Epifinys 2011 Offseason/Contest Prep

[epifiny]

Hello, RX community!!
For those who don’t know me from MD forums, My name is Chris Valentin. I have been following the forums and competing in local drug-free bb shows for five years now solely based on my degree in exercise science as well as the information provided by some of MD/RX’s greats: Skip Hill, Tipsta, Scooby, Shelby just to name a few. For 2011 I have decided to take bodybuilding to the next level and shoot for 1st place / overall in at least one show. If I’m lucky, maybe even a pro card.
About my Prep Coach:
Last year there was a lot of things that happened in my life to set me back in bodybuilding but one good thing that made me have a different mindset to the sport was a person by the name of John Gorman . I was fortunate enough to talk to John leading up to the show during the prep and have him judge me. Even though I ended up taking 2nd in my class, John stated that it was a very close race and could have gone either way. I, like most competitors was sad that I didn’t win but I took it for what it’s worth because I knew I didn’t come in my best. I decided to experiment with CC for a few weeks and then buckled down to a CKD for the remaining weeks to hopefully come in as lean as I can because that is the one thing that I get knocked on the most. I still remember before stepping out on that stage for the evening finals there was a unplanned break right before my class stepped out. John went out of his way to find and congratulate me for a job well done regardless of my placing. It was then that I knew that he believed in what I have done for myself but more importantly what I can do to be a better bodybuilder. We continued talking over the next four weeks as I was getting ready for another show and he was nice enough to throw a few pointers out in the hopes of coming in better. 4 weeks later I came in 3lbs lighter but looking 5-7lbs fuller and much tighter thanks to John and everyone that saw me from the KC show was in shock. I, of all people was completely shocked at my results even though I ended up getting 2nd again to another Swimmer. Again, I don’t blame the judges as the loose skin around my chest/abs definitely makes me look not as lean as I truly am. When it was all over, I asked John what can I do to repay you and he said nothing. He reminded me of myself, a person that gotten so much from the sport of bodybuilding that even though he could have stopped and said” wait a sec, that will be X dollars for this, this, and that” he took it upon himself to give back to the sport of bodybuilding and help me realize the truth: that I have more potential that I ever thought I would have if I dedicate myself to this sport.
It was that weekend that I explained to him that I am dedicating myself to the sport of bodybuilding ( no more off-season binges, alcohol, etc) and I want him to guide me along the way. He gladly accepted so I hired John of TEAM GORMAN for my 2011 Offseason/Contest Prep.


My Training is as follows:
Monday: Back Width / Cardio
Tuesday: Cardio/Abs
Wednesday: Cardio only
Thurday: Back Thickness
Friday: Chest / Cardio
Saturday: Cardio/Abs
Sunday: Shoulders(Refeed)
Sets: 8-12 working sets per bodypart
Rep: 10-15 reps to failure


Training Goals: To bring up my shoulder-to-waist ratio by focusing on shoulders and back width. I was very fortunate to have decent legs but they make my upperbody look small. John and I have decided to take some time off of leg training in order to let the upperbody catch up and balance out my symmetry.


Cardio: Currently 30 min in the morning 5x a week on an empty stomach. HR ~ 120-130
Nutrition: 7 meals every 2.5-3 hours
Macros:
Training day
Protein: 355g
Carbs: 305g
Fat: 101g
Total: 3550 Calories
Non-Training Days
Protein: 345g
Carbs: 205g
Fat: 106g
Sunday = Refeed day. An 8 hour refeed starting after my shoulder workout.

Nutrition Goals: To recomp the body after undergoing a long-awaited surgery removing my loose skin from chest and abs area. ( more information on that later.)


Supplements:

Multi-Vitamin – with breakfast
BCAA/Glutamine (10g/5g --pre/post workout, after morning cardio and before bed)
Primaforce Lean Green (2 per day)
Primaforce Creaform (5 grams per day pwo)
Slin Trol (PWO 1 & 2 meals)


In conclusion,
I encourage anyone that is tired of browsing forums only to find wanna-be gurus give advice that contradicts others to find yourself a respectable person in the field and hire them. I have learned so much from some of MD’s /RX’s elites just from a few random posts that you could not even imagine what you can learn not only from these prep coaches, but more imporantly, how your body truly reacts to good nutrition, training, supplements and rest. You can’t put a price on that..
Big shoutout to Jason Theobald of Scivation / Natty Nutrition – your wisdom and guidance over the years played a big role in where I am today and I will never forget that. As a Drug-free competitor doing what it takes time and time again to place so well in Non-tested shows, You definitely have inspired the uninspirable.
Thanks in advance for supporting me in my contest prep for 2011!

