Rob's 2017 Contest Prep Thread

That gym looks killer! I’m very jealous…and now I’m not looking forward to going to my LA Fitness after work today haha

That panoramic shot at the bottom is breathtaking! It’s my goal to do a lot of fly-fishing trips out west with my dad once he decides he can retire…Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Wyoming. So, I’m a bit envious of your Colorado vacations.

Glad you’re back, man.

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I love any gym that has balls enough to put up posters of bodybuilding greats and not give a rats ass about offending the average gym goers.

And the pancakes,… well, everyone knows my weakness -lol

Welcome back brother! Look like you and Katie had a blast!

S

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@Irishman92 - yes it is! Full of chalk, there’s a few chalk bowls around. It’s an awesome change from my current gym. I love my gym, but it’s more of a “health club”, a huge weight area with multiple types of each bench, lots of hammer strength machines and accessories, numerous types of barbells, tons of cardio equipment, pool, therapy pool, sauna, steam room, everything is always clean and in perfect condition, etc., it really is a great bodybuilding gym, but it doesn’t have a bodybuilding vibe at all, it’s a “health club” vibe. Definitely no chalk allowed, sometimes I’ll use liquid chalk so it doesn’t make a mess, but someone always complains. One time I heard a female complaining because my liquid chalk left a very light white residue on part of a barbell, and she was using it for deadlifts and complained that the chalk was gonna get her insanely bright tights dirty. So, being at a gym like Flex in CO Springs is very enjoyable. The last gym I was at was pretty similar to Flex and was around the corner from my house, but unfortunately the owner never paid taxes so it was shut down a couple years ago.

@IronAndMetal - LOL! I’ve been to a few LA Fitness gyms, especially last year when I was actually in LA for a bit on business, they’re on every corner like Starbucks there. I enjoyed the gyms, great equipment selection and variety, but I noticed, at least the ones I went to, no one cleaned up after themselves and it looked like a bomb went off in the free weight area.

Thanks man! That panoramic shot was taken at a viewpoint near Pikes Peak, Red Rocks right in front, just beautiful. Ya definitely gotta get out there, it is so worth it. The best place to unplug, be around nature and forget about the grind. We were thinking about not going this year because we had some unexpected expenses come up in the spring, but we decided to go anyway, because what’s the point of killing yourself at work all year if you can’t enjoy life when you have the chance?!

Thanks bro, good to be back for sure!

@The_Mighty_Stu hell yeah man! The owners are two guys who have been buddies for a very long time, one of them has their dog, a beautiful English Setter, hanging around the gym. Every year I comment to them how much we love going their and the vibe they have, and they both always say how that’s the vibe they wanted to establish when they opened the gym about 30 years ago. A good variety of people there, some are obvious gym rats, others are folks just looking to get in shape, and also saw a couple of competitors there who looked just ridiculous. Over the past few years we’ve also seen a few olympic athletes in there with their trainers, since the Olympic Training Center is nearby. They have their own gym and trainers there of course, but we’ve seen a few athletes at the gym, awesome to watch.

LOL same! That picture is at the “New Day Cafe” near the gym, awesome food and the biggest oatmeal pancakes you’ve ever seen, they sit in your stomach like a brick. Perfect post workout meal!

Thanks man, we sure did!

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Alright, PREP-STYLE CUT - DAY 1! (WTF?! ALREADY?!)

I have very much enjoyed the off season in terms of training, food, mental relaxation, and focusing more on life and family rather than prepping. On a more logistical-side of the off season, it’s awesome not to have to constantly shave my body hair. I am, by nature, a very hairy guy (except for on my head…damnit…) I’ve been keeping my chest hairless for a couple years straight now, haven’t touched it since peak week. I’ll probably keep it that way until I’m 12-10 weeks out of the next show.

I am still technically in the off-season, but after 3 months of gaining, time to pull back some.

165.2 today, so pretty accurate.

