[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
My back looked good before…now compared to this guy, not so much, lol.
I def need to work on my ‘lower’ lat thickness. Any suggestions?[/quote]
Keep doing what you are doing. Building a thick back just takes more time than some of the other muscle groups.
[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
[/quote]
You dominate on this most-muscular pose (open division).
[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
They moved me over to the end :(…
I’m also considering posing my legs like the guy next to me as opposed to having my knees bent. Thoughts?[/quote]
I personally think bending your knees like you did gives you more of an X-shape than the guy next to you. He has some great quads, but would they have looked even better had he posed them like you did? For most, quads look bigger when slightly flared out like you did here.
[quote]davidcox1 wrote:
[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
They moved me over to the end :(…
I’m also considering posing my legs like the guy next to me as opposed to having my knees bent. Thoughts?[/quote]
I personally think bending your knees like you did gives you more of an X-shape than the guy next to you. He has some great quads, but would they have looked even better had he posed them like you did? For most, quads look bigger when slightly flared out like you did here.[/quote]
I’ve been experimenting with both and ive actually found that they look better when my legs are straight. Maybe it’s just a personal thing, but that’s my experience.
[quote]davidcox1 wrote:
[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
They moved me over to the end :(…
I’m also considering posing my legs like the guy next to me as opposed to having my knees bent. Thoughts?[/quote]
I personally think bending your knees like you did gives you more of an X-shape than the guy next to you. He has some great quads, but would they have looked even better had he posed them like you did? For most, quads look bigger when slightly flared out like you did here.[/quote]
Thanks for the feedback, david. I see what you’re saying though. That guy had beastly quads and they had to put me right next to him, lol.
[quote]davidcox1 wrote:
[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
Novice class awards…
In order from left to right, 5th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd[/quote]
Based on these photos alone, I would have given it to you. You had the most mass, best definition and your poses were more complimentary to your build. Great job![/quote]
The guy who took 1st had HORRIBLE posing. For his lat spreads, he basically did a hands-on-hips most muscular. Overall, I think it just came down to leanness. I just needed to be leaner to take the class and in the next 5 weeks will be pushing towards that goal.
Here’s a shot of all the food I ate after my show. Let me just say that I learned a lesson. I didn’t even binge like I had planned to and I was already paying the price by Sunday afternoon. After the next show, I’ll definitely stay away from the sugary and sweeter items. As soon as the show finished, I downed M&M’s and Oreos. On top of the pictures, I also had chocolate covered pretzels, cookies with milk, pretzel bites with nacho cheese, lol.
Never again.
As far as weight, the last time I weighed myself was Thursday morning before the show. I was at 187.5 from depleting all week. Come Monday morning, I was 197.5, lol. I think its funny actually and am not shocked. Stu warned me about this and I figure it’s all water weight. Should hopefully just take me a few days to get back around 190…already down 3 lbs this morning.
[quote]davidcox1 wrote:
[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
Novice class awards…
In order from left to right, 5th, 3rd, 1st, 2nd[/quote]
Based on these photos alone, I would have given it to you. You had the most mass, best definition and your poses were more complimentary to your build. Great job![/quote]
^^^ Agreed.
Your leg development is great, especially the hamstrings. Really makes a person stand out IMO
From the few pics of the novice group, 2nd should have been a given for you.
As far as posing your quads, guys with tremendous sweep can get away with posing with a straight leg. For me, having smaller legs, in order to appear “wide” or “X” framed, the knees had to bend and toes turn out.
Play around with both, but truthfully, I think your quad development will allow you to pose either way.
Awesome job!
great pictures. i definitely thought you looked better than the guy who got second… the guy who placed first was just leaner than you were. I’m sure you’ll have a great shot and snagging a first place trophy after 5 more weeks. Great job man.
Great work and write up!
My Indigo-3G arrived today and I already started incorporating it. I’m really hoping it works as advertised. With my experience with Biotest products, I believe it will. I’ll let you guys know as I notice any differences from taking the Indigo. I’ll be taking pictures every week still and I know what type of progress I can make without it, so we’ll really see if it makes a difference.
I created a log in the Indigo Team 1 section as Tim and the guys requested. I’ve posted the background info they asked. I’m still going to share my experience here in this thread. I might just have some duplicate entries over in that other log, but might also turn it into my training log (like ebomb had asked about).
You can find it here: http://tnation.T-Nation.com/free_online_forum/sports_body_training_performance_bodybuilding_indigo/thoughts1053s_i3g_log
A shot of all my Biotest products…I’m just trying to look at this as a contest prep expense that won’t be occurring every month.
Update:
So I realize I haven’t really gone into what I plan on doing these next 5 weeks to prepare for the next show. I’m still sticking to the same plan (if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it), but there are a few tweaks.
