If you’re interested in the women’s side of bodybuilding and fitness, then you need to be watching the Fit Rockstar Show. Host Isabelle Turell brings on some of the biggest names in all divisions of the sport to learn more about their careers, lives, and how they achieve success onstage. The May 13, 2023, episode was no exception. Turell was joined by fellow women’s bodybuilder Mayla Ash and renowned coach Gina Cavaliero to drop some knowledge on what it takes to succeed in the sport.
What many fans may not know or appreciate about these athletes is that it takes a major commitment to excel in a physique sport, and that commitment goes beyond training and nutrition. They invest a lot of money into themselves. Turell asked the other ladies how much they spend on prep for a show. Cavaliero referenced some of the expenses that come with competing at a high level.
Cavaliero said, “even if we just look at the show expenses between the suit expense, hair, makeup, and travel, you know we’re easily putting up probably four to five thousand (dollars) just to get to the show and perform.”
The group then talked about the length of a prep and all the costs that come with it, and they determined that an 18-week prep could be a five-figure investment – as much as $1,000 a week. Ash then translated that into the stage time they have to show the results of all that hard work,
“A minute for the individual presentations, and then we do our comparisons, and then there’s callouts. Let’s say at the pro level, maybe 15 minutes.”
Turell estimated that if a competitor was to spend $15,000 on a prep, and they got around 15 minutes of stage time, those minutes onstage get expensive.
“That’s around $1,000 a minute,” Ash and Turell both said.
The panel discussed a wide variety of topics including a recent show in Vancouver, how the sport is promoted, and more. Subscribe to the Olympia TV YouTube channel to see this and all episodes of FRS, and follow @fitrockstarshow on Instagram as well.