Thursday, December 30, 2010

The Fit-Bod Talk Show...Siouxcountry's LIVE Radio Show!

This past week, Jack and Ann Titone launched the Fit Bod Radio show as the newest radio show for top female physique site Siouxcountry. The well-renowned trainer and IFBB Figure competitor have been supporters of the site for seemingly forever, and now they are doing their part in helping it expand by providing the site with its first-ever LIVE broadcast!

The first guest on this historic show were Kayde Puckett, Nicole Duncan, Camala Rodriguez and Erin Riley. Yes, for the debut show, four top IFBB Fitness Pros were a part of this show. Very good stuff! A lot was talked about, including fitness incentives, food porn, and something about Kayde I've never knew about. I highly recommend that you find some time to listen to this inaugural show.If you haven't heard it yet, or want to here it again, go to this link:

http://www.blogtalkradio.com/the-fit-bod-radio-show/2010/12/29/the-fit-bod-radio-show

Their next show will take place next Thursday (January 6, 2011) at 7PM Central Time, with Trainer Erik Ledin, Jason Adams & IFBB Bikini Pro Christy Meritt as the show's guests!

As each show ends, I'll make a blog post the next day so you can all check them out for yourselves, for those that can't listen to the live broadcasts. And on the day of broadcasting, I'll post the information on the FitGems fan page where you can listen to them LIVE.

Congrats to Jack and Ann on this latest accomplishment!! :)

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

FitGems to Interview Jenny Worth in 2011!!!

FitGems Nation is honored to announce that in January 2011, we will be conducting an interview with one of the biggest fitness legends of all time, 2001 Fitness International Champion and top Fitness Olympia finalist Jenny Worth!!!

Jenny from 2001 Fitness Olympia
Photo credit: Jenny's Facebook

This has been in the making for months via Facebook. It was going to be a cool email interview like I've done with all my interview thus far (except for Diana Stanback), but things took an interesting turn. Jenny decided that she would like to do it via audio. So I have the honor and privilege to interview this amazing legend. But I don't want this to be just any interview; I want it to be special, which is why I want YOU, the FitGems Nation, to be part of this special event.

In addition to the questions I've already made for Jenny, I will select five questions from all of you out there. How you do submit your questions? Simple...leave your question(s) below as a comment or email them to me at admin@fitgemsnation.net (Please put Jenny Worth Interview in the subject line).There's no limit to how many questions you can submit, but keep in mine that I'm only going to choose FIVE, and please...no pointless questions, please. We're all adults here. BTW, you have until January 8th. I will choose the best questions and send them to Jenny on the 9th.

For those that have followed and supported FitGems since 2008, I can honestly say that this is arguably the biggest things that has ever happened for the site, to interview one of the true queens of not only fitness, but of this entire industry as well. To say that FitGems is looking forward to interviewing Jenny would be an understatement. Looking forward to seeing all your questions for Jenny!!! :)

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Sharing a TenSpot with...Raechelle Chase

FitGems had the opportunity recently to interview IFBB Figure Pro Raechelle Chase. Raechelle, who is from New Zealand, had a pretty good 2010, and could have just as much success (if not more so) in 2011. She is the first competitor who came to US for an interview, and for that, we at FitGems are eternally grateful to her. Expect big things from her in 2011.

Raechelle @ 2010 Ft. Lauderdale Cup
Photo Credit: Raechelle Chase

FitGems Nation: First off, thank you for taking this time to do this interview with FitGems, Raechelle!
Raechelle Chase: You are so welcome!

