Bodybuilding.com In The News

Total-Body Exercise Program for Improved Health and Physical Development
By William Lee
Nov 2, 2009

Being the best you can be physically and mentally often depends on a sound exercise plan combined with a good nutrition program. Without either of these you will almost always short-change your health in the long run. Having explained some of the fundamental concepts upon which health and fitness are based, it is now time to show how best to structure these principles and methods into a plan of attack.

Exercise program for improved health and physical development

With cardiovascular, resistance and flexibility exercise being established as important facilitators of good health and physical development, it is now time to provide - based on these areas - a recipe for success that can be used by most as a good basic starting point. The following program has personally helped me guide many people to lifelong physical success. If used consistently, as prescribed, it will enable you to shed unwanted weight and improve your health in all of the aforementioned areas.

Monday Morning
Aerobic training
Walk 20-30 minutes before breakfast at a brisk pace (training on an empty stomach will better utilise stored body fat for energy).

Night
Resistance training
Shoulders and arms
Stretch for 10 minutes (see link below for muscle group specific stretches)
-Dumbbell side laterals: three sets of 12 reps (repetitions).
-Dumbbell press: three sets of 12 reps.
-Triceps press-downs: three sets of 12 reps.

Tuesday
Day off (rest and recover)

Wednesday Morning
Aerobic training
Walk briskly for 20-30 minutes

Night
Resistance training
Back and chest
Stretch for 10 minutes (see link below for muscle group specific stretches)
-Lat pull-downs: three sets of 12 reps
-Seated pulley rowing: three sets of 12 reps
-Pull-ups (or chins – callisthenics, with bodyweight): two sets of one to 10 reps (initially one or two might be all that is possible).
-Dumbbell bench press: three sets of 12 reps
-Incline dumbbell press: three sets of 12 reps
-Push-ups (or press-ups – callisthenics, with bodyweight): two sets of 12 reps (or as many as possible).

Thursday
Day off

Friday Morning
Aerobic training
Walk briskly for 20-30 minutes

Night
Resistance training
Legs and abdominal work
Stretch for 10 minutes (see link below for muscle group specific stretches)
Leg extensions: three sets of 15 reps
Leg press: three sets of 15 reps
Calf raises (standing): four sets of 15-20 reps
Abdominal crunches (callisthenic, with bodyweight): four sets of 15-20 reps (or as many as can be done before fatigue sets in)

Saturday
Day off
-However, active recovery activities are encouraged (sports and other outdoor pursuits).

Sunday
Day off

-Visit this web page for exercise explanations: www.bodybuilding.com/fun/exercises.htm

-Visit this page for a complete stretching guide: www.bodybuilding.com/fun/stretches.htm

Note: lightly warm the muscles before each exercise session by using a weight 70 percent lighter than what would be lifted for your regular sets, for one set. Stretch each target muscle group for 20 seconds before commencing the first set of an exercise.

As your body becomes resistant to this exercise routine (a natural part of adaptation, and we must go beyond adaptation to progress) regular program updates will be included in future articles to keep improvement on the upward trajectory, along with tips on how to best make use of your gym time.

As mentioned earlier, nutrition is another important aspect of getting into shape (probably more so than the exercise itself). In the next instalment of this article series I will detail how to design a nutrition plan in line with your exercise program to maximise your success. Until then train hard, and safe!

William Lee is an acclaimed concert violinist, health and fitness expert, book author and psychology researcher.

For Original Article: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/24677/

…the Next Big Reality Television Competition (Bodybuilding.com Sponsors Open Casting Call)

Celebration, FL, October 13, 2009
PR.com

Television production company Lyons Entertainment, Executive Producer David Lyons (Hog Heaven, CREEPERS) and Producer Lauren Alvarez (Meet My Folks, The Surreal Life, The Osbournes) announce an open casting call event to find contestants for their new reality competition television series, The Ultimate Body. This new competition reality television series will push the boundaries of physical fitness and discipline in order to crown two winners “The Ultimate Body” with a cash prize of $50,000.

