Last blog of the year

Well tomorrow is going to be a very busy day as it is the first Birthday of my baby girl Princess Grandaughter Lilybelle. She is the most wonderful thing that has happened to me since the births of Caden and Colby, and she really is the most amazing baby girl I've seen since my Daughter Natalie was born almost 24 years ago. Barring any major catastrophies (like what happened exactly 3 years ago) my next blog will be sent from Lanzarote where it is currently hot and sunny all day as my tired old body is in desperate need of some sleeping in the sunshine therapy. So I will wish you all a very happy, prosperous and peaceful New Year and leave you with a picture of Colby holding hands with Lilybelle to put a smile on your face.

As the end of the year approaches...

Just over 2 days left of 2010, where did the year go? I hope that you have as many good memories of the year as I have, it has been an exciting and rewarding year with only a few notably disappointing things happening, and I am always quick to get over disappointments and forgive those that have caused them and let me down. As I always say, learn a lesson and move on, for life is far too short to do anything else. Rebound training is complete and now I'm just doing some wind down work before flying out to Lanzarote on Saturday for a long holiday, sitting in the sun with a cold drink and the occasional Cuban cigar, doing some new writing. Here's Caden, who is getting so big, these days he likes to be a Ninja Turtle, he's so lovely!

The season of good cheer!

How was your Christmas then? Good I hope, mine was the best I've had for a very very long time. This year, I decided not to hang out with the Grinch for a change, but instead, to make sure that I spent some time with all of the people that I love the most, and more importantly, forgive and forget about all the bad stuff that goes on in day to day life. Who knew that doing that would be far more fun than stealing toys in Whoville? We live and learn! I wasn't forced to eat vegetables with my Christmas dinner, which was heaven, and everyone was brilliant, especially the Grandchildren of course. Lilybelle had a bad ear infection so wasn't at her best, yet despite that she stole the whole show, she is so gorgeous. Here she is having a cuddle with me just after waking up.

Only one more sleep!

Well it's that time of year again, it seems to have come round so soon, it must be true what they say, as you get older time passes quicker! Anyway, I'm pretty organised this year, I hope that you are too, despite this weather that seems to make everything so difficult. I've managed to get Steve to upload the pictures from the last two shows, look in the gallery pages, I hope that you like them. My gorgeous baby Grandson, Colby, has been unwell for the last couple of days but he is all better now as you can see from the picture, that's his special smile that he gives me when we are having a cuddle, he's such a beautiful baby boy. OK, all that remains then is for me to wish everyone that reads this the happiest Christmas ever!

Driving me crazy!!!!

What do you hate the most about all of this snow? Me, I am just so fed up with people on the roads driving without adequate vehicles or adequate skills. Why would you even go out if you are going to drive in the middle of the road at 10 mph holding up everyone else? So if you see my truck overtaking you with me hurling abuse at you, don't say you weren't warned! See? I moan even when I'm not dieting, although after putting on 2 stone in 12 days after the Mr. Universe I have cleaned up my diet, even though this was made very difficult when my cleaning lady bought me in the best home made shortbread I've ever tasted, for Christmas, it was so lovely it was gone in just 2 days! Here's a gorgeous pic from the Christening, yes I am very proud of Steve, Amy & Lilybelle!

Christening Lilybelle

Since my last blog I've had several crap days, all I will say is that there is nothing worse than when you find out that someone you love has been lying and deceiving you. So the Christening of my one and only baby girl Princess yesterday was very welcome and the whole thing was brilliant. Lilybelle was absolutely gorgeous and incredibly well behaved despite being the centre of attention and having a very busy time. I know that I am biased but she really is the most amazing little girl I've ever seen, so much so that she makes me want more kids of my own! She was a bit fed up by the time it came to photos but she still gave her fat old Granddad a big cuddle, which made my whole day!

