Show Day — First Place & a Nationals Qualification
Finally, show day.
After months of dieting, training, and cardio, I was pretty happy with where I ended up.
My weight was 196.8 lbs the morning of the show, and I stepped on stage right around 198 lbs. That's almost 20 lbs down from where I started.
I felt good about how I looked and thought I had a pretty good chance of doing well, but after seeing some of the other competitors backstage, I honestly wasn't sure where I'd end up placing. Everybody looked like they came prepared.
I was excited to finally get on stage and see how I compared.
Current Status
Division
- Men's Physique
Weeks Out
0 — Show Day
Morning Weight
196.8 lbs
Stage Weight
Approximately 198 lbs
Starting Weight
216.4 lbs
Total Weight Change
-19.6 lbs
Phase
Competition
Peak Week — The Final Push
The week leading up to the show was rough, which is pretty much what I've come to expect from peak week.
Overall though, I feel like I executed it about as well as I could with what I was working with.
This time I decided not to bother manipulating water or sodium like I've done in previous preps. I wanted to see how things would turn out focusing mainly on carbs instead.
I started bringing carbs down pretty hard at the beginning of the week, getting close to zero by Wednesday.
Wednesday was easily the worst day.
I felt like a zombie. Everything was difficult, even just getting off the couch.
I had still been training pretty hard through Tuesday, and on Wednesday I made it back to the gym for one last full-body workout. I wasn't expecting to have some amazing workout. I just wanted to use up what little energy I had left before bringing carbs back in.
The strange thing is that once I actually got moving, I felt okay. It was getting myself to the gym and getting started that was the hard part.
At that point I was running on very little food and almost no carbs, so I wasn't exactly surprised.
Luckily, I knew it was temporary.
Bringing the Carbs Back
The two days before the competition were a completely different experience.
After spending the first half of the week depleting carbs, I started bringing them back up significantly along with a slight increase in calories.
The difference in how I felt was incredible.
It's almost like getting a high from food. After feeling completely drained for days, suddenly I had energy again and my muscles started looking fuller.
I've used a similar approach in previous preps and always felt like I responded pretty well to it, so I was confident going into the show.
On show day itself, I kept protein fairly minimal and limited fiber and water compared to my normal intake.
I've done this in the past because I don't want to deal with stomach bloating when I'm trying to keep my waist as tight as possible on stage.
I wasn't trying to get to the point where I couldn't function, but I did want to avoid feeling overly full or bloated.
The biggest difference this time was not doing any of the aggressive water manipulation I've experimented with before.
Overall, I was happy with how I looked and felt like the approach worked pretty well for me.
Backstage
There's something about being backstage at a bodybuilding show that I really enjoy.
Every time I do one of these, it brings back memories of the previous shows I've competed in.
Everybody is excited, pumping up, practicing poses, checking themselves in the mirror, and getting ready to finally show off what they've been working toward for months.
The atmosphere is always really positive too.
Even though you're about to compete against each other, everybody knows how much work it took just to get there, and there's a lot of respect between competitors.
I was looking around at some of the other guys and honestly couldn't believe how good everybody looked.
There were some seriously impressive physiques, and it definitely made me wonder how I was going to stack up against them.
Prejudging
When we finally walked out for comparisons, I was immediately moved toward the middle of the group.
That's usually a pretty good sign since it generally means you're being considered for one of the top spots.
I was excited, but I also knew I couldn't relax.
We started going through our front and back poses, and the judges just kept having us switch over and over.
I don't think I realized how long we were going to be standing out there.
This is where I really started wishing I'd practiced posing more.
I was already pretty depleted from the last week, and after holding the poses for so long I could feel myself starting to shake.
I'd try to make a small adjustment without making it obvious, then get right back into the pose. I knew if I relaxed too much, I could easily give the judges a reason to move me out of one of the top spots.
It got to the point where I was honestly starting to wonder how much longer I could hold everything.
When they finally sent us off stage, I was relieved. I think another 30 seconds out there would've been a serious struggle.
I definitely underestimated how much posing endurance I was going to need.
Waiting for Finals
After prejudging, I had a pretty good feeling I was either first or second in my class.
It was hard to tell exactly where I stood based on the comparisons, but I knew I was in the running.
That made waiting for finals a little more stressful.
I kept thinking back to the comparisons and trying to figure out whether I'd done enough.
At that point there wasn't anything else I could do though, so I just had to wait and see what the judges decided.
