[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
That IS a tanned Scotsman
[/quote]
Racism! Ugly in all its forms
[quote]rds63799 wrote:
those wednesday pics look really good, your shoulders in particular look really round and full[/quote]
yeah man, if I don’t get a better pic the next couple of weeks I will just use the one I twist to my right for my torso pic
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
That IS a tanned Scotsman
EDIT: Just realized that that was my first post in this thread despite following it from page one, and it came off as a bit negative.
Looking good in the current shots, and you’ve got plenty of time to build on the solid base you’ve already built before the competition[/quote]
haha dont worry it didnt seem negative, it may seem nuts but it is indeed what I look like tanned (I even have tan lines).
Thanks for the kind words also mate.
[quote]florelius wrote:
This thread is very inspirational and a good read.
Good luck Rattlehead with the MH comp :)[/quote]
Wow, didn’t really think anyone would find this thread interesting or even inspirational tbh. It means a lot that you do as well as anyone else, and will make an hour of cardio just that much easier tonight lol.
In all honesty, it’s great to see more contest prep threads here popping up, especially physique threads. Few years ago people probably would be flaming the people trying to compete, including me, because our goals aren’t in line with their own.
And of course, thank you for the best wishes.
To any newbs out there maybe reading, heres some of thoughts on “bulking”…
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Don’t jump right in to consuming 3-4kcal just cause some perma bulker online said you should. Take the slow road and stay on the leaner side so you don’t have to diet for 20plus weeks to be lean. My biggest regret after my time off from my back injury and depression was trying to force feed progress, ended up that I was lighter than I was before the shit hit the fan but was fatter, so much so my gains had stopped and the only solution offered was eat more bro, great advice when you are 20% bf…
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Don’t cut cardio. I used to do circuits on my off days and was able to get as heavy as 198lbs without having a disgusting lower ab mini belly. I cut the cardio when coming back to make best use of all those calories I was consuming… lol
3 pictures now in the bank for mens health unless I take better ones by July 15th.
Weighing in at 165lbs the now, getting heavier which is good.
Diet still consists of the tuna and chicken but instead of split into 4 meals I have 2 meals of 65g protein and 50g fat and fasting the morning until 2 pm. Doing this just cause im busy in the mornings. Taking an extra scoop of protein post workout for extra kcal.
Been doing 45 mins to an hour of LISS every day, fasted. Will write a full update on training on Sunday because i’m away to my gf’s remote village for a few days!
Looking good Rattle! Best of luck in the comp. I expect you would at least make it past the preliminary selection with that level of leanness.
This is a very interesting thread, thanks RattleHead! And best of luck.
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
3 pictures now in the bank for mens health unless I take better ones by July 15th.
Weighing in at 165lbs the now, getting heavier which is good.
Diet still consists of the tuna and chicken but instead of split into 4 meals I have 2 meals of 65g protein and 50g fat and fasting the morning until 2 pm. Doing this just cause im busy in the mornings. Taking an extra scoop of protein post workout for extra kcal.
Been doing 45 mins to an hour of LISS every day, fasted. Will write a full update on training on Sunday because i’m away to my gf’s remote village for a few days!
[/quote]
Good work Rattle! And I’m secure enough in my manhood to say that that’s a very good facial picture to submit
[quote]Ripsaw3689 wrote:
Looking good Rattle! Best of luck in the comp. I expect you would at least make it past the preliminary selection with that level of leanness. [/quote]
Thank you, for the best wishes and compliments. I just hope that 30 weeks of being hungry has earned me at least consideration to be in the top 15.
[quote]furo wrote:
This is a very interesting thread, thanks RattleHead! And best of luck.[/quote]
Wow, thanks for the positive words they are going a long way dude thank you!
[quote]pwolves17 wrote:
Good work Rattle! And I’m secure enough in my manhood to say that that’s a very good facial picture to submit
[/quote]
Haha that made me lol and thanks for helping me
Also, I just wanna say thanks to literally everyone that has helped in any way in this thread. You all have helped me get into the best shape of my life thus far and literally everything has helped. Be it just well wishes, diet or training advice or even just checking in and lurking in the thread. To see the thread count jump up even one more count makes me that bit more motivated, it just seems unreal that even one person would take the time to be interested anyway.
