UKBFF Mens Physique Class Video

I’ve finally got round to editing the videos from my Mens Physique show and got them up on the AestheticLifestyle YouTube channel. Just watching the video back gives me a real buzz to get back on stage again, I’m still undecided if I should compete again in a few months time or hold out until early next year and carry on with my current training and calorific surplus. I’ll write a separate article discussing my current diet and training program, which I’m loving at minute but check out the video and let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndl_-Koir80

Lee

1 week to go!

Today I'm currently 1 week away from stepping on stage for the first time, in the first Mens Physique class of the UK. Since the UKBFF Nationals last week I've been looking through all the pics and videos, analysing poses etc. It really has motivated me throughout this final week especially seen as it was my last week of heavy weights and low reps.

One part of the prep that I've had to keep on top of, is being super organised and last week was the biggest test, planning my workouts, food shop, tan, wax, clothes, travel arrangements etc. I feel like I've covered everything and spent most of yesterday finalising everything so that Friday and Saturday next week I can just chill and rest up. 

I won't post any progress pics this week however yesterday I received one of my shots from Justin Tayler form our shoot 2 weeks ago, let me know what you think.

The photo wasn't the only thing I received last night, I also got my final week prep and had a Skype call with my good friend Dan Wheeler who has been amazing throughout my whole prep for the show. Not only has Dan worked on my own foods, his clients plans and moved house but what he personally has achieved from 2nd January until now is a great transformation and very motivational. I won't post any pics up but if your coming to the BodyPower Expo in 3 weeks time, keep an eye out for us and the rest of the 100 Day Plan gang on the Bodybuilding.com stand.

Anyway I'm now off down to Fitness Factory in Burnley for another shoot I have lined up with Simon Reeves, this one is more of a workout/gym shoot as oppose to a studio like I've done before so really looking forward to seeing the final images.

On to the home straight!!

Lee

Every accomplishment starts with a decision to try.

I’m currently 6 weeks away from my first Mens Physique show and have been dieting now for nearly 11 weeks, its definitely been an experience cutting down for such a long period of time but the science behind why I chose this approach (to maintain as much muscle as possible) has been successful judging from my current condition.

One question I’ve been asked a lot during my prep is about my social and work life, a lot of people seem to presume I work in a gym or a part time job somewhere which allows me to do cardio in the mornings then weights in the afternoon. This really isn’t the case; firstly I cook all my meats on a Saturday/Sunday and prep all my meals the night before. The huge advantage of being this organised helps me wake up at 6am, hit the gym for my cardio session then back home for a shower and first meal of the day, followed by my job as a Specialist Recruitment Consultant (8.30am – 5.00pm) and finally back to the gym after work for my weights session. I’ll be honest I also used to presume the guys I’d see in the magazines and on stage didn’t have ‘proper’ full time jobs and that it wasn’t achievable for someone in full time university or work. How wrong was I??

This also brings me on to my social life, obviously I haven’t touched alcohol since the start of my prep and I’m not going to lie, I’m dying for a vodka! However this hasn’t stopped me going out with friends and family, not only on nights out but also for meals too. I’ve had my brothers 18^th, poker nights, friends birthdays and work nights out where I’ve kept to either drinking water or diet coke and still had a top night. I have had occasions where I’ve been close to just knocking the prep on the head and calling it a day. That could be down to parts of the diet like low carb days, my general mood being affected by things around me or personal issues that I’ve gone through during the prep which made it really hard for me to keep everything and on track. However like I said in my ‘Finding your inner switch’ article I’ve used the gym as a place to help me get away from personal issues and use that time to really focus on myself and goals I’ve set.

So basically, it's all about finding that balance between your set goals and lifestyle. There's no need for me to sit in every night incase I'm tempted to stray from my diet, that's not a healthy way to live or a fun way. Enjoy yourself and don't take things too seriously!

Heres's a raw update pic from this Sunday morning (24/03/2013), as I said 6 weeks out and looking pretty lean, "too lean" as some people might say!  ; )

Lee

Official Ambassador!!

Following on from my Paying too much for your sport supplements article I’m now pleased to announce that I’m an official ambassador of the Protein Discount Card. As an ambassador I can offer my friends/family/followers/readers an exclusive 10% off the Protein Discount Card reducing it to only £18. In order to take full advantages simply enter my unique code: ‘LMALONE’ at the checkout to redeem your 10% discount.

