Reemy’s BodyBlog

Sheesh, It’s been a while since I’ve written!   It’s time to hop back in the saddle. It is always theraputic to get your thoughts out. It is also entertaining to look back at your thought process, and realize how you have matured or grown.

Enough of my rambling! March is coming up soon!!!  And that means………….Beverly’s Northern Kentucky is right around the corner.  I love doing the show for the competition, and the fact that it is the biggest stage in Southwest Ohio! 

I’ve been gone for a while, but have reaffirmed a great number of things.  

Number one - Less is more.

Sounds very elementary and cliche, but I have made some huge gains by cutting back on my volume.  I focus more on the quality of the rep instead of the quantity. As a natural bodybuilder, you need much more time to recover.  Recovery is the name of the game, because your strength goes up, but you don’t recover any quicker as you get older.

Number two - Sometimes you gotta eat some junk!

As you know, I am a very clean eater all year round because of my yeast problems.  I rarely go out to eat, and severly limit my condiments and salad dressings because of it.

Before I had these problems, I was afraid to lose cuts. But now I realize that you need to eat some junk -which, for me, is Chipoltle Burritos- to add the extra calories that you need some times.  I try to eat clean 90% of the time, and introduce a few 800 calorie burritos a few times a week. That has helped me gain mass, but stay in striking distance of my competition weight.

Number Three- The Importance of Stretching

Another no-brainer, but it’s really easy to say " I’ll do it next time."   I always do that and then I keep putting it off.  Stretching my quads has really helped to bring out seperation lately.  Hell, all my best body parts  (chest, biceps, forearms, and quads) are the ones that I have spent the most time stretching.  Imagine that! Stretching is so important in loosening my hips and allowing a full range of motion on squats. Not to get too far of the subject, but staying more upright on squats has allowed me to keep the stress on the quads and less on the lower back.  

 It’s all pretty remedial stuff, but sometimes you have to go through a situation to really realize the importance of things.  Everyone learns at their own pace, but the more that you can learn from other, the better. Anyway, watch out Northern KY, cause it’s go hard or go home. 

       For the last few weeks, I have been HUNGRY!!! It is so ridiculous. I have never been soooo HUNGRY. Protein drinks are just not enough, and I have been longing for whole foods. I guess back to back shows will do that to you.
       Right after the Mr. Cincy, I went to Dewey’s and just about demolished an 18 inch pizza. I saved three slices, because I didn’t want to be too full.  I got up the next morning craving more pizza, and ate the rest just before stepping into First Watch for pancakes, eggs, and sausage.
       Allergies have been kickin’ my ass lately. All these news reports had me wondering if I had the damn bird flu!  Fortunately, It’s just a sinus infection. I forgot how horrible these things are.  And guess what sinus problems do?  They make me even more HUNGRY!  Food is one of the only things that give me comfort when I’m like this.
        It’s 7:41pm, and I just drank a protein shake with glutamine, 36 grams of protein, one scoop of Barlean’s Greens, and a half a cup of oatmeal. Soon as I get out of work at 9pm, I’m going to hit up Chipoltle, because I’m still freakin’ hungry.

        Speaking of Chilpoltle, They’ve been skimping on the burritoes lately. I have been so starved for calories that one of those things is just a snack.  Even with extra meat, I am crushing……     

      After my disappointing showing at the Northern, my posing mentor encouraged me to participate in the Mr. Cincinnati show.  I was a little skeptical initially and just wanted to detox all this crap in my system.  I don’t want to see any BCAA’s, creatine, or sugary protein powders for a while.  Anyway, I figured that I might as well enter the contest since it was so close.  This one would be a little more difficult, because I had to enter open competition.

     Because of new developement in muscle, I thought that I was lean enough for the Northern.  I had more seperation in my chest, my obliques and serratus were at a new level, and I was five pounds heavier.  However, I was definitely not lean or vascular enough to compete for 1st place.  I had relied on my genetics a little too much.

     Last year, I started cardio 3 weeks out at 3 times a week.  This year, I started five weeks out at threee times a week.  Last year, I was probably 5-6% like 3 months out from the show, because of playing basketball and eating clean year round.  This year, I got up to about 8% from eating Chipotle 3x a week, and taking in much higher levels of protein.

