MAEGHAN EGLI

Confessions of a Bikini Pro

In this week’s episode, host Celeste Rains-Turk speaks with newly crowned IFBB Professional who played and coached club and collegiate volleyball and has been competing since 2016 and just went pro at NPC universe 2020, while working as a sales executive marketing rep for Ticor Title and living the wife and dog mom life, Maeghan Egli, to discuss the ins and outs of her road to her pro card.

Maeghan starts by sharing what initially got her interested in the sport and how she began her first prep with a novice coach. She talks about how they learned about the methodology and competing together and how maybe honey-glazed salmon was a little too complicated of a meal while prepping.

In her first two years of competing working with this novice coach, Maeghan talks about how she went to her first national show with no understanding of the weight that nationals carry and what it truly means to earn a pro card, despite walking away from that show with a 4th place title.

Although she received an incredible placing, Maeghan talks about the day of prejudging for her first national show when she experienced a scare – passing out prior to stepping on stage. As someone with a very all-or-nothing mindset, Maeghan learned the importance of listening to her body and eating or drinking water when she needed it, especially because the incident left her with 12 stiches underneath her chin.

As the episode progresses, Maeghan shares the importance of researching a coach and what factors influenced her decision to hire a coach that had more experience in the world of competing than she did as opposed to someone who would learn along with her and the experiences and expectations she had of herself when working with this more experienced coach.

Maeghan shares in depth about her no-excuses mentality and how it has brought her this far in not only competing, but in her career and her marriage. She shares the importance of routine in her daily life and how her athlete mentality has influenced her to become the best possible version of herself, which includes merging her professional life with her competition and fitness life. Maeghan shares about all the wonderful opportunities that have presented themselves to her since she made the decision to no longer isolate each part of her life.

As the episode draws to a close, Maeghan shares how her strategies have changed between Universe and North American’s as well as the feedback she has received and how she plans to grow and change (which also includes a surprising, uncommon area where she is looking for growth). Maeghan talks about how her suit and hair color have changed over the years and the reasoning behind the decision to make these changes.

In perfect Confessions of a Bikini Pro fashion, the interview wraps up with Maeghan sharing her best advice for those new to competing as well as those looking to go pro. This wonderful, insightful and relatable episode, Maeghan shows how to live by the words “If it’s important to you, you’ll find a way; if not, you’ll find an excuse.”

CONNECT WITH MAEGHAN: https://www.instagram.com/maeghanegli/

CONNECT WITH CELESTE: https://www.instagram.com/celestial_fit/

EPISODE TIME STAMPS

[1:20] Pre Stage Rituals

[3:02] The first Prep

[5:04] Working with a novice coach

[7:13] Knowing when to switch coaches

[10:18] Stepping away from a show and taking time to grow

[12:33] Showing up at nationals with a love for the sport over nerves

[13:12] Passing out before the stage

[16:30] How passing out changed a view on bodybuilding

[21:59] Signs your body is giving you that you need a break

[24:25] Working with an experienced coach

[25:56] Expectations of a new coach

[27:36] Post-Wedding Prep

[29:00] An athlete mentality and it’s influence in life

[33:01] Leaving no room for excuses

[36:19] Developing a morning routine

[39:08] Managing a work schedule with competing and a marriage

[43:01] Sharing her business and fitness together on social media

[46:10] Inspiration after earning a pro card

[47:38] How being a pro effects the way you show up for yourself

[49:15] Current goals with no show in mind

[50:45] Favorite exercises for glutes, hamstrings and shoulders

[52:07] The difference between Universe and North American’s

[54:09] Peaking strategy leading into Universe

[57:22] Changing Hair Color

[58:40] Feedback on suit color

[1:00:13] Best advice for girls who have never competed before and those on the road to pro

Life long athlete, played and coached club and collegiate volleyball, went pro at NPC universe in 2020, wife and dog mom

[1:20] pre stage ritual: chatting with the girls in line, no specific ritual, in deep conversations with those around her to distract herself from nerves

[3:02] first prep in 2016 and inspiration for competing – longer prep because she had been seeing a trainer at her local gym for winter/summer break to stay in shape for volleyball then go back to college, came back after graduating and the trainer saw her, even though she wasn’t training for a purpose. There was a local one in may of the next year and she was all in for it, it was the first time he had prepped anyone, super cheap training like $100/month, started in NOV 2016, intention of may 2017 show.

