Do You Have What It Takes?

If you have the will power, discipline and work ethic to get your body in the best shape ever, why not take it a couple of steps further and compete in a bodybuilding or physique competition?
If you do not know where to start or what to do, maybe this article can answer some questions.

When I decided to do my very first bodybuilding show this year, I had no real clue about contest preparation and timing, and almost completely relied on the expertise of befriended bodybuilders.
Now that I have a competition "under my belt" and am in the middle of preparing for another one, I thought it might be beneficial to write down my contest preparation as some form of step-by-step competition guide.

So if you are thinking about entering a bodybuilding competition yourself, maybe the following "timeline" can  give you a rough idea of what to expect and help you with the timing of the steps that go into a proper preparation. 

The first step is to decide what organization you would like to compete in and then choose a competition. There are several organizations out there, with the NPC, the National Physique Committee as the largest one in terms of members and offered events. Once you picked an organization and a date, the actual planning can start.

12-16 Weeks Out:

Diet

Depending on their current physique and bodies' shapes most bodybuilders begin with their competition diets 8-16 weeks out from the competition. If they are maintaining a very lean physique all year round, they might find a shorter period (4-6 weeks) sufficient enough.

The competition diet is a full-time commitment and probably the hardest part of the contents preparation. Workouts and cardio sessions may last for one or two hours, but following a strict competition diet is a 24 hour job. It will require a lot of will power, proper planning and a good amount of preparation. The ultimate goal of this step is to loose the maximum amount of body fat, NOT body weight, while maintaining as much lean muscle mass as possible. However once you start loosing body fat, you will also loose some muscle mass. The rule of thumb, if done correctly, is usually one pound of lean muscle mass per three pounds of body fat. So knowing your body's actual daily caloric intake requirement is key. There will be no room for "cheat meals" or even small "snacks" outside of your meal plan.

You should monitor your progress every week by taking pictures, measuring your body fat and recording it along with your body weight and measurements of key body parts (circumference of your neck, chest, arms, waist, quads and calves). Once you get close to the actual show date these changes should be recorded and compared daily to make adjustments to your diet and workouts. 

Workout

Besides starting your competition diet, you might also consider making slight changes to your workouts and putting more emphasis on isolation exercises and focus on perfect form. With this being said, the goal is also to maintain the hard gained muscle mass so compound exercises and heavy lifts should still be a major part of your training routine. 

However with fewer carbs in your diet and decreasing body weight, your strength will eventually also decline, so no false pride when it's time to drop some plates to avoid a sloppy form or low reps. 

Posing

In addition to lifting weights and doing cardio, you should also practice your posing for 15 minutes on a daily basis. It is important to know all mandatory poses and being able to hold them for an extended period. Once you have the basics down and can hold them without shaking or cramping up, you can start working on your individual posing routine. 

6 Weeks Out: 

If you haven't already done so, now might be the right time to finally register for the competition and start acquiring all necessary supplies (see post "Supplies, supplies, supplies for a list of "competition essentials"). 

Ordering your supplies now should give you enough time in case something is back ordered, needs to be custom-made or exchanged. 

Once your paperwork is submitted and your registration is official, the entire preparation process becomes even more real and the level of intensity increases. 

4 Weeks Out:

In order to start depleting your body from excess water storage, you should stop taking creatine at this time if it has been part of your competition diet. 

If you're like me and not blessed with natural dark skin and don't frequent a tanning bed on a regular basis, you might want to think about starting with it now so you can get a solid base tan over the next month. 

Most organizations require some sort of membership in order to compete in one of their events, so if you don't want to wait in line on the day of the show, you should also consider getting a membership card at this point. Completing all the necessary paperwork now should allow for enough time to have it mailed, processed and returned in time for the competition.

3 Weeks Out:

To achieve further water depletion I significantly increase my vitamin C and vitamin B6 intake at this point.  

2 Weeks Out:

14 days before the show you should increase your daily posing practice to at least 30 minutes and continue working on your routine. If you haven't picked a music track for it you also might want to get on that so you can start practicing with music and fine tune your timing.

At the two week mark, I also I bump up my glutamine intake and start taking sugar-free nitric oxide supplements to increase my vascularity. My preferred nitric oxide booster is Vasotropin from Gaspari Nutrition.

