Sloh's 3 Year Offseason - 125 to 200lbs

Training
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Thanks again, guys.

My abs definitely are the last to come in, especially the lower ones. I train them with weights twice a week but just can’t seem to get those thick abs that pop out. I feel mine look more like a sheet of muscle with definition which comes if I get lean enough.

I want to also say that my skin isn’t as tight as it could be. I did used to be pretty damn fat a couple years ago, and with having to drop this much weight to get into contest condition, I will need to give it more time for my skin to tighten up. I still stand by what I said in the previous pages though that I feel bulking up did help me build the foundation I need.

Again, thanks for all the critiques and feedback. I’ll go back and work on them!

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[quote]sloh wrote:
Thanks again, guys.

My abs definitely are the last to come in, especially the lower ones. I train them with weights twice a week but just can’t seem to get those thick abs that pop out. I feel mine look more like a sheet of muscle with definition which comes if I get lean enough.

I want to also say that my skin isn’t as tight as it could be. I did used to be pretty damn fat a couple years ago, and with having to drop this much weight to get into contest condition, I will need to give it more time for my skin to tighten up. I still stand by what I said in the previous pages though that I feel bulking up did help me build the foundation I need.

Again, thanks for all the critiques and feedback. I’ll go back and work on them![/quote]

I think Dante has written some stuff about guys with stubborn abs over at Skip’s lair… Might be worth checking out, I don’t really remember what he said exactly…

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Found it C_C! Thanks :slight_smile:

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Picture 4, we need a better angle on this one of the girl… could you move out of the way please?

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Freakin sweet quads, man. Lookin great!

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Looking good. As you’ve already said/figured out, it seems your back is your biggest weak point. Are you doing anything special to try to bring it up? (back specialization program, training back 2x weekly, etc)

Why do you think your shoulders are a weak point? At least in your rear double bi they look pretty solid IMO.

Anyway, fantastic progress man, keep it up.

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[quote]sloh wrote:
Found it C_C! Thanks :)[/quote]

I can not find these posts regarding stubborn abs. Is it on the IM boards?

Thanks guys, and fucking amazing job sloh. I can really relate to your experiences thus far in the sport of bodybuilding!

Justin

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[quote]jrl41090 wrote:

[quote]sloh wrote:
Found it C_C! Thanks :)[/quote]

I can not find these posts regarding stubborn abs. Is it on the IM boards?

Thanks guys, and fucking amazing job sloh. I can really relate to your experiences thus far in the sport of bodybuilding!

Justin[/quote]

Yeah, I’m not good with that search feature over there - if anyone could PM me the link it’d be much appreciated :confused:

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[quote]Scott M wrote:
Picture 4, we need a better angle on this one of the girl… could you move out of the way please? [/quote]

hahaha scott, I am afraid this is the best I can do for now.

You know, nothing that spectacular but I will run it by Jason once I start working with him in the offseason. To be honest, from when I started until now, I’ve been training for about 3.5 years. The first two years weren’t as productive as they could be b/c my ego got in the way tremendously with my lifts. I was mainly focused on putting weight on the bar regardless of form.

“Pulling with my back” was an idea that I just didn’t care for. One thing that I doubt I will ever go back to is deadlifting first on a back day. Every single back workout, I would work up to a 1 rep max on the deadlift. That was all I cared about. After that, I would be so spent that I just went through the motions with the rowing movements. I now do rack deads as the last exercise.

But then again, maybe this is something that all new lifters go through. I couldn’t possibly teach someone who just started out how to pull with their back…that feeling seems very foreign to a new trainee. And I had no interest in sports or weights through high school.

It wasn’t until this last year that I started really concentrating on my form. By then, I was already around 180 lbs, so I didn’t have much room to work with. I think after I diet down and compete, if I have a year of offseason which gives quite a bit of room in terms of bodyweight to put on while training not only heavy but smart, this is a problem that can be fixed relatively easily.

As far as shoulders…I’m not sure if it’s evident in the pictures but my arms (especially triceps) overpower my shoulders. If I had turned a bit more on the side-tricep shot to show more triceps, you would know what I’m talking about. The offseason side-tricep picture that I posted yesterday shows the size discrepancy between the two. Besides that, I just like the look of having frickin cannonball delts hahaha.

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[quote]danchubb wrote:

[quote]jrl41090 wrote:

[quote]sloh wrote:
Found it C_C! Thanks :)[/quote]

I can not find these posts regarding stubborn abs. Is it on the IM boards?

Thanks guys, and fucking amazing job sloh. I can really relate to your experiences thus far in the sport of bodybuilding!

Justin[/quote]

Yeah, I’m not good with that search feature over there - if anyone could PM me the link it’d be much appreciated :/[/quote]

Hey guys, go on the IM boards. Go to Advanced Search options.

For Search by Unsername…type “Doggcrapp”

For Keyword(s)…type stubborn “stubborn dusty”

The thread is called “My new years resolution and promise to you”. Post #36 and #43. I don’t know if he writes anymore about it in this thread…I haven’t read it all yet.

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[quote]sloh wrote:
You know, nothing that spectacular but I will run it by Jason once I start working with him in the offseason. To be honest, from when I started until now, I’ve been training for about 3.5 years. The first two years weren’t as productive as they could be b/c my ego got in the way tremendously with my lifts. I was mainly focused on putting weight on the bar regardless of form.

“Pulling with my back” was an idea that I just didn’t care for. One thing that I doubt I will ever go back to is deadlifting first on a back day. Every single back workout, I would work up to a 1 rep max on the deadlift. That was all I cared about. After that, I would be so spent that I just went through the motions with the rowing movements. I now do rack deads as the last exercise.

