Mr. Kane...R.I.P

I know this is my website where I write about my life, training, and diet tips for many fans and followers. That is not all that encompasses my life on a daily basis. There are trials and tribulations that I go through every day by myself or with others. I received a phone call from one of my best friends Kristine on Friday afternoon, she told me that one of our close friends and her best friend Trisha Kane's father passed away. I have known Trisha and her family since I was in the seventh grade and have continued to be friends with her ever since. I am not writing this blog in hopes that someone will publish it in the local papers like they did when my close friend JJ passed back in September, I'm writing this because I don't think that a local paper or an obituary on this man will hold justice to him, and all that have known him. Although, my story or memories of him I am sure will fall short describing what a great person Mr. Kane was to myself and many. When someone passes away in West Milford (the town I live in and grew up in) it's almost like a reunion no matter what grade you were in, older, younger, the town comes together and bond together for hard times. Don't believe me drive by Union Valley Road today by Richards Funeral home. That is where Mr. Kane's wake was and the lot was full from the time I arrived until the time I left and the line did not get any shorter, it grew longer and longer the more the minutes past. Mr. Kane was my gym teacher when I was in middle school, talk about a great guy, well that is an understatement for him. He was hands down the "cool teacher" in middle school. He was always playing in the games with us when we had gym, was at all the sport functions after school, and there were many times before the bell rang a bunch of the guys would try to wrestle him down in the gym (which by the way we always failed). He not only was a touch man on the outside, but a touch man on the inside. He was diagnosed with cancer almost 4 years ago and had 3 relapses of it. Talk about a man that wouldn't give up or take "no" for an answer, that was him. He beat it numerous times, and to many disbelieves that's not what took his life. He had a bad case of pnemonia which over took his body fast and he couldn't fight it off and it eventually took him from us on Friday April 17, 2009. Mr. Kane. You say that name around town and there is not one person that can't tell you a story about him, or how great of a man, father, and husband he was. You know what kind of person he was just by the pictures in the funeral home, NOT ONE picture was he not smiling in. Mr. Kane leaves behind many friends, and family, but one thing that will never be left behind were all the memories and journeys some of us had with him in our lives. There were only a few people in my life that stuck in my mind when I made the decision to want to become a teacher. Mr. Kane was hands down one of the tops on my list, he was the teacher you wanted to have, the coach you wanted to coach you, no matter the problem he was the teacher you could talk to, he was everything and anything you could ask in a teacher but more so a human being. Words can not describe his lost, but I'm sure he's in heaven enjoying a Budweiser I write this now. Anyone that knew Mr. Kane was a lucky person, because I don't think there's quite another person like him. Rest In Peace Mr. Kane, you will be forever missed, but never forgotten. God Bless and watch over us!

There is a poem that speaks of the line between the year of someones birth and the year that they pass,
There is no such little line between the years of him, only a mile long dash.
Guy

My Aronld Experience!

Ok so aside from being sick for over a week I guess it's about that time to recap the Arnold Classic. As you all know from previous times I have written I am not big into going to shows "just to show my face" or to "network." I go to shows for three reasons and three reasons only 1-if I am competing, 2-if I am guest posing, 3-if a friend is in the show and I am going to support them. It's not based on the fact that I hate going to shows, but it's the same reason I don't work or personal train in a gym, I feel if I did that I would get sick of the gym very quick, thus I don't go to every show. I do a lot besides bodybuilding, I work full time, and I have a lot of different hobbies, I snowboarded for over 8 years, I draw (I even took art lessons when I was younger for a few years), fishing, hunting, there's a lot to life aside from bodybuilding. I think that is needed in the sport, the sport can consume you because it's so demanding and more of a full time commitment, you need to have a work/life balance in order to make yourself and others around you happy.
At the Arnold there was an expo filled with many of familiar faces, some old, new, and up and coming in the sport. Although this sport has brought many things to my life, one thing I am very thankful for are all the people that I became friends with in the process. It was a great time and more of a reunion with many friends that do not live close to NJ that I only see at events such as the Arnold. It was a long two days Friday and Saturday was consumed with taking pictures, talking to fans, and signing autographs for many of the fans attending the expo. The Species booth which is where I was most of the time, the other few moments I had I was trying to make my way through the traffic to see the expo or hanging around in the Pro Tan booth with my good friend Carla Salotti. Me and PJ enjoyed a lot of catching up and laughing throughout the weekend, and it was great because the Animal Cage was right across from us so close friend Evan Centopani was hanging around and I had a chance to catch up with him. Evans in the 280's dieting down for the NY Pro and is looking amazing with still many weeks ahead. And I guess it isn't the Arnold Classic if you don't see Arnold, and I had the chance to catch a glimpse of the Mayor himself has he took his greatly anticipated walk around the expo. Between working the expo and being sick, I didn't do much, there was no going out or after parties for this guy. But at the end of a long weekend I can say that I am glad I attended the Arnold Classic, and maybe one day will be attending it as a competitor.
But all in all it was a fun weekend, I got to see and catch up with a lot of friends, as well as get the experience that everyone talks about. More so, I was happy that my prediction of Kai Greene winning his first, well deserved Arnold Classic. Kai looked amazing and hands down destroyed all the competition. I can say I am glad to be home and doing my normal every day things now, no more traveling for quite sometime now.
KEEP GRINDING!
Guy

