Height: 5'8"

  When Lauren came to me she had just competed in her first physique contest, in the "best body"/"bikini" division where she placed 8th out of 10 girls. Lauren felt that with some guidance she could do much better.  Not only did she want to place higher, but she wanted to take her physique to the next level and compete in the "figure" division. This division typically requires more "posing", a bit more muscularity and a more shapely, structured physique than "best body".

When I met with Lauren I was very excited about her enthusiasm for the sport and her drive to succeed. When I took a look at her physique I was amazed by the level of conditioning she had already achieved. I knew that what she needed was to learn the figure poses and fill out her frame a bit.  With all the conditioning work she had been doing pre-MiBoLife, she had what I refer to as the "skinny-ripped-girl" look.

So, I adjusted her diet and turned the dial down a bit on the cardio in order to bring her physique to where it needed to be.

The first show we targeted was the 2009 INBF Natural New York State, where Lauren would enter into the figure tall class.  This was a near and dear contest and class for me personally as I had lead Erin Fahy to victory there in 2008.  The second contest we focused on was the 2009 INBF Amateur Worlds, one of the largest natural physique shows in the world.

After placing favorably in these shows we believe that with a few more tweaks, Lauren should be taking home top honers in 2010.

In November 2009 Lauren became a MiBoLife Sponsored Athlete and the new "MiBoLife Girl".

Congratulations Lauren! 2010 is yours!

Start
After 3 Weeks

>Click here to see Lauren's Contest Galleries

I started with Ben in late September of 2009 after placing pretty low in a Best Body bikini contest.  After watching a Figure competition from back stage, I noticed that my body type would probably be more favored in this sector of bodybuilding shows.  I knew I would need guidance, motivation, and structure from someone who knew the field.  I researched on the internet and found Ben Yosef’s company website link on bodybuilding.com. I really liked what I so and decided I would contact him.  After meeting with him, I could tell he knew what tools to use to help me grow into a Figure competitor.  He asked me questions about not only my current fitness routine, but about my life and goals which showed me he knew that a healthy lifestyle came from much more than just dieting or lifting some weights.  He knew it was also linked to the mind.

At first, working with Ben had its challenges, as I was also training for a marathon so putting on muscle and size (very important in Figure) wasn’t easy.  Ben respected and understood this, so we worked with what I had and I still managed to increase muscle in my back, my shoulders and define my abs in just matter of 3 weeks.  Performing poses I had no idea how to do with my body the first week were achieved with Ben’s one-on-one help and coaching in this time span as well.

Ben designed a thorough macrobiotic diet for me, which he would change weekly if need be, to make sure I wasn’t too hungry and was feeding my muscles with all the right nutrients.  He met with me 6 days a week to train or do stage/posing work and was at my beck and call if I was out to dinner and didn’t know what to eat or was hungry and didn’t want to cheat and ruin my diet.  He also took pictures weekly so I could see the transformation my body was going through.

The results-I placed top 5 in my first Figure competition and top 5 in the Amateur WORLDS!!(pretty good for the first time competing).  Not to mention all of the endurance and strength I gained help me to run a marathon that would qualify my for the Boston marathon (which is a huge accomplishment).  Through Ben’s training style I learned how to not only poise myself like a strong, proud individual, but I also learned how to break through barriers that were previously stifling  my training and push through pain which helped me in other areas of life (i.e. marathon training, my job, life in general). He has changed my outlook on fitness and made me realize my passion in life and the benefits of taking the time to meticulously care about your diet and fitness regimen.

Up next?  Now we are in contest prep for the 2010 season. Things are looking great.  I am not the easiest client because I have a lot to say, but at the end of the day when I shut my mouth and listen to what Ben has to say and see results, it reiterates why I chose to work with him and why I am happy I chose MiBoLife.

Lauren