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James Llewellin's Road Back to the British Grand Prix 2012

13K views 89 replies 29 participants last post by  Suprakill4 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
As I explained in my thread over in 'Shows, pro's and inspiration', I have taken a good few months away from bodybuilding, dieting and the rigours of hard training.

After the Olympia I decided I not only needed a break physically but also mentally after competing on average 3x a year since 2003!!

Having acheived my lifetime ambition of qualifying for the Olympia, I decided in the weeks after the show, that I would retire on a high after competing in the worlds gratest bodybuilding show.

Since September I have eaten on average 3x a day, sometimes twice and sometimes 4x a day but on average just three 'bad' meals a day. I tried to have at least 1 protein drink a day and carried on using my Pro recover PWO when I did train which has been on average 2-4x a week depending on how I felt.

Training has been sporadic and has been generally light and fairly brief (40-50 mins) per session.

In late Feb I decided I needed focus again so upped my training to 4-5x a week and upped my food to consistently 4 meals a day, sometimes 5. They haven't been the greatest meals but they have been calorie rich. Freid breakies with toast and jam (which I had this morning), a post workout drink, 5 whole fried or scrambled eggs on toast, a protein drink and fruit and then dinner has been spaghetti bol or pizza or somthing with chips (steak or fish or bacon)

Perhaps my biggest failing has been going out, partying and drinking 3-4x a week excessively, hardly condusive to a bodybuilder let alone a pro.

This has now just been cut back to the weekends and will soon be down to once a week after the 6 Nations this weekend.

Now one could have said it may have been best to just get straight back in and jump in at the deep end but I felt that would just be such a massive lifestyle change that I would very likely revert back, so instead I have been gradually cleaning my act up and as a result my body hasn't gone into shock!! lol

Today for instance my diet has been as follows

3 fried eggs, 3 rashers of bacon, 2 slices of white bread, 1 pro MR

TRAIN

2 scoops of Pro Rec and 1 scoop Pro Pep

300g fillet steak, 250g white rice

2 wholewheat toast and strawberry jam, 2 sccops pro peptide

Later I will have 4 eggs, 100g salmon and 3 slices of wholewheat toast and before bed I'll prob have oats and pro pep

I have relied extremely heavily on eggs over the last 6 months (normally fried) and white and wholewheat bread as my main carb source and chips. I have occassionally had oats and have had rice probably about 10 times since Sept.

Up until 2 weeks ago I hadn't eaten any chicken or white fish since Sept!!! But I have had cod in batter if that counts

So as you can see my food still needs to be cleaned up radically but suprisingly I have retained good conditioning throughout

3 weeks ago I went back to Empower Performance (Mike and Leica Gelsei) and have trained there once per week which will soon rise to twice a week from April

I have around 7 months to get myself back to my very best (and better) and probably have 3-4 months before hard dieting starts.

I have my passion back and head back on but I will still be living a little bit but balance is gonna be very high on my list of priorities until my prep proper starts around 12 weeks out.

The following pics were taken today at the Power House Gym in Aberaman, nr Aberdare, where I now live and have done since last feb 2011.

I have also had a tattoo since I decided to retire (as I've always wanted one) but as you'll see it doesn't detract too much from my physique, well at least I dont think it will once I'm tanned up. Its stands out like a sore thumb on my pearly white skin right now!

So this will run now until my prep starts in July time. Any questions please ask but remember there are some topics I cant cover for obvious reasons.

I'll be attending various events this year and will again be available for guest spots once I get myself back in shape

I'll be 39 in a few weeks time but I still think I can improve. I think once all the peices of the puzzle are back in place my body will respond well after a good lay off.

My bodyweight was around 14st 2lb in these phots and bottomed out a couple of weeks ago at around 13st 8lbs, so you can see in a couple of weeks I have started to volumise already.

I hope this thread gives you an insight into my world and all that is good and sometimes bad!!