Final Week:

As the preparation process enters the last week before the competition, everybody has their own method to appear as ripped and vascular as possible on Saturday. Common methods are fat loading, carb depletion and loading, sodium loading and depletion and playing with the water intake. However since every body is different and reacts different, there is no general formula and you will have to experiment what works best for your body to achieve the desired physique.

I am still experimenting myself with different methods, but for the Delaware Championships, my schedule looks like this. As you can tell, my peak "week" will already start this Thursday, 10 days before the event.

Thursday until Monday

For a period of five consecutive days I will follow a carb depletion diet and workout plan. The idea is to completely drain the muscles' glycogen storage and prime them for carbohydrate loading.

In addition to a diet made up almost entirely of protein and fat, high-rep/low-weight workouts in the morning and High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) cardio sessions in the afternoon should further accelerate the depletion process and prepare the muscles for the carb loading phase.

Each workout and cardio session will also be followed by posing practice.

Tuesday

Tuesday's morning workout session will mark the last actual weight training and cardio session for the week and will be a high intensity, full body workout to reduce the muscles' glycogen storage as much as possible. Following immediately after this workout, the carb loading process will start to replenish the empty glycogen stores. 

Wednesday

The carb loading process continues, however the carb intake will be reduced from the previous day and the amount of protein increases.

Practicing the mandatory poses and working on the posing routine should be done for at least 30 minutes.

Thursday

The Thursday before the show is usually my "grooming day". 

Besides getting a hair cut and trimming fingernails and toenails, I also remove all unwanted body hair that day. To avoid any misunderstanding, I do not wait until two days before the show to completely shave, wax or whatsoever my body, I just re-shave. Hair removal is quite a procedure and very time intensive, so I remove it all several weeks before the show and just "maintain my hairlessness" until the competition. There are various methods to get rid of your hair, which I will cover in more detail in one of my future posts. 

Since I am slightly OCD, I also like to pack my bag for the competition (rubber bands, towels, posing suits, paperwork, extra clothes, supplies) that night, so I have everything ready to go and an extra day, Friday for any last minute errands.

Continue practicing your poses and routine. 

Friday

After posing in the morning, try to relax the rest of the day and get off your feet as much as possible. 

One day before the competition would also be a good time to get your spray tan on. Regardless of the color of your skin, one or more coats of spray tan should be applied, since the darker you are, the more defined your physique will appear on stage. 

Since I am personally not a big fan of orange bathrooms, I just take advantage of professional services and have them "paint" me (and clean up the mess afterward). 

Prepare and pack your food and snacks for the next day and get a good night's rest.

Saturday

It's finally show time.

Everything that can be done is done by now. 

Make sure to have your bag, cooler, food, two sets of posing suits, some extra towels and cash for unexpected expenses (parking, food, fees, etc.) and head to the event to be on time for the registration and competitor meeting.

If you, despite any common sense, have not registered for the event yet and/or need to obtain an organization membership, plan to arrive at the venue way early to give yourself enough time to stand in multiple lines and take care of the paperwork. Also, most events will only accept cash for registration, membership fees, etc. so stopping at an ATM along the way might be a good idea.

Once you are signed in, it is finally time to enjoy the fruits of your hard labor and to compete.

August 11th is only two more weeks away, so in accordance with the above timeline I will be looking at some major changes in my diet and workout regiment this week. Every single one of the next 14 days is already planned out, so I know exactly what to expect and can prepare my meals in advance.

For the five days of my carb depletion diet, I have 320 oz. of chicken breast, 21 gallons of spring water, 4 lb.s of lean steak, 4 lbs. of lean ground turkey, 3 bags of broccoli and 1 bottle of extra virgin oil on my shopping list. As mentioned above, I will start this process on Thursday, so I moved my last full leg workout before the show from Saturday to Wednesday. My leg workouts have been pretty intense over the past weeks, so I will definitely need some carbs before and after the gym. Doing legs earlier should also give them more time to rest and allow for some of the excess water under the skin to disappear. 

"The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack of will." 

 Vince Lombardi

How Do You Like Me Now

I have been preparing for this summer's competitions now for exactly 20 long weeks, so I thought it was time to take a moment and reflect on the past 5 months.

