Evan's Offseason Training: Road to a Pro Card

Training Logs
22

11.2.11

Legs Power

Back Squat
Worked up to 405 x 5, 3

SLDL
Worked up to 315 x 5, 5

Seated Calf Raise
135 x 6, 6, 6

I took it VERY easy today. It probably would not be a good idea to go balls to the walls on my first heavy squat/SLDL session of the offseason, and I kept it pretty reserved. 405 felt very, very heavy…but that’s mainly because I haven’t squatted heavy in over a month and my CNS has to get used to doing it again…this is why I just did some nice smooth reps with 405 and didn’t try and push it up there.

Same concept with the SLDLs as they felt heavy too.

If this were 2 months from now, I’d probably be ready to jump off a cliff, but considering I’m 3 days removed from my contest, these weights didn’t feel that bad :P.

I may switch out front squats for squats to start off the offseason, as I always feel that getting used to that movement again is easier and less strenuous on my body as a whole. Stay tuned…

Bodyweight was 202 this morning, so I’m just about back to where I was on contest day.

23

Your threads are gold, I’m in as a huge priority in terms of what I read on this site. Diet looking clean as hell/amazing… I just know your going to hit those goals, lofty as they are.

Edit: bad call having a back shot on my profile if it’s going to come up next to yours. pretty sure your waist is about 10" smaller then mine too :wink:

24

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Your threads are gold, I’m in as a huge priority in terms of what I read on this site. Diet looking clean as hell/amazing… I just know your going to hit those goals, lofty as they are.

Edit: bad call having a back shot on my profile if it’s going to come up next to yours. pretty sure your waist is about 10" smaller then mine too ;)[/quote]

Haha…backs looking good man!! You’re definitely making some serious progress!

Appreciate the comments bro!

25

Congrats man. I know you’ll get what your after. Some serious inspiration from following your log/contest thread. Yesterday I was doing legs and felt wiped during leg press with two sets left. Thought about leaving for a sec, then asked myself: “would Evan quit half way? If I want to accomplish half as much as him, I gotta keep pushing.”

Anyway, good luck.

26

[quote]bwilliamsr89 wrote:
Congrats man. I know you’ll get what your after. Some serious inspiration from following your log/contest thread. Yesterday I was doing legs and felt wiped during leg press with two sets left. Thought about leaving for a sec, then asked myself: “would Evan quit half way? If I want to accomplish half as much as him, I gotta keep pushing.”

Anyway, good luck.[/quote]

Thanks bud!
Glad to see that I could help you push through :P.

27

Appreciate the comment Evan- your proof it can be done for me

28

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Appreciate the comment Evan- your proof it can be done for me[/quote]

Appreciate that brotha!

29

Here is today’s diet:

  1. 7:45 AM: 5 omega 3 eggs + 50 grams egg whites, 1/2 medium banana, 1/2 cup quick oats + 1 packet maple nut oats

  2. 12:00 PM: 185 grams yellow potato, 8.25 ounces 99 percent lean ground turkey, 1 packet smart pop popcorn

  3. 2:45 PM: 1 cup quick oats, 1.25 scoops whey, 5 grams added fiber, 30 grams power butter

  4. Workout Nutrition: (BCAAs, Cirtulline, Beta Alanine, Creatine Monohydrate)

  5. 7:30 PM: 8.75 ounces 99 percent lean ground turkey, 250 grams yellow potato, 2 corn rice cakes

  6. 240 grams Fage fat free greek yogurt, 2 scoops whey, 35 grams power butter, 1/2 medium banana

Totals: 66.3 grams of fat, 301.1 grams carbs, 320.4 grams protein, 3,130 calories

Ate a bit more than I planned today, but that’s good…was feeling a bit sore/tired.

I have been doing some real self-evaluation and examination, an essential aspect of anyone serious about their training IMO. At this point in time, I have accomplished one of my goals: compete in a natural bodybuilding competition and do well. My next long term goal is to win an overall and get my pro card.

I subscribe to the theory “if something works, then keep doing it,” but I also believe that nothing works forever and sometimes radical changes can yield potent results. Since May, I have been training every body part once about every 5-6 days with very high volume as many of you have seen following my log. I am a big fan of high volume training and it has worked well for me. However, I feel that it’s time for a change. I am going to be switching to a higher intensity, lower volume type of training and see where that takes me.

