Training for the end

Don’t we all do this…

Take up a new diet, exercise program, etc. Then we give ourselves a timeline 6 months, a year, 12 weeks. We get  good results, even get close to what we were looking for, but our set “time” runs out and with it so does our motivation. We go straight into the cake and pizza we have “earned” just to see all of our hard work be over shadowed by bad choices in a matter of weeks.

Now this is not just to everyone else. This is aimed right at me. I diet hard, train harder and compete to win. I tell myself afterwards “now it’s time for a day off and then I will go HELLA HARDCORE” only to find myself 2 weeks into a “eat all the muffins and donuts” binge. I don’t have the slightest clue as to what snaps in my brain, but I do notice it and know what is to come from the onslaught. And kinda forget the other dark place I can go, i.e. this latest before and after.

Yeah, so that is what I can do (and so can you *coaching plug*) with focus and 12 weeks. 180lb down to 150lb. Long hair, don’t care to aesthetic king of kings (self proclaimed, ok).

SO much work, SO much time, all for the goal of getting on stage. Got on stage, got the trophy, got off a plan, what the heck bro. This is not what I want, but I see it happen, to me, to my friends and I’m sure to many of you.

What are we to do???

A plan

Thought in the Dark

Without a plan, we as humans, are doomed from the get go. We thrive on some sort of structure. Whether it takes a fully detail, mapped out, color coated binder plan or just something you choose in a bar based on whose dart was closer to the bulls eye. A plan is a plan, and mentally, I believe it will lead you to a stronger will and greater results in the end.

So for the next show , 5 weeks away for the NPC Junior Nationals, I want to exit that show in style. Not in this funk. I’m going to have a plan ready for myself the day after. I’m not going to give my brain the chance to think it’s “OK” to slip.

I want to remember and I want you all to remember this:

Enjoy yourself, enjoy your life, but don’t forget your goals and don’t let your “enjoyment” hinder you.

See you in the Darkness

Competition Podcast with Jon and Jared

Quick post and then let you guys listen to the great stuff that comes from Jon, Jared and myself getting on the mic together.

Just got in from the 2013 Fitness Summit in Kansas City. 2 words… Glute off.

Had a great time. Got to meet several of the peeps I’ve had the pleasure of doing podcast with, in the past(Goodman, Rog, JC, Andy, Dick, Kellie, Bret and more). Got A LOT of new information thrown my way (who knows if any of it will stick). It was really energizing to be in that place, showed me how far I have come and how much further I can go. These guys minds were running 90 to nothing with all the information the had to give and how quickly they could analyze a question laid before them. The women’s segment and the  nutrition talks were especially beneficial for me.

Might do a full post on the summit later but for now I will leave you with the audio on the competition and my latest phrase.

World Domination through Positive Motivation.

http://discussionswithdao.wordpress.com/2013/05/05/the-jack-n-out-connection-31bt-physique/

 

See you in the Darkness

 

Competition overview and the next step

Largest show to date, came in 2nd, qualify for a National show, then downed 12,000 calories in 24 hours.

That about raps it up…

Ok, fine. Let me get into a few more details.

As you all know the last couple of weeks I’ve been posting my days on here and now want to walk you all through my Friday in preparation and Saturday before the judging.

Jon and I woke up at 5am to begin our 8 hour drive to Louisville. The drive was fine, but it was hard to get my water in, namely because I didn’t want to be stopping every hour to pee. I downed about 1 liter the entire trip.

We arrived a little before 1pm, checked into our hotel and I got to drinking on my 3 remaining liters. Knocked out about 2 cups of sweet potato fries and 6 oz of chicken.

Killed 4 rice cakes and 2 tbsp around 3pm. And then did another 2 cups of sweet potato fries and chicken at 5pm.

Athlete check in was at 7:30. Seeing as I had done a few shows before this one I wasn’t expecting that many people, but when we got there I saw a line of over 100 people checking in and more just kept coming in.

Here was a look at the stage from the crowd view.

It moved efficiently, though. I bought my NPC card for the year ($100) and then waited to get my height measured to see what class I would be in. The tape measure said 5’10”, which threw me into class C.

Jon and I then went across the hall to where all the tanning was being done. They had 2 rooms, one men and one women, and they were moving like clock work. I had gotten there early, but they were able to get me in quickly. I got 2 coats of competition tan sprayed on, only one on my face as my face gets hella dark. I met one of my competitors there, Chase Isaac, cool guy. He was down there to tan for the second time, because he had sweat  little while getting his first coat, so they had to make him go shower it off and come back again. I’m not a big sweater, so mine dried quick, but just be aware that you need to stay cool as possible during this part of the prep. If your tan is off, all your hard work and dieting can be all thrown away. Total cost of tanning was $150 for this show.

I threw on my black, loose clothes (make sure you have as set if you are going to get a spray tan) and headed back to the hotel to eat a few more carbs and try to sleep.

When I got back to the hotel I snapped a few pics to see where I was at.

