Fitness

"Builtboy" Shares Training Secrets

Photos by Aaron Seals
"Builtboy" has become a name synonymous with the top bodies in pageantry. Justin Popovics, the man behind the name and the founder of Built 2 Win (www.built2win.com), has been honing his techniques for the past 15 years.

Justin understands the demands that are placed on models, entertainment professionals and pageant competitors: he has been featured on Sex and the City, appeared on the runway at the legendary Seventh on Sixth fashion show tents in New York, in marketing campaigns for Altoids, various nightclub promotional advertisements, Don Julio tequila and fashion layouts for both swimwear and running shoes. He was Mr. New York 2002 and 1st runner-up in the Mr. America competition.

Achieving a B.S. in Corporate Communications and working in PR for magazines such as Muscle and Fitness and Shape, Justin decided to combine his unique set of skills into a program that would ideally prepare pageant competitors for the extreme standards of competition.

"I’ve always been fascinated with pageants and fitness," he says," but I never had the opportunity to combine those interests." A few years ago, however, the opportunity naturally presented itself. Justin read on a state pageant message board that a few contestants at a state competition were taken to the hospital for malnutrition and dehydration during pageant weekend. "That was a huge red flag to me," he says. "So, I created a screen name, jumped on the boards and started offering advice to young women who needed some sensible and safe direction. It seemed to me that there was a need for someone who knew about fitness, nutrition and pageants to help women look and most importantly, feel, their absolute best in their swimsuits."

Unlike most training programs, Built 2 Win specializes in long-distance training, and though Justin is based in New York City (and helped Miss NY USA and Miss NJ USA get into great shape this year), he has trained women around the country. "After an initial consultation on the telephone and assessment of swimsuit photos," Justin explains, "I sit down and build a custom-designed workout program just for a client. We then discuss the program at length until I’m confident she can execute the exercises properly on her own in the gym." Normally, he says, the girls who contact him are already very familiar with gym equipment and core exercises. "Depending on how much attention and interaction she is interested in having with me," he says, "we set up times for her to “check in” where we talk about everything from training to diet to motivation…even swimsuit color choices! It’s worked wonderfully for delegates in Texas, Florida, Ohio, Arkansas…the list goes on and on."

Justin is certified as both a Personal Trainer and Lifestyle & Weight Management Consultant, so about half of the Built 2 Win program is geared toward nutritional guidance "To me, nutrition plays a big part in the success of a contestant’s efforts to improve her body," he says.

He is not a big fan of the new "low carb/no carb" fad diets on the market. "I don’t believe that any diet that recommends a person nearly -- or, in some cases, completely -- eliminate any type of food, nutrient or source of energy (like carbohydrates) is a healthy approach to changing one’s physique," Justin says. "In some situations, I support the closely monitored reduction of fat, sugars and carbohydrates when it gets closer to pageant time, because it helps bring about a tighter, firmer, leaner appearance. This, however, shouldn’t be the general 'rule of thumb' for achieving optimal fitness like these trendy diets suggest.". "To me, nutrition plays a big part in the success of a contestant’s efforts to improve her body," he says.

SUCCESS STORIES Photos courtesy MUO
Miss NH 2004 Vanessa Bissanti	Miss Florida 2004 Kristen Berset
Miss Florida 2003 Carrie Mewha
Miss MA USA Maria Lekkakos	Miss NJ USA Janaye Ingram
Miss NY USA, Jaclyn Nesheiwat (1st RU Miss FL USA 2002)
Miss Arkansas 2003 Taylor Carlisle

As the official fitness trainer of Miss Florida USA, Justin was jointly responsible (we have to give the girls themselves SOME of the credit :) for the fantastic shapes that Miss Florida USAs Kristen Berset and Carrie Mewha showed off at Miss USA the past two years. "Carrie and Kristen were a joy to work with," he says emphatically. "They took everything I had to offer in terms of information about training, nutrition, rest and supplementation to heart and fully applied it to their programs, garnering incredible results. Although their workouts were very different -- because their body types, frames, lifestyles, metabolisms and goals varied so much-- they took their training seriously and it really showed in the end. They both made fantastic improvements from the time they took their state’s title to the moment they arrived at nationals." As the official trainer for our state teen pageant as well, Justin is also training Anastagia Pierre for the Miss Teen USA pageant this August.

