It has been 4 weeks since the New England’s and 2 weeks since the Northern USA.
For the New England’s I weighed in at 197.7 but was too flat and small. I need to be bigger and fuller on stage. So I started eating more carbohydrates and for the Northern USA (2 weeks later) I weighed in at 207.6. I was 10 pounds heavier and just as tight, but this time I was bigger and fuller and I still felt I could have even been bigger and fuller, but I was very happy and in the best shape so far for me.
So it’s all about growing right now and we all know you need to eat to grow, in fact, the more you eat, the more you grow, it’s just the way it is. But it’s all about what you eat that really makes a difference.
Seeing that 1 gram of fat is 9 calories and 1 gram of a carbohydrate or protein is only 4 calories, you need to just about eat double the amount of food to get the same calories in carbohydrates and protein that you get with fats
I have been eating anywhere from 3500 to 5000 calories a day (700-1000 every 3 hours) and by not eating fats, I need to eat tons of food, it’s like having another job…
This whole week I’ve been waking up weighing 215, I did manage to get to 217.6 for a few days but I leveled off back to 215. And because of Thanksgiving I was able to gets some fats in and it felt funny getting filled up on such a little amount of food by comparison.
On Thanksgiving (and the last few days since) because I took in a large amount of calories without stuffing my stomach as I normally do with non-fat foods, I was able to really increase my calories. I just kept eating until I got that full stomach feeling that I normally do.
I woke up yesterday and 217 and today at 218.6, the heaviest so far and I’m just as lean, which tells me I could have been even bigger for the stage… but lets not worry about that
Here is a breakdown of what I’m eating
Weight gainer drink when I wake up and before bed
1 pound of pasta
Carbo force (400 calories/100 carbs) a pre-workout drink
2 cans of tuna
10-12oz chicken
1 to 2 cups of rice
3 protein drinks
This is my second job and although I don’t get money, it does pay!
I hope everyone had a great thanksgiving weekend
Time for a protein drink
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Saturday, November 21, 2009
The more you eat, the bigger you get
6:30am weigh-in 215
For the second day in a row, I’ve weighed this. I am still so lean and I can’t be more then 6% body fat. This is the heaviest I have been with my abdominals still showing, I have most defiantly grown from competing 3 times this year.
My plan is to see how big I can get without changing my waistline, so I won’t have to buy new work pants.
To build muscle as fast as possible, it’s all about pounding down the calories (carbohydrates and protein), so that your body has enough to grow as fast as it can, but also eat clean fat free foods, so you don’t get fat fast too.
If by over eating my “clean foods” and they turn to fat, because I don’t use them, this is a good thing. For one, it ensures I’m getting enough caloric intake to grow and two, my body needs some fat, let it makes it’s own, I don’t need to give it fat.
Besides, I’d like to see this food turn into fat, because the more I eat the harder I train. Eating more allows you to train harder, training harder burns more food.
So all this week, I’ve been eating somewhere between 3500 to 5000 calories a day, having 5 meals, ranging from 700 to 1000 calories every 3 hours.
Now there is one thing to eat that many calories with a high fat content, but it’s a totally different story eating all those calories with low to no-fat, fat having 9 calories per gram and carbs and protein only 4, It requires you to eat almost double the amount food.
So on Monday I decided to have a Weight Gainer drink that has 1840 calories to one serving and only 2/5 grams of fat, not bad! (3 rounded scoops 24 oz water)
Well after drinking all those calories at 7am before work, all I wanted to do was sleep. It completely wiped me out and ruined my appetite for the whole day, but I did manage to force myself to eat every 3 hours (after waking up from my naps) :-)
At first I was going to have this drink every 3rd day, seeing you only get 5 servings in the 5 pound tub it comes in. I figured if I have it every 3 days, it will last me for 15 days.
But seeing what ingesting 1840 calories at one sitting did to me, I thought it might be best to have 1 scoop every day instead.
