I Found My Fitness Calling and Earned an OCB Pro Card in the Wellness Division
No Nonsense Magazine Volume 26 #1
By: Ellen Adams

At a Glance: Emily Adams
Age: 53
Occupation: Group Fitness Instructor/Personal trainer
Family: Husband, Matt, and Daughter, Abigail
Current Residence: Wilkesboro, NC
Years training: 7 years focused on bodybuilding
Height: 5'4"
Weight: Off-Season: 140, Contest: 127
Favorite Fitness Meal: Chicken or Sirloin steak, rice and veggies
Favorite Supplements: UMP helps me reach my protein goals and tastes great. Ultra 40 supports stamina and muscle building. GH Factor for natural growth hormone release.
What would you recommend to someone who has never used Beverly supplements before? UMP protein. It’s delicious, and I love using it in recipes. Also, I take Creatine Select before my workouts and Glutamine Select afterward.
Music: I enjoy Alternative and hard rock, Hip-Hop and rap, and the 70s and 80s. My gym playlist is a mix of these.
Hobby or interests outside bodybuilding: Mountain Biking, AcroYoga, Paddleboarding, Camping, OCR (obstacle course racing).
Words to live by: Every day is an opportunity to make a difference.
I never dreamed I would be a bodybuilder at the age of 53. It has always piqued my interest, but I was busy doing other things in life. Maybe one day, I thought.
My focus was on my full-time job, working 8 to 5 and then teaching a few group fitness classes in the evenings at the YMCA. In 2002, I discovered mountain biking. This became a passion for me over the next ten years. I raced and competed in downhill mountain biking and some cross country, super D, and dual slalom. Towards the end of my biking era, I had a bad accident where I fractured some vertebrae in my cervical and thoracic spine. This experience taught me not to take my health for granted.
In 2017, at age 47, I decided to finally give bodybuilding a try. It was a “bucket list” item for me. I thought you’re not getting any younger, so you had better do it now. I picked a show and started my 16-week journey to the stage. My first experience on the stage was nerve-racking. I had no clue what I was doing. I didn’t place, but that made me want to give it another try. I competed in Bikini a few more times without much success and then transitioned to Figure. After dabbling for a few years in Figure, I found my calling in the Wellness division.
In 2021, I joined the online Ultimate Competitor program with Team FFlex and Bryanna Barcelo as my coach. Bryanna and I talked about the show I wanted to do, and then I started the program. My first year in Wellness started out like the others. I really didn’t have the time to build my body and eat the way I needed to. When my first year of the training program was ending, I signed up again with the goal of training, following my nutrition plan, and making solid gains for a year. It was well worth the time invested.
Going into my third year with Team FFlex, I aimed to do four shows in the OCB. It's my first time doing this many shows in a year. I was determined to make it happen. I competed in the Jack King Classic in July, the Carolina Fitness Festival in October, and finished with Queen City Show Down and OCB Richmond in December.
My hard work paid off as I placed 1st, 2nd, and 4th throughout my season. The icing on the cake was earning my 35+ Master’s Pro card at the age of 52. I can’t wait to see what next year brings.
Diet: My nutrition plan is “flexible eating”. My calories and macros are set depending on whether I’m in contest prep or a building phase. What I enjoy about this type of plan is eating the foods I like. I’m a big fan of Mexican food. I use the MyFitnessPal app to keep track of my food. Here’s a sample day of eating:
Breakfast: Kodiak Muffin Power Cup with ½ scoop of UMP protein, blueberries, almond milk, and butter. 1% milk to drink.
Snack: UMP High Protein bar
Lunch: Chicken or steak, rice and veggies
Snack: Chobani Greek yogurt (coconut) with ½ scoop of UMP
Dinner: Grilled chicken, salad, and low-fat dressing (or, if I eat out - Mexican)
Snack: UMP protein, almond milk, and Beverly’s Collagen Peptides
Supplement Schedule
I like to keep this simple. I take Ultra 40 Beef Liver, GH Factor, 7-Keto Musclean, and Lean Out in the morning. During contest prep, I will take 7-Keto and Lean Out again at lunch to maximize fat burning. Ultra 40 supports stamina and muscle building, and GH Factor provides amino acids that release natural growth hormone.
Creatine Select is my go-to before each training session. It helps me power through my workouts. Afterward, I drink Glutamine Select to aid in muscle recovery.
Cardio Schedule
I get cardio from teaching my fitness classes during my building phase. During contest prep, walking on the treadmill is added in. This could be 20, 30, or 45 minutes at least six days a week, depending on how close I’m to the show date. I walk on the treadmill at a full incline at a moderate pace.
Training
My training schedule changes every three months. I lift four days a week, doing two lower-body and two upper-body workouts. I usually do four exercises for each bodypart, completing 3 sets of 8 reps each with one minute rest between sets.

Presentation Tips
Posing is a big part of competing. It should become second nature to move from one pose to another. Once you step on stage and those nerves kick in, it’s comforting to know your body will move effortlessly due to muscle memory taking over—practice, practice, practice.