All the work is over and the day has come to stand on the stage and be judged side by side with my peers. At least that's what most people believe. I know going into these shows that I am kind of at a disadvantage to some degree, as much of the judging criteria is going to be based on size and muscle mass, which makes sense being that this is a bodybuilding show. Keeping it real, I am competing in non-tested bodybuilding, which means contestants can use whatever performance enhancing drugs they want to, and even in amateur shows most guys use a lot of gear and they can get pretty big. I can not do the same as it would be extremely careless for me with my heart history to stress my heart and body to that degree, yet being that I am on TRT I can not compete in any natural shows. This means I will be one of the smaller guys on stage as I am not willing to do what it takes in terms of PED's to be competitive with guys on a lot more testosterone and many other compounds. I am not complaining but it is the reality of my situation.

I always hope that the judges will favor conditioning and aesthetic over size, but from what I have seen at this years show and last years show, this is not the case, size for sure trumps conditioning and aesthetic. That's really OK with me as my expectations for this show where not what kind of placement I was going to get, but that I was able to bring something better than last year and I did just that. I was up at least 5 pounds over last year with at least the same level of conditioning. I even got a shout out from the DJ where he mentioned how much I had improved over last year so mission accomplished!

I have no plans for any future shows as I am just not what the judges are looking for and unless I somehow magically put on 10 pounds of extra lean muscle, there is no way I can be competitive in an Open Bodybuilding Show. So for now I will continue to train and enjoy bodybuilding for myself and for my health.