Now taking the serving size and dividing it by a 1/3 has the protein coming up short at around 16 grams, so I added a scoop of whey into the mix, just to get it close to 50 grams of protein, which is what you want to take in ever 2-4 hours because protein builds muscle.
Other then drinking to increase my calories, the only other food for me that I’m able to eat a large amount of is pasta, for some reason I can pound down the pasta, warm or cold, with nothing on it. I can put away a pound like it was nothing and that is 1680 clean calories and one of the best carbohydrate energy sources. So every morning I’m boiling up a pound of pasta and taking it to work
So far so good, I’m having fantastic results, I’m growing like a weed, and my energy is through the roof, I feel like a friggin machine in the gym, strong, thick and huge and for the most part injury free…
The weights are going up too with my body weight increasing, this is how it’s suppose to work, there is no magic, just stick to the plan
The more you eat, the bigger you get, the bigger you get, the more you weigh, the more you weigh, the more you can lift, the more you can lift, the bigger you will get, but this all has to start somewhere and that somewhere is what and how much you eat.
Time for a protein drink
For the second day in a row, I’ve weighed this. I am still so lean and I can’t be more then 6% body fat. This is the heaviest I have been with my abdominals still showing, I have most defiantly grown from competing 3 times this year.
My plan is to see how big I can get without changing my waistline, so I won’t have to buy new work pants.
To build muscle as fast as possible, it’s all about pounding down the calories (carbohydrates and protein), so that your body has enough to grow as fast as it can, but also eat clean fat free foods, so you don’t get fat fast too.
If by over eating my “clean foods” and they turn to fat, because I don’t use them, this is a good thing. For one, it ensures I’m getting enough caloric intake to grow and two, my body needs some fat, let it makes it’s own, I don’t need to give it fat.
Besides, I’d like to see this food turn into fat, because the more I eat the harder I train. Eating more allows you to train harder, training harder burns more food.
So all this week, I’ve been eating somewhere between 3500 to 5000 calories a day, having 5 meals, ranging from 700 to 1000 calories every 3 hours.
Now there is one thing to eat that many calories with a high fat content, but it’s a totally different story eating all those calories with low to no-fat, fat having 9 calories per gram and carbs and protein only 4, It requires you to eat almost double the amount food.
So on Monday I decided to have a Weight Gainer drink that has 1840 calories to one serving and only 2/5 grams of fat, not bad! (3 rounded scoops 24 oz water)
Well after drinking all those calories at 7am before work, all I wanted to do was sleep. It completely wiped me out and ruined my appetite for the whole day, but I did manage to force myself to eat every 3 hours (after waking up from my naps) :-)
At first I was going to have this drink every 3rd day, seeing you only get 5 servings in the 5 pound tub it comes in. I figured if I have it every 3 days, it will last me for 15 days.
But seeing what ingesting 1840 calories at one sitting did to me, I thought it might be best to have 1 scoop every day instead.
Now taking the serving size and dividing it by a 1/3 has the protein coming up short at around 16 grams, so I added a scoop of whey into the mix, just to get it close to 50 grams of protein, which is what you want to take in ever 2-4 hours because protein builds muscle.
Other then drinking to increase my calories, the only other food for me that I’m able to eat a large amount of is pasta, for some reason I can pound down the pasta, warm or cold, with nothing on it. I can put away a pound like it was nothing and that is 1680 clean calories and one of the best carbohydrate energy sources. So every morning I’m boiling up a pound of pasta and taking it to work
So far so good, I’m having fantastic results, I’m growing like a weed, and my energy is through the roof, I feel like a friggin machine in the gym, strong, thick and huge and for the most part injury free…
The weights are going up too with my body weight increasing, this is how it’s suppose to work, there is no magic, just stick to the plan
The more you eat, the bigger you get, the bigger you get, the more you weigh, the more you weigh, the more you can lift, the more you can lift, the bigger you will get, but this all has to start somewhere and that somewhere is what and how much you eat.
Time for a protein drink
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Back to the drawing board
6:30am weigh-in 212.4
Dead-lifts are a basic compound movement that is a must if you want to build a thick body from your legs to your neck. Dead lifts work your whole body.
