I’ve just finished my two months of Density Training…And I feel Great!  I’ve put on about 10lbs since starting this program so that makes me between 197-200lbs depending on the time of day.  My muscles are always pumped and sore and i can see that they are harder too.  So now I will rest for an entire week, not something that is easy for me to do but necessaryto continue to make the gains i want.  I might do a little easy cardio to burn off a little fat that I seem to have put on this summer, but nothing too strenuous.  Last week I realized that my cardio needs to be better when two of my clients kicked MY butt during the pool workout I gave them on Saturday.   I was huffing and puffing while they were just treading water between strength sets.  So I think I’ll do some laps at the gym and maybe try sprinting and cutting on my hamstring.

Speaking of my hamstring…I’ve decided not to have the surgery.  The recovery is 16-20 weeks with the first 4 weeks in a sling not able to move my leg or even sit for the first 2 weeks.  That means at least a month of missing work and even longer getting my legs back into shape, thus probably missing another year of competing. Also, there is no guaranteeof the surgery working me back to 100% either.  I’ll just keep doing my therapy and see how things go…

I wanted to congratulate my bodybuilding client Adam Dahmer for the great job he did last month in Evensville at the Mid-American Pro/Am.  He got 1st in the collegiate division and 3rd in the novice.  The novice outcome was pretty dubious since Adam beat the guy that second in the novice.  Turns out one of the judges is also the trainer of the two guys that beat him in the novice.  I just wish that there would be no politics in such a subjective sport so that the best physique could win every time.  But let’s stay positive here, Adam looked great and competed with pride and determination to win. I am very proud of him!  Great job!

I’m going to try and enjoy my week off of training, but while I od that…train hard!

Well, its been a long time since I updated all you followers(sic), but a lot has gone on.

In February I tore my right hamstring - the middle of the biceps femoris, about 1 cm wide that dropped down the muscle 7 cm.  Not fun.  I rested a week before going back to work, and a full month before doing any exercises.  I did physio-therapy with my Asian Medicine Man Ken Johnson from Primal Kneads Massage Therapy.  He is the best!  I highly recommend him and his business partner Rhonda Reese.  He has done deep tissue massage, ART massage, acupuncture, electric stim, and physical therapy modalities to try and get me back the full strength.  Although my leg feels better, despite all the work Ken and I have done as well as the Chiropractic work with Dr. John Haggerty, things are not progressing the way I want them to.  But that’s just me wanting to be back to normal NOW, and not wanting to wait on the healing process.  I had two MRI’s and consulted an Orthopedic Dr. this week, and his suggestion is to see a hamstring surgery specialist in Cincinnati.  He’s not sure if there is anything more that guy can do for me since it has been almost 6 months since the injury, but it doesn’t hurt to talk.  I’m consulting my team and will make the decision on what to do soon.

As for the rest of my training…Things are going GREAT!  My weight is about 197lbs with a goal of 203 at 10% body fat.  So I have about 2-3% fat to loose thus about 8lbs of muscle to gain before January.  Doable I think.  I am starting my 2nd month of Density training that my coach Laurent and I put together in June when I was in France.  Density training is very concentrated training, not heavy training.  You still want to go as heavy as you can, but only with perfect form and SUPER hard contraction for between 8-12 reps.  You see there is weightlifting - which has its place in all sports including bodybuilding, which is moving the weight from one point to another point anyway you can as heavy as you can.  This really taxes the central nervous system and stimulates strength and growth.  It also takes its toll on the joints and tendons.  Density Training is all about feeling the muscle contract, pump and thus grow!  All reps are done in a very controlled manner and you sqeeze the muscle hard at the end of each rep forcing the muscle to get much harder and have better shape.  I feel tight, full and sore after every workout and it last all day!  Now, I’m not breaking any strength records or anything, but I remember that that is not my goal.  My goal is to have the most complete body on stage and win the Amature Mr. Universe in Barbados next June!

That’s all for now, I promise to update more often from now on and keep you all in the loop with my hamstring decision and progress.

Until then, Train Hard, I Will!

The competition season is now over!  6 months of dieting, two competitions and more grams white fish than I can count, and all worth it.  Let’s break down the weekend and results…

Wednesday was my last low carb day! and I got my spray tan put on; 3 coats.  I did all my shopping for the weekend that day too - sheets, towels, travel food, etc.  I packed everything I was going to need and went to bed early - around 10pm.