Loving the rebound

The perfect recipe for rebound training is to train hard & heavy whilst getting extra sleep and of course, as much food as you can eat. However, I think that I may be overdoing it. Im sleeping about 10 hours out of every 24, eating 9 times a day and lifting weights that I havent lifted since I can't remember when. The result? Well I weighed in for the universe 10 days ago at 17 stone exactly and now my current weight is a fraction under 19 stone! I will start to wind it down at the end of next week and start thinking about some winter sun, which will be exactly what the body needs. The new galleries wont be on here until about this time next week as Steve is busy organising Lilybelles Christening this weekend, which I'm really looking forward to! Here's another universe pic.

Even colder???

So we didn't win the world cup bid, are you surprised? Everyone hates us don't they? It's just like the Eurovision song contest all over again! And as the nations students prepare to spit their collective dummies again can I just say on behalf of we taxpayers that no matter how many toys you lot throw out of your pram we are not paying for your university booze and drugs! If you don't like it, do something really radical like getting a job! Ok, rant over, back to bodybuilding. Steve is updating the website today and next week there will be two new galleries (hopefully). Meanwhile here's a pic from the universe of me with the winner and the guy who came third. In the middle of prejudging we were relaxing and chatting, what an experience!

Brrrr!

Is it just me or is it ridiculously cold at the moment? Some quick tips about training in the cold. Go to the gym dressed in layers, do at least 5 minutes cardio and 5 minutes stretching before you even look at a weight or take off any layers. Then peel them off as you begin to sweat but make sure that you put them back on as soon as you are finished or you WILL catch a chill. OK, that's my Dad talk finished. Now,thanks to Gary & Julie Walsh I have a new video on Youtube from the British Openhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UcsEfvQV5HI it's them that you can hear shouting encouragement throughout! Finally, here's a pic from Saturday of me posing very happily with my medal, more are available at http://www.nac-international.com/

No place like home

Home from Hamburg now, I officially placed 11th and I have to be pleased with that considering the opposition. I'm already back to normal off season life which means being able to eat well again at last! I had a fantastic time in Germany, the place is clean and impressive and the people were all lovely (I mentioned the war once but I think I got away with it!) Seriously though, it really is a great place to go. A few quick thanks, to Eugene Laviscount for making me so welcome at the NAC, to Neale Cranwell for all of his help before and after the trip and to Rob Reinaldo who gave me a lot of advice in Germany. Rob placed 4th in the class 1 but still found time for me. Like I said, a brilliant weekend!

It's over - please feed me!

Just got back to the hotel after a long day competing in my first Mr. Universe and what a day it has been. As expected I didn't place in the top 6 and I won't know exactly where I came out of the 20 finalists until the official results are posted in a few days time but it has been a fantastic experience. The quality of the competition was incredible, a huge step up in class for me; so was I blown away? Definitely not. Outclassed? No certainly not that either. Well beaten by some of the best in the world? Absolutely, and there is no shame in that. It is an honour to compete at this level and a great place to learn more about competing. After all, I've only been doing it for 18 months so getting my first Mr Universe medal so soon is an achievement that I am very proud of!

Live from Hamburg!

Blogging today via my iphone from my hotel room in Hamburg! Just got back to the hotel after checking in and having a look at the venue. The quality of the competition is incredibly high, there are 19 of the worlds best in my class alone. The venue is superb too, in fact everything since I've got here has been very impressive. What a ride this is!

Germany beckons

As you can imagine it has been a very busy week but the final preparations for Saturdays Mr. Universe contest are almost complete now. It's a strange situation, preparing for a show where you know that you are likely to be outclassed but I’ve never competed at anything in my life without giving it my all and this will be no exception. In fact, as my expectations are to come back with nothing more than an education I am feeling no pressure and I am really going to enjoy it whatever the outcome. Just a quick word about the mighty Tottenham after they destroyed Arsenal on Saturday. I'm sure that result affected Arsenal last night and Tottenham tonight in their respective champions league games, this could be the season that the balance of power finally shifts in North London, it’s about time too! Here's another pic from the British open.

