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And a nice season ending
tribute came my way when I was profiled as
Bodybuilding.com's Amateur Bodybuilder of the Week (www.bodybuilders.com/hults.htm)
and Midwest Christian Bodybuilder of the Month (October
2005) (www.midwestchristianbodybuilding.com/scotthults.htm).
It's now two months later, and I am in training for my first
competition for next year, the 2006 NPC Northern Kentucky
Bodybuilding Championships in Covington, KY. The Northern
Kentucky was my first contest in 2005 and the only one in
which I failed to Place. I have some unfinished business in
Covington.
I'm starting this story exactly six months to the day of the
Northern Kentucky. Several things have changed in my
training this year from last, so I have decided to write
about it.
First, I changed gyms. After 11 years, I moved from
SportPlex to the new Gold's Gym of Birmingham, a really
outstanding facility. Gold's Gyms have been around since
1965 and always had the reputation of being home to muscle
heads, providing low lights, dark and dingy weight rooms,
and loud music for tough studs pounding iron. No more.
Today's Gold's are bright, well-equipped, member friendly
facilities. The new Gold's in Birmingham is a showcase
family center.
Second, after working with a personal trainer for more than
a year, I am now a solo act. I decided to train myself this
year to see if I learned enough under my trainer to do it
myself. I will know soon enough if I paid enough attention
during my workouts.
I will still work with my former personal trainer for posing
practice sessions. As a former NPC competitor and judge of
bodybuilding contests, he knows his stuff and I can still
learn. I want to polish my posing to be able to step on the
stage next year with more confidence. I really love posing.
It's my favorite part of the sport of bodybuilding.
Third, I am enrolled in the National Association of Sports
Medicine (NASM)
Personal Trainer Certification course to become a NASM CPT.
While I train for my first 2006 bodybuilding competition, I
am planning on completing the course work in time to take my
final exam in January. I hope in a few years to begin a new
career in personal training.
Let's Get Started
In 2005, I competed in tested (for steroids) and non-tested
shows. In the non-tested shows (NPC) I competed in the
Bantam Weight Class and in my age class. The Bantam Weight
limit is 143.5 pounds. I never weighed more than 134 pounds
on stage. I was always the lightest competitor. In the
tested shows, I competed in the Open Men's Short Class and
my age class. The short class height limit is 5' 7 ".
As 5' 6 ", I wasn't always the shortest, but I was
always the lightest.
My goal for 2006 is to add 5 - 8 pounds of new muscle, so I
can compete close to the Bantam Weight Class maximum,
hopefully around 142.0 pounds.
I began training for next year the day after my last contest
of 2005 by going on a lean-mass gain diet to add between 20
-25 pounds of weight. From a diet standpoint, I added two
high calorie, high carb, high protein content protein shakes
to my daily diet. I drank one shake before training and the
other right after. I drank the other extra shake about an
hour before I went to bed. I continued with my 11 AM and 3
PM shakes. I continued my five-meal a day diet plan, heavy
in all the right things, including a healthy dose of
supplements, and quickly added 20 pounds of bodyweight.
When I reached 154.0 pounds, I dropped the extra morning and
evening shakes, added some weight-loss supplements and amino
acids and went on a two-week muscle-hardening phase in order
to work the new weight to turn some of it into new muscle. I
am down to 151.0 pounds. I have one more week to go and then
I will return to the lean-mass gain diet. The plan is to go
through the same on and off phase until January, when I will
begin my final fat-burning/cutting diet for my March 18th
contest.
Workouts
So far, as a solo, I have been doing just fine in the gym. I
work out six days a week. Monday- Friday, I arrive at 6:30
AM and work for 75 minutes. I exercise two body parts per
day: Monday, back and biceps; Tuesday, legs and calves;
Wednesday, chest and triceps; Thursday, shoulders and biceps
and Friday, legs and calves. I also work abs and include a
little cardio every day. On Saturday, I have a 90-minute "fun
day," working on anything that grabs my fancy.
Training Journal
It's Tuesday, October 11th. I am in the third week of a lean
mass gain diet cycle. I have been eating lots of protein and
vegetables, but after nearly three weeks, I am stuck at 150
pounds. Starting tomorrow and for the next five days, I am
adding an extra scoop of protein powder to my morning and
afternoon shake to increase my protein intake. On Monday,
(10/17) I will began a two week muscle hardening diet to
bring my weight back down a few pounds while I work extra
hard in the gym to harden what I have gained during the lean
mass diet cycle.
I am working very hard in the gym. I am pushing myself as
hard as I can. So far, I don't have any problems with
motivation or desire. I want to work as hard as I can to
achieve the gains I will need for next year.
Last week, I set a personal best in the Flat Bench Dumb Bell
Press:
1 x 10 x 85's (170 pounds)
1 x 10 x 85's (170 pounds)
1 x 10 x 85's (170 pounds)
1 x 10 x 90's (180 pounds)
It was a nice feeling lifting that much total weight in the
four sets: 6,900 pounds.
I won't do that kind of lift again. I am a bodybuilder, not
a weight lifter. I just wanted to do it once to see if I
could and I used a spotter to make sure my lift was safe.
I know I am doing the right kind of workouts for my contest
preparation. Whatever body part I work on is always a little
sore the next day. This is good.
It's Monday, October 24th and I am in the second week of a
two-week muscle hardening diet phase. I weigh 149 pounds and
will probably drop one or two more pounds by Friday. During
this particular hardening phase, I am seeing some new muscle
growth, especially in the quads, hams and biceps. I am
pleased with what is going on. I hope by next March, I am
able to add the 5-8 pounds of new muscle I'm shooting for. I
will begin a two-week lean mass gain diet next week.
My workouts continue to be intensive. I am working harder
than I did last year when I had a personal trainer. I think
part of the reason is that I'm trying to prove to myself
that I can train myself. So far, I can.
I have some very exciting personal news. I recently
discovered Russ Testo, Physique Artist, on the web. (www.russtesto.com)
Russ, like me, was profiled as Midwest Christian Bodybuilder
of the Month. He is a posing guru. He worked with Arnold,
was guest poser at Mr. Olympia, Pro Ironman and Arnold
Classic contests. His video, "Posing the
Extra-Ordinary Way" is excellent. I liked is more
than Gary Udit's "Perfect Posing" video. I
contacted Russ and he agreed to coach me for three two-hour
posing sessions over three days in his Albany, NY studio in
November. We will work on symmetry poses, mandatory poses
and my individual posing routine. This is very cool. In
order for me to be competitive against larger men, I have to
pose better than my competition. At my final contest in
July, I was named "Best Male Poser." I want to
improve on this record.
Meanwhile, I had to go to Lyon, France during the week of
November 7th for a conference. I always look for a good gym
whenever I'm on the road and this time was no different.
After working my way through the French phone book and a
road map, I found a decent gym about 15 minutes walking
distance from my hotel. I took a one-week membership for 50
Euros and was able to work out three times during the week.
It was a well-equipped gym and had a swimming pool, sauna,
steam room and basketball court. I was able to schedule a
workout every other day. I did have occasion to cheat a bit
on my diet though. After all, I was in France, and when in
France...do as the French do, eat well!
It took a bit of doing to get home from France. There were
riots going on in most of the country and Lyon was no
exception. My flight from Lyon to Paris was supposed to take
off on November 11th, Armistice Day in France, at 11 AM. I
got to the airport at 9 AM, just in time for some jerk to
call in a bomb threat that closed the entire airport for two
hours. We all stood outside, about a hundred yards from the
entrance in 35-degree weather, with our luggage, waiting for
the threat to end. At 11 AM, we were let back in and I went
to my gate, caught a flight to Paris, where my flight to
Atlanta had left an hour earlier, and was booked on a flight
to Montreal, Canada where I spent the night. The next
morning, I had to be at the Montreal Airport at 4 AM for a 6
AM flight to New York City. Then I caught a flight to
Birmingham and arrived home around 12 Noon. Quite an
odyssey.
It's Thursday evening (November 17) and I just finished
having dinner in Albany, New York, with two friends, Sean
and Lisa. Really special people. Lisa enjoys talking about
bodybuilding as much as Sean does. I am in Albany to work
with Posing Artist, Russ Testo. And work I did. I met Russ
today at 1:15 and we finished our first training session at
4:45. I was beat. But I am pumped. Russ showed me a lot of
really cool things that makes a difference in posing. We
worked on individual poses and on my 90-second individual
routine. Russ's ideas are right on and I will benefit
greatly by this experience. We will have two sessions on
Friday and one on Saturday. Then I will return home and, as
Russ says, "Practice, practice, practice."