Here's a few pics from my Last show in october:

[epifiny]

[epifiny]

Recently had a surgery to remove excess skin from chest/abs on 12/30/2010.
This is Day 1 , Week 1 of getting back into training After no exercises for a little over 2 months.

[epifiny]

Here is Week 6 after following John's Nutrition and Training protocol:

[epifiny]

and just for shits in giggles - The original CV - that took it upon himself to become a bodybuilder:

[epifiny]

Sorry for the Big pics

[neofarq]

Love the fat pics!! Most Fat guys that loose hella weight and get into BBIng usually hae a good foundation for legs cuz they have been carry all that weight around for years.

[epifiny]

i was a big time squatter for sports and soccer player.. so i had the best of both worlds.. but yeah it's definitely a good foundation. Have suffered some atrophy in left leg due to nerve damage but still decently sized.

[Scoobysnacks]

welcome chris. Glad to see ya post. You are definitely responding to the nutrition upper body filled back out. Good luck this year.

ss

[Alex The Great]

Great job Chris. The fat pics show how much hard work and dedication it took to get you to where you are today. Good luck in your upcoming contest prep. I'm rooting for ya.

[epifiny]

thanks alex - this will be the first time i put as much effort into the offseason diet wise as i do for contest so i'm hoping for a good year.

[johngorman]

hey homie, glad to see you started up a prep thread, yours is going to be fun for people to watch.......

things are cruising along nicely, chris is a robot and just does whatever it takes, he's as strict on an offseason plan as contest prep, which is showing as he's up about 5 lbs on average over the course of 6-7 weeks. body is rebounding from the catabolic 2 months post surgery to remove the skin, so he's filling out nicely. cals are up in the 3500 range with an 8 hour refeed every week PWO, each time weight seems to stall each week i usually add in either fats or carbs, mostly carbs right now but he's pretty easy to get to put muscle on.

[Scoobysnacks]

hey homie, glad to see you started up a prep thread, yours is going to be fun for people to watch.......

things are cruising along nicely, chris is a robot and just does whatever it takes, he's as strict on an offseason plan as contest prep, which is showing as he's up about 5 lbs on average over the course of 6-7 weeks. body is rebounding from the catabolic 2 months post surgery to remove the skin, so he's filling out nicely. cals are up in the 3500 range with an 8 hour refeed every week PWO, each time weight seems to stall each week i usually add in either fats or carbs, mostly carbs right now but he's pretty easy to get to put muscle on.

you are refeeding him and running a high cal high carb diet?

[johngorman]

you are refeeding him and running a high cal high carb diet?

yeah. i know on paper for him doesnt seem to be the best bet, he's super endo and is known to diet very well on CKD plans in the past which worried me in the beginning because of alot of people seem to have a hard time transitioning to carbs again. trust me i didnt just start him on these numbers, that would have been dangerous IMO, we've bumped them up 3 times i believe without having his plan right in front of me, and the refeed wasnt always this big either. but we monitor conditioning and weight week to week like it's the CIA to make sure fat gains are minimal before we start getting him ready for contest prep.

it's like the refeed was boosting metab so much weight wouldnt stick at the end of the week until at first we upped cals during the week, next we upped refeed PWO, and now just had another cal increase though not much. usually 100 cals a day or less at a whack. i dont see any increases in the near future, cardio may come down a bit but it's highly unlikely as he's only doing 4-5 sessions as he can get them in. his work schedule is a bitch lol.

[johngorman]

you are refeeding him and running a high cal high carb diet?

and, truly i dont think it's really high cal, higher carb yes for his bodytype, but i dont think 3-3500 cals is high for him. i want to get him to a good place to create a deficit from, i hate starting bigger guys over 220 on 3k cals or less, just makes the process much harder, esp a natty IMO.

[Steve56]

Great legs!! bro you have come a very long way...you have a lot of heart!!

