The show is called the “Team Universe” because each of the individual weight class winners is supposed to represent the United States at the World Amateur Championships. The problem is that because of global turmoil, the U.S. does not usually send a team. Because the overall winner of the World Amateur Championships is eligible for his pro card and we don’t usually send a team, for the past few years the overall winner of the Team Universe is eligible for this I.F.B.B. Pro card (the dream of most amateur bodybuilders).

Personally my goal for this show is to win my class. To be perfectly honest I’ve never been in a show this big and competitive so it’s hard to say what the competition is like, but I do know myself and I believe that at my best I can do well against the top amateur lightweights in the country. So taking first is the goal but I could live with a top 3 my first year.

My last show was on October 4 of this year and I placed 2nd in the Lightweight class at the NPC Natural Northern USA. I was little disappointed with how the show went. A lot of people thought I should have won, but that’s not why I’m disappointed. My disappointment comes from me not preparing 100% mentally for the show. Physically I did all I could, but I let myself get distracted with business and personal issues. this won’t be the case this year. I haven’t been this excited to do a show since wining the ANBC Nationals in 2002.

In preparation for this show I plan do to everything perfect in order to bring the best Bill Lawrence I can to the stage in August. I’ve spent a lot of time consulting, working, and learning from the best bodybuilders in the business from Skip LaCour to Dorian Yates. After doing a lot of contemplating and studying what I need to improve on, I’ve made some big changes for this years training, dieting, and overall preparation. All of which you’ll learn throughout this journal.

One of the changes I decide to make was periodically check my measurements. I know a lot of people will tell you not to do that because you will just get frustrated and the mirror is the only thing that counts. Well I think that is true to a degree. I weighed myself at the beginning of my new training cycle and checked a few measurements. I plan on checking my weight each week and measuring my body fat and checking my measurements every 4 weeks. I’m also planning on taking more physique assessment photos this year. Usually I start taking them 12 weeks out but this year I’m going to start about 8 months out in January. This is a good way to make sure I work on my posing more too.

So all though these numbers are not necessarily exact, my starting numbers on October 27, 2003 look like this:

Another change I’ve made is with my training. I’ve decided to cut back a little more on the volume and crank up the Intensity. After being able to train with Dorian Yates (6 time Mr. Olympia and known as the hardest training guy in the business), I realized that I can definitely pick up the intensity. It just goes to show you that there’s always a higher level to shoot for. I’ll get into the exact changes later, but for now my weekly split looks like this:

The third and final major change that again I deal with more in the journal is my diet. Before this year I used to always consume about 400-420 grams of protein, 500 or so carbs, and about 50 grams of fat in the off-season. This year I’m experimenting with some different things. For one I’m going to lower my protein. At a beginning bodyweight of 170 pounds (dressed), I don’t think I need quite that much protein. So my beginning diet (which I’m still fine tuning) will have about 340 grams of protein (2 grams per pound).

I’m also contemplating the idea of carb rotating. This is a strategy that one of the best lightweights ever and my advisor for my past 3 shows, Derik Farnsworth advocates. And since he’s usually right about just about everything else I’ll most likely give it a try. As I said above, I’m still ironing out the exact diet plan, but it will be something like 5 high carb days of around 500 grams and two low days of 170 grams.

The last component of my diet is fat and I also plan on taking in more of that. Making sure I get the fat from good sources such as Flaxseed oil, fish, oil, and natural Peanut butter, I’m going to schedule in about 70-80 grams of good fat each day.

So basically I’m going to lower my protein a little, rotate my carbs, and raise my good fat intake.

I sincerely hope you enjoy my journal and please feel free to email me (trainer@alltel.net) with any comments or questions. I always read them an answer back as soon as possible.

Thanks for your intrest and enjoy,

Bill Lawrence