Countdown to 1st Contest

Training Bodybuilding
582


I’ll be honest, there were days when I wanted to gnaw my arm off, and there were days where I just felt unfazed. I tried to keep the mindset of “what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve”. I always bitch about people who are weak when it comes to food, and actually look down on how anyone can be so weak willed, but lemme tell ya, I had a few moments where I asked myself what the hell I was doing -lol.

Of course the fact that I knew I was doing something that most people wouldn’t be able to was a source of inspiration and a well of determination (if that doesn’t sound too cheesey). Once I found a few foods that I could pad my diet with (lettuce in a bag, lbs and lbs of raw broccoli and cauliflower, and even sugar free jello snack packs!), things became a lot easier.

You do have to deal with your ‘friends’ who don’t quite “get it” and think that by offering you just “a tiny piece” of cake that they’re genuinely doing you a favor. The best response I found was to point out how disrespectful they are being of something that obviously is important to you. They don’t have to understand it, they just have to respect it.

On an update note, my weight has been hovering around 192-193 in the mornings, which is right about where I want it to be. Approx 20 lbs above my contest weight, and my strength has just been through the roof. Although certain areas have ‘softened’ considerably, I’m still sporting some vascularity that I wasn’t expecting to be so prominent after the show.

I think the 2 chest sessions a week are showing some slight improvement in my mid-pec area (my chest has always been my biggest weakness), but I obviously need to thicken the lower area up A LOT if I’m going to be dropping 20 lbs (or it will look even worse). It definitely hurt me in the front relaxed poses, so that’s how I’m checking how things are shaping up.

S

583

[quote]pumped340 wrote:

Yea you definitely did well, I was just saying even with such low calories and high activity my cut is going painfully slow
[/quote]

I don’t think I addressed this, sorry,… it may be that your metabolism has downshifted. That presumably being the case, you might want to actually up your numbers for a week and back off a little on the every day cardio. When your body goes into panic mode, it will horde whatever you give it. You’d be better off with a higher cal intake, just so long as you keep it broken up into frequent feedings. Let your body think the food will be coming in a surplus amount for a little bit, while also tricking it into thinking that it won’t have to expend calories everyday doing mindless cardio. Then when it settles into a new ‘norm’, you throw it another curve ball and drop the cals again (but wait on upping the cardio, you only want to hit it with one new thing at a time - unless you’re really out of time and the show is in two weeks -lol)

S

584

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I’ll be honest, there were days when I wanted to gnaw my arm off, and there were days where I just felt unfazed. I tried to keep the mindset of “what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve”. I always bitch about people who are weak when it comes to food, and actually look down on how anyone can be so weak willed, but lemme tell ya, I had a few moments where I asked myself what the hell I was doing -lol.

Of course the fact that I knew I was doing something that most people wouldn’t be able to was a source of inspiration and a well of determination (if that doesn’t sound too cheesey). Once I found a few foods that I could pad my diet with (lettuce in a bag, lbs and lbs of raw broccoli and cauliflower, and even sugar free jello snack packs!), things became a lot easier.
[/quote]

Hm, yea I gotta say the only “hunger” issues I’ve had to deal with with the no carb/high fat method is thinking about the upcoming refeed a lot lol.

I did have some sugar free jello but stopped after I realized there was maltodextrin in it. I’m sure its a very small amount but it didn’t matter much to me so I just stopped it, any other time than keto I’m sure it would be 100% fine though. I have been having diet soda though…gotta love protein powder root beer “floats” :slight_smile:

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

I don’t think I addressed this, sorry,… it may be that your metabolism has downshifted. That presumably being the case, you might want to actually up your numbers for a week and back off a little on the every day cardio. When your body goes into panic mode, it will horde whatever you give it. You’d be better off with a higher cal intake, just so long as you keep it broken up into frequent feedings. Let your body think the food will be coming in a surplus amount for a little bit, while also tricking it into thinking that it won’t have to expend calories everyday doing mindless cardio. Then when it settles into a new ‘norm’, you throw it another curve ball and drop the cals again (but wait on upping the cardio, you only want to hit it with one new thing at a time - unless you’re really out of time and the show is in two weeks -lol)

S
[/quote]

Luckily for me theres no show coming up, just trying to get lean. I actually did have a week off somewhat recently (5/29-6/04) so its only been 4 weeks without one. I think I’m getting leaner this week after dropping calories a little and increasing cardio though. After another 2 weeks I’m going to either slowly start gaining again or if I want to keep losing fat (which definitely might be the case since I’m not very lean) I’ll have another week of higher calories/carbs and less cardio before continuing.

