19NorFan’s Unsponsored Log

[19NorFan]

Can I ask why you decided not to work with them anymore?

It's not something that I should disclose publicly, let's just say it was administrative. Not due to any defects with their products.

 

[Wardamn]

8/23 Update:

The show was yesterday and I did not win.

This post will provide a full breakdown of the lead up to the show, the day of and so forth.

Placement
I am not certain of my exact placement. The judges only announced first place, they don't announce the further down positions. Immediately after the finish, we were all told to exit the building and I'd assumed by now we'd have results online, but I'll make sure to update when it occurs. I will also have stage photos when the promotor posts them.

Judge's Feedback

I received the following feedback from 2 IFBB Judges:

"You don't need to make any drastic changes to your physique. Just work on your posing and peak properly."

"You get an A+ for a first show and being self coached. Bring your waist in more, work on your presentation & posing."

Additionally, there were some well know coaches and industry pros present who gave varying feedback (we talked, I asked). Most of the feedback was consistent with that of the judges, some of the other feedback I received:

- That my frame would be better suited for Classic Physique, even at a professional level and that I will struggle to fill out my upper body with IFBB Men's Physique weight cap due to how much mass is already on my legs.

- That based on my recent years progress, I should just continue to put size on and do open class. Also, that I will likely struggle to fill out in either Men's Physique or Classic Physique due to their weight caps not accommodating my frame.

My Own Feedback & Observations

To preface, when it comes to competitions, I take a very binary view on placements. It's very simple, there are only 2: There's first place and then there's everyone else. This is also why I didn't really bother to inquire about my exact placement. I knew that I didn't win and that leaves me in the "everyone else" placement. This is at any level of competition. If I was in the Olympics and I won the silver or bronze, I'd probably come home, toss that thing into the attic and never look at it again.

I also don't believe in entering handicapped competitions. For example, some have said, enter the Master's 35+, there's a smaller turnout. That to me, is a handicapped event, it's exclusionary. I wouldn't want to obtain an IFBB pro card through any type of event that excluded any potential competitor. Or that I should have picked an NPC event that wasn't so closely spaced to an NPC National event (apparently this can make the competition tougher). That is also something that I don't consider honorable. It just feels wrong to pick events based on the anticipation that the competition will be weak.

The purpose of sharing that is so that you can get a better idea of my mindset on this part of bodybuilding. You have to have some kind of code when it comes to how you compete, how you handle wins and loses, your ethics as a competitor, the adjustments you make and so forth. I also don't believe in making deflections or excuses as to why you did not win. At the end of the day, it does not matter. So with that said, I don't want this section to be interpreted in that way. The judging was fair, no complaints. It's more of a list of adjustments I'll need to make next time:

- I will need to go into every show extremely well conditioned. Like there can't be any fat on my waist, it's got to be peeled dry or Men's Physique is not for me. These guys have very tiny waists and the only way I can match or beat that particular genetic advantage that they have, is to come in leaner. At this time, I don't have a peaking formula to consistently achieve a dry conditioned look. Due to the number of new variables - many of them stacking - that I have encountered at my first show, it may be better to proceed with a coach. Because even if I handle all of these variables perfectly for the next show, there will surely be a set of new variables at the next show that may not have occurred at this first show. The point is, the show and everything surrounding it has a whole new set of completely unique variables, unrelated to anything that I've done up to this point in the gym or kitchen, that may take years to trial and error solo.

- In terms of the carb/fat loading period, in retrospect, I think that I stopped the feeding too early. One of the factors that were difficult to account for is the energy expenditure/stress that the trip and everything around it would consume. By the time I arrived on Friday around 4, I started to lose some fullness. I did continue to consume carbs throughout that evening but by that next morning, I flattened out some. In comparison, I did not have any of the vascularity or shape from post 72. To accommodate for this, for future events, I will arrive a day or two earlier to settle in and let some of the stress of the trip settle. I'll also rent a house on airbnb, so that I have a proper kitchen and don't have to deal with neighbors.