So even if I don’t get in the top 15, thank you.
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
These will be the 3 pics I will be submitting.[/quote]
Looks good man, very lean and the tan helped a good amount. Good luck!
Looking really good man. At the end of the day even if you’re not the ‘look’ they’re after, you’ve done very well.
[quote]Spidey22 wrote:
Looks good man, very lean and the tan helped a good amount. Good luck![/quote]
Thanks man, can’t wait to be eating some carbs again. Following your thread made me sad seeing all your carbs 
[quote]CrushKillDestroy wrote:
Looking really good man. At the end of the day even if you’re not the ‘look’ they’re after, you’ve done very well.[/quote]
Thanks dude.
Considering I wont hear back from Mens Health until early August I won’t be posting as regularly in this thread until then.
If something interesting happens or anyone has any questions I will obviously post and respond, just don’t wanna bore people!
Since you’re pretty good at getting lean, and you’ve used 531: What would you recommend diet, cardio, and assistance work wise when trying to lose fat and maintain strength on 531?
I’ve never run 531, but I was thinking I’d hit 531 sets on the main 4 lifts, then gear the rest of the workout to fat loss.
Thoughts?
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
Since you’re pretty good at getting lean, and you’ve used 531: What would you recommend diet, cardio, and assistance work wise when trying to lose fat and maintain strength on 531?
I’ve never run 531, but I was thinking I’d hit 531 sets on the main 4 lifts, then gear the rest of the workout to fat loss.
Thoughts?
[/quote]
Hmmm, I would either do;
Day 1 - Military Press 5/3/1
Lateral Raises 3 sets of 12-15
Military Press 5 sets of 10 (40-60% of training max)
Rear Delt Swings 2 sets of 25/15/10 reps
Day 2 - Deadlift 5/3/1
Meadows Rows 3 sets of 8-12
Chins 5 sets of 10 or to failure
Shrugs (dbell or bbell) 3 sets of 8-12 SUPERSETTED WITH Face Pulls 15-20 reps
Day 3 - Bench 5/3/1
Barbell Bench 5 sets of 10 (40-60% of training max)
Incline Bench 3 sets of 10-15
Dips 3 sets of 10 or to failure
Day 4 - Squat 5/3/1
Hamstring Curls 4 sets of 15-20
Squat 5 sets of 10 (40-60% of training max)
Leg Press or Trap Bar Dead 2 sets of 15-20 reps SUPERSETTED WITH Stiff Legged Deadlifts 2 sets of 8-12 reps
Calve Raises 5 sets of 15-20
Day 5 - Pushdowns 2 sets of 20, 2 sets of 15, 2 sets of 12
Close Grip Bench 4 sets of 8-12 reps
Skullcrushers 4 sets 10-15 reps
Dbell Curls 3 sets of 8-12
Barbell Curls 3 sets of 6-10
Hammer Curls 4 sets of 8-12
Hanging Knee Raises 4 sets of 15-25
Cardio on this I would do fasted LISS for 30 mins on both rest days you have as well as a fasted walk on lifting days, assuming you would lift more in the PM and your schedule permits.
OR keep it simple and a bit more in line with the traditional 5/3/1
Day 1 - Military Press 5/3/1
Military Press 3 sets of 10 (60% max), 1 set of 15 (50% max) and 1 set of 20 (40% max)
Dips 3 or 5 sets 10-15
Tricep Exensions 5 sets of 10-15
Day 2 - Squat 5/3/1
Squat 3 sets of 10 (60% max), 1 set of 15 (50% max) and 1 set of 20 (40% max)
Hamstring Curls 5 sets of 10
Hanging Knee Raises 5 sets of 15-25
Day 3 - HIT Cardio (Hill sprints, prowler etc.)
