u/Ezellian

This past weekend I competed in Mens Open Bodybuilding at the NW Royal Natural Bodybuilding Championships for the WNBF. I took 1st in Middleweight Class and won the Overall earning a Pro Card in Mens Bodybuilding with the WNBF.

This was my second show after the WNBF Portland Reign Natural Classic 2 weeks earlier. I'm still waiting on the professional photos for both shows, but I just wanted to share and answer any questions people might have.

The turn around was quick and I hopped back into a deficit and took what I learned from the first shows peak week and carbed up a bit earlier and with more carbs. I also remembered to flex my hammies and glutes.

This will be the end of my current season. I was planning on going to amateur worlds, but now that I have a pro card, I'm planning on prepping for my first Pro show next year.

Today I decided to test to see if I could still maintain the Double Purp's R Y for squat day in between peak week 1 and 2.

Workout went:

Warmup

155lb x 10

265 x 5

355 x 3

405 x 1 (shown)

405 x 1

355 x 3

265 x 8

Moved onto other exercises

Here is my Stage Routine for the Portland Reign Natural Classic WNBF.

Well, what can I say other than I'm now addicted to this. Came in 2nd place in Open Men's Bodybuilding and got my invite to Amateur Worlds 2026. Had a blast the whole entire time and met lots of great people and competitors.

Received feedback from the judges that was overall very positive and promising. Need to work on my back poses and can't forget to flex my glutes and hamstrings. Even held center stage for a round of quarter turns.

One thing I struggled with was maintaining my fullness leading into it. I did a traditional back load starting my carb depletion on Monday keeping protein to around 240g, fats under 30g, and carbs at less than 50g (so much asparagus and spinach). Back load started at 3pm Thursday with around 400g carbs then hit 605g on Friday but was struggling to get my weight and fullness back up to around 180lbs (was stuck at 177-178lb range) even though on Friday I did a mid afternoon weigh in and saw 182lbs by Sat morning I was back down to 178. Going to make some adjustments for the next show.

Speaking of which, 2 weeks to go until NW Royal Natural Bodybuilding Championships. Time to burn off the cheat meal and re-peak

I'll have some more photos on this once I get back the professional pictures

Peak week has arrived, the goal is to take it easy, but that doesn't mean I can't provide the weekly Deadlift tax. See y'all next week after the show.

Intensity is dropping down like my calories have been, but that doesn't mean I won't attempt to provide you with the weekly satisfaction

It's my last scheduled heavy squat day for a little. Hit the 4 plates again for y'all and decided to add in a little satisfaction at the end.

(Side note: not counting this towards the weekly satisfaction schedule)

M35 || 5ft 8in (~172.7cm) || 180.5lbs (~81.8kg)

WNBF Men's Bodybuilding || 2 weeks Portland Reign Natural Classic || 4 Weeks NW Royal Natural

Last Check in was 4 & 6 weeks out. Dropped Calories down to ~2400 with around 220g P | ~40-50g F | ~280g C. No more refeeds. Feeling Very Flat and had my butt kicked by this posing after a hard upper body day, if you couldn't tell by my uncontrolled breathing.

Strength is slowly dropping too, but I'm doing my hardest to push. Only 2 more hard, heavy leg days scheduled and 1 more intense elliptical session (at least for this first show)

One thing I noticed was how much Carbs will affect my look. Had a planned Movie night with the GF (sorry guys, taken) after this workout/posing, so I saved all my Calories and Carbs for that (stayed in a slight deficit) and checked myself out in a mirror afterwards and noticed how tight my skin got and the increase in vascularity (especially in the abdomen). Going to drop calories a little bit more until the standard peak week depletion and super excited to see what the carb load will do.

So the 470lbs PR/PB Double Overhand Grip (no hook) two weeks ago felt pretty easy. Last week, I gave my grip a break, and decided this week to try my luck at another PR/PB D.O. (no hook) at 475lbs. It's a little win, but progress is progress. Yeah buddy 🙏 Lightweight 💪

25lbs left to get that 500lb pull

Less than three weeks out and the strength is starting to fade, the calories are dwindling, but I will push through to let my body know that it is important to keep this muscle 🦵

Doing my best to stay strong and continue to attempt Satisfying Deadlifts for you. Calories are down, but we won't let the deads win and shall continue to lift them. Yeah Buddy 🙏 May it always be Lightweight 💪

Today I got the double Purp's R Y again and eventually added in the G. Feeling weaker as I get closer to my show, but doing my best to keep the strength up.

M35 || 5ft 8in (~172.7cm) || 182lbs (~82.5kg)

WNBF Men's Bodybuilding || 4 weeks Portland Reign Natural Classic || 6 Weeks NW Royal Natural

Last check in was at 6 Weeks. Not much has changed other than signing up for a second show that is 2 Weeks later. Food and Workouts have stayed the same as last check in and weight is steadily going down although I'm worried it may be coming off a little too quick as I dropped a little more weight than expected this week. Currently eating 25-2600 calories on average. Maintenance is ~3200-3300 Cals with Macros around: ~240g P | ~70g F | ~260g C. Still doing weekend refeeds.

Workouts are still 6 day lower/upper split with active rest/cardio on day 7. Had an issue with my Right Pec which has kicked benching from my workout plan. Been mostly doing Cables and Machines now for my chest with lower weight high rep training. I can explain more about it if you are curious.

Anyways, looking forward to this first show and the second one. Any advise or critique is welcome, and let me know if you have any Q's about my prep.

Forgot something, but that didn't stop me from pulling this week. Very happy with the results of my double overhand progress, but more satisfaction can be provided.

Working on maintaining my strength this week.

Hit the double 🟣🟣🔴🟡 again for a few before dropping back down and continuing my workout.

Well, things happen. Best we can do is work around them until it's better. I know satisfaction might be dwindling this week, but that won't stop me from sending a little bit this way. I'll see you for week 33 with an update.

I tried things a little differently for my squats today. Keeping it nice and simple.

M35 || 5ft 8in (~173cm) || 185lbs (~84kg) || 6 Weeks out

WNBF Men's Bodybuilding Open || Portland Reign Natural Classic

Last check in was week 8. I have dropped a few more pounds since then since then. Plan is to keep doing what I'm doing. Actually ate between 2500-2600 calories this past week and continued to lose weight with dedicated cardio only on Sundays (Elliptical 60 min mid-low intensity). Maintenance is around 3100 calories right now. Keeping Protein high (~225g), Fats (70-80g), carbs around (~280g). I'm probably going to lower it a little bit over the next few weeks until I find a good spot to maintain till peak week... hopefully.

I would like to start off this paragraph by apologizing for the sloppy transitions on some of my mandatories. I was a bit exhausted and had a posing class later in the day I was saving some energy for. Overall, I think I'm getting a bit better and still plenty of time to nail down some finer things, although any advise is welcome. I'm also starting to come up with some stuff for my routine.

I was also considering a second show. Some people I met asked if I was going to the WNBF NW Royal ~2 weeks after. I don't currently have plans but I'm starting to consider looking into it. Any advise on signing up for two shows and how to manage that?

The journey continues and the weights are still just as heavy. I decided to work up to these singles today, sorry no Double Overhand. Did work up to it at 445 before bringing out the straps. Also didn't plan on pulling 505, but felt good, so it happened. See y'all next week

For my Squats today I worked up to another 445lb//202kg attempt. Slowly beginning to make it my new Squat Standard

Today to celebrate my continued caloric deficit, I decided to do some deficit deadlifts after teaching you more ancient techniques to defeat the dreaded 'alive'lifts. See you for week 31!