BahamaMan’s BodyBlog

Awhile back there were several holier than thou folks on this site that were giving folks (like me) a hard time if their goal was to earn a pro card.  These college edgumacated pinheads would get all philosophical about how shallow we pro-wannabes were.  I think their argument went something like, "Would you not be doing this if getting a pro card wasn’t an option?".  Followed by a few other smart guy questions like, "If a tree falls in the woods, does it make any noise?" and "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?"

I have to admit that those budding Buddhas got to me.  Heck, I even changed my goal to something sounding much more impressive, you know "Embracing the challenge of staying fit and healthy."

But lately I’ve realized that embracing the blah blah blah really isn’t my bodybuilding goal.  My bodybuilding goal is to get bigger and better every day.  My goal is to be the envy of guys who want muscles. My goal is to get to the point where the judges all agree that my physique is worthy of distinction as a natural pro.  My goal is to get a pro card, dammit!

So, screw you if you have a problem with my resurrected goal.  If you’re motivated by purer thoughts and intentions, good for you.  But the challenge of becoming one of the best is the challenge to really keeps me going at this.  And I’m not ashamed to admit it!

Watched Pumping Iron with my 6-year-old son yesterday.  He couldn’t wait to go downstairs and workout.  He was so pumped that we didn’t even finish the movie.

Down in the basement he took his shirt off and I proceeded to direct him through a series of bench press, chins, push-ups, bent-over rows and of course, concentration curls, a la Arnold.  In between sets he took swigs of his grape juice and had a fruit roll-up for his post workout meal.

My budding Arnold says he wants to be a bodybuilder when he grows up (at least that’s what he wants to be today).  He asked if we could put some Arnold posters on his bedroom wall. Oh yeah, and throughout the movie, he keeps saying that I’ve got bigger muscles than Mike Katz, Ed Corney, etc. 

After the workout we went fishing.

How much better than yesterday afternoon can it get?  Really!? 

I don’t understand getting fat between contests.  The bulks of many guys are testament, to me, that these guys aren’t really committed to a healthy lifestyle.  But I’ve got to give them props, losing 40ish pounds in twelve weeks has got to be tough.

That’s not my style, for sure.  I’m committed to living the relatively lean life.  Have tried to stay under 10% body fat during for the last couple of years while slowly adding muscle. 

Now it’s time to start the "slow cut".  I’m 10 and 12 weeks out from my next two shows and I’m looking to walk on stage at around 185.  That’s 12 pounds from where I’m at, so I’ve got to lose about a pound a week.  I can do that!

Needless to say, when I get into the 180s, I will reevaluate where I need to end up.  Certainly, the goal is to step on stage looking your best, which has nothing to do with how much you weigh!