After two years of competing, I have quite a lot of data to pull from. Last year I started prepping at:

(2) Low Day - 1710 cal - 165p/160c/40f
(4) Medium Day - 1860 cal - 175p/180c/45f
(1) High Day - 2255 cal - 160p/350c/30f

My low days were cardio days. One of them was HIIT, the other one was a 45min LISS session. On the LISS days, I’d keep the 1710 cals, but would only have some carbs with breakfast, then all protein and fat the rest of the day.

Had great results and consistent scale movement with those numbers. Since I am confident I’ve put on more lean mass since the show, and have been eating at least 3,000 cals a day, I don’t want to start that low. I’m also not show-prepping yet and am not in a time crunch. That being said, I do want to take a fairly aggressive approach within reason, the standard 1-2lbs a week will ensure I’m not losing any LBM, but I want to be sure to start losing right away, and get down to around 153. I am going to California to work with my bands out there late October, always like to look lean out there, so I plan on cutting until then. I have developed a reputation of being the jacked marching band guy, and don’t want to show up with people saying, “is that the same guy?”

So, here are my current starting numbers:

(2) Low day - 1825 cal - 165p/160c/65f
(4) Medium day - 2100 cal - 170p/240c/55f
(1) High day - 2400 cal - 150p/350c/30f

With these numbers I still feel like I’m eating a lot, am not restricted (other than no snacking), and have given myself plenty of room to keep trimming things off and lower numbers.

From previous years, slightly lower protein, giving me more room for carbs and fats. I’ve been able to keep carbs higher and fats lower and do well, but I do notice when fats are higher, my mood is improved. Also reading lately about the effect that fats have on depression, and while I do not suffer from depression, late in a prep I certainly feel those symptoms as many competitors do. Keeping fats higher was very helpful in improving my mood. So, I’m keeping protein to just over 1g per pound, keeping carbs higher and raising fats to about 25%, rather than 20% last year.

I’m going to give myself a “free meal” on high days after legs, my only stipulation is that it’s relatively clean and not super high in both carbs and fat. So, not pizza or burger and fries, but a double burrito bowl from Chipotle, my usual enormous chicken sandwich from the local pizza shop, lots of sushi, all are ok. And of course, a pint of halo top in the evening.

Training Split - 5 day split, 1 HIIT, 1 long LISS as I did last year. Quads, shoulders and arms are being hit twice a week. Last year I hit hamstrings twice a week all year and they really came up well, so I figure trying to the same with quads will hopefully yield similar results.
(Medium) Monday - Chest, Quads, Calves, 20min LISS
(Medium) Tuesday - Back, Biceps, Abs
(Medium) Wednesday - Shoulders, Triceps, 20min LISS
(Low) Thursday - HIIT - 8 intervals followed by 15min LISS (might try outdoor sprinting for now)
(High) Friday - Hams, Quads, Calves
(Medium) Saturday - Shoulders, Arms, Abs (2-3 exercises for delts, bis, and tris, 2-3sets each), 20min LISS
(Low) Sunday - 45min LISS - Doing one HIIT and one longer LISS session last year was a good way for me not to get burnt out too soon, and keep the steady results coming. I also hate HIIT.

Starting with cardio 5 days a week, 3 20min sessions after weights, 1 HIIT and a longer one Sunday. If I was starting a typical long prep, I would not start with this much cardio. Since we’re planning on doing this for 8-10 weeks, I think it’ll help the progress move along and get us there a little sooner.

Going to not overdo volume with the training. I’ve always been a high volume guy, but have found when I lower the volume and focus on intensity, I have better workouts, better results and don’t feel so drained all the time.
I’m also going to prioritize static stretching and foam rolling every day, something I haven’t done before, it was more of an “as needed” approach. I’m only 33, but a little before vacation I really started feeling pretty beat up. I enjoy going to the gym daily, so I need to be sure to not over board on the volume, and take my recovery up a notch.

MEALS - 6 meals a day - going for a consistent plan, but last year in my prep I realized that doing a clean IIFYM is no problem, by that I mean trade rice for a potato, a slice of bread for an apple, chicken breast for lean pork loin or beef, that kind of thing. Small regular changes make it much more manageable to feel like you’re not on a restricted diet.

