Sunday, September 30, 2007

i've had it... part 2

i guess i have a different idea of what constitutes a pro level physique. i can respect the level of determination and dedication that goes into, piling as much mass as possible onto a body with seemingly little or no regard for asthetics. but that's not what i like. male or female i don't want to see the mass monster. i want to see the classic lines, the tiny waists, the broad shoulders, the TRUE x-frame. but sadly that physique is almost never rewarded at the pro level.

there are a lot of women who better represent the sport in my humble opinion. however, they are losing interest in the competitive aspect of the sport... the sport as it stands now. and i, for one can't blame them. so the physiques that i like are either at the bottomof the pack, not stepping on stage or quitting the sport all together.

i still love the sport. i still desire to find out exactly how far i can take my physique, my way. i still desire to find out exactly how strong i can get, my way. how far i can go, my way. but i'm not going to watch either olympia.

i can't wait to go to ohio in 2008. oh i will to to the men's show. and i will even admit to missing the routines at the fitness internationa but i'm pretty sure i won't be sitting through the figure international or the ms. international to see it. i am looking forward to seeing my firends. i'm looking forward to wandering around the expo, the opportunity to meet new friends and to see some of my favourites in the sport.

i will continue to support the sport at the amateur level. i will hope against hope that somewhere out there, there is an fbb who will save my sport.

but i won't hold my breath!!!

that's it... i've had it!!!!!

as of this moment there is only one professional level bodybuilding show for me. it occurs in ohio in late february, early march.

ya know, my coach took me to my first bodybuilding show many years ago. it wasn't long before i became a fan of the sport of bodybuilding. specifically men's bodybuilding... much to the chagrin of my fbb friends. call me crazy but i will always prefer to watch melvin anthony, victor martinez, dexter jackson and the like in there underwear over the women.

however as i began to show interest in competitive bodybuilding i started to pay more attention to what was happening in the pro level of fbb. interestingly enough i was never a fan of the 'popular' physiques. the one's that go my fbb friends excited, the one's they thought were the best were usually the one's with the lines i least appreciated or they had a look that i had no interest in emulating.

don't get me wrong i do know there is a limit to what i can accomplish with respect to an ifbb pro level physique. i think i have a good genetic package... you can be a good bodybuilder with a good genetic package. to be an ifbb pro you need a great genetic package... and let's face it, you need to do things that i frankly have no interest in doing.

well this past weekend was the olympia and i have to notice a few interesting changes. there was times in the past when the telecast was available and my behind was parked in front of the tv. i was afraid to go to the bathroom for fear of missing something.

more to come... got to run

Thursday, September 27, 2007

plan b?

well things aren't working out quite the way i would like. in the last 3 to 4 weeks things have been seriously slow for me. i've been at home more days per week than i've been at work. for the most part its one to two days of work max., per week. and sadly still, often they aren't even full days.

i am still doing my shifts at the gym and training a few more clients than before so that is helping a bit. but the long and the short of it is, things cannot continue this way indefinately.

the stress is playing havoc on me. and i think we all know what happens when our bodies are under stress for too long. i am currently doing a 2100 calorie diet and i am currently at 160 lbs. 2100 calories is not alot for a fbb, in fact its kind of low. 2300 calories should be my offseason cap. the fact that i'm eating 2100 cals and that i've stopped with the cheats and still at 160 lbs confirms that my stress levels are playing havoc with the scale.

so how do i fix this? what is my new plan? well i think it is time to purchase some steel toe boots and get myself registered at a local temp agency. thus on days when i have no work i can go over to the temp agency and get myself in a warehouse for the day. it won't be great money likely but at this point i need money period. at this point i am seriously concerned with my ability to get back to ohio next year and i also fear my show prep will be in jeopardy.

i'm going in to the gym to meet with my coach/boss to sit down and talk things over with him. maybe he has a better idea? maybe he has some contacts i could use.

there are some who would suggest that i get some of my own design clients and try to freelance on my own, from my home system. well at this point it is either the stress that i feel that i am under or i have lost it. i have been trying to develop a logo for someone and the reality is, i can't seem to come up with anything good. nothing i like... nothing that feels good enough. of course the fact that i know he is asking for feedback online is not helping either. it reminds me a bit of school where we had to get our work critiqued in front of the class by the professor and some of the other students.

i've been logging some serious km's on the bike this summer. i still do the balance of my riding these days with ninja girl. speed racer has either been busy with work or she hasn't been well enough to ride as much as we did together last year. i did recently go on a long ride with speed racer and the chic riders. it was pretty cool at one point there were 11 women all riding sport bikes in the group!!!

well i think its time to get back to bed. i've been sleeping alot the past few days. i'm either coming down with something, fighting something or this is also tied somehow to the stress i am under. i do know yesterday my body temperature kept soaring so i could be just sick. i haven't missed a training day and i really haven't noticed any ill effects on the gym floor so it's really hard to tell. anyway i thought i would leave you with a few pics. a couple from the group ride to london. and a couple shot the day after, ninja girl and i decided to stop and pose with our bikes on our way back from the twisties.





Tuesday, September 04, 2007

falling behind again

so i was online this morning making my weekly check of all the online blogs i read. and of course i accidently bounced onto mine. oops my last post was august 13th.... holy crap where did the time go?

so let me catch you up on the good, the bad and the ugly.

the ugly:

i've not mentioned this in here before but my mother is not well. i dont mean as in crazy, but rather she is going through some sort of mystery health issue. first of all i have zero faith in my mother's doctor. i think he is inclined to merely toss pills at my mother without trying to get to the root of the problem. i also think he is too inclined to dismiss her medical complaints as products of her age and some of the meds that he himself has prescribed for her. yes, i will admit my mother is no spring chicken. however my mother has never been as visibly aged as she has been in the few weeks with this thing. she gets these debilitating pains in her leg that makes it painful to stand, or walk. subsequently her lower leg swells up.

well her doctor doesn't seem to inspired to investigate this properly and i have to watch my mother limp painfully around the house when she can move that much. wtf??!!! so i took my mother to a walk-in clinic a few weeks back to get her seen to by a doctor that george recommended. he immediately ordered a couple of ultrasounds. he is checking to ensure this is not circulatory. we've had one test done so far. i took time off work to take her in myself, but that first test looked pretty normal and we are currently waiting for the next one. in the interim i get to watch my mother turn into my grandmother... this does not make me happy.

the good:

my strength gains are almost back to where they were pre-show prep. and when you factor in that i am doing this stuff while basically still under a restricted diet... well that just goes to show you that my offseason pr's this year are likely to be through the proverbial roof. i am looking forward to that.

my happier state of mind has returned. i spent a lot of time talking to other women in the bb community and they really helped me understand that whole public perception issue. as near as i can tell since it was my first 'negative' experience it hit me hard, now that ive been throught it... i can only imagine that i will handle it better in the future. who am i kidding i have already started. a couple posts ago i told you about my friends 'charming' boyfriend. well i found out yesterday that he told her recently 'look at miche... you guys diet and get all skinny and then you turn around and get all fat again'. fat... me??? pfft. for the life of me i don't know why she bothers with that guy. he seriously has issues and none of this can possibly be good for her psyche in the long run.

okay i am at work, and i was trying to fill some down time... but they have given me some work to do. so i will leave you with some training videos. i hope to be back to regular posting soonish :-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJR11Ipgz8I
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9buO0jvNxE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z1IfLIPkn1k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_FsNYhxiCc