I got the official info on the competition for all of those wondering where, and when it is. I thought it was going to be in Rockford, but they moved it. It's still near Rockford, but it's actually a bit closer which is nice.
Grand Prix Natural Bodybuilding and figure championships
May 6, 2006
Belvidere HS Performing Arts Center
Belvidere Il.
Guest Poser Tricky Jackson New IFBB PRO
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Back For More
Well, I made my return to the gym this past Monday after another 2 weeks off. So far the joints are holding up ok. Today will be my first day working legs again, so we'll see how the knee holds up. Either way I'm going to just have to work through it, because I need to train 6 days a week from now until the show. I'm taking my glucosomine for my joints, and I'll just keep icing my knee when I can. I'm also working on keeping myself covered up more while working out. I overheat real easy, as I don't sweat for some reason. So with no sweat my body just builds up all this heat, and then I want to pass out. So I usually work out in a tank top, or cut off sleeve shirt. But this leaves my shoulders exposed and they cool down easily. So I'm going to start wearing a warm up shirt over my tanks to keep me warm. But I have already found that I need to regulate how much I wear it. Yesterday I was training back, and kept covered up. I was feeling a bit dizzy near the end of the workout, but was so close to finishing it that I just wanted to get through it. My keeping my shoulders warm was making for better sets too. I got through them but then when I was standing in the locker room afterwards talking to some of the guys, I started getting these heat rushes to my head, and thought for sure I was going to pass out. Those heat rushes left me with a headache the rest of the day. A smarter man, would have taken the warm up shirt OFF when he started feeling dizzy... especially considering it was right near the end of the workout. But... a lesson was learned.
So now I've got about 2 more weeks of regular training before I start dieting.
So now I've got about 2 more weeks of regular training before I start dieting.
Monday, January 16, 2006
Eating My Ass Off
I think I've been psyching myself out to a degree over this impending diet. I'm not really all that worried about my ability to do it, I'm just not looking forward to not being able to eat all the things I love. So I'm constantly having cravings now for everything. I really got an urge for KFC which at some point this week is going to have to happen. Today I had a bowl of cereal, 3 bananas, 2 chicken breasts, 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, a Marie Callendar spaghetti and garlic bread, and 2 hot dogs.
I'm just enjoying it all while I still can.
I'm just enjoying it all while I still can.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Tommy Else: Wrestler
People ask me all the time why I don't become a professional wrestler...
With all of the time I've spent watching it, analyzing it, learning the business... I suppose it seems like a natural assumption that I'd like to participate in it. The fact of the matter is, I would love nothing more than to be apart of it. The reality of the situation is that I'm too old to just start breaking into it on a professional level. Most competitors who are breaking into the business are between the ages of 18 & 24, and they have some level of High School or Collegiate sports experience under their belt. I don't even have that. I've never done anything but lift weights since I was 15.
Regardless, I do think about it quite a bit. For all the love & desire I have for it, it would seem a shame if I lived my whole life and never did get to step into the squared circle at some point. Like I said, to be any sort of professional is an opportunity that has passed me by, but I'd still live to throw on some tights and get in the ring, even if it were in front of 50 people.
With that in mind, I've been thinking...
After I've finished this bodybuilding competition, and I can get settled in my new job, I'd like to start looking into wrestling schools. I'd like if nothing else to learn how to wrestle. I want to learn arm drags, suplexes, submissions... And then possibly get to compete locally. If only for a short while. I don't see it being something I'd do long term unless I somehow found that I was a natural for it, but I doubt it.
Like I said, it just seems like it would be a shame if I lived my whole life as a spectator for something that I love, and never tried to do it myself even once. You never know until you try. I'd rather try and fail, then have never tried at all. If nothing else I'm sure I'd walk away with an even greater respect, and understanding for the business than I already have.
I've always had, and even more so in the past few years, a fatalistic sense of destiny. I just have this feeling that I'm not going to live a very long life. I may have another 20 years at best, but I have a hard time seeing myself making it past that. I hope I'm wrong, but I just have a bad feeling about it. Just under 5 years ago I suffered through some events, that I feel like stunted my life in a way... and literally sucked half of my life out of me. Like someone cracked the hourglass, and now it's all spilling out slowly but surely.
