Louise Rogers

I began athletics training years ago when I was in school. I was always quite talented at sports, particularly sprinting. However when I left school I began attending the gym with my sister, simply going along and spending time on the stepper whilst my sister did her work out. From this point on I became quite interested in gym training and whilst at university I trained to be a fitness instructor and personal trainer. After I had completed my qualifications in personal training I began working at a local bodybuilding/power lifting gym and I was paired up with a colleague that was training for strong man events. I must admit at the time I thought this was an unusual pairing! However he introduced me to weight training and after a few months I switched to strength training and bodybuilding, and almost completely removed cardio from my work outs.
 
After several years of training with weights I had become much shapelier and I became interested in competiting in Bodyfitness/Figure. I had seen it featured in many fitness magazines and I remember seeing the likes of figure competitors like Monica Brant and thinking wow that would be a fantastic competition to try, plus an amazing look to try and achieve!

So... in 2008 I did my first competition and won, whilst also becoming British Champion in the same year! In 2009 after competing at the IFBB World Championships in Lake Como, Italy I won my opportunity to apply to become an IFBB Pro Figure competitor.

I love training my legs!! I do all sorts of random training to get my legs into condition. In terms of particular exercises I do enjoy compound exercises, like squats!
Over the years I have experimented with various training methods and I find some things work for me more than others. Currently I’m training with moderately heavy weights, keeping my rep ranges between 10-20 reps.

5 days per week off season... when competing I train 7 days per week. Not necessarily all weight training. I incorporate cardio & track and field work into my training.

This changes regularly although at the moment my split looks like this:
Monday: Back
Tuesday: Quads
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Biceps/Triceps
Friday: Hams/Glutes
Saturday: OFF
Sunday: Every other week I train shoulders and maybe a little chest... However my shoulders are already well developed and need little stimulation.
In terms of cardio right now I tend to have a morning power walk every morning at around 6am before work.

No, although I incorporate kick boxing into my cardio work outs.

I predominantly stick to a low fat, moderate carbohydrate, high protein diet.
I have in the past cycled my carbohydrates and I do like this approach.
A general day during competition will look like this for me:
Meal 1: egg whites, bagel/oat meal.
Meal 2: Protein Shake
Meal 3: White meat or fish, rice.
Meal 4: White meat or fish, rice.
Meal 5: Protein Shake.
Meal 6: Chicken breast, salad and vegetables.
Meal 7: Egg whites, Protein shake.
Incidentally I eat in a similar fashion in the off season also, however I tend to eat in much
larger quantities!

I really enjoy chicken, spinach and egg whites. I also enjoy going to the Nando’s restaurant
chains in the UK. They have to be the fitness competitor’s restaurant of choice!
I also enjoy protein bars!! Although I have to be careful of my intake because I can eat so many!

Extreme pro 6 protein, liquid fury, BCAAs, Multi vitamin, Iron, Glutamine.

My best piece of advice is to be consistent with your diet and training… particularly your diet. I normally find that this is where people seem to stumble. Perhaps having too many cheat meals/days!
I also feel that you should find training enjoyable. If you don’t look forward to your work outs find another method, or sport, or set some new goals. Some of the most successful women in the sport of figure/fitness truly love training, living a healthy lifestyle and enjoying all of their work outs.
One more tip I can add to women competing – is to really make the most of your off season training! It took me a whole year to improve my glutes for the IFBB World Championships. I trained them extremely hard throughout the year, and really made the most of the time off!
If there is anything else you would like to add please do so.
I would just like to thank you for the opportunity to be interviewed.
I also enjoy helping others with their fitness goals so if anyone would like to contact me please feel free to drop me an e-mail at Louiser.Rogers@googlemail.com