SPIDEY: Let's Get You Shredded

Bigger Stronger Leaner
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What the hell, it seems a trend has started here. Having just completed my first contest prep I’d like to have a go at helping out fellow T-bro Spidey22 as he prepares for his first physique show.

Here is all the info I’d like Spidey:

  1. Morning weight (after you pee). Same day each week.

  2. Height

  3. 2 pics: front double bi and back double bi taken first thing in the morning, white background, natural lighting. Same place every week.

  4. Current goal

  5. Current weekly training split AND cardio

  6. Days you can train and how many days/week you’re willing to train

  7. Current weekly macros. Include everything (i.e. if there’s cheats, refeeds, etc.) Also, how many meals/day is your preference?

  8. Supplements

  9. Anything you want to add

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These threads are awesome, weren’t you going to work with nez1nez as well?

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[quote]JoabSonOfZeruiah wrote:
These threads are awesome, weren’t you going to work with nez1nez as well?[/quote]

She never got in touch with me. Oh well.

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[quote]jskrabac wrote:

[quote]JoabSonOfZeruiah wrote:
These threads are awesome, weren’t you going to work with nez1nez as well?[/quote]

She never got in touch with me. Oh well. [/quote]
I think its because PMs haven’t been working in a while to be honest.

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[quote]JoabSonOfZeruiah wrote:

[quote]jskrabac wrote:

[quote]JoabSonOfZeruiah wrote:
These threads are awesome, weren’t you going to work with nez1nez as well?[/quote]

She never got in touch with me. Oh well. [/quote]
I think its because PMs haven’t been working in a while to be honest.[/quote]

Ah, I see. hmmmm…should I just take a chance and make a thread for her anyway then? Let’s see if she jumps into this thread =)

Nez1Nez, the bat signal is on!

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Super excited!

  1. Consistently about 192, but will be more consistent with weighing myself again

  2. 6’2"

  3. Will put these in next post, of at least the most recent ones. I’ll be going back home for the summer, so the location where I take pics will be different from these one’s next set, but then be consistent through the next few months.

  4. To gain some more mass over the next few months while remaining moderately lean, and hopefully cutting and competing in a local Physique show

  5. Weekly training split right now is John Meadows Reactive Pump training, just substituting lifts I can’t do (like bands and chains) with ones I can. Also, use a bastardized 5/3/1 percentage scheme on a few big movements. These movements are later in the routine though, and while strength isn’t my primary goal, it just ensure a bit of linear progression. Right now split it

Sunday: Chest/Delts
Monday: Legs
Tuesday:Off
Wednesday:Chest/Delts
Thursday:Back
Friday:Arms
Saturday: Off

I put Chest/Delts after rest days because they are my weakest BP’s and I feel a full day over recovery before hand may help them a bit. Cardio… Don’t really do much. lol. I end up walking about 20 mins a day from class and stuff, but that’ll stop over summer. I play basketball 1-3x a week, so I guess that counts. lol

  1. I can train everyday if need be. Actually prefer that way, training as frequently as I can. But most programs I follow include a rest day or two so I try to adhere to that.

  2. Macros are roughly 450g C/ 210g P/ 90g F right now on training days, and roughly the same with only about 250g of carbs on off days. I will admit that these last 3 weeks things have been hectic, and I’ve ball parked it more often then usual, though. I feel I could probably get more out of carb cycling a bit better. Meal preference, I prefer probably, idk, 4 meals? 6 is too many for convenience, as is 2 giant meals IMO. I do try to keep carbs later in the day though, which I’ve found works for me. And try to have 4-5 bigger ‘protein’ meals spread through out, a la Layne Norton.

  3. Um, some bulk whey, gatorade powder, and creatine. I put VCO in my coffee, and take fish oil. Otherwise, not much of a supp guy, just due to finances mostly, and not seeing much of a difference when trying stuff like BCAA’s.

  4. I made really good progress with Big Beyond Belief, with just bigger compound movements and hitting BP’s frequently (3x a week). It worked well for my Legs, back, and biceps I feel (more endurance like muscles) but I have shit triceps, chest, basically any real ‘performance’ muscle. So I switched recently to more Mountain Dog pump work to hopefully remedy that. Chest is always going to be a weak point to a degree, because I was born with pectus excavatum, and I have long lanky arms so my arms need to be REALLY big to look kind of big. Also, I’m quite weak, so I feel I still need to make some strength progressions, even with the goal being Physique.

Also, Jake has already helped me a ton over the last year, so I appreciate him taking the time to kind of mentor me!

