Team 3DMJ’s 2010 Natural Bodybuilding Seminar in Review

By Eric Helms, photos by Melissa Requena

Team 3DMJ hosted its second seminar to date on July 11^th 2010 in Rancho Cordova California (a suburb of Sacramento), at Powerhouse gym, the Mecca of natural bodybuilding in California. Natural Figure Champion Chrissy Zmijewski is a trainer at Powerhouse Gym and Natural Pros and Promoters Bob Bell and Tina Smith host posing classes there. The Team 3DMJ coaching staff lifts there regularly and we often run into Natural Pro and long time Judge Victor Sampson, and many up and coming amateurs. Powerhouse has hosted seminars for Dr. Joe “The Diet Doc” Klemcziewski multiple times that have had Natural Champions like Dave Goodin, Arlene Lurey, and Moji Oluwa as presenters. It was the perfect location for our seminar and Team 3DMJ would like to thank and congratulate Powerhouse and its owners Janelle and Mark for supporting us and the sport of natural bodybuilding!

Our seminar lasted from 11am to 4pm with a lunch break. Most of the time was devoted to interactive presentations and question and answer periods. The coaches of Team 3DMJ were joined by Team 3DMJ members WNBF Pro Angela Compilli and NGA Pro Robbie Sardinia. Angela was on hand to answer questions and assist with the kettle bell training and Robbie (who was 1 week out from his pro debut at the IFPA Pro USA) modeled for the posing presentation and was on hand to answer questions and help attendees.

Alberto Nunez began with his presentation on common contest preparation mistakes and covered many of the methods, myths and solutions to the issues competitors face when trying to dial it in for the stage. This presentation by far evoked the most questions and seemed to especially captivate the competitors in the audience.

Up next, Jeff Alberts gave a presentation on the philosophies of posing and how to master the art of presentation. He gave a basic introduction to concepts and theories and then did a live rundown of the poses using NGA Pro Robbie Sardinia as a model.

After this, we took a lunch break and got to know our attendees on a more personal level. We had a total of thirteen participants and it was a pleasure getting to know these genuine and enthusiastic people. Once lunch was over, we took them through a posing class to perfect their presentation. Some competitors were a week out, others had competitions later in the summer and some had aspirations of competing in the future.

While Jeff and I took them through the poses, WNBF/INBF Judges Alberto Nunez and Brad Loomis talked to the competitors about what they looked for as judges and they also covered individual concerns and questions with those not participating in the posing class.

Once the clothes were back on, I gave a presentation on weight training for the natural bodybuilder.  I discussed the science of both gaining strength and muscle mass and the parallels between both, suggesting that the differences are minor at best. I also discussed current research, progressive overload, periodization and myths in bodybuilding training and I answered a lot of questions. 

Brad Loomis then gave a presentation on cardio training. He discussed the basic fundamentals of the cardiovascular system, how the bodybuilder can implement cardio during prep and lastly discussed alternative methods to High Intensity Interval Training using kettle bells. As an RKC, Brad is an expert in the use of kettle bells. Kettle bells affect the body much like weight training, but are very taxing to the cardiovascular system and don’t require as much recovery as normal weightlifting, so they are perfect for HIIT. As a CPT and PES I also have experience with their use and I assisted Brad in the instruction period, however he is definitely the master! We put the attendees through their paces and hopefully in the coming seasons we’ll see leaner physiques with more muscle because of it!

After this final presentation, the Team got down for a hardcore workout! Some attendees stayed to train with us, but many were adhering to strict contest prep workout schedules. We met great people and got great feedback. Among the participants was natural bodybuilder and power lifter Camilo Gutierrez, owner of Midtown Strength and Conditioning. He hosts Olympic and Powerlifting meets at his gym in downtown Sacramento and he decided to interview us afterwards for his website! Also attending was 3DMJ contributing author Dr. Rita Bermudez who wrote a fabulous article on HIIT, WNBF Figure Pro Sandra Quallo, Scott Brown who just competed in the NANBF Muscle Mayhem here in Sacramento, Alex Cosentini who captured the teen title at the same competition and Ken Stevenson who just recently placed 3^rd in the Masters Division at the NGA California.

All in all it was a fantastic experience and we met a lot of enthusiastic people that inspired us to keep doing what we are doing and we had a blast!

We want to thank all the participants for their dedication, desire and discipline!

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