BRITTNI SHAE
Welcome to PROLOG I’m launching this series to document my journey as an IFBB Pro Fit Model, specifically focusing on my transition to being fully self-coached After earning my pro card last year, I decided to take over my nutrition again on my prep (I was already doing my own training & posing). This season is about proving to myself what I can do when I trust my own data and return to self coaching, just how I started in 2011! I’m sharing everything about my prep protocols: Training insight, cardio/steps, nutrition approach, posing adjustments, peak week, & feedback from the judges. I also will share how I am balancing a full-time coaching business, family, and back-to-back shows as I prepare for more Pro shows this season and look toward the 2027 Masters Olympia. Follow along if you want an honest look at what preparation actually looks like & how coaching myself translates into a better coach for my clients!
17 days until I step back on stage for my 5th pro show this season!
So let’s get into it…. Today, Sunday, I hit a new low weight of 106lb. I look pretty spot on and ready to step on stage. This is the same weight I was on show day from southern USA where I won & feedback was to bring similar this season. However, to get to that it required me to deplete for 3-4 days then a small fill to around 10g fat more per day to what I’m consuming now. This prep I’m focused on tightening my lower waist and adding a bit more width to my lats & rear delts. I’m also working on bringing out more glute depth. I’ve been training hard to dial these areas in between shows. I visually can see already those changes currently as I head into a new week by pushing those areas in the gym more and supplying those muscles with the nutrients by doing so. I have also made a couple small posing adjustments to address these areas. Since I hit a new low weight this week, I am running a trial show day this Wednesday with meals and fluids to see how the look translates to an evening competition. I do need to consider I’ll also be on my period around my competition date. This Thursday I may run a re-feed depending on my response. I’m hoping I’ll nail it this week so I don’t have to do it again the following week! Haha. What will I be looking for? Muscle fullness and tightness for a competition ready physique at 7pm vs a morning competition. Thursday I will see If I’m flat or spilling over, I have the clear data needed to make the necessary micro-adjustments. How am I feeling overall on prep this week? Fatigued towards the end of the week, mainly due to workload while navigating life and prep. I was also finishing up my period. By this weekend I’m feeling better. What have I changed on my plan? Nothing! Rate of loss is .5lb a week (right on target) Weekly avg is .1-.2lb less than the competition that I won. I continue to monitor all data and responses, including 2x week check ins with photos and assessment of posing to get the best results. I may start pulling back output first from cardio and steps, then slowly trend my food up. Just depends on how I’m looking each day. I am excited to see what I can bring for the remainder of this season and try maybe one more combo show of open with masters to see if I can move up a little! Stay tuned for the next one, I’ll be under 2 weeks out!
3.5 WEEKS OUT FROM TAMPA
I can’t believe it, I am already 3.5 weeks out from Tampa Pro Masters. Tampa Pro Masters is Thursday night, so it is a few days shorter than when Open goes on, on Saturday. When it gets into the digits under 30… so 25 days… which is enough, but not enough all at the same time… it feels surreal. So how am I feeling? To be honest, I am tired and struggling with keeping the focus on checking all of the boxes. I think this partially due to an extended season, but also my cycle. When this happens, that is when I lean into structure and scheduling. If you do not PLAN to get it done, PREPARE to have your food ready, PLAN to get your cardio and steps in - it is easy to skip over it. So what are my daily non-negotiable right now? 12k steps (60 minutes total of walking): To achieve this, I am walking 4 mornings a week before breakfast and the 3 others I split up through the day based on my gym sessions. If I have an early morning gym session, then I walk 15-20 minutes pre-lift and cap it with a 45 minute walk outside later in the day between clients. Cardio moderate intensity: My heart rate level MUST be above 130bpm for me to count it as productive. To achieve this, I go on the step-mill for 15 minutes post-lift 5 days a week. I lift 5 days and rest from lifting 2 days a week. Posing: Routine focus right now for 15 minutes a day. To achieve this - I fit it in where I can each day, this is my biggest struggle right now getting this in. I do need to add 5 more minutes each day this upcoming week to spend time on comparison round practice and holds. Nutrition: I would say is one of the other