The one upside to this haunting feeling, is it has pushed me to start enjoying each day I have, enjoy each moment I spend with friends and family, and strive to do all the things I'd like to do in my life. My Father has always strived to do all of the things that he wants to in his life, and I've always respected that. He's competed in bodybuilding, he took up scuba diving and swam with the sharks, he ran the Chicago Marathon, he competed in 2 Iron Man Triathalons, he's learning how to play piano, and taking up golf. Not to mention all the places he's travelled. I think he has the right mentallity, and I'm trying to follow the same, and do all the things I want to in my life, and not waste a minute getting there. People like to assume that they'll have time later in their lives to do things, well I'm happy to just wake up and be alive each day, so I'm trying to do as much as I can now, to do all that I want.
So before it's all said and done, Tommy Else WILL step into the squared circle and compete.
With all of the time I've spent watching it, analyzing it, learning the business... I suppose it seems like a natural assumption that I'd like to participate in it. The fact of the matter is, I would love nothing more than to be apart of it. The reality of the situation is that I'm too old to just start breaking into it on a professional level. Most competitors who are breaking into the business are between the ages of 18 & 24, and they have some level of High School or Collegiate sports experience under their belt. I don't even have that. I've never done anything but lift weights since I was 15.
Regardless, I do think about it quite a bit. For all the love & desire I have for it, it would seem a shame if I lived my whole life and never did get to step into the squared circle at some point. Like I said, to be any sort of professional is an opportunity that has passed me by, but I'd still live to throw on some tights and get in the ring, even if it were in front of 50 people.
With that in mind, I've been thinking...
After I've finished this bodybuilding competition, and I can get settled in my new job, I'd like to start looking into wrestling schools. I'd like if nothing else to learn how to wrestle. I want to learn arm drags, suplexes, submissions... And then possibly get to compete locally. If only for a short while. I don't see it being something I'd do long term unless I somehow found that I was a natural for it, but I doubt it.
Like I said, it just seems like it would be a shame if I lived my whole life as a spectator for something that I love, and never tried to do it myself even once. You never know until you try. I'd rather try and fail, then have never tried at all. If nothing else I'm sure I'd walk away with an even greater respect, and understanding for the business than I already have.
I've always had, and even more so in the past few years, a fatalistic sense of destiny. I just have this feeling that I'm not going to live a very long life. I may have another 20 years at best, but I have a hard time seeing myself making it past that. I hope I'm wrong, but I just have a bad feeling about it. Just under 5 years ago I suffered through some events, that I feel like stunted my life in a way... and literally sucked half of my life out of me. Like someone cracked the hourglass, and now it's all spilling out slowly but surely.
The one upside to this haunting feeling, is it has pushed me to start enjoying each day I have, enjoy each moment I spend with friends and family, and strive to do all the things I'd like to do in my life. My Father has always strived to do all of the things that he wants to in his life, and I've always respected that. He's competed in bodybuilding, he took up scuba diving and swam with the sharks, he ran the Chicago Marathon, he competed in 2 Iron Man Triathalons, he's learning how to play piano, and taking up golf. Not to mention all the places he's travelled. I think he has the right mentallity, and I'm trying to follow the same, and do all the things I want to in my life, and not waste a minute getting there. People like to assume that they'll have time later in their lives to do things, well I'm happy to just wake up and be alive each day, so I'm trying to do as much as I can now, to do all that I want.
So before it's all said and done, Tommy Else WILL step into the squared circle and compete.
Thursday, January 12, 2006
More Time Off
Well, I attempted to return to the gym this week with poor results. My shoulder was a little better, but was still acting up. Same with my elbow. But my right knee is the biggest issue. It hurts as only an injured knee does. I wouldn't go so far as to say it's injured, but it's severely worn. I can feel it just walking, let alone if I put any additional weight on it other than my own. A bum knee means a few things for me at this point. Without a healthy functioning knee, not only can I not train legs, but I can't do any cardio on it. Which in about 3 more weeks will be the majority of my time in the gym.
