planning my course

my ego took a major hit yesterday. one of the reporters who covered my show said that my competitor 'handily won the heavyweight class'. now people keep trying to tell me to take that opinion with a grain of salt. although that is good advice, when you get right down to it as hard as i try to play otherwise... i am human.

so for the next 11 months and change i will be thinking about that comment and using it to fuel my workouts so that i bring a bigger, better, undeniable package to the stage in 2007.

in 4 days i have made great strides in recovering from my post-show nutritional free-fall. at this point im still enjoying an offseason diet but ive cleaned up all the crap. the dough from the pizza, the cookies and the bread from the burgers have all reeked havoc on my mid-section. i do know that bread products tend to bloat you, but what i can't remember is, how long it takes to undo the 'damage'. the goal for the photoshoot is to get my condition back as close as possible to my show condition. i have a little over two weeks and i still haven't re-introduced my show-prep diet.

my friend in delaware has her show this weekend. i talked to her for a while on the phone last night, her spirits are good. i saw her pics on the board yesterday, wow... she has done her homework, she is sliced and diced. i told her that i expect a phone call asap to tell me how she did. i can't imagine anyone else will that conditioned on stage... but the reality is, you just never know. either way i am very proud of all she has accomplished. i have often said that its a shame that we don't live closer to each other. we would make awesome training partners.

speaking of training partners, my coach has yet to make his return to the gym so i've been on my own. since my legs are still shot from mondays workout i am going to have to train chest tomorrow in lieu of hammys. it would be nice to have someone around to spot me, should i need it. its not like there aren't people there that i could ask to spot me, but not everyone knows how to spot and not everyone knows how to spot me.

some people like getting a 'lift off', some prefer you keep your hands on them as they lift. i however prefer a hands off technique. i want my spotter to stand behind me paying attention, obviously, but with no contact at all. now if i am about to be crushed by the weight by all means get in there and help me. but if i've got it... keep your hands to yourself!

before a set with a new spotter i will tell them how many reps i am going for, that i will lift it up by myself and to only touch me if i look like i'm about to 'wear the bar'. they always say 'sure, no problem' and on the lift i can feel their hands on my elbows pushing up. grrrr! "i didn't help you", they say "i just gave you a little lift off... you had it". what they don't understand is to me that initial lift is key, it is my way of ensuring that i can lift the weight. if i am struggling to get it up... then i know to put it back down and try something lighter. if i can't get it up by myself, then i surely won't be able to control the weight mid-set.

or maybe im just justifying my independant streak??