Good to see the check in Tim, always a pleasure to check in and see what the other competitors are up to
@ Lemony2j
“REAL real life” - I like that, can I use that? : )
My motivation fluctuated a bit after the 3.5 year came and I was missing some workouts. However, you have to take the lemons life gives you and make lemonade (yes I chose that pun because of your username). The way I made lemonade was to start hitting weakpoints on days that would usually be off days.
Before the young new addition came to our house, I would rarely have off days, becuase there was no excuse for off days (ample rest and freetime). But the bad aspect was that I would RARELY ever hit weak points because I enjoyed cycling through my Push, Pull, Leg split and hitting the big stuff so much.
But now, if I miss a full workout due to time constraints, I use it as opportunity to throw in a quick bodyweight calves session, or high rep DB delt work. Also, my arms have finally been getting some attention. They are an ideal morning workout for me because:
- Don’t have to be too awake or amped up to start an arm workout
- No heavy weights to clang around and wake up my family since I workout in the basement
I think you will find the mini cut rejuvenates you mentally. I haven’t implemented it yet, just cleaned up the bulk and already my mid-section is harder (so I guess at least some of the softness was just bloat).
Yes I will definitely do another contest prep when I am ready to compete again.
Do you have any plans to compete?
I have tried PM’ing people as well, I guess it just doesn’t work anymore. Not sure why.
@ rds and Lemony
Thanks, I worked hard to hit that level of conditioning. Hopefully next contest will be the same conditioning but with more mass.
@ Lonnie
Thanks!
And from the Live Spill 2/18:
CT: Exactly… and from experience it is always easier to add quality muscle when already lean. And it is also easier to judge your improvements and what adjustments you need to make
Always nice to get confirmation on my plans.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
@ Lemony2j
“REAL real life” - I like that, can I use that? : )
My motivation fluctuated a bit after the 3.5 year came and I was missing some workouts. However, you have to take the lemons life gives you and make lemonade (yes I chose that pun because of your username). The way I made lemonade was to start hitting weakpoints on days that would usually be off days.
Before the young new addition came to our house, I would rarely have off days, becuase there was no excuse for off days (ample rest and freetime). But the bad aspect was that I would RARELY ever hit weak points because I enjoyed cycling through my Push, Pull, Leg split and hitting the big stuff so much.
But now, if I miss a full workout due to time constraints, I use it as opportunity to throw in a quick bodyweight calves session, or high rep DB delt work. Also, my arms have finally been getting some attention. They are an ideal morning workout for me because:
- Don’t have to be too awake or amped up to start an arm workout
- No heavy weights to clang around and wake up my family since I workout in the basement
I think you will find the mini cut rejuvenates you mentally. I haven’t implemented it yet, just cleaned up the bulk and already my mid-section is harder (so I guess at least some of the softness was just bloat).
Yes I will definitely do another contest prep when I am ready to compete again.
Do you have any plans to compete?
I have tried PM’ing people as well, I guess it just doesn’t work anymore. Not sure why.
@ rds and Lemony
Thanks, I worked hard to hit that level of conditioning. Hopefully next contest will be the same conditioning but with more mass.
@ Lonnie
Thanks!
And from the Live Spill 2/18:
CT: Exactly… and from experience it is always easier to add quality muscle when already lean. And it is also easier to judge your improvements and what adjustments you need to make
Always nice to get confirmation on my plans.
[/quote]
Thats great that you’re keeping such a positive outlook on the training side of things.
Is the p/p/l split the same as you were doing for the prep? Are you planning to change that at all?
Yes I do plan to compete, my excuse for not competing yet is I need to keep adding mass as I’m quite tall and my last mock contest prep diet was a very humbling experience in terms of how much lbm I actually had!
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
@ where the bulk phase gradually loses effectiveness. Obviously, making the cycles too short would not be efficient either and you’d just be shifting water weight and glycogen. So the happy medium must be found. Not sure where that lies, but hopefully some experimentation on myself will yield some answers.
