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
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
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
[/quote]
That is a pretty cool story, I guess you guys were pretty friendly before? Is he pretty big too?
I thought glycerol was beginning to get proven to not be too effective? Actually I think I’m thinking of glutamine…I don’t even know if I know what glycerol is for lol.
For that 10% of the diet your not eating clean, about 4 meals or so a week I guess, what types of things are you eating?
“what the mind can conceive, the body can achieve”.
Inspirational stuff brotha…
Stu, looking at your profile I see you used to be 215 and from your pics you don’t look at all over 13% bodyfat or so. This would be 187lb. of just LBM, yet you competed at I think 172 with maybe 4-5% bf which is about 164-5lb. LBM, obviously a little was water and whatnot but do you feel like you lost a lot of muscle? Your pictures don’t seem to show much if any muscle loss but 20lb. difference of LBM is a lot…just wondering about that.
KELLEYB- Thanks for the kind words bro. We all have someone else we think of when the going gets tough. Thinking how “so and so” wouldn’t bitch and whine, is sometimes all the motivation we need (backstage at my show, I hadn’t had water for about 20 hours, I just wanted one tiny little sip, but Corey looked me square in the eye and said ‘Dorian wouldn’t be crying for a sip of water’… that’s all it took to stick to my guns -lol).
PUMPED340- Actually, we had several of the same friends, but I wouldn’t say we were buddies or anything. In the mid 1990’s when I was working in Manhattan, I would occasionally see him on the Long Island Railroad, and we would talk, but I don’t think either of us realized that the other was really into training (he was usually wearing a suit, and I tend to cover up a lot when I go out in public, especially when I’m at work).
I think you may be thinking of Glutamine. Glycerol was actually written up a few years ago in a Natty Mag I read, talking about how combining it with creatine may promote a more anabolic environment, but in all honesty, I skipped over the article and just found it recently as I’m rereading my old mags and seeing what to throw out.
I had asked Thibs about using it in just such manner (because it helped me out a bit right before my show), and he agreed that it could provide positive effects. Of course if I wasn’t getting the stuff free I wouldn’t be able to ‘experiment’ with it everyday to see what happens over the course of months -lol.
As far as what’s “not-clean” on my diet,… well it’s not like I’m actually calculating percentages here, but I will TRY to eat good food choices, and still log my numbers, but let’s say I go out with my girl, and after a movie, we end up going out to eat. I’ll try to stick to bodybuilding-friendly foods, but I won’t worry about portion sizes, or condiments (I actually like to get a half a BBQ chicken with a double order of Broccoli on the side when we go to this little Steakhouse in my neck of the woods, I don’t feel too bad about that).
Also, I feel that as long as everything else I eat during a given day is ‘clean’, I will allow myself ONE feeding that can be total crap. The hard part about that though, is making sure I eat again in a few hours, whether I’m hungry or not. Usually I’m not, but I like to think that even drinking a protein shake will allow me to keep up my meal cadence and keep my metabolism humming (and the binge meal will have less chance to do damage…maybe? -lol).
STEALTH- thanks bro, looking pretty solid in your avatar, any contest plans in your future?
DAVID1991- While I’ve been up as high as 220 in the past, before I considered doing a show, I was usually around 210. I started seriously considering the show a about 205, and after slowly (I mean SLOWLY) coming down to 190 just to see if I could, that’s when I decided on a full-out contest diet. THe first few weeks though, I had so much information that I don’t think I really settled into one particular approach.
WHile I didn’t freak out and start doing cardio like a lot of people would, I think I definitely started my calories way lower than I needed to. I might have mentioned this before, but I patterned my initial approach on the numbers that Brian Whitacre uses. The problem with that, is that I’m not Brian Whitacre. He competes as a lightweight, and as such has to come down a lot more than I do, and I also think I naturally carry more muscle, so in both regards, the drastic cal drop hurt me.
