Week 4, Days 4 and 5

Day 4

Today's Training - Today was cardio day...it sure seems like this day comes around quick each week. Once again, I used the black bike which doesn't keep time. So I had my stop watch with me and I peddled on level 16 until I reached 9 miles which was 16:51. A little slower than last time but still a good cardio session.

Day 5

Today's Training: Today was Chest and Biceps day. It was another good, solid day. I think I've made nice progress on my biceps this year, but I'm still working on the chest. My routine a little different this year so I'm hoping it helps.

Decline BB Press - 235 x 4, drop set 185 x 4

Incline Hammer Press - 270 x 6

Flat Fly superset w/ Flat DB press - 55 x 7, 55 x a few (these kill me)

One arm Cable Curl - 130 x 8

BB Curls - 135 x 4

Hammer Curls - 70 x 5

Physique Assessment - 5 weeks out from North Americans, 11 out from Nationals

I am very happy with how things are going. I was down another pound today putting me at 160.4 and I'm seeing very noticeable differences in my conditioning. I'm looking leaner especially through the midsection and low back each week and I don't think I'm losing any size at all.

Week 4, Days 2 and 3

Tuesday

Today's Training - Today was cardio only day. Lately I've been liking the idea of going until I get 9 miles instead of 16 minutes. I was on Level 16 today and it took me 16:29 to get 9 miles. that's better than last time. Once I can get it in under 16, I'll start shooting for 9.5

Wednesday

Today's Training - Back

Another Great Back Day!

Pullovers - 200 x4

Hammer Pulldowns - 210 x 4

BB Rows - 275 x 7

Cable Rows (pictured) - 160 x 5

Rear Delt Raises - 45 x 10

Back Extensions - 85 x 6

Deadlifts - 345 x 6

Cable Rows

Cable Rows are a great exercise. There are a few different way to do them, but I prefer to use the wider, overhand grip and bring the bar up towards my chest as opposed to going toward my belly (like a BB rows). Bringing the weight up higher works the rhomboids, traps and overall upper back, which get neglected a bit in BB rows. Also, I'm careful not to use momentum or my legs to move the weight. I focus on using a weight that I can feel my back using and that I can pause at my chest for a count.

Week 4, Day 1

Today's Training

Today was Shoulders and Biceps day. It was an extra great day. I think that's because my noxpump seemed to hit me extra hard. Anyone who takes pre-workout supplements knows what I'm talking about. Anyway, it was great day of training once again.

Smith Machine Shoulder Press - 160 (weight on bar) x 5

Seated lateral raises - 55 x 8

Cable Lateral Raises - 120 x 6

Shrugs - 315 x 6

Triceps (pictured) - 115 x 3 (too heavy)

Skull Crushers - 125 x 5

One arm Pushdowns - 130 x 6

Pushdowns

Pushdowns are pretty much always in my routine. They are one of the best triceps exercises around. You can use different attachments, but I've found that the angled "V" bar seems to work best for me. Also, there are different ways to execute this movement. You can use "loose" form and let the bar go up toward your forehead before forcefully pushing down, allowing the weight of your body to assist you. Or you can use strict form by staying straight up, bring the bar to your chest and make it more of an isolation movement. Both way have their merit. What I usually do is do one way for 8 weeks and then the other the next 8 weeks.

Week 3, Day 6 and 7

Today's Training -
Today was Leg day and it was another solid day of training.
Leg extensions - 140 x 10
Leg Press - 720 x 10
Smith Machine Squats - 3 and 1/2 plates on each side x 12
Leg Curls - 120 x 5
Stiff-leg deadlifts - 275 x8
Single Leg Curls - 75 x 4
Donkey Calf Raises (pictured) - Stack + 155 x 12
Seated Calf - 180 x 6
Donkey Calf Raises
When Training Calves, I always do one straight leg movement and one with bent legs (seated calf raise). This tow movements focus on different parts of your calf so i do both . If you're thinking I look a lot better in this picture that's because it's not me, it's my training partner Lorrie DeVillars. She is a true inspiration. I don't' want to say her age, but let's just say she's a grandma and she kick just about anyone butt in the gym. In fact, when Dorian Yates was here at my gym, he told me he was most impressed with. Just to give you an example, that's the stack + 155 pounds of the calf machine and she did more reps than me.

