So how low are you thinking you’ll be coming in? Pics are looking good, Stu
Hello Stu:
You have triceps that stand out in almost every pose. In all these training years, what has worked best for you regarding triceps development?
You are going to be a force to be reckoned with at your show!
Any way to post bigger pics?
I am too lazy to break out my magnifying glass LOL.
Trying posting this in the image <again!>
My Tris? Well, I’m sure a lot of heavy pressing over the years has had some effect. As far as direct arm work, I always put the more ‘power’ type movements after the more isolation ones, figuring they’d have more ‘bang’ that way.
A usual Tri routine for me would be:
-1 arm rope pressdowns
-Standing French Presses w.Tricep bar
-BEnch dips with feet elevated
Weightwise, I know I have to come in under 175 to enter as a middleweight, so I guess before carbup I will actual need to get between 170-173 or so.
On the Tanning-front, I made a deal with my gym owner, that I’d list his gym on my application (it asks what gym you’re “representing”), so that they’d announce it, and in exchange, he’s going to let me use the tanning beds free during April (get a nice base tan before the paint-on one)
S
Today I received a package from Waldenfarms. If you’re unfamiliar with the company (this is my 1st order actually), they make a whole slew of calorie free products (mostly condiments, dressings, and that sort of thing). Anyway, I figured if I could make this diet a little easier (even if it’s just by tricking myself), then why not. My order contained:
BBQ sauce
Peanut Sauce (butter?)
Marshmellow sauce (fluff?)
Blue Cheese dressing
Alfredo Sauce
I tried the BBQ sauce on a turkey, brocoli and egg white omlette I had before, and it was actually pretty good. No, you won’t mistake it for a nice thick smokey Bullseye variety, but not bad nonetheless.
I whipped myself up a little bowl of lettuce so I could try the blue cheese, and although it did have a slight chemical smell when first opened, it tasted like a watered down blue cheese dressing (I’ll try it on some chicken with hot sauce over the weekend!).
What I was really hoping would be great, was the marshmellow and peanut sauce. I had such a dream that I’d get the equivalent of real peanut butter and fluff mixed in a bowl (which I love to just snack on!).
Sadly, it wasn’t even close. The marshmellow wasn’t bad, but the peanut sauce by itself did not taste like peanut butter. Together, it was a little better. I’m curious what it would do if I threw some in a mixer with some Chocolate Metabolic Drive.
The alfredo sauce will have to wait, as I picked up some ‘Miracle Noodles’ the other day, and am hoping to try them out together. Made completely of Glucomannon (fiber), they contain no calories as well (who knew there were so many calorie free foods out that?! -lol)
S
Stu, did you realise you end nearly all your post with a comment in brackets? lol
Some bigger pics would be good though to give some critique but looking good overall.
That extended arm Arnold pose was actually his tricep pose I believe. Yours are pretty good so it might be a good addition to the routine but its hard to tell with tiny pictures.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Trying posting this in the image <again!>
My Tris? Well, I’m sure a lot of heavy pressing over the years has had some effect. As far as direct arm work, I always put the more ‘power’ type movements after the more isolation ones, figuring they’d have more ‘bang’ that way.
A usual Tri routine for me would be:
-1 arm rope pressdowns
-Standing French Presses w.Tricep bar
-BEnch dips with feet elevated
[/quote]
Thanks man, I’ll take that as an advice. Good luck again.
Stu - how much do you expect to weigh at comp time? Where are you now?
Hardgnr- I have no idea what you’re talking about (some people! -lol)… Seriously though, I don’t know why but I couldn’t add the image to that post the way I normally do. It kept showing the last image I had posted up a few days before. I did put the most recent in my profile ‘phoro’ section, so if you can get it to expand from there, feel free to critique.
I decided to see if the ‘Arnold’ Pose would work or not. I know I’ve lost a good amount of size, and was honestly worried that maybe my arms didn’t have the mass anymore to pull it off, but with the twisted waist, it definitely adds to the whole ‘top-heavy’ illusion. Sure, Arnold pulled it off a lot better, but as of now, I’ve got it in the routine I laid out.
