Brad’s BodyBlog

The Week I Became a Pro Bodybuilder and RKC
By Brad Loomis RKC
WNBF Professional Bodybuilder
 

“This is going to be too damn hard,” I remember thinking to myself that Sunday afternoon.  Looking back now, of course it was going to be hard, nothing monumental is ever easy or it would not be monumental.  We had just gotten home from the INBF Capital City Natural Bodybuilding and Figure Championships, the biggest natural bodybuilding competition I had ever done.  My belly was literally distended from all of the muffins, pastries, potato chips, and other junk food I had eaten to celebrate my middleweight win.  Others tried for years to get a top three at this show.  In my first attempt, I won the middleweight class.  Then, to top it off, I was narrowly beaten for the overall.  NARROWLY beat by a legitimate pro bodybuilder who was looking for the same thing I was — a WNBF pro card.  He got it, and I didn’t.  I was a little disappointed, but content.  Then my phone rang. It was the phone call that would change my life.
The call was from one of my best friends and fellow natural bodybuilder, Ken Stevenson.  “Dude, quit pigging out.  I have to ask you something.  How bad do you want your pro card?”  I was not sure how to answer.  “Well, the thought of having it has made me cry on occasion so I guess pretty bad,” was my reply.  To make a long story short, Ken was willing to give me the money for my airfare to Washington State for an INBF show that would take place in one month.  I was literally shaken to the bone that he would be so generous.  Our conversation ended with me asking for some time to think and pray about it.
That was a long night.  I called my mom.  I called another of my best friends, Ron, who is also a natural bodybuilder.  I talked with my wife.  Most importantly, I talked with God, a lot.  We shed a lot of tears that night my wife and I.  Nearly six hours had passed, and I had not made a decision.  I had the support of my wife, my friends, and my mom. But I was still thinking, “This is going to be too damn hard.”
I was scheduled to take my RKC in three weeks.  RKC stands for Russian Kettlebell Challenge.  It is a system of athletic training that relies heavily on the use of Kettlebells.  Imagine a cannonball with a handle on the top of it and you know what a Kettlebell looks like.  The course was expensive and very grueling to pass.  I had prepared myself months in advance for some of the grueling workouts we would have bestowed upon us by the RKC Senior instructors, Master Trainers, and Pavel Tsatsouline, the man responsible for bringing the RKC from the Soviet Union.  I was not going to miss out, but at the same time, how in the world was I going to do both?
Later that night I got an e-mail from Ron, the friend I referred to earlier.  His words still quite literally make me break down into tears.  Making reference to a movie he had loaned me and some of the events leading up to the Capital City Naturals, these were his words.
 

Brad,

In the movie, God sends Mr. Bridges to show Coach Taylor through Revelations 3: 7-8:
“What he opens no one can shut, and what he shuts no one can open. I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door that no one can shut. I know that you have little strength, yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name.”
He states:  “The Lord is not through with you yet”

In real life, God has sent you many angels to show you that this is not the end of YOUR YEAR! I think there is a purpose for everything, and I feel that there is a reason Ken came to you. I feel there is a reason I started working out and helping you. There’s a reason a member of the gym gave you a stereo, there’s a reason Jamie has never left your side & helped you at EVERY competition.

I firmly believe this is not an accident. I feel that this is TOO IMPORTANT for you to turn down. It’s time for Washington State to see FLEX Loomis and to give God the praise.

I’m behind you Brother!
 

