Lisette Howard is a national-level bikini competitor looking for her pro card. She is a multi-talented woman, working as a personal trainer out of Venice, CA, as well as launching her own line of clothing. She is an author to a series of e-books of “How to’s” for the NPC competitor. Apart from being an amazing bikini competitor, entrepreneur, and all around bad ass, Lisette is also a very good friend, and we are very happy to feature her on the site. 

1. What made you get into the fitness industry and want to start competing? 
   Before I decided to get into fitness I owned a small healthcare company in Miami, Fl. I managed over 25 employees, worked 60+ hour weeks including weekends, and was incredibly unhappy. I went to support a friend of mine in his first men’s physique show and I immediately knew that I wanted to train and compete. I used to be a competitive contemporary and ballet dancer for over 15 years and traveled around the US competing in different shows and training at some of the best dance academies. I’ve always loved the stage and feel very comfortable performing for large crowds.
   
   I asked my husband if I decided to compete would he support me and he immediately answered, “Yes, of course I think you would be a great bikini competitor and fitness model!” The very next day I started researching what bikini fitness was about, founds myself a coach, and began training for 16 weeks before my first show where I took 2nd place and qualified for nationals.
    

2. What was the best piece of advice that you were given regarding the fitness industry?
   The best piece of advice I have received came from Clark Bartram in 2012 at his FMI Conference in Newport Beach. Told me “become your own brand… you can control you and what you do. You’re bilingual and Hispanic, so target the Spanish market; it’s a huge market and you can be their ambassador for the sport! Don’t rely on anyone to give you anything just go get it or create it for yourself. ” So that’s exactly what I’m doing. Big things to come in 2014 so stay tuned including my new line of products for FitGirl Lifetsyle ;)
    

3. Can you please give us a run down of all the shows you've competing in, and your placing in each show?
   I compete in Bikini Class C :
   2012 Dyana Cadeau Classic Ft. Lauderdale, Fl: 2nd place
   2012 Olympia Masters/South Beach Classic Miami, Fl: 4th place
   2013 Junior Nationals Chicago, Il: 14th place
   2013 Culver City Championships Los Angeles, CA: 2nd place
   2013 USA Bodybuilding Championships Las Vegas, NV : 3rd place
   2013 Sacramento Bikini Championships Sacramento, CA : 1st place Bikini Class C & Overall Title.
    

4. Favorite show you've competed in thus far? 
   By far my favorite show this year was the National USA Championships in Las Vegas. Although I placed third (top 2 got their pro cards), the show was really well organized, I got to see a lot of my close friends who were also competing, and I got to meet my favorite bikini athlete and big time inspiration Amanda Latona. I also didn’t put any pressure on myself for this show. I worked really hard and brought the best body I could and I felt really great about the package I brought to the stage that weekend. I really love Vegas too and had a blast with my friends after the show was over…. A little work and a little fun ;)
    

5. What is your favorite gym day? ( i.e., legs, arms etc.) 
   Favorite gym day by far is legs day! I love training glutes, hamstrings, and quads super heavy. I get immediate size and volume from only doing a couple of sets and I love feeling really strong while I’m training. Because they are the largest muscles in the body they help you burn the most amount of fat so not only do you gain strength and size but you also get the benefits of fat burning. To be completely honest I love training every body part except calves. Calves always hurt like crazy and are super boring. Other than that I can honestly say I really enjoy training all body parts. Of course, if there is only one part I would have to choose to continue training for the rest of my life it would definitely have to be legs.
    

6. What is your least favorite gym day, and why? 
   I don’t have a least favorite gym day. There is one body part that I truly hate to train and that is calves. I think great calves on a woman are very sexy; they balance out your legs and who doesn’t love to see killer calves in 6 inch heels! Other than calves I really enjoy training every body part and that includes cardio days. I even enjoy doing cardio. As I get deeper into contest prep cardio can become a bit overwhelming but I don’t mind getting it in. I even make sure to include at least 25 min of cardio 4 times a week on my off season … 5 min pre workout and 20 min post for extra fat burning.
    

7. Can you please provide us with what your daily diet consists of? 
   I get asked this question a lot… what does your diet look like? I want to do what you are doing, tell me what to eat and I’ll eat it. Nutrition and diet are not that simple when it comes to gaining lean muscle mass and reducing body fat. It is very specific to each person because no two people are the same nor burn fat at the same rate. My diet is tailored specifically to my age, weight, height, and activity level. Due to the fact that my weight constantly changes and each year we grow older my metabolism and the rate I burn calories also changes. I base my nutrition and macro nutrient breakdown on my BMR (basal metabolic rate.) Your BMR is basically how many calories you burn while sedentary just to maintain where you are at. From that number I reduce a specific percentage in order to gain lean muscle mass and decrease body fat. Basically my diet is broken down into 6 meals, sometimes 5 if I have a crazy day. With each meal I have a specific ratio of macros (proteins, fats, and carbs.) On a typical show prep day I’ll eat around 1754 calories broken down into 167 grams of protein 158 grams of carbs and around 46 grams of fats. When off season I increase my calories to around 2000.
   
