Teen's Road to Physique Competition

Training Logs
101

I appreciate all your help, genuinely I do.

No wonder I got all those funny looks when I brought my food scale into the dining hall haha.

This all makes sense and now I just got to put my head down and commit to putting on size instead of constantly worrying about trying to stay lean.

I’ll report back in a month or so, I need to stay off these websites for a little bit I think and just train, eat and sleep.

You have given me what I need so continuing to search will only make me switch things up or overcomplicate stuff.

Thank you again!

Hope you killed your leg day last night!

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102

Sure thing, dude. Always happy to lend some advice. Feel free to hit me up whenever!

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103

Lol you read my mind, I wanted to type more but that was all I could muster. Great thoughts and advice by @IronAndMetal as always! Good stuff.

104

First things first. You’re getting great training and nutrition advice, and the whole RELAX thing is also good - consider meditation/mindfulness/yoga.

BUT, first, get a fucking tan Bro!

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105

Haha I’ll be sure to look into it.

106

Bit of a minor update for now:

School has ended so I really have no other obligations right now.

Currently just running a 5 day program while eating at a slight deficit to lean down for summer.

Todays workout was as follows:

Squat
190x5, 215x3, 240 for an AMRAP and hit 10 reps, 225x3, 215x3, 200x3, 190x5, 175x5, then 165 for another AMRAP and hit it for 20. Then followed that up with some light sumo pulls (weight wise)

Sumo Deadlift
155x5, 185x5, 215x3, 215x5, 215x7, 215x4, 215x6, 215x8

The hit some seated leg curls and hanging leg raises for 3 sets of anywhere from 10-20 reps and called it a day.

Was 153.2 pounds this morning at roughly 12.3% bf.

Macros are set at 160/50/230 P/C/F (2000 calories)

Sort of in a limbo right now, still soaking in @IronAndMetal advice from previous posts and revisiting old threads I started and rereading information provided in there as I still am passionate about my goals.

Short term goal is more fat loss oriented for summer.

Just posting as an update.

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107

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So just some more recent photos, taken tonight. Was 152.8lbs this morning. Don’t mind my face as I took a video originally and then just screenshotted photos.

Macros were 25g protein, 10g of fat and 35g of carbs per meal, spread out over 6 meals today. Was an off day from the gym, weekends are off for me.

In terms of training, to add to the last post, its 4-5 days a week. Sort of an upper lower split, with cardio at 3x a week right now.

Not really committed to a cut or bulk right now, my macros, in total, equate to roughly 2000 calories, 150g of protein, 215g of carbs and 60g of fat. I am torn on what to do, nutritionally speaking. I like having more rigidity in my diet in terms of hitting macros vs. just intuitively eating at the moment as it provides more control, which I like. The caloric level right now is a deficit but I find myself debating whether to bump it up to maintenance or even a slight surplus. What do you guys think? Based on the pictures?

As always, any help and feedback is greatly appreciated. I love interacting on this forum and truly do appreciate all the help! Its a great community!

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108

Forgot to post one of my legs… I swear I am training them haha

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As always, critiques and opinions are welcomed, be brutally honest!

109

so today was an upper day, I am actually very pleased with how it went as I was able to get a really good mmc in my chest which is something I have struggled with. The workout went as follows:

Db chest press- worked up to a top set of 8. used a lot of warm up sets to get to top set to make sure I felt it in my chest.
30’sx8, 40’sx8, 45’sx8, 50’sx8 and the top set was the 55’sx8. Felt every single rep of every single set in my chest. Form started to break down a smudge on reps 6-8 of the final set so I called it there. Reading back in @robstein contest prep thread he talked about most people can’t get the mmc in there chest simply because they don’t warm it up enough and get enough blood in there. So I made sure to the extent of almost over-warming up, to make sure I felt it in my chest.

Next was dead stop barbell rows. Nothing special 3x8@135 lbs really squeezed my elbows back at the top of each rep.

Then a 3x10 on the rear delt fly machine took a bunch of warmups, then hit 55x10, 60x10 and 65x10.