Dead-lifts will build thick legs, they work your hamstrings and ass muscles like no other (next to squats) and wouldn’t you know it, this is exactly what I need to improve on. (Hams and Ass) So I’ve added Dead-lifts to my Back workout on Monday nights.
Monday night while doing the Dead-lifts, my partner (who happens to be an ex-power lifter and dead lifts being his best movement) noticed I wasn’t doing them completely correctly. What I was doing wrong was, at the top of the movement, when I’m bringing my hips forward, I tend to shift all the weight onto my lower back at the end and relax my ass muscles, only to tighten the back up again as I’m lowering the bar back down and he’s right.
Instead I should be keeping the tension on my ass and hams as I reach the top while bring my hips forward with a slight lean back, never relaxing during the movement (now I know why my lower back get such a pump)
So I worked my way up to 315, and then did 3 sets of 10. Which is kind of high on the reps for dead lifts. For one thing, I didn’t want to go to heavy seeing that I just competed this past Saturday and I am not completely rejuvenated and I wanted to work on the form.
From there it was onto wide grip pull downs, machine bent over rows, t-bar rows, reverse grip pull down, then onto hams and ass working between the ass machine (kick backs) and the legs curl machine, back and forth for 4 sets to end it with standing one legged curls and finishing the workout by filling the calves up with blood.
Today I’m really feeling my hamstrings and ass and I can tell this is exactly with the doctor ordered, this will give me exactly what it need to bring my legs to the next level…
It’s all about the legs
Time for a protein drink
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
My 2009 NPC Northern USA completion experience
It’s November 14th Saturday morning 2:30am and my alarm is yelling at me to get up and this time I’m getting out of bed to head to NY and not too pee
I arrive at my friend Eric Calvert’s house at 3:30am on time and we arrive in NY at 7am an hour ahead of check in. We found parking right out front and I decided to take a nap for an hour or so.
8:30 comes along and it is time to check in...
When we walk into the Tribecca Performing Arts Center, I was blown away by all of the people there to compete. This is the biggest show I’ve ever seen, never mind competed in and the size of everyone was so intimidating. Bodybuilding sure has changed in the last 17 years.
There were over 200 contestants and most were male bodybuilders; I would have to say a 4 to 1 ratio. Now remember there are 3 women’s events and only 1 men’s event, usually there are more total women competing than men, but not today.
With the Nationals this coming weekend we had a lot of talent competing to try and qualify, to re-qualify or even doing a warm up before the Nationals. There were some huge guys there. I’m talking HUGE.
The Nationals is where every competitor bodybuilder wants to get to. If you win your class in the Nationals you will be awarded a Professional Bodybuilding card, turning yourself into a Pro. This will allow you to compete in the IFBB (International Federation of Body Building); where in these competitions winning a placement in the top five wins you prize money.
But before you can get to the Nationals you need to qualify by placing in the top 3 of your class at one of these National qualifying shows. Qualification only lasts one year.
I stepped onto the scale at the weigh-in at 207.7 , the biggest I’ve every competed at and I’d have to say the best condition I’ve brought to the stage so far. I still feel I could have been a little fuller, I think I cut back on my water too soon, but that’s another story for another time.
I entered the over 35 heavyweight masters division class and the open heavyweights class, this is the first time I every competed as a heavyweight, so I was a little unsure of myself, especially after seeing how big everyone was.
I ended up placing 12th out of 25 in the Open Heavyweight Class and 10th out of 18 on the over 35 Masters Class.
I’m am extremely pleased with my placements, seeing this is my first year back competing after taking 17 years off from lifting weights all together and the caliper of the competition was incredible.
