Tim Martin’s BodyBlog

This is copied from Musclememory.com, and for me says it all!

Team Universe Championships - NPC Overall Winners
1994 - Ron Coleman
1995 - Yohnnie Shambourger
1996 - Johnny Stewart
1997 - Robert Washington
1998 - Skip LaCour
1999 - Kai Greene
2000 - Marvin Ward
2001 - Greg Rando
2002 - Skip LaCour
2003 - Jeff Willet
2004 - Kai Greene
2005 - Jose Raymond
2006 - Michael Lockett
2007 - Chris Faildo
2008 - Tim Martin

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.

I just read a post on another forum describing a top competitors daily diet for preparing for a contest.  Honestly I don’t know how this guy maintains a job, as he was eating 14 times a day, and almost all of his meals were whole foods that required preparation, not to mention time to eat them!  I think I’m as hungry for bodybuilding competition success as anybody, in fact I tell myself that I can out-work and out-suffer everybody else, but I’m also realistic about fitting bodybuilding into my daily life.  For me that means relying heavily on food supplements to get my daily requirements in.  Basically, here is my pre-contest regimen:

5:30 AM 1 hour cardio at 120 bpm
6:45 AM 50g Whey Isolate with 10g peanut oil, 10g creatine, 10g glutamine, 10g BCAA, 25g oatmeal, multivitamin, B, C, E, 2 ounces MonaVie
9:00 AM 50g Whey Isolate with 10g peanut oil, 25g oatmeal (dry cereal bar)
12:00 PM 50g Whey Isolate with 10g peanut oil, 25g oatmeal (dry cereal bar)
2:00 PM 2 chicken breast, baby carrots, 1/4 cup almonds, small cottage cheese with pineapple
5:00 PM 50g Whey Isolate with 10g peanut oil, 25g oatmeal (dry cereal bar)
6:00 PM Weight Train (usually 5 days per week pre-contest)
7:00 PM post training shake:50g Whey Isolate, 30g Waxy Maize, 10g creatine, 10g glutamine, 10g BCAA
9:00 PM 2 chicken breast (or steak), large salad with baby carrots and flaxseed oil and balsamic vinegar, 2 ounces MonaVie
1:00 AM 50g Whey Isolate with 10g peanut oil

I eat this way EVERY day, with my exceptions being Friday, where I basically double my carb meals and have a big sushi dinner, and weekends when I try to replace a few of my whey protein meals with real food.  I’m sure some competitors would think this is too simplistic, but I find it relatively easy to fit into my daily life with a little preparation and planning.

I can’t think of another endeavor other than natural bodybuilding where the better you get at your discipline, the less respect you are given.  Several times over the past year people have notified me of internet forum threads accusing me of lying about being a drug-free bodybuilder, and attacking my character in the process.  I’ve gotten better at accepting that these cowards blindly write post after post about subjects they know nothing about, but it still stings every time I read one of these statements.

When I was starting out in bodybuilding, I competed in ANBC events, and although there was little acclaim, no one ever questioned my honesty, and I’d even say competing naturally was looked at as a noble and positive hobby.  Climbing the ranks of the INBF, WNBF, and finally the NPC now brings with it constant accusations both on the internet and in the gym.  What probably frustrates me the most is that I’ve spent a career choosing contests that had the strictest testing and proving that I have remained clean, but that seems to get ignored.  As I’ve gotten better in bodybuilding I made the choice to also compete in non-tested events to see how competitive I could be.  With that choice comes the acceptance that most of the competition may have an advantage from using performance enhancing drugs.  That’s fine, as I’ve never belittled any athlete who beat me by calling him out about steroid use, because first I knew the situation going into a show, and second it’s just not my place to publicly accuse anyone of anything when I don’t know the truth for certain.  

For me the NPC Team Universe has always been the pinnacle of drug-free bodybuilding.  I’m not naive enough to believe that even most of the competitors are clean, but I do know that I have done the show three times successfully, so that proves that a natural bodybuilder does have a chance at winning there.

