Audience Of One: 8 weeks of contest prep with Pro Physique coach Paul Revelia

[mariobrochill]

What did your carbs jump up to from your low

100c/50f/215p?

[KoHuskie]

What did your carbs jump up to from your low

100c/50f/215p?

High carb day was 380. 380g of delicious, satiating carbs.

3/4/2013

Just some light circuit work and light cardio today. Full body workout where I just focused on keeping the blood flowing and simulating some poses. Excitement is building each day. It's amazing how fast these 8 weeks have gone.

2 Days

[KoHuskie]

3/5/2013

Similar workout to yesterday. Light circuit full body work and light cardio. Have a lot on my plate tomorrow leading up the show so this will most likely be my last post in here until some time Thursday.

1 day away and all I can say is time has flown by and I am beyond excited for tomorrow. When I used to play hockey at a high level the pressure of big games brought on a mix of both nerves and excitement, with nerves usually overpowering the excitement. While the feeling is similar, the excitement for this is over powering the nerves. I know that for these last 8 weeks I have grinned through thick and thin and the hard work is done. I am in the best shape of my life and in my opinion I have already won. I will reflect on things I will do differently next prep following the show but I can tell you right now effort will not be part of that list. Time to just soak in the experience, focus, and most importantly have some fun.

[howimliving]

I am in the best shape of my life and in my opinion I have already won.

Time to just soak in the experience, focus, and most importantly have some fun.

great job kyle and good luck tomorrow

[Woody-5]

Best of luck at the show mate!

[The Solution]

Pose Hard, do your best, and smile. Have fun up there brother.

[Raigs]

In for pictures! Good luck out there

[fltallpaul]

Big improvement in your posing last night, good job practicing. Have fun today.

[jpfaherty]

Is this real life? A show on a wednesday?

Have fun today man!

[KoHuskie]

Thanks for all the kind words fellas! Just an awesome overall experience. Tough classes all around but I learned a ton and had a blast. Here is a picture from back stage, will go into more detail tomorrow but I am off to bed now.

[TheLatinoRP]

Thanks for all the kind words fellas! Just an awesome overall experience. Tough classes all around but I learned a ton and had a blast. Here is a picture from back stage, will go into more detail tomorrow but I am off to bed now.

nice legs men! Good job! And good luck in the future!

[Swuuu]

hows the prep going? I will be following along! Much respect to anyone who goes through all this I know I couldnt diet that long. Im like Lee Priest when it comes to food. Okay maybe not as bad but you get what im saying lol

Just saw your at the end of it whoops! Best of luck man!!

[KoHuskie]

nice legs men! Good job! And good luck in the future!

Thank you! Now I just have to work on bringing up my chest and arms to match the back shoulders and legs.

hows the prep going? I will be following along! Much respect to anyone who goes through all this I know I couldnt diet that long. Im like Lee Priest when it comes to food. Okay maybe not as bad but you get what im saying lol

Just saw your at the end of it whoops! Best of luck man!!

Appreciate it Swu. It's funny, you sometimes find yourself asking if it is really worth it. All the time you spend in the gym, cooking food, researching, sleeping, it really is a full time lifestyle. I guess the same things that keep people away from competing are the things that draws some of us to it.





Some closing thoughts and a wrap up on the show:

-With the dust settled now I can now truthfully say that my first competition was a success, even with placing 4th. The guy that ended up winning was a 40 year old monster that competes in the NPC. My posing was a little off just due to inexperience and some nerves which quite possibly cost me a placing or two. I said I didn't care about placing for this show and I meant it. Maybe down the road this will be something that would upset me but I had a blast and learned so much, the two things I set out to do.

-For anyone wondering about my tanner, I used Dream Tan #2. I put on a coat the night before and then an additional 2 coats on the day of the show. Took roughly 1 tub. I felt I had a real nice color and didn't like the way any oil/PAM looked so I went with the Dream Tan only. Washes off pretty well with warm water and dish soap.

-The stage lights make it pretty hard to make out anyone in the audience. When you are up there it pretty much just seems like you and the judges. The lights were HOT and I was sweating a pretty good amount after 3 rounds of mandatories. Individual routine went well but I admittedly kept it pretty safe (no Kai Green hand stands ect.). Next time I compete I really want to break out of this shell of mandatories with a few adjustments and get innovative.