[5:04] working with a coach who had never prepped anyone before – fancy, complicated meals, was hard to control variables, 4 or 5 weeks into prep she was getting leaner and it was obvious he didn’t know what he was doing so he brought one of his friends in and asked for help, after 1.5-2 weeks into that she fired the trainer because the other guy was doing the work and she asked the other guy to prep her. Stayed with him for the first 2 years of the competition

[7:13] Knowing when to switch coaches – her old coach and her were learning and experiencing things together, she got to the point where she wanted to pursue it in a more competitive way and she felt that she needed someone that had more knowledge than her, not someone who was learning with her. She hired Shane Heugly because he had been in the game and knew what level she wanted to be at as opposed to growing linearly. If you’re wanting to look at other coaches, talk to your coach about it, let them understand what your thoughts are and be transparent. She wanted someone who was already competitive at the level she wants to be at.

[10:18] Stepping away from your first national show and taking time to grow – the universe delivers when you’re ready because I stepped on to that national stage not knowing what a procard was and what placing meant. She was just enjoying training and doing it because she loved the sport. Her husband proposed to her two weeks before nationals, wanting to get married in a year, so after this show she’s going to focus on life and wedding stuff, before she even received her placing she knew she was going to take time off, she knew she wasn’t going to compete until 3 months after her wedding minimum.

[12:33] Showing up at nationals with a love for the sport over nerves – placed 4th at first national show, she thinks that

[13:12] passing out before stage – follows her plans to a T – i.e. if plan says eat at 8am, won’t eat at 7:59 or 8:01, woke up that morning dehydrated of prejudging, had to get her tan touched up and got super dizzy standing in line for touch ups and passed out in the tanning tent, woke up instantly and had hit the underside of her chin on the fan in front of her, split open her chin, stepped on stage for prejudging with makeshift bandages under her chin, held a tissue there seconds before she stepped on stage, went to the ER later that night and got 12 stitches, went back and did finals with stitches in her face. Lessons learned – don’t cut water, don’t drink wine the night before and EAT if you’re dizzy!

[16:30] How passing out changed her view of bodybuilding – it’s hard because it could have been prevented had she eaten before she went to tanning, get in the mindset in competing that it’s so hardcore you should push through the suffering, you need to recognize your limits. Stepping on stage is not worth your overall health. In that moment I felt like I had to push past it, but it’s important to know that you do have to go to extreme levels, but if it comes down to “I’m going to pass out” just eat and drink some water. The fact that she hit the only part that the judges couldn’t see was insane. She knew that passing out was on her, her coach didn’t tell her not to eat or drink, she made that decision. Also judges will disqualify you if they know you passed out.

[21:59] Body giving you signs you need a break – 3-4 weeks out from USAs, her body was stalling, not losing weight, was doing HIIT and steady state cardio (2-3 sessions/day) and nothing was changing. Coach at the time reached out to friends and was like “what do I do” and the coaches gave little pieces of advice (i.e. parking further away, increasing overall NEAT). Was getting so tired that despite cardio going up, daily activity was going way down, wasn’t doing anything, that was negating the cardio. Didn’t properly address it, didn’t reverse properly after the show, tried to do macros but had no idea how to, was overeating at time, her body eventually “gave up” and she got to a weight where it didn’t change, but she wasn’t comfortable with it

[24:25] Shows with an experienced coach – never doubted whether or not she would be ready

[25:56] Expectations with a new coach – didn’t want to do macros, she just wanted to feel good, did a meal plan “with options”, interchanging her proteins/carbs/fats. Got a meal plan implemented and was focused on making her coach happy – helped that she was a collegiate athlete. She wanted to know if she was going to get results with him so focus was to be 100% so she could be focused on that. Cardio was down and food was up, had a really good maintence while adhering to the plan

[27:36] Post-Wedding Prep – started at a high maintence and worked into the prep, started with a mini-cut for 4 weeks before the wedding and then started prep 1-2 weeks after she got back for nationals in November. Shane is slow to change things with her athletes. “If your body is still responding, there’s no need to change anything”.

[29:00] An athlete mentality and it’s overall influence in her life – had a coach say one time “if it’s important to you, you’ll find a way, if not, you’ll find an excuse”. It became engrained in her and has looked at that in all areas of her life. If it’s truly important to you, you’ll make it happen. Was late to practice because her car was towed and made her run lines because she was light. If you wouldn’t have parked in the tow zone, you wouldn’t have gotten towed, then you wouldn’t have been late. If you want something, you won’t let anything stand in the way. “you’re either growing or dying, there is no stagnation”

[33:01] Leaving no room for excuses – adding things into a routine. Wanted to read books and recognized that she needed to set it in the schedule, developing a plan around her goals. Started reading during steady state cardio because she was “wasting” time via Instagram/music so she started reading during steady state to maximize. When the gyms shut down she implemented a bedtime routine where she would read before bed, helped relax her. Added a morning routine and started reading during that time too. She was noticing that things she would learn about in books would show up in life and she was able to handle situations better because she had more knowledge from the books. Our brain is attunded to be mindful of the things that happen to us.

