Thanks pch2.
Skinny bastard isn’t he?
Did I mention tomorrow is carb day?
PS: Anyone know how to get drool off a keyboard?
[quote]pch2 wrote:
Court wrote:
ddot76 wrote:
Apparently the first pic didn’t work.
I want to force feed you a cheeseburger. It will only get worse in the next 5 weeks. Can I give you one after your show? Or maybe some chicken wings? Or deep fried something?
Geesh Court, you are mean.
Todd, sorry to drop into your log so late in the game, I just had to see who this kid that can count past 5 is. [/quote]
Hahaha. This is nice Court. I’ve been bugging him about cheeseburgers for weeks because I swear he’s going to weigh less than me soon! Plus he’s mean to me so I just get him back.
I’m so lucky to have a friend that can count past 5. I rock!
And Todd, as for the drool… don’t know what will get it off, but try wearing a bib.
178lbs this morning.
I had a strange weekend to say the least.
I’ll say this. Saturday was a completely bizarre day given how it began and how it ended. Although I did enjoy having carbs on Saturday after 10 straight days of 50g of PostWO carbs only. My carbs Saturday included raspberries, oatmeal, thai noodles, baby yukon golds, lindor chocolates and a Chocolate Ice Cream bar.
I trained Chest and Back Saturday afternoon and it was a pretty good one. I switched to the 2nd set of exercises in Thib’s OVT. My only issue was that Weighted Dips were bothering my shoulder so I stopped after 3 sets and did some low Cable Flyes paired with Hammer Strength Presses with 10secs of rest in between each exercise for 4 sets. Weight wasn’t the purpose. Getting a pump (with carbs) was.
Sunday I was supposed to train legs. I got into the gym late and when I did, there was a power failure. There were maybe 5 people training and I just couldn’t get my head into the right space to do squats, front squats, deads’s etc.
I hacked around on the Leg Press doing some unilateral work supersetting with unilateral extensions. I had a decent quad pump and they’re somewhat sore today. I also trained my calves before calling it a day. I played a good hour of hockey last night as well. No subs, 3 on 3 full rink, so I got some cardio in as well.
I wanted to ask a question that might illicit a response or two from someone reading this. How do you deal with your significant other when it comes to prepping for a contest? Given that you need to be very internally focused and that can come across as ‘selfish’ or ‘self-centered’ how do you balance the prep work with the relationship?
I completed my leg workout yesterday.
I started with Deadlifts, working my way up to failure.
After a few warm up sets at 225lbs, moved up.
A. Deadlifts
5 x 275lbs
5 x 325lbs
5 x 345lbs
3 x 355lbs
2 x 375lbs
1 x 395lbs
Failed @ 405lbs
B. SLDL
3 sets of 10 at 225lbs
C. Seated Leg Curls
12 x 120lbs
9 x 135lbs
11 x 135lbs
Had a little extra rest in between sets 2 and 3 during the Leg Curls.
D. Smith Machine Lunges
15 x 95lbs
12 x 135lbs
8 x 165lbs
Finished up with some single leg extensions again, just to get some more blood into my quads. Also supersetted cable crunches with bosu ball plate crunches to finish.
My legs are nice and sore today.
Today is Arm’s, tomorrow is Posing and Shoulders. I’ll also practice posing tonight. I only have two sessions left with my coach before she heads to Spain to compete.
[quote]ddot76 wrote:
I wanted to ask a question that might illicit a response or two from someone reading this. How do you deal with your significant other when it comes to prepping for a contest? Given that you need to be very internally focused and that can come across as ‘selfish’ or ‘self-centered’ how do you balance the prep work with the relationship?
[/quote]
I refuse to beat a dead horse, therefore I refuse to comment on this seriously.
Therefore I will respond with humor. Try hitting her.
[quote]Court wrote:
ddot76 wrote:
I wanted to ask a question that might illicit a response or two from someone reading this. How do you deal with your significant other when it comes to prepping for a contest? Given that you need to be very internally focused and that can come across as ‘selfish’ or ‘self-centered’ how do you balance the prep work with the relationship?
I refuse to beat a dead horse, therefore I refuse to comment on this seriously.
Therefore I will respond with humor. Try hitting her. [/quote]
That’s not funny, domestic violence is a serious matter. You should have Court hit her, or maybe kick her with those tree trunks she’s sporting.
Kicking would be better if Court was performing the act.
Her lack of pushing prowess is evident in her jabs and hooks.
[quote]ddot76 wrote:
Kicking would be better if Court was performing the act.
Her lack of pushing prowess is evident in her jabs and hooks. [/quote]
Even with my lack of pushing prowess I could break your girlfriend. Given her fondness of me, I think she’d turn so cold when she saw me I could flick her and she’d break 
[quote]Court wrote:
Given her fondness of me, I think she’d turn so cold when she saw me I could flick her and she’d break :D[/quote]
But you’re so sweet and innocent, why would anyone dislike you? It’s like hating kittens and rainbows.
