Better to be ahead of schedule. Not only is the slower short heavier sled work more fun but it is damn effective.
Good looking stuff as usual.
How much higher than your normal calories are you refeeds?
[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
Better to be ahead of schedule. Not only is the slower short heavier sled work more fun but it is damn effective.
Good looking stuff as usual.
How much higher than your normal calories are you refeeds?[/quote]
Yes, it is good to be ahead of schedule.
I think the sled work is effective as well, I love it.
Refeeds are typically 2 cups of brown rice with 1 cup whole milk and almost 1/2 raisins mixed in (basically a rice pudding). It comes to around 1800 calories. Right now, I am taking in around 3000. So a 60 percent increase! Not nearly as epic as your daily consumption, but it works, lol.
Only up 1 pound from the refeed
TODAY’S WORKOUT
Deadlift - AR: Stiff Arm Band Holds
358.5 x 5, 5 sets
306 x 5
OH Press - AR: Inverted Glute Ham (BWx10, 5 sets)
147.5 x 5, 6 sets
- The inverted glute ham is a suspended bridge leg curl on my suspension trainer. Video below for anyone who is confused (in the video I did them occluded, I am not currently doing them occluded).
4 rounds of the following:
a) Maltese Cross Hold - 3 reps and holds
b) OH Press 120x1
c) DB Curl with Fat Gripz 22x5, pause at bottom but maintaining tension on biceps, then explode up and pause/squeeze at top
d) Box Jump x 2
Deadlift and OH Press both felt awesome, really tight and explosive.
Box jumps were a nice addition. Quads were a bit fatigued from recent training additions, i.e. vertical jumps and sprinting. Quads are heavily involved in decelerating the body on landing a jump and slowing down from a sprint, which creates some decent micro trauma.
I decided to pick a box height to jump to that would almost completely eliminate any stress on landing. I also made sure it wasn’t too high, because than the focus of the jump becomes hip flexion instead of full body extension. I think I nailed the height because the jumps felt great and put zero eccentric stress on my quads.
I love finishing the workout with lighter/very explosive exercises, leaves you feeling great.
Tuesday Evening
Tire Drags - Legs plus Vertical Jumps and Upper Body plus holds
- I stopped doing holds for the lower body right now because the lunge hold was killing my groin. I wonder if I was pulling my legs together too hard?!?
Wednesday - lunch break
Squat (+50 pounds chains) - AR: Band bicep curl hold
220x5
242.5x5, 4 sets
Bench Press (+50 pounds chains) - AR: Front Lever Holds
170x5
185x5, 3 sets
170x5
4 rounds of the following (plus a 5th set of dips)
a) Ring Dips, BW x 7
b) Suspended OH Tricep Extension BWx6
c) Bench (+50 pounds chains) using Fat Gripz, 140x1
d) Inverted Row BWx4 with 4 second isometric hold on final rep
Threw in some vertical jumps throughout the workout
- Squats felt better today than they did last week.
Thursday
[i]Morning[/i]
Walked dog, popped some caffeine (200mg) prior to the walk. I haven’t consumed any thermogenics this entire cut and the only caffeine I get is from green tean which is quite mild. So I felt like I was on speed, I was practically dragging my dog along, lol.
Lunch Break
Deadlift plus Chains (+50 pounds) - AR: Stiff Arm Band Lat Holds
322.5 (+50) x 5, 5 sets
OH Press - AR: Inverted Glute Ham (BWx10, 2 set, BWx8 3 sets) and Box Jump x 1
130, 140x5
152.5x5, 4 sets
Chinup
BW+45x6, 3 sets
3 rounds (plus 4th set of Maltese Hold)
a) Maltese Hold, 3 reps
b) OH Press 120x1
c) Box Jump x 1
-
Deadlifts felt really solid. Energy levels are good. Hoping to get in some tire dragging later
-
Shaved down last night, still have to trim armpits and a few, ahem, other areas, but almost totally bald.
