The Road to my First Figure Competition by Kali Knapp

Kali Knapp

To some, it may sound crazy that I train six days a week, push more weight than some guys at the gym, and that I eat upwards of six meals a day. Yet to all of the ladies in the wonderful world of figure training, it is the kind of lifestyle that is all too familiar. For the past nine months of my life I have been preparing for my very first figure competition at the annual Orange County classic in April. I have approached this new chapter in my life just like I have for anything else I have ever wanted in life- an insatiable hunger to be the very best.

I was born in Upland, California on July 4, 1986. Growing up I was the epitome of a tomboy as I was always engaged in some kind of athletic activity. However, out of all the sports I tried, I felt most comfortable in the pool. My freshman year at Savanna high school in Anaheim, I enrolled in water polo on a whim. I excelled in water polo and I had become such a fast sprinter in polo games that I ended up making the varsity swim team four years in a row.

Kali Knapp

Unfortunately when I graduated high school, I no longer held the same passion I once did for being in the water. Needing something new to stir my competitive juices I looked to my older sister, Karla, for ideas. Once a swimmer herself, she went to the gym to stay fit while attending college. She urged me to come with her and convinced me that if I just lifted heavy enough, I would put some muscle on my tiny 100 pound frame.

At seventeen years old, I remember walking into the local 24 hour fitness for the very first time. I was timid, self conscious and painfully skinny. I began to pick up the gym lingo and started researching figure competitions as my next athletic endeavor. I was crushed to realize that I was way too skinny to look like the women in figure. Nevertheless, I set out to look like all of the women I saw in fitness magazines who emulated everything that I thought a woman should be- strong, confident and beautiful.

Putting on muscle for me was an uphill battle, and it

Kali Knapp

just so happens that I was on Mount Everest. I trained hard, ate as much as I could, never did any cardio, and still saw minimal results. At nineteen years old and eighteen pounds later, I ran into expert figure trainer, David Ellis, with a stroke of luck. He began training me immediately and has slowly but surely helped me transform my body.

While I get increasingly closer to competition day, I am starting to learn what “thirteen weeks out” really means. It has become crunch time for me. I still have seven more pounds to gain and have yet to even start my pre-contest diet…figure that one out (no pun intended). I’m also starting to realize the millions of variables that can affect the condition I come in, all of which are easily handled by a seasoned competitor. But for me, fine tuning my condition will be a bit more of a guessing game, even with David’s expert help.

Kali Knapp

As for my future in figure, it seems very bright. At twenty years of age, I have only begun the long process of sculpting my body to perfection. My ultimate plan is to take my career in figure as far as possible. After all, this is much more than a hobby for me- it is my life. So be sure to look for me in the pro rankings, because I am not stopping until I get there. But before I talk about going pro, let me go ahead and steal the show at the Orange County Classic first!

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