The following is my general guidelines, but again I’ll rotate food sources as I want to, as long as I still meet my daily numbers. Also making sure to get a little fat with each meal, rather than carb or fat-centric meals.

Meal 1 - Eggs, toast (or waffles) and fruit
-2 eggs, veggies, fat free cheese, 1TBSP ketchup
-2 pieces Dave’s Killer bread with fat free cream cheese and no-sugar jelly, OR
-3 Van’s “lite” waffles with Walden Farms 0 cal maple syrup and stevia sprinkled on top
-1 apple (or blueberries, peach, melon, etc)

Meal 2 - Ezekiel Cake (I love my clean cakes!)
-1 serving Ezekiel Cereal
-enough unsweetened almond milk to cover the cereal
-1TBSP almond or peanut butter
-1 scoop Metabolic Drive Protein
-Splash of egg whites
Directions: Microwave just the cereal and milk for 3 minutes on high. Take it out (use oven mitts the bowl will be HOT), add and mix the rest, microwave for another 3 minutes. I like to add Walden Farms 0 calorie maple syrup.

Meal 3 - Chicken, veggies and fruit
-5oz chicken thigh
-veggies and sugar free BBQ sauce
-1 apple or other fruit

Meal 4 - Preworkout oatmeal and cereal cake - I usually do Finibars, on a cut now I prefer these oatmeal cakes as they keep me a little more full and give me great sustained energy. Follow the same directions as the EZ cakes, but with oats.
-1 serving organic rolled oats
-unsweetened almond milk
-1TBSP almond or peanut butter
-1 scoop Metabolic Drive Protein
-splash of egg whites
-30g cereal of my choice for added carbs (today I went with chocolate organic sprouted puffed rice)

Meal 5 - Post workout
-5oz chicken thigh/lean pork/london broil
-1 cup rice or 200g sweet potato
-veggies

Meal 6 - protein shake
-8oz unsweetened almond milk
-1 scoop Metabolic Drive Protein

Low days are the same except no carbs with dinner. High days are the same except I have a bigger post workout meal of my choice, plus a pint of halo top at night.

Alright, I think I covered all aspects! Just ate my oatmeal cake, getting ready to head to the gym. I remember telling myself after my last cardio session a week out of the show, “I’m never doing cardio again!” So, I’m sure when I hop on the elliptical today, it’ll be mixed feelings of “time to kick ass and get diced” with “WTF, here we go again!”

EDIT: forgot to list current supplementation!

Wake
-20oz water with BCAA
-Carbolin 19

After Breakfast
-Vitamin C
-Vitamin D
-Vitamin B Complex
-Curcumin
-Flameout
-Rez-V
-Probiotic

Pre-Training
-Indigo 3G
-Micro-PA

Post-Training
-Elite Pro Minerals

After Dinner
-Curcumin
-Flameout

Before Bed
-Z12

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Hey Rob, what’s your reasoning with high/medium/low days, rather than just a straight bodyweight x 15cals (or whatever)?

I always figured the high/medium/low thing was just for when you were in the depths, as a strategic way of lowering weekly calories a little more. I’m interested in why you do that right from the start.

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@Yogi1 what’s up man!

It can be done either way, I think it comes down to personal preference. Having done both a consistent day-to-day deficit, vs the cyclical diet, for me personally, I respond well to the fluctuations and prefer the latter. As the body is always attempting to achieve homeostasis and adapt, I think having peaks and valleys throughout the week might help delay that process. The two low days allow me to dig a little deeper on those days, knowing it’s only twice a week, and will allow me to really utilize the influx of carbs on the other days well. The high day mentally gives me something to look forward to and a temporary break from feeling like I’m on a diet (even though I don’t usually feel like that in the beginning of a cut, but it is certainly enjoyable.) The change of pace throughout the week also helps mentally overall, gives me something new to focus on every day. “Alright, medium day today, supporting my training, shouldn’t be a problem, going to kill it today.” “Low day today, gotta dig in but I have that high (or medium) day tomorrow, let’s do it.” “High day today, hell yeah.” Kind of thing.

