Big Announcement for myself and Scivation

I am now an official consultant for Scivation! Please see press release below:

Layne Norton, PhD. is now Research and Development Consultant for Scivation. Layne holds a PhD. in Nutritional Sciences from the University of Illinois, is an IFPA and NGA Professional Bodybuilder, record holding AAPF Powerlifter and also owns Biolayne, LLC.—an elite training and nutrition consultation firm. Layne has been affiliated with Scivation since its first year in business over eight years ago as a sponsored athlete.



“I have seen Layne grow as a person and a professional in our years together. When it comes to ethics, drive and knowledge, Layne is the best there is,” says Scivation Owner Marc Lobliner. “It is an honor to finally have Layne on board time as part of the Scivation R&D Dream Team that includes Chris Lockwood, PhD., CSCS and Derek Charlebois.”



Layne states, "I have been involved with Scivation from close to the start of the company. They have been my one and only supplement company sponsor my entire career because I believe in their products and I believe in their mission. I have had many opportunities over the years to take sponsorships or jobs with other supplement companies and I turned them all down because I firmly believed in Scivation. In an industry that has become infamous for gimmicks and fly by night companies, I believe Scivation stands apart from the rest as a model of character and integrity. I could not be more excited to now be formally associated as a consultant for Scivation. I truly believe that together we can leave a positive stamp on this industry.”



Layne will be involved in all aspects of product development for Scivation.

Layne and Isabel at the Arnold Classic

Hello friends,
I apologize for waiting til the last minute to make this post but I wanted to be sure of my responsibilities before I did so. Isabel and I WILL be attending the Arnold Classic Expo this year. You will be able to find me at the Scivation booth on the following days & hours

Friday: 11 am to 4 pm
Saturday: 3 pm to 5 pm
Sunday: 11 am to 3 pm

I will be taking a lunch break at some point on Friday & Sunday so if you go to the booth and I'm not there, it's likely I'll be back shortly.

For those who are interested I will be selling my DVD, Layne Norton Unleashed, at the expo for a discount. I will also have pictures on hand to sign for those who are interested. I am looking forward to meeting new faces and chatting with old friends so please stop by the booth and say hi!

Regards,
Layne

Layne Norton Unleashed Re-Release now in stock and available for purchase!

Hello everyone,

For those of you who are interested in purchasing a DVD, the pre-sale is over and so they can no longer be purchased at the pre-sale price of $30, but you still can get a great deal on it! You can buy it direct from me for $35 and not only will I sign it with a personal note, but I will also include a signed 8X10 picture (see the two choices below). To order, please send $35 for US orders and $45 for orders outside the US via paypal to dvdunleashed@gmail.com. Please make sure to include your correct mailing address in the comments section as well as the name of the person that the DVD is for. Also please let me know which picture you'd like included with your purchase: #1 or #2.

Picture 1:


Picture 2:

Layne Norton Unleashed DVD Re-Release now available for pre-order

I know many of you have been awaiting the re-release of Unleashed ever since we sold out the initial run and I'm happy to report that it is finished and available for pre-order!



To place a pre-order please send $30 ($ 40for orders outside of the US) to dvdunleashed@gmail.com through PayPal (www.paypal.com). In the comment section please provide your address and the name of the person that the DVD is for. All pre-ordered DVDs will be signed and individualized for the person specified with the order. The pre-order will last for a few weeks after which time this deal will no longer be available. If you have any questions please send them to dvdunleashed@gmail.com

I should receive the DVD's from the manufacturer sometime late next week and will ship out all pre-orders as soon as I get them in, thus making this a great potential holiday gift.

It sold out the first time, so don't miss out on your chance to get it this time!

Make sure your mailing address is exactly correct. I will not be responsible for product sent to the wrong address because it was misspelled.

