Sep 25, 2020
In this episode Celeste speaks with Annette Mountford, an IFBB
Bikini Pro who is also a pole dancing instructor, personal trainer,
and posing coach who also helps women tap into their own inner
strength, and who found and fell in love with bodybuilding after
getting sober alongside her husband.
As always, Celeste starts off the episode by asking Annette about
her pre stage ritual and Annette shares her belief in the power of
mantras, a technique she also likes to teach her posing
clients.
Annette also shares her thoughts on breath work and how she
talks to her clients about the moments right before stage, how to
channel their true source energy and nerves, and how to use them to
positively impact their performance instead of viewing them as a
negative.
From there, Celeste and Annette discuss visualization, and how
visualizing every step of the process, not just the end result one
desires, will help improve one’s overall performance. Celeste and
Annette share many valuable tips when it comes to mindset and how
girls can best prepare themselves before stage, even with the
minute details, for example, getting familiar with as much of the
event environment as possible.
After discussing how Annette prepares her posing clients for stage,
Celeste asks Annette about how much she practices her own personal
routine. Next, Annette talks about her posing business, A Team, the
organic beginning it had and talks about the impacts and affects
she has been working through amidst the Covid-19 situation.
Celeste then asks Annette if there are any pet peeves she has when
it comes to posing and Annette explains why certain shoes could
cause more harm than good. After sharing her insight on posing
shoes, Annette talks about her background in pole dancing how that
has influenced or helped her posing.
Switching gears from talking all things posing and stage presence,
the women talk about body work and Annette expresses that she feels
it has made a difference in her physique. Annette shares insight on
the concept of giving back to your body and what that has looked
like for her over the years throughout her competing journey. She
talks about the toll training takes on one’s body and why it is so
important to take the time to give our bodies extra care.
Annette shares an experience she had while traveling with her
sponsor, Magnum, before earning her pro card and relates it back to
her point of the importance of giving back to her body. From there,
Celeste asks Annette about her experiences self-coaching and what
made her decide to take the leap from having being coached to then
coaching herself. Celeste asks Annette about any roadblocks she
experienced while coaching herself and the strategies she took to
approach and overcome those obstacles.
Annette opens up and shares more about her and her husbands
background on their struggles with addiction and how their
experiences at the Van Pro Show expo in 2015 was really the
catalyst for them deciding to take charge of their health and get
sober. She shares her husbands struggles with Type 2 diabetes and
how one of his doctors visits was one of a series of “wake up”
moments to the harm that they were causing their bodies. Celeste
then asks Annette to open up about her addictions and how they
manifested in her life.
Annette talks about growing up in Calgary, the lifestyle and social
norms she and her husband were surrounded with, and how that led to
their struggles with addiction. She recounts the memory of their
fifth anniversary and how one “hiccup” of treating themselves to a
bottle of wine with dinner led to years of relapse.
Celeste asks Annette about the relapse and if her and her husband
sought therapy or support groups during their second attempt to
overcome addiction and stay healthy. Annette explains how her and
her husband tackled their new lifestyle, what mistakes they made
during their first attempt to get sober, and how they adapted their
methods the second time around.
Celeste talks with Annette about any feelings of guilt or struggles
of feeling worthy of the success she achieved with her health given
her past with addiction. From there Annette discusses how she
started working with a coach and how the experience of prepping for
and competing in her first show became a celebration of her and her
husbands sobriety.
Then, Annette shares her views and opinions on placings and
expectations, walking us through her first national show and what
she learned from that experience. The two women then discuss the
topic of expectations, how bodybuilding should be a celebration,
and the importance of always staying connected to your why. Next,
the conversation transitions into the strategy involved in
competing, touching on why certain competitors continue to compete
in multiple shows despite already having certain qualifications.
While discussing all things strategy, Celeste asks Annette to share
an analogy she uses when it comes to various aspects of competing,
both in prep and the improvement season.
