NPC Delaware Championships 2012 Recap

If you've been following me on Facebook you already know how I performed at the 2012 Delaware Championships last Saturday and seen some of the pictures.

Regardless of this, I wanted to talk a little bit more about the competition, my performance and above all, my great friends who came out to support me. 

This was my second show and even though I am relatively new to the sport, I felt much more relaxed going into this competition and less nervous.
The contest preparation went as planned and despite my fear of having peaked too early, I still came in relatively lean.
After two meals in the morning I went over to the venue, registered and weighted in. At 254.2 lbs., I was almost three pounds heavier than at the last competition and started again in the Super Heavyweight class. 

The time in between registration and pre-judging I spent watching a movie on my new IPad, which I finally had an opportunity to use, and eating my "delicious" dried pineapple rings, dry oats/granola mix, and rice cakes with all-natural peanut butter and strawberry jam. 

After the competitor meeting, it was time to head backstage and start preparing. I put on a sweatshirt and sweat pants to keep myself warm and set up my warm-up area. Compared to the last show I was much better prepared this time and brought my own set of 10 lbs. dumbbells, exercise bands and even my own mirror. 

Twenty minutes before going on stage for the pre-judging I started pumping up with my "girly weights" (please re-read with an Arnold voice) and put on some Pro Tan Hot Stuff oil.  

When it was finally show time I was literally pumped up, physically, as well as mentally, and ready to face the judges. 

I had a great time being on stage and felt much more comfortable compared to the previous show. Having a great number of friends in the audience cheering for me, definitely helped and gave me some extra motivation. Instead of the grim and strained face from the Philadelphia show, I was all smiles, as I truly enjoyed every second on stage. 

Front Double Biceps

Rear Lat Spread. I will definitely have to work on my width this off-season.

Having fun on stage

Just like the event in Philadelphia, the promoters put up a great, well organized, show and ran it very well.

The venue, an intimate 389-seat theater on the Riverfront in Wilmington, was perfect for the event, providing sufficient room backstage for the competitors, as well as comfortable seating for the audience.

The evening show flew by, but was extremely exhausting. Right after I finished my individual posing routine, I was called back on stage for the division awards ceremony, immediately followed by the overall pose off, first in in the Open category, then again for the State. 

Constantly flexing and holding the poses for a long time took a lot of energy out of me but I had such a blast during the pose off that I forgot all the pain and exhaustion. 

My individual posing routine went a lot smoother this time as I experienced my time on stage more vividly. Being more calm and less nervous, I was more aware of my surroundings, including the cheering from the audience, and was able to fully appreciate being the center of attention. A narcissist's dream come true. 

Little Video of my posing routine in case you missed the event 

Overall Most Muscular 

Comment Sean R.:"u are a man among boys" ;-)

Pose Off

So how did I do when all was set and done? 

Well I did not win the "Mr. Delaware" title (this year!?!) but I won my class (Super Heavyweight) in the Delaware Open, as well as the Delaware State, championship.

But besides the outcome and the nice trophies, I am actually more impressed with my work ethic and the physical changes I achieved over the past five months. 

And the Winner is...

1st place Super Heavyweight Delaware Open 

1st place Super Heavyweight Delaware State 

First Place Trophies

First I wanted to thank Broderick Chavez from Evil Genius Sports Performance who helped me with my peak week diet for this competition.

A big shout out goes to each and every one of my friends who came out last Saturday to support me. You guys were awesome. Hearing your voices coming from the dark auditorium, shouting out my name and number or cheering me on motivated me to go above and beyond and to put on the best show I possibly could. It really meant a lot to me that you guys took the time out of your busy schedules to sit in a dark theater on a gorgeous summer day to watch a bunch of half naked men and women (I can understand the later part ;-)). It was great seeing all the Six Eight Fitness shirts in the audience, the homemade signs and the familiar faces.

Thank You!!!

A very special thank you goes out to my friend Chris for taking some great pictures and to my friends Amy and Lou for supplying me with one of the most delicious cherry cobblers. Since I'll be doing another show in two weeks, I probably wasn't allowed to have it, but I just had to get a taste of it. AMAZING, but please don't tell my trainer about it. ;-)

BEST CHERRY COBBLER EVER!!! Courtesy of Amy and Lou. THANK YOU for this great treat and your support.

Another surprise awaited me later that evening when I saw the marquee at the Best bar/Irish pub/restaurant in Wilmington, DE, Catherine Rooney's/C.R. Hooligans. Therefore another big THANK YOU to my friends at Catherine Rooney's/C.R. Hooligans. 

Local Celebrity ;-) 

So what's next?
I have have been dieting now for almost 24 weeks straight and, besides the couple cheat meals after this show and the one before, not given in to any food temptations.
However I am starting to feel the effects of the strict diet, the strenuous workouts and the long cardio sessions. I feel tired and drained, both mentally and physically.
Regardless of this, I decided to do one more contest this year and will be competing in the OCB Mid Atlantic's Battle for the Belt on August 25th in Burlington, NJ.
So if you want to come out and support me, this will definitely be your last opportunity to do so this year, since this kid needs to finally eat.

As much as I enjoy competing, I cannot wait for the show to be over and finally eat some "unhealthy" foods, such as ice cream, frozen yogurt, chocolate, pizza, Chinese food and finish off the delicious cherry cobbler in my freezer. 

OCB Mid-Atlantic's Battle for the Belt

When: Saturday August 25, 2012
Where: Burlington Township High School, 610 Fountain Avenue Burlington Township, NJ 08016. 
Prejudging begins at 12:30pm and the finals are scheduled for 5pm. 

"Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half."

                                                                                                                       Bum Phillips

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