[stavios]

legs are AMAZING

awesome shape and size to them

[epifiny]

you are refeeding him and running a high cal high carb diet?

thanks for stopping by the thread... i noticed you in the thread when i posted but didn't say anything so i was all sad face..

but yeah with the current calories last sunday before the refeed i was 218.0

this morning i am 218.6 i'm normally sitting anywhere from 1-1.5lbs up and baseline by thurs. I never thought in a million years i would be able to eat as much calories as i am now and still have the weight be steadily going up.

[epifiny]

yeah. i know on paper for him doesnt seem to be the best bet, he's super endo and is known to diet very well on CKD plans in the past which worried me in the beginning because of alot of people seem to have a hard time transitioning to carbs again. trust me i didnt just start him on these numbers, that would have been dangerous IMO, we've bumped them up 3 times i believe without having his plan right in front of me, and the refeed wasnt always this big either. but we monitor conditioning and weight week to week like it's the CIA to make sure fat gains are minimal before we start getting him ready for contest prep.

it's like the refeed was boosting metab so much weight wouldnt stick at the end of the week until at first we upped cals during the week, next we upped refeed PWO, and now just had another cal increase though not much. usually 100 cals a day or less at a whack. i dont see any increases in the near future, cardio may come down a bit but it's highly unlikely as he's only doing 4-5 sessions as he can get them in. his work schedule is a bitch lol.

.. speaking of cardio.. i better get rollin!

[epifiny]

Great legs!! bro you have come a very long way...you have a lot of heart!!

ill trade ya for your forearms... i want some popeye forearms like that! lol

[Scoobysnacks]

thanks for stopping by the thread... i noticed you in the thread when i posted but didn't say anything so i was all sad face..

but yeah with the current calories last sunday before the refeed i was 218.0

this morning i am 218.6 i'm normally sitting anywhere from 1-1.5lbs up and baseline by thurs. I never thought in a million years i would be able to eat as much calories as i am now and still have the weight be steadily going up.

see # 9 buddy. Sometimes I pop in to make sure the threads are staying clean but really have no time to type some things up. I always come back:-)

[johngorman]

thanks for stopping by the thread... i noticed you in the thread when i posted but didn't say anything so i was all sad face..

but yeah with the current calories last sunday before the refeed i was 218.0

this morning i am 218.6 i'm normally sitting anywhere from 1-1.5lbs up and baseline by thurs. I never thought in a million years i would be able to eat as much calories as i am now and still have the weight be steadily going up.

i think the thing that may shock most people is that you are the posterchild for all endo's, and your eating high protein AND high carbs, AND a refeed. if i did that, i'd be a bloated fat mess ASAP. but you have been using higher protein for a long time, so that's why i started your carbs out moderate and just kept raising them until you steadily started gaining 1 lb or so a week on average, no more than that though 4 lbs a month is pushing it for most natties- the thing is though you are coming off losing muscle with a 2 month break from training, so 4 lbs a month to me for the first couple months is perfectly fine with little fat gain if any at all.

[epifiny]

welcome chris. Glad to see ya post. You are definitely responding to the nutrition upper body filled back out. Good luck this year.

ss

LOL jay, my bad - i obviously missed it - thanks for the kind words.. what's your game plan for this year? USA/nationals?

[epifiny]

i think the thing that may shock most people is that you are the posterchild for all endo's, and your eating high protein AND high carbs, AND a refeed. if i did that, i'd be a bloated fat mess ASAP. but you have been using higher protein for a long time, so that's why i started your carbs out moderate and just kept raising them until you steadily started gaining 1 lb or so a week on average, no more than that though 4 lbs a month is pushing it for most natties- the thing is though you are coming off losing muscle with a 2 month break from training, so 4 lbs a month to me for the first couple months is perfectly fine with little fat gain if any at all.

" high protein for the win.." , says Epifiny the Endo!

[Scoobysnacks]

LOL jay, my bad - i obviously missed it - thanks for the kind words.. what's your game plan for this year? USA/nationals?

I am sitting it out. At this time I am a welter weight. I made enough improvement to be 165. But I need to be a middleweight. Then Im going to do Jr Nationals in 2012 and hold on and hit Nationals. We'll see how all that goes.

[HeavyDutyDadup]

legs look huge man! good work, we'll all be keeping up with this thread

[epifiny]

I am sitting it out. At this time I am a welter weight. I made enough improvement to be 165. But I need to be a middleweight. Then Im going to do Jr Nationals in 2012 and hold on and hit Nationals. We'll see how all that goes.

sounds like a plan - all you need is time..

