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Crappy workout, crappy posing session, crappy cardio session!!!!

I Had a really, REALLY, good workout!

So I decided to watch some training videos before I lifted yesterday in the hopes of getting amped up, and guess what…. It worked…. And it worked really well. I started my back workout out with some supersets and that really set the tempo for the entire workout. I was slaying this work out and about the time I was ready to do 2 more exercises and call it I had already done 25 sets, so I had to end it there. From there I hit my cardio and went home and worked on my posing, that went really well also, this was all such a pleasant surprise due to the fact that I have had absolutely no energy of late. I am going to try to get all amped up for chest today by watching some training videos and see if that is what made the difference.

Another one bites the dust.

Even though they keep getting harder and harder, I managed to make it through yet another workout and posing session last night. I guess I can look at my total lack of strength and energy as a sign that I am getting close to where I need to be. I am going out of town this weekend so I have to cram all my workouts in Monday through Thursday, this should not be that bad because I usually train 5 times a week, and this week it will just be 4 times. I will just split up arms, biceps with back and triceps with chest and I will be good to go.  I did finally manage to get my posing routine all set for the evening show so now it’s just a matter of polishing it.

Finally dropped below 4%, but still much to be done!

I had a pretty good arm and shoulder workout yesterday, and then practiced my posing. It all went well and I am feeling pretty lean, however I had my body fat measured again and I am only down to 3.85%. I was really hoping to be 3.5% by now (6 weeks out), but I have made another change to my diet and I should be able to hit 3.5% by 4 weeks out. This is probably the last change I will make to my diet as far as cutting carbs and calories, from here I will hold for a few weeks then up the carbs and calories to fill out before the show.

Early workout!

Today was my early workout, I hit traps, calves, abs, and cardio, and later tonight I will work on posing.  It was a pretty good workout but I was really tired and lacking energy. Afterwards I met a friend for coffee and it was off to work. I don’t know what the issue was but on my way to work I felt really shaky and weak, this was really concerning as I was riding my motorcycle to work. Once I finally made it to work I had something to eat and chilled for a little while, it lightened up a bit but I still don’t feel that hot. I don’t know if it’s the diet or the caffeine, but if this keeps up I will not be able to ride my bike until after the show, I guess that is just another one of the sacrifices that will have to be made.

Crappy day….. Decent workout…..

I had another crappy day followed by a pretty good workout yesterday. I hit chest and arms, then a little posing and cardio. I am having a hard time making it through a full posing session after I lift due to lack of energy. With today being an off day (just cardio and posing) I hope to get a pretty intense posing session in.

Knocked out a good back workout!

Last night I had a pretty good back workout despite being pretty low on energy throughout the day. My weights were up and everything was feeling pretty good. By the time I got to the end of my workout I did not have much energy left, so my posing session was less than stellar but that’s ok it happens. From there I hit my cardio and headed home. This Sunday I will get my body fat checked again so I am really looking forward to that as I want to know how my latest diet change has affected my body fay percentage.

Yesterday SUCKED!

Yesterday was just one of those days, I was feeling like I was trying to function in quicksand. I could not wake up, I could not focus, and the day was dragging on ever so slowly. All I could think about all day long was the leg workout I had hanging over my head like the razor sharp blade of a guillotine. I finally made it through work, and then it was off to train my client. Just standing there while he lifted took almost all the strength I had,  and still I could not figure out how I was going to make it through the leg work out I was getting closer and closer to. On the way to the gym I thought about just doing cardio and counting it as an off day and shifting my week around to accommodate this.  When I arrived at the gym I decided that I was at least going to try to do legs, and even if I had to drop the weight I was going to give it an honest effort. So I began squatting, the first warm-up set was not bad, the second was feeling a little heavy for a warm-up, and by the third warm-up set I was certain I had been beat. Then all of the sudden it happened, I told myself that regardless of what happened I was not going to give up.  At that point it did not matter if I puked, it did not matter if I passed out, it did not matter if the gym was on fire, I was going to train, and train hard! This was awesome, I had nothing in the tank but I kept going, and I hit it hard, really hard.  I crushed squats, then went on to superset leg extensions and leg curls, from there it was on to weighted step-ups and weighted lunges (both of which are real but kickers). Finally I finished out with cardio and then had a pretty good posing session.  Needless to say that workout really turned my day around and put me in a great mood. Its training sessions like this that remind you what it’s all about and how everything you sacrifice to do this is well worth it. In situations like this I think you really learn something about yourself, you really learn what you’re made of and just what you are capable of.