If you have been following the blog from the very beginning on, you might remember that I started this "journey" "officially" on March 4th 2012 and faced quite a bit of adversity and some obstacles along the way.
A couple of business trips, a vacation in Germany, an extended weekend in Jamaica, working odd hours, and stress were minor or major interruptions of my contest preparation but eventually could not stop me. 

While March 4th marks the beginning of my low-carb diet and altered workout schedule, the actual work started way before that, to be precise, after last year's Summer, when I started lifting heavy again and changed up my diet by adding more carbs and calories. I gained a lot of muscle mass and strength during this "off-season" period, but also a  little bit of extra weight around my hips. 

I began my contest preparation that Monday with a body weight of 291 lbs. and a caliper measured body fat content of 7%.

140 workouts, approximately 5,600 minutes of cardio and roughly around 270 lbs. of dry chicken breast later, I weighted in this morning at 258.2 lbs. with 4.5% body fat. At my last competition I was even down to 251.2 lbs. 

In retrospect, I wish I could have maintained more lean muscle mass, but that is all part of the learning process and will definitely influence next year's preparation plan and timeline. 

Following a strict diet and workout regiment for such a long time took quite some dedication and willpower, but looking at the results, I have to say that all those 5 am workouts were definitely worth it.

It is amazing to see how my body transformed within this time period and comparing my current pictures with previous ones motivates me for the next 5 weeks. 

Even though my spirits are still high, I have to admit that after 140 days of contest preparation I am kind of looking forward to the end of my last competition on August 25th, so I can finally "eat again". 

Don't get me wrong, I am not planning on letting myself go and "pigging out", I actually already have an "off-season" meal plan and workout plan made up to hit the ground running, but I will definitely enjoy a couple of "free windows" in my diet and one or ten pieces of candy. 

My goal this winter is to gain 20 lbs. of lean muscle mass so I can compete at around 270/275 lbs. next year. Since this will require a substantial amount of extra carbs and less cardio, I guess I won't be posting any shirtless pictures of me then for a while. So enjoy them while you can. ;-)

While it is already kind of amazing to see the transformation of my body within the last 20 weeks, I love to go even further back and compare my current physique with the pictures I took when I initially started working out more serious again, back in February of 2011. 

Not to sound too cocky, but I would say this "kid" has made quite some progress in the past 1.5 years.

Cleaning up my desk at work I also found one of my very first meal plans from last year and wanted to share it here. 

Back then, I just searched for "bodybuilder meal plan" on Google and this was one of the first results that popped up. Without any real understanding of nutrition or even my daily caloric requirements I just copied it and used it for a couple of months. 

Now that I have a better understanding of the subject I look at it and laugh when I see that my calorie intake was only around 2,500. Doing the proper math, I should have been at 4,200. Guess that's what happen when you "just do something" instead of fully understanding what and why you are actually doing it.  

Well enough reminiscing about "ye olde tymes" and back to focusing on the future.

My next competition, the 2012 Delaware Championship, is only three weeks away, so it is time to enhance my metabolic functions again by adding 1,500mg of vitamin B6 and 4,500mg of vitamin C to my daily supplement intake. Besides playing an important role in metabolic functions, they are also intended to help achieving water depletion. 

Being the second contest preparation within a couple of weeks it kind of feels like groundhog day with the exception that I am less nervous, more confident in doing what I am doing, and that I have a better understanding of how my body will react.

140 days down, 34 more to go.

"In the confrontation between the stream and the rock, the stream always wins... not through strength, but through persistence."

Quench Your Thirst

After several posts about food and food preparation I want to dedicate today's post to another very important, yet oftentimes underrated, part of your diet. Fluids.
While taking in enough fluids is essential to increase your performance in the gym and to improve your physique, it does also matter what kind of fluids you put into your body. 

Water

Plain, old H2O should make up the majority of your daily fluid intake since it has several health and performance benefits. Water keeps your organs functioning properly, reduces excess sodium from your body, controls the body temperature, helps digesting, transporting and absorbing nutrients, clears toxins, and hydrates your muscle cells. Lean muscle tissue is composed of  75% water and water plays an important role in cell volumization, so proper hydration is essential for muscle growth. 

