A Reflection of 2012

Okay guys, first and foremost I wanna say a HUGE happy new year to all my family, friends and fans who are reading this! I hope you all had a great end to 2012 and indulged a little. I’d also like to thank my family here at Bodybuilding Warehouse for being the best sponsors and supporters an athlete could ask for! We had a great time at Bodypower and SportEX weekends and I can’t wait to do it all again in 2013!

So I guess this means it’s that time again! The gym’s will be packed to the brims with the new year’s resolution dieters and trainers, all looking to get the body’s they desire in 2013…and let me tell ya people, I’m no different! After a little down time over Christmas and New year, I’m itching to get back into the gym to start my off season and put on quality size for this upcoming competitive season.

Me and the Wizard (my coach Nathan Harman) have put our heads together and have a lot of crazy ideas on how I am going to improve my physique this year to be bigger, rounder, fuller, and keep refining the muscle that I have. The good thing about only being 26 is that I’m a relative baby in this sport! Although it may seem that I’ve already achieved a great deal in this time, it’s the next five years or so when my body will really start to mature and change, and get very grainy and dense when dieted down. The thing that I noticed most onstage standing next to the other competitors is that I look very young. When I won the British at 24, my main competition came from guys in their mid 30’s and 40’s! When I say young, I mean my muscles still look young and do not have that hard, dense, grainy look as some of the other top guys. The reason for that is most of them are over 30, most closer to 40, and it shows. When you get older, not only do you put on new muscle but the older muscle gets more refined and dense, giving you that granite-like physique that you see onstage. This year is all about bringing up lagging body parts and refining the muscle that I have to look my all-time best onstage.

It’s hard as a bodybuilder, pro or amateur, to ask what you want to improve on because the only answer anyone should give is that you want to improve overall. I suspect if anyone asked Mr. Olympia Phil Heath what he wanted to focus on next year to ensure a third Sandow trophy he would say, “I want to be bigger, fuller and even more shredded than I was the previous year.” That’s what any champion’s mentality is, and it’s no different for me. Sure, I’ve never won the Mr. Olympia, but I have tasted victory as a British Champion and every time I step into the gym the thought of winning the Mr. Olympia title enters my mind and that’s what drives me every single day.

After looking at pictures and comparing myself to the best in the world, the MAIN focuses for the 2013 season will be a wider and thicker back, rounder, fuller shoulders, and bringing up my ham’s and calf’s, whilst bringing out as much detail in them as possible. From speaking with the Wizard, we decided that overall I just need to make sure during my pre-contest prep I put the finishing touches on my physique and make sure we dial me in perfectly, not overdieted and flat as was the mistake in the past . Last year, although I came into the British Championships unbelievably shredded, I was still missing something that I had the previous year. I was missing that 5% finishing touch; I was shredded but still holding a film, I was full but not full enough, we just need to figure out the last week to bring me in perfect, and I don’t doubt that will happen.

Well, Monday is here and later today I will walk into my hometown gym for the first time this year, and that will be the beginning of big things to come for me in 2013. Stay Focused, Never Give Up, keep it NASTY and always outwork everyone!!!