2nd coaching session with Ned

Really good. So is it a bit cold up there?

Yeah, it's getting a little colder now, but we still have some nice days left in, so we're just kind of hanging on to this sunshine that we got left, but it's going to get pretty cold.

That's good. That's good, mate. Well, it is beautiful down here. I'm sitting outside, got the last of a bit of an Indian summer going on here in Texas. I see that.

So how's everything going? How you feeling? How's workouts? How's the diet? Tell me a little bit about—

It's going well. My weight hasn't dropped, but I found my body fat percentages have changed, so that's interesting to watch. I'm only about 16 weeks out, so I've got I've got a little bit of trepidation going on there. I'm not too sure how I'm going to lose the weight because to come from where I am down to where I need to be, it's going to be a big change. The diet I'm sticking to just like you told me. I'm working the program like you said, but I don't know, man. 16 weeks isn't that long, but it's a really long time.

Yeah, I know last time when you came to my office, I surprised you a little bit with And my plan changed to do a show this early, which seems early, but still it's far enough away that we can get there. Yeah, it ain't gonna be easy. Not that it's perfect, it's easy. Any masterpiece you want to build, it requires the time and patience and a lot of hard work. And that's what we are building, a masterpiece. The best package yet that John had.

I like that, mate, a masterpiece.

Masterpiece, mate.

Australian masterpiece, mate.

I'm probably going to let you hang out on a diet here for another— till Friday because I didn't know that we actually had 18 weeks when we originally started. Usually, every bodybuilder, that's about the breaking point, 16, 12, 8 weeks. It depends. If you've been doing bodybuilding for a long time, 8 weeks you could be ready. Somebody that's done one show, one show, it's 16, 12 weeks is really, that's a striking time, distance, you know. So yeah, enjoy it and then I think probably by Saturday, you know, things are going to change. Your diet is going to change.

Well, that's good. The mother-in-law just got into Australia this week, so I'll go home and tell Becky I've got, you know, one more week of eating crap with the in-laws before I get back on a— but my diet's been good, you know, I haven't been outlandish. You know, I was coming up and I didn't want to put on 40 pounds, you know.

Yeah.

Yeah, I've been eating clean, you know, reasonably lean, and just, you know, just not being dumb. I was really stupid once you told me I had to cut. I ate crap for 3 days and made myself sick. I thought, bugger you, mate. I'm going to go have beer and wings, you know.

Well, if you modernize home, I'm sure you'll have to have some beers for sure.

Sorry?

If you modernize at your house, I'm sure you're going to need some beer for sure.

Yeah, probably more beer than wings, mate.

Well, how's your workouts, John? How's that going?

It's going well, mate. I took your advice and I moved from training harder to training smarter. So instead of trying to hit the 6s and 8s reps on maximum weight, I'm keeping it up between the 10, 12, 13, 14 in there.

Yeah.

I'm pushing myself, so every week I'm seeing my weight go up a little bit, but I'm not— I haven't strained anything. You know, I went through that series of 6 major injuries in 6 weeks. So I haven't had anything like that and I'm getting that pump. When we trained together, you did a whole bunch of high rep, 30s and 40s coming in for the first set and I've taken that on. Lots of drop sets, lots of reverse drop sets as well. And that trick you taught me with the biceps really worked too. I've seen some big changes there. So yeah.

Yeah, just make sure you keep the arm up behind your— You know, behind your shoulder length, behind when you're doing the biceps and whatever.

Yeah.

So shorten the muscle, but, you know, seems like you're prone to those injuries really easy.

Yeah.

And somebody like you, definitely, you know, I'm the same way. I'm a guy who would get injured quickly, you know. So make sure you don't do anything stupid, you know, so you don't get hurt on a more serious base so that way you can't train at all.

Yeah.

But stay at— still train heavy, but high reps. I don't want you to just put light weight and then do 15, 20. I mean, you still put some weight on so that even you're pushing over the 10, 12, 13, 14, 15 reps.

Yep.

So you feel that nice deep burn. So it gives it that nice round look to your muscle, that pretty look.

Yep. That's what I've been doing, mate. I've been, you know, the first set's been a warm-up, you know, getting it in there, but then I've been really just pushing it. So in that last 1 to 2 sets, I'm getting between 12 and 15. That last set, I'm probably getting, you know, the 11 to 13s, 14s, something in there. So I've kept on going up and up. So that's been great. It's been really good.

Good, good. So how's your mindset? I know that a big part of this is having your mind in it, and some people, when their mind is not in it, then there's no game. Meaning you don't get to do your workouts, your diet. How do you feel about that?

I'm actually really good. I found it's been a challenging 2 weeks illness-wise. There's been some stuff that's been really challenging, but my mindset's been fantastic. I've just worked around it. I've found ways to get around that. Get myself around them. But, you know, I want this, mate. I want to give this my best, and I really am. Sleep's difficult. I'm not getting a lot of sleep. So, even with that, what I'm trying to do is get what sleep I can in the morning, then rolling around and trying to have a nap in the afternoon. I'm trying to find ways to give my body time to recover.

Okay.

I'm probably sleeping, you know, 2, 3 hours at the most, 4, which is really good for me. It's up from 90 minutes, which it was for a long time. I had 2 weeks this week where I was only getting 90 minutes, 2 hours sleep, which is ridiculous.

Wow.

