NABBA England 2014 Training Diary: Bodybuilding & Life

This journal follows junior bodybuilder Brandon Allsopp as he trains for the NABBA England 2014 contest in October.

You can read the introduction to the series here.

Today’s blog entry is something I felt like I had to write about.

I want to talk about bodybuilding and how it affects our lives in good, and not so good, ways.

What does bodybuilding mean to you?

Is it everything, your life, or is it just a small part of a bigger picture?

In the past when I first got into bodybuilding it was all I wanted to do.

I didn’t care about anything else – I just wanted to focus my life solely on the sport.

But I was naïve.

We hear people say it time and time again, “Bodybuilding isn’t just an 80-90 minute game, it’s 24/7, it’s a lifestyle.”

Now that being said here is the real question you all need to ask yourselves:

Of course we all love what we do but should other aspects of our lives suffer because of it?

This is where a certain amount of realism is needed.

If you’re reading this, what are the chances of you having the genetic potential to turn pro, or even be a top level amateur for that matter?

Ask yourself this first and then decide how you fit bodybuilding into your life.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t be dedicated by any means – dedication and consistency is absolutely key in reaching your goals – but just think about it.

There are ways of making bodybuilding a part of your life and not your life itself.

I think young aspiring bodybuilders are given the wrong impression of what a bodybuilder’s life is actually like.

They see Phil Heath and Jay Cutler driving round in their Bentleys and walking by the pool outside in Las Vegas.

What they don’t show you is the long road and the struggle that most of these guys went on to get to where they are today.

It gives young bodybuilders unrealistic goals.

My point being?

Well, the majority will never ever reach this level but in being naïve and believing they can all other aspects of their lives will suffer.

Just because we are bodybuilding it doesn’t mean we can’t go out for food with friends, go to a family barbeque, or go out and have a beer once in a while.

None of this will do you any harm – do what you want to do!

Now of course some of these things change if you’re competing and believe you’ve got what it takes to go relatively far.

But don’t just make this decision yourself – go to see someone who knows bodybuilding, knows what to look for, and won’t tell you a bunch of bullshit filled with false promises.

How has bodybuilding affected my life?

Well thus far I haven’t let it.

But now I’ve decided to compete and dedicate myself to this I need to do it properly and make sure no-one beats me because they outworked me.

There are sacrifices that have to be made, there is in every sport.

Some things we absolutely hate doing, but we do it with our minds focused on that end goal.

The end goal of being the best that we can possibly be at that given time.

My main point here is DO NOT let bodybuilding take over your life!

Believe it or not, there’s much more to life than lifting weights and eating every 2 hours.

Be realistic with yourself, set realistic goals, and most of all enjoy it!

This week’s workout spotlight

I thought I’d close this week’s post by going over a particularly brutal back session which you can try out.

My lats were on fire after the first drop set on lat pull downs – after all, this high rep work is still something quite new to me.

But to make your muscles grow what do we need to do?

Take them to a place they’ve never been before every single session and force them to grow.

Exercise	Sets & Reps
Rack Pulls	3 Warm Ups, 3 x 10 @ 240kg
Lat Pulldown	15, 12, 10, Triple Drop Set to Failure
One Arm DB Rows	15, 12, 10, 8
Seated Row with Rope	3 x 10 (3 sec pause on every contraction)
Assisted Pull Ups (Superset with Seated Row)	3 x 10 (3 sec pause on every contraction)
Incline Cable Pullovers	3 x 15

Signing off

Give this workout a try and drop a comment – let me know how it went.

Also, if you have any other questions about the topics covered in this post – or any requests for future posts – let me know, I’d love to hear from you!

See you all next week.