- Additionally, the music, sounds, lights, yelling and atmosphere were highly stimulating. As mentioned in other threads, I have mental health issues which include the propensity towards overstimulation. I often speak ambiguously about this part of my life due to the ways in which this information can be used against you and because people downplay it, but the topic cannot be avoided. So that is why I just stick to speaking about its effects on my life instead of disclosing diagnoses. The stimulation in this case, after about half an hour of waiting backstage, put my heart rate into zone 1, for varying periods, I was also in zone 2, just sitting there. This contributed to the flatness and made it hard to get a pump. During periods of overstimulation, my breathing also tends to get shallow and whatever I'm doing, my mind just wants it to be over with so I can leave. I did account for some noise and lights and brought my sunglasses and Bose headset, but the bass of the music protruded all of that. That said, this will be easy to accommodate. I'm fine in an highly stimulatory environment for shorter periods. So I can wait in a separate area outside of the location until my division is being called up and have someone notify me. There was free movement between back stage and the hotel rooms for example.

- This has also taught me that in bodybuilding, there are two sides. There's everything you do in the gym and kitchen and that is one side. On the other, you have a whole separate side and that's the bodybuilding competition side; it's the posing, the logistics, peaking protocol, knowing when to start pumping up and the intangibles. And you can be the best at the first side, you can look really good in the gym and under ideal conditions, but that will never be enough to compensate for the other side. You need to segregate those two aspects of this sport into two completely separate categories. You also have to develop these two sides in equaling proportions. Personally, I don't enjoy the posing part of bodybuilding or the pageantry. I enjoy the process, the bean counting, the structuring, the trial/error, my time in the gym, those things. However, as we determined earlier, that does not win shows. So my mindset adjustment needs to be that I put an equal amount of effort and intent into the things that I don't necessarily enjoy about bodybuilding.

- Most of the feedback before the show that I received was that I should anticipate winning. I got a lot of hype from people leading up to this but in my mind, until you do something, it has not been done. Simple as that. You need to go through the same motions regardless to who you think will show up. Based on the promoter's comments, it was a large event. And I knew well in advance, that you never know who can show up to these things. This is also why in coaching or teacher/student type engagements, I request no emotional feedback. I want no hype, no compliments and no filter in receiving criticism. Meaning, because I cannot quantify compliments, they just confuse me. If you tell me that I'm doing an excellent job, in my mind, that means that my effort is sufficient when in reality my effort might need to be higher. People also tend to water down criticism or feedback or apply an emotional filter. This also leads to confusion and distrust.

Next
There is another NPC Nationals qualifier on November 14th, in exactly 12 weeks. I very much want to jump right into it, however I'll need to take a few days to consider if that's the best option or if I should go into a rebound, followed by a health phase.

Overall, it was a great first experience that provided an overview of what can be expected at these competitions and I certainly look forward to the next one. It would have been nice to be first place, but this experience opened up a whole new set of challenges that I look forward to working on. The rabbit hole of bodybuilding is truly never ending, the further you go down, the more intense and more granular it gets. And there's just so many different paths it can take you on. Until the next one!

You mention flattening out.

Did you track fluid and sodium intake?

 

[Wardamn]

- That my frame would be better suited for Classic Physique, even at a professional level and that I will struggle to fill out my upper body with IFBB Men's Physique weight cap due to how much mass is already on my legs.

I remember someone suggesting this.


Congratulations on the 1st show.

If you want a pro card hire a good coach, listen to them and follow the plan to a T. Self coaching is hard enough when you are experienced. You need someone who can objectively look at you and make the adjustments and decisions needed. Not friends, family, gym bros giving their opinions. They're just hype people who don't know what they are looking at.

Get to work and hope to see you achieve your goal.

 

[Meetketchup]

Thank you for your feedback, always appreciated.

One last thing. If you go the coach route, do it now. Not for prep only. A coach needs to know how your body works as much as possible a full off-season would be the best way to do it. Them learning on the fly during prep is difficult. Also find a coach before you do the rebound you have outlined. They may or may not recommend that for your future goals which you would obviously discuss with them. That was my last two cents.

 

[Wardamn]

One last thing. If you go the coach route, do it now. Not for prep only. A coach needs to know your body works as much as possible a full off-season would be the best way to do it. Especially before you do the rebound you have outlined. They may or may not recommend that for your future goals which you would obviously discuss with them. That was my last two cents.

Makes a world of difference being able to feed someone and see how they respond. I prefer to have someone a minimum of a good 8-9 months. 4-5 months to off-season 4-5 months to prep.

 

[19NorFan]

You mention flattening out.

Did you track fluid and sodium intake?

