Absolutely! It’s played a significant role. Especially the deeper into a prep, recovery/cortisol/phyislca stress can really have a negative impact. Last year was horrible, waking up at 4:30am to do 45-60min cardio before work, then going to work, sleeping terribly for a few hours a night, it was really rough. This year, being able to work from home, still get an adequate amount of sleep, relax as needed during the day, has definitely been a game changer and extremely helpful. In addition to that, having this be my second year, we really hit the ground running. I started my prep this year much leaner, was able to handle way more carbs with way less cardio than last year, so all of those things have a cumulative effect. We learned that physical stress management is really important for me, also why we stopped HIIT a few weeks ago and stuck with lower calories and additional LISS.
Damn straight brother, I’m with you! That’s the attitude I have going in, another reason I’m glad I went to that posing workshop, looking confident and commanding on stage is an important part of it. I definitely plan on taking what’s mine. If it works out it’ll be quite a celebration. If not, I can still walk out with my head held high knowing I did everything I could. Either way, I’ll have a huge smile on my face when we get to Cheesecake Factory 