[/quote]
Good to see an update, Tim!
Great points you made above. Let us know when you find that happy medium. I’d like to find a way to remain in a continuous slight gaining mode without ANY major shifts in water/glycogen, but I do feel that it’s probably more effective to coax gains to come in spurts and to purposely shift that water and glycogen to encourage those spurts.
[quote]lemony2j wrote:
Thats great that you’re keeping such a positive outlook on the training side of things.
Is the p/p/l split the same as you were doing for the prep? Are you planning to change that at all?
Yes I do plan to compete, my excuse for not competing yet is I need to keep adding mass as I’m quite tall and my last mock contest prep diet was a very humbling experience in terms of how much lbm I actually had!
[/quote]
No, the split is using CT’s layers, so more time spent with one exercise than before. I have gravitated toward more focus on one exercise at various times in the past and I always enjoy it. So when the layers began to be discussed, I was enthusiastic to try it.
Most of my workouts occur over 35 to 40 minutes on my lunch break, thus sticking with one exercise and eliminating lots of set up and moving weight plates allows me to get in more volume.
I understand your excuse believe me! If someone would have told me when I started my first cut (in 2010) that I would have ended up at 170, I would have told them they were crazy and I would be emaciated! Count me in if you ever start a contest prep thread.
One tip, save up some money, competing isn’t cheap.
[quote]Serge A. Storms wrote:
Good to see an update, Tim!
Great points you made above. Let us know when you find that happy medium. I’d like to find a way to remain in a continuous slight gaining mode without ANY major shifts in water/glycogen, but I do feel that it’s probably more effective to coax gains to come in spurts and to purposely shift that water and glycogen to encourage those spurts. [/quote]
Thanks Serge!
I like the avatar btw. I am assuming that is you with your daughter?
I will definitely let you know if I find the happy medium, but it could take awhile.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
[quote]lemony2j wrote:
Thats great that you’re keeping such a positive outlook on the training side of things.
Is the p/p/l split the same as you were doing for the prep? Are you planning to change that at all?
Yes I do plan to compete, my excuse for not competing yet is I need to keep adding mass as I’m quite tall and my last mock contest prep diet was a very humbling experience in terms of how much lbm I actually had!
[/quote]
No, the split is using CT’s layers, so more time spent with one exercise than before. I have gravitated toward more focus on one exercise at various times in the past and I always enjoy it. So when the layers began to be discussed, I was enthusiastic to try it.
Most of my workouts occur over 35 to 40 minutes on my lunch break, thus sticking with one exercise and eliminating lots of set up and moving weight plates allows me to get in more volume.
I understand your excuse believe me! If someone would have told me when I started my first cut (in 2010) that I would have ended up at 170, I would have told them they were crazy and I would be emaciated! Count me in if you ever start a contest prep thread.
One tip, save up some money, competing isn’t cheap.[/quote]
hows the layer system been treating you- to me it sounds very interesting and fun/challenging but possibly not the most effective system for a physique competitor?
let me know your thoughts!
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
hows the layer system been treating you- to me it sounds very interesting and fun/challenging but possibly not the most effective system for a physique competitor?
let me know your thoughts!
[/quote]
Thanks for checking in!
I enjoy it thus far.
Here are my thoughts on the layers:
Well, first you are working up to a 1, 2 or 3 rep training max. I tend toward the 3 rep to get more volume. I am probably not at 90%, but maybe 87 or 88% intensity.
Roughly 6 to 9 reps above 80%
Then 3 sets of clusters with 90% of the training max you hit, 90% of 88% is 79%. I usually get about 5 to 8 reps each set.
Roughly 15 to 24 reps at 80%
Then 3 sets HDL with 60% of the initial 88% intensity, so 53% intensity. HDL sets are 20 rep rest pause sets.
60 reps at 53%
Then the pump layer is 40% of the ramp. Pretty light weight, but with the holds it does well to pump you up. A nice addition considering the recent study where people got decent hypertrophy with 30% 1RM.
