1) Please introduce yourself? What makes you special? Who is Juliana Malacarne?

Juliana Malacarne

I am a very easygoing person that enjoy living a simple life with a good amount comfort. Always sharing things with my family and friends.

2) Please tell us a bit about your family, friends and surroundings?

My family and friends are very important in my life. Specially my family is a strong reference point particularly. Brazil is a very nice country, people there are very friendly. They are open to understanding and getting to know other cultures and welcoming them as well.

3) How did you start competing in fitness and then in figure?

I was training in a gym and a friend saw in me potential for fitness. He let me borrow some video tapes and watch this sport that before I had never even heard of. Stopped competing in fitness in 2002 because I wanted to concentrate more on my personal life and getting a college degree. I still liked to compete and wanted to get back but fitness was too much hard work (routine, time, etc...) and thus figure was the right one. I never thought I would become a world champion and that it would lead me to compete in the IFBB which was ultimately a dream.

4) What is your personal policy (not what the judges want) about conditioning and muscularity when coming into a show? Soft or hard?

I prefer to come in a bit harder for competitions as coming from Brazil competitors over there veer more towards harder physiques. The competitors in the USA are different genetically from Brazilians thus in my case it becomes very hard to loose muscle and to get softer for the new criteria.

5)  What is your idea of what judges want in a Figure competitor? Do you think judges are clear enough with competitors about how they want you on stage? It seems in Canada they are very clear unlike in the USA.

From my point of view I have seen different physiques on the top 5 of many pro shows. I don't see the criteria as being properly defined given the observation above.

6) For the next shows what do you think you need to work on physique-wise/conditioning-wise? If anything!

I think I have to lower level of muscle mass but most importantly to compete in more shows and get better known among IFBB Figure Pro competitors.

Juliana Malacarne

7) What is your typical training routine in the gym (per day, include sets and reps!) How much cardio do you do before a show?

Normally 50-60 minutes of cardio 6 days per week before the first meal of the day. For the training routine I do many reps in order to keep tone and not gain more muscle. Some are super-sets, compound exercises and/or circuit training. It can very a lot depending on what I need to do.

8) What is your pre-contest diet? (per day, 1 week before the show)

My diet stays all the same thru the week before the show. Don't need to carb-deplete and then load. My sources of food are yams, brown rice, pasta (carbs), chicken, 2 days before show also add red meat (protein).

9) How do you go about dropping your water before the day of the show? How much water do you drink the day of the show. Please be specific.

The week of the show start with 1, 1.3, 1.6, 1.8, 2 gallons. 12 hours before the show itself I don't drink more water.

10) What motivates you to train/diet and compete? Are there any competitors you looked up to?

Monica Brant has always been my number one inspiration. Being such a fitness icon she is very well known all over the world. What motivates me is that I like the challenge of making myself better everyday.

11) Please tell us an interesting experience you had at a show recently, be it a fun thing or something rather not so fun?

Something good was having competed at pro level, even if I don't place well being among the top competitors is already a victory. Something bad was recently at the Sac 2006 show is that I was on stage very sick. This was the first time in my career that this has happened and it was difficult to go thru with it but I finally did.

12) What is your personal opinion about the figure, fitness, bodybuilding industry we are in? Anything you would like to see changed?  

That the main actors such as judges, promoters and other important people to give international competitors more opportunities and to pay more attention to those that have good potential and a good physique.

Juliana Malacarne

13) From the shows you have competed so far during your career which one was the best (or most fun) for you and why?

The most important show was when I won the 2005 World Championships in Spain. This was my first year competing in figure and was able to win my class and take the overall over 100 competitors from all over the world.

14) Did you make any changes to your contest prep for this show (sac 2006)? Water intake, carbing up, etc...

For this show the Sac 2006 Pro Figure I tightened up the diet, trained with less weight and more cardio in order loose more muscle.

15) What is your opinion about the 20% rule the IFBB issued to some female athletes? Why do you think they did it? Do you think competitors will follow it? Or it will get lost around somewhere?

I still think that the IFBB doesn't have a clear criteria defined even with the 20% rule. They made this rule in order to turn the sport more mainstream and attract new competitors to it. Competitors will probably follow it and now we can see it from the shows.

16) How different is competing in Brazil from the United States? Can you name some differences please?

Brazilian judges prefer a harder physique with more emphasis on muscle density but not a extra muscular physique. While competitors here (USA) have less muscle and seem to stray away from lifting heavy and building quality muscle. They use 3 suits instead of the two the NPC uses for amateurs. The posing in Brazil gravitates towards flexing the muscles on stage while in the United States judges want you to relax.

17) Please tell us about how you were raised and did you have any interesting experiences while growing up?

Since I was a little girl I liked muscle, my first reference about this was the movie "Konan - The Barbarian". From then on I had a passion for muscle and for Arnold Schwarzenegger.

18) What is a typical day in the life of Juliana Malacarne? From waking up to until going to bed?

7am wake up and eat breakfast

8am - cardio for 40-45 minutes

9am go to work, train clients at a gym

12pm have lunch

1pm back to the gym until 4pm

5pm train with weights

7pm go to university until 10:45pm

12am go to bed.

Juliana Malacarne

19) What is your current occupation? Please tell us more about it, what do specifically do in your job?

I am personal trainer and I work in a gym in the city of Americana in Sao Paolo, Brazil. I train normal people to help them loose weight, gain muscle and have better endurance.

20) Anyone you would like to thank? Any additional notes?

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