     I got caught in coming in 5 lbs heavier instead of sticking to conditioning.  Definitely a mistake when you are competing in the NPC, where guys may have a little help.  As a natural, I have to come in that much sharper, especially for a Beverly show.  Hey, You live and learn!

     Not wanting to duplicate the previous effort, I hit the cardio everyday for 20-25 minutes of HIT. I managed to lean out quickly, and I started to see the vascularity that I was missing for the Northern.  In retrospect, I should have eaten more carbs.  I kept carbs between70 and 120 grams, but probably could have bumped it up between it up between 100 and 150.  I also should’ve monitored my fat, and even eaten a little more of it. I lost a little sweep in the legs, and maybe a teeny amount of muscle off the arms and shoulders, but I looked much better for this show.

      My waist was 29 3/4 for the Northern, but I got it down to 29 for the Cincy.  That little difference made my lats look that much wider and made my legs look better.  My abs were much sharper, and I didn’t have to strain to bring out hamstring definition.  My back was better by leaps and bounds, and I was going to need it.

     The morning of the show, I arrived at the weigh in at 8:55.  Five minutes to spare!  You know I always have to make things more difficult than it has to be.  It wouldn’t be as exciting if I got there an hour early. Sheeesh!

   As soon as I get to the pump up area, I see a guy that I was in the pose down with at the Northern. He is noticeably bigger.  We were in middleweight just a month ago, and now he’s going into light heavy!  He had more vascularity in his arms, but was not where he needed to be condition-wise for a Beverly show.  We headed to the competitor meeting and recieved the usual contest info.  I found the nearest wall and put my feet up to get the fluid out of the legs.  After a half hour of that, it was pre-judging time!

   Okay, first of all, there were way too many people for that little pump up room!  The bathroom had a toilet, but no urinal.  What kind of archaic crap is this?  Especially when you have a bunch of dudes that are carb depleted and can’t hold water.  I admit it, I had to blow it up a few times, and felt bad to hold some dudes up.  Can’t help it if I’m regular !! Some people got wise and peed in the shower.

    In the Novice, I was used to going first, but in the open you are going towards the end.  The hardest thing for me in these shows is to get the timing right.  You never know how fast that the judges will be calling the show.  This one moved fairly quick.  I thought that I had much more time that I really had.  I ended up eating some chicken and sweet potato maybe 35-40 minutes before we went on, which wasn’t a smart thing to do, but I figured we had way more time.  It may have made me hold a little water.  I did get a chance to take Muscle Synergy and Niacin this time.  I found out later that I hadn’t been taking enough Niacin! I had 100mg capsules.  I should have bought 500mg capsules.

     "Middleweights, pump up."  Aww shuck-ducky, the second show in a row I got caught of guard.  The first time, shame on you, and the second time, shame on me.  I pumped up a little, but didn’t really get a chance to pose.  "Competitors, line up."  Here we go!

 Reemy: {Damn, look at her bathing suit….er…..I mean time to go!  Damn, who is this white dude with the dreadlocks! His kegs are ridiculus.  Shoulders and abs look great too. Short bastard….LOL…Dreadlock dude won welterweight at the Northern a month ago and is probably going to be 1st or 2nd.  I don’t have the legs to hang the top two, but I hold my own with anybody in upper body.  I’m buying hamstrings in the off season!}

Dreadlock Dude:  Looking good.  Look at your chest! How did you get your chest so big?

Reemy: Shit, look at your legs! I don’t have the legs to hang with you guys yet.

Dreadlock Dude:  You got good legs bro.

Reemy: Thanks, Good Luck!

Dreadlock Dude:  Thanks

     I hit the stage more composed this time, because this wasn’t the Northern and I wasn’t too pressed.  The Northern was my Olympia, and I screwed up big time. I’m not going to be nervous for this one.

