It was a tough week last week: I came down with a cold that moved to my chest…definitely shitty. So I sat out the second half of the training week and this week I have been treading lightly. I know when you go hardcore in the gym it really gets at your immune system so I decided to train but take it easy so I can let my body take care of this cold. The last thing I want is it dragging on and lingering around affecting my training for longer than need be. It’s been about two months since the Arnold and I have been training with rest in mind. The volume in the workouts is down, while the rest and food is up. I also really have been heavy on the cleansing supps and anti-oxidants so my body can really heal after a long 18 weeks of dieting (16 weeks for the Flex + 2 weeks for the ASC). Things like green tea, pomegranate juice, and berries of all kinds are the types of foods I have added more of lately. Since we’re now just under 20 weeks for the Mr. Olympia it’s that time again. My body has had a nice long rest and better yet my mind has had one too. I have taken some time to get my social time in and spend some time with girlfriend, friends and family. I try never to take the smaller things in life for granted because those are the things you miss most when your dieting. Anyway I am looking at starting the big push to the O but first comes my health. I hit up my doctor last week and did a full physical: Blood work, glucose tests, adrenal function, cholesterol…name it, I’m testing for it. This is nothing new, I do this twice a year to make sure everything is functioning properly and my body is ready for another grueling 16 weeks. I’ll find out at the end of this week if I’m good to go and then its time to get to work. My goal this year is to be in the top ten at the Olympia. I know I have the potential to be there when I’m at my best. Over the course of the last couple months and this month coming up I’ve been working at getting more roundness to my arms. I think this is one of the things that will really change my physique and there’s no reason I can’t make it happen. In 2006 people wrote me off and said, “he’s aesthetically pleasing but has no size,” then in 2008-9 they said, “he’s got an upper body to stand with anyone but no legs and no calves.” Now in 2011 they say, “he’s got small arms.” Not a problem, I love the constructive criticism and thrive on knowing that when I am focused and I push myself I can accomplish anything. I put on the size, I smashed legs and calves (a bodypart people write off when not born with it) until I forced them to grow and now they want arms. I can understand that, it’s an arm-dominated generation, Heath, Greene, Centopani, Winklaar and the list goes on; they all have massive arms. I am constantly changing and whether it comes at this years Mr. Olympia or next year’s FLEX Pro, you are gonna see without a doubt a version of Hoss with arms that belong at the top! I’ll leave you with this. The word ‘decision’ comes from the Latin term ‘to cut.’ The reason they gave the word decision that meaning is because when you make a decision you make a clean cut from everything else. For example, I have made the decision to have bigger arms; I have cut all other possibilities out of the equation. There is no option to that goal, there is nothing else I am committed to, I have made a decision that this WILL happen. How long it takes is a formality; in my mind, I’m already carrying 23’s off each shoulder… Sacrifice Without Regret, Fouad ‘Hoss’ Abiad www.fouadhossabiad.com