[36:19] The beginning of the morning routine – miracle morning by Hal Elrod, spent the first 20 pages arguing with the book lol and then she said ok, I’m going to try this, then she tried it. After the first 3 days (which sucked), then she started the morning routine and then noticed that the anxiousness that had cropped up in COVID world was beginning to melt away.

[39:08] Managing a work schedule with competing and a marriage – sales and marketing rep for a title company, pre covid she was meeting with real estate agents and learn how they market themselves, then try to fill the holes in their business. When covid happened, zoom became king, had to get appointment with clients via zoom because realtors initially wanted to meet when things went away, then it got to the point where everyone did zoom all the time and they were over it lol. Relationship wise, he is a grower for family dispensary, it’s all he’s been doing and they were considered essential so literally nothing changed for him, he still worked his regular job and regular hours. She’s home when he comes home for lunch which is different, but nothing really changed. They saw each other more because she was working from home and not 45 minutes away. She also had two extra hours because she didn’t have that extra drive time. Didn’t have to wake up at 4:30 anymore and could wake up at 5:30. Prep wasn’t easy, but easier in terms of fitting things in.

[43:01] Sharing her business (title company and fitness) on social media – tried to keep fitness and normal life separate in the beginning because she thought it would be looked down on by people who don’t know anything about the sport. She wanted to remain professional, and FB was her business side of things whereas IG was all the competing stuff. Noticing clients and potential clients had a huge wow factor when they found out she was a competitor. When business and health align, you flourish. The more she combined the two worlds, the more she is seeing inspiring people and getting business opportunities she wouldn’t have otherwise gotten.

[46:10] Feeling differently after earning her procard, shift in goals with the sport – felt the fire to work hard and reach the procard goal, but she feels more relaxed now because there is no show in mind and there isn’t a big “all or nothing” mentality right now, but at the same time, feels so motivated and excited and wants to be better, but once she got her procard, her level of intensity increased. Super motivated and inspired, yet calm about it

[47:38] how does being a pro effect the way you show up for yourself – train harder, pushing harder and failing more with weights, now isn’t just “going through the motions” and her husband went to her with the gym for the last 4 weeks of her prep so her husband could spot her and she couldn’t take short cuts. Even in the garage gym, she feels like she’s been on another level and pushing even harder

[49:15] Current focus/goals – wants to properly reverse and wants to know what she will do to make herself competitive at the pro level. Wants to go in with intention. Need shoulders, glutes and calves, so on those days, she’s hyper focused because she knows she needs to really push until failure. Also added calves in on another day

[50:45] Exercises for glutes, hamstrings and shoulders – hip thrusts (HEAVY), tie between dumbbell shoulder press (with husband spotting so she can go heavy) and lateral raises seated (feels like it puts more focus on her shoulders), hamstring curl machine

[52:07] what set her apart at universe as opposed to north americans – posing 100%, her north americans posing was “cringey” lol. The DJ at north americans was awesome, so the DJ was awesome, and she was way too excited and she practically ran on stage and posed way too fast and ran off. Practiced being slower with headphones on to super fast music (lots of latin music) and focused on being slow so the judges will focus on her and show off what she worked for.

[54:09] Peaking strategy different than past experiences – body was super on fire. 1.5 weeks out she looked in the mirror and was like “I look good”, and she doesn’t really feel that very often, but she knew it was the best she ever looked, even her husband was like “this is the best you’ve ever looked”, this show she didn’t hardly carb load the day of the show (only the day before). Only had one meal before going on stage and shane’s wife said she looked perfect, didn’t need extra carbs or salt, felt like she looked really good with this approach, even though it wasn’t planned that way

[57:22] Changing hair color – changing her hair color for life, she didn’t change it because of competing. Started going blonde in college because she wanted to be but had naturally dark brown hair. It was a lot of maintence so she went back to natural color and stepped on stage with brown hair.

[58:40] Feedback on a suit color – have control over suit color, jewelry, everything before stepping on stage. Was first red, then switched coaches and tiffany suggested a couple colors went for like a more purple, but then went blue and they did well in blue so they’re sticking with it.

[1:00:13] Best advice for girls who have never competed and those on the road to pro: get a coach that knows what they’re doing from the get-go and do your research. Interview your coaches and pick the one that best aligns with you. Be a student of the sport. Be patient on the road to pro and be willing to work hard because the sport is not for everyone. Not everyone is meant to be a professional bikini competitor.

[1:02:15] Connecting via social media