Received my tickets to the 2012 Arnold Expo in Columbus, OH, and excited to experience the competitions, seminars, and various exhibitors! Wanting to pick up as much information and advice as I can, as well as network with some other competitors.

 My goal is to travel from CT to OH on Feb 29th, as a type of roadtrip, and then enjoy the 1st thru the 4th. If you're planning on attending, give me a shout!

Just created my own thread for my supplement log of Morph MegaDrive by iSatori.

The link is: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=124203101

I'll be using the product for a total of 6 weeks, which spans the end of my bulk to 220 lbs and the start of my cut to 200 lbs for contest. I'm eager to see what this "one stop shop" supplement can do for both phases of training.

MORE TO COME...

Although I've been consistent with training, I haven't been as consistent with updating this blog. Then again, I'm not entirely sure other people read it. haha.

Consider this somewhat of a rant. I was well on my way to hitting about 210 lbs by the end of 2009, shy of my goal, but still on the right track. The last few weeks have been incredibly stressful, and I didn't realize how much of an impact that would have until I stepped on the scale on Sunday. Since right before Thanksgiving, I've lost 9.5 lbs and am stuck back below my goal for 2008! I wanted to be 200 lbs by the beginning of 2009, and then 220 lbs by the end of 2009. I hit the first goal, but seem to have gotten stuck there.

The root of my stress has been work related, as there have been numerous reviews to prepare for and teams to lead. Aside from work, my church had it's Christmas cantata. While I enjoy the music, it takes a lot of preparation to get ready for everything. Not sure if the stress is worth it, especially in light of my losses in bodybuilding.

Just curious to see if anyone else has experienced this phenomena, and whether or not they made rapid gains after the stress had abated? I really want to achieve my goal, but it doesn't seem possible at the moment.

My plans for competition have changed a bit since I'm getting married in May 2010. I will be doing two shows in September and October with the OCB organization. The shows are in Southington, which is close by where I live.

Happy New Year! (belated) With all the traveling done over the holidays, I didn't have a chance to update everyone on my goals and how I finished out 2008. The good news is that I achieved my goal of being 200 lbs by the end of 2008!!! That is phenomenal for me as I have never been this big, before. With the added weight has come some additional fat stores, but I have a plan to keep that to a minimum as I continue to bulk up in 2009. It's very exciting, and definitely reassures me that I can get bigger.

Looking back over the year, one of the highlights has been meeting and beginning a relationship with my girlfriend. She's been so supportive of me and my interests, and served as my "trainer" at my first contest ever in April 2008! That was by far the greatest experience last year, and I'm glad she was there to share that with me!! As 2009 gets started, I'm encouraged and excited about the challenges ahead, the one at the forefront of my mind being to shed some of the fat I've gained while still encouraging muscle gains. I'd like to be a lot tighter than I am as I gain, but I don't want to sacrifice gains in order to satisfy my own vanity.

One day at a time to 220 lbs by the end of 2009!!

Current status

After spending time in deep thought over my bodybuilding successes, thus far, and desired goal, I've concluded that a new plan and approach is necessary in preparation to hit the stage in 2010. I'd like to do the same contest, only push myself up into the next higher weight class. The added muscle mass will fill out my frame and provide a more mature aesthetic than what I competed at this year. In addition, the change will be dramatic for those who may recall my performance this year.

Based on my prior experience, diet and nutrition are key for me to transform my body. At the same time, I've changed my exercise split to work: Mon - Chest; Tues - Back; Thurs - Arms; Fri - Legs. Focusing on developing my legs considerably, and spending time focusing on the larger muscle groups, while developing the arms independently.

Since 2005, my church (www.fbcmct.org) has sent volunteers on mission with Baptist Builders for Christ. The organization was founded as part of a ministry to help meet the needs of congregations that are growing or have outgrown their present church facilities, and are seeking to or are in the process of building new facilities. My church benefited from the organization in 2004, and has been part of it ever since.