I am getting in a good level of volume with a nice mix of heavy, moderate and light weights. In fact, I am getting way more volume at the lighter weights than I ever used to which should be good for hypertrophy.
Looking at more commonly accepted hypertrophy program like Layne Norton’s PHAT, I would have to guess (I was lazy and didn’t feel like crunching numbers) it has similar total volume at the various intensities.
Point being, there is more than one way to skin a cat. I am learning that for hypertrophy two main things are required (assuming recovery is in order and you don’t train like a moron):
- Sufficient volume
- Feeling the muscles work
Regarding #1, The layers are definitely allowing me to get in a good deal of volume in a short time period.
Regarding #2, that has mostly been a conscious effort on my part. But I think there is something to be said for repeatedly hammering the same exercise, as the pump gets bigger and bigger and fatigue sets in, it becomes quite easy to feel the muscles I want to work.
I am embarking on a mini-cut.
Bodyweight average this past week was 191.5, up 21 pounds since the contest (45 weeks ago). I feel pretty lean, but as discussed in some recent posts, it may be optimal to be a bit leaner in terms of promoting lean gains with minimal fat acumulation.
- It should be noted that although my average was 191.5 this past week. I started the diet at 195 after a fun birthday weekend of corned beef and cheesecake.
I don’t have any firm guidelines in terms of duration, going to go by the mirror.
Macros leading up to the mini-cut:
3637, 69, 502, 244 (cal, fat, carbs, protein)
Macros starting off the mini-cut:
2962, 68, 354, 231
Training is going very well right now. I did some posing for my wife and also showed her some older pictures (when I was at this same bodyweight) from 2011 and she felt I had made improvements in my arms and chest.
How long will the mini cut last? How much weight are you going to drop!
im jealous of your high carb intake!
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
How long will the mini cut last? How much weight are you going to drop!
im jealous of your high carb intake![/quote]
I’ve been a student of Berardi’s Massive Eating and G-Flux for years which gradually helped me ramp up my metabolism to the level it’s at now.
Well, I want the mirror to be the judge, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have some targets.
I am thinking around 6 weeks and 10 pounds.
The way I figure it, first week I will drop 3 to 4 pounds of mostly water. After that, I figure roughly 1 to 1.5 pounds of fat per week for another 5 weeks.
Take the averages: 3.5 first week plus 1.25/week x 5 = 9.75 pounds scale weight lost.
If it ends up being a bit more but my performance is great in the gym, then that’s OK.
If it ends up being less, but the mirror shows great progress, then that’s OK too, so the numbers aren’t set in stone.
Thanks for checking in Grind!
I just finished up a 6 week mini-cut - March 4 to April 15
It was very successful.
High weight immediately before the cut:
195
Weekly average before cut:
191.5
Low weight during last week of cut:
182
Weekly average last week:
183.3
Average weight dropped:
8.2 pounds (and a 13 pound difference between my high and low point).
Average weight loss per week:
1.4 pounds
Macros leading up to the mini-cut:
3637, 69, 502, 244 (cal, fat, carbs, protein)
Macros starting off the mini-cut:
2962, 68, 354, 231
Macros as I finish the mini-cut:
2328, 60, 231, 214
Macros as I head back to lean mass gains:
3263, 66, 424, 235
Looking in the mirror this morning weighing 182, obliques were very crisp, lower back and lats detailed and legs pretty defined. Holdouts were lower abs and glutes. For anyone who has dieted before, once you get fairly lean, the changes with each new pound dropped are pretty dramatic. I feel I could probably be stage ready if I lost 5 more pounds, and was 177. I was 170 on stage a year ago.
Training hasn’t always been the greatest this year due to the added responsibility and time constraints of fostering a child. Looking at a potential 7 pound lean mass gain is pleasing, but I honestly think I can do better over the next year. I am hoping to compete next April. We are done fostering in early June which will free up my time a lot.
WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENT
With my bodytype and fast metabolism, I find it pretty easy to strip weight/fat but much more challenging to add lean mass.
Thus, I find my time should definitely be spent attempting to make more gains. The lesson I learn from this experiment is that I would be better served going a bit harder but shorter. I think I could safely have dropped the calories/carbs a bit more at the start and only cut for 4 weeks (maybe even 3), but still aimed for about the same weight/fat loss (close to 10 pounds).
I will likely employ this strategy after another 3.5 months of lean gains. I am going on vacation in late August, so August 1st (or there abouts) I will try a stricter and shorter mini-cut and again share my results.
If all goes well, I will be a solid mid 190’s by August 1st and then look to cut back to mid 180’s for vacation. After vacation, would be an extended period of lean mass gains.
Interesting thanks for sharing. I just began a 6 week mini cut last week and I went from 4200 cals to 3000 cals for that first week and I lost 8 pounds!! Obviously a great deal of this was water/glycogen but I feel I should have only lowered the cals to ~3500. This is the first cut I’ve done when tracking calories though. Anyway the point I’m getting to is don’t you feel a faster approach as you mentioned will lead to more muscle loss?
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
I just finished up a 6 week mini-cut - March 4 to April 15
It was very successful.
High weight immediately before the cut:
195
Weekly average before cut:
191.5
Low weight during last week of cut:
182
Weekly average last week:
183.3
Average weight dropped:
8.2 pounds (and a 13 pound difference between my high and low point).
Average weight loss per week:
1.4 pounds
Macros leading up to the mini-cut:
3637, 69, 502, 244 (cal, fat, carbs, protein)
Macros starting off the mini-cut:
2962, 68, 354, 231
Macros as I finish the mini-cut:
2328, 60, 231, 214
Macros as I head back to lean mass gains:
3263, 66, 424, 235
Looking in the mirror this morning weighing 182, obliques were very crisp, lower back and lats detailed and legs pretty defined. Holdouts were lower abs and glutes. For anyone who has dieted before, once you get fairly lean, the changes with each new pound dropped are pretty dramatic. I feel I could probably be stage ready if I lost 5 more pounds, and was 177. I was 170 on stage a year ago.
Training hasn’t always been the greatest this year due to the added responsibility and time constraints of fostering a child. Looking at a potential 7 pound lean mass gain is pleasing, but I honestly think I can do better over the next year. I am hoping to compete next April. We are done fostering in early June which will free up my time a lot.
WHAT I WOULD DO DIFFERENT
With my bodytype and fast metabolism, I find it pretty easy to strip weight/fat but much more challenging to add lean mass.
Thus, I find my time should definitely be spent attempting to make more gains. The lesson I learn from this experiment is that I would be better served going a bit harder but shorter. I think I could safely have dropped the calories/carbs a bit more at the start and only cut for 4 weeks (maybe even 3), but still aimed for about the same weight/fat loss (close to 10 pounds).
I will likely employ this strategy after another 3.5 months of lean gains. I am going on vacation in late August, so August 1st (or there abouts) I will try a stricter and shorter mini-cut and again share my results.
If all goes well, I will be a solid mid 190’s by August 1st and then look to cut back to mid 180’s for vacation. After vacation, would be an extended period of lean mass gains.[/quote]
great work,
what do your meals look like when are having very high levels of carbs?
Ive bumped my intake up to 300 grams/day and i feel full and bloated all day. which isnt especially fun, but im glad im eating 300 g and being relatively lean.
[quote]lemony2j wrote:
Interesting thanks for sharing. I just began a 6 week mini cut last week and I went from 4200 cals to 3000 cals for that first week and I lost 8 pounds!! Obviously a great deal of this was water/glycogen but I feel I should have only lowered the cals to ~3500.[/quote]
When I take into account my high weight the day before I started my cut (195) and my weight on day 7 (189), then it looks similar to yours, 6 pounds the first week. That’s why I work on averages, I feel it is more informative. Especially when you consider the water/glycogen difference the first week.
