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Side chest and Back shots looks particularly awesome Stu. That video doesnt do you justice.
Also… I detect some convex structure on the under part of your leg, couldn’t be that hamstring the judge didn’t see, could it?
Just had my friend Scott email me this lovely pic he snapped after I stuffed my face post contest and could barely breath (I ate several lbs of my mother’s home made cookies just while walking to the restaurant!)
Look how bloated I am -lol
S
Yeah… Look at all that bloat…
Stu, obviously there is some reward to be had after months and months of deprivation, but do you feel that the post contest binge is “justified” and actually nets some kind of positive metabolic process, or is it basically just the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that doesn’ negatively impact the physique?
I know you have had your ear to the ground in the Natty competition circle (and are a pro yourself), what is the general consensus on post contest, diabetes inducing, binge fests?
Also, could you comment briefly on how dramatic the water manipulation techniques are on appearance? A la “Shredded in 6 days” by CT. I’m not competing formally, but I have set june 30th as a “virtual contest” day for myself and want to do everything I can to bring in my best package on that day to set the benchmark for my future endeavors into a possible stage appearance.
Holy shit. I never EVER reply to these threads because my knowledge of what to look for isn’t up to par with other posters on these forums. But holy shit…that guy had no calves. Not like, he had under-developed calves compared to the rest of his body…no, he had ZERO calf development. He looked like one of those guys that gets a leg amputated and they afix a metal rod for him to walk on. Unbelievable. Keep going Stu, you blew those guys out of the water, and you can definitely do it again
I’ll get to the few comments/questions a little later when I have more time, but wanted to give a quick update…
Weighed in at 176.8 this morning. I’m hoping to be 176 by next Monday, which will really put me on track to come in tighter on the 25th. I’ve had a bit of a cold the last 2 days, and have been all coughy, and out of it, along with some sort of tweak in my right lower back (gonna sound like an old man, but I think I did this while sleeping -lol). Yesterday was a ‘low’ day, and I was suppose to do abs, lowerback, and intervals. As most of my planned work was uncomfortable, I was only able to do reverse crunches (not quite a leg raise, but still stressed my lower abs a bit), and some wrist curls.
As I was sweating quite a bit, and borderline dizzy the whole time, I skipped the intervals, instead making use of steady state bike work. While I don’t feel this is usually a superior choice for overall fat loss, when you’re bf levels are already ridiculously low, there is a very fine line where intervals can indeed be too stressful and end up causing muscle loss. As such, I didn’t feel too bad about what I had to do.
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[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
Yeah… Look at all that bloat…
Stu, obviously there is some reward to be had after months and months of deprivation, but do you feel that the post contest binge is “justified” and actually nets some kind of positive metabolic process, or is it basically just the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow that doesn’ negatively impact the physique?
I know you have had your ear to the ground in the Natty competition circle (and are a pro yourself), what is the general consensus on post contest, diabetes inducing, binge fests?
Also, could you comment briefly on how dramatic the water manipulation techniques are on appearance? A la “Shredded in 6 days” by CT. I’m not competing formally, but I have set june 30th as a “virtual contest” day for myself and want to do everything I can to bring in my best package on that day to set the benchmark for my future endeavors into a possible stage appearance. [/quote]
I don’t know if it’s “justified”, but it sure is fun -lol. Seriously though, if you’re not a complete maniac about it (week long binge), I really do believe that it gives your body (and especially your dulled contest mind) a hell of a kick in the ass. Obviously you hear about competitors cycling cals, doing refeeds, or scheduling cheats for a reason. If it were just an excuse to freak out, then it would have fallen by the wayside long ago. Bodybuilders (successful ones anyway) are nothing if not disciplined. If you told me I’d make twice the progress and have the best results ever without my current approach of high carb days, you bet your ass I’d ditch 'em.
As far as inducing diabetes and doing ‘damage’, my thinking has always been that you can only do “so much damage” within a set window of time. Sure I’ve gone insane in the past where I’m still eating even though my stomach actually hurts and I’m not hungry in the least (“something’s broken with my hunger-sensor!”), but that’s been after 3 shows in a row, and I’m sure the mental fatigue of the ‘dam’ finally breaking is what sent me over the edge (and what an edge it was! -lol)
Water manipulation, is a real fine line when it comes to contest prep. I think that’s why you have your two camps. Those who 100% believe in the efficacy of the technique, and those who argue that you can’t fool your body (you can, but no for very long!). Last year, a teenager at my gym approached me about 2 weeks out from a high school sponsored contest he was doing. He wanted to know how to “drop” his water and really be shredded.
I had to break the sad reality to him that being 15 lbs more than what he should weigh for a contest, all the water loss in the world won’t help. Unless you already look amazing, and by that I mean normal gym rats look at you and explain “holy Shit you’re ripped!”, then losing 2-3 lbs of water, even if only for a few hours the day of the show, will not have the magic effect most people think it will. Layne Norton once wrote about how so many competitor’s complain about holding water and how it’s the culprit for their poor showing.
His answer, and this is perfect, was to the effect of ‘you’re not holding water, you’re just holding fat.’ With this in mind, if you get your bf% down low enough, cutting your water will improve your appearance. Eventually, your body will balance itself out, but as you’re already fat free (and by some point, you will begin drinking again), you’ll still look just fine.