Week 3, Days 4 & 5

Day 4 - Today's Training

Today's cardio session kind of sucked. It wasn't that I wasn't ready or anything like that, but the bike was set on the wrong mode and I couldn't figure it out until about 5 minutes into it. It was on a mode that didn't allow for the tension to change with the difficulty of the level. In other words, it was just way to easy and I couldn't figure out why. About 5 minutes into it, I discovered that I need to hit the "bike mode" button and then all was fine.

Day 5 - Today's Training

Today was awesome Chest and Biceps day! I felt great and did better on every single exercise compared to last week. My clients are doing a "killer chest cycle" right now so I figured since I was making them do it, I should do it to. It kicked my butt! The cycle was flys right into flat DB press with the same weight, immediately into push-ups for 12 reps each. I used the 50's. I got the 12 flys but then I was toast. I was able to do about 4 bench presses and then barely got the 12 push-ups. It felt great though.

Decline BB Press - 225 (6-8) not sure how many exactly

Incline Smith Press - 160 (weight on bar) -8 reps

Killer chest cycle

One arm Cable Curls (pictured) - 130 x 8

BB Curls - 125 x 8

Hammer Curls - 6

Physique Assessment - 6 weeks out from North Americans, 12 weeks out from Nationals

I feel great about how the progress is coming along. I'm seeing a visible difference in my physique...more definition and I'm not losing any size or strength. I weight 161.6 pounds which is down another 1.5 from last week. At this point I'll keep everything the same.

One arm Cable Curls

I absolutely love this exercise. It's more of an isolation exercise which I don't do a lot of, but I really like the feel of this one. I set the back extension machine by the pulley system and position myself so that my arm is parallel with the ground. I focus completely on the flex and squeeze at the top. My arms feel like they are going to explode when I''m done.

Week 3, Days 2 & 3

Tuesday's Training

Tuesday was cardio only day. Once again my favorite bike to use (the black bike) was acting up. It's working but it won't keep time. So I used a stopwatch instead. My plan was to stop at 16 minutes but with all the peddling, hard breathing and overall panting, It was difficult to keep checking the watch. Instead I just went until I hit 9.0 miles. That was around the 16.46 mark. So it was a good cardio session for sure.

Today's Training

Today was back day. It was another solid day and I was just feeling really good today. I was happy with how I looked and felt strong....maybe that's just because I started tanning on Monday. Nonetheless, it was a great day.

Pullovers- 200 x 4

Hammer Pulldowns (pictured)- 210 x 4

BB Rows - 275 x 6

Cable Rows - 170 x 6

Rear delts - 45 x 8

Back Extensions - 85 x 6

Deadlifts - 335 x 7

Hammer Pulldowns

Hammer Pulldowns are a great exercise. I used these a lot more than I have in the years past. I like the angle the machine puts my body at and also the reverse grip allows me to handle more weight. The drawback is if you aren't careful, you'll pull too much with your biceps. The key is to focus on your mind muscle connection and "feel" the lats doing the work. It takes practice.

Week 3, Day 1

Today's training

Today starts week 3 of my show prep. Everything is going great so far. Today was Shoulders and Triceps day.

