Malachi Walker - August 19, 2009 blog

Hello everyone and welcome to my "blog"! First I would like to say I am very excited to be working with Twinlab, it’s a pleasure to have the opportunity to be a Team Fuel Athlete and I take a lot of pride in writing the Challenges. As a personal trainer and competitive bodybuilder I will be sharing my experience and knowledge in both areas to help like-minded individuals reach their health and performance related competitive goals via my blog. I believe that experience and hands-on practice is the best tool for learning and this is why I will be providing you with my personal outlook and experience. I hope you enjoy and are able to follow me in my pursuit to be the best!

Currently I am on one heck of a high. Let me get you up to speed on my bodybuilding career and the events you can expect to see me at in the future. In March of 2008 I started dieting for the Tournament of Champions bodybuilding contest in LA, held that September. Before starting my training for this contest I had last competed at the Excalibur Championships in 2006 as a Middleweight, placing 3rd in the novice class. I knew what I was lacking; I needed more size but more importantly I needed to let my body mature and grow, and then get back into contest condition. I constructed a training program to take my weight up to around 205-210lbs and I kept my weight there for about 14 months. I couldn't have been more happy with the result after dieting down and placing 3rd at the Tournament of Champions in September of 2008. I knew I had to stay focused and train steadily so I scheduled another contest, the 2008 Excalibur Championships in December ‘08. The steady training paid off as I placed 1st in the open and novice middle weight classes! After a short two day break I started training again for the California State Championships! I knew this would be a true test to see if I had improved my body enough to win at this contest because the level of competition is much more stiff due to the popularity of the Mr. California Title! With more confidence than ever, I entered the 2009 Mr. California contest in May and walked away the winner of the Middleweight class. I now had the privilege of calling myself Mr. California!! This was a great day for me because I knew I was now ready and qualified to compete at the National level!!

National level contests require an entirely different mindset and for me it is the difference between having fun at a local or regional contest, and competing just to compete. At the national level you are still having fun, but to continue winning at this level you need to believe in yourself and, more importantly, surround yourself with people who believe in you. I am fortunate that I have a girlfriend who is a former Division I athlete and All-American bodybuilder. My girlfriend wholeheartedly supports me with my training and dedication to making my craft and passion of bodybuilding into a career that can benefit our futures! Together, along with the support from my family, my girlfriend’s family, and my team of competitive bodybuilders at my gym, I decided to enter in the Jr. Nationals in Chicago June 2009. At the Jr. Nationals I achieved another victory as the Middleweight champion!! I was, and still am, ecstatic about this win because more and more I have come to understand how important it is to try your hardest, have the best of intentions, and believe in yourself in order to set goals and achieve them.

My biggest challenge to date as a bodybuilder was this past weekend in Las Vegas at the USA Championships. I decided to keep going and enter the USA's for the first time. Wow, all these years of dreaming about being a professional bodybuilder and here I am busting my butt to make this dream into a reality. In Las Vegas I put everything together again and placed 4th in the middleweight class!! It was an awesome feeling to be on stage with some of the best amateur bodybuilders in the world and it was even better walking away and realizing all my hard work ranked me as one of the best amateur bodybuilders!! I will continue following my dream of being the best bodybuilder I can be and I want you to follow along with me.

Next stop is the Nationals in November, another pro qualifying contest. For the first time and with the help of Twinlab, I will be providing you with video clips of my progress over the next 4 months as I train to win the Middleweight class at the Nationals in November. I hope you enjoy these updates as I bring you on board and share more in depth video coverage of my training regimen. I will also show you how I balance all the other daily aspects of life into preparing for a bodybuilding contest. A few things I will be touching on are the importance of time management, active rest, proper rest and body treatment like massage, stretching, and stress management. Prepare yourself for an all inclusive look into my life as personal trainer, bodybuilder, and a man on a mission to be his best!!

Thank you.
Malachi L.R. Walker