Helen Bouchard, IFBB Pro Bodybuilder Birth Name: Marie Helen Bouchard Nickname: Dangerous, I am a bit of a klutz when I am dieting and I am a danger to myself !! Date of Birth: July 24, 1964 Place of Birth: Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada. Mother & Father: French Canadian Brother & Sister: One older brother Occupation: Registered Nurse Sports: Bodybuilding Place of Residence: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Years of Training: 12 yrs I was born and raised in Sherbrooke, Quebec, which is a medium sized French Canadian city with a population of about 100,000 people. From age 5 to 14, I grew up with 14 foster brothers and sisters because my Mom was fostering difficult children. As a result, my childhood was very discipline oriented and very organized. After finishing high school, I went to College to study nursing and graduated as a registered nurse in 1985. The following year, I voluntarily joined the Canadian Forces as a Nursing Officer to experience different and exciting challenges. I spent 16 years of my military life traveling around the world and lived in seven different cities, small towns and remote villages. In 1994, I was sent to Rwanda, Africa for 3 months on a military humanitarian mission and was exposed to the horrors of genocide and war. Helping the people was a very rewarding experience but also very hard psychologically. In 2000, I was deployed again, this time to Bosnia for 4 months to maintain a patient holding facility and that too was a very good experience. I feel strongly that my military experience has made me a stronger person both mentally and physically and has given me the discipline, the drive and the dedication that is required to be successful with bodybuilding. In July 1998 the military moved me to Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, which is where I presently reside. This was an important turning point in my bodybuilding career because I met and commenced training under the watchful eyes of Brian and Donna Logue, IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, who are in my opinion the best trainers of bodybuilding athletes in Canada. Together, they have transformed my physique by improving my muscle mass and quality to the point that I became the top female bodybuilder in Canada this year (2003) and I am now an IFBB Pro. I owe it all to them. I am heavily involved with the Alberta Bodybuilding Association and volunteer my time to raise money, help out backstage at the local bodybuilding shows, and I also judge. I am a nationally qualified Canadian Bodybuilding Federation judge and enjoy that aspect of the sport immensely. In May 2002, I decided to voluntarily release from the military, because I was tired moving around every 2-3 years and I didn’t want to leave Edmonton where the bodybuilding community is very close knit and active. I wanted more stability in my life so that I could pursue my goals in bodybuilding. Bodybuilding has been the center of my life for many years starting when I was a kid. I remember buying bodybuilding magazines and admiring the physiques of the pros of that time, like Diana Dennis, Bev Francis and then latter on Lenda Murray. Around the time I turned 30 years old, I decided to do my first bodybuilding competition. I had been weight training for a few years prior to that but just to keep in shape. I hired a trainer to help me with the nutrition and posing and competed in Montreal, Quebec in 1998. Since then, I have been competing almost every year. I love being a bodybuilder and love to train with very heavy weight. I have a very strict schedule and I approach every training day as a challenge. I have been training with the same, very dedicated partner now for three years. I enjoy training with a partner because it motivates me and keeps me focused. When I am training by myself, people tend to interrupt me more and I lose focus. Training Strategy: My training routine is 5 days of hard training and 1 day off. I love to train hard with heavy weight all the time; it doesn’t matter if I am in pre-contest training. I usually do half hour of cardio when I get up before breakfast and hit the weights after work. My muscle group combination in my weight-training program will depend on what I need or want to improve, but usually I train a large and small body part. Nutrition Strategy: I firmly believe to perform in the gym you need to eat well, use proper supplementation and have the proper amount of rest. If you eat crappy food your training will be crappy. I stick to a fairly low fat, high protein diet and little or no sugar. I like to remain at around 20 pounds from my contest weight in the off-season. My Contest History: 2003 - Canadian National Bodybuilding – 1st place Heavyweight & Overall (IFBB PRO) -158 lbs 2001 - Canadian National Bodybuilding – 2nd place Heavyweight - 1st place Masters Class -148 lbs 2000 - Canadian National Bodybuilding – 2nd place Heavyweight - 147 lbs 1999 - Canadian National Bodybuilding – 4th place Heavyweight -146 lbs 1999 - Alberta Provincial Championship – 1st place Heavyweight & Overall -145 lbs 1998 - Quebec de L’Ouest – 2nd place Heavyweight - 128 lbs Height: 5’6” Off season weight: 180 lbs Contest weight: 158-160 lbs Favorite muscle to train: All of them, it’s my passion. Favorite foods: Anything sweet with peanut butter or chocolate, ice cream and cinnamon buns Hobbies: Baking is my favorite thing to do. I like to take a full fat and sugar recipe and transform it into a lite or fat free recipe. I love traveling, going to movies and reading. Future goals: My ultimate goal was to become an IFBB Pro and now that I have achieved that, I would love to compete at the Pro level in the near future, hopefully in 2004 and place in the top five. It would be amazing to actually qualify for the Ms.Olympia and stand on that stage!! I certainly will not put any pressure on myself for this goal because I am happy with what I have achieved so far. As an IFBB Pro, I would like to become a spokesperson for a supplements company and represent their product. I am very knowledgeable in sports supplementation and nutrition and feel I would be a good representative. I am currently looking for accompany to work with. Please note, Helen is not available for sessions! |