6 Days to the Universe

So here we go again then. I took Sunday off to rest and eat but then this morning it was straight back on to the depletion diet and full training, doing things this way I'm hoping to look even better for the Universe on Saturday. As anticipated, my body is complaining, I was supposed to be back to my off season diet today, which is more than twice as many daily calories as the depletion diet, but the thought of competing in my first Mr Universe is more than enough to take away the hunger, aches and pains and keep my motivation sky high. Here's a picture of me with David Foo who narrowly beat me at the British open a couple a days ago, as usual, I will let you be the judge.

Second, but no complaints

Well I had a brilliant day at my first British open finals yesterday. I came second to David Foo who is a very well known and highly accomplished bodybuilder. I must at this point say a big thanks to Gary Walsh for all of his help in the run up and on the day. The result was incredibly close, David thought that I had won and so did most of the crowd, I'll get some photos on here tomorrow and you can judge for yourself. It was so close that the judges, who had to choose one of us to compete in the Mr. Universe contest next weekend actually chose us both, it was that tight. As I said last week, I'm so tired and hungry, another week of contest prep is going to be so hard, but obviously I can't turn down an opportunity like this!

3 Days out

Very close now to the biggest show of my life so far and I can’t wait. Not just because I'm excited about getting on stage at such a big event but also because I’m very tired now and badly need some rest. I’ve been dieting for 8 of the months of this year so far, I'm fed up with my house smelling of fish and broccoli and I’ve had enough of drinking so much water that I have to get up to pee 4 times a night. Maybe I should have had that bag fitted when I had the chance! Funny to think that was almost 3 years ago and my career was “over” and now I’m trying to win the British Open title! Anyway, my gorgeous Princess Lilybelle now has 4 teeth and here she is showing them to Granddad last night!

Remembrance Sunday 2010

So, as predicted, Audrey Harrison bought one last bit of shame to British boxing before disappearing with his retirement fund. He is a disgrace, the BBBC should withhold his purse and David Haye shouldn’t be forgiven either for sanctioning the joke, at least not until he fights the Klitchko’s anyway. It doesn’t always bring me pleasure to know that I was right about something, sporting or otherwise, although I was overjoyed with the rugby on Saturday. Every single person associated with that victory deserves all the credit in the world; they all made me feel very proud to be an Englishman!

Friday 12th November

As I have no water until later thanks to a bunch of workmen damaging the main I find myself with some enforced spare time so here's another blog! Firstly, thanks to Gaz & James for looking at me this morning, they reckon that I look much better than I did at Nottingham, we will see. Secondly, good luck to Julie Walsh in the "Stars of tomorrow" show at Hayes on Sunday. Julie is trained by her husband Gary who is very knowledgable and he has been giving me some good advice me since I decided to go it alone and coach myself. Finally, maybe the diet is making me crazy but I have backed England to beat Australia in the rugby tomorrow, watch Ben Foden (pictured) he's a very exciting full back and could make all the difference!

Armistice Day 2010

I do hope that you wore your poppy with pride today and also that you gave a decent amount of money for it rather than just some odd change. The money raised by the poppy appeal is for the brave soldiers not just from the 2 world wars but also from more recent conflicts like The Falklands, Iraq & Afghanistan. Im not really one for charity, I believe that it begins at home, but I always give £5 for my poppy and I also support 2 other related charities which I will give you website links for here http://www.helpforheroes.org.uk/ and http://www.marchforhonour.com/ If you feel like I do about our brave soldiers please give generously to these charities

Thursday 4th November

Just over 2 weeks out now and all is going well. My friend Ritchie Goodwin, who placed 5th in his class at the UKBFF finals had a look at me today and said that I already look better than I did for Nottingham so I was pleased about that. Steve has got the photos from the show on here now, so please just look in the gallery section and judge for yourself, bodypart for bodypart, including the guy who placed 4th despite only having one bicep! Finally, what a week for us Spurs fans! Firstly that goal at Old Trafford, I blame Gomes, not the ref, we play to the whistle in this country. Secondly what a performance to absolutely destroy the champions of Europe! The glory glory days are back!