The rule of thumb is to drink roughly around .45oz. of water per pound of body weight, so at my current weight of around 265lbs., I should be drinking at least 120oz. of water per day. However since I have usually very intense, read sweaty, workouts in the morning, my body requires much more than this to function properly.
The American College of Sports Medicine recommends the following water intake to replenish your body when exercising: 20oz. before exercise, 10oz. every 15 minutes of exercise and 40oz. for one hour of workout.
Since I am also using water to mix my protein shakes, I end up drinking on average between 1.8 to 2 gallons of water per day.

So where does all this aqua come from? Besides the week before a competition in which I solely rely on bottled spring water to have more control over the nutrition content of my fluid intake,  I drink tap water, fountain water or bottled water. 

Distilled water can have an adverse effect on your performance, since it leeches electrolytes out of your body.
I personally do not mind the plain taste of water, but if you are having a hard time taking enough water in, try mixing it with artificial, zero-calorie flavors such as MIO Liquid Water Enhancers to add some taste.  

Soda

A.k.a sugar water. If you are serious about bodybuilding, loosing weight or improving your athletic performance, you should stay away from these liquid calorie bombs as far as possible. A regular 12 oz. can of Coke for example has 145 calories, coming from 39 grams of carbs (pure sugar), a 20oz. bottle of Sunkist, a whooping 320 calories, 84 grams of sugar and a whole bunch of artificial coloring chemicals. 

Diet Soda

While these zero calories drinks are definitely a better option than their high calorie regular soda cousins, drinking diet sodas can never replace water intake, since it's, duh, not water. However they can be a nice treat every once in a while and make a good drinking option at social occasions.   

Juice

Fruit juices are oftentimes perceived as healthy, however in reality, they are almost as bad as regular sodas. Yes, they do offer more vitamins than sodas, but the number of calories and the amount of sugar are almost the same, for example a 16oz. bottle of apple juice contains 240 calories and 52 grams of sugar.

However, in the off-season, I sometimes take advantage of their high sugar and carb content and use them in my post-workout shake to provide me with quick, fast acting carbs and energy.During pre-contest, I don't even look at them.

Energy Drinks

Again, sugar, sugar, sugar and to top it off some caffeine, which is a diuretic and actually promotes water loss. So in addition to adding a whole lot of empty calories to your diet, you are also depriving your body of water.

If you cannot live without the additional energy, stick at least to sugar-free, low calorie energy drinks, but carefully read the nutrition label before buying, since the serving sizes and therefore the calories vary from brand to brand. My personal favorite in this category and go-to energy drink is Monster Absolutely Zero Energy Drink , which does neither contain any sugar nor any carbs or calories. 

Sports Drinks

During intense workouts sports drinks, such as Gatorade, Powerade, etc. can actually be a better choice than regular water since they contain sodium which helps the body to hold onto water and to guide it into muscles and blood. The containing sugars however can be a double-edged sword though. Yes, on the one hand they will provide your body with carbohydrates and therefore energy, but on the other hand also with a nice amount of calories. So if you are not training at medium or high intensity or if you are preparing for a bodybuilding competition stay away from them and stick to H2O.  

Only because it says "Sports", "Vitamin" or "Health" on the label does not necessarily mean that it is also good for you.  

Tea

Regular brewed tea is very low in calories and according to several studies actually offers several health benefits, such as reduced cancer risks, lowered cholesterol levels and prevention of blood clotting, through antioxidant polyphenols. So regular, black, green or white tea would make for a great addition to your liquid diet as long as it isn't sweetened with sugar or diluted with milk. Try using all-natural zero-calorie sweeteners such as stevia instead and keep in mind that tea also contains caffeine, which as I mentioned earlier promotes water loss.

The health benefits of sweet tea and ice tea are greatly reduced and these beverages are usually full of sugar and calories so stick to regular brewed teas if you're opting for this choice of beverage.   

Coffee

Black, unsweetened coffee by itself only has 5 calories per cup but unfortunately also a good amount of caffeine (DUH!!!). As long as you don't consume 600mg of caffeine or more, drinking coffee can actually be considered adding to your fluid intake but to a much lesser extent than plain water.

As for tea, drink your coffee plain or try only adding calorie-free sweeteners to it and avoid any milk, cremer, whip creme or other shennanigans. 

