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Name: Ingrid Charvet
Age: 26
Gym you train at and location: Bloomsbury Fitness, London
Q.1 Why did you start training and did you have any goals of competing to begin with?
I have been a very active person for years, doing swimming, running, martial arts (practiced jitsu for 8 years), and most importantly diving: I even became a scuba diving Instructor in 2002. At the time I was also contemplating a carreer in Professional underwater works.
I started weight training when I was 21, because I was rather skinny and lacked a lot of strength. That made me fail a critical exercise in my final practical diving assessment (and struggle in many others!).
This exercise consisted in taking back to the surface of the ocean an unconscious man and his equipment from a depth of 20m, and obviously being on the skinny side, I was incapable of lifting myself plus an extra dead weight of approximately 90kg through the water.
I was told by the examiner, literally: "Just go lift some weights for a year and come back, you can do it". So that is exactly what I did.
I joined a gym where by chance two competitive bodybuilders, Peter Foucault and Dimitri Lamy, were working and training. They helped me all the way to achieve my goal and designed my diet, training program, followed my progress. Most importantly, they made me discover the joy of lifting! I loved weight training straight away. They also told me about their competitions, so I became more and more interested in bodybuilding and after a few years of steady gains, considered competing myself.(Plus of course, a year after I successfully passed the diving exam!)
Q.2 What is your current training schedule like? How does it differ between pre-contest and off season? Do you do much cardio work?
Off season I will do 4 to 5 weight training sessions a week, doing mainly heavy work and compound movements. I still do around 2h to 3h of cardio a week.
Pre-contest I do 5 weight training sessions a week, hitting shoulders and back twice. I currently do very fast-paced sessions, exclusively supersets
(3 sets of 12 to 15 reps per exercise).
In terms of cardio I do mostly fasting runs in the mornings, with some track workouts and plyometrics. I do about 7h of cardio a week close to a show.
Q.3 How long have you been competing?
I started competing in 2007. I took a year off in 2008, notably to gain some extra muscle, following the advice of the judges. I have been back onstage this year, competing and placing in both a BNBF and a NPA qualifier.
Q.4 What are your main competitive achievements?
I was delighted to win my first ever show in 2007, and to place at the Finals the same year. I am also thrilled to have placed in every show I competed in so far. My (short)competitive history:
2007 BNBF Southern Championships: Figure 1st
2007 BNBF National British Finals: Figure 4th
2009 BNBF Central Championships: Figure 3rd
2009 NPA Heart of England Championships: Trained Figure 2nd
Q.6 Who are your main sources of inspiration in your training and whose physiques do you most admire?
Typical pictures on my wall are the ones of my two favourite IFBB Figure
pros: the absolutely perfect Monica Brant and the slightly softer but very natural Mary Elizabeth Lado.
I also really admire the always beautifully conditioned physique of Cathy Lefrancois, especially as she is in my eyes the most graceful and feminine female bodybuilder onstage. Her posing routines always blow me away!
My two favourite physiques in male bodybuilding are those of Dorian Yates and Dennis Wolf. Dorian is also a huge source of inspiration to me in terms of his training approach.
Q.7 What are your current competitive goals?
I am a few weeks out from the BNBF and NPA British Championships. My immediate concern is to bring an improved package in terms of conditioning, which will be key to a higher placing.
In the long run I want to experience competing in a range of federations to assess where I fit best; so I can focus on taking my physique where it should be according to the specific criteria.
Q.8 Why do you feel you have been able to make continuous gains over the years?
I love the sport, and as for everything I am passionate about, I am pragmatic and dedicated. Once I identify a weakness, I concentrate my efforts on it. So whether I am cutting down for a show or putting on mass, I try to continuously gather all the factors of success: Hard training, clean diet (even on mass gaining), taking all the right supplements at the right time, and finally recovery are things I will not neglect.
Q.9 What supplements do you use?
Straight after weight training I take Glutamine Complex and BCAAs, I also use Whey protein during the day; and slow release protein before bed.
Creatine supplements (Kr-Evolution) are also essential and I keep taking them until the last phase of my cutting down.
Thermogenics, multivitamins, and Omega 3 are always part of my supplementation plan especially in the cutting phase.
Q.10 How much do you feel supplements and sports nutrition help your training?
When a building is destroyed by an earthquake, new techniques, tools and materials are needed to rebuild a better stronger structure that will be able to withstand the next shaking. Otherwise all that will remain after a few earthquakes are ruins.
Without irony I can say, my body is my temple... and my training sessions are the earthquakes! As a natural bodybuilder, without appropriate diet and supplementation, I would have not been able to reach my goals and take my physique where I wanted it to be.
Q.11 What is it that motivates you through a hard session?
The thought of the stage, or the mental projection of what I want to achieve at the time, is the main driving force behind every difficult set and rep I get through. I close my eyes, visualise the target, and focus.
Just add some fast heavy music (ie. Devildriver!) and a serious motivated training partner and I can push it to the limit!
I'd like to say thanks to a few people:
First I would like to thank my mother, former semi-professional dancer, for her unconditional love, support and understanding through every stage of hard training, dieting, and help during shows.
I am also very grateful to Annie Uelese who has helped me through my stage work since the beginning, and Natural Pro "Big Chris", for his diet advice.
Of course I thank Peter Foucault and Dimitri Lamy, who introduced me to this wonderful sport.
Finally a huge thank you to all my gym (and non-gym) friends for their interest and support!
Ingrid Charvet |
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