I’ve been such a blog slacker!!! But, I haven’t been a diet or workout slacker! I’ve really been hammering it as I prepare for the IFBB Pro 202 Class at the Europa Supershow.
Today was back day and I had a great one! Just for fun I’m going to lift in the Annual Hyde Park Gym Push/Pull meet a week from Saturday. So, I’ve been going heavy (for me) on bench and deadlift. Today I pulled a 440 lb deadlift on my heaviest set and finished with 315 for 15 reps. I’ve been battling a chronic lower back problem and today was my best deadlift day (in terms of both strength and endurance) in over a year.
Warm up: Deep squats 4 sets of 10 reps
Deadlifts 135X10, 225X6, 275X3, 315X3, 365X1, 405X1, 425X1, 440X1, 315X15
Partial Deadlifts (in the rack from the knees up) 365X10, 405X6, 455X5
Close Grip Pullups 10, 8, 6, 4 then 15 second rest/pauses and holding in the contracted position at the top for 5 seconds 2, 1, 1, 1, 1,1
One arm DB Rows 90X10, 100X8X8
High Pulley Rows 4 sets 8-12 reps
Hanging leg raises 10, 8
Hanging Knee raises 10, 10
Box Jumps 18inX6, 19X5, 23X3, 24X3, 25X3, 28X3

Me and my buddy Cecil “CBX” Ballard at the Texas Shredder Classic   

  No, I haven’t fallen off the edge of the world….I’m still alive and kickin’.  Yes, I realize how long it has been since I posted a blog.  Rather than make excuses I’ll just say that I have the New Motion Machines NPC Texas Shredder Classic in the rear view mirror and I’m now in contest training mode preparing for my IFBB Pro debut at the Europa Super-Show in Dallas, August 13-14.  Getting ready to compete in bodybuilding is so much easier and so much more fun than promoting a show.  However, promoting the Texas Shredder Classic is much more profitable, so I guess I’ll keep doing it!

     I started dieting last Monday (April 26th).  The diet is not that hard for me, but not being able to have a glass of wine when I get home from work really sucks.  Last week I got all my workouts done, even though I was still buried under a huge pile of Shredder wrap-up work.  I was weak though.  The week of the Shredder Classic is always really hard on me physically.  I don’t get much sleep, I don’t have much time to train, I miss a lot of meals, and setting up for the show is physically exhausting.  This week I’m feeling much better.  I had a great leg workout on Monday and a pretty good chest workout on Tuesday.  Today I had an excellent back workout.  I started with a few sets of light squats for warmup and I threw in some box jumps just because I like to do them.  I just found out this morning that the Hyde Park Gym Push-Pull Meet will be held June 26th.  I want to reclaim that title so I started my back workout with deadlifts.  I haven’t deadlifted off the floor in weeks, but they went pretty well (I didn’t hurt myself).

So here’s the workout:

Squats 3 sets 10 reps

Deadlifts 6 sets…10, 8, 6, 6, 3, 6

Partial deadlifts 2 sets 15, 12

Close Grip Chins 4 sets maximum reps

Box Jumps between sets of chins 18″X6, 19″X5, 23″X5, 24″X3, 26.5″X5X3

Wide Grip Pulldowns  4 sets  12, 8, 8, 6

One Arm DB Row  3 sets 8 reps

I know it’s been a long long time since I’ve posted, but something happened here this morning that has compelled me to write a new post.  St. Louis Cardinals outfielder, Matt Holliday, is doing a photo shoot for another big fitness publication here at Hyde Park Gym.  I was sitting at my desk working on Texas Shredder Classic stuff when I hear this loud disco music come on.  I had to get out of my cave to see what was up because there has never been music at Hyde Park!  Usually all you hear is people talking, the clanking of iron,and  the sound of bumper plates hitting the floor.  So, “It’s Raining There” blaring in the gym….something had to be up!!!  I go out to see some of Matt’s training buddies dressed up in all I can describe as Flash Dance outfits, dancing around him, making fun of him as if he were doing some kind of glamour shoot.  It was hilarious!!!