The open casting call for The Ultimate Body will be held on Saturday, October 17th from 11AM to 6PM at the Ramada Orlando Celebration Resort & Convention Center, located at 635 West Irlo Bronson Highway, Kissimmee, Florida 34747. Prior to the date of auditions for The Ultimate Body all candidates must fill out an online application at www.theultimatebodytvshow.com. An application must be on file with Lyons Entertainment in order to be considered on the day of auditions. Applications are also available at the door on the day of auditions (a late fee will apply).

For directions and additional information regarding this one day only open casting call for The Ultimate Body call 1-877-467-5786 or visit www.theultimatebodytvshow.com.

Thirteen men and thirteen women will be cast for The Ultimate Body and be put through rigorous physical training and dieting challenges to compete for the chance to be mentored and judged by top fitness celebrities, with two contestants ultimately being crowned as “The Ultimate Body.” Winners of this nationally televised fitness and bodybuilding competition will each earn a cash prize of $50,000 provided by the Anytime Fitness chain of gyms and by Gaspari Nutrition. Winners will also receive a photo spread in Muscle Magazine International and other prizes including an all expense paid vacation courtesy of Hyatt Resorts Hawaii and Two Rivers Travel Agency. Bodybuilding.com has most recently come on board to sponsor this week’s open casting call.

Talent currently attached to this project includes winner of the Mr. World and Mr. USA titles and emcee of The Mr. Olympia contests, Bob Cicherillo who has signed on as host; with IFBB Bikini Pro and top fitness supermodel Marzia Prince, IFBB Hall of Fame bodybuilding legend Rich Gaspari and Natural Mr. Universe, Mr. America and Mr. California Doug Burns signed on as judges. Other panel members for The Ultimate Body will include Brad Homan, DO, Celebration Florida’s Orthopedic & Sports Medicine Institute’s Director of Sports Medicine and Chief of Surgery for Florida Hospital in Celebration, who has signed on as Medical Advisor. Dr. Homan will also contribute a two minute segment in each episode and chiropractor, Dr. Ben Lerner, who is America’s maximized-living mentor and author of the New York Times best selling book “Body by God.”

Other sponsors include RC Sportswear and the UCW Radio Show hosted by Louis Velazquez (www.ucwmagazine.com). RC Sportswear will design and provide all wardrobe for the talent, contestants and crew. RC Sportswear is also designing “The Ultimate Body” clothing line, with logo design by Marc Cohen of MJC Design, which will further expand “The Ultimate Body” brand. UCW Magazine’s online radio broadcast hosted by Louis Velazquez will host The Ultimate Body Radio Show which will feature weekly updates regarding each episode of the show.

The Ultimate Body is inspired by executive producer David Lyons’s own inspirational story of beating the odds. Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in 2006 at the age of 47, David Lyons was told by doctors that he would likely lose his ability to walk. Rather than give into his illness and become sedentary, David decided to become a competitive bodybuilder, founding the MS Bodybuilding Challenge and competing in body building competitions. On August 22, 2009 David Lyons became the first person with Multiple Sclerosis to compete in a Level 5 NPC Bodybuilding Competition, taking home the trophy for “Most Inspirational Competitor.” He has also been asked to guest pose at next year’s Natural Mr. Olympia competition in Chicago, a tremendous honor, by former Natural Mr. Olympia John Hansen. Proud of his achievements so far, David is never satisfied to rest on his laurels and exclaims, “Next year I win!” He has already begun his training for next year’s bodybuilding competition. David Lyons is an ideal example of what the human body can achieve, and he expects no less from the competitors who will be cast to compete on The Ultimate Body. “We are looking for thirteen men and thirteen women who are willing to give their all, and ultimately find that center of strength to push forward when the going gets tough. We will be looking for this quality at our open audition event on October 17th,” states Lyons.

For original article please go to PR.com

DENVER, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/
Entrepreneur.com

Being chosen as Rookie of the Year is an incredible achievement, no matter what your sport. In the supplement industry, this recognition is no less significant. MusclePharm is proud to have the distinction of being chosen Bodybuilding.com’s New Brand of the Year for 2009.

