Training for body-building competition puts local man on intense road to fitness
October 10th, 2009 Posted in Arts and Lifeby Seili Lewis
Five weeks of training and 40 pounds later, Tim Hill is finally ready to compete in his first body building competition.
Hill will be competing in two categories, men’s body building novice lightweight division and the open middleweight. The weight limit for each category is 176 pounds, judging begins at 9 a.m. and each contestant is allowed to weigh in as often as he or she chooses until that time. This is important because the diets that many body builders follow cause them to retain quite a lot of water prior to the competition. Weighing in several times in one hour a competitor will find that their weight can fluctuate by several pounds; this makes it possible for the competitor to register in a lighter weight category.
This competition, Hill said, is the ultimate way to show self control; “This is the lightest I’ve been since I was 12 years old,” Hill said.
As soon as he found out about the competition, Hill said he started training. The training required for the competition is intense and focuses on diet and weight training. The diet focuses largely on eating lots of protein, which helps build muscles, and avoiding carbohydrates for the bulk of the training.
The week before the competition the diet changes, allowing carbohydrate loading and focusing on drinking lots of water, up to three gallons a day, and consuming larger than normal quantities of sodium. The sodium, said Hill, helps the body use the large amounts of water. The weight training is seven days a week with 2 to 3 hours of low impact cardio to burn fat and intense daily focus on each separate part of the body. Monday’s focus was on building up muscles that enhance back width, Hill said, Tuesday’s focus was chest, Wednesday legs, Thursday arms, Fridays were cardio only, Saturday was shoulders and Sunday was focused on the back thickness. All the hard work of dieting and exercising takes quite a lot of time, and Hill said that the competition definitely takes precedence over school.
Hill said that he is at a bit of a disadvantage against others in his division because he is taller than the average competitor. Being tall isn’t the disadvantage but the weight distribution in a body that is taller means that his muscle mass is actually less than someone who is shorter than him. Hill said that he has a few tricks to help him stand out to the judges and give him a competitive edge.
“If I were bashful obviously this would not be the sport for me,” Hill said. The competitors all wear bikini style bottoms, the minimal amount of covering possible so that the maximum amount of muscle is on display. “I want to stand out to the judges, I picked purple (bottoms) because most people wear black,” Hill said. All the Above performed by Maino is the name of the song Hill chose to do his posing routine to. He picked this song because it has a nice beat and great lyrics. Most competitors choose heavy metal songs, Hill said, and I hope it will help me stand out.
“When is all said and done, Hill said, “I just want to win a freakin’ trophy.”
Even if he doesn’t win Hill said he would not regret competing and will probably do it all again. The competition will took place at the Cottonwood High School auditorium Oct. 10. The day after the competition win or lose Hill said he and his parents will be going out for all the sushi he can fit into his stomach.
Tags: body building, competition, Tim Hill
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