well, here it goes, it is with great regret that I am going to have to come to the realization that I can no longer compete this year, and I really need to take some time off from the rigors of dieting and decrease my training frequency in oreder to get myself better! I have done all that i could to the most meticulous details of my training and diet that have really brought me to a standstill/plateau, regardless of what I did to really clear up the situation and get myself back on track to show my ultimate physique, it never seemd to come together, I don't know why and i don't know how, but this must be body telling me something! My back will not cooperate to handle the excessive cardio that i must endure to get my bodyfat levels where they are needed, and the low, low amounts of carbs are just not something I can really handle for that long a period of time and I have done that for years and can hold it and my carb sensitive situation lends itself to where my carbs must go very low and stay for long periods of time and these are the things that will be very rough to accomplish and handle my new teaching job, while coaching for the fall season as well!! all these things are going to interfere with my final year of teaching befroe I can be hired in terms of gettign my tenure, and this is what I have worked so hard to get my whole life and have paid for all my 6+ years of college out of my own pocket to really set up my family with the right benefits, which is where my importance must lie in terms where i am right now!!

Will I stop answering questions for anyone who needs help, no way, I am not that type of person, to not help someone, who really wishes to get better, and will still be on these boards as often I Can be, but to a lesser dgree once School does start! This will have no bearing on the way I answer any qurestion i can, I love to help people and will never stop doing that or my training here at my home, I love to do that stuff too much!! I can't stop helping my Brother either, as he will put on something that resembles avery strong periodized program to peak him optimally for his lifts coming up next July for his Nationals next summer in Ames, Iowa!

Will I stop training?? No way, not even close, but the frequency will have to be decreased aourn my back situation!! I will do whatever it takes to get myself better and i know that rest will be a big component of that, not like the couch potato society we live in but just enough to get some recovery! I am too full of energy to just sit around and do nothing, this will not happen to me! I love to train and will never stop htting the weights, that will be something that will be there for life!

Will the diet go to sh*t? it will less restrictive, but in no way will i become what we see out there as this will not be a good model for the kids to see that i teach nor my training clients! I have held these reigns very tight on this diet and must do so to be in any condition to look like anyone else who has the real good metabolisms to easily diet for a show, and trust me I know there is no easy diet for a show, but in terms of preparation, it is just easier physically on that individual!! I wish i had more of the meso bodytype, but that will never be me!! For someone like myself, I need to do 100 g of carbs, which is very low, while guys like Jared and Tracedogg can top out near 250-300 g of carbs, my body is just dyign for a break!
I tried so hard to make this work and make the road easier and simple by really taking my time and slowly dropping things from the beginning of the year all for one show and now due to things I can no longer control enough to feel comfortable with i need to give myself the rest of the year off and take off at least the year of 2006, and then we will reassess, what is going on, maybe a family over this time, so we will see!!

I will still be here, and will not go away, so hopefully I am not letting you guys down by what has occurred, but the body can only do so much before it wants to shut down and this I must do!

I appreciate all of the support in this and will still be here to help!!

Craig,
You've got my support, sometimes you know it's not the right time and that's o.k. Although this contest's prep is going well, remember I had to drop out of my last show because my back injury just kept flaring up and flaring up!! When that starts to happen, if the calories are really low, and there's no time for a break from training, the recovery will not happen!! Best of luck to you, and with your new career!
Fitdzin

Dear Craig,

The respect I have for you is enormous.

Kris

I second what Kristine said! Sounds like you have made a very smart choice considering all that is going on. Good luck to you.

Craig,
Your present situation and decision is one which has afflicted me several times throughout my career. For what its worth, here's my 2 cents:

You have just recently turned pro and with this status your standards of excellence have changed. Because you are a high end achiever, remaining the same, physique wise, is not an option.

As I sit here typing this, I am sitting at 4.2% bodyfat and just came off a guest posing stint last week. Realistically speaking, I am right on target to enter any show I wish, and probably do extremely well. However.... I have decided to NOT COMPETE this year, possibly next year, and maybe the year after. Am I upset and disappointed? Not in the least. Why am I not competing? It goes back to what I stated earlier. My standards of excellence have changed. Last year I won another pro card as well as 2 additional overalls, and I do not feel I can best those three shows. Am I being too hard on myself? Maybe. But the stage will always be there. I am going back into powerlifting next year. Back to my roots. I have taken "breaks" like this over the years, and always come back to bodybuilding with a fresh outlook, renewed enthusiasm, better overall physique.

I believe you are more of a man to come out and admit to us all your feelings and I totally respect you as such. I have no doubts whatsoever that when you decide to come back to the stage, you will be a new person, new bodybuilder, and even more successful as a coach, teacher and source of inspiration. I also have no doubts that you would've done some serious damage at the KC show.

And to boil it down further... it's only a bodybuilding show bro. On the totum pole of life's priorities, bodybuilding events are carved somewhere at the bottom. Now go have yourself a pizza

ANH

Aram,
That was really great.
Kris

It's funny Aram, after i was done reading your post, I just got back from eating some Pizzaria Uno's Pizza, and it was good !

Craig, You have my utmost respect in what you have decided. I love that people can put another foot forward because of priorties in their life!

Good for you Craig and to your family.

Good Luck to you and we all will be here supporting everything you do.

quote:

Originally posted by Cytrainer913:
It's funny Aram, after i was done reading your post, I just got back from eating some Pizzaria Uno's Pizza, and it was good !

OMG, I am so jealous
2.5 more weeks....

Cytrainer I know exactly how you feel, I am also a p.e. teacher and I used to coach and I would try to train and compete at the same time and on top of that I am renivating a double apartment unit that I own and physically it was just too much. I began to develop back problems from all of the heavy training and standing during coaching. I decided to to step away from coaching and focus on natural bodybuilding becasue that is what my heart was telling me what to do. I opened up and told my coworkers that I have always had a passion to do bodybuilding and also personal training and that I would rather do that than coach and I dont know if they understood but that is who I am. I still feel bad when I see the other coaches during football season but I am doing what I love.