Contest prep diary: Post Here!

[esplendido]

Seems we have a few athletes prepping for shows this Summer and Fall. Post your progress (with pics) on this thread so that we can encourage you and be motivated, too!

I start my diet the beginning of April for the North Americans in August. I'll post progress pics, etc when I get started.

Let's go!

[HeavyDutyGuy]

16 weeks out. Pics were taken the past week at BW between 258 - 262 lbs. Arm was 21" pumped in the first two (blurry) photos. (My hand was shaking from a very intense back/ bicep session. The others were earlier in the week.

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Here's yesterdays cardio session. Typical of the past few sessions....Treadmill 20 min, .98 miles, Avg spd 3.9 avg incline 1.5 154 cals. Recumbent bike 25 min 5.43 Miles, avg spd 13 mph, 178 cals. BW 260. As for Diet it was right bang on mark today, all lean protein, veggies, some rice, iced tea, coffee and diet soda. Pics were from Monday - around 260.

[esplendido]

Great size on your legs, especially for your height! Need clearer pics to see how the conditioning is coming.

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Great size on your legs, especially for your height! Need clearer pics to see how the conditioning is coming.

Thanks! I really focused on bringing them up this past year. Training very heavy and hard, but working the ROM on squats and leg presses a bit more- the 'hole'. I will try to get someone to take pics with a better camera as I go. Tonites workout was brutal! Not going to take up space posting them all, but this one tonight was tough- PECS (Cable crossovers warmups for shoulders and pecs 60 lbs ea stack really working the ROM and stretch), 2 sets) 1. Smith bench press - (w/u bar, 1 pl a side, 2 pl , 3 pl, 3 pl+25 x1, 4 pl a side- 360 in plates x 1) , 4 pl +25 ea side (410 in plates) x1) 4pl +35 ea side - 430 in plates x 2. Negatives 5 pl a side (450 in plates) x 3- first time handling this weight for full negs, might have got 1 more,, bit it was a little scary, and bar kept hitting hooks near bottom. 2nd set -5 pl x 3 - better set, conrolled all the way down, brutal!............................ 2. Dips - ( warmup BW 260 Bw, BW +90 ) BW+180 (440 total) x 2 + 2 neg, x 3 + 2 neg... 3. Cable Crossovers (w/u 80, 110 x2, 140 x2, 170 x 2 ). 200 ea side (entire weight stacks) x 7! - up 1 rep. DELTS------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4. Smith Machine Press (wu, bar 1 pl, 1 pl + 25, 2 pl). 2 pl + 25 ea side - 230 in plates x 4.......... 5. Cable Laterals - post exhaust, 50 x 10+ 2 FR+ 2 neg, - up 10 lbs ea side, same reps and form............................... 6. Rear delt on pec dec 225 x 8- up 15 lbs for 1 less rep.! ............................. ................TRIs...............7. Cable Overhead Tri Ext 150 x 10, x 8.//// 8. Rope Pushdowns.- 200 x 8, x 9+ 2 neg. ..............................Brutal, intenese workout! Forced reps, lots of negatives. BW before workout 260-

[esplendido]

Looks like your doing push/pull. How is your energy for 3 body parts in one day? Are you working each body part once a week or twice a week?

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Today's workout... BACK 1. Deadlifts From bottom rung warmups, then- 550x 1, 560 x1! (PR in weight only)- up 10 lbs for 2 less reps. From top- 590 x 2 + 1 neg. 2 Hammer Pulldowns warmups then did 5 plates, 5 pl ea arm x 3 + 2 FR + 3 neg! - left, 2+ 3 FR+ 3 neg right unilaterally. 6 pl x 5 neg ea arm unilaterally. 3. T bar rows - new - tested strength up to 6 pl. 6 pl x 6 - heavy but good aggression and form.............. 4..BB Rows 525 x 5. 5. BB Shrugs 660 x 4, x 5!, up 20 lbs for 1 less rep! 5 Upright Rows 250 x 6! - up 10 lbs for 1 less rep, form just as tight, x 5. . ------------- BICEPS ----------------------------------------- 6. Macnine Curls .stack- 20+ 25 245 x 6!, x4. 190 x 5 ea ea arm! Hard and heavy workout!. BW 257 before. Had a friend take a few pics.