[quote]ddot76 wrote:
I wanted to ask a question that might illicit a response or two from someone reading this. How do you deal with your significant other when it comes to prepping for a contest? Given that you need to be very internally focused and that can come across as ‘selfish’ or ‘self-centered’ how do you balance the prep work with the relationship?
[/quote]
You don’t know me from Adam’s housecat, but Court suggested I might reflect on my experience.
Has your girlfriend ever done anything similar? Gotten a Masters or competed in anything? Typically, being able to relate your feelings to something she’s experienced is remarkably helpful.
I say this because it has been my experience that when guys are faced with something approximating a trial, we tend to look inward; my experience has been that women seldom understand this unless they have something concrete upon which to base their understanding.
For instance, when we have a cold, we want to hide until presentable – most SOs want to take care of us, and we don’t want to be. If she understands the need to internalize, maybe she can relate to it.
I’ve made seven national teams in two sports – the prep for any event is much the same in that it’s often unpleasant, drawn out, and requires a lot of focus on the part of the participant. Any major life goal is similar, if she’s had to drive toward something. Yours just includes brief, self-induced starvation and hours in the gym.
My wife was a world-class cyclist, and therefore she understands. I may have to occasionally unload emotionally or ask her to shore me up physically in prep for a PL meet, and she knows that music. She simply asks what I need, which I usually convey less than elegantly (and apologize/suck up later.)
If you can talk with her about how you feel and what you need, it’ll go a long way. To an extent, you also have to be willing to set the baggage aside for brief periods and try to lose focus only so much as is required to convey to her that you care and want to be less of a pain. If you can’t do either of these things, it’ll be a long haul.
If nothing else, make sure she knows what the end date is so she can see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Is this even approaching what you were asking for?
Thanks sdspeedracer. That makes a whole lot of sense.
She’s definitely done her fair share of athletic events (half-marathons and such) but I’m not sure she committed the overall time to the event that is required when standing on stage at < 5% bodyfat. It’s not something that happens solely at the gym. She has often commented that she weighs less now than when she ran those half-marathons, so perhaps her diet wasn’t a primary focus and didn’t require her to make sacrifices leading up to the race.
She knows the end date. I keep saying ‘6 more weeks… 5 more weeks, etc’. And generally she’s pretty good about it, although when we do argue, it comes flying into the picture faster than WolBarret to a pancake house.
Again, I thank you for sharing. It’s good to know it’s not just me sometimes. I have less than 5 weeks left and I hope to be as accomodating as possible, but I still need to do what I have to do to be the best on that stage.
177.5lbs this morning.
Yesterday wasn’t the best day. I did my AM cardio. I ate clean but I was hungry and I went over my 2200 calories. I guess I can look at this negatively and reem myself out for not adhering to the program, or just move on and focus on today. I think I’ll do the latter.
I trained Arms yesterday but had limited time.
A1. Standing EZ Bar Curls
5 x 100lbs
5 x 100lbs
5 x 90lbs
5 x 90lbs
A2. Standing Alternating Arm Hammer Curls (Curling inwards to chest/chin)
4 x 5 x 25lbs
B1. Preacher Curls
5 x 80lbs
5 x 80lbs
5 x 80lbs
5 x 70lbs
B2. Hercules Curl
8 x 30lbs
5 x 35lbs
5 x 35lbs
6 x 35lbs
C1. Single Pulley V-Bar Pressdown
5 x 90lbs
5 x 80lbs
5 x 80lbs
5 x 80lbs
C2. Decline Skulls
4 x 5 x 70lbs
Performed some Rope extensions to failure, resting 10secs between sets. Finished with 35 bodyweight dips.
I also went for a 45minute walk with the girlfriend at night. Still felt like I slacked today. I will be making up for it today. The goal is 5% bodyfat by October 4th. That gives me 3 weeks to refine everything for the stage.
Meeting with my coach this morning and I’ll get some final details from her.
[quote]ddot76 wrote:
Thanks sdspeedracer. That makes a whole lot of sense.
She’s definitely done her fair share of athletic events (half-marathons and such) but I’m not sure she committed the overall time to the event that is required when standing on stage at < 5% bodyfat. It’s not something that happens solely at the gym. She has often commented that she weighs less now than when she ran those half-marathons, so perhaps her diet wasn’t a primary focus and didn’t require her to make sacrifices leading up to the race.
She knows the end date. I keep saying ‘6 more weeks… 5 more weeks, etc’. And generally she’s pretty good about it, although when we do argue, it comes flying into the picture faster than WolBarret to a pancake house.
Again, I thank you for sharing. It’s good to know it’s not just me sometimes. I have less than 5 weeks left and I hope to be as accomodating as possible, but I still need to do what I have to do to be the best on that stage.[/quote]
If she’s never been that immersed in the hot focus of competition, where the event becomes the world for a while and all else is distraction, she will have a hard time understanding. I scare people leading up to competition, just because I get so withdrawn and so intense that I project nothing nice. So I can imagine it’s tough on her with little to go on.
