At the start of the year I made the decision that I wanted to take the leap and compete in my first bodybuilding competition. From there we discussed what show I was looking at doing and laid out a good timeframe for my offseason nutrition and when we would be transitioning into the competition preparation! Throughout my offseason training I made some very good progress on many of my weak body parts, which allowed my physique to be much more balanced and have a much better flow.
On April 13th it all begun! My first nutrition update for my competition prep had been given to me. The excitement was already beginning, and I was eager to get into it! To start with, the changes were very subtle, but as the weeks went by they gradually increased, and the body fat was consistently dropping with no forecast of slowing down. At around the 10 week mark we discussed what the next stages would be. Cardio. Cardio was added in at very slowly through high intensity interval type training added on to my workouts, along with my training style changing to accommodate antagonist muscle groups to be trained together. I absolutely loved it! My strength was still progressing and I was feeling great. The visual changes only made me more motivated to work as hard as I could!
As the weeks progressed the body fat just kept on dropping and my physique really began to show through. A few new dieting strategies begun to be implemented to keep me feeling good and motivated. Surprisingly throughout this whole prep, I was never really hungry. Occasionally I might hit me now and again but for the most part it was minimal, which made the process that little bit better and one less thing to bother me.
Before I knew it, we were at the final 2 weeks, and boy did that time fly by. I remember thinking how it only felt like yesterday when it all begun. When that final week came around, the changes that I began to see in my body were incredible and were visible everyday.
Comp day had now arrived. I barely slept the night before due to a mix of excitement and nerves. I was up nice and early and begun to get straight into tanning and preparing for the show itself. When the show finally began I was anxiously waiting out backstage for the crew to give me some insight on when I’d be on stage. The nerves were building. When I finally got out there, it was very overwhelming at first but a huge rush. My posing routine flew by and I was back on stage with the rest of the competitors in my class for the mandatories and pose off. I was now just trying to make sure that I could put all the posing practice to perfection. This part went by even quicker than I imagined, although it felt at the time like I was up there forever! I was anxiously waiting to hear name to be called out for my placing. John Banks, 3rd place. A moment of joy suddenly rushed over me and it was all over, until I get back up there again..!
The team at dynamic nutrition really made this whole thing hassle free with the frequent check ins, smart nutrition and supplementation, and of course the endless support that they were able to give me whenever I had any queries or needed to ask even the simplest of questions. I can’t thank them enough for what they have done for me and highly recommend them to anyone, regardless of the goals that you may have! Thanks again Dynamic!