[epifiny]

legs look huge man! good work, we'll all be keeping up with this thread

thanks sir.. looking forward to both the positive and negative feedback.



Just got a BF test via caliper (7 site) - came out at 8.3% - Hard for me to believe sometimes when i lookat myself but at other times i'm like.. hrmm.. the bodyfat is starting to come down. I'm sure it's somewhere in that ballpark.

[epifiny]

04.28.11

BACK THICKNESS:
Barbell Row OHG - 135x12, 145x12, 155x10, 155x9, 155x7+1FR
Seated Cable row with UG - 110x10, 125x8, 140x6+2RP
Natilus Low Row- 180x15,225x12,250x7 +2RP
DB Row - 75x8, 75x8, 75x8
Hyperextension BW+25x8 BW+45x8,

CARDIO: 30 min -- 2.9mph @ 10% incline before first meal.

NOTES: Workout was ok.. - can't tell if i'm getting sick from training too hard or accidentally putting fine pepper in a pepper grinder and accidentally inhaling some when cleaning, LOL you decide.. 24/7 sneeze session over here. Excited to go see Fast5 tommorow with my girl!

[johngorman]

04.28.11

BACK THICKNESS:
Barbell Row OHG - 135x12, 145x12, 155x10, 155x9, 155x7+1FR
Seated Cable row with UG - 110x10, 125x8, 140x6+2RP
Natilus Low Row- 180x15,225x12,250x7 +2RP
DB Row - 75x8, 75x8, 75x8
Hyperextension BW+25x8 BW+45x8,

CARDIO: 30 min -- 2.9mph @ 10% incline before first meal.

NOTES: Workout was ok.. - can't tell if i'm getting sick from training too hard or accidentally putting fine pepper in a pepper grinder and accidentally inhaling some when cleaning, LOL you decide.. 24/7 sneeze session over here. Excited to go see Fast5 tommorow with my girl!

awesome brotha.....and YES Fast Five is gonna be a good movie!

[epifiny]

04.29.11

CHEST:
Machine Chest Press - 150x20, 145x15, 155x15, 175x12, 190x10+1FR
Freemotion Fly- 15x15, 17.5 x 15, 20x12
DB Press- 70x15,75x12,85x8 +2RP
Incline Cable Fly - 40x8, 40x8, 40x8
Machine Iso-Chest Press 3 sets of 8-12 on right(weaker) pec and followed up with same amount for left side.

CARDIO: 30 min -- 2.9mph @ 10% mid-day in btwn meal 4/5.

NOTES: Last day of a free trial session at a very nice gym called lifetime fitness - they have some great machines that iso the chest and get a great pump. Was hard to go back to freeweights. Fast 5 was beasty. for the record - they should have stopped the movie then - for those that dont know already- they left it open again for another sequel. Dumb imo.

04.30.11

OFF day

NOTES: Was coming down with a nasty cold - took the day off completely to be 100% for tommorow's workout and refeed.

05.01.11 - 220.6lbs

SHOULDERS
DB Lateral Raise: 15x10, 20x10, 20x10 Drop 15x8, Drop 10x8
Tri-Set:
Arnold Press / WG Upright Row / Rear Delt Machine Fly
** Reps were 10, 15 and 20 respectively

NOTES: I had to work today at 7am so instead of waiting until my lunch to workout and start the refeed i went ahead and got up a little early to get a fast paced workout in before work. Lucky for me as i had a 2pm lunch scheduled so if i had waited i would have been finishing my refeed at 11pm. Refeed was from 7-3 and i normally eat around 1200-1500grams of carbs depending on what high GI sources i use. normally i'm up 9-10lbs by the end of my day and lose 1/2 of that overnight. Unfornuately i didn't eat as much as i normally do as i was still sick. Felt a little run down in the morning but it got worse as the day went by. All my kids made fun of me ( i work in a dentention center as a juvenile officer ) cuz i'm this "big baby" walkin around with a box of kleenex, etc. They were all telling me to man up and stuff since most of them know i am like never sick. Good times.

