Week 18 (12 weeks to go) AGAIN !!!!

Being completely right on track with my schedule, a few days ago I read the sad news about the IRONMAN 2010. It is really sad that such an event has to be cancelled and especially in the MECCA of Bodybuilding I would have never expected that. I focused my offseason and whole diet completely on this day and I can honestly say, that every time I walked into a gym, my inner voice was telling me: YOU WANT TO GO TO THE IRONMAN! SO DO WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO AND TRAIN !

After a little moment being totally confused, I refocused myself and so I keep looking forward to my new goals. Like it is always, when one door is closing many others do open for you.
I still hope the Ironman will be re-scheduled in February between the Phoenix Pro and Arnold Classics, but I am not really optimistic about it. But nonetheless there is the Phoenix PRO for sure.
One day before my birthday it is a great timing to have my Pro debut.

As my DVD is also a big issue for me and I am totally convinced it will be a really great one, I will moreover compete at the Melbourne Pro in the middle of March. Wayne Gallasch is of course filming there and so we can also add some footage of my Australia trip. This week I finally booked all my flights and now it is again my turn to improove as much as I can until those big days for me.

The diet is going great and in the last month I did not loose a single pound whereas my shape improoved dramatically. It is just going perfect so far and I am doing my very best every day.
Somehow it seems to me like the Pro card is giving me some wings. The diet goes more easy than usual and I have not a single moment when I loose my focus or my motivation.
Combined with the great results I see at my photoshoots and the motivational emails I receive every day, I am staying in a totally positive mood.

Maybe its also the new system of my trainer who is tormenting me mercilessly by eating SUHSI right in front of my nose.



I am also very pleased that I can post another link to a new training video, published at Probodybuilding.com
Thanks to Adam for this, who filmed my Shoulder Workout, after a really stressful photoshoot and Expo day, in Las Vegas at the Mr.Olympia two months ago.

http://www.probodybuilding.com/video/workouts/exclusive-power-shoulder-workout-with-daniel-hill-ifbb-pro.php

Week 15 (12 weeks to go)

After having spent a great time in America again it was really hard for me to return back to cold Germany.
My girl Tonya and her five kids... I mean dogs, made me forget about the stress of dieting almost the whole time.





Arriving in Frankfurt after having had a broken seat on the plane, one of my first stops, after taking care of my food naturally, was the gym of course.

By chance Phil Heath was also visiting Frankfurt and so he trained in the XXL-Bodytown just when I arrived.

Did I mention that my Gym is something like the Venice Golds of Germany? Without sun and without beaches of course. But at least it has enough history and raw iron to be called like that.

Of course I was exhausted from the flight and flying east is much harder than going to the US, but this is simply the life of Pro Bodybuilding.
You have to get used to long flights, you need to find ways to take care of your meal schedule as soon as you arrive somewhere and even when being too tired to walk, you need to stimulate your muscles, having at least a small workout.
Even at my level it starts to become a big influence and I do have much respect for all the top Olympians doing this almost every weekend.

On Monday, still having a bit problems with jetlag my next important appointment was scheduled.
Wayne Gallasch who is producing my DVD travelled to Germany to visit me in the "Dungeon", the XXL Bodytown and also the Ottwald Gym, which is my other gym, where Marcus Ruehl used to train.
12 weeks out of the Ironman we filmed the training of every entire muscle in only 2 days.
Divided into four videoshootings I spend over 10 hours lifting weights at maximum intensity.
The results turned out to be even better than expected at this point of my diet and it is a great opportunity to work with Wayne, a real legend in the Bodybuilding-Videobusiness.
Needless to say that I was falling into my bed at 8pm already after this workout-marathon and it felt like heaven just to close the eyes and do nothing anymore.

For the next 8 weeks I am dedicating my whole time on improoving my condition to the maximum.
On the day I go back to the US I need to be ready. Basicly on that day I need to be in the condition that I could walk on stage immediately. All I need to do in the last 3 weeks before the contest in America will be
to conserve the condition. In this way I will be on the safe side and I know that all the upcoming photoshootings over there will only make it better.




The final countdown has started: 12 weeks to go

Week 14 (13 weeks to go)

My bodyweight finally went up to 270lbs again and surprisingly the condition was not getting any worse.On the contrary I am feeling like I look much fuller now.

The training since I am back in the US gets better day by day as well.It is still quite warm in Vegas and the temperature level helps a lot to improove my training especially when you are still training as heavy as you can.

Every training I am thinking about the contest day now. I started to practise my posing routine and I will increase my diet in one week again.The "12 weeks out" mark will be some kind of special. Many athletes start their diet then and for me this means basicly another big step ahead to my Pro debut. I will force myself to be even more motivated, more dedicated and absolutely determinded from this moment on.

