It has been a while since my last blog and things have been going great as far as my training. I have been hammering away in the gym with Eric Helms, and our training sessions are through the roof! In my last squat session I did 370x6x4, so my squats continue to climb. Yesterday, I did deadlifts with 415x6x6 and that is a personal best for reps. The deadlift session before that, I hit 440x3 and that was a personal record beating my previous best by two reps. I cannot complain about my training as of late and hopefully it shows up on stage next season.






I plan on journaling my training in greater detail as I progress towards my first show. My official prep will start on December 6, 2010 and I will post my training plan before then, but for now I am going to use this blog to reflect on 3DMJ history, current news and where we are headed as a team.

The Natural Movement
It is hard to believe I started this website back in January ‘09 to chronicle my own personal journey. This blog was mainly for family and friends to follow my journey as I progressed to the stage. In May ’09, I decided to add a section to the site to showcase other natural athletes. I called it “The Natural Movement” because I feel many natural athletes often get overlooked by the other side of the sport. The mainstream magazines in my opinion do not feature enough natural athletes and I wanted to create an outlet where not only top level natural athletes receive recognition, but athletes of all levels. You see tremendous athletes such as Philip Ricardo Jr., for example, who has won almost every natural bodybuilding title out there and he surely deserves all the recognition he has received. His physique speaks volumes about his dedication and work ethic and because of that; he is arguably the best natural bodybuilder out there. There are so many natural athletes who have not attained the same success Philip has, but many of them have worked just as hard. Their efforts go unnoticed simply because of genetics, experience and lack of knowledge...just to name a few. These factors are no fault to them, but it is a reality in natural bodybuilding. Old, young, male, female, big or not so big…you can’t overlook hard work and many athletes need to be recognized for their dedication, desire and discipline…the cornerstones of 3DMJ! We are not all fortunate to have superior genetics to work with, so it was in my best intention to give every natural bodybuilder a chance to be recognized and a chance to inspire others. Since the start of “The Natural Movement” we have had 58 athletes join and we are in the works to add another athlete to the site in the next couple of days. We would love to add a lot more to this growing list, so if you are interested and want to help inspire others, please follow this link to sign up. http://www.3dmusclejourney.com/nm-sign-up.php

The Beginning of Team 3DMJ
In the summer of ’09, I not only won 2 pro cards and 2 division titles, but I won something far greater than a couple of trophies. That is my valuable friendships in my fellow teammates here at 3DMJ. Eric Helms, Brad Loomis, Alberto Nunez and I formed Team 3DMJ. Backstage we formed a bond and we just seemed to click on all phases of bodybuilding and in life as well. You can learn about our beginning in the “Eric Helms Interview” below done by the talented Caleb Ralston, from www.believemedia.net who are fabulous at creating top notch videos. Check them out!

For myself, I have never enjoyed this sport as much as I am now because of my teammate’s friendship. The only time I can say this sport meant more to me was back in 1998, when my two older brothers and I were on the same stage at the same time. That was truly an awesome experience and I will never forget that day! It is my all time best moment in bodybuilding!

Giving Back
On Halloween ’09, Team 3DMJ had a meeting to discuss the launching of our 3DMJ Sponsorship contest. We wanted to give back to our sport and there was no better way to do that than to help someone else in the sport achieve their goals with free contest prep coaching. We chose two very dedicated individuals in “Big” Jason Bosak and Rich “The Freak on Wheels” Knapp. These two men went on to have very successful contest seasons and we are truly grateful for what they have done and meant to 3DMJ.

Jason Bosak

Rich "The Freak on Wheels" Knapp

We are currently in the process of selecting our new 2011 3DMJ Sponsored Athletes, so if you are interested and want to sign up, please follow the link below and submit your application. We are accepting applications until December 23, 2010. We will select our winners and announce them on our homepage on January 1, 2011 to kick off the New Year. http://www.3dmusclejourney.com/2011-sponsored-athletes.php

Team 3DMJ Coaching
In early 2010, we launched our "Team 3DMJ Contest Prep Coaching" to assist other athletes achieve their best physiques. So far, it has been a tremendous success and it is always a great feeling to help others achieve their goals.  We expanded our coaching service to not only contest prep, but also for the offseason. As many of you know…contest preparation can make or break you, but so can the offseason. The offseason is where the majority of your gains will be made and that important time in your training should not be taken lightly. We are also proud to have launched Skype online one-on-one posing sessions. This has been a valuable tool for many of our clients to help perfect their presentation in the comfort of their own home. The sessions are catered to an individual’s physique strengths and weaknesses. http://www.3dmusclejourney.com/team-3dmj.php

Team 3DMJ Webinar
In July ’10, we did our very first seminar at the Powerhouse Gym in Rancho Cordova, Ca and we were very happy with the outcome. We touched on contest prep, weight training, cardio, posing and a Q & A. We received many requests to hold more seminars in other areas, but because of logistics it creates many tough obstacles to overcome. To solve the logistics problem we decided to hold an Online Webinar where we can reach out to individuals pretty much all over the world. Many local seminars are extremely costly due to logistics and other factors, but our Online Webinar takes many of those issues out of the equation and because of that we can offer our webinar at a very affordable price. Our webinar is fast approaching and coming up on December 4, 2010 and we will be covering the topics mentioned above. The valuable thing about this webinar is that everyone will have the opportunity to ask questions and to interact with the team. It is going to be a terrific way to learn from one another. If you are interested and want to learn more, follow this link http://www.3dmusclejourney.com/team3dmj-webinar.php

Our Future
We are also proud to have featured many awesome athletes, put out informative articles, made some videos for inspiration, a monthly Q & A column, covered bodybuilding shows & powerlifting meets, interviewed athletes & promoters, etc. With all that has been accomplished in the past 21 months our passion to improve is still sky high.

This website started with a simple idea to track my journey and our site’s current provider did the job for that purpose. However, the site has grown substantially since then. Because of that growth the site is in much need of a facelift. We recognize it is time for a change and as we continue to expand, we will be revamping the site in the very near future. The process may take some time simply because we have a ton of content to transfer over, but it will definitely be worth it. We are very excited for this change!

Our overall goal is to better natural bodybuilding as a whole. We truly love this sport simply because we enjoy it and the athletes who participate in it. We will continue to coach athletes, put on webinars, write quality articles, feature athletes, continue with the “The Natural Movement”, report on contests and work on many other topics of interest.  We are in the works of expanding our contest coverage with the help from volunteers from around the country and we are truly appreciative of that. If there are any individuals out there who want to help us get some coverage for their local contests please contact us. jeffalberts@3dmusclejourney.com
erichelms@3dmusclejourney.com

Looking forward, 3DMJ will continue to grow and it is our hope to be recognized as a community for the entire natural world to be a part of! Thank you to all who have supported 3DMJ in the past, present and in the future!

Until my next blog keep training hard and naturally!