-Back stage the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than I expected it to be. Everybody helping everyone out. Not the typical competitive atmosphere I was used to. We all wanted to do our best and if there was something we could do to help out our competition most of us had no problem doing it.


The good and not so good of prep:

Good:

-Get a prep coach. Check that... I highly recommend you get a knowledgeable prep coach, especially for your first show. Of course I am going to recommend Paul, but there are many quality coaches out there. Do your research and don't just go with the biggest guy in your home gym. For all the work you are going to put in, it is important to have a second set of eyes to evaluate your progress. You are going to learn more about yourself with one on one instruction based off your progress than if you were to take a cookie cutter contest prep program off the internet.

-Commit and follow through. There are going to be days that you want to cheat your diet or cardio. Deal with it. Nobody said this was going to be easy, and if it was then you probably wouldn't be doing it in the first place. When you can truly say you gave your best effort, you have little to look back and regret. You can only control yourself, and when you are able to control yourself while bringing out your maximum potential the feeling off accomplishment will make you glad you ran those intervals and didn't reach for the cookies and cream ice cream.


Not so good/things to remember:

-Time. If you really want to get in extremely low BF% make sure to give yourself enough time. I prepped for 8 weeks, and looking back I have no doubt a 12-16 week prep would be more ideal. This of course is dependent on your starting point, but in general the longer the better. My progress for 8 weeks was fantastic, but if I really ant to get in the 5% range for my next show a longer prep will be needed.

-Posing. You cannot practice enough. Roll through mandatories, look in the mirror, just move in general, anything that makes you more aware of the way your body moves is a plus. There are so many little tricks that you can pick up that take 10 seconds to learn and hours to master. I posed a good amount on my own but still wish I did more.

-Being too precise. Don't get me wrong on this one, tracking your macros as close as possible is important. I got to the point where I would weigh everything out to the 1/10 gram and hit my macros on the dot which probably got a little extreme. The extremely small details like this aren't something to stress about. Over time it will all even out and next prep I will be sure to save myself the headache of meticulously measuring every morsel (say that 3x fast) of oats or sweet potatoes.


All in all this has been one hell of a fun ride. All the sacrifice and time spent for this show has been worth it. Looking back I wouldn't change a thing, and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Big thanks again to Paul, who knows where I would be without ya. Also, thanks to all of you have stopped by with words of encouragement or just to say hi. Caught up with some old buds and made some new ones. I'll be popping in and out of your logs to make sure you stay on your A-game!

This is only the beginning, time to grow and see what the future brings.

[Swuuu]

Thank you! Now I just have to work on bringing up my chest and arms to match the back shoulders and legs.



Appreciate it Swu. It's funny, you sometimes find yourself asking if it is really worth it. All the time you spend in the gym, cooking food, researching, sleeping, it really is a full time lifestyle. I guess the same things that keep people away from competing are the things that draws some of us to it.





Some closing thoughts and a wrap up on the show:

-With the dust settled now I can now truthfully say that my first competition was a success, even with placing 4th. The guy that ended up winning was a 40 year old monster that competes in the NPC. My posing was a little off just due to inexperience and some nerves which quite possibly cost me a placing or two. I said I didn't care about placing for this show and I meant it. Maybe down the road this will be something that would upset me but I had a blast and learned so much, the two things I set out to do.

-For anyone wondering about my tanner, I used Dream Tan #2. I put on a coat the night before and then an additional 2 coats on the day of the show. Took roughly 1 tub. I felt I had a real nice color and didn't like the way any oil/PAM looked so I went with the Dream Tan only. Washes off pretty well with warm water and dish soap.

-The stage lights make it pretty hard to make out anyone in the audience. When you are up there it pretty much just seems like you and the judges. The lights were HOT and I was sweating a pretty good amount after 3 rounds of mandatories. Individual routine went well but I admittedly kept it pretty safe (no Kai Green hand stands ect.). Next time I compete I really want to break out of this shell of mandatories with a few adjustments and get innovative.

-Back stage the atmosphere was a lot more relaxed than I expected it to be. Everybody helping everyone out. Not the typical competitive atmosphere I was used to. We all wanted to do our best and if there was something we could do to help out our competition most of us had no problem doing it.