Thursday:  Up early, 6:30am and had my first carb-up meal, which was actually the same as every other day - egg whites and oatmeal, put my bags in the car and took Amelie to school then off to the airport.  I

had my second meal during the flight and landed in New York City just after 11am.  There was the sweetest couple on my flight who offered to share a cab with me into the city.  Bill and Jane were just so nice and interested why I was in New York and wanted to hear all about it and even insisted I send them an e-mail with the results.  After I dropped them off at their hotel I proceeded to my rented apartment and settled in.  After eating again and resting a little I went down the street to get some water and just check out the neighborhood.  A couple of hours later my coach Laurent, his wife Severine and her sister Stephanie arrived.  Lo checked out how I was looking and they all went for a little sight seeing while I continued to eat and rest for the evening.  When they came back we went to Whole Foods to stock up on everything else I would need for the weekend and that was it.

Friday: Up early - 6:30am to start eating.  It was a long and boring day as all I needed to do was sit around with my feet up and let my body get tight and dry for the next day’s show.  The others went for a day seeing the city.  Caroline, Amelie and Caroline’s parents finally arrived around 1PM, their flight had been delayed and hour and a half out of Columbus.  They settled in, Caroline did some work while Amelie and I played ’Where’s Amelie” for about and hour and then it was back to eating and resting.  That’s the hardest part for a bodybuilder I think.  We spend our entire days running around with work and workouts, cardio and eating to get ready for the show, and then we have to just sit around and do nothing for two days.  The day seems to take 5 times as long as a normal day and you only really know what time it is by when you have to eat again.  I finished the day with Caroline putting another coat of Pro Tan on and then eating a BIG meal of beef, 1 1/2 potatoes and a whole pint of lemon sorbet - it was almost too much, ALOMST!  

Mornig of with Amelie

Saturday:  I think this was the longest day of my life!  Up at 6:30am to continue eating and went down to the Martin Luther King Jr. high school to see the Pro Men’s competition.  I have a few friends that competed and saw some that didn’t compete as well.  The pros are just amazing!  So big and cut at the same time, its hard to imagine ever getting to that level.  After the men were done the women came up and let me tell you there are a lot of them in the figure, fit body and bikini divisions.  Maybe too many especially in the amature ranks.  The amature women’s show took at least three hours of the day and another three hours of the night’s finals.  But, it gave me time to meet some new people and talk to the ones I already knew so that was good.  So as I said, I got there around 9:30am and I did n’t get on stage for the first time until 4:00pm!  More time eating and resting, and getting updates on the Buckeye game from Don (thanks Don!). 

Finally it was time to get it on!  Lo and I went back stage for the final stage which is to put the stage sheen (oil) on and pump up.  Everyone was anxious by then so there were probable 100 out of the 245 total competitors back there all trying get ready at the same time.  Lo was doing a good job keeping me focused as he could see I was checking out everyone and trying to decipher who was going to be in my class and finally getting a little nervous about it.

On stage!  When you’re on stage you don’t really see the other guys just parts of the guys to your right and left when you turn to the side.  The first round is judging symmetry, you do 4 quarter turns and then the judges move you around depending on how they feel you look compared to the other guys.  They moved me out one space, not the direction you want to go - moving in toward the center of the line-up means you are doing very good.  I was pissed but able to hold it together.  They make you stand in the “relaxed” pose for what seems like an eternity.  Then comes the muscularity round, here is where you do the 9 mandatory poses.  After the first pose, the front double biceps pose they immediately moved me in TWO spaces and I could feel the confidence coming back into my body.  We did all the poses and the judges moved some other guys around but I stayed put.  I was hoping to move at least one more spot in but at least when we left the stage I felt like I was at least top 5 out of 10 in the middle weight class.

Front Lat Spread

So now my afternoon was over and I just had more waiting to do until the finals.  The family went to lunch and to take Amelie back to the apartment for the night.  I was sad knowing she wouldn’t be there for the finals and to see her daddy up on stage again, but as long as this show was taking we knew it was going to be really late and she needed to be in bed.  I hung out at the school and talked to a lot of people, slept a little and just continued the day of eating rice cakes with honey and strawberry preserves with a few dried dates thrown in for good measure.  All the guys in the locker room from the pros to the armatures were real cool and I enjoyed my time just talking body building with them. 

