Raven Barnes
WPM's Competitor of the Month - October 2011
Interviewed by: Mike Hall
Nominated by: Michael Harrington
25 year old Raven Barnes was born and raised in the charming town of Annapolis, Maryland to a mother who is a professional singer and a father who is a Marine Vietnam Veteran. At the age of 15, she was accepted and attended an international boarding school called The Grier School near Altoona, Pennsylvania. Although her main focus was dance, she also dabbled in Theater and the Gospel Choir. When she graduated, she packed her bags and took a 3 day road trip to California. She attended Azusa Pacific University where she attained her Bachelor's Degree in International Business with a Minor in Ethnic Studies.
She stayed relatively active throughout college. She didn't have a car during her first semester so she biked and walked everywhere. In addition to her academic classes, she had a cycling class twice a week, a weight lifting class twice a week, she would bike to work teaching dance 3-4 times a week, Choir twice a week, and theater constantly. Her schedule was similar to this throughout college and she thought that she was THE cutest and most fit thing on earth. When she came back from studying abroad her senior year, she became a personal trainer. She was one of those trainers who ate everything, hardly lifted weights, and jogged 8-10 miles a day, but she completely stopped it all during the last few months of her college career and went back to a desk job. That desk job lasted less than a year mostly because she was bored and started to gain weight and chubby cheeks. She high tailed it back to personal training and started working out again, but this time with heavy weights!
About 6 months later her boyfriend took her to her first ever fitness event, which was the LA Fit Expo. “There were so-o-o-o many bodybuilders and figure competitors walking around and I absolutely loved it! I didn't even consider competing until I saw my first Joe Wheatley's Muscle Beach Memorial Day Classic. At this event we met IFBB Pro Jerome Ferguson and began talking about competitions. He was extremely encouraging and basically told us just to go for it. Some people want to wait for the perfect time to compete but they never find it, and never compete. About a month later we met our neighbor, IFBB Pro Hidetada Yamagishi, in our apartment's parking garage and almost had a heart attack. We started talking to him more and he helped calm our nerves about competing and gave us some great advice. Joe Wheatley's July 4th Muscle Beach competition drew my competitive spirit out of me. I saw the women on stage and it was all over. I said to myself, "Next year, I will be on that stage and win.""
That September they went to the Olympia Expo and met Natural Pro Layne and Isabel Norton who gave them priceless advice, in December they met the amazing IFBB Pro Krissy Chin and Natural Pro Troy Johnson, and the following January at the LA Fit Expo they met Jamie Eason! "All of these people definitely had a huge part in my competition journey and were willing to help. I started dieting in January 2011 for my first show and four shows later, I had become the 2011 Ms. Muscle Beach by winning the Overall Bikini Title at Joe Wheatley's 4th of July show! Now I am prepping for my 2nd competition season and I am more than excited to do so!"
Raven was destined for greatness. The stars above were lining her on the path that she was intended to follow.
"...Just think about the road that you have taken to get to where you are and how good it feels to be on stage showing off what you've worked hard for! Also don't think about your "imperfections" because chances are that you are escalating it and turning it into a little roadblock, unintentionally sabotaging yourself in the process. Just have fun!."
WP: What has been your stepping stone to get where you are today?
My family has a military background, so even though I'm a spoiled only child, I wasn't allowed to act like it. My grandfather was a sailor in WWII, which meant that we were always granted access on the Naval Academy grounds in Annapolis. We always had the upmost respect for the Midshipmen and how disciplined they were. My father was a Marine Squad Leader for 4 years in Vietnam, so he did a good job making sure that I was disciplined in various aspects of my life. Not to mention he made sure that I kicked butt in Field Hockey. My Step-father was in the Army and could do endless push-ups with me sitting on his back and he made sure that we were constantly moving as kids. My God-father was a Marine as well and definitely taught me a lot about self-defense during college. My mother was the toughest out of them all and gave me a strict school, homework, and dance schedule which taught me how to multi-task.
My dance background taught me not only how to be graceful but to have patience, control my actions, and how to hold my composure and even breathe on stage. With my mother being a professional singer, I literally grew up in a recording studio and on stage. So I believe that I had more of an advantage because even though I am in a Bikini, I have no stage fright.
Personal training has also been a great stepping stone in my life of competing. Competing and prepping is expensive and I definitely did not have the extra income to hire a coach. Praise God that I not only knew many exercises but I was able to read more scientific articles, understand them, and put them into practice!
