These contest posts are a great read Stu. Best part of TNation.
Your legs are impressive, Do you find doing non lockout with front squats helped with quad definition?
[quote]Kanada wrote:
In regards to your forearms, especially in regards to chin ups, have you thought about hanging a towel off the bar and gripping the towel? That would give your shoulders the freedom to rotate through the pull[/quote]
Thanks, but it’s not really a shoulder rotation issue. Believe me, I COULD do regular pullups, but my bodyweight (usually about 205 lbs) makes the required grip on the bar (or even a towel) enough that it irritates the area.
S
[quote]Blaze_108 wrote:
Awesome posts as always Stu, I’ll have to follow this up through the contest.
I’ve heard of people having success with elbow/tricep tendon problems by putting a tennis elbow band around the forearm, it’s supposed to switch where the pressure on the tendon is or something along those lines.
Have you ever tried something like that for your problems? Might be something to look into if it has a chance of even slightly alleviating your symptoms of your left arm problems.[/quote]
This is something I would use from time to time in the past (although with my right arm when it would act up). While it did provide some relief during select exercises, with others, it actually became a hinderence. Eventually, I decided to go the way of my weight-belt,… I always have it with me, but do my damndest not to use it.
In this case, with my left arm (the real issue this past year), because it’s not just the forearm, but some weird elbow/tricep stuff, I’m trying to keep the movement as uninhibited as I can. Braces can be great, but by limiting the work/support done by an area too much, you can actually makes issues worse. It’s a really fine line.
Believe me, I’ve got quite the collection of wraps, supports, and braces in my gym bag. I never know what I’ll need on a given day (a few buddies joke that eventually I’ll just be training in a full neoprene/scuba suit -lol).
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]Kanada wrote:
In regards to your forearms, especially in regards to chin ups, have you thought about hanging a towel off the bar and gripping the towel? That would give your shoulders the freedom to rotate through the pull[/quote]
Thanks, but it’s not really a shoulder rotation issue. Believe me, I COULD do regular pullups, but my bodyweight (usually about 205 lbs) makes the required grip on the bar (or even a towel) enough that it irritates the area.
S[/quote]
As long as you understand I mean this:
Crazy to think you’ll drop 20lbs soon.
KANADA- I understand the exercise, but it’s the grip issue that seems to cause the discomfort. Besides, it’s not like the other exercises I’ve taken advantage of hasn’t worked. For the most part, I doubt my back was this much of a strength for me, even when I did perform a lot of traditional pullups.
TRAMPWITHAPLAN- I certainly don’t think my legs are anything to write home about, although I have focused the last year or so on bringing them up to par. For those who don’t know, I banged my lower back and sacrum up pretty badly back in 2007, and pretty much stopped doing any sort of squats, leg press, or even full deads at that point. Obviously when I decided to try competing 2 years later, they had fallen pretty far behind my upper body development.
As I was hesitant to start doing heavy back squats again (I had formerly topped out at a 550lb back squat), I tried my hands at the front variations (also making use of leg extensions as a method or pre-exhaust). Eventually, my quad work consisted of extensions, hacks (which I think are an excellent exercise that often gets overlooked), and front squats (always performed last, when I’m already pretty toasted).
If my legs have indeed come up, it would be from the combination of these selections. The pre-exhaust aspect, the hacks with feet close and an ass to ankles ROM for upper and outter sweep, and then front squats for placing the stress more on the actual quads, and less on the glutes and hams (as back squats tend to do).
As far as an increased definition,… well, aside from the possibility of building additional muscle size, I’ve heard it said (and am noticing it myself) that each successive time a comeptitor diets down, their condition improves. That being the case, I was actually pretty surprised that my legs are even displaying the slight degree of definition that was present, even before starting my prep this year.
In the past, it was always a last minute freak-out, worrying that the cuts wouldn’t come in before the actual contest. I’m sure though, that the combination of exercise selection, with better conditioning (age, as well as better diet and supplementation) is what any noticeable progress can be attributed to.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
my younger brother is getting ready for his first show, and his particular food selections are quite a bit different than mine[/quote] Will your brother stick to pre-WO carbs (and just veggies post-WO) when it’s time for his cut?