I really believe Russ's teaching will make me a much better
poser next year.
On Friday night, Russ joined Sean, Lisa and I for dinner. We
spent the whole evening taking about, what else but
bodybuilding. Sean has a large collection of books, tapes
and DVDs on bodybuilding. Lots of interesting anecdotes
flowed around the table. Before my final session with Russ
Saturday afternoon, Sean and I went to his gym, where we
worked legs and calves. Sean is one strong dude, but he kept
up with me. LOL
It's Sunday evening and I'm back home in Birmingham,
Alabama. I can't describe the way I feel after spending nine
hours one-on-one with Russ Testo. He is a Master Posing
Artist. Russ has the knowledge, the technique, the great
moves, the feeling and sensitivity of a man who has a
passion and has lived that passion for more than 25 years.
Russ has taken the act of contest posing to a level well
above everyone else. Yet, he is a humble man, a quiet man
and man who is secure enough in himself to be able to share
his secrets with a guy like me who is willing to place
myself in his hands. When I walked into Russ's studio, I
said, "Russ, I know nothing. I am a blank slate. Please
fill my slate with your knowledge." And he did. But he
did it by making me feel good about my posing up to now.
After watching me go through a symmetry round and mandatory
round, Russ just said, "Very good, Scott. All we are
going to do is add and subtract a bit. And that's what we
did." I left Albany a much better poser. And I will
practice what Russ taught to me and I will get even better
by my first contest of the year next March.
We spent a lot of time on perfecting my 90-second individual
posing routine. Russ has great ideas and knows how to work
with the music to create a story with pictures. The
pictures, of course, are poses. I'm really looking forward
to performing my new routine at the Northern Kentucky.
A very special highlight of my last hour with Russ on
Saturday was when he showed me a live demonstration of the
audition posing routine that he performed for Arnold and his
Arnold Classic in 1981, Russ's first guest posing stint. He
then showed me a live demo of his latest routine,
choreographed to Bobby Daren's "Mack The
Knife." Both were classic. Thanks, Russ for a
really great experience.
It's the Monday after Thanksgiving. I have a new training
partner. Actually, I have had a new training partner for the
past six weeks. But now, we have stepped up our training
because, in addition to Dave being my training partner, I
have been coaching and training him to enter his first
bodybuilding contest next April.
Dave is 26 years old, married with one daughter and another
child on the way. He is a college graduate with a Bachelor's
degree in Criminology and played varsity baseball while
attending the university. He is 6' 2" and weighs 215
pounds. His chest is 44", his waist, 34", biceps,
17.5", quads 24" and calves 16". His body fat
is 6.8%. He is well muscled, has a great work ethic and is
training as a natural athlete. Dave will enter the 2006 FAME
S.N.B.F. Georgia Open on April 1. He will compete in the
Novice Heavyweight and Open Men's Tall Classes. I will also
compete in that contest as a Open Men's Short and Super
Grand Master 60+. We work out each morning from 6:30 - 7:45
and on Saturday, we practice posing. One of the extra
benefits of my training Dave is, because he is a large man,
we are working with heavier weights. We are helping each
other gain muscle mass while I am training him to be a
competitive bodybuilder. Win, Win.
It's sixteen weeks until my first contest next year, the
2006 NPC Northern Kentucky Bodybuilding & Fitness Open
Championship in Covington, KY. I will enter this non-tested
contest as a Bantam Weight (143.25 pounds) and Super Grand
Master 60+. I have just come off of a muscle hardening diet
these last two weeks and today, November 27, I weigh 158
pounds and my body fat is a whopping 14%. I'm 23 pounds
heavier than I was for my final contest of this year in
July. This was planned. As a matter of fact, today, I am on
a High Carb Weight Gain diet for the next 10 days to two
weeks. The idea is to add about five more pounds, work that
extra lean mass during that period and then, about the
middle of December, begin a slow fat burn/cutting diet that
will take me to the contest. My goal is to step on the stage
in Kentucky at 142 pounds and 4% body fat, seven pounds more
than I competed at this season and at the same body fat %.
This High Carb Weight Gain includes lots of egg whites,
protein shakes, lean meat, vegetables, beans and rice. Lots
of the right stuff and no deserts, bread, butter, or fast
food.
I have gotten bigger. My quads and biceps have grown an
inch. My waist has grown three inches, but that's OK.
Everything else will continue to grow and my waist will
shrink when I diet for the contest. I will be shooting for
the same 29"waist I had this year.
Weeeooo. Just a quick update. It's Tuesday, December
6 and I am nearing the end of my 10-day High Carb Weight
Gain diet. Today I weigh 163.5 pounds. I got up to 164 on
Sunday, 29 pounds up from my last contest in July and the
most I have ever weighed in my life. But it doesn't seem to
be a fat gain. I can still see vascularity in my arms and in
my shoulders and pecs. This is a good sign. I'm glad this
phase is coming to an end on Friday. I'm getting a little
tired of six protein shakes a day and I love chocolate.
It's the week before Christmas and I have to say "No
thank you" to all of the offers of candy, cookies,
pastries, cakes, pies and other treats that abound in my
office. Every one has something to eat. I do take one small
cookie, maybe once a day, just to be polite. Other than
that, I pass. On Tuesday, December 20th, I weighed 159.5
pounds. I have begun my slow fat burning/cutting diet for my
March 18th date in Covington, Kentucky. I will be ready.
Dave, my training partner, and I are working hard in the
gym. We push each other. He wants his Pro Card in his first
contest, and I want to help him get it. I want to place in
the Top Five in Bantam Weights and win the Super Grand
Master 60+ title in Kentucky. So we are both highly
motivated.
On Monday, I substituted my morning cup of oatmeal with a
half a grapefruit. I also eliminated the rice portion in my
evening meal. That's the only change in my diet so far and I
have already lost about four pounds. I am going to do this
very slowly so as not to lose too much muscle while I am
losing fat. I will start a more serious weight loss diet on
January 1st.
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January
1, 2006
It's
11 weeks until the 2006 NPC Northern Kentucky Bodybuilding
Championships in Covington, KY. I have been on a contest
fat-burning/cutting diet for the past three weeks. I started my diet
weighing 165 pounds. Today (January 3) I am at 155.8. I am starting
to show the leanness and cuts I am looking for. But, in order to be
really prepared for this event, I have decided to do a warm up
contest. I have entered the 2006 NPC Atlantic USA Bodybuilding
Championships in Norcross, Georgia on February 25, three weeks
before the Northern Kentucky. I will enter the Bantam Weight Class
and Grand Master 50+ (no 60+). So now, I have less than eight weeks
before my first 2006 competition. My plan for this show is to work
out the off-season kinks, polish my posing, do my new posing routine
and generally go with the attitude of doing the best I can and
leaving the show much better prepared for the Northern Kentucky. I
do plan on winning one or two trophies at the NPC Atlantic USA. I
don't want to come home empty-handed there and have to do that show
again in 2007. LOL
Dave
and I decided that in order for him to do well in his first tested
show on April 1, it would be a good idea for both of us to do a
warm-up contest. He and I will do the 2006 NPC Atlantic USA
show together. He will compete as a Novice Heavyweight and Open
Men's Light Heavyweight (198 pounds). Dave is 6' 2" and today
weighs 207. His body fat is about 5.7%.
From this
point on, I will post a Daily Journal entry for our first contest
prep
Training Splits: 6:20 - 8:00 AM M-F; 9:00 -11:00 AM Saturday
Monday - Back & Biceps + Abs and Cardio (treadmill &
elliptical)
Tuesday - Legs & Calves + Abs and Cardio
Wednesday - Chest & Triceps + Abs and Cardio
Thursday - Shoulders & Biceps + Abs and Cardio
Friday - Legs & Calves + Abs and Cardio
Saturday - Posing (individual routine and mandatory rounds)
Workouts consist of 3-4 sets of 10-15 reps for each body part using
lighter weights, thereby bringing more cardio into the regular
workout to aid in fat burning and cutting during this period of our
contest prep.
Wednesday, January 4th:
Chest & Abs
Dave and I did three sets of 15 reps of flat bench dumb bell
presses, incline bench flies, decline bar bell bench presses and
cable flies. In each case, we did five slow, five pump and five slow
reps. After each set, we immediately supersetted with 10 dips. We
did a total of 125 dips, throwing in one extra just for good
measure. Our weights were moderate, as we are in a cutting, muscle
hardening phase. 60s for the flat bench, 40s for the incline flies,
2 45 plates for the decline bar bell and 20 pounds for the cable
flies. Since we did so many dips, we only did three sets of triceps
cable pull downs. Then we skipped rope for cardio and practiced
posing for about 10 minutes. A solid workout.
