March Madness 2011 (part 2-San Diego championships!)

WELCOME TO THE "619!"Welcome to San Diego! It's the 2011 NPC San Diego Bodybuilding, Figure and Bikini Championships, promoted by Lindsay Productions! Check out the awesome fun we had! And also check out the brass Team 619 took home!!

Beautiful IFBB pro's, Zhanna Rotar and Meriza Deguzman-Ciccone!

The next generation of Ciccone! Check out the thighs on this lil' monster!

NPC SAN DIEGO CHAMPIONSHIPS!
It was another awesome season-opener for the 2011 NPC/IFBB competition season and Team 619 MUSCLE kicked major butt! 170 competitors converged on another sold-out show this weekend, for the 2011 NPC San Diego Championships, at San Diego's Scottish Rite center.
Several of our family took the stage this weekend, and our Team took home top honors and trophies in several classes! Our athletes stormed the stage with power, class and grace, strutting their Swagger and making a strong statement with powerful physiques!
In the Men's lightweight (novice and unlimited), competition newcomer Mike Martinez squeezed into the lightweight class and came away with top honors in both classes!
In Figure, hometown competitor and personal trainer, Kristi Romero placed 2nd in a very tight race in the "D" class. Gloria Lovidice stole the top slot in the unlimited Figure "A" class, strutting style and charisma, in her first class win!

Go Kristi! So proud of your hard work!

Super-Gloria Lovidice 1st place A class! And Miss May Strickland, 3rd!

Beautiful Tracy Rogers placed 2nd!Stephanie Perkins WINS Bikini C! and Paulina Ciccone takes 4th! Go girls!

Mike Martinez Muscles into the top slot in 2 classes! Novice and Unlimited lightweights!

Go Miss Melanie! 5th place in the Unlimited Figure C class!

2 San Diego beauties! - Meriza and Miss Francine Sablan!

Zhanna, Khay, Tony, Meriza and beautiful Miss Molly!

The 619 crew of beauties! Beautiful NPC champs, Molly Goodwin and Khay, IFBB Pro's Deena Walsh, Meriza and Michelle Bates!

Pete and IFBB Pro, PD Devers!

Khay, Pete and guest poser, Jerome"Hollywood" Ferguson and Meriza!

We had a hella good time, supporting our family, hangin', meetin' and greetin'...Congratulations to all of our hard working clients! See ya at the next show!

Pete

March Madness! 2011! (part 1)

It's been an amazing month for the 619 Muscle crew! Starting with the first weekend of March, 2011, our own family members, Pete, Meriza and Khay Rosemond, travelled east to work with MAN Sports, at the Arnold Sports Expo in Columbus. Khay, under the watchful eye of Meriza's training to shape, sculpt and tone her bikini body, and Pete's nutritional guidance, Khay worked her way into a beautiful, tight and shapely 94.5lbs, placing 2nd in a hotly contested "A" class of the Arnold Amateur Bikini contest!

When the smoke had cleared from the bikini stage, Khay was one of the last two girls standing and made a striking impression with the crowd, the media and the judges at this event - Congrats Ms. Khay!!

Follow this excitement with more of the family on stage at the 2011 NPC San Diego Championships on March 19th - coming next blog!

It's crunch time

20 weeks out from USA's, 2011, and I'm feeling excited, and a little bit nervous.
I had the opportunity to travel to Charlotte, NC, last week - and I got to visit the headquarters of Europa Sports, while working for my sponsor, MAN Sports. Inside their amazing facility, they've got a gym that many college strength programs would be envious of...of course, if you guys know Europa, you'd understand that this giant in the supplement business is staffed with athletes from all kinds of sports, especially strength, bodybuilding or football, from what I can see. The boys in the HQ of the big and purple made me feel quite small...but apart from that they were the nicest, most professional and most hospitable guys I've ever met.

Well, while visiting, I had the chance to train at their facility gym...and on the wall, hanging above the door was a 12'x 12' banner, dedicated to the memory of Lyn Walters. Lyn was one of the original staff of Europa, and although I only had a very short interaction w/ Lyn several years ago, I've always heard of him spoken of with the utmost respect, as a man of integrity and humility, especially for his size and his athletic prowess (Lyn was a huge bodybuilder, but was one of the most giving, most humble men you could meet, according to anyone who had the opportunity to work with him...) Hanging on the wall was this huge banner of him, with a quote that began with the words, "Train Scared."

Now, Lyn was very important to many, because of the way he conducted himself, and the way he lived his life. The history behind the photo of Lyn on the wall of the gym and quote along with it, words of wisdom, moved me that morning, as I stretched, I kept looking up at the banner. The quote began with 2 words – “Train scared…”; and though I don’t remember exactly the rest of the inspirational words, in my own mind, I think I got the message…and this is gist of the inspiration I took from it…(I’m paraphrasing here, with respect for the message of the quote…)

“when you think you can let up for even a single second, think again. Your competition is only a footstep behind you…they’re chasing you…stay scared, train with furious focus…you cannot control what they do, but you can be the master of your own world…so “Train Scared…”

During my workout at this gym, I found myself looking back at the photo, and re-reading the quote…and then I examined my own path, my own training, my own dedication to what I’ve been working hard for all these years…Was I training hard enough to say I was “training scared”?

Anyway, I trained a little bit scared today – here’s what we did!

pre-training drink:
Game Day, 1 scoop
Clout, 1 scoop
BCAA’s, 1 scoop

let’s hit it:
FST-7 machine side laterals:
7 sets of 15 reps, 30 seconds of rest between sets
Smith machine front press:
185 x 15 reps
205 x 15 reps
225 x 12 reps
225 x 13 reps (felt good, great pump!)
Wide grip upright rows:
80lbs fixed weight bar x 20 reps (squeeze)
90lbs x 15 reps
90lbx x 16 reps
90lbs x 16 reps
Rear delts/teres – machine mid-back row
4 sets x 12 reps
Rear delt raises, 1 arm dumbbell
45 x 20 reps
65 x 16 reps
65 x 15 reps
65 x 13 reps
Side laterals, dumbbells (2-arm)
30 x 15 reps
30 x 15 reps
30 x 10 reps (then 5 burnout reps w/ 1-arm)
30 x 10 reps (then 5 burnout reps w/ 1-arm)

Awesome, focused training, sick pump, good swell. Finished with 4 sets of strict machine crunches for abs…
See ya’all at the Arnold!

Pete