Three from three, an overall near-miss and a stomach bug nine days out

Prep Diary of a Masters bodybuilder - Episode 5

Saturday, October 3, 2026 – PCA Masters show day

Sleep has been disrupted four or five times because I'm up to the toilet with more water flowing through me than the Trevi Fountain. Yesterday we put in 100g asparagus in four of five meals and 1g of vitamin C per meal. No Peak Max this time either but we wanted to be a touch sharper, because the PCA lean towards condition over anything else. I've dropped more water with this protocol than anything, but I am still nice and full.
We arrive at the venue, Connexin Live in Hull, early. I have to urinate in a plastic cup after parking my car because I'll never make it to the toilet in time. The glamour is never far away in bodybuilding.
I meet lots of friendly faces – competitors in my class and in other classes – as the build-up begins. One thing that always stands out to me at bodybuilding competitions is the mutual respect and camaraderie among competitors.

My coach, Nathan Smart (above), is in attendance for this one. He has a look at me. Everything is on point. We agree to hit the pre-stage pump up a little harder to close the gap to my post-workout look, the one that has me in the best bog in Thurrock. He gives me some of his Engineered Muscle Turbo Pump supplement, which I sip while flogging myself with bands backstage, in between a few trips to the toilet, of course.
On stage I get moved. I look down. The tape to mark the competitor line is in a cross. I'm in the middle. Good sign. Former England captain and World Cup winner Phil Vickery (below, right) is in my class. I mention it to the PCA MC who says he recognised the name. As Phil finishes his routine, the PCA MC gives him a congratulatory message. The rest of us walk back on stage for our posedown, all shaking his hand as we return. I take the victory - three from three. The feeling of winning never gets old. Phil is very complimentary about my physique, which feels surreal given his stature.
We hang around another five hours for the overall, drip-feeding four rice cakes, 80g chicken and 15g honey twice, all with just sips of water now, having already put in 2.5 litres. I believe I have a genuine shot at the overall. Indeed, it is close. I am convinced I have it. It goes to the brilliant Over 40 winner Zack Gibson. Top bloke and who has a very similar shape to me. He wins his PCA Pro Card. I have to wait for my chance to win mine at the PCA British in two weeks.

Sunday, October 4 2026

Laura, thankfully, did the four-hour drive home. I had an off-plan meal at a services on the way - the first since May. We are up early and standing at Oliver's football match by 9.15am. He scores. That's another fiver for Robux. I give him another pep talk.
Watching the overall video back Zack is a touch sharper than me. He deserved the overall. Nathan messages: "We won't miss next time."

Monday, October 5, 2026

I have another shot at an AGM job. Thurrock branch, where I work as a PT/FC, is becoming available. I'm told to apply but temper my expectations. From yesterday, I'm back to baseline diet; 1900 calories. Cardio is back in, this time a modest 20min. Steps at 10k. This will remain for the next few days as for the first time in three weeks we do not have a show this weekend. The PCA Brits is next on October 18.
The school texts. Now my daughter has a detention. She's not had one in the three years she's been there. I send a reply; not in my time she isn't. In yours. We receive a lengthy email from a teacher which is very intimidating and aggressive. It gives me an insight into what this place is really like. The school’s reply was blunt: no debate, no parental input and, if I didn’t like it, I could take it up with Ofsted. In other words; 'you will comply. If you don't like it, bring it on'. All additional stress none of us in the house need, nor asked for. More stuff I have to deal with while preparing for a British finals.

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

The email tirade with the school continues. I'm calm. In control. Purely because I wasn't making a request. I was telling them what would happen. I'm also no longer interested in anything they have to say. I consider pulling them out of the school system entirely, moving further afield to clear the mortgage and therefore setting up an easier financial situation whereby I can homeschool the children.
I have a disagreement in the gym. I ask how many sets someone has left, while with a PT client. "I've just started," they say. OK, but how many sets do you have? "I've just told you I just started," she shoots back. We walk away and do something else, realising quickly we would have more success howling into the void.

Wednesday October 7 2026

With the baseline diet returning, so does the need to prep spend. I buy two cheap games for my Steam Deck totalling a tenner. They will no doubt sit in my library unplayed for months. Honestly, I think it is the act of spending which is better than doing anything with the things you actually buy.
I stumble upon a YouTube video analysing the PCA Masters. I'm in it. My ego is massaged nicely. "Look at this guy!" "Gary just needs more back" is ringing in my ears. But it's a positive assessment.

Thursday, October 8 2026

Last day of baseline diet before a brief top up tomorrow with a high day. Face is really starting to come in now, even more than it has been. Feeling in a good spot though. Cruising in. I have no idea of what is about to come...