     It seemed like we held the front relaxed pose for at least 3-4 minutes!  Not quite sure how long it was, but it was much longer than at the Northern.   This about broke me down, as i didn’t sip my Gatorade before going on stage.  Numbers 56, 35, 40,45,94, please stand on that line to the left.  Okay, this is a little different. Two guys that finished first in their classes in the Northern are with me.  This is the top five.  The remaining seven guys did their thing.  Numbers 56, 35,40,45,94, find an X.  Showtime! My awareness is growing with each show.  Here are some of the thoughts that raced through my head:

Front Double Biceps:  I’m gonna rock this.  This is my signature pose.  Not many up here is hangin’ with me in arms.  Tighten the serratus and obliques! Another area I excelled in because not many people give it any attention.  It really surprised me.

Best Side Chest: Hit the right side!  Hit the right side! Obliques looke the best from that side.  Only one other person is hangin’ with me on this pose and he took second here, but finished first in the open at the Northern.

Best Most Muscular:  Another chance to showcase my chest and arms.  Chest up! Quads tight!

Back Double Biceps:  Damn, I didn;t lean back far enough.  Flex the hamstrings!  Damn, couldn’t feel my calves.

 Abs and Thigh:  I’m really proud of my abs lately and am confident in this shot. Get those arms back tight!

Side Tricep:  Arms close to the side! Flex those calves!

 Front Lat: Pinch the obliques! Keep your hands at your waist and keep a nice space between the arms.

     Two chicken, potato, amd broccoli meals later………..it was back for the night show! I wasn’t going to get caught this time. I gave myself ample time to pump and oil up. I’m watching guys swallow four  to seven 500mg Niacin pills. Shit, I wasn’t even close.  I immediately threw six 100mg capsules in my mouth. Another competitor told me to chew it up, because it will get into your bloodstream quicker.  I put my legs up on the wall.  Ten minutes later:

 Reemy: Dude, why are my ears burning?  Are your ears burning?

Lightweight competitor: Yeah my ears are burning too?

Reemy:  Did you get that stuff hot stuff on me?  (we were laying next to each other with our legs up.  Him and his buddy were putting on some menthol type stuff to draw out extra water.)

Lightweight competitor: Naw, maybe it’s from you.

 Grainy Dorina Yates Dude:  That’s the niacin working.  You’re very sensitive to it because you don’t take it often.

 Reemy: Thanks.

Grainy Dorian Yates Dude was Lightweight Competitor’s gym buddy.  He had everything down to a science. I learned a lot form him by being nosey, of course. They were eating sweet potato baby food , and claimed that it is assimilated quicker; interesting.

“Middleweights, line up.”  Here we go again.  Lets get this over with.  I’m heading straight to Dewey’s Pizza!

When we hit the stage, Dreadlock Dude is in front of me again.  He looks even better now than  he did earlier at the pre-judging.  He’s like 2%because you can see eveerything!  He has the coveted striations in the booty! He’ll win first.  Once again…..Back to the LAB!.LOL…

Dreadlock Dude walks out, and jaws drop in the crowd.  He is PEELED!  He hits a few biceps shots, and contorts his legs in some crazy ways, and the crowd roars.  Decent routine.

Announcer:  Next up, Hailling form World’s Gym/Mercy HealthPlex……..#94

      I’m not going to lie, I did get a little nervous.  If I come out of the thinker pose and into the rotating arrow, it would be on point.   I found a good spot on stage and got into the thinker pose.  I posed to Janet Jackson’s “Rythm Nation”. If you don’t know, it has a countdown at the beginning of the song. The countdown was my cue. Guess what?  I MISSED my freakin’ cue because the speakers were in front of us, and the music was low at first.  The speakers were behind us at the Northern, and I could hear everything. What a difference!!

     I had to come out of the thinker pose a little faster than planned.  I felt a little unstable on the rotating arrow pose. I had to slow it down and focus more.  I made sure to hold the chest poses though, and the front double biceps because those are my strong poses. 

                 From there, I went into a rear double biceps then to a three quarter bicep shot.  The crowd approval felt great.  My confidence improved and I started to feel more comfortable. I stuck my left leg forward and hit a front lat spread, but I took my time and rotated slightly left to right.  All of sudden, the music went off, but I wasn’t done.  With my music off, I finished with the crab most muscular.  All my vascularity came out and the crowd roared.  It was such a great feeling. 

