aahaha that guy better go back to posing practice, he needed it.
Nice work Stu. With all the work you put in for this, you deserve the all those 1st places. Thanks for the updates.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I know I’ve been a little slow with the finishing my play by play, but in the meantime,… because I love you guys, here’s a clip from my Novice Overall win. Remember, this was my first show (also, I apologize if I reduced the quality a little much, the original clip was pretty huge, DV camcorder!)
S[/quote]
Its a pity that the angle and the lighting weren’t so favorable to you in that vid, washed you out a little bit and didnt show off your conditioning. Still you were obvioulsy very impressive and had it over your competition especially in side triceps and back poses ( was surprised you didnt pull out any back poses in your pose down). Well done with the posing, hard work paid off.
[quote]Kerley wrote:
hey Stu,
I dont no if this was asked already if it was tell me to piss off but is there anything leading up to the show or while on stage doing your routine or anything that you will do differently next time you do a compete in a show?
thanks kerley[/quote]
I’ve actually been giving this a lot of thought, and the few things that come to mind, as far as doing things differently, or in terms of implementing during the next 6-9 months (I want to do another show next spring, not rush into a 2nd show this fall without making any improvements):
-I’m not going to allow myself to get more than 15-20 lbs over my contest weight
-when fully dieting, I will implement small amounts of cardio earlier in my prep. I know I’ve always maintained to do as little cardio as possible, but in hindsight, I was doing a lot those last few weeks, and even though my conditioning was spot on, I probably lost a little more muscle than I needed to.
-I’m not going to to Pro Tan, as even though my ‘crew’ all thought I was dark as hell backstage and in my hotel room (6 coats worth!), I was still the lightest guy onstage, and sometimes in pics the lighting just bounces off me in a very non-helpful manner.
-Train my quads all year long. I’m sure most of you know, but I had hurt my back pretty badly a little over a year and a half ago, and I had really only been squatting again, as well as doing any sort of ‘real’ work for my hamstrings for the 5-6 months before the actual show. I think that was an area where the guys who finished ahead of me in the ‘Open’ just had me beat hands down.
-bring up my chest, specifically my lower chest. Although I think I looked pretty damn thick in my actual poses, when standing ‘relaxed’ from the front, my pecs always seem to pull across my rib cage and look very shallow. I’m sure that factored into the overall scoring as well.
That’s more training/prep related stuff, but as far as when onstage, and my posing… I’ve watched the videos several times, and I can’t say my posing was bad. In fact, I actually feel pretty good about how I handled everything. I know there are moments where you can see me squirming and grimacing a bit, but let me tell you that it was not easy standing still tensing every muscle in your whole body (and I forgot to squeeze my legs many times during the show!).
I also never expected to do as well as I did, so when people ask me about the pose-down, the first thing I point out is that I never even thought for a second that I would be in a pose down! -lol. If you watch the vid, you see it clicks in my head for a second, and then I rush the front of the stage because that’s what you always see in videos of the Pros. I started hitting what I thought were my better poses, but there’s a moment where I ‘stutter’ to think of one shot that I had seen, but didn’t even practice (it had been discarded from my routine because of the time constraints).
I think I would certainly be a lot more confident in doing another show. Especially after seeing the vids from this one,… I can honestly say that I looked pretty damn good. I also fully realize which shots are true strong points for me, and which ones I would suffer in comparisons with.
S
[quote]Doyle wrote:
Its a pity that the angle and the lighting weren’t so favorable to you in that vid, washed you out a little bit and didnt show off your conditioning. Still you were obvioulsy very impressive and had it over your competition especially in side triceps and back poses ( was surprised you didnt pull out any back poses in your pose down). Well done with the posing, hard work paid off.