Supporting weight training is 100% priority as well, so on the days I’m not lifting, like my cardio days, I still get the carbs I need to support HIIT and such, but I can get away with a little less cals and carbs those days, especially the long LISS session day. So, I can focus on getting plenty of carbs on the medium days to support training every session, and take advantage of my cardio days and go for more aggressive fat loss on those days.

As you mentioned, getting deeper in a prep, a cyclical approach is important because those temporary bumps throughout the week are certainly needed to keep the metabolism going and get down to stage ready.

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How long do you like to stay in a surplus before doing some damage control? How many calories above maintenance on average, as I know you cycle calories. At your level how much lean body mass do you see yourself adding monthly? .5-1, 1-2 lbs?

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I don’t really have a set amount of time, it’s a combination of things.
-Until my conditioning gets past the point that I want it to.
-When I feel “ready” to diet for a little bit. This is also really important. At the end of a prep I feel like I’ll never want to diet again! But, after a few months of training hard and eating well, I feel ready to cut for a little while. Hard to explain, just an instinctual aspect.
-This usually winds up being around 10-12 weeks, but again there’s no set number I have in my head.

-Roughly 300-600 a day, depending on the day. I like to refer to my off season as a “loose prep”. I make a spreadsheet of my average daily diet so I know roughly where I’m at, and I’ll deviate as I want to while staying within the limits I set for myself. Especially on a heavy training day, it’s closer to 500-600 cal surplus.

-Hard to say, but monthly, I’d hope 1-1.5lbs, which would be roughly a quarter pound of muscle per week, which seems feasible. My strength has increased noticeably with numerous PRs since my last show, I’ve noticed compositional improvements, and my weight gain has been slow and steady. Since I’m approaching my 3rd year of competition and 7th year in the gym, I am assuming I still have more mass to be gained. I know @The_Mighty_Stu trained for over 10 years before stepping on stage for the first time, and after his first couple of competitive seasons and pro cards, was still able to increase stage weight noticeably by his third season of competition. I’ve gained about 20 pounds since my show 4 months ago, so if even 4-5lbs of that is LBM, that will be VERY noticeable on stage, especially at my towering height of 5’4".

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Today is day 4 of the cut, so far things are going well. I started the week at 165.2, today was 162.6. The day before I started we did go out to dinner at a fantastic Turkish restaurant, so a big plate of gyro and lamb meet, lots of veggies, hummus and dips, etc., so I’m sure that added scale weight and water retention, so my starting point may have been closer to 164ish. I certainly didn’t lose 2.5lbs of fat in 3 days lol. But, so far the scale is moving and I feel good.

Switching up some training a bit. I notice any time I make a change I see/feel some good gains, and I have a tendency to pick a program and stay there for a long time. So, I’m switching up some exercises, sequencing, etc. Here’s what I did so far for training this week.

MONDAY - Chest and quads, abs
-Incline DB presses - 3 sets (I usually do 4, now doing 3 and focusing on strength and intensity)
-Low-high cables for upper chest - 3 sets
-Pec deck like machine - not sure what it’s called, it’s not the pec deck, it’s similar but has big pads where the elbows rest, and the arms are in a perpendicular position to the ground and there’s a handle for the hands. BUT, instead of keeping my arms in that position, I straighten them similar to the pec deck and push the pads with the inside of my forearm (I’ll take a picture next time.) What a massive pump in the inside chest!
-Upright hammer-strength wide chest press - I usually do the horizontal hammer strength press. The wide upright press, I really felt it in the outer pecs, great stretch.

-Single leg hammer strength leg extensions - new machine, plate loaded and the legs work independently from each other.
-Walking DB lunges - holy shit. Haven’t don’t these in over a year, WOW, my quads are still sore. Did 3 sets of these lunging the length of the gym, then turn around and carry the dumbbells back to starting position.

-Seated plate loaded crunch machine - my abs are still sore!

TUESDAY Back and biceps, calves
-Wide lat pull downs - I usually go narrow.
-Straight arm pull downs
-T-Bar row - worked up to a rest-pause set on my last set, did a 5RM, paused, 2 reps, paused, 1 more rep.
-Low row - 8 reps instead of the usual 10-12.

