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Disclaimer: This post is in no way an attempt to solicit training from either myself or Jason. This is one man’s story of a deep, unconditional friendship, self-doubt, inner demons, and one heck of contest prep. This board has the best trainers in the world as paying sponsors. If you are interested in contest prep or training I would highly recommend all of them.
My story in short for those that don’t know or remember me I have been a member here since April of 2005. I competed in the NPC in Bodybuilding until 2010 and I was also married for 17 years and that came to an end in 2010 as well. I have 3 children from my marriage. Through this board I met Jason (Iabadman) and we shared a lot of common interests so we became friends. He agreed to help me get ready for a contest so early in 2010 we started prepping. At that point in time I really felt that I was making some great progress and I really felt with Jason the sky was the limit. Unfortunately my life as I knew it turned upside in May of that year. My wife, Mother of my children, and the only women in my life since I was 23 (I was 41 at the time 42 in August). I ended up in a 1 bedroom apartment in Jacksonville, Florida. I hated the world, myself and everyone in it. It was during those times that Jason was very instrumental in my recovery.
We would often talk throughout the night until dawn. Many times he talked me off of the ledge if you will. Through some crazy events in January of 2011 I ended up back in my house with custody of my children. Jason was the first person I shared my good fortune with and from that point on my life was back on track. Within a few weeks I found a decent job working with the local cable company I had my kids and the reinvention of myself in motion.
Through the years that followed Jason and I stayed in touch. We kept each updated on how are lives were going and I know he was really proud and happy at how well my life was going. By the end of 2011 I was able to find love again and my life was really complete. With the way my life was there was no room for Bodybuilding. The women that I was in a relationship with was not into that world at all so just going to gym much less competing was very difficult if not impossible. Every once in a while Jason and I would talk about Bodybuilding and I would wonder what might had been if I would have stayed with Jason and hadn’t retired from competing.
One thing lead to another and while in Mexico for my birthday this past August swept up in romance on my 45th birthday, I asked the women I was in a relationship to marry me. She said yes and at that point in time not including the birth of my children, I really felt that was the best day of my life. Jason was one of the first people I notified and he couldn’t have been happier. Unfortunately for whatever reasons that these things happen, sometime between late August and late October, my fiancée and I drifted apart and the engagement was broken at the end of October.
this was me in Mexico in August about 230 and not quality.
Feeling like I had taken 20 steps back, with another hole in my heart, I off course reached out for Jason. As busy as he was he dropped all he was doing, gave me his ear, his heart, and his mind. He recommended some books for me to read and just some basic mental exercises to help heal me. Let me point at here that this in no way compared to the ending of my marriage but it did hurt. I think it also adds to the pain when let your guard down and you allow yourself to love again. You almost feel like you crawled all the way out of a whole only to jump back in again.
I mentioned to Jason that I would like to compete again. He said he thought that was a good idea for me to get my mind off of things and focus on one thing. I don’t know how serious either one of us thought I was at that point. Through the years I had thought about coming back but deep down I knew I really didn’t have the balls anymore. I knew what it took to get on the stage before and the way my life was going up until that time had maybe made me a little soft. I was enjoying going out to eat and taking trips to Mexico and Puerto Rico. At my age I didn’t see any point in jumping into that madness again and like I said I wasn’t sure I had what it took and as each day went by and I got further and further away from my last time on stage I pretty much came to the conclusion that my better days were behind me. I now would only live in my old pictures.
I started training and shaped up some this was early November about 211lbs.
The life I hadn’t started to get used to and like was now gone. I needed something to focus on to maybe take some sting away. Jason was all in at first he gave me encouragement and some pointers here and there but I don’t think he was ready to jump in yet. I told him I would like to do the Europa in April and he said “that’s fine start training hard.” So I started to training and cleaning up my diet. Jason and I would still talk but contest prep wouldn’t really come up. He was more concerned with my well-being and I appreciated that. Slowly but surely I started to improve my physique. I have to say though as I trained I was loaded with self-doubt. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that the other guys have been dieting, training, competing, and living the Bodybuilding lifestyle for the last 3 + years.
I on the other hand have literally done nothing. What would make me think I could jump back, especially in a show such as the Europa? I grinded on and about mid-January I took a few pictures and sent them to Jason. I think at that point we both realized that I was serious. It was at that point that he sent me my first diet and supplement program. Every day from that point I would send him my weight first thing in the morning and pictures on Saturday. We became a great team; I learned a lot and got more in tune with Jason’s methods.