This prestigious award is high praise coming from the likes of Bodybuilding.com. The Bodybuilding.com Supplement Awards are the gold standard for the fitness and supplement industry. The exciting thing about these awards is that they are based on sales (which is like a vote from a customer in itself) and on input from the general public, making the results completely objective and unbiased, and all the more valuable to potential new customers.

“It is truly an honor to be awarded the distinction of Bodybuilding.com’s New Brand of the Year,” states MusclePharm’s CEO, Brad Pyatt. “There are a tremendous number of new brands out there. We’re proud to be recognized for our efforts to bring the best possible products to athletes everywhere.

“I would like to thank all of our loyal MusclePharm supporters who have been with us since the beginning and our valued customers - without whom none of this would be possible.”

About MusclePharm:

MusclePharm is a company founded by athletes, for athletes. We take pride in putting 100% of our energy and effort into making the most effective products money can buy. We use only top-quality ingredients in efficacious dosages to make up our comprehensive, complete formulations. Each of our products has been tested for purity and for effect. Check out MusclePharm products and see for yourself why Bodybuilding.com’s customers chose us as New Brand of the Year!

For original article please go to Entrepreneur.com
    
Contact:

Brad Pyatt
1-800-210-7369
info@musclepharm.com
http://www.musclepharm.com

Toronto, CA – October 10, 2009 - Bodybuilding.com, the Internet’s most-visited bodybuilding and fitness site and largest online retailer of nutritional supplements, has named Meagan Hesham of Toronto Canada their Transformation of the Week. Since 2002, Bodybuilding.com has recognized the remarkable dedication it takes to make a truly inspirational transformation, and has made a point to reward those who inspire others.

“To highlight amazing transformations, we wanted to take the time to feature those who inspire us on Bodybuilding.com. We share these personal transformation stories with our readers. By sharing the diet and training used to achieve transformation, these motivational stories show people everything they need to know on how to create the body of their dreams for themselves,” says Bodybuilding.com CEO Ryan DeLuca.

Meagan has always been into fitness and loves the gym. Her job is in the fitness world (she runs a dance and fitness studio called Flow Fitness & Movement), and she has even dabbled in fitness competitions in the past. She received the amazing news she was pregnant during the 2007 holiday season. She continued to work-out and teach her classes throughout her entire pregnancy, but her diet went out the window.

Meagan found herself eating tons of sweets, white carbs (like bread and pasta), butter, and everything else she could get her hands on. After giving birth to a beautiful baby boy, she was left with 222 pounds on her 5’8 frame. She took a few months off to relax with the new baby at home and 25 pounds came off with no effort, but she was left with tons of ‘eating-too-much-cake-and-pasta weight’. She didn’t feel like herself and wanted her old athletic body back. Plus, she wanted to set an example for her son about the importance of healthy eating and living.

“In January 2009 I made the public announcement to all my friends, family, and students that I was going to lose all this weight and more, and do figure competitions in June and July. I think people were looking at this hugely fat unfit woman thinking ‘you must be nuts! On January 5th, at 197 pounds, I took that life-changing before picture in my bikini and started on an awesome journey to my new life.’” said Meagan.

Meagan achieved her goal weight of 135 pounds through cardio (she ran everywhere with her baby in the jog-stroller) and did a hardcore weight workout every morning before her husband and baby woke up. The most important and hardest part was eating clean every 3 hours with food like lean protein, quality carbs and healthy fats. She kept track of everything she ate and all her workouts in a calendar, as well as blogging and keeping track of her progress and goals on her BodySpace account on Bodybuilding.com.

On June 26, 2009, she competed in Neutron’s Provincial Championships in Ottawa in the Figure and Sports Athletic Model categories and took 2nd in both! Two weeks later she competed in Open Figure at IDFA’s Toronto Classic and made the top 5. Almost as important to her as her own progress and success, is how her story will continue to motivate others to work for the body and life they have always dreamed about.