Arms, shoulders and posing!

So I had a pretty good training session today, I hit arms and shoulders then I worked on my posing. It all went well, but I was looking pretty flat as I had not had my re-feed meal, but that’s how it goes. I also noticed that when I have my re-feed meal on Sunday I have really good lifting sessions and posing sessions, then as I get closer to the end of the week everything gets harder and heavier, but this is also to be expected. I will be getting my body fat measured again next Sunday and I would really like to see something below 4%. This should be reasonable seeing as how last time I was 4.02% and I have cut more carbs, but we will just have to wait and see.

OFF DAY!!!!!

Today is an off day, so not much to report. I am looking pretty lean and my posing is going well. Tomorrow I have arms and shoulders and hopefully I will get in a good posing session. Other than that, not a lot going on as far as my bodybuilding is concerned.

I had a another great posing session.

So last night was an off day from lifting, but I still had to do my cardio and my posing. I had a great posing session and I feel like things are going pretty good, now I am all amped up and ready to show Knoxville what I got! It’s Friday so I had to train in the morning, and I had a pretty good trap/abs/calves workout. One of my friends who I had not seen in a few weeks told me that I was looking pretty lean, so that is always nice and helps to keep me amped up. All in all things are going pretty well and I can’t wait to get on stage and see what I am made of.

Latest update!

Last night was the first time I hit chest and arms on my new split. I had a pretty good workout but my biceps were still sore from Sunday, and this morning I feel like my tendonitis is flaring up, I will give it another week and if it is still a problem I will have to change my split again. I did manage to log a pretty good posing session so that is a definite plus. Today is an off day so I will just be hitting cardio and posing, but this also means that today is a low card day. This weekend I will be sending in my application for my NPC membership card and the other necessary paper work to be able to compete, so it will be 100% official, we also booked our room and got the days off work, look out Knoxville here I come!

So far the new split is not bad!

Last night was back and abs, and I had a great workout. I think that I bruised the bottom of my foot deadlifting and squatting on Monday so I am limping around a little today, but life goes on. I am having a hard time getting in good posing sessions as my energy levels are getting lower and lower. I still have yet to come up with a routine for the evening show, I am hoping to finally do that this weekend as I am currently less than 8 weeks out. I have a feeling that from this point on things are going to be getting harder and harder, but that is what separates the champions from 2^nd place!!!

New Split!

Ok, so this is what my new split is going to look like: Sun- arms/shoulders, Mon- legs/deadlifts/calves, Tue- Back/abs, Wed- chest/arms, Thu- off, Fri- traps/abs/calves, Sat off.

I will test this out this week and if it goes smoothly then I will stick with this until my competition. So with the new split, last night was legs/deadlifts/calves, although I went heaver that I had been going everything was feeling really heavy, this resulted in less reps. I am plowing through my accessory movements really well but I am having a hard time with all my compound movements, I think this is due to lack of energy due to carb restriction.

New split, again....

Ok, so after yesterday’s arm and shoulder workout my biceps are pretty sore, so it looks like I will not be hitting back today. That means I need to move my days around yet again, but that how it goes. So I don’t yet know what I will be hitting tonight, maybe legs and deadlifts. I will post my new split as soon as I come up with it.

First Sunday workout!

Had a pretty good shoulder and arm workout today and had my body fat checked. This time I am down about .5% which brings me to about 4.02%, this is not all that bad but I am not really happy because I also lost over 2 lbs of lean body mass. However I know that this can happen when your body fat gets this low so I am trying not to let it bug me too much. This weekend makes it 8 weeks out and it is time for another diet change, I will be removing some more carbs, but I think I will keep the more aggressive re-feeds for the time being.

Off Day!

Today is an off day, but that dose not mean I get to rest. I was up early to do some work around the house and cut the grass. So even though it’s an off day from the gym I will stay pretty active. I am really looking forward to tomorrow, it should be a great workout and I am starting to feel more optimistic about my body fat percentage, I have been looking leaner and leaner as the days pass, and I am seeing more and more veins in my lower abs that I have never seen  before.

Not enough Sleep!

Well so much for the 8hrs of sleep last night, it was more like 5, but life goes on. Today was a quick workout, cardio, abs and traps, I was supposed to do calves but they were still too sore from Wednesday.  All in all a good quick workout, I struggled a little on cardio but managed to pick up the pace once I got started. I am really looking forward to the workout this Sunday, not only will I get my body fat checked but I also get to lift with two friends who are pro bodybuilders, they are going to kick the crap out of me, it’s going to be sweet.