Thursday,
1/5/06 Dave weighs 207.0 (goal 198.0) Old Navy weighs 156.0 (goal
142.0)
Shoulders and Biceps today. Normal workout. Three sets of 15 reps
for each exercise. Four shoulders and two biceps. Plus 15 minutes of
treadmill.
Friday, 1/6/06. Dave weighs
207.0 and Old Navy weighs 155.8. On goal.
Legs and calves today. Moderate weights (300 on the seated leg
squat, 200 on the standing leg squat). Three sets of 50 weighted
seated calve raises, supersetted with three sets of 50 deep toe
raises. Seated and supine ham curls, seated leg extensions. Single
leg squats. Adductor's and abductors, max weight on the machine 3 X
15. Plus skip rope and practice posing. Seven weeks to go until the
contest. Dave and I will have a video taped posing practice on
Saturday.
Saturday
Dave and I spent two hours practicing our posing. I video taped the
session. We did symmetry rounds, mandatory rounds and our individual
posing routines. We considered the camera eye to be the eyes of the
judges. After our "workout" we viewed the video
critically and looked for ways to improve...especially the little
things...head placement...transitions, facial expression, posture. I
will tape each of our Saturday practice sessions until the contest,
saving each one so we have a record of our progress.
Monday
After looking at the "game
films" on Sunday (of our Saturday videoed posing session) I
decided Dave and I needed another training session today. I wasn't
happy with our "hardness" during the posing
practice. Today we worked on holding rock-hard poses for 5-10
seconds before transitioning to the next pose. We also practiced our
routines...going through the 90 seconds staying hard and flexed. It
was worth skipping our usual Monday back and biceps workout. Now we
will practice what we "learned" from today's extra posing
session.
Tuesday
& Wednesday
Dave and I had an aggressive back and biceps workout on Tuesday
and a hard leg and calves workout today. Since we are in a cutting
diet phase, with less than seven weeks to go until our contest, we
are using moderately heavy weights and doing between 10-15 reps per
set. Before we started our diet 13 weeks ago, we used heavier
weights and lower reps to build up the lean mass we had added off
season. The key now is injury prevention. We do between three and
five exercises for each body part and add at least 15 minutes of
cardio after our workout. Today, I weighed 154.4 and Dave weighed
204.6. For the 2006 NPC Atlantic USA show in Norcross, GA on
February 25, I plan to come in at 142.0 (Bantam Weight) and Dave
plans on coming in at 198.0 (Lt. Heavyweight). We are both on
target.
Thursday
Great Chest and Triceps workout today. Dave and I supersetted
flat bench press with seated bench press; incline flat bench press
with seated incline bench press; decline flat bench press with
seated decline bench press. Six exercises, totaling 18 sets of 10.
We used moderate to heavy weights. Then we supersetted triceps with
push ups. We finished with about 15 minutes of stair climber (me)
and elliptical (Dave). Total workout 1:15. Dave weighs 204.5 and I
weigh 154.6. On target for six weeks until our competition.
Friday
Tough shoulders and biceps workout today. Four different 3 x 12
set shoulder exercises: presses, barbell pull ups, cable stiff arm
push downs and shrugs. Plus 10 hammer chin ups. Bicep curls and
hammers. Stair Climber for cardio. Video taped posing practice
tomorrow. After our Thursday night carb meal, Dave gained 1/2 pound
and I lost 1/2 pound. Six weeks to go.
Saturday
Six weeks to go until the 2006 NPC Atlantic USA in Norcross,
Georgia. My training partner, Dave, and I finished a two-hour video
taped posing practice session today. We went through pumping up, and
two symmetry and mandatory rounds each. Then we each performed our
individual posing routines. After the session we looked at the tape
and discussed the little things that make a successful poser. Today,
Dave weighed 207 (target 198) and I weighed 152.8 (target 142.8) We
are both feeling great and look forward to the stretch run. I will
compete as a Bantam Weight and Grand Master 50+ and Dave as a Novice
and Light Heavyweight. This will be Dave's first contest, my
seventh.
Sunday
- A Day of Rest
Monday
Back
and Biceps. Hit four back exercises hard: Three sets of between 10
& 20 reps. Lat cable pull down, sitting-bent over dumb bell lat
raises, sitting lat machine pulls and standing weighted (four 45
pound plates) pulls. Two heavy biceps exercises: cable curls, seated
machine bicep curls. Plus hammer pull-ups, hanging leg raises and
treadmill. Two Tired Campers.
Tuesday
My young stud-training partner is under the weather today. I
told him to take a day off from training. Today was leg and calves
day. I grabbed another gym rat to work with me. I did about 85% of
my usual intensity and threw in extra cardio for a change of pace.
Hopefully Dave will be back in the saddle tomorrow when we do chest
and triceps. Everything still on track. Diet is good. Weight loss is
fine. Mood is upbeat. We are anxious to step onto the stage in less
than six weeks.
Wednesday
Dave
came back after a 'sick day' with a vengeance. I had to hold
him back. He wanted to make up for yesterday's lost workout. Instead
we supersetted our chest exercises with dips, 10 dips after each
set. Flat bench dumbbell presses (60, 65, 75 pounds), incline dumb
bells (40, 50, 50 pounds), decline bar bell presses (150, 160, 160)
and cable flys. A total of 12sets and 120 dips. He was satisfied. We
also did dumb bell and cable push down triceps work. Because Dave
was still a little bit under the weather, we skipped cardio. Dave
weighed 204 today and I weighed 154.
Thursday
Dave was about 90% better today as we worked shoulders and
biceps. We stuck mostly with the railed bar bell machine as we did
double arm and single arm shoulder lifts, double arm shrugs and
seated shoulder presses. We varied the number of reps and the speed,
sometimes throwing in a rapid series of pumps. Really good stuff. We
ended our shoulder workout with seated cable rows above the head and
to the sides. For biceps we did hammers up, curls down and seated
machine curls. We finished our workout with a symmetry round of
posing instead of cardio. Dave needed one more day of
"easy" training to make sure he is 100%. Today Dave
weighed 202.4 and I weighed 153.4.
Friday
Dave and I had an outstanding leg and calves workout today.
Three sets x 10 each of seated squats, standing squats, leg
extensions, ham curls, adductor's and abductors and seated calve
raises, followed immediately by toe raises. We then skipped rope for
200 turns and practiced a few mandatory poses. Dave and I each
enjoyed an extra carb meal last night, so our weight stayed the
same. He looked a little "full" this morning, but I
reminded him the carb meal was the culprit. He is OK. Looks great.
He has a new "attitude" because some of the gym
rats (roiders) are dissing Natural shows, saying the NPC doesn't
even consider them competitions. Dave is training for his first
natural competition on April 1st, where he is going to try to win
his pro card. So now, Dave wants to bring home the Light Heavyweight
Class trophy from our practice show in five weeks (NPC Atlantic USA
in Georgia) so he can "stick it" to the NPC boys at the
gym. I love that kind of motivation.
Dave
and I spent about three hours today working on our posing. We
practiceda symmetry rounds, mandtory rounds and our individual
posing routines. We video taped the session then reviewed the video
to look for ways to improve. We also took some photos as we mark
five weeks out from our contest Today, Dave weighed 201.4, with a
target of 198.0 (Light Heavyweight), he is nearly there. His body
fat is less than 5%.
Here
are a few shots of Old Navy, five weeks out. Today I weighed 152.4.
My target is less than 143.25 (Bantam Weight).
Sunday
- A Day of Rest
Monday - No rest
On Saturday Dave and I had a two-hour video taped posing
practice and photo session. After looking at the photos and
reviewing the video tape, I noticed Dave wasn't squatting down
enough on his side poses (chest, triceps and serratus) thereby
missing a chance to show the width of his legs and his cut hams. So
today, at the gym, we worked on those poses and now Dave will
practice them using the correct form. We did a few rounds and then
did a fast paced cardio workout on the thread mill. All is on track.
Tuesday
Legs and calves. Dave and I are using lighter weights and going
slow with our reps. With a little more than four weeks to go, this
is the time to be careful. In a weakened state, due to our cutting
diet, strains, pulls and other injuries are very possible. We work
hard, but we don't over do any exercise. We are not building muscle
at this point. We are cutting and hardening what we have in
preparation for the contest. Today Dave broke 200 pounds. He was
199.8. He is very close. I am still about eight pounds away and a
few more % points of body fat. More cardio for me. Close monitoring
of Dave. He will be ripped and ready. I will be as ready as I can be
at my age. LOL
We did leg thrusts, squats, adductor's, abductors, ham curls, leg
extensions and sitting calve machine. Three sets of ten reps of each
except calves, where we did three sets of 25 plus three sets of 25
toe raises.