Thursday Evening
Tire Dragging legs + Vertical Jump
Tire Dragging upperbody + Band Holds
Night Show Posing
Friday
Morning
Dog walk + caffeine
Lunch Break
Squat - AR: Band Pull Apart Holds
277.5x5, 3 sets
245x5, 2 sets
Bench - AR: Front Lever Holds and Box Jumps
216.5x5, 4 sets
195x5
4 rounds of the following
A) Ring Dips - BWx7
B) Inverted Row on Rings - BWx4, isometric hold for 4 seconds on last rep
C) Paused Bench with Fat Gripz 170x1
D) Vertical Jump x 1
-
Continuing to hit the mandatory poses daily for at least 3 sets of 10 seconds for each pose
-
I shed some water recently, from 178 two days ago to 175 (new low for this cut) today. I mostly hold water in my legs, as a result, my legs looked decent (much tighter) this morning upon waking.
Nice work man, Legs are the hardest to get those deep cuts in for many people, I know you can bring 'em out though
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Nice work man, Legs are the hardest to get those deep cuts in for many people, I know you can bring 'em out though[/quote]
Thanks Lonnie!
Friday Evening
Tire Dragging lowerbody plus Vertical Jumps
Tire Dragging upperbody plus holds
Saturday - 3 weeks out
Squat with Chains - some reps paused in the hole, trying to be explosive
235 (+50) x3, 10 sets
superset with
OH Press
127.5x3, 10 sets
Arms: 30 seconds rest
Band Bicep Curl Hold, 3 sets
Remainder of Bicep work done with Fat Gripz
Wide Preacher Curl
47.5x10, 10, 10
Narrow Barbell Curl
47.5x10, 10, 10
Inc DB Curl
14x10, 10
Band Tricep Extension
4 sets of 10
Suspended OH Extension
4 sets of 8
Floor Press - also with Fat Gripz
135x10, 4 sets
Posing Practice
Exactly 3 weeks out today and I am feeling great. I had an awesome training week. I partially attribute this to several things:
- Foam rolling my IT band and tennis balling my back last Sunday
- Kicking the week off with a refeed on Monday
- Scaling back volume slightly
I am continuing to shed water from my legs and I woke up at 174 this morning. Target weight this week was 176 so another refeed is in order today. Foam rolled IT band again and rolled the tennis ball up and down the spinal area. I feel wonderful right now; I feel loose in terms of no tight muscles or joints, I feel very crisp and dry in terms of water retention, and my muscles feel full due to the refeed.
Weekend
Walked my dog both days
Sunday did some vertical jumps and plyo-pushups. However, I hurt my shoulder doing the plyo-pushups. I have no problem with plyo-pushups, but I need to stop doing “new” stimuli this close to my show. Just like last weekend when I sprinted and left my legs sore for days. I have 19 days left, I need to just chill out, lol. I wasn’t doing the plyo-pushup for anything related to the bodybuildig contest, just doing it for the neural charge on an otherwise off day.
Monday - 19 days until I step on stage
Morning
Caffeine + Dog Walk (as many hills as I could find)
Lunch Break
Squat - normally I do delt AR, but I just rested since the face pulls hurt my delt
280x5, 3 sets
245x5, 2 sets
- Squat is feeling wonderful right now; depth is there, body/form is tight, speed out of the hole is good and I am finishing really strong.
Bench with Chains (+50 pounds) - AR: Front Lever Holds
145x5, 6 sets - final 3 sets with fat gripz
- Normally, I do regular bench press on Monday, but shoulder was hurting from the idiotic plyo-pushups I did this weekend. So I went with the chains since it takes off some pressure from the shoulder.
Triset: 4 rounds (with 5th set of Dips)
A) Ring Dips - BWx7
B) Inverted Row on Rings - BWx4, isometric hold for 4 seconds on last rep
C) Bench 145 (+5) x 1 - using fat gripz
D) Vertical Jump
Diet update
Still taking in almost 3k calories and nearly 300 grams of carbs, poor me. ; )
Bodyweight is exactly on track at 175.9 for the average this week (goal was 176).
