Don't Call It A Comeback... | Craigproductions, Home of the Emerald Cup and Washington Ironman

Don't Call It A Comeback...

09.04.2010 13:04:22

Aw’ite, lil Weedhoppahs, he spoke! Tony hit me up on FB. And I quote…”I'm not talkin Trash. Just statin’ the facts! BEST POSER IS MINE!"

Ohhhhhhhhhh BABY!!! Love it! But thass all you got, T? C’mon man, you was talkin’ big bow-wow when Jules was texting me. As the brotha’s say, “Don’t be scurred…” Hit me wit y’best shot…or was that your best shot? I know, I know…I got the blog, I got the ‘puter…but I promised to print everything you said. So in essence, this is your blog through the Ironman as well. But for now, all I gotta say is, “I’ma break it down and do whatever I gotsta do…I’m tellin’ you now, I got moves for you…By the time I’m done you gonna cry out loud…cause the applause you hear is for me from the crowd!!!” ~chuckle~

Hey, word must be gettin’ out about the pose-off. Turk Fickling, who arguably was the best poser of the 90’s and who I’ve been workin’ to get back on stage just for something like this hit me up on a text. And I quote…”I heard you got a battle goin’ on with Tony R??" And Elaine Craig chipped in as well off of T’s FB post… "Oh, it's ON and it's FUN!!!! hmmm...should we have Mark [Mason] shoot a little preview video to put on the site to tempt everyone? Bwaahahahaha!" Finally, Mark Sindayen, who is an awesome poser in his own right, commented, "T Ruggiero is challenging you for the posing award. T-Man and Dave…I gotta see this. Now you two are gettin me motivated!"

Ok, America…it’s up to you…hit me, Elaine, or Tony up and let us know what y’think. How should we do this? Should we let all-comers in? Rules & Guidelines? Let’s have AMERICA’S TOP POSER right here in the PNW! I ain’t sayin’ nuthin…I’m just sayin’ what I’m sayin’…J

Four weeks tomorrow. So what am I doing in prep for this? Nothing much, to be honest with you. I’ve got two weeks to go for Spokane’s NOC in which I’m gonna…oh…wait…I can’t say what I’m gonna do cause I can’t let T in on it. But I will say this…cardio is at a solid hour of hard intensity seven days a week. Also, having Jeff back is definitely good for the ole muscles. They were telling me last night, “We missed Jeff. We missed that push. Why can’t you do that with anyone else or by yourself?” It’s all good, muscles…as long as your bromance is back don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s even better when your #1 training partner is also your chiropractor. Did I ever tell you guys about the time Jeff had to save me on legs? And it goes a lil somethin’ like this…

Years ago at my big gym, Jeff and I were on legs. He was doing his usual 9-10 plates a side on leg press and I was at my usual 7-8 plates on the other leg press. It’s immaterial that Jeff’s plates were 45’s and mine were 10’s – a push is a push! I finished before him and went to the Frank Zane Leg Blaster. That’s a great piece of equipment that allows me to squat without the compression factor on my back, which isn’t good for a person with a bad case of scoliosis. I was on my last set at light weight. Went down and couldn’t come out of the hole…my back and hip literally lost all feeling. We later deduced that it was an impinged nerve that caused instantaneous muscle weakness. That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!

I called over to Jeff – “Jeff…help…something’s wrong with my back…I can’t stand up!”

Jeff was doing a set of leg press. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m okay…just can’t push up out the hole…my back and hip don’t seem to be working…I’m stuck.”

“Ok…lemme finish my set and I’ll be right there!”

That’s right, America! My used-to-be-bestest workout partner in the whole world left me under load while he finished his set. A real trooper, that Jeff. I’ve always said, once you start your workout, you let NOTHING stop you from finishing it! But I digress…

Back on point…the nutrition is impeccable. Here’s a typical day’s eating (and training) for me right now…

2 scoops protein w/1 tbsp CapTri brand MCT oil along with all my thermic agents and supps (and Excedrin to get this ole body movin’…) 30 minutes prior to morning cardio.

60 minutes of hard cardio.

50 gms uncooked oatmeal (2-3 pks Splenda added in)

2 tbsp CapTri added in Oatmeal

1 slice Dave’s Killer Bread

4 oz Protein (either chicken or turkey)

Train with weights – one bodypart a day (standing calves one day, seated another) no 2^nd cardio just yet…

BIG protein shake post-workout – can’t give out the secret ingredients – that’s proprietary information (ya’ll will get it in a lil bit…gonna blog on that topic soon)

150-200 gm wt chicken

250 gm wt stir-Fry veggies

100 gm wt cooked rice or red potato

2 tbsp CapTri

Repeat above meal twice more before bed.

If I get hungry between meals I’ll plug in a Parrillo bar, Parrillo cookie or brownie or both. I typically have a diet pop at night but will cut it out the last week. My water is at a little more than a gallon/day right now. As I said yesterday, nuthin fancy…nuthin magical – just good old-fashioned training, cardio, and nutrition – something that’s stood the test of time. Y’know…it’s funny how so many new supps come and go, and all these crazy food plans and diets come and go, but the tried-and-true methods never go out of vogue. People are constantly asking me what’s my ‘secret’ for doing so many shows and coming in with the same dialed-in look. It’s simple lil’ weedhoppahs…I’ve been following this plan for close to 20 years. I believe in it, I live it, and I benefit from it. I learned a long time ago that I’m not gonna be a mass monster, so I made the decision to stay lean, do shows, entertain the crowds, and have fun with this.

Hey, I’m out…time to eat. But before I go I’ve just gotta say that Bren – one of the fellow bloggers – has a killer routine! Still a little rough in a couple places but by the time she hits the stage it’ll be spot on. I’ve got confidence in her! And she’s dialing in nicely, especially for someone that’s carried so much weight for years. Oh…and mine and Cindy’s couples routine…I said this a couple blogs ago – it’s gonna be one of the best I’ve done, and that’s saying a lot, what with Janet Guenther’s creativeness for our past routines and what me and Marga Overby did at the EC this year. You guys will have to call it – heck, I like em all! I suppose I could pick a favorite if pushed, but I’d rather not. They’ve all been excellent, entertaining routines.