Finally my time to get back on stage was approaching at around 11PM!  That’s right, I had to wait around until 11 at night just to start pumping up again.  They only have the top 5 do the posing routine but they don’t tell you who those five are until you are all ready to go on stage.  When they tell you to get your music is when you know you’ve made it.  I looked at Ian (the show expediter) while he was lining us up to go back stage and said, “Go get your music!” I had made the top 5!  I was the first in our group to do my routine and went out there beaming with confidence.  It was now about 11:45 and it seemed there were about 30 people left in the audience, not easy to do a posing routine for only 30 people and 6 of those are your family and friends, but hey you practiced and worked hard, nothing was going to stop me know!  I did the routine and stayed out for a few more poses and was done, the only thing left was to find out what was my actual placing.  The five of us went back out on stage and waited impatiently. 

I was announced 4th place in the INBF World Championships!!!  You don’t know how it feels.  All the hard work, 6 months of dieting, counting grams and drinking gallons of water all has paid off with fourth best in the world.  The only thing better would be first, but at this point it doesn’t even matter, fourth is good enough for this year.  I am very happy!

4th in the World!

We left immediately because by now it was midnight and I wanted to EAT!  And boy did I ever.  Its all just a blur of burgers, pizza and hot dogs with a little cheese cake thrown in for good measure.  Carrying the trophy around the airport made me feel great as a lot of people asked what it was for and gave congratulations.

Coach Laurent and me at breakfast

I want to finish by thanking my wife Caroline and daughterAmelie for being there and understanding all that I’ve had to go through and put them through for this one day.  With your support and love I can do anything!  Thanks to my in-laws Stephen and Rachell for coming all the way from France to be there and support me.  Stephanie and Severine for making the trip as well.  A short vacation for you and I really appreciate it.  And to my coach and friend Laurent, your guidance and knowledgemade all this possible.  You’ve helped take my body to a place both muscularly and condition wise that I didn’t know was possible.  Let’s keep it all going.  I want to also thank my workout partners for helping push me through those tough reps and workouts and ALL my client who supported me and stuck with me even when my energy was low and the workouts might not have been that inspiring.  Everyone in my circle contributed to this win.

Monday:  Eating good again and back in the gym today.  June 2011 is right around the corner and there is a lot of work to do!

Train hard, I will!

Nate

Here we are exactly 2 weeks from the INBF World Championships, and I’m feeling great!  My body is at a level I never thought I could achieve or even needed to be at.  I felt before that last year was the best I’ve ever looked, and aside from just a little more muscle in the right places that is where I needed to be.  After seeing what my body has done this year I now know I can be even better than before and even better then what I will ultimately end up this year.  My waist is at an all time low and my back is wider then ever, my shoulders are thicker and wider and my legs are getting cross striations all over them.  My low back (christmas tree) in shredded and even my lower lats are showing.  The only thing I’m worried about is my glutes just don’t seem to be cutting up as much as the rest of my body.  You see, the butt needs to be detailed and sliced (as they same in the bodybuilding game) to really get the attention from the judges.  If they can see the striations in the glutes, you’ve got a leg up on all the competition regardless of how big you are.

Now this is not to say that my body is perfect or that this whole prep hasn’t been without its difficult moments.  I have pains all over for no real reason…Last week I couldn’t move my right wrist without pain from Sunday to Thursday - just because of the way I slept on it.  I started getting shooting pain up and down the back of my leg starting from behind the knee for a few days.  The pain was so intense I had to take a knee a few times.  Then just yesterday while I was walking with one of my clients my left ankle just started burning and throbbing.  I think my body is trying to tell me something…Let’s not forget about the fatigue.  I’m up at either 4am or 4:30am everyday to do cardio and then eat and start seeing clients, then to my workout which takes between an hour and fifteen minutes to up to 2 hours depending on how many workout partners there are that day and the cardio I’m doing after the workout.

In any case, this is going to be the best competition I’ve done because its the best I’ve ever looked. Its in New York City on a global scale (not just local), and I have a great supporting group behind me with friends from New York and Washington DC coming, my in-laws and coach from France and my wife and daughter all yelling for me to be my best!  The only thing that could make it better is a win… 

Train hard!  I am!