[quote]lemony2j wrote:
This is the first cut I’ve done when tracking calories though. Anyway the point I’m getting to is don’t you feel a faster approach as you mentioned will lead to more muscle loss?[/quote]
Not on the short term, since I am only looking at 3 to 4 weeks. Plus, my overall intake is far from being extreme. I wwas still eating well over 2000 calories and over 200g carbs.
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
great work,
what do your meals look like when are having very high levels of carbs?
Ive bumped my intake up to 300 grams/day and i feel full and bloated all day. which isnt especially fun, but im glad im eating 300 g and being relatively lean.
[/quote]
Thanks!
My meals are boring. Currently I am eating 424 grams of carbs, then I just divide it evenly between breakfast, lunch and dinner (minus PWO). I take in about 92g PWO, so that leaves 332g for the other 3 meals, so roughly 110g at each meal. I used to do Intermittent Fasting, but as I got to really high carb levels, it because too much to eat in a shortened time frame, so I just started dividing it up evenly throughout the day.
I feel full and sometimes bloated, but it comes with trying to gain weight. It can be fun when you are still lean but super full and your detailed abs are sticking out on a “pregnant belly”, look like an IFBB pro all hopped up on GH.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
great work,
what do your meals look like when are having very high levels of carbs?
Ive bumped my intake up to 300 grams/day and i feel full and bloated all day. which isnt especially fun, but im glad im eating 300 g and being relatively lean.
[/quote]
Thanks!
My meals are boring. Currently I am eating 424 grams of carbs, then I just divide it evenly between breakfast, lunch and dinner (minus PWO). I take in about 92g PWO, so that leaves 332g for the other 3 meals, so roughly 110g at each meal. I used to do Intermittent Fasting, but as I got to really high carb levels, it because too much to eat in a shortened time frame, so I just started dividing it up evenly throughout the day.
I feel full and sometimes bloated, but it comes with trying to gain weight. It can be fun when you are still lean but super full and your detailed abs are sticking out on a “pregnant belly”, look like an IFBB pro all hopped up on GH.[/quote]
favorite carb sources?
pretty much all i do is cooked oats, raw oats, brown rice, Ezekiel bread.
i loved the cooked oats but man they can be filling (will remember for next time i diet)
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
favorite carb sources?
pretty much all i do is cooked oats, raw oats, brown rice, Ezekiel bread.
i loved the cooked oats but man they can be filling (will remember for next time i diet)
[/quote]
I used to eat oatmeal until it came out of my eyes! I think it is a great carb, but I now prefer rice (white or brown) because I got sick of oats. I mix the rice with a bit of milk and cinnamon (and raisins sometimes).
I have a rice cooker in my office so I can cook up my daily portion at work.
I can enjoy potatoes when my wife makes them, but they aren’t my favorite.
That’s about it, I don’t really have any other carb sources, except dextrose in my PWO shake.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
favorite carb sources?
pretty much all i do is cooked oats, raw oats, brown rice, Ezekiel bread.
i loved the cooked oats but man they can be filling (will remember for next time i diet)
[/quote]
I used to eat oatmeal until it came out of my eyes! I think it is a great carb, but I now prefer rice (white or brown) because I got sick of oats. I mix the rice with a bit of milk and cinnamon (and raisins sometimes).
I have a rice cooker in my office so I can cook up my daily portion at work.
I can enjoy potatoes when my wife makes them, but they aren’t my favorite.
That’s about it, I don’t really have any other carb sources, except dextrose in my PWO shake.[/quote]
i really enjoy oats 1st thing in the morning with 20 g of natty Pb, Cinnamon, and stevia. Also i eat them post workout with Raw honey, blue berries, cinnamon and Whey which is enjoyable…but then comes the bloat! haha, oh well cant complain i was freaking dying when i dieting for my show.
Man grind and tim you guys are right about the oats and rice.I do the same with my rice,oats etc.To me it’s like dessert haha.With these 2 who needs other carb source’s.