At that point, it would seem your only real recourse is to put on the touchy-feely hat and talk with her a lot about what you’re feeling – how the dietary changes affect your mood, how pissed you are that your legs look flat, whatever – and ask her how it makes her feel and whether she thinks she can help you deal with it. You may not want her help, but asking can make some big deposits in the emotional bank. I realize this is not a time you want to devote energy to making deposits in the emotional bank, but in the long run it’ll be less draining than dealing with drama.
If she complains about your complaining, just eat it. At least you’ll avert a fight. Honest, hun, I’ll try to lighten up.
Sorry if this is all a bit preachy.
I should add that my comments make several assumptions about the nature of your relationship. If she can’t support you in what you love to do, you have to question whether the relationship as a whole is right for you. I assumed you were past that, and probably shouldn’t.
My wife holds me up when I compete because she knows it’s a part of me, something I love no matter how miserable the prep. Read Marc Bartley’s log about going from PL to surgery to the BB stage in a year and see how his wife stuck with him and held him up while he was being a major league pain. One thing you want from your relationship is someone who will wipe your butt when you’re 80 and can’t do it yourself; if she can’t help now, can she then? Maybe a bit absolute, particularly since it’s a dating relationship. But I don’t know enough about your situation not to speak in such terms.
Doesn’t sound like preaching. I need different perspectives and I appreciate you offering yours.
I can’t imagine I’m going to get any less focused as that calendar and clock starts to tick away.
[quote]ddot76 wrote:
Doesn’t sound like preaching. I need different perspectives and I appreciate you offering yours.
I can’t imagine I’m going to get any less focused as that calendar and clock starts to tick away.[/quote]
I can’t either. I wouldn’t. Which brings me back to my second post from this morning.
Message coming in loud and clear.
Thanks again. I did have a chance to go over and read Bartley’s log.
Sorry to hijack (god I feel like I’m single handedly turning this into estrogen-nation), but sdspeedracer your posts are spot on. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are people that get it and people that just don’t. I don’t know that there’s really anyway to make someone get it if they’ve never gotten to that point of - this is what I want and will get it no matter what.
[quote]pch2 wrote:
Sorry to hijack (god I feel like I’m single handedly turning this into estrogen-nation), but sdspeedracer your posts are spot on. I’ve come to the conclusion that there are people that get it and people that just don’t. I don’t know that there’s really anyway to make someone get it if they’ve never gotten to that point of - this is what I want and will get it no matter what. [/quote]
Get your estrogen back to Muscle Sorority/Powerful Women where you belong!
Injury #1.
I play sports. These things are bound to happen. So I decided once summer season was over there would be no sports until after the show. The last thing I wanted to do was turn an ankle an volleyball or blow my knee out playing hockey. So I took the wise route, put all my focus on the show and gave 'er.
So during my session with my coach yesterday it looked like I was holding some excess water. She gave me a number of recommendations to follow for the next 5 days, one of which was to increase my water intake. I did so and I’ve been peeing like crazy.
At 3:30am I rolled out of bed to yet again relief myself, when I nearly fell face first on the floor. My left leg was stiffer than PeeWee Herman at an Adult theater. There was a shooting pain behind my left knee and it felt like my knee had been hyper-extended. I hobbled into the washroom, did what I had to do and crawled back into bed, knowing the alarm was going to go off in another 2.5hrs, clearly hoping this pain would just vanish with my dreams.
It didn’t. I am sitting here now at 9:30am with a bit of pain still behind a very unstable left knee. If this doesn’t dissipate shortly, I’ll be making a call to a doctor somewhere.
Thankfully today is an off day, and it will be a true off day. No weights, no cardio, nothing. Let’s just hope this sucker heals.
Last night I trained shoulders. Awesome session. Starting to see some nice striations in the shoulders. I have a vein the runs across my chest into my left shoulder. Looks nasty. But nasty good.
A1. Push Press
5 x 115lbs
5 x 125lbs
5 x 125lbs
5 x 125lbs
5 x 125lbs
A2. 1 Arm DB Laterals
5 x 5 x 25lbs
I wasn’t looking forward to the single arm laterals. Just never really felt them before. However, trying to lower that weight for a 6 count really MAKES you feel them.
B1. Standing DB Press
5 x 5 x 50lbs
B2. Standing BB Front Raise
5 x 5 x 40lbs
Awesome sets. The 50lb dumbbells were perfect. Hit failure on the last rep of the last set.
C1. Seated Rope to Neck
5 x 75lbs
5 x 80lbs
5 x 80lbs
5 x 70lbs
5 x 70lbs
C2. Bent Over DB Laterals
5 x 15 x 15lbs
I don’t get the same effect on rear laterals when I perform them with the 602 tempo so I just slam out 15 reps trying to keep the tension on the posterior head the entire time by not dropping the weight all the way to the bottom.
Works well for me. I am really trying to bring my rear delts up for the show.
I trained my girlfriend a few hours after my weight session and did 20 minutes of intervals on the eliptical when she was finished training.