3 Days out from North Americans

With 3 days to go I'm feeling real good about things. I was nervous that I'd be even flatter this morning but when I woke up and looked in the mirror, I knew I was about the same fullness as yesterday (which is still a bit flat), but I was definitely harder looking. I weighed the exact same as yesterday (154.2). I'm sure this is because I dropped a little sodium out. Today I will stick with my plan and make a minor carb drop of about 22 grams and a minor sodium drop which will put me at about 2,000 mg. I'll keep my water, protein and fat the same.

4 Days out from North Americans

So Today is the 3rd day into my last week. That means only 4 days to go to look my best. Today did not go exactly as planned but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Over the weekend, I had a low day (Saturday) where I ate about 1/2 my normal dieting carb intake (75 grams). On Sunday, I raised my carbs up to about 150% of my BW which put me around 225 grams. On both of those days I kept my water high (about 2.5-3 gallons) and my sodium high as well (over 3,000 mg.) On Sunday morning I looked as expected...tight, vascular, but a a bit flat. This morning, after 225 carbs, 3 gallons of water and 3,000 mg sodium I expected to be up in weight and look a bit less tight but fuller. To my surprise, I woke up even tighter than the day before and down 2 pounds (154.2). The only explanation is my body is revved up and I am literally burning through the calories. I admit, I panicked a little but by trusty advisor Lorrie reminded me that we still have 4 days which is plenty of time to "fill out". Like I said above it's not necessarily a bad thing because I'd rather be tighter and a bit flat as opposed to full and less cut. That being said, I don't want to settle for anything less than my best, so I will continue that plan today which is to drop about 25 carbs from yesterday and knock by sodium down a bit (2500 mg). If I'm even flatter and lighter tomorrow I may adjust the plan.

1 week out from North Americans

Week 7, Day 5

One Week Out Physique Assessment and final week game plan
With one week to go I'm feeling real good. I've kept the size in my chest, shoulders and arms and I'm still getting tighter daily. The only place I'm not 100% thrilled about is my glutes. The hamstrings have made a big improvement over the week and I believe the glutes will follow this week. I have to keep in mind that it's not how I look one week out, It's how I look on Sept. 3rd!

My weight was the same, but I'm also drinking 50% more water and increased my salt. So I'm not too concerned about that.

The Final Week
The muscle building and fat loss is pretty much done, now I just have to lose water, fill out and hit my poses. That plan starts tomorrow.
Training - I won't train at all this weekend. On Saturday I'll have my normal "low day of 75 carbs, 310 Protein, and 27 fat. Sunday will be my Carb Load day. I will increase my Carbs to about 150% of my bodyweight (225 grams) and keep protein and fat the same. I will do this using oatmeal and VP2. I will keep my salt and water high both days. 3,000mg sodium and 3 gallons of water. If things go as planned, I should look good but a little bloated on Monday.

Week 7: Day 1

Well, here we are in the last full week of training. The plan this week is to keep getting leaner and get my body ready for the carb loading as well as the salt/water depletion process. There are lots of different theories here, but I tend to do things very conservatively. I'll be getting my body ready this week by increasing my water intake by about 50% (3 gallons) and adding salt to every meal. You may think it's easy, but it's no easy task taking down 3 gallons of water!

Wee 6, Day 5

2 weeks out from North Americans - Physique Assessment

Well, with two weeks to go until my first show, I can say that I'm right where I want to be. I don't think I've lost any muscle fullness and I'm seeing differences in how lean I am every day. I put these pictures up so you could see the one area I'm concerned most about..the glutes. This was the first week that I noticed my hamstrings coming in better and hopefully the glutes are soon to follow. I have a tendency in the past to worry too much about that, diet too hard and loose size. This time around I'm trusting the process and my own judgement and I'm going to stick with the plan. I was down another 2 pounds today putting me at 156.4, so I shut be right on target to look good at my 154.4 pound weight class.

A word on dieting

Quite a few members of the gym have been dieting right along with me and I've talked to them over the last week about how they are feeling, if they are hungry and their energy levels. All of them, myself included have notice a bit of fatigue and definitely waking up hungry! Let this be a lesson to the rest of you...It's ok to be hungry and if you are dieting right, you should be a bit fatigued! I'm not saying so lethargic that you can't function but your energy intake (calories) should be less than your need. Times like these are also when you should be taking a pre-workout supplement for energy and focus such as NoxPump, Anabolic Rush, or Dymetadrine Extreme. These supplement will help you get the best from your workouts when calories are low.

Week 6, Day 1

I have to admit I was quite hungry and bit tired yesterday. This was the first time I've really felt the diet so far. The good news is I was definitely leaner today, I could tell through my legs and abs. So much in fact that I weighed myself this morning. I usually only weigh myself on Friday but I was curious. I was down 1.8 pounds since Friday putting me at 156.8. I don't think it's bad thing though because I don't notice any loss in muscle. In fact I shoulder pressed the 90's for 5 reps today. Plus this was following a low carb day.

Photos by Amy

My brothers wife Amy is becoming quite the photographer and she's coming in all week to take some training pictures. I'll put them as soon as I figure out how.

Week 5, Day 6

Leg Day and Gabe

Today was Leg Day. I knew it was going to be a great day but I was even more ready to go when I saw my buddy Gabe (pictured) showed up from Cranberry. Gabe use to train with us when he lived here and we had some great workouts together. It was good to see him again.

Overall it was a good day. the highlight had to be squatting 405 for 4 solid reps!

Week 5, Day 5

3 weeks out Physique Assessment, 9 weeks out from Nationals - 158.4

I was happy to see a very noticable difference again this week. I'm not seeing any loss in muscle size and I noticed my legs are much leaner. My weight is also right where I want it for 3 weeks out. I'd like to be down around 157 next week and I should notice some more definition in my legs and abs. Basically, I want to look like I'm ready for a show next week.

