Mighty's Contest Updates & Q&A Thread

Training
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[quote]David1991 wrote:
I think it’s always cool/good to compare years like that and see the differences. How many weeks did each take? 35lb is a pretty large amount to lose, and you were pretty lean to begin with…makes you realize how far some people are from competing who think they’d only have to drop 10lb lol
[/quote]

Obviously if you have to drop way more than you should for a contest, you’re going to suffer. The concern for competitors though is in adding quality size after each show. If my offseason weight had gone up each year without a corresponding increase in stage weight the following contest season, then I’d certainly be in no position to dole out advice. However, my contest weights have increased each year that I’ve been competing, and even done so with improved conditioning as well. I can certainly view this as justification that allowing my weight to creep up wasn’t a bad thing. This year though, things are very different.

Having basically stepped up to the level I’m now at, improvements each year may indeed be marginal (I hate to say that, because as always, I’m pushing damn hard to bring up weak points). At my age, I may have indeed put on almost all of the mass that my body is capable of (again, I’m not accepting that notion, just ruminating on it). If that turns out to be the case, then the conditioning game more than subtle size gains will end up as the factor I have the most control over.

The biggest difference between someone who has competed (and done well), and someone who has never truly achieved contest conditioning, is that the competitor now truthfully knows just how ‘big’ they weren’t -lol.

S

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[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Seems like you are trying to stay closer to “contest weight” this time around, huh?

In anticipation for competing this upcoming year I’m doing basically the same thing, trying to stay lean so I don’t have to diet for 6 months aggressively like last year. Strength is up, muscle is up, fat is down… What more could I ask for?

I always look forward to your threads Stu, keep it up man, you are inspiring others just like me every day I’ve no doubt.[/quote]

Thanks Lonnie. I’m hoping that in keeping myself a bit leaner than in past offseasons, once I find out when the shows are scheduled, I’ll be ahead of where I was last year (I may not have as much prep time as I usually allow myself). Slower preps mean more LBM onstage, and the one thing I can honestly say about my past contests, is that I was always one of the biggest middleweights :smiley:

Sounds like you’ve got your plan in order as well. Keep us informed as things pan out!

S

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

[quote]jimmybango wrote:
Hey Stu…where can I find the schedule for the 2012 WNBF shows? Has it been released yet?[/quote]

While I know it’s always in the back of their NB&F magazines, you can also check their site WNBF . net for Pro shows, and INBF . net for Amateur ones. If you’re interested in tested shows of any federation, try naturalbodybuildingevents . com.

Planning to get onstage soon?

S[/quote]

Yeah, as of right now I’m looking at April/May, and I’d like to do a WNBF show if possible. I know you’ve harped on the fact that their natural shows are truly ‘natural’, whereas that is not really the case with some other organizations. I know a lot of times, the schedules for the next year aren’t released until around December or so…so I was wondering if a pro like yourself might have the inside track :slight_smile:

Also, I live in Charlotte and don’t really want to travel too far to compete, so I’m open to one of the other organizations if need be, but I’d prefer WNBF.

I’ll check those sites you suggested…thanks man

JB

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
The biggest difference between someone who has competed (and done well), and someone who has never truly achieved contest conditioning, is that the competitor now truthfully knows just how ‘big’ they weren’t -lol.

S[/quote]

That is a great line!

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Good information Stu. Nice new avatar too, where is that photoshoot from?

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@TIMM: Thanks, after I wrote that, I thought to myself “That’s a great quote!” -lol

@JAKE:I was ‘shot’ by a Photographer from Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness after my last contest. They shot Cat too, so along with this month’s issue where she and I both appear twice,(in Barnes and Nobles and select newstands everywhere!), you never know when the pics will turn up!
(Note the lack of fake tan!)

S

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
@JAKE:I was ‘shot’ by a Photographer from Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness after my last contest. They shot Cat too, so along with this month’s issue where she and I both appear twice,(in Barnes and Nobles and select newstands everywhere!), you never know when the pics will turn up!
(Note the lack of fake tan!)

S[/quote]

Great stuff, I study and love both photography & bodybuilding so this is interesting for me! I should be subscribing to the online magazine in a weeks time!

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I thought this little update might be interesting, as there’s a whole thread going on about training on days you’re “not feeling it”.

Despite my having to now train at a very ill equipped New York Sports Club, I’ve been doing my best to be creative in my exercise selection, and even just go back to really basic stuff in certain instances. Last week though, I tweaked something in my back, sort of near the inner left lack, but not quite the mid-back. Anyway, I took a couple of extra days off in between my usual back to back sessions, avoiding anything that would excessively load the area, or even create a pronounced stretch.