After my routine, they called back out the Top 5.  This was so different than the Northern.  I think that they were still judging at the evening show, which was different for me.  Why else would you do your posing routine before the awards? Here come the announcements:

Announcer:  Fifth Place is #35

Reemy: {Good, I did better than fifth this time}

Announcer: Fourth place is #40

Reemy: {Uh oh, I might be making some noise!}

Announcer: Third place is #94

Reemy: {Wow, this is awesome.  This is the highest placing I’ve gotten to date.  Wait till I get my legs up!}

Announcer:  Second place #56

Reemy: {I was a little shocked that he was second, coming off a middleweight win at the Northern, but Dreadlock Dude was shredded}

Announcer: First place is #45 

Reemy: {He deserved it@ He was so dry, and his thigh sweep and hamstrings were dominant. Well, back to the LAB……………..LOL}

     I congratulated the winner, who went on to win the overall title, grabbed my trophy and got to steppin’.  I met the crew outside, and it was nice to finally see people that I know.  It wasn’t actually the friendliest environment, and I realized how small the scene is in Cincy.  Multiple winners came from the same gym, and there were a lot of cliques.  There was a lot of arrogance. Oh well, I’m just the new kid on the block though. Thet’re goingot start recognizing me very soon.

March 14th was finally here.  The culmination of a years worth of training and experimentation would lead up to this day. All the heavy deadlifts, squats, and presses for one day, this day.

 I survived getting sick earlier in the week, because I was dumb enough not to bring a jacket and hat with me to the Arnold Classic. (Note to self: Even if it is 70 degress during the day in March, it is bound to be chilly at night!  Always bring a jacket, especially when you are depleted!)  That was one of the many lesson that I learned recently.

After enduring that at the begining of the week,  I was able to finally drop 6lbs of water to make it under the 176 weight limit.   For once in my life, I had everything packed and seemed to be prepared for the task at hand. I even put on 2 coats of  BRONZER this time.  It actually turned out well and gave me some nice color. Next time I put on more coats…..

 Anyway, I hop in the car and head to pre-judging. On the way, I realize that I forgot my backstage pass and had to turn around and head back home.  No sweat, I still have plenty of time. I stop to get some gas and this happens:

Random guy:  "Radiator or Hose" ( I opened the hood and it looks like its a hose, but who knows what other damage there is.)

Reemy:  "Huh??"

Random guy points to the ground.  Dex-Cool is all over the ground.

Reemy: "Oh no, this is bad.  Not today, not now. I live close. I think I can make it home"

I hop back in the hooptie and try to stay calm.  The sky is blue, the grass is green…….. deep breaths. Stress is a bad thing, especially when you’re supposed to be peaking physically. I make it halfway to the crib, while thinking up a strategy to get to Kentucky. I finally manage to get a hold of someone to drive me to the show, but my car is steaming and the Check Engine light is on, so I have to pull over.  I let the car cool down a little and manage to make it the rest of the way home.

My ride comes a little bit later and we haul ass down to Kentucky.  I managed to get to the Show at 10:30am. Pre-Judging started at 10:15, and boy were they moving.  I immediately find the promoter.  She rushed me into the back, gave me my number, and took my music CD. Soon as I get to the changing area, I hear, "middleweights, can start pumping up"

I’m scrambling to get my trunks on, while downing potassium and creatine. Unfortunately it was just too late in the game for that.  I should’ve done that a half hour earlier but forgot because I did the driving to KY.   I managed to get two circuits of shoulders, biceps, and chest, which was not enough of a pump up.  Then I immediately broke out the PAM and started spraying! Luckily, I  got another competitor from a different weight class to get my back. "Middleweights, line up," echoed through the pump up room.  Showtime!! We hit the stage and at this point I can’t believe that I might actually pull this off.

After some quarter turns, they have all TWENTY of us waiting to be judged. First callout……..Number 56, number 62, number48, number 64, numer 54.  My head drops . I may not get in the first callout. Number 70…..That’s me! I might still be able to pull this thing out…

 "Side Chest"          I clasp my hands and pull back. I smile confidently. Nobody in this show is going to beat me in this pose! Not in this weight class.