Week 5, day 4

Yes. I know I've been slacking on the blog here. This week has been full of trying to get a new bike for the gym. We all love/hate the "black bike" so I've been trying to find one just like it. I think I have!

Fall sign-ups
Don't forget, if you are interested in training this fall, the sign up sheet is at the gym. Times will fill up quickly so don't hesitate

This weeks workouts
Workout this week have been good. I added 2 cardio session and made some minor calories cuts and we'll see tomorrow how that worked for me. Cardio was somewhat dreadful this morning. I used level 16 on the grey bike and for the third time in row, my main goals became simply finishing, not keeping my RPM's High. I'll keep at it and improve for sure.

Week 5, Day 1

Knowing when to make a change
After evaluating my photos and progress over the weekend, I've decided it's time to make a little change. I don't believe you should ever cut calories or add cardio just for the heck of it. Instead, you should always have a detailed plan. If you have a good plan, you never need to panic because all you have to do is make small changes to get big results. I've been following the same diet of about 2500 calories since July5 (5 weeks) and I believe my body is starting to adapt to it. I 'm not noticing as much of a fat loss like I normally do on Monday morning. Therefore it's time to cut out a few calories and add some cardio. The key is to do this in small amounts like Jeff Willet (one of the greatest natural bodybuilders of all time) says" when cutting calories use a scalpel, not a machete. So I'm going to add a cardio session on Monday and Friday afternoons and take out my scoop of ForMass on Tuesday and Thursday late afternoon. This little change should get me down where I want to be this week.

Week 4, Day 5

Today's Training

Another good day of training!
Decline BB Press - 235 x 4, drop set, 185 x 6

Flat Fly ss/w Flat Hammer- 55 x 6, 140 x 5

Incline Smith - 140 (pounds on bar) x 8

One arm Cable Curls - 130 x 7

BB Curls - 135 x 6

Hammer Curls - 70 x 5

Physique Assessment - 4 weeks out from North American, 10 weeks out from Nationals

Progress seems to be going great. I'm noticeably leaner again this week especially through the thighs. I also haven't given a second thought about my muscle size. Usually at this time I'm worried that I'm looking flat, but that's not on my mind at all. I like where I'm at. I was down another pound to put me at 159.2. I was hoping to be in the mid 158's, but I'm still on track.

Get honest with yourself if you want to see results!

I feel like it's time for a lesson. Changing your physique is not easy, but it's simple. If you are doing the things you should be doing, you will lose weight. I had a talk with a few people this week about their weekly weigh in's and the first thing I'm noticing is many are not honest with themselves. You won't ever make the changes necessary if you don't first take responsibility and admit what you did. Don't give yourself so much credit for eating "pretty good". If you screw up, take ownership of it and learn from. Don't try to fool me or your trainer because you're only fooling yourself.

Week 4, Day 3

Today's Training

Another great day. I'm feeling real good and full of energy of workout and staying the same or getting stronger each week!

Pullovers - 200 x 4

Hammer Pulldowns - 210 x 4 - drop set

BB Rows - 285 x 6

Hammer Rows - 130/side x 6

Rear delts - 45 x 10

Back extensions - 85 x 7

Deadlifts (pictured) -345 x 6

Deadlifts - Deadlifts are a great overall exercise for Back. They bring the whole back together and for trainees that don't compete they are still great because it's a movement that you do whenever you move things. There are a few ways to do these, but I like to do partial reps. That means I bring the bar to my mid shins instead of the floor. When you bring it off the floor you use a lot of glutes, hips and hamstrings. I save those for leg day. Bringing the bar to my shins keeps the tension on my back.

Week 5, Days 1 and 2

Today's Training

Today was Shoulders and Triceps day. Another great day. I felt strong and I was again noticeably leaner

DB Shoulder Press (pictured) - 90's x 6

Lateral Raises - 55 x 7

Seated Machine Lateral Raises - 130 x maybe 8

Triceps Pushdowns - 110 x 6

Skull Crushers - 125 x 6

One arm Extensions - 130 x 6

DB Shoulder Press

This is one of my favorites. I'd taken a break for a few weeks and used the smith machine because I wasn't getting anywhere further with the DB's. I thought taking a break from them would be a good idea. I was happy to be back to the DB's. I like the feeling of them better because I can move them where I feel it best in my shoulders as opposed to being in a fixed range of motion on a machine.

Day 2 - Cardio

Cardio day went well again, but sucked as always. The black bike seems to be getting worse, so I had to use the grey bike. I got 5.7 miles on level 15 in 16 minutes.

Week 4, Day 6

Today's Training

Today was Leg day and it was an awesome one.

Leg Extensions (pictured)- 140 x 10

Leg Press - 770 x 7 + drop set

Smith machine Squats - 3 plates and 35 on each side x 10

Leg Curls - 120 x 6

Stiff -leg deads - 285 x 6

Single Leg Curls - 75 x 5

Donkey Calf - Stack + 155 x 10, rest 6, rest 4

Seated Calf Raises - 4 plates x 8

Leg Extensions

Leg Extensions are a great exercise because they are the only exercise for quads where you can get a "peak contraction". That means you get the most tension at the top. I like to do them first in my routine and I really think of them more as an extended warm-up. Don't worry so much about the weight on these and focus more on the flexing at the top.

USA's

This past weekend was what I would call the 2nd biggest show in the country, the USA'a in Las Vegas. Of course I was keeping a close watch on the LW class. There were some real good competitors there, but it was promising because I really believe I would have been right up in there with the top three.