Wednesday
Chest and Triceps day. Dave and I continue to do
"hardening" workouts. We did three sets of 10-12 reps of
dumb bell flat bench presses (60 & 70 pound dumbbells); barbell
incline and barbell decline bench presses. Here we did negatives in
addition to presses. Very intense. We did some dumb bell flies and
then worked triceps, push down and skull crushers. We upped our
cardio to 20 minutes, Dave on the elliptical and me on the stair
master. I will be in San Francisco on business from Thursday until
Monday, so I will probably not post an update until Dave and I work
out together on Tuesday morning. Dave will go solo at Gold's in
Birmingham for the weekend and I will work out at Gold's in San
Francisco. Today Dave weighed 199.4 and I weighed 151.6.
Tuesday
I was in San Francisco on business from Thursday morning until
Monday afternoon. I managed to work out at a Gold's Gym in SF on
Friday morning and use the hotel's tread mill once on Sunday
afternoon. Other than that, I was working at the conference. Lunches
at the conference and dinners in the evening killed the diet, too. I
managed three orders of egg whites for breakfasts, but little else
that was useful for a contest diet. I also carried my protein shakes
so that was good. In the end, I added a pound of unwanted weight.
As soon as I landed at the airport in Birmingham, Alabama, on
Monday, I called Dave and we met at Gold's for a outrageously hard
back and biceps workout. I had my training partner sweating. I was a
man possessed. I needed to get back on track...and we did. LOL We
started with 50 push ups to warm up. Then we did 10-15 push ups
between each set. Crazy...pain....LOL Loved it!
Today we had an equally hard legs and calves workout. With less than
five weeks to go before our contest, we are intense. But we still
manage to laugh a lot. I love our sport and so does Dave. LOL
Wednesday,
February 1
Dave and I are on a mission. Today, February 1, we are looking
at 24 more days before we weigh in at the 2006 NPC Atlantic USA in
Norcross, Georgia. Our workout intensity, already high, increased
today as we banged out chest and triceps. We did three sets of 10-12
reps of four chest and two triceps exercises. Our pace was slow,
with a squeeze at the peak of each rep. Then we supersetted 10 dips
after each chest set. We did a total of 120 dips. We also struck and
held a pose or two after each set. We completed the workout with 20
minutes of elevated tread mill. Dave is 199.2 today and I am 151.2.
He is nearly there (198.0) and I have a ways to go (143.25).
Thursday
Dave made weight. He was 197.8 this morning, just under the NPC
Light Heavyweight Class limit. He will probably come in at around
196 with less than 3% body fat. He is on target. I am on target too,
but still need to lose about seven pounds to make Bantam Weight. I
have 21 days to do it. Shouldn't be a problem.
We had a very good shoulders and biceps workout today. We also did
extra abs work. Dave's six pack is really cut deep. We are working
on his posing to really show his excellent ab development. His quads
are looking great. His whole body is looking great. If I didn't know
better, I would say this "natural" athlete is juicing. LOL
I think Dave is going to surprise a lot of people when we show up
for his first competition on February 25th. He just might take the
Overall.
Friday
As we get close to our February 25 competition date, Dave and I
are focusing on hardening, defining and cutting. Today we did legs
and calves. Lots of pump and lots of negative work. We also
practiced posing for about 20 minutes. Dave and I were a little
"full" from last night's carb meal. Dave still looks
great. I still need to lose a few more pounds. We are going to take
tomorrow off and meet at around 2 PM for a Sunday afternoon
video-taped posing practice, before the Super Bowl. Training and
diet is on track.
Monday
Dave and I met at my house on Sunday afternoon for a two-hour
video-taped posing session. We did two full rounds each and
performed our individual posing routine twice. Dave is ripped and
looks great. I believe he is going to do very well in his first NPC
contest as a natural athlete.
I have taught Dave everything I know about posing. It is now in his
head. Today, at the gym, I made sure posing is in his heart. He
knows how to pose. Now he must pose from the heart. He must pose
like a champion. He must hit every pose like it is the last one in
the round. Every pose must be held rock hard, from the calves to the
head. We went into a mirror less studio, where I put him through a
competition round. I made him hold each pose like there were 20
others in his weight class the judges were looking at. After the
symmetry round and mandatory round, I said, "Thank you
gentlemen." Dave nearly collapsed. He was panting. He was
exhausted. He was exhilarated. Posing is now in Dave's heart. Now he
understands what it means to pose in a competition.
From now until the competition, Dave will not practice in front of a
mirror and we will go through this exercise every morning before our
workout. I will be going through the same drill, since I too will be
competing in 19 days.
Tuesday
As we get closer, we are kicking up our workouts, upping our intensity. We did legs and calves today. I actually squatted 180 pounds (four 45 pound plates for 10 good reps). With the weight of the bar added, that was a personal best for me. Of course Dave makes that weight look easy. So I added a third 45 pound plate on each end of the bar for his last set. He still performed the exercise without strain. Strong Man! Today I weighed 149.0, 5 3/4 pounds from my Bantam Weight goal. The scale at the gym was broken this morning, so I don't know what Dave weighed. I used my scale at home. We added 20 minutes of cardio, kicking up the speed to 6.0 with a 4.5 elevation for the last three minutes. We practiced a posing round and did some abs to end the workout. Dave and I are feeling great.
Wednesday - 16 Days Until The Weigh-in
Chest and Triceps day. Dave and I are pushing each other more and more as we near the contest date. Even while our strict competition diet is working and we are tired, we continue to pound the weights. Today we did 3 sets of 10 reps of flat bench barbell press, incline bench barbell press, decline bench barbell press and incline dumb bell flies. After each set, we supersetted 10 dips, for a total of 120 dips. We then supersetted dumbbell triceps presses with behind-the-head dumb bell presses. Then we went into the studio and posed on the aerobics stage (without mirrors) and did 15 minutes of high speed, high incline tread mill. Our heart rate jumped like crazy, but we were both pleased at how quickly we recovered when we finished. We are looking to hit the stage in top condition.
Thursday - 15 Days Until The Weigh-in
Dave and I were hungry today. We laughed about eating ice cream, cheeseburgers and french fries. It's a good thing this is a carb meal night. Instead of any of the stuff we really want, we will be satisfied with a cup of oatmeal, a banana, a cup of broccoli and a 1/2 sweet potato. We talked about the post contest meal on Saturday night. The last two weeks before a contest are always tough. Bodybuilding is not an easy sport and diet is one of the most important elements.
Today we did a good hard shoulders workout and added three sets of biceps. Our shoulders included cable lifts, pull ups, Arnold's, shrugs and push downs. The three sets up biceps were hammer up and curl down. We talked about tanning for the contest and then did 15 minutes of tread mill. Still no scale in the gym to replace the one that broke, so I don't know what Dave weighs. He looks great, lean and cut, especially his abs and quads. Wow. I weighed at home this morning and was pleased to hit 147.2, less than four pounds from my Bantam Weight goal of 143.25.
Friday
-
14 Days Until The Weigh-in
Dave and I had our carb meal last night. I cheated a little. He didn't. The menu was one cup of oatmeal, one banana, a cup of broccoli and a 1/2 of a sweet potato. Instead I had about 8 oz of skinless roasted chicken breast, one banana, asparagus and 1/2 an avocado. We both gained 1/2 pound, but our cuts were mostly intact. With two weeks to go until the weigh in, both of us will be 100% strict. No cheating. Too much work to get where we are to blow it now. I've known guys who couldn't handle the last week and actually ate a pizza two days before their contest. What a waste.
Today we had a strong legs and calves workout. We did 3 sets of barbell pump squats, five count down, five count back up. I did one set with 45s and two sets adding a 25. Dave did one set with two 45's and added a 25 for the third. Hard stuff. We also did leg extensions, leg bicep curls (125 pounds on the machine, with negatives) , adductor and abductor. We then hit the seated calve machine and did three sets of 25 using 150 pounds of weight, followed by the same number of toe raises and then a good stretch. We ended our workout with 20 minutes of tread mill. Our mood is great. Our sense of humor is in tact. We are having fun as we near our goal.
Saturday,
February 11 - 13 Days Until The
Weigh-in
Dave came over to my home for a video taped posing session. We worked for more than three hours on symmetry, mandatory and individual posing rounds. After taping the session, we watched the video to look for ways to improve. My webmaster (www.BodyBuildingSenior.com), Clayton Dye, is also a very good photographer. He has agreed to cover our contests for us and came over to see how a posing round looks and to take some two-weeks-out photos for us. I will post some of the shots later. Dave’s weight was 198.6 and mine was 146.8. He is at weight and I am less than 5 pounds away. We are feeling great and are very determined to do well in two weeks.
