Here’s a picture from last night, getting ready for my first competition, this year’s NPC KY BB & Figure Championships. I’m doing the Novice show as well as the Men’s open division. The lighting in this picture sucks and I’m holding about 5-7 pounds of water that intend to cut for the show, but oh well. Appreciate any feedback.
Looking shreded and huge – This is your first show?? Wow, bro, you’ll do great. Nice job!
Hey, send me some pics after the show so I can use them as Powerful Images.
Great job.
–TC
[quote]koots wrote:
Looking shreded and huge – This is your first show?? Wow, bro, you’ll do great. Nice job![/quote]
Yep, first show. I have to admit I have had some help. My training partner is a pro BB’er and he has definitely shown me the ropes. I train with Tricky Jackson, he just got second at the Europa in Dallas in the under 210 division, I owe him big time.
[quote]TC wrote:
Hey, send me some pics after the show so I can use them as Powerful Images.
Great job.
–TC
[/quote]
You bet. Do I sound gay if I say it’s kind of an honor to be asked for pics for the PI section? I have to admit I didn’t see that coming. I’ll have a shitload after this weekend so I’ll post them with the results of the competition. Thanks to the T-Nation website for all the advice I’ve taken over the years, and BTW, I give a HUGE thumbs up HOT-ROX Extreme, those things absolutely melted the fat off me. I am ALWAYS skeptical of ANY supplement, so it took some convincing for me to even buy a fat burner but I have to say that I am very pleased with the results. Excellent product!
[quote]TC wrote:
Hey, send me some pics after the show so I can use them as Powerful Images.
Great job.
–TC
[/quote]
Good Idea TC. BUT, change the puffy shorts first.
Good Luck at the show tfrench!
Could you provide information about your training schedule and how you dieted down etc.?
A 10 from me. 
All natural, or with gear? Just asking
Nice work! Big and lean…a wonderful combo. Great lower body too. That’s where most guys crash and burn…myself included so good going on being the proud owner of some quite impressive quads & calves.
[quote]sloh wrote:
Could you provide information about your training schedule and how you dieted down etc.?[/quote]
For the show I did weight training six days a week and cardio seven days a week. My training split goes legs, chest, arms, shoulders, back, so usually one muscle group gets hit twice per week.
Legs is the exception, they are done once a week every Tuesday so if they come up in the rotation but it’s not Tuesday, I go to the next body part after legs. That might sound confusing…
Started the cardio at once a day building up to 30 minutes, then about 6 weeks out started doing it twice a day, building up to an hour, sometimes an hour & twenty minutes.
As far as the diet, nothing really ground breaking there, just fish (tilapia & tuna), chicken, egg whites, small amounts of fruit, protein powder, greens, oats & potatoes(in the beginning), nuts, natural PB & lots of water.
I gradually decreased calories & carbs as I got closer to the show. The last few weeks I did carb cycling, increasing the carbs every fourth or fifth day. Plenty of cheat days as well, but I have a metabolism like a rocket.
[quote]Misterhamper wrote:
A 10 from me.
All natural, or with gear? Just asking :)[/quote]
Just OTC supplements this time, my competition weight will only be 165. I have used in the past, but since I wasn’t competing in the larger weight classes I skipped the gear for this show.
I will say there are times when I feel flat and tired and I wonder how much better I would feel on some test or other androgens, and I may try that next time, but to answer your question, natty for this show.
Thanks for the 10 by the way, I was a little nervous about posting this but so far the feedback has been great.
[quote]1morerep wrote:
Nice work! Big and lean…a wonderful combo. Great lower body too. That’s where most guys crash and burn…myself included so good going on being the proud owner of some quite impressive quads & calves. [/quote]
Thank you very much, not too bad yourself. I’m hoping to have some of the bigger legs in the welterweight division, but we’ll see I guess. I’ll be honest about the calves, some of that comes from mom & dad. I could get away with training calves once every two weeks and still be above average, but I trained them about every fifth day for the show. Thanks again!
My ideal physique man, congrats, clearly youve put in the work in the gym and in the kitchen, and its badass that youre training with Tricky, ive came across a few of his pictures and he’s got a nice little v-taper.
But you’re coming in at 165, youve gotta be like 5"5 right ?
Also, you said that your metabolism is great, i was just wondering how much you had to cut for the show ?
–JB
[quote]tfrench wrote:Thank you very much, not too bad yourself. I’m hoping to have some of the bigger legs in the welterweight division, but we’ll see I guess. I’ll be honest about the calves, some of that comes from mom & dad. I could get away with training calves once every two weeks and still be above average, but I trained them about every fifth day for the show. Thanks again!
[/quote]
Thanks… Oh and…I hate you naturally gifted calf guys! lol That’s the one area where I’m really lacking genetically. They need A LOT of work to catch up to the rest of me. On another note, my wife and I may be moving to Louisville in the new year. She’s from there and is missing it and I’m a born & bred NY’er and sick of it here so we’re gonna give it a go down there.