Thanks!
-Layne

Offseason Update

Hey Everyone,
I promised I would be better at keeping this blog updated so here is my commitment to that promise! Since the shows I've been really trying to keep it tight coming out of this contest prep and properly stimulate my metabolism. I've done the whole blow up and put on 15 lbs in 2 weeks and i just had no interest in that this time. I want my offseason to be productive. I would like to get back up to 230 lbs this offseason, but I want to do it slowly over time and I know post show it's absolutely crucial to properly stimulate your metabolism so that your body can handle bulk level calories without putting on excessive fat gain. I firmly believe what you do the first few months after a long prep sets the tone for your offseason. If you eat a ton and get sloppy real quick you will be trying to play catch up the rest of the offseason for all the fat you put on. If you properly stimulate your metabolism you'll be able to add lean mass with less fat gain. Seeing how lean Phillip Ricardo was at the Yorton (picture of myself and Phillip attached)... I know I have the size to do well, and even though I easily beat my previous conditioning, I still think I can get harder and I know it starts with staying leaner in the offseason. Also congrats to Phillip on defending his world championship



So as you know, I was down to about 100g of carbs per day before my first show and about 150g/day before my last show with fat around 40g.

I started my offseason at
250g protein
200g carbs
50g fat

on leg days I take carbs up to 400g.

3.5 weeks later I am at
250g protein
275g carbs
55g fat

still taking carbs up to 400g on leg days

I also am doing zero low intensity cardio and 2 HIIT sessions per week.

I have only added 3.5 lbs since the show, even with thanksgiving and 3 of those 3.5 lbs were added in the first day after the show. So I feel real good about where I'm at. I still have a long way to go strength wise, but my energy levels are already feeling about normal.

At this point I feel really good about where I'm at metabolism wise and after seeing the level of competition in the pros and knowing it's only going to get tougher, I KNOW that I have to be totally disciplined in the offseason as well. Not to say I can't enjoy dining out with my wife here and there, but I need to keep it tight and make sure I'm tracking everything closely. Lots of people can be disciplined for 12, 16, 20, 24 weeks for a contest prep, but I believe what separates champions from everyone else is staying focused even when you don't have your next show picked out yet. Right now I'm totally focused, feeling good, and still enjoying life. A great spot to be in!

-Layne

Results from the NGA Universe and Guest Posing

On November 13th I competed in my final natural pro show of my first competitive season as a pro. The NGA Universe in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. 12 Pro men showed up in an extremely competitive lineup. Unlike my previous shows, this show did not split us into classes, we would all be judged together. As prejudging progressed I felt really good about how I looked and was confident that I would be at least as good as my personal best, and perhaps better.



This ended up being one of the toughest lineups this show had ever seen. I was certain I was in the top 5 but knew I would have a hard time cracking the top 3 after prejudging was over. Several people in the audience told me I had the freakiest leg vascularity and hardness of any of the competitors onstage. For me, this was almost as good as a victory as I have struggled with my leg development for YEARS and for people to tell me that they were now a strength just made me feel amazing. I still know they have a long way to go but now I have the confidence to get there. In the end, I wound up in 4th place out of 12 competitors with Dave Lovelace (who drastically improved from the Cape Cod show) taking the win. Dave is one of the top guys in natural bodybuilding when he is on point and this was the best I had seen him. I had a great time at the show with my fellow competitors as always and after wards had a great time getting a bite to eat at a Japanese Steakhouse with my friends who were nice enough to drive down to watch me compete. No huge cheat meal for me however as I had to guest pose the following weekend.

The next day I was right back on my diet, and Isabel and I were traveling... again! Kansas City, Cape Cod, DC, Miami, and now we were driving to Dekalb, IL (about 1100 miles) for the guest posing and then back to Evansville, IN (another 6 hours) for thanksgiving with my family. All the travel was certainly starting to take it's toll. Isabel and I were basically living out of hotel rooms for the last 2 months. Nonetheless I was excited to guest pose at the OCB Midwest States. Isabel and I had attended that show every year since it's inception in 2005 and had become friends with many of the competitors, judges, and the promoter, Ray Binkowski. Guest posing was an absolute blast as Ray gave me a really nice introduction before I came onstage. The crowd was full, at least 500 people packed the Egyption Theater! After I finished posing I gave a short speech thanking my wife of course, but also exclaiming how proud I was to be a part of the show since at the first midwest states, there were maybe 60 people in the audience and only 19 competitors. This year there were over 80 competitors and over 500 fans! And they made a lot of noise and really made me feel welcome.

