[quote]jholla10 wrote:
Was this rhetorical? Of course we’re wondering! We’ll take any details you offer, Stu.
Keep up the good work, you’re dialing it in!
JHolla[/quote]
Lol, ok ok! This is what my ‘depletion’ workouts have been like:
MON:
-5 min warmup on recumbant bike (need to warm up my lower back due to old injury)
-Antagonistic SuperSet Front Squats / DB Stiff leg Deads (30 secs rest)
-Ant S.S. Low Dec DB Presses / V-Grip Pulldowns (focus on elbows foreward - lats!)
-Ant S.S. Rope Pressdowns / Cable Preacher Curls
-Seated Calves (straight sets)
None of these sets were taken to failure, as I don’t want my body to have to recover from them in a typical sense. The goal is to just wear down my glycogen stores (coupled with the low carbs this week) so that I can load up Friday before the show.
TUES:
-5 min warmup on bike
-Ant S.S. Leg Extensions / Seated Leg Curls
-Ant S.S. Bent 2 arm DB Rows / Inc DB Presses
-Inc DB Skull Crushers / Inc DB Curls
-Straight Leg Calves (straight sets)
Today will involve NO LEG WORK. A lot of natural BBers will stop training legs completely a week out from a show in order to show deeper cuts. I still like to make use of some work Mon and Tues, as Christian obviously feels it adds to the overall effect of his whole ‘6 days’ program enough to include it in his recommendations. I will however throw in a superset for Delts, most likely seated laterals/seated db presses, and maybe a few sets of back hypers because my lower back seems to act up when my bodyfat levels get this low.
The few measurements I know before I cut are (and again, I stopped actually taping a couple of years back, so these numbers could be a bit off by now).
Upper Arms 18"
Forearms 14" (were 15" before I developed issues with my forearm the last few years - some chronic inflammation)
Calves 17"
And while not exact measurements, I wear 33" waist jeans, and a 48" jacket
Oh, and I’m 5’8
For anyone wondering (who didn’t follow my previous threads), I was all caught up in numbers in my earlier years as well, thinking that I had to have x" arms and weigh xxx lbs before I was big enough to compete. Over the years (17 to be exact), I went from 150 lbs, to 220, and then eventually settled at a pretty damn solid 205 with the above stats (and abs). What made me realize that I had added enough size to focus on ‘polishing’ my physique was actually meeting Jim Cordova and realizing that he wasn’t the hulking, shredded beast you see in the magazine ads, but 5’7,and 160 lbs of ‘quality’ muscle. While he doesn’t routinely bulk up to some unsightly weight hoping to add an extra lb each year after cutting back down, he obviously built himself up to well over his contest weight before slowly cutting down (I don’t think he goes over 185/190, but don’t quote me on that). Without anyone around who was serious about competing, all I had to compare myself to were other gym rats, and my buddies who were ‘assisted’, so I never realized the decent foundation I had built over time.
Thursday before the contest,… dropped my condiments yesterday, and today I lose my veggies (brocoli, lettuce etc), which are all that kept me feeling somewhat full throughout the day. As I couldn’t put any broccoli in my breakfast (4 eggs and 2 slices of cheese this week), I skipped the cheese and threw in an extra egg.
Lunch, which has been a can of tuna over a LOT of lettuce (and cashews + sugar free jello) is going to be a cup of cottage cheese and the cashews (a bit ore filling than just 1 can of tuna… I hope).
My weight was back down to 177.2 this morning, which makes me wonder if I can actually lose 2.5 lbs of water before Saturday morning. I know a lot of people see to be able to drop several lbs of water pretty easily, but I don’t think I can do that without some serious depleting. Last year I stopped drinking around 4pm, having had only about a half gallon throughout Friday morning.
I’m thinking I may try to get a full gallon in my Friday afternoon (which is less than I have been doing so far this week), but maybe stop drinking a bit sooner, maybe 2pm instead of 4pm. If anyone has any thoughts, or experiences, please chime in.
You know, I didn’t even think about that. I’m going to be driving out to Jersey tomorrow afternoon to hopefully relax a little bit while I finish carbing up (and having my GF apply a coat or two or ProTan for my ‘base’ tan). I guess I could run a really hot shower and just sit in the bathroom for half an hour or so. Thoughts? I’ve never tried to purposely dehydrate myself before -lol.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
You know, I didn’t even think about that. I’m going to be driving out to Jersey tomorrow afternoon to hopefully relax a little bit while I finish carbing up (and having my GF apply a coat or two or ProTan for my ‘base’ tan). I guess I could run a really hot shower and just sit in the bathroom for half an hour or so. Thoughts? I’ve never tried to purposely dehydrate myself before -lol.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
You know, I didn’t even think about that. I’m going to be driving out to Jersey tomorrow afternoon to hopefully relax a little bit while I finish carbing up (and having my GF apply a coat or two or ProTan for my ‘base’ tan). I guess I could run a really hot shower and just sit in the bathroom for half an hour or so. Thoughts? I’ve never tried to purposely dehydrate myself before -lol.
S[/quote]
hot bath with epsom salts.[/quote]
Yeah, but that will wash off the pro-tan! -lol. I remember asking Christian about this last year.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
You know, I didn’t even think about that. I’m going to be driving out to Jersey tomorrow afternoon to hopefully relax a little bit while I finish carbing up (and having my GF apply a coat or two or ProTan for my ‘base’ tan). I guess I could run a really hot shower and just sit in the bathroom for half an hour or so. Thoughts? I’ve never tried to purposely dehydrate myself before -lol.
S[/quote]
hot bath with epsom salts.[/quote]
Yeah, but that will wash off the pro-tan! -lol. I remember asking Christian about this last year.
OKay, 7am, just got up weighing 175.4 lbs. I think this puts me close enough to think I can make it under the 175 wire after the water drop, and will most likely spend 20-30 mins sitting in the hotel bathroom with the hot water running just in case -lol. Breakfast is a cup of egg whites and 2 bananas (with a ‘shrinkwrap’ capsule (basically a dandelion root based herbal diuretic). After this, I’ll wake up my girl, have her paint on a coat of ProTan, then repeat the breakfast meal at 9, before going to the gym at 10 for a quick, chest ‘pump’ routine (hoping to maximize glycogen storage in that area during the carb up!).
I’ll try to detail things as best I can, although I won’t be back home until Sunday afternoon, and doubt I’ll have access to a computer. Occasionally I can get on here on my Palm Treo, so we’ll see (ACTRain is showing up with his girlfriend, and I know he’s got a blackberry, so maybe he can provide some updates if I’m unconscious at that point -lol).
Just got back from a quick chest pump workout (for some extra glycogen supercompensation!), and snapped a few shots after one coat of pro-tan of myself and with my boy John (Mike had to work a night shift, so he’s coming later) for our official “day before” pics