FitGems: May you first start off by telling us a little bit about yourself?
Raechelle: My back ground is in modelling, I did my first fashion show when I was just 5yrs old but these days I prefer the challenge that comes with being in shape for Fitness Modelling jobs. I’m a Mother to 3 young children, Dior-Rose 3 yrs. Carlos 5yrs and Annaliese 11 yrs. I am the deputy editor for The NZ Fitness magazine, an International Fitness Model and TV presenter for Fitness equipment in both NZ and Australia for TV various shows. I’m sponsored by Lonsdale Clothing and Body Ripped Sports Nutrition in Australia. I trained in Early Childhood Teaching, Computer technology & Personal Trainer, all professions which I decided not to pursue. I also worked in event Management for a few years organizing fashion shows and corporate functions. Although I started training when I was 16 years old (I worked part time in the gym) I started training seriously in 2002 However, it wasn’t until I competed in 2007 as a Novice that I won my class, Best posing routine & Overall Figure Champion and finally I knew that the fitness industry was where I wanted to be. After spending my entire life wondering what the heck I was going to do with my life, I finally knew!! That was a great moment.

FitGems: When got you involved to competing in physique competitions?
Raechelle: I needed a reason to get into shape, I’m not someone who does things by halves so naturally the next step was to pick a competition and compete!

FitGems: What is your strategy when you train? Is it mostly weight-training, mostly cardio, a balanced mixture of the two, or something else?
Racehelle: I prefer to train one body part per workout, that way I feel like I can give that muscle group 100% and not have to hold back because I know I still have other areas to train. I also get bored if I plan to train more than one muscle group which then leads to loss of motivation and focus and training becomes a chore. Training one body part means I’m in and out of the gym in 45 minutes and I’m highly motivated to get the job done!

FitGems: As you can tell, the differences in American figure competitors and international competitors is..well…a bit different. What look do you prefer, the American look for figure or the international look for figure?
Raechelle: After competing in Pro Figure competitions in the States I don’t really see how the American figure competitor look is any different to an International look even though this is a common way of thinking for many people. Everyone has their own individual look and I don’t think the county they are from represents this. I do think being an International figure competitor makes it harder to be noticed when competing in the States but not due to a lack of quality in our physiques.

FitGems: What are your personal thoughts on the pending new women’s physique division, and do you think we could see you in it in the near future?
Raechelle: I think it’s brilliant and a great way to bridge the gap that we have between figure & women’s bodybuilding. I’m not sure that you will see me in this class though, I think my look is better suited to the current figure category.

FitGems: Do you see many international stars give women’s physique a try? The NPC will launch it next year, and the IFBB will launch it in 2012.
Raechelle: I hope so, I think this division will be a great one to watch!

FitGems: In addition to competing, you have a family back home. How hard is it to raise a family and compete?
Raechelle: It’s not always easy. In fact it’s never easy lol, I constantly feel like I’m trying to fit in what I need here and there. Young children are so demanding of your attention and they can’t understand why you would need to do anything for yourself because they of course they are the single most important person in the world lol.
Don’t get me wrong I love that children are just so oblivious to anything else going on around them. That’s what makes them so innocent. But it does make it challenging, it’s a juggling act that sometimes works, and sometimes doesn’t.
I love my family and I love training and competing. It’s all about finding that balance to fit all in without feeling like one is taking over the other.
Most importantly, as for all goals in life. If the desire is strong enough you can make anything work!

FitGems: Which competitor do you admire most?
Raechelle: I loved the looked Gina Allotti bought to the stage in 2009 I thought she had great balance and her conditioning was right on form. I aim to bring the same conditioning to my competitions.

FitGems: What advice would you give to any female that would want to be in the female physique world?
Raechelle: If you choose to compete, do so with all the motivation and dedication you can pull, because it’s not an easy road. But when you get to the stage and look back you will see that it was worth it, even if you only do it once, it will be worth the effort.

FitGems: Last, but not least, what are your future plans for the rest your IFBB career?
Raechelle: I will keep competing until it’s not fun anymore, I’m always up for new challenges and jumping into new and exciting opportunities, so we will just see what comes my way and where it leads. I’m keen to get into more Television type roles. I do some presenting jobs already in NZ and Australia and have Done for a few years. I would like to work more in this field now that the children are a bit older.

FitGems: Once again, thank you so much for doing this!
Racehelle: Your welcome, I love your site and honoured to have been interviewed.