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BDB

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MM

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Wheelz

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Ahhh I hope someday somebody wants to take on the daunting task of making me hot, LOl.

GOOD LUCK SPIDEY// WILL CREEP IN HERE.

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sick!!! I’ll learn a lot from this

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[quote]Spidey22 wrote:

  1. To gain some more mass over the next few months while remaining moderately lean, and hopefully cutting and competing in a local Physique show
    [/quote]

When is your show Spidey?

Do you want to stick with this? Or are you putting your training entirely in my hands? I’m happy either way, though I think in the long run I’d like to do both. You want training tailor made for physique, not BBing.

I’m happy to have you training 6-7 days if you want. This gives us alot more to play with, and I think high frequency is ultimately your best best when trying to stay lean. Let me know.

What’s your system of counting macros? Do you just count base macros a la Shelby’s system (i.e. pro only in chicken, carb only in carb?) Also, you subtract fiber from carb count correct?

This is fine for now since you’re not cutting yet. Supps will become more and more important IMO as you drop into caloric deficit. I will ask that you start a one-a-day multivitamin though.

Let me know if I’m understanding this completely. When you had a compound movement, very high frequency approach, legs and back grew but chest, delts, tris fell behind?

Can you concisely tell me what training days, frequency, volume, etc. looked like with your BB split? I’ve never actually read the program and would like to know what you’re accustomed to. I’m very familiar with JM’s style however.

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My show is October 19th

I’m down to do something different. I like the way JM arranges things, as it helps me actually stimulate muscles I have trouble hitting and keeps me honest with how much weight I use on lifts. But you train a lot like him and trust your training advice.

I’m fine with that high of frequency, especially seeing as I’ll be home for summer in 2 weeks where I won’t be doing much while having access to a commercial gym along with a Squat rack and bench in my garage

Usually just type it in to Livestrong’s MyPlate or fitday. I eat about 3 meals consistently everyday, and then the 4th one I plug into my macros. But, I’m moderately lean and need mass, so I’m not particularly anal about it. And yes I subtract fiber.

[quote] Let me know if I’m understanding this completely. When you had a compound movement, very high frequency approach, legs and back grew but chest, delts, tris fell behind?

Can you concisely tell me what training days, frequency, volume, etc. looked like with your BB split? I’ve never actually read the program and would like to know what you’re accustomed to. I’m very familiar with JM’s style however. [/quote]

Yeah basically, but I feel mostly due to what I’m strong at. I’m naturally like a ‘distance runner’ guy, like I broke a 5 min mile time in HS track after a few months of running. So endurance has never been an issue, so stuff like back and legs, where I can always knock out one more rep it seems, responds well to just like Squats and DB Rows. But chest, triceps, stuff like that, I have to REALLY concentrate to even feel on compound lifts, and also I’m just not too strong on pressing exercises. Like on BBB, I rarely got a tricep pump, and I’d have my chest worked, but not as stimulated as it was after like a MD training day.

Yeah, I’ll just tell you what I did this week

Chest/Delts

Flat DB Press: Ramp to top set of 8
5/3/1 Decline BB
Incline DB (constant tension) 4x10
Stretcher Pushups 2xFailure
Laterals 4x12
SHIPs (paused reps) 4x6
Rear Delt Destroyer

Legs

Legs Curls 4x12 + 25 mini reps on last set
5/3/1 Squats
Leg Press: 4 reps, partner adds a plate, 4 reps, add a plate… to 16
Lunges 3x12
SLDL 2x15

Chest/Delts

One-Arm Cable Flies (all the way across body) 4x12
Pec Minor Dips 4x12 -SS- BO Rear delt Flies 4x20
Hex Press 4x8 -SS- Face Pulls 4x10
6-ways SS Over Back Band

Back

One Arm BB Rows: 4x10
Smith Machine Rows: 4x6
Straight Arm Pulldwons: 4x10
DB Shrugs (3 sec hold at top): 3x12
5/3/1 Rack Deads

Arms

Rope Pushdowns 4x15 -SS- 1.5 Cable Curls 4x10
Cross Body Curls 4x10 -SS- Cable Extensions 4x10 +5 mini reps
Incline EZ Bar Extension 4x12 -SS- Preacher Curls (3 sec negative) 4x8

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And thank you to anyone who is following. Glad I got lucky enough to get some help from a guy like Jake, and hopefully the stuff in here helps ya’ll too!