SteelyD- I want to come in under the 175 lb middleweight cutoff. Hoping to not get surprised by any last minute weight gain from carbing up the day before, I figure I’ll need to be 170-173 the final week (I can’t believe I’m even saying these numbers! I feel to freaking small after all these years building up! -lol)
SOmething I noticed this morning though,… As I’m writing this it’s about 10am in NY, and we’ve got a killer storm going (home from work). I Had my dog out and she got lost in the snow. Anyway, instead of what I’d usually eat while being at work (turkey pepperoni, cheese and a low carb prot bar), I was able to actually prepare a little more in my kitchen (even brewed coffee!).
So there I was cooking up a cup of egg whites with a few pieces of turkey and fat free cheese diced in, and I realized… I didn’t have enough calories, or enough carbs. I think I’ve gotten so used to the idea that I’m carb sensitive over the years, that I don;t even think about it anymore. Now, when I NEED the carbs as I diet down in order to hold onto my muscles, it’s become a conscious thing.
Yes, I’ll be dropping the number every few weeks from here on out, but now, (9 weeks out this week!) I’m trying for 175g - 200g a day.
This may come as a shock to a lot of folks who cannot handle large doses of carbohydrates in their diets, but in all likelihood, you will need some if you hope to hold onto any lean body mass when on a caloric deficit. Despite what you read online, I have yet to talk to any ‘successful’ natural BBer who doesn’t realize this, and practice it.
I seriously could completely get along fine w/o carbs, but all it takes is one bad diet experience to make you realize that there are usually better ways. My training partner realized the same thing over a year ago. As a former pudgy guy, once he put on some muscle, he wanted to diet down. What went wrong though, is that he did the zero-carb thing, and ended up losing most of his newly acquired muscle in the practice.
I’m not hoping to invite the whole carbs vs fat debate here, just chronicaling my own thoughts 
And the big question on everyones’ minds… Yes, despite the fact that it looks like over a foot of snow outside my window, and it’s still coming down… I have every intention of training today. I had to skip yesterday due to a family thing. It was my first off day in several weeks, the first since I started my new 4 day rotation, and it was probably a good thing.
I’m actually hoping the new rotation works out. I do miss pounding a bodypart with a more hypertrophic approach, but figured I needed to up my frequency, and have read about natties using the antagonistic approach in so many places.
THe alternative would be keeping my previous approach, but reshuffling the bodypart split so to train 4 days instead of 5 (which was my ‘normal’ split), and then I would still need some type of cardio (currently, have 1 day of HIIT Cardio, and hoping the antagonistic stuff on the other 3 days is speeding my metabolism along).
So many factors to juggle. The only thing I know I can count on, is that I’ll be able to look back on what I did, and hopefully realize which decisions were mistakes.
S
Okay, having had a bit of a cold the last few days (and being unable to stop a runny nose all day today), I took a real day off today. Tomorrow, I’m going to go back to a more hypertrophic split. After talking with my brother (Dpt, CSCS, and Olympic Lifting Coach), and a few other ocmpetitors whose opinions I really value, I think my weak points will look worse overall if I shy away from the approach that built my size in the first place. I will, however, adjust my weight training split to a 4 day instead of 5: Chest/Gastroc, Delts/Tris, Back/Bis, Legs/Abs.
In regards to cardio, I’m thinking that if I do a 2 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off approach, that I can do some Interval cardio on the ‘off’ days, essentially giving me 2 sessions a week. As I get closer, I can add some amounts of steady state work (20 min tops) after the weight sessions.
For those who have questions as to my rationals, I have also been studying a lot of writing my ‘Dr Joe’, who routinely writes for a few magazines and has prep’ed many of the top natty pros. I excerpted the following from one of his recent articles and figured I’d share on here (it says a lot about carb inclusion in a contest diet, as well as a bit about cardio).
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Excepts from Macro-Rotation for Prolonged Fat Loss, by Joe Klemczewki, Ph.D.
Cardio:
?Build your intensity slowly, but start the pattern of using some baseline days where you keep steady-state levels strong, yet nothing you have to recover from in a training sense. Add a couple of other sessions per week where you build up to interval levels, which in reality end up being mini-leg workouts ? forcing you to not do them more than once or twice a week. Both are important and starting them early will peel off more body fat, allow slightly higher levels of food, and build a stronger metabolism for the duration?