So, I'm taking off the rest of this week entirely. To allow my shoulder, and elbow to heal even more, and allow my knee as much rest and recoup as possible. Using my knee wraps, I'm wrapping ice packs around it on and off all day, every day. I'll continue to take my glucosomine to help heal the joints. If I can get it into some kind of reasonable working condition, then all the time off, and time lost in the gym will be worth it. Because, if I were to go in and push it right now, I'd risk officially injuring it, and then be out of the competition all together. Hopefully this will all just be a minor setback I'll look back on as something I overcame to get me to the show. I'm not too worried, just a little frustrated.
So, I'm taking off the rest of this week entirely. To allow my shoulder, and elbow to heal even more, and allow my knee as much rest and recoup as possible. Using my knee wraps, I'm wrapping ice packs around it on and off all day, every day. I'll continue to take my glucosomine to help heal the joints. If I can get it into some kind of reasonable working condition, then all the time off, and time lost in the gym will be worth it. Because, if I were to go in and push it right now, I'd risk officially injuring it, and then be out of the competition all together. Hopefully this will all just be a minor setback I'll look back on as something I overcame to get me to the show. I'm not too worried, just a little frustrated.
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
Finkler's Redemption
For the longest time Steve Finkler and I have had a bit of rivalry over WWE Superstar Kurt Angle...
Since the beginning when I started watching wrestling I've always respected Kurt Angle. For those who don't know, Kurt is a legitimate Olympic hero, having won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta Georgia in freestyle wrestling in the 220lb. class. To watch him wrestle is to watch an artist at work. He is perfect. He moves with fluidity, and grace.
His character in the WWE is the arrogant asshole who is a gold medalist, who can't pass up the opportunity to tell others about it, and insists that he is everyone's Olympic hero. He claims to live by his three "I's"... Intelligence, Integrity, and Intensity. The last "I" is the only thing he lives true to. Otherwise, his character is the most underhanded, perverse, classless superstar in the WWE.
For some reason, Steve really attached himself to Angle, and one day I must have made some negative comment about him, and Steve jumped all over my ass about it. This was 4 years ago. He insisted that at some point I was a big Angle supporter, which I don't particularly remember, but he insists it's true, and ever since he's been pushing me to get back into Angle. Like I said, I have nothing but respect for Kurt Angle. I'd say he's one of the top 5 superstars in the WWE today. I'm thoroughly entertained by him. But for the sake of argument, I've fought Steve on this Angle thing since he brought it up. Angle makes it easy for me, as he's always pulling some classless act such as demanding to have sex with someone's wife, or engaging in beastiality. So it's not too hard to fight Steve on his claim of Angle's greatness. Angle's win/loss record also works in my favor. As great as a wrestler as Angle is, he ultimately loses about 98% of his matches. He manages to win the really big ones that matter the most, but week to week usually screws himself, by trying to cheat and it backfiring on him. I'm hardly the only one who isn't pulling for Angle. For the past 4 years Kurt Angle has not ONCE been able to come down to the ring to compete without the entire crowd chanting in beat with his entrance music, "YOU SUCK!" Like me, everyone one of those people respect the shit out of Kurt Angle. It's just part of his character, and it's fun for the fans.
Every title match Angle competes in is very tense for Steve and I now. Neither of us usually have a vested interest in any match in particular, but somehow our pride has now been put on the line everytime Angle competes for the title. Like I said, Angle's win/loss record works in my favor more often than not. Just this past Sunday, Angle competed in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. Deep down, I had a feeling Angle was going to win it. I even called it, and admitted it to Steve before the match. Miraculously Angle was the FIRST guy to be eliminated. The whole bar erupted in celebration, chanting ANGLE SUCKS!!!
I have enjoyed many a celebration over Kurt Angle's losses. Poor Steve, I think has taken this a little too personally sometimes. It's really all in good fun. I think it's just frustrating for him to be on the losing end so often. I am a bit rough on him though. I rarely pass up an opportunity to rip on Angle, or accuse Steve and Angle of being lovers. Everytime Angle has a title shot I wear a shirt Holly helped me make that says "Angle Sucks!". (Which I incidentally have gotten many compliments on at the bars we're at for the PPV's). For Steve's birthday, I got him a shirt that said, "I took it in the ass from Kurt Angle, and all I got was this lousy shirt!"