05.02.11- 223.6

Mandatory off day-

Still sick but i'm just glad i made it through the weekend. Spent this morning sleeping and eating. Carbs were not as high as they should be for an off-day (100 of the 200g) but i just went by feel and ate / drank what my body felt like at the time. Some times i was ready to get a good meal - some times i was feeling like shit and just ready to get the quick shake in and rest. Most times i dont even go thru the trouble of making a shake - i just throw a scoop of protein P. in the mouth.. throw some liquid in there to chomp on it and take it down quick!

[johngorman]

lmao at the kid's making fun of you! hahahahahahaha! that's awesome.....

hang in there man, hopefully the Ester-C will help with things, i am fighting the same damn thing right now myself. my refeed yesterday sucked, i didnt want to eat anything but did.

[epifiny]

05.05.11- 222.8

CARDIO: 30 min -- 2.7mph @ 8% mid-morningin btwn meal 2/3.

NOTES: Normally this Back day, but a few days behind due to being ill earlier in the week. definitely looking forward to seeing where i am at in a month. I never have used creatine consiistently as i was always a red meat eater and got my creatine from there, but i definitely look/feel fuller than i have in the past.

Here's a pic of me and my baby, T.

[epifiny]

wow - lol that pic is huge!

[epifiny]

05.08.11 223.6

SHOULDERS (REFEED)
DB LAT RAISE - 4x12-20 - Warmup inclusive
BB Smith Press - 3x10-15
Cable Crossover Lat Raise ss/ Cable Crossover Rear Delt Fly (freemotion machine) 3x 8+8
BTN BB Shrugs 2x10-15

NOTES: Just trying to get over the unneeded stress of being sick a few days this week. Delayed workouts in the week and miss cardio sessions lead me to a 3lb gain this week vs the .75-1.0 per week ihave been gaining. The sad thing is no matter how much i dont want to let one bad week get to me - it does.. I just want to make the most i can out of these last reaming weeks of offseason prep.

[epifiny]

[data4]

Filling back out really well! Goodluck this year, I will be following along.

[epifiny]

thanx, data - definitely gettin closer to the cap - now.. to figure out which show will be a good one to go for!

[johngorman]

thanx, data - definitely gettin closer to the cap - now.. to figure out which show will be a good one to go for!

yup, we need to figure that out keep me posted which one so we can plan accordingly and start to pull back the offseason reins and tighten up and head into contest prep. i think you may be at the point that your muscle gain after the atrophy is slowing down, so the cals you are on now may be a bit much and we'll pull the carbs back a bit. i lowered the refeed to 2-3 meal or 6 hours, but i dont want to lower that any more so the carbs through the week will come down as a next step.

[epifiny]

yeah i think your right about that muscle part. this week will mark the 8th week of training - which is kind of funny seing that i was out of the gym for 8.5 weeks - so definitely getting there. I need to check with tina to make sure that our friend's wedding that she's isn't on the same weekend as that st louis one.

[BWelch1985]

You're looking fantastic man! Those legs are just damn near perfect as far as shape and symmetry go...not to mention they're HUGE.

Ok, so if I stop training my legs completely how long can I expect until they look like yours??

[epifiny]

05.12.11 220.6

BACK THICKNESS (Heading to the Gym Now so now sure what exercises i will do - kinda depends on what is available)
My staples:
BB Row UG/OG
DB Row
HyperExt.
Nautilus Low Row


NOTES: Just did bf test 7-site yesterday and came out at 8% at 223lbs mid-day- hard for me to believe feeling /looking so smooth around surical site. Ill take it though for now - i think john would agree with me that we are right where we want to be before dieting down.. or damn close to it. Weight has normalized from the previous week of being sick, etc.

[Scoobysnacks]

awesome.

May I suggest on your most muscular not flexint traps upward. WheN I do that I get very narrow and its doing the same to you. Id rather see you let them go focus on getting broad in the shoulders and poping lats out. Try it, lets compar the two.

ss

[epifiny]

awesome.

May I suggest on your most muscular not flexint traps upward. WheN I do that I get very narrow and its doing the same to you. Id rather see you let them go focus on getting broad in the shoulders and poping lats out. Try it, lets compar the two.

ss

for sure! ill have to figure out what i am going to do for pics as i used to do them sunday morning before work but now that i am overnights tina will be at work when i get up - ill see if one of my buddies close by can stop in and get some pics. thanks for the input.

[Steve56]

bro i said it once already but im gonna say it again....your legs are crazy!! lol