This does not sound like fun. I do wonder who ordered a hooker.
I wanted to do a recap on the Toronto Pro 212 contest experience, before I head off to Alaska for the Artic Pro – so here goes!
So my game plan was this
1) Come in rounder overall
2) Come in with better control in abdominal wall
Now to come in rounder, the way I see it, I would have to not let my weight get down to close to 212, as that last few pounds just eats away into my muscle bellies. What I figured would end up with the desired result, was to simply go back to a 1-day weight drop and try to get it back, slowly over night, knowing it really would take me 2 days, but do my best.
I weighed 220-221 Wednesday night, and then about 219-220 Thursday night. When I woke up Friday I was 215-216 so I knew it would be tough. I had 4 oz of cod, 1 liter of water, and some asparagus and began the process. I got under the sheets with sweat clothes on and turned the heat up in the room to the max. The pounds came off so slow. My friend Julien Geoffrion was hanging out with me to make sure I didn’t die, and he couldn’t believe how much sweating it takes for me to lose even 1 lb. I don’t have a colon, and am not water retentive, so it is hard.
The competitors meeting was late, 8pm to be exact and they went through registration for all the classes before us, so it was between 9 and 10 I believe when we weighed in. It’s hard to remember because at that point I was starting to zone out and feel like death. I also was starting to get cramps in my calves which is a bad sign. I weighed in just under 212, and then immediately drank 1.5 liters of water, and had some steak and rice and headed back to hotel. It was very late and prejudging was to begin for us around noon. Knowing this, I knew it was essential to stay up late and eat all night given I had only had ONE MEAL all day. Neil Hill continued to work with me for this so I was shooting him updates throughout the night. I ended up passing out around 4am and got back up at 6 to keep eating and drinking.
As I continued I really liked the way my body was bouncing back.
Sorry for the bed head! This shows how much denser and round my back was this compared to the Arnold. I still wasn’t what I would call “all the way back”, but given the short time I think I did pretty well.
At prejudging needless to say I was pretty shocked with being in the second callout, but no biggie, we just move on and get better. I am not going to lie though and say I wasn’t disappointed given my extreme conditioning and better look since 3 months earlier at the Arnold.
I continued to eat for finals and continued to fill out more and more. I also was keeping an eye on Fouad, and to see what he did, after tearing a lat, and not training for 3 weeks at a month out was pretty mind boggling. It was so inspirational on so many levels. He also did this insane posing routine, and I am sitting there thinking wow…that would literally take me 6 months of daily practice to learn, well he did off the top of his head and had only listened to the music to know when the hard beats were coming. Crazy good posing.
Afterwards I headed out to dinner with Fouad, Julien and some more folks and got to just kick back and enjoy the night.
I was very very tired, but no way was I going to pass up a chance to enjoy some food and fun with friends.
So the night wasn’t over. I finally fall asleep I think around 2 to 3, knowing I had to be up early to get to airport, and around 3:45 someone starts banging on my door. I keep ignoring it, and finally I crack the door and look out and there is what I believe to be a prostitute standing there. That was my guess based on her appearance. So she looks at me and says “oops wrong room”, and then walks over to the room beside me and knocks and they let her in. What a way to end the night.
I got up early and had breakfast with good friend and client Mike Lynds and then headed out to the airport for my trip home. Mike is a fellow family man, is also one of the most challenging athletes I have had to work with in terms of how quickly his body can change. It can literally change 4 to 5 lbs in an hour…up or down. It never ceases to amaze me at how different peoples bodies are.
As always, thank you for all your support!!!! To all of those who stopped me for pics, I hope I was pleasant, as I was really tired. HA!
Next up Alaska!
John Meadows
