hi everyone,

its been awhile since i have last posted, university life is unbelievably hectic! especially considering that exam revisions have now began.
rite,now onto my training-

a week out from the british finals in tamworth-

my training got to the point where we began doing doubles and singles with all the lifts, i did-

deadlift- 2x210,1x220
bench - 3x120,1x125,1x130
squat- 2x170, 1x180

on my squat day after i had performed the 180 and rack it i almost immediately felt a pain just below my knee area on my right. at first i thought it was nothing but later on it started brusing and i cudnt bodyweight squat nowhere near parralel!!

monday training-
i go into the club to meet my coaches and other competitors, gerald pilling, john stokes, and grand master eddie. we were suppose to practice our opening first lifts. i tell them of my situation and they were gutted to hear my news, there was a very real possibility that i cud not compete on the weekend because of this injury. at this point i strugled to even walk up stairs.
i was told not train at all this week, to ice it , gel, take ibuprofen and applyheat patches even had the club physio look at it.

i spent that week taking it easy revising and preparing nutritionally-

from the guys at phd-

i was adviced the best way to peak for the day to perform optimally is to carb up.
in order for this to be achieved i have to deplete and the restore i achieved this by.

monday- moderate carbs
tuesda- ''
weds- ''
thurs ''
fri - half daily carbs
sat - hig carbs- prob between 350-450
sunday competition day-

coffee in the morning, lots of water, medium sized break fast and through out the day plent of fruits like bannanas so that my stomach wont bloat out.

also through out this week i was adviced to creatine load, i took 10g aday up until competition day making sure that i was taking in between 4-6 litres of water aday.
i felt that doing this help me feel very strong for the day.

amazingly enough by saturday my shin unjury was almost completely healed, i cudnt even believe how quick i recovered. we just chilled out that evening half the guys went out to celebrate ( the equipped lifter competed on saturday) from our club gerald pilling and steve who is blind bith got us british titles winning there classes.
for the ones who were competing tommorow we just chilled out and went to the cinemas and watched spiderman 3! haha.

competition day -

12 weeks of training have led me up to this point, i woke up hungry at 7.00 am. i showered and started preparing my lifting bag for the day....making sure to take ibuprofen ans deep freeze gel for my injury. i also quickly started preparing a protein shake with creatine.
i meet upwith the rest of the team at the hotel reception and we head of the venue for the weighin, upon arriving the que was huge. my other team mates sign me in. i sip on water and my shake just to keep hydrated and full. im pretty sure i wud make my weight but after seeing guys coming out of the room cursing that they were 500g overweight and had an hour to make it, i began becoming a little paranoid.
finally after what seemed like forever i was next. an offcial checked my kit and i stripped to get onto the scales.....78 kg ! i was well within the 82.5kg limit.
after that we were asked to give our opening lifts for the day, my coach decided-

squat - 170
bench - 120
deadlift- 200

once this was done i was rushed of the neares cafe to eat breakfast as i was on for 11 am..it was alread 9.30 am.
i get back at about 10.15 and was told to start streching and warming up.
i stretched all my muscles paying particular attenion to my legs as squattion was first after this we all went of to the warm up room.
it was a pretty small room but it was ok, there i met my other competitor my main one being lewis graddon the defending british champio and runner up in the worlds.
he was a very nice guy but we both knew he competition between us was very real. there was also a third guy who was pretty strong as well but he wasnt a threat for us.
at this point all the opeing lifts for all competitor were posted up on a big electronic board for evryone to c, he was opening with 165 and i was with 170. this was great start as this indicated that me and him we pretty muchevenly matched for squats....with me in the lead.
so we warmed up my last lift was a single with 150 and left it at that.

i felt my shun inury showing signs of it coming back...i tried not to think about it,
my name was called out and went to do 170...ive done this in the gym for 5 reps so i know i had it in me, just had to make sure i went low enough and waited for the refs signals.
i performed it with ease, i was asked how i felt and said easy 180 was psoted for my next lift, this was my pb and the one that gave me my injury so i had a mental block for it, at this point lewis has got 165, and had just done 175 so the pressure was on.
i got under the bar, everyone shouting at me and psyching me up got the lift signal and went down, too far down and had o grind it up, racked and got the lift..i was happy and back in the lead. at this point my knee inury was definately coming back, i had applied deep freeze and took an ibuprofen to help alleiviate the pain. lewis posted up 185 and did it!! at this point i knew i had to do 190 to take the lead, my coaches were telling i went down way to low for me 180kg we put up 190 for the next lift. i prepared my self in the same way beleiving i cud do this. went down and straight back up. came of the platform jumping up and down with joy and screaming...i have won the first round with a 5 kg lead!! and a pb!! while also breaking the north east squat records!!