Nate

Well its been a week and a half since the Cardinal and I was hoping to tell you all that I’m getting bigger, tighter and better then last weekend…But I can’t.  I came down with the worst case of Strep Throat in the history of the disease, ok, maybe not in history but at least in my doctors’ career.  She took one look in my throat and had to turn away and almost gagged.  If that was her reaction imagine how I feel.  I can’t hardly talk, swallowing in a test of will and strength and I usually get dizzy when I stand.  Actually I became nauseous after standing too long.  I haven’t worked out since Wednesday. and that’s hard enough, but worse than that is I can’t talk to Amelie or play with her because I both don’t have the energy and I don’t want to get her sick too.  Caroline has been great though, taking all the work around the house and not even allowing me to help, taking care of Amelie and taking care of me too.

The week started great, I was really motivated and had three GREAT workouts!  I pushed harder then before the competition and was even more determined to be my best in New York.  Laurent finally called me on Tuesday and reassured me that my condition would be much better in New York and to remember that our goal was to be the best ever there and not at the Cardinal.

On Thursday I went to a nutrition and supplement seminar that my friend Dennis was having for his company Standard Process.  They make Real Food supplement with no artifical or synthetic anything.  Just organic food being ground down and then pressed into pill form.  The perfect supplements for healing and growing from the inside out.  While there I met a few homeopathic doctors and chiropractors who, after running a few physical tests on me determined that because of my extreme workouts, daily stress and even such clean eating, that my adrenal glands have been sucked dry. the adrenal glands are the fundamental components of the endocrine system and also involved in innumerable physiological functions throughout the body.  Just one of those being how your body handles the water you take in.  Since my adrenal are low my body was just pushing all the water I was drinking right out of my body and not putting it into my muscles making me look flat and soft on stage.  I mentioned this in my last post, but I didn’t know why, well now we all do.  So, now that we’re working on this problem we should see a much better me on stage in New York, that’s assuming this strep doesn’t keep me out of the gym longer then 1 week.

So hopefully I’ll be back to work on Wednesday and back to working out on Friday, and back on track by Monday.  Check back soon for real updates on the road to New York.

Train Hard, I will be…SOON!

Nate

The 2009 Cardinal Classic Bodybuilding and Figure Championships have come and gone now, and I’m told some of you want to know how it all turned out…Let me give you the weekend run down.

I started my carb-up and water deplete on Thursday.  When doing a bodybuilding show you usually start the week by reducing your carbohydrate intake to deplete your muscles of glycogen and they start to get flat.  At the same time you increase your water intake to fill the body with water and get your kidneys used to expelling as much water as possible.  For Sunday, Monday and Tuesday I drank 3 gallons of water each day, then on Wednesday I started to drop the water down to 1.5 gallons, Thursdy 1.5 liters and Friday was 1 liter.  I also ate a lot of DRY carbs to try and fill the muscle back up and make them full.

I felt pretty good when I got up Friday morning, had my breakfast and went to get my first two coats of Pro Tan sprayed on.  I went to ”Custom Spray Tans By Shane”(740-815-2235)  I was her first bodybuilding client and I have to tell you she did a great job and I’ll be using her for my next show too.  I came back home, packed the car up and Caroline and I picked up Amelie and we took off for Youngstown.

It was an easy drive and we got there at 3:00pm checked in and just relaxed for a little while.  I went down the street to check in, weigh in and take my lie detector test.  I weighed in at 171.5lbs - my lowest yet for a competition, and I didn’t feel stringy or small either.  I’m feeling pretty confident at this point.  I went down for my Lie detector and even though I’ve done it before and have no reason to fear the test as I have been a lifetime natural athlete, I was still a little nervous.  Yes I passed with no problem.

Fast foreword to Saturday morning - I woke up feeling a little flat so I started eating my carbs right away -  rice cakes, matza bread and water - 1/2 a liter.  We put on my last coat of Pro Tan and I went to the competitors meeting at 9:am and started meeting the others and sizing up my competition.  Not that it matters what they look like because all the work was done and there really isn’t any way to make my self leaner or more muscular at this point.  We went back stage to start getting ready while my friends and family started to arrive.  The show started at 11:am but I knew I had until noon to start getting ready so I went and hung out with everyone.