This year, the team from my church went to Logan, Ohio, to work on the new worship center for Ebenezer Baptist Church. Teams are organized and sent each week during the summer, and are scheduled to coincide with the specialty work required each week. For us, our work focused on putting the roofs on. Since pictures speak louder than words, I'll include some images of the progress we made in one week.

For most of the week, this was the roofing crew. In the photo, we're standing in front of what will be the new sanctuary. The whole roof, also consisted of the preschool and class wing extending from the other side of the sanctuary. The team is smiling and still appears "fresh," which is probably due to the fact we had not started, yet (I'm the tall one wearing the black tanktop in the background).

When we first got started on Monday, the roof of the preschool and classrooms was the only one that had the decking and felt paper on. We started putting the shingles on, and actually finished the entire roof in a day and a half. By Wednesday, we were ready to start on the larger roof over the sanctuary, which was a bit more challenging because the pitch of the roof was 1 inch more than on the preschool wing. Since I'm actually afraid of heights, I was lashing myself to as much of the safety equipment we had in place as I possibly could. God kept us marvelously safe throughout the whole week!

By the end of the week, the team had laid 10,000 sq ft of shingles out of a 15,000 sq ft job. No small miracles that week! We had great weather and plenty of time to get the work done. Thanks and praise to God for the labor we completed, and for allowing us to keep the project on schedule. Once the roof was in place, the rest of the teams could begin drying in the building and hanging the sheetrock and installing the electrical systems.

After the hard work, we got to enjoy ourselves for a few hours before the flight home. We went to the Washboard Music Festival in downtown Logan, OH. If you enjoy bluegrass, eating smoked turkey legs, and general fun, then that's definitely a place to be!

This post is in regards to someone else's body. I know it's weird to post about another person's body in my bodyblog, but it deeply concerns me.

Ok, my mom had major eye surgery last week, and is currently visiting with me in Connecticut with my dad. I'm surprised that she made the trip after everything that the doctors had to do. The gist of it is she had a detached retina and damaged macula, resulting in 3 procedures to correct the loss of vision. The surgeries all went well (praise God), and now the body has to heal!

Many who will read this entry know me well enough that I'd ask you to pray for my mom's health and healing. For those who don't know me or my beliefs, I'd still appreciate the prayer for my mom. It seems that so much has been piled on her, recently, and there needs to be some hope or good that she can rest in.

Thanks, in advance! God answers prayer!

Now that I've recovered from the competition, and no more chest cold, I've started training as hard as ever, and am happy to report that my weight is increasing while my bodyfat is still at 9%! My body looks more solid and I can see the muscle visibly growing!

The only drawback to my training is that I'm experiencing neck pain that feels like a strained muscle. I pulled a muscle on the left side of my neck a while ago doing barbell shrugs. Since then, I've modified my routine to perform dumbbell shrugs instead. This seems to have eliminated the motion that was straining my neck.

Last night, while doing bent-over barbell rows, my neck once again was strained. It's not as bad as before, but noticeable and limiting the movement (twisting from side to side) of my head.

Does anyone have any advice about what I can do to fix the problem entirely? I don't want to treat the symptoms, I want to cure the disease! Any thoughts would be appreciated to get rid of this pain in my neck.

As promised, I'm providing a copy of the /wp-content/blogs/1136/uploads//GW%20Factions%20BLNPA.mp3 that I used at contest. It was composed by Jeremy Soule, and is available in it's entirety off the Guild Wars: Factions Original Soundtrack, as Bonus Track 4. Once I get the video of my routine, I'll upload it into my Youtube videos.

Took the last week off of training due to catching a chest cold after the contest. A combination of stress, no sleep the night before the contest, and pure exhaustion lowered my immune system to the point where my typical sinus infection/bronchitis was able to rear its ugly head. I'm feeling better, and looking forward to hitting the weights, tonight! Working to get to a lean 200 lbs by the end of the year. That is my NEW goal! :D

Sometimes I think this is all just a dream, but then I realize I'm really going to compete in a bodybuilding contest this Saturday! On April 5th, I kept looking at the clock and imagining what would be going on at those times one week away! It's exciting and nerve-wracking at the same time!