[/quote]
Yeah, the fake tanning thing was a new experience, so we’re still learning. My girl who filmed the vid couldn’t get a seat in the middle of the stage for the evening show, but I’m pretty happy we even got what we did. The professional photographer from the show said we’d get copies of his shots sometime this next week, and that I held my poses really well so he was able to get a lot of good pics. Hopefully they’ll be worth sharing on here.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
-I’m not going to allow myself to get more than 15-20 lbs over my contest weight
-when fully dieting, I will implement small amounts of cardio earlier in my prep. I know I’ve always maintained to do as little cardio as possible, but in hindsight, I was doing a lot those last few weeks, and even though my conditioning was spot on, I probably lost a little more muscle than I needed to.[/quote]
Do you have any idea of how much muscle you might have lost? When adding cardio earlier, are you also going to keep your calories higher?
I just want to say that it was amazing to see how much you had to practice your posing, and how much it improved during your prep. Very cool.
And finally, I want to add my congratulations. And thanks for documenting your process here.
Freakin awesome man, great job. I’m sure you already are, but you should be damn proud.
[quote]andersons wrote:
Do you have any idea of how much muscle you might have lost? When adding cardio earlier, are you also going to keep your calories higher?
[/quote]
Well, Cordova says that when you diet without ‘assistance’ if you’re lucky you can expect to ONLY lose about 1/3 of the weight loss from your lean body mass (muscle!). So if I did everything correctly (which I’m not arrogant enough to say that I did), out of a 35 lb drop (205 to 170 on contest day) I lost at least 12 lbs of muscle. Which is obviously damn scary, again, why I want to try to change things up a little for next time. I figure if I don’t blow up right away, and try to shift the weight gain more towards muscle and not just eat haphazardly, I’ll be in a much better position for next time around. As far as ingesting more calories, well, dieting is obviously a lot more complicated than just calories in vs calories out, but obviously if you’re expending more energy each day, then your BMR will naturally be higher. It’s not that my plan is to be able to eat a ton more calories, BUT, hopefully 15 min here and there on an easy treadmill walk each morning will allow me to diet on more calories overall, and I won’t have to go so drastically low the last week or two again.
Thanks, you can only learn so much from magazines and books. Luckily the internet provides so much info if you’re willing to search for it. Also, at risk of sounding like a narcissistic bastard, I admittedly spent a good deal of time in front of my full length mirror. Finding out what sort of little adjustments and shifts will make your specific body frame look better takes time and a lot of scrutiny. I went back and forth deciding whether I should suck in my stomach, or flex my abs on a lot of poses. Flexing my abs looked better as far as a tighter midsection, but it drastically reduced the apparent width of my lats in a lot of shots. Again, an individual thing that you will have to play around with.
Thanks. It was a hell of a trip, and kinda cool getting all the feedback on here along the way 
S
congrats stu!
Congratulations.
Great work and interesting thread.
I have really enjoyed your thread Stu. Thanks for all your time and input
Congratulations on all your work!
I am a big fan of how you look =)
So while I’m certainly not going to be as detailed in my record keeping while I put some weight back on as when I took it off, I will say that although I will indulge in treats each day if I feel like it, I am still eating every 2 hours. My meals are usually on the smaller side (under 500 cals), and are protein based, with either some good carbs, or good fats. I am consciously bumping the cals and carbs up a bit more than I ordinarily would eat on the days I hit my chest, and am consciously trying to eat a little less on days I take off (which if nice, as I didn’t really have any real off days during my prep).
I’m not blowing up by any means, but as of last week, had put on about 7 lbs since the contest. My veins are still very prominent, and looks like they just might stay that was as long as I don’t become a giant pig. I usually don’t feel like eating very much during the really warm summer months (end up drinking a lot of protein shakes), so I’m sure I’ll settle down a little more during July and August.
In regard to my training, I changed my basic split from what I was doing during my prep, hoping to put on a little size with more rest days, less volume, albeit heavier weights, and 2 days each week for my chest, which I have always considered my weakest bodypart (one for upper and one for lower/mid). Tonight I hit my upper chest (incline BB, low incline DBs, and low incline DB Flyes), and gastrocnemei. Even though I can tell by my obliques that I am nowhere near as ‘shredded’ as I was on contest day anymore, the fibers in my chest are still extremely visible, so as my weight goes up, we’ll see at what point the muscle striations start to fade out.