Eventually I settled into a good routine, as far as cals, training, and small amounts of cardio, but yes, I do agree that I lost some muscle in the process. Jim Cordova told me that the best you can hope for when dieting, and this is if everything goes perfectly, is to lose 1/4 of your “weightloss” from muscle. So, if I came down from 205 to 170, or better yet, let’s go 190 to 170 (the ‘real’ contest dieting part), 20 lbs,… so if everything was perfect (which it wasn’t), I would have lost a minimum of 5 lbs of solid muscle.
Further, factor in the 4 lbs I lost from mon->fri during my peak weak, and that was just glycogen, water and fiber (I weighed 174 mon, and 170 sat!),… so there are a lot of things to consider. Towards the end of the prep, Corey and I realized that it’s usually conditioning that carries the show in tested federations, so we moved our “preserve LBM at all costs” mantra to 2nd place behind “don’t worry about your weight, just get so shredded we can see your heartbeat through your chest”.
In some of my pics, I think I look absolutely tiny, yet in others, I can’t believe how absolutely huge I look (at only 170 lbs!). I definitely have plans to try things differently next time out though, so it should be very educational to see how my alterations affect the final outcome, condition-wise, and even size wise (a lot of people keep asking me about going up a weightclass because I’m pretty damn tight in the mid 190’s now, but it’s obviously too early to predict).
(Did I answer the question at all with all of that rambling? -lol)
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
KELLEYB- Thanks for the kind words bro. We all have someone else we think of when the going gets tough. Thinking how “so and so” wouldn’t bitch and whine, is sometimes all the motivation we need (backstage at my show, I hadn’t had water for about 20 hours, I just wanted one tiny little sip, but Corey looked me square in the eye and said ‘Dorian wouldn’t be crying for a sip of water’… that’s all it took to stick to my guns -lol).
PUMPED340- Actually, we had several of the same friends, but I wouldn’t say we were buddies or anything. In the mid 1990’s when I was working in Manhattan, I would occasionally see him on the Long Island Railroad, and we would talk, but I don’t think either of us realized that the other was really into training (he was usually wearing a suit, and I tend to cover up a lot when I go out in public, especially when I’m at work).
I think you may be thinking of Glutamine. Glycerol was actually written up a few years ago in a Natty Mag I read, talking about how combining it with creatine may promote a more anabolic environment, but in all honesty, I skipped over the article and just found it recently as I’m rereading my old mags and seeing what to throw out.
I had asked Thibs about using it in just such manner (because it helped me out a bit right before my show), and he agreed that it could provide positive effects. Of course if I wasn’t getting the stuff free I wouldn’t be able to ‘experiment’ with it everyday to see what happens over the course of months -lol.
As far as what’s “not-clean” on my diet,… well it’s not like I’m actually calculating percentages here, but I will TRY to eat good food choices, and still log my numbers, but let’s say I go out with my girl, and after a movie, we end up going out to eat. I’ll try to stick to bodybuilding-friendly foods, but I won’t worry about portion sizes, or condiments (I actually like to get a half a BBQ chicken with a double order of Broccoli on the side when we go to this little Steakhouse in my neck of the woods, I don’t feel too bad about that).
Also, I feel that as long as everything else I eat during a given day is ‘clean’, I will allow myself ONE feeding that can be total crap. The hard part about that though, is making sure I eat again in a few hours, whether I’m hungry or not. Usually I’m not, but I like to think that even drinking a protein shake will allow me to keep up my meal cadence and keep my metabolism humming (and the binge meal will have less chance to do damage…maybe? -lol).
STEALTH- thanks bro, looking pretty solid in your avatar, any contest plans in your future?
DAVID1991- While I’ve been up as high as 220 in the past, before I considered doing a show, I was usually around 210. I started seriously considering the show a about 205, and after slowly (I mean SLOWLY) coming down to 190 just to see if I could, that’s when I decided on a full-out contest diet. THe first few weeks though, I had so much information that I don’t think I really settled into one particular approach.
