Tim Martin’s BodyBlog

After getting spanked at the NPC Master’s Nationals and looking at the photos, it’s clear that I wasn’t in nearly the condition needed to be competitive.  It’s not due to a lack of training, cardio, or faithfulness to diet, but more likely a faulty mental approach and not realizing exactly where my diet was.  As a competitor it is so tempting to want to believe that your lean body mass must be heavier after an entire year of hard training, and I fell into that trap instead of being objective in scrutinizing my condition.  Then when I sat down and really evaluated the macros and calories in my diet, I realized they were way too high.

So yesterday I sat down and came up with a new diet, one without shortcuts like oatmeal bars, and feel comfortable with the plan.  I have seven weeks left until the Team Universe so that leaves me with plenty of time to see how things go during the next two or three weeks, and then I can make adjustments from there if I need to.  I have the feeling that to get into the condition that I need to, I’ll probably end up coming in as a light-heavyweight.  I have never achieved that "paper-thin skin" look, and that is my goal this year!

Well, the NPC Garden States was yesterday, and I learned some valuable lessons. Personally, I don’t think I’ve ever looked worse, as I was completely unable to get any type of pump, and any definition or vascularity was just gone. Part of it might be that the venue was about one hundred degrees, so sitting there all day probably isn’t good for your body, but everybody has to deal with that evenly. Among my mistakes was making changes on Friday in diet and Sodium. I eliminated Sodium on Friday and tried to re-introduce it on Saturday, but by that time I had lost four pounds of muscle weight and had a film over my entire body. I also had changed my protein sources, which I guess also contributed to the bad effects. Other than diet, my color and shine were bad. In the past I’ve used Dream Tan, and although I like the look I’ve been told that the national NPC judges hate it. I tried Pro Tan with Muscle Sheen back stage and it just looked like I was slathered in Vaseline with not enough color. In talking with competitors who looked good, the general consensus was Jan Tana competition color has the best results. My third mistake was posing. I honestly didn’t practice posing much this year and it showed. It’s painful to look at photos and identify so many presentation mistakes, that’s why practicing in front of someone you trust along with video or photographs is so important so that mistakes aren’t made when it counts. The last mistake I made was in posing trunks, as I used Cynthia James’ style, when they just don’t fit my physique. Luckily I found some old suits in my closet made by Caron Hospedales, and when I tried them on I would have kicked myself if it were possible.

As bad as my day went yesterday, I honestly feel great today! I did my hour of cardio first thing this morning, then had a great leg workout followed by posing. I was absolutely amazed at how different I looked today, probably about twenty percent better with salt back in my body. My friend Chris McKenzie and my wife also were pretty surprised at the difference.

As hard as it is on ego and pride, I’ll admit that I got spanked on stage by some very good competitors. Darin Dudash especially had really impressive quad sweep and tremendous lats, parts that even on my best day I couldn’t match. That leads me into getting ready for the Master’s Nationals this week, where I have renewed confidence regarding preparation, and can use every lesson learned from yesterday to bring an improved package for the next one.

Bodybuilding is about setting and reaching goals. Of course I am biased, but tell me another endeavor that requires more meticulous preparation, constant discipline, and a powerful belief in yourself to achieve a specific goal. Sure, every sport has a finish line, but bodybuilding provides such a concrete format to create a vision and follow a path to accomplish it.

For me personally, my goals have always been changing for as long as I have been lifting weights - 20 years. At first I just wanted to be able to bench press as much weight as my friend in his garage. Later, after attending an ANBC bodybuilding show, my goal was simply to step on stage and not embarrass myself. I remember the morning of that first contest and contemplating chickening out simply from fear!

Back in the day I would read "Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness" magazine, and my goal became to qualify in the WNBF. I did that on my first try, and a month later I won the Pro Natural Mr. Universe, my first "pro" win.

I think it was Benjamin Franklin who said he never wanted to belong to any group that would have him as a member. That’s the feeling I got from the WNBF in that they were just so anti-NPC, what I knew deep down was "real" bodybuilding. In 2001 I set a goal to compete in a non-tested show, and came out the class winner at the NPC Gold’s Classic out of about twenty guys.

Since 2002, my goal has been to win the NPC Team Universe. I got second my first try, slipped to seventh in ‘04 even though I was in my all time best condition to date, and last year after thinking I won prejudging, ended up in a disappointing fourth. What I learned from that experience was that while the placement is still important, if I could look at the photos and honestly believe I had done my job than it still is a victory in some sense.

I’m less than a week out from the NPC Garden State, and although of course I’d like to win, my goal is to test myself against some of New Jersey’s best amateur bodybuilders. The following week is the NPC Master’s Nationals. All year my goal for this show was to place top five, but stranger things have happened, like at last year’s Bev Francis Atlantic States, where I had the same goal but ended up with the overall!

Finishing the year off for me will be the Team Universe once again. I get the fact that there may be more gifted athletes than me on that stage, but I will give it 100% so that I won’t be left with lingering excuses after it is all over.

Looking back, usually when a certain goal was reached there was another in it’s place within a matter of hours, whether it was lifting a certain weight, or competing in a show. So even though goals are constantly evolving, always having something on the horizon serves to motivate and inspire better than anything else imaginable.