Brad Cunningham
- Oct 22, 2013
- 7 min read

15 Things I Learned in a G-String

Hey Fit Fam!

What an awesome week it's been so far! I hope you have been enjoying the longer days and getting the most out of them!

Today I wanted to share something personal with you, it's about my journey over the last few months and what I've learnt.

If someone had of told me 18 weeks ago that I'd be posing and dancing on stage with 20 other guys in there undies I probably would have told them where to go.

But last weekend that's exactly what I did.

12 months ago I was at the same event watching my beautiful fiancé strut her stuff and show off her hard work on stage, once she had finished we had a bit of time to watch the other categories while Carley was getting organised. A few people made some comments about me doing it the following year, I just sniggered and kinda laughed it off.

A few things ran through my mind... "I don't want to be one of those egotistic d***heads", "I don't want to dance on stage like an idiot" and "I certainly don't want to look like I love myself tensing my biceps to everyone".

These were just some of the things I said and some of the perceptions I had at the time. A very close minded and generally a crappy attitude to have I know but I was comfortable at that point sitting on the other side. If there's one thing I've learned about body building after the weekend is it's not all about ego's, posing in the mirror, self obsessing and superficial conversations and personalities.

A body building competition to a body builder is like a marathon race or event to a runner. So the weekend just gone was my marathon. It was a way of measuring my hard work, my training and to what limit I was willing to push to.

Yes there are some ego's and a few different personalities but you get that anywhere.

There were 20 guys in my category and before walking out we were all in a room awaiting the call, and there was not one person who didn't shake my hand, everyone was encouraging each other and complementing one another and wishing them good luck. There were certainly no egos or arrogant personalities. (I did not expect this).

There was an unspoken amount of respect for one another knowing the amount of preparation, hard work and serious dedication that went into getting ourselves to this point.

So here's my top 15 things I learn't.

1. Set Big Goals You will learn and gain so much more from setting humassive goals and falling short, than setting small goals and achieving them. You will be surprised how close you actually come when you work towards a massive goal.

2. Don't F%#@ Around! If you want to do something or achieve something you can't 'fluff' around, or the opportunity will pass by. This can also be used in a practical sense, for example when it's time to train, it's time to train, you can't be F***** around talking or on your phone and expect to get amazing results. I will admit I'm still learning with this one, as I am known to get back to things while I'm training. But I know my best workouts are when I put all my attention and energy into it.

3. No Excuses Meet Dana, Mother of 2 working full time and she certainly made no excuses!

4. People's Perception I couldn't tell you how many times I heard comments like; "Oh you must be on that crazy diet" or "You gotta do that crazy diet to look like that". It really interested me how many people think to have a good figure you gotta be on some insane diet. Well let me tell you! I was not on some crazy diet, unless chicken, rice, sweet potato, green vegetables, eggs and oats is a crazy diet then 'shoot me'. The only thing that changed for me was cutting out the extra stuff, that extra treat meal on the weekend, extra serving of dinner, or protein snacks through the day. And I was just more consistent than ever. Funny that, cutting out extra crap can get you a better figure, I should create a new diet called 'cut the crap'.

5.You Look Sick It's amazing what people will say to you when you change physically, most of the time it's all positive. When it's negative it can sometimes be a reflection of how that person feels about themselves. So even though I felt the best I have my entire life, I still had people making these comments. If you feel amazing then the best thing to do is smile and let those comments pass by.

6. You Need a Great Support Network

The few weeks leading up to competition I was working my butt off, with late nights and then trying to get up at 4am to do my cardio before training clients, and I will be honest there were days where I struggled both mentally and physically. But because of the amazing people around me I was able to get through this without slipping up. There were times I got snappy and times I was craving bad food, the Fit Shop Team and of course Carley were always there to keep me in line. I think it's super important that you have a good support network around you to help you achieve your goals.

7.Design Your Life This is something I adopted a long time ago but it was really evident recently. I believe that you are in control of your life, as in if you really want something you can have it, or if you want to live your life a certain way you should find a way to make that happen. If you want to achieve something you should make all necessary changes in your life to make it possible. And not be dictated or controlled by anyone or anything else. To put it practical terms I want to spend more time at home, on relationships, and working on myself so I design a schedule that suits that. You should aim to do the same.

8.Waxing Hurts I have much more respect for women now. Nothing else needs to be said!

9.You Gotta Do The Little Things There were many mornings that I could have hit snooze and got another hour sleep or not done the last couple of exercises because it was getting late or Icould have had just one beer at all those functions, but it was all these little things that added up in the big picture! So do the little things and don't cut yourself short!

10. Don't Be Afraid To Fail When we opened this business I had some fears and doubts and hesitations, which I'm sure most small business owners have, but something I did really changes my mindset and outlook on things. I pictured the business failing, burning down, bankrupt all the worst possible scenarios. And then I thought long and hard, "No matter what, would I start again"?? My answer was YES, this mindset alone dramatically changed things for me and got rid of any fears I had going forward, I adopt this with my training, and pretty much every other aspect of my life. I encourage you to do the same.

11.Your Mind Plays Tricks On You The weeks leading up I started noticing a few things like how much I was craving food that before I wouldn't even touch, I believe the subconscious mind plays a part in this, when it knows you can't have something it causes you to crave anything that you shouldn't have. I also started having doubts about my body, "I've lost definition" blah blah, I hadn't changed at all if anything I had probably gotten leaner but my mind was trying to tell me that I had, I think that came down to a little bit of self doubt, and for someone who always wants things right now, this is where I had to really trust in the process and be a little patient! 🙂

12.Ask For Help I'm someone who always likes to do everything! But this experience showed me that I need to stop and ask for help sometimes. So I hired someone who was an expert in something I needed, I hired a Choreographer. Jen was my life saver as I was totally shitting my pants about doing a solo routine on stage in front of 100's of people, but more about that later. I also know there were a few days were I was battling some serious fatigue and was struggling to get myself on a bike let alone dosome intervals. So I got the help from a couple of the other trainers, Ruchelle was willing to help without me asking (how nice of her), but I was much better for it. I even swallowed my pride and had Carley train me in the last week, she kicked my butt, but I wont let her know that! Sometimes to get to your goal you need to ask people for help or seek advice from people who are experts in the area you are wanting to get to. This is why mentors are great!

13.Fake Tan is Hell I'm still scrubbing this off and have had to replace the sheets!

14. Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone I can't stress how important this is to your success and overall experience in life, we need to constantly challenge ourselves and step outside the environment we are used to. If you don't you miss out on a world of growth, opportunity and learning experiences. If you want to see me stepping outside my comfort zone and practicing what I preach, Click the image below:

15. Celebrate your wins! No matter how small,when you achieve something you need to stop and pat yourself on the back and enjoy the moment, this also gives you a chance to recognise how far you have come!(Remember not to over celebrate as you may find yourself hugging the toilet all night.)