30 Oct Tucker: See you next year

I got some brotherly advice a few weeks back that I’m really grateful for. I talked with one of the local pros at Gold’s, Will Harris, a while back about doing nationals when I first moved to Venice, he said he didn’t think I should do it since I just moved here and yada yada. I didn’t take it too seriously and just kept training.

Then when I got all sick a month back or so I didn’t see him for a few weeks, and when I walked in the gym his eyes got all big and he said “where you been??” I told him I got a little sick but I’m back at it and before I could finish he says “NEXT YEAR! See you next year!” I tried to say I could push through but he said again, doing nationals was gonna be a bad idea.

From then on my nickname at Gold’s has been “Next Year”, or abbreviated as just “NY”, as in, “wassup NY, still training hard?” Haha. A couple weeks go by and I talk with him more seriously about it and we have discussion about the fact that I’ve just gotten here, still recovering from being sick, looking flat and feeling behind. My training wasn’t at 100% and there’s no reason to spend 3 grand hoping to place top 10 when I could just pack it up and look great for next year. I took it to heart but still wasn’t convinced and texted him a little bit later that day… The dude ends up calling me at 10:00 at night and the first thing he says is “Whaaat the fuck are you thinking??” We had a good talk of him basically telling me I’m a dumbass. I spoke with Noel about it and Noel thought it was a good idea considering the circumstances, and I gave it a week or so to think over.

Not too long ago, once I finally decided to not purchase tickets or do the entry application, it was definitely the best choice. I woke up the next day with more mental energy and a better mood than I’ve had in months, so the idea of it was clearly wearing on me.

Will said I shouldn’t do any shows this year and just requalify next year, but there are a few in November, December and January locally, and I just don’t feel like I’m ready to stop dieting. Things are going great and I’m learning a lot and I love the way my body looks, so I’m tentatively aiming for one in December here in LA.

I can’t say enough how grateful I am that Will went out of his way to break it down for me and talk some sense in me. Some honest big bro talk is hard to come by and it was just what was needed. Conceptually, I realized I’d already rolled the dice once and lucked out and won a show in Wisconsin with only a few weeks to get ready. If I was a betting man and already made $500,000, I’m not the type to risk it on $1,000,000, I’d rather just take what I’ve won and call it. Doing nationals would be that second roll of the dice this year, and although it would be heroic and have an awesome story if I placed top 5 considering all that I had going on, it’s just not a wise decision.

This kind of puts me in a fun limbo where I’m just training, eating clean and having fun watching my body change each week. I’m getting leaner than I’ve ever been and I’m having a great time doing it…. That’s what bodybuilding is all about right? Enjoying the process.

As far as training this week, things have been good but boy I was feeling tired. Noel told me to cut down the rest between sets and get in and out in 30 mins, so I listened and feel much better. Legs and back took about 45 mins but chest, shoulders and arms were about 30 a piece.

Warm up this week was very quick as well. Just some walking on the treadmill and then a little bit of core work and I got to it. I’ve got some new stuff to work on from Craig but I cut it short this week in the interest of time and recovery.

Everything was 4-5 sets of 8-12, up to 15 on the small stuff and 30 seconds or less between sets.

Chest
Machine pec flies
Flat machine press
Flat bench press
Incline machine press
Cable pec flies

Back
Lat pullovers
Neutral and reverse grip pulldown
Rows on the pendulum leg press
Machine lat pulldown
Tbar rows

Arms
Single arm High pulley cable curls
Seated incline DB curls
BB curls
Single arm triceps pushdown
DB triceps kick back
BB skull crushers

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Tucker Loken

Tucker Loken is a Bodybuilder turned Powerlifter turned Powerbuilder from Eugene, Oregon. He did his first bodybuilding show when he was still in high school, and has been training male and female competitors for shows since 2011. Several years ago he decided to take a step away from his normal routine and learn how to get strong. He worked with Brian for 9 months, added 200 pounds to his raw total and qualified as an Elite lifter in the 220 pound weight class. He returned back to bodybuilding much stronger and now incorporates the 10/20/Life philosophy into his training to keep himself healthy and making continual progress in the Big 3 as well as adding size and shaping his physique. Now part of Team PRS, he brings his unique expertise of nutritional knowledge and how to balance Bodybuilding with Powerlifting to help athletes achieve their best potential.

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