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Name: Kevin Hopwood
Before:
After:
At school and as a young adult I was never interested in taking part in sports. In my early 20s I bought a bodybuilding magazine and as soon as I opened its pages I was amazed at the guys inside. I knew there and then that I would love to step on stage and compete. I started to train but due to lack of cash and a young family to feed, the gym fees and cost of supplements proved to be very difficult. It was at this time I discovered the big city marathon, this proved to be less restrictive and running was to be my thing for the next 15 or so years until I became injured from all the street pounding. Running Articles: Then after a few years of inactivity for both my wife Karen and I, Karen decided to join a local gym to help her with her weight loss. She had no idea of how to construct a training program so I volunteered and went along to the gym to help. One day whilst Karen was running on the treadmill I decided to take a trip into the weights room. I was immediately hooked and it was at this point that I decided that I could achieve my long held dream of becoming a competing bodybuilder. I was age 47 and promised myself that I would step on stage before my 50th birthday. It was a tall order as I was very overweight and totally unfit, but I was sure that with determination and dedication I could achieve my goal.
  Click Image To Enlarge.I Was Sure I Could Achieve My Goal With Detemination & Dedication. So the journey that dreams are made of began. Karen also achieved her goals and is a constant encouragement to me and helps me with all my food requirements and contest preparation.
I started by taking my measurements to use as a starting reference point; I also took my 'before' photographs so that I could use them as source of inspiration, to say that I was disgusted by how I had let my body get this out of shape would be an understatement. I read all I could about bodybuilding diets and after keeping a food diary for a month I started to put into practice what I had read. Keeping the diary proved to be invaluable as I could see what needed to be adjusted to reach my goal. I still continue to record all my food and drink intake as I can see at a glance what adjustments work and what don't.
 Click Image To Enlarge.I Read All I Could About Bodybuilding Diets. I firmly believe that diet is the most important aspect of any bodybuilding program. My training now varies according to my goals but initially I used a basic HIT training method with good results. I am also in the process of opening my own gym, it will be called Foundry Gym and you can find us at www.foundrygym.com. I am also able to offer online training and nutrition advice.
My diet varies little between contest and off season. I try to keep it simple so that only small adjustments are needed pre contest depending on my condition.
9:30 AM 10:30 AM 1:00 PM 3:30 PM 5:00 PM 7:30 PM 10:00 PM 3:00 AM
Below is a general routine that I use. Days and bodyparts remain unchanged but exercises do change. As I approach contest time I train more instinctively using using drop sets, rest pause, and continuous tension. I also gradually reduce the time between sets from 2mins off season to as little as 20 second's pre contest to increase intensity.
Pre contest I include cable crossovers, pec dec and smith machine press.
Pre contest I include cable rows and machine rows.
Thursday: Quads
Pre contest I include drop sets, forced reps, supersets, giant sets, and lunges.
Pre contest I use cable raises, supersets, trisets, giant sets, smith machine press to front and rear, and continuous tension techniques.
Controlled tension week will be the same as the heavy week but with reps as high as 15 in a super strict slow style until the muscles are totally blownout. I would also include concentration curls, drag curls, triceps kickbacks and overhead extensions.
Abs are hit hard on Wednesday and Sunday. Cardio is performed 45 mins on Wednesday and Sunday and 30 mins on other days. Sometimes an additional 30 mins per day will be included pre contest according to condition.
Everyone is looking for the secret formula to succeed but you can now stop looking because here it is for free. Train with intensity on a consistent basis and look upon eating as simply another training session.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Train With Intensity On A Constant Basis. One will not work without the other. It's that simple. So get motivated and do what it takes to achieve your dream. A dream only becomes a reality when you take the action required. 
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