S
Stu
From what I understand you plan to add muscle without going up a weight class. If that is the case are you planning on getting harder with less bodyfat for your next contest?
[quote] the fibers in my chest are still extremely visible, so as my weight goes up, we’ll see at what point the muscle striations start to fade out.
S
[/quote]
this calls for a pre-op pic 
[quote]Free2Be wrote:
Stu
From what I understand you plan to add muscle without going up a weight class. If that is the case are you planning on getting harder with less bodyfat for your next contest?[/quote]
When I started dieting, I initially picked a weight that I thought I could get to with absolutely no regard for conditioning. This is more than likely a mistake a lot of new competitors make. What I eventually realized was that I would diet as strictly as I could for the amount of time I had.
Obviously some muscle loss would occur, but the final product’s visual appearance is what counts, not any actual numbers or figures. The last two weeks were pretty crazy as I honestly was fearing that even making the weight cut off for middleweight (which I initially thought I would make anyway) wasn’t going to happen.
If you recall, it seemed at times like my body was sputtering, and the usual 1 lb a week weight loss had ceased. In hindsight, the measures i took those last two weeks are what really nailed down my conditioning (the 20 min morning cardio, as well as the Intervals twice a week after the weights), and when I compete again next year, I will remember how tight I was when contest day came around.
Contest day, I weighed in at 170 lbs. Which means that I could have had 4 more lbs of solid, quiality muscle and still made the class. While I do realize that in the future, if I ‘accidently’ end up in the light heavies, as long as my conditioning is tight, it won’t matter for a natural show, I think the idea of being a competitive middleweight has sunk into my mind by now.
Corey and I have spent a lot of time looking over pics, and vids, and despite obvious genetic differences, there were a few competitors in the middleweight class that really made us question their bodyweights. I’ve been told that I appear ‘denser’ because of all my years of heavy lifting. If that’s the case, then I will always appear somewhat smaller than someone who is not as dense, but perhaps has fuller muscle bellies or smaller joints (and my own joints are certainly on the smaller side).
Hopefully, I can bring up a few specific areas during the next 6-9 months, so that when I diet down again, I can achieve the same condition, albeit 3-4 lbs heavier (for those who don’t understand yet, 3-4 lbs of solid muscle gain in a years time, at my age and years of training, is a very huge accomplishment).
As a little update, I will state that the week before the show (with all the added bulk of my high fiber and water intake), I was around 174 lbs (despite hitting 170 on game day). Even though I have been averaging about 3000 cals a day, with the “whatever I want” meal once a day (still eating good foods every 2 hours though), I can still see the cuts in my arms (very visably, even though they have inflated quite a bit in the last two weeks), still have the veins running everywhere (are they going to stay like this?
Will I be even more vascular next time?), still have the cuts in my quads, and even my abs pretty deeply… Bottom line? This morning, upon waking up (and after a HUGE steak dinner last night), I hit the scale at 180 lbs. Obviously several lbs of this is the regaining of water, and salt by my body (and yes, I’m still eating a ton of green veggies each day), but all in all, I think I’m controlling myself, and making some high quality gains here.
I have no intention of rushing things, as my body obviously wants to regain muscle it had grown accustomed to over the years. On days when I don’t train (usually Wednesdays and Sundays), I try to keep my carbs down a bit (I tried keeping the calories down, but now that I’m not in prep mode, I’m actually going out more, so it’s a little more difficult mentally).
On days when I hit my chest, I’m actually looking for ways to add carbs (started eating more bananas, never been a big fruit fan, but they’re actually kinda filling). I still do the spreadsheet thing, where I have planned out 3 different daily food plans depending on how high or low I want my intake to be, but again, I usually deviate for one of the meals completely (like last night, went to a diner, and there was no way I was getting chicken breasts and oatmeal -lol).