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Rick, I'm currently doing pecs/delts/tris, off, back/biceps/ off/ legs. Sometimes I insert an extra rest day, so it basically a 3 day a week routine, each bodypart once. On most off days, I'm currently doing 45 min of of cardio.

[esplendido]

Rick, I'm currently doing pecs/delts/tris, off, back/biceps/ off/ legs. Sometimes I insert an extra rest day, so it basically a 3 day a week routine, each bodypart once. On most off days, I'm currently doing 45 min of of cardio.

Classic push/pull routine. I did that for 10 years in my 20's. However!...I found that my shoulders were getting short changed with 3 body parts in one workout when I returned to BBing in my late 40's. I suppose if you have the time, like 4-5 hours in the gym to allow some recovery between body parts, you can progress with that. I had to give each body part its own day (except arms....I do bi's and tri's together) to get maximum growth and best recovery.

You are lifting some impressive iron there, sir! My hat's off to you! Keep it up. You'll do well at the Masters Nationals.

[HeavyDutyGuy]

I like this routine. I'm strong, but was never one of the guys who could weight train everyday and gain. I'd usually regress. So I learned to hit it hard, heavy and brief, take a day off, maybe two, then hit the next thing. I can usually fry delts in 4 sets, and doing thwm after chest makes them warmed up already, even prefatigued to an extent. Works great. But everyones body is somewhat different. Most guys at my gym can't figure out how I can lift the weights I do either. The priniciple of individual differences. And thanks for the encouragement!

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Why doesnt anyone post theirs besides me?. lol. Anyway, to get caught up I did get soem regular camera pics taken, the quality wasnt good- mostly because of the flash. It figures- my cell blurs and the regular is too flashy. was going to upload aneay, but this computer at the lib doesnt have an unlocked set up CD drive and I have a Cd. Oh well. I will have the wife shoot some on the digital in a few weeks and go that route. I will post the link when my friend uploads the video of me deadlifting 560 for a PR. He loved it. It hurt me to look at it, lol,
Ok training. I trained all 7 days last week Cardio for 45 min along with tanning on Sun, Tues and Thurs. Brutal weight workouts on M W F- among the toughest I've ever done. I went in to tan and do more cardio on Sat- did 20 min of treadmil and a bunch of sets on machine crunches. Coudlnt even think about pedaling more than a few second on the bike. thnough better of it, and went home and rested,, took sunday off, first full day off in 8 days. I feel more rested today, a bit sleepy, but ok. ate a fe more carbs to recover and refuel some. my weight ahd evn dropped from 259 to 255 in les than a week, That obviously wasnt all fat, and I think I was getting overtrained (duh) and was startign to burn muscle. Will only do my 3 days weights and 3 days cardio 45 max minutes this week, then assess. 16 weeks to go- time to burn! Diets still on point. Not in keto mode yet- still easing into that.