For more on Raechelle, you can visit her website at www.raechellechase.com, where she also regularly write a blog on the site. If you're on Facebook, "like" Raechelle at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Raechelle-Chase-IFBB-Figure-Professional/299006786205, and for those on Twitter, follow her at http://twitter.com/RaechelleChase.

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

2nd Annual FitGems Awards Ballot (Vote for your favorites)

Thank you once again for your nominations for the FitGems Awards! I announced a few of the nominees via Twitter, but due to some unknowing events beyond my control, I had to cut it short. Here are the COMPLETE list of nominees for this year's FitGems Awards.

COMPETITOR CATEGORIES

Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Iris Kyle
Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia
Zoa Linsey
Brigita Brezovac
Tina Chandler
Cathy LeFrancois

Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Krissy Chin
Alicia Harris
Erin Stern
Nicole Wilkins-Lee
Heather Mae French
Ava Cowan

Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Kayde Puckett
Adela Garcia
Tanji Johnson
Trish Warren
Camela Rodriquez
Tina Durkin

Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Vanessa Prebyl
Amanda Latona
Sonia Gonzales
Nathalia Melo
Nicole Nagrani
Jessica Putnam

Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Margaret Negrete
Helen Lindsay
Natalie Ariel
Claire O’Connell
Olivia Perry
Emanuela Silvagni

Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Wendy Fortino
Gemma Santos
Kisha Wilson
Amy DeGiovine
Kimberly Morgan
Jordan Meyer

Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Lena Mislin
Viko Newman
Meredith Miller
Lisha Dean
Paula Williams-Gulman
Meredith Miller

Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Venus Ramos
Sherrie Carnicle
Ali Dies
Jennifer Rankin
Rebecca Staggs
Jessica True
  
International Female Bodybuilder of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Yaxeni Oriquen-Garcia (Venezuela)
Zoa Linsey (Canada)
Brigita Brezovac (Slovenia)
Skadi Frei-Seifert (Germany)
Dayana Cadeau (Canada)
Myriam Bustamante (Mexico)

International Fitness Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Minna Pajulahti (Finland)
Myriam Capes (Canada)
Kizzy Vaines (England)
Regaine Da Silva (Germany)
Oksana Grishina (Russia)
Allison Ethier (Canada)

International Figure Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Rose-Marie Romero (Australia)
Patricia Mello (Brazil)
Larissa Reis (Brazil)
Natalie Waples (Canada)
Raechelle Chase (New Zealand)
Juliana Malacarne (Brazil)

International Bikini Competitor of the Year (Pro or Amateur)
Justine Munro (Canada)
Natalie Mur (France)
Leigh Brandt (Canada)
Nathalia Melo (Brazil)
Dina Al-Sabah (Kuwait)
Olah Noemi (Hungrary)

Breakout Pro Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Zoa Linsey
Brigita Brezovac
Alina Popa
Tina Chandler
Cathy LeFrancois
Nicole Ball

Breakout Pro Figure Competitor of the Year
Teresa Anthony
Candice Keene
Ava Cowan
Courtney West
Meriza DeGuzman
Sabrina Taylor

Breakout Pro Fitness Competitor of the Year
Trish Warren
Tina Durkin
Myriam Capes
Bethany Wagner
Kizzy Vaines
Camale Rodriguez

Breakout Pro Bikini Competitor of the Year
Jessica Putnam
Vanessa Prebyl
Sherlyn Roy
Nicole Guerrero
Natalie Pennington
Nicole Nagarni

Breakout Amateur Female Bodybuilder of the Year
Natalie Ariel
Claire O’Connell
Amy Sibcy
Aleesha Young
Olivia Terry
Melody Spetko

Breakout Amateur Figure Competitor of the Year
Wendy Fortino
Gemma Santos
Kalani Barber
Amy Jo Palmquest
Amy DeGiovine
Maria Maroni

Breakout Amateur Fitness Competitor of the Year
Lisha Dean
Viko Newman
Lisa Mislin
Paula Williams-Gulman
Michelle Green
Shelly Howard

