1. She Doesn’t Have a “Typical” Training Routine
Casey Samsel/Instagram
When asked about a typical training routine in the gym, Casey revealed she doesn’t have one. “Tough question! No routine is ever the same! My workouts very from heavy, light, fast, slow, with pulses, half-reps, pauses, etc.” she told Hard Fitness.
2. Here Is Her Pre-Contest Diet
Casey Samsel/Instagram
“My pre-contest diet has also changed with every competition. A few things that remain the same are: Water decrease and slow increase along with carb decrease and a sudden increase about two days before the stage. Everything else pretty much remains the same! My pro debut in May will have an entirely different approach to peak week,” she says.
3. She Motivates Herself
Casey Samsel/Instagram
“My motivation is myself. I was never good at much growing up and I certainly found something that I’m good at. Doing well with bikini competitions has made me love the process. All of the dieting, hard workouts, preps, and show preparation keep me motivated! I look up to many fellow IFBB Pro Bikini competitors, but there are also some NPC competitors that keep me inspired to do what I do everyday. One of them is my very own Bikini client and friend,” she told Hard Fitness.
4. Lift Weights and Eat Over Cardio and Starvation
Casey Samsel/Instagram
In a post Casey revealed that she spent her “young adult years” worrying about how she looked. “I drove myself 😵💫 with restriction & low-calorie diets, & HOURS of cardio. I skipped class when I hated my body & didn’t want anyone to see me. Instead, I would go for a run until I couldn’t feel my legs & plan a nice little “vaca” from food (for however long I could hold out). This led to a vicious cycle of overeating & “burning it off” for almost 5 months. It destroyed my mind, then destroyed my body,” she said. “I was scared to eat and to stop burning calories. I was terrified of being in my own mind & body for what it would uncontrollably think & do next. It took only less than 5 months of consistent poor eating habits & catabolic activity to completely destroy my mentality, my social life, & my metabolism. My internal health mentally & physically suffered & I spent the next year & a half self-loathing & beating myself up and not knowing how to fix it. I ended up disliking my body more, isolating myself little by little, & losing so much trust for my own judgment in what to do next…Eventually, I had to do the hard stuff. I had to eat more, run less. I had to look my daily fears of food in the eyes & come to the realization that I needed to slowly build confidence in integration of food & calories and ACCEPT what I had done to get to a place where my body had nowhere else to go but up. I had to consume more calories (slowly), I had to re-trust the method (daily), I had to stop thinking about cardio & make sure my body had the energy from the food I was eating in order to heal & adapt to a healthier metabolism. It was HARD, but I committed to having a body I loved on the outside, by revamping what I needed to on the inside. I’m here to tell you that because I have gone through this process of metabolic decline & damage, & gained more body fat, & had less confidence in EVERYTHING than I started with. I went through over a year of metabolic & MENTAL recovery (far longer than the amount of time it took to drag myself to the bottom). A year was a BLIP in time and 1000% worth everything that I possess now. Now I live, eat, & train for sustainability with my future in mind.
5. Hiking
Casey Samsel/Instagram
Casey also hikes. She revealed in her recent post, “we’re hitting the mountains of Colorado in a week! So catch me outside, how bout dat?” According to the National Parks Service, the physical benefits of hiking include:
- Building stronger muscles and bones
- Improving your sense of balance
- Improving your heart health
- Decreasing the risk of certain respiratory problems