Yeah the last pics you posted are showing a bit more separation in the legs. You’re def on the right track. Keep pushing!!!
1 Like
Absolutely is, I’m eating more and doing less cardio than I thought it would be feasible for the level of conditioning I have, so pretty excited for everything we can still do.
1 Like
Thanks bro, definitely getting harder so I appreciate your support!
It’s getting real! Signed up for the first show in Dallas on June 14, got the travel booked, and paid for the tan. Time to start thinking about all of the show logistics.
Tanning can be pretty time consuming and stressful. My very first show I used the show sponsor for spray tan, a local place, and it wound up melting off during pre judging (feel free to check out my first log for pics of my tan melting down my chest during a front double bicep). In retrospect I think that happened because I didn’t take the skin prep seriously, and it’s important to prep the skin properly. After that, I did DIY Pro Tan, which is a watery alcohol based tan that you paint on yourself multiple times for the days leading up to the show. Or more realistically, someone else does it for you. It’s really time-consuming, and incredibly messy, but does look great. Then there’s the top layer that you wanna put on for some glaze before you hit the stage. And don’t forget the posing trunk glue to make sure they stay in place where you at the hips. So all in all, there’s a lot just going into the tanning and finishing touches. I was going to do that set up again this year, but realized that It would just be so much easier to use the show tan sponsor, and that’s what I’m gonna do. Competing at an NPC show, I know that these are the best of the best tanners and they’ve got their systems locked down. I’m sure it’ll look great and I will do the skin prep. I paid for an additional base layer because I’m very pale, so I’m doing two base layers plus a topcoat, and the package also includes backstage touch ups, posing trunk glue, etc. Super easy and they let you know your appointment times about a week before the show. Then I’ll need a set of big, baggy clothes to wear post tan, and bring a set of cheap bed sheets to the hotel because the tan will ruin the sheets.
And of course, with tanning, comes shaving. I use a trimmer on my upper body, but don’t shave other than my head and my face, for which I use an electric razor. So in a few weeks I’ll need to start shaving, including the legs. My skin is really sensitive and has a lot of irritation after shaving, so I need to leave some extra time for the adjustment.
So getting all this planned out definitely is making it more real. It’s easy to go through the first half of a prep, especially a long one, not really worrying about the show too much, but once it starts getting closer, it really gets pretty intense mentally and physically.
9 weeks and 2 days out. Last weekend hit me pretty hard and it hasn’t improved much this week, been pretty low energy, mood isn’t great, and focus is starting to suffer a little. Not super bad, but this week was the first week while running some of my coaching calls that I just felt “off” and had a hard time focusing. The first competitive season is the hardest because you really just can’t know what to expect, and man it’ll rock your world. If you make the conscious decision to do it again, you know what to expect, and it does get easier, and I’m also older and more experienced, so even though it is very challenging, I’m able to handle it with more consistency and stoicism.
Next week I’m increasing posing practice to 3x per week, doing 30 second holds. I really don’t want to as it’s pretty exhausting, but I know it’s necessary and posing is the most important part of show day so I am going to get it done. Eventually it’ll get to 4x per week working to hold each pose for at least a minute. By 4 weeks out I’m supposed to stop using a mirror.
Mentally I feel behind because I’m not stage ready yet. And I shouldn’t be because we have 9 weeks to go and if I was ready now sustaining that for 9 weeks and then 6 more would be impossible. But it’s just my nature to move fast and want to move faster, fortunately Cliff is pacing everything well and l have no doubt I just need to follow his plan come show day everything will fall into place.
Side note - it was my dad’s birthday last week. We kept it casual and everyone had a blast, we went to a local pizza place, and then for ice cream. We have a 3 1/2 year-old little girl and she is the apple of his eye so of course he and my mom were playing with their granddaughter the whole time and everyone just really loved it. And, while they were absolutely crushing their pizza, which smelled amazing, here’s what I was eating.
Chicken, sirloin, green beans, Ezekiel bread. I did fancy it up with a little unsweetened ketchup.
