As a young child, Randi Lamb watched her parents spend a lot of time working out. Her father was really into bodybuilding and spent five days a week at the gym. Her mother was the same way with aerobics. “I spent a lot of time working out with my mother and helping to measure my father’s biceps,” she said. It is no surprise that today Randi has a new interest in bodybuilding. “Honestly, I’ve been into this all my life,” said Lamb. She started dating a guy who was into bodybuilding and started lifting weights with him. She was hooked ever since.
“I like a challenge. I saw a lot of women who work so hard naturally to look like champion figure competitors getting overshadowed by steroid shooting freak men,” she said. The bodybuilding boyfriend she was with told her it would be much harder for her to look like a figure competitor. She decided that it was time to train and compete and show him up. Lamb says it was extremely difficult to redefine her life with eating habits, work-outs, and social life. A friend of Lamb’s, Laura Racz, said she noticed a big difference in Lamb after she found bodybuilding. She became very dedicated.” She spends a minimum of 10 hours a week at the gym. She also attends college 16 hours a week and works between 20 and 30 hours at Kohl’s Department Store as a cashier. “The three months before a competition, I pretty much have no social life… or at least I shouldn’t have time to. I can’t lie and say I don’t, I cheat and skip gym days and then spend the next week mad at myself,” she said.
Her eating habits are hard because she has to have her food made in advance because she can’t go out and eat whatever she wants. She can’t eat anything processed and she doesn’t eat sugar or saturated fats. “That right there knocks out almost 100% of a typical college student’s diet,” Lamb said. She has to buy fresh fruits, vegetables, organic wheat and oats, 99% lean meats, and a lot of protein shakes; it becomes expensive. She also says it is really, really boring. A colleague, Kristin Ferrick, said she remembers Lamb saying she wanted a pack of skittles, but if she ate them she would have to run an extra 3 miles. “I would kill for an oreo. It took a long time to realize that the motivation to do it wasn’t just going to come to me. I had to act and just start doing these things, and the results have been the best motivation to continue,” she said. The hardest thing for her to give up she said is sugar. Sugar is in everything and that is what limited her diet more than anything. Jessica Gaudio and Jessica Harris are co-workers of Lamb’s at Kohl’s. “We remember numerous times being in the break room with her and talking about candy in the vending machine and her sitting there eating her rice saying how she can’t eat that stuff. She always has her bowl of rice or fish, measured out perfectly,” Gaudio said.
The hardest thing for her to get used to was doing an hour of cardio exercise every day on top of her gym time. The lower the percentage of body fat, the more definition you will see on any figure. “I look like a decent weightlifter, but to win a competition, I have to shrink my fat (which I’m not fat to begin with) so that the judges can see everything underneath. I am currently around 14% body fat when the average for women starts at 20%,” she said.
Lamb’s father is by far her biggest fan. He had all girls, so their activities growing up weren’t always something he could relate to. She started doing this as something he could be active in and help teach her. It has brought them two of them closer together. “My entire family is a great support system, and because of them I have about 40 people coming to cheer me on in my show in October,” Lamb said. She has an aunt, however, who does not support her. She says her aunt thinks she will look like a man. She has tried to explain the difference between figure and bodybuilding, but her aunt refuses to listen. Lamb is starting to compete in national shows this fall. There are always simple amateur events going on and it is a good way to let you know how you’re measuring up before hitting the big stage. Before a competition, Lamb says there is a determination to look your best. She also says that after being lined up and compared to some other amazing women, the drive shoots through the roof that is when you start to take it seriously. Her proudest moment came when a bodybuilder at her gym told her he noticed her in the gym giving it her all, and it shows and he thinks she will be great in her competition. She says she thinks he is the most dedicated man she has ever met and it made her proud that he took the time out of his day to tell her that. She says she never wants this to end. “There is a master’s class for over 35 and can extend into the 60’s and 70’s. I’ll be on stage with my cane,” said Lamb.
After this article.. Randi Lamb competed in the Cardinal Classics and won third place.
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