WP: What has it been like to maintain your physique? Have you done anything different lately?
I am actually still focusing on building my physique. I do not feel that I have reached a point of maintenance yet. My upper body tends to develop quickly, but my legs have a harder time responding. Even though my legs are extremely strong, they are very long and it is a little harder to get the mass that I want. My abs carry a great deal of fat around them but when I prep my waist is 24.5", so I am not upset. I have been following Layne Norton's PHAT training for the past two months and my gains have been amazing! It is great because I am still staying fairly low in body fat, I am getting much stronger, and I still have a good amount of definition, but I am also getting the gains that I want and need. It has definitely been beneficial.
WP: This has been your first season competing. Tell me about your competing.
Yes, this year was my very first season competing, and it was absolutely AMAZING! I seriously could not have asked for more! I have learned a lot about competing and about myself this year. Here is a list of all the competitions I have done to date in order:
2011 NPC Muscle Contest, 1st Place Class D
2011 Muscle Beach Classic, 1st Place Medium Class
2011 NPC Jr. Nationals, 8th Place Class C
2011 July 4th Muscle Beach Classic, 1st Place Medium Class, Overall Champion
2011 NPC USAs, 16th Class D
WP: Are you planning to compete again in the future?
ABSOLUTELY! I got bit by the competition bug. In 2011 I made it my goal to attain the Overall Bikini Title at a show and I have achieved it! Now my focus is to hire a coach, qualify for a national show, become an IFBB Pro, and ultimately go to the Olympia! This past competition season I dieted a little too much, so I wanted to take the rest of 2011 to build my muscles and resume competing in 2012!
During the remainder of 2011 I will be focusing on photo shoots, gaining sponsorships, hiring a competition coach, and hopefully break into fitness videos and print work.
WP: What other sports or activities do you enjoy?
When I lived in Maryland I played Field Hockey (Right-wing and Goalie) and participated in Dance since I was 3. I tried basketball and lacrosse, but I could not get those games down to save my life! I also lived in a nice city where I was able to ride my bike around my neighborhood and feel completely safe. When I was a High School Freshman I made it to Varsity Cheer even though I wanted to try out for Track and Field. For dance I have competed in NYCDA (New York City Dance Academy), was the captain of my dance team, and even travelled to India for a month to teach dance. I also was on a Powder Puff Football Team at my University only for a year due to previous injuries.
My largest passions are working out and travelling. Call me insane, but I absolutely love working out and feeling how different muscles work together. I have always been fascinated with Anatomy! I am that person who goes to the Human Anatomy Musuem/Exhibit and gets stoked looking at muscle fibers. I think that is why I am so fascinated with Bodybuilding! My other passion is travelling all over the world. Whenever I have the opportunity to go to another country, I take it with hardly any hesitations! You will be surprised how much you learn about yourself when you are taken completely out of your home and comfort zone. I love learning about new cultures, languages, and people!
WP: Tell me about your family. In addition, are you married, single, or dating?
My family is pretty awesome. I love to brag about them because every single one of them is bright, intelligent, and talented. I think that I am most like my Grandma Lottie, and I love her to death. She is a 79 year old woman who is always on the go. I think that the longest she ever stayed still was when she tore her ACL last year. But the same day the doctor told her that she was good to go, she went to my dad's house, packed her clothes, and drove back to Baltimore to probably hang out with her friends at Church. She is always willing to lend a helping hand to those in need and she is seriously one of the funniest people I know.
My mother's side is mixed with African, Irish, Cherokee and my father's side African, Dutch, Cherokee, and English. Our stomping grounds are mainly Annapolis and Baltimore, Maryland where we have been for about 8 generations now. I could barely date in Annapolis because I was related to half of the town. During my last year of College I started dating my wonderful boyfriend Mike! He is a Natural Bodybuilder who will be stepping into the NPC Physique Division next year! It has been an amazing few years that I have shared with him and his wonderful family who supports what we do. They definitely have been a huge part in helping us succeed.
WP: It sounds like you are a very lucky lady. What has competitions taught you thus far?
Throughout these competitions I have learned that you do not have any control over which competitors are going to show up, so you might as well just get up on stage and rock it! Just think about the road that you have taken to get to where you are and how good it feels to be on stage showing off what you've worked hard for! Also don't think about your "imperfections" because chances are that you are escalating it and turning it into a little roadblock, unintentionally sabotaging yourself in the process. Just have fun!