Biceps - 2 exercises instead of 3 since I’m hitting them Saturday too.
Plate loaded preacher curl - usually my second or third exercise.
Hammer curls - used straps and really helped isolate the brachialis.

Seated calves press

WEDNESDAY Delts and tris
I reversed the order of my delt exercises and really liked it!
-lateral raise machine - 12-15 reps per set
-leaning 1 arm DB raises - 10-12 reps
-rear pec deck - 8-10 reps
-seated DB presses - 5-8 reps

-close grip bench
-rope pull downs

Today is the first low day after 3 medium days. The only difference in the low day is I have 3 waffles with breakfast instead of toast and fruit, which cuts out a little over 100 cals, and I also don’t have rice post workout.

Also the first HIIT workout of the cut. My relationship with HIIT is a bittersweet one. I really don’t like doing it, but I know it works. Some bodybuilders prep only with LISS, some swear by HIIT, and there’s all methods in-between. After 4 shows and trying different methods over the years, I’ve discovered HIIT training works best for me when I keep it to 8 intervals and really make sure I go balls out (that’s the technical term) every interval. I also keep my HIIT training to once per week as long as possible, because it really affects my CNS and cortisol.

Shortly after it came out, I read @Christian_Thibaudeau’s article on The Neuro Training System, and when I got to “Type 3” felt like he was typing a very accurate description of me. I am most definitely a harm avoider! I also have a very high work capacity, but find when I lower volume, I feel better and have better training results. I also felt his description of not doing well on low carbs was very accurate, and that some carbs, especially pre-workout and pre-bed, are essential, as I found they are for me. Here’s a type 3 description from the article.

Type 3: The Harm Avoider
Harm avoidance is associated with a low serotonin level which affects your way of acting and feeling. Low serotonin can make you more easily tired or have a lower baseline of energy. If you fit this profile, you want to avoid unpleasant situations, punishment, and conflicts much more so than other people do. You’re most comfortable in familiar situations you can control.

These people tend to be more shy and introverted. They have a higher vulnerability to criticism; even constructive criticism creates anxiety. Their higher level of overall anxiety leads to an overproduction of cortisol, which can negatively affect muscle gains.

Unexpected changes of plans really upset them and cause a huge stress response. They’re careful planners, especially when a situation represents a potential harm or risk. Because of that, they’re very well organized. But under stress they can feel inhibited by anxiety, which leads to procrastination and having a hard time making decisions.

The driving force of harm avoiders is to stay away from stress and injury. When it comes to training, it makes them attracted to more repetitive activities that they’ve mastered. Unlike the novelty seeker, this type dislikes variety and new things in the gym. They get stressed when learning a new complex lift for example.

But they have great focus when they train. They’re perfectionists and often “technique geeks.” However, they tend to be more conservative with their weight selection. They’re great at sticking to a plan, sometimes bordering on training OCD.

Sports
This type is more attracted to sports where fewer unpredictable events occur and with a lower risk factor. They don’t like contact sports or sports where random events are an important part of the game.

Lifting
They do better on a more “static” program where exercises don’t change and other variables (methods, loading schemes, and rest intervals) change only gradually. A good example would be 5/3/1 by Jim Wendler.

They have a higher cortisol response to stress than other people because of their higher anxiety level. So although they have a very high work capacity, doing too much volume can actually limit their gains because of the overproduction of cortisol.

Diet
They don’t do great on a diet where carbs are restricted. They need at least a small amount of carbs at every main meal, both to lower cortisol levels and to avoid tanking serotonin even lower. Carbs pre-workout (to lower cortisol output) and at night (to boost serotonin) are especially important.

Since reading this article, I’ve made some adjustments to my training and feel much better, less beat up. Primarily I’ve lowered volume and concentrate on intensity, and while I can, and have, trained for 2 hours and still perform well, I’ve learned that doesn’t mean I should.

Regarding diet, this past year of competition was the first year I kept carbs in my pre-bed meal almost the whole time. I removed them from the pre-bed meal for a little while, and eventually added them back in, and composition and performance both went up.

