Showtime

Don't worry!!! Relax!!!

No, you did not confuse the dates and missed my first competition. It is still scheduled for June 23, 2012 and as of today, there is still plenty of time for you to plan your attendance and to get your T-Shirt or Tank Top to show your support .

This week's post is only about my trip to the NPC Lehigh Valley Championships 2012 on Saturday May 26th, 2012 at Dieruff High School in Allentown PA .

I have never been to an actual bodybuilding competition, so before hitting the stage myself on June 23rd, I wanted to see one and get an idea about how they are organized, what is actually happening, what kind of environment it is, etc.

So I went on the National Physique Committee's website a couple of weeks ago to check out their schedule page about any upcoming shows close by. 

It happened that the Lehigh Valley show was not only within a manageable 2 hour driving rage but also fell on a weekend that I had no other plans.
Long story short, last Saturday I took a little road trip to Allentown.
Since I had plans that evening, I just wanted to see the prejudgment and got to the event just on time.
Besides the simple venue (High School auditorium) the show was very interesting and instructive, being the first live bodybuilding event that I attended.
Seeing the organization of an event like this, the procedures, what is expected from the contestants and the different routines and poses really made this trip worthwhile.
It was interesting to see the different calibers of competitors, not only between the various classes, but also within the same class. Just by looking at the athletes and their shape, posing and stage appearance, you could easily spot who had some show experience, who worked on their poses, who had someone experienced helping with the contest preparation  and who followed his or her diet to a tee.
I took a lot away from this show, which will hopefully help me with my preparation and on the actual show day, so it was definitely money and time well spent.

Women's Bodybuilding

Men's Physique

Master Men's Bodybuilding "Relaxed"

Master Men's Bodybuilding "Front Double Biceps"

Novice Men's Bodybuilding "Relaxed"

Novice Men's Bodybuilding "Front Double Biceps"

Open Men's Bodybuilding "Relaxed"

So enough of the show, back to me. 

I am now only four weeks out and starting to make the first adjustments to my diet. While I have been already on a very strict diet for the past 12 weeks to reduce my body fat, I will now have to fine tune my body to achieve the desired dryness/hardness for June 23rd. 

To appear more vascular and exhibit a dense hardness I will have to decrease my muscles' water retention and make sure they appear full and hard. 

The first step to achieve this within the next 27 days, I had to remove the Creatine from my diet. Up until now I would add 5 grams of Creatine to my pre- and post-workout meals, which has helped me over the past weeks to maintain and for certain muscle groups even to increase my strength and mass. 

While this was obviously desirable, it also caused my body, and especially my muscles to store extra water, which I will now need to loose to appear more defined and cut on stage.  

Let's see if this slight adjustment will have the desired effect and if I can maintain my mass and strength for the upcoming weeks.

Dry, Drier, Driest