First Place
When finals finally came around and they started announcing placements, I was nervous.
Then they called me for first place in my class.
I honestly felt a huge sense of relief.
After all the work I'd put into this prep, it was nice to finally see it pay off.
I've come close to making the overall comparisons at previous shows, so finally getting that opportunity was a pretty big deal to me.
I was happy with the class win, but I also felt like I had a real chance at winning the overall.
Going for the Overall
When we went back out for the overall comparisons, I was immediately moved into the middle again.
That got me pretty excited because I felt like I was right there competing for the win.
We went through the front pose, and I thought I looked pretty good compared to the other class winners.
But when we turned around for the back pose, the judges moved me into the second position.
That's where I ended up finishing.
Second overall.
Honestly, I agreed with the decision.
Looking at the comparisons afterward, I could see that my back was a little undersized compared to the overall winner.
I think my front pose held up really well, but from the back there was definitely some room for improvement.
I was obviously hoping to win the overall, especially after getting moved into the middle right away, but I can't really complain about the result.
First in my class and second overall is a pretty good day, especially considering I've come close to getting into an overall comparison several times before.
Final Results
Men's Physique
1st Place — Class Winner
2nd Place — Overall
Qualified for Nationals
Show Day Weight
Approximately 198 lbs
Total Prep Weight Loss
19.6 lbs from starting weight to show-day morning
Competition Photos
Front Pose
Back Pose
Side Pose
Awards
StageLab Throughout Prep
I've been using StageLab throughout this entire prep, from the first plan all the way through peak week.
There were plenty of weeks where it thought I was behind.
Sometimes I agreed with it, and other times I felt like I was making better progress than it was giving me credit for.
But looking back, I think it did a pretty good job of keeping things moving in the right direction.
It made adjustments when progress slowed down and held the plan when weight loss picked up.
I also liked having the visual check-ins to compare my photos instead of relying entirely on what I thought I was seeing in the mirror.
For peak week, I was able to choose the approach I wanted rather than having to follow something completely different from what I've done before.
Overall, I'm happy with how StageLab handled the prep. There were times I questioned its recommendations, but looking back, I think most of the adjustments made sense.
My Thoughts
I'm really happy with how everything turned out.
Of course I would've liked to win the overall, and getting that close was a little frustrating.
But I also agree with the judges.
My back needs more size, and that's probably going to be one of my biggest priorities going into Nationals.
I also learned that I need to take posing practice a lot more seriously.
I thought I was pretty comfortable with my poses, but holding them through a long comparison while depleted is a completely different experience.
I don't want to be standing up there shaking and wondering how much longer I can last again.
More than anything though, I'm just happy I finally got the opportunity to compete for an overall title.
I've missed that opportunity by a little in previous shows, so finally getting there felt pretty good.
I also accomplished what I originally set out to do by qualifying for Nationals.
Now I have a much better idea of what I need to improve before competing at that level.
What Happens Next
Normally this would be the point where I'd take some time off, eat a little more, and start thinking about what I want to improve for the next show.
But I'm actually not done yet.
I have another competition coming up on October 10, just six days after this one.
And this time I'll also be competing in Classic Physique.
That means making the 202 lb weight cutoff, which I'm already comfortably under, and getting ready to step on stage in a division I haven't been focusing on quite as much throughout this prep.
So instead of taking a break, I'm going to try to hold onto the conditioning I've worked so hard for and see if I can come in even better next weekend.
I'm pretty happy with how I looked at this show, but after seeing the comparisons I know there are a few things I could improve.
Obviously I'm not going to build a bigger back in six days, but I can work on my posing and hopefully make a few small improvements to how I present myself.
It's going to be interesting seeing how my body responds to doing two shows this close together.
I already got the Nationals qualification I was looking for, so that takes some of the pressure off.
But I'd still love to come away with another win, especially now that I've gotten this close to winning an overall.
I'm looking forward to seeing how next weekend goes.
Current Snapshot
Starting Weight: 216.4 lbs
Show Morning Weight: 196.8 lbs
Stage Weight: Approximately 198 lbs
Total Weight Lost: 19.6 lbs
Division: Men's Physique
Class Result: 1st Place
Overall Result: 2nd Place
Qualification: Nationals
Biggest Areas to Improve: Back size and posing endurance
Next Competition: October 10 — Men's Physique & Classic Physique
Next Update
Prep Files #20 — Back-to-Back Shows: One More Shot