By the way that pic looks great for 20lb. heavier than contest condition. I really gotta remember to ask what you do for calves once I start trying to gain again

585

I see no reason that this thread shouldn’t be made a sticky and kept up at the top of the page. It’s a wealth of real world experience.

586

[quote]kelleyb wrote:
I see no reason that this thread shouldn’t be made a sticky and kept up at the top of the page. It’s a wealth of real world experience.

[/quote]

Seconded

587

you have mentioned a few times that your strength has increased greatly since your contest. could you give some examples please? and have any particular bodyparts responded better growth/strength wise since the contest?

588

It’s interesting to note that even when I was in the midst of dieting, I never really noticed my strength levels dropping. Jim Cordova had told me when we last spoke that he experiences some of his best gains during contest preps because the body is essentially in ‘alarm’ mode, and can react in a more drastic manner to the stressed of training.

It sounded odd at the time, but even my training partner Corey, who just came down about 20 lbs for summer has experienced a similar surge in his strength. A lot of my ‘being careful’ when I was low on cals and carbs was from Corey’s prompting that I may be more susceptible to injuries while in a depleted state, even if I am feeling strong.

Since I’ve begun eating again, I’m allowing myself better rest periods (usually 2-3 minutes on bigger lifts), and actually allowing my reps to go down to around 6, which I don’t traditionally do. I just feel better stimulated around 8-10. That’s NOT to say that I never trained that way.

I know I’ve made some comments about my training on here and not everyone realizes that your training goes through progressions over years and years (I know Prof X has mentioned this hundreds of times). Wheres I used to train heavy all the time, with very low volume, and very low frequency, as I’ve gotten a little (A LITTLE!) older, and suffered a few injuries that could have been a lot worse if I wasn’t careful, I’ve adjusted a bit.

Now, I’m 36, I find that I can handle more volume (albeit without going balls-out-need-a-spotter-or-I’ll-die intensity on every set), and actually think I’ve improved the quality (muscle maturity?) of my muscles.

My big focus has been on bringing up my mid/lower chest, my quad sweep, and if I can, my lower lats. The approaches I have implemented are as follows:

1- two different chest days. One for upper, and one for mid/lower
2- Using front squats as my main leg exercise, but then doing extensions as a pre-exhaust to regular squats using a narrow stance (trying to kill my VL)
3- Making use of more reverse grip or narrow grip back exercises. My back is definitely my strong point, but if I can make the lower lats look just a little bit thicker, I think I can detract from my waist a little more.

Examples of my work weights are probably not impressive to powerlifters, but to bodybuilders, it’s not about how much weight, just how much stress you can place on the target muscle. I’m not one to add weight for adding weight’s sake, which is why I’m a little startled at the poundages I’ve had to use.

A couple of quick examples are -Inc BB - repping 8-10 (strict, non-lockout)with 265 for 6 sets as well as Inc Flyes with 75’s (I was seriously thinking I was going to tear something! -lol). Non-Support Concentration Curls - Strict repping 8-12 with a 50 (I’ve always just tried to squeeze hard, so I never really pushed too much, thinking it was more of a pre-exhaust or warmup exercise).

Considering that I’m now almost 25 lbs up from my contest weight, I think the hard training and eating are balancing each other out in a good way.

S

589

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:

A couple of quick examples are -Inc BB - repping 8-10 (strict, non-lockout)with 265 for 6 sets
[/quote]

thanks, you really give excellent responses to questions.

do you mean you do 6 straight sets for 8-10 reps with 265? if so, that is very strong for 190lb BW.

590

What are you doing for mid/lower chest?

591

Definitely still looking great w/20 lbs post-contest weight on you Stu.