Pizza is my favorite, I absolutely crushed a ton of it after my last show of 2016 in New York, it was incredible. Pretty sure there’s a post in my log holding up 4 pieces I was eating at the same time.
On that note, time to get ready to eat my last meal! Unfortunately, it’s not pizza.
9 Likes
Upper body strength day. Definitely getting tighter, seeing some new vascularity in the delts and arms.
9 Likes
WEEK 15
Weight: 159.8 (.4 lbs down from last week)
Hit a bit of a stall this week, my metabolism I think finally hit that maintenance of all the food we added, and last week’s adjustments weren’t huge, so a very slight drop but Cliff made a more significant adjustment this week of removing 40g carbs from the macros.
New Macros: 225p, 200c, 56f (removed 40g carbs daily)
Refeed Macros: (once per week) 180p, 320c, 56f (removed 10g fat from this day)
Cardio is still just 2x LISS for 15 min per week, easy peasy. Cliff said we likely will not touch cardio much if at all through the rest of the prep which is just CRAZY to me considering how much cardio I used to do. By the end of prep it was 45-60 minutes in the morning, plus 20-30 minutes after weights, plus a weekly HIIT workout.
I’d rather get as much done through nutrition as possible. I used to think I’d rather eat more and do more cardio, but after experiencing Cliff’s methods, I much prefer minimal cardio. Excess cardio really wrecks recovery, and it also makes me way more hungry. Cutting 40g carbs from a day isn’t great, but it’s not too tough. But if I had to burn off 160 cals additionally every day, that would add probably 20-25min of cardio DAILY which would for sure make me way more hungry, and hurt recovery.
The new training plan is going well, it’s another 12 week plan that consists of 4 rounds of a 3 week program.
Day 1 - Chest, Triceps, Side Delts
Day 2 - Back, Traps, Rear Delts, Biceps
Day 3 - Legs, Abs
Day 4 - Off
Day 5 - Upper Body Strength
Day 6 - Lower Body Strength
Day 7 - Off
It’s cool having the variety of some targeted sessions, then the upper and lower strength days.
The above is week 1 of 3. Week 2 is very similar but with some different exercises, set and rep schemes. Week 3 is very different and has 6 training days. Today was a really high volume workout, lots of sets of 15-20 with some drop sets thrown in there.
Today after weights I used a studio in the gym that was unoccupied and did some posing practice. I downloaded a HIIT counter app and programmed it to do 30 seconds rounds with 5 seconds of rest, to simulate a pre judging where you hold a post, transition, hold another pose, etc. I went through all the mandatories, with 30 seconds holds, was sweating a ton and it was tough, but man it’s so important to get the posing practice in early, and frequently. Currently doing that 3x per week now.
8.5 weeks out of the first show, 14.5 weeks out of the last show. So by the time the first show comes around my prep will have been 24 weeks, and a total of 30 weeks from start to finish of the last contest. That’s a long time to weigh every gram of food and not cheat!
I think there’s a huge benefit to doing something really, really hard every now and then that requires an incredible amount of consistency and discipline. To really excel in anything, it takes a lot of both. When you apply them for a long time and see the benefits that type of effort brings, it really makes you aware of what you’re capable of if you go all in and can be a life changer for your mindset and future.
10 Likes
Today’s workout was pretty brief, but feeling pretty run down today so I took my time, long rest periods and pushed hard.
WIDE LAT PULLDOWN
1 x 12-15 - 145x15
2 × 12-15 - 145x15
3 x 12-15 - 145x15
PLATE LOADED ROW
1 x 10-15 - 115e x 15
2 × 10-15 - 135e x 12
3 x 10-15 - 135e x 12
PIN LOADED LOW ROW (pronated grip)
1 x 6-8 - 175 x 6
2 x 6-8 - 175 x 6
3 x 6-8 - 175 x 6
DB SHRUG
1 x 20 - 80s x 20 (too light)
2 × 12 - 130s x 12
3x 8 - 130s x 12
CABLE CRUNCH
1 x 12-15 - 82.5 x15
2 x 12-15 - 87.5 x 12
3 x 12-15 - 87.5 x 12
4 X 12-15 - 87.5 x 12
Finally seeing legs getting more defined, I can see some light feathering in the quads in certain lighting. I also moved another loop in on my belt today, a loop I’ve never been able to secure even when I competed in 2016 and 2017 (I’ve had this belt over over a decade it’s awesome), so I am officially leaner than I’ve ever been, even leaner than when I competed last time. That’s crazy considering I weigh much more!
