The Next Big Challenge - The NPA British Finals 2013

It was a great honour to be invited to the NPA British Finals, something I never expected. After months of dieting and training for the NPA South East Championships (Qualifiers), I was ready to eat the house down and reminisce on my journey. So part of me wanted to decline the great offer to showcase my physique at the British Finals. This was because I knew the challenge ahead was not going to be easy, due to the intense dieting and training routine. However, I knew it was a passing thought and was not going to fester, how could I pass up the challenge and the opportunity to be part of the 2013 NPA British Finals!

To quench my hunger for food, I decided to take a week off dieting and training to reward my previous efforts. I started partying straight after the NPA South East championships in Kent, from the car park and progressed to my apartment in Gants Hill. I ate so much, I felt my belly was about to pop! My stomach had shrunk so much through dieting, that binge eating could be seen as a reckless and dangerous act. But I didn't care, I craved everything from chocolates to pizzas but most importantly I was looking forward to smashing the Turkish meal my gym partner had been tormenting me with for months.  

A Turkish meal fit for a king!

                                  

After the excessive eating my body didn't feel right for a couple of weeks. Although the finals were only 6 weeks away this journey felt the hardest. I had gained 11 pounds from binge eating, so was 14st 11lb at the end of the first week.

The great thing about the NPA is the constructive feedback from Michael Philips after your show to help you prep for your next competition. I found this extremely useful as it gave me some direction of the key areas to improve. I was aiming to get on stage at 13st.7lb and devised a plan. I started doing weights and cardio twice a day. Heavy weight training plus an hour cardio in the mornings and light weight training and an hour cardio in the evenings. I did this for 3 weeks, then cut out weight training during the evening and reverted to only cardio, in order not to burn out. I incorporated carbs back in to my diet as I couldn't see myself on the ketogenic diet any longer. Along with this intense training program I continued to improve my posing by practicing daily. 

                          

Mandatory posing practise

On the day of the NPA British finals I weighed in at 13st 7lb. Although overwhelming, being held at such a grand venue. I was ready to get the show on the road. I had trained intensively for four and half weeks and was in the best physique of my life. It was a pleasure to meet all the other champions who were also ready to display the fruits of their labour to family, friends and other spectators. Despite being extremely nervous I was looking forward to getting back on the stage. I hadn't worked this hard for nothing!

           

               Backstage getting ready to go on.

The show was split in two halves, the first being the mandatory posing and the second part of the show was individual posing routines. The first part of the competition seemed to fly over, I felt I was only on stage for matter of minutes. There was an extremely long wait until I was due to be back on stage. The nerves were really getting to me, not even a couple of cheeky vodkas were helping to settle my anxiety. I made the mistake of spending time outside in the cold weather with my friends smoking far to many cigarettes (so my girlfriend tells me!) to try and forget about my nerves. This and a lack of water caused me to develop some serious cramping just before my posing routine. I ate lots of dark chocolate, sweets, bananas, pinches of salt and water to overcome my cramps. The cramps became so intense at one point I was worried that it would ruin my routine and jeopardise my place in the competition. Luckily they calmed down with minutes to spare!

                                                

After the gruesome battle on stage and an extremely long and anxious day, I was awarded 2nd place. What a result!

It was the icing on the cake when I was told I would be featured in the 'Beef' magazine (January and February 2014 edition). Not bad for the first year right lol!

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Michael Phillips, Fivos and the NPA team for making my first body building experience an amazing one. Thank you!!!

The Road to the NPA South East Championships 2013

Preparing for the NPA South East Championships 2013, my first ever bodybuilding show, was extremely challenging and lonely at times. This was not the same as preparing for a 2 weeks break in Cancun lol! There were no slack days, I trained twice a day, 7 days a week from May 2013 until the last week in August leading up to the show on 01/09/2013. Don't forget I was 17.2 stone and had less than 16 weeks to get my body competition ready, learn my mandatory poses and routine. This was achieved all naturally! Sounds like a piece of cake right?!! Not!!Lol.

Dead Lifting 220kg at Fitness First

My initial plan was to start dieting 16 weeks before the show. Despite my good intentions this was not the case. There was a delay in obtaining the new diet plan which delayed the start of my diet, as you can imagine I was starting to worry, with less than 16 weeks to get competition ready this was not what I envisaged happening.  I spoke to various personal trainers who were very discouraging, they advised me not to compete this year. They felt I would not be competition ready in time. One guy even told me my arms and legs were too big to be a bodybuilder! (Lucky for you I ignored every piece of advice). In all seriousness I had hit a real low point and was considering dropping out of the competition. I remember getting home and saying to Kate that I was not going to compete anymore, but ever so encouraging and supportive she reassured me and restored my confidence.