The Protein Discount Card was introduced as a result of the 20% VAT increase on sports nutrition products imposed by the coalition government as of 1^st October 2012. The VAT increase has applied to majority of your supplements in your cupboards at home; whey protein, all in ones, weight gainers and creatine. Before the increase these particular supplements had been excluded from VAT as they we classed as food, due to the main ingredient they use is derived from milk.

I have been using my Protein Discount Card for a good few months now for not only discount on my supplements but also discount on my subscription to Muscle & Fitness magazine. I have genuinely found the discount card very beneficial as before I received it I’d spend a good hour or two online looking at all the different companies, wholesalers, searching discount codes and trying to figure out which works out the best taking into consideration price and servings etc.

If this sounds familiar or if your own supplement stack is almost due for topping up then I highly recommend The Protein Discount Card, the goal of the card is for athletes and sports enthusiast to afford the biggest brands of supplements with offers that aren’t available anywhere else on the market such as ‘Buy One Get One Free’ offers and re-useable annual discounts of up to 40%.

I personally was surprised to see all the offers available on so many of the big brands and their popular products. Not only is there buy one get one free offers on the best products but also reusable discount codes to use on other products that haven't even been hit with vat increase until the end of 2013 when the new discount card will be available. See the table below for full discount details.

To get your own card simply head over to the Protein Discount Card site where you can purchase your own card, remember to use my code ‘LMALONE’ to apply 10% off the card, that will be sent out to you within 24 hours. Using the card itself couldn't be easier, once you receive your card in the post simply head over to one of the 8 top online brands and use your unique code at the check out to take advantage of the offers available.

17 - 10 weeks Contest Prep

As of today I’m 10 weeks out from my first Men’s Physique show. I started my prep from 2^nd January, after a solid 9 weeks of lean gains and working on my weak areas before Christmas using the Y3T program and adjusting my nutritional intake accordingly. The reason why I starting my prep so early (17 weeks out) was to slowly cut whilst maintaining as much muscle mass as possible, If I’d made the decision to cut from now at 10 weeks out it would be a much harsher cut on my body and would guaranteed result in a loss in muscle as well as body fat.

So what is Mens Physique?

Mens Physique is more about that fitness model/beach body look so too much muscle is marked down. Theres also not as many poses as a regular bodybuilding class and competitors wear board shorts as oppose to posing trunks or thong.

2012 is the first time a Mens Physique class will be introduced to the UK qualifiers for the UKBFF, it was first launched 2 years ago in America (think Steve Cook) and has grown so big its now featured in the 2013 Olympia. I'll be competing in the North West qualifier on Sunday 5th May, once all qualifiers have taken place both 1st and 2nd place from each qualifier compete in the National final at Sportex in October, where they'll have the chance to compete for an IFBB Pro card. The chances of the pro card being awarded to a Mens Physique competitor is highly unlikely though as they only hand out 1 pro card each year out of all the bodybuilding categories and always goes to a 'proper' bodybuilder.

I decided to compete this year as I love hitting the gym and seeing my body develop from the skinny kid I used to be, and thought rather than just going to the gym for the sake of going to the gym why not add that end goal so I have something to work towards and as you know from my previous article its made me more focused as a result of that. I also choose the Mens Physique class as my body type is an Ectomorph, so I naturally stay lean, have a high metabolism and struggle to add muscle mass.

I'm not going to lie I am nervous about stepping on stage for the first time and not knowing what to expect and yeah I could say that I'll be happy where ever I place but then whats the point in taking part at all with that mind set!? I've set this goal, I'm working harder than ever and I'm coming for that number one spot!!

Steve Cook #Swoldier

The last 7 Weeks

So over the last 7 weeks I’ve noticed a difference in my conditioning and that’s resulted firstly from my nutrition, I know there’s different protocols out there and different things work for different people but I find carb cycling works best for me. It’s something I’ve used in the past to get me in shape for photo shoots and holidays so it was always going to be the route I was going down. I originally started off with a split of low and high carb days and have recently introduced medium carb days into the mix as well. I have factored 2 refeed days during the cut and if you follow me on twitter you would have seen the X-Large dominos pizza I had and almond cheese cake after a ridiculous legs session!

And secondly from my training, having seeing such success on Neil Young’s Y3T program and considering I’m slowly dropping my calories my training split was week 1-Y3T, week 2 Y3T and week 3 DTP then repeat. The first two weeks were based on hitting different muscle switch fibres to try and maintain and even slightly increase strength, the third week was gruelling and added to really target body fat, if you haven’t heard of DTP before check it out on the bodybuilding.com web site and give it a try. It really does get your heart rate going, pouring in sweat, digging deeper than usual and feeling like you’ve been hit by a bus at the end of it.........but it’s all worth it!