Smith Shoulder Press- 160 (pounds on bar) x 5

Seated Lateral Raises (pictured) - 55 x 6

Cable Lateral Raises - 120 x 5

BB Shrugs - 275 x 8

Pushdowns - 110 x 7

Skull Crushers - 125 x 5 superset with close grip 125 x 0! Couldn't move it one inch

Kickbacks - 40 x 8

Seated Lateral Raises

Lateral Raises, seated or standing, are one of my favorite exercises. It's an exercise that is very important but you need to take the time to master the form and then not get sloppy when you get tired. Remember the last rep on your heavy set should be the same as your first rep on your warm-up set! As you can see in the picture, I have my arms directly out to the side with just a slight bend in the elbows.

Kids Day at PF

This Past Saturday was our 3rd annual Kids Day at Personal Fitness. Kids 6-12 years old come in and go through a fun and educational 60 minute workout. The workout was divided into 30 minutes of strength training with free weights and body weight exercises and 30 minutes of classes including a cardio boot camp, Martial Arts taught by Chris White and Youth agility training by Damon Newsome. The kids finished up the day with some delicious protein smoothies.

I want to thank all the trainers, parents and family that volunteered to make this day a HUGE success!

Week 2, Day 6

Today's Training

Today was Leg day. Leg Day is something I've changed a bit since last year. I've always been happy with my leg development but I'd been stuck doing the same weights for quite a while. I've changed this year from mostly squats to doing some leg presses and then some form of squats ...regular, smith, or Hack. I also start my leg day with Extensions. This more like an extension of my warm-up but I feel doing them first gets my legs ready for the big weights on Presses and Squats.

Today's Training

Leg Extensions - 140 x 10

Leg Press - 700 x 10

Smith Machine Squats (pictured) - 3 plates on each side x 14

Leg Curls - 120 x 5

Stiff-leg deads - 255 x 10

Single Leg Curls - 60 x 6

Standing Calf - Stack + 145 x 12

Seated Calf - 170 x 8

Smith Machine Squats

I'm one of the few people who really likes smith machine squats. Some people just don't seem to get the feel for them, mostly because of how they are put together. I personally feel very comfortable with the form of Smith Machine Squats. I keep my heals somewhat close together and I don't go down "ass to heals" as I used to. I go down deep still, but I focus on keeping the tension on the quads. I don't want to go so deep that my hips and glutes are doing the work.

Week 2, Day 5

Today's Training:

Today was Chest and Bicpes day. This is one of the day's I look most forward to . Mostly because I think chest is one of my weakest areas and this is my time to make improvements each week.

Decline BB Press: 205 x 8

Incline Smith: 160 (pounds on bar) x 8

Flat Fly: 45 x 7

Flat DB Bench: 85 x 5

Seated one arm Cable Curl - 120 x 8

Barbell Curls: 125 x 7

Hammer Curls: 60 x 6

Physique Assessment 7 weeks out:

At this point, I'm still planning on competing in the NPC North American on Sept. 4th. That puts me 7 weeks out. I'm pleased with both my progress and where I'm at so far. I was down another pound today (163) and I can see visible differences in my abs and low back. So far, so good. I'll keep my diet and cardio the same next week.

Incline Smith Machine Press

The pictured exercise is the Incline Smith Machine Press. Normally, I prefer to use the free weight barbell for this, but I've done that the last 16 weeks or so and I was really in a rut as far as improvements. Therefore I switched over to the Smith Machine for a little something different. I place the bench so that the bar comes down to the very top of my chest and I concentrate and flexing the chest muscles the whole way up. One thing I like about the smith machine over the free bar is that I can push myself to failure better. For instance today when I couldn't complete another rep on my own, my workout was able to assist me with forced reps and negatives better than if I was on a free weight incline press.

Week 2, Day 3

Today's Training:

Today was my cardio day. I have to admit that I don't get nearly as excited about Cardio as I do my weight training days, but I put some new songs on my ipod so I was ready to go. The only problem was my favorite bike, the one I always use, the one known as bike 1 here at the gym wasn't working....that's a big problem here. Anyway I did my 16 minute max-ot cardio on the grey bike today for the first time ever. It was hard but it went well. 5.7 miles .