Getting my Zyzz’s on when I got back from tanning.

Not to bad.

Chilled out watching TV until about 12:45am and then my attempt at sleep begun.

I was much more relax than I had been before other competitions. I had brought my own bed sheets and pillow case (towels as well), so I wasn’t worried about messing the hotel sheets up. I was cool enough, so I wasn’t worried about sweating. But for the love of all that is good I couldn’t get to sleep. I think it was my body just needing to lay in the dark all night to prepare for the coming day. That’s my cool story brah and I’m sticking to it.

“Woke up” around 6am and had about 3 oz of chicken and begun to get ready. Made sure my sweet new hair do was all in place. Made sure I had my shorts packed. Loaded up all my sugars and pre workouts to take before getting my pump. We left just before 7am. The athlete meeting wasn’t until 10:30, but we had found out the the Derby Marathon was being run right outside the Galt House, where the show was being held and we thought it smart to leave a few hours early.

We got there around 7:40am and I thought I would take the time and get a touch up coat of tan applied, just to make sure I hadn’t messed up any spots from the night before. After that Jon and I sat around and waited until I got in to the meeting.

Quick shout out to my sponsor for this show. Promax help me get up there and is always so supportive. Next show I will have a “blacked out” version of the Promax shirt. Thanks again guys!

PROMAX!!!

During the Athletes Meeting they went over the order of events and how smooth this show would be. I was pumped and ready to get back to the pump up room and get swole. When the meeting was over everyone went to the back and to our surprise, NO WEIGHTS. That’s right, in a pump up room for a bodybuilding show, there were no weights. Shoot, all they had back there was a couple of bands. Which wouldn’t be enough. So we know we where going to have to get creative.

About 30 minutes before my class was going to go on, I took 2 scoops of c4 and had eaten about 2 rice cakes with peanut butter. Me and a few of the other guys started walking around looking for things to do pull ups off of. I found a long door frame that had a nice 4 inch lip on the edge. I got 2 sets of 15 in when a manager told me that I couldn’t do that there because of how old the building was. I kindly asked “what else is there around here for us to hang off of?” He pointed me towards a door and said that there was a concrete lip out by the pool that we could pull up from. Sure enough, there it was, we did about 4 or 5 sets out there and got a good back and arm pump.

I moved  back in side to attempt to get my shoulders going, but was finding it difficult without proper weights. Time to get creative again. Chase Isaac and I, used each others arms to do lateral raises. Not the ideal thing, but I was willing to do whatever to get my shoulder full of blood. We did countless push ups and calf raises before being called to line up.

I was the first to hit the stage for our height class. I did a front, then a quarter right, quarter to the back and then a quarter to be facing left.  Everything went smooth. They moved me off to the side and let the other competitors come out and show their stuff. After everyone had been sent through they did the first call outs, ” number 20, Chase Erwin” Holy crap, that’s me! Dead center stage the entire first call out. We went through a few turns and they never moved me. Chase and I were also the first ones to be dismissed off stage. That was an AWESOME feeling.

Comparisons

I walked out and found Jon. By this time he had meet up with Chris and Colleen, who were awesome enough to come out and see the show. We watched some of the other competitors from the floor and chatted. After which I was ready to eat a little something. I grabbed a sandwich and we chilled out, seeing as we had 4 hours to burn. Unfortunately for them I was not much fun, as I was pretty dead and didn’t feel like moving around to much. They were nice enough to just hang until the evening show came about.

Chris, Colleen, Jon and myself after the show.

The night show was upon us and it was time to pump again and see exactly were I placed. Went through the same routine pretty much. Went on stage and they begun to call places. After they called the third place and it wasn’t me I got really excited. Because I knew I had qualified for nationals, as the top 2 qualify. And that is when they called me, 2nd place. Then they called Chase’s name and I was pumped for him. Totally earned that first place awarding.

Walked off stage and was VERY pleased. Much more than I expected. Came away nationally qualified and met some great people.

Now, for what you all have been waiting for the beginning of my EPIC 24 HOURS OF EATING!!

I would run through it all, but I like pictures more so here.

Foods eaten:

1. 4 ihop pancakes
2. 3 Cinna-stack french toast
3. Hash browns
4. Bacon
5. 4 otis spunkmeyer muffins
6. 3 Crunchy Tacos
7. 64oz coke
8. Nutragous King Size
9. 8 chocolate chip cookies
10. 5 donuts
11. 3 kfc chicken strips
12. 2 orders of mashed potatos
13. 1 large Pepsi
14. Biscuit
15. DQ Blizzard
16. Bag of gummy sweettarts
17. Cookie Cake from my birthday
18. Popeyes 3 pieces dinner with a large sweet tea
19. 1/2 gallon of chocolate milk

YEAHHHHH… So needless to say I ate a little bit during my Saturday night and Sunday.

I am still alive and well, also, I still have visible abs.