I am very open minded when it comes to training and believe that anything can work if you put in the effort. So, stay tuned for some training updates and changes in the near future : ).

30

Congratulations on the contest.

You say ‘high volume’ so what exactly do you mean by that i.e. what do you consider high volume?

Also, being a student, like yourself, I’m interested in how you’re managing your time. Obviously you have study and other commitments so how do you organise your schedule to fit everything in. I guess I’m looking for ‘tips’ you perhaps have picked up on from experience.

31

11.7.11

Chest/Delt Power

Incline Barbell Press
Work sets
275 x 5
265 x 5, 6
225 x 6 (3 second negatives)

Dumbbell Military Press
Work sets
100 x 5
90 x 6
100 x 5
90 x 6
80 x 6 (3 seconds negatives)

Hammer Strength Iso Wide (3 second negatives)
2 pps x 6
2 + 25 x 6
3 pps x 6
3 + 25 x 6
4 pps x 6
4 + 10 x 6
3 pps (5 sec negative) x 6

Dumbbell Laterals (Wojo Style)
35 x 6
45 x 6
50 x 6
55 x 6
30 x 6 (3 second negatives)

Pec Dec (3 second negatives)
100 x 6
150 x 6
200 x 6
255 x 6
300 (stack) x 6 (4 second negatives)

HS Iso Shoulder (3 sec neg)
1 pps x 6
2 pps x 6, 6, 5

Damn! Awesome first day back in the gym.

Weights felt amazing. Incline being was a bit heavy, but I attribute that to taking last week off and not long heavy on it in about 3 weeks. I’m really enjoying how this P/RR/S routine is looking like. Will post more on it later.

Body weight this morning was 200 on the dot and I finally got rid of my bloat water lol.

32

Allright guys, so my training right now looks like the following:

Monday: Chest/Delts
Tuesday: Back/Traps
Wednesday: Cardio
Thursday: Arms/Rear Delts
Friday or Saturday: Legs
Saturday or Friday: Cardio
Sunday: Cardio

I am following the Power/Rep Range/Shock template as outlined by Eric Broser. If you type it into google, the first link that comes up will take you to his site and you can read about it there.

This routine seems like the perfect transition for me into the offseason, as it will allow ample time for recovery as well as giving my body a great mix of heavy, higher reps, and high intensity techniques over a three week period. I am hoping to regain/gain a good amount of strength using this routine in the next 2-4 months, and am pumped about really pushing my strength up again.

My diet right now looks like this:
300-320 grams protein
170-200 grams carbs
80-90 grams fat

I will essentially be eating as little as I need to grow, as I plan on trying to maximize my metabolism and slowly increase calories as my body gets used to the introduction of food again. My guess is that I might actually lose weight the first week or so as this is just around my maintenance level and I am still doing cardio 4 days/week.

I will increase carbs 25-50 grams each week as my weight either stays the same, goes down, or goes up .5-1 lb. I’ll post what I’m eating tonight.

33

killing it in here man

34

[quote]spar4tee wrote:
killing it in here man[/quote]

Thanks bro…just trying to get back to those heavy weights : ).

35

11.7.11

Meal 1: 7:45 AM: 3 omega 3 eggs, 150 grams egg whites, 2 slices sesame Ezekiel bread

Meal 2: 11:00 AM: 1 cup quick oats, 2 scoops TP whey/casein blend, 8 grams coconut oil

Meal 3: 12:45-3:00: Workout nutrition: 4 scoops Xtend, 2 scoops MGs Powdered Muscle

Meal 4: 3:45 PM: 47 grams carbs from Apple Jacks and Fruit Loops + 2 scoops Isolyze + 5 grams mac nut oil

Meal 5: 6:00 PM: 8 ounces grass fed beef, big salad (lettuce, diced onions, hot cherry peppers) + 10 grams mac nut oil + horseradish mustard

Meal 6: 4 omega 3 eggs

Meal 7: 2 scoops TP whey/casein + 5 grams mac nut oil

Totals:
81.8 grams of fat, 179.1 grams carbs, 303.3 grams protein, 2,747 calories.
This is just where I want to be on an average day. Carbs are relatively low for what I can handle, but I am trying to ease my body back into eating more as slowly as possible. I may consider having a ?Carb Up? day once a week, but nothing crazy. I am contemplating keeping these macro’s as they are, and possibly having a ‘carb up’ day either on arms or chest/delts day where I would inject 400-500 grams of carbs and keep fat a bit lower. I think this approach will allow me to slowly gain and maintain the leanness until I decide to really push the offseason more.

