2012 Competitive Season

Come follow my 2012 competitive season. I am planning to compete in several natural bodybuilding contests next year, and I will post my training and dieting logs once a week.

Another Year Older!

Tomorrow I turn 53, and hopefully, I will have several more birthdays. The funny thing about getting older is your mind tells you that you can continue to do the same things you have always done, but your body does not cooperate. I have trained harder this last year than I ever have. Mentally, I want to continue at this level but physically I am exhausted, so I will back off for the next six weeks.

I started looking for a bodybuilding contest to compete in sometime after June 2011, if all goes well. My weight is down four pounds, and I will try to lose one pound each week until I hit 175 pounds. Then my weight loss will slow to 1/2 pound per week. I will be dieting for the next 36 to 40 weeks, which seems like a long time, but it will allow me to enjoy a few of my favorite foods (as long as they fit into my daily macro nutrition). I am fortunate that I can still lose weight easily at age 53. Both diet and cardio will be used to drop the weight; however, I will not do either to excess as that would decrease lean muscle mass.

Losing weight is about maintaining a consistent diet and knowing how many calories you take in and burn everyday. As you diet, remember that if you fail one day just start back the next day; in the long run, you will be successful.

Tired of Fat!

This week I started dieting because I can't stand caring the body fat that I am now. I will diet down to around 185 pounds and then try to maintain that weight for at least a month before try to lose any more weight.

My workouts have been good this year and I have made good strength gains. I have bench press 265 for 1 rep and squatted 320 for 2 reps. I will continue to work on getting stronger in those lifts as well as dead lifts. I am also lift more in the 8 to 10 rep range than I have before in the hope of increase muscle size.

On a personal note: my step-son was ordained as a minister by his church this past Sunday and we are very proud of the Godly man he has become. Please pray for God's strength and guidance as he started his journey in the minister.

Off-Season Journey

Well, I am deep into off-season, and my weight has steadily increased to 194 lbs. I have no plans to compete until the end of 2011, or sometime in 2012. My training intensity is the highest it has been since I was in my mid-twenties, and my strength has increased; although, I have not been able to lift nearly as much as I could then.

During the last 10 weeks, I have been working out 5 days a week. I was working each body part twice a week with one power day of low reps and one hypertrophy day of moderate weight and reps. I was not sure confident my body could handle this much volume without over training, but my body has adjusted well and has increased muscle mass.

This week marks the beginning of a new training schedule. I will only train back, hamstrings and arms twice a week and all other body parts once a week. This change is being made to ensure my body is not over trained.

This blog will be updated on a regular basis to reflect my journey back to the bodybuilding stage.

On a personal note, we are adding a new member to our family. We are picking up a female parti-colored miniature schnauzer on Saturday to become a part of our pack. Our pack already includes two female dogs, which are a Jack Russell terrier and a salt and pepper miniature schnauzer. As you can see, I am the minority in this family since all our boys have flown the coop. Wish me luck!

OCB Arizona Natural Bodybuilding Results

The OCB Arizona Natural bodybuilding contest was somewhat successful. I placed 2nd in a very tough Masters Over 50 class and 4th in the Open Medium class. I say somewhat successful because after looking at pictures from the show, I was a little disappointed in how I looked. I set a goal to work harder to add any size that I can. I will spend the off season working very hard to build strength and trying different nutritional approaches to reach that goal.

It is officially off season from bodybuilding, and I have started training for the White Rock Half Marathon in Dallas, Texas. I ran 3.1 miles last weekend at the Race for the Cure during the competitive run and 3.1 miles in the fun run. This morning I ran five miles. I will increase my mileage by one mile a week up to twelve miles before the race. My goal is not to run this race for time but to finish without walking and preserve as much muscle as possible during training.

Arizona Natural Bodybuilding Classic

Less than 3 weeks until the Arizona Natural Bodybuilding Classic. I have been dieting since June, which is not very long compared to my previous contest diets. The last couple of years I stayed fairly lean, so this contest I only had to lose approximately 12 pounds. Although the dieting has not been too bad, Suzanne and I are both ready for the contest to be finished. I am sure I will totally enjoy the contest, and it will be ran very well. I will post results here and on Facebook.

After the contest, I will compete in the Tri to Make a Difference triathlon, but I will not swim this year.

Suzanne and I are thinking about competing in the Tour d' Cotton 30 mile bike ride and the White Rock Half Marathon. I will start posting about my training for the different events that I will compete in.

For now I will keep my eyes upon the cross and train.