A special thanks to one of my best friends, Jon Dao. Dude made the trip up there with me. It was great having him along for the ride. He was a trooper as he was SO LOW on carbs Thursday, Friday and Saturday( he was at 500 grams a day…), but it was still great to have you back in the states and your constant support means a ton bro.

NEXT UP: Junior Nationals in Chicago

It is 7 weeks away and I hope to meet more of you wonderful people up there. If anyone is interested, check it out right here.

I think I covered pretty much everything. If there was something you were hoping to see, let me know and I will get it in there.

Like and share if you don’t mind and remember still 2 more weeks until “Walk for the Waiting.” If you could donate anything at all, that would greatly help these kids!

http://www.ministrysync.com/event/website/?m=1292369

Love you guys and as always

See you in the Darkness

Wednesday’s Physique Prep Log- 10 days out

Today started early for me… weighted in @ 154.5 again

5:00 BCAA taken after waking up

6:50 200 mg of Caffeine taken

8:00 1/2 gallon of water done

12:30 1 1/2 hours of mowing

1:30 1 gallon finished

2:30 Quest bar eaten

2:40 Pre- workout taken (C4 today)

2:50 workout-

1. Back Squats- 4 sets
2. Leg press- 3 sets
3. Leg Extensions- 3 sets
4. Standing Leg Curls- 3 sets per leg
5. Ab circuit done 3 times- Plate oblique, Decline Crunch, Bar Twist, Hanging Knee Raises, Bent Arm Dumbbell Pull Over
6. Walking- 10:00 (max incline)
7. Weighted Calf raises- 4 sets

5:00 Tanning- 12 minutes

5:30 11 oz of chicken and 1 1/2 cups of broccoli w/ one slice of cheese, Multi taken with this meal

6:00 1 1/2 gallons done

8:00 6 turkey sausages, 6 mini rice cakes and 2 quest bars (I had one more than normal)

10:50 2 gallons done

 

Starting to come along

VEINS that is all…

Not really, today was rough as far as length and being out in the sun depleted. Things picked up when I got back in the gym and my squat was feeling pretty good. Not as strong as I would have like, as I only got up to 225 today, but it was acceptable and I’m leaning up more each day so I could care less at this point.

Next week is going to be sick and I hope some of you folks around the Louisville area will come hang out.

See you in the Darkness

The Kentucky Derby

No… not the horse races, a physique show.

Me this past weekend

On April 27th, I will be competing in my first show of the year in Kentucky. This one ==> http://www.kentuckymuscle.com/KDF.aspx

If you are in the area or just want to hang out afterwards, you should come by and support.

Thought in the Dark

I thought it would be cool if I posted everyday for the next 2 weeks, so that I can track and you all can see what I’m up to.

So, everyday I will be dropping photos, my diet, my workouts, cardio, and anything else you would like to see as I get geared up for this comp in 2 weeks.

If you have anything that you would like to see shoot me a like and drop it in the comments below.

Clients… like a boss

This week I wanted to give a shout out to 2 of my clients that just finished up there 12 week programs.

Both of these ladies used a strength program and a macro calculation diet to achieve these results.

They both did very little cardio (didn’t start until the sixth week and was never over an hour and a half a week) and were both EXTREMELY tight on their set macros.

They were great to work with as both of them were very focused on the results and believed in the program.

 Holly

Stats:

Total weight loss: 21lbs

Inches lost around waist (@belly button): 4 inches

Inches lost around waist (2″ below belly button): 7 inches

Squat: 115lbs to 175lbs

Deadlift: 155lbs to 225lbs

Catherine

Stats:

Total weight loss: 14lbs

Total inches lost around waist (@belly button): 3 inches

Total inches lost around waist (2″ below belly button): 4 inches

Squat: 95lbs to 165lbs

Deadlift: 105lbs to 205lbs

These girls worked there butts off and were willing to listen. Which brings me to this weeks Thought in the Dark.

There is no magic pill for this stuff. It takes  time, it’s not fun, but dangit, if you are willing to give up ONE of your evening TV shows you can achieve results. These girls had to give up 45 minutes, 4 to 5 days a week for 12 weeks and look where they got.

This could have been anyone of you. Shoot, most of you have probably have been on your way to these kinds of results only to fall short. You strayed away from the plan that was working or maybe you ignored a well designed plan from someone else. Whatever it might have been, you just didn’t have the determination and the willingness to sacrifice in order to achieve. The one thing that bugs me the most is the later,the ones that get a plan, jerk it around for a few weeks only to flush it away and say “oh well, guess that didn’t work.”

If you are on a plan right now, STICK WITH IT, trust me. Because as easy as quitting is today, starting over will be MUCH harder down the road.

Again, I want to thank Holly and Catherine for there hard work and good luck in our next 12 week phase. At the end of the month I will have 4 of my male clients results to show and tell. Hope everyone gets out there and dominates this week.

If you are looking for a plan and needing some place to start. Send me an email at blackouttrainer@gmail.com and we will see if we can find you a good fit.

See you in the Darkness