Saturday 30th October

So let me get it straight, this country is skint and introducing austerity measures yet we have to find another £450 million to put into the EU for other countries to take out? And this is a good deal? Am I missing something? Anyway, back to bodybuilding. Just 3 weeks to go to the NAC British finals and the top half is ready with the legs almost there so I did an extra leg session today to bring them on a bit. For inspiration I watched the Australia 'v' New Zealand rugby first. Crikey, those guys make what I do look very easy indeed compared to what they do! Winter is almost here but no one has told Caden, here he is eating lunch earlier today!

Tuesday 26th October

Had another busy weekend! As I am now getting myself ready for the show on November 20th I have decided to train 6 days a week instead of 5 and to make up for this I am eating far more than I usually do. The results are very good but we will see how I look at the show, I honestly think that doing it this way I will be bigger and better than I've ever been. Mentally I feel great, not only because I am eating more but because my life in general has never been better. Had Sunday off to help Martin Duckett at the NPA British finals, he placed third, have a look at the picture of the top 3 and make your own mind up, but everyone at the show felt he was poorly judged. He laughed when I said to him "well at least you know how I feel now!"

Friday 22nd October

Finally got the official photos from the UKBFF British Finals through today. I will ask Steve to upload them to the gallery one day next week, but here is a picture of me posing in a callout with Paul Ehren who won. Please look at the photos and judge for yourself, they are the official show photos, not altered in any way. The whole thing is just a bad memory to me now, I have much better things going on in my life at the moment, not least getting myself ready for the NAC British Finals on November 20th. Preparation is going well and I will be at my best, that is guaranteed, as I have said before. Spent some time with Lilybelle last night, my baby Princess gets more beautiful every day, I will get some new pictures of her and put them on here soon.

Thursday 14th October

It’s good to be back to normal, sorry if I’ve been a bit self obsessed since Sunday, lets atone for that now. Firstly, the tragic news that big Dave Talbot (pictured) died of a heart attack shortly after finishing 6th in the super heavys on Sunday. I saw Dave on Saturday and told him how good he looked, as usual he politely shook hands and smiled modestly, such a nice guy, I can’t believe that he is now dead, it puts my whining about judging into perspective to say the least. On the other side of the coin, all 33 Chilean miners safely rescued, miraculous and heart warming. Also, British Heavyweight champ Derek Chisora is to fight Wladimir Klitschko, that's true bravery, take note David Haye. Finally, yesterday was Colby’s first birthday; he is just the most gorgeous baby boy you can imagine, Natalie had such a difficult pregnancy with him but it really was worth every minute!

Wednesday 13th October

Well things have been moving quickly to say the least! Firstly, thank you all so much for your support and advice, especially Tommo and Perry who have been brilliant. The general consensus of opinion is that the UKBFF are not interested in aesthetically pleasing physiques like mine and that I would be better off moving to another federation where I will be more fairly judged, so I have spoken to Eugene Laviscont who runs the NAC and he has given me an invitation to the NAC British Open on November 20^th, I have accepted this and will get back to doing what I do best at once! This means that I won’t defend my Hercules title this coming Sunday or probably ever compete for the UKBFF again. It’s not a hasty decision; it just seems by far the most sensible thing to do, here then begins a new chapter! Here I am from last weekend with Sean Tavernier, with whom I spent some very useful time.

Monday 11th October

Finally home from Nottingham after a disastrous British finals. I have never before complained about judging (and it wasn't just in my class) but when I get the show photos I will put them on here and you can then see why I am so bitterly disappointed. Firstly though well done to Paul Ehren who won my class, he deserved it, most people thought that it would be between him & me but I did not make the top 6. The picture shows me with Paul and Sean O' Reilly who also placed well. I'm having a serious think about my future at the moment, I don't want to make any hasty decisions, but right now, even though I'm in the biggest and best shape of my life, I honestly wouldn't care if I never competed again.

