Nice needed break but it's over now back to work!!!

After taking time off from training, as a matter of fact since September. I resumed training today. This was a nice needed break to let my joints, ligaments, bones you name it heal. At the same time mentaly I needed the break. I still weight 207lbs. Last week I started to load up on protein and creatine. It looked something like this.
I was taking Isolyze protein 4 times a day, 50grams per serving with 10grams of glutamine and carbolyze 4 times per day 78grams per serving with 1 serving of size-on 3 times perday. Included I have been taking arthrolyze, testoslyze, omegalyze, multivitamins and fruit a vie.
Last week my meals werent to good, I was eating 3 times perday.
am - 3 bagels with a protein shakelunch - 2 chicken sandwichdinner - steak with green salad and 3 cups of rice.
Today I just increased my meals to 5meals perday. adding in one steak meal and rice and one chicken breast meal with rice.
Workout today consisted of nothing but back. The only reason I train back on monday is everyone else trains chest on mondays at just about any gym you go too so all the back machines are open.
Deadlifts 4 sets 15repsBent over barbell rows 4 sets 15repsUnderhand pulldowns 4 sets 15repsReg lat pulldowns front 4 sets 15repsHyperextensions 3 sets 20reps
Thats all she wrote till tomorrow!!!
Nice and easy!!!

Offseason it is!!!!!

Well I've been contemplating in competing in one more show this year. The Natural Olympia in the ABA/INBA/PNBA, in which my good friend Phillip Ricardo is competing in. He competed in the Team Universe back in 2006 in which he took 5th in the LHW He also won this show last year in the Pro Division. The last time we competed against each other was back in 98 in which I won the overall, since then he has competed in numerous organization. I have made the decision not to compete in this years Natural Olympia due to the fact of some injuries that occured and my body is just plan tired and also I can take time to improve on the bodyparts I need to work and spend a good time with my little girl!!! So it's officially offseason for me. I wish my boy Rico the best of luck at the Natural O on Nov 8th. I will be keeping a daily journal on my blog. Daily activities, whats going on, whats coming up, my daily diet whether good of bad, Also my training. so stay tuned it will start tomorrow.

Offseason

Here you go, 3 weeks post team universe. Havent trained since then. Just cardio for one week. Now it's officially offseason!!! Weight is at 207!!!!

2008 Team Universe has come and gone

Another year has come and gone. Am I pleased with the outcome? Somewhat? Of course my goal was to win the overall as with anyone that competes. But I'm satisfied with what I set out to do. That was to improve from last year. I fell short by one point to the overall winner Tim Martin from the heavyweight class. In my eyes I do believe I beat him from the front and side but when we turned around for the back double bicep shot and rear lat spread, As ronnie would say "Lights Out" for me!!!! lol. He handed me a royal ass whoopin. So I go back to the drawing board and improve on the things I need too. BACK and LEGS. Next year I want to bring a whole new package. Does that mean I will move up? We will see. No predictions!!!!

This year's Team Universe was a bit different than last year. Knowing some of the guys like Jeff Rodriguez middleweight winner, Paul Coats bantamweight winner(back to back), Bill Lawrence lightweight winner, Tim Martin Heavyweight and overall winner. There was a bit more comraderie on stage this year. Even before at the athlete meeting was pretty cool. Cause you talk to these guys all year long and try to keep up with one another and see what the other is doing and then come together to compete is all worth it in the end!!!

Even though Tim Martin won the Overall was I bitter, only to a certain extent because know one likes to lose but at the same time if you look at this guys record and how long he has competed and where he came from you would be amazed!!!! The guy is a class act and true champion.

After the show did I eat, somewhat. naahhhhh I'm lying hell yes. Pizza, breadsticks, hot wings, strawberry chesscake and headed to mickie d's for some fries and a ice cream cone and a 44oz soda, and a heineken. The the next day woke up went to yum yum donuts put down a dozen donuts and frappacino from starbucks, then went to breakfast and had pancakes, bacon sausage and hashbrowns. Then went to espn zone and had more wings and a long island iced tea and watched the chargers lose. lol I'm a steeler fan!!! Then went on to have dinner at Olive garden. Did I gain weight somewhat went from 191 to 207 and I was happy!!!!!

Now I am not gonna sit here and lie to you when I flew back home on tuesday I went back on my diet because I had another show the following thursday. In which I won the overall. All I did was carb deplete for the rest of the time!!! Cardio my ass off!!!! Got back into shape!!!

Now here we are 2 weeks post team universe, I have one more show to go. my diet dosnt start til october 1st. Til then I'm eating somewhat healthy.

