My Bodybuilding History

So, yesterday was an insight into what got me started with training and how I came to specialise in Bodybuilding in particular. What I wanted to do today was expand on that a little and focus more on the specifics of my Bodybuilding history. Then over the next few days I will put up a basic training and nutrition plan for anyone to use. Its taken me many years to get to this point, so if your looking for somewhere to start, or a bit of direction in your workouts, then id recommend having a look.

Back to todays post....

11 years after winning Mr Boston I was now working for British Aerospace in Saudi Arabia. My training had advanced but my nutritional knowledge was very poor. The gym in Saudi was once again very basic, so a group (30ish) of us got together to form a coop, which worked very well. It is a sad fact that in the whole of Saudi Arabia nobody makes gym equipment! You could buy it from main dealers but at around £4,000 for a low row machine from imported brands such as Trotter, Cybex, Weider and LifeFitness it was proving to be way out of our price range. So we had plate loading kit (because we could get cheap 20k plates) shipped in from the UK.

As I now had a good gym to use I decided to look at competing again, and it was at this point that I finally got my nutrition under control. In September 2001 I did my next competition, it was an EFBB show in Leamington Spa. The U90k Class was my weight category, but on the day I was 84K so to be truthful if I had been in top condition I should have been in the U80k Class. As it happens I took 3^rd.
My next outing was in 2004 again it was an EFBB show, but this time in the Leicester O40s Class. I won and qualified for the British Finals but as I was still living abroad I decided not to enter as to compete in the finals would have meant flying at great expense to me.

In 2011 at 48 years old I decided to take the plunge again, although now I was living in Preston and Training at Ironman Gym. This is a fantastic gym and I would go so far as to say that it’s the best Bodybuilding gym in England! 

I competed 3 times in 2011 the first show was non-affiliated, but very well regarded in the area , and I placed 3^rd in the Over 40s. I had the biggest and most well-formed physique but I did lack the condition so 3^rd was fair. Next was the NABBA North West, a Britain qualifier in May 2011. I had a further 2 weeks to improve my condition and it paid off with a 2^nd place in the O 40s and qualified for the Britain Finals (the Big time). The finals were held at the same venue as the qualifier but only 6 days later and there in laid the issue, “prep time”. There were only 4 days to deplete and carb up again and I have to admit I didn’t get it right. But that being said, the results were a little odd, the guy that placed 3^rd in my qualifier won the Britain the winner of the qualifier only placed 5th. All this in 6 days, so I wasn't too hard on myself!

After my no place result in the Britain Over 40s I made the decision to go for the Over 50s class in 2 years time. So I made a plan.

Around August 2011 my training started to take on a new intensity. The first thing I did was to identify my weak areas like hamstrings and shoulders. I addressed the hamstring issue by moving them to the beginning of the leg workout, I did consider doing them on a separate day but I think pre-exhausted hams react better to the continued use during the rest of the workout. As for my shoulders the focus was my rear delts. It is an aspect of the shoulder workout that is often overlooked which is a shame as good rear delts add so much to the balance and overall impression of size of the shoulders. My on stage weight for the Britain in May 2011 was 13st 9lbs and by June 2012 my weight peaked at 17st 11. Yes that was too much body fat but I had also made some good gains. So the plan now involved getting my body fat under control before I started my contest prep. I had made that mistake in previous years and it can cost you muscle mass if you have to hit the diet too hard. My advice to anyone competing is that you should be able to see your abs before you start you competition prep!

I will end with a flyer to my next show. Sunday 12th May, hope to see you there!

And one more thing....I recently had a photo shoot done with Lee Archer of Photo-Flex. If you haven't already seen it, have a look and let me know what you think!

Paul Rowe Photoshoot or Paul Rowe Photoshoot (Antimo)