[quote]WS4JB wrote:
My ideal physique man, congrats, clearly youve put in the work in the gym and in the kitchen, and its badass that youre training with Tricky, ive came across a few of his pictures and he’s got a nice little v-taper.
But you’re coming in at 165, youve gotta be like 5"5 right ?
Also, you said that your metabolism is great, i was just wondering how much you had to cut for the show ?
–JB[/quote]
He’s an incredible training partner, it’s been a blast. I am exactly 66 inches tall, so you were pretty close. When I started getting ready for the show in the beginning of June I was around 180 pounds, maybe 10% bf and in this picture I am 172, around 4-5% bf on the way to 165 (hopefully) so all in all I will cut about 15 lbs from start to finish.
I didn’t lose a lot of weight in the beginning because I had increased my “clean” calories so much in order to add muscle that I wasn’t in any type of caloric deficit. So I ended up just changing the composition of my body without gaining/losing much weight in the first 6-7 weeks. Only the past few weeks have the pounds slowly started to come off as I decreased my fats & carbs and slightly upped my proteins & greens/fibrous veggies.
[quote]1morerep wrote:
tfrench wrote:Thank you very much, not too bad yourself. I’m hoping to have some of the bigger legs in the welterweight division, but we’ll see I guess. I’ll be honest about the calves, some of that comes from mom & dad. I could get away with training calves once every two weeks and still be above average, but I trained them about every fifth day for the show. Thanks again!
Thanks… Oh and…I hate you naturally gifted calf guys! lol That’s the one area where I’m really lacking genetically. They need A LOT of work to catch up to the rest of me. On another note, my wife and I may be moving to Louisville in the new year. She’s from there and is missing it and I’m a born & bred NY’er and sick of it here so we’re gonna give it a go down there. [/quote]
My only suggestion with calves is train for the pump. I train them heavy maybe once/twice a month but for the most part it’s 20+ rep sets with calves. High frequency as well, hit 'em at least twice a week, three if you want to. Arnie had small calves in the beginning too
Louisville is an awesome city, it’s big, but not TOO big. And it’s relatively inexpensive to live here. All the best to you and her if you wind up in KY.
[quote]tfrench wrote:
I am exactly 66 inches tall, so you were pretty close. When I started getting ready for the show in the beginning of June I was around 180 pounds, maybe 10% bf and in this picture I am 172, around 4-5% bf on the way to 165 (hopefully) so all in all I will cut about 15 lbs from start to finish.
[/quote]
Wow you’re the same height as me and a similar weight too, except you look much much better, damn! Still it gives me something to strive for and proves that you can still look really solid at these kinds of weights. Just from the photo if I didn’t know your height and weight I would’ve said you were heavier.
All the best for the show.
ps, what are your measurements? chest, waist, bis, legs? and some lift numbers would be good too.
[quote]Lift and Eat wrote:
tfrench wrote:
I am exactly 66 inches tall, so you were pretty close. When I started getting ready for the show in the beginning of June I was around 180 pounds, maybe 10% bf and in this picture I am 172, around 4-5% bf on the way to 165 (hopefully) so all in all I will cut about 15 lbs from start to finish.
Wow you’re the same height as me and a similar weight too, except you look much much better, damn! Still it gives me something to strive for and proves that you can still look really solid at these kinds of weights. Just from the photo if I didn’t know your height and weight I would’ve said you were heavier.
All the best for the show.
ps, what are your measurements? chest, waist, bis, legs? and some lift numbers would be good too.[/quote]
You ask a good question, I actually have no idea on most of my measurements. I know my arms are around 17 inches pumped and flexed, my calves are around 15 inches, at one time my thighs were around 28 inches but they are probably around 26-27 inches, again just guessing. My waist is in the general area of 28 inches. As far as lift numbers, I don’t really lift very heavy right now, body fat is too low. Getting ready for the some examples of lifts I would do would be:
Start of chest day - flat bench:
135 x 12
185 x 12
225 x 10
275 x 8
315 x 5
335 x 3
Usually followed up by dropsets or pause reps with 200-225 pounds. The highest I have worked out with in the last few weeks is 265, and that’s my heaviest set.
Another example is start of leg day - squats:
135 x 20
185 x 15
225 x 12
275 x 12
315 x 10
365 x 6
225 x 20 (or as high as I could go)
I haven’t deadlifted lately but at my best was pulling 455 x 2 and around that same time I pulled 405 x 6. I have every intention of getting back to deadlifts, but probably not as heavy anymore.
Strength is of almost no concern to me so a lot of time I pay more attention to the feel then the amount of weight that I’m actually using.
I won the Welterweights at last year’s NPC KY, and judging by your front double-bi pose, you’d have made me a bit concerned on stage last year. Very impressive, with good overall balance and wicked quads.
If you look as good from the back as you do from the front, you’ll be hard to beat.
I’ll be in the audience at the prejudging and evening show Saturday. Best of luck.
Looking good. Best of luck at your show.