Here you go:

meal 1 - 50 grams isolyze shake with 2 scoops carbolyze

meal 2 - 12 egg whites and 1 cup oatmeal with 1 soop of peanut butter

meal 3 - 50 grams isolyze shake with 2 scoop carbolyze

meal 4 - 2 double cheeseburgers with 2 small fires and a coke (no BS)

meal 5 - 12oz chicken with special marinade(chris faildo's recipe) 2 cups white rice

meal 6 - 50 grams of isolyze

meal 7 - 12oz steak with 1 cup of white rice and broccoli

meal 8 - 8 egg whites

Supplements - omegalyze, isolyze, arthrolyze, multivitamins, creatine and glutamine, carbolyze

H2O - 1 gallon per day

Have I resumed training yet. NO!!! Not til next week.

So stay tuned\

I will post some pics this coming week!!!

These are the last pics you will see until the Team Universe. As of right now i'm at 202, very carb depleted and flat in these pics. I get to carb up a little this weekend!!!!

29 days til Team Universe

Well here we are at 29 days out. Things are going really well!!! I'm about 80%. I'm feeling the affects of the diet as I'm sure everyone has felt before. The hunger pains, sugar cravings, wanting carbs!!! lol

This year has been quite diffrent than last year. My training sessions last year kicked ass everyday. This year I found out that some days are good and I feel strong and some days I feel like I cant lift a damn thing. So I changed up my workout sessions a little. As I get closer to a show I usually train 5 to 6 days per week. This year I cut back a little Here is what it looks like:

Weight training - 2 days on 1 day off

Cardio sessions - 5 days per week, 20 minute sessions 2times perday

Abs - every other day

Calves - every other day

My diet is hard as hell: but it's working

meal 1 - isolyze protein 50g with 25g carbolyze(waxy maize)

meal 2 - 12 egg whites with 3/4 cup of oatmeal

meal 3 - 12 egg whites with 1 cup of white rice

meal 4 - 50g of isolyze

meal 5 - 8 oz of lean steak with veggies with white rice and green tea

meal 6 - 8 oz of chicken breast with asparagus

meal 7 - 2 lbs of talipia with veggies

meal 8 - 2 lbs of talipia with veggies

meal 9 - 2 lbs of talipia with veggies

meal 10- 12 egg whites

meal 11 - isolyze and syntha 6 protein shake before bed

meal 12 - 2 or 3 am - 50g of isolyze protein

This will change in the next week - the meat will come out and also the chicken. The shakes will come out the last 2 weeks

Everything is high in sodium right now.

Supps - glutamine, isolyze, carbolyze (waxy maize), multivitamin, hot rox extreme, omegalyze.

Journal of Japan

Well its coming down to the last days in Himeji, this has been a first class journey and very , very wonderful experience. The day after the show I woke up at 5am ate my first meal then went to go train legs. Kick ass workout. Finally getting use to the heat and humidity.After i showered and got ready we had a luncheon at a fine steak house with Himeji politicians and sponsors. We were treated to Filet Mignon. Damn it was soooo good. I was also invited to take a cruise around the bay on a yacht with some of the sponsors but I declined because I wanted to go inside the castle to take pictures. Its funny how you find out things. This is where my family crest came from i knew I was descendant from samurai but damn to be this up close and personal and inside where they lived and so forth was a once in a lifetime experience. Like I said you were not allowed to take pictures inside but the politicians pulled some strings and everything was cool for me to take pictures but only in certain areas within the castle. After a 1 and 1/2 hour hike to the top of the castle is was quite breath taking on our return the only thing I could think about was eating. So once we got down we decided to stop at a resturant to eat. Do you think I splurged a little.? hmmm.. Hell NOOOOO. I ate about seems like a ton of sashimi, in case you dont know what that is raw fish and alot of ass veggies. It was off the hook. I was in heaven. Damn I love being Half Japanese. So finally I returned home and it brings me to my last blog of Himeji. In all it was a great trip and the hospitality was treamendous. Thank you very much to the Minoru Nishikawa Family for being such generous hosts. It was a great honor and pleasure to stay with you and your family. Thank you to the all the people of Himeji for your support. Until I return again Gambate!!!! Now off to Guest Pose in Mexico

More of Japan Blog

Well after a hectic two days, Saturday was nothing but posing and I trained triceps and a 20minute cardio session and met with members from the gym American Health Club, met some very important people. After my first two days of jet lag I am now use to waking up at 430, 5am. and I only have one more day to be here damn going back so soon. On Sunday was the day of the competiton. I will tell you I felt like a king, we left for the competiton which was 5 minutes away in a good size theater and the accomidations were perfect, I had my own dressing room and my own get this personal assistant. Damn. Everywhere I went he followed making sure everything was good. The night started off great as soon as I arrived I saw my cousin from Osaka that came down, in which I havent seen for 3 years and I can tell you wow what a three difference it made for her. She just a beautiful girl all grown up and her brother which I found out goes to school in the same town Himeji where I am at plays for the University soccer team and is one of the top players for there university, in which he has a game today in which I will go watch.