most difficult tasks for me right now due to post show hunger, maintaining a leaner physique since end of May, and the need to dig right now to get a little under my previous stage weight for a little more tightness in my waistline and to anticipate a later in evening competition time frame. Currently I am still slightly flexible with foods and plan on reducing food type variability here over the mid week time frame as I lead into 3 weeks out. Lifting: That is the easiest part for me! I have a set schedule of Sunday (sometimes a swap for Saturdays), Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Fridays with set times. I am still pushing my lats, deltoids, and glutes to keep optimal fullness for my shape while hopefully tapering down my waist. Where am I at with my progress this week as we head into a new week? I do two check-ins a week, Wednesday and Saturdays. I do photos, quick measurements, and weight. I also monitor my weight via Happy Scale. I like this application because it gives you rate of loss and you can leave notes along the way. My current rate of loss is .5lb a week. I did just start my period, so I do look at my prior months cycle day and compare those weights. This is a good indicator for correct rate of loss. My 7 day average via the app is 107.0lb My prior stage weight was 106lb after the peak week manipulations. Start of that peak week my weight was 107.0 with a 7 day average of 107.1. Keeping this data in mind is important as I make decisions for my next move. So what would be my next move? Approach the deficit with nutrition, not add more output yet (except posing, which will ADD more of an output). I plan on pushing the next 16 days, until July 22 a Wednesday, then run a mock peak day so I can see how I look for a PM show. That is a typical rest day and hopefully my rate of loss will be where I need to be so I can skip my steps that day. That will be 1 week out and Thursday July 23 will be a great day to do my final push leading into peak week which will begin over that weekend at some point. Continue to follow along my PROLOG for weekly self-coaching updates as I head into my competitions to wrap up this season.
AND MY NEXT SHOW IS...
Alright alright - after 4 weeks of taking my foot off the gas pedal a bit - it’s time to apply pressure again. We are now entering 1 month out from my next pro show, Tampa Pro. The feeling of accomplishing one of my goals- which was winning a pro show in my 40s - is absolutely incredible. At one time, in 2024, my goal was to just get back on stage again after 7 years away from the stage for my 40th birthday. I self coached my season in bikini and ended up winning 1st place in open, 35 and 40+ in the inaugural NPC St Pete Classic. Our little girl was 3 years old and she got to see mommy win. At the end of 2024 the new division fit model was announced. Little did I expect to turn pro in open by July. I took a season of training really hard to “grow everywhere” from July to January while rehabbing an overuse injury of my upper body from July to September. My physical therapist gave me a “full send” approval on increasing the intensity in my training by late fall and I was loving the progress. I created two training programs during this improvement season and pushed really hard to my full potential. The growth was evident. My off season weight maxed and maintained around 116-117lb. My competition weight average being around 105lb to 106lb. I would say it felt like a continuation of prep by keeping the nutrition dialed in and limiting excessive fat gain in the process. By the end of January my cut began for prep with a nutrition prep coach. In April, I competed in my pro debut show, GRL PWR. Unfortunately my overall physique was not conditioned enough and my peak week led to a spill over by showtime. What’s a spill over? Pretty much the carbs had no place to go, but out of my skin. This led to a smoothed over appearance, sweating on stage, and my waistline was blown out. Pair that with also not nailing conditioning (we were trying to hit a similar conditioning level we thought we saw winning as well as seminar feedback) and it was not a good package. The judging panel expressed their thoughts which included I didn’t look like myself and my physique continued to break down as the show continued. They recommended fixing my peaking process and get back on stage. The day after my competition, I decided to take over my own prep nutrition again. I knew it wasn’t time to hire someone new to learn my body and do what I needed to do to compete again in just 3 weeks for the show that I already registered for. I began competing in 2012 and self coached multiple competitions placing 1-2nd several times. I had the confidence to do it and it relit happiness and purpose to competing again for me. I set my new macros to begin Monday after the competition, adjusted my electrolytes, and built out my cardio plan to drop weight and body