The next movement, the chest supported row with dumbbells was a little difficult for me. I think I need to work on the setup a little bit more or what not, because I did not really feel these at all. I ended up lowering the weight for my last set because of that.
40’sx12, 40’sx12, (form was not lending to a solid mmc so I lowered the weight), 30’sx12

Following that was BB overhead press for a 3x8 at 85lbs. These felt awesome. I didn’t lock out fully at the top and came to so my elbows were slightly below 90 degrees, so all the tension stayed on my delts the entire set and felt great.

Next was barbell curls, 3x8 went 45x8, 50x8, and 55x8. Really focused on flexing my bicep the entire set, an extra squeeze at the top and nice 3-second negative.

And finally ended the workout with 4x25 of hanging knee raises.

Then hit 15 minutes of LISS on the bike and called it a day.

Weight was up to 153.6 today but I splurged a bit as we went out with the family for mother’s day yesterday, but back on track so far today.

Tomorrow will be a lower day, which I am looking forward to, but I am really happy with how today’s workout went, especially since I felt I was using the proper muscle in most exercises instead of just simply moving the weight.

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110

Alrighty, so today was a lower day and I am pretty happy with how it went, as two movements which I don’t usually feel in the target muscles, I was able to finally feel today.

So the workout started with squats. In my training history, I have always trained the squat for strength, meaning I didn’t care what muscles did the work so long as I moved the weight. This led to me using a low-bar squat with my hips sitting way back and a lot of posterior chains and lower back work.

When I initially made the switch to more of a bodybuilding squat several months ago (high bar with a narrow stance, trying to activate quads more) it led to me developing some sort of a knee tendinitis where I could not squat for several months. So today, after reviewing John meadows squat form, I used a high bar back positioning and a super wide stance with toes pointed out, and I was pleasantly surprised to feel it all in my quads. I literally just had to bend my knees and due to my stance being super wide, I was not in a position of pain like my former close stance squat as I felt every rep in my quads actually getting a solid pump in them. Very happy with how these went.
185x8, 205x8, 225x8. Was supposed to do a 3x8 but was not sure how these would feel so I ended up ramping to ease into these.

Next was lying leg curls a 3x12 at 50 lbs. These are easy for me to feel as I tense my hamstring before the set and then slow down the eccentric and feel it nowhere but my hams.

3x10 leg extensions at 100 lbs. Again, easy enough to feel in the quads, held the contraction for a second and lowered the descent under control.

Next were stiff legged deadlifts. Usually, I end up only feeling these in my low back, but again, after reviewing john meadows form there were two key differences. He uses 25 lb plates versus the 45’s which allows for a greater stretch and secondly he doesn’t come all the way up and lockout this movement. He keeps the tension on his hamstrings. Copying both points, I sat my hips back as far as I could, did not lock out the movement and felt it all in my hamstrings and the stretch was brutal but amazing. Nice 3x10@165 lbs.

Then ended the workout with a 5x10, standing calf raises at 135 lbs, just focused on squeezing really hard at the top of each rep.

Weight was down to 152.8 today, expected after the return to normal macros.

Another day down, just really trying to stick to my current split for 12 weeks so I can give it enough time to see its effects.

Hope everyone’s training is going well!

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111

Back again with an upper day. Weight was down to 152.2 today. Still not sure, nutritionally, what I should do in terms of a bulk/cut. But with training, I am just plugging away.

Upper 2
BB incline press
115x8,125x8,125x8
I stopped about 2 inches above my chest and did not lock out fully, kept tension on my upper chest and saving my shoulders.

One-arm bb row
(the weights are based solely on the weights I added to the bar, i.e. 25= a 25-pound plate on the bar, bar not included)
25x8, 35x8, 45x8
For these just focused on the stretch and then contracting as hard as I could at the top. Got these from John meadows and really liked them.

Db bent over rdr raise
15’sx12, 20’sx12, 20’sx12
changed up the form here as well copying john meadows and really focused on just “pulling” with my rear delts and was actually able to get a solid pump in my rear delts.