WHile I didn’t freak out and start doing cardio like a lot of people would, I think I definitely started my calories way lower than I needed to. I might have mentioned this before, but I patterned my initial approach on the numbers that Brian Whitacre uses. The problem with that, is that I’m not Brian Whitacre. He competes as a lightweight, and as such has to come down a lot more than I do, and I also think I naturally carry more muscle, so in both regards, the drastic cal drop hurt me.
Eventually I settled into a good routine, as far as cals, training, and small amounts of cardio, but yes, I do agree that I lost some muscle in the process. Jim Cordova told me that the best you can hope for when dieting, and this is if everything goes perfectly, is to lose 1/4 of your “weightloss” from muscle. So, if I came down from 205 to 170, or better yet, let’s go 190 to 170 (the ‘real’ contest dieting part), 20 lbs,… so if everything was perfect (which it wasn’t), I would have lost a minimum of 5 lbs of solid muscle.
Further, factor in the 4 lbs I lost from mon->fri during my peak weak, and that was just glycogen, water and fiber (I weighed 174 mon, and 170 sat!),… so there are a lot of things to consider. Towards the end of the prep, Corey and I realized that it’s usually conditioning that carries the show in tested federations, so we moved our “preserve LBM at all costs” mantra to 2nd place behind “don’t worry about your weight, just get so shredded we can see your heartbeat through your chest”.
In some of my pics, I think I look absolutely tiny, yet in others, I can’t believe how absolutely huge I look (at only 170 lbs!). I definitely have plans to try things differently next time out though, so it should be very educational to see how my alterations affect the final outcome, condition-wise, and even size wise (a lot of people keep asking me about going up a weightclass because I’m pretty damn tight in the mid 190’s now, but it’s obviously too early to predict).
(Did I answer the question at all with all of that rambling? -lol)
S
[/quote]
Stu, I competed as a middle weight and competed at my heaviest at 169 lbs and while in between contests I never went over 185lbs so dieting was never a huge issue. But that might be why I never went to the light heavy weight class. I never thought I had the frame or genetics to get much bigger without help so I worked on the illusion of being big onstage.I have narrow clavicles, long torso with short legs, but decent arms. So I concentrated on delts, upper chest,lats, and the muscles above my knee. I did’t neglect anything but just tried harder on those. I must have done well because when I won the 1987 Coastal USA in Atlanta, a group of people came up to me while I was exiting backstage with sweats on and carrying my trophy and asked me where was the guy who won that trophy. So I agree with you on honestly looking at your contest pics and adjusting your training according to your assesment. I personnaly never was satisfied with my physique and I am still working on it. I think you are approaching your training and contest prep in the right direction and you are definitly a great resource here on T-Nation as well as inspiration, you almost make me want to jump back into it.
STU…I’d like to eventually get on a stage. Even though I’ve been training for about 10 years…I still feel like a “baby” in the whole scheme of things…like I still have a ways to go. Truthfully, I’ve only just recently (within 2-4 yrs) started really getting diet/training/mindset in line.
I have to say I have been following your prep…and I’ve been nothing less than impressed. You look great, you work hard, you’ve got your head screwed on straight…you’re top notch bro, an inspiration.
If I ever do get the balls to compete…I might just bug the sh!t out of YOU for some advice…lol
You look like House, stu.
Jacked, shredded, but still a doctor.
BWHITWELL- It is quite amazing how you can look so impressive onstage, under the lights, and then afterward, just look like some emaciated runner who got dunked in orange/brown paint. My younger brother put it so eloquently… “You looked 250 lbs onstage, but then in person, more like 150 lbs” -lol. Still, even though you’re technically competing against other people, everyone has their own lagging parts to improve upon, so we each get a different lot to address.
In that regard, it’s really you against you, which I think is what draws me to this in the first place. ‘Almost’ make you wanna jump back onstage?! C’mon bro, I’ve seen your pics, if anyone is gonna walk home with the masters trophy, I’d put my money behind you.
