Another year over..WOW…Were do I start its been so long since I last updated. I guess I will pretty much start were I left off.

Western Canadian Champioships April 07

I was called to be a part of the judging panel for this show held in April every year. I was looking forward to going up to Kelowna  were it is held as its always nice up there and it would give me a chance to visit some  friends I know up there. I also had 2 girls in this show both competing in the over 35 Figure Masters class and also in there open classes. I will start with Kathy Lordon  who I met at my store in Chilliwack. She was interested in competing for the first time and wanted to give it a go. So we started her game plan right away taking some off season time to try and build some more muscle. At 14 weeks out fired up her in pre contest mode. She came down nicely and was in exellent condition Kathy ended up in 4th spot. All Kathy needs to do is keep on putting in the hours and packing on some more muscle and she will move up in the rankings. The second girl was Lucy Hall who is also from Chilliwack. The first thing I noticed about Lucy was she had some very outstanding body parts already and  needed to build up some other areas to bring everything into balance. So that is what we did and it turned out great as she was awarded a deserving first place in the Masters and a close second in the Open medium Figure Class.Watch for Lucy to compete in the SWC in the fall of 07.

Figure Nationals

I was looking forward to this show not only to get out to see it and bump into some friends out in Edmonton but it was to be Long time client Maria Moronni with her first run at the Nationals. Coming off of an impressive 06 BC figure short victory Maria worked  all year to bring up her physique to the next level. Maria dug deep and busted her ass like no other show for this one and it showed in her final product. She was in the best shape of her life and we both new it going into the show. With her tiny waist and capped out crazy delts  and her overall shape and conditioning I had a good feeling.
PREJUDGING-Maria came out and right away stood out in the large field of over 15 girls in the Medium Class.It was time for the first call out ..(the deciding momement).Standing there waiting I could feel the energy and anticipation of the Athletes and crowd, that first call out is crucial. I was relieved to hear her name but I knew by observing the field of girls that she was going to get that call out. There was not one girl that really stood out amongst the other in the top 5 it was going to be a tight class...NIGHTSHOW---..Maria was on and she looked polished and ready and now very relaxed as she new she was in the top 5.In the end Maria was in 5th spot,I was very proud of Maria , I new all the hard work and effort that went into this show for her it had paid off .In a tough field of over 15 girls 5th was a great national debut. Watch out for this Italian fire cracker to come back to the nationals in Vancouver 08 and take the whole show...Check her new pics in the Athletes section…

BC Provincial Championships.

Its always nice when it’s the BCs its kinda were everyone all meets up to catch up on all the gossip and see old  friends and meet new ones. Costa was putting it on again this year and Top Olympia competitor Gunther Schlercamp was guest posing along with Canadian National BBer Nadia Nardi(who is now a pro after winning the Nationals in 07)guest posing.

This was going to be a big BCs this year as I had 6 clients in the show. I will start with the bodybuilding. In the womens bodybuilding I was working with Wendy Lindquist for the first time. Now Wendy is no stranger to the stage having competed a few times in the past and possessing a very nice physique. I knew if I could get her in contest shape she would look amazing and could win the whole show. Pulling her down into the Middle weight class she lost 30 lbs and came in at around 123lbs and she was in exellent condition. It was tough to get her down but Wendy is one determined girl and dug deep to bring it to the BCs. Sitting and watching her and the others I had her picked for first place in her class with her overall package round muscle bellies and conditioning.  Well as it turned out it was a 1 point difference. Wendy was announced for the runner up spot and I must say that I really thought she was going to take the class...Later in the evening she was given the best poser award..Wendy will be doing the Emerald Cup on April 19th/08 in Washington. Onto the Figure-- we had 4 girls one in every class and two in the tall class and it was our second show together with all the girls. Starting with the short class was Teresa Funk last years SWC short class winner. I worked with Teresa through the off-season to add some more muscle in all the right places and it paid off. With superb conditioning and balance she stormed the class to a convincing victory and was announced the winner in the tough line up. Onto the Middle class. We had Maria Sharp in this class and she was ready to do serious battle. Maria also worked with me through the off-season after winning her class at the Westerns in 06..She made incredible changes in that period and added a additional 8 lbs of solid muscle in all the right areas. It was a another tough class but in the end Maria was announced the winner of the Middle class. So now we were two for two. It was onto the tall class were I had Michelle Krack the 06 SWC overall winner and Andrea Petersen who took 3rd in that same show..

