Countdown to 1st Contest

Training Bodybuilding
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MEYMZ- Currently I am doing Interval Cardio twice every 6 days. I will usually use an eliptical machine, but chose a recumbant bike the other day because my quads were still sore as hell. After a 2-3 min steady state warmup, I will alternate between 30 second sprints (and I mean ass-busting sprints), and 2 minute back-off easy steady state jogging (imagine running the straight aways on a track, but walking the turns). I certainly wouldn’t suggest this more than 2x a week as it can start to cut into your recovery, not to mention your leg sessions.

Next week, I will officially be 6 weeks out, so at that point I will probably throw in 15-20 min of nice easy recumbant bike after each of my weight sessions. Like I said earlier, hoepfully it will just eat some extra cals (so I wont have to lower my numbers again), but won’t be strenuous enough to really cut into my recovery.

PUMPED- Well, I know this argument goes on all over the place, and all I can do is give you my rationale, and why I’m putting my money on this approach (and all I can do is make the best informed decision I can, and hope things work… hence my little log on here). The best example I have always heard is the old Sprinters vs Long Distance runners one. Which group looks like their training is more muscle sparring? The bottom line in keeping your metabolism from downshifting during a diet, is your muscle. That’s why so many top natties (not all, I understand that) attempt to keep some carbs in their diets, and why they try to minimize the time spent doing cardio as it is typically considered catabolic. I was emailing Layne Norton back and forth a while ago, and he definitely using HIIT himse4lf, as well as all this clients. Later on, I struck up correspondences with Jim Cordova, Brian Whitacre, and Shawn Clarida (all top top top level Natty BBers).

They all share a similar approach… keep some carbs to retain muscle (and keep metabolism revving), and use Intervals instead of tons of steady state for the same reason. In the past, if I did tons of cardio, I would get all lean and stringy (not muscular and lean, but ‘yukky’ lean -lol). Of course everyone is different, and if you were to get your own body in a fat adapted state, things might function differently for you. (Hopefully this explains my own thinking on the matter here).

On an update note, although I was a little tired, I managed to train my delts, trap and tris. Choosing to do a bunch of isolation work before my shoulder pressing to hopefully toast everything without having to get all worked up pressing 150 lb DBs while I’m still feeling under the weather.
-Seated lateral machine
-Rear Laterals laying prone on inclien bench
-Peekaboos (front raises with 45 lb plate)
-Seated DB presses

Felt nice and tight, and even snapped some update pics for this week (7 weeks out!). My weight yesterday morning was 178 lbs after breakfast, which leaves me with about 6.5 weeks to lose another 5-8 lbs before my carb up. While some of the progress may seem subtle, little things like the cuts in my quads seem to be coming in just a little deeper than last week, and while I’m still somewhat concerned with my waist, my front lat spread doesn’t look as horrible as I had been thinking just a couple of weeks ago.

S

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Damn 150lb. dumbbells for shoulder press? Thats impressive.

I completely see your point with the HIIT, it actually slightly changes my mind if all those naturals are doing it too while keeping some carbs in (It’s actually pretty close to a method I’ve tried in the past and those weren’t bad results).

By the way maybe it’s the posing, not sure, but to me it seems like your lats look a lot better/wider in those new pics you just posted. Nice work!

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Hey Stu. I haven’t been posting much on this thread but I’ve been following along. I still can’t see most of the progress pics you post, but I can see one collage that you posted towards the top of this page. You’re looking good, honestly. You’re conidition is dialed in and you’ll most likely be more conditioned than alot of guys if you stepped on stage tomorrow.

Maybe I missed it, but hows sleeping at night? Still getting decent shut eye? Any plans for future competitions? Meaning, do you plan on competing again after this show?

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ELUSIVE- I can’t see most of them myself. I’ve posted in the tech support section several times, but the Mods don’t seem to be offering any ideas or remedies. I save all my files exactly the same way, and post them all up in the same way as well (I’m not a techie, but I did teach a photoshop class, so I’m not a complete idiot with this sort of thing -lol).

