precontest pics: Duality

[nigster]

Good job man. You looked great there. A bit leaner and you would have won, too bad it didn't happen this time. I bet it was a close call though.

Don't get depressed. Show them next time!

 

[Duality]

ya all you guys are right. the biggest thing i took away was what i need to do next time. first off i'm gonna get ready on time and bump my contest prep time from 10 to likely 13 weeks. braaq seems to think i just cheated willy nilly on my diet :ranter: and though there were little abberations i was pretty good, and i NEVER did any less than 45 min cardio a day (walking)

one of the BIGGEST mistakes i made however was from the advice of one of my friends who also competes. i was looking really good after about 2 days on the direutic, and my friend told me that after checkin, i should eliminate all water. i did. HUGE mistake. i couldn't get a pump to save my life backstage and my usual fullness across my upper body was no where to be found, not to mention it made me feel like absolute shit (remember this contest was in Phoenix, where the high that day was 109) though i look rather full in the pics, i felt as flat as can be. and to top it off i looked at pics of me the day before and the day after when i stopped drinking water, no difference. the diruetic worked beautifully and there was no need to stop drinking water as not only did it make no visual difference, it killed my energy and fullness.

 

[Braaq]

I don't think you cheated "willy nilly" on your diet.. but stepping off the diet at all or not following it exactly will cost you... and it did. No matter though, this is just the first show and you still did great and learned a lot of things. I am stoked for next year myself ... and oiling you up backstage
Also, for not getting a pump I think you looked full and big as hell.... size was definitely not your problem. You out massed even those older guys standing next to you.

 

[ordinary]

I don't know bro... I did a diuretic and stopped drinking water. But I was supplementing the hell out of my potassium to counter the water dropping. I started I think it was Saturday with 2-3 gallons of water. This had me pissing like mad. Then on Thursday I started minimal water and my diuretic. I'll have to confirm with my coach what his ratio was, but for all the urine you drop... you have to supplement with potassium. It helps with a lot... lessens cramping and ill feeling. I don't know how much you dropped, but I dropped like 15lbs in 2 days of dehydration. It sucks, but it worked. My two cents.

 

[drexel1234]

nice job dude, i actually did my first show june 14th so i was following ur blog closely lol. after reading braaqs earlier post i could defin relate to alot of ur mistakes since i also didnt have a great diet and thus couldnt take advantage of my natural strength which is my conditioning since i prob would have place at least 3 or 4 spots higher if was 3.5 percent instead of 5 or 6. also i felt cutting water while taking a dierutic wasnt helpful at all for the same reasons u pointed out. its kool though bro were both young and this is just the beginning.

 

[Duality]

I don't think you cheated "willy nilly" on your diet.. but stepping off the diet at all or not following it exactly will cost you... and it did. No matter though, this is just the first show and you still did great and learned a lot of things. I am stoked for next year myself ... and oiling you up backstage
Also, for not getting a pump I think you looked full and big as hell.... size was definitely not your problem. You out massed even those older guys standing next to you.

ya it was a good learning experience now in retrospect. i was so depressed after the show though man i felt like never competeing again. i'm over it now though and i know in my heart i was the best teen and the words of the other competitorst backstage helped. i'm gonna show up next time just fucking yoked and come in in incredible shape. it was good to get this little trail and error process out of the way while i'm still a teen so when i'm with the men next time i won't be such a noob.

Originally posted by Ordinary
I don't know bro... I did a diuretic and stopped drinking water. But I was supplementing the hell out of my potassium to counter the water dropping. I started I think it was Saturday with 2-3 gallons of water. This had me pissing like mad. Then on Thursday I started minimal water and my diuretic. I'll have to confirm with my coach what his ratio was, but for all the urine you drop... you have to supplement with potassium. It helps with a lot... lessens cramping and ill feeling. I don't know how much you dropped, but I dropped like 15lbs in 2 days of dehydration. It sucks, but it worked. My two cents.

it sounds to me you took a more powerful diuretic than i did. it sounds like what you took was a loop diuretic am i right? mine was very mild (it's called diazide) and it is potassium sparing, so no potassium supplementation is recommended. i dropped about 7lbs in 2 days so it was not as drastic at all as your results. i just feel like for all the hell i went through denying myself water, it did nothing to benefit me and further more, actually hurt some of the things i was relying on to win, fullnes and getting a good pump backstage. i couldn't get one to save my life, that has never happened before.

but i always appreciate your input. for someone who's competed as succesfuly as you have and with the physique you have, you always want to consider their advice. thanks

Originally posted by drexel1234
nice job dude, i actually did my first show june 14th so i was following ur blog closely lol. after reading braaqs earlier post i could defin relate to alot of ur mistakes since i also didnt have a great diet and thus couldnt take advantage of my natural strength which is my conditioning since i prob would have place at least 3 or 4 spots higher if was 3.5 percent instead of 5 or 6. also i felt cutting water while taking a dierutic wasnt helpful at all for the same reasons u pointed out. its kool though bro were both young and this is just the beginning.

nice man. the first time is always the worst because you have no idea how your body is going to respond to certaing things. it's nice to get it over with so next time when you're with the big boys not the teenagers you look how you should. good luck on your future shows bro.

 

[sexnews]

I think your legs looked very good. Remember how guys were telling you that your legs won't be ready? You proved them wrong.

Although they were talking about your conditioning at the time and only wanted to help, it seems you put in the hard work and it paid off!

