[quote]iplan wrote:
In ~~~ looking forward to following this contest prep thread.
BTW: Grind, you should change your avatar to one of your more recent poses. Up until I read this thread, I assumed you weighed about 135 lbs (based on that avatar)[/quote]
hows the new avi?
i weigh less in this avatar then i did in the old one lol
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
You said you’ve worked a lot on improving your strength in the Squat, DL, and Decline pressing.
Any particular method you are using to do so, like a plan of progression? Or just kind of going by feel?
Looking sick in the newest picture by the way. Ridiculous progress. [/quote]
great question, so here’s a perhaps a bit of a long winded answer
i approached each lift for progression a bit differently.
lets start with everyones favorite, the squat;
I feel this has always been a good movement for me to grow quads, and for a good chunk of time i used the big beyond beleif system to get this lift stronger. After i stepped off stage in novemeber, i stole the two rep and set ranges from BBB, 8-10 and 13-15 for sets of 3-5 with rest periods of 60-120 seconds, also utilizing the top set and back off sets that people have adapted for that program. Make no mistake, this is where i got A LOT of quad growth. However, me personally, can only progress for so long with that sceheme until my back gets injured. Its just too insane to do for prolonged periods. So i searched for something more sustainable. which i eventually just settled on linear progression, with no hard plan, basically id take a shot at 275 for a top set, get maybe 15 reps, then do some back off sets to keep volume a bit higher, then next week 295, next week 315 etc. After i stepped off stage in november i had not back squated in months due to a back injury, so when i first squatted again, the most i could do was 225x7. yup thats it, at a bodyweight of 181. pretty pathetic. within months i could do 315x7 again. so yeah the legs responded well to that.
next up deadlift;
always had back issues with the deadlift too, so this year i put a premium on MORE VOLUME, MORE FREQUENCY, lighter weights and very little GRINDING REPS. i actually did a charity deadlift only meet and increased from 405 to 440 in 4 weeks just from working with 315 for triples and 365 for sets of doubles. used about 10 sets each on thrusday and saturday. focussing a lot on technique.
decline presses’;
the problem with me in the past with presses was that i could NEVER feel my pecs working.it just didnt come as natural as getting a huge quad, or back pump, or shoulder pump. so with this lift i primarily used sets of 8 and really focussed on feeling the pecs, which yes took some weight off the bar\ dumbells. I used a mountain dog type thing, like 4x8 with a static weight. I feel this has helped me chest progression a lot.
as for what i mdoing right now for these lifts, im keeping the sets and reps exact same for decline pressing, but for squat and deadlift , oh and incline pressing too. ive been following a set and weight progression that goes like this. week 1 3 sets of 8, week two, same weight as last week but 5x5, week three, add 10 lbs 4x4, week four, add 10 lbs 3x3—then repeat. So far its been working well, almost in contest shape and all my lifts are holding up quite well[/quote]
Thanks for taking the time to write all that. I too did BBB for a long time, so Quads are a strong point for me as well. the progression plan is interesting, I may have to steal it for Squats, Decline, and OHP. Thanks for that.
I know you said you added only about 20 lbs during the off-season from your stage weight. Was it just slow, gradual progress, 2 pounds a month? Or did it come in spurts? Like were you just in a steady surplus through out and made adjustments?
Sorry if I’m asking too many questions, just seems like you’ve done a lot of things right lately so curious to learn lol[/quote]
yup, you got it, tried to stay as close to gaining 2 lbs a month as i could. Its tough to make it happen exactly like that, but if you are steady with your diet, its possible to get pretty damn close to those numbers. I started off in with a pretty minimal amount of food, i think i started at 150 grams carbs, and by the end of it was eating around 400. eventually one week my metabolism just kept improviing and i was able to add like 25 grams of carbs to my diet every week for a while until i was gaining again.
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
[quote]iplan wrote:
In ~~~ looking forward to following this contest prep thread.
