Wrapping up the day after a late conference call with a band in CA, the only slight downside to working with bands all around the country is having to jujitsu my schedule to work with all the time differences. Just finished some training/nutrition client work and am passing time until I can eat again in an hour.
Challenging day today, woke up in a bad state, but I always perk up a bit after my morning dose of HOT ROX and once I’m a little bit into my cardio. Starting fading shortly after breakfast and never really recovered. As cals get lower and time passes during the prep, the day after a low day can be the roughest of the week. Low days have been manageable, by the end of it the small amount of fuel that was left gone and depleted, so the next day starts out pretty much running on empty. As usual when this happens, took my time in the gym with my rest periods, a little extra warm ups, and still had a great chest, hamstring, calves and cardio session. Sat in the steam room for a bit afterwards instead of the sauna, my massage therapist recommend steam room because apparently wet heat penetrates and heals more than dry heat, and she was right. Definitely felt looser and better compared to the sauna. Shaved my calves, hitting the rest of the legs tomorrow. When I’m about 6 weeks out I start trimming leg hair to get a good look at conditioning, and I’ve learned to start shaving them early so I can get the razor burn out of the way. Putting alcohol based pro-tan on razor burned skin does not feel good!
Tomorrow is the usual LISS in the morning, then back and biceps in the afternoon, no post weight cardio tomorrow.
Alright, 8 minutes have passed, 52 minutes until eggs, tuna and asparagus!
After working this hard to diet down and you transition back to “normal” leanness, how do you determine what level of leanness is maintainable year round as you work toward adding some mass? Ive seen you and brick and stu talk about how at a certain point it’s not realistic to be walking around shredded and almost contest ready, which makes sense cause of health and time demands and everyday life, but how do you determine a “everyday” leanness level for offseason?
@IronAndMetal - can you spy which picture my dog decided to wander back and make her cameo?
Really noticing some significant tightening up, this week in the gym I’ve gotten a lot of “are you getting ready for a show?” comments so it must be working lol. Also shaved my face which makes me look like I’ve lost another 10lbs.
Another thing to consider though, is that the rate of fat loss on a consistent prep never really changes, but the perceived changes happen more quickly, because the leaner you are, the more dramatic the changes appear. Losing 2lbs when you’re already 7-8% body fat looks significantly different than 12-13%, etc. If you imagine what 1-2lbs of fat looks like, spread across your entire body, very time you lose a pound, it’s barely noticeable, almost like peeling an onion, layer by layer. But, keep peeling the layers off and things seem to appear to happen more quickly. As the trenches get deeper, it’s definitely motivating to be at the point where things start to look different day-to-day.
Speaking with my wizard of a coach @The_Mighty_Stu about what the plan is after this first show, I’m going to have a fantastic post show burger and fries, some halo top once we get home. I don’t want to do any unnecessary damage and pig out, knowing I’d just be making more work for myself later. I’ll gain the typical 6-8 pounds of water, and over the course of the week following the show we’ll let things normalize, pull back cardio a bit, add a little more calories. The next weekend we’ll assess where we are and how we want to proceed. Looking at my current conditioning, seeing lines in glutes on the all side shots, knowing there’s still two and a half weeks to continue tightening up, then having 14 weeks to go until the Hercules, I’m confident we’ll hit the mark. We have no choice!
Did the usual cardio this morning, had my egg whites and ezekiel toast and getting ready to head up to the office. Delts, triceps, calves and cardio later today.
Non training related, today I’ll be shopping for a new office chair at an office liquidator in town, now that I’m full time at home and spend about 4-6 hours a day sitting at my desk, a better chair is in order. Crazy how expensive they can get. I found one I fell in love with last week, until I saw the $1,700 price tag. Yikes!
Speaking of that shot…totally a take-home pose for you. Your legs look the biggest in that pose…probably because your midsection looks the tightest and most cut-up. And then the delt striations and width are just impressive up top.
I would love to see you post a link to a Go Fund Me for that office chair…that would be awesome…and I might just throw money at you for having the audacity to do it!
On a different note, I thought I’d relate a story from my office. I’m a software developer…so you can imagine the type of people in my office. They all know I love bodybuilding (and they think I’m really strange for it). Anyway, a couple of them saw me checking out your log, and they saw your pictures. I got the typical “What the hell is that?/Who the hell is that?” questions, to which I just said “My buddy Rob…he’s prepping for a contest.” So I blow up one of your pictures and ask “How much do y’all think he weighs?” I got 5 people to start guessing your weight based on the pictures. I got guesses ranging between a conservative 190 all the way up to 225.
I then scrolled UP a little bit to where you posted your weight that morning (I think it was one of the 144 lb posts) and everybody freaked out!
