Hello all. Thought I would start a pre-contest thread for what I have ahead of me. However, I thought I would make this one a bit different (yes, I will still post progress pics etc): BUT, rather than focus on sets reps diet etc- which is what we read thread after thread, I thought I might focus on my state of mind and how my pre-contest prep affects my daily life and those around me. I hope this will make it a bit more interesting to follow- cause lets face it.. some really strange shit happens to you when you are prepping for a show and my theory has always been that it is better to laugh about it than cry about it. Plus, I always loved reading Tony's posts.. he really brought those to life with the details and the pictures. I am no Tony, but I will give it a shot.
Some background. Next week, I will be 43 years old. I am married with two boys- ages 7 and 11. We live in Silicon Valley - hence the San Jose Championships and then the Masters Nationals. Professionally, I am a corporate and securities attorney- which really raises some eyebrows when if and when I ever meet other lawyers or my clients for the first time. Because no matter what the intended purpose of the meeting- and it could have been negotiating a multi million dollar transaction- it all goes by the wayside and all they suddenly want to talk about is working out.. it is very comical.
My last show was the SF Championships in 09 and I was very fortunate to have understanding clients and an awesome admin working for me at the time. Because I was pretty much a zombie who could not remember his name the last 4 weeks of the prep- much less remember how to prepare IPO's for review by the SEC. My admin became really skilled at lying about my whereabouts "oh.. he is with a client", when in reality I would be asleep at my desk because I could not sleep at night (and yes, the cause of my sleeplessness at the time rhymed with HEN).
Lets see.. my wife is a big supporter- the total opposite of the "I want to be a bodybuilder" video.. So that makes things easier. I actually have a good training partner for the first time in years, he owns the martial arts studio my boys train at and even though he is in his 50's is really mentally tough and never quits, so he keeps my on my toes- because of course I have to mentally destroy him each and every workout (ahhh. lawyers and thier ego's).
As far as specifics, the diet for the San Jose Championships is going to start March 1 and be 18 weeks (the show is July 9)- a bit longer than necessary- simply because we have a family vacation planned in the middle of the week in Florida (Sanibel Island) and there is no way I am going to pass up opportunity to have fun with my kids. They are going to be gone before I know it, so I want to make sure I am a bit ahead.
The Masters Nationals are 2 weeks after the San Jose and then my wife and I are going to the Carribean for a week- just the two of us.
I have been training (and competing) over 25 years. I competed as a teen and in my very early 20's.. then went to law school, got an MBA and life took over. In fact, I stopped training for about 5 years when my youngest was born.. big mistake, but live and learn. So, the other thing I do hope to get across over the next 20 something weeks is that you don't have to be a "musclehead" to be a good bodybuilder- and you don't have to nor should you sacrifice your education or future.. shows will always be here, but opportunities in your life that you pass up for bodybuilding may not be. Anyways, I don't want this to turn preachy. So, stay tuned and hopefully I will be able to amuse you with anecdotes from my prep. Thanks for tuning in.
Some background. Next week, I will be 43 years old. I am married with two boys- ages 7 and 11. We live in Silicon Valley - hence the San Jose Championships and then the Masters Nationals. Professionally, I am a corporate and securities attorney- which really raises some eyebrows when if and when I ever meet other lawyers or my clients for the first time. Because no matter what the intended purpose of the meeting- and it could have been negotiating a multi million dollar transaction- it all goes by the wayside and all they suddenly want to talk about is working out.. it is very comical.
My last show was the SF Championships in 09 and I was very fortunate to have understanding clients and an awesome admin working for me at the time. Because I was pretty much a zombie who could not remember his name the last 4 weeks of the prep- much less remember how to prepare IPO's for review by the SEC. My admin became really skilled at lying about my whereabouts "oh.. he is with a client", when in reality I would be asleep at my desk because I could not sleep at night (and yes, the cause of my sleeplessness at the time rhymed with HEN).
Lets see.. my wife is a big supporter- the total opposite of the "I want to be a bodybuilder" video.. So that makes things easier. I actually have a good training partner for the first time in years, he owns the martial arts studio my boys train at and even though he is in his 50's is really mentally tough and never quits, so he keeps my on my toes- because of course I have to mentally destroy him each and every workout (ahhh. lawyers and thier ego's).
As far as specifics, the diet for the San Jose Championships is going to start March 1 and be 18 weeks (the show is July 9)- a bit longer than necessary- simply because we have a family vacation planned in the middle of the week in Florida (Sanibel Island) and there is no way I am going to pass up opportunity to have fun with my kids. They are going to be gone before I know it, so I want to make sure I am a bit ahead.
The Masters Nationals are 2 weeks after the San Jose and then my wife and I are going to the Carribean for a week- just the two of us.
I have been training (and competing) over 25 years. I competed as a teen and in my very early 20's.. then went to law school, got an MBA and life took over. In fact, I stopped training for about 5 years when my youngest was born.. big mistake, but live and learn. So, the other thing I do hope to get across over the next 20 something weeks is that you don't have to be a "musclehead" to be a good bodybuilder- and you don't have to nor should you sacrifice your education or future.. shows will always be here, but opportunities in your life that you pass up for bodybuilding may not be. Anyways, I don't want this to turn preachy. So, stay tuned and hopefully I will be able to amuse you with anecdotes from my prep. Thanks for tuning in.