Sunday,
February 12 - 12 Days Until The
Weigh-in
Dave Gallahan, Jr. Two Weeks Out.......Old Navy's Training Partner
These shots were taken on Saturday, two weeks before our contest. Dave has made weight (198.0) and will spend the next two weeks on cutting and hardening.
Old Navy - Two Weeks Out.......Dave's Training Partner
Old Navy still has about 3.5 pounds of weight to lose, but getting close. Need to lose some body fat % and bring out some more cuts and definition. Coming off a 30 pound off-season weight gain. Current weight: 146.6.
Monday,
February 13 -
11 Days Until The
Weigh-in
Dave and I are not letting up. This will be
our final week of hard workouts. Next week, during our normal
workout time, we will pump up and practice posing. We will
also do cardio. Today we did back and biceps. After our
lat pull downs, we super-setted the three sets with three sets of
pull ups. After each of the other back exercises we super-setted each set with 20 push ups and 50 skip ropes. For
biceps we worked the dumb bell rack with 25s, 20s, 15s, 10s and 5s,
doing 10 reps with each weight with no rest between sets.
These were done one arm at a time, seated. Then we did three
sets of 10 reps of preacher curls with a 50 pound bar bell and three
sets of seated machine biceps curls. We ended with 200 skip
ropes and some posing practice.
Tuesday, February 14 - 10 Days Until The Weigh-in
I was tired today. I stayed up too late last night watching the Olympics. Dave and I had a good legs and calves workout today. We
super-setted ham curls and dead lift ham stretches. We also did leg extensions, adductors, abductors and calves. We included 50-100 skip ropes after each set (for cardio), did hanging leg raises and 15 minutes of tread mill.
Wednesday,
February 15 - 9 Days Until The Weigh-in
Yesterday, I gave my wife a bouquet of flowers for
Valentine's Day. She gave me a playing card, the King of
Hearts. Very cool. Dave had his little girl carry some
flowers, candy and balloons into where his wife was working.
She gave Dave a new workout outfit. Very cool, too. Both
of us have wives who support our bodybuilding lifestyle.
Today we trudged through a tough chest and triceps
workout. To make sure we were focused, we did 100 skip ropes
after each exercise. We totaled 500 skips. We used dumb
bells for inclines and declines. We used the bar bell for
bench press and did incline dumb bell flys. After each set, we
supersetted 10 dips. Our triceps were dumb bell kickbacks.
We added 15 minutes of fast tread mill. We were two tired
campers. This is a difficult week due to the competition diet.
We are hanging on and are still laughing. That's good.
Thursday,
February 16 - 8 Days Until The Weigh-in
Dave and I had our last
shoulders and biceps workout before our competition a week from
Saturday. Next week we will focus on posing and cardio. Today, for
shoulders, we did bar bell machine presses (slowly), shrugs
(slowly), and vertical dumb bell raises. For biceps, we did hammers
up, curls down, in rhythm, for a pump, and bar bell curls. We
finished with hanging leg raises and stationary bike. An easy
workout. This evening we look forward to a re-feed (carb meal).
Friday,
February 17 - Weigh In One Week From Today
I decided
to skip our final legs and calves workout today and instead, Dave
and I pumped up and practiced our posing. We worked on symmetry,
mandatory and our individual posing routine (with no music). We also
skipped rope 100 times and did 15 minutes of tread mill. Dave weighs
197.0 (made Light Heavyweight) and I weigh 144.4 (need 1.15 more
pounds off). We will start on our final week contest diet and water
load on Sunday. I predict Dave will come in at around 195.0 and I
will come in at 142.0. He is coming to my home on Saturday afternoon
for our final video taped posing practice. Next week I will report
on our final contest prep, including tanning and packing for the
competition. Everything is on track and tracking well.
Saturday,
February 18 -
On
Stage One Week From Today
It's all coming together for Dave and me. We met at my home late this afternoon to have our final video taped practice posing session. We first went through a prejudging pumping up session,
delts, chest, biceps and triceps. Then, since we are both competing in two classes, we each did our symmetry, mandatory and individual posing routine rounds twice (even though we only do the individual routine once in competition). We then looked at the video to see where we might improve. We were generally pleased with where we are. Dave looks awesome. My contest weight is about 1 pound away, but my cuts are coming in nice. Dave is ready. I will be. Tomorrow we start on our final week of contest diet with the beginning of our water load. I'll go into more detail about that and tanning as we get closer to the weigh-in on Friday evening.
Sunday, February 19 - A day of rest...
I didn't rest. Instead, after Church I went
to the gym to do a 45 minute cardio workout to try to lose the final
few ounces of weight I need to drop for the contest. It
worked.
Monday, February 20
I made weight. I am now officially, at 143.20 pounds, a Bantam
Weight. I will spend the next few days working on cutting and
defining in order to come in on Saturday at around 141.0, near the
top of the weight class. Today Dave and I went through a
contest pump up and posing session. We did our symmetry,
mandatory and individual posing rounds. Dave looks awesome.
He is contest ready. I am really, really close. My 30
pound weight gain, off season, in order to add five pounds of new
muscle, worked. Last year I competed at around 136 pounds.
I will be five pounds heavier this year with about the same body fat
%. Both of us are drinking lots of water for the next few
days, around 2.5
- 3 gallons a day. We are drowning. We are
also sky high in spirit. We are laughing and having a great
time. This is how it is when you train "natural."
Tuesday, February 21
Everything is on track for Dave and me. He is 197.0 and I am 143.0. Both of us are
"at weight." We will enjoy a carb meal tonight at about 8 PM, our sixth meal of the day. We will have a cup of oatmeal, a
banana, a cup of green vegetables and a 1/2 a sweet potato. We will decide on Thursday morning if
we need another carb meal that night. It will depend on our weight. The weigh in is Friday night and
we don't want to come in over our Class. We are both at the top of our Class and want to stay that way
(143.25 for Bantam Weight and 198.0 for Light Heavyweight). Today we pumped up and
did a practice round of posing. We worked on Dave's 60- second pose off round. If he wins the Light
Heavyweight Class, he will have to be in a pose off with the other weight class winners for the
Overall. Most guys just start grimacing and doing crabs and front double bicep poses. Dave and I
have worked on a 60-second pose off routine. We are leaving nothing to chance. If I win the Bantam
Weight Class, I will be in the pose off against Dave and the others. Not likely, but I practiced my 60-second pose off routine, too. We ended our workout with 15 minutes of tread mill.
Wednesday, February 22 - Let The Tanning Begin
Today Dave and I pumped up and worked on our symmetry and mandatory rounds and our individual posing routines. We also spent some time working on Dave's 60-second pose off. I expect him to have to use this routine when he competes for the Overall on Saturday. We worked on the intimidation factor. That is, guys coming over,
"in your face," trying to compare abs or quads. He will turn away and go into another pose, leaving the
"in your facer" with egg on his face, wondering what he should do next. We have actually choreographed Dave's pose off, showing his best poses first and building into a power move finish. We then went to the shower to apply a salt scrub to remove any dead skin before we go for our first of three spray tan applications this evening. We will do one tonight, one on Thursday and a final application on Friday morning. We don't use Dream Tan or Pro Tan. Instead, we have spray applied professionally. I don't want Dave to worry about applying tan back stage before the competition. I want him to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the competition, while we watch the other competitors sweat putting on their final coat of tan.
Thursday, February 23 - Let's Get It On!
Dave and I went for the first of three professional spray tans last evening. Everyone at the gym today noticed and commented on how dark we looked. We will have the second coat of spray applied after work and the final coat tomorrow morning before we leave for Atlanta. Our workout, by design, was light. We pumped up and did a couple of posing rounds and then 15 minutes of cardio. The drive to Atlanta tomorrow will take about 2.5 hours. The weigh in begins at 3 PM and goes until 7. Today I weighed 142.8 with 4% body fat. Dave weighed 197 and has a lower body fat than mine. Whew. We are staying with a fellow bodybuilder and his wife. I have competed a few times with him and he and his wife are my good friends. We are ready. Dave is excited and I am pleased with how everything has come together. Hopefully, we will have some good news to report after the competition.
Friday, February 24 - Weigh In
Last evening Dave and I met at the tanning salon where we had our second coat of professional spray applied. He looks tan. I look more tan. He is Irish and I have some Spanish in me, so I tan darker, much to Dave's dismay.
