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Fitness_By_Alex
07-14-2010, 07:12 PM
About Me:
I’m Alex. I’m 21 years old. I’m a full time college student and business owner. When I was about 16 I decided it was time to make a change in my life. I was tired of being a bit pudgy, having poor self confidence, getting sick often and feeling the mental, physical and emotional effects of lousy diet/lifestyle. I knew nothing about nutrition but ate salads, turkey sandwiches and vegetable soup to get myself from about 165lbs (pudgy) to about 110lbs (skinny as a rail). At that point I hired a personal trainer and about 2 weeks into training with him, I was hooked. The second I could see my efforts manifest themselves in positive changes to my physique I knew this was for me.
I became addicted to this new lifestyle. From 16-18 I kept training, experimenting with different nutrition styles and studying/reading everything I possibly could on the subject. I was never into team sports much, and I took a huge liking to bodybuilding because to me it was a sport, a science, an art and a lifestyle that I was collectively passionate about pursuing. By my junior year in high school I was the strongest guy in my school. I was about 200lbs at 5’9” and 8% body fat, but of course this wasn’t enough for me. I went off to college to study marketing and psychology and like everyone else, the freshman pounds piled on…mine were however in the form of 20lbs of muscle.
During my sophomore year I was enduring a rough breakup with my girlfriend of 3 years and also in the process of starting one of my companies with a partner. The cumulative stresses of the two aforementioned items in addition to school distracted me from my bodybuilding goals a bit. I lost about 5-10lbs but thankfully stayed lean (maybe even leaned up a bit). When I got back into training, I was forced to balance it against my new priorities. Starting my business and being in school required a lot of my time and came with a lot of stress. It was hard for me to get enough sleep to train and grow. I decided to electively loose a bit more weight and try modeling. I hooked up with an agent and talent manager in Philadelphia and got started. I mainly did it for fun, and because it gave me something to work towards to motivate my training. After about 6-8 months of this I decided it (mainstream fitness modeling) wasn’t for me. I was tired of being hungry all the time and tired of over-dieting (my body doesn’t really like to be under 205-210lbs).
As of June, 2010 I got back to my roots and decided that I’m going to tirelessly pursue what I am genuinely passionate about – bodybuilding. I rebounded nicely from 205lbs at about 5-6% body fat to 215lbs, similar body-fat but just holding some fluids from the high carbohydrates.

My Goal:
I plan to take an entire 12 months (from June 2010, to June 2011) to bring myself to about 250lbs (lean). This gives me about 45 weeks, with the goal of putting on another 35lbs. that equates to about .75lbs per week. I realize this will be a challenge, especially while staying lean. I’ll adjust this target weight by how I look/feel and depending on my progress but so far I’m off to a good start. As of mid June or early July, 2011 (depending on my condition), I’m going to start prepping for the 2011 NPC Eastern USA’s.

Misc:
-I’m a nutrition nerd

-My favorite pro is Jay Cutler. I look up to him as a businessman, bodybuilder and great ambassador for the sport.

-Steak, Sushi and Chocolate are probably my top three favorite foods.

My Training:
-I am a firm believer (for myself at least) In HIT style training. My body responds much better to this style when compared to volume training. I will update the thread daily with my training for that day.

My Nutrition:
-I have tried the higher fat, moderate carb, high protein diet style to put on lean size and It did not work well for me. Physiologically it makes little sense either. If Glucose is our preferred metabolic energy source, than any decent amount of circulating glucose will further convince our bodies to utilize available glucose for energy. Add circulating fatty acids to the mix and they are bound to not be used as efficiently (and unless one has a very fast metabolism) they are likely to be stored. I have tried the ketogenic style diet to lean up and although it does work, the metabolic slow-down is not worth it to me. When I eat moderate-high carbohydrates I must keep my fat intake pretty low at around or under 50g per day. I still make sure to get my essential fats.

I adjust my nutrition strategy to account for every 10-12.5 lbs of added LBM. to summarize, I eat 6 meals per day amounting to:

1.5g protein/lb of LBM
2.5g carbohydrates/lb LBM
~.25g fat/lb LBM

I will post an example of the diet that brought me from 200-205lbs to 215lbs (my current weight). keep in mind that during the last month my body was re-bounding from eating about 1900-2200 calories per day, over-dieting and such for the modeling that I was doing.

Meal 1:
50 whey isolate
75g Carbs from Grits (with unsweetened cocoa powder and stevia)
1 Apple

TRAIN

Meal 2:
8oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 3:
8oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 4:
8oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 5:
8oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 6:
8oz Salmon/Red Meat
1-2 cups Asparagus
1/3 cup Almonds

TOTALS:
Protein: 300g
Carbohydrate: 500g
Fat: ~35-50g

**I take 100mg R-ALA with each meal
**I take 10g BCAA post training.
**If I am not having Salmon I will take about ~4,000mg of EPA/DHA

** Once per week I will go out and have sushi, pizza or hit up a nice steakhouse.


Attached are my starting Photo's as of June 2010. I am 5'9.5" and 205lbs in these photo's.

http://forums.musculardevelopment.com/C:%5CUsers%5CAlex%5CDesktop%5CFitness%20By%20Alex% 5CMD%20log%5CJune%202010%20Start%20Photo%27s_205lb shttp://forums.musculardevelopment.com/C:%5CUsers%5CAlex%5CDesktop%5CFitness%20By%20Alex% 5CMD%20log%5CJune%202010%20Start%20Photo%27s_205lb s

Fitness_By_Alex
07-14-2010, 07:16 PM
Chest + Triceps today: July 5th

Flat Chest Press: 275lbs x 12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Press: 120lb DB's x 12 reps
Incline Dumbbell Fly: 60lb DB's x 12 reps
Pec Fly Machine: 200lbs x 15 reps

-Rope extensions: 150lbs (full stack) x 12 reps
-Overhead rope extensions: 150lbs (full stack) x 12 reps
-Single arm reverse grip press downs: 50lbs x 12 reps
*All exercises performed at 1 HIT set each.

