Did you work specifically on your obliques or did they just appear? You’re looking in great shape… Look forward to hearing about how you go.
Registered for CP so its official, I must say that I am excited to see what physiques this class will draw out.
Thanks Fishdog and Brick!
@ tsantos, I used to avoid training them in pursuit of narrowing my waist since they have always been “blocky” but I have since decided to embrace them. I hit em hard and alternate between emphasis on abs and obliques on ab days.
My split:
Chest and delts
Legs
Back
Arms
Abs and calves
Repeat
dude your physique is awesome! I’d appreciate more info on your diet and training pretty please?
Thanks Yogi, diet right now is pretty strict. Today marks 4 weeks out so I have been tapering down carbs the past few weeks. I am still consuming around 50g of carbs from oats before training then its just greens and fats. I have been using avacado for fat intake which is filling and seems to set good. Protein has been constant at around 300g per day. So currently sitting around 2000 calories per day diet wise.
Training is usually high volume on a 5 day split with rest days being something like calves and abs with lots of stretching. I am limited in gym equipment/weights so I have had to adapt and become creative with what I do to get the most out of it. As mentioned above my split is 5 days and repeat. I try to switch up the emphasis on each group I train each week, this seems to allow me to train more frequently and not get set back from sore or overtrained muscles. I also recently added in some secondary training each day to get the fat loss down between now and the show just to polish things off. This session is usually 10-20 min of HIIT followed by stretching. Rep ranges for regular sessions are between 10-15 (sometimes 20+ if I am in the zone or on a finisher), 3-4 sets per exercise increasing weight or staying the same to get the reps in. I try to hit 4 exercises per group with minimal rest between sets. Sessions usually hit the hour mark, and posing usually takes me beyond.
I have been having fun with the classic posing and am starting to feel comfortable with the decision to jump to CP.
I agree with everyone else, you have an awesome physique and your posing looks really good. CP was definitely the right choice. Also like the other guy said, your bicep and ab pose looks the best, really spot on with the golden era look.
Thanks Patw, I appreciate the feedback. I have been working on that pose a bit now and am pretty sure I am going to use it for my choice of Classic during the compulsory round. I still have some tweaks to make but this is a more recent shot of the pose.
Looking very good, especially at 4 weeks out. Nice work.
Very good physique for Classic division! Not that you would have done poorly on MP, but I think you’re gonna be much happier with the outcome having made the decision you did.
S
Thanks Myosin and Stu, I appreciate the kind words. I am feeling good about the decision.
Just finished a moderate refeed yesterday so hoping to see conditioning improve over the next week.
[quote]Builder wrote:
Thanks Myosin and Stu, I appreciate the kind words. I am feeling good about the decision.
Just finished a moderate refeed yesterday so hoping to see conditioning improve over the next week. [/quote]
Wow. You look incredible and perfect for classic. The exact look
Thanks Patrick, Hoping the judges feel the same!
I have been stalled out with my weight so I am going to add another refeed in to see what happens. I am sitting at about 173 without trying to cut weight so I am still feeling good where I am with 3 weeks to go. The cut off for the class is 170 for my height. I find I drop the most my last few weeks anyways, just need some wiggle room to carb up and I’ll be good.
[quote]Builder wrote:
Thanks Patrick, Hoping the judges feel the same!
I have been stalled out with my weight so I am going to add another refeed in to see what happens. I am sitting at about 173 without trying to cut weight so I am still feeling good where I am with 3 weeks to go. The cut off for the class is 170 for my height. I find I drop the most my last few weeks anyways, just need some wiggle room to carb up and I’ll be good.[/quote]
Pro in 2016 lol
Great classic physique. Very reminiscent of a young Frank Zane. Excellent balance. You are going to be seriously competitive. Good luck, but you seriously don’t need it. Kudos to all your hard work.
Nothing like seeing comments like these when you are really feeling the grind, thanks fellas!
Hoping to see the scale move a bit this week, energy is bottoming out but I can see he light at the end of the tunnel. I am still managing to keep intensity up in the gym but all I want to do when I’m not training is veg out.
Under 20 days out!
Builder
Been really enjoying your thread, and appreciating what a humble and modest guy you are. Oh and a beast!
Keep up the great work and hope the last days of your prep aren’t to much of a grind. I don’t think there’s much doubt that you will do well, very well in fact.
Nice one
Moog
Thanks Moog, I am starting to see changes more frequently so that’s helping with the motivational aspect. I just gotta keep looking at every extra step as an investment and keep powering through. Glad to have you along for the ride brother!
I’m sorry, but your midsection pisses me off. What voodoo have you employed to make it look like that?
[quote]Yogi wrote:
I’m sorry, but your midsection pisses me off. What voodoo have you employed to make it look like that?[/quote]
Aside from good lighting and camera angle I try to hit abs hard once every 5 days. I also like to hit them at the end of other training sessions. A typical ab day would be alternating between oblique and “straight on” exercises. I try to keep between the 10-20 rep range and try and load up weight for crunches and trunk movements. I find stretching and holding between sets gives a good additional burn to the mix. When incorporating abs at the end of other training days I would pick either obliques or abs to target so I can alternate between days. Especially now this allows me to extend my training sessions without burning out the group I’m training too much since I don’t allow much time in between.
[quote]Builder wrote:
[quote]Yogi wrote:
I’m sorry, but your midsection pisses me off. What voodoo have you employed to make it look like that?[/quote]
Aside from good lighting and camera angle I try to hit abs hard once every 5 days. I also like to hit them at the end of other training sessions. A typical ab day would be alternating between oblique and “straight on” exercises. I try to keep between the 10-20 rep range and try and load up weight for crunches and trunk movements. I find stretching and holding between sets gives a good additional burn to the mix. When incorporating abs at the end of other training days I would pick either obliques or abs to target so I can alternate between days. Especially now this allows me to extend my training sessions without burning out the group I’m training too much since I don’t allow much time in between.
[/quote]
thanks for that. I’ve always kind of shied away from oblique training but clearly it’s worked for you!
What exercises do you use for your obliques? Do you do any “core” work or is it all just abs/obliques?
Well, apparently I’m late to join the party in this thread but amazing job Builder. The hard work is evident. I agree with the others when saying you are going to be very competitive when you step on the stage. Look forward to hearing about your experience/results.