Fucking awesome man. I hope your feeling real proud of yourself because from the sounds of it that diet was hell!
I told you, you would blow them all away without a question of doubt.
STU got through
congrats
Fucking awesome bro!
Congrats - I knew you were going to do incredibly well.
Fantastic…
Stu! Representing the Nation and the outer boroughs!
Great job, man. I logged on this morning just to see how you did. Congratulations.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
okay, i’m writing from my phone & will update when I can. but here’s the clidfs notes…
1st heavyweight novice
1st nocice overall
1st masters 35+
3rd mens open middlweight
now, i’m going to Outback for a BIG Steak!
S[/quote]
Congrats!!!
4 trophies…if I am figuring it right, that’s at least 3 different classes where you had to do the mandatory poses plus your routine. Damn dude…that’s a ton of work right there.
Super congrats for the finish, and the amount of posing that must of been involved to get it done…might have to have two steaks!
Inspirational Stu. Well done…proving what dedication, committment, and a drive to win can accomplish. Enjoy a few poptarts too while you’re at it. Congrats man.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
4 trophies! 3 first place ones!
I just put away a bag of mom’s homeade cookies, and an entire blooming onion. waiting on my steak 
S[/quote]
Great job, brother!
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
okay, i’m writing from my phone & will update when I can. but here’s the clidfs notes…
1st heavyweight novice
1st nocice overall
1st masters 35+
3rd mens open middlweight
now, i’m going to Outback for a BIG Steak!
S[/quote]
Awesome job!!!
Why does it seem everyone always goes to Outback post competition, though? Not that I’m bashing Outback…it’s juist something I’ve noticed.
Congratulations Stu! So what are you shooting for next?
Wow!
Proud of ya, Stu!
Congrats!
Get picks the day after as well. Sometimes the “swole” is on a day late.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
okay, i’m writing from my phone & will update when I can. but here’s the clidfs notes…
1st heavyweight novice
1st nocice overall
1st masters 35+
3rd mens open middlweight
now, i’m going to Outback for a BIG Steak!
S[/quote]
Congrats!! Looking forward to seeing the pics.
AWESOME
Three 1st’s and 4 Trophys! Excellent work!
I am stoked for you, just goes to show how dedication pays off.
Hope you have a great feed and sleep like a log tonight.
How do we get this thread stickied? It is full of useful info!
I am impressed.
Awesome Stu, it all paid off. Great job
Kick ass man, Phenomenal work
My Contest Experience Part I:
Wow, well that was a hell of an experience. I?ll try to go through how my weekend went, so anyone following for either entertainment value, or actual how-to knowledge can get what they want.
Friday was a carb-up day, after depleting all week; I was counting on my body to fill out slowly, and in time for the Saturday morning prejudging. I was also counting on my body continuing to ?flush? water once I suddenly stopped drinking it around 4pm Friday after downing 3 gallons a day all week, effectively tightening my skin?s appearance. I ate every 2 hours throughout the day, always a little bit of protein (egg whites or plain chicken), with some carb source (not oatmeal or veggies though, which is what I would typically ingest). I also spent most of Friday being painted in Pro-Tan by my girlfriend Catherine, which was not especially fun, nor even enjoyable. Standing around all day in my briefs not only caused me to be cold (no bodyfat!), but eventually my feet began to hurt just from standing all day on the hardwood floors in my apartment (no bodyfat?). At around 7:30/8:00 Corey finished his own workout, and picked up Catherine, Mike (our other gym buddy), and myself, and we drove to Jersey where I had gotten a hotel so we wouldn?t be freaking out trying to find the venue Saturday morning (good thing we did, because driving in NJ is a horrible experience. Most of the people who came to see me got lost along the way and had their own ?creative? things to say about the town). When we finally arrived, we were all dog tired, but I still needed another coat of pro-tan, so Cat did her best while I ate a cold bison patty (Thibs suggested a P+F meal if I was looking full the night before the show)., and then promptly passed out.