Last night, I had the choice of training back, as I would normally do in my rotation, or skipping it. Well, I figured if I could just focus on movements in the vertical plane, hitting more the meat of my lats, and avoiding the actual ‘back’ back muscles, that I’d be okay. What I settled on was about 10 sets of V-Grip pulldowns, limited ROM, only coming down to my face, really keeping the stress on the underarm lat attachments. Afterward, I probably did about 20 mins (no clue how many sets) of pullups with a shoulder width neutral grip.

Suffice to say that today, while my ‘injured’ area feels fine, my lats are toasty as hell. I certainly wasn’t fired up doing this, but with careful focus on what I was trying to do, and the cumulative effect of each successive set, I managed to scrape out what I’d consider a worthwhile training session.

S

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I thought this little update might be interesting, as there’s a whole thread going on about training on days you’re “not feeling it”.

Despite my having to now train at a very ill equipped New York Sports Club, I’ve been doing my best to be creative in my exercise selection, and even just go back to really basic stuff in certain instances. Last week though, I tweaked something in my back, sort of near the inner left lack, but not quite the mid-back. Anyway, I took a couple of extra days off in between my usual back to back sessions, avoiding anything that would excessively load the area, or even create a pronounced stretch.

Last night, I had the choice of training back, as I would normally do in my rotation, or skipping it. Well, I figured if I could just focus on movements in the vertical plane, hitting more the meat of my lats, and avoiding the actual ‘back’ back muscles, that I’d be okay. What I settled on was about 10 sets of V-Grip pulldowns, limited ROM, only coming down to my face, really keeping the stress on the underarm lat attachments. Afterward, I probably did about 20 mins (no clue how many sets) of pullups with a shoulder width neutral grip.

Suffice to say that today, while my ‘injured’ area feels fine, my lats are toasty as hell. I certainly wasn’t fired up doing this, but with careful focus on what I was trying to do, and the cumulative effect of each successive set, I managed to scrape out what I’d consider a worthwhile training session.

S[/quote]

Nice post. I think a lot of people can learn from you, man.

And sorry to hear about your back. Hope you feel better soon. :slight_smile:

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I thought this little update might be interesting, as there’s a whole thread going on about training on days you’re “not feeling it”.

Despite my having to now train at a very ill equipped New York Sports Club, I’ve been doing my best to be creative in my exercise selection, and even just go back to really basic stuff in certain instances. Last week though, I tweaked something in my back, sort of near the inner left lack, but not quite the mid-back. Anyway, I took a couple of extra days off in between my usual back to back sessions, avoiding anything that would excessively load the area, or even create a pronounced stretch.

Last night, I had the choice of training back, as I would normally do in my rotation, or skipping it. Well, I figured if I could just focus on movements in the vertical plane, hitting more the meat of my lats, and avoiding the actual ‘back’ back muscles, that I’d be okay. What I settled on was about 10 sets of V-Grip pulldowns, limited ROM, only coming down to my face, really keeping the stress on the underarm lat attachments. Afterward, I probably did about 20 mins (no clue how many sets) of pullups with a shoulder width neutral grip.

Suffice to say that today, while my ‘injured’ area feels fine, my lats are toasty as hell. I certainly wasn’t fired up doing this, but with careful focus on what I was trying to do, and the cumulative effect of each successive set, I managed to scrape out what I’d consider a worthwhile training session.

S[/quote]

I think thats really where the experience comes into the game. Things like how to work around an injury optimally and safely dont come early. File this under “things to look forward too” as we all continue down this load training road.

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The thing is, at this point, in MY training career, the injuries and ‘weaknesses’ are there. Even on my best day, I have to keep in mind past issues and be certain not to aggravate anything that’s so far been cooperating. My lower back, it seems, is always going to be a hit or miss matter. Just last night, I was doing legs, and after several good sets of front squats, I felt a few little twinges in my lower lumbar area.

So after reracking the weight, I switched over to the leg press, and focused on C.A.T. reps (very explosive concentrics, non lock out, slow eccentrics) with a lighter load for the remainder of my session. Even my knees seem to be a little temperamental these days. Some leg days I can do walking lunges no problem, while others, it just feels like some of my knee ligaments are being stressed a little too much. Those are the days when I obviously choose other exercises.

I think we all tend to fall in love with movements that either we are really strong at, or we feel we absolutely positively have to be doing. At a certain point though, after a solid foundation is built up, I think you can really adhere much less to such a structure approach so long as you are still stressing the hell out of your muscles enough to elicit a growth response.

S

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So I just found out that the Light-Heavyweight winner from the INBF Hercules show this past June (where I won the Middleweight class) FAILED his urine test and has had his win officially rescinded, and the runner up declared the actual winner. As cool as it is that the INBF/WNBF actually enforcing their policy, I have to feel horrible for the guy who had his ‘moment’ essentially stolen. In making things as right as they could, the powers that be awarded him a trophy this past weekend at the WNBF Mr. Universe contest. Certainly raises some interesting discussions eh?