I then found myself frantically looking on the internet for shredding diets and advice. I found a contest prep coach in the US who was willing to support for a fee lol. After trying his diet for a week I found myself putting on weight rather than losing weight. The meals he had me eating were larger than my bulking meals, which made me question the diet. I believe he had good intentions, however the distance became an issue as he was unable to assess my progress.

6 packets of oats equivalent to  200g everday! This was a challenge in itself!! 

Luckily enough for me my friend came through with a suitable diet plan that saw me lose 5 lbs in one week. This plan was the ketogenic diet, not for the faint hearted, the diet you introduce when all else fails! This diet was high in protein, high in fat with no carbs! The first 2 weeks on this diet saw my energy levels dip drastically as my body got use to relying on fats for energy rather than carbs, 'waiting for my body to kick into ketosis'. I found my mood changed, the low calorie intake and lack of carbs took its toll on me. I became very moody, felt my brain was cloudy at times and felt lethargic due to lack of energy. No wonder this diet is frowned upon by many, having tried it, I would not recommend this diet to anyone. However it did kick start my weight loss, and I was losing weight fast. I looked forward to my Saturday cheat meals, these were allowed up until 6 weeks before my competition date. To support my diet I took a range of natural supplement's to make up for the nutrition I lacked on the ketogenic diet.

My Daily supplement's consisted of:

• Multivitamins
• Kelp Powder
• B12 Vitamins
• Magnesium
• CLA
• L-Glutimine
• BCAA 
• Vitamin C

My training routine:

• Gym at 6am for 2 hours training -1 hour cardio and 1 hour weight training

• Ate my first meal at 8.30am and every 3 hours thereafter (Had a total of 6 meals a day).

• Returned to the gym at 6pm for another hour cardio.

At this point I was advised to join a gym with better weight training facilities by former IFBB Master World and European Champion, Ian Dowe and British IFBB legend JD Dawodu. As the gym I was currently using (Fitness FIrst) was more a fitness training gym and did not have the equipments I needed to transform my physique which led me to join the Absalute gym in Romford, the arena for competitive body builders...an venue where I met some great people that continuously challenged, encouraged and supported me throughout my journey. I felt like a kid in a candy shop the first day I trained at Absalute. It had all the weight training equipment I needed, no longer did I have to be creative while training or deal with the posers blocking the mirrors.

ABSALUTE GYM

Everything was going very well until I realised 3 weeks before my competition I still didn't know the mandatory poses and did not have a routine. Earlier on I met up with Mark Houghton and Warren Anglin, who both gave up their time to kindly teach me the quarter turns and mandatory poses which were completely alien to me, they advised me to practice daily.

My main concern and focus was to lose enough weight to get competition ready. I must say, 3 weeks out, I was regretting not giving myself enough time to practice my mandatory poses and routine. I remember voicing my concerns one morning at the gym and a mate, 'Big Neil' advised me to contact Jon Chessum, he told me Jon was a legend, mind you he has really lived up to his name! Jon Chessum previously competed at NABBA South East, Britain, England and Mr. Universe.

Within 2 weeks he coached me through my mandatory poses and monitored my diet through the toughest stage, 'the last week' before my competition. I got on very well with Jon and was really honored and happy when he agreed to prepare me for the British Finals.

Snap Shot of Coaching Routine

Once I was competent with my mandatory poses and routine, I practiced daily after each grueling workout. Taking pictures and filming regularly for reference and critique. 

Practicing Quarter Turns

Practicing Mandatory Poses
So the day had finally arrived, 1st September 2013! D day!! I had done everything I could. Physically I was prepared, mentally I was a nervous wreck!! I had never attended a bodybuilding show so had no idea what to expect. I had an extremely supportive group of friends and family with me, that encouraged and motivated me throughout the show. Although nervous I didn't want it to takeover the enjoyment of the day, surely this was the easy part? I had done all the hard work. After a long day it was my time to go on stage, my time to shine! It was exhilarating, a buzz I had never felt before and I loved every second. The icing on the cake was coming home with the trophy. Thinking back on my journey and the struggles I had faced it hadn't sunk in that I was the South East Heavyweight Novice Champion 2013!!!

