Just giving a little run-down of my day today, 12 weeks out of the Masters Nationals. I was on the john watching one of those "a day in the life" videos of a top pro bodybuilder. Watching him cook all his meals fresh, lift when he felt like it, and get to spend his entire day focusing on his contest prep made me realize just how different the typical precontest experience is for the majority of competitors (who probably have full time jobs and a family). I figured it might be nice to show what "a day in the life" looks like for someone who works full time, has 4 kids, and tries to run a couple online businesses looks like (it's much less glamorous).
Here's a little re-cap of my day:
5:30am: wake up, get into a vehicle that totally isn't a new Bentley, cardio, answer client emails/texts while dragging ass on the treadmill
6:30am: shower, go to work (fitness center is at work, which is nice)
7am-11am: work as an engineer (day job)
11am-12pm: answer emails on my lunch break
12pm-3:30pm: work day job
3:30-5pm: drive 3 towns over to pick up newborn baby from daycare
5-5:30: eat, drive to softball game
5:30-8pm: watch two oldest kids play softball while wife handles the newborn and I make sure the second youngest isn't kidnapped on the playground while answer emails/texts from clients
8:30pm-10pm: train shoulders and triceps (and answer texts from clients in between sets)
10pm-11pm: cook for the next day (while answering texts/emails from clients)
11-11:30pm: pack my work clothes and get my meals prepped so I'm ready for cardio at 5:30am the next day.
As you can see--I'm pretty much booked non-stop from 5:30 in the morning until 11:30 at night, which means that even if I don't take any time to unwind at the end of the day, I'm already only getting about 6 hours of sleep....which, as a lazy fella, sucks.
While it would be awesome if all of us were able to be full time bodybuilders....for most of us, that isn't the case. It's hard to stay focused and not wonder if it's worth the effort when you're at your wit's end, your kids have trashed the house, you're behind on work, and you only see your wife long enough to remind her what protein farts smell like...but if you're in that boat, welcome to bodybuilding in the real world.