Last year I participated in my first ever Physique Show.

I like to say that a Physique Show is a bodybuilding show for dudes that don’t have muscles. Truthfully though the judging is not so much on how muscular you are but rather on overall symmetry and physique… think more Abercrombie & Fitch dudes than Arnold Schwarznegger type dudes.

I enjoyed the process so much that I’m doing it again this year. There have been a few differences since last year though.

Last year I was “show ready” two weeks before the actual show. That meant that I basically had to eat and exercise for maintenance for the two weeks leading up to the show.

This year I won’t be show ready two weeks ahead of time! I’ll be ready by show time but it’ll take every day up til then to be fully prepared. There are a couple of reasons for this:

• Physically: I hurt my shoulder in July and that set my training back a bit. It’s hard to work out when the upper half of the body can’t work! Well… it really can but the injury got into my head and I let it take me out of the game for a while.
• Psychologically: I was arrogant. See, last year I was ready two weeks early. I thought I could cruise into this year like I did last year. I thought I could get away with a few “cheats” on my meals (e.g. a handful of chocolate chips here… a bowl of ice cream there…). Guess what! Pride comes before the treadmill! My early pride led to my last minute butt-busting work to be ready for show time!

As I reflect on this journey a few things come to mind:

• I really want some cake.
• I have a really skinny head without that extra weight!
• Pride DOES come before the fall… or as I like to say, “pride comes before extra cardio.”
• “Mental” is usually the hardest part of any endeavor. Physically I am hungry, tired, and sore. The physical stress though is nothing compared to the mental stress of showing up even when I’d rather hide. I have to be a husband, father, pastor, personal trainer, and all-round good guy on the outside even when on the inside I’m a snarling, ravenous beast. Controlling me is the hardest part of this process, but ironically it is also the most rewarding! Controlling my attitude is harder but more rewarding than controlling my body.
• I expect that I will do this again… and again… and again. I think I’d like to be an old man still doing these shows.
• It’s not the day of the show that brings so much fulfillment as it is the process that led to the show. Knowing that I am stronger than my strongest urges is an empowering feeling.

Since doing the show last year I have become convinced that everyone should have some kind of physical goal. It arrests your attention, empowers your mind, gives you reason for physical discipline, and has an incredible crossover affect that impacts the rest of your life!

As of today I have NINETEEN days to go, or as I think of it… Nineteen days til cake! 😉