So I'm trying to get that afternoon nap in and trying to give my body some time to recover. And what I've done is I've become aware of that. So even when I hit the gym, that's one reason why I went to the slightly higher reps. is because I'm there and it's just tough when you haven't slept for 3 or 4 days. Just to stay focused and not fall over on your face or do something stupid.

Yeah, and just make sure you warm up before your workouts. I know I'm guilty of not stretching and doing all this.

Really, mate? I wouldn't pick you as that type. I'd pick you as the yoga guy, you know? I know.

But somebody like you and me too, who's prone to getting hurt easy, we definitely need to make sure we do all the prep work before we start lifting weights. We get into it hardcore.

Yeah, yeah.

Me too, mate. But otherwise, The diet plan that we're going to work for next, coming up next week, is going to be more— we're going to drop some calories. We're going to start tightening up a little bit, not a lot because we're still at 16 weeks. It's a marathon. This is a marathon, not a race, not a 100 dash. That's how I want you to think. We've got to pace ourselves. Make sense?

Yeah.

It's just like a marathon runner. We've got to pace ourselves. We're going to Go a little bit at a time. It's not a quick 100 days that we just go boom.

Sure.

We're going to take a little bit of calories, maybe take a yogurt out of your diet, something small. Then we're going to keep going like that. Supplements are going to change. Maybe throw some kind of fat burner in it over the shelf or whatever. Maybe do a little bit of cardio. So things slowly going to change every week now.

Okay.

But it will be a little bit of time. Like I said, it's a marathon. We have time, we just got to pace ourselves. So, and you'll see every week when you take some calories out, add a little bit of cardio, do those kind of things, your body will be changing, you know.

Okay.

So, you know, other than that, I think you're doing good. I know you've been sick. I know you had some setbacks, but that's what it's all about, this sport, man. Challenge, you know, that can be challenging at times, you know.

Yeah, well, yeah, it is. And, you know, I knew that— well, that's why I want to do it now. You know, I am healthy. I've got this one shot. I'm feeling good, but it sort of speaks to that, you know, I don't know how long it is. I don't know how long I've got. I don't know How long my mindset is going to be able to hold up to be able to do something like this. So that's why it's important to me, mate. I've got to give it a shot this year.

Like you said, this is my shot. And, you know, this is your shot, and I don't think— I personally don't think you're going to fail at it. You're going to come through. Because I think we both realize this is your one shot.

Yeah, well, thanks, man. It's good to have you in my corner on that, you know?

Oh yeah, for sure, man, for sure. I think it's going to be fun.

Yeah, that it will be, man.

It's going to be an interesting journey for you and I.

Well, especially in Fargo at the end of March. It's too cold. Australians aren't designed like that, mate. We're not polar bears or penguins.

That's as close to Canada as it gets, you know. I don't think you're ever going to be closer to Canada than being in Fargo. I mean, obviously, you can go more north, but it gets cold. In March, they get a lot of snow.

Yeah, well, thanks for that, buddy. I appreciate it. We're going to have all these orange men walking around town, you know, having suntans. That's going to be quite funny, man, in our man-thongs. It's going to be awesome.

Man-thongs, yeah.

Speedos. Bedazzled Speedos, mate. Bit of a worry, really.

Yeah, we got to have one of our daughters bedazzle them, you know, make it—

Yeah, yeah, let's not, eh? So I don't know if I want one of my daughters seeing Daddy in a bedazzled Speedo. Actually, that's a funny thing. Well, the other day I found my show trunks from the last one and So I put them on and walked out in the middle of the kitchen where all the kids were standing. Oh, mate, it was worth it. Oh, they fell over, especially the girls. They didn't know what to— they ran out of the room screaming. Big old fat belly hanging over, mate. I looked like I'd been— looked like I was some Greek guy on one of those European beach type things with those— I don't know why they do that when they speed up.

I was going to also mention to you, You know, during this show, there's going to be shaving, there's going to be tanning, there's going to be all kinds of beauty pageant things going on. And I always tell people when it comes to shaving your body, your arms, and waxing your back, and doing your chest and legs, to start early, you know, because sometimes some people when they shave too close, they get razor burns, you know.

Yeah. Okay.

So I always tell people, start shaving earlier so your body gets used to the shaving.

Well, how far out do you think we should start?

You know, if you like being hairy, I mean, keep it to about 12 weeks, but, you know, I always shave, you know, but I always tell people start doing it early, you know, just for the fact that, you know, you get your body used to it, get to the routine of it, you know, and then also tanning, you know, going to tanning beds and stuff like that. So there's a bunch of those little things that you need to be prepared for.

All right, well, tell me when I need to start doing that. That'll be fun.

I'll just send you that little Mach 3, whatever they call it, Macho 3 razors in the mail. That's going to be a hint.

That's a bit of worry. If a Mach 3 turns up, I'm in trouble.

All right, mate. Good to see you. Other than that, anything else, John? Do you have any questions, any concerns?

No, mate. I'm just ready. I'm just ready to get on that next stage. I'm just excited about it.

It's going to happen, bro.

It is, man.

When you believe it, you're halfway there.

Yeah. Well, I'm there. I'm at the halfway point. I'm about to start ready to get believing it. I'm positive about it. I've just never been here. hard to set my expectations, you know what I mean? Like, so I'm trusting you that you say, okay, I can do it. I understand I've got to do the work. I understand I've got to believe in myself, all that. But if you say I can do it and you say follow this program, this plan, then it's like, okay, I'm going to commit to that and then I'll go from there.

Yep.

So it's good, mate.

All right, boss.

All right, chief. Cheers. All right.