Bulking Up

After 26 weeks of contest preparation, low carb diets and tons of cardio it is finally time to eat. 

For the first couple of days after the last competition and the photo shoot, I was basically on a "seafood diet". I was eating all the food I would see. 

Ice cream, cookies, french fries, fruits, peanut butter, yogurt, Chinese food, sandwiches, bread, basically everything I was not allowed to eat for the past half year. 

While it felt great to finally have the freedom again to choose different foods and eat what I wanted, it kind of got old pretty soon and I was longing for the structure my contest diets provided me with. 

So after a couple of days of "binge eating", I sat down and created my "off-season/bulking" meal plan. This plan is based on my daily calorie requirements plus an additional 500 calories to grow.

It ended up being around 5,000 calories, which are split up into seven meals and spread out throughout the day with set eating times. 

Compared to my contest diets, I bumped up my daily caloric intake and  noticeably increased the amount of carbohydrates I eat daily. 

The plan is fairly stringent but not as "radical" as my pre-contest diets, since I allow myself 3-4 "cheat meals" per week and some not so healthy food snacks throughout the day.
To be accurate, this diet actually consists of two plans.
One meal plan for days that I lift weights at the gym and one plan for non-workout and cardio only days. Even though the daily caloric intake remains the same with around 5,000, the macros change significantly between the two plans. On actual workout days 35% of my daily calories come from protein, 53% from carbohydrates and around 12% from fat. I am trying to take advantage of my body's natural insulin cycle and time my carb intake accordingly. The majority of my carb is therefore consumed in the morning and right after my workout. Meal 6 and 7 do not contain any carbs. 

On non-workout days, the focus shifts from muscle hypertrophy to preventing additional body fat storage.  This is achieved by decreasing the carb intake to only 30% of the daily calories and bringing protein up to 42% and adding healthy fats. 

My main source of protein remains chicken but I have also added some more lean red meat to my diet and use whey protein for my pre-intra and post-workout shakes.

Brown rice, oats and yams, as well as white rice for my post-workout meal provide me with the necessary carbohydrates and healthy fats come from extra virgin oil, flaxseed oil and all natural peanut butter.
Two to four cups of green vegetables, such as spinach, broccoli, asparagus or green beans are added to meals in both plans. 

The plan is supposed to be an efficient, lean gain diet program intended to add lean muscle mass without too much body fat. 

Two weeks into the new diet and workout routine, it becomes obvious that this plan is an "off-season" plan and that some fat gain is inevitable. But with Summer gone and the beach/pool season over, I am more concerned about gaining mass and strength than maintaining my abs. Sorry folks!

So far my plan has worked out great. I gained almost 30 pounds since I stepped on stage August 25th and also made huge progress in the weight room. I am getting stronger week by week and, to my surprise, my abs are still visible, well, at least to some degree. Next week I will get a little bit more into detail about my current workout routine but that would be it for today.   

Well, time to eat again!

Kodak Moment

Before entirely switching up my diet and starting to "bulk up", I thought it would be a great idea to preserve some of the shape I was in for posterity, well, at least on film/photo.

The physique was there, time could be made and I was already practicing my "Blue Steel" pose, so all I needed was a photographer. 

By sheer coincidence that problem was also solved pretty quick. 

At the Delaware Championship, I started talking to the show photographer, Jim Wilmer, and during our conversation, it turned out that he was also doing private photo shoots. 

We both expressed our interest in working together and immediately scheduled a shooting for the Tuesday after my last competition.

I figured that after 26 weeks of strict dieting what would an additional three day matter. I was dead wrong. Once the competition was over, these three days turned out to take forever. Even though in theory I was not restricted by my contest diet anymore and "free" to eat whatever I felt like,  I had to get even more stringent for this short period, in order to maintain my stage physique as good as possible.

To stay lean and dry I forewent my "cheat meals" following the competition and ate beyond "clean" Sunday and Monday. My meals basically consisted of chicken, broccoli and lettuce.

Despite numerous showers, I still had a coat of spraytan from Saturday's competition left on my skin, so no extra tanner or lotion were needed for the shooting. The color was now, three days afterwards, much lighter, almost like a natural tan and I looked like I just got back from a Caribbean vacation.

Looking at myself in the mirror Tuesday morning I appeared just a tiny bit fuller than Saturday. The extra sacrifice had actually paid off and I was ready to have "some" pictures taken.

Well, we ended up with over 600!!! that day. 

This number shouldn't actually come as a surprise, since the photo shoot took place both indoors, as well as outdoors, and in a wide variety of different outfits.  

Jim Wilmer has been working with bodybuilders and physique models for decades and his experience can definitely be seen in the quality of work he delivered.  It was a pleasure working with him that day and the pictures came out great. 

Now that the shoot is over I can finally enjoy myself for a bit and eat some of the foods I had to deny myself of for the past 6 months, before I start preparing for next year.

"I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. 

And I plan on finding out what that is."

                                                                                    Derek Zoolander

Blue Steel

Le Tigre

A special Thank You to Jim Wilmer for these great pictures, and now I shall EAT!!!

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

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