For these reasons, Meagan Hesham has earned the title of Bodybuilding.com Transformation of the Week.

For more information on Meagan Hesham and other great transformations please visit
http://www.bodybuilding.com

Bodybuilding.com offers more than 10,000 health and fitness supplements & accessories to help people achieve their health, fitness and appearance goals, as well as over 25,000 pages of FREE bodybuilding & fitness information, including more than 12,000 articles (written by 525+ writers), video & audio segments, and new content added daily.

For more information: http://www.bodybuilding.com
Contact: Crystal Matthews
Email: crystal@bodybuilding.com
Phone: 208.472.9311

Long Island, NY – October 10, 2009 - Bodybuilding.com, the Internet’s most-visited bodybuilding and fitness site and largest online retailer of nutritional supplements, has selected Long Island, New York’s Dave Graziosi as Bodybuilding.com Trainer of the Month. Bodybuilding.com has bestowed him this Award of Excellence for the health and fitness benefits he provides his clients. They have set the precedent for what makes a personal trainer worthy of this prestigious award.

“To highlight exceptional personal trainers, we want to award one per month with the Bodybuilding.com Trainer of the Month award. We trust that everyone is looking for the same things in a personal trainer: friendly, knowledgeable, inspirational and the ability to create a motivating environment where clients can succeed,” says Bodybuilding.com CEO Ryan DeLuca.

Graziosi became involved in weight-lifting and fitness as an athlete in high school and from his fitness instructor mom growing up.  He went to college for physical education (as well as played college football) but left after his final semester to pursue a career as a small gym owner.

“I have always been good at one thing, lifting a lot of weight. I felt my strength in the gym could help motivate people to become more fit. I also feel more comfortable in a weight room than anywhere else, so why not make some cash while I do it,” explains Graziosi.

Graziosi purchased the franchise, PTI (Personal Training Institute) at the age of 21 and operated it for five years until he received the opportunity to become the personal training manger for the Nassau County Aquatic Center where he currently trains 12 personal clients and teaches various classes.  He still owns the PTI franchise and oversees the workouts and nutrition of over 150 clients there with the help of other personal trainers. If that’s not enough to keep him busy, he’s also currently in the process of publishing a fitness book.  

When asked what separates him from other trainers, Graziosi feels his knowledge base of the human psyche and his ability to read a situation can help him motivate people to do anything. “For some reason people either want to please me or prove me wrong, so I can play that card with any trainee to make them accomplish the impossible…I am not tricking people into working hard, I am just finding out what gets them going and using that information to keep them progressing,” states Grazioisi.

The one piece of advice he gives to others is, “Write down a reason why you didn’t work out or why it was a halfway try. Then show it to someone who will be honest to you. Ask them if they think it is an excuse. They will almost always say it is. If you ever write anything down it is automatically an excuse. Take that paper, burn it, and then never use that reason or excuse again. Do this enough and there will never be a missed or halfway workout.”

For these reasons, Dave Graziosi has earned the title of Bodybuilding.com Trainer of the Month.

For more information on Dave Graziosi visit
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/personaltrainer-dave-graziosi.htm

Bodybuilding.com offers more than 10,000 health and fitness supplements & accessories to help people achieve their health, fitness and appearance goals, as well as over 25,000 pages of FREE bodybuilding & fitness information, including more than 12,000 articles (written by 525+ writers), video & audio segments, and new content added daily.

For more information: http://www.bodybuilding.com
Contact: Crystal Matthews
Email: crystal@bodybuilding.com
Phone: 208.472.9311

Meridian, ID – October 10, 2009 - Bodybuilding.com, the Internet’s most-visited bodybuilding and fitness site and largest online retailer of nutritional supplements, has named thirteen year old Madison Carter as Teen Bodybuilder of the Week. Since 2002, Bodybuilding.com has recognized the remarkable dedication it takes to achieve such an accomplishment, and has made a point to reward those who inspire others.

