Enterprise Client and Figure Athlete, Narelle Hanratty, shares her competing journey.
I came to Enterprise because I was looking for a new approach to competition preparation. I competed in Season B in 2017 and 2018 with another gym, and while it had been OK as a starting point, by the second year I realised that if I wanted to progress I needed a different approach.
I needed individual coaching that was tailored to my strengths and weaknesses. I stuck out the season and then came straight to Enterprise.
I’d heard about Enterprise from another competitor at the ICN National Titles in 2018. I also asked around my network and two friends gave glowing references about Enterprise.
I’ve now been training with Enterprise for 10 months. In September, I competed in the ICN Victorian Titles where I received a 3rd and a 4th placing, and in October, I competed in the ICN World Titles.
Comp prep is extremely challenging for most athletes and I’m no exception. It touches every aspect of my life – mental, physical, emotional – and curiously, also my past and future. Because I didn’t have the right coaching during comp prep with my old gym, it had been a lonely and frustrating time, on top of the mental, physical and emotional strain.
Doing comp prep with Enterprise has been very different. They poured there time, care and support into me to a level I didn’t know was possible. Checked in with me every day, sometimes several times a day, and while I saw them once a week only, I felt they were always with me, watching over me and supporting me.
He always knew what I was eating, what my weight was doing and what I was training, off the top of his head, without referring to notes. Given he has many clients, I find this extraordinary.
I also learned so much from him, about training and nutrition and, of course, the best phone app for making collages of before and after photos. I’ve also learnt things I wasn’t expecting to learn, like how to run other aspects of my life.
For example, during the month before comp, we would decide each day whether I would have a depletion day (less calories) or a refuel day (more calories) based on my morning weight. So we had two courses of action defined in advance, and the data (my morning weight) would determine which I would take. This was a new approach to decision-making to me.
It took all the second-guessing and mental “bargaining” out of the picture, and I can see how I can use it in my life when making other decisions. The thing that meant the most to me was the mental and emotional support he provided me, and when I think about this I want to cry.
There was one day in particular when I was about to run a workshop for a group of lawyers who had been difficult in a previous workshop, and I was feeling anxious. I mentioned it to Reece and he said something kind and encouraging that made all the difference.
There were many times like that during comp prep, and I’m in awe of who he is and his readiness to give everything he has to his athletes.
Now that I have the right coach, I can plan for my bodybuilding future with confidence and excitement, and in the next little while, we’ll be formulating my comp campaign for 2020.
One of my favourite moments from comp prep this season came a few weeks before the first comp. I was training at one of the gyms I go to and as I was leaving, the receptionist, a young woman in her early 20s who is a PT, stopped me.
“Can I ask you something?” she said.
“Sure,” I said.
“I’ve been watching you train and I’ve been wondering how come you look so good. Like, your shoulders and arms – you’ve got shoulder striations – and I’ve been wondering how that is. And then suddenly I realised you must be doing comp prep. Is that right? Are you a competitor?”
“Yes,” I smiled, proudly, “I’m a competitor.”
It felt great to be able to say that.