S

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Failed the test from the show he won, or some later test?

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Test from the show. They do polygraphs of all competitors beforehand, but then make the winners submit an actual urine sample which gets sent out. Obviously it takes a couple of weeks for the results to come back.

S

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Test from the show. They do polygraphs of all competitors beforehand, but then make the winners submit an actual urine sample which gets sent out. Obviously it takes a couple of weeks for the results to come back.

S[/quote]

Interesting to know that they do poly’s, good insight.

Does Robert De Niro conduct them in a secret basement room?

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You know, the first time I took a Poly, it was actually a bit unnerving. I knew I had nothing to hide, but it just seemed to intimidating… being hooked up to those wires, even had something around my chest to monitor my breathing… all while some guy standing behind you is asking questions.

Your mind starts racing as you question every answer you’re about to give… yeah, if you’re the naturally antsy or nervous type, it may be a bit creepy. A urine test is no prob,… of course having someone follow you into the Men’s room to watch is a little funny, and the first time I had to submit a sample, I had to drink a few cups of water first because I was so dehydrated from the contest (hell of a sport, this bodybuilding -lol).

On an update note,… my back WAS feeling better after taking a day or two off last week, and skipping all rowing and upright pressing movements. This last Friday night though, I was trainng back and bis,… my back workout was still careful, and I was even able to do some very slow, controlled, and not too heavy DB rows (two 90’s at the same time, maybe 45 degree angle, belted up for a little extra support). It was when I got to my bicep workout that I must have re-injured the area. I had started with non support concentration curls, then moved onto seated DBs. I had wanted to do incline curls, but being unable to secure an incline bench, I just sat at an upright bench with my butt a bit forward than my back, and tried to get a full stretch in each bicep during my reps. Well, I must have been using the midback/inner lat muscles that I had injured the week before, because I felt the worst shooting pain explode from the area. I actually dropped the DBs and found that I couldn’t take a full breath without feeling like my lat had actually detached from my rib cage. The pain was certainly much much worse than the week before, and Cat got a bit freaked out as I’m not the type of person to milk an injury or try for attention of any sort. The rest of the night was rough, I could barely move my torso, taking half breaths to avoid pain, unable to untie my shoes, getting into bed was a huge chore.

The next day, it felt slightly better, and I decided to obviously skip the gym, going to a local BBing contest that night out on Long Island (where I was recognized not only by a bunch of competitors and people in the audience, but by the head judge of the show, who is someone I look up to as a Natural pro!) Yesterday was scheduled for ‘delts and tris’, so instead of taking off, I figured I’d pick one exercise for each muscle group, nothing heavy, but try to get some blood in the area, hopefully serving as some degree of maintenance. As far as the rest of the week,… well, I’m just going to take it one day at a time, avoiding anything that will place stress on the area, and realize that my body has taken some serious abuse with the weights over the years.

And yes, I had my brother check everything out,… no actual tears, just a horrific strain.

S

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I was training back and bis,… my back workout was still careful, and I was even able to do some very slow, controlled, and not too heavy DB rows (two 90’s at the same time, maybe 45 degree angle, belted up for a little extra support)[/quote]Do u pick up the DBs from the floor ?

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The pain you describe sounds like something that happened to me while sneezing. Yes, sneezing, I am a wuss, lol.

I hurt something in the mid-back area and like you mentioned; breathing deep, getting out of bed, those types of movements were excrutiating for a few days. For me, it wasn’t as serious as it felt, what I mean by that is I just rested it and it healed, didn’t have to do anything serious other than avoid back work for a brief period.

Hope you get better!

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@TOLISMANN: Actually no, I always set the DBs I’m planning on using sideways across the DBs on the bottom shelf of the dumbell rack. Believe me, my days of lifting anything off the floor each set are long over! I haven’t done a full deadlift in over 5 years,… well, except for the Indigo Training camp this last summer, but that was a special occasion. -lol.

@TIM: I know, it’s so ridiculous the way weight trainers get hurt. Especially bodybuilders, as the chance of developing muscle imbalances really can put you at a disadvantage just doing what might be considered everyday stuff. I always joke about how despite my appearance, I’m not an athlete. Proving the point by reaching for a sandwich in the backseat of my car while driving and actually pulling my shoulder! I’m such a spaz sometimes.

S

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Had a few days off from work, so I found myself (and I’ve been doing this on previous weekends as well) crashing at my Parents’ house on on Long Island just so I can train at the Synergy Gym that’s nearby (It’s huge, amazingly well equipped, and all the trainers are into competing, so they love me there! -lol)

After a great chest session yesterday, Cat and I hit up the local IHOP where we discovered Blueberry Harvest Nut n’ Grain pancakes, as well as what I can assume are seasonal, Pumpkin Pancakes… life is good my freinds :slight_smile:

S