I just joined the bodyspace community so i thought I’d throw something down here. Just a little about myself and my history. I decided I wanted to be a competitve bodybuilder around April of 2006. I attended Barrington High in RI. I was a jock; ace pitcher on the varsity baseball team (won states in 2003), and Capt. of the varsity football team (won states 2004). I never really loved either sport, but I began lifting for football and fell in love with the weight room. Senior year baseball was hard on me because all I wanted to do was lift, but being on the team really took all my time.
Freshman year of college at URI I entered the weight room at around 185-190lbs. I loved being in that gym. There were some much bigger guys in there so it gave me great motivation to eventually outsize them. I didnt really have much of a program then, and I ate healthy, but had no information or knowledge compared to what i know now. Around the end of March 2006 I consulted the head of the fitness department, he was a competitive bodybuilder. I started eating a lot more foods, like eggs deli meat tuna pasta and oatmeal, but looking back at it i was eating way too much salt. when the school year ended in May I weighed 230 at around 13-14%BF.
Instead of joining the Y I joined a new gym in my home town, Barrington, RI, called Body natural fitness center…probably the best decision I’ve ever made. About 95% of its members are personally trained and all the trainers are or were bodybuilders. Among them were Dave Medeiros who placed 3rd at the 05 NPC Junior Nationals, and Al Thurston the former president of the NABF. When I found out this info on Al Thurston I consulted him about bodybuilding, diet, and training. He said, "You look a lot better with your shirt on." Which was intimidating but inspired me to continue with my goal. He gave me guidelines for dieting and training, which I followed. The biggest changes I had to make in my diet were No dairy, No Wheat, No gluten, No deli meat, and said to keep fruit to a minimum. These were huge changes for me at the time. We picked my first show to be Oct. 21st 2006, a natural USBF show, and planned to start dieting 16 weeks out. This meant that I would start the preconst prep at home in this gym and finish it at college.
The dieting worked. I dropped pounds with ease. Applying Protan for the first time was so awkward. I had so many different people painting me too. I highschool friend and fellow bodybuilder, my mom, my girlfriend, my brother, even my RA’s in my dorm. I ended up doing way too much cardio come show time. I got obsessed with my abs and obliques, so I was doing a little less than 2 hours of cardio and definately not eating enough, so i lost way too much muscle and size. I was super lean. I didnt really pose as much as i should of. I didnt think it was a big deal, and i thought it would be easy. I knew all the poses but I know now that I could have been so much better if i worked on them. I remember i didnt know how to flex my upper quads. I competed in every class possible: Teen ( I was 19), Juniors, Novice Heavy, and Open Light Heavy. I placed 2nd, 2nd, 3rd, 6th. I was so pissed about the teen result. The kid who won was so much smaller than me. And this is when I realized symmetry and posing is a big factor. I outsized him but he completely out posed me. After the show was over I totally binged out on whatever i wanted i think i consumed 20 jumbo muffins within an hour on top of pizza, cake, pie etc….But once it ended i felt like i had no purpose, I was lost. After a week I decided I wanted to do another show. I found one a week away so 7 days out I started eating right and cardio again. It was the INBF Monster Mash. I worked on my posing every day and finally figured out how to somewhat flex my legs. I didnt do as much cardio this time I looked good. I won the teen class, and i was really proud because the kid had me beat in size but i outposed him. It was complete redemption from the first show. After this show I binged out again. Then again had no purpose. So i found another show- the NPC Drug Free in Hamden Conn. In this comp i learned NPC is so much different. They look for size first instead of leanness and their posing is completely different. I did way too much cardio again for this show so i lost more size. Now i weighed 176. I was a middleweight!! I took 2nd in the Teen this time. At 6′2" in the middle weight open class I felt very out of place I was so tall, but after looking at pictures i didnt look too bad. If i was in my usual open lightheavy class i would have placed 2nd cause the kid who took second was a teen who i beat.
Now i was done and ready to get big. I stopped cardio completely and ate and ate and ate. By January or February I was 240 at 12%. My carbs were oatmeal, potatoes, brown rice, broccoli and spinach. My protein was from chicken, eggs, 90% lean ground beef, turkey burgers and whey. The supplements i used were BCAA’s, Glutamine, Whey, and L-Arginine. I GOT BIG and I GOT STRONG!!!
By March I was the Arnold of the gym at my school. Everyone was coming to me for advice and i gave them some good or bad advice depending on if i liked the kid (a dick move, but arnold did it). I got an awesome training partner, Chuck, over the months of january to may who was so damn good at motivating me. He had more intensity than I’ve ever seen and would never quit never stop always pushed. He passed that mentality onto me, and we took off. We Got STRONG. We ran that gym. We were the ones everyone else watched. It was great.
Come mid-March I got ancy to compete again. I was told to wait till next fall but i couldnt. I caught the bug and had to get it out of me. So I picked 2 shows…the INBF NE Classin in Marlborough Mass and the NPC Northeaster Cup in Derry NH. My focus was to do the best in the INBF show and the NPC show was going to be my first untested show. I wanted to see how different things were in this type of show.
In prep for the shows I went on my own for the most part but read up on Layne Nortons prep info for some great help. I posed and posed and posed for these comps. I wasnt going to beat myself with poor posing on stage. My legs came in so much bigger and defined. I had much more vascularity all over, i was really excited about the new viens showing up. And my posing was 100 times better (I really focused on keeping my legs flexed for every pose)
In the INBF show I totally screwed myself with my preparation. The week of I changed to much in my diet. I cut out too much sodium and drank distilled water which ill never do again. I came in way too flat and depleted. I placed where i belonged on that day. However the overall winner was a kid my age with major gyno, and its a shame that someone with gyno wins at a NATURAL show. Not too happy with the INBF.
In the NPC show I went in to just have fun. It ended up being my most favorite show so far. I won the open lightheavy weight class!! Ill go into more detail about this show in another blog.
Right now its June and I’m bulking back up. Trying to stay lean, but food tastes so good and i dont want to limit anything. Im eating clean…same foods as precontest diet but adding flavor….ketchup, oils, sauses etc…. Im at 218 now and rising and my strength is increasing daily right now. Its awesome!!
My new goals for the next competing is:
More vascularity, Better Glute-Ham tie in, Bigger and more defined ham’s, Fuller chest, better lower abs and wider lats.
Later guys, thanks for reading,
-Brett
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