My brother is already 4.5 weeks into his cut, he’s down about 11 lbs, and while his legs lag a bit (he played baseball and basketball in school, so he’s always been sort of lanky-ish from the running involved), he’s showing amazing progress each week. Convincing him to try the pre-WO carbs took a bit of doing, but being able to point out how much thicker I looked in my May 2010 contest compared with my May 2009 one, he eventually bought in.
As I was expecting though, his strength hasn’t dropped one bit, his chets, delts and back are looking even bigger than usual as his waist tightens (he has a naturally smaller waist than I do), and his legs, while they won’t be huge, are sporting more cuts each week. I should note though, that he’s 6’0 tall, compared to my 5’8. His physique will look nothing like mine, even all cut up, but for a guy who works as many hours as he does, he’s been 100% comitted.
Actually, he was just telling me the other night how he was hanging around with a bunch of the NY Islanders (he works with a lot of pro athletes), and all they wanted to know about was the details of his contest prep -lol.
On an explanatory note, for some reason, my digital camera wouldn’t work this week. I charged it overnight, checked the battery (“100%”) before I left for the gym, checked it at the gym (“100%”), and even when I took it out of my bag after my training session, it still read “100%”,… but this time, only for about 2 seconds, and then it suddenly dropped to “charge Battery” and flashed red.
We man managed to get a few pics of my brother before it crapped out, but each one got progressively fuzzier until we couldn’t even get the camera on. I’m not sure if it’s the camera, or the battery, but I don’t really have time to get it looked at during the week. My brother says he’ll pick up a new one for next week, but I guess progress pics for this week are going to be a no-go. At least it’s far out from the show (15 weeks out), when the changes are very minor and subtle. Hopefully we’ll be back on track next week.
Down the line, I’m thinking that maybe I can get someone to actually grab some video clips of some of my training sessions. An aspiring comeptitor in my gym said I should do a “day in the life” sort of thing, but to be honest, I doubt I have the time to worry about such an endeavor. Also, unlike Layne Norton and guys like that (whom I respect tremendously by the way), I’m not trying to become a “fitness celebrity” or some ridiculous term the media seems to slap on people. 
S
Stu you should sign up for a day “in the trenches” with Muscular Development
Now thats a good ides!!^^^^^^
Stu’s Poptart and Cheez-It Diet!
Lol, well, I’ll do my best to try and get some vids for you guys. My brother texted me that he picked up a new digital camera, so hopefully sometime in the next week or so we’ll be able to get back on track with weekly pics, as well as test out video from some training sessions.
As far as an update, I weighed in this morning at 194.6 lbs, which is down from my starting weight of 197 two weeks ago (about 2.5 lbs lost in 2 weeks). I realize that in the past I always appeared to drop much quicker at first, but being much leaner this time, obviously I can’t expect such dramatic weekly results. An interesting point I figured people should note, is that two days ago (Friday morning) I weighed 195.6, but after loading the carbs in all day yesterday (high cals and high carbs), everything kicked in and I got my weekly drop. A lot of newbie dieters don’t realize just how important it is to meet your numbers each day. Sometimes that means eating even if you don’t want to. I found myself last evening just looking for higher carb foods instead of what most people would do, which is look for higher protein at each feeding (3 slices of Ezekial wheat with a chicken breast, 2 servings of Cheez-its with a scoop of Met Drive…). Once your basic protein requirements are met each day, as long as you’re in a deficit, you can load in as many carbs as you can and continue to make progress. Just keep in mind that the human body stores water with carbs, so a lot of people may not get the drop in weight they expect the day after a higher carb day, but that doesn’t mean that progress isn’t being made.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Lol, well, I’ll do my best to try and get some vids for you guys. My brother texted me that he picked up a new digital camera, so hopefully sometime in the next week or so we’ll be able to get back on track with weekly pics, as well as test out video from some training sessions.
As far as an update, I weighed in this morning at 194.6 lbs, which is down from my starting weight of 197 two weeks ago (about 2.5 lbs lost in 2 weeks). I realize that in the past I always appeared to drop much quicker at first, but being much leaner this time, obviously I can’t expect such dramatic weekly results. An interesting point I figured people should note, is that two days ago (Friday morning) I weighed 195.6, but after loading the carbs in all day yesterday (high cals and high carbs), everything kicked in and I got my weekly drop. A lot of newbie dieters don’t realize just how important it is to meet your numbers each day. Sometimes that means eating even if you don’t want to. I found myself last evening just looking for higher carb foods instead of what most people would do, which is look for higher protein at each feeding (3 slices of Ezekial wheat with a chicken breast, 2 servings of Cheez-its with a scoop of Met Drive…). Once your basic protein requirements are met each day, as long as you’re in a deficit, you can load in as many carbs as you can and continue to make progress. Just keep in mind that the human body stores water with carbs, so a lot of people may not get the drop in weight they expect the day after a higher carb day, but that doesn’t mean that progress isn’t being made.