Alcoholic Beverages

I know I am not going to make any friends with this but alcohol and bodybuilding do not really go well together. We all heard of the many health issues caused by excessive alcohol consumption but what concerns me more is the huge amount of empty calories in alcoholic beverages that will just cause you to gain weight and ruin your hard work in the gym. Don't get me wrong I am not demonizing alcohol or its consumption and actually enjoy a drink or two myself every now and then during the off-season, but when it comes to dieting and preparing for a competition I am as dry as the Atacama desert. 

Happy belated Independence Day. Cheers ( with Water or Diet Soda only)!!!

After The Show Is Before The Show

Wow the last weekend has been quite an experience. I have depleted and reloaded my body with carbs, dehydrated it, had it "painted orange", participated in my very first bodybuilding competition, won my first bodybuilding trophy and finally had my first cheat meals in 16 weeks. Talking about an emotional roller coaster ride.

Now a week later, I am still overwhelmed by all the support and encouragement I received this weekend from my friends. Thank you for all your Facebook posts, text messages, phone calls etc. A special thank you goes out to all of those who actually made it to the show and supported me "live". Your attendance and cheers really, really meant a lot to me and I cannot thank you guys enough. I am truly blessed to have such amazing friends like you. Thank you!!!

But let's start from the beginning. 
My peak week diet went as planned and outlined in last week's post.

Wednesday afternoon I started carb loading, stopped my sodium intake and slowly reduced my water. Friday after lunch I completely stopped drinking water and basically dehydrated my body for the next 24 hours until the contest. This was probably the hardest part of the contest preparation and the most exhausting one in the 16 week period. Having temperatures well above 90°F didn't really help to make the whole water depletion experience more pleasant.

In the afternoon I got three coats of fake tan sprayed on, which by the way is a whole other story by itself, and at night I was finally allowed to eat my hamburger with bun, fries, ketchup and everything.  

Saturday morning I met up with my trainer Jack at the gym for the final preparations and to go over my posing one more time.
I packed my posing trunks, extra clothes, towels, rubber bands to pump up my muscles, all of my other supplies and obviously my food in two bags and headed to the competition. This was finally it. Almost time to shine.

I arrived an hour early at the show location, an old theater building in the outskirts of Philadelphia and was greeted by two long lines of "orange" people waiting to either purchase their NPC card, register or weigh-in.
Once I dealt with the registration process I sat down in the theater and started nibbling on my pre-contest foods.
To further dry out my body I had a mix of half of a box of Quaker Oats Granola and two cups of dry oats, which I continuously snacked on until I had to get on stage. Then, starting two hours before the show, I had a tablespoon of strawberry jam every 15 minutes and a ring of dried pineapple every hour to provide me with energy.

My little "lunch" box, dried pineapples, water, granola/oats mix and two jars of strawberry jam

After the competitor meeting we went backstage and started to get ready.
An air-conditioned dance rehearsal room served as the pump-up area, but since it was beyond crowded, many contestants, including myself chose to "set up shop" in an area right next to the stage.
If you've ever been behind the scenes of a theater stage you know exactly what it looks like. It is a big open workshop with plenty on power tools, hardware, lumber, etc. and hot as hell.

An exclusive look "behind the scenes" of a bodybuilding show

Thirty minutes before going on stage, I applied some Pro Tan Hot Stuff, put on sweat pants and a sweat shirt and started to pump up with rubber bands.
The combination of sauna like conditions in the work shop, sweat pants, Pro Tan Hot Stuff, exercising and being without water for 24 hours started finally taking its toll and I began to feel a little lightheaded. 
However when it was time to hit the stage I felt an amazing rush and mentally got into the "zone". 
All the exhaustion, thirst, pain, fatigue, hunger etc. were simply gone and I felt like this was my moment to shine. My sole focus was on keeping good posture and hitting my poses strong to show off the result of my hard work.

Novice Heavyweight "Relaxed"

Super Heavyweight Side Chest

Super Heavyweight Front Lat Spread

Super Heavyweight Abs and Thighs

I competed in two different classes at the show, Men's Bodybuilding Novice Heavyweight and Men's Bodybuilding Open Super Heavyweight. At 6'8" and 251.8 lbs. I was the tallest and heaviest contestant that day and competed against 13 other contestants in the Novice Heavyweight Class and against four others in the Open Super Heavyweight. 

