As you all know by now, I had a pretty decent day competing at the Yorkshire NPA Body-building British qualifiers. My 15 month plan to compete, ended with me winning in four separate categories - the novice heavyweight class, the novice overall title, the best first-timer as well as the overall mens title. Which means I've also qualified for British Championship later in the year. Needless to say I'm still buzzing with excitement and it hasn't really sunk in yet.
I didn't want to compete to just win but to also really enjoy my first taste of competitive body-building and put on a good performance. I think I achieved both. I thought the show was extremely well run in terms of organisational and facilities - which then allowed me to concentrate on my own performance. So thanks to the NPA and it's officials. Big shout out to my right hand man Neil for sorting just about everything out for me on the day. Another big up to body-building champions Dominic Haley, Akin Fagbohun and Ricky Moore for fabulous advice and direction leading up to the show. Also, thanks for all the love shown from my friends, family and personal training clients. I have a feeling that this body-building journey isn't over just yet! Sam I'd just like to say a major thank you for the overwhelming support I seem to be receiving from all quarters for my novice body-building performance tomorrow. From friends, gym members, the NPA group and random strangers!
This journey started in February 2013, with a plan to compete at the end of 2014 to give me enough time to gain enough muscle and improve my physique. Then 16 weeks ago I made a snap decision to compete rather than wait for the perfect moment. Well the moment of truth has arrived and I think I've prepared well, worked very hard and made sacrifices. I've also had great support and invaluable advice from champion body-builders Akin Fagbohun, Dominic Haley and Ricky Moore - thanks guys. I'll post results as soon as I can and wish me luck!!! Sam For those of you who were enquiring about when I'll be competing - here are the details.
It's on Sunday 25th May @ Huddersfield Sports Centre, HD1 1TW. The show starts at 1pm but I'll be on stage in the Novice Heavyweight class at approximately 3pm. Tickets are £14 on the door Sam Just 4 days to go with the show on Sunday......eeeeek!!!
Today I completed my final chest, shoulder and traps workout after doing legs and back on Monday and Tuesday. I've been re-carbing this week to refill my muscles with glycogen after 2.5 months of depletion. You can see that my face looks a bit gaunt from all the weight that I've lost (20lbs), I've managed to achieve 'the look of death' which I was going for, this probably means I got my dieting right. Though I don't recommend this for my average personal training clients!! My final training session is on Thursday then I'll be putting my final preparations in place but trying to relax up until the big day. Sam BLOG: 2 Weeks out BLOG: 3 Weeks out With 10 days to go I planned to go no higher than 160kg on squat today but ended up doing 200kg for 12 reps (my best for a while) - I guess the powerlifter in me is not happy squatting sub-200kg per session. I'm very happy to still be handling these sort of weights so close to the show to keep hold of my hard earned muscles. Adrenaline rather than the carbohydrates must be giving me the energy to keep going!
I then moved onto to couple of sets of 50kg lunges for 30 steps and hack squats followed by leg curls. After that I did one hour of cardiovascular training with 20 minutes of high intensity cycling included. I'm happy with my condition as I've prepared just right for the show (so far!). So I'm looking to just coast into the show now - so it's gentle training, resting up and carb-loading from next week Sam Click link for - Online Exercise and Nutrition plans Previous BLOGS BLOG Update - 2 Weeks Out BLOG Update - 3 Weeks Out BLOG Upddate - 4 Weeks Out, My 15 month transformation 2 weeks and counting to the NPA show - I can almost smell the Huddersfield air!
Yesterday I had only my second and final re-feed in 10 weeks of dieting, I doubled both my carbs and calorie intake for the day. I felt I needed the re-feed as I've been very lethargic and hungry as I've kept my calories/carbs low and increased my workload in the previous couple of weeks. I've got to say those chips were so tasty and the Jaffa cakes divine! It's the final push now, so as of today I'm dropping my calories and carbs even lower and upping the cardio to 1 hour a day to reduce my body fat percentage even further. The next few days will be tough but I'm up for the challenge. I always plan a leg day after a refeed and the extra energy certainly helped - I squatted 200kg for 10 reps. I placed the bar a little higher up my back so I could use more leg drive rather than hips to complete the lift. I then moved onto 3 sets of lunges with 50kg for 30 steps, then onto the hack squat (picture above) - I placed my feet very close together to emphasis the outer sweep development of the quads. It was then onto hamstring and calves. I'm very happy with my progress so far and I'm excited to enter my novice bodybuidling competition but I'm not looking forward to the next 2 weeks of pain! Sam BLOG Update: 3 weeks out BLOG Update: 4 weeks out, my 15 month transformation Had a great back session with my good friend and top personal trainer Ricky Moore. I haven't been blogging much as there hasn't been much time between personal training 40 clients a week, regularly practising my posing routines, doing my workouts, performing 45 cardio every day as well as feeling like I'm 150 years old on this low calories/carb diet.
Nevertheless, we had a great work out. We started with deadlift and we both repped out 220kg, then moved on to the usual back exercises with lots of negative reps and drop sets for a brutal....but very effective session. Sam Claire continues to make big improvements with her physique inside a month of commencing weight training. It's amazing the speed a body can change with the right weight training program, a correctly designed nutrition plan for that person, intense cardiovascular exercises and a client willing to work very hard. Well done again Claire!!
Pics below - after less than 3 weeks Some people have questioned whether I have legs or not - as my wheels have never been on public display before, so I thought it was about time I got them out! The outer sweep could be bigger but the definition is coming on nicely as I drop body fat (another 2lbs in the last week).
8 weeks ago I as 106kg now I'm 97.5kg - that's 1 stone 5lbs lost in that period. I've tightened up my diet from last week - so calories which were between 3300 and 3600 calories is now a strict 2,800 and carbs which were between 250g to 300g carbs is now 210g. As I've not had a single cheat meal or refeed day in 8 weeks I've decided today is the day to treat myself and increase my carbs upto 400g then it's back to the strict regime tomorrow. If you want results then sacrifices need to be made but I believe it's all worth it in the end whether you're competing, trying to build muscle or lose weight. Now pass me that tub of Hagen Daaz and litre bottle of Pepsi! Link to 4 Week Update Sam |
AuthorSam Watt - Champion personal trainer and nutrition advisor Archives
January 2020
Categories
All
|