S[/quote]
Good stuff. it’s not just as simple as starving yourself day after day that’s for sure. Hey, even if you go a bit above maintenance on your high day it will likely still result in a net fat loss over the week due to the hormonal effect.
WOW… just finished the 2010 thread. good read, good info!
regarding the steady state cardio, i dont think you ever increased the duration of the sessions.
is that bc you relied on manipulating your diet more to create a deficit?
ive just always read that your fat loss will halt unless you keep doing more… even when you think about it, as long as you’re fasted the cals you burn gotta come from somewhere.
Even though I feel steady state work has its place in a prep, I try not to get too carried away with using it for the majority of weight loss. Yes, I think any extra caloric burn is a good thing, in fact, I find myself looking to take walks when I’m getting closer to contests, usually just wandering aimlessly around the mall (while my girlfriend window shops), taking my pooch to the park, anywhere that won’t feel like I’m actually exercising, but will still require some calories to be spent in the process.
In my opinion, and I realize that this will be a point of contention no matter how many rationalizations I give, interval cardio work is far superior in terms of physique improvement. How many times do you hear about trainers constantly doing more and more steady state work in an effort to achieve their goals? Look at marathon runners for a moment, and consider how long they run, and yet can still sport a pretty noticeable degree of fat.
The human body is an amazing machine, and it has the ability to become more efficient at repeated tasks. Now, (Pay attention here!) look at professional tennis players. They have developed the ability to swing a racket in a backhand swing with so much mroe force than any bodybuilder, and yet display none of the bulky muscle mass that would inhibit the skill.
Essentially the body has become MORE EFFICIENT AT A REPEATED TASK, WITHOUT HAVING TO DRAW EXCESIVELY UPON ITS RESERVES. Bodies that are subjected to increasing bouts of steady state cardio work, will become more efficent at the task, and will ectually not burn as many calories as you would think, owing to their increased efficacy.
Additionally, I have read papers detailing how while any exercise will create the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream, the body will burn these fatty acids as it needs only for a certain curation (about 20 minutes). At this point the rate of actually utilizing fatty acids for fuel drops considerably. Couple this with studies showing a greater effect of two seperate 20 mins sessions compared to one 40 min session of steady state work, and you can understand why I would never subject myself to an hour at a time on my treadmill.
I’ve always maintained that the amount of cardio you do should be the minimum that you can get away with, and that it is entirely possible to cut up from dietary adjustments alone. The true fact of the matter though, is that most people like eating. I know that I can only cut my own calories so much before my stomach can be heard down the hall. On paper, cardio isn’t necessary, but between you and me, I don’t know any competitor who gets away with zero cardio when prepping for a show, no matter what they tell the magazines.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Even though I feel steady state work has its place in a prep, I try not to get too carried away with using it for the majority of weight loss. Yes, I think any extra caloric burn is a good thing, in fact, I find myself looking to take walks when I’m getting closer to contests, usually just wandering aimlessly around the mall (while my girlfriend window shops), taking my pooch to the park, anywhere that won’t feel like I’m actually exercising, but will still require some calories to be spent in the process.
In my opinion, and I realize that this will be a point of contention no matter how many rationalizations I give, interval cardio work is far superior in terms of physique improvement. How many times do you hear about trainers constantly doing more and more steady state work in an effort to achieve their goals? Look at marathon runners for a moment, and consider how long they run, and yet can still sport a pretty noticeable degree of fat.
The human body is an amazing machine, and it has the ability to become more efficient at repeated tasks. Now, (Pay attention here!) look at professional tennis players. They have developed the ability to swing a racket in a backhand swing with so much mroe force than any bodybuilder, and yet display none of the bulky muscle mass that would inhibit the skill.