So…moral of the story: Via digital pictures, you are a mass monster on gear!
Not Iron and Metal, but I see the girl in the double back biceps, which looks awesome btw. You look significantly leaner than last year, in a good way. I think that makes you look taller in the pics and why guesses were above 190.
When you get done with all of the tweaks, add in that tan, it’s going to be awesome.
@IronAndMetal lol! That’s awesome, thanks for sharing that story, made my day! Literally the only time I’ll ever be mistaken for being tall. Although when people at the gym ask how much I weigh and I tell them 140’s, always a shocker.
@The_Myth thank you very much man! It’s crazy how the tan changes the look and makes everything really pop, I couldn’t believe last year how different I looked, very excited to see what I look like when the “finishing touches” are put on after a couple more weeks of dialing it in. After reading your post, I made a couple comparison shots and agree that being leaner does appear to make me look taller. Pics on the left side are 148lbs and 3 days before the 2016 Hercules, pics on the right are 142lbs and 16 weeks before the 2017 Hercules. Still more work to be done and a way to go, but I’d say we’re in a better place than last year!
Currently 1:45am, was able to sleep for an hour and a half before waking up starving, wide awake. Downstairs waiting to be tired again. Eye on the prize, these are the moments you remember when the day comes.
Looking good mate. I’m not at the same stage of near starvation as you but I do think the tip to mix up 15-20g glutamine in a zero calorie squash concentrate does help at those times. Don’t know if that’s something you’ve tried? Keep going. Almost there!
Crazy how things are changing day-to-day now. Really keeping an eye on lower body for how we proceed, quads and glutes tightening up! Scale weight has been the same the past 3 days, but noticeable recomp going on. At this point I can’t imagine there’s too much more scale weight to lose aside from depleting water. As Stu reminds me, we don’t want my scale weight to drop too drastically and I’ve already lost 4 pounds in the past two weeks. Mirror first, and at this point I have to take pictures every day because they do a better job of capturing the details than just looking in the mirror.
I can feel that each day I’m progressively feeling zombie-ish for more of the day, kind of comes in waves. Most of the day yesterday was rough, really perked up after my pre-workout meal, and by the end of weights I was toasted. Also, there was a fire drill in the gym in the middle of my session, standing outside in the cold for 20 minutes didn’t help. SO, I did what any guy preparing for a show would do, found a corner outside where no one would see me and did some posing practice! Back in the gym, wrapped up weights. 30min of LISS afterwards was on autopilot, I have a heart rate monitor to make sure the HR is right where it should be for LISS, maxing out fat burn without over-taxing myself. I think a baby could have crawled out of the gym faster than I walked, but it was the first time I really felt that drained after a session. “Those who look best can suffer the most”, I keep repeating to myself.
Sleep sucked last night, I don’t think there’s any way around middle of the night hunger, but tonight I’m going to try hard boiling my 3 eggs instead of cooking them in the pan, I’ve heard they’re more filling that way and take a little longer to digest.
Knocked out my 30min LISS this morning, today is a low HIIT day, last interval workout before the show in 2 weeks.
@JamesBrawn007 thank you very much man! I haven’t heard about that tip, or about squash concentrate! Any more info you could provide on that would be awesome and I really appreciate it! At this point so close to a show I’m hesitant to try anything new, but definitely something I’d implement after.
@staystrong and @rdentonuh thanks for your questions! I will get back to you both later today on those!
Ugh, that sounds horrible! I have been no where near a point of suffering like that so I literally have NO IDEA what it feels like, but boy are those quads starting to peel.
@staystrong, this is a great question. IMO, it comes down to personal preference. For me, doing a prep has taught me to be ok with not being shredded all year 'round because it’s not maintainable, but I do like to keep visible abs, shoulder bumps, and still maintain the look of someone who lifts weights and/or an off season bodybuilder. Some guys are ok with putting on more fat in an effort to gain mass. Personally, I don’t think it takes a ton of extra calories to put on mass. It’s not like more is better, like eating 300 cals surplus a day will put on muscle, so eating 1,000 cals extra a day will put on a LOT of muscle. Nope, there’s only so much LBM you can put on before the scale starts tilting the other way.
Just like a properly executed cut where the goal is to keep all LBM and drop only fat, I think a mass phase should be the same, to add only muscle with as little fat as possible. Which, like a cut, takes discipline. I consider my off season to be a “loose prep.” Prepping on 1800 cals has really taught me to love eating 2,500 a day (my typical maintenance) split up between 6 meals. The key for me is to make sure I LOVE my meals and never feel the need to cheat. I eat roughly similar meals each day. If I want a bagel with breakfast, I have egg whites with it. If I want eggs and bacon, I’ll have toast with it. Maybe protein pancakes the next day. If I want sushi for dinner, I won’t have carbs with lunch. If Thanksgiving is coming, I’ll eat lightly during the day, smash legs and pig out and not worry about it. I eat Finibars, complete cookies and halo top all the time. Sandwiches, etc., so I don’t feel the need to eat excess and I really love the foods I eat, so it’s easy for me to maintain being lean. If the occasion arises to eat cake, I’ll eat it and not worry about it. I almost never drink in the off season, not because I’m against it or anything, I’d just rather eat my calories. That helps for sure.