It’s really amazing how much easier everything is when you have a plan in front of you. I composed a 3 day rotation sheet like this for my friend Mike, who plans on entering the Mr. Hercules next June (2010) with Corey and Myself. Should be damn cool if we all place in our respective weight classes.
Okay, I think that’s enough of an update-lol. I gotta go eat something before I waste away here
S
So I received a nice little congratulatory email from Brian Whitacre on Friday
If you guys recall, he was the Natural Pro who I was trying to really base my final conditioning on. Even before all the carb cycling stuff went up on here, Brian was the first guy I had actually corresponded with who seemed to address a fluctuating amount of macros for the body based on the day, the work required, and the conditioning level. In fact, if there’s one thing that I truly believe allowed me to achieve the final conditoning I did, it’s that my protocol was never steady.
My metabolism was constantly having to guess what was coming next, and even though I can make a list of things I would do differently now, I think it’s why I held onto as much LBM as I did. It’s funny, but so many peole seem to think that I can give them a magic diet that will just allow them to get shredded if they follow it for a few weeks. It’s always a shock when I stress how it was a constant reassessment that allowed me to make the necessary adjustments.
Even now, Corey is coming down to about 205 from 220, and each week we have to seriously look at what he’s been doing all week (foodwise and training wise), while also considering what he’s been doing all day (the best example of this is that when I would do my low carb/interval days, we couldn’t see ANY cuts in my legs, but we knew they were there yesterday, and would be back the day after).
I’ve said it before, but again, sometimes you have to have faith that what you’re doing is correct, and will yield results, maybe not week to week, but every couple of weeks. If not, THEN you make small adjustments.
Sunday I went to a BBQ and ate way more food than anyone should. Over the course of just a few hours, I had 4 cheeseburgers, a steak, a hotdog, and then a mudslide brownie, 4 mini-cinnabons, 2 cannolis, 2 other Italian pastries, and easily 1/3 of a huge container of peanut butter filled pretzels. The reason I’m listing all that is because the next morning, my muscles were totally round and looked ready to burst, and my strength was through the roof.
If you recall, I was a little hesitant to really push myself towards the end of the prep, fearing some injury. I’m usually a little weaker in the morning, but I was inclining 255lbs like it was nothing (I haven’t done these for a while, was doing a lot of low incline DB work, so I wasn’t expecting to push for much mroe than 225).
While I don’t eat this way everyday (I think I’ve averaging about 3000 cals a day now), balancing it out on my ‘off’ days, or even consciously keeping things more subdued on an average gym day (not training legs or chest) is letting me gain, but still keeping my abs (and veins I might add!) very visable. While I’m not sure of my weight, I’ll check it and try to keep updates.
My concern is that possibly the weight will come back too quickly, which will leave me in a situation of having to drop more than 20 lbs next time I decide to do a show. In that case, I feel I will have to give myself a few weeks here and there to pull things back a bit. Sort of the “2 steps forward, 1 step back” approach. Now is probably the time to let my body grow if it wants to, so I have no intention of pumping the brakes until maybe mid June. At the moment, I’m getting a lot of “filling out again eh?” comments, so let’s just go with the flow.
S
So if I understand what your saying, at this time post-contest, you’re gaining slowly at around 3000 cals per day (taking cycling and water weight into consideration)?
[quote]SteelyD wrote:
So if I understand what your saying, at this time post-contest, you’re gaining slowly at around 3000 cals per day (taking cycling and water weight into consideration)?[/quote]
That’s essentially been how things are going. Originally I had planned out a 3 day low/med/high diet plan, with the low being about 2400 cals, and the high being about 3400 cals, but aside from the eating frequency, and approximate protein levels, it’s been a little less than strict. My food choices have always been 90% good, so it’s not like I have to really worry too much. The last couple of days, I’ve averaged about 2700-2800 cals, simply because of the 2 BBQs I went to on Sunday and Monday. I think that the real bottom line in my dietary success (if you would call it that), is the balance of deficit days, and surplus days. Of course, ideally you want the deficit days to be the ones you don’t train (or do a smaller bodypart), but I think National Holidays can be an exception.