The good and not so good of prep:

Good:

-Get a prep coach. Check that... I highly recommend you get a knowledgeable prep coach, especially for your first show. Of course I am going to recommend Paul, but there are many quality coaches out there. Do your research and don't just go with the biggest guy in your home gym. For all the work you are going to put in, it is important to have a second set of eyes to evaluate your progress. You are going to learn more about yourself with one on one instruction based off your progress than if you were to take a cookie cutter contest prep program off the internet.

-Commit and follow through. There are going to be days that you want to cheat your diet or cardio. Deal with it. Nobody said this was going to be easy, and if it was then you probably wouldn't be doing it in the first place. When you can truly say you gave your best effort, you have little to look back and regret. You can only control yourself, and when you are able to control yourself while bringing out your maximum potential the feeling off accomplishment will make you glad you ran those intervals and didn't reach for the cookies and cream ice cream.


Not so good/things to remember:

-Time. If you really want to get in extremely low BF% make sure to give yourself enough time. I prepped for 8 weeks, and looking back I have no doubt a 12-16 week prep would be more ideal. This of course is dependent on your starting point, but in general the longer the better. My progress for 8 weeks was fantastic, but if I really ant to get in the 5% range for my next show a longer prep will be needed.

-Posing. You cannot practice enough. Roll through mandatories, look in the mirror, just move in general, anything that makes you more aware of the way your body moves is a plus. There are so many little tricks that you can pick up that take 10 seconds to learn and hours to master. I posed a good amount on my own but still wish I did more.

-Being too precise. Don't get me wrong on this one, tracking your macros as close as possible is important. I got to the point where I would weigh everything out to the 1/10 gram and hit my macros on the dot which probably got a little extreme. The extremely small details like this aren't something to stress about. Over time it will all even out and next prep I will be sure to save myself the headache of meticulously measuring every morsel (say that 3x fast) of oats or sweet potatoes.


All in all this has been one hell of a fun ride. All the sacrifice and time spent for this show has been worth it. Looking back I wouldn't change a thing, and would do it all again in a heartbeat.

Big thanks again to Paul, who knows where I would be without ya. Also, thanks to all of you have stopped by with words of encouragement or just to say hi. Caught up with some old buds and made some new ones. I'll be popping in and out of your logs to make sure you stay on your A-game!

This is only the beginning, time to grow and see what the future brings.

4th on your first show isnt too bad at all! Big congrats man! Besides the dieting getting on stage in a thong takes a lot of guts too. Is your goal to turn pro?

[KoHuskie]

4th on your first show isnt too bad at all! Big congrats man! Besides the dieting getting on stage in a thong takes a lot of guts too. Is your goal to turn pro?

Coming from someone who doesn't even really like to wear anything less than a baggy shirt to the gym, this was a little out of my comfort zone haha.

Interesting question, never really thought of it like that. I guess my answer would be I want to be the best possible me I can be, and if that is good enough to turn pro it would be icing on the cake.

[Swuuu]

Coming from someone who doesn't even really like to wear anything less than a baggy shirt to the gym, this was a little out of my comfort zone haha.

Interesting question, never really thought of it like that. I guess my answer would be I want to be the best possible me I can be, and if that is good enough to turn pro it would be icing on the cake.

I wish the general population was more respectful and/or less ignorant to what it takes to look like a bodybuilder. Just getting up there is a huge accomplishment in itself! Have you planned on your next show? And I know you only dieted for 8 weeks but that still has to be tough! What are you gonna eat? :P haha

[The Solution]

Your write up is dead on with my thoughts as well.
Being backstage you think it would be tense but its so relaxed and people will sit there and talk to you.
Great learning experience isnt it?

I agree at least 16 weeks to prep DEPENDING on how lean you are to start.

Great job man.

[KoHuskie]

I wish the general population was more respectful and/or less ignorant to what it takes to look like a bodybuilder. Just getting up there is a huge accomplishment in itself! Have you planned on your next show? And I know you only dieted for 8 weeks but that still has to be tough! What are you gonna eat? :P haha

I think if people understood the mental aspect of bodybuilding there would be a much more positive light. Society portrays bodybuilding as some pre historic sport filled with grunting roided out monsters that don't know how to ties their shoes. In reality some of the smartest people I have met in my life have come from the gym.

No show planned as of now. The tentative plan is to take a few years off of competing to put on some mass. I was 160lbs at 7-8% I would say for this show, and I really don't want to step on stage again until I can be at 175, 5% BF. Going to take a while but I have nothing but time. I will be staying much more leaner than I had in the past for this bulk, bigger is not always better.