At noon I started getting ready for my turn on stage, Adam and Kathy - my clients and friends, came back to help me put on my stage shine and asses my physique.  They both told me I looked great and that I had a good chance of winning my class…I wasn’t sure though.  I had some stiff competition and my body wasn’t looking the way I had hoped.  My vascularity wasn’t coming out and my cuts were not showing very well.  We went out on stage to cheers from the crowd, I immediately recognized Caroline’s voice and found all my friends in the audience.  Amelie was cheering too yelling “Daddy, daddy, encore!”  It seemed like every time I hit a pose the crowd was cheering just for me.  Then the judges started moving us around and I could tell they were not that impressed with me.  By the time we left the stage I was pretty sure they had me in 4th place.  I was pretty bummed when I got back stage, feeling a little robbed and overlooked.  What do I have to do to get a fair shake here.

I went back to the hotel room to rest and continue eating as my coach Laurent had instructed.  I watched the video of the judging and felt more angry thinking I looked better then the third and second placed guys.  The afternoon went by fast and before I knew it I had to leave to go back to the competition.  The finals started at 6:pm, I had to be on stage at 7:pm and again at about 8:30.  I did my 60 second routine and got a pretty good response from the crowd.  When we went back for the awards, things shook out the way I thought they would, I was in 4th place.  I wasn’t happy about it, but nothing was going to change the placings now. The show was over, time to eat some REAL food!

I said good by to Don, Adam and Katie and went back to the hotel to shower and meet my brother Simon and Kathy out for dinner.  Caroline and Amelie stayed back at the room to go to sleep.  Boy did we do it up!  Pizza, french fries, a little wine and a little beer.  I was sick!    We had really good conversation with some of the other competitors and judges and I really enjoyed myself.

We ate at IHOP the next morning and headed back to Columbus with a quick stop at Sonic Burger (some of the best burgers around, but the fries suck).  

When we got home I re-watched the video and as I really looked objectively at it I knew the judges had got it right.  My body didn’t respond to the carb-up and I was flat and smooth.  I’ll talk to my coach about it and we’ll figure out why my body didn’t respond as we wanted it to.  I think I need some protein and fat to go along with all the dry carbs, but we’ll see.

Later that afternoon I met some buddies out for beer and wings while we watched some great football, then home for a little more pizza with the wife before starting back on the diet for my next competition.  Monday I was still feeling bloated and weighed myself at a whopping 183 lbs!  That’s 12lbs since Saturday…but I’m already down to 175 today (Wednesday).  Water an undigested food made for most of the weight.

Now the focus is the World Championships in New York city.  I’ll have less body fat and this time I WILL fill up and look my best on stage!  That was the goal the whole time any way, look good at the Cardinal, but best at the Worlds.

I want to thank everyone who came to the show and gave me their support, you don’t know how much it meant to me…You all keep me going and want to do better at the next competition.That’s all for now.  I’ll let you know how the training for the world’s is going.

Train hard, I am!

As I sat last night watching the biggest looser I was overcome with many different emotions.  It was like going through the 5 stages of grief but in my own way.  1st there was anger, how do these people let this happen to themselves?  Almost all of them said that they couldn’t believe they had let themselves go, that the weight just snuck up on them.  Please, you know when those pants don’t fit. 

Bargaining was next.  I found myself yelling at the TV and telling my wife that if they would just do this or that different, then they would never had gotten this way.  That they could loose the weight if they would just change this or do that.  But it doesn’t work that way does it?

Then sadness.  When they tell their stories you start to realize that obesity can happen because of many different causes.  We mostly tend think people get obese because they are just lazy, that there are so many tools at our disposal to keep you from getting this way.  But there are many different reasons people gain so much weight, from thyroid problems to depressions to living environment and loss of a loved one.  I truly started to understand  the pain each one of the contestants were going through.

Acceptance.  Thinking back through these 14 years that I’ve been doing this, I know that everyone has their own reasons and hang-ups for why they don’t loose weight or even that they gained it in the first place.  My self for example, when I started this last competition prep I was 197lbs and around 13% body fat.  Now I know some of you are saying 13%, how do I get there?  But I’m the trainer here, I have to set the prime example for all around me, clients or not.  But hey I like to eat too, and enjoy and adult beverage (or two, ha), and I don’t like doing cardio anymore then you do.  So even I say I’ll do cardio tomorrow or eat better next week, or that one more piece of pizza is ok and the drive through is so convenient.  So I do understand what each of those contestants and everyone else out there is going through.