I woke Saturday at about 7am, and had 4oz of plain chicken breasts with a single banana. I had planned on having 2 bananas with each feeding leading up to the prejudging, but at the last moment, decided tat I actually looked very tight and full, and that I?d be better suited erring on the side of being better conditioned, even if a little smaller. We did our best to get to the venue as early as we could for the weigh in simply so I could eat afterwards (we were still a little concerned about my ever fluctuating weight). Watching the other competitors strip down and get on the scale in front of me made me realize that I have absolutely no concept of what I actually look like. As each competitor took their turn, I would turn to Corey and comment about how big or cut they were. He just kept telling me not to worry; that I had them all beat. After taking my own turn at the scale (170.1 lbs!), Corey informed me how everyone took notice when I stripped down, and that I just needed to stick to our game plan.
Shortly before the classes started being called, we took out our ?muscle juice? and did a once over with some latex gloves I had gotten at a local drug store. I then did my best to get some sort of pump going with the few scattered light DBs and push-up bars laying around. I found that if I kept alternating a set of quick pushups with a set of bent over DB rows that I got a great pump going. After several ?sets? of this, I added in DB laterals, then curls, then repeat. I kept going several times until I thought I would over-pump, at which point I just put the weights down and tried to focus on all the time I spent disciplining myself with such a rigid diet, as well as all the people who had traveled several hours to see me try to ?place respectably? in my first show. Soon, my first class (Novice HW) was called to lineup in numerical order. I realized then, that having drawn #46 that I was all the way at the end. In an old article by Lee Labrada, he said to never allow yourself to be put on the end because you will more than likely be ignored. I did my best to not think about his theory as we were escorted onstage. As we were put through our poses, I tried not to think about shaking while holding them. Corey had yelled at me more than once that I needed to practice more, and longer so that it was effortless. Let me just say?. It?s damn hard holding those poses and making it look effortless, especially for as long as is typically required. I tried not to look around at the other competitors, thinking that it looked unprofessional, and would show that I was honestly worried about how I would do. I thought ?exude confidence!?, and hoped that it would affect my placing. I heard as several other competitors were shuffled around, and yet I was seemingly ignored all the way on the left of the stage. I must really suck. After the class was done, we were led off, but one other class member and myself were also in the 35+ class, so after a brief moments rest, were returned to the stage for that class.
During the 35+ class, after a few poses and quarter turns, people started getting shuffled. This time, I found myself brought in a little closer to the middle. Then a few more poses, and then shuffled into the very middle position. Was I doing well? How could I do well in this class but not in the Novice one where the competition seemed weaker? Maybe I just had no clue what was going on. I just settled on thinking that I had possibly made the top 3 and would be very content should I find out that I was correct. After the usual posing prompts from the judges, we were led off stage where I would have about an hour?s reprieve before being called out again for the Open Classes.
Backstage, I pondered with Corey about how I had been left alone during the Novice class. ?Maybe you were just so much better than the other competitors that they decided it was a contest for 2nd place?? was Corey?s very optimistic suggestion. I though, probably as he did, about Dorian Yates in 1993, about how he just outclassed everyone else that upon the moment he walked onstage, everyone knew it was his. But he was Dorian Yates, and had already won an Olympia. I was Stu Yellin, some bodybuilding enthusiast/gym rat who loved training, who was considered pretty knowledgeable by the other guys in the gym, but who had never actually thrown his hat into competitive waters. Maybe I wasn?t as good as I thought. Well, we both agreed that I was in the top 3 of the 35+ class. Actually, Corey was maintaining that I was the winner pretty adamantly, but the last thing I wanted to do was concede anything positive. The show was long from over, and bodybuilding is a damn subjective sport.
(I?ll write more in a little bit, still very run down and tired!)
S
Congrats Stu!
Stu, you looked great in the posing routine and by the looks of the pic you posted, you smoked that poor guy in the rear double bi… lol. Great job.