[quote]GrizzlyBerg wrote:
Looks like I am going to have to work on my posing and my epic post-contest cheat meal so I can beat you in 2 out of our 3 categories. Conditioning is crazy dude. [/quote]
Haha thanks man, you’ve got plenty of time still though and you’re making great progress yourself! And good luck beating my post contest eats 
[quote]Lonnie123 wrote:
By God you are shredded man. Insanity.
In fact, you may have to make yourself look softer when you compete in physique, meaning dont flex as hard and actually stand kinda relaxed and just “act natural”
These photos are really shocking man, up to this point you have been hiding your true progress from us!
Congrats on getting this far[/quote]
Wow thanks a lot Lonnie, that means a lot coming from you. I guess nobody ever thinks they’re lean enough, so I feel like I’ve still got a ways to go, but it gives me confidence hearing I’m on track!
3 week out update
Hey guys, hope everyone’s doing well! I’m 23 days out from competing in physique, and about 7 weeks from bodybuilding. I’m looking forward to bodybuilding much more, but excited to get on stage in physique. Hit a new prep low of 176.0, and Brian is leaving my macros and cardio the same for another week. So staying at 295 c, 60 f, 240 p with two refeeds per 7 days. Cardio is at 2 hiit sessions and 1 30 min MISS session per week. Feeling great, good energy, good pumps during workouts, strength being retained well.
Back relaxed
3 weeks out front double bi. Really want to slap some size on my arms over the next offseason (in addition to everywhere else of course)
Back double bi. I tried to turn my non spiked leg out a bit more to show my hamstring as per Tim’s suggestion…probably could have gone a little further with it even
Abs and thigh
Last one for today, side chest. Tried to stay upright a bit more as Tim suggested.
New pics look great. I am biased of course, but the changes you made I think improved those poses.
[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
New pics look great. I am biased of course, but the changes you made I think improved those poses. [/quote]
Thanks Tim, I think so too
Hey guys, little mid-week update here. Baseball season ended this past weekend, as we finished 9th in the conference standings and failed to qualify for the conference tournament. It was a pretty disappointing season. We graduated two All-Americans from last year’s team, the best pitcher and best catcher/hitter in school history, and got off to a rough start in non-conference play. Our long time coach announced after our 1-12 start (against teams with a combined record of 72-26 at that point) that he was retiring at the end of the season. From that point on he panicked by constantly shuffling the lineup, yanking guys from games after a bad at-bat or an error, and just in general created a constant cloud of negativity around the team.
I’ve played competitive baseball since I was 8 years old, and this was the first season that I’ve ever not looked forward to going to practice every day, sometimes didn’t even look forward to gamedays. Combined with the normal energy decreases and hunger during contest prep, and it just made for a pretty bad experience this spring. So while the competitor in me is very disappointed with the season ending the way it did, I’m also relieved to have my schedule freed up to focus on school and finishing out this prep and contest season as strongly as I possibly can.
Plans going forward: Now that I won’t have practice every afternoon, I’m going to take a 30 minute walk and practice posing for 30 minutes each afternoon during the time that I normally would have been practicing. This will allow me to keep up the energy expenditure that my body is accustomed to from baseball, and also will allow me to improve my posing with increased practice. Even with an hour planned out for the walk and posing, I’ll still have about 2 extra hours freed up in my schedule to study, nap if necessary, or take on several more personal training clients
As many of you know, I’m a big believer in flexible dieting/IIFYM, while being sure to cover all my nutritional needs through plenty of high quality protein and carb sources in addition to greens and fruit each day. Thought I’d post a picture of one of my staple meals as of late, French toast and Egg whites. To make French toast, I soak up 15 g of liquid egg whites with a slice of Village Hearth light wheat bread (8 carbs per slice), and top with cinnamon and vanilla extract.
I cook the soaked bread in a skillet sprayed with Pam spray for about 90 seconds on each side, then top with Walden Farms pancake syrup and either natty peanut butter or Pb2 depending on my available fat for the day. Keeps things fun and is a pretty filling meal! Don’t have the exact numbers in front of me, but this meal was about 40 c, 33 p, and 8 f.
Forgot to attach the picture!
Loving the recent pics, both the physique shots and the food -lol.
Smart that you’re taking into account the loss of activity from baseball and making up for it. Most people overlook very simple things they do in their 9-5 days in terms of how much they may contribute to cals burned, or even just little metabolic ‘kicks’ they may produce.
Great stuff all around 
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Loving the recent pics, both the physique shots and the food -lol.
Smart that you’re taking into account the loss of activity from baseball and making up for it. Most people overlook very simple things they do in their 9-5 days in terms of how much they may contribute to cals burned, or even just little metabolic ‘kicks’ they may produce.
Great stuff all around
S[/quote]
Thanks for stopping Stu, always good to hear your opinion. I’m glad to know my thinking is along the right lines with the energy expenditure
Played baseball for a long time myself and I can totally relate to the crap season, pwolves17. Hopefully next year will be better!
You’re looking great too, by the way!
Back and rear delts are sick!!! Good luck to you brotha
[quote]usmccds423 wrote:
Played baseball for a long time myself and I can totally relate to the crap season, pwolves17. Hopefully next year will be better!
You’re looking great too, by the way![/quote]
Thanks Chris, I appreciate the kind words. I’m looking forward to following your cut and hopefully being able to contribute some useful advice!
[quote]trevor734 wrote:
Back and rear delts are sick!!! Good luck to you brotha[/quote]
Thanks Trevor, appreciate the support! I’ll be trying to get my back and delts on your level this offseason
2 week out update
This Saturday I’ll be two weeks out from my first show. Talked to Brian this morning, and we’re going to be making a push for better conditioning. He dropped 20 carbs and 5 fat from my low day numbers, and also added 2 sets to my hiit sessions, in addition to adding an additional 30 min MISS session.