Wide-grip pulldowns
70x12, 75x12, 80x12
Again, leaned back and squeezed hard at the bottom with my lats and then let my scapula come on done to get an extra stretch at the top.

Db lateral raises
15’sx10, 20’sx10, 20’sx10

Cable extensions (facing away)
10x12, 15x12, 10x12
Got these from meadows too and felt great

Incline sit-ups
4x25

then 15 minutes of cardio to wrap up. Solid workout.

Heading to one of my pledge bros beach house tonight and staying for the weekend, so it should be a good time. I’m going to have to hit my second lower day of the week on Sunday when I come back, but it shouldn’t be affected too much. Crazy warm weather here today in NJ so definitely going to enjoy being down by the water.

112

Keep up the good work brotha! Rooting for your success

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113

Thank you man!! Have a long post planned in like 2 months, based on how these first 5 weeks went I am excited to share my final results

114

Halfway through my current regiment, progress is coming along nicely. 6-7 more weeks and then I will share progress. Do not want to kill momentum now and want a sense of accountability in knowing that I have a “finished project” to present at the end.

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115

Alrighty, well here we go. It always seems like it has been a while nowadays from my most recent post and honestly I’ve found that for me it is better that way because the more involved I get with trying to optimize everything the more it leads to me just spinning my wheels.

When we last talked I was in one of those very episodes, trying to perfect everything, thinking there is some ideal way to do everything, trying to be perfect. In doing that, it leads me to over analyze every minute detail and question everything I was doing. It had me starting a new program every week, trying a new diet and in the end getting nowhere.

So what have I been up to the past two months or so, just training and eating, the basics. I ran two mesocycles of pure hypertrophy training in the form of my own bastardized renaissance periodization template based on Dr. Mike’s recommendations. Was it optimal? probably not, did I see results? You sure bet! I saw amazing improvements in my physique because it was the first time I stuck to a purely hypertrophy based program. Now I am currently running more of a power building approach as I realized I am a number chaser at heart, but still, want the physique to boot. So I program everything, my main movements, and accessories. The competition lifts are based on n-suns531 program which is popular over from Reddit, very high volume and my accessories are still based off of Dr. Israetel’s hypertrophy training guidelines. And honestly I must say I love it, I am seeing great progress in both my lifts and physique. I am high bar squatting instead of my usual low bar and conventional pulling instead of my usual sumo. Currently, my 1rms are a 315 high bar squat, 380 conventional pull and 190 bench. (my low bar pr is 335 for a triple and my best sumo is 415 for reference.) I will have photos of my current physique in the later post.

As far as nutrition I have found I do better with a flexible approach. I am currently eating at my estimated maintenance, no cutting no bulking, which is 2500 calories, I have stayed between 151-154 the past two months at this caloric level. Macros are 155 protein, 315 carbs, and 70 fat. I do no additional cardio, but my summer job keeps me on my feet 8 hours a day, so I get plenty of walking in. I eat whatever I want, as long as I hit my macros. Usually, ends up being roughly 5 meals a day and my first 4 are all pretty clean and I use my “garbage” macros at the end of the day for a little junk food. I have found that this has helped my relationship with food and I have not had any binge episodes since my last post talking about them.

I plan to update this thread more often now that I am mentally in a better place and feel I have matured a bit in order to have more stability in regards to this part of my life.

As usual, any and all feedback is greatly appreciated!

@shreddedbaby

116

To add, I figured I’d post about today’s training and meals just to get the ball rolling.

Today was bench and close grip bench day as my two main movements, then some biceps, triceps, lats, traps, and abs.

To start,

1.Bench: 130x5, 150x3, 165xAmrap with 1 in the tank, i got 6. 160x3,150x5,140x3,130x5,125x3 and another amrap at 115 with 1 in the tank, i hit 12. My bench and the following close grip bench are according to the nsuns program.

  1. close grip bench: 70x6, 90x5, 105x3,5,7,4,6,8

Now my accessories are based on Mike Israetel’s guidelines.