"Front Double biceps"     This is my signature pose. I can do this.

"Rear double biceps"  This is where I fell off. Am I showing hamstrings? Flex the calves!  Crap, I didn’t lean back enough to bring out lower back striations.

"Back Lat spread"        Another screw up on my part.

"Ab and thigh"            Obliques were bangin, but I was holding water in my thighs.  No time to put on the Preparation H to draw out the water and tighten the  skin.

"You guys can step back,"  The second callout is up, then the third.  At this point, I am exhausted, and having a hard time keeping the ab vacuum. I look over to the other side of the stage. This dude over there is PHENOMINAL.  He is in Websters under the definition of ripped. He’s got #1 locked up. You could see everything in his legs. He was probably about 3%. Then I’m right next to a dude with Hanging Hams!  Damn, #2 is locked up.  In this show, great legs and decent upper body trumps great upper body and OK legs.

Reemy:  Who the F is that?

Dude with Hanging Hams:  That’s Chester.  He came down from Chicago. He was said he dieted down from 210 in the offseason.

Reemy:  Well, back to the Lab!

After the prejudging, I went to a resturant and got chicken, asparagus, and a baked potato. You know it’s a decent place when they don’t put the period behind the price. (Filet mignon - 35,  LOL) Two Hours later I had Laura’s lean and a sweet potato.

This time, I got back to the night show a half hour early. I got a chance to do everything that I hadn’t done in the morning took my niacin to flush the skin and put on Pre H on my abs and thighs.  I also took Muscle Synergy a half hour before hitting the stage. "Middleweights, Line up." Here we go again!

"Numbers 56, 62, 67, 64, 59 posedown"….. Numbers "52,55, 67, 61, 54" posedown……Whew,  I might still make the top five. Numbers 69……70..Damn, thats me… I just missed the to five. Looks like I won’t be doing my routine today.

After the posedown, a first time kid comes up to me…

First time kid: Dude, you got robbed. You should have gotten third.  Your symmetry is off the hook.

Reemy:  Thanks man, it is what is I guess. Back to the lab.

Another guy in my class: Yeah man, you should’ve placed higher.

Reemy: I’m content, I improved a lot over the last year and learned a lot. It’s nice to meet people that are into the same things that I am.

Other Guy: Yeah, that’s true.

Lessons learned..

1.  Always rent a room close to the venue if you can

2. Limit whey protein the week of the show, and rely on whole food as much as possible.  Milk derivitives can cause you to have a film underneath the skin, and obscure definition.

3. More Cardio.

4. Hit contest shape a week earlier.

5. Do use at least 3 or 4 coats of bronzer.

6. Pose, pose, pose.  And practice poses for a posedown should you get in one.

The Northern Kentucky is almost here again. March 14th is the day. It’s amazing how time flies! 

Since joining the new gym, I have learned so many things. I just wish that I would have learned them a little earlier. I wonder how many improvements that I can make in so short of a time. I’ve learned the importance of using shocking principles to bring out extra details and quality muscle. (I’ve always been a late bloomer …..) I find myself lifting with more moderate weight now, and really trying to feel the movement. (However, you still have to get beasty sometimes!)

I’ve just recently learned about little things that help finish off your physique like hitting the serratus muscles. I want to build up mid back musculature as well as lower trap development. I’ve known for some time that I need more inner arm bicep/tricep seperation. Of course, I need years of work on my pathetic hamstrings and calves. So much work to do!  I’m up for the challenge though!

Well, lately I’ve been in hermit mode. It’s been work, workout, and sleep! Unfortunately summer has flown by!

I’ve been learning tons from Roger, a personal trainer at the new gym. I ‘ve started to incorporate drop sets, supersets, and rest-pause as a way to increase intensity, instead of just relying on the same old straight set/heavy weight routine. Roger is real big on training for conditioning. It’s get in there, get blood in muscle, and get out. He also has me taking more sets to failure, which isn’t something I’ve always done.

It has been so much fun experimenting with different techniques. It’s brought excitement back into workouts, and lots of Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness afterwards! In the back of my head, I always knew intensity was going to get me to where I needed to be, but it was so easy to get complacent. 