STEALTH- Dude, I’ve been training for 16 years, and only in the last one did I even begin to consider doing a show. You may think you’re training hard, and smart, but when you’re actually working towards a certain goal, a certain date to be at your absolute best… it really does take on a whole new level of drive and determination.
On that note,… I’d just like to mention that I’m going to be out of town for the next 2 weeks, so even though I get a ton of PMs on here (and certainly do not mind answering and offering suggestions), I may not always be able to get back to everyone in a timely manner. I figure after all the prep I went through, and having my summer off due to the lovely NYC Board of Education,… well, damnit, I’m going to Disney World -lol.
Train hard T-folk,
S
OK Stu, I know you might not get to this for a week or so but the time has come for some pain 
…How exactly have you brought up your calves?
My calves SUCK and I know you said yours used to be a lot worse. Other than the fact that you split it up into 2 days I don’t think you’ve mentioned what you did for them, if you did I missed it.
So what do you do regarding
and just out of curiosity how big were your calves before and after really starting to concentrate on them?
Thanks man
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
OK Stu, I know you might not get to this for a week or so but the time has come for some pain …How exactly have you brought up your calves?
My calves SUCK and I know you said yours used to be a lot worse. Other than the fact that you split it up into 2 days I don’t think you’ve mentioned what you did for them, if you did I missed it.
So what do you do regarding
and just out of curiosity how big were your calves before and after really starting to concentrate on them?
Thanks man[/quote]
Stu split his calf training into two days. He trains Soleus after chest and gastroc after legs. This allows proper intensity for each part of the calf.
Heavy and low reps for soleus
moderate weight high reps (20) gastroc (seated calf machine)
Sets aren’t really counted. As many sets as possible in a given time period, usually 15-20 mins
[quote]Lunarisx718 wrote:
pumped340 wrote:
OK Stu, I know you might not get to this for a week or so but the time has come for some pain …How exactly have you brought up your calves?
My calves SUCK and I know you said yours used to be a lot worse. Other than the fact that you split it up into 2 days I don’t think you’ve mentioned what you did for them, if you did I missed it.
So what do you do regarding
and just out of curiosity how big were your calves before and after really starting to concentrate on them?
Thanks man
Stu split his calf training into two days. He trains Soleus after chest and gastroc after legs. This allows proper intensity for each part of the calf.
Heavy and low reps for soleus
moderate weight high reps (20) gastroc (seated calf machine)
Sets aren’t really counted. As many sets as possible in a given time period, usually 15-20 mins
[/quote]
I’m pretty sure it’s the soleus that gets used primarily during seated movements with higher reps. Still like to hear Stu’s input anyway though.
[quote]pumped340 wrote:
Lunarisx718 wrote:
pumped340 wrote:
OK Stu, I know you might not get to this for a week or so but the time has come for some pain …How exactly have you brought up your calves?
My calves SUCK and I know you said yours used to be a lot worse. Other than the fact that you split it up into 2 days I don’t think you’ve mentioned what you did for them, if you did I missed it.
So what do you do regarding
and just out of curiosity how big were your calves before and after really starting to concentrate on them?
Thanks man
Stu split his calf training into two days. He trains Soleus after chest and gastroc after legs. This allows proper intensity for each part of the calf.
Heavy and low reps for soleus
moderate weight high reps (20) gastroc (seated calf machine)
Sets aren’t really counted. As many sets as possible in a given time period, usually 15-20 mins
I’m pretty sure it’s the soleus that gets used primarily during seated movements with higher reps. Still like to hear Stu’s input anyway though. [/quote]
Ok, I figured i’d help out. I’m Stu’s training partner. I know he’s on vacation in florida and will be back thursday.
[quote]Lunarisx718 wrote:
pumped340 wrote:
Lunarisx718 wrote:
pumped340 wrote:
OK Stu, I know you might not get to this for a week or so but the time has come for some pain …How exactly have you brought up your calves?
