Alison Brundage

[alison brundage]

Interesting what a couple weeks of starvation,  mid day uphill running in full sweats and laying out between the cars in the parking lot of our apt building for a tan  can do.......(I was losing my sense of humor along with the fat BTW.  Notice in the 2nd pic I kicked the damn cat outa the shot !)

[alison brundage]

How much H2O did you consume when training? I hear some limit their fluid intake when in precontest mode?

An only protein diet is extremely dehydratiing..plus I wasn't consuming near enough water.   I'd go off the only protein diet once every three days and in that one day alone would put on 10 lb of water !!!  (as I recall 1 gm of carbs holds 3 gm of water).   My renal studies were a bit over the top...creatinine/BUN.   Not horrible...but not good. My ankles were getting swollen...probably from my body digesting itself with protein breakdown...dunno.   I was pushing my body to the limit.  None of this is a good thing.   My first national contest i think i had really lost my mind a bit.  I was running in full sweats in the Vegas heat to get more cut ...than cut.   That's the contest that I never went to the weigh in...competed as a Middleweight...but weighed 106 lb, lightweight.  Dumb huh?
ALISON

[alison brundage]

Pardon me for asking but what is creating / BUN?

Creatinine and B.U.N. are measures of kidney function.   Blood test

[phy911]

BUN stands for blood urea nitrogen

Alison would you like me to remove the cat from your photo?

[alison brundage]

When you were training for competition, particularly on the days when you were on one of the days when you were consuming nothing but tuna, did the workouts feel particularly brutal or were you basically looking forward to having some carbohydrates when the day came.
Find any other past photos from the old days?

Re: Was it brutal?
Listen...one of the biggest factors in making gains as a natural is how the body responds and it's reserve ability.  It's not like you can hulk a gzillion pounds to failure over and over and make gains.   I was old as a beginner...mid 30's.  I was as well a dedicated surfer in some pretty big surf.  Then, add being a nurse who worked at night...less sleep generally.  My body was already compromised.  I had to be very careful to target weak bodyparts and in a way that got the most bang for the buck.  Workouts were an hour.... and my program was very specific and constantly being re-worked as changes  happened ...or  not.   The workout you describe....brutal?....you have to be on the juice to do that methinks...just me.
My workouts were NEVER brutal.  Sore yes.  3/4 of the muscle you see in pics....I had to begin with. 

Street  Fighter......ha ha ha ...your're killin me !   Nah...leave the cat . 
ALISON

[alison brundage]

No I meant on the days when you were eating tuna was training brutal as you denied yourself necessary hydration or would you take a swallow of water after every set or exercise? I have heard that drinking water plays an important part in the process of cleaning ones insides which is essential in bodybuilding from what little I know.

Yah...I spose.   The whole BB thing was an adventure.  I was pushing myself to the limit and not in a healthy way...and that was without performance drugs...LOL !   As I reflect on it I can say the brutal part was accepting being "normal" once again: eating normal and having a tad of bodyfat above contest level.  Trying not to be bulimic.  Realizing I was never going to be on the cover of Muscle and Fitness ...or had any hope of being a "star".   Geez....that was the brutal part.  I DO NOT recommend competition BB to gals for those and many more reasons.  Was I unhappy during this period of my life ?....no.  At the time it was kinda fun actually...an adventure.   But now looking back  it was not an easy thing to walk away from and come out the other side...."normal".  I  paid a price...definately.
ALISON

[alison brundage]

I sort of had this idea that bodybuilding was a mentally and physically taxing endeavor. That even when bench pressing was agony, or curling or squatting that you'd push yourself to squeeze out a few more reps before you  slumped against the wall with your body drenched in sweat and having to drag yourself to the shower and vowing to continue the ritual the next day and the day after that.

Sounds like a bad B grade movie I saw once......(laughing)

[alison brundage]

I hope that last message didnt sound obscene. Wasn't trying to go there. I just figured that building a physique took major blood, sweat, and tears.

Persistance, concerted effort to apply coaching from seasoned and respected athletic advisors, spot on nutrition, rest, diet and cardio with a planned outcome, journals......and natural ability.   All together 

[alison brundage]

The more weight I lost, the easier they got....LOL.     No actually when I was in the uberstarvation mode I got pretty amped....  I mean I was running up some pretty steep hills, mid day in full sweats and that, after a full night shift working as a nurse.  Now that's amped. 

[alison brundage]

With your experience as a bodybuilder, did you ever consider using it to supplement your job by working as a personal trainer or was that basically something that was open to successful male bodybuilders? At what point in your bodybuilding career did you feel comfortable with being a muscular woman?

Nope.  I was what you might consider an anti -social bodybuilder.   I didn't particularly enjoy others around when I was lifting , nor was I much into being a coach type....I was a beginner myself...being coached.    When I won every single bb contest I entered in Hawaii and as well won every  trophy for each best body part in each of the contests.  Life was feeling pretty good then...local hero.  The glow period was brief.

[alison brundage]

On sauna
Nope...no saunas around my little bitty home town there.  I laid between the cars in the parking lot on hot black asphalt after I ran uphill in full sweats...like I said.  I NEVER killed myself lifting BTW.  And I said this as well before...most of what I showed in these pics I had already to begin with.  I  never added much muscle mass really...oh a tad in the chest maybe...bits here and there.

[Timmon]

Sounds like a bad B grade movie I saw once......(laughing)

Alison, do you mean "Pumping Iron 2, The Women" ?    Shame, that it did not have a bigger budget! I went to London, to see the movie. Hardly anyone there, and it was held in the small run down theatre, threadbare seats, etc.
In the scene where the women are having their last minute workouts before the contest, and Gladys Portugese is repping out to the max, groaning and crying out with the strain, sweat etc, someone in the audience shouted out "Madness!"
I always remember that, very odd atmosphere in the cinema, strangest experience ever. I wondered why he was there!

[alison brundage]

            GONE SURFIN'

Surf's up and we're off.  See you guys in a week or so...........ALISON

[afigreg]

Firstly, have a wonderful time Alison and secondly, is that you in the last picture?

Grego

[alison brundage]

Will do... and NOPE .  That's an old Hawaii pic from waaay back when.   Alison