Ok so I have just joined this site today because I have bee lurking for a few weeks, and reading all the articles with a co-worker who is a memeber. I have been lifting seriously since my senior year of college back in 2003-2004. Since then I have completed school and work as a Doctor of Physical Therapy.
I feel my training is good. I hit a body part everyday of the week, and legs twice because i feel they need to be bigger to compete at any level. Sorry no current pics at this time because on work computer.
So currently I am 220 pounds at 6 feet tall. I am 27 and have been telling myself I want to join a local NPC level show the last few years but have not been motivated to do so. I have really worked on my diet as of late and have a strickt diet but am not seeing the results I want with losing body fat. Currently at 13-15%. My workouts are very intense and include high volume, as well as high reps. I do about 25-30 sets per body part. Many people i know say i have good development, i just need to cut. So i am asking what good ways to cut are out there.
will try to ad pics later to help get more feedback
Ok so here is a breakdown of a typical week for workouts.
day 1 chest
day 2 back
day 3 legs
day 4 shoulders
day 5 arms
day 6 legs
day 7 repeat…
currently/goals
weight 220/195
bodyfat 13-15%/<10%
arms 19 inches
chest 47 inches
waist 34 inches
forearms 14.5 inches
calves 17 inches
thighs 25 inches
for my first show i wanted to try the light heavyweight class just because i dont have a lot of size to compete in heavyweight.
a typical chest day workout:
- flat bench press 20x135, 15x225, 12x275, 10x300, 8-10x315, 5-6x335, 3-4x365, 1x400-405, then 3 sets of 8 reps at 275 or 295 depending on my overall fatigue
- flat bench dumbbell press 4-5 sets at 105-110 pounds
- incline dumbbell press 5 sets of 8-10 reps at 100-105 pounds
- decline smith machine 20x135, 15x185, 10x225, 10x245, 10x275, 10x300, 6-8x315, 6x315
- machine flies 4-5 sets at 165-180 pounds
- incline smith machine 15x135, 12x185, 10x225, 10x245, 8x275, 8x275, 8x275
- cable flies 3-4 sets at 65-80 pounds with 3 second hold.
then i finish with 15-30 min of cardio stopping every 4-5 min to do a set of 25 push ups.
a typical back day:
- 4 sets of wide grip BW pull ups
- bent over barbell rows 15x135, 10x185, 10x185, 8x225, 12x155
- wide grip pulldown 5-7 sets of 8-10 reps 240 pounds
- one arm pull down 3-4 sets of 8 at 100-120 pounds
- seated rows 5x10-15 at 200, 220, 240, 245, 260 pounds
- straight arm pull downs 4-5x10 at 120-150 pounds
- high cable rows 4x15 at 200 pounds
- reverse grip pull down 3-4 sets of 10-12 at 180-220
- one arm rows 4x12 at 105 pounds
- hyperextensions 5 sets of 10 with 45 pound plate
again followed by 15-30 min of cardio
Wow man you like yourself some volume donÃ?´t you? if it works…any pics?
i will try to post some pics tonight, unfortunately on the work computer right now. but yes i love high volume, i dont feel it otherwise
Okay I am a beginning bodybuilder myself and shit but if you want my two cents, I´d say drop the volume, focus on becoming much stronger or keeping strength as I think getting to very low bodyfat will eventually drain you.
i hate leg days but here is what i have been doing lately:
- double leg extension 7 sets of 10 starting at 160 and last 3 working sets are at 225
- smith machine squats (deep) 7-10 sets of 250
- single leg squats 4x8 at 135 pounds
- seated double leg curl 4-5 sets of 10-12 at 150 pounds
- leg press (2 strip sets) 10 reps then take a plate off. start with 8-10 plates per side down to 4 plates
- sissy squat superset with walking lunges
- single leg extension 4-5 sets of 10-15 with 90 pounds
- calf raises 7x15 with 350 pounds
followed by 15 min cardio
on next leg day add in stiff leg deadlifts 4 sets, single leg curls 4-5 sets, one leg leg press 4-5 sets, and reverse hack squats. take out double leg press, and sissy squats
If high volume is working for you then awesome, though, you might consider adding a rest day here and there.
i have tried to decrease the volume and lift heavier like all the magazines say but i lose all my strenght, lose my pump, and never feel like i worked out.
last month i took a rest day after each leg day, this month i am going to try the routine i listed above. i just am trying to cut so i can get to 195 by may. and i hav cut to less than 120 grams of carbs a day, and consume over 300 grams of protein a day.