bench press-
i posted to open with 120 and he posted to open with 105. i immediately knew that his bench press must have been his weakes lift and this round shud be mine if i dont mess up on technicallity. did 120 with ease..i ahve done 5 reps with this in training, he did hid 105, next was 130 for me, which i ahve done in training and was my pb did that with no real problem at this point he also done 110 and was onto to do 115 kg, he came out shouting and screaming with his coaches shouting him on ...at this momement i realised that this must have been a big lift for him and not only was this whole thing a competition but alos a personal battle on always trying to imporve and lift bigger than your previous best...he did and was well happy..even i was pleased for him.
at this point i was well within the lead and was originally going to do 135 kg for my next lift on bench press then had sum1 inform me the british bench record was 137.5 kg so we all decided to break that and posted 138kg i got under that bar and set my self up. grabbed it and took down to my chest waited for clap and the pushed with all of my effort it went up with no real problems.....a new british bench press record, pb and northeast record!!

there was alittle interval and lewis even came up and congratulated me........at this point i was feeling good and fairly confident but i knew his best lift was his deadlift.
his opener was 225!! that was more than my pb!! my opening lift was 200 the was a debate betwen two of my coaches thinking i shud go for 210 instead to put more pressure on him and thinking that 200kg wud be a wasted lift as i have repped this in training. i agreed. at this point my shin unjur was fully back and i cud not squat..i had to mentally bloack out the pain if i wanted a chance of winning, ive got too far and too close to just bail out cuz of my injury ( pretty stupid thinking about it ) ne way 210 was my pull , i pulled but found my self compensating for my injury by instead of lifting up primarily using m legs i was almost practical stiffing it up ..so was very difficult!!
lewis did his 225 with relative ease.
we next thought it wa best to match im on 225 the pressure on him to lift heavier.
i did 225 once again with much pain and effort.....at this point i just wanted to stop.
his next lift was 240!! which he did with much effort.
we put 230 kg onto the bar the most i have ever attempted and wud be a knew pb if i got this lift i knew ther wud be noway he cud catch up and beat me. it was the heaviest and most painful thing i have evr had to,every muscle in my body was involved with a messed up right shin so i was compesating for it by using my back. i did and got it just!!
i have won!!!! he put 250kg for his next lift which wud still not be enough to beat me!!
i was over the moon as the 12 weeks of intense training finally paid of. my team mates were ecstatic and jumping for joy. lewis attempted his 250 and failed. he come over and congratulated me and told he wud c me at the europeans.

just want to put out a specialthnx to all the guys that supported inlcuding the guys from devon with the mike bailey team from steves gym, ryan broomhall for video the whole thing and being a good mate and most of all bradford uni powerlifting team for pushing me to me limits and believing in my self and also phd for providing me with supps like formula x, creating protein etc.
now gna take two weeks of for my shin to get fully recovered and then make a decision for the eurpeans.

abdul.

its been a while since a last posted, have been super busy with other things.
well it was only a couple of weeks ago when i hit my 4 yr training mark and can honestly say its the longest thing i have ever stuck to ( sporting wise).
even though it still feels like yesterday i started!!...time sure does fly by.
i have achieved and done alot within that time that i dont think would have of been possible if it werent for me bodybuilding.
i still have many years left and many challenges to face and overcome and i am always still learning new things as there is no single answer in the best way to build a appealing natural looking physique and how to be healthy.

well on the powerlifting front i am now abt 9 weeks into this training and am starting to feel it. the workload for me is starting to get heavy and demanding for me. though my diet hasnt been the best for the last 2 weeks or so, so i need to correct that asap and get back on track, in the gym i have recently-

squat
165 of 3 set of 5 ( most i have done for reps)

deadlift
190 3 sets of 4 ( my shins paid for these reps)

bench- over the weeks

100 3 sets of 10 reps
115 3 sets of 5 reps
120 3 sets of 3reps ( this is the mosti have ever lifted and done reps with..so am pretty pleased with that...hoping to build it up to sets of 4-5 voer the next few weeks)

well the reps are gradually getting lower and the weights getting heavier....workouts are very demanding still even though low in volume....phyqisue wise i am still pretty leanish and my physique is generally looking alot thicker.
going back home to devon for two weeks easter break...gna be difficult to train with out my coaches ...as they r vital in putting me into the right mindframe to lift heavy.
most of all i am enjoying my training and my life..which is the most important thing afterall....no i beta be of and do sum studying!!

abdul.

considering i have now been training since 16 yrs of age, i have gone through high school, 2 colleges and now university trying to balance studying, training and socialising.
most difficult to do was trying to eat like a bodybuilder. where most of the time i couldnt afford decent foods, not have much choice to what i could eat at home and lastly let alone decent high quality supplements!!
now i and phd wont lie to you telling that you need supplements in order to add mass and gain a good physique cause that is not always true....but they most certainly do help and if u want to be the best you can possibly be than supplement can help you optimally perform and even help you to achieve your goals quicker. now i havent been training very long. coming up to 4 yrs in march which is very short period of time( prob 3 bodybuilding training and 2 with a decent diet)
but in the first 1-2 yrs of my training i did not use any supplements at all!! and i first competed after a yr of training.
with that said when i started to utiize supplement the gains i made where unbelievable which i put down t both improvement in diet and taking supplement..makes me wonder and wish what i might have been like if i did what i did now nutrionally!!! ( better than now with out a doubt:
so even though my training approach has not changed much but my nutrition has ( and still can be improved)

so i thought i will put down from memory how my diet has progressed from when i started to what it currently is like now.