The first is when we first started going on Feb 1 2014 205lbs The other contest morning April 11 2014 192lbs
I can tell you up until that point I only thought I knew what it took to train, diet hard, and suffer for a contest. Jason absolutely pushed me to the limit and I think he got a lot out of me. When it was all said and done at 45 years of age I was the best version of myself that there has ever been. I gained muscle while in a serious calorie deficit, I have more muscle now than I ever have, and without taking any diuretics I was very dry for the show.
My legs on contest morning
I am hoping this thread can generate some interests the way some of the old threads used to one hear. Hopefully a lot of the more knowledgeable guys can chime in and Jason might interact and share a secret or two about some of his methods. I think we could probably all learn from this as we did a lot of things I would not have thought possible.
As far as Jason goes I couldn’t never write down in words nor say the true value of what he means to me. I love him as much as I love anyone in my life including my children. I have an infinite amount of respect for him. He truly is a special human being that is filled with so much love and giving that only the best should be for him. I unequivocally love Jason, the world is better place with him in it, and I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it.
As far as the contest 1329 days had gone by since the last time I competed and on this the contest didn't go as well as I had hoped. I didn't win or place, I ended up finishing 6th in my class. Certainly not the "Hollywood" happy ending that I had envisioned when I started my comeback but I truly believe I created the best version of myself to date. The Bodybuilding game is very hard, not just because the extreme dieting, training, and discipline that has to be done to prepare for a show but because there can only be one winner.
Everyone else on paper and in rankings takes a loss. The only variable is how big is the loss i.e. 2nd place, 3rd place, 6th place, and last place. I came into this show more prepared than I had ever been. The best version ever of myself.
My conditioning was good, my trunks, color, and all the other intangibles. It’s important to remember when you win or you lose it's just decided by few judges opinion. That's all, not any scientific proven theory or mathematical equation. So I really don't take the losses very hard nor do I jump up and down over the wins.
Bodybuilding for me is much larger than that. It's how I express myself, challenge myself, search within myself for what I am made off. At the end of the day it's how I connect with the people. Sometimes they become fans, for others I am not their taste but all the same connections and bonds are formed. People take the journey with me. They feel the sting of the loss or the joy of the victory. In some ways they become a part of me and I of them. That my friend is far bigger than a mark on judges score card. Much love.
My story in short for those that don’t know or remember me I have been a member here since April of 2005. I competed in the NPC in Bodybuilding until 2010 and I was also married for 17 years and that came to an end in 2010 as well. I have 3 children from my marriage. Through this board I met Jason (Iabadman) and we shared a lot of common interests so we became friends. He agreed to help me get ready for a contest so early in 2010 we started prepping. At that point in time I really felt that I was making some great progress and I really felt with Jason the sky was the limit. Unfortunately my life as I knew it turned upside in May of that year. My wife, Mother of my children, and the only women in my life since I was 23 (I was 41 at the time 42 in August). I ended up in a 1 bedroom apartment in Jacksonville, Florida. I hated the world, myself and everyone in it. It was during those times that Jason was very instrumental in my recovery.
We would often talk throughout the night until dawn. Many times he talked me off of the ledge if you will. Through some crazy events in January of 2011 I ended up back in my house with custody of my children. Jason was the first person I shared my good fortune with and from that point on my life was back on track. Within a few weeks I found a decent job working with the local cable company I had my kids and the reinvention of myself in motion.
Through the years that followed Jason and I stayed in touch. We kept each updated on how are lives were going and I know he was really proud and happy at how well my life was going. By the end of 2011 I was able to find love again and my life was really complete. With the way my life was there was no room for Bodybuilding. The women that I was in a relationship with was not into that world at all so just going to gym much less competing was very difficult if not impossible. Every once in a while Jason and I would talk about Bodybuilding and I would wonder what might had been if I would have stayed with Jason and hadn’t retired from competing.
One thing lead to another and while in Mexico for my birthday this past August swept up in romance on my 45th birthday, I asked the women I was in a relationship to marry me. She said yes and at that point in time not including the birth of my children, I really felt that was the best day of my life. Jason was one of the first people I notified and he couldn’t have been happier. Unfortunately for whatever reasons that these things happen, sometime between late August and late October, my fiancée and I drifted apart and the engagement was broken at the end of October.
this was me in Mexico in August about 230 and not quality.