Like I said before, I’ve incorporated a few Chipoltle Burritos a week to increase the calories. That’s the only junk food I eat. I’m at the point where I need to eat less dense carbs in order to gain some mass. One can only eat so many bowls of Oatmeal and sweet potatoes!

I had been eating tilapia a few times a week, but someone told me they were bottom feeders   YUck! I do buy Tilapia from Whole Foods, and they are Farm raised (which isn’t the best thing either.)  You can’t eliminate all the toxins out of your life, right??  Plus we only live once!!  Have to do some reseach on that. 

Dude,  I’m so lame that I’m just getting hip to whole grain pasta. I haven’t had pasta in like 4 years! As you know, I’ve been trying to limit my sugars for some time now. Those Lundberg boys are doing their thing! I already buy gluten and wheat free "brown rice" rice cakes from them. Now they have a rice pasta! It’s nice for me because I don’t need to eat too much wheat.

Lets get ready for some football!!!!!!! Hope my boys represent.  Catch you later.

Welllllll, I have not been diligent on the eating like I said I would and my water intake is horrible. I’ve had to switch to 3/4 cup of cream of wheat with the eggs because I was getting burned out on the 2 cups of oatmeal. I’m stuck at 182 because of it. I’ve been falling off tremendously on the weekends  and that doesn’t help. I’ve tried to eat a little junk by stopping at Chipotle. It has helped a little. This monday I’m going to have to get back at it, and switch some things up. Maybe start eating some whole grain pasta for lunch.  I’m getting in that bodybuilder rut of eating the same stuff all the time. I need some new recipes!

Training has been Ok, but It’s time to kick it up. Chest and shoulders are definitely stronger, but my leg routines have not been as intense as they should be. I have been diligent with the romanians though. Need to get back to walking lunges. Haven’t done those in 3 months! It’s about time to give the legs a little shock!   I’ve been kind of complacent with arms, because of the arm injury,but It’s slowly healing. I still can’t do weighted pullups and LORD knows that I need lats.  I just got back to being able to row 225 with no pain in forearm, but I can still feel that its not quite right, and it is one mistep away from being re-injured . I’ll stick with that until I fully heal. I’ve had to do T-bar and sinlge arm rows instead because they didn’t aggravate my forearm much. 

I’ve been trying different things like supersets, drop sets, running the rack, and it’s really a nice change from what I’ve been doing. I’m eager to try giant sets. Well, I gotta get to sleep. I need to get up back in the habit of getting up  6:30 and making breakfast. Once I get my internal clock back on track, everything else will fall into place. 

Another weekend is gone! Things are looking up lately. My rear delt/rhomboid strain is gone, and my elbow tendinitis is much better. I give it 2 more weeks. It’ll be nice to get back to pounding the biceps , weighted pull-ups, and bent over rows. I had to sacrifice all those things because of those injuries. Luckily, it wasn’t too serious and hopefully I’ve learned my lesson.

  I started playing in a basketball league on Sunday.   We beat this team 105 to 35. I didn’t have to do too much since their guard play was horrible. I did see some faces from the past on other teams, and it’s going to get more difficult very soon. Watching the other teams got me motivated to start doing cardio and pull out the plyometrics. I want to be able to bring my game out on a high level, and lock some dudes up on D.  We have some strong, quick dudes out there. Got to see some folks get dunked on too, and I am not trying to be one of them.

I was off work today, so I got up and ran 5 miles.  I chugged a 40g protein shake with Barleans greens and hit the road.  I haven’t jogged in so long, and this added weight does not help.  I’m no where near my normal pace, but I wasn’t as bad as I thought I would be. A few more times and I’ll be golden. I never get to out of shape to where it’s extremely difficult to get back.  Usually, I’m back up to par with two weeks of running.

I have to definintely get my carbs up now, because I will mess around and lose weight easily. After my little 40 minute escapade, I ate my 4 servings of Oatmeal and 3 yolks and 9 whites scrambled. Three Hours later, I had a 60 g protein shake and 4 more servings of oats. At 6:30, I’ll eat some fish and 2 medium sized sweet potatoes, string beans, and a salad. At 8pm, I’ll drink another shake, and eat 2 rice cakes. At 10pm,  I may eat some chicken, string beans and a salad depending on how hungry I feel, and then maybe I’ll drink another shake at 12:30am. Did I tell you how much I hate eating! Shoot, I have to eat all this just to keep up with my damn strong ass workout partners.