7 Likes
Woooo let’s go. Seeing things tightening up more, even getting more definition in my glutes which is something I never had before. I mean, for sure, we’ve got a lot of work to do still, but it’s exciting to see new progress.
Things must be going well because today was ROUGH. I got through the morning pretty well through lunch, and after lunch man it just tanked fast. A contest prep is really a very calculated, intentional starvation while exerting lots of energy in the gym. Your body thinks it’s starving as you get stage lean, so day-to-day existing just starts to feel different. Really low energy, negative mindset, just getting from point A to B can be really challenging. I was in the parking lot in the gym before training really not sure how I was gonna get in there today.
Motivation isn’t always going to be there, it’s fleeting. And it’s totally OK, and normal, to not feel motivated to do something you know you need to do. But what’s not OK, is letting those feelings dictate your actions. The biggest difference between wherever you’re at now and the ultimate potential God put within you, is your ability to tolerate being uncomfortable while you pursue your goals. It’s not easy, and is always worth it. Sometimes when I’m really not feeling like doing whatever the thing is I need to do, I’ll do a lot of positive self talk, out loud. I’ll talk to myself like I’m coaching myself. I’ve found that if you’re having a mental battle, and it just stays in your mind, you will lose, almost if not 100% of the time. But, actually verbalizing your thoughts, putting life and sound to them, it gives you a power that you don’t have with just your mind.
God created the heavens and the earth with his Word. There is a LOT of power in words. So that’s exactly what I did in my car, I told myself I made a commitment to this process and I’m going to see it through. And if things don’t go my way competitively on show day, it will NOT be for lack of effort or consistency. Bodybuilding is an offense only sport, you compete against yourself to compete against others. So I will control everything I can, which is my effort and consistency, because that’s all I can do. After a minute or two of yelling at myself, I got in the gym and pushed hard. I took longer rest periods and a few minutes between exercises. After weights I did a quick 5 minute posing session in one of the studios, then 15 minutes of LISS on the elliptical, which is what I use every time I do cardio.
A good friend of mine is a former competitor, he won some pretty big shows when he competed and is an IFBB pro. He’s going to come with me to the Dallas show, so we were talking about that and he reminded me, “the better you look, the worse you feel.” Which is just a helpful reminder when things are tough, it’s working exactly as it’s supposed to.
I’m also a very competitive guy by nature, and I want to win my weight class and get my pro card. I don’t know if it’ll be possible to take an overall as a lightweight, but I’m confident if I bring my best I can do some real damage in my weight class.
There’s also something about being 40, turning 41 right before nationals if I qualify, and being in the best shape of my life and competing in bodybuilding, that is a real motivating factor as well. So many people will say it gets harder as you get older, which it can, but only if you really stop trying. I mean for sure as I’ve gotten older there’s more maintenance required, and I have to be very intentional about blocking time for training with all the other responsibilities of life, but it’s still totally possible to prioritize health and fitness, and live a healthy life.
It’s also been 8 years since I competed, and I can say it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done. So I also want to prove to myself that I can still do it, still challenge myself to do something this hard, and do it better than last time.
So all of those things are fueling the fire. I’m not sure if I’ll compete again after this, and if I do it’ll be after a long off season of at least 2-3 years. So I’m going all in this year.
Thanks to anyone reading along and being part of the journey also. The thing that first planted the seed of competing for me was reading other competitors prep logs on T-Nation. There used to be more of those on here, there are a lot in the archives. But I started reading them, especially the more detailed ones, seeing their contest pics and I thought, “you know what…I think I can do that with the right guidance.” And that’s also where I met my first coach, @The_Mighty_Stu, and we became good friends and he coached me through two awesome seasons and a natural pro card. Met a lot of other great guys on here too. So I hope that this log is informative, and inspires you to grow and develop.