Friday, October 9, 2026 – 9 days out

High day drops. Good deal of food here. Meal 1, for example, is 175g rice pudding [Hydrorice from Engineered Muscle], 50g whey, 30g honey, 10g dark chocolate. Meal 2 is 300g basmati rice [cooked weight], 150g cooked chicken breast, 30g raisins, 20g honey, 100g green veg and four rice cakes. I swap meals 1 and 2 purely because I'm waiting for my delivery. Midway through 175g hydrorice I start to feel like I can't finish it. Still, I do. I go to train about 3pm, two meals in. But when I arrive I'm feeling off. I'm flagging pretty quickly during training; back with some arms to push carbs in specific places. I'm taking longer and longer between sets. I feel rough. Energy tanks. I message Nathan about whether cardio is still required because I feel I'm about to puke any second. It is. I get through the work out somehow but I'm not right. I feel ill. I do my post-workout pics but need to take a long rest in between each one. This is not like me. God only knows how I manage to drive home. I slump on sofa. Stomach all over the place. Laura checks my blood sugar. It's super low. I eat four rice cakes but cannot manage the rest of meal 3. She checks it again before I'm allowed to fall asleep. Upon waking about an hour later, I take myself to bed. I've clearly got some sort of tummy bug. Stomach is upset and I'm belching large clumps of air. Not pleasant. Eight days out I'm bed ridden from 5pm. Temperature slightly raised too. In eight days, I go for a PCA British title and my PCA Pro Card. This is not a good spot to be in.

Want a coach who's living the prep alongside you? I'm taking on clients. DM me on instagram @gary_chappell76 or email info@dietplanman.com to apply to work with me.

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Masters Bodybuilder Prep Diary – Episode 4: A second win, a school disagreement and Phil Vickery in the tanning queue

Two wins from two, one battle at home

Saturday, September 26 – 2Bros debut show day.

I wake at 4am. Same routine because Nathan is stateside with Yinka at the Olympia. It's 8pm there. Pics, weight, back to bed till 6am. Plans drop alongside the comment: "Absolutely crazy look. Hard, full and vascular and you've only just woken up. This is only going to get better." Before Meal 1, I have a strong, sharp coffee. The plan is to have two meals before stage and two litres of water. Salt remains consistent. I'm relaxed. No stomach pain today like last week at my opening show.

Laura and I both wake, dress – I can't shower due to having a base coat of tan from the night before – and make our way to the venue. It's like a who's who of Instagram. The base coat of Pro Tan has me looking ridiculously dark, but even so the tanner asks if I've even had a base coat. Top coat goes on. 2Bros run their show with an iron fist. Officials patrol the tanning area calling numbers, telling relevant competitors to get their glaze, then get backstage to pump up. It's warm backstage, which really helps — you're more vascular when it's warm, and pumping up is more manageable.

I know I need to pump up more for this one, as we try to match the post-workout look we've tracked every day for two weeks. I start with biceps, then shoulders, then move into my weakest bodypart – chest. Four to five sets of 15-20 reps with bands. Then press-ups. Officials have us queueing two classes deep, ready to go on. At this stage I'm just keeping the pump by posing hard, squeezing the muscle.

We're on. I wave to the crowd as if I know them all and they know me. I only know my wife, Laura. Quick comparison of the four of us. Not even quarter turn side poses. Then off. Back on for 20-second individual posing. I show them my best front poses but not my back, which is generally weaker. Before I know it, we're off stage. Then I have to wait more than an hour just for posing routines and awards.

I'm chosen as the winner. Such an addictive feeling. Two shows, two wins so far on this return.

Sunday, September 27

We're up early for my son Oliver's football match. 9.15am arrival and it's a 40-minute drive. Some other football parents have a bit of banter about my tan — looks like jaundice, apparently. Ollie plays well but has an issue with his plantar fascia. He gets through it. Another strong showing. Back to baseline diet today: 1900 calories today and tomorrow. We will likely start loading again on Tuesday into the PCA Masters in Hull next Saturday, October 3.

Monday, September 28

Baseline again. I'm starting to feel washed out, for no other reason than the two shows, I'd imagine. Post-workout look is strong again — wild, in fact. Condition just keeps getting better.

It's Fudge's birthday today, one of my four cockapoos. She is four. Laura and Georgia, my daughter, insist on going out to buy her some bits. I choose to stay because I have a ton of writing to do for FrontDouble and News Uncut. They return with doggy cakes and film themselves singing happy birthday to Fudge, who seems to sit there attentively until they've finished, before grabbing her cupcake and padding off down into the living room.