Well after getting settled I got to meet with many participants from the competition, just like the united states some were in shape some were not. In my eyes the older competitiors were in better shape I mean 40, 50 and 60s. They were pretty ripped and in great condition. Also I got to meet Mr.Taiwan (Mr.Asia) you can catch him on getbig.com after many great performances it was finally my turn. Was I nervous? Very much so being in Japan in front of my family and everyone else my stomach was turning. As soon as the music started i said a prayerand went out and it was like clock work The Japanese people were very pleased and we had a great time went down into the crowd took pictures with kids, babies everyone that wanted to take pictures I did not deny them I think I shook just about everyones hand out there. lol.I had a great time.

Some people have already asked how I looked well lets just say this I had a couple people evaluate me while I was on stage that are from the states and know bodybuilding along with a IFBB Japan judge, and also Mr. Taiwan they all said my condition right now is comparable to the Team Universe of last year and look alot thicker. Thats with only dropping oneday of water and with a little more than one month to goI still have a lot of work to do in my eyes. I dont want to match last yeasrs conditioning I want to be 10 times better than last yea. Like I said to many already I want to look ridiculous!!! Well its monday morning here in Japan exactly 7am, already had one meal now its time to go train legs. then I have a lunch party then to the soccer game then some shopping and we will see what the rest of the day turns out be the last bblog of japan will be tomorrow morning.

Well I arrived in Japan after a long 12 hour flight starting from San Diego, even while landing in japan we took a 2 hour bus ride to Himeji City. So far the experience has been very good. The people are very hospitable. Now I have to make my transition from US time to Japanese time. Right now its thursday morning here in japan and I already lost days of training. Diet wise its been an experience. Believe it or not my food was taken away in Los Angeles. So i was stuck eating airplane food, which actually wasnt that bad. Being an asian airline I was offered fish and rice or beef and potatos. I choose the fish. The good thing is the stewardess brought me 2 plates. Which was very kind. The second meal was an omeltte, which i declined so they brought me out left over fish which i had no problem with eating. As some of you may know when flying your body seems to retain water. In my case the opposite is true I become very dehydrated. So the whole 11 hour flight I was consuming water and going to the restroom many times.





Upon arriving at the airport I was greeted by the promoter and gym owner of American Health Club,　Minoru Nishikawa. Where he had a box of grilled chicken breasts and green beans and broccoli and my favorite japanses white rice with green tea. Once we arrived in Himeji I was greeted with a warn welcome from his wife, where right away she began to cook chicken, broccoli, green beans and japanese white rice with green tea. After we ate, Minoru and I went to his gym. This is an old style bodybuilding gym, not your fancy La Fitness or 24 hour fitness. This gym is catered towards bodybuilders. Upon first walking in you can see the bodybuilders that have been there before Arron Baker, Lou Ferrigno, Rodney StCloud are just to name a few. I was so happy to see this type of gym, cause this is where I will be busting my butt for the next week. While I am here I will be giving out pointers and get in a good training session with whomever willing. After taking pictures at the gym we left for the supermarket to pick up fish (sashimi, raw tuna one of my favorites when dieting) eggs and many other things. I try to keep reminding myself that the portions are smaller here in Japan. By the time we got back to the house I was totally exhuasted. Si I called it a night.



Here we are thursday morning at 5am, good night sleep and ready to go hit the gym for cardio and my first training session. After I get a meal in first.



Wow what a morning training session. Talk about humidity,　damn its hot here in Japan. My morning training session really kicked my ass. I trained back but it seemed like my back was training me. lol I dont know how they do it down there in Texas or here in japan, but i still finifshed the session even though it kicked my butt. I finished off with a 15 minute posing session and some tanning. Going back tonight to hit some bis and some mo cardio, only 20 minutes on the bike. Then pose a little more. Tomoorow will be different. I will make sure I hydrate myself tonight for tomorrow. I refuse to go out like that.

Here it is friday morning at 5am, started off the day with a small photo shoot in front of Himeji Castle. This castle was built in the time of the shogun samurai era. Beautiful castle and damn big. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes just to get to the castle itself maybe longer. There are certain areas and parts where you are not allowed totake picturesor video but on monday IMgoingback totake some pics. About
to hit the gym in one hour chest, abs、cardio posing tanning

55 days and counting til Team Universe

I have been on no carbs for the past 4 days. Just because I go through an early run to see how my body will react to the carb depletion and carbing up phase. So I am pretty flat right now. But my body seems to be reacting the way I want it too through the carb depletion.

My training sessons seem to actually getting better. With 8 weeks left I will actually be losing two weeks in my books of serious training. I will be leaving for Japan on the 15th to guest pose and be back on the 22nd, then guest pose again in Mexico on Thursday then off to Vegas for a photo shoot during the USA's friday and saturday. So that would leave me with 6 weeks left til Team Universe. Right now everything is going as planned. The dieting is actually getting really easy since I started so early. Here are some pics

9 weeks, more to me 59 days

Here are some pics I took this past friday. I will take some more either today ot tomorrow.

11 weeks and counting

11 weeks and counting, Here are some pics and the split I will be working with the next 6 weeks.

