Week 9 (18 weeks to go)

Another two weeks are gone and I am getting ready to travel to Las Vegas this Friday.
I am excited for my upcoming photo shootings and the video sessions for my DVD.
Furthermore to meet the Elite of the scene and many friends will give another kick for my motivation levels.
It is really needed in this moment. I had to face a lot of stress in my private life and yet I am still working on it to bring everything in the right order again.
Nothing is worse in a diet than stress, so I have to get rid of it as soon as I can.
The diet makes you even more emotional in certain times and it is a tough game not to let this influence your sport, which basicly became my job now.

I lost 4 lbs in the last two weeks and regarding the emotional stress I had it is a quite small weight loss luckily. There is a big connection of your body and your mind and if one part has problems the other one will follow immediately.
I am still at 270lbs and I still got enough time to bring back some volume and fullness. I just need to refocus on my real goal and this is the IRONMAN PRO.
This shall be my destination and nothing can stop me only myself.

Last weekend I had a wonderful time in Denmark. It was a great seminar and regarding the emails I received afterwards from some visitors, I am really happy that I was able to give them some view into my lifestyle of doing Bodybuilding.
I hope to have such opportunities soon again. It is always nice to meet different people from other countries or gyms and to speak with them about our passion for the sport.



Yesterday I had my last photosession in Germany prior to the Olympia and of this shooting you can see some samples here.
Actually I am not really happy about my shape, because I know it could have been better, but regarding that I am still over 18 weeks out,
I think everything is just right on track.

It is a great feeling to know that the day of my Pro debut gets closer.
In some way I feel how the excitement mixed with nervousity is rising in me.
I am grateful to have this chance to compete on a Pro stage with 23 years only.
So many people dream of this their whole lifetime. So it is my duty to bring the best possible shape ever.

I am finishing to prepare my luggage for Las Vegas now.
Vegas baby, Vegas !!! ;)

Week 6 (21 weeks to go)

Three weeks have been gone again. Time is running once you got used to your routine, but everything continues to be right on track.

My weight is still staying at the same level but week by week I can see other small improvements.

Two weeks ago I had a video shoot with a German Bodybuilding Magazine which filmed a leg-training battle against a German Strongman Champion. I had to fight with my knee problems but I still was able to front-squat three more reps with 400lbs. I think I was able to proof that also Bodybuilders have some power in their legs…Hopefully the video goes online soon.

After this I decided to change my leg training a bit from now on. I still train at my limit but the selection of my exercises changes a bit. I just have the feeling that now in diet my joints are much more sensitive and I don’t want to risk a injury. Especially as my legs are my strongest body part.

The week after I had another photo shooting with a German physique photographer. I never worked with him before, so I am excited to see the results and I am currently waiting for the first small selection he will send to me.

It is only 21 weeks to go anymore until I will finally have my Pro debut. It’s a strange feeling but I am motivated every day and at the moment I am very optimistic to be better than ever and at least 20 lbs heavier.

Next weekend I will hold a seminar in Denmark and I am really looking forward to it. Scandinavian people are usually much more into Bodybuilding than the rest of the Europeans so I am sure it will be a great atmosphere.

The journey of myself, a 23 year old guy, continues… getting ready to compare with the best bodybuilders of the world.

Week 3 ( 24 weeks to go )

Another week of my diet is over and it is working better than expected.
I keep my carbohydrates very high and still there is an improovement of my shape every week.
I even get stronger in many excercises and the motivation is rising the better I look.
On some days I have no hunger at all. Only at the three most stressful days I have problems to sleep because of the hunger. But those are the days making me better and I really feel how they boost my metabolism.

In the beginning of the week, Germany's famous Physique Photographer Reiner Dahms (www.reinyday.de) was taking the first shooting at all in my preparation. We was not expect too many good shoots as I was just on diet for two weeks, but him and even myself, we were really satisfied about the results of our shooting.
Another motivating moment in a long contest diet and after such an event you are much more determinded to give your best.

I started to make my schedule for the week in Las Vegas around the Olympia. Besides preparing my meals and having my two gym sessions, this is the most occupying project for now.
Writing emails and waiting for answers can be really stressful sometimes.
Anyways I am looking forward to my scheduled shootings and videos and of course the Mr.O Expo to meet many friends again.

In the end of the week I was having a problem with my knee when training Quads.
On repetition 13, while doing Front Squats with 450lbs, I heard a strange sound in my knee and afterwards the pain was brutal. I am still proud that I wasn't give up my training session and after two very soft exercises, I was able to do 450lbs Reverse Hacksquats and afterwards Lunges again.
Still my knee is hurting but now I know that I just have to lower the weights a bit.
I don't have enough water in my body anymore and so the joints are more sensitive.

Let's start into the next week...

Week 1 & 2 (25 weeks to go)

Two weeks of my diet have passed already.
For the beginning I still eat 800g of Carbohydrates and 350g of Proteins. I will keep this ammount until I see that there are no changes anymore. I don't think I have to go much lower to loose most of the fat and as soon as possible I will raise the carbs again.