My calves SUCK and I know you said yours used to be a lot worse. Other than the fact that you split it up into 2 days I don’t think you’ve mentioned what you did for them, if you did I missed it.
So what do you do regarding
and just out of curiosity how big were your calves before and after really starting to concentrate on them?
Thanks man
Stu split his calf training into two days. He trains Soleus after chest and gastroc after legs. This allows proper intensity for each part of the calf.
Heavy and low reps for soleus
moderate weight high reps (20) gastroc (seated calf machine)
Sets aren’t really counted. As many sets as possible in a given time period, usually 15-20 mins
I’m pretty sure it’s the soleus that gets used primarily during seated movements with higher reps. Still like to hear Stu’s input anyway though.
Ok, I figured i’d help out. I’m Stu’s training partner. I know he’s on vacation in florida and will be back thursday.
[/quote]
Oh so your Corey? I appreciate the input, was just wondering if he had specifics to add. And also about the soleus thing I think it is the other way around from what you said 
lol
Wow, okay, so it’s Monday, around Noon, and this is the first time I’ve been back to my apartment since I left on the 20th. I came back from Fla last Thursday, but crashed at my folks’ and then went upstate for a strongman contest over the weekend which was actually promoted by one of the guys I competed against in my NJ show back in May (which was damn cool, as a bunch of guys recognized me and still had some good stuff to say about my posing routine -lol).
As far as calves go, first, let me say that I’m not one of those guys who ju8st has great calves no matter what he does. If anything, I believe that all the running I used to do (track team), contributed to having smaller calves (lotta endurance work though).
I have two younger brothers, one of whom played a lot of basketball, and has pretty good calves (and thicker ankles than I do), while the other, who played a lot of baseball (I don’t know if the sports are relevant, but figured I’d give you as much info as I can), and has absolutely horrible calves, but with joints similar to mine (on the smaller side), but is also over 6’ tall while I (and the other brother) are around 5’8/5’9.
Even though I’ve been training for 16 years now (started when I was 20), my calves have only come into their own in the last 5 or so. I recall that when my arms first hit 16", my calves were about 15". When my arms hit 17", my calves were 16". Sounds good, I figured I’d just keep growing with an inch discrepancy, however, the calves pretty much stalled out at that point, and while everything else continued to make progress, the calves didn’t.
As good as the calves may have seemed measuring 16" when the arms were 17", once the arms hit 18", the calves really started looking bad (and once I read that to be ‘perfectly proportioned’, your arms, calves and neck should measure the same, well, I felt discouraged to say the least).
IN my later 20’s, I started having shoulder problems, most likely from all the heavy pressing I used to do. My wrists would also give me problems at times, and occasionally, I would take weeks off because I couldn’t do much of anything. Once I realized that totally staying out of the gym was doing more harm than good, I would do leg work, or on a few occasions, set after set of the pec deck (which surprisingly didn’t seem to bother me at all).
During one of my ‘off’ weeks, my gym had gotten a straight leg seated calf machine. THis certainly seemed novel, as doing the standing calf raise would also start to hurt my traps once I was really piling the weights on. Well, I must have come into the gym and done nothing but pec deck and that calf machine 4 x during the week.
I had never felt just a great stretch, pump, or even been able to really focus on feeling what was going on in my calves before. I stayed with the machine once I was able to go back to my usual split, but as most trainers do, I would throw in a few sets of straight leg, and a few sets of bent leg calfs after upper leg sessions. My calves were no longer as sore or pumped as they were when I was hitting them harder, and with more volume.
Having gotten into training in the 90’s, every single article you read would stress how less was more, and I was hesitant to go against the grain, but hearing how some pro BBers would have separate quad and ham days, I thought of something novel, I would split my calf work.
Since the Gastroc appeared to be larger, and would obviously need more work, I decided to do work for it on a day where I hadn’t already trained my legs (and reasoned that I would be stronger, and able to stay with more sets than if I had just squated myself into the ground).