“To highlight amazing teen bodybuilders and fitness enthusiasts, we wanted to take the time to feature those who inspire others. By sharing their successful diet and training secrets, these motivational stories show teens everything they need to know about creating the body of their dreams for themselves,” says Bodybuilding.com CEO Ryan DeLuca.

Madison Carter began her love for fitness when she attended a bodybuilding and fitness competition with her mother. “Everyone was so into health and fitness and looked so fantastic,” shared Madison. Although many people told her she was too young to compete, she refused to listen and began to safely train with the help of her mom. She had no idea how far it would take her.

Madison’s typical workout program consists of 12+ hours of gymnastics a week and power yoga to increase her strength. As far as dieting and supplementation is concerned, she does not follow a strict meal plan because she is still growing and needs all the healthy food she desires. Her mother has taught her the proper food to eat before and after she trains for optimal energy and recovery. “I eat lots of small meals every day and try not to have too much sugar because we have a lot of diabetes in our family. I have a weakness for pumpkin pie,” explains Madison, “My favorite supplements are my Mom’s cooking.”

Madison’s mom motivates her to lead a healthy lifestyle and to take good care of herself. Madison admits that her body is the most important thing she owns and loves how bodybuilding helps her take care of it. “I love it because I feel so strong, I feel full of energy. I love the way my body looks. I love feeling the muscles in my body working…,” says Madison.

All of her hard work has paid off! Placing higher than women three times her age, the recent 2009 UFE (Ultimate Fitness Event) Fitness Junior and Bodybuilding Lightweight title went to Madison Carter. Because of her efforts in becoming a spokesperson for youth fitness, and encouraging others to participate in a healthy lifestyle, UFE is now proudly sponsoring her to compete in all of their shows. On top of that, Madison has been featured on television, and is the first child to appear in Fitness, Oxygen and Snap Magazine.

For her inspirational story of success, Madison Carter has earned the title of Bodybuilding.com Teen Bodybuilder of the Week.

For more information on Madison Carter and other great transformations, please visit:
http://www.teenbodybuilding.com/teenam.htm

Bodybuilding.com offers more than 10,000 health and fitness supplements & accessories to help people achieve their health, fitness and appearance goals, as well as over 25,000 pages of FREE bodybuilding & fitness information, including more than 12,000 articles (written by 525+ writers), video & audio segments, and new content added daily.

For more information: www.bodybuilding.com
Contact: Crystal Matthews
Email: crystal@bodybuilding.com
Phone: 208.472.9311

Posted October 8th, 2009 by USNavySeals

Richard Machowicz is a body-builder and ex-Navy SEAL who is widely known for his unique and challenging muscle building exercising program.  Additionally, he is the author of the exceptional motivational novel: Unleashing The Warrior Within. As a Navy SEAL Machowicz pushed his body to the limits and learned what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to building muscle tone and living a healthy lifestyle.

Machowicz was interviewed by BodyBuilding.com by Mike Mahler.  This interview contained some excellent details about bodybuilding and about the Navy SEALs.  You can read an excerpt from this interview below:

Mike Mahler: Lets start the interview by discussing your Navy Seal background. What motivated you to want to become a Navy Seal in the first place?

Richard Machowicz : I wanted to prove to myself that there was nothing that I could not do. I was actually setting myself to go into the Special Forces: the Green Berets. Unfortunately, that involved a lot of paper workout and time commitment and I decided to explore other options. Thus, I went to the Navy recruiting office and saw a video about the Seals. It looked really cool and I decided to look into it further.
The more I heard about it, the more I realized that it was considered to be the toughest training on Earth. That got me even more committed and I thought to myself, if I can do this, I can do anything! I was also really interested in doing something to protect my country. I always wanted to be a super hero figure.

Mike Mahler: Having become a Navy Seal and looking back at the experience, is there anything that you could have done to prepare yourself?