Annette shares her experiences with a negative post show rebound
where she gained 35 pounds and what that taught her about her
approach to nutrition and supplementation post show. Annette talks
about the importance of understanding ones gut biome and how
competitors should really be aware of and take care of it,
especially when it comes to food sources they choose to eat post
show.
Celeste then transitions the conversation to Annette’s past and
asks her about her experiences with bullying and how that affected
and influenced her to become the woman she is today. Annette talks
about what it was like moving around a lot growing up and not
having money to afford the same luxuries as her peers and the toll
that took on her self-confidence.
She talks about how she was able to challenge the limiting self
beliefs she had developed from those experiences growing up and how
she loves to help her posing clients overcome that obstacle in
their own lives. Next, Celeste asks Annette more about her
experiences of moving out at sixteen and the logistics of where she
would stay and finding financial stability.
Annette talks about how she fell into the party lifestyle, when she
met her husband and when deciding to completely change their lives
they came to find the beauty in their sobriety. She shares how that
insight shifted her view and mindset on the vision she now has for
A Team posing and decided what it is she really wants to teach her
clients.
Celeste and Annette share a moment to acknowledge one another for
their each other’s visions and their desire to help women in
multiple aspects of life and on topics deeper than just surface
level. Concluding the episode, Celeste asks Annette to share her
best advice for first time competitors and girls on their road to
pro.
CONNECT WITH
ANNETTE:
PERSONAL IG: https://www.instagram.com/annette_corvette_ifbbpro/
POSING TEAM: https://www.instagram.com/a_team_posing
CONNECT WITH
CELESTE:
IG: www.instagram.com/celestial_fit/
WEBSITE: www.celestial.fit
Time
Stamps:
[2:05] Celeste asks Annette her pre stage ritual.
[3:15] Annette shares advice from her pre stage routine that she
also teaches her posing clients.
[4:00] Celeste and Annette talk about breath work and nervousness
before stepping on stage.
[7:00] Celeste and Annette discuss the importance of
visualization.
[10:00] Annette shares some tips for what to do during athlete
check ins or the night before the show to best familiarize yourself
with the competition environment.
[12:50] Celeste asks Annette how much she practices her personal
posing routine.
[14:30] Annette talks about the organic start to her posing
business and how it has been impacted with COVID-19.
[20:20] Celeste asks Annette to share some of her posing pet
peeves.
[24:00] Celeste asks about Annette’s background in pole dancing and
if that has helped her approach to posing.
[25:20] Annette talks about the importance of body work and the
difference it has made in her aesthetics.
[28:30] Annette shares an experience she had with her sponsor
Magnum and how that relates to her point of giving back to yourself
& your body.
[32:00] Celeste asks Annette about her experiences with coaches and
Annette shares how she eventually became self-coached.
[34:30] Celeste asks Annette about the typical prep roadblocks she
expected to experience and how she approached them while coaching
herself.
[41:45] Celeste asks Annette to share her experiences with
addiction and how it manifested in her life.
[49:00] Celeste asks Annette if she and her husband sought therapy
and support groups while working to overcome their addiction and
stay healthy.
[52:20] Annette shares if she ever doubted she belonged in the
community or that she was worthy of the success she achieved with
her health.
[57:00] Annette talks about her feelings and opinions on placing
and expectations, sharing her experiences of her first national
show.
[60:30] Celeste relates to Annette’s experiences and elaborates on
the importance of connecting to her why in terms of competing.
[64:40] Celeste and Annette talk about strategy behind continuing
to compete despite having particular qualifications.
[69:00] Celeste asks Annette to share an analogy she relates to
competing, in terms of during prep and the period post show.
[73:30] Annette shares insight on her post show approach with
nutrition and supplementation.
[85:00] Celeste asks Annette about her childhood and her
experiences with bullying, how that affected her and influenced her
to become the woman she is today.
[94:00] Celeste has Annette share more about her experiences of
moving out at sixteen and how she figured out where to go and how
to build up her finances.
[98:00] Annette talks about the mindset work she does and how she
applies that to the goals and visions she has for herself and her
future.
[103:00] Annette shares her best advice for new competitors and
girls on their road to pro.