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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Practicing Quarter Turns |
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| 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!!! |
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| Victory Pose |
I had caught the bodybuilding bug and was now itching to get to the British Fina
Keep Strong
'The Governor'
