As you all now know I am training for the nationals in October here in Australia. I thought I might give you a bit of an insight into how I prepare myself for training each morning, where my motivation comes from, how I manage to diet so strict without a cheat day and the intensity I use when lifting in the gym.

First Off

First off every morning I will wake up at 4:55am and am eating by 5am. Ok I'm not going to pretend that for me it is easy waking up at 5am, trust me its bloody I use my phone as an alarm and I set the alarms for 4:45am, 4:50am and 4:55am, this is so I can wake up slowly … don't laugh it works for me.

Each morning I eat my first meal then start to get everything ready for the day ahead like the things I have to take to college and getting my meals prepared if I haven't already done that the night before, I have to be quiet cause if I wake my mum or sisters up I'm in trouble.

I leave for the gym at 5:50am this allows me time to get to the gym, do my 5 minute warm up on the stationary bike and finish my warm up before 6:15am. I train until about 7:15am-7:30am depending and then do cardio on the treadmill straight after that for however long I need to. I use the 5-minute warm up on the bike to focus for my workout and make sure I'm ready to train with the required intensity.

High Intensity

I use a very high intensity approach to training especially when I am dieting, I hate being in the gym at this time in the morning, not surrounded by my friends so I like to move through my workouts not having a lot of rest in-between sets. Intensity is lost when people try and come up to you and chit chat between sets.

That is my biggest pet peeve, I hate people coming up to me while I am working out and asking me things, after the workout I am fine to have a word to but during no way, so what I do is listen to my discman, while I have that headset on nobody bothers me, it lets me get along with my workouts.

When I train I have a brief idea of what exercises I want to do but, more importantly I know what part of the muscle I want to focus on today. Exercises vary but they are always consistent.

Motivation! What's That?

People often ask me where do you get your motivation? How do you keep it up? I don't know really how to answer that question because I don't really know where I get my motivation. I know some of it comes from the emails I receive and comments I get from various people also looking at bodybuilding mag's but after thinking about it.

It would have to be cause I don't like to be normal, I think it is easy to eat whatever you want, sit back watch TV, go out at night because that is what the majority of people do and I have nothing against that… but that is normal cause the majority does it. I have always wanted to be different and now I have my opportunity through bodybuilding.

Someone once asked me," Why do you want to get so big? Won't people just look at you?" I answered that by saying, " Of course, that's what I want, I want to walk past a person and have them turn back and look twice, people should do things to get noticed, why be an average Joe when you can be a freak"

Dieting

When dieting as all of us know it is shitty eating the same thing day in, day out for weeks at a time. But it is the desire to win that blocks out our taste buds so we can swallow that plain rice, that dry and tasteless tuna and chicken without gravy or sauce. I do not have cheat days, because I am the type of person that cannot have a little bit of something that tastes nice, if it is nice I will eat it until its all gone, that's just who I am.

So by having less of a variety of food means the less I will want to have. I have passed my craving sweet phase so I just eat my diet food when the time comes and that is it, eating is now not pleasure it is a task that has to be done which is fine with me!!!

I hope this article gave you an insight to how I eat, train and think. I hope it can help you in some way or another, I want you to wish me luck in my preparation for nationals. THANK YOU!

Until Next Time,

jamessadek@optusnet.com.au