Ronzilla
By the next morning, I had made my decision.  I was going to give everything I had to this challenge, EVERYTHING!!  Ron and I had one of the most memorable leg workouts I have ever had that morning, the first of more to come in the next month.  We decided that we would not focus too much and too soon on how we were going to do this.  The hard part that of deciding, was done.  We would just focus on the two consecutive weekends I would be earning my RKC and pro card.  We would focus on the details as they came.  As for the immediate future, I would just let Ron train me.  Later that night I would teach my step aerobics class, just like every Monday after that.  I went back to the nutritional menu I had been using before the Capital City Naturals.  I just added more food.  I did not even measure.  I just ate more of what I was eating before. 
By the week’s end I had a new nutritional menu and a new approach to how I would fuel my body to keep my body ultra lean while, at the same time, keep my energy levels up and my body healthy in its weakened state.  Bodybuilders must do everything possible to maintain as much of their hard earned muscle as possible. But this is hard to do when you are constantly in starvation mode, and, unfortunately, to stay ultra lean I was always in starvation mode.
In the following weeks, I just stuck to the plan we set out and let the details work themselves out as we went.  Ken had paid for my airfare, but what about a rental car?  What about room and board?  What about gas?  It seemed that God was literally sending His angels down to help me.  The promoter of the show came through first, and told me I could stay in a spare bedroom at her home.  Next, I asked local businesses to sponsor me and wrote an advertisement that I would run in the paper when all was said and done.  I figured if I had six local business sponsors at $50 - $100, I would have the $250 - $300 I needed to cover my expenses.  Once pitched, it seemed anyone and everyone was literally giving me money.  Checks for $100 as well as cash seemed to be coming from everywhere.  Day by day Ron trained me in the morning.  I did my Kettlebell training and practice in the evening with either the Kettlebell Club or Tom, another of my good friends who would be traveling to UCLA with me to earn his RKC.  I was sure of it — God was not done with me and wanted me to be doing this. 
I followed the new nutrition menu to the LETTER.  It was like something I had never done before with lower carbohydrates and higher healthy fats.  We also scheduled a meal consisting of 135grams of low glycemic carbs and 30grams of healthy fats as a “re-feed” meal every third night to replenish my body.  I was not questioning it. God laid it before me. Although I was apprehensive at first, I just put my faith in the plan and executed it with excellence.  Each week to be sure, Ron took caliper measurements of my thigh, hip bone, upper back, biceps, and triceps to be sure what we were doing was effective.  The day before I left for the RKC, his measurements showed I had actually dropped some body fat!
We designed a nutritional menu specifically designed for the weekend of the RKC. It had more carbohydrates and healthy fats so that I could handle the intense eight hour workouts that lay ahead.  I painstakingly pre-made all my food. When Thursday morning July 31^st came, Tom and I drove down to UCLA with our coolers full of food and me with a box of supplements.  We arrived in the evening and attended a Meet & Greet where we met the faculty and our fellow student instructors to be.  I just filled up on vegetables and one piece of raw salmon and turned in early because the physical testing would come soon.
That morning I was really nervous.  The big test lay ahead in just a few hours.  With one swing between the legs, we had to snatch a 52lb kettlebell straight overhead with the arm locked out.  The number of reps I was required to do was determined by my body weight.  If things went as planned, I would have to snatch 52 times.  We were only allowed to switch arms once.  I had done just this at least a dozen times.  In fact, days before the Capital City show, I did 60 reps, 30 with one arm and 30 with the other.  Yet as the time drew near, I was literally on my knees in the shower praying for strength.
The hotel provided us with a buffet style breakfast, but I took nothing but the coffee.  I executed the nutrition menu we had designed to the letter.  I weighed in at 164.5lbs, exactly what I had weighed in the day before when Ron checked me. So, I would snatch 52 times.  I was second in our group. Once I started, I just stared at a yellow flower on the ground.  Rep after rep I snatched that thing overhead with my left arm.  My game plan was to switch arms at rep 30.  My fellow students gave me words of confidence, but I didn’t need them.  I was in a rhythm, and I was making it look easy.  I barely started breathing hard when I reached 30 with my left arm. Although I did not need to, I switched.  I was on the homestretch, and the reps were coming easier now with my fresh arm.  At one point, one of the students said, “Man, this guy has got some CARDIO, I want to see him keep going!”  When I reached 52, I snatched the thing one more time for good measure and held it locked out overhead.  I pressed the bell down, and dropped it on the ground.  Then looking to the heavens I said out loud, “Thank You Lord.”
The weekend was very physical, but pretty much all the tests went just like the snatch test.  VO2 max snatch test, Graduation Workout, all the workouts were physical, but I smoked them all.  The hardest part was training our volunteer “victims.”  I thought I botched the whole thing when Tricia, one of the assistant instructors, reminded me to have my trainees take their shoes off.  I did not give it a second thought.  I had them remove their shoes, got into my personal training persona, and the session went well.  I even had one of my trainees ready to purchase a kettlebell.