fat over 3 weeks. Start point: 110lb Show 2- Pittsburgh Pro 107.6lb Peak week I did a far less aggressive load than my pro debut. But, show day I did keep quite a bit of water in and a little more of a show day sodium bump. When I look at my photos, I think I could have just walked into the competition without adding carbs or intaking extra sodium before prejudging on show day, because honestly I still wasn’t lean enough. With all things considered though, I did rip off quite a bit of fat in 2 weeks. I pulled back old data from 2024 & analyzed what worked for me and what didn’t work for me before. I also decided I’m going to run my peak week like I do for my clients, because it works. No more extreme loading or templates to peak. Literally taking each day at a time. I also made some changes to my front pose & my overall posing vibe, which I didn’t love, nor did the judges. The feedback was more shape in the front, good back pose, conditioning was good but maybe a little tighter, and change my suit color back to blue. My next competition was 6 days later, in Miami. I enjoyed 2 slices of pizza and a salad Sunday night after the show, before we flew back to Florida on Monday. Monday I was 107.6lb Monday - Tuesday were digging days & Wednesday I did a small bump of food and repeated it through Friday going into my competition Saturday. My biggest concern wasn’t my nutrition plan or peaking. I felt confident with doing less extremes and taking it one day at a time. The biggest concern was trying to remember how to pose in my front pose like 2025 Jr USA, a year prior. Luckily I save everything- photos, videos, and diagrams. By Wednesday I had a new routine to practice. 3 days …. So, I practiced 3x a day. By Friday I woke up at 107lb. Show 3- Miami pro: 106.2lb I ended up placing 2nd in both 35+ and 40+ I walked away thinking, this is definitely my best look to stage. Feedback was positive, just keep working the posing angles & maybe a touch fuller for prejudging by my next show the following Saturday. My husband encouraged me to compete one more time. 3 peak weeks in a row is a challenge but I accepted it. I decided let’s run it back with another front load meal out post show Saturday. We had some sushi and it was amazing. This time I had a 7 day turn around, instead of 6. I also had a full week to practice my new posing routine and hitting my angles. I dug Sun-Tuesday. Monday I weighed 107lb. Wednesday I bumped up food, repeated it Thursday, and by Friday night I needed another bump to maintain fullness. At 9pm I added another meal. Show 4 - Southern USA 106lb I woke up full and tight. I increased my show day food a little more and kept the same water & sodium intake as Miami Pro. This day I was the most confident that I’ve been on stage and it was noted by the head judge after. I finally walked away with 1st place in 40+ and qualified for Masters Olympia! I also moved up in the open callouts! This moment was so surreal and it didn’t hit me for several days. Feedback was very positive! Nothing to change for this remainder of my season. I asked one judge specifically and he said no more muscle. “Don’t chase what others look like, you got a good thing going”. But of course I dug for more feedback. I think every athlete can improve. So, I asked about competing in open and placing better. If I want to place better in open my feedback would be to bring my waistline in even further. Long term for masters Olympia is to add “maybe a little bit to the lat width”. Another judge said it wasn’t necessary. To be honest I found room to improve in my overall back pose execution and this could be an easy fix and application of the feedback sooner than later. Was this my NEW blueprint look? I think so! Now I want to see if I can duplicate it. I feel like now I’m just getting started. After a weekend of celebrating my win, I dug and reset for a week. I set new Macros to begin on June 7 with a new training program focusing more on lat width, lateral/ rear deltoids, & more glute depth. While growth more than likely won’t occur, if I can send the nutrients to these areas to appear fuller, I will! My nutrition consistency I’d rate myself around 90-95% vs a 100% on a dialed in prep. I’ve been maintaining around 107-108s. I got to enjoy my 42nd birthday and a wedding this past week. Today is Sunday June 28th. This week, I dial things back in for Tampa Pro Masters. I have 1 month. I’m confident I can maybe even bring a better package to Tampa Pro - but NOT changing my blueprint look with posing, suit, or glam! Goals for this upcoming week are to nail my new macros, continue to push the training intensity, nail my steps, continue to hit my cardio, and get back to consistently posing. My mindset is ready and the foot is pressing back on the gas. Thanks for following my self-coaching journey to wrap up my pro debut season. Excited to share each week leading into the shows I’ll be doing this August.