11 Likes
This is such great advice Rob, and not just for competing in bodybuilding. Like you said, we have “to tolerate being uncomfortable while you pursue your goals”. You can take this whole post you wrote and apply so much of the motivation, the mindset, how you pushed yourself to give your all and show up with effort when you least wanted to, this is how to be successful. It’s been inspiring to watch and learn from you over the years from your early bodybuilding successes, to running your own business in music, and later on to real estate. You’ve crushed it all, and appreciate you sharing not only that you struggled, but how you overcame it. Excellent post Rob. You are going to nail this competition and prep!
2 Likes
This is really interesting and a great point. I find, for me, there’s a “right amount” above or below which I just don’t feel awesome. I also haven’t done what you’re doing, so all with a grain of salt.
I love seeing you vet out what you’re feeling, too. I hope it’s somewhat cathartic; it’s certainly impactful to us readers!
4 Likes
I’m definitely with Rob here, I’m 8 weeks into my diet and down 17 pounds and I’ve done no cardio at all! I’m waiting until the fat loss really slows to throw anything like that in.
3 Likes
Incredible. I feel like I have to get some small baseline in (15-20 minutes daily) for the scale to start moving, but I can hold that level for a long time.
Maybe it’s background, a sedentary job, or just not cutting calories quickly enough. Whatever it is, interesting to see the differences.
Sorry to clog up the log!
2 Likes
Thank you so much brother for your support, I really appreciate it!
That’s awesome man, way to go! And yeah it’s all very individualized, but, I can tell you I THOUGHT when I competed 8 and 9 years ago that I HAD to do low carbs, lots of cardio, because I used to be fat and have a slow metabolism, but here with Cliff I’ve learned that’s just not the case and it’s way more ideal to be handled with nutrition as much as possible.
One very individualized aspect though is carb intake. You know some competitors can keep carbs real high throughout, others can’t, I’m certainly eating way more carbs than I ever thought I could at this level of conditioning, I don’t know what I’m at but I’m assuming 7-8% right now.
Another thing is I do FIRMLY believe that FOOD CHOICES have a real dramatic impact especially if you consider your individual level of insulin resistance. I have very poor insulin resistance genetically. Even being lean, exercising, not drinking alcohol, zero added sugar, no processed foods, etc., my A1C is borderline pre diabetic usually between 5.4-5.6. So all my carb sources are:
-veggies
-Ezekiel bread
-fruit (usually 2 servings per day)
I don’t do any rice, potato, etc., except for refeed days once per week.
I believe that REALLY helps keep the body fat down. Even with the same amount of macros, a higher GI meal will spike insulin more, and if you’ve got poor insulin resistance that WILL inhibit fat loss and be bad for you. At the beginning of my prep I was doing a lot of potato every day. Eventually carbs had to get down to 180g per day. When they got to 200g or so I totally eliminated potato. Then, eventually when we started ADDING more carbs, I kept potato out, and added more veggies and fruit and Ezekiel bread. Ultimately I was able to eat EVEN MORE CARBS then when I started, and KEEP LOSING! I attribute that to food choices.
The amount of cardio one needs to do will also be very individualized, but what I’ve learned is not to ASSUME you need to do so much and you can make ridiculous progress with super dialed in nutrition.
4 Likes
Yeah man I have a very sedentary day (I sit in my studio all day) outside of the gym, so I assumed the same, but this whole time the MOST cardio I’ve done is an hour per week (3 20min sessions), I did that for like 10 weeks, then went down to 30 minutes per week (2 15min sessions), and everything is good. But again this is not off season, I’ve been weighing every gram of everything I eat. I think guesstimating is where people get in trouble because you’re always taking in more cals than you think and in that case, yeah some daily cardio can help offset any nutritional buffer needed.
In the off season I do like a 15-20min cardio session after weights daily just for heart and overall health as well.
Also @TrainForPain you are most definitely not clogging up the thread, I really enjoy when people comment and engage! So please don’t ever hesitate!
3 Likes