Thursday 7th October

Well that time is nearly here and I've never been more excited about a show. I saw Eddie on Tuesday night and he was as happy with me as I've ever seen him. I also saw Abs, who owns Body Limits and my good friend Alan Overton, both were very helpful & complimentary and everyone at Body Limits was very supportive, just as everyone always is at Golds. I have needed that, especially during the long depletion, my friends have all got me through the hard part so thanks to you all. I've been carbing up for 24 hours now, I feel great already and just can't wait for Saturday to get here. As you can see from the picture, taken on Tuesday at the peak of my depletion, my back isn't looking too bad either!

Monday 4th October

Just a quick update today. Marc is fully recovered, apparently the combined brains of all the doctors at Milton Keynes hospital , assisted by the millions of pounds worth of equipment that we the taxpayers buy for our wonderful NHS, couldn't spot the fact that he had a blockage in his bowels that has today been cleared by a simple colonic irrigation with a private practitioner. I will see Marc tomorrow and he should be fine for the weekend, thank goodness for that. Im feeling great but out on my feet as the depletion phase of my diet is biting now. I wouldn't normally put a current picture on here when I am depleted but here is one taken today which shows just how hard I have been dieting, and just how much I need to carb up soon!

Sunday 3rd October

Whatever I have ever done in life I have always applied the principle of "The 5 P's" That is "Perfect Preparation Prevents Poor Performance". With just a few days to go before the finals it has again served me well as I saw Eddie on Friday and he said that I am at the biggest and best that he has ever seen me, high praise indeed from my hard taskmaster coach. Unfortunately the same cannot be said for Marc who has good and bad days with his abdominal pains; the doctors and hospitals have no idea what is wrong so we are just taking everything one day at a time. I am seeing my sponsor tomorrow and if we do photos I will put one on here, meanwhile here's another one of BNBF champion Martin Duckett, looking awesome.

Tuesday 28th September

Well just when you think that everything is going too well something always goes wrong. Marc has spent the last 2 days in hospital with abdominal pains, they can't find anything wrong with him so they have sent him home and hopefully he will be well enough to resume light training tomorrow. It means that we will have to change his late prep but he looks so good that it shouldn't be a problem. Everyone says that I'm ready.....except Eddie of course, who has reduced my calories even further to bring my legs through more. The diet is hurting me but it's only for a matter of days now, and then it will be time to carb up, then I will be really ready. Still waiting for "Hulk" pictures from Caden's party but here's how I looked when I had just been painted green!

Friday 24th September

Had to laugh when I received an email from my old friend Leon Moore today. Leon runs http://www.wear2gym.co.uk/ and I am featured wearing one of his unique bodybuilding t shirts on his website gallery pages. The t shirts are very heavy duty and have great designs, although when I saw his latest creation I had to wonder where he got the inspiration, especially after the way I have been describing my leg workouts, but I'm absolutely sure it's just a coincidence. All is going well, the guys at Gold's say I'm about ready but I will see what Eddie says tomorrow. I'm the biggest and heaviest I've ever been for a competition and I'm more ripped and vascular than ever before so maybe even he will be pleased?!

Wednesday 22nd September

Just a quick one today to say well done again to Mike Mullen, who won the UKBFF Midlands U90kg intermediates on Sunday, here is a picture as promised. Mike and I have been friends for about a year and he was already a competitive bodybuilder when I met him, so although we have done some bits together I can't take any of the credit for him looking like this, its all his own work. Next year we will be doing some bodybuilding work together and also going into an exciting business venture together, I can't wait!

Tuesday 21st September

What a great weekend! Trained at Body Limits on Saturday & caught up with some old mates who were very complimentary. Then saw more old mates at the wedding of my good friends Danny & Lindsey, they are a lovely couple. Sunday was Cadens 3rd Birthday "superheroes" theme party, to get into character I had to paint my whole body, pictures to follow soon, but the kids all loved it, despite going home covered in green facepaint after cuddling "The Hulk" which was of course Cadens idea! Later that day my good friend and business partner (exciting news to come next year) Mike Mullen won the UKBFF Midlands U90kg intermediates, we are waiting for photos but he looked awesome. Even later, as predicted, Martin Duckett (pictured) deservedly won the BNBF British over 50's title, well done mate!