Victory Pose

I had caught the bodybuilding bug and was now itching to get to the British Fina

Keep Strong

'The Governor'

How it all began

My name is Oke Ememe aka 'The Governor'. I recently took second place at the NPA (Natural Physique Association)  Heavyweight Novice British championships after deciding to take part in my first ever bodybuilding contest 11 months ago, 12/2012.

The bulking stage

To the untrained eye it looks like you just got 'fat' however the bulking process plays a fundamental part in the bodybuilding process. Bulking up allows you to build muscle in preparation for the shred. 

           

      Pre-Bulking Diet

                               

          

Before body building I always struggled with my weight. The struggle really started after I finished university in 2003. I had just ended a serious relationship, became very depressed and used food to ease the pain and loneliness. This carried on for 2 years and brought my weight up to 21 stones of pure muscle lol, I wish! I was very fat and only had one tracksuit that fit me, I wore it everywhere! People could no longer recognised the well dressed 14 stones man that enjoyed playing football and martial arts but felt sorry for the beast I had become lol. 

             

First holiday with Kate in Egypt - not at my biggest but shocking, check out the man boobs lol!

                                         

So you can imagine the little monsters in my belly saying ''bring it on'' when I heard I had to start bulking up for the competition. My bulking diet was written by a good pal of mine who regularly competes at untested body building competitions. I was told I had to weigh all my food from now, stop eating junk food, stop drinking alcohol or partying. He even had the cheek to say I had to stop eating white rice and look at the healthy options like brown rice, sweet potato's and wholemeal bread. At this point I started reconsidering this crazy idea of competing lol.

People don't understand the sacrifices body builders have to make to get into tip top shape and I guess I was one of them, I was under the illusion that 'I love weight training this will be a walk in the park' right?.... Wrong!!! In the coming months I would realise that "dieting and cardio" are just as important as lifting weights. 

My initial bulking meal plan consisted of 6 meals per day: 

• Meal 1-100g of Porridge oats, 1 1/2 scoops of Whey Protein Isolate and 1 table spoon of organic peanut butter,
• Meal 2- 200g of Red Meat (steaks), 100g of white rice (won him over in the end lol), 1 portion of Broccoli and 1 table spoon of Udo's oil or 1 handful of Brazil nuts or cashew nuts, 
• Meal 3- 200g of chicken, 100g of white rice and 1 table spoon of Udo's oil,
• Meal 4- 200g of Turkey, 100g of white rice and 1 table spoon of Udo's oil, 
• Meal 5- 200g of salmon, 100g of white rice and a 1 portion of broccoli or asparagus and final meal
• Meal 6- 5 whole eggs, four eggs whites, 100g of white rice and a portion of broccoli or asparagus.

All my meals were prepared with no salt, seasoning or sauces. They were extremely bland, this was difficult especially as my previous diet of traditional Nigerian food was extremely flavoursome.

The first day following this diet was tough. The bland food was extremely hard to swallow, literally, and I needed a lot of water to keep the dry tasteless meals down. I knew then and there that if I was serious about this competition my relationship with food had to change, gone are the days where I ate for enjoyment, food was now a tool, a tool my body needed to transform.

Although I had to stick to this diet religiously, there were days were I picked at my girlfriends plate or binged on cakes, jerk chicken and rice, Chinese and Thai food. Little did I know that these regular cheat meals will make me work even harder during the shredding phase. So please don't make the same mistakes as me. 

All my meals were prepared a day in advance by my lovely girlfriend Kate aka Head Coach. Although a primary school teacher with plies of work to do, she always made time to support me, with food preparation, encouragement on days when I was ready to pack it all in and chief camera woman during my posing practise. I guess she probably knew my routine more than me and deserves a medal for putting up with me.

               Kate doing her most muscular pose backstage at the NPA British Finals 

                             

During the bulking stage I only did 10 minutes cardio to warm up before weight training. My current profession as a civil servant saw me working from 9am to 5pm. I had to schedule my training around these times, choosing to train at 6am during the quiet periods in the gym to avoid distractions.  I previously trained during the evening so waking up at 5am to train at 6am was challenging but after 2 weeks it soon became part of my daily routine. While at the gym I made sure each training session counted. I was lifting as heavy as physically possible, squatting up to 220 kg for 10 reps and benching 180 kg with support. I would strap 90 kg onto a dipping belt and go for 8 to 10 reps in addition to 60 kg for weighted chin up's.

     All bulked up and ready to hit the shred button!

                                                        

Now at 17.2 stones and my clothes stretched to the limit. May had finally arrived and it was time to start the shred. With less than 16 weeks would I be competition ready in time??? Read my next post to find out how i did it! 

Keep Strong 

'The Governor'