I woke up at my usual 4:50 AM and stayed in bed for a few minutes, thinking about what Dave and I have accomplished these past seven months. We will lay it all out on the line tomorrow.
I began gathering my trip items last evening, so now I have packed and am ready. Some of the things I need to bring include:
two pairs of posing trunks
two copies of my CD music for the individual posing routine
two copies of the MC script (what I want him to say when I'm introduced)
petroleum jelly (to prevent dry mouth)
posing gel for prejudging
competition posing oil for the evening show
vasolidation oil (Hot Stuff)
chap stick
inhaler
moisturizer
hand towel
pump up gloves
stretch belts (in case there are not enough free weights)
portable push up bar set
ankle socks (for the cold floor backstage)
two warm up suits
two tee shirts
food for today and tomorrow morning (mostly fish and grapefruit)
bottled water
NPC membership card
check book
debit card
drivers license
extra cash
Dave will come to my home at around 9:30 and leave his car for the weekend. We will go to the tanning salon for a final spray and then drive to Atlanta. The trip takes about 2.5 hours. We will stop on the way for lunch. If all goes well, we will check in and weigh in at around 5 PM and then go relax for the rest of the night.
Today I weigh 141.0, a safe margin of 2.25 pounds under Bantam Weight. Dave is at 196.0, about 2 pounds under Light Heavyweight. We should both be fine for the weigh in.
My webmaster, who is also a very good photographer, will cover the evening show on Saturday so I will have some photos of Dave and I to post after the competition. I am looking forward to our Trophy Shots!
Saturday,
February 25, 2006 - NPC Atlantic USA
Bodybuilding Championships, Norcross, Georgia
Dave and I arrived at the
venue at 8:00 AM. Some of the other competitors who needed to weigh
in arrived at 7:30. Dave and I had checked in on Friday and made
weight, so we were OK. At 9:00 AM, the promoter, who goes by the
name, Ropeman, welcomed us and said since this competition was a NPC
National Qualifier, he was running this contest like a NPC National
Show and expected us to be where we needed to be when we needed to
be there. We were then called forward one at a time to receive our
contestant numbers and turn in our bios for the evening show
announcer. We were then allowed back stage. Back stage was spartan.
There was a small changing room for the women and one for the men.
The pump up area was messy and not well equipped, just a few dumb
bells. The contest promoter didn't give out a competitor's tee
shirt, nor did they supply any bottled water. And, we didn't even
receive the printed contest schedule. We were just told to stand by
and the facilitator would tell each Class when to pump up and line
up. With all of Ropeman's big words about promptness, the show
started 45 minutes late. This was a National Qualifier, so many of
the contestants were looking to win this show in order to move up to
the NPC Nationals and a try for a Pro Card. The contest was not
tested, so lets just say there were a lot of very big men competing
and leave it at that. For Dave and I this was to be a warm up show.
I am competing at the 2006 NPC Northern Kentucky in three weeks and
Dave and I are competing at the FAME WNSO SNBF Georgia Open (tested)
on April 1. At this show, I wanted Dave to smell the posing oil and
Pam, feel the tension in the changing room and pumping up area, flex
with the other competitors as they were lining up waiting for their
turn on stage, walk on stage in front of a crowd of people and a
table full of judges, listening to the head judge call the poses,
hitting poses next to guys who where hitting their poses as hard and
as intense as he was and then walking off of the stage to wait the
next round. For the morning prejudging round, we came out as a
Class, did a symmetry round and then each contestant did 60 seconds
of free posing without music and finally we came back on stage as a
Class for the mandatory round.
Dave competed in two
classes, Men's Novice and Open Men's Light Heavyweight. I competed
in three, Men's Masters 40+, Men's Masters 50+ and Open Men's Bantam
Weight. Dave weighed 197.50 and I weighed 142.0, both of us at the
top of our weight classes.
After prejudging, Dave and
I went to lunch and enjoyed a "normal" meal. We
then went back our rooms to rest for the evening show.
At the evening show, which
also started late, we came out in our classes, did a few poses and
then performed our individual posing routine. For many of the
competitors, including Dave and me, the music was poorly handled.
Sometimes it started too early, other times, too late. Dave managed
to nail his routine and got a nice round of applause. He did a power
routine to AC/DC's "Thunderstruck."
Old Navy Stops The Show
I had a different
experience. The DJ was supposed to start my music after my scripted
announcement. I had worked it out earlier in the day with the MC and
all was supposedly arranged. Instead, the DJ started my music in the
middle of the MC reading the intro. By the time the announcement was
completed, half of my music was also completed. So, I said, "Please
start the music over. This is not right." The audience
agreed and began shouting, "Start it over. Let the Captain
do his thing. Come on, start it again." Finally, they did
and I nailed my routine and finished to a huge round of yelling and
applause. I don't think anyone has ever stopped a NPC National
Qualifier in its tracks to do the right thing. But, I wanted to make
a point. Ropeman kept saying, "This contest will be run
right. You will be prompt. We are running this show like the
Nationals." I just held him to his word.
In the end, Dave won the
Novice Class and picked up a nice First Place Trophy. He placed
second in a very competitive Men's Open Light Heavyweight Class. I
placed fourth in Men's Masters 40+, got a First Place trophy for
Men's Master's 50+ and my first ever Open win as the Champion in the
Men's Open Bantam Weight Class. I lost the Pose Down for the Overall
to the Heavyweight.
"Team Old
Navy" brought home three Golds and one Silver. A nice haul
of hardware.
Check
out the 2006 "Team Old Navy" photo gallery for some
great contest photos!!
* In my opinion Ropeman
doesn't give a hoot about his athletes. He is wired in the NPC.
He is a former NPC Pro, a NPC Junior National Judge, a NPC National
Judge and a judge for the Arnold Classic. He just wants to make
money running this show each year for the NPC, to feed athletes to
the Junior National and Nationals. The fact there was no competitor
tee shirt, no water back stage, a poorly equipped pump room, no
printed contest schedule for the athletes and poor handling of
contestant's individual posing music says he just doesn't care. And
neither do I for him or his Georgia NPC contest. I will never do
another Ropeman show.
Monday, February 27,
2006 - Let the next battle begin
Dave and I enjoyed the
kudos we received in the gym today over our wins last weekend. But,
it was back to work, as both of us are preparing for our next
contests. I will compete in three weeks in the 2006 NPC Northern
Kentucky Bodybuilding Championships in Covington and Dave and I will
compete on April 1 in the 2006 FAME WNSO SNBF Georgia Open (tested)
in Marietta, Georgia.
Today, Dave came to the gym
with a new intensity. He had the "look," the gleam
in his eyes. He has tasted victory and now he wants to win an
Overall. We stepped it up today doing back and biceps. We only did
10 reps of three sets of three exercises for each body part, but
everything was heavy. We added abs and cardio. We will lift heavy
for the next few weeks to try to add muscle and harden what we have.
I am just as intense and determined as my training partner. Let the
next battle begin.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Weeuuu. Our intensity it sky-high. Dave and I are going at it in the gym with a vengeance. He has his eyes set on an Overall. I'm hanging on for the ride as I get ready for the 2006 NPC Northern Kentucky on March 18. Today we busted legs and calves. We started with calve squats, a really fun exercise where you raise your heels off the ground and squat in that position, three sets of 10 reps. This adds weight to the calves and works the quads at the same time. Gotta Love It. We also did leg extensions, ham curls, adductors, abductors, seated calve raises, supersetted with calve raises on a leg press, followed by standing toe raises, abs and cardio. We are lifting heavy and will continue to do so until a week before my contest. Dave will continue lifting heavy until a week before his April 1 contest, in which I am also competing.
Wednesday, March 1, 2006 - 16 Days to the
06 NPC Northern Kentucky Weigh In
The name of the game today was Superset. Dave and I did chest and triceps. After every 10 rep chest set, we did 10 dips. And, after every 10 rep triceps set, we did 10 push ups. In chest, using heavy weights, we did three sets of machine flat bench, inclines and declines. We also did incline dumb bell flies, using 35 pound weights. We added hanging leg raises for abs and a practice posing session for cardio. It was interesting to watch Dave pose now that he has a contest under his belt. Practice posing took on a new meaning.