When I weighed myself this morning (this was before using the bathroom, which,… well, let’s just said I probably lost a couple of lbs -lol), the scale read 183 lbs. I will note though, that the week before the show, I was actually 173/174, not the 170 lbs I was on contest day. This leads me to assume that the last 3-4 lbs was water, salt, and fiber in my intestines. So, if you look at it that way, I’ve probably only gained back about 10 lbs maximum since the show, which was almost 4 weeks ago. Obviously I’m hoping this slows a bit on its own, but I do realize that no one can hold their body at ~4% bodyfat for very long. I can still see my intercostals when I hit a side serratus shot, and the leg definition is still there. I have no plans on actually taking accurate bodyfat measurements, but judging by the mirror, if I can stay under 10%, I think I can make some real quality gains. I know I mentioned this before, but I’m moving some heavy weights compared to the slower, and very strict methods I was employing up to the show. It should be very interesting to see how much the body regains by itself before I have to consciously cut back for a couple of weeks.
(NOTE TO NEW TRAINERS: I am REGAINING muscle, so I am intentionally holding myself back in an attempt to limit fat gain due to the body’s depleted state from a very severe contest diet! Do not think for a second that this is the correct way to Bulk up!)
S
Congrats, again, on your wins.
I am curious, did you track your body part (arms, chest, thighs, waist) measurements as you dieted down? If so, do you care to share either the raw numbers or just the change? I am interested to see how much body fat counts (at least in this case) in the numbers game.
[quote]Tex Ag wrote:
Congrats, again, on your wins.
I am curious, did you track your body part (arms, chest, thighs, waist) measurements as you dieted down? If so, do you care to share either the raw numbers or just the change? I am interested to see how much body fat counts (at least in this case) in the numbers game.
[/quote]
I made a very conerted effort to NOT measure anything while I was cutting. Having been well aware of mymeasurements when I considered myself a ‘big’ guy, the last thing I wanted to do was to realize how much smaller I was getting. If you’ve ever read Thibs’ article where he finally sticks it out throug a diet and really rips up, he talks about how many gym rats will essentially bail out of a cut once they realize how much smaller they are getting.
I’ve done that in the past, never really dropping below 200, maybe 195 because I would freak out and tell people that I prefer being big. I actually do, but there’s admitedly something really really cool when I look at my contest pics and with the fake tan and oil, think to myself “wow, I look like a BODYBUILDER, not just some big dude who works out”.
While I can’t give you exact numbers (except for my arms, which were 18", but are probably closer to 17 now), I will say that my belt, which I used to wear at the 3rd notch, now fits very comfortably at the 5th (and I’ve already gained back close to 15 lbs since the show, so… more muscle?).
I received another email from Brian Whitacre, who I sent a couple of the pics I got back from the professional photographer last week. While he complimented my back “one of the most impressive I’ve ever seen on a first time competitor, Just Awesome!”, he did say my legs need to be more cut, which I already realize. I can’t honestly see myself geting any lighter than 170 lbs though, so I figure if I can go up, then diet back down with a better composition ration (more muscle preserved), I’ll have better cuts (and more size) at the same weight.
I had asked him about how much he goes up from his contest condition, and that I was thinking of staying within 20 lbs, and he replied taht the last couple of years, he himself had gone 30 lbs above, and had no problem coming back down. Of course Brian also competes as a lightweight, which at 5’8, is just insane. He added that he doesn’t really monitor or cycle his carbs when gaining, but averages about 250-300g a day, lots of good fats, and cheat meals quite frequently.
I’ve certainly been pounding the protein and healthy fats, but admitedly won’t be averaging 250-300g carbs a day. I’m probably averaging around 175-200 a day, with a concerted high day twice a week, and concerted low days when I take off. I’ll try to get some pics so you can see how I’m filling out after a show.
S