Brock Atlas Pose

It’s been two days since the show, and I’ve spent that time refilling my glycogen stores. 🍔

Now that I’ve had a chance to catch my breath, I finally have some time to sit down and process the whole experience.

Sunday Recap

I remember waking up feeling surprisingly calm. I did wake up around 3:00 AM feeling a little nervous, so I threw on some Sam Sulek videos on YouTube and eventually drifted back to sleep.

I got up around 7:00 AM and had my usual breakfast of oats, Greek yogurt (+ protein powder), and raspberries. It always hits.

My bag was already packed, so I sat down with my wife and we planned out the day together.

I left the house around 9:00 AM so I could get my second coat of spray tan. The woman doing the tanning was a really interesting lady who used to compete in ballroom dancing. While I was there I met another bodybuilder named Dale. The guy is 75 years old and has been bodybuilding for nearly 50 years. He’s an eccentric dude who lives in Mexico and talks exactly like Jesse Ventura.

After the tanning appointment I picked up my buddy Marc, who had agreed to help me backstage. He’s competed in several IDFA/WWA shows before, and having him there made a huge difference. He gave me a few last-minute posing tips, helped me pump up, and, most importantly, kept my nerves under control.

The camaraderie backstage was one of the biggest surprises of the day. Everyone was incredibly friendly and willing to help each other. There weren’t a ton of competitors, but there were more than I expected based on the posing workshop I’d attended a few weeks earlier.

I ended up competing in three classes:

  • Masters 40+
  • Novice
  • Open

Masters 40+ was first, right after the transformation stories. I was unbelievably nervous waiting to walk out, but the second I stepped on stage, all of that disappeared. I could hear my family cheering, my ball hockey and curling teammates yelling, and my friends hollering from the crowd.

It was one of the coolest moments of my life.

It also went by ridiculously fast.

You spend months training. You spend months weighing and tracking every meal. You spend weeks practicing posing.

…and then it’s all over in about ten minutes.

The adrenaline rush is incredible, and I already know I want to do it again.

The Results

In the end I placed:

  • 🥇 1st – Masters 40+ (I was the only competitor.)
  • 🥈 2nd – Novice (There were two of us.)
  • 🥈 2nd – Open (Three competitors.)

Honestly, I couldn’t be happier.

One of my biggest fears leading up to the show was that I’d get backstage and realize I didn’t belong there. Instead, everyone was welcoming, and several coaches were genuinely surprised to hear it was my first competition. I received a lot of compliments about my shape, which meant more to me than I expected.

What’s Next?

Now that it’s over, the celebrating has settled down…I’m a little sad.

Honestly, I feel a bit lost.

From the moment I committed to this at the end of 2025, my life had a clear direction. Every workout, every meal, every grocery trip, every cardio session, every early bedtime served a single purpose.

Then, in the span of ten minutes, that purpose was complete.

I know this feeling is normal. Athletes talk about it all the time after reaching a major goal. I’m the dog chasing the car, and I caught one. Now what do I do?

This is what I know:

I absolutely fell in love with bodybuilding.

The training. The discipline. The challenge.

So I’m going to keep training, maintain my progress, and spend the next little while figuring out what the next milestone is.

Notes

  • Weight at 164.6 lbs