Your reps seem high to me for hypertrophy.
Sorry for the unsupportive husband. That must be tough. How can a guy not support his wife working out and getting stronger and hotter? Threatened, perhaps?
kpsnap - What do you think is the correct rep range? I know there is some debate in the muscle building world about 8-12, 4-6 etc. I can tell you I just came off of a strength program that was in the 4-6 rep range. I am curious as to your thoughts though.
One thing I wanted to correct, because I may have misspoke - my posing coach has said not to build my quads or chest anymore so that may be the reason my rep range is higher. Some times he takes me through a pyramid lift and others its straight sets of 12. Still curious about your thoughts and input though
Yes, unsupportive husband sucks. I am just over trying to please everyone else. Funny you say threatened, many people say that…he would never admit it. He is trying to be more supportive, he just doesn’t get it. Oh well 
Spirited, that is unfortunate that your husband “doesn’t get it”. I am lucky that my husband lifts with me and has come to really enjoy it as an activity and because it is building his own muscle and strength. I’d sure be bumming if my guy was actively opposed to my lifting or only tolerated it.
As for your husband not liking girls with muscles, that is a hard one. I’m not a guy (obviously) but I’ve come to understand that what body type a guy is attracted to isn’t much in his control. Either he likes it, or he doesn’t. Around here, the guys like the hardbody look but that doesn’t appear to be the norm in the “real world”.
Dinner - I am tryign to get so creative with food. I don’t really like junk food; on occassion I give in to cravings but for the most part my diet is pretty clean. I have this fear that if I cut carbs too much now, and then when its time to start loosing fat I will have nothing to taper from.
According to some the plans on here; I should be consuming anywhere in the neighborhood of 2300-2700 cal/day. I might get 2300 in me on a good day, but 2700 is mind boggling to me. Thoughts? Too much? Too little?
Here is tonights dinner:
two chicken breast tenders, one salmon patty, 1.5 cups broccoli. I then added 1tbsp evoo, 1 tbsp premade pesto, some left over steamed mix of corn, carrots and asparagus. Its not pretty but it is DAMN good. I am becomming a pesto addict but come cutting time I know its going to have to go bye-bye. Maybe I could make my own but not use the cheese? Hmmm…have to think about that.
A little while later I will follow up with the standard casein shake, topped with 2 ZMA and 3 mg of Melatonin. OK< I am kidding about actually topping my shake with pills. lol…
edit* After dinner, I went out to the garage to see what hubby was doing. (He was working out) So,just messing around, I grab the pullup bar, wide grip and managed to eek out 1 and 1/2 of one on my first try and another one on my second. I seem to get stuck mid pull, but I don’t care. I FREAKING DID IT!
Aww, we have kids almost the same age
My hubby is military and will be leaving in June for training and then to go to the ‘desert.’
I’m not sure about the calories…but in my opinion if you could eat more and get away with it then when it’s time to cut, your cals won’t have to get too drastic, right?
Hell yeah to the WG pullup!
Those are big numbers on the leg press, and on the bench as well. Nice.
Does suck about your hubby, but I hear ya, sometimes we have to make concessions when it comes to marital bliss - so as long as your love of lifting doesn’t cause any srife, then I’m sure you guys manage. Doing WG pullups while he’s working out might not help your cause tho - hahah!
Dinner looks good btw! LOVE pesto. And I’m sure it will be equally delicious without the parmesean. I think I’ve actually made it without the cheese too. Parsley, Basil, Olive Oil, Pine Nuts, salt/pepper (maybe not salt for you) - YUM!
I thought 6-10 was hypertrophy range. Yet I saw a lot of 12s in your training, which I think of as endurance numbers. My serious training always falls in the >5 range. But I’m going for pure strength.
I don’t have a lot of input regarding calories. I consume way more than most people who log here and never count 'em.
What’s your height/weight, if I may ask?
Stop trying to please everyone else. It’s an impossible goal.
[quote]spirited1973 wrote:
[quote]RBlue wrote:
Hi Spirited! I look forward to following along as you prep for your show. Sounds like you have lots of solid help with your trainer and posing coach, and from the looks of your avatar you’re already well on your way.
Nice training - it looks like you’re doing a traditional body part split? Will you be sticking with that throughout your prep?