Week 2, Day3

Today's Training

Today was back day. The back is a complicated muscle group made up of lots of small and large muscles so I dedicate one day to only back training. Years ago I used dread back day because honestly I didn't think it was very exciting. Over the years however, back day has become one of my favorite. It's usually an opportunity to lift some heavy weights (i.e barbell rows and deadlifts) and I look forward to the challenge. Plus I enjoy knowing that most people don't like which is why I usually have one of the better backs on stage.

Pullovers - 180 x 8

Hammer Pulldowns - 200 x 6

BB Rows - 255 x at least 7

Cable Rows - 150 x 8

Rear delt Raises - 45 x 7

Back Extensions - 85 x 6

Deadlifts - 315 x10

Barbell Rows -

In the photo you'll see me getting ready to do a set of barbell rows. These are one of my favorites. In fact I don't feel like my back day is complete without them. The key is to simply get into position and pull hard! As Dorian Yates told me, they don't have to be a pretty exercise.

Week 2, Day 2

Today's Training
Today was a cardio day. I hit 8.6 miles in 16 minutes

Training Outside your Comfort Zone
One of the most challenging but necessary things to do is learn to train outside your comfort zone. This goes for both cardio and weight training. You should somewhat nervous before you start your heavy sets or before you get set to hit your 16 minute max-ot cardio.
For the last 8 weeks I've kept the bike on level 15. I found this to be a challenging setting that I definitely had to work at. However, I also new in my mind that I could do it. Today I went up to level 16 and it reminded me of what training outside your comfort zone is all about. So my advice to you, push yourself to do more than what you're sure you can do.

Week 2, Day 1: Prepare with Bill

Today's Training
It's feels good to be back! Today was my first day back going 100%. It felt good to go all out. It was shoulder and Triceps day. You'll see that I stick with basic exercises in the 4-8 rep range to failure and beyond.

Smith Machine shoulder Press: 150 pounds on bar - 7 reps
Seated Lateral Raises - 50 x 9
Standing Cable Lateral Raises - 110 - 6
BB Shrugs - 225 x 12
Pushdowns - 90 x 10
Skull Crushers - 125 x 4
One arm Reverse Pushdowns - 110 x 6

Prepare w/ Bill
A few of you have already answered my challenge of dieting right along with me for Nationals. If you're interested send me an email and I'll send you your instructions.

Featured exercise: Skull Crushers

In the pic you'll see me doing a set of skull crushers. The key to skull crushers is to keep the correct range of motion. Keep the bar behind your head and when you bring it up, make sure you don't pull the weight over your chest. Keep in mind that it is a tricep, not a lat exercise.

My Challenge

Today's Training:
No training today. Some people look forward to rest days, I on the other hand, don't. Nonetheless, I believe that recuperation is one of the most important components of a good training system. I take one day off each week. This allows not only my muscles , but by nervous system a chance to rest. The only time I eliminate my rest days is sometimes as I get closer to a show. Sometimes I add a cardio session in on this day, but only if necessary.

My Challenge to YOU
As I start my show prep I thought it would be fun to throw out a challenge to any of you reading this journal. If you would like to train and diet right along with me for the next 14 weeks let me know. Send me an email and I'll send you my diet along with instructions.

Week 1 Day 6

Today Training
Today was my final acclimation day. On my first week back, I usually go about 70% of my normal weight. The reason I do this is to get my body back into training mode after a week off and also because I usually do a few different exercises each time and I use this week to "get a feel" for the movement before going all out next week.

Weekends are days too
Today start my first weekend of my show prep diet. This is where a lot of people fall short. Do you know how many times I hear "the week is good, but I have trouble on the weekends." I'm telling you straight up if you are ever going to have any type of success, you need to keep in my mind that weekends are days just like any other. You're schedule may get tested a bit more, but you still need to stay on track....Monday dieters never succeed.

