Each year offers a new beginning. We promise ourselves that this will be our year to achieve our goals, but often, we lose focus and don’t have all the resources to succeed.
Bodybuilder Beth Siracuse has always lived an active lifestyle. It’s been in her blood to train and push herself, which is why she’s competed in several triathlons. When Siracuse was 44 years old, Jim Lorimer, co-founder of the Arnold Sports Festival, suggested she compete as a bodybuilder.
Nearly 10 years later, Siracuse views bodybuilding as far more than a competition. She sees essential aspects when it comes to training: building a tribe and setting goals.
“I think it’s a transferable skill. If you don’t measure something, you can’t manage it,” Siracuse says. “There are ways to learn things from other people who do it better or are experts in something that can help you get to your goals faster. The hardest thing to do is ask for help. I had to come to the understanding that I couldn’t do it by myself.”
Changing Course
While Siracuse already had a personal trainer prior to bodybuilding, she had to learn about the physique-based competition. Along with mastering nutrition and weightlifting, motivation and personal perception became key in her training.
“I’m trying to be better than I was yesterday. As women especially, we tend to focus a lot on what we look like relative to other people,” Siracuse says. “As you get older, you start to learn to not care about what other people think. You understand that the only person you can compete with is yourself.”
Setting and achieving goals has allowed Siracuse to compete in more than 15 natural bodybuilding events, and she’s placed in the top 15 on two separate occasions at the Arnold Sports Festival. With no plans of stopping anytime soon, Siracuse hopes to help others by becoming a personal trainer.
“Understanding that I was born with the same body I’m going to leave with has probably been the most important thing that I’ve learned,” Siracuse says. “You can get more out of it if you treat it correctly.”
Staying on Track
Siracuse acknowledges that it’s easy to fall off the wagon. Gyms tend to see a rise in membership and attendance as the New Year rolls around, though attendance begins to dwindle as weeks pass. Siracuse knows that buying a membership is not the same as making a commitment. Those looking to begin a fitness journey should create a goal that is measurable and should surround themselves with, as Siracuse likes to call it, a tribe.
“You have to arm yourself with knowledge,” Siracuse says. “Find other people who have done it. Fitness, wellness, health and working out shouldn’t be something you dread. I’m not saying it’s easy, but it shouldn’t be something you dread.”
Siracuse says that as she’s gotten older, she’s become comfortable with her body image. That’s not to say she won’t go have a drink with friends, but you likely won’t catch her staying up all night. She believes it’s OK to say no to things, and not feel pressured to do something you don’t want to in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
The biggest advice Siracuse is able to offer is to just start. Making moves toward healthier habits often means sacrificing short-term pleasure for long-term gain, but it’s worth it in the end.
“It’s hard to learn to be uncomfortable. If you don’t like where you are, change it,” she says. “You’re able to change your environment, you’re able to change who you are, you’re able to change. I think if you can find the why, you can find the how.”
What Did Arnold Eat?
Arnold Schwarzenegger is one of the world’s most renowned bodybuilders and actors – and, lucky for us, an avid visitor of Columbus. While he’s no longer a whopping 250 pounds of lean muscle, it’s still fun to recall his diet when he competed for the Mr. Universe title.
- 5-6 small meals a day
- 30-50 grams of protein with each meal (to put that into perspective, the average sedentary man requires approximately 46 grams a day)
- No more than three eggs a day
- Eat plenty of saturated fat
- No beef, but lots of pork, chicken and fish
- Avoid sugar
- Carbs must be eaten within half an hour after exercising
Early in his career, Schwarzenegger’s favorite post-workout meal was an entire roasted chicken with a pitcher of beer. Go figure.
Zoe Glore is an assistant editor. Feedback welcome at zglore@cityscenemediagroup.com.
