Jenny Garside has been a client and a friend of mine now for over seven years.

Those years have gone by in what seems like a blink of an eye, as they do as you get a little older, but they sure have been very productive years.

In that time, Jenny has gone from a girl with a good figure and potential, to having arguably the best Trained Figure ever produced in Britain!

Jenny has an incredible figure that has that rare combination of athleticism with enough muscle size and condition, and she's extremely feminine too. Her great attributes make her a standout on any stage, and WOW - what a year this year has been for her.

2007 is the year Jenny will never forget. Everything came together and all the hard work paid off. Her condition and balance were faultless and she had the look that took every show she entered by storm.

Early in the year she took the BNBF Scottish title, then moved on to the BNBF British Championships - another win. It was then on to the NPA British   Championships - again, another win!

As if that wasn't enough, she was a member of the very successful NPA British team who traveled to Madrid for the UIBBN World Championships, ending the year in style by adding the World Figure crown to her long list of titles. At the Worlds Jenny was in a line up of some of the best Figure girls I have seen, yet she stood out like a professional against amateurs. Poised, elegant and confident, Jenny knew she'd done all she could up to the contest, and after being runner up in 2003 and 2005, she finally nailed the World title in conclusive fashion.

Yet for all the success Jenny has had in competitions, there is little known about her. This is because Jenny just pops up, competes, normally wins, and then starts working in her business again on the Monday.

I know most of you do that, the difference here is that Jenny doesn't associate at all with bodybuilding and everything that goes with it, other than in competition - she is simply too busy.

She reads no magazines, looks at no websites, or goes on any of the popular Bodybuilding forums. She reminds me of a quote of Peter McGough's, one he wrote some time ago when Dorian Yates was just starting to make waves in the Bodybuilding world. He called him 'The Shadow' - Dorian just trained for the competition, and turned up at the show. Jenny does the same; she just does what she has to do and then turns up looking awesome!

People are left thinking what happened there, and where the heck did she come from. Ok, with that in mind, let me give you a little background on Jenny.

Jenny is, much to her dismay, in her mid thirties.

She is married to Wayne and together they have 2 children, Amber 11 and Ellie 6.

When she is not busy being a Mum, she runs her own play-gym for children called Playdayz. This business takes up a lot of her time so there is little left for training. So many times this year we had to put in plenty of workouts at 6am in order to fit it into her day.

This year's training I have to say was the most intense she has ever done. The goal this year was to create a mega sharp, totally balanced figure with no weak points.

The balance aspect was brought about by bringing up the deltoid cap and bringing down her legs.

We worked the delts hard with plenty of sets and from many different angles. Also, her shoulders took on a more muscular look from all the gymnastic work she did with Brenda, a fantastic coach who works in our area. Brenda had Jenny perform many walk-overs, flicks and handstands, this definitely built more mass in the delts, upper back and also improved her posture.

Her legs needed the most amount of work. Jenny's legs have in the past been slightly bigger than her upper body, by this I mean more muscular. This year we overworked them for most of the year, then concentrated on coming down lower in weight than she had been before, whilst holding on to upper body mass. This we did with a different approach to her diet than in the past, it was a very tough diet, but effective.

Jenny became more balanced, tighter and incredibly shapely.

Let's look back over Jenny's training history to see how the foundation of her figure was built.

Jenny started her journey into fitness and weight training at the age of 15. Her Dad, a keen rugby player at the time, was always into some form of training whether it be running or rugby training.

This instilled working out in her young mind. This was further enhanced by a book by Gladys Portugues. The photos in this book inspired Jenny so much that she has never stopped training since, or forgot that book and the influence it had on her.

Leaving school she worked the normal jobs that kids do until they settle on what they want to do in life.

Jenny found her direction in the health and fitness industry and after passing numerous qualifications she worked as an instructor for many gyms in the Leeds area, teaching aerobics classes and the like.

This she did for many years until it gave way to the earlier mentioned play-gym.

I knew Jenny from just before this transition point, after the birth of her second child Ellie.

I owned Future Bodies Gym at the time and had seen her many times at my gym, and noted her great potential.

When she asked me to train her I jumped at the chance. That was way back in 2001. By 2002 she was on stage in her first show, the ANB Central England which she won. This took her to the 2002 ANB British Finals where she took a credible 4 th place.

Jenny is very competitive and vowed to improve. In 2003 she won the ANB East Coast title which again moved her to the Finals of that year.

Much improved over her first outing and starting to show the promise and potential of things to come, she took a superb 1 st place.

The next step was the 2003 UIBBN Worlds - placing 2 nd and gaining momentum and motivation from this she trained harder than ever in 2004, but took that year out to improve and establish her business.

2005 was soon upon us and Jenny moved right on into the NPA British Finals and took the show by storm gaining all 1 st place votes in every round.

Once again it was another crack at the World stage and once again it was a 2 nd place trophy that came home with her from Paris.

2006 was another year of no competitions, but that year was her best yet as far as improvements. Although there was no show in her sights, she was determined to make improvements.

We worked legs extra hard, and shoulders and back were given priority. The whole year was fantastic, training and nutrition were bang on, even with many other commitments she never missed a scheduled workout or balanced meal. If she was to busy to eat, she had a meal replacement, she did what she had to do and thought no more of it. Being organized and consistent, this is what makes gains. This I know is what makes a Champion as they are not just consistent for the months before a show. No, they are consistent all the time, the weeks and months way out from a show are just as important as last four weeks.

So we were heading into 2007, with a build up of work behind us that was gaining momentum.