My name was called and I walked toward Rif, my team leader.  He had just been promoted to RKC Master Instructor so I knew he was pretty elated.  I, however, was nervous.  After being so ready for this course I wondered if my oversight with the shoes cost me my certificate of instruction and the $1,600 in tuition.  Rif stood up, handed me my folder, and said “Congratulations my friend, you are an RKC!”  My eyes widened, and I started to cry.  “Was there ever any doubt?” he questioned.  He had nothing but praise for me, and it felt so good to hear that I could not stop crying.  I hugged him, hugged Tricia, looked again to the Heavens and said “Thank You.”
The nine hour drive home flew by.  Tom and I were so excited about what we had accomplished, what lay ahead, and our game plan for the coming months.  The excitement carried through Tuesday.  Then reality set in — I had to be on a flight for Washington in less than 3 days!  I was getting nervous!  What if I was not ready? What if all the food I ate while at UCLA screwed up my chances?  What if all the carbs I took in replenished my glycogen levels to the point that my carb up for the show would not work?  I hit the gym hard with a workout in the morning and workout at night.  I went back on the low carb, high fat nutrition menu.  I was training folks at 5:00am, and I could not ride my bike to the gym like I had been doing before.  That made me worry as well.  I was a wreck.
Just as before, God sent His angels to me.  My fellow bodybuilding buddies sent me daily quotes and e-mails which kept me confident.  It helped, but part of the problem was I that I felt pretty damn good.  I remember thinking, “I should be dead tired and weak,” But I wasn’t.  I was almost in a mental funk about it.  My buddies were relentless at keeping me pumped up and confident.  God Bless them!  I just stuck with the plan regardless of my mind set.
I finally reached a point of peace Thursday before the show.  All my food was cooked, weighed, and separated in containers.  I was packed and ready to fly out the next morning.  I lay on the couch with my laptop studying photos from the previous year’s competition.  My mind was totally at peace.  I actually fell asleep several times with my son’s head on my shoulder before going to bed.
Friday morning we drove to Reno, and I had a spray-on tan done before I flew out.  The flight was perfect, and I arrived on time.  I was staying at the promoter’s house as my budget was tight.  We filled out the forms and did my weigh-in there.  At 163 ¾ pounds I was once again in the middleweight division.  I slept on an air mattress on the studio gym floor.  I slept very well, except for having to wake up and eat potatoes and protein powder at 2 A.M., 3 A.M., and 4 A.M.  I was up and at it at 5 A.M. putting my first coat of color on.  My mind was at ease except for just one worry — my color.  My wife was not here to help me, and I could not get my back.  Also, the spray-on tan I got the day before was not nearly as effective as I had hoped.  That was the only thing bothering me.
With the exception of my color, I was totally at peace at this point.  I practiced posing in front of a mirror in the promoter’s studio.  I looked phenomenal.  I was ready, and there was nothing more I could do.  I arrived at the venue a few minutes early only to find that God had sent me yet another angel.  There were people spraying on Jan Tana competition color for the athletes.  I knew they would be there, but the cost was a worry.  As I have mentioned, I was on a shoestring budget and $95 was out of my reach.  If they could just do my back and some touching up after I put on a second coat of the color I had, I would be content.  I talked to Kimberly, the Jan Tana representative.  She was awesome.  “Don’t even worry about a second coat of your color,” she said.  “This gun will cover you just fine, and I will add a glaze before you pump up and go on stage.”  It sounded great, “How much?” I asked.  To my surprise her response was $35.  “Sign me up!” I said. Kimberly had me painted, glazed, and ready to pump up for prejudging. 
As I was pumping up, the feedback I was getting from the other competitors was amazing.  I kept repeating the same phrase, “Show your might through me O Lord, lets’ do this.” 
Seven middleweights took the stage including me. The middleweight class is one of the toughest classes there – if not the toughest.  We did our preliminary quarter turns.  Right away the head judge had me switch places with the competitor standing in the middle.  This was a good sign because the judges want the top three competitors standing in the middle for comparison.  As I moved to the middle, I left behind the one body builder I was worried about – number 61.  He was BIG and ripped with huge arms and shoulders.  He wasn’t as ripped as me, but he was ripped.  He definitely had me on size though.  We went through our poses, and my quads were beginning to tire.  “Number 61 trade places with # 48” I heard the head judge say.  “Number 61 trade places with # 51,” he said.  Soon, # 61 was standing right next to me.  My legs were really starting to tire, and I found it harder and harder to hold them flexed.  I could not let up though, not with # 61 standing right next to me.  I prayed, “Lord give me strength, I cannot let up.”  The head judge kept calling poses and I noticed #61 was really sweating - REALLY SWEATING.  It seemed he was resting as he wiped himself off between poses.  My prayer was answered.  This was all I needed to gain some strength.  The judge would call a pose, and I would be the first one to hit it.  He would say relax, and I would go right back into the front relaxed or better put “flexed” pose.  I made sure I let the judges know that I was not tired.  When they let us go, I looked down at the # 1 taped to the floor.  I began to cry tears of joy.  I went straight to the bathroom, dropped to my knees and cried in praise to God.  I was 99% sure I had won the middleweight class, but I would have to wait until the finals that evening to find out for sure.