This morning as I was having my morning coffee, checking WWE.com for the latest updates as I usually do... They announced that at the taping for Smackdown last night, which will air this Friday night, The World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, was stripped of the title due to injuries that will not allow him to compete for 6 - 9 months. With the title vacated, a battle royal was held to determine a new champion.
In an unprecedented turn of events, Kurt Angle who is NOT on the Smackdown roster, but is from RAW, was somehow allowed into the battle royal and WON The World Heavyweight Championship!
Unfuckingbelievable!
Like I said, this won't air until Friday and currently Steve knows nothing of it. I'm not going to tell him. I was planning on skipping going to his place this Friday night for Smackdown to do other things, but now I have an obligation to be there. I owe it to Steve to be there in person, so that he may revel in this rare victory. I have rubbed Angle's losses in his face for 4 fucking years. This Friday night, will be a HUGE night for Steve Finkler. So I'm canceling my plans, and I'm going over there to take my lumps like a man.
All I can say is that I hope Angle holds onto that title until Wrestlemania 22, so that I may be there in person to watch him lose it!
ANGLE SUCKS!!!
Since the beginning when I started watching wrestling I've always respected Kurt Angle. For those who don't know, Kurt is a legitimate Olympic hero, having won a gold medal at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta Georgia in freestyle wrestling in the 220lb. class. To watch him wrestle is to watch an artist at work. He is perfect. He moves with fluidity, and grace.
His character in the WWE is the arrogant asshole who is a gold medalist, who can't pass up the opportunity to tell others about it, and insists that he is everyone's Olympic hero. He claims to live by his three "I's"... Intelligence, Integrity, and Intensity. The last "I" is the only thing he lives true to. Otherwise, his character is the most underhanded, perverse, classless superstar in the WWE.
For some reason, Steve really attached himself to Angle, and one day I must have made some negative comment about him, and Steve jumped all over my ass about it. This was 4 years ago. He insisted that at some point I was a big Angle supporter, which I don't particularly remember, but he insists it's true, and ever since he's been pushing me to get back into Angle. Like I said, I have nothing but respect for Kurt Angle. I'd say he's one of the top 5 superstars in the WWE today. I'm thoroughly entertained by him. But for the sake of argument, I've fought Steve on this Angle thing since he brought it up. Angle makes it easy for me, as he's always pulling some classless act such as demanding to have sex with someone's wife, or engaging in beastiality. So it's not too hard to fight Steve on his claim of Angle's greatness. Angle's win/loss record also works in my favor. As great as a wrestler as Angle is, he ultimately loses about 98% of his matches. He manages to win the really big ones that matter the most, but week to week usually screws himself, by trying to cheat and it backfiring on him. I'm hardly the only one who isn't pulling for Angle. For the past 4 years Kurt Angle has not ONCE been able to come down to the ring to compete without the entire crowd chanting in beat with his entrance music, "YOU SUCK!" Like me, everyone one of those people respect the shit out of Kurt Angle. It's just part of his character, and it's fun for the fans.
Every title match Angle competes in is very tense for Steve and I now. Neither of us usually have a vested interest in any match in particular, but somehow our pride has now been put on the line everytime Angle competes for the title. Like I said, Angle's win/loss record works in my favor more often than not. Just this past Sunday, Angle competed in an Elimination Chamber match for the WWE Championship. Deep down, I had a feeling Angle was going to win it. I even called it, and admitted it to Steve before the match. Miraculously Angle was the FIRST guy to be eliminated. The whole bar erupted in celebration, chanting ANGLE SUCKS!!!
I have enjoyed many a celebration over Kurt Angle's losses. Poor Steve, I think has taken this a little too personally sometimes. It's really all in good fun. I think it's just frustrating for him to be on the losing end so often. I am a bit rough on him though. I rarely pass up an opportunity to rip on Angle, or accuse Steve and Angle of being lovers. Everytime Angle has a title shot I wear a shirt Holly helped me make that says "Angle Sucks!". (Which I incidentally have gotten many compliments on at the bars we're at for the PPV's). For Steve's birthday, I got him a shirt that said, "I took it in the ass from Kurt Angle, and all I got was this lousy shirt!"
This morning as I was having my morning coffee, checking WWE.com for the latest updates as I usually do... They announced that at the taping for Smackdown last night, which will air this Friday night, The World Heavyweight Champion, Batista, was stripped of the title due to injuries that will not allow him to compete for 6 - 9 months. With the title vacated, a battle royal was held to determine a new champion.