Breakout Amateur Bikini Competitor of the Year
Rebecca Staggs
Shawn Rene Zimmerman
Sherrie Carnicle
Venus Ramos
Diana Graham
Shawn Hektor

Competitor Who You Would Love to See Return To the Stage in 2011
Jenny Lynn
Mary Elizabeth Lado
Christine Pomponio-Pate
Lenda Murray
Susie Curry
Mah Ann Mendoza

Fitness Entrepreneur of the Year (Model/Trainer/Spokesperson)
Jennifer Nicole Lee
Jillian Michaels
Jamie Eason
Laura Mak
Jaquelyn Kay
Timea Majorova

Moment of the Year (when certain people win a competition, return to the stage, retire, etc. This is for any federation and can be about any of the divisions)
Mia Finnegan returns to competition for the first time in over a decade
Monica Brant joins the WBFF after being in the IFBB for 15 years
Adela Garcia becomes the first-ever 5X Fitness Olympia Champion
Nicole Wilkins-Lee wins the Figure International title, making her the 2nd woman in history to win the Figure Olympia AND Figure International title back-to-back.
Sonia Gonzales becomes the first-ever Ms. Bikini Olympia
Betty Parsio announces her retirement from competition

Ones to Watch in 2011
(Vote for the one you think people need to watch out for in 2011. The top 3 in each category will be recognized).

Pro Female Bodybuilders
Shelia Bleck
Zoa Linsey
Monique Hayes
Alina Popa
Elena Shportun
Amber DeFrancesco

Pro Figure Competitors
Mandy Henderson
Monica Escalante
Candice Keene
Ava Cowan
Courtney West
Alicia Harris

Pro Fitness Competitors
Myriam Capes
Stacy Wright
Minna Pajulahti
Nicole Duncan
Venus Nguyen
Michelle Craven

Pro Bikini Competitors
Jessica Putnam
Vanessa Prebyl
Kat Holmes
Kristal Martin
Shelsea Montes
Khanh Nguyen

Pro Women's Physique Competitors ((NOTE: These are names of those who you FEEL can do well in women’s physique, plus there’s no guarantee that a pro women’s physique show will take place in 2011)
Sabrina Taylor-Gibson
Lori Steele
Diana Stanback
Tiffany Procopio
Juliana Malacarne
Meriza DeGuzman

Amateur Female Bodybuilders
Margaret Negrete
Dana Richards
Alyssa Stroud
Kim Ferrell
Natalie Ariel
Amanda Folstad-Ptak


Amateur Figure Competitors
Jackie Haas
Wendy Fortino
Tiffany Moody
Gemma Santos
Kisha Wilson
Heather Grace

Amateur Fitness Competitors
Viko Newman
Lisha Dean
Lisa Mislin
Paula Williams-Gulman
Michelle Green
Jennifer Bishop

Amateur Bikini Competitors
Sherrie Carnicle
Shawn Rene Zimmerman
Rebecca Staggs
Jennifer Rankin
Crystal Mathews
Kendra Warren

Amateur Women's Physique Competitors (NOTE: These are names of those who you FEEL can do well in NPC women’s physique or they have mentioned that they will be competing in the new division next year)
Tracy Bodner
Melissa Dettwiller
Tracey MacDonald
Kimberly Morgan
Vanessa Price
Mary Simmons

Fitness Entrepreneur (Model/Trainer/Spokesperson)
Ava Cowan
Jennifer Nicole Lee
Brittany Beede
Jillian Michaels
Jamie Eason
Jennifer Widerstrom

MISC. Categories

NPC Show of the Year
North Americans
Nationals
Emerald Cup
Jr. Nationals
Jr. USAs
Southern States

IFBB Show of the Year
Olympia
Arnold
Ft. Lauderdale Show
Europa Super Show
Phoenix Pro
Tampa Pro