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thanks for the detail as always, Rob! I’ve always just done the straight calories thing but I might tweak it a little now.

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You’re welcome man! Couldn’t hurt to try a couple small tweaks and see how they work for you. I know some competitors who do a straight through diet with the exception of one or two weekly refeeds and don’t do low days, then you have WNBF world champions like Brian Whitacre who carb cycles from the start but rarely has to make adjustments throughout. Also depends on how well people process carbs, ectomorphs or more naturally skinny folks can certainly handle more. @joshbenjamin did carb cycling as well, looked crazy awesome on stage, dry and super veiny, and competed at around 125lbs but could eat about 300 cals more than me per day and way more carbs.

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Day 5 today, down to 162.2, so down 3lbs of scale weight so far. Again the day before I started we did have a big meal out, so I’m assuming the 165.2 was holding some water and food weight. Either way, down 3lbs of scale weight in 5 days, I’ll certainly take it.

I’m feeling good with the diet, some slight hunger since I’ve been eating about 3000 cals a day at least before I started this cut, but I still feel very satisfied, gym performance is solid.

Yesterday for HIIT my wife and I did sprints together in the park, full out as hard and fast as freaking possible sprints. So, different my usual elliptical. Deep in a prep I would not do sprints because they’re just so taxing, but for now it’s a fun and awesome way to get the HIIT training in. We went to the park, walked for about 10 min to warm up, did some stretching, and then did 9 sprints over the course of about 40min. We’d sprint as hard as we could for as long as we could. I didn’t time it, because if you’re REALLY running at 10/10 as hard as possible, I think 30 seconds is impossible, and it’s more about the effort. We raced each other to keep it more fun and competitive. So, we’d sprint, walk it back to the start, recover for a couple minutes, then do it again. We were planning on doing 8, then did a bonus race to the car for 9.

The first two intervals felt good, by the 4th one my chest was tight and by the 6th one we were both groaning pretty consistently lol, but we really pushed each other and had a blast. We are both super sore today, but I am sure by next week we’ll be a little more adapted.

Today is legs and the first high day. Not going crazy with the high day, the only difference from the medium day is a clean meal out after the workout. We’re thinking of the local Greek place today, very good food, maybe a chicken or lamb platter with rice pilaf and veggies. And of course, halo top in the evening! I’ve definitely been going through withdrawal, I was eating a pint of halo top every night for a few weeks before we started the cut. At 240-360 cals, and good macros, hard to resist!

Going into my 3rd year of competing, starting this cut, it’s just really cool to have enough to data to know where I need to start execute a plan and see results coming right away. To be able to say, “alright, I’ve gained as much as I want and now want to lose 10-12lbs. It should take about 8 weeks at most. I know what to do, here’s my plan. Let’s do it.” almost feels like a nutritional super power. To really be able to manipulate and shape your body based on your goals, just awesome. I’m very thankful to have resources like T-Nation, my awesome coach @The_Mighty_Stu, and to have learned enough that I can apply this info for myself and achieve my goals, and help others achieve theirs. My wife has also lost 1.5lbs so far this week, good stuff.

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Well said. It’s a hard-earned super power and it feels amazing to wield it on-command. Looking forward to following this cut.

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@Serge_A_Storms thank you very much! Well worth the trial and error over the years for sure to learn enough about yourself and get to that point.

Day 6 of mini cut - things are really moving along. 161.4 today, so down 3.6 pounds from Monday. Certainly more than I expected, I was shooting for 2lbs this week, so pretty stoked for the results so far especially since I’m still feeling great and not like I’m on a diet. The first week of a diet can often bring a large drop of water weight since carb consumption goes down. If I lose more than 2lbs next week I’ll probably up cals slightly and do a little less cardio, no rush right now.

Yesterday was legs, and I was a little worried because I felt totally wrecked from sprints the day before. I decided not to squat, and started with leg press, then hit leg extensions, ham curls, hamtractor, RDL’s, calves, abductor and adductor. It was a great workout and even hit some solid PR’s on the leg extension, didn’t see that coming. Sometimes my best lifts have been when I’m crazy sore, no idea why.

