James Llewellin – 1 Step Ahead 

Breaking the mold of conventional training DVDs, James Llewellin and Creative Ecco have come together to produce 1 Step Ahead – a raw, emotional and inspirational journey to the 2008 UK championships held on the 19th October in Nottingham, England.

At stake is not only pride but a national title and the coveted IFBB Professional status that the ‘overall champion’ brings with it. It documents James Llewellin’s thorough and exacting preparations under the guidance of  IFBB Pro and nutritional guru Neil Hill. Experience with James the last 8 weeks of contest prep on the run up to the UK Championships. The DVD finishes as he guest poses as a Pro at the Hercules show on October 26.

In 1 Step Ahead, James Llewellin speaks out and shows the man behind the physique as well as detailing exactly what it takes to become a champion bodybuilder, both emotionally and physically. His relaxed, humorous yet focused approach will motivate, inspire and captivate. James is famous for his outstanding arms, and in my opinion, is the Welsh “Lee Priest!” See photo below of his arms when relaxed! James tells his story throughout the DVD in a most pleasant and intimate way.

There is no doubt that James Llewellin’s 1 Step Ahead will keep you coming back for more, time and time again.

This great DVD also contains sections on nutrition, supplementation, basic training, posing, guest posing appearances, interviews, cardio, video diaries and more.  If you want a down to earth insight into the day to day lifestyle and mindset of a competing bodybuilder, this is the DVD you have been waiting for.

For those of you who do not yet know JAMES LLEWELLIN, here is some background info on him, in his own words, from his web site with permission:

“I’ll give you all a little bit of background first.
I first started competing in 2003.  Since then I have competed around 16 times and  I started seriously training around 8 years ago. I stepped it up a couple of years later when a training partner of mine said that I had shit genetics and that I would never make a bodybuilder. So from that day I decided I would compete and after around 9 months I decided to enter my first show which out of 13 competitors, I won.

Later that year I was invited to compete in the NABBA UK First Timers finals which I also won.  A week after that victory I entered my first IFBB show (UKBFF) and won the Intermediate category which gave me an invite to the UKBFF British Finals in 2004.

About half way through 2004 I decided that I would enter another qualifier so I could compete in the Men’s Middleweight category and not the Intermediate Class. I won the qualifier then went on to take 3rd in the Men’s Middleweight class at the British Championships – I was totally stoked!!

In 2005 I came back again after qualifying late in 2004, again as a Middleweight. This I won again, and it enabled me to compete in the 2005 British Finals. I won the Middleweight British title this year but missed out on the overall title.

In 2006 I took a little time away from the IFBB and competed with WABBA where I won the British Title and the Overall and came 5th in the World Championships in the Short Class.  I decided I wanted to come back into the IFBB in 2007.  I had to re-qualify to compete at the finals. Again, I won my qualifier, this time as a Light heavyweight and then came runner up to Flex Lewis in the Light heavyweight category at the British Finals.

In 2008 I teamed up with Flex’s mentor, Neil Hill. He took me back down to being a Middleweight again and I won the Middleweight title once again.
However this time I took the Overall British Champion title and with it the single pro card that the UK give out each year!
That now brings us up to date.

After 5 years of competing and doing numerous guest spots I decided that I would take 2009 out of the competitive arena and spend time growing my PT and Nutritionist business. As a result I am training and looking after around 12 athletes this year, so it’s keeping me very busy. My pro career will kick off next year, 2010, when I hit the 202 class and I can’t bloody wait.

I am 5’4” and sitting at around 200 lbs at the moment. I have competed as heavy as 196 lbs and as light as 175 lbs last year. For my first pro show I will be around 7-10 lbs heavier but with the conditioning that helped me win the overall last year.

So that’s pretty much it.