And the first exercise on leg day is leg press, right? Or are you squatting those insane weights? :P[/quote]
Yes, lol, its a leg press. I thought I put that on there…I can’t squat anymore, I have a bulging disc in my back (between L5-S1) that limits me in some areas of the gym.
My trainer will probably keep me at this split until end of June when I start trying to cut off all the blub. Right now the goal is hypertrophy each and every workout so he changes things up quite often. I am excited, he really pushes me.
I was going to ask you - your suit, who made it? How did it look on stage? I like the color, am thinking of doing something bold like what you have done. where was your show? [/quote]
My show was in Woodstock, Ontario. The suit looked good on stage, but the light colour was a bit problematic because it was hard to avoid staining it with the tan. I’d recommend sticking with a darker colour for your show, it’ll be easier to deal with.
My suit was done by KHP designs. She makes some beautiful suits, but I found her to be pretty disorganized when it came to the suits myself and my friends ordered. We seemed to be last on her list of priorities, and she was hard to get a hold of.
Edit: Way to go on the wg pullup! And it sucks your husband isn’t more supportive. My bf at the time of my show hated that I was doing it, and hated the way my body looked when I was lean & ‘muscley’ and ‘veiny’. Hopefully your husband can get on board, it helps to have support from those you love.
That broccoli dish looks delicious. Yummy!
Yes I messed up my lower back squatting as well - sucks! Worst thing is it’s stopped me deadlifting as well so I have to do pussy exercises until it eases up. Sigh.
The book sounds very interesting.
MiM: Sorry to hear your husband is leaving for 6 months - I know that has got to be a tough thing to deal with As far as calories, I know, I think most of it is in my head. I am my own worst enemy sometimes.
Masch: LOL, I never even thought that doing pullups in front of him would be an issue. Its just so natural to look at the bar, want to jump up and knock out a couple reps. lol, there IS something wrong with me. Glad to hear the pesto w/o cheese worked out. I was thinking I could put a little ricotta in it instead. Might have to play with that one
kpsnap: I actually asked him today. Not in a disrespectful way, but more of a ‘help me understand what we are doing’. He said hypertrophy can be anywhere from 8-12; depending on muscle group and your goal. I just came off a true strength program and we where between 5-8 reps. He said power was anything between 4-6; which I am not doing. I trust him, he has a ton of education behind him, trains local athletes, and has a masters in Human Movement (if you can beleive there is even a degree for that lol). He really makes me focus on my form, contracting on the top of the movement, etc. You will see with my workout today, there is more of a pyramid structure. Most of what he says he backs up with science, I am just to ignorant to remember and repeat it all here
Height is 5’9" and weight is 156lbs. I hover around 14% bf. Yes, you are correct, pleasing others is impossible. I am just me, love it or leave it.
Rblue: thanks for the input on the suit. I am sure the tanning product was a total magnet for that puppy. Looks nice though. I guess I will avoid that designer. Shame, word of mouth, can be your best or worst enemy in this business
Cal: do you have access to a Kaiser Power Rack? that might help ease you back in to your deadlifts. I am in love with the thing, seriously.
Back, Shoulders and Biceps today.
WG Pulldown
w/u 75x10
82.5x12
90x10
95x8
90x10
WG Seated Cable Rows
90x12
90x12
95x10
95x10
Single Arm DB Rows
40x12
40x12
45x12
Standing Straight Arm Pulldown
55x12
55x12
55x12
DB Shoulder Press
30x12
35x10
40x8
30x8
Standing Lateral Raises
12x12 - too easy
15x12
15x12, I really need 17.5’s here
Seated Rear Delt Flys
12x12 too easy again, Woooohooo
15x12
15x12
EZ Bar bicep curls
40x12
60x5,40x7
60x8, 40x4…jacked up set, i really should have had the 50 but someone else was using it.
Seated Incline dB Curl
15x12x3, that’s almost too embarrasign to post. hahahaha
Standing cable curls (d-handle)
25x10,20x12, 20x12
Those last two arm exercises are pathetic. Might have something to do with the fact that I have already done back and am at the end of my workout. Nonetheless, embarrassing.
Thanks for all the encouragement ladies, it really does help to have someone to talk to. I am off to read some more posts, and maybe do some work.