I prefer the cyclical bulking method, because even on a slight surplus, eventually the body will not be as efficient at adding muscle and will start adding more fat than muscle. When it gets to the point I might be getting puffier than I’d like to, I’ll simply pull back calories slightly, toss in some post weights cardio for a few weeks, lose a few lbs, and go back to what I was doing.
@rdentonuh absolutely, please feel free to ask anything, anytime. I’m always happy to answer! I’ve been doing post-weights cardio since October, starting at a few days a week and adding more as needed. I like post weights because I’m already at the gym and it’s easy to just knock it out on the elliptical. I always use the elliptical because I feel it’s the easiest on the joints. Last week we added short bouts of fasted cardio in the morning on the treadmill in the basement. Fasted cardio is a great tool, but it can really tank you quickly. So, I don’t do more than 30 minutes, and eat breakfast right after. After cardio sessions get longer than 30 minutes, I think it’s best to break them up. So, currently I do 30min in the morning, and 20-30min post weights. Please let me know if I can elaborate on anything else!
@littlesleeper around 65% of max HR is best for burning fat without your body searching for stored glucose. Typically around 120-125. I used to go too hard with the steady state cardio, which really dipped me too low and caused more harm than good. So, anytime I’m doing LISS, I have my heart rate monitor and keep it between 120-125. If it gets higher than 125 I back off. When I’m doing HIIT, I don’t use it, because I just go as hard as possible. After HIIT I continue right into LISS for 20-25min, so at that point I’ll check my HR to make sure it’s in the money zone.
Last HIIT workout for this show in the books. Today’s low 1650 cal day, with 30min LISS in the morning and the HIIT workout, feels good to really dig in knowing it’s getting down to the wire. I’m anticipating with the low cals and plethora of cardio today another night of bad sleep, we’ll see. Last week, Thursday night I didn’t fall asleep until about 3:30am. But, just thinking about the show, getting on stage again and bringing my best, it’s so close now. The more challenging it is, the more I know it’s working. Besides, in about 12 hours it’s high day Friday, and I’ll be eating my bagel and egg whites. Also trying to simulate my pre-show carb up more, and switching out my second meal bowl of 3 servings of my usual sprouted brown rice cereal for 3 servings of cinnamon toast crunch. Hell. Yes. After some significant tightening up this week, I’m excited to see how the carbs will fill me out on Saturday.
Tomorrow is the second to last leg workout before this show, next week we’re taking out squats and just getting some pump work in. Gotta be careful tomorrow, typically I go into the gym feeling rough but once I get going after some warm ups, I feel pretty good. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.
New last meal is a delicious success! Egg salad, consisting of 3 hard boiled eggs, 2oz tuna, 2oz chopped asparagus, little mustard, salt and garlic. More filling than cooking in the pan for sure.
270cal, 27g protein, 15g fat, 0 carb.
Little tighter all around today, quads and glutes slightly deeper and a little more feathering in the quad. Down another half pound, 142.2. HIGH DAY! WOO! Slept surprisingly well last night, I’m sure the adjusted last meal helped. Wrapped up the usual 30min cardio this morning, about to enjoy some bagel and egg whites.
Yeah it tasted great, easy to digest and filling. I was doing the CC before bed, but eliminating dairy is helping my digestion and keeping things tight. Plus, this meal has 0 carbs/incidental sugars from the dairy. Making the 3 hard boiled eggs took a while, tonight I’ll make a bunch for next week.
I do, it seems to be going by quicker than last year for sure, and more manageable mentally. Last year felt like it really dragged on, but I guess being more used to the grind and the process makes it seem like it’s going faster. Also having a better prep certainly helps!
Felt pretty gassed from the time I got to the gym and haven’t really recovered, first leg session that felt noticeably weaker. Still brought everything I had, as always. Last squat and full out leg session before this show, had to make every rep count. Long rest periods, moved slowly, got it done.
Continued with the rest of the session as usual, backed off of the weights slightly. I could especially feel the glutes were sore from the two weeks of incline treadmill in the AM, and lower back as well. Wrapped up with 10min LISS and some sauna time.
This weekend we have a lot of running around to do, food is prepped and ready to go. 2 weeks, gotta be relentless every step of the way.