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Thats about what I figured Stu, thanks for the info. Cant wait to see your improvements in the next few weeks.
Stu, your “bloated” look is better than 99.9999999% of the population. Ripped up from the tips up.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Just had my friend Scott email me this lovely pic he snapped after I stuffed my face post contest and could barely breath (I ate several lbs of my mother’s home made cookies just while walking to the restaurant!)
Look how bloated I am -lol
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Bloated? You look damn ripped in this pic. And happy, man!
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
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This picture is very impressive. You habe really great lines. If you mentally draw a line from your wrist along your forearms, triceps, rear delts, traps and the same way “down” to the other wrist, that’s an almost perfect bodybuilding line, or “frame”.
I can in your ‘Triceps video workout’ that you don’t add any plates on your thighs during your dips.
Afraid that the plates will fall off your thighs, or is it difficult to find someone to place them ?
[quote]tolismann wrote:
I can in your ‘Triceps video workout’ that you don’t add any plates on your thighs during your dips.
Afraid that the plates will fall off your thighs, or is it difficult to find someone to place them ?[/quote]
I’ve used plates before, and still do when I employ bench dips earlier in a session. During the video you watched, I had already done a pretty heavy shoulder session (lotta heavy pressing), as well as a couple of other tricep exercises (more isolation work for a pre-exhaust approach), so I didn’t really feel the need to add plates.
I’m more about getting quality reps than impressing other people in the gym with how many plates I can awkwardly balance on my knees while doing lightning quick jerky reps. My preference, especially for triceps, is to get a nice slow stretch, followed by a contraction where I consciously try to squeeze the target muscle all the way through the concentric ROM.
Also, I’m pretty sure the video was shot about 3 weeks out of a contest, and the last thing you ever want to do is risk an injury when in such a tired and depleted (and pretty zoned out!) state 
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[quote]ParagonA wrote:
Bloated? You look damn ripped in this pic. And happy, man! [/quote]
You woulda been happy too brother!
Maybe you’ll get to the States this year. I know last year things sort of went ‘awry’, but it’d be great to meet up with some of the local NY Area T-Heads and pound some iron before pounding down some food
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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I’m more about getting quality reps than impressing other people in the gym with how many plates I can awkwardly balance on my knees while doing lightning quick jerky reps. My preference, especially for triceps, is to get a nice slow stretch, followed by a contraction where I consciously try to squeeze the target muscle all the way through the concentric ROM.
S[/quote]
x2. ive been doing the exact same thing with my tri’s the last 2-3 months and yesterday my brother commented on how noticeably bigger they were
This morning, woke up and hit the scale at 176.0 lbs. Three days ago, I hit 176.8, then immediately went up a lb or two, and now here I am, hopefully right on track. With 3 weeks to go, I know I can count on at least 2 lbs (mostly water) lost the last week, so if I can keep pushing like a mutha (and let me tell you, I’m in a world of pain, mentally and physically, but still driving as hard as I can), and drop another lb or two, I could end up weighing less than I did when I won my Pro card last year (~172.6), with considerably more muscle mass and certainly better conditioning.
Only one way to the top… and that’s Hard Work!
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Stu,
Anything from the Indigo-3g yet?
And btw, imagine a NYC-ish area gym of mostly T-Nationers? Thats a great business idea!
Magoo
Ya know, with the Indigo, at first I just noticed a lot of increased urination, and a bit of warmth (I’m not freezing all the time like during other contest preps). Lately though, I just feel a bit tighter. At times throughout the day, I appear more vascular, other times, I just look more pumped. Obviously this can vary depending on how close a recent carb meal was, my water intake, closeness of workout, but it’s certainly noticeable enough to me that I realize it. While I do have to keep pushing as far as cutting weight goes (feel a bit left out in that I can’t really go carb crazy yet), I have been keeping a decent amount in my breakfast, as well as pre-workout (still using 3 FINiBARs), the rest of the day being ‘incidentals’. As Chris Shugart mentioned in the Livespill, the I3G is in your system for up to 12 hours, so even though I’m not getting as many carb spikes throughout my daily feedings as I’d like to really take advantage of improved hypertrophy, I do believe that I am making the most of my situation in terms of fat loss and muscle retention (if not additional growth).
And let me say that I can’t tell you how many times I’ve thought about opening a gym and just getting out of my day job (It’s really become less enjoyable this past year in case you’re not from NY and don’t know all the BS that’s going on with our education system here). I’d have to find a way to carry the complete Biotest line of supplements though, as well as set up a few power racks so the members could perform presses from pins and any other creative stuff Thibs comes up with. Of course the expected 8x10" glosses of myself from various contests, and maybe, just maybe I can get one of those cool Giant T-Nation Logo Banners to put up 
ahhh… a man can dream -lol
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[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]ParagonA wrote:
Bloated? You look damn ripped in this pic. And happy, man! [/quote]
You woulda been happy too brother!
Maybe you’ll get to the States this year. I know last year things sort of went ‘awry’, but it’d be great to meet up with some of the local NY Area T-Heads and pound some iron before pounding down some food
S[/quote]
Very cool! Very much looking forward to that! We - my girl and I - plan to visit NY either this November or December (for Christmas shopping…) or as part of our 10 week honeymoon She’s a real T-girl and will train, drink and eat just as much as we guys… 