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[quote]jskrabac wrote:

[quote]JoabSonOfZeruiah wrote:
These threads are awesome, weren’t you going to work with nez1nez as well?[/quote]

She never got in touch with me. Oh well. [/quote]

I think she said she wanted to but wanted to get a groove going again with weightlifting first. Like a break in period or something. I could be wrong tho.

Good luck Spidey :slight_smile:

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Good luck dude, cant wait to see you progress!

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Alright then, we’ll start off with diet.

Starting daily macros will be

250 P
250 C
75 F

spread over FIVE meals.

Get 50g protein in each of 5 meals. For starters, get in the carbs and fat any way you see fit. DO count the gatorade toward carbs. The numbers are set up in such a way that you could easily just split it up 50/50/15 for each of 5 meals, though, if you prefer that.

Only count base macros in food, i.e. carbs in oats, pro in chicken breast. Don’t need to worry about fat in chicken or carbs in nuts for example. The only exception to this is whole eggs and salmon. Count pro and fat in those. And beans, count pro and carbs in those.

Get your protein from: chicken breast, lean ground beef, top sirloin, any lean fish, whey, egg whites, turkey, etc. Aim for 1 beef, 1 white meat, and 1 fish meal per day.

Get your fat from: olive oil, coconut oil, nut butter, almonds, walnuts, grass-fed butter

Get your carbs from: basically any source you can find that’s low fat and low protein–rice, potatoes, oats, rice cakes, honey, gatorade, quinoa, fruit, etc. If you want to go w/ fat-free candy or pop tarts or something, try to limit to just a few times a week. Not because I believe it has any bearing whatsoever on body comp…just because I think it’s better for you mentally to keep these things as treats and not “staples”…lol.

Get at least 3g fish oil in. A multi-vitamin. 5g creatine.

Eat as much green veggies as you want. Don’t have to count them towards anything. Onions, bell peppers, etc. all ok too. Sugar-free salsas are cool too.

Drink at least 1.5 gal water/day. Flavor with crystal light if you want, or you can do any cal-free drinks basically–coffee, tea, powerade zero, diet soda, etc.

Keep salt high consistently. “High” means something different to everyone. Basically don’t be bashful about salting everything you cook until it tastes good. Don’t try to actively cut it out of anything. Salt away!

Just to give you a sense of where we’re going. This is lower caloric intake than you’ve had in awhile! I fully expect you to drop a little the first week. From there we will add 50g carbs each week until we find your baseline.

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Now for training and cardio:

Your training split will look like

Day 1: chest/delts/tris (pump)
Day 2: back/bis (heavy)
Day 3: chest/delts/tris (intensity)
Day 4: legs/calves (everything)
Day 5: chest/delts/tris (heavy)
Day 6: back/bis (pump)
Day 7: OFF

Cardio: NONE

Day 1: chest/delts/tris (pump)
Chest

  1. Pec Dec Flyes: 3 sets of 12, on final set do one drop w/ 75% of the starting weight. Squeeze at peak contraction for 1 sec on all reps. Go to technical failure on last drop

  2. DB Incline Press, 1.5 reps: ramping weight 3 sets of 15, 12, 8 reps. 1.5 reps means down into full stretch, halfway up, all the way down, then all the way up. That’s one rep. Try to do these without fully locking elbows at top either. Just hard pec squeeze at top of ROM, and extra stretch in bottom of ROM.

  3. Decline smith press: ramping weight, 3 sets of 30, 20, 10 reps. At bottom think about pulling the bar apart, and at the top think about squeezing it together.

Delts

  1. Machine or cable lateral raises: 4 sets of 10 strict reps immediately followed by 20 partials in bottom ROM of motion.

  2. Rear delt machine flyes: drop set w/ 30/25/20 reps. Rest up a few minutes, then go heavier w/ 2nd drop set of 10/8/6 reps

Tris
This is a tri-set (pun intended). No rest between, keep same weight for all 3.

Underhand straight bar pushdown
Overhand straight bar pushdown
Overhead straight bar extension

3 rounds of 15 reps each (basically 45 rep “sets”). Rest 1-2 minutes between rounds.

Day 2: back/bis (heavy)
Back

  1. Underhand lat pulldown: 4 ramping sets of 10, 8, 6, 4

  2. T-bar Row: warm up to tough set of 6. Do 3 sets of 6 with that weight. Back should be around 45 degrees. Pull hands right into lower gut.

  3. Deadlift variation: warm up to 3 hard ramping sets of 6, 4, 2. These should all be technically sound and explosive. Double overhand grip. Strap up.

