Sunday, May 7, 2006

I DID IT!!!


It's all over!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did it! I placed 3rd in the Novice Light Heavyweight Class, and took 5th in the Light Heavyweight Open class. I couldn't be happier with my placings. I thought the judges decisions were very fair, and maybe even a little generous in the Novice class. I never thought I'd have walked out with a 3rd place trophy. I have a very hectic few days coming up on me now, but as soon as time permits I will write a detailed account of the whole day here. I just wanted to post the results. I'll have lots and lots more pictures as well.

I would like to take a moment to thank the following people who came out and lent their support. It meant more to me than you could ever know.


Thank you to...


Rizzi Bolur
Rick Bach
Steve Finkler

Mike Else
Ian Hoffman
Lauren Hoffman

My Mother
My Father
My Stepmother Andrea
Neil Miller

And of course Holly, who has put up with more shit in the course of this whole process than anyone. Her patience, encouragement, and love made this possible.


I'd also like to make another special mention to my Father, who helped me through every single step of this process, and was there for me every step of the way. I literally would not have been able to do it at all without him.

Friday, May 5, 2006

Well, This Is It!

Alright! Here we go!

I have one more meal this evening... my last batch of turkey burgers. My next meal will be real food again. My water cuts off at 7pm this evening. Then I'm dry until after pre-judging tomorrow. Then I get a little water, just to keep from passing out.

Neil rolls into town in a few hours, and Holly will be here soon. My Father comes by in an hour and a half to apply the second coat of Pro Tan. Then I just dry off, relax, and try to get as much sleep as I can.

This will be my last post until after the show. I will post again with pictures, and the results as soon as I can.

Thank you to all of those who are going to come out and lend your support. Your presence means the world to me.

Now it's time to go and do a bodybuilding competition!

Larry Weiss

This is a very important dedication...


I have planned on writing this since I decided to compete, and on this the eve of my competition I feel it's time.

Several people have asked me about this picture up in my place.

This is Larry Weiss.

Larry is very heavily responsible for my interest in working out, and bodybuilding. Not to take away from my parents by any means, as they were both a huge influence on me. Going to see my Father compete was my initial inspiration into bodybuilding and something I've always been proud of him for doing...

Larry was instrumental in getting me on the road there myself.

Larry was good friends with my Father, they even lived together for a period of time. He was responsible for encouraging my Father to begin his bodybuilding career. He was an ex-vietnam vet, and a very knowledgeable bodybuilder. He had more trophies than anyone I've met to this day. His room was just crammed with them. Larry was the guy in the gym who everyone was always asking for advice from. He was a very cool tempered man, who was clearly at peace with himself and the world around him. He lived each day to the fullest, and had fun in everything he did. I don't know if he ever went more than a minute without smiling or laughing.

A laugh I can still hear to this day.

When I was in high school and decided to start working out, Larry took me under his wing. Larry would go into the gym, train for 2 hours, then I'd show up, and then he'd train me for 2 hours, and then he'd hang out for another few hours. He was the epidimy of a gym rat. He loved to be there.

Larry drilled the importance of proper form into me from day one. He would not let me lift any kind of signifcant weight unless I could execute the movement properly. He would always tell me, "learn to do it properly, and the weight will come." Larry was right.

I am often accused of being on steroids or growth hormones due to the results I've gotten from my workouts. The reality is that the results I have gotten are soley due to the fact that I was taught to do everything right, right from the beginning. So my workouts garner the maximum results. Not to mention, Larry would have never approved of steroids, or HGH. Larry taught me not only proper form, but the importance in how to organize and plan effective workouts.

Larry was an unending well of support and encouragement, not only in bodybuilding but in life.

He knew I had a hard time in school, and didn't always have the best relations with my folks. Larry was sympathetic, and encouraging to me. He tried to build confidence and strength of mind in me, as well as strength of body. Back in high school, when Regal Begal Productions was in full swing, and we were making the movies and newsletter, he loved it. He was a big fan.

He, my Father and I went on motorcycle trips often. Larry loved to ride, and had a Honda Goldwing that had more lights on it than a Vegas casino. He was also rarely seen without some crazy hat on, and you rarely saw the same one twice.

That was Larry.

I'll never forget a trip my Father and I took with Larry, and one night after dinner we were in our hotel room, and he had me laughing so hard I puked. It's actually one of my fondest memories of him outside of the gym.

Larry had a radience to him that everyone around him felt. Just being around him put you in a good mood. So much that he was approached about doing a public access workout television show, which he innevitably entitled, "Let's Workout", as that's what you'd often hear Larry suggest. I was fortunate enough, and honored to have been a guest on his show when he did an episode focusing on bicep movements. Larry was always impressed with the shape, and peaks on my biceps.