  1. EZ bar curl 50x14,10,9 with 3 RIR (reps in reserve)

  2. dumbbell skull crushers 20’sx10,9,7 3 RIR

  3. DB shrug 70’sx17,12,12 3 RIR

  4. Normal grip pulldown 90x16,11,11 @ 3 RIR

  5. ab crunch machine 45x15,9,8 @ 3 RIR

I was 151.8 lbs this morning.

My meals, bare in mind went out to dinner with the family tonight to celebrate my birthday, we went to cheesecake factory and it was awesome!

Breakfast
151g of chicken breast
60g of oatmeal
28g of jelly

Lunch
206g of chicken breast
2 apples

Dinner
6 oz of chicken breast
1.5 cups of brown rice
5 small pieces of bread
1 slice of parmesan garlic bread
1/3 a piece of snickers cheesecake

Snacks
3 chocolate chip cookies from shoprite

Macros
153g of protein
323f of carbs
67g of fat

117

And here is a video of current physique, please pay no attention to the god awful posing, noises I make while posing, etc. As you can see I have no idea what I am doing lol. (This video was post-cheesecake factory so I am nursing a bit of a food baby lol).

Password is bodybuilding

@shreddedbaby @BrickHead @robstein @IronAndMetal

118

Okay, your physique doesn’t look bad at all, you have decent porportions, and if I had to criticize something it would be a lack of thickness through the upper torso. You’re quads look great, overall a good base to build from!
I feel like you can definitely take it to the next level though by stepping up your diet and consistency in your diet!

I’m actually about to go to bed for the night, but I will write out a long and informative post like we discussed first thing in the morning. I need you to post a couple more specific things though first. Please try and answer these questions for me, and it will really help me give you my opinions. Keep in mind I’m not a professional trainer like the mighty stu but I have a pretty good grasp on a lot of stuff and have helped a lot of guys on forums.

  1. What is your current goal? Are you looking to cut bodyfat or add muscle? You mentioned to me that you are eating at maintnence, so i’m not sure. I could definitely help you more if you have a specific goal, I feel you will definitely spin your wheels more without one. By looking at your physique I Would recommend to bulk, but this is your decision not mine!

  2. Please do post the program you are using, or atleast let me know the volume of workouts per bodypart per week(how many times per week back, chest, and each other bodypart get worked), and how many sets youre doing per muscle group. MIGHT just be easier to link me to the program :slight_smile: which I would prefer!

Once you let me know these things I will basically write out a mock diet protocol with some other guidelines, basically what I would do if I was in your position! IF you decide to use the protocol I provide you, then I can continue to edit the protocol as you progress, and trouble shoot the variables to better suit you. I feel like this could help you learn your body more, having an outside person without bias change variables for you is basically what having a trainer/coach is. I’m not a pro coach or trainer, but i’m also just doing this to try and help, I Think of it as “Research” and I am pretty logical and intelligent in my approach!

That being said, you don’t HAVE to adopt the protocol that I suggest! You can take bits and pieces from it, or none if it at all. Just let me know what you decide once I have posted my suggestions, and I will still continue to try and help you troubleshoot the variables!

note* whether you decide to cut or bulk, let me know the EXACT intent… Do you want an all out bulk? or a lean bulk with minimal fat gain? Or a cut while maintaining as much muscle as possible? try and be VERY specific with your goal. My STRONG recommendation is a lean bulk, but I’ll work with whatever you want.

Assuming you can answer the questions I Asked by the time I wake up (quite early tomorrow) then I Will write out my recommended protocol first thing in the morning! Hope to have a reply from you at that time!

Please be as specific as possible answering the questions! have a good night!

@pitbull97

EDIT: happy birthday!

119

Ok, let me just dive right in then.

My reasoning for currently just eating at maintenance was an attempt at a recomp at my current bodyweight, could be totally naive of me to think it could happen, but that was my thinking. My current goal would be to add lean muscle while minimizing fat gain so, in essence, your recommendation of a lean bulk.

To talk more about my program, here is the link archive.ph

I do the 5-day version but have my own accessory template, which if you need as well I can post too.

Thank you again for your help!

@shreddedbaby

120

Hey man, looking great and seems as if you’re doing well. The only concern i have is lack of veggetables in your diet man?