Thursday, March 2, 2006
It doesn't get any better than this. Dave and I are having a great time being very intense. We are lifting more than ever and are laughing at each other as we complete our sets. This is a lot of fun. We are working our butts off in preparation for our next contests. Today we banged shoulders and biceps. We started with seated barbell presses and then did dumb bell front and side raises. We finished shoulders with shoulder raises and a strong delts workout with over head cable pulls and over head cable rows. For biceps we
"worked the dumbbell rack," doing 10 seated single arm curls with 30s, 25s, 20s, 15s and 10s. We did not rest between sets until we had completed the 50 reps. Then we repeated the 50 reps exercise with the other arm. We ended our biceps workout with preacher curls, using a 40 pound barbell setup. We did three 10 rep sets very slowly, squeezing the bicep at the top and doing negatives on the way down. Burn, baby, burn! We ended our workout with two ab exercises.
Friday, March 3, 2006
This is Dave's 27th birthday. I gave him a peanut/chocolate bar, which we shared before beginning our workout. Then I made him pay for eating a peanut/chocolate bar while in training. Ha, ha. We did legs and calves, starting with Old Navy Calve Squats, using 45's then adding a 25 and then another 25 for three 10 rep sets. We immediately went to the ham string curl machine where we did three sets of curls with negatives on the way down. We followed that with three sets of extensions, including negatives, seated hams curls, adductors and abductors. We then did seated calves raises, with negatives and finished with 15 minutes of thread mill. It was a great workout week.
Saturday, March 4, 2006
Last evening, I joined Dave's family for dinner at a restaurant to celebrate his 27th birthday. He was actually surprised when he and his mom and dad showed up and his wife, brother, sister-in-law, their children and some close friends and their wives were waiting for him. He had expected to have dinner with his wife, baby daughter and parents. There were 17 of us. Dave has a great family who all are supportive of his training for bodybuilding competitions. He will have a big cheering section at the 2006 SNBF WNSO FAME Georgia Open (tested) on April 1st in Marietta, where he hopes to win the Overall and his Pro Card in this natural organization.
Today I went to the gym to do 50 minutes on the tread mill and some hanging leg raises for my abs. It's tough to get that kind of cardio workout in during the week. Dave and I only have about 90 minutes of training time each day and we usually work two body parts and then do abs and cardio.
On Friday morning, Dave weighed 200 pounds even. I weighed 142.8. Dave doesn't have to worry about weight for the April 1st show because he will enter a height class (Open Men's Tall). I still have to watch my weight because I am competing in two weeks at the NPC Northern Kentucky as a Bantam Weight (143.25) and need to come in under the maximum allowed. I will compete in the Open Men's Short Class on April 1. Maybe Dave and I will be competing for the Overall. Wouldn't that be cool?
Monday, March 6, 2006
Dave and I were both tired today in the gym. He had to work all weekend and I had to do a lot of extra stuff around my house as my wife was in California visiting our daughter at college. I also stayed up late watching the Academy Awards Sunday night. What a waste of time. I got up at 4:30 this morning and was in the gym by 6:10. We had a hard back and biceps workout, including three 10 rep sets of seated rows, seated pull downs, dumb bell lat pulls and lean-over back flies. For biceps we did incline dumb bell curls and 21s. We ended our session with hanging leg raises for abs and tread mill or cardio. Dave weighed 202 this morning and I weighed 141.8. Over the weekend, Dave received an email from the WNSO FAME SNBF Georgia Open saying he was no longer eligible to compete in that organization as a Novice after his First Place finish at the 2006 NPC Atlantic USA last week. So, Dave will compete in the Open Men's Tall Class in that competition on April 1st. I will still compete as a Open Men's Short and Master's Men 60+.
Tuesday, March 7, 2006
Yesterday, Dave and I were two tired puppies. Today I guess Dave and I must have hit
"Refresh" on our Tool Bar, because, after our carb meal last night, we both came into the gym loaded for bear. We looked at each other, nodded, broke out laughing and got to work. Our legs and calves session was intense. We started with Old Navy Calves Squats (we like this exercise). I started with a set of 45s. Dave added two 45s to his set. I did his weight for my second set. Dave added a two more 45s to his second set and I did his weight for my third. He added more weight for his third set and I helped him strip the weights afterwards. I'm not crazy. It got even more interesting from then on. We pushed each other with increased weight loads for ham curls, extensions, adductors, abductors and calve raises, where we did three sets of 25 with six 45 pound plates on the machine, followed by three sets of 25 calve raises. We finished our workout with a practice posing session.
Wednesday, March 8, 2006
Today Dave and I hit it hard on chest and triceps. Because we like to change our routine each week, we focused on the bar bell bench today. Last Wednesday we used chest press machines and the week before we worked chest with dumb bells. We did three sets of 10 reps of flat, incline and decline presses using pretty heavy weights. We supersetted each set with 10 dips, which helped serve as a triceps workout. We did cable flys for chest and seated triceps push-downs to counteract the triceps dips. Dave and I finished our workout with hanging leg raises for abs and tread mill for cardio. Since next week will be my last before my next contest, I will act more as Dave's Personal Trainer. Our next contest together is the 2006 FAME WNSO SNBF Georgia Open on April 1st.
Thursday, March 9, 2006
Today, Dave and I had a positive Negative workout. We did negatives on every set of shoulder and biceps exercises. It's great having a training partner who can stand next to you and apply negative pressure during your lift or drop on each rep. We even did negatives on shrugs. That was interesting. We added negatives on shoulder raises and bar bell curls. After each set of negative reps, we immediately did 10 fast pumps of the same exercise. I think we are trying to kill each other. We laughed our way through a very tough session. Dave and I really enjoy training together and it shows. We work extremely hard but we have a lot of fun at the same time. We did some hanging leg raises (with negatives) and posed after each set. No tread mill today.
Friday, March 10, 2006
Today was a solo act for me in the gym. Dave called me at 6:15 this morning to tell me both his and his wife's car were broken into last night and several things were missing. He was waiting for the police to arrive so he could file a report. His gym bag was in the trunk, which they didn't break into, so his smelly socks were left alone. LOL So, I did my last legs and calves workout before the 2006 NPC Northern Kentucky on March 18th. It was a light day.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
I practiced my posing and individual posing routine at home this morning and then went to the gym to do 50 minutes on the tread mill. I added 25 slow hanging leg raises for abs. Then I went to the tanning bed for 8 minutes in the Viper (very intense lamps). I will begin my three professionally applied spray tans for the competition on Wednesday. I am at 141.0 and cutting up nicely. Bantam Weight maximum is 143.25. I should be fine. Dave is working today and did not come over for a posing practice. We will pick it up again in the gym on Monday morning.
Monday, March 13, 2006
- NPC Northern Kentucky Show...this Saturday!!!
Today was interesting. It's a week before my next contest (this Saturday) and three weeks until Dave and I compete at the 2006 FAME WNSO SNBF Georgia Open in Marietta. This week, I'm on a pump up and pose schedule and Dave is still hitting the weights hard. So for back and biceps, I did some light reps and sets and then loaded Dave up as his Personal Trainer. Poor young man. LOL I helped him by providing several opportunities to add negatives to his sets. He really appreciated that. We ended our session with hanging leg raises for abs and a practice posing session for cardio. Dave came in today at 202.0 and I came in at 141.0. I'm looking forward to returning to the NPC Northern Kentucky. It was my first contest ever and I'm eager to give the competition another go.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Since it was legs and calves day, I became Dave's Personal Trainer. I don't do legs or calves during the final week before a contest, so I just made the young man suffer and hurt, while I lorded it over his pitiful body. Ha. The kid is awesome. I was able to watch him work with intense interest. The size and shape of Dave's quads, hams and calves are excellent. We (he) did some pretty hard work and then we had a practice posing session, working on our symmetry, mandatory and 60-second pose down, which I expect he will need for the Overall on April 1st in Marietta.
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
No let up for either Dave or me today. Even though it's my final contest prep week, Dave and I hit chest and triceps hard. We did decline bar bell bench press and used dumb bells for flat bench and incline bench. We used a pec deck machine for flies. All of our sets were heavy and we supersetted each set with 10 dips. We did lats spread and side chest poses after each set and we finished the workout with 12 minutes of tread mill.
I found out there will be about 235 competitors at the 2006 NPC Northern Kentucky on Saturday, making it almost as big as a National contest. My Master's Men 60+ Class will have six competitors. I'm looking forward to a great competition.
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Last night, after work, I went for the first of three professionally applied spray tans. I will go again after work today and on Friday morning before I leave for the contest. I came to the gym today looking very dark. Dave just glared at me. Then we broke into laughter and started our workout. He wants to go to the N.KY too, but we decided he needed to continue training for his Pro Card try in two weeks at the 2006 FAME WNSO SNBF Georgia Open (tested) in Marietta, so he is skipping this NPC event.