But then again, maybe this is something that all new lifters go through. I couldn’t possibly teach someone who just started out how to pull with their back…that feeling seems very foreign to a new trainee. And I had no interest in sports or weights through high school.

It wasn’t until this last year that I started really concentrating on my form. By then, I was already around 180 lbs, so I didn’t have much room to work with. I think after I diet down and compete, if I have a year of offseason which gives quite a bit of room in terms of bodyweight to put on while training not only heavy but smart, this is a problem that can be fixed relatively easily.

As far as shoulders…I’m not sure if it’s evident in the pictures but my arms (especially triceps) overpower my shoulders. Besides that, I just like the look of having frickin cannonball delts hahaha.

[/quote]

Hmm. Alright. You should give Kroc rows a try. I know that they’ve helped a lot of people with back development/thickness. I started doing them religiously this summer and went from doing the 90 for 10 to doing the 130 for 3 sets of 15 (with straps). Definitely feel like my back has gotten thicker and maybe a little wider as a result.

I know how you feel on wasting time your first couple years. My progress looked like the path of a yo-yo for a while. I went from 130-a soft 175, then over a summer back down to 155, then up to 170, then hurt my back and got swine flu and dropped back to 155, and finally really started back into it this summer and am around 186 at the moment.
(which reminds me I need to get some new pics up, current avatar is me in the early summer.

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3 sets of 15 on kroc rows? I’d run out of gas lol

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[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
3 sets of 15 on kroc rows? I’d run out of gas lol

[/quote]

Lol yeah i’m out of breath by the end of every set. The dumbells at my gym only go up to 130, so i’ve just been adding reps the past three weeks. I just can’t get a good feeling out of barbell rows either.
I’m thinking that i’ll have to go buy a dumbell handle like H4M recommends so I can just add weight. Until then, the reps just keep going up. Guess i’ll try for 3x18 next week. lol.

Edit: last week on my second back day I also did the 90lb db for 1x30 each arm. I had to take a long break after that one.

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[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:

[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
3 sets of 15 on kroc rows? I’d run out of gas lol

[/quote]

Lol yeah i’m out of breath by the end of every set. The dumbells at my gym only go up to 130, so i’ve just been adding reps the past three weeks. I just can’t get a good feeling out of barbell rows either.
I’m thinking that i’ll have to go buy a dumbell handle like H4M recommends so I can just add weight. Until then, the reps just keep going up. Guess i’ll try for 3x18 next week. lol.

Edit: last week on my second back day I also did the 90lb db for 1x30 each arm. I had to take a long break after that one.[/quote]

I usually stick to one work set on those… Pretty much like Kroc. Otherwise I’m too fried and my forearms too tired to do much else.

But yeah, get an custom DB handle…

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[quote]Cephalic_Carnage wrote:
I usually stick to one work set on those… Pretty much like Kroc. Otherwise I’m too fried and my forearms too tired to do much else.

But yeah, get an custom DB handle…

[/quote]

I’ve been using straps for the rows, then not using them for deadlifts so I still get the forearm workout/grip training.

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Bring up that back to match those bigass legs and solid arms and you’ll do some damage. Good job man.

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Happy Thanksgiving, guys!

Here is a picture at around 158-159 lbs. Heavy rack deads will be a regular part of my back routine this coming offseason. No more swinging and jerking weights and more focus on form and getting a good stretch.

Going through this prep has really changed the way I lift. With the joints being more vulnerable when lean, I’ve really started being more controlled with the way I lift. I’ve also noticed that for me…my lower back is easily overtrained when calories are this low. It’s hard for me to do back squats and rack deads in the same week when calories are this low, cardio is high, and recovery abilities just suck. I had to drop the rack deads out starting last week due to the lower back pain. They will be added back in when my lower back feels ready. I was pushing through the lower back pain for a couple weeks and continued to only make it worse…lesson learned that at the first sign of overtraining the lowerback, it’s time to do hypers for a couple weeks until it recovers.

I’ve also strayed away from taking sets to the point where I am absolutely straining on the last rep due to the fear of a tear or injury. I’d rather add another set in and do more volume than take the risk of going through that straining rep.

I am currently 153. The show is next week…December 4th. I was very close to dropping out of this show but Derik Farnsworth told me to go for it. It seems there are differing opinions about what weight I should come in at. Derik has been the only one to see me in person and he pinched me all over telling me that around 151-152 is fine (before the water drop). The lowest someone said was 148.

Anyways, I guess my estimations were correct. A 195 lb offseason weight and competing at around 150-155.

I’ll have new pictures for you guys sometime this weekend. I’m running through a posing session with Derik tomorrow.

I still have to come up with a posing routine, probably the part I hate most about competing. I wish it was just prejudging, and then placings.

Have a great thanksgiving! I won’t be eating any good food like the rest of you, but it’ll be great to spend time with the family. The food will be there after the show.

Any feedback would be great. I would particularly like to hear from C_C, mightystu, , profx, bonez217 if they are still following this thread. Thanks!

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A back shot from when I started lifting. A skinny fat 130 lbs…and still holding lower back fat and love handles lol.

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Since no one is replying to this thread, i thought i would let you know that i am avidly following you thread :wink: so dont stop posting eh?

Good job on the progress, and good luck at the show :).

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Inspirational progress. Also I have to say that your quad development is fantastic, it definitely stands out. All the best for your upcoming competition.