Feeling like I had taken 20 steps back, with another hole in my heart, I off course reached out for Jason. As busy as he was he dropped all he was doing, gave me his ear, his heart, and his mind. He recommended some books for me to read and just some basic mental exercises to help heal me. Let me point at here that this in no way compared to the ending of my marriage but it did hurt. I think it also adds to the pain when let your guard down and you allow yourself to love again. You almost feel like you crawled all the way out of a whole only to jump back in again.
I mentioned to Jason that I would like to compete again. He said he thought that was a good idea for me to get my mind off of things and focus on one thing. I don’t know how serious either one of us thought I was at that point. Through the years I had thought about coming back but deep down I knew I really didn’t have the balls anymore. I knew what it took to get on the stage before and the way my life was going up until that time had maybe made me a little soft. I was enjoying going out to eat and taking trips to Mexico and Puerto Rico. At my age I didn’t see any point in jumping into that madness again and like I said I wasn’t sure I had what it took and as each day went by and I got further and further away from my last time on stage I pretty much came to the conclusion that my better days were behind me. I now would only live in my old pictures.
I started training and shaped up some this was early November about 211lbs.
The life I hadn’t started to get used to and like was now gone. I needed something to focus on to maybe take some sting away. Jason was all in at first he gave me encouragement and some pointers here and there but I don’t think he was ready to jump in yet. I told him I would like to do the Europa in April and he said “that’s fine start training hard.” So I started to training and cleaning up my diet. Jason and I would still talk but contest prep wouldn’t really come up. He was more concerned with my well-being and I appreciated that. Slowly but surely I started to improve my physique. I have to say though as I trained I was loaded with self-doubt. I couldn’t get the thought out of my head that the other guys have been dieting, training, competing, and living the Bodybuilding lifestyle for the last 3 + years.
I on the other hand have literally done nothing. What would make me think I could jump back, especially in a show such as the Europa? I grinded on and about mid-January I took a few pictures and sent them to Jason. I think at that point we both realized that I was serious. It was at that point that he sent me my first diet and supplement program. Every day from that point I would send him my weight first thing in the morning and pictures on Saturday. We became a great team; I learned a lot and got more in tune with Jason’s methods.
The first is when we first started going on Feb 1 2014 205lbs The other contest morning April 11 2014 192lbs
I can tell you up until that point I only thought I knew what it took to train, diet hard, and suffer for a contest. Jason absolutely pushed me to the limit and I think he got a lot out of me. When it was all said and done at 45 years of age I was the best version of myself that there has ever been. I gained muscle while in a serious calorie deficit, I have more muscle now than I ever have, and without taking any diuretics I was very dry for the show.
My legs on contest morning
I am hoping this thread can generate some interests the way some of the old threads used to one hear. Hopefully a lot of the more knowledgeable guys can chime in and Jason might interact and share a secret or two about some of his methods. I think we could probably all learn from this as we did a lot of things I would not have thought possible.
As far as Jason goes I couldn’t never write down in words nor say the true value of what he means to me. I love him as much as I love anyone in my life including my children. I have an infinite amount of respect for him. He truly is a special human being that is filled with so much love and giving that only the best should be for him. I unequivocally love Jason, the world is better place with him in it, and I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it.
As far as the contest 1329 days had gone by since the last time I competed and on this the contest didn't go as well as I had hoped. I didn't win or place, I ended up finishing 6th in my class. Certainly not the "Hollywood" happy ending that I had envisioned when I started my comeback but I truly believe I created the best version of myself to date. The Bodybuilding game is very hard, not just because the extreme dieting, training, and discipline that has to be done to prepare for a show but because there can only be one winner.
Everyone else on paper and in rankings takes a loss. The only variable is how big is the loss i.e. 2nd place, 3rd place, 6th place, and last place. I came into this show more prepared than I had ever been. The best version ever of myself.
My conditioning was good, my trunks, color, and all the other intangibles. It’s important to remember when you win or you lose it's just decided by few judges opinion. That's all, not any scientific proven theory or mathematical equation. So I really don't take the losses very hard nor do I jump up and down over the wins.
Bodybuilding for me is much larger than that. It's how I express myself, challenge myself, search within myself for what I am made off. At the end of the day it's how I connect with the people. Sometimes they become fans, for others I am not their taste but all the same connections and bonds are formed. People take the journey with me. They feel the sting of the loss or the joy of the victory. In some ways they become a part of me and I of them. That my friend is far bigger than a mark on judges score card. Much love.
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