Started off this morning on a carb reduced diet, after meeting with my trainer last week. In addition, I got off to a good start with 15 minutes of fasted cardio before heading into work. My abs are becoming more and more visible, and I know I'm below 10% bodyfat, now. The trick will be to see how much I can drop it by in 5 days!

All of this excitement and good that's happening is also being balanced by some disappointments. The first and biggest disappointment is that the documentary I was participating in won't have anyone able to attend the show due to Skybus announcing closure. The project is a lot of fun, and something I've been very enthusiastic about. The second disappointment is that my company's gym won't let me use the group aerobics room to practice my posing. The main reason being that it is an unsupervised area, and they can't let anyone use it until there are enough trainers around. If I'm so out of shape that I can't pose alone, then I'm really in trouble! haha. Lastly, my friend who was going to help apply the Pro-Tan and Dream Tan so that I look my best, won't be able to attend. So, now I get to ask my remaining friends for help!

At least I got confirmation that my application was received and paid. 5 days to go and keeping my head down and the shoulder against the wheel. Get through this training and hit the stage!!

Getting closer to just 1 week out! This update finds me in a much better mood and with an optimistic attitude towards the competition. Although I still don't boast any delusions of grandeur, I think I look fantastic, and believe that I could walk out of the show with the Best Poser award.

The report from my trainer is more than encouraging! As soon as I lifted off my shirt last night for him to assess my bodyfat, he could tell that I'd burned more off... but would it be enough to satisfy me? The skin is tightening up in several places. After taking my bodyfat measurements, he applied a coat of Pro-Tan to my body, and I was instantly amazed by the changes the color brought out. I flexed my biceps first and was astounded... I actually HAVE biceps! Flexing abs revealed a lot of detail I didn't think was there. It's funny how the mind plays tricks on us.

Ok, so the bodyfat is 10.04%, which means I've dropped ~1.5% bodyfat in about a week and a half. By adding in cardio, I hope to push myself down to 9%, if not to 8.5%. I'm psyched up and excited for the show, and following a conversation with my trainer, might keep the condition I'm in, go for some more fat loss, and look for another local competition within the next month or so!! That's still a thought, but would be worthwhile after this long of a process.

After much debate, I've decided to go with an orchestral piece from Guild Wars: Factions Original Soundtrack. For those not familiar with Guild Wars, it is a MMORPG that I play with several friends, and Factions is the Asian-themed package (you can read more about the game here: http://gw.gamewikis.org)

One of my friends helped me edit 'Over My Head' by Lit and 'GW Factions Bonus Track 4' down to 1 minute each. After listening to the two, I chose the Guild Wars music because of its more artistic expression. There are some strong driving chords later in the piece, as well. At least, no one else will be using the music at the show, as I doubt anyone else plays Guild Wars (Yay, me!).

The music is credited to the composer, Jeremy Soule. I'll post the edited version of the music AFTER the show. That way no one can borrow my idea!

The biggest news is that I'm almost completely shaved now, and all I can say is that it sucks! It's a lot of work, and it itches like crazy after a few days. I've consulted a few friends who are swimmers and gotten some tips on preparation and shaving down while avoiding the majority of razor burn. Funny enough, the best advice has come from my friend, Michelle, who told me to invest in a lot of baby oil. Ok, now that I'm slicked up, I can't actually hold onto the razor! haha.

It's a disturbing feeling to see yourself hairless, especially if you're like me and you pride yourself on your resemblance to Sean Connery without a shirt on (meaning the abundance of chest hair and the younger version)! I'm going to throw a coat of Pro Tan on and see what shakes loose. I think this will boost my confidence when I see the contrast and improvements... kind of a premier for what I'll be like on stage.

I am disappointed by my bodyfat at this stage, but can only forge ahead and do the show. If the numbers aren't where I want them tonight, then I'll start dual cardio sessions each day to encourage more fat to drop. Both will be fasted, once in the morning, and then again one hour after lunch.