I did put the most recent collage (10-17-09) in my profile pics, so see if it’s visable there maybe? (if not, feel free to email a Mod, I’ve done it before, but again, nothing is really remedied)

As far as my sleeping patterns, I’ll admit that I’ve never been a good sleeper. Always tossing, always waking up and seeing what time it is… and lately, with my drinking close to 2 gallons of water a day, I get up to use the bathroom at least twice a night, which is becoming a slight inconvenience.

Future shows? Let’s wait and ses if I do respectably in my 1st one -lol. While I’m not expecting to place dead last, I’m also not expecting to win (how many folks win their first show?). What I’m hoping for, is to place top 5, and walk away knowing that I did pretty well, but obviously there are folks who have gone through contest preps before, and know how their bodies react.

Something I told my training partner yesterday is that ‘You never know who else is going to show up on contest day’, which I think sums it all up. Sure I may be entering the "novice’ devision (also gonna crossover into the open middleweight and masters 35+), but anyone who hasn’t taken top 2 at another show is technically a novice, so you see what can happen :slight_smile:

As usual, I’ll keep updating on here, and it should be an interesting learning experience to see how things do turn out.

S

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
LANKYMOFO- I know! I know! have my ‘moments’ where I notice my shirts fitting loosely and think ‘what the hell am I doing?!’, of course I also have the moments where I hit an ab shot in the gym mirror, and can’t believe I’m getting veins in my lower abs (which is pretty cool actually).

Overall, I think everyone should seriously diet down and see what they’ve got at least once. I mean, it’s not like I was fat at my usual 205+ lbs, in fact, I was perfectly okay with not having a shirt on, unlike a lot of guys who are on the ‘continual bulk’.

But then I’d think about how long I’ve been training, and 40’s getting closer every year… so I figured why not now. Of course I’m already planning out my post contest bulk so I can fully take advantage of the little slingshot effect I’m hoping for :slight_smile:

[/quote]

Sorry man, just caught your response. It’s funny, the other day when I was looking at your pics I thought you looked better over 200, but you look pretty awesome in this new avatar, too.

I imagine the hardest part of dieting down is mental, you know, going below that 200 pound mark.

Either way, make sure to get some good pics of the contest Stu and let us know how it works out. Good luck, man!

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Great job, Stu!

These last set of pics really show the level of leanness neccessary to compete, in my opinion. Looking a lot bigger (because you’re so damn ripped) and starting to see some insane detail. Lat spread and that last Arnold-esque shot look awesome.

Jealous of your tris man!

Good work!

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hey stu, lookin unbelievable man, been really good to see how a newbie does his first pre contest shit. really interesting.

Q; do u think u got sick because of the lack of variety in ur diet, cos u were around sick people, or just not enough of the right nutrients??

i know uve been eating super clean so i wonder? good that ur pushing through, heaps of inspiration right there…

top 3 here u come :slight_smile:

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Wow, that’s an interesting quandry… I know you often hear about how your body gets worn down during a pre-contest diet, and that you essentially make yourself more suceptable to injury and sickness. I don’t think I’m eating badly in any way, even though I have been sticking to the same basic food selections.

My sleeping patterns haven’t been great though, especially on weekends. I tend to stay out way too late Friday and Saturday nights, and then try not to sleep in on Sunday so I can get ‘stuff’ done, so by the afternoon, I’ll feel a little run down even if I’m not dieting. A lot of folks I know have been getting a little sick lately though, not sure if it’s the weird weather or just a bug (in NY it’s been beautiful one day, then freezing cold the next lately), but I’m certainly going to be careful about running myself too crazy the next few weeks as the contest gets closer.

Again, I appreciate all the kind words and feedback/suggestions. As this is my first contest, you guys get to stumble through this along with me, and when all is said and done, hopefully we’ll all be able to look back and assess what was a good decision, and what could have been done differently.

Last night I actually went through my entire posing routine for my training partner and another gym rat who is among the rare few whose opinion I actually value. The concensus was that the flow of poses worked very well, and the timing I worked out actually fits the song. I was very concerned with 18 poses fit into a 90 second piece of music, but once I realized that I would need to transition between poses slowly, as well as hold and slightly rotate each pose for a few seconds, things seemed to come together.