Long story short, My split now entailed a chest/Gastroc day, and a leg/soleus day. I kept the majority of my gastroc work heavy, with longer rest periods, and my soleus work lighter, with less rest (I always, and still do marvel at guys with toothpicks for calves who insist on loading 3 or 4 big plates on the seated calf machine, and bounce all over the place, and never realize that they haven’t made progress in years).
Of course, in the truism of “nothing works for long” that we always hear in gyms, I will sometimes switch the rep range just for something new. Yes, the breakdown of muscle fiber types is pretty well accepted, but you still need to step outside your comfort zone when you can, and with a limited number of exercises for calves, you have to buck the trend occasionally.
As Corey mentioned, I don’t really count how many sets I do. Taking a page from the EDT articles I read (but admittedly, don’t really follow), doing more work in less time is pretty damn intense, so I try to make my calves as uncomfortable as I can. If I have trouble walking out of the gym after, I usually have a grin on my face knowing I did my job.
On an update note, my 2 weeks away, involved a total of 3 days of training. I took an entire week off, then got a few daily passes to a Miami Health Club which was near where we were staying, and then didn’t train again (I’ll remedy that later today though). While I did eat a good amount of crap, I tried to get some protein at every feeding, and kept to a 3 hour feeding cadence as best I could. Even after a monstrous buffet, I would choke down a prot bar of shake before bed hoping to avert some of the damage.
As a whole, I found that most of the people we saw in Disney and Universal were insanely out of shape, which as much as I hate to generalize in any way, made me wonder about people down south (kidding! Kidding!) I did receive a lot of comments from little kids (my girlfriend was quite amused by this), and when I was picked from the audience to ‘assist’ at the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular, I received the typical comment from the announcer (in front of about 1000 people) of how someone needs to “Help Stu find the gym” -lol.
I’m not sure what my exact weight is, but if I had to guess, I’m easier mid-high 190’s, and as I look over a few pics, think that I’m treated my offseason well, and packing on a little size while not getting sloppy. Here a pick my best friend’s girlfriend set me of my buddy, GF and myself in a super-hero themed giftshop at UNiversal Studios. What you can’t see is that hanging from my right hand is a bag filled with protein bars, a shaker bottle, and a 3/4 gallon bottle of water (ever the meat head!)
S
Thanks for the info on calves Stu. Lately I just took seated calf raises out because I experimented with doing them and standing raises with my left leg and only standing with my right, 2x a week doing this. Both had the same result: No growth at all haha. I didn’t gain weight though so pretty much everything has been the same.
I figure for now I’m pretty much doing the least I have to to keep them where they are because although I have plenty of free weights for most muscle groups, calves are REALLY limited without machines (ex: I got upto putting 120lb. DB’s on each of my knees to try seated extensions and eventually just said “fuck it” because it was harder to hold it up and stay balanced than doing the actual exercise was for my calves). So once I can get back to a gym in 2-3 weeks I really plan on hitting them more.
So what recommendations do you have other than just really blasting them?
-Breaking up Soleus and grastoc, I assume you just have bent leg vs straight leg exercises?
-How many different exercises do you tend to do per session?
-Overall working calves 2x per week right?
I was thinking maybe starting with
Day 1 (Gastroc): 3x8 exercise 1, 3x8 exercise 2
Day 2 (Soleus): 3x20 exercise 1, 3x20 exercise 2
and going from there trying to add weight, reps, or some type of progression each week. Does that seem like enough or do you typically do more sets than that?
Lookin jacked in the newest pic Stu! Glad to hear you’re still doing well and going strong.
I know exactly what gift shop that is. That place has some amazing superhero figurines, I spent a good bit of time looking around there.
You have anybody try to get you to try out for that superhero parade they have ? Ya wouldnt have to wear all that ridiculous foam padding.