Week 1, Days 4 and 5

Thursday
Today's training: Today was my second of two cardio sessions for the week. It was another solid day, reaching 8.49 miles on the bike in 16 minutes

It's all about intensity
There are a few schools of thought about Cardio. Some people believe in low intensity, long duration. I, on the other hand, believe in the exact opposite. Just like my weight training, I keep my cardio session short and intense. I believe that the more intensely you do your cardio, the faster your metabolism becomes. I've seen this style of cardio work for not only me over the past 10 year but also all the other people at my gym.

Friday
Today's Training
Today was chest and biceps day. For the last few months, I've been following the same Chest routine and I seem to be at a bit of a standstill. So this time around I made some changes. I'm starting off with Decline BB Presses. I place the bench at shallow decline (about 30 degree). It think the exercise will allow me to handle more weight than the flat bench while at the same time being a bit easier on my shoulders

First Assessment
Today was the fifth day of my show prep and I'm down about 3 pounds. That's normal to lose a few pounds right away, mostly water weight from cutting back on my carbs. From this point on, I'll start taking assessment pics and weighing myself every Friday.

Week 1, Day 3

Today's Training

Today was back day. I've been following the same basic back program since January and I think it's very effective. Last year Dorian Yates came to our gym and when I listened to him explain why he does what he does for back it made total sense to me and I've used that workout since. I've always been happy with my back width and lower back, but I've noticed improvements in my back thickness and lower lats since the changes I've made. I still stick with the basic exercises in the 4-8 rep range, but I do pullovers (pictured) at the beginning of each back workout. I do this to pre-exhaust my lats so that my fresh arms can aid my more fatigued back during my pullowns and rows. The other change has been using a reverse grip on my pulldowns instead of an overhand grip. There are probably pluses and minuses to each way, but when Dorian explained that the arms are already a weak link in back training and an overhand grip just makes a weak link weaker, I thought that made sense and changed. Finally, I moved deadlifts to the end of my routine instead of the begining and I take the weight down to my mid shins instead of going all the way to the ground. This keep the tension on the back and takes the glutes, hips and hamstrings out of the movement.

Today's Training
Today was a Cardio only day. During my off-season this year I maintained a cardio schedule of two days per week. In the past, I would only do cardio as I started my show prep and would lay off it completely the rest of the year. Immediately following nationals last year, I made the decision to stay more strict with my diet and maintain my cardio. This not only kept me leaner all year but I also believe it helped in my lifting; especially leg day. I felt like I recovered better between my sets.
How much Cardio is enough? How much is too much?
To me cardio is a fat loss tool only so I do as much as I need but not so much that risk burning off muscle. In the past, I would do more cardio as my contest got closer. This year, as I stated above, I'm starting with two but I will increase that if I don't notice a fat loss after my first assessment pictures.

Week 1, Day 1

Today I'm starting my Diet for the 2010 NPC Nationals on October 16th and possibly the NPC North American on on Sept 4th. Last year was my first attempt at Nationals and I placed 4th in the Lightweight Class. This year I plna on making some improvements, winning my class and earning my IFBB Pro Card.

Successful Off-season

This "Off-season" I did some things a little different and I really think they will pay off come show time. In the past I would normally get my weight up into the high 170's and then diet down to 154. This year, knowing that I wanted to be in the Lightweight class again, I followed my diet much closer and as a result I'm staring my show prep in much better condition and only weighing 167 pounds. This should allow me the luxury of nor worrying about my weight and just concentrating on being the best I can be.

Mistakes made last year

When I look at my pictures from last year, I know I could have been much harder. Going into the show I was worried that I wouldn't be big enough. I had never competed in a non-tested show before and I knew those guys would be thick! I was pleased that I appeared as big as any of them on stage so that is no longer a worry for me. Now I just have to keep my muscle and come in tighter.

9 week out assessment - 167.2 pounds

These are my 9 weeks out from the NPC North American pics.