Obviously I need to practice a lot, but at least I feel somewhat confident about my pose choices and how I’ve strung them together. Maybe in a week or two I’ll practice in front of a video camera and you lovely T-Folks can appreciate my coordinated dexterity :slight_smile:

S

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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Wow, that’s an interesting quandry… I know you often hear about how your body gets worn down during a pre-contest diet, and that you essentially make yourself more suceptable to injury and sickness.

I don’t think I’m eating badly in any way, even though I have been sticking to the same basic food selections.

My sleeping patterns haven’t been great though, especially on weekends. I tend to stay out way too late Friday and Saturday nights, and then try not to sleep in on Sunday so I can get ‘stuff’ done, so by the afternoon, I’ll feel a little run down even if I’m not dieting.

A lot of folks I know have been getting a little sick lately though, not sure if it’s the weird weather or just a bug (in NY it’s been beautiful one day, then freezing cold the next lately), but I’m certainly going to be careful about running myself too crazy the next few weeks as the contest gets closer.

Again, I appreciate all the kind words and feedback/suggestions. As this is my first contest, you guys get to stumble through this along with me, and when all is said and done, hopefully we’ll all be able to look back and assess what was a good decision, and what could have been done differently.

Last night I actually went through my entire posing routine for my training partner and another gym rat who is among the rare few whose opinion I actually value. The concensus was that the flow of poses worked very well, and the timing I worked out actually fits the song.

I was very concerned with 18 poses fit into a 90 second piece of music, but once I realized that I would need to transition between poses slowly, as well as hold and slightly rotate each pose for a few seconds, things seemed to come together.

Obviously I need to practice a lot, but at least I feel somewhat confident about my pose choices and how I’ve strung them together. Maybe in a week or two I’ll practice in front of a video camera and you lovely T-Folks can appreciate my coordinated dexterity :slight_smile:

S
[/quote]

lol that’d be sweet dood.

one thing I’d recommend if your routine doesn’t go as smoothly as planned is to walk to a different part of the stage and hit a couple poses…then move again…in one of my routines it went very well to the music, but realized I moved a lot faster up on stage than I did in practice.

Then I realized that my poses weren’t matching with the specific parts of the song I remembered to keep me on track. lol

so I moved around a bit and hit some abs and most musculars really showing my strengths. took a bow and walked off when I knew my music was about over.

I got many compliments on my posing…even WILL HARRIS came up to me and told me that I put together a ‘classy routine’ so I was all stoked…and shocked. LOL

then somebody told me that Will Harris is gay…so maybe he just liked me…then again he is a vampire so maybe he wanted some blood idk…still cool to be complimented by a pro. lol

Anyways back to the subject, if in doubt don’t get nervous and freeze or hit your poses half ass…just walk and collect your thoughts and hit a couple shots. You’ll be fine.

Anxious to see your routine man…and what song are you posing to?

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Kiss - “God of Thunder”.

I figured it’s got a nice steady, driving beat, not too crazy, but not too mellow. It was actually pretty easy to make sure I hit certain poses at the beginning of each line in the first verse, and then figure out how to fit the few at the beginning into the time frame. I’ve got a sheet with the poses listed, and the time count and matching lyric next to each one :slight_smile:

S

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Not to hijack, but DG… DAMN, you’re looking great homie. Already adding size. Mind setting up a offseason journal or offseason strategy thread? Love to know what ur doing.

Sorry Stu for the hijack. Post your posing routine!

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Wats goin on Stu, your looking real good, and time is still on your side.

You mention the tanning bed. I never competed but i can tell you what Shawn Ray says. He’s all about tanning without creams or gels. He talks about theres a certain benefit from the raw effect of the tanning without any products.

Shawn Ray is a massive believer in overall presentation and he’s says tanning this way is the way to go and come protan time you’ll be good to go and colour will be great.

Im sure there are others views on this.

I believe he said this in his dvd ‘the final countdown’.