Nutrition: Having dieted down for the past 16 weeks, Stu has bumped up my carbs a bit on all days. I believe this is for two reasons:
To hopefully get a rebound effect from competing and hopefully continue to lose fat while keeping carbs higher to maximize muscle retention over the next few weeks.
To maximize the effects of Indigo-3G. We added a bit more carbs before my workout and spaced carbs so that my carbier meals coincide with my dosing of Indigo.
Training: Split is staying the same and Stu told me to keep things as they were but I’m just going to make a few tweaks that hopefully get ‘The Mighty Stu Stamp of Approval’:
Switch from Barbell Incline Press to DB Incline Press. Like I said earlier, my arms just dominate when doing any pressing movements. I’m hoping that switching to dumbbells will really help me activate my upper chest better and take my arms out of the movement.
The other major change is to my exercise selection for back. After looking at the pictures, I realize how much work it needs compared to other competitors. Although my back workout was already heavily focused on lats, I’m going to try different exercises that really focus on lower lats and getting a good stretch. After looking into Mountain Dog training (by John Meadows) and talking with ebomb about what has been working for him, I’m going to give the following exercises a try: Meadows Rows, One Arm Barbell Row, V-Grip cable row with static holds. I’m still keeping in V-Grip pulldowns and am going to try to hit my lats with one or two exercises later in the week (maybe the One Arm Pulldowns that Shelby showed a video of for lower lats).
^ Sounds like a plan brotha!
Looking forward to seeing your progress.
Good work man. I have to agree with Ebomb, I think knees bent is one of the worst ways to display your quads in front poses, do you ever see any pro’s or high level NPC competitors do it? Nope. There’s a reason why. It also makes your quads appear a lot less dense as the muscle does not appear to hang over the knee when the joint is bent. Just something to keep in mind.
Good stuff!
Thanks, Way. I will definitely keep that in mind when I take my pictures this weekend. I’ll probably take a shot both ways and post them up here to see which way you guys think look best.
[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
Training: Split is staying the same and Stu told me to keep things as they were but I’m just going to make a few tweaks that hopefully get ‘The Mighty Stu Stamp of Approval’:
An excellent idea. Not that it will work magic in 5 weeks, but any type of change certainly should elicit some type of training response, and most people do fall into using a constant selection of exercises, especially during a prep (you have so many other things to be worried about). As your arms are so dominant, any extra little ‘work’ for the actual pec muscles (better stretch, and a nice deep squeezing contraction at the top) is a good thing.
[quote]
2. The other major change is to my exercise selection for back. After looking at the pictures, I realize how much work it needs compared to other competitors. Although my back workout was already heavily focused on lats, I’m going to try different exercises that really focus on lower lats and getting a good stretch. After looking into Mountain Dog training (by John Meadows) and talking with ebomb about what has been working for him, I’m going to give the following exercises a try: Meadows Rows, One Arm Barbell Row, V-Grip cable row with static holds. I’m still keeping in V-Grip pulldowns and am going to try to hit my lats with one or two exercises later in the week (maybe the One Arm Pulldowns that Shelby showed a video of for lower lats).[/quote]
Again, in the time we have, (now a little more than 4 weeks), we can’t work miracles, nor can we expect a large degree of muscle gain. What we can do is maximize retention, and if the INDIGO 3G truly repartitions nutrients as much as I’d like to hope for, maybe end up with everything else tightening, while the added carbs alllow for more fullness and visible thickness onstage.
S
Update:
Here’s the latest photos from this week. I weighed 194.5 yesterday morning; a whole pound heavier than when I was one week out from the last show. It was after a leg day, however, and I’m normally sore and swollen and a little heavier than normal. So this morning after some recovery, I’m down to 192 (1.5lbs lower than a week out).
My mind started playing games with me and I was second guessing myself about whether I can make any substantial progress in these next 3 weeks (not including peak week in my time frame). I know I just need to stick with it, get the show done with, and then look forward to making some serious gains in the off-season and kill it next year. I’m very happy with what I’ve accomplished already and as long as I come in better than my first showing, I will be proud of myself.
Now it’s time for me to dig deep and after talking with Stu, we’ve come up with a ‘new’ game plan. I say ‘new’ because we’re basically going back to my macros when I was a week out. That diet was working for me and I was able to consistently lose 2lbs a week. It’s not as many carbs as I was having this week, so this week should have given my metabolism a good boost. Along with upping the cardio a bit, we’re hoping for Indigo to allow for maximum muscle retention. I’ve had a couple people tell me that I can risk losing a couple pounds of muscle in order to come in leaner. Of course you never want to lose muscle, but for these next 3 weeks we’re gonna push it hard and bank on the Indigo to allow me to keep all my hard earned muscle.