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Last night's workout. Went great, better than I expected! LEGS-------------------------------------------- 1. Squats (w/u bar, 140, etc, up to 500 x2).. 600 x 9!- up 1 rep and better form overall than last time. Reps 2 to 5 or so seemed almost easy in a weird way. Went to Leg ext first. guy was taking up the leg press forever, I started to cool off. Did warmups with 150, 225, stack- 285/ 2. Hammer Leg press (w/u 4 ea side, 7 ea side, 10) 3.Flex Leg ext (w/u) then stack * 285+ 15 - 300 x 6 + 2 FR (up 15 lbs for 3 less reps e leg)-Unilaterally, alternating pre ex with Hammer Leg Press 14 pl ea side*- 1400 x 5 + 1.FR - up 25 lbs!. .................................................. ... Hamstrings ............................................... - 4. Seated Leg curl stack- 255 a few, then 210 x 8 NA- alternaing neg w ea leg, 255 x 10 slow neg wth pause in contracted position, very slow neg, up 2 reps. ....................Calves........................ .......... 5. Toe Press on Hammer machine 12 pl ea side + 25 1220 x 7! - up 25 lbs! Stripped off 3 pl a side x 10 very slow concentrated with even slower negatives. 6. Standing Calf Raise stack +15- 410 x 11 - up 7.5 lbs for 2 less rep. slow with slower negatives. Strong, Intense, pushed very hard, heavy! BW - 259 lbs- back up 4 lbs since Sat. Looked more muscular and felt a lot better. Strength was up, several PR's! Protein 155+ 60 + 35 = 240 grams. Calories 2000.

[esplendido]

Last night's workout. Went great, better than I expected! LEGS-------------------------------------------- 1. Squats (w/u bar, 140, etc, up to 500 x2).. 600 x 9!- up 1 rep and better form overall than last time. Reps 2 to 5 or so seemed almost easy in a weird way. Went to Leg ext first. guy was taking up the leg press forever, I started to cool off. Did warmups with 150, 225, stack- 285/ 2. Hammer Leg press (w/u 4 ea side, 7 ea side, 10) 3.Flex Leg ext (w/u) then stack * 285+ 15 - 300 x 6 + 2 FR (up 15 lbs for 3 less reps e leg)-Unilaterally, alternating pre ex with Hammer Leg Press 14 pl ea side*- 1400 x 5 + 1.FR - up 25 lbs!. .................................................. ... Hamstrings ............................................... - 4. Seated Leg curl stack- 255 a few, then 210 x 8 NA- alternaing neg w ea leg, 255 x 10 slow neg wth pause in contracted position, very slow neg, up 2 reps. ....................Calves........................ .......... 5. Toe Press on Hammer machine 12 pl ea side + 25 1220 x 7! - up 25 lbs! Stripped off 3 pl a side x 10 very slow concentrated with even slower negatives. 6. Standing Calf Raise stack +15- 410 x 11 - up 7.5 lbs for 2 less rep. slow with slower negatives. Strong, Intense, pushed very hard, heavy! BW - 259 lbs- back up 4 lbs since Sat. Looked more muscular and felt a lot better. Strength was up, several PR's! Protein 155+ 60 + 35 = 240 grams. Calories 2000.

You need to add 100g of protein to your diet or you're gonna lose muscle.

[esplendido]

And what's your AAS protocol? Your calories seem too low. I ate 3500 calories on my last diet and lost 2lbs/wk.

[HeavyDutyGuy]

Wow, I couldn't get lean on that may calories! Lol, I probably have a much slower metabolism than you. I gain weight on 3000 + calories. I have to go below 2500 to 2000 to lose fat. I ate almost 3000 calories on Sat and 2800 on Sunday and gained 4 lbs since Saturday. Right now I'm only using phera and MID as a bridge, since my clinic is taking forever to refill and send out my HRT. I was on 400 mg test, 200 mg Deca a week and 1 Anavar a day. Were going to stay with the test and anavar and add winstrol inject eod to keep the lean muscle, and dropping the deca to eliminate water retention. I've never used Anavar and Winstrol together. In fact those last 10 weeks were the first I'd used Anavar. We may add the deca back in if the shoulder or other joints start to act up again. I'm still getting stronger week by week so I'm not losing muscle at this point. I did lose muscle last year, but was higher in protein and fats and lower in carbs. I think I need at least 200 grams of protein, and 150 grams of carbs. Boyer Coe used similiar figures back in 80-81 and he felt stronger, was able to train more intensely, and carry more precontest bodyweight on stage. Mentzer told me he would be on 800 calories and 80 grams of protein to get ripped. He later added more carbs and a lot of cardio in 79 and 80.