I had 6 liters per day on Wednesday - Friday

I stopped drinking water at 6PM Friday and limited my water to 500ML the morning of show. As in, that's all I would consume for the morning through pre-judging. Just to minimize sweating. I did not track sodium intake. I certainly don't withhold it for a full hard look.

To give you an idea of what I do for a full dense look:

- Carb deplete for 4 days, with the goal of being Keto by day 3

- Carb/Fat load for 2-3 days. First day is carb heavy, second day is more fat heavy. These have to be very heavy feeding days for me to really fill out. The food selection prioritizes food that is calorically very dense but also easy on the stomach.

- Day 3 is an optional day. This time, I did not do a day 3. Based on my look, feel & weight, it did not seem necessary. By the end of day 1 carb load and throughout day 2 fat load, walking up the treadmill for 10 minutes was producing shoulder and arm pumps, with insane vascularity. For most of day 3 as well, I had a pump just walking around.

- What I think threw things off is just the packing, travel, the carrying bags around, the heat, on top of that, everything the morning of the show. If I were to do a replay, I'd have kept the calories high through Friday and not reduced water intake at any point.

I remember someone suggesting this.


Congratulations on the 1st show.

If you want a pro card hire a good coach, listen to them and follow the plan to a T. Self coaching is hard enough when you are experienced. You need someone who can objectively look at you and make the adjustments and decisions needed. Not friends, family, gym bros giving their opinions. They're just hype people who don't know what they are looking at.

Get to work and hope to see you achieve your goal.

The temptation to go full boar and just aim for open class size, is most certainly there.

The part in bold... yeah I'm learning that too now. If you're going to use a coach, it needs to be someone you can trust to fully delegate the whole thing to, not just someone for feedback. A very simple, you give me work order for the day and I execute it to the gram, type of relationship.

 

[19NorFan]

One last thing. If you go the coach route, do it now. Not for prep only. A coach needs to know how your body works as much as possible a full off-season would be the best way to do it. Them learning on the fly during prep is difficult. Also find a coach before you do the rebound you have outlined. They may or may not recommend that for your future goals which you would obviously discuss with them. That was my last two cents.

Don't hold back any of the cents.

My inclination is to just do the November 14th show. I need to bring my metabolism back though regardless. This prep was about 9 weeks long. If I continue to just diet into November, my thyroid's not going to like that. It's going to be hard to find someone with immediate availability.

 

[19NorFan]

Shoulder/Triceps workout today. I like to do these with a more neutral and narrow grip, it allows for a greater ROM and puts more of the weight on the front delt, without the shoulder adductor and internal rotation that may come with alternative grip forms.

It also allows for the use of lighter weights, which takes some of the torque out of the elbows. When bulking and doing a higher volume of training, I may pre exhaust with front raises, that way the delts fail before the tris or with less involvement of the tris.

 

[19NorFan]

I am going to close out this thread. I'll leave the comments section open but at this point will be transitioning over to a post-contest rebound/health phase log. Which will be a bit more in depth and better structured. The promoter of the show has not posted photos or rankings yet. I messed this part up by not designating a photographer of my own with a quality camera. Everyone I came with literally took the worst photos, you can barely see anyone on the stage. But the show was the NPC Pennsylvania Muscle on August 22nd, so if anyone wants to check later on google, you certainly may.

On September 1st, I will start my post show rebound phase. Most people do this part immediately after the show but I wanted to give it a week after the show for the orals to clear out and for the fluid shifts to settle. My last test injection was on the 18th, so this will also give me about 2 weeks for most of the test to clear out too. Since I'll be on a 19nor based cycle this upcoming phase, I want test levels to be low.

Additionally, I've decided not to do the November 14th show. The timing of it does not give me enough time to both reverse diet and then cut down to to a highly conditioned look. On the other hand it is too far out for me to simply diet straight through. So, over the next few months, I will instead do this rebound/health phase and then another growth phase. I'll be interviewing some coaches too and will take some time with that too, so as to make sure it's a good long term fit. I will also most likely need to move up to one of the heavier classes based on several conversations I've had over the last week. My next growth phase will be structured with this in mind.

I'll be posting a link to the next log on here shortly.

 

[19NorFan]

Here it is: 19NorFan’s 6-Week Post Contest Rebound Log | Team US Pharmacies