Beachbody Classic 2015-Beachbody Summit 2015 Part II

Friday was a mental struggle and it actually helped me that I was out of town. Rolling down Broadway in Nashville looking at all the retail shops, restaurants, and that amazing Candy Kitchen; I plotted the nonsense that I was going to get into that evening. Most of it shamefully revolved around

Anyway, I attended some inspiring presentations. There are so many people that are growing their Beachbody business to the tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, and even to the millionaire level. These people are NO different than you and I. They just made a decision to get sh*t done then executed. Beachbody is a great way to make supplemental or even breadwinning income, while helping copious amounts of people at the same time. It really made me THINK BIGGER!

After walking down Broadway I walked over a bridge that separated downtown from Nissan Stadium. I figured it would be a great time to take some game winning shots. Like I said, I made the decision to THINK BIGGER!

Now I attempted to have another meal that was higher in carbs, fat, and sodium and I don't think I should have. It did not affect my body the same way as the day before. Here is the best shot of me onstage, and it points out what was obviously my biggest weakness in the show......too much body fat

At least I look happy though :-)

Needless to say, I did not dominate the competition at this event but I did make my presence felt. I gained a wealth of knowledge and experience, and I acquired a few new friends.

I definitely left Nashville inspired by the thousands of "normal" everyday people that have put time in to build successful businesses with Beachbody. I was inspired by the performances of the other top Physique, as well as bikini competitors that were there. My own failures supplied me with inspiration. As well as a San Diego supermodel that shall remain nameless. 

Now that I'm back in my environment, let's see what I can create.

Beachbody Classic 2015- Beachbody Summit 2015

I started my bodybuilding training 12 weeks ago. I lost close to 20lbs and 7% body fat. I trained like an animal. Sometimes I would literally have to disassociate my body from mind so I wouldn't give in to the pain and fatigue when I was training.

The biggest struggle was in the nutrition. I actually enjoyed ingesting almost 280gm of protein a day. Chicken breasts, lean steaks, and egg whites were just part of the daily routine. Only being able to take in a little more than 50gm of fat a day was a challenge, especially since peanut butter taste so wonderful.

The real challenge resided in the 175gm of carb per day restriction. I tried my best to fight those sugar cravings with a Floyd Mayweather type of defensive tenacity. Most days I did what I was supposed to, on other days I caved in. That is probably the main reason why I wasn't a Top 3 finisher.

The day before I stood in front of the judges, I was on a serious carb restriction. I had 30gm from breakfast and didn't have another gram until 8pm that night when I was supposed to have 30 more. Guess what I chose to eat........

 The Gaylord Orpyland. What a ridiculously huge hotel! It's like a small indoor city. 

The morning of the show I was ready to go. I wanted to go and impress the judges, then go and eat something I had no business eating. I woke up real flat with little energy.

Two hours before I went to show I needed a meal of about 90gm or carbs and some sodium so my muscles would fill out. I also needed about 30gm of fat to add some vascularity to my depleted body. Good thing the hotel room service provided french toast, coffee, and bacon. I was all over it. This is how my body looked after the meal.

Posing in front of the judges was cool. It felt natural. I would much rather pose like a bodybuilder than physique competitor but I practiced both of them a lot so I felt comfortable. I kept a smile on my face.

Some of the other male competitors looked amazing. You can tell they put in some real hard work in the gym....and probably cheated a little less than I did. They were getting pumped up with band and tubing exercises before they went in to pose. Everybody I met seemed positive and was there to enjoy the experience.

The problem with the Beachbody Classic was that pre-judging was Thursday morning and the stage show was Friday night. Now I've heard of Thurs am/ Thurs pm or Fri am/Fri pm but not the morning of one day and then night the next. Being out of town added to the degree of difficulty because I did not have food with me. NOTE TO SELF: If you go out of town to do a show, seal up some food and bring it with you.
I posed at 9am and the judges notified us that the Top 20 would be announced "sometime before midnight." What!?!

The evening show at Nissan Stadium did get me pumped up. Beachbody knows how to have a party.

Bloody nose!

And I made some new friends!

Then came the email.....Congratulations Mr. McCohn you've made the Top 20 competitors. Be ready for stage tomorrow night for the possibility to bring home the trophy. And I immediately went back to the hotel and got a workout in. 

TD Mentorship 2014 San Diego Day 3- McCohn Muscle

That Day 3 BootCamp? I'm not going to lie, I was more of a spectator than a participator. Yes, I probably had TOO much fun the night before, but my body was pretty sore after the first two workouts of the mentorship. So yeah, I was just listening to my body ;-)

We did a lot of activities and games here. There were some buddy exercises, some running, calisthenics; we played a game called Blob Tag which was pretty cool. It was more like a team building activity. There was also some type of football game I did not participate in because I got caught up in a conversation with a successful trainer and entrepreneur from Coronado named Christopher Foote. This guy has got it going on, and his positive attitude is contagious.

This day, Saturday, we got overloaded with information. Entrepreneur, Trainer, Gym Owner, Beachbody Diamond Coach, and speaker Trina Gray jumped it off with "Time to Get Social." A lecture on steps we could take to improve our reach on social media platforms. Ladies! If you do not follow "Trina Gray Fitness" on Facebook, I encourage you to do so. She is a wife, mother, and inspiration like many of you.

www.facebook.com/trinagrayfitness

Instagram: @trinagray

Next we learned from Entrepreneur, Trainer, Gym Owner, Beachbody Extraordinaire, Marketing Mastermind, and speak Vito LaFata. He opened up a lot of people's eyes about the way our websites were put together, why they needed to improve, and what we could do to improve them. Talk about some useful information. Remember how I used the word "overloaded." We received so much good information over these 3.5 days there is no way to implement it all quickly. All of it is going to take time but the faster we're able to put it together, the better our businesses will become. For sure!

That's Vito and Trina on the left. I'm not sure why I did not get pictures with them. Probably because they made me realize how garbage my social media and website was. lol :-) Their presentations were GAME CHANGERS!

Other lectures we received on day 3: The 30 Minute Business Model, The Art of a Great Presentation, and Going Deep Coaching.

Then you know how fitness professionals do, Work Hard....Play Hard.

This is what happens when you get a Buckeye fan and a Wolverine fan together! Well dressed hostility. She has some great arms, but her team though! Todd was gracious enough to let all 65 of us come over to his house. He fed us, provided water, wine and other beverages. I even had a chocolate chip cookie. It was a good time. A couple of conversations that stood out to me was one with Brent Gallagher, owner of West U Fitness in Houston. This guy is amazing. The Dave Ramsey of trainers. He's built a training facility that brings in over $1M a year and he has no debt. HELLO! He gave me awesome encouragement and advice about starting my own training facility.

The other was an inspiring conversation with the Director of First Impressions at Fitness Quest 10, Stephanie Anderson. As she was talking to me about some difficult times in her past it really stirred something up inside of me. I looked at her as a conqueror; someone who has fought many battles to get to the point where she is today, and she has the courage to tell her story. 

Listen to her story here

Little did I know, the emotion I felt from one conversation would be taken to another level on the last day of mentorship.

And the Michigan Wolverines are still poop!