Richard Machowicz : Absolutely! Before I went in, I heard that they were going to literally try to kill me there. Thus, I made a commitment to myself that I was either going to make it, or die there. I trained that way in many ways to prepare myself. I was in Great Lakes, Illinois when I went through boot camp. Then I was assigned a job there in the Navy. I started training by running a great deal in these boon docker Navy boots in the snow in the middle of winter. I heard that the training was going to involve being colder than I had ever experienced. Thus, I wanted to learn how to push myself in the cold. For two years getting ready, I never took a hot shower even when it was -86 degrees outside.

Continue reading this interview here.

For original article go to USNAVYSEALS.COM.

BECOMES BODYBUILDING.COM WRITER & TOP BODYSPACE MEMBER!

By GREG SMITH
Norwich Bulletin
Posted Oct 06, 2009

Fern Assard, 41, of Uncasville, took top prize in the Classic Figure portion of the 2009 National Physique Committee’s Jay Cutler Bodybuilding, Fitness, Figure & Bikini Classic this spring in Boston.

Assard is the accounts manager at Waterford Dental Health and spends her evenings working out and helping her children with homework.

Dissatisfied with what she described as her “skinny fat” body, Assard started working out in 2006. She will take part in one of the first local competitions scheduled for Oct. 17 at New London High School. She also writes a blog for www.bodybuilding.com where she shares her workout videos.

Q How did you get involved in the bodybuilding scene?

A I just wasn’t satisfied with myself. I was dieting, starving myself and anorexic for a while. I got to 98 pounds at one point. I needed to do something to make myself feel better. You look at models and think, “I must be fat. If I diet and diet and diet, I’ll look better.” Everybody thinks, “If I starve myself for a month, I can look like a Victoria’s Secret model.” You can lose weight, but stuff still ends up just hanging in puddles. I wanted to look healthier. I needed to feel better, be more positive so I could like myself more. I joined (Work Out World in Waterford) with my daughter.

Q And all of a sudden you become a first-rate competitor?

A I was really shy before I started doing this. I was afraid to go to the gym by myself. I was like the other women going into the gym. They come in, look at the machine, look around, use one machine and leave. The machines look like medieval torture devices. Nobody knows what to do. I was afraid to go into the weight room with the men. I was reading a Muscle and Fitness magazine one day and saw a professional fitness competitor. She was a mother of three. I thought, “If she can do it, I can do it …” I knew that’s what I wanted. I did it. I’m 13 pounds heavier since I joined the gym and wear the same size.

Q What is the competition all about?

A It’s called Figure. The women are more feminine, but still have more muscle. I equate it to a muscle beauty pageant, not the traditional skinny model types. I’m on stage in front of hundreds of people in a bikini. We’re not big people or overly lean. You’re not supposed to be overly muscular.

Q And what’s it like to be a winner?

A At my first competition, I went with my daughter. I didn’t have a lot of people backing me up. They didn’t know what I was doing. It was nerve-wracking. It doesn’t really get much easier on stage. People scrutinizing you under the hot lights in nothing but a rhinestone bikini and high heels. They’re looking at everything. They’re comparing skin, muscle tone and overall beauty. I felt like I had accomplished something — totally the opposite than I’ve always been. When you try something, you’re so scared to try it, and then you say, “I did it.” It’s like jumping out of an airplane. My favorite part is when they announce me, they usually throw in “she has four kids.” That usually gets an applause.

For original article please visit The Norwich Bulletin

(Found Trainer on Bodybuilding.com)
By Will King | Staff Writer
Published: Thursday, October 1, 2009 10:03 AM CDT

Maj. Thurman McKenzie, a Field Artillery officer and student in Intermediate Level Education class 2010-01, credits the bodybuilding lifestyle with changing his life and improving his overall physical fitness and diet.

McKenzie is the youngest of six children, and said his father was an amateur bodybuilder who had a small gym in the basement of their home. He said he has been physically active his whole life and did some weight training growing up, but focused more on running track in high school and college.

McKenzie said it wasn’t until a deployment to the Balkans in February 2000, just one month after reporting to his first unit, that he decided to hit the gym for what he described as his first "bulking regiment." He said the deployment provided an excellent opportunity to experiment with weight training and diet.