Female Physique Site of the Year (non-competitor) (NOTE: FitGems is NOT eligible due the fact that FitGems is running the contest)
Siouxcountry (http://www.siouxcountry.com)
RxGirl (http://www.rxmuscle.com/rxgirl.html)
Hardbody News (http://www.hardbody.com/news)
BodySport(http://www.bodysport.com)
Promoting Real Women (http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com)
Unreal Muscle (http://www.unrealmuscle.com/forum)

Female Competitor Blog of the Year
Stacy Wright (http://stacywrightfitness.blogspot.com/)
Rebecca Staggs (http://rebeccastaggs.blogspot.com/)
Tracey MacDonald (http://traceyfitnesslife.blogspot.com/)
Jada Kelly (http://www.jadakellyfit.com/)
Lishia Dean (http://lishiadean.blogspot.com/)
Esther Alexander (http://estheralexander.blogspot.com/)


Photographer of the Year
GeneX
Chris Zimmerman
Isaac Hinds
Terry Goodlad
Dan Ray
MaryAnn Glascock

Blogger of the Year
Anthony Roberts
Jason Adams
Isaac Hinds
Rebecca Staggs
Stacy Wright
Jorge Román González Ávila

Industry Blog of the Year (by a fan, industry member, company, etc.)
Promoting Real Women (http://promotingwomen.blogspot.com)
Iron Bizz (http://ironbizz.wordpress.com)
Hardbody News (http://www.hardbody.com/news)
Area Orion (http://areaorion.blogspot.com)
Kriv Studio Blog (http://krivstudiosblog.wordpress.com/)
Female Muscle Universe (http://femalemuscleuniverse.blogspot.com/)


Female Physique Paysite of the Year
HDPhysiques (http://www.hdphysiques.com)
HerBiceps (http://www.herbiceps.com)
Femflex (http://www.femflex.com)
Kriv Studios (http://www.krivsstudio.com/)
Awefilms (http://www.awefilms.com)
Muscle Angels (http://www.muscleangels.com)

Male Supporter of the Year (through shows, message boards, donations to competitors, etc.)
Jason Adams
Jason Lannigan
Dave Palumbo
Carl Burkins
F.A. Harper
Isaac Hinds


Female Competitor Site of the Year
Sherrie Carnicle (http://www.sherriecarnicle.com)
Marina Lopez (http://www.marinalopez.com)
Mandy Henderson (http://www.mandyhenderson.com)
Stacy Wright (http://www.stacywright.net/aboutme.htm)
Nicole Wilkins-Lee (http://www.nicolewilkins.com/)
Tiffany Ryan (http://www.tiffanyryan.net)

Supplement Company of the Year
Gaspari Nutriton
MAN Sports
Optimum Nutrition
BSN
Custom Muscle/ NutritionMarket.com
Emerald Express

Now that you know the nominees...here's how you vote for them:

1. Email your votes at admin@fitgemsnation.net (Put 2010 FitGems Awards in the subject line) YOU CAN VOTE ONCE PER DAY PER EMAIL. SO IF YOU WANT TO VOTE MORE THAN ONCE, I'D SUGGEST YOU GET MULTIPLE EMAILS. Just saying...
2. If you have Twitter, you can Twit your votes to http://twitter.com/fitgemsnation and use the hashtag #2010FitGemsAwards. Remember, if you do this, state the category as well as your choice for that particular category. YOU CAN DO THIS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN...JUST MAKE SURE YOU DON'T GO TO TWITTER JAIL. LOL.
3. If you're a member of the FitGems Nation main site (http://www.fitgemsnation.net/), MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/fitgemsnation), or Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=33407438502) , you can send me a private message (PM) with your nominations. ONE PER DAY, THOUGH
4. And...of course, you can leave a comment below with your votes. ONE COMMENT PER DAY

Do you have to vote for ALL the categories?! NO, however...It would be nice if you could, though.To everyone that is nominated, you earned these nominations. So go out there and get people to vote as much as they can. You have until the end of the year to vote. All voting stops when the ball drops in New York (which means Midnight/11 Central) The winners will be announced in Mid-January via a FitChat Awards Ceremony. More details will be announced in the weeks to come.

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!