One of my favorite moments on that show, was when we demonstrated "buddy curls". This was something Larry and I did in our own workouts with one another often. I loved doing them. One person holds an empty EZ curl bar, while the other person provides the resistance for one intense all out, balls to the wall rep. I asked him if we could include it in the show since I loved it so much, and he didn't bat an eye. We did it.


Larry pushed me more than anyone ever has in any workout I've ever had. Larry had me leg pressing almost 900lbs at one point. He'd put me on the leg extension machine, and would have me do drop sets pulling the pin one weight at a time for the whole stack. My quads would be on absolute fire, and they literally buckled out from under me on several occasions... and I loved every single second of it. I have yet to have a workout to this day that even compared to the ones I'd have with Larry every single day after school and on the weekends.

Without the time I spent with Larry, and the knowledge and confidence he instilled in me, I would not be sitting here pro-tanned and less than 24 hours from competing in my first bodybuilding competition. He wanted me to compete in the teen division back when I was 18. Which is something in retrospect I wish I had done. All of the things I learned from him have not only benefited me in my own workouts, but have allowed me to excel in my career as a personal trainer. Something else that I would never have aspired to be had I not had the greatest personal trainer ever.


Post high school, when I was supporting myself working 60 hour weeks I couldn't work out anymore, and had lost touch with Larry. I wish I hadn't.

A few years back, Larry was diagnosed with cancer. He was gone within 6 weeks. It all happened so fast, and so few people knew about it that I didn't even hear about it until he had already died, and was buried. Larry was given a military burial ceremony. I was devestated when I heard the news. The thought of never getting to train with him again, go on a trip... see him eat 3 dinners at once... it broke my heart that I never got to say good bye, or even more importantly... thank you.

Last Father's day, my Father and I visited Larry's grave for the first time. It was very difficult for me to stand there and see his name on that headstone. But it is a very beautiful military cemetary. I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen my father cry in my life. That day standing there with him over Larry's grave was one of them. My Father is not a very outwardly emotional man, but he won't hesitate for a second to tell you how great of a friend, and how important Larry was to him.

He was that special.

In wrestling there is a tradition. When a tag-team partner, or fellow wrestler dies, you honor their memory by writing their initials on the tape around your wrists. While I don't have to tape my wrists during my workouts I do often use wrist wraps for chin-ups, shrugs etc. LW has been written on them since I got the news. They are the very same wristwraps I've used since Larry and I trained together almost 10 years ago.

Now, when I'm in the gym and in my last few reps of a set, and need to push myself through them, I just hear his voice in my head cheering me on telling me to push, and it gets me through it. He's still coaching me in that way.

In the wake of his passing, I refused to perform buddy curls with anyone. That was our thing. In time, I allowed myself to finally break down and do them with some of my clients... to honor his memory. I know he'd want me to, rather than go the rest of my life and never do those again. But there isn't a single time I do those and just wish more than anything that he was on the other end of that bar.

There are very few friends of mine who ever had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Larry Weiss, but the ones who did always had great things to say about him. Even then people knew what he meant to me.

Back in the day when you were called on stage to do your routine, the announcer would usually thank a short list of people for you if you'd like. This apparently doesn't happen anymore, which is unfortunate, as I would have very much liked to have acknowledged Larry Weiss.

Since the day I decided to do this, I knew I wanted to dedicate my competiton to Larry.

Tomorrow night I will be honored and priveledged to have Larry's eldest son Grant in attendance to support me. It means the absolute world to me that he'll be there.

When I take the stage tomorrow evening I will perform my 1 minute routine, and at the conclusion I will point straight up to the heavans... that is me thanking Larry.

As I've sat here writing this I'm ruining the pro-tan on my face as I am streaking it up with tears.


To Larry:

Thank you SO much for your time, your patience, your smile, your caring, your understanding, and your love. Not a workout goes by that you are not in my thoughts. I'm sorry I never got to thank you while you were with us, and that I never got to say good bye. I know you will be there with me in spirit when I take the stage tomorrow night, and I dedicate all of my efforts for this show to you.

If there is a heaven, then I will see you there... and we will do some buddy curls.

I love you and miss you,

Tommy

The Day Before The Show

This will be my last day of posts until after the show.

I had so much momentum going into this weekend, until I had everyone who said they were coming, bail out on me. Now it has really taken the wind out of my sails, which sucks to have this happen the day before the show. I was doing so good up until this.

Granted, my emotions are very fragile presently due to the diet, the drop in water, and everything else that comes along with the conclusion of this whole process. I had a hard time sleeping last night, because I've just been feeling depressed ever since I was flooded with e-mails and voicemails of EVERYONE cancelling.

