Interview Nicole Verkerk

Geschatte leestijd: 5 minuten Nicole participated in her first bikini fitness competition last week. Here she tells about her preparation and participation in the Enercup 2015.

Fitness, fitness, and more fitness!

Let me introduce myself first. My name is Nicole Verkerk and I am 28 years old. I live in a super nice apartment in Almere with my own park with a swimming pond, which other people also call a ‘holiday home’. I work full-time in the hospitality industry as a “plate lifter” (always lifting). It’s super long workdays, but I always try to make time to train at De Mix, the gym where I practically live. My hobbies consist of fitness, fitness, and um… fitness!

“Cardi(no)”

I started hanging out with all that iron about three years ago. When I started, my goal was to lose weight. Not a crazy amount, but about six kilos could go! I wasn’t happy with how I looked, so I decided to change that. I went to the gym four to five times a week to lift weights. At first, I occasionally did some cardio, but I quickly realized that it wasn’t my thing at all… CARDI(NO). I watched more and more videos on YouTube and Facebook to learn things and discover new exercises. I also started to focus more on eating healthy. I ate healthy for six days, and on the weekend, I had a ‘cheat day’ where I ate whatever I fancied at that moment! I kept this up well, and after a while, those six kilos were gone.

Bikini Fitness

Okay… and now? What is my next goal? I came across more and more photos of bodybuilding competitions in the bikini fitness class. I thought this was super beautiful, I would like to look like that too. How would that be? Could I do that too? Or maybe in a few years? I couldn’t shake off that thought, so I decided to ask around at the gym, and through connections, I ended up with Kim Hoek. Kim is, among other things, a personal trainer and also guides people to a bikini or body fitness competition. I made an appointment with her, and there I went… on my way to Nijmegen! Quite a drive from Almere, but I was willing to do that for a new adventure! When I arrived, we started a conversation about what such a competition entailed and what I had to do and leave for it. This all sounded like quite an exciting challenge, but hey, what do I have to lose? At the end of the conversation, I started to feel excited, I wanted this! I was all enthusiastic again in the car back to Almere. A new adventure was about to begin, how exciting! I got a nutrition plan and a training schedule to start the journey. I have been preparing for half a year now under Kim’s guidance. I visit her monthly for posing practice, measurements, and everything else that comes with it. I’ve also been on vacation twice in the meantime, which isn’t very easy during competition preparation. I did everything I could to not let my shape deteriorate during these vacations. I cooked for myself every day and trained as often as possible. Fortunately, this paid off well, as the last measurements were perfect for the competition!

Photoshoot

Two weeks before the competition, I had a photoshoot with Kenneth Nwosu in a studio in Purmerend. I found this quite exciting because this was my first professional photoshoot. I brought a suitcase with some different fitness outfits, and together we chose the nicest ones for the shoot. We started with something simple, I had to hold a dumbbell and perform a bicep curl. When he showed me the photo, I immediately thought WOW, is that me? I had never seen myself like that before. This was something completely different from taking a simple selfie! What the right lighting can do! We shot for a few hours, tried many different poses, and used a few different outfits. This was a super fun experience, and fortunately, after a few photos, I gained some more confidence. I recommend everyone who is into fitness or competition preparation to do a photoshoot to capture this.

Last week

The last week before the competition went by very quickly. I was allowed to train for four days in a row, which consisted of four full-body workouts. Phew, this was tough… I was tired and looking forward to the competition. Thursday afternoon was my last training session! Now it was time to rest. That afternoon I went to the hairdresser, and the next day I got my nails done nicely. I was completely ready for it! Saturday packed the last things and prepared some meals for the competition day. Off to the registration!

“IFBB athlete”

The registration was in Echten, in a bungalow park where many athletes stayed that weekend. I arrived and saw everyone already in line. I recognized some faces of athletes I followed on Instagram and joined them in line. They checked if your bikini was good and if your shoes met their requirements. You also got an IF BB competition passport, how cool was that! Furthermore, you got a wristband, and they checked if you were classified in the correct height class. This part was over! I booked a hotel room near the competition venue. I was supposed to sleep early, but of course, that didn’t happen because of the excitement!

Game day

The next morning, the alarm went off at six o’clock. I quickly did part of my makeup and hair, and then off to the competition! We went in through the artist entrance and found a spot backstage where I could set up my things. I soon had to go for the spray tan. What a strange experience that was, and I was so brown! Not long after that was the opening of the Enercup. We all had to go on stage where we were introduced as athletes of 2015. Oh dear… I found this exciting already, and now I was on stage with so many people. This lasted quite short, and we got off the stage. The first class had to go on stage already. My class would take a little longer, so I prepared backstage. Was my bikini okay, hair, makeup, spray tan, jewelry, everything in place! I was ready! I was almost going crazy with nerves while waiting.

1st Call out!

There we went, my class got on stage. The first round was the quarter turns. This is the comparison round where you have to turn four times a quarter and show your poses. After everyone had gone, we all stood in one row. Now came the “first call outs”. This gives insight into the favorites of the jury at that moment. Number 77 was announced, yessss that was me! I walked forward with three other girls, and we did the quarter turns again. Then a second call out was done, and there I was again! What an adrenaline rush this was! We got off the stage and now had to wait for the evening show.

T-walk

Around seven o’clock, it was my turn again, this time the so-called T-walk. Now I had to do a self-designed walk on the stage and show my poses in about 50 seconds. My coach shouted: “Come on, you can do this! This is your thing!” And there I went, so much tension, so much adrenaline, but oh, this was fantastic! This was the moment where I could show what I had worked so hard for! Then it was waiting for the award ceremony, I felt good about it along with my coach.

Result…

Late in the evening, when my class got back on stage, a top 6 was chosen. Number 6, that wasn’t me, 5 also not, 4 also not… oooh, could I be in the top 3 then? Number 3, also not, number 2… NUMBER 77. Yes, that was me!!! WOW, how amazing! I cheered inside, what a rush! I was congratulated, and I received a beautiful trophy and some goodie bags. Did I expect this? No, of course, I hoped for it! Afterwards, of course, I immediately had a donut and chocolate and drank a glass of wine, which tasted heavenly after all that time! What a top experience, what an indescribable feeling, what lovely people who supported and motivated me that day and on the long road here, what a beautiful day that I will do again very soon, but then in a B-class where I qualified for! If you’re interested, you can follow me on Instagram as Nikki.vk. Hope to see you there! With strength & love, Nikki