Mon - am - cardio/back, pm - tris/abs

Tues - am - calves, pm quads and hams

Wed - am - cardio/chest, pm- bis/ abs

Thurs - am - calves / upper back, pm tris

Fri - am - shoulders cardio/abs, pm quads and hams

Sat - am - chest / bis

Sun - rest

11 Weeks and counting. Time to get refocused and get back to work!!!! After taking a 2 week break from training and letting my body rest for the next grueling 11 weeks of contest prep my body is reenergized and ready to get back to work. Sometimes your body just needs a break from everything. My diet stayed the same. So today we have back and tris along with abs and cardio to be followed. Stay tuned

13 weeks out from the 2008 Team Universe, Quarter Turns.

With 13 weeks left to go til team Universe. My diet and training are right on track. As of today I'm 205 at 7% bodyfat. Some people have asked am I worried about peaking to early. The answer is NO. Iam right where I want to be. If I do everything right and stay on pace I will end up at 215lbs with 2 to 3% bodyfat the time I step onstage.

My diet still remains the same with the addition of brown rice pasta in the morning with my 3rd and 4th meal.

Today was shoulder day - Right now I am battling a elbow injury, just a little joint pain.

Hammer Strength Shoulder Press - 45lbs each side 15reps 3 sets, 70bs each side 15reps 3 sets, 90lbs each side 12reps 2 sets, 115lbs each side 10reps 2 sets.

Seated Machine Press - 150lbs 15reps, 175lbs 15reps, 205lbs 15reps, 225lbs 12reps, 250lbs 10reps

Single Dumbell Side Raises - 30lbs 30reps, 40lbs 20reps, 50lbs 15reps
Seated machine side raises - 75lbs 25reps, 90lbs 15reps, 110lbs 15reps, 130lbs 12reps

Dumbell Shrugs - 90lbs 20reps 3 sets, 100lbs 15reps 2 sets

Here are some new pics as I am 92 days out from the Team Universe!!!!