**Each rep consists of 3 seconds eccentric, 1 second static and 3 seconds concentric. - This definitely makes it harder to lift heavy, but the stimulus to the muscle is without a doubt greater!

Fitness_By_Alex
07-14-2010, 07:17 PM
Weight this morning when I woke up : 216lbs

Back + Biceps this morning: July 6th

Lat Pull-downs: 225lbs x 12 reps
Hammer Strength Low Row: 6 plates x 12 reps
Bent over barbell rows: 4 plates x 12 reps
Seated rows (machine): 225lbs x 10 reps
Biceps:
-Single arm DB Preacher Curl: 40lb DB x 12 reps
-single arm DB concentration curl: 40lb x 12 reps
-Single arm hammer curls (with rope on the universal): 60lb x 21 reps

**I like to really focus on the squeeze/form with biceps and use lighter weight. Seems to work better for me.

*All exercises performed at 1 HIT set each.
**Each rep consists of 3 seconds eccentric, 1 second static and 3 seconds concentric.

Fitness_By_Alex
07-14-2010, 07:18 PM
Meal 1:
50 whey isolate
100g Carbs from Grits (with unsweetened cocoa powder and stevia)
1 Apple

TRAIN

Meal 2:
9oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 3:
9oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 4:
9oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 5:
9oz Turkey Breast/Chicken Breast/White Fish
100g carbs from white rice or red potato
1 cup broccoli or green vegetable

Meal 6:
9oz Salmon/Red Mead
1-2 cups Asparagus
1/3 cup Almonds

TOTALS:
Protein: 325g
Carbohydrate: 525g
Fat: ~35-50g

**I take 100mg R-ALA with each meal
**I take 10g BCAA post training.
**On days that I don’t have salmon I’ll take ~4,000mg EPA/DHA

Fitness_By_Alex
07-14-2010, 07:20 PM
Morning weight :220lbs
BF: 7-8%

I started to log my training this week (week 4), as I figured my "rebound" would soon plateau.

Sunday: Chest + Triceps

Hammer Chest Press: 230lbs x 12 reps
Pec Deck Fly: 200lbs x 12 reps
Incline DB Press: 200lbs x 12 reps
Inclinde DB Fly: 100lbs x 12 reps
Rope Pressdowns: 120lbs x 12 reps
Overhead Rope Extensions: 120lbs x 12 reps
Reverse Grip Pulldowns: 50lbs x 12 reps
Standing Calves: 410lbs x 18 reps

Monday: Back + Biceps

Back + Biceps
Pull Downs: 220lbs x 12 reps
Hammer Row: 270lbs x 12 reps
Hammer Low Row: 270lbs x 12 reps
Seated Row: 200lbs x 12 reps
Preacher DB Bicep Curl: 40lbs x 12 reps
Concentration DB Curls: 40lbs x 12 reps
Cable Hammer Curls: 50lbs x 12 reps
Seated Calves: 205lbs x 15 reps

Tuesday: OFF

**Just as I adjust my diet for about every 10lbs gained I adjust my training to ensure that I am getting stronger and thus bigger little by little. I keep track of my exercises, weights used and reps performed. Each week I try to either increase by 5-10lbs (depending on exercise i.e. isolation vs. compound) or I try to squeeze an extra 1-2 reps out of each HIT set. Doing this, as ensures me that I am making the necessary effort to stimulate the growth process. Combined with increased nutrition should yield close to maximized efficiency.

** I can actually feel the weight gain. I gained on average 2.2lbs per week during my rebound. I am definitely a bit more sluggish during the day. Still staying lean though!


^^I had recorded this log for about 3.5 weeks. I just chose to log it on Rxmuscle.com so I copied the progress thus far in the last few posts.

Fitness_By_Alex
07-15-2010, 08:32 PM
Weight: 220lbs still..

Legs: July 14th

Leg Press: 1,000lbs x 20 reps (slightly wider than shoulder width foot stance)
Hack Squat: 365lbs x 15 reps (shoulder width stance)
Smith Squat: 275lbs x 15 reps (shoulder width stance)
Leg Extensions: 24lbs x 12 reps
Seated Calves: 225lbs (5 plates)

Shoulders & Traps: Today

Hammer Shoulder Press: 230lbs (only counting weight of plates added to machine) x 10 reps

Double Arm DB Lateral Raise: 40lb DB's x 15 reps
Double Arm DB Front Raise: 40lb DB's x 15 reps
Rear Delt Machine: 120lbs x 15 reps
Barbell Shrugs: 315lbs x 15 reps
DB Shrugs: 110lb DB's x 15 reps
Standing Calves: 420lbs x 18 reps

The Big Sexy
07-15-2010, 08:36 PM
So, you want to put on 35lbs of lean muscle in 45 weeks? Or just put on 35lbs???

The Big Sexy
07-15-2010, 08:37 PM
Also, in the first picture... is the wall mounted hair dryer a 500w or 750w??

v1hyp
07-15-2010, 11:24 PM
Welcome. Thanks for putting in all that info. You seem to have your program all laid out. Good luck in reaching your goals. Just remember the old saying about if it were easy everyone would be doing it. So with that being said just keep at it and be patient. Once again, good luck!