I got my border line binge out of the way with some pizza and a couple beers the night after the show as well as some Chinese buffet the day after. Like you said, it was only an 8 week prep, and we didn't do anything too extreme so I wasn't lunging for anything tasty per say. If I needed to I could have hopped on my diet again the day after, but a little bit of a reward seemed fair to me. I am back to tracking my macros, have to remember fat gain/loss is a two way street.

Your write up is dead on with my thoughts as well.
Being backstage you think it would be tense but its so relaxed and people will sit there and talk to you.
Great learning experience isnt it?

I agree at least 16 weeks to prep DEPENDING on how lean you are to start.

Great job man.

Pretty cool huh? I think you can attribute it to the fact that deep down it is still an individual sport. I had some better conversations with people back stage than I have had with them in the gym. The hard work was done at that point, just looked to enjoy the experience.

Agreed with the 16+ weeks. The slower the better. I no longer see prep as weeks of torture. My diet was restricted based on my macros but most days I as still eating better than my roommates. Maybe it was because I only prepped for 8 weeks, but the overwhelming feeling of hunger and lethargy never really set in. The view that dieting should be hard and if it isn't hard make it hard really comes back to bite some people in the ass. Doing something because it is harder regardless of it yielding the same results doesn't make you "hard core", it makes you an idiot. I didn't eat 1 grain of brown rice throughout this entire prep. Better stop before going off on a full IIFYM/flexible dieting/counting macros tangent. Subbed to your journal as well, see ya in there!

[Woody-5]

Awesome write up
Sounds like an amazing experience!
I love your attitude about everything and it seems like you really learned a lot by doing it.
Amazing work for 8 weeks! I'd be scared to see what you could do with more time!

Expect a request for cutting advice in a month or so


Are you planning on starting a regular journal on here? I'll expect the link if you do

[Swuuu]

I think if people understood the mental aspect of bodybuilding there would be a much more positive light. Society portrays bodybuilding as some pre historic sport filled with grunting roided out monsters that don't know how to ties their shoes. In reality some of the smartest people I have met in my life have come from the gym.

No show planned as of now. The tentative plan is to take a few years off of competing to put on some mass. I was 160lbs at 7-8% I would say for this show, and I really don't want to step on stage again until I can be at 175, 5% BF. Going to take a while but I have nothing but time. I will be staying much more leaner than I had in the past for this bulk, bigger is not always better.

I got my border line binge out of the way with some pizza and a couple beers the night after the show as well as some Chinese buffet the day after. Like you said, it was only an 8 week prep, and we didn't do anything too extreme so I wasn't lunging for anything tasty per say. If I needed to I could have hopped on my diet again the day after, but a little bit of a reward seemed fair to me. I am back to tracking my macros, have to remember fat gain/loss is a two way street.



Pretty cool huh? I think you can attribute it to the fact that deep down it is still an individual sport. I had some better conversations with people back stage than I have had with them in the gym. The hard work was done at that point, just looked to enjoy the experience.

Agreed with the 16+ weeks. The slower the better. I no longer see prep as weeks of torture. My diet was restricted based on my macros but most days I as still eating better than my roommates. Maybe it was because I only prepped for 8 weeks, but the overwhelming feeling of hunger and lethargy never really set in. The view that dieting should be hard and if it isn't hard make it hard really comes back to bite some people in the ass. Doing something because it is harder regardless of it yielding the same results doesn't make you "hard core", it makes you an idiot. I didn't eat 1 grain of brown rice throughout this entire prep. Better stop before going off on a full IIFYM/flexible dieting/counting macros tangent. Subbed to your journal as well, see ya in there!

Yea unfortunately there are still alot of people that don't understand all the different aspects that go in bodybuilding. That's why a lot of the pros don't ever think it will go mainstream. Whenever your next show is I wish you the best of luck! Another reason why I think it should be so respected is the sickenly low bodyfat you have to get down to. Whenever I go below 10 percent not only am I very cranky and irritable but ALL of my joints kill me! Have a great offseason!

[fltallpaul]

You made some great progress these last few weeks and I know if you had another show in front of you there would be alot more separation coming your way. Either way you have set yourself up for a highly productive off season before you start to prep down the road.