Carb Intake:
?If I want to keep my carbs steady, I may choose that happy medium amount that allows for a strong pace, but will include one higher carb day to give a nice bump to glycogen levels and thus signal my endocrine system that I?m not starving. Good things happen to the metabolism when that is achieved, but if you go too far, you can actually store body fat and fill your glycogen levels so completely that it takes days to even start losing body fat again. It is a bad idea to mistake carb increases for justified binges. Possessing a slower metabolism, I actually use this method myself.?
?When someone has a faster metabolism and guarding muscle is even more important, it may take two increases per week to keep the pace in check. Still having 2-3 days of lower carbs/lower food is necessary to work through glycogen and into higher levels of body fat, but the additional day can be a needed buffer. Keep in mind that the goal is still to be losing, so don?t let the higher day rise more than perhaps a doubling of carbs, and sometimes not even that high.?
?Your higher days rescue you and your metabolism, but digging deeper into the lower amounts is necessary?
?Don?t drop carbs out completely ? use them to keep your muscle and keep your metabolism?
?Contests are won months before the National Anthem is sung and the curtain finally goes up?
S
hey stu iam having the same problem as you, peaking to early before your show. I’am about 6 weeks out now and my show is on april 11th and as of now iam pretty much contest ready my bf is like 4.6%. Iam curious did you do anything special besides just eat a little extra to slow weight loss?
good idea to cut down to below what you plan on competing at…
I was going to say that after the diuretic + carb loading you will prob be close to the same weight or still light…
then I remembered…no diuretic lol
lookin good tho dood
DG
Ok, first off it looks like you’re natural and that’s very inspiring in my book. So, you have just under 8 weeks until the show. I don’t know if this will work for you but at my last show this got me ripped. Eat 6 times per day, every 3 hours.
Breakfast- 1 chicken breast, oatmeal, 3 eggs, 1 banana. 3 hrs. later- chicken breast, 1 banana. 3 hrs. later- chicken breast, potato, 1 banana. 3 hrs. later- chicken breast, 1 banana. 3 hrs. later- chicken breast, green peas, 1 banana. 3 hrs. later- 1/2 bag of unsalted unbuttered popcorn. The popcorn will flush out your colon and have you ready for the next day of 6 meals.
You can substitute any lean white meat for the chicken breast as often as you’d like to. Tuna and turkey worked well for me. And if you’re wondering what eating 5 bananas per day does for you. It overloads your body with potassium and your body will get rid of excess water and your skin will be thinner, helping to create the peeled look.
If you keep your protein high, you won’t have to worry about losing much muscle mass.
About 6 weeks out, don’t try to gain any size, you just want to keep the muscle you have and get ripped. So get ready for some intense cardio sessions. If you have any other questions let me know, and good luck on your show. I also think you should train twice per day, 6 days per week when you’re 7 weeks out.
Train srong and drug-free, Jeff
BONE160- In all honesty, I don’t think I’m peaking early, especially when I look at the conditioning of guys like Brian Whitacre. Yes, I have pumped my brakes a bit, so to speak. My average daily cal intake got bumped about 200 cals, and my carbs as well, from ~150g a day, to 175-200. As my cardio work has been pretty minimal (1 - 2 days of HIIT per week, max of 20 min each session), I’m focusing more on not eating away all my muscles, and letting the diet SLOWLY take my weight down.
Luckily my Training partner yells as me when I start to suggest doing more drastic things to speed things up -lol. You could always up the cals for a few days and then bring them back down. If you’re lucky, it will give you a nice mental break from the dieting.
DG- Thanks bro -lol. I’ve actually thought about some OTC stuff, maybe herbal (dandelion root?), but then I remember Layne saying that Natties don’t retain water, it’s just an excuse for being fat. As my 1st show, I’m going to try to keep things as simple as I can. Sure, I’ll play around with the water and carbs (Thibs’ “6 Days” article), but I’m certainly not going to freak out about it. I’d rather under-carb a bit than over do it and look pudgy onstage. I know there will be a ton of things to look back on and play the “if only” game.
JEFF- Thanks for the compliments man. I’m already eating about 8-9 times a day, every 2 hours, and downing about 2 gallons of water as well. 2 CHicken breasts a day, Tilapia, Egg Whites, Oatmeal and Tons of Green Veggies. I don’t know how well my body would handle the bananas, as I’ve never really been a big fruit fan, and oatmeal has always sat well with me. Besides, I like to use a little extra water, and nuke it a little longer so it really expands… makes me feel like I’m eating more -lol… and the fiber content does leave me feeling fuller, which I need as I’d typically be eating well upwards of 4000 cals a day if I weren’t dieting.