Pageant girls differ from the "general public," Justin says, mainly in the area of commitment and self-motivation, which makes them very satisfying clients for a trainer to work with. "Almost everyone wants to improve his/her body," he says, "but clients in the general public, in my experience, are satisfied with making small changes that make them look and feel good. Pageant contestants are looking to take their bodies to the next level, taking their fitness training a few steps further."

One of his greatest success stories, Justin says, is this year's Miss New Hampshire USA Vanessa Bissanti. When she first won her state pageant, Vanessa carried almost 150 pounds on her five-foot, seven-inch frame. "She won a training package from Built 2 Win, and we went to work immediately," Justin says, assuring us, "I’ve never seen a girl’s self-esteem -- and enthusiasm to improve herself -- skyrocket so fast! She stuck to her program like it was gospel, and the results nearly brought me to tears when I saw her on stage in the swimsuit presentation show at Miss USA in April." Vanessa lost almost 25 pounds, looked sleek and fit in her bikini and belly chain, and she was rewarded with a top 15 placement at Miss USA! She was apparently only the fourth New Hampshire representative in the state's history to make the semi-finals. "She was truly Cinderella in a swimsuit," Justin enthuses.

One of the most common mistakes that young women make in training for competition, Justin says, is not incorporating weight training into their fitness routine. "I’ve worked with more than a few contestants who think that if they just eat less and crank up their time on the treadmill, they’ll somehow magically transform their bodies into 'pageant ready' perfection," he says. "This isn’t the way to do it. I’ve taken it upon myself to teach them the right way to accomplish their goals, one delegate at a time!"

To those who balk at weight training, afraid of getting a "bulky" physique, Justin has a quick science lesson: "Women do not have the hormonal capability to build massive muscles like men. Don’t be afraid of weight training! Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Garner, Demi Moore and Eve all make weight resistance training an integral part of their routines on a regular basis. Are they bulky or manly?"

Justin requires a three-month commitment from his clients. "About 12 weeks is a nice block of time to make some fantastic changes in a contestant’s body AND confidence!" he says. Of course, he inevitably receives last-minute calls from girls who need help only a few weeks out. "Although it becomes incredibly challenging," he says, "if I feel that together we can accomplish her goal -- with a lot of hard work and the sheer will to better herself -- I will consider last-minute clientele on a case-by-case basis."

The Built 2 Win packages start from as low as $100 per month for a couple of biweekly telephone sessions to $500 per month for the "Gold Level" package, which includes unlimited access to Justin. He even has a specially designed four-week "Emergency Body Blast," which he says is perfect for the month before the pageant and is a kind of "boot camp for beauty queens."

Like many fitness and nutrition pros, Justin is concerned about the growing obesity crisis in the United States. "I don’t think there’s enough emphasis placed on physical activity and proper nutrition for American children," he says. "Entertainment in the form of video games, television and DVD players don’t help to keep kids active. Coupling that with brightly-wrapped snack foods crammed with sugar, salt and fat that parents pack in their shopping carts and researchers wonder why American children are tipping the scales.

"Educational programs that make sure the same healthy messages are being taught at home and in schools can go a long way toward making physical activity and healthier food choices fun for kids. Children love to learn, so why not teach them to stay active and how to fuel their growing bodies with sound nutrition?"
Good fitness role models are a great step forward, Justin says, and pageant girls have never been better examples of firm and fit -- not skinny -- bodies than they are today. "The definition of what it means to be a healthy and fit woman in the USA has definitely changed," he says. "When the bodies of Shawnae Jebbia, Melanie Breedlove and Johnelle Ryan hit the stage in the 1998 Miss USA pageant, I grinned and breathed a sigh of relief: Being thin was no longer what fared well in these pageants! American women are seen by those around the world as being strong in spirit, mind and body, and pageants give contestants the chance to showcase all of that. The trend continues and I hope it’s here to stay."

Our new Miss USA, Shandi Finnessey, is the perfect example of a woman who has achieved just the right balance, Justin says, of feminine curves and muscle tone. "Although no one’s a perfect 10," Justin's quick to point out, "she should certainly be proud of what she’s accomplished in the gym. Hard work does pay off, and it shows on Shandi at every angle!"