Training Hard in the New Year

It's New Year's Eve and I am enjoying having my two daughters and my two grandchildren home for the holidays. My oldest grandchild, Gianna, is 10 months old and my grandson, Jayden, is three months old.

My personal training work at the Birmingham, Alabama YMCA is going great. I average 28 hours of training each week. Among my clients are one female bodybuilder and three male bodybuilders who are all progressing nicely. They will compete in the 2009 NGA Alabama Natural Open Bodybuilding, Figure and Fitness Model Championships on July 11 in Birmingham. We hope to have more than 60 competitors at the drug-free Pro Qualifier event.

My training is going well in spite of a little setback. I tore some muscle fibers in my right quad a few weeks ago and had to cut back on my leg work until it healed. I decided to take a full week off over Christmas and resumed training on December 29. I have been going hard at it, and I know the rest did me a lot of good.

I received an email from a casting director in Los Angeles for a photo shoot for Paris Match, a very popular French magazine similar to Vanity Fair. They are doing a photo editorial on aging and were looking for an older bodybuilder. I got the job and will be flown to LA at the end of January for a one-day shoot.

I am going to have to go on a light contest prep diet to drop a few off-season pounds before the shoot. I don't mind because the photographer, Rancinan, is well known and it will be a great experience being photographed by such a renowned shooter.

I hope all of you have a Happy and prosperous New Year.

Old Navy