Cardio is a touchy thing for me. If I start doing good amounts of it, I get all stringy. That’s why I’m utilizing the infrequent sessions of interval work, everything I’ve read discussses the muscle sparing effect, as well as the longer duration of elevated metabolism. As I get closer I may add a few short sessions of steady state work after a weight session, but I think the dietary manipulation will suit me a little better, just from past experiences. Thanks for the kinds words.
So… after yesterday, feeling sick, not training, and actually keeping my cals and carbs a little lower than I have been lately (~140 carbs, ~2475 cals), I decided to treat myself to a High day (3200 cals, 260g carbs), hopefully to reset everything (mentally more than anything), and undertake a more cyclical approach (like I originally was debating, and like Dr. Joe described in his article which I excerpted above).
So my plan will involve a 6 day rotation (4 weight sessions, and 2 HIIT sessions), 1 High day when I train my weakest area (chest), and 2 low days (HIIT days). The rest will be the average numbers I have been keeping for the last few weeks (150g carbs, 2700 cals). I realize that this will have to drop a bit in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, this sounds like a reasonable plan to my training partner and I.
S
honestly I will disagree to a point about natty’s and water.
Everybody has fat cells…even when at 2-3% you still have fat cells and they like to hold water.
Idk I don’t think a natty will hold as much water as somebody using aromatizable AAS or somebody carrying more muscle than a natty competitor, but I still believe they hold some water.
Even when I competed natural I still used a diuretic…altho one you cannot use for a natty show. My avatar is natural + lasix…so FWIW…
I’d find out what you can use and still do it. lol Might as well be your best…be VERY careful tho…some otc diuretics that claim to be herbs actually contain rx strength diuretics IE star caps had something in it that got football players popped lol
DG
Thanks for the thoughts DG. I’ll look into just simple herbal stuff and see what I feel may give a slight edge (besides all the asparagus I’ve been trying to eat).
Soooo… after having a very lovely high carb day yesterday (260+g carbs! I freaking had 5 bowls of oatmeal, 2 packets of instant grits, a poptart, some Met Drive Complete -lol), I woke up lighter this morning. at 7:30, after breakfast (when I usually weigh myself), I was 180.6 lbs. The lightest I have been since I first cracked 180 lbs in college! I also noticed, during my now ritualistic bathroom/flexing breaks during the day, a few new veins starting to appear on my frontdelt/pec areas… very cool! My outer side leg shots are actually starting to look pretty cut, with much more than just the one sweep of seperation most folks get between the quad and ham regions.
In all honesty, I need to see little things like this, it’s the only thing that reminds me that it’s a slow process indeed if you intend to hold onto some muscle. Now… if only my waist tightens a little, I’ll be feeling fine come May 2nd!
S
Hey Stu, did you see that thread? You may want to have a look at that guys’ contest prep.
Lookin’ good man! Good luck.
good luck, where in Jersey? (My bad if I missed that somewhere)
Well, lst night I actually noticed a couple of cross striations in my right legs (COOL! -lol), which is great, as my legs will need to be real cut to do well, and we’ve essentially been using them as a measure of how low my bodyfat is getting.
As of this morning, I was 179 lb (with a little ‘change’), so with 8 weeks left, I seem to be right on track to come in at 170-173 before my carb up.
My current 6 day split (2 weight sessions, HIIT, 2 Weight sessions, HIIT) seems to be working well. I definitely feel fuller, and my muscles still look pretty dense, certainly moreso than the approach I had tried previously. PLus, the added one high-intake day just makes everything work better (heavy weights, higher energy, fuller muscles for a couple of days).
RRJC- I’ve seen that guys’ threads before. I know some folks can work it that way, but as Thibs’ pointed out in one of his articles, I’ve ‘accidentally’ manipulated my water in the past, like he described, so in this instance, I have to make the best educated guess available based on what I know about my own physiology.
Thanks everyone else for all the compliments and suggestions I’ve been getting. The show’s in Brick, NJ (Brick Memorial HS) again, so if anyone’s curious to see how small natty BBers are, come on by! -lol
S