After my second stage appearance I was completely exhausted. My entire body was sore, my muscles started to cramp up and my mind just drew a blank.
I was done. Spent. Finished. 
At this point I did not want to compete ever again. Hell, I didn't even want to go back for the actual show at 6pm. All I wanted was some water, food and sleep. I thought to myself well, you have done it, you can cross that off your bucket list. NEVER! AGAIN!

I walked out of the backstage area and was greeted by a number of friends who came to the show just to support me. Some of them even drove more than two hours just to be there for me. The feeling was overwhelming. Seeing them wearing "Team Six Eight Fitness" Shirts, hearing their "critique" of my performance, getting complimented, getting teased about my slightly unnatural skin color and just talking to them was highly motivational, and once I finally sipped on a bottle of water, got some electrolytes in me, and ate a hamburger and fries, my spirits were finally back. 
I couldn't wait for the evening show, so I could perform my routine and find out how I placed.

Thanks for the great support!!!

When it was finally time for the evening show, the atmosphere behind was completely different than in the morning. Since the judges had already made their decisions during prejudging, everybody was more relaxed and laid back. 
I warmed up again and went on stage to do my 60 second posing routine. Even though I competed in two different classes I had to perform my routine only once. 
Unfortunately I only ended up in ninth place in the Novice Heavyweight Class and had to put all my hope into the Super Heavyweight class. 
Since there were only four contestants over 225lbs. and the top 5 of each class were supposed to receive an award, I was pretty sure I wouldn't leave empty handed, but being the competitive person I am, I didn't want to come in last. 

Super Heavyweight Top Four

Finally the moment of truth came. We were all standing in a "relaxed" pose waiting for the judges to call out the 4th place and you can't believe the excitement I felt when they didn't call out my number for it. 

Even though I only finished third, I felt like a winner and was very proud of my award.

3rd Place Philadelphia Championships 2012 Super Heavyweight Class

In the months leading to the show, I was fantasizing about the foods I would eat afterwards. I had dreams of All-You-Can-Eat Chinese Buffets, plates loaded with pasta or greasy pizza, but when the show was finally over, I wasn't hungry at all and only wanted to drink water. I actually felt kind of bloated and slightly sick from all that granola, sweet strawberry jam and dried pineapples.
However once I got back home, my appetite slowly came back and I had some late night appetizers at a restaurant nearby.

Post Show Cheat Meal

Last Sunday I woke up completely sore and still exhausted, but managed to force myself out of bed to get some tasty breakfast.

Breakfast the day after

Now that I had my first show behind me and ate some unhealthy, but amazingly delicious, foods, I actually couldn't wait to go back to the gym and work on my weaknesses. 
Looking at the contest pictures, I realized that I will primarily need to focus on my legs, arms and chest to become more competitive. 

Yes, you read correct, MORE competitive. I want to continue with this sport and try to add more size and lean muscle mass. I have "licked blood" and am eager to get back on stage. 

The rush, the feeling of achievement, the crowd, the lights, the atmosphere, simply everything is highly addicting and I am definitely hooked. 

Since I am already in show shape, I am planning on maintaining my current physique and maybe even improving some of my weak areas and doing another show in six weeks. 

My next competition is going to be the Delaware Championships in Wilmington, DE, which is another National Physique Committee (NPC) sponsored event, so Sunday afternoon I was back in pre-contest mode.  

This past week I switched my diet back to what it has been over the past 15 weeks, dropped the Glutamine , reduced my vitamin C and B6 intake to "normal" levels and started again with OxyElite Pro . 

Even though most of my workout remained the same, I made some major changes to my leg routine to try adding some size and definition to my quads over the next couple of weeks and moved my leg day to Saturdays. 

I am not sure if it was the OxyElite Pro or the leftover carbs from the weekend but I had some intense workouts this week with plenty of energy and motivation. August 11th cannot come soon enough. 

Delaware Championships

When: Saturday August 11, 2012
Where: The Delaware Theater Company, 200 Water Street Wilmington DE 19801. 
Prejudging begins at noon and the finals are scheduled for 6pm. 

Your support would be again greatly appreciated!!!

The "fun" is over, now back to work.