WP: What was the hardest thing for you to overcome when you first started?
Wow. There were many hard things for me to overcome but I think the largest two were food and cardio. I am an East Coast girl with a huge appetite. My food was always overly seasoned and buttered, I ate large portions, I always got seconds and thirds, and I always put 7-10 packs of sugar in my coffee. In addition to that the Pizza Hut delivery guy knew me by name AND instead of walking to the In N Out across the street, I drove. It was bad but tasted so good. I prayed for much needed strength and started to map out the foods that I needed in order to eat healthy.
At that time I hated doing cardio in the gym and I still do not care for it. I use to blame my lack of discipline on the fact that I didn't have a bike to use outside. I started doing more track workouts and even jogging through my apartment complex. I basically stopped making excuses for my lackadaisical nature.
WP: What was the hardest thing you had to deal with when it came to your diet?
When I first started dieting I would pile a whole cow, a large genetically engineered yam, and veggies on my plate. I remember the first time that I realized what my actual portion sizes were supposed to be. I almost fainted; literally. I seriously got so annoyed that I pushed the food scale over. I remember saying, "Why can't I put Old Bay Seasoning on anything? Huh? Who's Mrs. Dash and what does she want?" When I learned that I could have six of those small portioned Mrs. Dash meals, I felt a tad bit better. I also have this love affair with Red Meat and the fact that I couldn't eat certain kinds of Red Meat broke my heart. But what I could have, I cherished.
WP: What are the key factors that dictate the way you train today?
There are physical, emotional, and spiritual factors that dictate the way I train. Even though they are three separate factors, they seem to intertwine a lot throughout my life. The factor that the majority of people tend to focus on is obviously physical. I love taking progress pictures on my Body Space (Username: Raven1985) to see where I started and where I am now. I think that it is extremely beneficial because I am able to see which areas of my body are my strong and weak points. I try to bring up those weak points as much as possible through my weight training. Now some things are genetic and sometimes not in our control. Why not embrace it? It could set you apart from your competition and make the judges remember you!
It has been a long road emotionally. People have made some pretty outlandish remarks to me about doing competitions. Within this past year I have been told everything from, "You're promoting the spread of HIV/AIDs in the Black Community" to "Be careful because no man will want you if you get too much muscle" and much, much more. It has been quite wonderful! Sometimes I get extremely driven from remarks and sometimes they hurt. I start thinking of Arnold in Pumping Iron saying how sometimes you have to block things completely out of your mind. You cannot have those things in your head when you are on stage or even when you are prepping because it can affect your performance.
I am a Christian and my faith in God has helped me tremendously throughout my life. I really do not know how I could have achieved anything without him. Competing is tough. It is very easy to get down on yourself especially when you are on stage and you see the judges sometimes in a dazed stare, not always smiling, and you start wondering what they are writing. It is also tough if your tan is not applying correctly so you have to wash it off and start over three times only for it not to ever work. It is even worse if you're jet-lagged and you have to sit on a cold floor for 4 hours waiting for your turn to go up on stage. All of these things happened to me in the same weekend and were almost completely out of my control. I had to pray for strength, patience, and for His protection over me. This kept me calm and gave me enough confidence to step on stage and do even better than expected!
WP: How has your training changed over the years?
In college I did not lift heavy at all. I did not like being sore and because my arms get a good natural pump, I freaked out and thought that my arms would get huge! I went from curling 5 pound dumbbells and doing a 50 pound Leg Press in College to curling 27.5 pound dumbbells and doing 410 pound on the Leg Press. The journey to lifting heavy was definitely an interesting one. When I started to see the benefits of lifting heavy, after 7 years of living in California, I started wearing shorts and tanks. Actually my first time wearing a Bikini without wearing shorts over it was at my first competition!
I also started to lift on an actual schedule instead of going with the flow. My boyfriend and I started researching and following the principles behind Layne Norton's PHAT (Power Hypertrophy Adaptive Training). I personally believe that most of our significant gains came from that program and it feels so-o good!
WP: I hear you are getting into modeling. Tell me about that.