Getting Knocked Down!

Back against the wall, underdog, fighting a losing battle, I have heard all these terms in my life and have been in those situations at least a hand full of times in my life. One thing my father taught me is probably the greatest gift of all, that you can NEVER give up, and the word CAN'T isn't in the dictionary. I have fought many battles in my life, I fought for a fighting spot in high school football, I fought to play in college (even after getting red shirted my freshman year), I fought the following year to make a statement, I busted my ass to be the best body builder I could, I fought to be the best son, brother, friend, and boyfriend all the time, I still fight some of these battles to this very day. I have been put down and disregarded many times in my life as someone that can't or someone that won't do something. Well there is a lot that I have done aside from body building, I was a starter both ways at my high school football team, I went on to play corner back in college, I had the highest total lift total my senior year, I went on to have some great wins as an amateur bodybuilder, and now can call my self a pro bodybuilder. All of those things can be worked at and every option can never be exhausted. I have gotten a lot of emails lately on websites and my email regarding people sad, depressed, and upset, asking for advise so I figured I would share all of what I tell many of these people. So many people think my life is this big great ball of greatness, but they are shocked when I tell them that it's far from that. I still work a normal job, make ok money in this economy, struggle to pay my bills, and at times am heart broken. There are times in my life when I think my life sucks, that I have it the worst because I got my heart broken by a girl, or can't do this or that because I don't have the money, I've been there, I've done that, and sometimes still do. But when you think you have taken all you can and your at the bottom of the barrel, you have to open your eyes and realize that no matter how bad you THINK you have it someone always has it worse. There is a guy who emailed me from RXMUSCLE who has a bad heart condition and almost died a few years back, and came to me telling me he can't get motivated to squat and push weight that he normally does in the gym, he said he felt depressed and down. I was shocked, I guess because when your on the outside looking in, many aspects are seen from a different point of view. I read that and was like wow, I have been upset lately for other reasons, but this guy nearly died and is still living AND working out, but complaining. I couldn't understand it, but then I sent him a message and I told him this. First off, the fact that your alive is a gift from God by itself, and that fact that your still working out is a miracle. I told him if I was in his shoes that I had another chance at life after almost dying, you bet your sweet ass my view on life would change. I told him, normally in life you don't get second chances and he did, so stop complaining about the little things like squatting and weight and just do it, that would drive me more than anything to know God gave me a second. Life is always going to have it's ups and downs, now matter who you are, no matter how much money you make, and no matter how nice you are. Bad things unfortunately happen to good people a lot in life, but it's over coming those obstacles in our lives that makes us stronger individually in different ways. If you all haven't known I am a big ROCKY fan, and sometimes use his quotes to shed some light on a subject, so I guess I will end on this note.
"Life's not about how hard you get hit, it's about how hard you get hit and get up and keep moving forward."
GUY-

A Weekend In Chicago...

Last weekend I had a chance to go to Chicago Illinois to visit my good friend Mike Liberatore. For those who have had their head in a cave the past few months Mike won the heavy weight class at the Nationals earning him his pro card. I went to Chicago for a job interview that I might take sometime in the late summer, it's still pending so I'm not sure what the out come would be. But I also had a chance to catch up and train with Mike whom I haven't seen since we were in Cali shortly after the Nationals. Mike weighed in at Nationals at a ripped 212 and when I arrived he was around 240's and climbing looking thick and hard. We both had a great time over the weekend we trained Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, at a variety of gyms within his area. We had a great time working out together and I met a ton of cool guys that Mike trains with on a regular basis. The weekend was pretty much filled with working out, going out to eat, and my job interview which I had on Friday afternoon. Mikes wife Trina is dieting for this up coming year and I'm sure she'll do great by the looks of things. Also a big shout out to Mike this month was his first month that his column was issued in MD, congrats bro!

