical 9-5ers, as well as competitive bodybuilders and fitness/figure athletes.
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