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Still taking in almost 3k calories and nearly 300 grams of carbs, poor me. ; )
[/quote]
Damn. That’s impressive.
Any idea how many hours/week total you are spending on “conditioning” work?
Keep it up man. Try to stay out of your own way and stop hurting yourself 
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Still taking in almost 3k calories and nearly 300 grams of carbs, poor me. ; )
[/quote]
Damn. That’s impressive.
Any idea how many hours/week total you are spending on “conditioning” work?
Keep it up man. Try to stay out of your own way and stop hurting yourself :)[/quote]
Ha, ha, thanks.
Up until few days ago, I was walking my dog 2 or 3 times per week for 30 minutes each walk.
Additionally, I would drag the tire for 30 minutes and I was usually getting in 3 sessions per week.
That’s it. 90 minutes of sled work and 60 to 90 minutes of walking. I spend 35 minutes x 5 weekdays in the gym plus a 60 minute session on Saturday for just under 4 hours (235 minutes) of weight training for the week. ** The sprints last weekend were a stupid experiment and will not be done again **
In all honestly, I feel pretty blessed to be able to achieve what I am achieving while doing minimal conditioning work (as compared to what I have seen from many people in contest prep mode) and still eating a fair amount. Total activity for the week has been anywhere from 6 to 7 hours.
However, these last few weeks I am adding in some dog walks for a little extra bonus fasted cardio. I am also taking a caffiene pill before the walk (200 mg) to further help my body release any stubborn fat that may be left.
I have not used a single thermogenic up until taking caffeine for last Thursday’s walk (March 29th) and I only will use this caffeine and dog walk combo for the next two weeks. Contest prep week will be a different animal entirely.
Thanks for checking in Serge!
So what do you do during the day then if you total workout hours (conditioning + weight lifting) is 6-7hrs? I competely believe that 90% of people who are healthy have pretty close to the same metablosim (+/- 5-10%) so are you fairly active (NEPA) the rest of the day or are you the annomly with an actually crazy high metabolism?
Great work man. Cant wait to see you do this show. You are come in, with crazy conditioning.
[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
So what do you do during the day then if you total workout hours (conditioning + weight lifting) is 6-7hrs? I competely believe that 90% of people who are healthy have pretty close to the same metablosim (+/- 5-10%) so are you fairly active (NEPA) the rest of the day or are you the annomly with an actually crazy high metabolism?
[/quote]
I don’t think I am very active outside of training. For one, I have a desk job. And although I am an active father, many times playing with my two boys is simply board games or playing on the floor with action figures, not exactly taxing physically. Sometimes it is bike riding or running around outside, but that depends on the weather. Plus, usually when it is nice outside, they are more likely to be playing with the neighborhood kids rather than with dad. So that leaves me chilling out reading a book or talking with my wife, again not burning a ton of calories there.
I think there are a few things that contribute to the fast metabolism.
-
I’ve been training at 11:00 am for a long time now. That means even though I work a desk job until 3:30pm, my metabolism is already boosted even while I sit there from 12 to 3:30pm, because of the lunch break training.
-
Plus I think there is something to be said for how adaptive our bodies are, I’ve been a big eater for as long as I can remember, so my body is sort of used to the higher intake. That may be completely anecdotal but it makes sense to me, lol.
I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.
[quote]ryanbCXG wrote:
Great work man. Cant wait to see you do this show. You are come in, with crazy conditioning.[/quote]
Thanks. I am ready for it.
Speaking of conditioning, have you seen Lonnie123’s log? He’s sporting some nice conditioning in his hamstrings in his latest pictures.
It inspired me to inspect my hamstrings. Sure enough, I finally have separation/detail on them. It is pretty exciting. I am currently sitting at 175 pounds, a full 5 pounds heavier than I was during my last cut, but with better conditioning (and I’d even venture to say much better regarding the legs). That tells me I gained some solid weight, maybe even 10 pounds over 2011.