As for other things, as soon as I got back to Jersey I caught the bug that's going around. I still was able to train but with having a bad head cold and being all congested it's hard to keep a good pace in the gym when you can't really catch your breath. I was going to take off the week, but I would go stir crazy if I didn't get to the gym. I was using fst-7 for the past 8 weeks, and now I have gone back to my traditional way of training hard and heavy, with a combo of straight sets, super sets, and giant sets, but I am still using fst-7 on certain days. I would like to become more of an instinctive person when it comes to my workouts, what I mean is that not be a schedule train what body part when I want depending on how I feel. For so long I have been on a strict regime of how I work out I think it might be good to switch up how I do things for a change. I'm not exactly sure of how I am going to break it down but I am in the process of figuring it out. My weight is staying around a good 210-212 which is fine for me right now I would like to stay at this weight for awhile before I try to increase everything to pack on some size before I start dieting again. A question I keep getting is when am I going to compete. The truth is when I am ready to or I feel my body is ready to compete again I will. I have gone balls to the wall since 2003 competing almost every year, and it's about time I give my body a rest from the torture of dieting and cardio and grow into my body. Only time will tell, but when I am ready I'm sure people will know.

This past weekend was a quite one, had a nice visit to my man Dr. Mike at Physical Synergy in CT. I try to make it there once a week to get worked on, he does his own method of ART and let me tell you it works, but the pain you go through while it's getting done is no joke. I went up there with two close friends Jenn and Kris who both got some work done on them, and Dr. Mike had all three of us moaning and groaning while he was working on us. At the end of the sessions you feel like a new person, he stretches the fascia out and releases a lot of the tight muscle fibers in the area he's working it feels great when your done.

I have gotten some emails regarding my blog and I am not trying to ignore my blog, but since I'm not dieting it's hard to write something every day, if there's something you guys would like to know or question you want answered in detail feel free to send me an email and I'll answer it in a blog on here. Or if there is something I haven't talked about that you want me to touch on let me know.
We were all put on earth for a reason and a purpose, stay true to your heart and never let anyone change what your creator has made.
GUY

Crazy Last Two Weekends...

The past two weekends I have been going non stop. Last weekend I made a much needed trip to my second home Golds New Haven. I went down with my buddy Kris and Jay. On the way down I needed to make a stop at Physical Synergy and get worked on by Dr. Mike. I haven't gotten any A.R.T. work done since before my show so I couldn't wait for him to dig into my knotted up muscles. I knew what I was in for because it is very painful, Kris and Jay on the other hand had no idea what pain that were about to endure. They soon found out as both of them were shacking and moaning when Dr. Mike got his hands on them, but after we left we all felt 100% better. I definitely will be making many more trips up to see Dr. Mike in the up coming year. After we left Physical Synergy we headed another 25 exits to Golds, where I met up with Evan, PJ, and Big Marc. We had a blast all working out and bullshitting, it was nice to see the Montanari brothers, I haven't seen them since my show in November. Evan was about 3 weeks into his diet and is good big and full, I can't wait to see the package he is going to bring to the NY Pro in May. PJ is well into his off season hovering around 270 and looking big as shit. Overall it was a great weekend and I enjoyed seeing the crew in CT.
As for this past weekend, was a weekend to remember and if you think I'm joking ask Marc Alvisi and Flex Lewis who were up visiting for the Dragons Den Seminar at Apollon Gym. The boys flew in on Thursday and I was chilling with them every night. Saturday during the day was the Seminar hosted by Gaspari Nutrition and held by owner Rich Gaspari. Overall it was a big hit and a good turn out for Rob and Apollon Gym. After Kris and I got our usual Saturday workout in, we all decided to get ready and go out in Hoboken for a good time. It was a deep crew that went out, over 10 people were out and we all had a blast and laughed more than ever. It was good to see Flex since I haven't seen him in almost a year, and I have gotten to know Marc a lot since Nationals and he is a great kid, and in my opinion has that pro card on lock down this year at the USA's. After Saturday night I can bet it won't be Flex and Marc's last time coming to NJ.
As for this weekend, I am leaving tomorrow to go on a job interview in Chicago and will be staying with Mike Liberatore so I can't wait to see him, I haven't seen him since the photo shoot we did in Cali after Nationals. I will be sure to take a ton of pics while I'm out there. Also I posted pics from this past weekend in my members section, be sure to check them out!!
Be thankful for what you have, you never know when it can be taken from you...
GUY

Bout Dam Time!

