First off, this ain't one of those testimonials about how much discovering a healthy lifestyle has X, or being on stage and facing Y fears, has changed my life. Nope. Just a quick summary of this process that I will admit, influenced and was representative of all aspects of my life (professional, emotional, academic, etc. etc.)
Was a couple years ago that I said I was going to do a bodybuilding show. Was watching IamIconn compete, and thought "shit, I can do this." Took me a while (i.e. two years to bite the bullet), but in typical Christopher fashion, I decided to just say eff it and go. No idea what I was doing, but rolled.
So it really started back in December 2018 when at 155lbs, I said I want to hit 160 of 'pure muscle.' That lasted about a week and in the bottom pics that you can see from April 2019, I 'grew' to 180. I'm 5'6 or 169cm.
All in all, I was happy about that. For folks like myself, putting on weight is not easy.
What all the apps out there that 'help' you with 'weight loss,' and make it 'easy' for you so that you don't need to 'think' about what you're eating, is complete bullshit. Body building (yup, either you building it up or down or both) is a straight mental game.
I don't give two shits about how great and flashy that new app you have is, if you don't have the mental fortitude, this will never ever ever ever be the life for you. Ever.
Prep:
So how did I get 'big':
From December to April, I was taking in on average about 5,000 calories a day.
Yes, 5-0-0-0. A day. My breakfast alone (which at its base consisted of 4 raw eggs), was probably around 1500 a day.
I got big (relatively). And got a belly. And got strong(er) too. Which I'm still holding on to that. I went from 155 to 180 in about 3 months. Was it the cleanest of bulks? Nope. Was I happy about it? Sure was.
Dropping/Cutting:
I had originally set a date of June to compete. I reckoned that after my trip to West Africa in April, I'd have about two months to get my body in shape.
Long story short, nearly two weeks on the Continent, eating anything and everything I wanted, didn't really help that cause.
But, I'll say it was an excuse cause I really didn't want to compete in body building. If I wanted to, I would've set my mind to it and been ready for June. It never appealed to me, but I committed to doing it.
Then I got some light 'reminders' of if I was going to still compete. Cause I had put it out in the world in December. And shit, I said 'eff it man,' I gotta just find a meet/competition, pay my fee and do it.
I paid my dues August 10 and the show was August 24.
Every summer I usually plan for my 'Kadooment body.' Round the beginning of July I cut out rice, pasta, bread, ramp up my running, just to look good wukking up on the road. Every year. Without fail. So it wasn't a big stretch to take it to the next level (minus all the beer and rice and macaroni pie I ate/drank in Barbados at the beginning of August) to get body-building ready.
Or so I thought.
The two week stretch was no joke. And when people laugh and say that physique/bodybuilders/figure athletes are not 'athletes' and it is not a sport, is straight bullshit. You go and get your bodyfat under 10% from sitting on the coach and come holla at me.
Food:
I cut out all starches. No rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, ground provisions, nada. Veggies and meat (a lot of fish - first time eating rainbow trout). Was it cheap? Nope. Would I continue this on some kind of regular basis/rotation? Yup. I felt good man and my workouts lifting and on the track were fantastic.
Workouts:
By the last week, I was doing the equivalent of about 4 or 5 daily workouts in one day.
- Bike Tabata
- Heavy Bag Tabata
- Battle Rope Tabata
- 10 sets of lifts (the last week I focused on upper body)
- Sprint workouts (speed, speed endurance, tempo)
Full disclosure, there is no way I would've had the energy to do this if it was the middle of the term. I've got work coming out of the wazoo, but I was home, so I could control my schedule and the competition prep became my focal point. I think that's one thing folks don't get: working a 9-5 or if you have kids and having the energy/time to do this? You are super human.
This takes more commitment that a full-time job. Seriously does. There is no lunch break or weekend, and you're accountable for everything.
Before I started my 'dry out' (i.e. dehydration and peeing dust), I was 159lbs on August 16. By the morning of the competition, I weighed in at 149. That was my running weight when I was 15 years old. Body composition was completely different though. The scale had me at 159 and 9.9% bodyfat, but the BF reader wasn't working right when I weighed in on the morning of. But from looking at pics, I think was something like 6% or 7%. If that much.
Friday and Saturday sucked. Everything else I kind of enjoyed and wasn't too much of a challenge for me, but those last two days sucked.
No water. Just two cups of coffee. That shit was like a terrible game for your mind and body. Liquid hit your mouth telling your brain its thirst is quenched, but your body said, nah son, I'm even more thirsty now.
If you want to talk about willpower, it was really that battle for me. When your mind, body, and soul is telling you to drink water, and your willpower is saying nope. Can't do it. You got goals.
So I didn't do it.
Why?
Why work so hard at something and just give in, when you know your willpower is the strongest thing you've got? If there is one takeaway for me from this process, is how mentally strong you've got to be (and/or will become), and how that translates to discipline in other aspects of your life (i.e. school work and work work).
I never thought I would look at someone's glass of water and covet it like a sin straight out the Ten Commandments.
Registration:
I was nervous. Never been in an environment like this and every one there was swole. It was like you getting invited to a bday party where every one knew each other and you were the outcast. Folks were friendly, but you knew you were the 'outsider.'
It was intimidating, but it reminded me of the ego/mental games of my track days (that yes, I loved it).
Didn't quite help that I was one of the smallest people there. Male or female.
The Competition:
For me, this was all about the learning experience. I've only ever seen this process on some kind of documentary, so I it was cool to see how the whole thing played out being backstage, and the athletes getting their 'pumps' and eating rice cakes and peanut butter.
I was nervous (cause I had no idea what to do), but I liked the being out on stage with the bright lights and people staring at you, part. Literally as naked as you can get. With their sole purpose of judging your body.
Reminded me of the fitness/teaching/public speaking aspects of my life all rolled up in to one. With a massive dose of Mean Girls.
This shit is like the anti-Dove campaign:
You can love your body and think you look good, but if 6 or 7 judges think you look like shit, then the world is out there to see it. So not only do you have to have the mental game in the prep, you've got to have some kind of next level self-confidence to know that all your hard work probably wasn't good enough (like mine wasn't).
I won't lie, I liked that (add masochist to my list of personality traits). I'm sorry, but in this day and age, I have an issue with us wanting to celebrate mediocrity and that everybody/body is great. Eff that. Folks would look at me and say I'm a high achiever, and I still got my ass handed to me yesterday in a pile of humble pie. And getting a good dose of reality, in my opinion, keeps me grounded and real.
I didn't place. Did I think I looked good enough to place, and performed well enough? Of course. Was/am I salty about it? Of course. Should I give you some kind of 'silver lining' to it? Of course.
But nope. Life threw me a lemon and I'm gonna suck the juice out of it and then move on.
That's how I roll.
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