BNBF Southern Show 2010 Contest write up

The 2nd show is over and so to my contest diet, at least for now.

Results

I competed in the lightweight under 72kgs category. There we 8 competitors in my class and it was a quality line up. This show was much more competitive with there being weight classes and the competitors we also all more obviously natural athletes.

I place 4th which earned me a qualification to the British finals being held in Edinburgh, Scotland in September. I earned a nice trophy for my mantle piece also.



Here are the top 4

1 Chris Redmond
2 Scott Galton
3 Lee Wilson
4 Martyn Sklayne

1st - Chris Redmond- brought in a top conditioned physique with nice balance and lines along with good posing. His tan was a Great colour that really highlighted his physique against the powerful stage lights. He also had the funniest posing routine of the night, doing his own version of the ‘I want to break free’ video using a vacuum cleaner. as a prop

2nd - Scott Galaton- This was Scott’s first time competing. He brought in a lot of thick balanced muscle onto his small along with great conditioning and crazy legs. He also was awarded the ‘Best Wheels’ (Legs) in the show, outclassing even the heavyweights in the leg department.

3rd – Lee Wilson- Lee brought in a nice balanced physique onto his taller frame, presenting a good set of arms, solid posing and presentation.

4th- Martyn Sklayne- I will summerise what I thought below.

Peak week diet

There were some minor changes to the diet leading up to the show as the show was over one day and not two. The levels of food intake were not changed dramatically. This seemed again to work very well.

I maintained my sodium intake at 2-2.5grams per day and I was drinking 7.5 litres of water a day up until the day of the show. On the day of the show the sodium was cut back and my water intake was halved. This allowed my body to ‘dry out’ while still helping the muscles to remain full.

On the day of the show this time I reduced my carbohydrate intake a bit to bring me in a bit tighter but balanced this with more steak that increased the fat and helped me keep feeling full.
Backstage

The show was held in a proper theatre so we were provided with a dressing room to prepare. I found that as I applied oil backstage and also started to pump up my muscles appeared a bit flat so I upped my water intake, sipping more aggressively and also had some ‘cheat food’ in the form of muffins and some pizza to help fill out my body.

When you are in such good condition and have eaten clean food for so long the body is quite responsive to this ‘cheat food’ and it helps quickly fill out the muscles and increase the Vascularity.

Condition



Again I was very happy with how my physique looked as my goal is to always improve on a previous condition. I was harder from the front and back and was starting to see a lot more striations in the muscles being displayed as I posed.

I needed to be tighter and leaner from the back still. I included some high intensity interval training in the last week of the preparation which helped this but I think I could have needed a bit more to really bring out the posterior leg detail.

I still think that I can get in even better condition for any future shows and have not reached my peak yet.

Tan

The tanning protocol I used this time worked a lot better than the previous show. This time I opted to use Pro-Tan and Jan Tana products instead of dream tan.

From Friday night we started to apply coats of Pro-Tan, applying 2 more coats on Saturday. This was to build up a base of colour first. Then on Saturday evening we then started to apply the Jan Tana product along with a second coat on Sunday morning. The Jan Tana product has much more of a darker ‘chocolate’ colour to it and really looked helped bring out the muscle definition.

A huge thanks to my girlfriend for her labours helping me apply the tan!

Backstage I applied a posing oil lightly to my body which helps to highlight the muscles under the stage lights. In the morning I think the amount of posing I used was just right. On reflection I think for the evening show I maybe applied just a bit too much which didn’t look quite as good.

Lesson learned- don’t overdo it on the posing oil!


Posing



I think my posing improved a bit in this show which was a benefit to my physique. I still think it needs much more practice and refinement but this will come over time as I get more contest experience. I think my ‘Side chest’ pose and ‘Side triceps’ pose improved for this show.

I still know that that I need more size in my arms, upper chest and shoulders to balance out some of my other poses, especially the ‘most muscular’ poses.

This show had a 60 second posing routine rather than 90 seconds. Again it went well and the music was popular to the audience. I again posed to 'Killing in the Name of' by Rage Against the Machine.

Other competitors



The guys I met on the day were all fantastic. There was a real camaraderie and everyone was happy to share weights and help each other when pumping up.

The competition was a tough line up and there were some quality physiques on display. I was outclassed in areas such as my condition and also there are still areas of my body I need to balance out such as my arms, shoulders and upper chest.

I will continue to improve my own physique and make myself more competitive over time.

Judging



I thought the judging was excellent and I have no quarrel over who was placed where. We were compared fairly many times and I was called out to pose in almost every line up, they made me work hard! I’m quite proud that I was the 1st person to be called out in our category at the pre-judging.

All the judges are competitive bodybuilders themselves and there are a strong bond of keeping the BNBF for and run by bodybuilders.

The Show

I very much enjoyed this show; it was much better run than the previous outing.

The venue was a theatre so we had proper dressing room space backstage. The show was run like a stage production to a timetable with good lighting and acoustics. In summery it was an excellent venue.

Backstage was run well, there was generally good communication although there was some confusion and lack of communication with a interval planned half way during the night show. This forced some of the competitors who has been ‘pumping up’ to stop and then start again when the show resumed.

Stage control was great, with good communication and organisation. We were provided with water backstage and a selection of sweets (to help fullness and condition).
Overall I give a big thumbs up the BNBF for the organisation and running of the show, great job guys and girls!

Verdict

Another fantastic experience in my journey onto the bodybuilding stage. I again met some great people, achieved my own goals of looking the best I’ve ever been and learned some valuable lessons that will benefit me in any future shows I compete in.

Where to now?

With my 4th place earning me a qualification to the British Finals in September I have a decision to make as to if I am going to compete in this also. I have a holiday coming up soon so I have decided to make the decision whether or not to compete after this.

I plan on slowly increasing my food intake now to at least a maintenance level so that I am not loosing or gaining weight before the holiday as this is important for my health.

It needs to be done measured and slowly as the body after a 21 week diet will have slowed its metabolism and its natural hormone levels will be a bit suppressed. If I were to immediately switch to a food intake after the show I would most likely put on a lot of bad weight quickly which I don’t want to do. No rebounds!



Thanks

I would like to thank Coco, my girlfriends cousin for driving us to the event and also coming to watch me.

I would like to thank my girlfriend the most for the assistance and care all during my dieting for these shows. She was also was amazing in helping me prepare and apply my tan. She has already expressed her support for me should I choose to do the British Finals in September and for this I am extremely grateful.

I have ordered the professional photos and will get them posted up once they arrive also.

For more photos please go here-

http://s697.photobucket.com/albums/vv336/mfitness81/BNBF%20Southern%20Championships%202010/

Please keep posted for more updates on the blog, I will keep this active and a source of motivation, nutrition and training knowledge.

Thanks to all who have followed my progress.