Monday, November 30, 2009

Back Under the Squat Rack

I know I haven't posted since I was in Florida just before Nationals, but it's been a crazy week and a half since then with getting back to work and then Thanksgiving. Not to mention that I've had so much stuff going on in my head about pretty much everything, from how things played out this year contest-wise, to what my plan of attack is going to be for the offseason, what shows will I do next year, and then of course, all the other stuff in my personal life that I pushed aside in the last few weeks of prep. I have kept meaning to get on here and just type away with whatever came to mind, but there was just too much stuff jumbled in my head for me to even begin to write it all out.

On the whole, I would say that my first year of bodybuilding was a success. No, I didn't win any shows. Hell, I can't even say that I made any impressive placings. BUT I was very happy with the final package that I put together. I knew before I even committed to switching to bodybuilding that I would be small to begin with. I knew I'd be a lightweight this year, and I knew that I would be a tall, skinny one at that. So, my feedback after Nationals was no surprise....I need to fill out my 5'3 frame with more muscle. Ideally, I would like to be at the top end of the middleweights and weigh in around 123 or 124 (which would put me at 10 lbs more than what I weighed in at for Nationals-114.6). Unfortunately, I need to have patience for that because it's not going to happen in the next year. I feel like it's reasonable for me to think that in 2-3 years, I can achieve that goal. That being said, my plan of attack for the offseason? EAT and GROW! Within reason, of course.

One thing I will say is that this year only fueled the fire that much more for me to grow and make changes. My back width continues to be something that I need to work on. And I HAVE to address this hamstring/glute issue...which I am happy to say, I've already taken the steps to get that going agian. I have an appointment with a rather well-known sports doctor this weekend and will hopefully have a better idea of what's going on down there. The unfortunate thing is that he's 2 and a half hours away, but I don't care. I want to know what's wrong and what I need to do to fix it. If that means driving 2 and a half hours to do it, well, then, that's what I'll do.

Anyway, I got back from Florida on Sunday afternoon and by Monday night I was back in the gym training legs. For now, I've been doing 60 minutes of cardio per day to try to taper down into offseason mode and try to minimize the intense post-show weight gain. I have been following the protein/fat diet but am adding in more food whenever I'm hungry, which seems to be quite often now that I'm back to training heavy again. So the offseason journey has begun yet again...

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