Thursday 16th September

Here's a quick update on "The magnificent 7". Luke Nicholls (100kg) The best legs in the gym are ready, the top half is one week away, awesome. Gaz Smith (Classic) Ripped as ever and ready. Julie Walsh (Ladies) Better than ever, ripped and ready. Henry Uko (70kg) Biggest and best he's been, ripped and ready. Marc Pugh (70kg) Just some water to come off, top half looks huge, will be hard to beat. Kevan Wilson (Over 50's) As picture shows, 3 kg to come off, quite normal for 3 weeks out, mostly water, mostly on legs. Finally, I am very confident that Martin Duckett will get the team off to a flyer by winning the BNBF over 50's British title on Sunday in Glasgow!

Tuesday 14th September

Finally managed to make Marc quit on legs today. Whoever I am training with I never ask them to do anything that I don't do, so today we did an enhanced version of "the 300" which I found hard; but Marc actually collapsed on the last set. He rarely does legs with me at Golds so I have to punish him when he does, how I wish I could train him every day, he has such potential. With the news of Ricky Hatton succumbing to what I call "the national disease" swiftly following the Haye v Harrison joke you might think that British boxing is a mess, but it isn't, just take a look at Ricky Burns, who recently became the new World Super Featherweight champion, that will restore your faith in British boxing.

Sunday 12th September

A hard day yesterday, mostly because it was exactly 10 years to the day that I lost my Mum. I spent some time at her grave yesterday, they say the passing of time makes it easier, they are wrong. I also spent some time with Eddie and he cheered me up, he says that I'm exactly where he wants me to be at 4 weeks out, for those of you that don't know Eddie, I should explain that this is as close as he gets to giving a major compliment! We made a slight modification to the diet and then today I saw my good friend Perry Knight and he gave me some useful advice too, so it's all looking good. Here's Colby with me feeding him an ice cream last week, I was very tempted to steal it I must admit!

Wednesday 8th September

Just four more weeks of dieting left! In exactly four weeks time I will be carbing up which is actually worse than the diet as it makes you feel like you are pregnant for a couple of days while the muscles absorb all of the carbs. The diet is hurting all of the "Golds Gym magnificent seven" as I call us, yet we are all staying totally focused. As you know I like to use a topical joke whenever possible, this is made easy today by the news of David Haye's next fight. I'm a big fan of David's and have paid a lot of money to see him fight and it has been worth every penny, but he has let his fans down by asking them to finance the retirement of "Ordinary Audrey Harrison". I for one wont be paying £250 for the pleasure of seeing that particular joke.

Monday 6th September

A big day today! Went through everything with Marc and he is looking great. So great that I could have let him have an easy session today.... no chance! Made him throw up and it wasn't even legs day so mission accomplished! He does all of his important work at Golds and that's why he will be one of 7 people competing for my gym in Nottingham. I'm where I want to be too, as you can see from the pic Im still a bit smooth but after what happened in May I will be doing a long slow depletion starting in 10 days time followed by a mini carb up. So all in all, although I'm still over 17 stone, I'm happy with where I am at the moment, although I will see Eddie on Saturday so may have to retract that statement afterwards!

Friday 3rd September

So after the 300, the 500, that was this weeks hamstrings workout. My hamstrings have always been my weakest point, this is common in older bodybuilders, it's where we carry excess fat, but I have been working hard on them and they are already looking as good as they did in May but they have to go on at least one stage from there for Nottingham, hence the 500. Thats 25 sets of 20 reps, all heavy of course, but style and form, as ever, are more important than weight. Just 5 weeks to go now and tomorrows early morning weigh in will tell me if both Marc and I are still on target. Im sure that we are and I will get some new pics to post next week. Meantime here's the Princess with her Dad, my son Steve, who runs this website brilliantly, thanks mate!

