As I'm typing this I'm just over 130 days out of my show. Holy crap. You want to talk about being nervous? I was playing it all cool until the entry packet showed up in my email. Now I'm basically losing my mind. But I'm not afraid to fail. I have recently listened to a speech made by a fairly well-known bodybuilder by the name of Arnold Schwarzenegger. He said that you can't be afraid to fail.
Let's be honest here. I am down from about 400 pounds. I had been powerlifting for about 2 years and just decided, basically on a whim, to enter a bodybuilding show. I had never even done an official pose until about 6 months ago. I didn't know a lot about it (and still have a lot to learn). I am as green as they come.
To walk into the GSO and expect to take the Mr. Novice title would be a dream come true. Is it going to happen? Probably not. Am I going in there expecting to lose? No. I'm just being realistic. I just want to go in and let them know just who Kyle Brann is. So I am not afraid to fail. This is my stepping stone.
With all that being said, I am still dieting down like a mad man. Steps have been made, and progress has been made. I'm eating just a hair over 2000 calories a day, and I'm doing cardio six days per week. Aren't you jealous?
It is working. Lots of people have commented and they're positivity and kind words help me a lot. The measurements and scale are giving me numbers that I am quite fond of and Mike (my nutritionist) is psyched for me. It seems like I am making progress -- though sometimes it feels like I'm just spinning my wheels.
But that's the way it goes sometimes. Every day can't be a winner. You just have to suck it up and work harder. Be more strict on your diet. By no means am I saying that this is easy. It's not. If it were, everyone would do it. Everyone would be running marathons, and benching their bodyweight for reps. Everyone would have shredded abs, and their diets would be clean. There would be no McDonald's, no Dairy Queens, and no cake on your birthday. People like me and the gym that I work at would be out of business and offices would close for 2 hours a day so all the employees could go for their lunch time jog. But this is not the world we live in.
Our world is not easy and to succeed, you have to bust your ass, all the time. It's getting up at 4:00 in the morning to do your cardio. It's not saying "I worked out today," so I can have that scoop of ice cream. It's putting 100 percent into your workout even though you feel weak and you don't want to be in the gym. Nobody ever go anywhere by quitting. Remember that guy who quit? Neither do I.
You frequently hear the expression "man up". Even girls say this, which I find to be confusing and odd. It is physically impossible for a woman to man up -- unless she is taking some testosterone supplements then I'm sure you will have that deeper voice and chest hair in no time. But when it comes to manning up and being a man, I have a few things that I have deemed necessary in order to be considered a man. They are as follows:
Lift weights. This is a manly activity, one that I and a lot of my friends engage in frequently. Now I'm not saying that you have to set a world record on bench press, or squat 1000 pounds, but for goodness sake, grab a pair (of dumbbells) and lift them. In fact, lifting had been my main source of manliness for several years now. Accepted substitutions for lifting weights are big game hunting, alligator wrestling, lumberjack-ing, and various other dangerous outdoor activities engaged by flannel-clad dudes with beards.
Grow facial hair. There is nothing that screams 'I am a man!' quite as loud as a beard. Other forms of facial hair are acceptable. Just grow something and if you're going to have just a mustache, make it a handle-bar, put some wax in it or at the very least shave it into the shape of the Barman symbol. If you don't, a moustache can be just plain ol' creepy.
Fix, solve, rebuild. I am not handy, but I can make somethings work. Every man should have the ability to fix something. I don't care if its getting the bathroom door to stop squeaking or re-assembly of a turbine engine, find a problem, and fix it. If you can't fix it, rebuild it. Use duct tape and a hammer. I've found both of those to be invaluable tools.
Drive a stick. This one can apply to rules of being a woman as well (though I have not made this list yet). Everyone should be able to drive any car. Now I'm not saying that you can jump out of your buddy's civic and hop in the cockpit of an F-16, but you get the picture. Knowing how to drive a standard can be your last alternative to getting home or standing outside a bar in the Dirty Lew when you're the DD and your friends car is a 5 speed -- this is of course assuming that you don't have any money for cab fare, and who wants to leave their car, alone, overnight, in Lewiston?
So, now that I have finished pontificating like a boar, let me remind you that Father's Day is right around the corner. I have always looked up to my dad. Even though I'm sure I have been a turd minimally three-billion times to him, he has always been proud of me and stood behind me no matter what the circumstance. For a long time he was Kyle Brann's Dad. Now I'm known as Gene Brann's son, and that makes me proud as hell. My Dad has always been the manliest man that I have ever known, and personally I don't think that John Wayne holds a candle to him when it comes to being a man.
This still rings true today. I still see my dad as this jacked-up dude who can fix anything, lift anything, solve any problem, drive any vehicle, laugh in the face of danger, and grow one of the gnarliest beards I have ever seen. In my eyes, my dad will always fall somewhere between a lumberjack and Rambo when it comes to manliness.
So, I dedicate this blog to my Father. I hope that I can be half the man you are someday Dad. When it comes to my rules on manliness, you set the bar. Happy Father's Day.
Until next time.
-Brann