Day 4 - Bench 5/3/1
Bench 3 sets of 10 (60% max), 1 set of 15 (50% max) and 1 set of 20 (40% max)
Dips 3 or 5 sets 10-15
Tricep Pushdowns 5 sets of 10 - 15
Day 5 - Deadlift 5/3/1
Chins 5 sets of 10
Dbell Rows 5 sets of 8-12
Barbell Curls - 5 sets of 10
Cardio on the other two rest days would be the same as programme one, 2 sessions of fasted LISS at 30 mins and increase when progress stalls.
Diet wise I would set up your meals so you were consuming about 2-300kcal less than maintenance without consuming shakes, so you would be 2-300kcal less on rest days and 100kcal less or just on maintenance on training days. It just makes it a hell of a lot easier so you are eating the same solid foods day in day out and the extra calories for your workouts are from shakes. Obviously it would change if necessary regarding stalling.
Meal One - Protein/Fats
Meal Two - Protein/Carbs/Fats - PreWorkout Meal
Meal Three - Protein/Carbs - PostWorkout Meal
Meal Four - Protein/Fats
Postworkout Shake of 40g Protein and 40g Carbs, on rest days take 20g Protein before your cardio.
I’m much more of a fan of lower impact cardio when dieting, I just felt I was way more recovered for my workouts than if i was running hills. Just let the diet do the work.
Thanks for the in depth response. One month left of a Coan bench and squat cycle, then I’ll get onto the first program (can’t resist an arm day).
Only things that’ll be an issue would be the trap bar deadlifts/leg press, as I have neither in my garage, but I could sub in sumo pulls (I manage to feel these in my quads somehow, don’t ask) or barbell hack squats. Or front or bulgarian split squats. It’s not really much of an issue looking at it.
The other issue is the dips and chinups, a) I suck at both (3-4 chins max, have hit 6 dips), and b) I only have rings to do dips on (can only do 1 ring dip). I know you said 5 x 10 OR to failure, but should I provide some assistance with my legs and milk the negative once I fail the concentric, or just do as many good reps as possible, and hope that next week I can do more? Obviously losing weight will help.
Cardio wise, I start work at 2PM and spend most of the shift running around at the whim of 40 old ladies. I also have a hyperactive dog who needs walking in the morning. Lifting normally takes place in the AM before work, but upper body days can happen after a shift. I can shift the meals around to fit around this, but that would probably mean my first meal would be the preworkout meal. Did you want my first meal to be low carb?
Thanks again,
Max
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
Only things that’ll be an issue would be the trap bar deadlifts/leg press, as I have neither in my garage, but I could sub in sumo pulls (I manage to feel these in my quads somehow, don’t ask) or barbell hack squats. Or front or bulgarian split squats. It’s not really much of an issue looking at it.
[/quote]
I would substitute something that allows you to do the superset to allow to get a good quad pump, so whatever works for you and you have access to!
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
The other issue is the dips and chinups, a) I suck at both (3-4 chins max, have hit 6 dips), and b) I only have rings to do dips on (can only do 1 ring dip). I know you said 5 x 10 OR to failure, but should I provide some assistance with my legs and milk the negative once I fail the concentric, or just do as many good reps as possible, and hope that next week I can do more? Obviously losing weight will help.
[/quote]
Sounds like you have the same garage gym layout as i do lol, i only have rings too.
For chins do 3 sets as many as you can each time without grinding out reps and then do 5 sets of 8-10 negatives of 4 second eccentrics.
For ring dips do something similar for the first part and do 3 sets as many as you can with 5 sets of ring pushups instead of negatives but considering its late on in your workout it might just be too tough. If so just do ring push ups for 5 sets of as many as you can, if they are too tough just do 5 sets of normal pushups and week by week try to improve so you are eventually doing dips.
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
Cardio wise, I start work at 2PM and spend most of the shift running around at the whim of 40 old ladies. I also have a hyperactive dog who needs walking in the morning. Lifting normally takes place in the AM before work, but upper body days can happen after a shift. I can shift the meals around to fit around this, but that would probably mean my first meal would be the preworkout meal. Did you want my first meal to be low carb?