Currently I am doing promo work with VPX Team Redline Xtreme and I have to say that they are absolutely amazing! I have only been with them for a few months but they are definitely one of the best companies that I have worked with thus far. I have also been doing auditions to be in workout videos mostly in the LA area. I don't have an agent or a coach so it can be tough trying to find an audition alone while having a job and side activities. But it is not impossible to do, you just have to commit and make the time to do so. Praying for opportunities to come is perfectly fine, but you have to take action when they appear.
I have also been trying hard to break into print work. I've had a few leads and I am extremely excited to pursue them! I love demonstrating exercises and showing the appropriate form for them. I hate going into the gym and seeing people hurt themselves due to a lack of body awareness, so I would like to think that I can help through print work in some way!
WP: What supplements do you currently take?
I use a range of supplements from various companies. I love trying many different ones given to us as samples at various expos. For my pre-workouts I tend to gravitate more towards NO Shotgun, Amino Energy, and SuperPump Max. I only use thermogenics during my contest prep and they usually consist of Meltdown, Spirodex, and Lipo6Hers. The protein that I use after my workouts is Protein Rush, Myofusion, Syntha-6, and Hydrobuilder. I take HMBs to keep my muscle mass while I am dieting down, and I actually do not take Multi-vitamins because I honestly feel sick when I take them. I may start taking the Gummy Bears or Flintstones vitamins again.
WP: What are your pet peeves?
My largest pet peeves outside of the gym are people who chew with their mouths open and people who drive under 70mph in the fast lane; actually, people in California who drive under 70mph in general. I have been called a Gym Snob with all of my pet peeves in the gym. The list would include:
I try to be understanding of what people are going through in their personal fitness journey, but I seriously wonder sometimes if people are just intentionally trying to tempt me. I can only handle but so much.
WP: Ha-ha! You are too much! What do you consider to be important in life?
In addition to God being important in my life, I also think that believing in yourself is extremely important. Other things would include having people around you that will not harm your growth, people who love you, people you can trust, people who support you, and people who will keep you accountable.
WP: How have you changed over the past few years when it comes to thinking, actions, and life in general?
I have definitely changed in many ways over the past few years. I use to be a little firecracker. In other words, I would let my anger accumulate until I blew up at a tiny issue. After college I learned to listen first and talk later. I also express myself more instead of holding anything in. It lifts a lot of stress off of me and I definitely have less anxiety.
I am more disciplined in my work now. I had a tendency to do everything at the very last minute, but now I actually have charts hanging in my room to remind me of what to do and when to do it. I have also learned how to cope with people that I do not necessarily vibe with. I had to learn how to deal with the people who intentionally screwed me over in the past. Unfortunately, I have had to block people from my life because of it.
WP: Any shout outs?
They know who they are! I love them and thank them constantly!
WP: Give me an example of your workout split.
I follow the principles of PHAT Training, focusing on the power compound movements of my upper and lower body separately at the start of the week. I take a day of active rest with cardio and abs, and then train my whole body once again focusing solely on hypertrophy.
My Standard week would be:
Monday: Heavy Full Upper Body
Tuesday: Heavy Full Lower Body
Wednesday: Cardio, Abs
Thursday: Hypertrophy Back
Friday: Hypertrophy Legs
Saturday: Hypertrophy Shoulders & Arms
Sunday: REST
WP: Give me an example of your diet. What do you normally eat each day?
Each day I try to throw something different into the mix. My food for the day really depends on what I will be lifting. I try to have about 4-6 meals a day when I am not on contest prep. Every day I start my day with a blended protein shake and then oatmeal as my second meal. My fruit and dairy consumption again depends on how far out I am from a competition. I mostly drink Green Tea and water daily, and if I am still hungry at the end of the day I will have some warm herbal tea! For my main meals I always include a lean protein source, some slow digesting carbohydrates, and a batch of green veggies!
WP: Could you tell me about your future projects?
My near future projects would include participating in fitness workout videos and stepping into print modeling. During my 2012 competition season, I plan to qualify for nationals again, earn my Pro Card, and qualify for the Olympia. It is definitely easier said than done, but I am ready to do it! My plan for the next decade would include owning and operating my own private gym and fitness center.
WP: Is there anything I have forgotten to mention that you would like to bring to light?
Not at all! Just be sure to look out for me in 2012! I am more than ready to rock the stage! Thanks for the interview!
WP: It has been a pleasure interviewing you! I wish you all the best of luck!
