Online Fitness Coach & Updates to Contest Prep - 12 Days Out!!!

Side Relaxed Pose -- Everything but 'Relaxed'

Updated Posing Pictures

Getting "Drier" -- the trick to achieving the "dry" look is just getting leaner and leaner.  Less body fat = less water retention.

Most Muscular Pose w/ a side of Most Muscular Face lol

WOW--what a rollercoaster ride it has been since my last update!  So many awesome things have happened!  First off, my biggest announcement, is that I've decided to begin offering online fitness coaching.  I've coached a few people here and there in the past, but never took it seriously or do it in a large scale.  The truth is I love it.  I love all things that has to do with diet and nutrition and it's role in fitness goals no matter what it is.  I will not take on more clients than I can comfortably manage as I do not believe in quantity over quality of service.  No matter the goal of the individual, I will custom tailor a diet plan for that individual and advise them from week to week.  This is exciting because within the first week of starting, I'm already getting close to having all my seats full!  What's even more exciting is that these amazing people of all ethnic backgrounds, from different parts of the world, different fitness goals, different level of knowledge in diet/training, everyone is unique!  Cookie cutter diets are stupid.  People are different, thus diets should be different.  For more information, please e-mail me at SWOLEXPERIMENTS@GMAIL.COM!

On to other news!  I am now 12 days out from the 2013 NPC Excalibur.  What I intended to be a warm-up show may be THE show for me.  I was planning on shooting for the 2014 NPC Ironman Naturally as my main event, but weighing out my future plans, it may not make sense for me to renew my NPC membership for 2014.  I am still on the fence about it, but I really want to continue my bodybuilding competitions in a natural arena.  Still pondering about this decision, but in the meantime, I will take it one show at a time, so I will focus my attention on this one.

Last week, I hit a new low of 147.8 lbs.  At this point in my diet and conditioning, I will not allow my caloric intake to drop any further.  Weighing out my options, I can do one of two things: (1) drop calories to get leaner, and risk losing intensity from the gym out of hunger and fatigue; or (2) increase output of caloric burn by adding more cardio.  I have more room for changes in the second choice so that's what I did.  Previous week, I did about a 1350 calorie burn of cardio that week, and last week I've increased cardio to about an 1800 calorie burn throughout that week.  In the next few days, I should see the leanest condition I've ever experienced in this prep and maybe even in my whole life.

Caloric intake is as follows:

Regular Days (Training and Rest Days)
~2000 calories
230g protein
180g carbs
50g fat

Refeed Day (Once a Week)
~3000 calories
230g protein
450g carbs
40g fat

Training continues to be 6 days on, 1 day off; where now, my "off" day consist of only cardio, light stretching, and maybe a sprinkle of ab work.  Training protocol is a Push / Pull / Legs / Repeat / Off pattern.  All training days begin with 2-3 exercises per muscle group and train for strength with a heavier load and lower reps, then the workout ends with more hypertrophy-focused rep schemes.  I seldom train to failure, perhaps only reaching the point where I have only 1 rep left in the tank.  My goal is longevity and sustainability.  I want to avoid injuries with strict, perfect form at a slow and controlled tempo.  I don't want to take unscheduled rest days because I've obliterated my body.  A true rest day = zero extra calories burned; which is beneficial and essential in a bulk phase.  Training more frequently = more calories burned per week = a leaner, more conditioned physique; most efficiently utilized in a cut phase.

My psoriasis has been acting up again, but no fear.  I will be beginning a couple of tanning sessions to apply a good base color prior to spray tan.  I've noticed last year when I was prepping for my first competition, tanning, even though it is artificial tanning with tanning beds, really helped clear my skin.

All in all, my mental health is great!  I am so much happier and functional this year versus last.  Perhaps it is my focus on micronutrients, or the fact that I'm dieting smarter and less aggressive this year.  Either way, I am thankful I chose the route of flexible dieting.  It has surely helped on so many levels.  I am bigger, fuller, and leaner this year compared to last.  The harsh reality of contest prep is that it isn't easy.  In fact, it can be the most mentality and physically draining and exhausting thing you'll ever do!  Fatigue is setting in more intensely and often times, whenever I am on my feet and walking a lot, my body feels like it weighs a ton.  Thankfully, I am strategically eating foods with high volume to put hunger at bay.  Combined, hunger and fatigue is a deadly duo.  I am also thankful that my job is pretty sedentary.  I live a sedentary life so it's nice.

I will report back with further updates in a few days!  Thanks for the support and continued readership!  Please follow my Instagram handle -- WAY_PROTEIN for my daily uploads!  I have begun taking videos and though it is still amateur work, I try to convey tips and useful tidbits that can benefit anyone into fitness.

Have a good day!