Hopefully, all this added eating well translate over to intensity when I hit the gym tonight. I’m going to quit being lazy and hit abs and core first. Gotta get them back popping, plus I want to increase my deads and squat very soon. Oh..my food is done heating up. See  you later…………………..

Hard to believe that it is already July 11th.  Summer is flying!!!  I’m still on the fence about competing at Monster Mash in October. I admit it!  I have been really lazy on calves and abs lately. I haven’t done cardio in like a month and a half.  I was hitting the stair stepper hard to see if I can get the striations in the booty. LOL. 

I just got invited to play in a basketball league soon, so I’ll get back on the horse next week.  This weekend, I’m going to relax and maybe pull out the pencils and draw. I had been burnt out lately and had to scale things back.  For 3 months straight, I had been eating 4 servings of oatmeal,  2 yolks and 10 whites scrambled with 5 oz of turkey for breakfast.  3 hours later, I came back and ate another 4 servings of oatmeal and a 60 gram protein shake mixed with Barlean’s Greens and cod liver oil. I had 3 other meals of either tilapia, meatloaf, or steak with sweet potato,green beans, and a small salad.  I also managed to sqeeze a 60g protein shake again with two rice cakes inbetween those 3 somewhere. I didn’t eat any starchy carbs after 7pm, where as before I did the show,  I would carbs all the way up to 11pm.    My strength went up tremendously, and I was still able to keep my bodyfat low. This is the heaviest I’ve ever been without using creatine. I can’t see how you guys can get over 200lbs.

Eating that much damn Oatmeal was starting to wear on me!  I’m only 182lbs, and probably a natural 160lber. It probably does’t help that I make it with distilled water and no seasoning or preservatives, huh? Unfortunately, my candiases has flared up a little because of the excess carbs and protein. I kinda fell off with the supplements that I should be taking though, and my water intake could be better. I’ll make those tweaks shortly.   I started changing  a few things around. I’m definitely going to have to get more carbs at my fourth  and fifth meal if I want to continue to grow. Sometimes I think "is it really worth it?"  Then I look on Bodyspace and see all the great physiques, and start eating.

I went to watch a powerlifting meet last week, and got there just in time to catch the deadlift.  Learned a lot cool things on form and technique from being nosey. It was cool because I got to see first-hand how important form is in moving as much weight as you can.  Obviously, the people that didn’t sit back enough had problems with the heavier weight, because they would use more lower back than legs. You could easilly point out if they would get a certain weight up or not.  This one guy who weighed about 290 was the best.  He had really good hip flexibility and sat back in it well.  That allowed him to get good drive through his legs. I noticed how aggresive the guys with successful lifts were.  In contrast, I saw a guy totally sike himself out of a lift. Overall it was great to see people smash state and personal bests.  Fun times. Fun times.

Up until this point, I’ve been working out at a Health club, and I’d like to think that I’ve done a fairly good job.  I’ve been able to overcome the lack of bodybuilding equipment for some time. The scowls that you get from old people if  you drop a weight  or deadlift, are never very welcoming either.   I work out with a group of guys now, and they convinced me to join World’s Gym.  I love this place!  It’s a no non-sense weightlifter/powerlifter type place. It just screams motivation!   There are posters of Arnold and other bodybuilders everywhere, and there are more people with the same kind of goals that I am  trying to  achieve. It’s nice to be around other Brothers of Iron.

For years, I haven’t had a military press bench, and feel that my shoulder developement has suffered because of that. There are actually 3 power racks, 3 military benches, and a chest flye/rear delt machine that is my new favorite.  There is also a donkey calve raise, standing calve raise, and seated raise.  I might get a decent pair of calves out of this just yet. This is also the first time I’ve ever had a hack squat machine! I’m like a little kid in there. My energy level has risen tremendously just from the change in atmosphere.