J

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#5 ·
James, followed your Olympia prep, and am in on this one as well. Looking good considering how much crap you are shovelling in - b@stard. :lol:

Be interesting to compare you and Paul's prep - as am following his run, hopefully, for the Universe.

Good Luck buddy.
 
#6 ·
That is crazy you have managed to stay in that condition, do you believe this shows how much your body needed the rest?

I was expecting a bloated mess when you said fry ups and chips alongside loads of white bread all the time! Lol

Have fun through prep and the rest of the offseason hopefully see you about mate
 
#7 ·
44carl44 said:
All the best and will follow.

Must say you still look great even with only 3 meals a day.
Thanks, it should be a fun journey

ParaManiac said:
If i lived that lifestyle for any more than a week i'd look like ****e,unbelievable........! and not fookin fair!!!

Good luck James.
Thanks mate

Feelin-Big said:
Drinking, socialising, eating whatever you like and training a couple of times a week and you still look like that.... Not going to lie.... Im jealous!
I think because I hold a fair amount of muscle for my height, and although I've eaten sh1te, the cals haven't really been that high plus I do have a good metabolism I guess

DiggyV said:
James, followed your Olympia prep, and am in on this one as well. Looking good considering how much crap you are shovelling in - b@stard. :lol:

Be interesting to compare you and Paul's prep - as am following his run, hopefully, for the Universe.

Good Luck buddy.
Yeah I'm following Pauls prep too, we prep quite differently so there should be a good contrast. Just shows in this game the plan is very 'person specific' plus

there a plenty of ways to skin a cat, so to speak!
 
#8 ·
OJay said:
That is crazy you have managed to stay in that condition, do you believe this shows how much your body needed the rest?

I was expecting a bloated mess when you said fry ups and chips alongside loads of white bread all the time! Lol

Have fun through prep and the rest of the offseason hopefully see you about mate
Yeah I KNOW my body needed a rest although the rest I gave it probably wasn't the best 'rest' it could have had, ill admit that. yeah I will and I'm sure we will bump into one another at some point in the not so distant future.

J
 
#10 ·
Man, them arms look freakin insane! You look awesome for someone who has ~6months off, especially considering the diet you've been eating (I am so jealous). I don't post much on here, but I followed your last thread and will do the same with this one. All the best!
 
#11 ·
Suprakill4 said:
Looking excellent james especially considering your lifestyle since September I am seriously shocked to be honest. Really an glad your back and I sort of knew it wasn't the end last time ;)
Thanks mate, appreciate your kind words. I genuinely had no intentions of coming back to the sport in a competing capacity but the lure was just too strong!! :)

j
 
#12 ·
billly9 said:
Man, them arms look freakin insane! You look awesome for someone who has ~6months off, especially considering the diet you've been eating (I am so jealous). I don't post much on here, but I followed your last thread and will do the same with this one. All the best!
Thanks Billy, I've got a lot of work to do between now and Oct

J
 
#14 ·
supercell said:
Thanks mate, appreciate your kind words. I genuinely had no intentions of coming back to the sport in a competing capacity but the lure was just too strong!! :)

j
I can imagine mate. I'm yet to compete but cannot wait to reach that level. What's your plans after the comp or is it a case if concentrating in this for now?

Hope it's all going well in Wales and was definitely a good move? It was quite worrying in a way to see how low you got in the last DVD so must have been a nice fresh start.
 
#16 ·
Feelin-Big said:
Ill definitely be keeping an eye on your progress!
Thanks buddy, hope you find it useful

Suprakill4 said:
I can imagine mate. I'm yet to compete but cannot wait to reach that level. What's your plans after the comp or is it a case if concentrating in this for now?