Stu you ended up doing the shredded in six day type protocol? Did you use glycerine with creatine to fill out? How did that work if you did? Do you think the water manipulation made a real difference I’ve heard alot of people dont try it because of the hit or miss factor and it’s supposedly stressful on your kidneys. I can’t wait for countdown to 2nd contest. 
PUMPED- Breaking the soleus and gastroc really is as simple as it sounds, bent knee vs straight knee exercises. I really only make use of 2 different selections though, the bent knee calf raise machine, and a straight leg calf press machine (but you can do donkey raises, standing calf raises on a machine, or even place a wooden block under the smith machine and do them there <-I’ve done this before, great exercise!).
The biggest downside to calf training though, is the real lack of variety. You’re basically dealing with a single joint movement, so even when you consider the changes that occur when bending the knee, it’s still going to be a similar motion, which gets boring as hell pretty quickly. This is the reason that I go by a time limit as opposed to a number of sets. How many times have you rushed through your sets of calves because you’re bored, and basically being done as an afterthought to your leg session? If you make up your mind to just crank and crank 'em out for 15 minutes, you will unquestionably give 'em something uncomfortable to deal with -lol.
As far as weight, as long as I’m adequately warmed up (and I always err on the side of cation, because it’s damn easy to tweak an ankle when you’re doing calf raises with several hundred ponds), I pick a weight that not only allows me about 6-10 reps or 8-15 reps (depending on seated or standing), but one that allows me to work SLOWLY through the negative portion, after getting a solid 1-2 second squeeze, and then a nice and easy stretch before exploding into the next rep (I like to think of quality over quantity for calves). Assuming you’re being strict, and getting enough volume (which I think a lot of guys shortchange themselves on for calves), your weights will certainly go up over time, just don’t “chase numbers” at the expense of stimulating the muscles.
BUGEISHAAS- Thanks man, was a little hesitant after the show to let myself put on any weight, but I’m surprisingly tight for my current weight, possibly tighter than I was at 190 when I started the “official” contest diet. Hopefully this means more LBM if I can hold onto it.
WS4JB- Great store right?! I’m sure if I had more money I would have been flying back to NY with a replica of Thor’s Hammer on the seat next to me -lol. Actually, several young kids made comments about my build. I think my girlfriend found it more amusing than I did (or at least that I let on!)
LILDADDYDREW- I dropped my creatine about a week out. I know there are arguments to drop it, or keep it, but my final decision was that conditioning usually wins natty shows over an extra 1/2 lb of muscle, so…
I did use the Glycerine. I took some Friday evening when I cut my water but was carbing up, and again Sat morning before the prejudging with a snickers bar (and no water). I don’t know if the glycerine had a huge effect on it’s own, but I do feel that the water manipulation definitely had an effect. Obviously my bodyfat was ridiculously low before I started ‘peak week’, or I’m sure it could have really messed things up. Thib’s advice to me was that I had done everything correctly up to that point, and couldn’t screw up no matter what I did the last week.
I’m sure if I was a little higher bodyfat, and was counting on the water drop to suddenly make me look shredded, then there would have been a big chance of things going badly. As far as being stressful on the Kidneys,… I’ve heard so much BS about this or that being bad for your kidneys, but as what could be called a filtration organ for your body, I’m sure it deals with a lot worse things throughout your life than fluctuating water levels. Besides, every bad thing you hear about people with Kidney problems always had a little footnote that stresses that unless you have a pre-existing condition, you shouldn’t worry. Personally, I don’t drink, don’t smoke, and eat pretty damn healthy…
I’m certainly not going to think that being thirsty for 20 hours is any worse than what most people subject their bodies to.
Not only am I planning to utilize the same last week approach, but my buddies Corey and Mike are planning on adhering to the plan when they compete in May as well (hopefully we won’t all end up in the hospital together with Kidney issues -lol).
A 2nd Countdown? Why not,… I’ve already outlined a few changes I plan to try, so it certainly should make for an interesting read. Besides, it makes me accountable, and if anything, is a little added fire under my ass when I’ m seriously dragging on low carb days
S