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PAUL496- Thanks for the suggestions, but the ‘creams’ are really just so I don’t get all dried out with the small amount of tanning I will be trying to get in before actually applying the fake Pro-Tan.

Sure, if it was a nice warm summer right now I could sit outside a little bit, but considering how cold’s it’s been in NY lately, I’m not about to sit on my roof wearing my underwear hoping to get a nice tan (windburn maybe, but no tan).

I was actually all for not even getting a base tan and just using the fake/paint on one, but Gerdy, as well as several other competitors I’ve spoke with say that for someone with as naturally pale a complexion as myself, just a little bit will look better in the end.

Update- Yesterday I took in another little BBing seminar in NJ, chatting with Steve Downs, Shaun Clarida (nicest guy you’ll ever meet), Eddie ‘the rock’ Hernandez (a beast, and former Mr. U), and of course, my pal (lol) Jim Cordova. Jim was very complimentary of my current conditioning, and when I told him I was damn hungry he replied “then you must be doing something right”.

He also gave me some great pointers on posing, and specifically how he puts together his own choreography (how he once couldn’t hear his music on stage, and couldn’t hit the beats he had practiced to).

He said the amount of weight I’ve lost in the time frame so far has been perfect (a lb a week like clockwork), and when I asked him about adding a small amount (15 min) of steady state cardio after my weight sessions starting this week (in addition to the 2 days of Interval work I’ve been doing every 6 days), he said not to change a thing. Judging by the cuts getting deeper in my upper quads, I’ve got to say that I’m going to agree.

Hopefully some posing sessions will add to a little tightening up (Eddie Hernandez said that he would experience that effect during his own BBing preps).

ON a cool/weird note… Steve Downs had provided the attendees of last October’s seminar with free supplements to try out. When we were emailing a couple months back, he asked me what I thought. Well, I told him that I really only used one of them, and it was while I was dieting pretty hard anyway.

He asked me if I would write something up. Long story short, he liked it, asked for a current photo (which I thought I looked ripped in at the time, but now looks a little silly -lol), and said thanks. He never actually let me know if he would use it for anything.

Well, yesterday, he announced in front of all of the seminar attendees that my little write up (and pic) would be a full page article (“ad-report?!” -lol) in an issue (next one?) of Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness Magazine. Pretty cool! :smiley:

Okay, I’d ramble more, but actually joining my folks for dinner this evening (nothing but a chicken breast and lettuce for me thanks!).

S

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Stu where do you find out about these seminars that you seem to get to a few times a year?

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Looking sick dude, I’m psyched to see how things go now in the home stretch. Out of curiosity, are you going to be using any natural diuretics come contest time?

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TRENCHANT - The BBing focused ones are usually advertised in Natural BBing & Fitness Magazine. The more ‘cerebral’ ones are usual form my brother (the DPT), and are occasionally given at the sports performance center where he works. I’ll try to post up info in the future. Last time I did, I don’t think too many folks lived nearby (although, I’m in NY and usually find myself driving to Jersey for these sorts of things).

MARTYH - Ya know, I keep wavering on that issue. My last week is going to be based on Thib’s ‘6 days’ article, and he does recommend using an OTC diuretic, but the idea does freak me out a bit. I’ve got a few weeks to consider what to do with that, and in regards to creatine use as well.

Update - Today, I actually noticed some slight ‘cuts’ in my intercoastals. No, not ribs like so many idiots think are muscles, but actual definition in the oblique-areas that I’ve been oh so unhappy with. Yes, I was looking damn hard, but they were there! My partner Corey said so, and he’d never give me a compliment unless it was true… and small (he’s determined to make me work damn hard for this! -lol).

In the meantime, some pics from tonight… down to 177 lbs, and 6 weeks to go!

S

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Some practice of my “turns” (don’t like the front one)

S

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Damn, man. Lookin’ shredded.

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Good job Stu. I can see your last set of posing pics but not your turns. They’re small, but I can tell your looking sharp. At 177, you’ve come along way. Not that it matters, but where do you see yourself on stage, weight wise?

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Looking good Stu!