After my guest posing was over the other competitors really made me feel like some sort of celebrity posing with me for pictures for probably 2 or 3 dozen people and for what seemed like half an hour. It was fine by me though, I love doing that stuff, even if it delayed my post contest eating by a bit! After the show was over, my friends and I went to the afterparty, but my wife ordered us deep dish Giordannos Pizza (famous pizza place based in chicago). We brought it with us to the after party and dug in, it was so good, but I limited myself to 3 slices and that was it. No post contest binging for me! I made it my goal to have a super productive offseason and it has already started very well. My strength is up, I'm slowly raising my calories, and my weight is only up 4 lbs from my stage weight but I feel great! Obviously I want to get heavier, but I want to do it slowly over time with quality mass.

Overall my rookie year as a pro went far better than I ever could have imagined. 4 pro shows and placed top 5 in each show, including the Yorton Cup world championships! I also managed to win my class at the International, something I thought might never happen, me win my class at a pro show... absolutely crazy. It was such a challenging journey and great experience and I want to thank everyone who supported me along the way, truly it has meant everything to me. Now my focus turns to improving this offseason. It's time to make more improvements... it's time for an upgrade!

-Layne

Results from my last 2 Pro shows

As per usual, this blog is very late being updated so my sincere apologies for that. On October 9th I competed in my 2nd natural pro show, the IFPA Gaspari Cape Cod Pro put on by James and Katie Carron of Cape Cod Nutrition Center. It was a professional show top to bottom as I expected as James and Katie are first rate people all the way around. There was stiff competition with 10 heavyweights in my class and 21 total pros. Unfortunately, I did not look my best on this day. I was extremely flat at prejudging and in a lineup this stacked, there was no way to be in the hunt if I wasn't at my absolute sharpest. For me, it highlights how hard it is to be objective with myself when prepping for a show. While it is easy for me to look at a client and determine whether or not they are flat, with myself it is much trickier as I tend to play the mind games that are so common. What was very frustrating to me was that I didn't really change anything from the previous show where I looked my best at prejudging. Just goes to show you that you can't adhere rigidly to a game plan and you have to listen to your body. I looked FAR better at the night show, but at that point, it was too late to make much of a difference and I wound up in 4th place. I tried to take it as a positive that I could wind up top 5 in a tough line up even when I was off my best, but it is difficult to be satisfied as a competitor when you show up looking less than your best.

You can see the difference between prejudging and finals here:

Prejudging:



Finals:



Big difference, but I took it as a learning experience and tried to move on from it.

I wrestled with whether or not to do the IFPA Yorton Cup, my feelings on one hand were if I couldn't place top 3 at the Cape Cod pro, what was the point of getting into the Yorton, the biggest and best show in pro natural bodybuilding? Ultimately I decided to do the show and was so happy I did. I weighed in at the bottom end of the heavyweight class which had a total of 12 competitors, and 36 male pro bodybuilders overall, spread over 3 classes! Absolute insanity from top to bottom. Standing backstage looking at some of these guys was just mind boggling. I definitely made sure I paid closer attention to my body this show and I came in much fuller and tighter for the prejudging. In the end I wound up in 5th place and I was very satisfied because I came in at my best and placed top 5 in my very first Yorton Cup. Being onstage with some of the best in the world definitely motivated me to get back this offseason and hit the iron with a vengence to make more improvements to my physique so I can move into the upper echelon of pros, I still have a long way to go in that regard!

A pic from the Yorton:


I still have one more show left this year, the NGA Pro Universe on November 13th in Coral Springs, FL. It will be another tough lineup of pros and I am looking forward to trying to come in even better at this show and hopefully look my very best onstage. If you are in the area, please be sure to check out the show! http://nationalgym.com/images/2010NGAflyer.pdf

But I won't be done completely just yet, the following weekend I will be guest posing at the OCB Midwest States in Dekalb, IL. This show is near and dear to my heart as Isabel and I have attended every single Midwest States since it began in 2005. We know many of the competitors and fans in the area and I can't tell you how excited I am to have the honor of guest posing at this show! I am especially looking forward to celebrating with everyone afterwards! In total, I will have dieted for 33 weeks, so I can't say I'm not looking forward to sitting down with my close friends and family and having a good time :).

Hope to see you there! http://www.ocbmidweststates.com

Thanks!
-Layne