I just hope to be able to display the hamstring detail. It is not easy to get them to “pop”. The rear relaxed is pretty easy. With both feet planted, it is easy to pull the floor together. But on the rear lat and rear double bicep, with one foot spiked, you have less of a base of contact with which to exert force pulling the floor together. I played around and was able to nail it, but that was with 100% concentration. Not sure what it will be like when I am on stage, surrounded by other competitors and nervous!
Tuesday - 18 days to BRING IT!
Deadlift - AR: Stiff Arm Band Hold
361x5, 5 sets
311x5
OH Press - AR: Inverted Glute Ham (BWx10, 2 sets, BWx8, 3 sets)
148.5x5, 6 sets
4 rounds of the following:
a) Maltese Cross Hold, 3 reps
b) OH Press 120x1
c) DB Curl with Fat Gripz 22x5, pause at bottom but maintaining tension on biceps, then explode up and pause/squeeze at top
d) Box Jump x 2
- Everything felt great!
Thanks for the kind words Tim. Cant wait to see what a little “drying out” will do for the detail as well.
I can’t believe you’re “only” putting in 6-7 hours a week. I’ve routinely been over 10 for months now, most of it pretty high intensity (meaning wind-sucking prowler/sled work, performance training, Metabolic Circuits, etc…) - AND you’re eating like 1000 calories more than me a day… Damn, I wonder if my metabolism is just that shitty 
Cant wait to see your pictures from the show, going to be awesome
Good stuff man. You are gonna kill it!
@ Lonnie
Hopefully INDIGO will help fix that and allow you to eat a bit more.
I am going to try and get up a 2 weeks out video this weekend.
@ Wallstrt
Thanks!
Wednesday - 17 days until I’m on stage
Morning
Caffeine + Dog Walk + Vertical Jumps
Lunch Break
Squat (+50 chains) - AR: Band bicep curl hold
245x5, 4 sets
220x5
Bench Press - AR: Front Lever Holds
217.5x5, 3 sets
197.5x5, 2 sets
4 rounds of the following (plus a 5th set of dips)
a) Ring Dips, BW x 7
b) Suspended OH Extension BWx8
c) Inverted Row BWx4 with 4 second isometric hold on final rep
d) Bench 170x1
e) Vertical Jump x 1
f) Explosive Leg Extension (eccentric de-emphasized) x 5 reps
SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT PRE-JUDGING FOR THE BODYBUILDING VETERANS
-
How long is prejudging typically?
-
What is the longest prejudging you have personally experienced?
-
What is the longest you have held a pose during the mandatories?
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT PRE-JUDGING FOR THE BODYBUILDING VETERANS[/b]
-
How long is prejudging typically?
-
What is the longest prejudging you have personally experienced?
-
What is the longest you have held a pose during the mandatories?[/quote]
1 - Can be quick - I won an open class back in 2010 with one set of mandatories. I started on the very end, was immediately placed in the middle, for a relatively quick (5 mins tops) run through and then “Thank you very much Gentlemen.” Usually, you’re gonna be there for about 10-15 mins on average. Picking out the top 3 is usually pretty quick, but good judges will also take their time with the remaining competitors as they’ve worked hard as well, and deserve a good looking over.
2 - For the open class in my first show (2009), there were 15 guys out there, and it seemed like a good half hour of constant flexing, grimacing, and sweating. Not fun at all, but you learn which muscles you can ‘relax’ and which ones you can never let up on (and learn to smile through the pain as well! -lol)
3 - I’ve never seen someone have to hold a pose longer than 30 seconds,… BUT the relaxed poses are fully flexed as well, and should be practiced IMO for up to 2 minutes at a stretch during your prep. (This will help your conditioning as well!)