Right now, I am trying to select very good foods that will really allow me to maximize my energy levels and health while gaining.

Fat sources are: macadamia nut oil, coconut oil, free running omega 3 eggs, natural nut butters, or avocado’s

Protein: eggs (as above), egg whites, protein powder (either TP whey/casein blend or Species Isolyze), lean ground turkey, lean bison, grass fed ground beef

Carbohydrates: Ezekiel bread, sweet potatoes/yams, oats (the only exception here is that my post-workout meal is sugary cereal and my intra-workout carbs which are in MGs, Swedish Oat Starch)

Here is my current supplement list:
Beverly Nutrition’s Quadracarn
Probiotic Blend
Digestive Enzyme Blend
Liver Health Blend
MDs Glucose Disposal Agent (with carb meals over 50 grams)
USP Labs Prime (on and off)
Cissus (on and off)
MGs Powdered Muscle + Beta Alanine
BCAAs (either Xtend or BCAA plus from TP)

If you have any questions regarding supplements, please PM me. Any other questions, post em’ in the log!

Hope this helps give an idea of what my training, diet, and goals look like right now.

36

Excellent breakdown here Evan. I’m impressed as hell at how filled out you look on the profile picture, front double bi is often a hard one to pull off impressively for nattys (imo)

Nutrition looks similar to mine but with more clever use of supps and mac nut oil which I’m yet to see over here. What are your throughts on sugar/glucose peri-workout? I see your using the sugary cereal post-workout but right now I’m using like 80g of dextrose post-workout as well as 40g immediately pre and 40g during, have you had negative/positive experiences with this sort of approach when trying to gain muscle asap?

37

[quote]jake_j_m wrote:
Excellent breakdown here Evan. I’m impressed as hell at how filled out you look on the profile picture, front double bi is often a hard one to pull off impressively for nattys (imo)

Nutrition looks similar to mine but with more clever use of supps and mac nut oil which I’m yet to see over here. What are your throughts on sugar/glucose peri-workout? I see your using the sugary cereal post-workout but right now I’m using like 80g of dextrose post-workout as well as 40g immediately pre and 40g during, have you had negative/positive experiences with this sort of approach when trying to gain muscle asap?[/quote]

Thanks Jake, appreciate it…FDB used to be one of my worst poses, but I was able to really pull it together.

You can get mac nut oil from Lockout supplements or from Species Nutrition online…it’s an AWESOME fat source IMO and along with coconut oil it makes up a large portion of my fat intake.

I think that high glycemic carb sources around the workout are awesome for gaining (or any phase really, except deep into contest prep for reasons other than effectiveness). I currently take in 45 grams of carbs from MGs powdered muscle and then I take in another 45-60 from sugary cereal post workout (which I picked up from Skip over at Intense Muscle). Some may disagree, but I have always benefitted from post workout sugary carbs and intra-workout carbs.

38

I like how meticulous you are with keeping track of things in regards to training and nutrition. Why do you seem to stick to more ‘bodybuilding’ foods in the off-season and ‘IIFYM’ foods during contest prep? Is it just for satiation?

Also, your contest photos that actually have good lighting, etc, really show how developed your physique really is. Again, great work.

39

Congrats on your contest dude. Shame about the novices not being able to compete for the overall, but kickass job at winning it. I’ll be following this new log of yours.

40

[quote]165StateChamp wrote:
I like how meticulous you are with keeping track of things in regards to training and nutrition. Why do you seem to stick to more ‘bodybuilding’ foods in the off-season and ‘IIFYM’ foods during contest prep? Is it just for satiation?

Also, your contest photos that actually have good lighting, etc, really show how developed your physique really is. Again, great work. [/quote]

Haha, when it gets down to it in prep, while for the most part, I stick to clean foods, sometimes you need to throw something in there that will taste good and just fulfill the macros…that being said, I think next prep, the food choices will be much stricter.

Thanks bro, appreciate it!

41

[quote]DoveofWar08 wrote:
Congrats on your contest dude. Shame about the novices not being able to compete for the overall, but kickass job at winning it. I’ll be following this new log of yours.[/quote]

Awesome to have ya following Dove, thanks for the comments!