Tuesday, September 29

Day 1 of PCA load. Higher carbs. Raisins and honey back in with my rice and chicken. Gorgeous meal. Rice pudding doubles from 50g to 100g. Must remember to buy some more — always get caught short needing some urgently. Post-workout pics are insane again. Really need to nail this look for the stage on Saturday.

Wednesday, September 30

Hugely tired today. I'm assuming it's the extra carbs, because there's no cardio at this stage and steps are moderate.

I get a text from school while I'm at work — Ollie's been given another detention. A few minutes late in the morning because the traffic on the school approach is appalling. Why does the school think it's OK to book detentions in my time? When the school day ends, that is my time. Turns out they have government permission and don't need parental consent. We live in a dangerous world where schools and government can override parental consent. He will now miss football training because of this, and no one can collect him when detention finishes due to work. That is why these things must be arranged with parents and not forced on them.

Laura calls the school and they are, as usual, unhelpful, but promise to wait with him until someone gets there. I'm waiting at the school for an hour. No sign of Ollie. Laura can't reach them on the phone because the school is now shut. I find a teacher and, staying calm, explain how disappointed I am that the school seems to want to crush him and ruin his experience so early on. I express my fear that I have no idea where my 11-year-old is. Turns out the school did not wait with him as promised, and he made the decision to walk home alone. He is now in trouble. And so is the school. But hey, they got their 30-minute detention.

I receive my feedback from the 2Bros head judge. Pretty awesome: "Conditioning was good, your physique is balanced, shape is good and skin still good also. Nothing wrong to say except keep growing if you can while preserving that balance and aesthetic." Noted. Off-season pending.

Screenshot

Thursday, October 1 – PCA Masters, two days out

Two days out. I remember I am competing Saturday. I finish and publish my 2Bros colour piece from last Saturday, set up Sibel Osman's Road to Milan piece, and start on a feature with the excellent Official Body Muscle Art. All before client work and my own job.

I see some other Over 50s competitors on social media and the nerves start to kick in. Everyone is telling me how good I am and that they can't see anyone beating me. The positivity makes me uncomfortable, and I know it's never as clean-cut as that. I also know not to focus on others. But that is always easier said than done.

Friday, October 2 – PCA Masters, one day out

The day got progressively worse as it went on. Dropped Ollie to school in plenty of time. Daughter unwell so didn't go. He finishes at 2pm on Fridays, so we planned to get him picked up by his mother-in-law, then travel to Hull early.

No work today as overtime finished, but had to go in for a team meeting — AGM role up for grabs. This gives me something to think about. Had to buy more whey protein and more asparagus on the way home; we're putting in 100g of asparagus over four meals today, together with 1g vitamin C, as both work as a mild diuretic, although I'm not a fan of diuretics. Muscle is 70% water and needs water to be hard and full, so pulling water never makes any sense, even mildly.

Late getting back home and still need to take the dogs out. On the walk, I get a text from the school: Ollie was a few minutes late to a lesson and now they want to give him a 30-minute detention today after school. My blood hits boiling point in record time. This is the third time they have tried to enforce an arbitrary same-day detention in my time. I have already written to them saying they have no authority over my time, and all they said is they have government permission and don't need my permission to keep my children after school. This is a dangerous route to go down. The government does not own my children either.

We still haven't left for Hull, so plans for an early departure are now scuppered. We eventually leave but it takes us more than five hours to arrive at the Airbnb. I reach the base-coat tanning venue at 8pm, only to realise former England rugby captain and World Cup winner Phil Vickery is competing. I make a mental note to try and nab him for an interview tomorrow. He's competed before but never at a show I've done.

I finally sit down at 9.30pm to eat Meal 4 — two meals behind and two litres behind. I still have writing to do. And I remember, finally, I'm actually supposed to be competing again tomorrow.

Want a coach who's living the prep alongside you? I'm taking on clients. DM me on instagram @gary_chappell76 or email info@dietplanman.com to apply to work with me.

Prep Diary of a Masters bodybuilder - Episode 5

Saturday, October 3, 2026 – PCA Masters show day

Sunday, October 4 2026

Monday, October 5, 2026

Tuesday, October 6, 2026

Wednesday October 7 2026

Thursday, October 8 2026

Friday, October 9, 2026 – 9 days out

Want a coach who's living the prep alongside you? I'm taking on clients. DM me on instagram @gary_chappell76 or email info@dietplanman.com to apply to work with me.

MORE FROM FRONTDOUBLE:

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Two wins from two, one battle at home

Saturday, September 26 – 2Bros debut show day.

Want a coach who's living the prep alongside you? I'm taking on clients. DM me on instagram @gary_chappell76 or email info@dietplanman.com to apply to work with me.

MORE FROM FRONTDOUBLE:

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