BTW: Grind, you should change your avatar to one of your more recent poses. Up until I read this thread, I assumed you weighed about 135 lbs (based on that avatar)[/quote]
hows the new avi?
i weigh less in this avatar then i did in the old one lol[/quote]
I like it! but nearly anything is better than what you had up there (lol) ~~~~ I’m 6’0" ~ so we are nearly the same height, but because of the angle of the camera in that other avatar, I generally assumed you were a 15 year old kid (who was just into bodybuilding) ~
The best pose I’ve seen up here so far is your front double-bi ~~~~
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
tried to keep legs closer and bend knees less…i think its better now![/quote]
Awesome! I think that looks way better than your previous technique. Good work mate, I have had a good read of your previous logs etc, some fantastic progress! A good inspiration!
[quote]iplan wrote:
[quote]GrindOverMatter wrote:
[quote]iplan wrote:
In ~~~ looking forward to following this contest prep thread.
BTW: Grind, you should change your avatar to one of your more recent poses. Up until I read this thread, I assumed you weighed about 135 lbs (based on that avatar)[/quote]
hows the new avi?
i weigh less in this avatar then i did in the old one lol[/quote]
I like it! but nearly anything is better than what you had up there (lol) ~~~~ I’m 6’0" ~ so we are nearly the same height, but because of the angle of the camera in that other avatar, I generally assumed you were a 15 year old kid (who was just into bodybuilding) ~
The best pose I’ve seen up here so far is your front double-bi ~~~~ [/quote]
Haha I thought he looked pretty wide in the previous avi, definitely has improved but his previous avi never would have made me think he didn’t know what he’s doing 
Looking great.
Comparing your last prep with this one shows I think that going from chubby to comp level leanness in one go (typical prep time, 12-16weeks) is just not a good idea for a natty.
Hormones tanking and all that.
Do you have relatively long legs and arms (i.e., relatively short torso)?
[quote]infinite_shore wrote:
Looking great.
Comparing your last prep with this one shows I think that going from chubby to comp level leanness in one go (typical prep time, 12-16weeks) is just not a good idea for a natty.
Hormones tanking and all that.
Do you have relatively long legs and arms (i.e., relatively short torso)?[/quote]
im not sure, i guess my arms and legs are kind of long.
but yes, if you want to be a competing bodybuilder who cant use drugs to get ripped, i think you need to be in shooting distance of competition weight at all times.
Looking solid man, have been following.
Latest pics are great, and that one about a week ago comparing the year’s difference in progress really shows you how much you’re bringing such a better package this time out! I have a good feeling you’ll enjoy the outcome better at this year’s show!
S
Thanks guys!! new update on Monday!! getting leaner but things slowing down a bit. however I did hit a low of 178.6 yesterday
[quote]Builder wrote:
Looking solid man, have been following.[/quote]
Sorry to be off topic, but I like the avatar.
Hey Grind, hasn’t been a post in here for awhile…just checking in to see if everything’s still on track and going well for you buddy!
[quote]pwolves17 wrote:
Hey Grind, hasn’t been a post in here for awhile…just checking in to see if everything’s still on track and going well for you buddy![/quote]
had stalled on weight loss for a while but after making some cuts things picked up again … i was 177 yesterday…picture update coming soon
well after 5 tough days I dropped about 4 lbs… feeling a little depleted but nothing like last year. down 175 which is my Lowest weight ever recorded. shelby is giving me a burger and fries and desert tommorow night!
Looking tight, quads are sick! It looks like you have fairly long biceps, I wonder if you could show a little more peak by flexing them more fully…create a more acute angle with your forearm and bicep I guess is how I would word it
[quote]pwolves17 wrote:
Looking tight, quads are sick! It looks like you have fairly long biceps, I wonder if you could show a little more peak by flexing them more fully…create a more acute angle with your forearm and bicep I guess is how I would word it[/quote]
Yes!! I always fuck up.the arm position…kind of just trying ti snap those as quickly as I could before any of my neighbora saw lol… anyways feels good to be in this position 4 weeks out
good job man quads are looking hard as hell!