shoulder day:
superset of 1. military press 4x10 at 225
2. overhead presses 4x10 85 pounds
then on to 3. push press 3x10 at 165 pounds
4. lateral raises 5x10 with 45 pounds
5. bent over flies 4x12 30 pounds
6. upright rows 4x10 at 135 pounds
7. face pulls 4x12 at 95 pounds
8. leaning lateral raises 3-4 sets of 10 at 30 pounds
9. dumbbell shrugs 5x15 at 120 pounds
again 15-30 min cardio
arm day:
superset 1: a. bicep curls 5x10 (65 pounds)
b. one arm extension 5x10 (80 pounds)
superset 2: a. preacher curls 5x10 (150 pounds)
b. cable push downs 5x15 (200 pounds)
superset 3: a. high cable curls 4x8 (65 pounds)
b. one arm overhead extension (80 pounds)
superset 4: a. incline cable curls 4x10 (140 pounds)
b. overhead cable extension with rope 4x12 (155 pounds)
hammer curls 4x10
tricep kickbacks 4x12
concentration curls 3x8
dips 4x25
with again 15-30 min cardio
How do your tri’s feel on chest day?
i have no soreness or difficulty with chest days because i give myself a rest day between arms and chest. I either do legs again or i take a day off.
my daily diet consists of:
breakfast- 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2 cup oatmeal or 1/2 wheat bagel with jelly
snack- 50 gram protein shake (2.5-3 hours later)
lunch- 12 oz chicken, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1/2 can to 1 can green beans
snack- 50 gram proetein shake around 4pm
post-workout- 50 grams protein, 30 grams carbs shake
dinner- 2 chicken breasts, small salad with oild/vinager
this usally adds up to 300 grams protein, 100-120 grams carbs max, 80 grams fat, and around 2000-2300 calories
ok so i finally posted some pics in another forum. please visit and rate if you like.
Since no one else is helping you, I will. Besides I want to be a strength coach in the NFL some day, and what good are great training methods without correct manipulation of diet? So it would nice for me to tell you what’s up and see that it helps. ANYWAYS lol, your diet sucks…but that’s good.
You’ll lose some solid fat here. I could sit here all day and tell you why, so I’m going to give you the what. If you have any questions, just ask. Remember you’re dieting, so this is going to be strict. After all you want to win correct? Fuck 2nd place.
Meal 1- 8 egg whites, scoop of whey, apple(most fibrous), haldful of almonds(this is going to really help you, your meals are very acidic as is), coffee, BCAA’s and glutamine if you can
BCAA’s
Meal 2- 50 grams of lean protein (chicken, egg whites, whey, or any combo), haldful of almonds, fruit
BCAA’s
Meal 3- Same as 2 but w/ veggies
BCAA’s
Meal 4- Preworkout. 50 grams of whey, fruit/veggies BCAA’s
Meal 5- Postworkout. same as 4 w/ glutamine
BCAA’s
Meal 6- Same as 3
Before bed ZMA, glutamine, BCAA’s
well thanks for the support and info. I personally would love to be a physical therapist for a pro NFL team.
thats fairly similar to what i am trying. I know overall my diet sucks.
yesterday i had
immediate wake up 5:30 20 gram protein shake with 3 mitotropin
meal 1: 6AM 1 cup egg whites, 1 whole egg, 1/2 cup of oatmeal with honey, BCAA
meal 2: 830AM 8-10 oz chicken with 1 wasa cracker, BCAA, 2 flaxseed pills, 2 fish oil pills, 2 digestive enzyme pills.
meal 3: 10Am 40+ grams casein shake
meal 4: 12-1230 noon 12 oz chicken, 1/2 cup rice, 1 cup broccoli, BCAA
Meal 5: 3PM 8-10 oz chicken, 1 wasa cracker, BCAA
preworkout: 530PM 40 grams whey protein and 12 oz powerade, creatine, BCAA
postworkout: 830PM 40 grams whey protein and 12 oz powerade, creatine, BCAA
meal 6: 8 oz salmon, 1 cup broccoli
beadtime zma
yesterday was my first day back in the gym after 3 days off because of some mild back pain from a leg day.
of course it was a chest day:
1: flat bench 12x135, 12x225, 10x275, 10x300, 5x315, 5x320, 5x325, 5x315, 5x315
2: flat bench DB 3x8 (120), 3x8 (110)
3: incline DB press 3x5 (110), 8x110, 8x90, 8x80
4: incline smith bench 15x135, 12x185, 10x205, 4x8 (225)
5. machine flies 4x8 (180)
6. decline DB press 3x8 (85)
of course after taking a few days off i had no pump, no energy, and horrible endurance. usually i can go heavier, and do more reps.