Essentially the body has become MORE EFFICIENT AT A REPEATED TASK, WITHOUT HAVING TO DRAW EXCESIVELY UPON ITS RESERVES. Bodies that are subjected to increasing bouts of steady state cardio work, will become more efficent at the task, and will ectually not burn as many calories as you would think, owing to their increased efficacy.
Additionally, I have read papers detailing how while any exercise will create the release of fatty acids into the bloodstream, the body will burn these fatty acids as it needs only for a certain curation (about 20 minutes). At this point the rate of actually utilizing fatty acids for fuel drops considerably. Couple this with studies showing a greater effect of two seperate 20 mins sessions compared to one 40 min session of steady state work, and you can understand why I would never subject myself to an hour at a time on my treadmill.
I’ve always maintained that the amount of cardio you do should be the minimum that you can get away with, and that it is entirely possible to cut up from dietary adjustments alone. The true fact of the matter though, is that most people like eating. I know that I can only cut my own calories so much before my stomach can be heard down the hall. On paper, cardio isn’t necessary, but between you and me, I don’t know any competitor who gets away with zero cardio when prepping for a show, no matter what they tell the magazines.
S[/quote]
wow thanks for the (very) detailed response!
i mean to drop some fat over the next couple months and was planning on adding in some morning (fasted) steady state but im thinking ill opt for intervals instead
Okay, my brother dropped by the other night with a new camera, which once we remember to stop holding it head-height (which makes our legs look even smaller than they actually are -lol), should allow us some good pics, and hopefully some video clips as well. My weight is coming down slowly, but steadily, and I certainly feel I’m better along at this point than I was last Spring (at least in terms of overall conditioning, I’m still a bit concerned about potential size lost due to injuries).
My lower back is already showing signs of a ‘Christmas Tree’, and the usual striations in my delts and chest (when flexed) are peaking out a bit earlier than in the past. Hamstrings are visible from the side, as are some quad cuts in certain shots (always my weak point, I know). The abs are definitely there, although knowing that I’ll be dropping about 25-30 lbs, it’s nice to see them now. Most noticeable for me though, in my front double bicep shot, is that my left tricep (the injured one) looks somewhat normal. This was after I had done a few sets of overhead rope extensions, and one arm dips (don’t ask -lol) just for that arm. I’ve been doing this aside from my regular tricep day, in hopes of bringing everything back into proportion.
As usual, I feel really good about some shots, and really crappy about others. Just gotta keep plugging, confident that it will all come together.
S
So here’s an odd thing,… My weight has been the same everytime I got on the scale this past week. Now I didn’t weigh myself every day, but each time I did, it was either 194.8, or 194.6 lbs. Certainly not what I was expecting, but as I’ve learned from past experiences, is that sometimes you can appear to stall out, only to suddenly drop down further than you were expecting. My girlfriend was quick to point out this morning that my ‘handles’ (she put it so nicely though, in reference to what I’d prefer to call my obliques -lol) are getting smaller when I’m just standing ‘normal’, so we’ll see what this week has in store for me.
Yesterday was a low day, and as fate would have it I had to travel for a family function, which left me seriously loading up on raw veggies and sugar free jello while everyone else enjoyed a lovely meal and an even lovelier dessert (my girl had two slices of cake, one for her, and one that she was was for me). Also, I notice in looking at my pics, that my posing is definitely rusty, and I’ll have to re-examine my weekly shots from last year to see what little tweaks I used to better expose strong points while hiding weaker ones.
S
nice, looking tighter for sure.
Okay, 193.4 This morning, much better than yesterday’s “false” weight of 194.8, but still progressing slower than I expected/wanted. For my Spring 2010 Prep, I added 20 mins of steady state incline treadmill every morning at 10 weeks out. I’m thinking that I’ll do the same this year, at 12 weeks out (starting next week).
By keeping the session ‘easy’, and away from my weight session, it becomes less stressful on the body’s recovery, and more about just a small calorie burn. A lot of people just tack 45 mins - an hour of cardio after their weight session, which is an option when you absolutely need it, but IMO it’s preferable to take advantage of the body’s ability to handle multiple sessions with better effect (at least when time allows you to).
S
With your left tricep you say you’ve been doing extra work aside from your normal tricep day. How are you doing one arm dips? I can’t work it out(I know you said don’t ask).I have a similar problem with my left tricep but also bicep do to an injury, they look noticeably smaller.