First Physique Show

This week has been solely focused on preparing my first body building show. There’s a few things that got added to the list of things I’ll do different next prep, like taking the whole week off pre show. Having to do fasted cardio for me entailed waking up at 4 am to do it before my 6am work start. I’m not one to complain about this kind of stuff but I definitely felt my energy at work suffer and do not want to compromise professional integrity in the future.

The second thing I’ll do differently is getting a full body wax instead of trying to shave my whole body myself. Not that it wasn’t fun, and that having my girlfriend help me shave the back of my thighs enthralling, but I feel like the full body wax would be a lot more efficient. You learn something new every day right. Plus I clogged the bathtub and my roomie got mad.

I am writing this the day before the show, and I can reflect a little on the whole dieting aspect. I feel like there’s a huge misconception with bodybuilding and extreme diets. I don’t know how I’ll do tomorrow but regardless, the past two months have been enjoyable. Yes there are things I would do differently next time, mainly, eat more! I came in this prep a little too lean and ended up being show ready too early. That was hard mentally to keep the diet super clean, but now that I know how my body reacts to dieting, I know I can enjoy a few more calories during my off season. I have the full intention to use these extra calories to train even more than before and push my body to new limits so don’t you go thinking I just want to enjoy more bad food just for the sake of it.

I’ve learned a lot from this prep. Actually weighting my food helped me realize how much (or how little) I was actually eating. I find that we are usually over eating all the time, and getting a bit anal with measuring my meals to the ounce only reinforced this sentiment. My biggest advice for anyone who wants to take their nutrition to the next level is to get yourself a cheap food scale and weight thins JUST ONCE! Just so you get an idea.

Take a chicken breast for example. The cornerstone of any muscle building diet. I used to not think twice about it’s macros. Now I know that on average, a chicken breast is roughly 170 grams, has 53 grams of protein and 280 calories. So just by having 4 of those a day I can hit my protein requirements and reach my calorie goal pretty damn quick.

I am taking a renewed interest in nutrition thanks to this prep and will take it in consideration when I build my future training plans. The biggest, immediate thing I plan on experimenting with is varying all my carb and protein supplements. Just to get different exposure to whats out there and to mix things up. I’m part of the school of thought that believes in varying your training plan and it makes sense to me to apply this philosophy to my nutrition. I will be experimenting with a vegetarian phase as well as a vegan phase in the near future.

Even though I’ve lifted weights for 10 years now, I have found a new passion in lifting. This is something I’m having a tough time explaining. I think it really comes down to having tangible goals again. I used to lift weights to be better at sports, but didn’t have enough knowledge to make plans that were very good. Once I acquired that knowledge through my degree and experience, I got injured and stopped playing sports. I had no goals to chase with that new knowledge. Yes I applied it to others and always took pleasure in seeing my students achieve their goals, but I never applied it to myself. The gym became a place where I hung out with my pals, and although we push ourselves to outdo each other, we plateaued regularly.

Now I can already see all the progress I’m going to make the coming months and how my body will adapt, and I can’t wait to start the process!

The final thing I have to say about this prep is how grateful I am for all of those that supported me through it. Whether it’s my students in the gym, colleagues, friends, family or girlfriend, I really felt like everyone was cheering me on the whole way. A huge thank you to all of you!