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Well done stu!!! You looked incredible!
Wow mate, those pics tell the story. You looked very impressive! Your posing has gotten even better, that side chest just dominates and your facial expression is relaxed (lol) and confident.
You legs definitely came in much more defined this show. You can clearly see the V or your rec fem and also your sartorious in the front double bi. Congradulations again and thanks again for another great thread.
The side chest is unbelievable. Really, really inspiring.
Thanks again for all the kind words guys. I’m really happy with my overall conditioning as well as how much muscle I was able to retain onstage (once again, barely squeeking into the middleweights, 174.6 on the official scale -lol).
Something that does bother me though, and I don’t know if this is because my lower back was acting up and I had to skip my usual heavy SLD’s, or if i was just too focused to keep my hams contracted, but I think they looked worse in my side chest shots than they did at any previous contest. Admittedly, my quads need to come up more, but I always thought my hams were pretty good, especially when you look at a side relaxed shot. Really makes me wonder if I just lost my concentration in the side chest pose. Cat (my gf) commented that not only were there so many things on a checklist to go down when you settle into each pose, but that in this particular show, I seemed to take much longer settling myself into each shot. I’m sure once the video guy finally send us the DVDs (I’ll edit both mind and Cat’s portions out and put 'em up online) I’ll be able to really pick myself apart.
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I actually was taking note of your Hamstring here Stu, it has a convex shape to it (meaning, its developed) which adds to the full leg look. It’s certainly apparent to my eyes that you have trained the hell out of them. I dont have any shots to compare them to really like you do, but they certainly are not a weak point in these photos that I can see.
Thanks Lonnie, but although I totally can accept that this is my best package since I first stepped onstage, I have to always have my sights set on my next level of competition. When I first began my Spring 2009 Prep (my 1st show), I didn’t go through the magazines and look at the competitors who were doing “okay” in the novice divisions, I kept my eye on guys like Cordova and Whitacre. I knew that theirs was the level needed to truly be at the top of the game. Of course, there’s something in my psychological functioning that makes me just thrive on always thinking I’m behind the eightball.
Aside from the yearly progress I’ve made since first donning a pair of posing trunks, there was a very similar pattern in my 2 contests this year and my 2 contests from last year. In 2010, I had committed to doing 2 shows a few weeks apart. In the first one, I won my class, only to lose the overall in one of the most ridiculous spectacles I’ve ever seen (even the eventual winner’s friends were chanting “keep going, just keep going” during the overall judging, as the entire auditorium chanted my number).
Following the experience of not winning over considerably weak competition, I buckled down in an effort to truly shove it in people’s faces at the next contest. When the day of the 2nd show arrived, I not only easily won my class (again), but took the overall, beating a very seriously competitive lineup of bodybuilders. The experience made me realize that had I nabbed my Pro card at the first show, it wouldn’t have meant as much to me, and I would always have felt that I wasn’t up to the level of other Pros in the federation (USBF) who had truly fought for their cards.
This year, again, I committed to 2 shows, again several weeks apart. The first one, despite my initial expectations of a huge, insanely competitive level of bodybuilders, turned out to be laughably the weakest contest I have ever competed in. Again, I walked away feeling shafted, especially as I had not only viewed HD video of the prejudging before the night show, but had walked offstage to people already congratulating me on easily taking my class.
I’m sure anyone reading this already knows the whole back-story on this contest (I still get emails from around the world from people who’ve seen the youtube video telling me how badly I was robbed -lol). As I did the year before, I threw myself into my training, and diet like never before. There was an element of pure anger in the back of my mind every time I pounded the treadmill at 4:30am before work, every time I attacked the weights, and every time my stomach growled and I told it to just shut up.
The mind is indeed a powerful tool, but you have to set your sights high enough that anything less and you will feel like a failure. It’s funny, but with other people (my prep clients, even my girlfriend), I always say that “as long as you know you did everything you possibly could, then you can stand onstage with your head high no matter how you finish.” And yes, it is a great quote, and I do believe it’s true.
BUT there is always that little competitive part of all of us, especially bodybuilders whose entire life has to readjust around a contest prep, and their loved ones who also take a ‘hit’ so to speak. It is this part that allows us to dig in, not just when we truly think we’re “done” with a set, but in cumulative terms of what we can accomplish. Last Spring, I thought my May 2010 showing was the best I would ever look, and that maybe I would just never reach the conditioning of the top natty pros. Now, I think back to my almost-acceptance of that, and I’m amused, angry, and even ashamed that I could even consider such a limitation on myself.
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Yep… There’s always a pound of muscle to add or fat to lose. I definitely agree with the “never reach perfect” attitude - Hell, you really HAVE to have that attitude in this sport otherwise there is no reason to push beyond your previous level. Its refreshing to think that the people who are on top of their game dont get there until their 40’s now a days. I’m 27 now and I’m thinking that I cant wait to be 35,40,45 to see where I’m at with all of this.
Looking at guys like Cordova and Jeff Rodriguez can certainly leave you with a sense of “Wow, I’ll never be that good” - And then as the years go by you get closer and closer. Just One of the reasons we do this crazy thing day in and day out.
I’m sure you’ll bring in an even better package next year Stu. You keep detailed notes and have done it enough times now that you know pretty much exactly what to do for yourself to get ready for a show.
Alright, a few shots from the Overall! I have no problem with the Bantamweight (on the left) winning, he truly had the best combination of size, shape, and conditioning. A good number of people have since told me that I had a pretty good shot at the overall, which I doubted at the time, but in seeing these pics, I can easily see myself second behind the eventual winner. The nice thing is it confirms in my mind that being able to come in as dialed as I can, with my improvements in size, even with what I consider weaknesses in genetic shape, that I can easily hold my own against much larger competitors. Bodybuilding truly is a sport where the ‘package’ must work as a whole.
(Although, I still need more quad sweep, and maybe more upper lat thickness from the back)
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(you can really see a weakness in my lats here! I thought they were better, but maybe I lost focus this past year in worrying about other bodyparts)
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You’ve got some standout calves. The guy to the right of you in the picture has a lot of size. Actually most up there is pretty damn big