(crickets chirping)
OK, so today started of SUPER! Woke up at 5:30, had my typical 5:30 a.m. snob coffee; then off to the gym at 7:00 for leg day! Not too crowded, just right…
warmup 5 min on ARC Trainer
Leg Press (PR today)
305x10 warmup
465x12
485x10
500x8 PR right there; I am so curious as to what 1RM would be…
485x10
Step ups - first two sets w/35lbs in hand, then switched to 60lbs ezcurl on shoulders
70x12
70x12, too unstable with dumbbells hitting my legs and my shoulders tire out before my legs do
60x12, I really need the 70lb ezcurl on my shoulders
Scissor Jumps, 3 sets x20 (10 each leg)
Sumo Jumps 3 sets x12
Lying Leg Curls/SS/Leg Ext
85x12 ss 105x12
90x12 ss 105x10
90x10 ss 100x10
My legs were taxed by the end of this. But that is when it all started…my phone rang, it was my husband and the first thing I heard was “I swear, I am going to kill him”(talking about our 2YO, Johnnie)
Little Johnnie just loves to play with the water and the ice dispenser on the fridge. And even though we try to keep it locked, sometimes we forget. So today, my husband, decides to take a shower and leave the door open, thinking little Johnnie will be just fine. I am sure you can guess what happenend…Johnnie gets out a large cup and lets it fill up. Then he lets it keep running, and running, and running…for who knows how long. When my husband gets out, the kitchen is literally full of water; its everywhere!!! Its funny now, but it was a mess!!! WE had to pull out the fridge, the stove, the dishwasher. All power was turned off and we spent a good hour mopping up the mess. UGH! Sad thing - this is the 2nd time its happened. We can only blame ourselves…
On top of that, my car totally died as I was driving home. Its been doing this start, stall thing for the past few weeks. Of course its paid off so its going to cost me. I want a new one so badly, but I want to compete more. So I will chance fixing this thing until after Sept.
I am going to go find a picture of my little monster and post it so when you see him you know to run the other direction! lol, hahaha, i love my kids but sometimes…
for some reason I didn’t see your post yesterday…
ah, 2 yr olds,gotta love em! My little boy never intentionally did things to get a reaction out of us, but has always been naturally curious…he was constantly doing stuff like that!
Deployments were ok, when it was just us…having kids makes it harder…especially now that they are older and have a better concept of time…oh and I wish it was 6 months…he’ll be gone for 11…it is what it is!
AWESOME leg press, sheesh!
MiM: Oh, 11 months, o geez. You might as well be a single mom. I hope you have some help somewhere. I just sold a house to a military family; their first home. He is going to be at Ft. Leavenworth, KS. They are in their late 40’s, with two boys.
The wife is so excited, its really cute. I am happy for them. They have never lived anywehre long enough to buy something, they have always rented or stayed on base. The boys are thrilled not to live on base anymore.
Love the new avi by the way!
How is the alone time? I am jealous, so jealous.
It is really interesting to see a hypertrophy workout routine. What do you step up onto? A bench?
kimba: We use a PowerStep set at 15". I think it goes up to 21" or 22". Much more stable. If I used a bench I would fall and hurt myself… LOL< I already feel like I am going to fall over with these. We do one leg, all twelve reps then the other. Its a beeeeaaattch.
Is a Powerstep like a reebok step with stackable risers, or a separate piece of equipment? I tried googling it, but got only shoe inserts.
I ask because there isn’t anything in my gym to step up onto except a padded bench, which is wholly unsuitable for heavy weighted stepups, as you know. Or Reebok steps which are unstable at higher heights. I might buy something for home.
Alone time is good in small doses, but really I was bored after the first half of the day
yep, I’m basically on my own here with the kidlets…it’ll only make us stronger(or more looney probably) 
kimba: I couldn’t find it online either. Its basically a metal box, with several rungs, or slots that you can move the step up and down on based on what height you want. I will try and find out who makes it or where they got it.
I did find one at Amazon; if you do a search under Plyometric Adjustable Step Up Boxes you will find some. http://www.amazon.com/16-18-Adjustable-Plyometric-Platform/dp/B00146MC3C
Yes, I would kill myself if I did these on a bench. Esp with db in my hands, banging against my legs when I get tired. I am all sorts of an unstable mess!
MiM: I agree. I like my time alone, but then I start to miss them (kids that is)