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
1 - Can be quick - I won an open class back in 2010 with one set of mandatories. I started on the very end, was immediately placed in the middle, for a relatively quick (5 mins tops) run through and then “Thank you very much Gentlemen.” Usually, you’re gonna be there for about 10-15 mins on average. Picking out the top 3 is usually pretty quick, but good judges will also take their time with the remaining competitors as they’ve worked hard as well, and deserve a good looking over.
2 - For the open class in my first show (2009), there were 15 guys out there, and it seemed like a good half hour of constant flexing, grimacing, and sweating. Not fun at all, but you learn which muscles you can ‘relax’ and which ones you can never let up on (and learn to smile through the pain as well! -lol)
3 - I’ve never seen someone have to hold a pose longer than 30 seconds,… BUT the relaxed poses are fully flexed as well, and should be practiced IMO for up to 2 minutes at a stretch during your prep. (This will help your conditioning as well!)
S[/quote]
As always, I really appreciate the input Stu.
I will hope for #1 and prepare for #2.
Regarding #3, I’ve recently been practicing hitting poses for 20 seconds (counting in my head, but I have pretty good rhythm and I think am accurate) so I feel pretty good regarding the mandatories.
However, for the relaxed poses, I have NOT been practicing them for 2 minutes! Time to start increasing my time on those.
Wednesday Evening
Band Holds + Vertical Jumps
Posing practice - in particular getting hamstrings to “pop” on the rear poses
Light tire dragging session
Thursday - 16 days
Morning
Dog Walk + Caffeine
Lunch Break
Deadlift plus Chains (+50) - AR: Stiff Arm Lat Holds
325 (+50) x5, 5 sets
OH Press - AR: Box Jump x 1 and Explosive Leg Extension x 5
130, 140x5
153.5x5, 4 sets
Chinup
BW+46x6, 3 sets
4 rounds
a) Maltese Hold, 3 reps
b) OH Press 120x1
c) Box Jump x 1
d) Explosive Leg Extension
- I was winning the activation vs. fatigue battle on the explosive leg extensions. My last few sets were better than my first ones. The weight pads were flying off my legs I was exploding so hard. I can definitely bump the weight up and still keep it explosive.
Thursday Evening
Tire Dragging legs + Vertical Jump + Holds
Tire Dragging upperbody
Friday
Squat w/ Band Pull Apart Holds
282.5x5, 3 sets
247.5x5, 2 sets
Bench
217.5x5, 3 sets
197.5x5, 2 sets
superset with Front Lever Holds
Triset: 5 rounds
A) Inverted Row on Rings - BWx4, isometric hold for 4 seconds on last rep
B) Ring Dips - BWx7
C) Paused Bench with Fat Gripz 170x1
D) Vertical Jump x 2
Friday Late Afternoon
Light Tire Dragging Session
Saturday - 2 weeks out
Squat with Chains - some reps paused in the hole, trying to be explosive
237.5 (+50) x3, 10 sets
superset with
OH Press
130x3, 10 sets
Arms: 30 seconds rest
Band Bicep Curl Hold, 3 sets
Remainder of Bicep work done with Fat Gripz
Wide Preacher Curl
48.5x10, 10, 8
Narrow Barbell Curl
487.5x10, 8, 7
Inc DB Curl
15x9, 8
Band Tricep Extension
4 sets of 10
Suspended OH Extension
4 sets of 8
Floor Press - also with Fat Gripz
136x10, 4 sets
Saturday Afternoon
Tire Dragging + Vertical Jumps + Holds
Sunday
Band Holds + Vertical Jumps
Foam Rolling
Monday - 12 days until I step on stage
Morning
Caffeine + Dog Walk + Vertical Jumps
Lunch Break
Squat
285x5, 2 sets
245x5, 3 sets
Bench
218.5x5, 2 sets
200x5, 3 sets
superset with Front Lever Holds
Triset: 5 rounds (with 6th set of Dips)
A) Ring Dips - BWx7
B) Inverted Row on Rings - BWx4, isometric hold for 4 seconds on last rep
C) Bench 175 with Fat Gripz
D) Vertical Jump