Matrix at NABBA Nth Harbour Pics

[Matrix]

Hi guys,

My wife grabbed a few pics from the Open Athletic Line up at this year North Harbour. Good competition with Jason Bartley (current NABBA Mr NZ Athletic Champ) and Craig Smith battling it out for the overall later in the day. I'm in the blue trunks and I placed third, achieving my goal of qualifying for next years Nationals but still have alot of work to do to be competitive against these 2 guys!

Jason always comes in really sharp and has fantastic leg/hamstring and adductor size/definition for a weight limited competitor and Craig is just a class act with great symmetry and proportions - definatley a guy to watch next year!

Happy that I improved between this show and the Nationals 2 weeks earlier where I was flatter on the day, especially in the morning pre judging where it counts!

Good show, around 65 Athletes and a 1 Show Format with good crowd support.Nice end to a long season for many of the competitors and officials!

On a side note: Gavin in the over 50's looked wicked on the day as did Mateo who won the overall Physique. Looks like he has made some nice gains this year and kept his conditioning. His legs in particular looked alot deeper from the side and as usual his posing was immaculate, even ending with the Bob Paris lie down on stage which the females in the crowd seemed to really enjoy!

Time to go work out and have (hopefully) a productive off season. All the best for the same for everyone on this site looking to compete next year.

[trainlikeafreak]

looking good mate and i hope the grow season treats you well

[Specter]

Can ask your age? You dont have to anwser if you dont want to. 8)

[tomleegolf]

Whats your weight and height like in those pics? Were you all similar weights?

[Matrix]

Im not sure what the other guys weights were on the day though both NABBA's along with NZIFBB have Athletic and Classic Classes which are based on a height to weight ratio.

NABBA NZ's is your height(CM) - 100CM + 2CM. So for me the cut of is 81kg. Personally I havent mades 81kg and been stage lean yet, thats my long term goal as most of the guys who do well in these classes both nationally and internationally tend to be right on the weight limit on the day.

That extra couple of stage lean kilo's is on my wish list for Xmas!

That being said, I think both Craig and Jason were close to there limits as they both look big and full for their heights. It's hard to explain but if you have ever competed and seen a competitor in you class who is the same or similar height but a couple of kg's of LMM heavier it definately makes a huge visual difference when you are both in single digit bf levels.

One thing though that I am also aware of is that just chasing a weight increase can be deceptive.For Example, I was talking to Stan T before that show and (in street clothes) he doesnt look that heavy (and isnt, probably 79-81kg at a guess), however when he is on stage, with his proportions (wide clavicles, tiny waist etc) he looks a good 5-10kg heavier, same with Mateo or be it on a slighlty taller/larger frame.

My first comp I got to 94 sloppy kg's and dieted/cardio'd to around 77/78 on the day and looked like crap, so while increasing my stage weight and proportions is still my goal, I dont do it at the expense of crap kilos anymore. It's funny that when I was at mid 90's it tends to play around with your mind set as you get alot stronger etc and think that you have made quantum muscle gains, but for me, unless it's quality weight gain I dont see the point anymore as the heavier I get into the 90's the more I tend to partition incoming calories as fat versus muscle.

SIDE NOTE: To Spector in case my PM didnt go through, 35 Years mate. But its not the years it's the milage LOL.

[Hitro]

Nice one matrix some good shots there. And a good result too.

Im good mates with jason and think he said he came in about 80.4kg (full clothed etc) on the day. You are right, he does tend to come in very sharp. Takes his preparation very seriously and gets the results from it.

He and Ness are up in the phillipines for a comp at the mo. Be interesting to hear how that one goes.

[Matrix]

Cheers Hitro,

I agree, Bart does come in really hard and trains/diets hard too. Great guy to boot, really humble to talk to and proof there is life after years of rugby for a bodybuilder to reinvent their physique. 2 overall Mr NZ's in three years of competing, 1st as a novice in his first season, his results have been outstanding!

I think he used to play in the forwards at over 110kgs and has downsized to come in razor sharp at 80 ish. I think the rugby might have helped with those tree trunk legs and rugged back development that he has as all the scrummaging would be a good base for size and power in these areas!

He's also one of the few guys to get his hamstrings to really stand out, which generally seperates him in most line ups.

Great athlete.

[tomsammce]

good work mate. making steady gains over the years. its hard being natural against guys on the gear. but your doing really well. grow big next year. catch up soon.

[Matrix]

Cheers Tom, always good to hear from you mate and I always value your input as the levels of success that you have had in both bodybuilding and strength sports in general are freaky mate.

Hope to one day see you have a run at the overalls, with your structure you'd have a great shot.

[tomsammce]

Cheers Tom, always good to hear from you mate and I always value your input as the levels of success that you have had in both bodybuilding and strength sports in general are freaky mate.

Hope to one day see you have a run at the overalls, with your structure you'd have a great shot.

iv actually officially acheived f*ck all on stage and in competitions bro... lol. dont like sacrificing my life for preparation of those kinds of things... just enjoy doing the bussiness in the gym and doing it all for myself rather than competitivly. one day bro when iv had my fun haha.

catch up soon!

[soundsgood]

Looking good there matrix!

Tough class but you held yourself well.

Looking forward to seeing your progress next season

The illusion of size is amazing on some ppl, makes me start wondering if they are hollow inside lol.

Take Kristian Bray. He must have had nearly 20kg on Mateo at the Nabba show but you would be hard pressed to tell in some of the poses. I guess the more experience you get the better you can present yourself.

[Matrix]

Cheers mate,

So true about Mateo, tiny joints, full muscle bellies all on a light frame.

All that plus great posing makes his proportions even more dramatic onstage, definately an Overall NABBA Mr NZ in the future if he keeps continuing to improve like he has been IMO.