[howimliving]

you're a good f*cker kyle. that is all

[Raigs]

Congrats on taking 4th for your first time! Cant wait to see what your next contest brings

[KoHuskie]

Awesome write up
Sounds like an amazing experience!
I love your attitude about everything and it seems like you really learned a lot by doing it.
Amazing work for 8 weeks! I'd be scared to see what you could do with more time!

Expect a request for cutting advice in a month or so

Are you planning on starting a regular journal on here? I'll expect the link if you do

Sure was. It's lifting weights, not scrapping pennies together to feed your family. Enjoy yourself and put yourself in a position to progress, the rest will sort itself out. The amount of people that know more than you is immense and this has been a humbling experience. I have picked up some awesome tips that I would be happy to share with ya.

I think I am going to take a little time off of logging for the near future. Might check out the company promotion section and shop around for a logging opportunity. I'll still be around here though so you better not get soft in your log .

Yea unfortunately there are still alot of people that don't understand all the different aspects that go in bodybuilding. That's why a lot of the pros don't ever think it will go mainstream. Whenever your next show is I wish you the best of luck! Another reason why I think it should be so respected is the sickenly low bodyfat you have to get down to. Whenever I go below 10 percent not only am I very cranky and irritable but ALL of my joints kill me! Have a great offseason!

Really appreciate it Swu. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. Main stream or no stream; if you enjoy something roll with it. Big off season coming up, best of luck to you in the future as well.

You made some great progress these last few weeks and I know if you had another show in front of you there would be alot more separation coming your way. Either way you have set yourself up for a highly productive off season before you start to prep down the road.

Thanks coach. When you surround yourself with knowledgeable people and execute a well thought out plan it's hard not to succeed.

Congrats on taking 4th for your first time! Cant wait to see what your next contest brings

Going to fill in some gaps and look to bring a more complete overall package hen the time comes. Will definitely be doing some damage in my next show.

you're a good f*cker kyle. that is all

Beautifully put. I think this is an appropriate quote to end on.

[Swuuu]

Sure was. It's lifting weights, not scrapping pennies together to feed your family. Enjoy yourself and put yourself in a position to progress, the rest will sort itself out. The amount of people that know more than you is immense and this has been a humbling experience. I have picked up some awesome tips that I would be happy to share with ya.

I think I am going to take a little time off of logging for the near future. Might check out the company promotion section and shop around for a logging opportunity. I'll still be around here though so you better not get soft in your log .



Really appreciate it Swu. It's not for everyone, that's for sure. Main stream or no stream; if you enjoy something roll with it. Big off season coming up, best of luck to you in the future as well.



Thanks coach. When you surround yourself with knowledgeable people and execute a well thought out plan it's hard not to succeed.



Going to fill in some gaps and look to bring a more complete overall package hen the time comes. Will definitely be doing some damage in my next show.



Beautifully put. I think this is an appropriate quote to end on.

Your welcome and thanks to you too! I agree I'm a roller lol. What do you think your ideal weight will be? Or goal weight? I'm a huge bodybuilding fan and just overall health and fitness. I could never do all that dieting and then getting onstage in a thing though! Haha I love food!!!

[The Solution]

Going to continue with Paul in the offseason?

[KoHuskie]

Your welcome and thanks to you too! I agree I'm a roller lol. What do you think your ideal weight will be? Or goal weight? I'm a huge bodybuilding fan and just overall health and fitness. I could never do all that dieting and then getting onstage in a thing though! Haha I love food!!!

Never say never man. If you told me 4 years ago I would compete I probably wouldn't have believed you. You are definitely in it for the right reasons though. I think I could do some damage at 175lbs, ~5% BF at my height, but I have found the mirror is the best scale.

Going to continue with Paul in the offseason?

We will stay in touch here and there but I will be doing my reverse dieting and off season bulking on my own using a similar philosophy to my prep.

[PaC-mAn8]

Subscribed, fellow Huskie.

[Swuuu]

Never say never man. If you told me 4 years ago I would compete I probably wouldn't have believed you. You are definitely in it for the right reasons though. I think I could do some damage at 175lbs, ~5% BF at my height, but I have found the mirror is the best scale.



We will stay in touch here and there but I will be doing my reverse dieting and off season bulking on my own using a similar philosophy to my prep.

Yea I like mirrors lol. I like food too much to diet man haha my favorite part is the training that's fun for me

[Ccm644]

Sorry i didn't say good luck and im a little late to say well done

But well done for completing your first experience, i enjoyed reading your thoughts

Enjoy offseason!