Very impressive - keep up the good work!! : )

592

STRINGER- Yeah, that’s my weight for all sets. I’m currently allowing myself fuller rest periods, and as such am able to keep pretty much the same rep numbers each set (I don’t always do this, but I figured this is a nice way to follow up my extreme diet. I’ve always been on the strong side, which even though it sounds cool, makes it a little difficult to build size as my joints take a hell of a beating because of the weights I’ve typically used over the years. It is because of this that I always try to really target the muscle I’m aiming for, and make it work instead of just lifting “heavy ass weights”.

ANDERSONS- Currently, for my mid/lower chest day, I am starting out with cable crossovers. I do these without touching the handles, and always try to twist my hands a little bit so that the pinkies are angles towards each other at the peak contraction point. This is usually followed up with LOW-decline DB presses. I find that the typical 45 degree or so decline of most benches in the gym just doesn’t feel right, so I will pile three 45 lb plates on top of each other, and then prop up one side of a flat bench with them. When I bring the weights down, I try to line them up just under my nipple line, so I’m almost mimicking the movement of a chest-dip (which I can’t do because it just aggravates my shoulder too much these days). After the two decline movements, I will do flat barbell presses, which is something I haven’t done for years. I used to move some serious weight when I was in my mid to late 20’s, but never seemed to develop the pecs I would have thought would come from such lifting (and the shoulders hurt like hell). Now, that I realize how I need to address the area that most experienced lifters have in abundance, I figure that by doing them last, I won’t be tempted to use really heavy weight, and will hopefully get more out of it because the lower pecs (and the mid to some degree as well) will already be fairly toasted.

S

593

Hey Stu, you mentioned you are 20 lbs above contest weight, which is in your words “right where you want to be.”

So what are you going to do now? You can’t be more than 8-9% bf at this point, so do you plan on going heavier?

594

[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
ANDERSONS- Currently, for my mid/lower chest day, I am starting out with cable crossovers. I do these without touching the handles, and always try to twist my hands a little bit so that the pinkies are angles towards each other at the peak contraction point. This is usually followed up with LOW-decline DB presses. I find that the typical 45 degree or so decline of most benches in the gym just doesn’t feel right, so I will pile three 45 lb plates on top of each other, and then prop up one side of a flat bench with them. When I bring the weights down, I try to line them up just under my nipple line, so I’m almost mimicking the movement of a chest-dip (which I can’t do because it just aggravates my shoulder too much these days). After the two decline movements, I will do flat barbell presses, which is something I haven’t done for years. I used to move some serious weight when I was in my mid to late 20’s, but never seemed to develop the pecs I would have thought would come from such lifting (and the shoulders hurt like hell). Now, that I realize how I need to address the area that most experienced lifters have in abundance, I figure that by doing them last, I won’t be tempted to use really heavy weight, and will hopefully get more out of it because the lower pecs (and the mid to some degree as well) will already be fairly toasted.

S
[/quote]
I’ve had similar shoulder issues with declines, dips, and flat bench. Similar lack of pec development too. I’ll be interested to hear how it goes for you with the makeshift decline bench and all.

Are you doing anything for shoulder prehab/rehab? I’ve done some fascial stretches for the thoracic and cervical spine area, and a new pec minor stretch, that helped ROM a TON. And I’ve been doing various pushups and face pulls with scap retraction, etc, and followed Cressey’s tip about laterals.

Shoulders have improved and I’ve gotten better pec recruitment so far, but I haven’t done any heavy pressing or dips yet, so…I have a ways to go. I might get some ART too. Anyway, good luck with yours.

595

WAYLANDERXX- Obviously, I can only make educated guesses as to what I’ll be looking like a few months from now. Yes, I am about 20-25 lbs above my contest weight, and although I admit to not looking contest ready at all, I received quite a few “so how long you been working out?” comments this past weekend at a local water park, so I’m not really horribly out of shape by any means. Still, It’s not like I’m a month out of being show ready either. I think I’ve sufficiently gotten over my fear of coming in at a higher weight class, as the final days leading up to my show I really just focused on conditioning, and stopped worrying about whether I would make a certain weight class or not.