The weight was going down to 265lbs immediately after a few days, but then came back to 270 lbs
I see the first little results and and my overall feeling is getting much better. I am not that tired anymore like I used to be in offseason and somehow even the loss of water helps me to train a little bit heavier now.

Cravings - well, not at this point of my diet. This period is probably the best of the whole preparation. I can still train very heavy, maybe even get stronger a bit and besides I am not hungry or feeling powerless.

I am getting into my routine again. Every day is almost the same than the day before or the day after. On the one side this is something which is struggeling in your mind, but at the same time it's the best thing to do for an athlete.

My rest day was not the usual routine of course, but I cannot even say that I was recovering.
After having some check on my car I maybe have to fix a huge problem and so I am looking for alternatives right now, as I am not sure if I am gonna really do that. Somehow it goes always like this. All the week you try to reach this one free day but normally you have to do so many things like going food-shopping, taking care of the house or doing other things for your normal life, so you don't feel recovered at all.

Today I will have another leg training. Last week I was able to do Front Squats with 450lbs for 14 reps, so today I change my first exercise and probably go for Hack Squats. I like this day. You can never reach such levels of intensity except on the leg day. Eating my meals will get really heavy afterwards but I am always looking forward on this day. Usually this is the day when I loose my 1lbs every week.

I can tell myself every day that I am getting ready for a Pro show now. This has nothing to do with a hobby anymore. The better I train and the better I present, the better my life can be in the future.

Destination IRONMAN PRO

After a long and productive offseason I finally started my first preparation for my professional debut. I trained as heavy as never before in this time and my body responded well on the 18 months of hardcore offseason. In summer 2008 I already reached my all-time highest weight which was 285 lbs and the more time I spent on building up more muscles, the more my shape improoved while the weight was staying on the same level. My training weigths also were rising constantly and all in all I can be really happy about how the things went.

Still the last year was also one of the hardest times in my career. After winning my Pro card so early, there was a lot of controversary about my Pro licence. Many people was putting me down and at some point you start to doubt on yourself. I think many young people in my age wouldn't have been able to get through these hard times. The most teenagers are not strong enough in their attitudes and opinions when they face negative talk. Still I never gave up. I knew that I have my goals and no matter what happens I would go until the bitter end (Maybe its German characteristics).
I am proud that I was never let somebody influence myself and I can only advice all the talented young Bodybuilders out there to always believe in themselves. Everybody can train, everybody can eat well, but the toughest fight is the one you will have in your mind and I believe that the athlete with the strongest mental power will be always the victorious one.

The fight is not over and I am still fighting my battle, but I came to the point where I am telling myself, that I will proof all the negative people wrong and I will show everyone who I really am.

In the whole offseason I seen many bad things in the sport of bodybuilding and only a few good ones. I realized myself how difficult it is to find reliable partners, to find friends and people around you who will not let you down. I had trouble with sponsors who didn't keep the contracts, I was looking desperately for support in Germany and until now I am still fighting completely on my own. Well, not completly. I have my wonderful parents who always encouraged my plans, I found my lovely girlfriend in the time I felt completely alone and a few friends who will never let me down for sure. I learned that to reach my goals I only need those few people who really understand me and will stay loyal to me no matter what happens. It has to be a working system and as long as they are with you, you don't have to care about some negativity on Internet-boards written by nobodys.

I am looking optimistic to the upcoming diet now. I worked hard and only a few things could have been better so far. Now it is time to get peeled.
I was 225lbs when turning Pro in December 2007 and in January 2010 I should be able to get solid 245-250 lbs on stage.

Who knows what the future might bring to us, but if there is something that I can lead into a positive direction I will take my chance.
It is important to have goals and many people are writing me mails what those goals are for me...
First of all I can always answer this question with one ultimate goal. I learned this from my good friend Ed Connors:

I want to make a good living from Bodybuilding

There is more than winning contests for me. For sure its nice to be a winner and for sure I dream of a victory some day. But basicly I have a passion for a wonderful sport and I am allowed to live this lifestyle professionally. If there will be the day, that myself, my loving wife and maybe my future children can live happily because of my achievements in Bodybuilding, I guess I would be the happiest person on earth.

But I know that basicly everyone wants to hear closer goals when asking this question and so I also want to publish my goals for this diet:

- As it will be my Pro debut I hope I can place somewhere in the Top 15, whereas a placing in the Top 10 would be a dream for a 23-year old Bodybuilding-Baby like me
- I want to work with the best photographers of the scene and get my name out in the USA and of course I also hope to find a good supplement company believing in my career and supporting the realization of my dream. If this would happen I would move to the USA permanently and for this I am waiting since I started Bodybuilding ;)

But lets stop the talking now and start with the facts.
I hope you will enjoy my journey to the Pro stage !!!

Dan