In an unprecedented turn of events, Kurt Angle who is NOT on the Smackdown roster, but is from RAW, was somehow allowed into the battle royal and WON The World Heavyweight Championship!
Unfuckingbelievable!
Like I said, this won't air until Friday and currently Steve knows nothing of it. I'm not going to tell him. I was planning on skipping going to his place this Friday night for Smackdown to do other things, but now I have an obligation to be there. I owe it to Steve to be there in person, so that he may revel in this rare victory. I have rubbed Angle's losses in his face for 4 fucking years. This Friday night, will be a HUGE night for Steve Finkler. So I'm canceling my plans, and I'm going over there to take my lumps like a man.
All I can say is that I hope Angle holds onto that title until Wrestlemania 22, so that I may be there in person to watch him lose it!
ANGLE SUCKS!!!
Thursday, January 5, 2006
Time Off
Well, I'm falling apart...
I'm forcing myself to take the next week off entirely from the gym. I've been going just about non-stop with heavy lifting, 6 days a week, since July. With the exception of my week in Florida. Which I came back from strong, feeling great... which you'd think would be a sign.
My right side of my body has been giving out on me lately. My right shoulder failed me entirely the other day when I was benching, my right elbow has been in pain, my right knee has been hurting a lot... my joints are getting sick of all this shit. The thing that sucks is that I really only have a few more weeks of heavy lifting to go, I wish I could have made it a few more weeks before having to ease up, because I would have had to anyway. I'll soon be changing my workouts from heavy weight and low reps, to lighter weight and high reps. But this is a necessary rest, otherwise I risk injury, which will fuck me in the big picture.
Allowing myself rest time has always been a problem for me. It's a mental thing. I feel like if I'm not in the gym training, I'm wasting time. But the fact is that your body cannot grow, if you do not allow it the time, and rest to. I know this, I'm very well aware of this, yet I cannot seem to keep my ass out of the gym. It becomes such a part of your daily routine, that you don't feel right if you haven't done it. Regardless, I need to allow myself some time to rest, heal, and grow. So for the rest of the week I'm staying out of the gym entirely and taking the time to work on other projects in my life, that I otherwise wouldn't have the time for.
Through out the week, I'll continue to maintain my creatine levels, my protein intake, and am adding glucosomine into the mix in an effort to repair my worn joints.
I'll return next week, and I'll take it easy. I'll ease my way back into things, and when I feel I can take the heavy weight again, I'll be all over it. But like I said, I'll be changing things up soon anyway.
I'm forcing myself to take the next week off entirely from the gym. I've been going just about non-stop with heavy lifting, 6 days a week, since July. With the exception of my week in Florida. Which I came back from strong, feeling great... which you'd think would be a sign.
My right side of my body has been giving out on me lately. My right shoulder failed me entirely the other day when I was benching, my right elbow has been in pain, my right knee has been hurting a lot... my joints are getting sick of all this shit. The thing that sucks is that I really only have a few more weeks of heavy lifting to go, I wish I could have made it a few more weeks before having to ease up, because I would have had to anyway. I'll soon be changing my workouts from heavy weight and low reps, to lighter weight and high reps. But this is a necessary rest, otherwise I risk injury, which will fuck me in the big picture.
Allowing myself rest time has always been a problem for me. It's a mental thing. I feel like if I'm not in the gym training, I'm wasting time. But the fact is that your body cannot grow, if you do not allow it the time, and rest to. I know this, I'm very well aware of this, yet I cannot seem to keep my ass out of the gym. It becomes such a part of your daily routine, that you don't feel right if you haven't done it. Regardless, I need to allow myself some time to rest, heal, and grow. So for the rest of the week I'm staying out of the gym entirely and taking the time to work on other projects in my life, that I otherwise wouldn't have the time for.
Through out the week, I'll continue to maintain my creatine levels, my protein intake, and am adding glucosomine into the mix in an effort to repair my worn joints.
I'll return next week, and I'll take it easy. I'll ease my way back into things, and when I feel I can take the heavy weight again, I'll be all over it. But like I said, I'll be changing things up soon anyway.
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