2007 a Year in Review

After taking a two year layoff from not even stepping a foot into a gym. One year ago at this time I made a decision to slowly ease myself back into the gym and eating 3 to 4 meals per day up from my one or maybe two meals per day. Taking baby steps in the begininng 15 to 30 minutes of weight training three times per week sounded hard for me at that time. As some of you may know after taking a week or two off, that time can make a difference. Imagine taking a year or two off. The first 2 days I was unbelievbly sore. Even my nose hurt to an extent. I was just about to quit. I gave myself another week in the gym. Low and behold with proper nutrition my body took to the weight training and food really well. Thus I had caught the bug again and I was BACK!!! After a month of training my body quickly progressed. When I first started I weighed in at 160 to 165 pounds. At the end of December I now weighed 175 pounds. Some people asked if I was using anything as in steroids? I would always laugh and take that as a compliment and replied with a smirk No. I tell people all the time I have been blessed with very good genetics and I don't want to destroy myself by using anything my body dosnt already produce on it's own. Did I have doubters? Of course!!! It's funny, people would always ask me how can I get big or lose weight or get stronger, what exercises should I do? The first thing that comes out of my mouth is " How is your diet" meaning are you getting proper nutrittion? They would always tell me it's good I eat 2 to 3 times per day. Cereal for breakfast, sandwich for lunch and a big dinner. This is how most of us are brought up to eat 3 times per day including myself. Educating yourself on proper nutrition should be a must before you start any exercise program. Without proper nutrition, you can do more harm than good. So at the end of December I decided to enter the Max Muscle Naturals (NPC) in Anaheim, CA in March of 2007. The owner of the gym where I was training at the time advised me to compete in the Gold's Gym Classic (Mr. San Diego) in San Diego a week prior to the Max Muscle Naturals and if I represented his gym he would sponsor me. So I took the opportunity and ran with it. Careful planning and monitoring of myself I was getting in shape pretty quick. With the help of Lana the egg white lady (Lana's egg whites) and no I am not sponsored by her, she cut me a break on the buckets of egg whites I was ordering. Also local meat market here in Chula Vista got to know me from seeing me every week, the butchers started cutting me a break and lowering the price for me, for lean beef and chicken breasts. I couldnt tell you how much my body improved in just a short time. Going into the Gold's Gym Classic, I was really nervous this being my first show in just about 10 years I didnt know what to expect. I have always competed in the Natural Organization ABA/INBA/PNBA, but thought I would take a stab at the NPC, hoping to place within the Top 5. As it became closer to prejudging my stomach started turning a little more. As some of you may not know I have played sports my entire life and my mother was always at every event from little leafue, high school, college, pro and even my bodybuilding shows. She has always big my biggest fan. Before I start any event I always look for my mother in the stands or audience to give me that ok nod, things will be ok and she is proud either way. Well this time she would not be there. This would be my first event or competiton without my mother since she passed away a year prior. So it was very hard for. Finally it was show time my really good friend and training partner stayed with me the whole time (Mark Madison) and helped me prepare backstage. Right before we walked out I said a prayer to my mother and she must have been listening cause all my fears and nervousness went out the door. During all the mandatories and turns my confidence grew. Still not sure where my placing was going to be, all I know I was in the top 5. The Finals where here and my stomach started to turn, even more seeing people I knew from everywhere, the gyms that I train at, friends and family etc. Thinking to myself could I really go out there in front of all these people? After alot of walking around pumping up 3 or 4 times ( i was nervous I don't recommend that) they finally called the light heavy weights to line up. One more prayer mom I said to myself so far we did it Top 5 let's see if we can do better. As they announced the winner's 5th place, 4th, 3rd, oh man my stomach was in knots on stage, thinking to myself could I actually win? they announced the 2nd place winner and the winner of the light heavy weight division is Kiyoshi Moody. My heart stopped and tears just came rolling down. Could not believe the outcome. As we stepped of stage I was in awe. They told me not to go anywhere I still have the overall. Ok like I have a chance at that i said to myself, No way. Well as we started to come back onstage "mom here we go again one more time" the fears went away and my confidence grew with each turn, each pose I felt like I couldnt let my mom down. The verdict was in as we stood there The winner of the Gold's Gym Classic 2007 is" Kiyoshi Moody". Thank you so much MOM for being there for me. Was the only thing going through my head. We did it. I thought to myself my mother was with me the whole time and she will always be there in spirit!!! A week later I repeated my win at the Max Muscle Naturals as the Class and Overall winner and the week after that I won the overall at the ABA/INBA/PNBA Iron Gladiator in Corona. For awhile I thought I was done competing when a friend came up to me and said would you want to compete in Mexico? I laughed and said Nah I'm ok. I am done for awhile. He kept calling me, asking me to compete. Finally I said Ok. The same week I talked with Lonnie Teper about the Jr.Cal and we decided it would be good for me to compete in his show right before the Team Universe as it would help get me more publicity as his shows always do and he would set me up with a photo shoot with Mike Neaveux of Ironman Magazine the day before the Jr.Cal Show on friday morning.I was using the Jr.Cal as a prep for the Team Universe to help me work on some things. There were things I needed to work on in a short amount of time. So as the competitons grew closer, two weeks prior to the Mexico show and the Jr.Cal I was doing pull-ups and landed wrong and heard a pop in my lower back, didnt think nothing of it, I started to go home when the pain became unbearable. The next morning I went to the doctor. I had sprained my lower back and he said I would have to stay off my feet as much as possible. We began therapy right away. I called Lonnie Teper and said I might not be able to compete in the Jr.Cal because of my injury. But I would still try. With not even stepping a foot in the gym for 2 weeks nothing but therapy and sticking to my diet I was about 75% ready and willing to give it a shot to compete as I promised in both shows in Mexico and the Jr.Cal. The Mexico show was on thursday night and the Jr.Cal was on Saturday and with a photo shoot friday morning. My back was still tight but I sucked it up and competed in both shows. Mexico I won the Overall and Jr.Cal I won the class and the overall in which Jay Cutler presented the Overall Trophy. I had the momentum going into the Team Universe my first National Competiton. With one month to go til the Team Universe I had some work to do, coming off the back injury just about fully recovered I had to get back in the gym and train my butt off 3 times per day early morning, afternoon, late night and sometime I woke up in the middle of the night to do cardio. I had to do whatever it took to be a 100% for the Team Universe. Not knowing the history and prestige of this show I was going in blind. All I knew was some of the best natural bodybuilders were going to be there Chris Faildo, Miguel Niel, Andre Ewing, Tim Martin, Dave Goodin and the list goes on. I had to be prepared. With alot of obstacles ahead of me on getting to the show I had to overcome them, a week prior my sponsor that was suppose to pay for my trip and hotel for the show backed out. So I had to run around and find a way to get there. With the help of my girlfriend Karla Espinoza (soon to be figure competitor), we found a way to come up with the money to get there to NYC. The only thing is we could'nt find a hotel that wasnt booked to capacity around the venue, so we stayed uptown as the new yorkers would say, up on 101st close to Harlem. Now you say Harlem oh man bad area. I can honestly tell you the people on that side of the town were amongst the most friendliest people we met the whole time. From the Deli downstairs to the Diner on the corner where they made all my meals special for me, Metro Diner so if your ever around that area look them up. They pointed us in the right direction whenever we were lost except the time we were looking for the gym. T he night we arrived in NYC we walked through Central Park for about 3 to 4 hours, yes we were lost at 8 to 9pm trying to get to the eastside of town. Lost in Central Park. I think I lost about 5 pounds or so of water that night. We arrived at the gym but they had just closed. So we turned around and headed back. This time taking the taxi. Come to find out it was only a 15 minute walk from the hotel to the gym. With myself having to make weight I was still 202lbs, so I thought. So i started to drop my water a little early. It was Tuesday and the weigh-in's were on Thursday. I had 2 days. So for the next 2 days I was in the sauna for 20 minutes a day and drinking about 16oz of water a day. The weight would not come off, still 202lbs. I was getting concerned, here I was the day of the weigh-ins and my weight is still 202lbs. As I stepped on the scale it read 193lbs, WHAT!!! I can say I was relieved but I had dropped to much weight. The same day I went back to the gym just to get some blood flowing through my muscles as I started the carb process so I stepped on the scale and it read 202lbs, a trainer came over to me and said " that scale is broke" You have to be kidding me I just about killed myself dropping water and not eating just to make weight and the scale is broke. Well, the rest of the day and night up til prejudging I just about ate every hour or so nothing but carbs and a little water to fill out. Finally the prejudging was here, I was backstage and oh man. The first thing I thought was Damn these boy's are BIG!!! But I still had to handle my buisness and could not be intimadated. At the sametime I had the pleasure of meeting alot of the competitors I would read about in the magazines and see on different videos, Chris Faildo, AJ Jarrell, Jeff Rodriguez, Tim Martin, Dave Goodin etc.. My goal coming into the Team Universe was to place in the Top Five especially since this was my first national level show. As we finally stepped out on stage everyting was a blur. Honestly to this day I can't remember if there were even call out's, but I am pretty sure there was a least a couple call out's. As the prejugding ended I had a pretty good idea I was somewhere between 1st to 3rd from what I was told. But in this sport you never know. Still I had to stay sharp and hold it together for the Finals the next day. So I still kept my water low drinking only when I needed too and carbed up as much as possible for the entire night and into the next day. Finally the Finals were here and all I could think about is doing my best onstage, I have come along way in a short amount of time. The only low light of the whole night was the majority of the people left after the Figure competitors were done. The beginning of the night the venue was packed and by the time the men stepped onstage there were less than half of the people still there. The notables that were there were Dexter Jackson, Dave Palumbo, Kai Greene, Stan McCrary and the list goes on. Here we go the announcement of the Light Heavy Weight Division. 5th, 4th, 3rd was Odis Mccullough, I thought to myself ok, I got second. 2nd - Miguel Niell and the winner of the LightHeavy Weight Division is Kiyoshi Moody. I was at a loss for words. As I congratulated everyone in that division I was trying to catch my breath.This has just made my whole year!!!!! As we stepped offstage I was told get ready for the Overall, Wow!!! Again!!! Still not knowing what was going on. Here we go again as all the overall winners stepped onstage I was in AWE. As we started with each turn I noticed in the corner of my eye. The welterweight Chris Faildo had numerous fans out in the audience and with each manadatory pose we went through I caught myself looking at him instead of worrying about what I needed to do. The presence and the energy that he brought to the stage was unbelievable. As they announced the Team Universe 2007 overall winner, I thought to myself whatever the outcome is this has been a remarkable ride thus far. The winner Chris Faildo. As we stepped offstage we were escorted to the back for a drug test and once that was over someone told me get ready for Korea and the World Championships. "The what, I said to myself". Whats that. I was told the winner's of the class get to go represent the USA in the IFBB Amateur World Championships in Korea all expenses paid for the trip. I was in AWE again. Damn could this get any better. I don't want to come down off this cloud for awhile, was I all I thought. What a week in New York City!!! am I coming back for the Team Universe next year? Of course, bigger and better. With the help of my new sponsor Dave Palumbo and Species Nutrition. With one more show to go The IFBB Amateur World Championships in Korea. From what I have heard the US team has'nt faired to well in international competition. In speaking with Chris Faildo he told me I better be prepared for war, cause these guys really bring it. I can tell you this time around it was really hard preparing for this show. This was going to be my 8th show this year and my body was really tired and not responding the way I had wanted it too. With a month left to go I received a call from Sandy Ranalli congratualting me and wishing me good luck at the World's. Training was starting to come around and the diet was getting better. As the whole team met at LAX for our 12 to 14 hour flight over to Korea we got know each other a little better, Shiloe Steinmetz, Kelli Pettiford, Paul Coats and the US representative Ken Taylor. The only one that wasnt with us was Chris Faildo, cause he was already half way there in Hawaii so it wouldnt make sense to fly out of LAX. I can tell you now this wasn't all what I expected. Going into the World Championships my expectations were very high as well am sure my teammates, until we got there and saw what we were up against. Now when I say we the US team are natural. Trust me we are. Unless 90% f the countries came up with some scientifically engineered protein or something that shuttles the amount of carbs directly into the muscle we don't know about yet naturally. I don't think so people. I can tell we saw our fair share of growth guts . I personally talked to two athletes that were on GH and insulin. They told me it can't be tested so they won 't get caught. I thought for a moment this was suppose to be a drug tested show, a natural to say. Yeah right!! When you have athletes eating loaves of bread 12 potato's , bacon and other crap in one sitting right before your eyes and putting it down within minutes, I don't know about you but it would make very bloated for days. Not these guys!! It made them harder. I guess you have to see it to believe it. I guess now I believe that an organization will have there fair share of drug users whether 1 or 30 they will be there. My placing wasn't what I had expected. In other words I didnt make the cut of 15. I have no one to blame but myself. I will be back into the gym to train harder. This experience has taught me a lot. On handling adversity and disappointment. I have a new mentor. His name is Chris Faildo. This man is a true champion. Watching him conduct himself was very inspiring. Going into the night show we were all certain he was in the top 6 for the finals, but when we all got to the arena his name was not on the list. Were there tears shed? Of course , not just for him but I guess we shed tears in our own way for not even placing in the top 6. After a few moments I watched something that I will never forget to this day. Chris wiped the tears lifted his head up and went around and shook all of his competitors hands to wish them luck with a smile on his face. Now that's a true champion!! After we got back to the hotel and changed and ate, we were all down in the lobby and the competitors were just coming back from the competition with there trophies in hands and even then Chris congratulated and shook there hands with a smile on his face. That was very inspiring. He could have easily turned the other cheek and blew them off. True Champion. Also to his family and friends I say thank you for a wonderful time in Korea. The people that he surrounds himself with are a true blessing. If you are ever in Hawaii. Look him up at gold's gym in Oahu. I know I am, I am heading there in March and April!!! Thank you for everyone's encouraging words and a special thank you to Chris Faildo and Big E for the talk. As I sit here and think of what I have been through within the last 2 years I am very fortunate and thankful to the people that have helped me through everything. They are a true blessing in disguise. In 1998 my mother was diagnosed with lung cancer. That hit me very hard. I thought my mother was indestructible. She battled through, removing her right lung completly. No chemo nothing!!! No cancer they got it all. In 2005 my mother became ill with pneumonia and placed on a ventilator. After a month went by with no progress and her health starting to deteriorate. I did not want my mother to suffer and something I thought I could never do I did. I removed my mother from the ventilator. I still live with that last moment in her life everyday, but I know my mother would not have wanted to suffer!!! Her death hit me really hard. I attempted suicide twice. I came to realize I was being selfish and I knew my mother would be very disappointed in me, especially since I have 3 year old, beautiful little girl. So I took my mother's ashes back to Japan as she wished, and I spent a couple of months there, contemplating what to do with my life. When I returned from Japan I started training after a 2 year layoff. As thus it brings me to where I am today!!! As most people may not know my mother was a practicing buddhist and I too grew up practicing the same religion. My mother's words to me before she passed which I will never forget was " To accept is easy; to continue is difficult. But buddahood lies in continuing faith. Those who uphold this sutra should be prepared to meet difficulties, and Winter never fails to turn into Spring". I geuss this is true in any religion or faith, you will always have obstacles but you must meet them head on and not run away. My approach for the 2008 Team Universe competition is in full swing. Dieting and training has never been any harder that it has been now. I am working but butt of to be better than last year!!! Time will only tell!!!!

14 weeks out from Team Universe

With the 14 weeks out from the Team Universe I have been hard at work not only in the gym but with my new website being built, guest posing appereances and just adjusting to this new schedule of trying to fit in training and my job. As some of you may know 14 weeks comes really fast, next thing you know its 6 weeks then the week of then weighns and etc. So Iam putting together alot of things now so I wont have to worry about the little things towards the end. For example my music, posing routine, colors of my suits the ones I will be wearing for prejudging and the night show, assuming I make the top 5. Sometimes you will never know you will show up so you have to be prepared with your best package. I have a couple songs in mind already, and the posing suits still debating on the colors. We will see!!!

As far as traingin and dieting goes. My diet has increased in meals and supplements this is my diet for june.

1. 10 egg whites 1 1/2 cup of oatmeal with mocha flavored splenda
supps - multivitamins, arthrolyze from species, lipolyze from species all with one cup of black coffee, 1 scoop of sizeon by gaspari
2. 8 egg whites 1 cup of brown rice
3. 2 scoops of isolyze with 2 scoops of carbolyze both by species
4. 2 chicken breasts with 2 japanese yams
5. 2 chicken breasts with 2 slices of ezkiel bread
6. 8oz of lean steak with 10 stalks of asparagus
7. 8oz of lean steak with 10 stalks of asparagus
8. 2 scoops of isolyze with 1 scoop of carbolyze
supps - 1 pill of lipolyze, 1 scoop of sizeon with 1 scoop of glutamine, arthrolyze
9. 2 chicken breasts, 1 cup of brocoli
10 2 chicken breasts, 1 cup of broccoli
11. 2 scoops of isolyze
12. before bed 2 scoops of syntha 6
13. 2am 1 scoop of isolyze
14. 4am 1 scoop of isolyze

Here it is for the month of June, this is what I will be following, I will adjust somethings if need be.

H2o - is 2 to 3 gallons per day.

The training portion I will put up today.

Changing Gyms

Well with 107 days left til the Team Universe. I decided to change gyms that I train at. I usually bounce from gym to gym so that I wont get bored. But i decided to buckledown and if I need help this was the place to go. Why? Well let's see, there are judges from the NPC, IFBB mens and women's and Figure pro's that train there along with some of the top Amateur's in the NPC. So I can always stay motivated.

Today will be Legs

As some of you may know Derick Farnsworth is probably pound for pound one of the strongest guys I know. When it comes to leg training this is one guy you would want to listen too. One thing I wanted to do this off season was to bring more sweep to my quads. Well he gave me a tip and adjusted the way I now hack squat and damn the shyt is harder and hit really hits that outer quad alot. So I will put down the training session tonight.

Well just returned from training!!! Good training session today.Started with deadlifts3 sets of 225 for 15 reps2 sets of 315 for 15 reps2 sets of 405 for 10 reps1 set of 225 for 25 reps right after the last setTBar Rows2 sets 2 plates for 20 reps2 sets 3 plates for 15 reps2 sets 4 plates for 15 reps1 set 2 plates for 25 reps right after the last setHammer Low row3 sets 2 plates each side 20reps3 sets 3 plates each side 15reps2 sets 4 plates each side 10reps1 set 2 plates each side 25 reps right after the last setHyperextensions with a 25lb weight3 sets 20 repsTrisRope pressdowns7 sets 20 reps each set working up in weightHammer dips working up in weight try to keep the reps around 20, 5 setsKickbacks - 35lbs 20reps for 4 sets.Pretty good day!!!!Still sore from the leg workout. hella sore matter of fact!!!

122 Days til Team Universe

Finally started with the cardio sessions. My cardio is very limited. I try not to do too much in order to spare my muscle.

Stairmill for 20minutes level 2.
Weighted Ab crunchs
Seated calf Raises

This was all in the AM

Training sessions consisted of legs

Leg extensions - 6 sets no reps less than 15. Rep range stayed between 25 to 15, heaviest weight was 250, lightest was 190

Hack Squats - 8 sets reps no less than 15 reps also highest was 25. heaviest weight 4 plates each side for 15 reps lightest weight one plate.

Leg Press - 6 sets same with the reps and sets. heaviest weight was 10 plates each side lightest was 5 plates each side

Lying leg curls - 3 sets, just to loosen them up - 120lbs 25 reps, 130lbs, 25reps, 140lbs 15reps

Contest prepe is in full swing.

My meals right now are at 10 meals perday consisting of 30g of protein per meal, carbs are right around 400g and fat is at 50 to 75.

Hey Peeps, I am back after a couple of hectic weeks of getting back into the swing of things from my recent pec injury. I just started training chest last week. I can tell you now I was very weak. But I know I will bounce back pretty quick. At the same time I just moved into a new house and have been working alot. But now I have things in order and will be back on and putting up my updates of my training alot more. I have two more weeks until I start my serious prep. What shows do I have coming up. The way it is looking maybe USA's in July North Americans and Team Universe also I might jump into a OCB show at the end of the year or somewhere in the middle we will see how my body progresses.

My Prep for the 2008 NPC Team Universe

It has started. My prep for the 2008 Team Universe. Somw people have asked why have i started so early. I am going to be trying something a little different this time. By putting on good quality muscle weight by lifting heavy with lower reps and not my usual High Intensity training routine that I normally do. I usually eat whatever I want until I start my prep for a competition which is about 12 to 16 weeks out. I eat to put on weight to make weight for the show. But this time I am starting now and I will be dieting down a bit.
Today was Back.Underhand grip pulldowns - 150lbs - 20reps, 170lb - 15reps, 220lbs - 10reps, 250lbs - 8reps.T-bar rows - 2(45) plates - 15reps 2 sets, 3(45) plates - 10reps 2 sets, 4 (45)plates 10reps 1 set, 6(45) plates 6reps 2 sets.Rack Deadlifts - 225lbs 15reps 2 sets, 315reps 10reps 2 sets, 405lbs 8reps 2 sets, 455lbs 6reps 2sets.Hammerstrength underhand pulldowns - 2(45's each side) 10reps, 3(45's each side) 8reps, 4(45's each side) 6reps.Front pulldowns - 220lbs - 10reps, 250lbs - 8reps, 270lbs - 6repsPull-ups - 3 sets of 10reps.
Food intake will look like this for 1 month
Meal 1 -1cup oatmeal, 1 cup eggwhites, 2scoops cellmass w/2 scoops carbolyzeMeal 2 -2scoops Isolyze protein w/2 scoops carbolyzeMeal 3 -12oz of lean beef, 2cups of white rice, 1cup of broccoliMeal 4 - 2 scoops of Isolyze w/2 scoops carbolyzeMeal 5 - 12oz of lean beef, 2cups of white rice 1cup of broccoliMeal 6 - 2 scoops of Isolyze, 2 scoops cellmass, 2 scoops carbolyzeMeal 7 - 12oz of lean beef, 1 cup broccoliMeal 8 - 24oz of musclemilk with 10grams of glutamine