Finally joy.  As the episode was coming to an end and all the contestants were being weighed in, they all lost a significant amount of weight they realized that they really could do this.  That the only thing holding themselves back from getting the body and more importantly the life they always wanted was themselves.  This time they couldn’t fail, because they had the support and the ability to make it happen. Even though it is going to be hard for each of them, Jillian is going to yell and cuss at them, the weight loss will slow to low single digits instead of double digits.  Bob is going to feel let down and cry and someone may never win a single challenge.  But at the end of the program everyone will have lost more weight in 8 months then they ever thought possible, and be thankful for every drop of sweat, sore muscle, injury and scolding they got.

This feeling can be the same for everyone of you out there, no matter what your goal is.  If you put your all into it and give everything you’ve got, you can succeed.  You WILL succeed! 

Be the Biggest Something!

Train Hard, I am.

Things with the training are going great!  I’ve lost 20 lbs of almost all fat - with no cardio either, and I’m getting really close to my all time best.  I truly believe this will be my most successful year competing yet.

But, that brings me to today’s topic…A lot of people having been telling me how they admire me for my determination and resolve to do everything it takes to get in top shape.  To diet so perfectly and workout so hard without missing a single session, all while having a full time job and family too.  They say “I could never do that, I could never stick to it.”  I totally disagree with all of them.  Anyone can achieve even the most daunting tasks with a good plan, and some determination (the most important).

The biggest obstacle for everyone seems to be their nutrition.  Everyone feels dieting means to eat the worst, tasteless food with no variety.  Let me just say that that is the furthest thing from the truth out there.  Sure I eat a lot of the same things - chicken, eggs, and vegetables; the bodybuilding staples, but I also eat a lot of steak, turkey, white fish and RICE!  Plus, by being creative you can spice things up and try new flavors you never thought about.

Not being able to stick with a diet is really just an excuse to not even try.  Its not as bad as it seems really.  When I start dieting and bring my food to work or go out to a restaurant with friends, everyone remarks on how good my food looks and smells.  I don’t really have to restrict where I go most of the time, I just have to order my food the way I want it.  Isn’t that what you do at a restaurant, order your food?  Now I’m not going to McDonalds or Taco Bell, but I can still go to places like Chipotle or some Asian cuisine, I just have to order the right things.

Now I’m not saying you have to do a bodybuilding competition like me, but that doesn’t mean that your own personal goals aren’t achievable.  But people limit themselves because they are afraid to fail.  And failing on a diet is the number one reason people quit their program.  But I feel that every day is just a new start to each day’s diet.  I tell my clients that yesterday doesn’t matter, today does.  Being perfect on your diet yesterday still means you have to be perfect today, the same as if you fell off your diet yesterday, you just have to get back on it today.

This can apply to all facets of life, not just dieting…Weight training, cardio training, writing your first book or even getting your dream job.  Start every day anew, don’t let yesterday’s failures stop you from getting today’s successes.  And remember, you can’t reach the end without first starting the journey.

Here’s to success,

Train hard, I am.

Nate

Again, it’s been quite a while and a lot has gone on since my last post.  First let me talk about my progress.

Everything is going great!  I’m almost at my previous competition weight of 176lbs - last year I was dead on the morning of the show even though I competed at the heavier weight class, light heavy.  So this year there is no doubt I’ll be a middleweight and if things keep moving along I’ll probably be 172lbs to 174lbs the day of the show, which is still 5 weeks away.  Oh, and did I mention I haven’t done any cardio yet. 

Let me tell you why though…I’m getting ready for two shows this year as I’ve said before, the Cardinal Classic on September 26th and then 7 weeks later the World Championships November 14th.  I want tolook great and win the Cardinal, but I want to reach my FULL peak conditioning at the World’s.  Its really difficult to reach your all time best conditioning twice in a two month period, so we’re putting all the attention to the second show.

