Interview: Marie Wold

1) What made you decide to start lifting?
I started playing volleyball in the 7th grade and continued through my sophomore year in college. For athletic development, my teams always had strength and conditioning workouts where we would lift weights, do agility drills, work on injury prevention etc. As the years went on, I began to really enjoy those workouts and sometimes looked forward to them more than practice itself. During my senior year of high school (2012), I discovered the Instagram fitness community, and saw so many beautiful, fit, women who competed in bodybuilding competitions. From then on, I always had the goal of competing in a bikini competition, but knew it would be a few years before I would be ready. Nonetheless, I started lifting weights and researching nutrition in my free time with the goal of competing always in the back of my mind. After a few years of consistently working towards that goal, I finally competed in my first competitions this past fall!

2) What are some key factors to building muscle?
I think people really overcomplicate the process of building muscle sometimes. Of course there are a ton of variables that can be manipulated for optimal results, but at the end of the day, you need to eat and train hard in order to grow. Focus on nailing down your nutrition (eating enough and in the right ratios) and getting stronger (lifting heavy and being consistent) and you WILL see results! Once you get those things down, then you can think more about supplementation, nutrient timing, periodization etc.

3) What is your favorite body part to train and why?
My favorite body part to train is glutes! Being a former volleyball player, I have pretty strong legs and glutes, so lower body workouts make me feel super powerful and bad*ss! Plus, what girl doesn’t love a good glute pump? My favorite glute exercises are hip thrusts, Bulgarian split squats, and a resistance band work. I learned a lot about training glutes from Bret Contreras AKA “The Glute Guy”, so look him up if you are serious about making some booty gains! I also recently uploaded a full leg day routine to my YouTube channel, so free to watch that if you need some workout ideas: YouTube.com/MarieWoldFitness.

4)What does your workout schedule look like?
I currently train 5 days a week­­ Mondays are my full body power day, where I do squat/bench/deadlift and accessory movements (basically a super condensed powerlifting workout), and the other 4 workouts are either chest/triceps/abs, legs/delts, or back/biceps. I like having 2 days a week off so that I can focus more on other areas of my life (and do laundry) with those extra hours.

5) Do you prefer bulking or shredding?
I don’t necessarily prefer one over the other­­ I think it’s important to enjoy every phase! During my improvement season, I get to eat more food (and perform better in the gym as a result), be a little less regimented with my nutrition, do less cardio, and overall enjoy having more energy and flexibility. However, I enjoy being challenged and watching my body transform during a cut as well. Each phase is important and should be seen as an opportunity for improvement!

6) What do your pre/post workout meals look like?
I typically eat a balanced meal 1.5­3 hours before my workout. Along with a serving each of protein and fat, I like to eat a good amount of carbohydrates at this meal so that they can help me perform in the gym. For example, I love sauteeing up some chicken breast, sweet potato chunks, veggies, and spinach then topping everything with sea salt and hot sauce or low­calorie barbecue sauce. Another meal I love for preworkout is 1 cup of Greek yogurt (sweetened with stevia or Splenda) with berries, peanut butter, and granola or cereal on top. For my post workout meal(s), I always drink 1 scoop of PEScience Select Protein immediately after my workout, then 1.5 hours later I have another balanced meal similar to my preworkout meal.

7) What is your ultimate cheat meal?

Oh boy... I am a HUGE foodie, so I don’t even know where to begin! The question “what’s your favorite food” honestly stresses me out because I love them all...Maybe pizza for an appetizer (that’s a thing, right?). I really like sausage and spinach pizza... or barbecue chicken pizza. Next, I would order a big burger with sweet potato fries. On the burger, there would be caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, maybe some garlic aoli, and lots of ketchup on the side of course. For dessert, I would get a skillet cookie with caramel sauce, whipped cream, and lots of ice cream on top. Then, when I inevitably get hungry again in a couple hours (I swear I’m a bottomless pit sometimes), I would go get some freshly made buttermilk old­fashioned donuts or a cupcake.

8) Favorite protein recipe to make?
My favorite thing to make with PEScience Select Protein powder is a protein milkshake­­ I swear it tastes like the real thing! Simply blend up 1 scoop Select Protein, 1.5 cups almond or cashew milk, 8­10 ice cubes, 1 packet sweetener, and 1⁄2 tsp xantham gum (a natural thickener). Super easy but tastes amazing!

9) Any swolemate at the moment?
Yes! My boyfriend, Drew, and I love to workout, cook, travel and do pretty much everything together. You can spot him in a lot of my vlogs as well as on Instagram­­ I’ve been known to make the occasional #MCM post since he deserves all the affection in the world!

10) Besides fitness, what is something that most people don’t know about you?
I spend a lot of time learning about personal development theories, meditating, journaling, and practicing living a positive life that is free of stress. I am an extremely goal­oriented person who also happens to be a perfectionist, so I could easily be overwhelmed by stress, but I do my best to relax and live in the moment!

11) What has been your biggest accomplishment so far?
In the fitness world, my biggest accomplishment has been receiving 2nd place at my last competition and becoming nationally qualified in the NPC. My prep for that show was extremely difficult and I pushed through a lot of setbacks that would have made most others quit. It was all worth it in the end though, and I can’t wait to surpass that accomplishment in 2016! In the academic world, I am proud to say that I have been on the Dean’s list for 5 semesters in a row, and I plan to stay on it until I graduate with a double major in marketing and international business in May of 2017!

12) How can someone who is just starting out learn the proper nutrition and workouts?
For the first 3 or 4 years of my fitness journey, I did everything on my own! I didn’t work with a coach until I started prep this past summer, so that just goes to show that you can make a lot of progress if you are willing to research and learn things on your own. There are a lot of awesome resources out there, you just have to take the initiative to seek them out and spend time learning! I would recommend watching YouTube videos about flexible dieting (I have my “Introduction to Flexible Dieting” videos and well as full day of eating vlogs, and Layne Norton’s videos are excellent as well), finding workouts and exercises (BodyBuilding.com is an awesome resource), reading articles about tracking macronutrients (as well as the importance of micronutrients and fiber), listening to podcasts (right now I’m loving BarbellShrugged), and reading books­­ knowledge is power!

13) What are your goals for the future?
Pertaining to fitness, my number one short term goal is to continue crushing this improvement season, which means keeping my nutrition in check (while enjoying a free meal here and there of course), and gaining some upper body size while maintaining my lower body before starting prep again later this year. Eventually I want to step on a national­level stage, but I want to make sure that I have a competitive physique when I do so, so I’m not in a rush. I also am working on getting my NASM certification so I can start coaching girls who want help becoming fitter and healthier­­ I have learned so much from my own journey, and I would love to help others progress in theirs. My longer term goals are to graduate from college with honors, move across the country, start a company, and continue pursuing opportunities in the fitness industry! I have tons of goals and the ambition to match (: