Six Pack and Senior

Maxim #1:  “Consistency” — Don’t Miss Workouts

There is an old saying, “Don’t work harder, work smarter.”  This Maxim of training is closest to the truth contained in this old saying.  It is absolutely important to establish a habit and then project how that habit affects your progresss to your goal.  On simple inspection it makes sense that the more you do something the better you get at performing that thing.  This fact is the backbone of “CONSISTENCY.”

1.)  “Consistency” (not missing workouts) is the cornerstone of building a sound habit for the following reasons:

1.) If we decide to not stick to a schedule or to be irregular in our workouts we are only cheating ourselves and the habit crumbles into a “hit and miss” world.

2.)  By missing workouts we also transmit a very strong message to ourselves and others that we are not very committed to the overall project of self-development and excellence.

3.)  By being “CONSISTENT” we discipline our bodies and minds to be there when we say we’ll be there.  It enhances our personal integrity and honesty.

4.)  Our “CONSISTENCY” helps defeat our natural propensity to laziness.  It also challenges others who are watching us to also be “CONSISTENT” and in my experience they will get better because of my example.

5.)  Our “CONSISTENCY” will allow us to measure results more accurately.  Areas such as Body Weight, Body Fat, Lean Muscle Gain, Overall Body Measurements.

6.)  Another solid advantage to “CONSISTENCY” that involves a 6 day per week regimen is that we can measure or compare ourselves against other people training less often.  Simple math shows us that if we train 6 times per week X 52 weeks we are in the gym for 312 days as compared to a person who is in the gym 3 times per week x 52 weeks and is in the gym 156 days in a year.  This comparison all by itself will demonstrate the massive gains we make at 312 days per year versus the person who trains only 3 days per week or 156 days per year.

Moral of the story: Frequent, “CONSISTENT” training will discipline your life, help you out perform those with lesser regimens or those with irregular work habits and will get you to your ultimate goal faster and more complete.

This is “OUR” Time!

Tell me what you think.  Write to me at my email below.

dgraham@pacificmedicalassets.com

We all live by parameters and rules. We willingly or unwillingly abide by them because we know that to do so will lead us and guide us to our ultimate goal. When we are unmotivated, confused, distracted, or are feeling antagonism to our task, we “will” remember the maxims. The simple recounting of our goals and and the basic principles we set up to get there is all it takes to keep us going.

WARRIOR FOCUS — Daily Training

1.)  Consistency — Never Miss Workouts.  If I am going to be good at anything, I have to be about the business of doing, learning, and improving at regular intervals.

2.)  Climb Slowly — Another way to say this (and my favorite) is, “Make Haste Slowly.” In other words, keep pressing forward. Keep progress ever before your minds’ eye, but all of our improvements must be small and/or certainly within our abilities. We have to know when we are ready to move our efforts up with minimal risk. Impatience is our nemesis.

3.)  Closed Mouthed Training — It is my personal “Maxim” to not talk to anybody (generally speaking) during my workouts. Time committed to training in order to forge a new and improved body needs to be used wisely. Remember! Our lives are precious and requires most our time to be allocated to the other important items related to home, family, work, church etc. Thus, we must be efficient during our workouts.  Also, people will “take” and will not give. They don’t “take” our time maliciously, but they do it innocently. Therefore, it is our responsibility to eliminate or minimize talking during our training time.

4.).  Consummate Effort — I own this house! This is MY house! Nobody works harder than I do. This is my attitude and this attitude transforms my training into maximal effort. If I look around the gym and I notice somebody else putting out greater energy in their training then I turn up my pace and effort. Nobody beats me.

These are my personal “Maxims” and If you too follow them you “WILL” progress. Give them a place in your  own “Rules” and let me know what you think and how they work.

Doug Graham

email: dgraham@pacificmedicalassets.com

I was recently talking (and listening) to my coach, Justin Dees about various aspects of the sport of bodybuilding.  He said, “in this sport, because we do not control so many aspects of the competition, we have only one objective.  To come to the stage each and every contest with a “BETTER YOU.”

This simple truth was liberating.  I, like many of our colleagues in the sport, think that if we don’t win or finish high in the judging we have failed or that we are not worthy to be part of the contest.  The psychological, emotional, and spiritual low that follows being “set aside” by the judges can be devastating and downright destructive.  When we take on the reality that we did not measure up, we make up excuses designed to make us feel better but none of which changes the outcome. We self-depricate and demean ourselves for not being more disciplined.  We blame the judges for bias and outright favoritism.  We create inside ourselves a narrative that supports a “VICTIM” mindset. Our personna becomes that poor wretched oppressed soul who was so severely wronged. Been there!  Done that! and I, for sure, Got the T-Shirt!  Ugggh!

This sport is about continuous improvement, advancement, holding our own and walking away with the greatest trophy God can bestow upon us here in this physical world—-the magnificent physique that we forge in the crucibles of training in the gym, proper dieting, proper supplementation, long arduous hours of aerobics, personal study of techniques and the sport, and daily posing.  Our trophy will be taken with us everywhere we go.  People will admire your trophy hundreds of times between shows as we pound it into the shape and appearance that will yield the best results.  We should never lose track of this gigantic perk.

Another great trophy is the courage it takes to be one of the elite who put in the hours and then put it all out there to be the best.  Somebody recently pointed out to me that of the thousands of men who would like to be on stage, I was one of the few who prepared and did it.  There is an old saying that is befitting to this situation and I repeate it often, “Some men die in BATTLE, some men go down in FLAMES, but most men perish in-by-inch, who play in little GAMES.”  This quote illustrates the necessity to become consummate professionals in our own right.  To be successful you have to decide that we are willing to “DO WHAT IT TAKES” to be successful.  “PLAYING IN LITTLE GAMES” only allows you to live a meaningless and dishonest life ending only in death with no lasting contribution to yourself, your family, and the world.

Lastly, the trophy of “BRINGING A BETTER YOU” to each contest.  This goal is all we have in this sport actually.  Nobody can do the work for you.  Nobody can generate the “WANT TO” inside you to make you get up in the morning and look forward to a life of absolute personal discipline aimed at self-mastery and improvement.  This odyssey is ours/mine alone.  Each day of traing (6 days per week) carves, shreds, etches, and shapes your body (trophy) into the masterpiece you desire.  Maybe you will win at the next show or maybe you will get blown away in the judging by others who simply out worked you or who were more genetically gifted than you.  In the final analysis I have four goals for each contest: 1.)  Be in the best shape of my life that night. 2.) Hold my own.  Be so good that I can be proud of my efforts in the midst of great men.  In short, be respected. 3.) Move up in the placement among my competitors. 4.)  Accomplish the small things that me and my coach, Justin Dees have agreed that I must be better at.

If I do these things then I am a winner.  I am “LIBERATED” in the sense that I have to worry about only me.  One day or many days there will be convergence and I willl win.  But, until then, I can enjoy the constant positive refinements that I make to my body and enjoy the multiple side benefits of knowing I am “MY BEST ME” always——and I’m bringing it to the next show.

I write these things also for your benefit.  Take from these lessons the cool stuff that will provide and way forward for your goals to be accomplished.

See you again real soon!  Remember!  THIS IS OUR TIME and we dare not squander them by living “below the level of mediocrity.”–John MacArtur.

My wife pushed me, prodded me, stretched me, recorded my every morsel of food, she picked my music, she endured countless boring posing sessions, she traveled with me—-and through it all, she remains my wife, lover, friend, and biggest fan. I could not have built a better companion for this unpredictable odyssey. Thank you sweetheart!

The Journey

Thought Life

As I have stated many times before,”the launch of any effort must start down deep inside. Sometimes hundreds of hours of daydreaming, fantasizing, planning, and silently outlining the requirements to accomplish your goal. I thought about moving my game to the next level nearly every second of every day. I was so focused on being a National competitor that even sleep began to escape me. Riveting obsession was the order of each of my days. My greatest desires were to be in the best shape of my life that night in Pittsburgh and I wanted to hold my own and prove that I deserved to be on stage with these great athletes from all over the USA. My conclusion: Nothing can compare to breathing the same rare air as these elite athletes —- just like I imagined!

Prepping with Patience

A year ago I took on one of the best coaches in the bodybuilding world, Justin Dees.  I told him excitedly that I wanted to compete in the Masters Nationals and I needed a coach that could help me get better so I could make the grade.  I was backstage when I approached him and he quietly gave me his card and said he would be willing to work with me.  He made no wild promises.  Just the soft response and the passing off of his business card to me.

During our first meeting he was very frank and to the point.  He did not know me or my body or my genetics so he could make no predictions.  He said whatever we accomplish would be together in a partnership.  We would go as far as we could with every aspect of bodybuilding and we would make adjustments as necessary. Quiet, focused, determination seemed to mark his character and his approach to winning.

First, Justin explained that the most basic thing that is required in bodybuilding is “muscle.”  If you don’t have enough muscle it doesn’t matter how cut, ripped, or shredded you are.  So, he put me on a very clean diet that was loaded with calories.  He wanted to get me to 200 lbs. and 10% body fat.  When I reached 200 lbs. my body fat was still hovering around 5%….At 210 lbs. I hit 10% body fat.  I started all this at about 173 lbs.  I had moved my lean body mass up from 167 lbs. to 190 lbs.  Each day, listening to the quiet instructions of the “coach.”  Mind you, I hung up these numbers in about 5 months.

Second, Justin made it clear that in order to be competitive I had to come in lean, hard, shredded.  I began my slow descent from 210 lbs. to 190 lbs. at about 14 weeks out from the Nationals 17 July 2015.  I still killed it on the weights but Justin was manipulating my diet and increasing my aerobics by 5-10 minutes per day each week.  Each week when being measured I thought it was test day.  I hated not making progress (which rarely happened).  I was getting leaner and leaner as the contest date kept approaching.

Third, Justin discovered that my posing was no where near what was going to be required in Pittsburgh.  He assumed I knew more than I did and I was waiting for him to show me how to do it right.  Suddenly, I had to learn what others had been working at for months in  about 4 weeks.  I worked and failed.  I worked and failed.  I worked and got a little better.  Finally, with just a few days to go Justin declared me ready.  What a relief this was to me since earlier he had told me that my posing sucked and that he was very concerned that I would not look very good on stage.  My little heart did the happy “pitter patter” when he told me I was ready, I looked good and that I might do some serious damage at the Nationals.

The Nationals

I won’t dwell on the event very much because there are so many contests ahead.  The experience was priceless and the friends I made will be forever. The waiting and prepping times provided some of the richest moments in my life to converse with the other competitors (did I mention that there were over 250 Masters Competitors) from all over the United States.  Many, if not all, were tremendous athletes somewhere in their previous lives.  It was like a gigantic conclave/gathering of athletic talent in one place to continue the competitive spirit that each of us possesses.  What a grand and wonderful time to be alive! I finished 6th in the Light Heavy Weight Division.

When we hit the stage it was over in a flash.  Back to our rooms.  Return for the evening show.  Collect trophies.  Off to eat and enjoy the great city of Pittsburgh.  What a cool place.  A little story comes to mind.  After the competition I ate two moderately heavy meals in the evening.  We went to bed late that same night.  The next morning I had lost 10 lbs.  I was flabbergasted and amazed.  That’s how fast my metabolism was burning and their was nothing to stop it’s effects over the short run.

Parting thoughts and plans.  I vow to be back and better than ever next year.  In the meantime, I will be competing in the Utah Show 15 August 2015.  I have kept myself lean and have continued to eat and train like I mean it.  My weight is back to 190 lbs. and my body fat is 3.7% which is up only slightly from 2.4% in Pittsburgh.  My coach has given me the green light for the next show in 9 days.  I am ready and will continue to prep, eat, pose, train, and take in the right supplements.

After this show, I will sit with my coach and we will outline the next year’s effort.

These thoughts are not necessarily cogent or connected well but they are mine and I share them with you with the hope they will inspire YOU to take everything you desire to the next level while you/I/we still can.

This is “OUR TIME” and we have to think, plan, prepare, act on our goals…..

Until next time, I remain,  Douglas E. Graham

Today is 7 July 2015.  That means that I have exactly 10 days until I step onto the stage in Pittsburgh, PA for the National Masters Bodybuilding Championships.  I believe I’m going to be in the best shape of my life and if I “POSE” well I will hold my own.  My coach, Justin Dees has been pushing me to be posing multiple times per day to make each move smooth and every transition seamless and all poses perfect. Justin, has set the bar very high for my physical conditioning and the look needed to excel on stage.  Each session with him is like a very quiet “ass kicking” to elevate my game and to put in the required work.  To all challenges I try to meet and exceed the expectations of my coach.

The days now are ones of personal desperation and focus in the gym.  The day of “CONTEST” is here.  Nothing is being left to chance.  The workload continues to go up.  The diet is strictly adhered to.  The supplements are never missed and neither are the meals. Rest is a requisite component but often sleep escapes me due to the anticipation of the Contest’s closeness on the calendar.  Nearly all of my waking thoughts are on my upcoming performance in Pittsburgh.  I “WILL” be in great shape.  I “WILL” pose well.  I “WILL” hold my own against some of the best in this country.

I’ve taken an entire year to prepare for this show.  My weight a year ago was 173 lbs. and my body fat going into the show was 5.2%,  This year I weigh 187 lbs. and my last body fat measurement found me at 4.5%.  This week I would like to drop my body fat percentage to 3.5%.  Thus, I stay the course that has brought me this far.  As hard as it is, there is no other way to attain the look needed to blow away the competition.

In the last year, my wife has been my faithful partner.  She trains with me.  She pushes me just by her presence in the gym.  She cooks for me and insists I don’t cheat when my coach Justin outlines a plan for eating.  Recently, it was discovered that I didn’t have sufficient range of motion in my hips to do the necessary twists during posing.  Justin, gave her instructions on how to increase my hip flexibility.  Boy, this woman is a Sadist.  She took the instructions seriously by stretching my hips and waist as I lay on the floor.  So hard did she push, pull and stretch me that through the pain my hips began to open up.  Now, when I pose and a twist is required, I can do it quite easily.  Thank you honey bun for the pain and now the success.  In addition to her obvious flare for inflicting pain on me, she also insists that I pose for her at least once per day so she can critique the posing and give her feedback.  Sometimes I am so tired that posing is the last thing on my mind.  However, no excuses are accepted and I always arise to pose for my precious wife.  In fact, she has sooo ingrained the posing routine on me that as soon as I finish this blog that ‘s what I will do though she is at work and cannot be here to watch.

This is it!  The Nationals and my blood is boiling with excitement.  I will be ok until I’m standing at the foot of the stairs awaiting my name to be called.  Heck, I’ll even make it through the pre-judging ok but the evening show which involves music is a bit different.  I will be posing to a rendition of “PHANTOM

OF THE OPERA”…I will have it perfect by the time I hit the stage but it’s still a bunch of stress for me.

This is a blog to catch you up.  Again!  This is OUR TIME.  We can attain anything with a solid want to, plannning, and tons of effort.  Wish me the best because at this level it is all uncharted waters for me.

See you on the other side

Doug

When you decide to do something in your life, it is amazing how easily you are derailed if you are not careful.  It seems as though all the things that need to be put aside or every temptation you have ever faced seems to crawl out of their holes to present themselves to you.  Now! is not the time to allow the ghouls that so easily distract us to rein supreme in our lives.

I have 10 weeks to go until the National Masters Bodybuilding Championships in Pittsburgh, PA.  I’m bearing down on all aspects of the prep including diet, supplements, aerobics, killing it on the weights, and soon I will begin posing for my coach.  Everything is on the table and nothing can be taken for granted.  I can tell you that there is a sense of urgency building inside me.  It causes me to train “with wreckless abandon” in the weight room.  All  exercises are taken to extremes that I have not experienced recently.  My hardest areas are my diet and the new mode of aerobics that Justin Dees has demanded of me.  The diet is tough because I am keeping track of all items eaten much more strictly and this requires obsession with getting enough of the right jet fuel to prepare to win.  It’s a special kind of craziness and obsession that a person would go through at any age of their lives.  The aerobics is the key to decreasing overall bodyfat and to provide superb conditioning to an already well-conditi0ned body.  Justin has me doing 30 minutes twice per day on the eliptical machine.  Each session is described as interval training….3 minutes relaxed walking alternating with 3 minutes of all out sprinting….Repeated over a 3 minute period.  On leg days, this interval training is nuts.  I went out and bought an eliptical machine for the home so I will always have access to it and I can do more if it’s required.

Ten weeks and the prep is on.  God, has brought me this far and He is going to have to take me home.  Everyday my mind is preoccupied with getting this body into shape to compete against some of the nations best.  This stretch is where the money is made.  Where the trophies are won.  Where the MAN in me emerges.  Thus, I keep my focus and I press forward toward the PRIZE.

Today, I weight 195 lbs and I am at 5.5% bodyfat.  I have dropped from 210 lbs and 10% bodyfat to my present status.  I have a long way to go and I intend to win.

Thanks to all of you who read this blog and encourage me to never quit and to keep at it.  You mean the world to me.

Foor all of us.  THIS IS OUR TIME!  Stay with your dream and continue the effort getting the dream under your belt.  The journey is as important as getting the prize.  So, get started and never give up the thing that needs your attention to accomplish.

Pictures in prep will begin to appear…..SOON!

Until Next Time!  Douglas E. Graham

My days begin with a sense of commitment and duty.  The sun at 4:45 AM hasn’t even begun to show itself and the temperature since October has been in the high teens or lower at this hour.  The warm covers are kicked back and the feet hit the carpeting in our bedroom.  A quick turn back to the bed where my wife rests quietly and the covers are placed  again around her body so she remains comfortable as I begin my day.  I turn to head downstairs for a breakfast of 10 eggs (2 whole eggs and 8 egg whites) and two slices of Ezekial bread.  Supplements are next followed by the donning of my workout clothes. A quick smooch to my wife’s forehead as she sleeps and I’m out the door to the gym.

It’s a shoulder day and the training is slow and intense.  Sweat pours easily over my face, chest, and arms and soon I’m peeling off my T-shirt down to my tank top.  As the workout continues I pick up the pace and the intensity with each rep.  The focus on technique becomes sharp.  The competition between body and will continues to see which one quits first.  Bodybuilders call this effort, “killin’ it.”

I end my session with 40 minutes of aerobics on an eliptical machine.  My coach, Justin Dees expects nothing less from me than my best always and I fully intend to give it to him. The respect he has garnered as a coach and competitor has my absolute commitment to excellence and effort.  I realize that there is no tomorrow if I don’t give it my all today.

Time is winding down to the date of my show in July 2015.  Show Prep begins in a couple of weeks and the training must, of necessity, become more difficult.  Laser attention to detail has to take over.  Justin, has already lectured me about my following his directions and guidance without any variance.  I am to call “NO” audibles in my diet, my supplements, my weight training, or my aerobics.  Weekly meetings with Justin to monitor my physical progress is on the calendar and I do not miss these sessions.

I walked you through this process to get to the point of this blog.  That being, that the grind and pain of preparing the body and mind for a contest can be overwhelming—if I let it overwhelm me.  The temptation to take the easy way out and not give the required preparation my full effort and attention is sometimes great.  I could cover up my laziness with great cover stories and excuses.  Nobody says I have to do all this, especially at my age, but I do.  The mantra “Keep Going” or “Don’t Stop” takes over when fatigue begins to take over.  The fact that there is no looking back permeates all that I do.  Justin, has driven into my head that if I want to win, I have to do the reps that others do not want to do because it hurts too much.

My biggest enemy is “INERTIA.” Allowing myself to take liberties with rest when I shouldn’t.  “INERTIA” rocks me to sleep by convincing me that it’s ok to think about something else when I ought to be concentrating on the task at hand.  “INERTIA” by definition, is “LAZINESS” in different clothes.  “INERTIA” breeds complacency and retards forward momentum.  “INERTIA” changes your vector to the winners circle.  “INERTIA” needs to be guarded against and reversed by sheer will power if that’s what it takes.  The demon that defeats the greatest of champions is often not on field of contest but on the field of preparation.  Paul “Bear” Bryant, Hall of Fame football coach from the University of Alabama once said, “Victory?  Everybody wants to win.  Victory and winning belongs to those who “PREPARE” to win.”

Bottom Line: “INERTIA” kills sound preparation and ultimately steals victory.

THIS IS OUR TIME!  —- SO WIN!

Until next time.

Douglas E. Graham

When someone that you deeply respect tells you something, you listen and you act.  Rarely do we walk away from such people without a resolution to “obey.”  This happened to me last June, 2014 when Jose Raymond “The Boston Mass” was introduced to me by my coach.  We had a very short and polite conversation in the gym as he worked out the afternoon prior to his guest posing stint that same evening at the Utah NPC Show in Provo, Utah.  I was thunderstuck with awe that such a great Champion as Jose Raymond would condescend to spend even one minute with me.  My coach arranged for us to cross paths at his gym and the experience is indelibly imprinted on my mind.

A PICTURE OF “THE BOSTON MASS”  JOSE RAYMOND (FINISHED 3rd IN THE 212 LBS. CLASS IN THE 2014 OLYMPIA IN LAS VEGAS, NV

We are exactly the same height but he is much larger and more shredded than I am.  The one feature that stuck out in my mind was how big his hands are compared to mine.  He clearly comes from heavy duty stock as I do but this one feature was different.  I learned that he turned pro around 2005 and only weighed 175 lbs.  This day he was 225 lbs of romping stomping muscle.  Oh how I drooled to have his dimensions and to be his kind of champion.I

The next meeting I had with him was at the show that evening.  He was pushing his sponsor’s product and signing autographs.  He willingly made himself available for a shot with both of us together and then he signed a photo of himself.  This photo of Jose and me together will be framed and will occupy a prominent place on my wall.  After we talked again for a couple of minutes he told me to, “Keep at it!”  He then went to his picture that he signed and added the same words below the signature.

What does all this mean to a guy like me or to a person like you?  Quite simply, when somebody sees real talent or promise in you they will say so.  When we hear these words we are under a covenant to say, thank you, think about them, and formulate a plan to comply.  Jose, didn’t just toss out an idle phrase to me.  He saw something and he encouraged me to continue. To pursue. To mature. To ultimately win.  Such is the case for all of us.

One of the hardest things for any of us to do is to simply say, THANK YOU, when somebody pays us a compliment.  Because of insecurity or poor self-image we never quite believe what the person complimenting us is saying.   It just can’t be true.  We nervously make excuses for not being better and sometimes we do not even say, THANK YOU which is a little insulting to the person providing the encouragement.

Next, because we don’telieve in ourselves we will often file the compliment away and do not give it another THOUGHT.  Afterall, they were just being nice but did not really believe what they just said about us. This is nuts! Believe it. The person extending the compliment did so sincerely and totally believes in US. We are our own worst enemy.

Because of the first two items above, we fail to ACT  on the compliment.  We do not take the time to work out a first class plan to fly higher and faster.  Our moment of opportunity to advance and improve gets squandered by our own self-doubt.

“Keep at it!”  I said thank you.  I’m constantly ruminating on how to improve.  My plans are in full swing.  The next time I see Jose, I want to be able to demonstrate my progress and maybe even provide a victory right in front of him.  This will be my chance to tell him how much he has impacted me at a very personal level.

The greatest motivation for me to “Keep at it” comes from my coach Justin Dees.  He is clear and concise in his expectation of me and my prep for the Nationals. He said to me one time, “I’ve never met anybody like you before.”  So, we have kept at it and I regard every moment of his tutelage to be precious as he gets to know my body genetically and physiologically.  He and I are going to “Keep at it” until Justin can dial me in for every contest with precision.  This sport is lonely and rigorous and is better stated to be a life style that requires all of me all the time.  I will win because I “Keep at it” without losing my focus on the prize.

In closing, let me push all of my colleagues and friends to “Keep at it” until you accomplish that for which you were born.  This is our time!  Do not squander your goals or your talents due to laziness or lack of belief in yourselves.

I’m an old guy but so what!

Until next time!

Douglas E. Graham

Hard is now!  I can see the next phase. Keeping on track is ABSOLUTELY required from this point forward and I need to dig in even more firmly.  My heart will go through many changes but despite these changes, determination and focus must be the order of the day.

Hard is subjective ranging from short bursts of self-doubt and sleeplessness to manic determination to push myself way beyond what is required in the gym.  Keeping these things under control and maintaining steadfast focus is paramount.  I am forever vigilant with self-monitoring and self-regulating activities.  The goal is to disallow feelings to rule the day!

Determination

Merriam Webster Defines Determination as: ” the firm or fixed intention to achieve a desired end”—this has to be the source of all energy to accomplish my end.  Nobody can instill this in me. Nobody can lend it to me. Nobody can open up my heart and sew it into place.  I alone, am responsible for DETERMINING what I want and to go about the task of achieving it.  I have a saying that I use to motivate me, “Nobody works harder than me.”  I use this mantra like a whip while I workout.  It’s in my genes, it is my ethic to work harder than my competition.  What I lack in natural gifts I make up for by finding other natural gifts of my own, applying them, and then willingly working until they are better than the natural gifts of my foes.  My Maxim: There is no substitute for Determination and the application of serious work to win!

When the fits of self-doubt begin to emerge and it begins to effect my attitude, which in turn changes my training, I have developed another little mantra that I recite to myself.  I say to myself over and over again, “KEEP GOING!, MOVE, PUSH, DON’T STOP”—By repeating these words before and during workouts there is a change of energy from LOW to HIGH.  I very easily remember why I am doing what I’m doing and it becomes obvious that there is no retreat and there is no failure.  I control all this with the intensity of the training I am engaged in.

Sleeplessness

There isn’t a person alive that does not experience sleeplessness once in awhile. Athletes, in particular, are prone to sleepless nights as they train and prepare for competition. When I have nights of sleeplessness and my energy is directly effected physiologically I push myself to do the workout as if my energy level is high.  I train between 5:30 AM and 6:00 AM 6 days per week for an hour and a half per workout.  I promise myself a nap later in the day as a sort of bribe to my body that is sleep deprived.  Sure as the sun rises in the East, I take about a 30 minute nap on those days after sleepless nights.  I am rejuvenated. A good night’s rest is ideal but when it is impossible do not slack during workouts and take time to nap.

My Eyes on the Prize

This has to be the thing that drives me forward.  I have to rivet my internal gaze on the reward for my efforts.  I’ve already decided that this prize is worth it and I am now executing the requirements to get it.  If this image in my mind begins to fade, so does my intensity and sense of purpose.  It’s NOW that I bring this image of my goal into sharp focus by meditating on it. Talking about it. Visualizing myself being handed the trophy and the handshake from the promoters that accompanies the receiving of the trophy.  This image must crowd out all other competing images.

Next month I begin my “show prep” that my coach, Justin Dees, says will last for 14 weeks. The prep will consist of training, dieting, posing, heavy sessions of aerobics and tons of assessing and correcting to win.  Justin says I will arrive on stage huge and shredded and ready to win.  Thus, my effort must be equal to the task and ultimately the goal. I dare not disappoint my maestro! 

My “Maestro” and Coach — Justin Dees!

I believe that I’ve got one of the best coaches in the sport.  He has brought me this far very fast and he will take me to the “Winner’s Circle”.  I believe that this 14 week show prep will be very hard and very instructive. Justin has entitled this effort “Operation Pro Card” which, for me is the ultimate accomplishment this year.

Hard

Hard is now due to my mental and emotional state.  This is no time to be absent from the body.  As in so many other challenges in my life, toughness and determination have to take over. There are no short cuts and the effort and winning belongs only to you.  It is lonely at times and it is obviously painful, so you have to learn to love the journey as well as the trophy.

So it is with anything in life that is worth the doing.  Be sure the goal is worth pursuing.  Be sure you want it badly enough to pay the price to get it.  Train/prepare to get that goal like there is no tomorrow.  Develop antidotes and nullifiers for anything that can derail you. Set your face like flint and settle for nothing less than your best.

Just because it’s HARD does not mean you QUIT.

Until next time

Douglas E. Graham