My family and I went to France last month to visit my wife’s family and relax in the sun for 9 days.  It was a great vacation, but its not easy to stay on a competition diet while on vacation, but I did a pretty good job by keeping with it 95% of the time.  I say 95% only because I wasn’t able to eat all my meals at my usually scheduled times, I slept in a few days and had one cheat meal the last night we were there - Caroline needed a date night of just the two of us being together for dinner - and to tell you the truth so did I.  So for dinner instead of having white fish (my norm for this entire 5 1/2 month prep), I had a lean steak with vegetable and a little pasta, a glass of wine and the smallest scoop of ice cream I’m ever had.  I came back home 1lb down.

My workouts in France were great, one in particular.  For the first 4 days I worked out at a local gym called Top Fit, it is the largest gym in the region at 38,000sq. ft.  It has everything anyone needs for a great workout - free weights and machines, although they seemed like they were original pieces from when the club opened in 1980 something.  Newer cardio equipment, a pool and steam, sauna and hot tubs in the locker rooms.  If you wanted to get your hair cut and have lunch too, you could.  One thing I really like about the gyms there is that they keep the air conditioning at about 80 degrees, not like here where people think 68 degrees is too hot.  You start sweating withyour first warm-up set.  After I met with my nutritionist on Wednesday he took me to a different gym that a friend of his owns - Le Temple Gym…”Now that’s what I’m talking about!”   This was a real body builder’s gym, autographed pictures of all the top bodybuilders in the world on the walls (including my coach Laurent), dumbbells up to 150lbs and new top of the line equipment!  We did legs that day and let me just tell you, I was still nauseous two days later trying to walk down the stairs at my inlaws’ house.  We didn’t do more weight than I am used to, less actually, it was just more intense with higher reps, forced reps, drop sets and squeeze sets.  I thought I was going to throw up during the workout- something I’ve never done before, close but never actually lost it.  The manager at Le Temple was so nice to me, we couldn’t talk to each other much because of the language barrier, but he let me come the next two days for free, mixed my post workout vitargo for me and gave me a free t-shirt.  Everyone at the gym was was very nice too, coming up and saying hi to me when they walked in even though they had never even seen or met me before, thesewere the members and not even staff.  It is now my exclusive gym every time I go back to Cannes.

After such a great vacation I came back even more pumped about these two shows and have really amped up the intensity of all my workouts.  In fact it really hurts just to be walking today after Wednesday’s leg workout!  I seem to have lost my workout partner for a little while though, he fractured his tibia last week when the hack squat machine fell on his leg.  I really feel bad for him and wish him a speedy recovery.

Speaking of recovery, my shoulder is getting better.  I’ve been icing it a lot since the diagnosis of a fractured distal end of the clavical(collar bone), and modifying my exercises to try and work around it, and just this week it has been starting to feel better.  We’ll see…

I know, that was a lot to through down all at once, and I promise to do better posting more so that there isn’t soo much the next time.  Thanks.

Train Hard, I am!

Nate

Well, I got my MRI results back on Wednesday and there is good and bad news…The bad news is there is a stress fracture of the distal end of my clavicle(collar bone).  The good news is that I don’t have quit working out or preparing for my upcoming shows, I just need to be very smart about my training.  I’ve already started shifting from doing heavy weights to more moderate weight while concentrating on getting a great contraction, rep and perfect form, you know, getting into the mind-muscle connection of lifting and not just pushing or pulling weight.  I can’t do pull-ups for now which sucks, since I really love doing them, and I have to keep a close grip on pull downs - no problem there.  I know that if I keep a positive attitude and use a lot of ice, I’ll be just fine and in my best shape ever for these shows.

Speaking of best shape ever…when I started this diet just 3 weeks ago I weighed 90.7 kg(199lbs) and I’m already down to 84.7kg(186.7lbs) - all weigh-ins first thing in the morning.  Sometimes I feel flat and small, but my workout partner assures me its all in my head and that I look as good as ever.  My goal weight is 80kg(176lbs), but at this point I’m not really worried about what the scale says, but how I look the day of the show.  Now I know you’re saying to yourself right now that 13lbs in 3 weeks sounds like a lot and really too much, but I assure you that at least half of that is water because in the off season I eat around 1200 to 1500 grams of starchy carbs a day, and now I’m down to about 750g - which is still a lot for a bodybuilding diet.  Most people only take in between 150 and 300g of carbs when they are preparing, which I’ve never believed in, but that’s a discussion for another time.

For now, Train Hard, I am!

Nate