Who turned the gravity up?

I am having good workouts for the most part but everything is getting heavier and heavier the leaner I get. Last night was leg and deadlift day, and although I had a good workout everything felt like it was 100lbs heavier than it actually was, but I just dug deep and hit it hard in spite of how heavy everything was feeling. My legs and low back are just starting to tighten up and get sore so I guess I managed to log another good one.  With my new split, today is an off day from lifting so that also makes a low carb day, throw in some cardio and posing and I should be home early and I should even manage to get 8 hours of sleep, which is awesome because I have to get up at 5:30am to lift before work tomorrow.

I am back on track, I had a pretty good workout!

Had a pretty good workout last night, which is awesome seeing as how Monday’s workout sucked. I was late getting to the gym again but I did not let it affect my workout this time, I was able to crush chest and abs, then practice my posing, and hit my cardio, all in all a great workout. My posing seems to be getting better and better, but I am still a little worried as I have not managed to choreograph a routine yet. Also I am having a hard time telling how my more aggressive re-feeds are working for me, I definitely look fuller but I am afraid that I am not still losing body fat, but I will know for sure come Sunday when I have it measured.

Well that workout sucked!

Due to many different factors, last night I had a less than stellar workout. I was late getting to the gym, I had a hard time getting amped up, I had tweaked my hamstring, etc. It just seemed like an uphill battle the entire time. However I worked through it and logged another one down in the books.  Sometimes I think that workouts like that are the ones that really test you willpower, determination, and dedication, so if you can make it through these workouts that says something, and as far as I am concerned, an crappy workout is better than no work any day of the week.

New week, new split!

Well another weekend has come and gone, and I am getting closer and closer to my competition. I have been trying a more aggressive method for my re-feed meals on the weekends and I will see how that pays off come this Sunday when I get my body fat % measured again. For those of you that don’t know, a re-feed is a meal where you increase your macronutrients for that one meal to try and jumpstart your metabolism again and help fill your muscles out so you don’t get to flat from dieting. In addition to this more aggressive re-feed, I am also going to try changing my training split this week. I had previously been doing a pretty basic 5 day split Monday-Friday with the weekends off, now I will be trying a 5 day split where I will shift one of my off days to the week and I will shift one of my on days to the weekend, this way I no longer have 2 days off in a row.  It’s hard to give up my weekend but it should be well worth it, because I will be training that day with 2 friends who are pro-bodybuilders so this will also help inspire and motivate me.

Show Prep, Weeks 1-13.

Ok, so I am obviously starting this blog late as I have already been training, dieting and prepping for this show for 13 weeks already. I am currently 9 weeks out, and I will try to bring everyone up to speed with this first posts. I began my journey the first week of March, at the time I was about 171lbs at 8.9% body fat. The first changes were rather small, mainly just cleaning up how I was eating on the weekends as I had been pretty strict during the week, but slacking off during the weekend. Other than that I added some light cardio, and switched from whole eggs to egg whites. All of my carb sources were already complex carbs so there was not much to change there. I continued in this manor until the end of the month when I had my body fat measured again. At this point I had dropped 1% to 7.9%, although this was a decent change I felt that I could do better. So from here I tweaked my diet some more, changing out my whole grain bread for oatmeal. Up until now I had still not increased cardio at all, just focused on tightening up my diet, and rather than going 4 weeks between having my body fat measured I switched to every 2 weeks.

This time I managed to do better in 2 weeks than I had in the last 4, I was down to 6.3% in only 2 weeks. I always say if its not broke, don’t fix it, so I did not make ant changes, another 2 weeks passed and I was down to 5.4%, almost another percent in 2 weeks, man I could get used to this. The next 2 weeks passed much like the last 2, and I lost about .8% bringing me down to 4.6%. This was still good progress but it was starting to slow, this was to be expected and was met with another change in the diet. Out went the milk and protein bar, in came the protein shakes (they have fewer calories and carbs). This time to my displeasure after 2 weeks my body fat only dropped to 4.5%......... 4.5%, I was unhappy to say the least, but the lower you get, the harder it is to get lower, and for 10 weeks out 4.5% is not really that bad.

So here we are, 1 week later, 9 weeks out, I have had some good days, I have had some bad days, I have had some good workouts, I have had some bad workouts, I am still alive and I am shooting for first place.

I know that this is not very detailed up to this point as I am only tiring to summarize the past few months, from this point on I intend to write daily updates on how my diet, conditioning, posing and workouts are going, as well as detail how I feel all the way up to the show and after it.