Bodybuilding Journey Fall 2015 Part II

I used fitness, nutrition, and weightlifting knowledge I already had.....and merged it with Layne Norton's flexible dieting concepts and Arnold Schwarzenegger's Guide to Bodybuilding.

 May 12, 2015

June 1, 2015

 June 9, 2015

I remember waking up June 9th like "this sh*t just came out of nowhere." This was my reward for "trusting the process." For a while it did not feel like much was happening, then BOOM! I had confirmation I was on the right track.

In case you didn't know.....it feels damn good to have a hot body DURING the summer!

And to reverse the aging process. Looking like a few mature 20 somethings.

My daily protein (egg whites, chicken breasts, turkey breasts, and lean sirloin) really helped me keep solid muscle. The problem was I was at a point where I really needed to cut some weight. I should have been eating more greens, asparagus, and spinach during this time.

But it was time for me to get my first experience on stage at the Beachbody Classic in Nashville. Maybe I set my goals too low with this experience. I did not plan to win the event nor did I want to. It was a physique competition and I had been training, eating, and thinking like a bodybuilder. I simply wanted to experience.

I learned that dialing in during Peak Week will enhance what you've created. Also, the meal before pre-judging can make an amazing difference.

 The problem with the Beachbody Classic was that pre-judging was on a Friday morning and the on-stage finals was on a Saturday night.  I did not spray tan. I just rubbed half a bottle of olive oil on and made a commitment to enjoy the moment. I had too much body fat to win the competition, but when I sized up the competition I saw no reason why I could not be successful at this if I kept going. After Nashville, I went from getting the experience to wanting to win show.

The Importance of Water

There is no doubt you have heard a fitness pro, coach, or dedicated gym rat talk about drinking more water. If you have ever trained with McCohn Muscle or been in the US Army you've definitely heard it. There is a chance that a good amount of you don't know why it's important. Here is a brief summary:

The body is made up of 40 to 60 percent water. Muscle is composed of 72% water by weight, whereas fat weight is only 20 to 25 percent water. This means that diets or activities that result in excessive fluid loss will have a significant effect on muscle size.
Without sufficient intake of water, you become dehydrated. Your body begins to retain water to protect itself, and much of this water is stored subcutaneously, which smooths out muscular definition dramatically. Retained water becomes contaminated because your kidneys can't filter out contaminants properly when you're dehydrated. The liver is then called upon to help process these waste products, which interferes with one of its main functions, breaking down body fat. So without sufficient water in the body you're likely to end up water-logged, bloated, and obese-------which is exactly what you don't want if you are working toward a fitness or competitive goal.
This will also lead to problems with sodium. When you're dehydrated, sodium can't be adequately flushed from the body, causing further water retention, and any additional sodium in your diet simply aggravates the problem. Right about here you'll have that fat, sluggish, energy drained feeling.
If you are involved in intense exercise, you need at least eight 12-ounce glasses per day. If you are an athlete, bodybuilder, figure or bikini competitor, you will surely need more than this. And water in solution does not count. You need straight up water, not juice, pop, coffee, tea, or another substitute.
SO.....as Drill Sergeant always said.....DRINK WATER!!!!


"If you take a glass of water and add two cubes of ice, you should see the cup's water level slightly rise right? You need to watch what I'm a show you......you need to look closely at what I'm a show you...........If you remove every living animal out of the sea, then wouldn't the world's ocean water level decrease? This means the planet wasn't three-quarters water. This means the planet isn't 3/4ths water." 
---Canibus





Source: "Arnold Schwarzenegger's Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding," training knowledge