LESSONS LEARNED
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.