The though phase for the mind starts now. The contest gets really close and you always want to be in a better shape as you currently are. I keep painting pictures in my head. How I will look on the Ironman stage? Which placing can I achieve? No matter what happens in this period now, you have to believe in yourself. Keep working for the ultimate goal.

I know that some hard weeks are directly ahead of me but I also know about the exciting moments I have already marked in my calender. Almost every week there will be a photoshoot in Europe from now on already. This will motivate me with every new picture taken.Up to that day, when I leave to America again.
Until this moment I have only 9 weeks to bring myself as close as possible to contest shape as I want to travel to Las Vegas 4 weeks before the show. At this moment I want to be ready. I have to be prepared for the honour to work with famous American magazines and photographers.

And of course I have to be at my best, when my name is called out the first time on a Pro stage.

Some days ago Muscular Development published my "In The Trenches" Video which was filmed by Robbie Durand during the Olympia weekend.For those who haven't seen it yet, I invite everyone to take a look. Maybe it can show my attitudes, my opinions and my plans a bit more detailed to you.

Dan

Week 12 (15 weeks to go)

After coming back to Germany my first goal was to return to my daily routine again.
The flight back to Germany was really hard and the jet lag you get flying east is horrible. The first two days I really had to force myself to keep my workouts on an high intensity level and at the same time I needed to write tons of emails after having had many successful meetings in Las Vegas.

Because of all this stress my body went down to 260 lbs for a short time.
So my trainer Francisco Guerrero decided that I am allowed to have my first cheat day after 12 weeks of dieting and I spent a great evening having as much Sushi as I was able to eat.

The following day my next photoshooting was scheduled and receiving so many positve answers from the USA, I decided to come back to Las Vegas this week.
My bodyweigt is finally again at 265 lbs an my shape is getting better week by week.



I am really looking forward to the next weeks. I am very grateful having met so many great personalities in the last weeks. Starting by all the photographers I will have the honour to work with and most of all my girl Tonya who is making me smile inside and out all the time in these days.

I feel so much better in the USA and I simply know that this is the place to be for my future.

Week 11 (16 weeks to go)

LAS VEGAS Mr.Olympia weekend

Arriving in Vegas the travel started really bad.
Not only that my connecting flight from Charlotte was 2 hours late, I also had a problem receiving my rental car. Somehow they didn't find my reservation and so
I spend 2 more hours at the rental car station.
Even before checking in into the Orleans Hotel, my first stop was the closest Wal Mart.I needed fresh meat and of course rice.
As I stayed in a hotel without kitchen, I had no chance to
prepare some vegetables. So I bought a lot of Sodium reduced V8 juice.
Finally I was able to go to bed at 3.30am in the morning after just 30 hours of travelling.

The following days started slowly. I needed to recover from the flight and
so I did't make any appointments on the first days.
It all started on Monday when I filmed some parts for my DVD with Wayne Gallasch and GMV. I was really happy about the results and luckily the dry air of Vegas made me loose some water.
It was followed by many projects for other websites, like Muscular Development "In The Trenches" or even Magazine Photoshoots with famous photographers. I need to say thank you to all those video- and photographers, who were interested to shoot me even in this early phase of my diet.

The Olympia weekend itself turned out to be a huge success as well. Besides meeting photographers, and fixing photoshootigs in January, I am also pretty optimistic that there might be a future sponsorship of an US company very soon.
It is hard to get your name out in the US, but maybe this travel was kind of a breakthrough for myself.

Already I have some new projects in America next month. I know that the travelling will be very stressful again, but I simply feel, that America is THE place for my future. I can train better, feel better and the whole atmosphere is much more positive to me. Maybe I still would have decided to stay in Germany and not travelled to the US before the Ironman again if I didn't meet Tonya. But we had an instant connection and meeting her made my days. She is beautiful inside and out. When she finally said, that I am invited to visit again, there was no question at all for me anymore if it would be good or not to go back to the Staates.
Next week I will fly back to Vegas and even if I am very exhausted from the jet lag, I keep smiling every moment in these days.
I am very blessed how everything developed and I am looking forward to every new day of my diet.

I hope you will enjoy my small video-diary of my days aroud the Olympia.
I had a great time and I am so grateful having met so many good people for my life.
It was the best thing that can happen to you as a Pro Bodybuilder.
I travelled to Vegas for business, but it changed my life very positve in every sigle way. Jobwise and privately.
I can say for sure that I am one step closer to my goal now: "Living a good life because of Bodybuilding"

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.