I just spent the entire weekend attending a seminar, so surfing Bodyspace is the closest I’ll get to a gym today.  Anyway, 2008 is here and contest season is fast approaching.  My two "definites" are the NPC Masters Nationals and the Team Universe, so that means dieting starts March 29th for me.

I’m very pleased with my progress this year, even more so when I consider that I turned 40 in December.  For the first time I maintained a strict cardio program all year, basically doing 30 minutes five days per week.  Even with all this cardio, I’m at my highest bodyweight ever (234.5 lbs.), and have been able to maintain pretty good condition, still with some vascularity in my quads and slight striations in my glutes - if I stand in just the right lighting!  Also, I’ve adhered to good post-exercise nutrition habits, always getting my whey, waxy maize, creating/glutamine/BCAA shake immediately after training.  Lastly, I’ve been lucky this year to have some good competitors around to train with on occasion. My friend Chris Mackenzie even told me that he will be doing the TU this year, which really got me excited to have someone training for the same show as me all the way through, something I haven’t had since my wife stopped competing.

I’ve always told myself that I’d stop competing when I stopped improving so I guess I’m not done yet with this sport, so look for me on the national NPC stage this year as a full-fledged heavyweight.

I’ve always been very suspicious of supplements and the claims their manufacturers make.  Personally I limit my use of supplements to a short list of proven contenders, including whey, BCAA’s, glutamine, creatine, multivitamin, and B C and E.  Like most competitive bodybuilders I believe diet is the most important component in bodybuilding success.  As disciplined as I try to eat, I admit that my shortcoming is not eating enough fruits and vegetables.  With a busy work schedule, I’m lucky to eat one serving of fruits and vegetables daily, and many days it really is zero.  The USDA recomments 5 to 9 daily servings, and as athletes who tax our bodies much more than the average person I have to believe that more is better in this regard.

As a physical therapist I had the opportunity to attend an inservice this past week about a product called "Mona Vie".  I am more skeptical than most, but I was impressed with the presentation and product, so much so that I purchased it myself and became a "distributor" to get it at a cheaper price.  Basically, Mona Vie is a liquid nutritional supplement containing a blend of "super" foods very high in Antioxidants and Phytonutrients, the chief of these being the Acai berry found in the Brazilian rain forest.  Two ounces twice daily gives the equivalent of 13 servings of common fruits and vegetables, something I know I’ve been lacking in my diet.

For anyone interested in improving their diet, and therefore directly improving their bodies performance and composition, please visit www.MonaVie.com and educate yourself about the acai berry.  By becoming a "distributor" you can then purchase the product at a reduced cost, and if you turn others onto this revolutionary product you will actually generate income, enough to cover your own product and potentially much more.  My sponsor number is 859782, and upon signing up you will be given you own.  Good luck!

Well, it’s been four weeks since my hernia surgery, and I back much more quickly than I had anticipated.  I felt pretty good after about two weeks, and although the doctor recommended 4-6 weeks off, I started a week of light workouts then.  After that two weeks my bodyweight had dropped to 224, but with a few good weeks behind me now I back up to 232.  Starting February 1st I added 10 more minutes to my morning cardio sessions, now doing 30 minutes at 65% MHR.  My strength is back where it should be, and this past Saturday I did walking lunges down and back on the basketball court with 225 a la Ronnie Coleman.  I think one of the reasons training has been so good is because I have been able to rotate training partners in who are competitors.  Chris MacKenzie, Kyle Newell, and Vinnie Galanti are all very good Jersey bodybuilders, and when we get together to train the intensity is definitely at a high level.

My competition plans are still a little foggy, with the only definite being the Team Universe in September.  I also have a goal of competing at a non-tested national show this year, so that may include the NPC USA’s, NPC Master’s Nationals (I’m 40), or the IFBB North Americans, or quite possibly all three!