This year Jenny wanted to try new pastures and we headed up to Scotland for the BNBF Scottish.

Again, another win. By now her children were saying "Mum, why do you always win?!"

A few weeks off the competition diet and it was back to it for the BNBF Finals.

Wanting to make a good impression and be the best she could be Jenny really dug deep and came in a little lighter than usual. This paid off and again there was another 1 st place trophy to take home to the kids.

Being in the shape of her life, we then set our sights on the NPA British Finals, and hopefully another World challenge.

With only a few weeks to go the diet was pulled in tighter and the workouts were relentless.

Everything was on the line - she was a past winner, a BNBF winner and was competing against a strong field of girls, plus to add to the self imposed pressure it was to be her last year and she wanted to go out on a high. This I thought brought out the best in her. Pressure is good, if you use it to your advantage. She felt as though she was in a corner, nothing could be left to chance, it had to be this year. There were to be no more shots at it, this would be her last year of competition!

The NPA British Finals were soon upon us. Again, the hard work and sacrifice paid off with another NPA British title. I would dare to say that this one she felt the deepest, as she had worked harder than ever and she was finally happy with the look she had achieved.

A day or two of forbidden food and it was back to the diet for the UIBBN Worlds, and her third and final attempt to take that elusive title. She was on a roll, moving fast, nothing could stop her momentum.

By the time the Worlds were upon us she was in her top form, condition, shape, balance, posing, everything was perfect.

In the strongest field of girls I had ever seen Jenny compete in, she stood just right - solid and statuesque - she lit up the stage.      

Jenny comprehensively defeated the defending Champion from Italy and won! All the effort and the strict diet had brought all the success. Another great moment was appearing on BBC TV in the 'Inside Out' programme. A BBC film crew were at the NPA British Finals and then came to Madrid with the NPA British team, with myself and Jenny being featured on the programme, a blast for us both and the NPA!

Weeks later she had to pinch herself, as she still could not believe it. That World title meant so much to her.

To close the chapter of her short but with absolute quality career, it could not have ended better.

I am sure, when there are discussions years into the future, on who was one of the best Trained Figure girls Britain has ever produced, Jenny's name will be mentioned.

It's been awesome to be part of her career. I have felt blessed to be there at each and every workout and show. She has inspired me and I hope she inspires somebody out there to be their best.

To summarise Jenny in a few words I would have to say -

Stunning. Competitive. Consistent. Hard working. A Winner!

Well done, Jenny, you will always remember 2007.

Love, Ian.

  Last word from Jenny...

Well, what can I say, all the hard work and commitment paid off!   I can't put into words how I felt when winning the top spot at the Worlds in Madrid, truly fantastic.   I will never forget it or the journey leading up to it, in my own words it was bloody hard work.   I would like to take this opportunity to thank some people, for it was a journey I couldn't have completed on my own.

It goes without saying my big thank you is to Ian Duckett, my personal trainer.   Ian has given me 100% commitment through and through and has guided me every step of the way, and I mean every step, from training, diet, posing, routine, motivation when the going got tough, which it did on many occasions.   Ian is a true people person and I would also like to thank him for making me believe in myself.    Ian is a genuine and honest person and only gives credit where it's due, his belief in me gave me the confidence to go out there and knock 'em dead!  

Thank you so much Ian for everything you have done for me.   Jen x

I would also like to thank Brenda Webster (gymnastics coach).   Brenda has coached my children from them being very little.  

I have always loved gymnastics but, as a child, never had the opportunity to pursue the sport, I just did a little at school in my games class.   I expressed my interest to Brenda and it went from there.   Brenda began to coach me; we worked on all sorts from flexibility to flicks.   This form of training definitely helped to improve my upper body and shoulders in particular.   I would like to say a big thanks to Brenda for all the effort she has put into helping me.   Brenda is a fab coach and a good friend and to me is a very special lady.

With any sport you have to be committed and sacrifices have to be made which can affect family members, especially where children are concerned, for me, meal times with my family, and treat times, are very important.   As we all know diet is a key factor in competing and `little goodies` not allowed.   My family have seen me eat just the basics of food for about 6 months, this did make me a little miserable at times as I tucked into fish and veg whilst they were having a Thai meal.   The kids would say "Oh Mum, you can't have this, you're on a diet" so I felt a little sorry for them really as every meal for them was the same and Mum couldn't join in the delights at our local restaurant, Baan Thai, fantastic food!   But hey I won and the kids were delighted ('Wow Mum, you won again') they said.   Well it's all over and back to normal life but at least I can join in the treats again, now the kids are saying "Mum, stop pinching my sweets!"   - can't win!   Many thanks to my husband Wayne and kids for being behind me for what has been a tough year.  

Special thanks to Michael and Diane Phillips, and the NPA.   I have always felt quite at home with the NPA, a friendly, professionally run organisation.   I have met some lovely people over the years and have enjoyed every show.    I am proud to have been part of the NPA and am so pleased we topped it at the Worlds.   Well done to everyone, and I hope the NPA continues with it's success for many years to come.  

Jen x

On behalf of everyone connected to the NPA I congratulate the 4 times British and current World Figure Champion Jenny on her amazing success, and wish her all the best for the future.

Next year Jenny will be judging at NPA competitions and it will be great to have someone of Jenny's standing as part of the team of NPA Judges.

Many thanks to Jenny and Ian for their effort involved in putting this profile together, both are very humble Champions who deserve all the success that comes their way.

Michael Phillips
Secretary - NPA