Not squatting worked out well, and I think I may keep them out for a while. I’m hitting quads twice a week now, my legs are getting plenty of volume. I haven’t deadlifted in years and my back development hasn’t suffered from it, so I may try the same approach with squat. I do enjoy it, but the spinal compression of putting 300lbs on my back, hips, knees, etc., I just don’t think it’s necessary for my goals. I feel better, the workout took less time, and I can more directly isolate my quads and hams with the other exercises.

On the leg press, I tried a new method before starting each set that was really helpful. I’d place my feet, and push against the platform enough to feel muscle tension, but not enough to move it or start the set. By doing that, I could feel where the tension was going to be placed in my quads. I’d adjust my legs and feet as needed until I got the tension where I wanted it, then I’d start the set. You can really manipulate the leg press quite a bit depending on foot placement, angle, etc. For example yesterday I wanted to focus more on the quad sweep, so I “pre-pushed” until I found the zone, which was at the bottom of the platform, feet pretty close together, toes angled in slightly. Aside from just foot placement, it’s also important to decide which direction you want to be your “secondary angle” (I’m totally making up these terms.)

This is just how I think of leg press. Obviously the primary direction is forward, so you can push the platform and do the set. But, you can also add a “secondary” angle. Like how when you squat, you think of spreading the floor and pushing the feet out to stabilize the knees and hips. You can do the same on leg press. I find if I focus on pushing out, I really feel more tension in the quad sweep. If I focus on pushing up, more towards the ball of my foot and toes, I feel more tension in the tear drop and mid-quad. So, by “pre-pushing” before the set, I can ensure that I can hit the area of the quad I want to.

Since yesterday was a high carb day, we ordered food from the local Greek place. Chicken souvlaki over salad with rice pilaf, it was so good. Ate the whole thing, plus a pint of halo top, still woke up a pound lighter.

Today is bis, tris, couple sets for delts, then abs and 20min LISS.

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THAT is awesome.

Man, you’re a dynamo.

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Soooo… Anyone listen to Iron Radio ?? No particular reason I’m asking, of course :slight_smile:

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@SkyzykS thank you so much man! Of course the day after a 1800 calorie HIIT day weight goes up, so I’ve stopped trying to figure out why these things happen and just enjoy it when it works out lol.

@Lonnie123 - Good catch man! For anyone reading that does not listen to Iron Radio, you should! It’s hosted by Dr. Lonnie Lowery, who is a frequent T-Nation contributor, brilliant mad scientist, nutrition and exercise wizard and competitive bodybuilder. He hosts Iron Radio along with a few other equally impressive guys, it’s a weekly podcasts that addresses anything and everything dealing with exercise, nutrition, etc. Aside from the topic(s) of the week, they start most podcasts by addressing listener emails. I emailed a couple weeks ago regarding the topic of post-contest muscle gains, and I got a personal email from the man himself (so cool!) and they addressed my question on the show. It’s a free podcast, and for $4 a month you can become a sponsor. WELL WORTH IT! http://www.ironradio.org.

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1 week down of the diet, today starts week 2. Woke up today at 161.2, so a total of exactly 4lbs of scale weight lost in the first week. More than I expected, but the first week sometimes yields more than others because of the loss of water weight and glycogen, and food weight because I’m eating less food. This week we’ll see what happens, considering I lost 4lbs in week one, I’m sure I’ll lose at least 2lbs during week two. I’d be super stoked to lose another 10lbs in the next 8 weeks and get down to 150-151 and hover there until the prep starts. Knowing I need to be around 142 to be stage ready, starting the prep with 10 pounds to go would make it a hell of a lot easier. Last year I went into lockdown mode at 154 and had my first show 11 weeks later when I won my ANBF pro card, then dieted another 8 weeks until my next show. Assuming I do start the prep in the low 150’s, I’ll probably do a 16 week prep rather than my usual 20-22.

Excellent workout today - chest, quads, abs and 20min LISS. Some good strength on incline DB presses today, 85’sx12, 95’sx10, and 100’sx10.