Today we trained shoulders and biceps. Dave used much heavier weights than me, but that's because I am in my last few days before my comp and I need to go light on everything. We did some good shoulder sets, a few biceps exercises and then he
"judged" me through a posing session. I repaid the service and
"judged" him through one and a 60-second pose down. We ended our workout with hanging leg raises and tread mill.
Friday, March 17, 2006
I woke up at 4 AM this morning. No surprise. I packed for my trip last night, so I shaved, had a cup of coffee and left for the gym, where I met Dave at 6:15. I was Dave's Personal Trainer as we worked his legs and calves. With two weeks to go until his next contest, he is still going heavy with the weights. I left the gym at 7:30 while Dave finished his abs and cardio. I went home, grabbed a quick bite of breakfast (fish and grapefruit) and headed for the tanning salon for my last of three professional sprays. Shelly, at Tanning Source in Birmingham, has been getting me ready for contests for the past two years. She does what I need. A bodybuilder knows,
"Once you think you are dark enough, put on two more coats." Shelly thinks
"dark" whenever she is spraying me. I left Shelly's at 9:45 and headed for the airport for my 11 AM flight to Kentucky. I will pick up this story later.
Sunday,
March 19, 2006 - Mission Accomplished, Naturally
One year ago, I left the 2005 NPC Northern Kentucky Body Building Championships empty handed. It was my first contest. That year, I entered five more contests and won 11 bodybuilding trophies. Still, in my mind, I had some unfinished business in Covington, KY.
On Saturday, I no longer had any unfinished business in Covington, bringing home a Third Place trophy in a very competitive age class in a very large competition.
The NPC 2006 Northern Kentucky Bodybuilding and Figure Championships
The Northern Kentucky is the largest regional show in the country. The National Qualifier drew 200 men and women athlete and 37 cross overs to other Classes from eight states, including Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma and the states surrounding Kentucky. The show is sponsored 100% by Beverly International and is promoted by two fine former competitors, Sandy and Roger Riedinger, owners of Beverly. Sandy is also the Kentucky State Chairperson for the NPC.
There were a total of 23 men's and women's Classes. 110 trophies were eventually awarded. One hundred and twenty-seven athletes returned home like I did last year, empty handed.
The quality and caliber of the athletes was very high. Several of the competitors return to this show each year because of its size and reputation as a well-run event. Many of the competitors who had won their Class in other contests would not Place in this one.
I arrived in Coington on Friday afternoon and went to the host hotel to check in for the competition. I had to show an ID to prove I was over 60 for the Master's Men 60+ Class, which was being offered for the first time, and I had to weigh in for the Bantam Weight (143.25) Class. I came in at exactly 140.0 pounds, five pounds more than I weighed in here last year.
Saturday Morning
There was a lot of excitement as the 200 competitors gathered for a meeting on Saturday morning at the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, a very fine facility. After the usual welcome announcements, we were assigned our competitor numbers (I was 114 for Masters and 168 for Bantam Weight), handed in our music for our individual posing routine and were given a "goodie" bag with some magazines and a competitor's tee shirt. There were to be nine judges for the contest. The two top and two bottom scores were to be eliminated and the remaining five scores would count, to prevent judge bias.
It Was To B A Long Day
The prejudging got under way at 11:30 and ended at 4:30 in the afternoon. The evening show started at 6:30 and finished after midnight. I felt pretty good about my chances in the Men's Master 60+ Class and felt like I had just competed with my grandchildren in the Open Men's Bantam Weights.
In the evening, I was the first Master to perform my individual posing routine. I had decided to do a tribute to the 12 men who lost their lives in the West Virginia mining accident and to all men and women who do the dangerous work each day to help provide the natural resources our country so desperately needs. The music for my routine is the 1955 hit, "16 Tons." The routine was received very enthusiastically by the audience. Later, as I was walking through the venue, many people stopped me to say it was the best routine they had ever seen.
Icompeted in a Master's Men 60+ Class against five excellent and very experienced competitors. As is usually the case, I was the smallest man in the Class. I finished a respectable Third. The two men I mentioned in a earlier journal entry, Burke Chandler from Oklahoma and Tom Witt from Florida Placed One and Two. One of the men I beat placed Fifth in the NPC National Master's competition last year in Pittsburgh.
In the Bantam Weight Class, I competed against five outstanding 20-27 year olds. The winner of the Class was a young 20 year old who weighed 120 pounds. He also won the Novice Lightweight Class. The other four young men were very competitive. I bowed to their youth and had a great time competing with them.
Going Home
Like last year, I wore my Northern Kentucky ompetitor's tee shirt to the airport. I remember walking through the terminal then, swaggering a bit. After all, I am a bodybuilder and I had just competed in my first contest.
This year, I swaggered a bit more. After all, I am a bodybuilder and I was bringing home a trophy.
After a day of joyful eating, I will return to my training as I prepare for my next contest in two weeks, the 2006 FAME WNSO SNBF Georgia Open, a drug tested show.
Monday, March 20, 2006 - Washington, DC
I am in Washington, DC attending a business conference so Dave and I are training solo today. The gym at the hotel is excellent (J.W. Marriott), fully equipped and well attended. I was able to do a strong back and biceps workout, including lat pull downs, sitting machine back extensions, slant board face down back flies and dumb bell lat pulls (10 x 50, 55, 60, 65). I
four-setted everything today. I ended my session with 50 crunches. I will return to the gym after today's conference and do 45 minutes on the tread mill. I know the conference meals will not be bodybuilding fare, so I made sure I had egg whites, lean turkey, strawberries and grapefruit juice.
I am still looking lean and cut from the contest. I just need to hold it together for the next one.
Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - Washington, DC
I was able to do a strong legs and calves workout at the hotel gym this morning. I used everything they had, including machine squats, leg extensions, ham curls, abductor and adductor. I used the squat machine for calve raises and dumb bells for lunges and more squats. My legs were tired. Because of last week's contest, I hadn't done legs and calves for a week. I'm glad to be back. I will do one more legs and calves workout on Friday and then take the next week off to prepare for my April 1st contest. Dave and I will pick it up again tomorrow for a chest and triceps workout.
Wednesday, March 22, 2006
I brought my 2006 NPC Northern Kentucky Bodybuilding Championships trophy to the gym this morning for a little
"show & tell." Then, Dave and I got down to business. We did an incredible chest and triceps workout today. I was
"pumped" from the contest and Dave was "pumped" for our upcoming competition a week from Saturday. We did heavier weights than usual with negatives added in whenever we could, which was almost every set. We supersetted each set with an equal number of dips. We even did negatives on dumb bell flies. We were crazy, laughing as we hurt each other. We focused on machines, doing seated machine press, incline press and decline press. Dave weighed 202 today, which is on target. I weighed 144, up four pounds from my contest weight. I ate well over the weekend.
Thursday, March 23, 2006
Dave and I hit shoulders and biceps really hard today. We did a lot of negative work as we setted shrugs, shoulder presses, raises and flies. For biceps, we did heavy dumb bell curls and bar bell presses with negatives. He is a lean 200 and I am at 142.25. Tomorrow Dave will do his last legs and calves solo as I will be in San Antonio on business, where I will do my last legs and calves. We ended our session with crunches and a 60-second pose down. We are both upbeat and positive as we prepare for our last week of pre-contest work.
Friday, March
24, 2006
Once again I am in luck. I checked into my hotel in San Antonio and found a fully-equiped fitness center. I was able to do a hard legs, calves and cardio workout this morning before I went to my conference. The only piece of equipment it didn't have was leg adductor and abductor. I brought my own egg whites with me and after my workout, I mixed 3/4 cup with a scoop of Muscle Provider protein supplement for a good breakfast. I may go back to the gym later for another session on the tread mill. Feeling strong and upbeat.
Saturday, March 25, 2006
A Day of Rest.
Sunday, March
26, 2006
I took Saturday off and did not train or do any cardio. Today I did a really hard upper body pump, including machine lat pull downs, shoulder presses, chest presses, dumb bell "21s," pull ups, plus crunches and leg raises for abs. I also did 20 minutes of tread mill and a full practice posing round. I am still in San Antonio and will return home tomorrow, where Dave and I will go through a pump and video posing session after work. We are on track for Friday's weigh in.
Tuesday, March 28, 2006
Before I left San Antonio for home on Monday, I went to the hotel gym and did 40 minutes on the tread mill. That evening, Dave came over to my house for our last video taped posing practice session before our contest this weekend. We each did a symmetry and mandatory round and our posing routine twice. Then we did a side-by-side competitive symmetry and mandatory round. Afterwards, we looked at the video and talked about a few things to improve on. Today I went to the gym and did a pump up and practice posing session, plus 20 mi |