This is such a big deal to me... I don't know...

I really don't want to take away from how much I appreciate those who ARE coming out to support me. If anything my appreciation for their presence has only been amplified a thousand times now.

You have to understand that at a bodybuilding competition, you NEED to have as big of a cheering section as you can. You need to be able to feed off the crowd, and short of the people who have come out specifically for you, there won't be anyone else cheering or screaming for you. Most people in the audience are there to see the person they came out to support and that's it. Depending on when their person finally hits the stage, the crowd may have had to sit through 50 posing routines already, and are just straight up tired or bored.

Well, anyway...

On the brighter side of things, today is indeed the last day before the competition. This will be my last day of eating turkey burgers, my last day of drinking nothing but water. Granted, tomorrow I won't be eating or drinking anything, but the next time I do I will be able to have whatever I want.

This is one of those times of reflection. Like your last day of school, or your last day at a job...

10 Months ago I decided to finally do this competition. I had several people all telling me that I should compete. I never thought I'd have anything to offer in a bodybuilding competition, and being aware of the politics involved in such a competition, I had avoided it.

The night that finally pushed me over the edge that made me decide to do this, was a party at Tree's. I still remember it perfectly. I was standing outside having drinks and talking with Dan & Mash, and they both were on me about doing a show. Up until this point, I felt like when most people suggested me competing, they were simply trying to be complimentary and that was it. I knew if Mash and Dan, were insistent that it was a good idea, then they weren't bullshitting me and they really felt I should do it. I respect them, and so if they say I should do it then that was that. The next morning I was at the gym working out, and that conversation with them kept running over and over in my head. That day I decided I was going to do it.

So here we are... 10 months later, 45lbs lighter, and 1 day out from the competition. Unfortunately neither of the gentlemen who inspired me to finally do this will be in attendance, but my appreciation for their encouragement remains great.

Thank you to both Dan & Mash, for making me believe in myself enough to go through this whole process and accomplish this goal. I miss you both.

Thursday, May 4, 2006

1st Coat Of Pro-Tan


Well, I'm sitting here naked... waiting for the first coat of pro-tan to dry. I'll get a second coat tomorrow evening, and then the last one the morning of the show. It's messy stuff, and it's wierd to be painted up like this... but this is all part of the deal.

Getting It Over With

Well, I just found out that I will most likely go up early in the show. The Novice class is one of two classes I'm competing in, and is the first one up. I'm also in the light-heavyweight open, but you only do your routine once. So unless I somehow place in the top 5 of the open, I won't have to go up again. So I'm glad I'm going to get to just get up there and hit it.

I'm excited, and looking forward to it all.

Last Workout Before The Show

Well, I just had my last workout before the show. Everyone in the gym is cheering me on, and as I said before, they are all SO supportive of me, and I just can't express how appreciative I am of it.

So, now at this point I just need to keep practicing my posing, and get some rest.

Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Last Day Of Work Before The Show

Well, today was my last day at work before the show.

I got lots of good luck wishes from clients, as well as cards from them and co-workers. I have had TONS of support througout all of this from everyone, and I am very appreciative of it all. I cannot say that I went without the support of my friends and peers during this.

It's funny, because there's so many clients who I've taken on in the course of this, and they've never known me in any other state than the one I'm in now. My co-workers have never seen me eat anything other than turkey burgers.

They're all taking me out to lunch on Monday. That will be a trip for both them and me, as I've never gotten to go with them all when they go out for food.

It meant a lot to me to have all of the support from everyone today, and I'm just trying to ride the wave of momentum I've got going straight through the show.

Tuesday, May 2, 2006

Getting Rough

Last night really sucked. Being hungry hasn't really been much of an issue for me since the beginning of the diet. But last night I was just starving. Even after having my dinner, I had that almost sick feeling from being so hungry, but that was the last meal of the day, so there was nothing I could do. So around 8:30 last night I tried to just put the day behind me and went to bed. I knew this could lead to me waking up real early, but I didn't mind that. I'd get my workout and tan overwith, and have more time in the morning to get some stuff done. But I was up all night. I only average about 5 to 6 hours of sleep these days as it is, so around 12:30 last night I woke up and was wide awake, and still painfully starving. I slept a little on and off the rest of the night, but overall it sucked. I drank lots of water to try and ease some of the hunger cravings. I'm supposed to be drinking shitloads of water regardless, so it was productive in that regard. By the time I got up and went into the gym this morning, I was a wreck and have been since. My nerves are going full blast right now. For no good mental reason. It's just the low carbs, training, stress, and lack of sleep. I feel like I could either break out into hysterics laughing, or break down and cry. I just have to make it through today and tomorrow, and then work will be done for the week, and then I'll get through this shit a little easier.