Yesterday was a low day and supposed to be a 45min LISS session, but I felt physically pretty beat up yesterday, so I decided to keep the low day of nutrition, but NOT to a 45min LISS session. The priority will just be to make sure I am doing some kind of physical activity during the day and not sitting around. Yesterday I went for about a 45min walk on a trail in the park near the house, but I really took my time and just enjoyed the scenery, didn’t try to make a cardio session out of it. Then in the evening we took the dogs to the dog park and ran around with them for a bit.

Came home from the park and realized I only ate 3 out of 6 meals. Obviously I wasn’t about to eat 3 meals before bed, so I figured I had about 800 cals to play with and could eat whatever I wanted. Trying to keep things clean and lean before bed, I went with a warm salad. Made some chicken thigh, veggies and melted fat free cheese in the pan, put that all in a big bowl of salad greens, and had a big apple and an oz of almonds and cashews with it. The thing I like about the big salads are they’re super filling, mostly water and fiber, and they take a long time to eat. Woke up to a new low of 161.2. Good stuff.

Another benefit of doing a prep style diet without actually being in a show prep is the ability to try different things and see what works. My second prep diet was pretty different from my first. Some aspects of this diet are different from my last prep diet:
-More carbs - Currently getting about 225g carbs per day, rather than the 180 I was getting last diet. My low day carbs are higher also, currently 160g.
-I have carbs with every meal, including pre-bed.
-Fats are spread out throughout the day, about 10g per meal.
-Eating more fruit - 2-3 pieces a day.
-More unsaturated fats - less bacon and beef, more nuts and olive oil. Still keeping the whole eggs in though for sure, 2 every morning.
-Altering my pre workout meals depending on how I feel. I either have an oatmeal cake, or 1.5 Finibars and some protein milk. Same macros either way so they’re interchangeable.
-Trying Sunday as an “off” day rather than long LISS day. If I can keep up consistent scale movement with this method, I’ll keep it. That way, when I need an extra bump, I have a whole day I haven’t utilized yet to keep things moving.

After reading CT’s neuro type article, I’m most definitely a “type 3” - prone to high cortisol and a “harm avoider”. A lot of things I discovered about myself on my prep made more sense. Like taking out HIIT early because it was taxing me too much, tightening up when we added more carbs and cut back on cardio. @The_Mighty_Stu and I realized towards the end of my first prep that watching my cortisol levels is key for me, so staying with that, I think having Sunday as an off day will be very helpful in keeping cortisol down and allowing for better recovery.

GAME CHANGER here folks, sugar free ketchup that tastes awesome!

If you’ve been reading my log, you know I’m a big fan of G Hughes sugar free BBQ sauce and it’s a staple in my diet. I also use regular ketchup every morning, but have to weigh 1 serving and keep it limited. A fellow competitor at the gym told me about this, it’s a new product, and it tastes awesome. Now I can load up on ketchup and don’t have to worry about measuring or the sugar from it. HELL YEAH! (it’s the little things)

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Trucking along here, things are moving faster than expected. Woke up to 159.6 today, so already 1.5lbs down for this week. My goal was to reach 153-154 by the middle of October, so I don’t think that’ll be a problem. If I could get to 150 I’d be thrilled, that would put me at 10lbs above stage weight and very lean for not being on a contest prep.

I haven’t felt hungry or like I’m on a diet at all. I think some of that has to do with my new eating habits, spreading out fats equally throughout each meal and having carbs with every meal. 6 meals a day, each one contains about 10g fat and between 30-60g carbs depending on the meal. Having protein, carbs and fat together at each meal keeps me very satisfied.

The scale movement is surprisingly fast considering my numbers are about 300 cals higher than they were during my last diet, carbs are increased and I’m doing less cardio. Certainly no complaints here! I know that as I get leaner adjustments will probably need to be made, but so far I’ve lost 5 pounds of scale weight in a week and a half and it hasn’t been challenging, other than not being able to snack, have my nightly halo top, or have a bite of Finibar whenever I want. BTW, if you haven’t tried it yet, a bite of chocolate Finibar combined with a couple peanuts, tastes just like peanut M&M’s.

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