Malachi Walker - Preparing for the 2010 NPC USA Championships

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well. Since my last update I have been training hard in preparation for the 2010 National Physique Committee (NPC) USA Bodybuilding, Figure and Bikini Championships in Las Vegas on July 30th. Everything is going well. I have great expectations for this contest because I am confident in the changes I made to my physique.

Every contest prep is different and presents different challenges. My life has been particularly busy during this contest prep. One of the biggest highlights this time around has been having some of my family around. My twin sister and her husband recently moved to the San Diego area, and she just had her second baby, Logan. It was the first time I was able to be at the hospital on the day one of my nephews was born. What a great experience, and my sister looked so happy and beautiful with her new baby boy! It is always a nice break from training to go and spend the day at the park with her family and enjoy being an uncle. Seeing them grow reminds me of why I strive to set good examples and live a clean lifestyle. I remember how much I looked up to my uncles as a kid and I want all of my nephews to be proud of the examples I set for them as they grow up as little boys and become good men. Who knows, they may be the next bodybuilders in the family!

I also would like to mention my cousin Troy Walker, who was involved in a motorcycle accident in Florida last month. Troy is fighting hard to make a strong recovery. I would like to let his immediate family know he is in my daily thoughts and prayers. Please pray that my cousin makes as full a recovery as possible.

As for my training, like I said, it is different every time you prepare for a contest. I like to take an objective look at my life and be happy with my health, family, friends, and the career I am building each day, and be thankful that I have the opportunity to do what it is I choose. I am all about hard work with direction and focus towards a goal. It is my goal to be a professional bodybuilder and I am doing everything possible in order to make that goal a reality.

Sometimes we are faced with some very difficult choices in life in order to get to our goals. With all of the cardio, weight training, food preparation, work (I have to pay bills), and rest necessary to be your best on stage, you cannot afford mental and emotional distress. I strongly recommend if you are trying to be a professional, or the best at what it is you choose to do, that you eliminate anything or anyone that may be causing you mental or emotional stress that could detour you from reaching your goals. This can be a difficult realization to accept, but it will pay off in the long run. When the time is right and you have reached your goals you may then want to go back and deal with these other matters. I think my point here is that you must prioritize when it comes to choices in life so you can help yourself before you are in a position to help others.

I am at a crossroads in my contest prep. I have grown as expected, however I’m outgrowing the middleweight class and could now compete as a light heavyweight. Competing as a light heavy at the USA is a very realistic goal for me, but I would still be selling myself short seeing that the class peaks at 198 lbs and I would only weigh around 185 lbs. I could rely on conditioning and proportion to propel me to the top of the light heavy class, but on the other hand I could also push myself and make it back down to the middleweight class and be even more conditioned than ever. The drawback to this option would be losing some of the hard-earned muscle I have gained over the past year. Also, the extreme diet and extra training required could make me look tired and "stringy" on stage and ultimately hurt my placing. Again, I am faced with another choice. See? They just keep coming. Here's my plan and what you can expect in July:

I will try my hand as a light heavy at the L.A. Championships the week before the USAs. I will have to make an honest assessment of how I compare with other light heavyweights on stage in L.A. If I am still a bit undersized, I will more than likely push it for a week and be a freaking huge middleweight the following weekend. Only time will tell. All I know for sure in this situation is that I am not going to be a middleweight after this year! Come on, light heavyweight class, I'm ready for you!
Until next time I hope you all keep training hard and make the right choices, even when it is difficult, and I will see you in the winner's circle!

All the best,
Malachi