We got a three or four hour break between morning pre-judging and the finals. My brother, his girlfriend, and I headed back to his hotel room.  I grabbed a quick nap and some food.  It meant a lot to me that my brother had made the four hour drive from Portland, Oregon to make the show.  This would be his first ever bodybuilding show.  I wanted to make it memorable!
There is always a lot of waiting at the finals, especially when you are in the “open” division because they are last.  Needless to say my wait was about three hours.  Finally the time had come for me to get ready.  I had some carbs and healthy fats in the form of super dark, super healthy chocolate.  Kimberly got me glazed.  I was pumped up and ready to do my evening routine.  It went flawlessly.  Then the time came to announce the winner of the middleweight class.  There were seven competitors so the judges excused all but the top five.  One by one they called the placing, 5^th, 4^th, 3^rd, and finally 2^nd.  My number (52) was not called.  I had won the middleweight class!  I was one step closer to my Pro Card.  As I stood by my trophy for my picture, I gave praise to God.
There was a pretty long wait before the overall.  They had to do the open men’s light-heavyweight, and heavyweight classes.  They also did one of the women’s figure divisions.  It made my nerves just a little more on edge.  I just kept saying my prayer of the day, “Let’s show your might through me Lord.”  I was really on a high when I finally took the stage with the other class winners.  It was going flawlessly.  It seemed like there was me and then the others.  I stood right in the middle, trying to be the first one to hit the poses.  However, nothing ever comes easy.  The head judge called for me to switch with the heavy weight winner putting me on the end.  “What had happened?” I thought.  “Did I fade, was I going flat?”  It only made me pose harder and try to hit the poses faster.  I was determined to get switched back.  Soon though, they called for the pose down.  If I faded and lost this thing, I was not going down without a fight.  With the music playing we hit our poses “free style.”  I wormed my way into the middle of the competitors and started posing.  I even started matching poses with the other competitors so the judges could make comparisons.  I was not sure if I was winning points, but I was fighting.  And that was all I wanted.
Finally, the music stopped, and we took our original positions, I stood on the end.  I said a quick prayer and thanked God for the opportunity to be there.  Then the nerves set in.  I kept trying to think positively and said to myself, “It does not matter why you are standing out here on the end.  You were the best.  You are the best.  You will win.”  I tried to be confident.  But you never know for sure, and I was nervous as can be.  It seemed like the promoter and M.C. took forever to announce the results, but finally the time had come.  “The winner of the 2008 Washington State Natural…….Men’s Open Bodybuilding Competition……….earning his WNBF Professional Status………..# 52 Brad Loomis!!”  I shut my eyes, folded my hands in front of my face, and tears began to roll.  When I opened them, the other competitors were standing in front of me.  I shook each one of their hands with a firm two handed shake.  I had done it!!!  The promoter handed me the 4’ long sword, the trophy for the winner.  I stood it up in front of me, point down, both hands on the handle.  With my head down, I said thanks to God with tears streaming down my face.  I took a big breath, and tried to put on the best smile I could for the camera.  Then I had to get off stage as I was overcome with emotion.
What a year!!  I had achieved so much — most importantly a renewed and stronger sense of Faith.  It was capped off with a seven day period in which I earned my RKC I certification and won my WNBF Professional Status.  I was living a dream!!  The dream has only just begun though.  Besides my own personal goals of competing one day on the pro circuit, I have to use this new title, new status, new knowledge, and new certification for good.  I read my mission statement daily as it hangs on the wall of my gym. 
“My mission is to start a fitness epidemic.  I am certain God put me on this earth to help every one I possibly can be healthy, well and fit.  That is my purpose, my focus, and my passion. I am privileged to help every one be healthier no matter what the goal.  I will lead by example and use my own goals as a professional trainer and athlete to motivate, inspire, and learn” 
All these accomplishments will make it easier for me to get the word out to as many

people as will listen.  I am sure of it.  Let everyone know, I am here to help those who

want it.  I have the knowledge, I have the skill, I have the personality to make anyone

better.  God made me a good coach, and I am his tool.  I can start a fitness and

wellness “epidemic.”  I can make a positive influence on the state of our health in this

nation.  I can make a positive influence on the cost of health care in our great nation. 

Finally, to quote Facing the Giants the movie I referred to earlier, “As long as I

honor God, nothing is impossible, NOTHING!”

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 1st, 2008 at 8:00 am and is filed under Training. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.