16 yrs old

wake up- cereal
break - packet of crisp and choc bar
lunch- chips or pizza slice with doughnut and can of coke.
dinner- curry ( rice and chicken
train-( if i have it on that day)
evening- crisp, chocolates and fizzy drinks
before bed- curry again.

i wasnt overweight at 16 yrs of age just lucky i got away with a fairly active lifestyle and fast metabolism

now roughly 17-18 ( it changed throught out the year but generally)

wake up- 2 hard boiled egges 2 brown bread slices
break -tuna sandwhich
lunch- jacket potatoe and tuna
mid afternoon- tuna and pasta
train
post workout shake- whey protein and chocolate bar( followed by half an hour bus trip back home!!)
post workout meal- nice curry with plenty chicken and rice.
mid evening- any snacks i felt like , crisps, choc bar etc
before bed - tasty curry again!!

this diet plan worked very well for me but was still far from optimal.

currently ( uni)

wake up- protein shake 2 banannas
break- egg/tuna sanwhich
lunch-jacket potatoe and tuna
midafternoon-chicken and pasta
before training( 1 hr)- protein shake 2 bananas
train
post workout shake- whey protein and 50g glucose
post workout meal- jacket potatoe and tuna
before bed protein shake with milk and smart bar.

been following this plan since starting uni and am feeling and looking the best i have ever been for offseason

now i know life as a student isnt easy and things are not always easy to follow or do due to things like friends calling u out ( trust me i know ..i have a very active social life)
but u need to prioritise what u want and what u r willing to sacrifice to achieve what u want. im not saying u must dedicate ur whole life to training. carefull planing and preperation can help you to achieve what u want from training. with that said it is no big prblem if u miss a few meals in a week or that u eat sum junk food. the thing that pays of big is consistincy and patience.
most of all enjoy natural bodybuilding and training, it is a lifestyle after all. life is more interesting and fun as a bodybuilder.
safe training.
abdul

heres a link showing a pose from 16-19 yrs old and how i look now, and before u laugh i know i was skinny and young hahaha

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?p=22100011#post22100011

safe training

abdul

ok hello,
i trained back yesterday which i also call deadlift training day. i did a few warm up sets and ended out doing satans with 150 on deadlift. which went sumthing like this

150x6
150x6
150x6

666 for satan the devil as im sure you have spotted.
even though i am training for a powerlifting competition i think that anyone young or even just starting out should do heavy basic lifts with good form to add on the most amount of muscle keeping things nice and simple and once u stop gaining try different methods.
i am currently in what my coach wud call in an '' epic battle'' with a guy called steve in my gym who is also doing a power comp with me and we are both matching each other for lifts and loves the mini competition that he has set for me and him in who is gonna lift 220kg first in deadlift.
oh yeh did i tell you steve is blind!! this guy is silly strong for his weight, and is a true inspiration to anyone who quits on lifts...he trains hard!!!
have u ever tried squatting with you eyes closed????

ok then how do i begin.

hello everyone,
i am a natural athete and compete in both natural bodybuilding and drug free powerlifting.
at the moment my main goal is to prepare for the british powerlifting finals in may and then hopefully go onto the europeans if all goes to plan.
i am currently into week 2 of my power training. even tho i say i am in prep for power training my routine has not changes and still remains the same, except my reps have lowered a bit and im doing a few extra warm p est only on the main lifts being squat, deadlift, and bench.

this week so far i have

deadlift

140x6
140x6
140x6

bench
95x6
95x6
95x6

squat
140x6
140x6
140x6

these a fairly light to moderate lifts for me at the moment , i am currently conditioning my body for heavier weights focusing in strict form, below parralal for squats and pause on chest for bench. this is only week 2 and i have 12 weeks i think

i have also inlcuded a link a photo gallery showing picture of me

http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=141747069

these picture r on myspace and show my progression from when i started out at 16 to 19yrs old showing how my physique changed over time and what can be possible to achieve naturally in what i consider a relatively short period of time. i will try to update this gallery often as i can too to show how i look at different periods of the year.
oh yeh if any of u have myspace add me ...oh im always more than happy to chat to like minded individuals.
take care and safe training.