Tuesday 31st August

Have you seen that film "300"? I love that movie and I've devised a quads workout that I call 300. It involves 20 sets of 15 reps (=300!) of the hardest leg exercises possible, all done with maximum weight, to maximum depth and must be completed in less than 1 hour. Throwing up in the drain in the car park afterwards is not obligatory but I usually do. It means that you are confined to sitting down for the rest of the day, hence me sitting here writing this! My legs are already looking so much better than the last picture that I posted here, I'll put a new one on soon but as I have a new batch of Lilybelle pictures, thanks to my gorgeous daughter in law Amy, here's another one. Can you see why I call her "The most beautiful thing I have ever seen"?

Sunday 29th August

Busy times again! Yesterday I saw just about everyone that I am working with at the moment. The posing class went well, many thanks to Matt and Annie for their help, and we were all pleased with Martin Duckett who posed with me. Eddie was happy with me, he says I'm just carrying a bit of water so we have addressed that and it will soon come off. Marc is coming in on target but we both have "the hard yards" as I like to call the final six weeks, to do, starting from tomorrow. Rob is ahead of schedule for the stars of tomorrow and will look the best he has ever looked by November, guaranteed. I only have one other person and they are struggling with the diet but we are working on it. Here's my gorgeous Princess Lilybelle having a little nap.

Friday 27th August

Rounded off another good weeks training at Golds today, and tomorrow I have a posing class at Monster gym as well as a meeting with Eddie. He will tell me exactly how much more work I have to do in the last 6 weeks. Everyone else is telling me that I look great but it's only Eddie's opinion that I listen to. I've found a great supplier of GASP clothing; www.fitclothing.com is run by fellow bodybuilder Perry Crick and I recommend it thoroughly. What with all this bad weather my gorgeous daughter Natalie & I took the boys to the beach on Tuesday, not a real one but the pretend one in the middle of Milton Keynes shopping centre, as you can see we had a great time!

Wednesday 25th August

Yesterday Marc & I did a killer leg workout at Golds. Marc usually trains his legs at Fatlas gym but I've always maintained that the equipment there is not good enough to build competition legs, that's why I've always done my serious leg work elsewhere. I ripped the arse out of my trousers by squatting deeper than ever and also felt sick for the rest of the day afterwards. Marc was on the verge of collapse but that boy never gives up! Here he is 7 weeks out, the pic was taken cold with no pump up, as you can see he will be ready early! Finally, now that all the exam results are in, some job training for those who failed their GCSE's. Repeat after me "would you like large fries with that?"

Friday 20th August

William Gallas from Arsenal to Tottenham? Ha ha, what goes around comes around gooners, and he won't be the disappointment that Sol Campbell was for you when he went the other way (no pun intended!) Doing some good work still with Martin Duckett (BNBF British champion) and next week we are both going to a posing class at Monster gym. I will also hook up with Eddie there and then as he is now back from holiday. My legs look ok, in this picture they were 8 weeks out, by the time I see Eddie they will be much more cut or he will not be happy and I don't want that! Im not scared of Eddie but I have a massive amount of respect for him for what he has acheived, he is in his mid forties now but still looks far better than I ever could.

Thursday 19th August

Haven't done a movie review for a while but yesterday I saw (yes you guessed it) "The Expendables" so here goes. Apart from Jason Stathams accent this movie is nowhere near as ridiculous as "The A Team" and is a much better movie all round. All of the guys are there, doing what they do as well as ever except that these days they are even wrinklier than I am! Arnie steals the show as usual with a short cameo near the beginning which brings the best laugh of the whole movie and Mickey Rourke proves what a great actor he is. If you like your movies macho then go see it, you won't be disappointed.