I’ll talk more in depth about my nutrition and training in articles closer to my show, for now I just wanted to briefly touch on my progression so far. Here’s a comparison pic from the morning I started the cut until this morning, bang on 10 weeks out.

82kg (17 weeks out) - 76.2kg (10 weeks out)

Leg comparison 

Back comparison

As my final weeks get closer I will be working with a coach that also competes so understands fully what I’m going through both physically and mentally. I’ve decided to do this not only because its my first show and I want to pick his brain about what to expect, tanning, posing etc but to also help make relevant tweaks in my final weeks as I felt I lost quite a bit of muscle when I experimented with fluid manipulation last year before my holiday.

I also have three photo shoots lined up around my show (with amazing photographers)  so I’ll be posting the pics up as soon as I have them and I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone that’s tweeted me or sent me messages wishing me good luck in my show, I really do appreciate the support and look forward to sharing the rest of my prep with everyone!

Lee

Find You 'Inner Switch'

I always see people posting pictures or statuses on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram about being in “beast mode” and it seems to becoming more and more popular and is even now on gym clothing and spreading.

This particular phrase has never really appealed to me just like the difference in fitness magazines and their own target audience. For example I’d rather read Muscle & Fitness magazine with Steve Cook on the front rather than Flex magazine with someone screaming their head off on the front, just like some people would rather read a ‘men’s lifestyle’ magazine featuring Justin Bieber!

However since I made the decision to compete around November last year I have noticed I now train differently, and after thinking about why I’m training differently I've come to the conclusion that I've found my own 'inner switch' and setting the goal of competing has lit a fire inside me. I’m not saying I now scream and bang around the gym (I hate those guys) I just feel more focused on what I set out to achieve that day and on that particular body part I’m working. Looking back I found I started doing this firstly when I was working my weak areas (delts and lats) I’d find myself digging deeper and really pushing myself knowing that it’s my weak area and wanting to bring it up and outdo my competition on stage.

I've always been a fan of mind to muscle connection so I always emphasise that during training and aim to keep my muscles under as much tension as possible with controlled movements. Below are a few things that I find help me really focus during training and flick my inner switch.

Pre Workout supplements- I’m not the biggest fan of taking pre workout supplements for every session, as your body will adapt and get use to the stimulant and you’ll need more and more scoops as the week’s progress. If anything I’ll take one before a legs session and sometimes before a chest/back session on my heavy days. I’m personally a fan of Muscle Pharm Assault (Raspberry Lemonade is amazing).

Set Workout- Having a plan will always help you in all aspects of life, going into the gym just thinking “I’m going to train legs” isn't ideal, you want to have a set workout planned out, know what part of legs your targeting, how many reps your going for, how much weight you’re lifting to ensure you've improved from the week before. Read over it before you go into the gym, I print my workouts off at lunch time, read over them and read them again while I warm up on the cross trainer and stretching.

Clear Mind- Having less distractions in the gym will help you in more ways than just keeping you focused and preventing any form of injury for example. I also find the gym is also a great way to release the days frustrations and just get away from anything that’s on your mind and solely focus on yourself and personal goals.

Positive/Competitive Gym Partner- Having someone to train with always has its benefits, try to get someone that’s been lifting just as long as you and if they’re slightly stronger that’s perfect, no doubt you’ll be stronger in some areas yourself and that will motivate them with the competitiveness between you. Not only do you want to physically squeeze out 1 more rep or 2kg more than your training partner but visualise your competition too. That’s some I've started doing since I made the decision to compete however I have done the same in the past when it’s come to my Thai Boxing fights or grappling tournaments, again this is something you can apply to any sport or competition.

Music- You’d be surprised how many people only listen to music while they’re doing cardio, I used to be one of them up until 8 months ago and now I love the added intensity it gives me during a weights session. I’ll be writing another article in the next few weeks discussing more about the benefits of music while you train plus it helps with my next point too.

Less chit chat- You’re at the gym to train, NOT to socialise whether that’s messing around with friends or on your phone (normally updating Facebook statuses so everyone knows you’re in the gym!). I’m not saying don’t speak to anyone at the gym, just don’t get carried away during rest periods or sets. Keep them short, this adds intensity, keeps your heart rate up, shortens the chit chat and gets you in and out of the gym without wasting any time.

I hope this helps and I just thought it’s something I’d share considering I've noticed a difference in my training and focus. Try a few of the tips/techniques above and find your own inner switch!

Lee