So I guess as long as I don’t get ‘sloppy’ off season, I won’t worry too much. Still, I have no intention of doing any crazy bulks during the summer months when I like to enjoy going to the beach and whatnot. I figure that as long as I’m around 190 lb by January 2010, then coming down to about 170 by the end of April shouldn’t be a problem. My real hope though, is that the initial shock of a caloric surplus, combined with hard and heavy training will create more of a recomposition effect, and that my weight will stall out around where it is now (mid 190’s), and as my body readapts to having more LBM, I will just tighten a bit without much giving it too much thought.

ANDERSONS- I actually like the tight contraction I feel with the ‘makeshift’ decline. Cordova always talked about hitting the chest with angles it’s not used to, and I try to do a lot more low-incline work, and low decline work (as opposed to the standard issue benches) because of that. I don;t have any shoulder pains, or impingements now, but I did years ago, enough to make me abandon doing any flat chest work. I did have an ART specialist work on it about 4-5 years ago, and it felt great, and even had me repping with 315 after my first treatment (which really shocked the hell out of me actually). But even when I was moving heavy weights, my chest never had that great full/top to bottom look so many pros have, so I figured I was just spinning my wheels. These days, the flat bench is not the corner stone in my chest work, it’s merely one of many tools I work with, although I keep in mind that this is a tool that I’ve essentially cut myself on before, so I have to be wary of it. Let me know if the ART helps, I know a lot of people have mixed reviews on it.

S

596

That’s quite a nose you’ve got there Mighty Stu

597

Yet another productive member of T-Nation chiming in so we all can learn. (lemme guess, Class of '09?)

S

598

[quote]greenhopper wrote:
That’s quite a nose you’ve got there Mighty Stu[/quote]

you must have been top a your class?

599

Stu, I have always had a hard time with chest until I started doing dips at a incline. I place a 2x4 under the front of the dip station so I get a great feeling in mid to lower pecs without having to lean over so much and is a hell of easier on my shoulders.

600

BWHITWELL- That actually sounds like a very cool idea. I’m wondering if the angle is similar to what I try to get with my plate elevated decline approach.

My weight is holding steady at 190-195, and I definitely look like my chest and legs are coming up. My current split is actually allowing for more frequency, albeit a slightly lower volume each session (and different exercises). It’s basically chest and legs 2x every 6 days, with everything else hit only 1x. My eating is still 90% clean, and cals averaging about 3000 a day (obviously over some days).

I will note that I’ve started a couple of new supps. This is actually a pretty cool story. A guy I went to high school with (we’re talking in the late 80’s here), is now the head of a supplement company, and saw (through the grapevine) some vids and pics of me at my last show. He contacted me online, and we started chatting. When it became obvious to each of us that the other was a total nutrition;/supplement nerd, he invited me to check out his operation. So I drove out to the office, and we chatted for a while, talking about how we each ended up where we are, and what I was planning for my next shows.

Long story short, he walked me into his warehouse, and filled up a huge laundry bag with several bottles of each of their supplement line (except for the prohormone, which obviously I can’t take if I wanna compete in the INBF). His parting words… “come back when you need more”. Now in all honesty, I didn’t expect anything magical, but after reading in NB&F Magazine about using Glycerol and Creatine to create an anabolic environment in muscle cells, and even Thibs telling me how it is possible to make use of this approach, to find out that the whole cornerstone of the pre-workout supp, as well as the peri-one is based on Glycerol, Leucine, Various Creatines, as well as Waxy Maize… I was curious.

I’ve been taking the supps for the last 2 weeks, and while I’m not gonna go on and on about the most amazing gains ever, I will admit that I do feel fired up, have been getting a damn great pump, and as this is obviously free for me, am really curious just how much of an effect it will have in the long duration between now and December (as I try to slowly add/recompose).

S

601

Stu,

Brother, every time I think I’m going to lose it if I eat another bake piece of fish, or grilled piece of chicken, or not drink a beer, or not eat something sweet, or not get up and do my cardio, or not lift because it’s too hot outside, I think about what you were able to accomplish and then it’s real easy to do those things. I wonder if you’ll ever truly understand just exactly how many people you’ve inspired.

Looking forward to your future endeavors.

Kelley