Our athlete Rory Golden is going to compete this year and we have decided to follow his journey. A diary from start to finish, 18 weeks out until stepping on stage.
Rory Golden - The Prep files
Blog – 4 weeks out.
So Monday started as a bank holiday and I had the day off of work. Sometimes this can be a good and bad thing. The good part is I have the day to relax and just focus on my cardio and training. The negatives are I sometimes get bored and feel more hungry waiting for the clock to go around so I can eat again. My morning weight was 75.4kg which was a 0.5kg increase from a high carb rest day on Sunday, needless to say, I was fuelled for that day’s session! Started the week off with a pull session and I was very happy how it went. The tempo was good along with the execution of the exercises and the high days of carbs filled me out nicely. This was a good start to the week with a good cardio session in the morning and weights in the afternoon. Sun was out shining so it was time to just relax and enjoy the sun!
Tuesdays morning weight dropped 0.3kg down to 75.1kg and was a full day at work. I had a very busy morning with clients and I started to notice my energy levels weren’t the same as the previous weeks. This was a continuing factor all week and as the day got later and especially after my weights and post workout cardio evening client work was very tiring. It’s just one of those things you have to push through but for me personally, I just hate the feeling of being tired. Tuesday’s posing session was the hardest to date - I got pushed very hard but handled it very well, we cut down on the rest time between rounds and increased the number of rounds and seconds for holding the poses. The weight session after was a push session focusing on upper chest and side delts which is always a little slow going to begin with as there is not much of a turnaround between posing and training. Although the boxes got tick along with the cardio and I moved onto my evening clients who were great and wrapped up a great day!
Wednesday my weight dropped massively down to 73.8kg which was the lowest all prep. It was also check in day with my coach and he was happy with the weight drop and with the pictures I sent in. Wednesdays are a leg day which I have enjoyed placing into the middle of the week because I know how important legs are on stage so even though it’s the middle of the week and my 3rd low carb day there isn’t an excuse! I went over to ‘Body Limits’ to train and I did feel tired and know this session would be tough however it turned out to be one of my favorite sessions I’ve ever done. My posing coach who is also a competitor and placed in the British finals was training legs and asked whether I fancied jumping in. This was the push I needed and was an epic session. We bounced off of each other and worked in a different style than I normally would and my legs felt the difference. Not only was our session positive with great energy and tempo but the whole gym was buzzing! Everyone was shouting across the gym and pushing each other beyond their limits when at times training at my work commercial gym nothing close ever happens like this so I soaked every bit of it up!
Thursday was the last low carb day of the week as I felt very tired and weak from the moment I got up. Cardio was a struggle on the stairs from the leg day beforehand and I knew it was just going to be one of those days I and to push through. I had a back day planned with different movements from the one on Monday which was still heavy rows and rack pulls. Overall the session was good and I got everything ticked off I needed to however the pump went very quickly and I was flat when training. Being my 4th low carb day I knew this would happen but this is all part of the process and the flattening out time before re-feeding back up over the next couple of days with higher carbs.
Friday was the start of a 2 high carb day process which was needed! My weight dropped again to 73.6kg which was a new all time low this prep. I did posing in the morning and looked very flat which was expected which showed that the higher carbs needed to come in before my performance in the gym started to decrease even more. What I like doing on high carb days is training at night so I can get 1 – 2 more meals inside me before training. This way I can use the carbs a lot more and get a great workout in. This has its physical benefits of course but mentally I love knowing I had a great session and pushes to me keep suffering with the diet and enjoy the process along the way. I traveled to a gym in Hemel for the push session which was more shoulder focused and the carbs did their job and made the journey worthwhile!
Saturday was day 2 of the high carb days and glutes/hamstrings were on the menu after some morning and afternoon clients. I managed to get a good amount of weight moving some stiff legged movements and press’s, you can really notice the difference with extra carbs in your body. The session was good for around an hour and I started to fade, felt very tired and dizzy so I finished up with my cardio and went home. I was feeling rough for the rest of the day with a headache and was looking forward to a good night sleep into Sunday morning which will be another low carb day and I will await instructions from the coach for the upcoming week.
Overall the week was tough and the hardest this prep but still the boxes were ticked and the progress made. I know this coming week will be tougher but I’m just going to take each day as it comes and keep pushing forward.