I know I know, I have got many emails and pm's on MD about people asking me why I have been neglecting my blog, and I am sorry. I have been having a good off season thus far, although it's only been 2 months since my showing at Nationals weighing 175lbs, I am currently around 215, and maintaining that weight pretty steadily. I don't find a need to put on more weight right now so I will probably stay around this weight for another month or two before I start trying to add more size. Being 5'6 I have to put on weight carefully and not too fast or my body has a way of holding too much fat, which is why I eat very clean in my off seasons. My strength is going up every week, but I have to limit how much weight I use because although it's my off season its' only been two months and I need to ease back into my normal weights. I have a football background so I have always been naturally very strong, in college my final year I had the biggest lift total for bench, squat, and power cleans, and being a corner back I would say that's pretty dam good. Right now I have been consistently using 365 for bench, 455 for squats, and 405 for dead lifts. Last year I went very heavy with all my weights especially squats where I was doing my first set for 500 for 10 reps, I think this year I might keep the weight down a bit and focus more on good reps because its inevitable that much weight will eventually beat up your knees. Starting in February I will start my full off season, I am still doing cardio 30 min 3 times a week and eating carbs with only 5 meals instead of 7 so I am sure once I back off the cardio and add in those carbs my weight will start to climb up a little. So that's whats going on in my life as far as bodybuilding right now. Remember: BODY BUILDING ISN'T ABOUT WHO WORKS THE HARDEST, BUT WHO DOES THE RIGHT THING!
As always there are still trials and tribulations in my life as well as everyone else. The start of 2009 for me has been a shaky one when it comes to a lot, but I am sorting things out day by day. I plan to make these years to come the best years of my life. So many people in my life had told me to put myself first, and start being selfish, which I have never done. But you need to make yourself happy before anything. (Thank you)
LIFE IS NOT SO MUCH ABOUT SAYING HELLO AS IT IS GOOD BYE....

Filling In The Gaps..

So what the hell have I been up to the past few weeks. Well for all the people who think you turn pro and then live this exotic lifestyle are sadly mistaken, but I knew this years ago. After winning and then doing the photo shoots with Per in Cali, when I got back to Jersey it was back to business. Back to the every day grind that overwhelms my life. Just because my status as an amatuer had changed those trials and tribulations that I have or had in my life still exist. I have been pro now for more than a month, if I could tell you how many people ask me "How does it feel to be a pro" you would die. But my answer has yet to change, because truth is, it still hasn't hit me or set in yet. How could it set in, I haven't given it a chance, with the holidays, and getting right back into work and catching up I haven't had time to rest yet and let anything set in. What I have been doing is re examining my life. So I am an IFBB pro now what? Now I want to accomplish another goal that I have been putting off which is take my test so I can get certified to teach. For those of you that don't know much about me I graduated with a History degree, one that was supposed Education/History, but because of poor counseling by my college I had to drop the education part and graduate with a BA in History. I am signing up for my Praxis test and go alternate route and try and teach which has been my dream job since I was in college. Now that I have furthered my career as a pro bodybuilder I need to further my life and aspirations. I have never put bodybuilding first and that is why I think I have come this far in the sport, there is fine line between bodybuilding and real life, and if you can't separate the two it can be tough. I have sacrificed a lot in the past 5 years as a competitive bodybuilder, but I have to say I also have sacrificed a lot for others as well. My life order does not put bodybuilding number one. It's God, Family, Health, Relationship, Friends, Job, Bodybuilding. And because I separate them all and give them all attention I believe it helps me prosper not only as an athlete but as an individual.
There is a lot more in store for the new year I can guarantee that. I have a lot more things to accomplish this year and I am really exciting starting off the new year with one foot forward. I will write more tomorrow about my training and up and comings. Until then.
DON'T BLINK-YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT YOU WILL MISS
GUY