I will start with a Andrea..Andrea is a very hard worker and has amazing potential. I had her placing 3rd..when she was announced 4th I was a bit shocked to say the least and felt that she was placed to low. She in my mind was a shoe in for 3rd. I know it also meant a lot to her to be in that top 3 so I felt bad for her when she did not make it. She looked incredible and has a lot to be proud of she has come along way and has awesome potential with a nice package that just needs  a little more muscle in the right areas. Onto Michelle Krack this was a tough show prep for Michelle this year as she really had to dig down deep to get in the proper conditioning in time for the show..at 3 weeks out I wasn’t sure if she could pull it off. But like a true champion she took on the challenge and buckled down to come in at her all time best. Michelle was announced the winner and it was amazing to have all three girls going for the overall in figure..

As I sat there with Lara watching with all the girls up there We were very proud of them all and at that point personally I had no idea who would win, they all looked amazing and had worked there butts off to get there. In the end it was Michelle Krack that was announced the overall winner. So that was it for the Girls. In the mens bodybuiding I was working with Alan in the heavyweight class.Al came to me only 3 weeks out and upon looking at him and going over what he was doing I had to make drastic changes to the game plan .All of his diet was redone and I had to pull atleast 15 lbs off of him. In the 3 weeks that we worked together Alan Changed a lot .He came down almost 15 lbs once his water was pulled out.. I only wish that he would have come to me further out as I feel with more time Al could win the provincials. Al ended up in 5th in a very hard Heavyweight class with 10 guys in the class it was one of the best heavyweight classes that I had seen in a lot of years .Watch for Al to return to the Provincials to move up in the placings in 08. It was a very successful Provincials overall and all of our athletes did a outstanding job.. I would also like to mention that long time friend Athena  won the overalls for the womens  bodybuiding and looked unreal in the Heavyweight class. Look for Athena to move onto the Nationals in 09 in Vancouver . Iam sure she will turn some heads and do very well at that level..

MY FIRST PRO SHOW -SPANISH GRAND PRIX

A year after winning my pro card it was time to step it up and hit a pro stage. I had originally planned on doing the Michigan Pro in mid Oct and started to prepare for that 15 weeks out until it was cancelled. With no Europe shows on in October at that time I was worried that I would not get to compete. There was the Montreal and Atlantic city in late Aug and early Sept but I knew that I would not have enough time to be ready for those. So I continued to diet as if I was going to do them and  would see what happend as I got closer. Then the Spain show was announced and it was 2 weeks before my original plan to do the Michigan show. This would be my best bet to be in shape so I picked this to be the show .So it was off to Spain the trip took 28 hours in total travel time to arrive in Santa Susanna which is a 60 min drive south of Barcelona.

Upon arriving we were shuttled to our hotel provided by the show promoters and when we got there it was not what I was expecting at all. I had to get a room with a kitchen somewhere else. So I started to make some calls and hooked up a apartment like room with two bedrooms and a kitchen for 3 nights. The next 3 days were trying to just relax and eat up to the show. I was holding some water from the flight and it played a role in carbing up properly.

SHOW DAY

The show was held on a Sunday and the prejudging and night show were held back to back. It started at 4 pm and ended at 9 pm. Something that I was not used to, as I spoke with Hany(My trainer) on the phone in the days leading up to the show I was holding 245-50 lbs and and starting a couple days out I was eating large amounts of food upto 3-4 times the usual carbs and twice as much fats. Overall we feel that because of all the traveling and not having everything  proper I was flat and a little depleted. Not a good look for me at all I need to be very full to look my best...I should have been around 4 –8 lbs heavier but it is what it is and it was a huge learning experience.It felt great to get up there with all the other pros and compete. I felt that I got some decent call outs and put on a good show despite all the obsticals that occurred. I ended up in the middle of the pack there were 30 guys ..I will now just focus on shows over here in the USA and Canada.No more overseas shows for me that forshur.

Whats NEXT

I’am still working with PVL and they have been great to me having used me in there ads in the musclemags.It will give me some more publicity and keep me in the eye of the sport. I have choosen to do the Atlantic City Sept 12-13th/ 08. I would like to be around 260lbs for this show next year and I feel that it should not be a problem going on how things are looking at this point in December 07.As long as I can stay healthy and injury free , I will keep adding muscle in all the right areas and try to keep my waist line small. Lots of heavy basic stuff to widen and thicken up more allover on every bodypart.Check out my pics for some shots from the show and from my PVL photo-shoot after the show.

Peace for now
Darren Toma
IFBB Pro