Hope it's all going well in Wales and was definitely a good move? It was quite worrying in a way to see how low you got in the last DVD so must have been a nice fresh start.
I dont have any plans after the BGP, I always just look one show ahead. Yeah I'm happy here in Wales, my last DVD, The Awakening, highlights that there are many things that make up a top BBing competitor and when some things go wrong in your life, it shows just how much of an impact it can have competitively and emotionally. I was in a very dark place indeed and wanted people to understand to some degree what I had gone thru but also what is still acheivable if you have the right mindset and resolve. It even upsets me to watch it, even now.

lol if i had ate the way you did i would have been fat as hell' date=' still kept your fat low, good stuff.. :) bacon, fried eggs, mmm :( [/quote']

Yeah i think most people would have been Jay Jay, but Like I said I wasn't eating many meals so therefore my overall cals were low as was my protein (around 100g a day max!) but shows that when you aren't breaking down muscle tissue regularly the body needs very little protein to maintain to some degree, what muscle you have

J
 
#17 ·
that dvd shows the dark place you went in but also the struggle of overcoming it and the light at the end of the tunnel. Still watch the first dvd, completely different that alarm scene still makes me laugh...DIET HEAD lol :)

Also on the new one Kerry looks like he is having fun with training you, was it fast glycotic training? Reminds me of Mr Collier yesterday when I checked in with him and training that 60rep giant set on close grip pulldowns lol
 
#19 ·
supercell said:
Thanks buddy, hope you find it useful

I dont have any plans after the BGP, I always just look one show ahead. Yeah I'm happy here in Wales, my last DVD, The Awakening, highlights that there are many things that make up a top BBing competitor and when some things go wrong in your life, it shows just how much of an impact it can have competitively and emotionally. I was in a very dark place indeed and wanted people to understand to some degree what I had gone thru but also what is still acheivable if you have the right mindset and resolve. It even upsets me to watch it, even now.

Yeah i think most people would have been Jay Jay, but Like I said I wasn't eating many meals so therefore my overall cals were low as was my protein (around 100g a day max!) but shows that when you aren't breaking down muscle tissue regularly the body needs very little protein to maintain to some degree, what muscle you have

J
Im glad you put it in the video mate, too many DVD's dont cover anything but the training side but yours gives the emotional and mental side of things. Upwards and onwards though mate, some good times to come im sure! Ill be atteending the BGP and cannot wait for it.
 
#22 ·
cas said:
Looking great, I was expecting to see a old dude with a pop belly, what a surprise :)

Was you still taking your supplements during your down time?

I would bloody love to be that size, can you put your own socks on still? Lol
Haha, Well you saw an old dude just minus the pot belly and yeah I was still taking one serving of pro peptide (most days) and one serving of pro recover (after training).

delhibuilder said:
nice one for comming back, im sure more will goto bgp just to see you.

have you ever had any shoulder injuries? like rotator cuff etc? do u do any rotator excercises?
Thanks Del.

No I dont do any specific RC exercises, the only time I did was when I had a partial dislocation of my right shoulder when I was squatting and the physio gave me various exercises to do. I have also hurt my rotator arm wrestling and carrying the hoover upstairs lol!!!

But touch wood, I am injury free and have been most of my BBing career

J
 
#23 ·
OJay said:
that dvd shows the dark place you went in but also the struggle of overcoming it and the light at the end of the tunnel. Still watch the first dvd, completely different that alarm scene still makes me laugh...DIET HEAD lol :)

Also on the new one Kerry looks like he is having fun with training you, was it fast glycotic training? Reminds me of Mr Collier yesterday when I checked in with him and training that 60rep giant set on close grip pulldowns lol
Yeah thats the training mate, it was brutal, I was sore for 8/9 days afterwards!!

Yeah as far as the alarm went, I had absolutely no idea what the code was. I used to set it regularly but my mind just went completely blank!! LOL

Dai Jones said:
Will be good to follow you again :D
Thanks Dai

J
 
#26 ·
OJay said:
Hurt your rotator arm wrestling?! Weren't being the alpha male down the pub were ya?!
Well there may have been a little bit of alcohol involved..........I think ;-)

chrissy_tee said:
Glad to see you will be competing again would of come to support you again at the grand prix this year but my girlfriend due to give birth around the same time good luck with the months ahead will be following mate.
Thanks bud, I wish you and your lady all the very best with the birth of your baby in the Autumn :)

J
 
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