And you saw it here first on Iromanmagazine.com!

Pictured below are Homer Bailey (Red’s starting pitcher), Matt Holliday (Cardinals), Neal Bobba (Pro Tennis player) and Curtis Thigpen (A’s catcher)

I did it!  I’m IFBB World Champion in the 50-59 up to 80kg division.   For overall there was only a men’s overall which was won by the winner of the 40-49 over 90kg class.

I wanted to post last night but the contest went kinda late.  Afterward, I took a quick shower and changed clothes to go down to dinner.  I wanted to make sure I got there early because in Qatar it was a feeding frenzy and we missed out on alot of the entrees because we were a few minutes late.  So I joined the British and Canadians for dinner.  I was going to take a break to post on here and e-mail my family.  But, when I got down to the lobby to get on the wireless internet my computer battery was dead.  So I took my computer back up to the room to charge and I accidently locked myself out of my room.  I went back downstairs to get another key and their computers were down so they couldn’t give me another key.  Bottom line….I didn’t get back in my room until about 1am and I hurriedly packed up everything to catch the bus at 130am.  I was the last one to get to the bus and they were waiting so I didn’t have time to get off a post or even any e-mails to let my family know that I had won and was headed home.  My cell phones didn’t work there either so I couldn’t call or text.  After the 3 hour bus ride to Warsaw I tried to log on to the internet but there wasn’t any wireless to be had there either.  By the time my flight arrived in Chicago at 3pm today (an hour late) Diana and the rest of my family were about to have a freakin’ stroke.  They were on the verge of calling the hotel in Bialystok and then hospitals in the area!  I knew they would be worried so I called as soon as the plane touched down.  I have about an hour until my flight to Austin and I’m so ready to be home and to sleep in my own bed tonight. As I write this I’ve been traveling for 25 hours today.  Winning an IFBB World Championship was well worth it though!!!!  Thank you all for your support and encouragement.  Thank you John Balik for making this trip possible for me!!!!

I couldn’t go to bed without posting some photos that I took today.  Hopefully someone took some of me onstage and I’ll have them up tomorrow, if so.

Gaspari Nutrition was a huge part of this show.  Here I am with Flex Lewis, Rich, Ted and another huge guy whose name I unfortunately forgot in my dieted down state.

Here’s IFBB Pro Cathy LeFrancois also with Gaspari Nutirion

With Stephen from Australia

Sean and I got a quick photo with the girls who were handing out the contest programs.

Sean Ferguson during his pump up

I don’t think I’ve mention how disgusting it is that people here will light up a cigarette just about anywhere.  People have been smoking freely in the hotel lobby, in the resturaunt, in the contest venue, but the kicker today was when I walked back stage and one of the competitors was taking a break from pumping up and lit up a smoke backstage….and sat down to smoke it right next to his buddy who was pumping up!!!!  I’m so ready to get back to a smoke-free environment!  But first….I still have some business to take care of!!!!!

What a long day!  The afternoon session started up at 3pm.  I went over to the venue about 2:30 because they had the lunch over there and I wanted to eat a little bit.  We didn’t go on until about 7pm.  There were 14 guys in my class.  I was the only one that was called for every call out except the last call out.  Flex Lewis and Rich Gaspari are here and they said I have the class hands down.

They just posted the top 6 and I’m on there!  It all gets rejudged tomorrow….

Well, I’m gonna go up stairs and figure out what I’m gonna do with my tan.

My British friend Sean didn’t make the top 15 in his class, which was  very surprising to me because I thought he looked fantastic,  My Canadian buddy John was in my class.  He didn’t make the top 6.  There was a really thick Egyptian who was trying to psych me out in the pump up room.  I would be posing in front of the mirror and he kept getting directly in front of me and would start posing or lifting.  On stage he kept doing poses when we were supposed to be standing in the symmetry stance on stage.  I’m so pleased that that jackass didn’t make the finals!!!!  Is that wrong for me to say????

I might be back down to post some photos a little later.  Stay tuned!