   I pretty much have the same foods every day:
   Morning: oats with 1 tbsp almond butter, ¼ cup blueberries, and 1 full scoop of banana protein powder.
   Mid Morning: 5 egg whites with turkey, spinach, and onions. 1 slice of B28 Bread
   Snack : 1 cup fat free greek yogurt with ¼ cup raspberries
   Lunch: Tilapia or chicken breast with ¼ cup brown rice and 1 cup broccoli
   Post Workout : 1.5 scoops protein
   Dinner: salmon or fish with 4oz sweet potatoes and 1 cup veggies
   Evening Snack: 1.5 scoops of protein
    

8. How do you train? ( I.e. Heavy, light and long reps.) 
   I always train heavy! Even when I’m depleted or on low carbs closer to contest, I still train moderate to heavy weight. I never push myself too far on a low calorie diet because I don’t want to go catabolic but what I’ll do instead is decrease the amount of sets and reps still pushing moderate/heavy weight. I also switch up my training regimen every 2-3 months. By regimen I mean the body part split. So I’ll do a traditional body part split for 2 or 3 months (bis & tris, legs, etc…) and then for the next 2-3 months I’ll do biceps, gluts and quads, or hamstrings and shoulders. On a weekly basis I never do the same exercises twice or in the same order. I change my exercises with every workout. So for example, If I’m training shoulders I’ll do a variations of a shoulder press and change the rep range and tempo to make sure I didn’t do the exact same exercise with the same weight and rep range from one week to the next.
    

9. As bikini competitors, we must appear tone and muscular, yet remain feminine. How do you remain feminine, yet build a hard body?
   I am naturally a very petit, thin person. I have always weighed around 106 lbs soaking wet so staying tight and somewhat soft has never really been an issue for me. My problem has always been building and keeping muscle. Since I am genetically small I can afford to train really heavy. I always train heavy, even as I get closer to a show I still train moderate to heavy weight low to medium reps. I’ve never really had to hold back from lifting and really pushing myself hard. It’s taken me about 18 months to put on the little bit of muscle that I have and in order to preserve it I make sure to hit all my calories and daily macros. Because my frame is small and my joints are really petit I have been able to stay looking feminine. One thing I try not to train heavy is abs. I think that if there is something that makes bikini competitors look hard or less feminine are large block abs. I do a lot of core tightening exercises likes planks and hanging leg raises and I stay away from weighted abs workouts in order to keep the tight, long, and lean but not hard and extremely muscular.
    

10. What is the most exciting thing to you about competing? 
    Being on stage is by far the best part about competing. I used to be a ballet and contemporary dancer for over 18 years and there is no better feeling than performing on stage! I was a born performer; I’ve been putting on dance shows and plays for my family since I was 4 so I really look forward to those 30 seconds that we get to be up there showing off our hard work!
     

11. What is your least favorite aspect of the sport?
    I would have to say that my least favorite aspect of the sport is how undervalued we as athletes are. We all work so very hard for months and years at a time to bring our bodies as close to perfection as possible only to be given 15 seconds on a stage. There is no prize money, or gifts, or real acknowledgement. We go home with a trophy, 5 seconds worth of pictures that we have to pay for, and only some have the ability to move on to the next level and compete nationally. Other than that athletes don’t get rewarded in any other way and I think that a little more thought and effort should be put into thanking athletes for not only their hard work but also for their participation in shows; especially on the national level.
     

12. Any projects that you're currently working on that you would like to share with our viewers?
    There are several new projects that I am currently working on that will be launched in 2014. I just finished my first ebook from a series of three. It is a “How To Guide” for bikini competitors (basically a five easy steps to becoming and winning as a bikini athlete.) The other two books are from the same series but one is for figure competitors and the other for men physique. I am also coming out with a line of products under my brand FitGirl Lifestyle that is also geared towards and designed for female competitors. I just received the prototypes and both my husband and I are very excited about this collection. I won’t disclose just yet what we have been working on but it will definitely be launched by March 2014.
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Thanks so much, Lisette! Best of luck to you in all of your future endeavors, looking forward to your new line next year! Keep working hard, girl, you are motivation for us all!

Since this interview, Lisette went on to win her pro card, and is now gearing up for her first pro show.