As for your condition, I'm sorry to say that you're not going to hit the mark this time around. There isn't enough time (and no Serb - anything cannot happen in 2 weeks). The reason you hold water is subcutaneous fat. If you strip yourself from fat, water retention will greatly diminish.
Using diuretics will thus not help much in your case, as the fat will keep blurring your cuts. And Blake - him starting too late doesn't change the fact that he's behind. We just take an objective stand and value that he's behind at this point. A little far behind actually. If you don't have lines in your legs even in blitz shots at this point, you're not going to make it.

well bro i wish you all the best, right now it looks like you have a beach body, not really at the ripped stage where you need to be, no disrespect intended but you needed to start the prep about 16 weeks out, but you have 2 weeks, anything can happen in that time.. best of luck.

 

[Braaq]

I think your legs looked very good. Remember how guys were telling you that your legs won't be ready? You proved them wrong.

I agree, his legs are definitely big... and they came in rather cut as well.

 

[Deathmaggot]

congrats Duality, as a competitor i have nothing against you, you looked great, enjoy it and keep growing, learning and competing

 

[Turkish1530]

congrats duality, i applogize for not catching this awesome precontest log sooner...u have incredible genetics and muscular development especially considering that your only 19yrs old...i'm sure that training with braaq really helped with precontest and even in teh offseason to get you strong like a powerlifter but looking like a bodybuilder ....congrats on your placing and everything, as others have said use the 2nd place finish to motivate you in the offseason (which is exactly what i'm doing right now after taking 2nd at my 1st show )....congrats again brother

 

[Duality]

thanks DM and turk. ya i was pretty down in the dumps after taking 2nd but all you guys are right, that just means i have to come in diced and yoked and force them to have no choice. considering i only dieted for 10 weeks and lost 40lbs it wasn't all bad. at least i know now how my body responds to dieting and water depletion. i won't be so in the dark next time in my prep.


lol @ sexnews that's true. my legs were almost the most defined part of my body (from the front at least). that diuretic worked wonders, i had straitions in my quads, i was not expecting that.


btw turk i don't think i ever looked at your log either but i have seen pics of you and your transformation was nothing short of incredible and you have great structure and size as well. i'm more than sure you will avenge your 2nd place at your next show.

 

[Hypocrisy86]

yea bro. you had Kai Green striations there

 

[chadcruz]

Excellent work mate. Its obvious you put tons of work into this, so you should be really proud of your achievements!

 

[miamiracing]

i found another ok stage shot. my legs showed straitions once i started taking the diuretic, it really brought out my seperation better you can kind of see it here. however i forgot to flex my abs here.

i'm on the far right

honestly? i dont think you where ready to step on stage :carduindisguise

 

[Braaq]

honestly? i dont think you where ready to step on stage :carduindisguise

Condition wise, not fully... but he did only diet for the show for 10 weeks. I finally convinced him at that time to do it, it was too late but he still dieted his ass off, did his cardio and got up on that stage. If he started around 15 weeks out I have no doubt in my mind he would have taken first or even placed in the novice class. He has that good of a physique, and after looking at the pics I am still impressed at how he came in.

 

[Daniel Andersson]

To bad you only dieted for 10 weeks. If you had more time like 15 weeks, You would have been awesome

 

[sexnews]

honestly? i dont think you where ready to step on stage :carduindisguise

WTF?? :angrydude:

 

[Johnny Bravo]

WTF?? :angrydude:

STFU. He is right.

Judging from the pics he looked too soft and I have my doubts about the striations he is talking about.

I do want to congratulate Duality for stepping on stage and going through with it. It's an awesome feeling to stand up there. And he has gained a lot of experience and learned from mistakes and so on, so he'll hopefully do better next time.

 

[Turkish1530]

btw turk i don't think i ever looked at your log either but i have seen pics of you and your transformation was nothing short of incredible and you have great structure and size as well. i'm more than sure you will avenge your 2nd place at your next show.

thanks Duality i really appreciate that, my diet was defiantly long and tough but everything paid off in the end so i can't complain...and i defiantly hope and plan to avenge my 2nd place showing

 

[Duality]

STFU. He is right.

Judging from the pics he looked too soft and I have my doubts about the striations he is talking about.
I do want to congratulate Duality for stepping on stage and going through with it. It's an awesome feeling to stand up there. And he has gained a lot of experience and learned from mistakes and so on, so he'll hopefully do better next time.

they were there. believe it or don't doesn't matter to me. i wasn't rock hard, i wasn't dry as hell, i wasn't expecting to be, i was hoping to come in good enough to win the teens and gain the experience that comes with it. i mean shit look at the other 2 guys in the pic with me, the guy on the far left placed in the novice :wutyousay: doesn't look all that much better to me.

based on the feedback from other older competitors backstage and based on my visual assesment of the other competitors, i was good enough to win. just because you don't come in shredded doesn't mean you don't belong on stage miamiracing.


i just got back from venice and trained at the mecca down there for 3 days. i met and saw a lot of pros and NPC competitors (ferguson, bui, cormier, ferrigno, charles glass, i'm probably forgetting someone) and the absolute nicest and coolest pro and guy i have ever met has got to be will harris. i was working out at and was breaking between sets when he just straight up introduced himself to me. he asked me if i competed and i told him about my show. really cool guy and he looked amazing (he's doing the europa and he fully plans on winning it, and i got to say after seeing dennis james a week ago and seeing him, i believe him, the dude has a serious physique that is majorly overlooked) he gave me some tips on training and he gave me his card and told me to hit him up if i ever had any questions. the first pro i've ever met who acted like he was just one of the guys.