  4. Rope face pulls w/ one leg up on bench on lat pulldown: 3 sets of 8. Hold squeeze as far back as possible for 2 sec, then 2-3 sec negative

Bis

  1. Hammer/Rev. Curl variant: 3-4 sets of 6-8. Go heavy on these. A little cheat on last few sets OK.

  2. EZ Bar Curls: 4 sets of 8. Bar to chin. Squeeze as hard as possible.

Day 3: chest/delts/tris (intensity)
Chest

  1. HS Incline Press: ramp up to top set of 6. Then do a 6/6 rep drop set w/ that same weight.

  2. Wide-grip BB incline Press: 2 sets of 15. Bring bar down to right above chest, don’t lockout. These should be piston-like reps. Pull bar apart at bottom of ROM, squeeze it together at top.

  3. Stretch push-ups: 4 sets of 10 w/ 3 sec negative and 2 sec hold at bottom stretched position

Delts

  1. Seated DB lateral raises: 3 sets of 12, on last set do one drop w/ 50% of that weight to failure

  2. Cable or DB rear delt flyes: 3 sets of 20, only 30 sec rest (stick to short rest on these! I’d rather you have to cut weight than rest longer)

  3. DB/Machine Overhead Press: work up to hard set of 8, then do another set of 8 followed by two rest-pauses after 10 sec each

Tris

  1. Rope pulldowns: ramping weights 12, 10, 8, then drop set of 8/8/8/8/8

  2. EZ Bar Skullcrushers: 3 sets of 15, extend ez-barbell up and back away from your head (not directly above your head) and at the bottom, let the weight really stretch you out, every rep.

Day 4: legs/calves (everything)
Hams

  1. Hamstring curl variant: 3 ramping sets of 20, 15, 10 followed by an 8/8/8 drop, then immediately into 15-30 partials in bottom 1/2 of ROM w/ same weight from 2nd drop

  2. Stiff-leg RDL variant: 4 sets of 10 w/ 3 sec negative. Don’t lockout hips, keep constant tension and try to stretch at bottom as much as possible keep chest and head facing foward.

Quads

  1. Front Squats: ramping sets of 12, 9, 6 w/ 3 sec negative

  2. Leg press: ramping sets (adding +1pps each set) of 50, 40, 30, 20. You’ll probably need to rest 3-4 min between these

  3. Walking lunges: 2 sets of 10-15 each leg. Long strides, and no stopping w/ feet together between strides.

Calves

  1. Standing calf raise variant: 4 sets of 12 w/ 3 sec squeeze at contraction followed by 3 sec negative. Full contraction. Full stretch. Rest 45-60 sec between.

  2. Seated calf raise variant: 3 sets of 25-35

Day 5: chest/delts/tris (heavy)
Chest

  1. Flat DB Press: ramping sets of 8, 6, 4. Use whatever position gets you best leverages and allows you to use as much weight as possible on these.

  2. BB Incline Press: work up to top set of 6. Should be aiming for a PR. Do one more set w/ same weight aiming for 4+ reps.

Delts

  1. Slightly bent over DB Lateral Raises: 4 “heavy” sets of 8. Little momentum OK on these.

  2. Seated BB or Smith Overhead Press: same as BB Incline

Tris

  1. Close-grip press variant or weighted Dips: work up to 1 top set of 6-10. Should be aiming for PR.

Day 6: back/bis (pump)
Back
Superset these for 3 sets of 12 each:

  1. Straight bar or rope pulldowns, really stretch at top of ROM, hard squeeze in lats at bottom
  2. Meadows stretchers

Superset these for 3 sets of 8 each:
3. Wide-grip lat pulldown (1 sec squeeze at contraction, full stretch of lats and duck head under bar at top of ROM)
4. Chest-supported row w/ high elbows (feel squeeze in upper back)

  1. DB Shrugs w/ 2 sec squeeze at top: 2 sets of 20

Bis

  1. Cable or machine curl: ramping sets of 12, 10, 8, then drop set of 8/8/8/8/8 reps

  2. DB or BB curl w/ 3-5 sec negative: 4 sets of 8

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Diet will be easy. Will just add another shake to hit the higher protein number, no problem. Will need to be pickier with carb sources to avoid the fat though. lol. If I take an off day, adjust calories in any way?

Super excited about the new split!!!

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[quote]jskrabac wrote:

Just to give you a sense of where we’re going. This is lower caloric intake than you’ve had in awhile! I fully expect you to drop a little the first week. From there we will add 50g carbs each week until we find your baseline. [/quote]

How do you determine what baseline is?