“It is my feeling that Time ripens all things; with Time all things are revealed; Time is the father of truth.”
~Francois Rabelais

It’s hard to believe I began this prep back on December 6, 2010 and I’m just now starting to show some good signs of muscularity 27 weeks later. It’s been a long time in the waiting, but I’m very motivated to reach my full potential this year…it’s just going to take some more time. Not only does it take time to shed body fat, but it also takes quite a while to build a quality physique naturally. On June 20th, I will be turning the big 4-0 and now as I reflect back to when I first picked up a weight 25 years ago it surely does boggle my mind. To put that into some perspective, my teammates Eric Helms and Alberto Nunez were just 3 years old! Also 25 years ago, Lee Haney was Mr. Olympia, the WNBF/IFPA didn’t exist, Ronald Reagan was President, the ‘85 Bears had just won the Super Bowl, Michael Jordan was only in his 3rd year in the NBA, Larry Holmes was the dominant Heavyweight Champion and it was so cool to sport a mullet and a fanny pack LOL.


How cool is that mullet and mustache!? :)

Oh how I miss the 80’s! Oh yea I definitely can’t forget I was playing Nintendo with my best friend Mike…that’s right…8 bits of totally awesome power! 

We would play Mike Tyson’s Punch Out for hours and hours while drinking a 6 pack of Jolt Cola…so much fun! BTW here is a picture of Jolt Cola…it was very popular back in the 80’s just in case you don’t know what it is ;)


Even though Mike and I are all grown up now and video games are a bit of an afterthought…30 years later we still joke and play around just like our younger years.

 
2009 Posedown! Mike edged me out in a close decision LOL!

 
Mike and I still trying to be cool back in 2009 just before the INBF Cap City.
 
Some of the young bodybuilders I work with today at 3DMJ probably can't truly appreciate those great athletes I mentioned above. So to think after all these years I can still compete on a very high level with not only my own generation, but with the younger generation in a sport such as natural bodybuilding is simply amazing. The beauty of natural bodybuilding is the fact it does take a lot of time to build a quality physique. I’ve learned over the years there is no magical training formula or some super powered supplement that will create the shortcuts so many people are trying to find. Case in point…whatever happened to Cybergenics? I know, what the heck is that? 

 
At 19 yrs old I thought this was the sh**!!! LOL!

When I began competing back in 1993, the internet did not even exist and obtaining quality information was very hard to come by. Even if I had access to it, I probably wouldn’t have been able to recognize it at the time. My path was simply one of trial and error and I had many very tough years in the beginning, but I’ve really come to appreciate those valuable years even though I was far from achieving my best. If it were not for those screw ups I wouldn’t be where I am today. What it all boils down to is simply applying the basics, common sense, hard work, consistency, time and a lot of patience. Building a good physique is like a fine wine…it gets better and better with age :)

A Reflection Back in Time

 
1993 – 22 yrs old and thinking I knew everything LOL!

 
1995 – 24 yrs old and improving.

 
1998 – 27 yrs old and still trying to figure a lot of things out.

 
1999 – 28 yrs old and buying into the aged old myths that left me dehydrated and flat as a pancake. I wrote an article “Learning the hard Way” in which I talk about some of the crazy myths some natural bodybuilders are still following today.

  
2000 – 29 yrs old and finally starting to come into my own by applying a common sense approach. 

 
2002 – 31 yrs old and improving my conditioning a bit. 

 
2004 – 33 yrs old and looking soft because my heart and soul wasn’t into it. If the mind isn’t into it then the body will not follow. 


2006 – 35 yrs old and winning the middleweights at the NPC San Francisco.

 
2009 – 38 yrs old and having my best year to date. The major difference was allowing myself more TIME to get ready.

2011 – 40 yrs old and ??? We shall see!

Okay back to my contest prep.
 
Weight
Start Date - 12/06/11 – 206.5lbs
Today 6/7/11 – 176.0lbs
Goal Weight - 160lbs

*Note – Today was a new low! Yea!

Training – 6/4/11 Upper Heavy
Incline Dumbbell Press – 90 x 5, 5, 5
Seated Cable Rows - ? x 6, 6, 6
1 Arm Pulldowns – 70 x 6, 6, 6
Seated Machine Shoulder Press - ? x 6, 6, 6
Overhead Machine Tricep Press - ? x 5, 5, 5
Dumbell Curls – 50 x 6, 6, 6
Dumbbell Hammer Curls – 40 x 6, 6, 6

*Note – I trained at GB3 in Fresno, Ca so I wasn’t too familiar with their equipment and I can’t remember some of the weights I used. Good workout though!

Training – 6/6/11 Lower (Higher Reps)
Smith Squats  - 225 x 12, 12, 8
Stiff Leged Deads – 225 x 15, 15, 15
Lying Leg Curls – 70x 12, 12
Smith Calf Press – 315 x 12, 10, 8
Leg Lifts – BW x 12, 10, 8

*Notes – Tried to get at least 12 reps, but misjudged the weight and I also need to improve my stamina.

6/7/11 – Upper (Higher Reps)
Decline Bench Press – 185 x 15, 12, 10
Bent Rows – 205 x 12, 12
1 Arm Pulldowns – 70 x 15, 12
Dumbbell Upright Rows – 35 x 12, 10
Rear Flys – 40 x 15, 15
Cable Curls – 60 x 15, 12

*Notes – Stamina was better than last week’s upper high rep workout, so good progress.

Cardio
6/6/11 – AM 60 min LISS/ PM 60 min LISS
6/7/11 – PM – 60 min LISS

Nutrition
180p, 220c, 30f low days & 180p, 500c, 30f on high days (1x per week)

IIFYM & Clean Eating
Prior to this year I was strictly a clean eater during prep and this year I’ve been doing the best of both worlds. Here are a few meals from yesterday just to give an idea to what my diet consists of.


Egg White & Cheese Muffin Sandwiches and see Berto I can make smiley faces too :)


Fresh Stawberries & Chocolate Whey Pudding


Egg White/Flax Tortillas/97% Fat Free Beef Frank/2 Cheese(fat free mozzarella & low fat ricotta) Omelet

Progress Pics 6/7/11


I dont look to enthusiastic...next time I'll smile :)



I hope you all enjoyed my trip back through Memory Lane! I still have a lot more work to do, but in due time I will be at my best!
Until my next blog keep training hard, smart and naturally!