Thursday 12th August

How would you feel today if you were David Beckham? To find out that your England career is over because a fat Italian failure tells some TV show, is nothing short of disgraceful. DB has been a great servant to his country and deserves much better than that. Its Capello that should be retired, not Becks. Anyway, I'm off to Perry & Sarahs wedding now then I'm going to relax on a sunny beach for a few days in preparation for the 8 weeks of torture that will follow. Spent some time with my Princess Lilybelle last night, she now has 2 teeth and is crawling at only 7 months old and she gets more beautiful every day! Here's me at 9 weeks out, still 18 stone, yet it's all coming in nicely!

Saturday 7th August

Im loving all of this competition prep! Completed another good week yesterday and starting next weeks tomorrow, a day early so that I can attend the wedding of my good friend Perry Knight on Thursday and then just recover from the hangover on Friday! Marc & I are both well ahead of target, Marc has only 5 kilos to lose in 9 weeks and everyone at Golds tells me that I look about 4 weeks out not 9 so it's all good! It's not just the bodybuilding that's making me so happy, Caden is more fun every time I see him, Colby is more gorgeous than ever and my Princess Lilybelle has cut her first tooth at 7 months after spending some time teething on Granddads ear the other day! Here's Caden measuring himself on his height chart in his room with his favourite toy box on his head!

Tuesday 3rd August

It's important to stay focused during contest prep but it's also nice to have something else to do rather than worry about myself all the time. So I coached Marc on Monday, he is looking great and right on target, and tomorrow I am coaching Cy, my big hope for glory in the juniors next year. Also, I today did some preliminary work with Martin Duckett, the BNBF British over 50's champion. Martin is in amazing condition already but we are going to do some work to make sure that he retains his title on September 19th. I still managed to fit in a long afternoon with Caden today though, some things are more important than bodybuilding, here he is watching Toy Story (again!)

Wednesday 28th July

Just over 10 weeks to go and although it's all going well I feel like a need a bit of a holiday already. My plan is to get well ahead of schedule so that I can have a few days rest right in the middle of competition preparation. This may sound like a bad idea but my body responds well to rest days, probably because I slighly overtrain, so a few days rest in a few weeks time will give me a mini rebound which I can then take forward into the last few weeks up to the show. As always, as long as the diet is right it will work, it must be every day that I tell someone else that the diet is by far the most important bit but it is. Of course the hard bit is being somewhere nice and living on fish and broccoli, hard but not impossible. Here's Caden from yet another day at the park with Granddad.

Friday 23rd July

Rounded off another excellent weeks training at Golds by doing a session with my old training partner Rob, who I am preparing for the Stars show in November, we have always pushed each other and right now we are both aching from this morning! Also heard from my mate Cy who I will be preparing for the London show next May, Cy is a junior but is a big guy, if we can get his condition right he will blow them all away. We are going to train together soon, that will bring him on a bit and set him up for the rest of this year. Yesterday afternoon I had the best time, Natalie and Amy came round with all of the Grandchildren and we all had a brilliant time. Here I am with Colby and Lilybelle safely in the grasp of the giant strigglers, or hands as most people call them!

Wednesday 21st July

Still 11 and a half weeks to go and things are coming through very quickly! Both Marc & I look like we are only about 6 weeks out already so we have both added back some extra carbs into our diets, excellent! (Excited over an extra handful of rice, how sad!) I think that starting the 2 hour daily cardio early has been the key, I can see my hamstrings already and that has never happened this early before. I also have to say that training at Golds has made a huge difference. Training there has definitley made me bigger and now it is cutting me up quicker than ever before, so life is good. Here's Caden & me on the swings, he decided to push me for a change!

Sunday 18th July

Cardio with a difference yesterday! It was the Bedford river festival and a team of us from Golds gym were entered into the Dragon Boat race. This consisted of paddling a dodgy looking boat up and down the river as fast as possible several times, each time getting soaked and narrowly avoiding capsizing. After setting the best time in the first three qualifying heats we lost the final by half a second but all of the lads agreed that it had been a good laugh even if we were all knackered by the end of it! In exactly 12 weeks from now they will be announcing the winner of this years British finals so its back to normal training today. Here's Caden & I talking about playing crazy golf in the rain last week, that kid is just amazing.