"I thought, what better time to get into fitness and training than now," McKenzie said.

All the hard work paid off, as McKenzie added about 30 pounds of mass and returned from the Balkans in the best shape of his life.

"I had built this physique that I had never thought I could build … and that really started things," he said.

McKenzie said in addition to improved total body condition, he gets personal satisfaction in setting goals for himself at the beginning of a deployment, and then seeing the progress he has made at the end of a deployment.

"I’ve deployed three times since then (2000), and every time I deploy it’s an opportunity … it becomes an escape from the norm," he said.

But McKenzie wasn’t just training blindly; he had studied physical fitness and diet as part of a Master Fitness Trainer program while at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y.

"I wanted to try and put those skills to use and see what I could do with it," he said.

After leaving company command and moving to a staff job while deployed in Iraq in 2008, he began working with an online personal trainer through the www.bodybuilding.com Web site. His trainer suggested he enter a bodybuilding competition, but McKenzie said he was at first apprehensive about the idea. His trainer convinced him there was no better way to push himself and gauge his progress than to have a goal.

"If nothing else it gives you purpose and meaning for your training. When you go to the gym, you know that you’re going and you’re training for a particular end," McKenzie said.

He said he agreed to enter a bodybuilding competition at the end of his one-year training agreement with his online personal trainer. McKenzie knew he would be in the Kansas City area for ILE beginning in August, so he signed up to compete in the Kansas City Gold’s Classic in September.

He said the last few weeks before the competition he started getting tips, comments and information from people to help prepare him to compete.

“I had no idea how big this competition was,” McKenzie said.

He said the Kansas City Gold’s Classic is one of the largest pro/am contests in the U.S. during the fall season, and competitors come from all over the world to compete.

McKenzie said he competed in two divisions: Amateur Mr. Kansas, where he placed second, and Novice Men’s Tall, where he won first place. Winning in Novice Men’s Tall allowed him to compete in the Overall Novice category, where he also won first place.

“It was vindicating to know that a year’s worth of sacrifice, focus and dedication paid off. It’s always great to learn that … to reinforce hard work and dedication, and so it was great,” McKenzie said.

He said his biggest challenge in preparing for the competition was trying to maintain a balance between work in the Army and working out in the gym.

“The way that I was able to do that was really by prioritizing,” McKenzie said. “What it really took for me to do was to map out my day.”

His typical day begins at 4 a.m. with four hours of training and diet, after which he transitions to school and military mode. After school, McKenzie said, he works on homework, then diet.

He said his typical gym routine includes weight and cardio training, and generally follows a five-day hybrid split - two days of total-body power routine and three days of volume training.

“It was really a mental process of prioritizing my day, putting things in their place, and then executing accordingly,” McKenzie said.

McKenzie said bodybuilding has been life changing for him.

“The biggest impact that this whole process has had on me is the way that I look at diet,” he said.

McKenzie said most people become apprehensive when they hear the term diet and associate it with what they can’t have, but that it is more about portion control and total caloric intake than anything else.

“When I look at a meal, I find myself processing that meal in terms of where’s the protein here, where’s the carbs here, and where’s the fat content here,” McKenzie said. “That’s a permanent lens that is now over my eyes, and I look at a meal now and I’m constantly breaking it down.”
  
McKenzie said bodybuilding is generally misunderstood in American culture, and it is even difficult for him to associate the term “bodybuilder” with himself.

“I’m just a dude that likes to go to the gym and workout,” he said.

McKenzie said the bodybuilding lifestyle could be a very healthy and life-changing sport, and encourages others to give it a try.

“I would just challenge anyone who is struggling with their weight, or struggling with their physical image, or would just like to challenge themselves, I think the sport of bodybuilding is certainly one that can help in all of those areas as it has with me,” McKenzie said. “If nothing else, you walk away from it with a better self image and a better physique, and who wouldn’t want that, right?”

For the original article please visit The Fort Leavenworth Lamp

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