[/quote]
Walk your dog as your fasted cardio before meal one everyday and just rearrange the meals as you said. So it would be like;
Meal one - Protein/Carbs/Fats (Pre Workout)
Meal two - Protein/ Carbs (Post Workout)
Meal three - Protein/ Fats
Meal four - Protein/Fats
Got to make sure you fuel the workout! I’m currently only having carbs after the workout and literally quivering in fear at how tough my 5/3/1 sets are haha, its fun tho.
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
The other issue is the dips and chinups, a) I suck at both (3-4 chins max, have hit 6 dips), and b) I only have rings to do dips on (can only do 1 ring dip). I know you said 5 x 10 OR to failure, but should I provide some assistance with my legs and milk the negative once I fail the concentric, or just do as many good reps as possible, and hope that next week I can do more? Obviously losing weight will help.
[/quote]
Sounds like you have the same garage gym layout as i do lol, i only have rings too.
[/quote]
If you have two barbells, you can lay them across the safety bars and do dips on them. You can buy pipe insulation and use that for padding.
Just an idea.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
The other issue is the dips and chinups, a) I suck at both (3-4 chins max, have hit 6 dips), and b) I only have rings to do dips on (can only do 1 ring dip). I know you said 5 x 10 OR to failure, but should I provide some assistance with my legs and milk the negative once I fail the concentric, or just do as many good reps as possible, and hope that next week I can do more? Obviously losing weight will help.
[/quote]
Sounds like you have the same garage gym layout as i do lol, i only have rings too.
[/quote]
If you have two barbells, you can lay them across the safety bars and do dips on them. You can buy pipe insulation and use that for padding.
Just an idea.
[/quote]
Thats awesome haha, however I only have a basic squat rack
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
The other issue is the dips and chinups, a) I suck at both (3-4 chins max, have hit 6 dips), and b) I only have rings to do dips on (can only do 1 ring dip). I know you said 5 x 10 OR to failure, but should I provide some assistance with my legs and milk the negative once I fail the concentric, or just do as many good reps as possible, and hope that next week I can do more? Obviously losing weight will help.
[/quote]
Sounds like you have the same garage gym layout as i do lol, i only have rings too.
[/quote]
If you have two barbells, you can lay them across the safety bars and do dips on them. You can buy pipe insulation and use that for padding.
Just an idea.
[/quote]
Thats awesome haha, however I only have a basic squat rack :([/quote]
Ditto.
Starting the meal order and fasted walks tomorrow, but am keeping calories slightly higher until I’ve finished this Coan cycle. It’ll keep me from stressing out about missing reps, and also let me get my head around counting my macros again before I actually start manipulating them. I’ll let you know how it goes when I start the routine, thanks again.
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
[quote]LoRez wrote:
[quote]RATTLEHEAD wrote:
[quote]MaazerSmiit wrote:
The other issue is the dips and chinups, a) I suck at both (3-4 chins max, have hit 6 dips), and b) I only have rings to do dips on (can only do 1 ring dip). I know you said 5 x 10 OR to failure, but should I provide some assistance with my legs and milk the negative once I fail the concentric, or just do as many good reps as possible, and hope that next week I can do more? Obviously losing weight will help.
[/quote]
Sounds like you have the same garage gym layout as i do lol, i only have rings too.
[/quote]
If you have two barbells, you can lay them across the safety bars and do dips on them. You can buy pipe insulation and use that for padding.
Just an idea.
[/quote]
Thats awesome haha, however I only have a basic squat rack :([/quote]
Ditto.
Starting the meal order and fasted walks tomorrow, but am keeping calories slightly higher until I’ve finished this Coan cycle. It’ll keep me from stressing out about missing reps, and also let me get my head around counting my macros again before I actually start manipulating them. I’ll let you know how it goes when I start the routine, thanks again.[/quote]
Yeah makes sense, keep me posted for sure and no problem!