Hey guys! Today I’m pumped to share my client and friend, Jon Holz’s 26 week contest prep journey. It was quite the journey as it is not easy dedicating 6 plus months of your life to step on a stage half naked, judges critiquing you, full tan, and for one day of stage time.
The good thing was Jon was game to do a show 2 weeks later so he could get his 26 weeks of prep well spent as well as some experience under his belt since this was his first show. I knew the moment I spoke to Jon his mind was ready for the journey and I knew after seeing his pics we had a lot of work to do but he had a lot of a lot of upside.
I can’t tell you how proud I am of Jon and his work ethic. The next time he steps on stage he will make a lot of noise…watch out folks!
–Coach Chris
26 Weeks Out-
202.1 lbs
2,940 calories
Waist circumference 33 inches
Show Time-
167 lbs
1,800 calories
Waist circumference 25 inches
See what Jon has to say about his 26 week Prep Journey …
I have been in the fitness world for almost 15 years, whether it was lifting on my own, training for various sports in high school or later on for powerlifting, but the one thing I was lacking was the nutritional aspect. When I was an athlete, my coaches always told me to ‘eat’, eat everything and anything possible to get bigger. Granted this is one way to do things, but it isn’t the best way, and resulted in excess body fat and poor performance.
My girlfriend has been competing in NPC bikini for years and introduced me to her coaches at DDT. I sent Chris an email just to see what he was all about, from the first minute of speaking with him on the phone; I knew I wanted him to coach me through my physique journey.
When we started prep in January, our initial plan was to go from 202 lbs to 185ish on stage in 24 weeks. At the time, I couldn’t comprehend losing almost 20 lbs in 6 months. Little did I know, by the end of the 24 weeks, I would step on stage at 167lbs, almost down 35lbs! The strangest part about losing all the weight was that I didn’t feel too restricted during the majority of prep.
Since I was allowed to choose the foods I ate and plug in things I enjoyed (peanut butter), I kept my sanity and didn’t feel the urge to kill anyone. I took it as more of a “eat this, not that” approach. Sure, I could easily eat that serving of Oreo cookies right now (2 of them), or I could have about 4 ounces of potatoes. I just had to ask myself which would I enjoy more, 2 cookies that will be gone in .5 seconds and leave me starving in 5 minutes, or something more filling and fuel me for a longer period of time. With the freedom to make my own choices and make my own decisions, I felt more at ease and in control of my prep, not the prep taking control of me.
Once my competitions were over, Chris and I discussed our next step. I decided to stay with him and have him guide me through my off season, something that I never experienced before and was terrified of because I always see and hear about the horror stories of rebounding and falling off the deep end. I soon found out that this usually happens to the people that don’t have post show structure and approached their contest preps with the quick 12-week strict cut. Since Chris did it the healthy way, I was able to return to normalcy fairly quickly by adding in the fun things I missed but still keeping the “eat this, not that” approach.
In the first 6 weeks of my offseason, I have been able to stay relatively lean and gain muscle mass. My extreme hunger levels have subsided and I feel like I have been able to achieve a normal life again. Even though I am not competing, coach has been right by my side working with me just as if I was competing next week. I am extremely grateful for what he’s done for me and I can’t wait to see what we can accomplish together for competitions to come. I feel like he’s more of a friend and someone I can open up to about things than just an online coach.
-Jon
“Teaming up with Coach Chris has literally changed my life” – Jon Holz
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