We ended up leaving after the pre-judging, seeing I wasn’t placing and receiving a trophy. I didn’t want to be coming home at 5am in morning. This show had way too many contestants and we didn’t even get out of pre-judging until 3:30pm. The night show wasn’t going to start until 7pm, the show would not have ended until at least midnight and we were 3 ½ hours from home
So that was my experience in a nutshell, It’s time to grow, so come next year I can do it all again…
See you in May for the Jay Cutler Classic
Time for a protein drink
Friday, November 13, 2009
New York City or bust
6:30am weigh-in 207.8
My BF says…. Much thicker and looking so much better at this weight than at 197
It is a complete green light to the Northern USA in New York City. I’m very pleased with the condition I was able to keep for this weekend.
There is less then 30 hours left before I hit the stage and I don’t see a problem bringing this package there to compete.
Just like yesterday, I will eat a potato every hour and chicken every four. This worked out nicely yesterday keeping me thick and hard throughout the day. I’ll just sip water as needed. I only drank ½ gallons worth yesterday and will probably drink less today
Last night I was looking nice and thick and my legs were coming in again, it’s amazing what a zero sodium diet will do to your skin.
I was a little nerves at first, thinking I wasn’t going to get the water out of me, having been so carbed up, but it happened slowly and the water became less and I became more and more defined
I was able to get two coats of Pro-Tan on last night; we got to bed just after 11. Today I'll do another three coats; you can never be dark enough for the stage.
Today it’s all about eating and keeping my insulin up, staying full and hard with carbohydrates and growing back all the broken down muscle I caused during the week and concentrating on flexing and posing
We will be leaving at 3am tomorrow morning and coming back around the same time on Sunday and as much as I would like to write in my blog tomorrow I don’t think I will have time… but I will be sure to tell everyone all about my trip to NY when I come back
I’m in it to win it!
Time to compete
My BF says…. Much thicker and looking so much better at this weight than at 197
It is a complete green light to the Northern USA in New York City. I’m very pleased with the condition I was able to keep for this weekend.
There is less then 30 hours left before I hit the stage and I don’t see a problem bringing this package there to compete.
Just like yesterday, I will eat a potato every hour and chicken every four. This worked out nicely yesterday keeping me thick and hard throughout the day. I’ll just sip water as needed. I only drank ½ gallons worth yesterday and will probably drink less today
Last night I was looking nice and thick and my legs were coming in again, it’s amazing what a zero sodium diet will do to your skin.
I was a little nerves at first, thinking I wasn’t going to get the water out of me, having been so carbed up, but it happened slowly and the water became less and I became more and more defined
I was able to get two coats of Pro-Tan on last night; we got to bed just after 11. Today I'll do another three coats; you can never be dark enough for the stage.
Today it’s all about eating and keeping my insulin up, staying full and hard with carbohydrates and growing back all the broken down muscle I caused during the week and concentrating on flexing and posing
We will be leaving at 3am tomorrow morning and coming back around the same time on Sunday and as much as I would like to write in my blog tomorrow I don’t think I will have time… but I will be sure to tell everyone all about my trip to NY when I come back
I’m in it to win it!
Time to compete
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Back to potatoes
6:30am weigh-in 208.8
My BF (best friend) the mirror, is still getting dryer looking with each passing day, I did hit the sauna last night and I’ll grab one more tonight.
Notice how my weight is slowly lowering, it’s the water I’m losing from going no sodium this week. I’m just as carbed up and big as I was at 212, only now with definition
But like I’ve said, I’m very happy with how I look right now, full and healthy looking, nice and thick and still very lean, abdominals pushing though with very little effort. Legs cuts have been a little deeper, but I still have a couple of days to dry out
I called my buddy yesterday to see if we are still on for Saturday’s departure at 3am for NY and he’s all for it, a true friend that would do anything for me, as I him!
So tonight after the gym, I’m coming home shaving my whole body, (thank god for my hairless chest and back) and putting on the Pro-Tan. I figure I’ll put on 2 or 3 coats tonight and another 2-3 tomorrow. I will need to make sure I wear head to toe clothes for bed so I don’t ruin our sheets, this shit stains like no tomorrow….
A little change of plan for my food, I decided to switch to potatoes for my carbohydrates. They tend to be a little dryer than pasta and are high in potassium.
So after the gym last night I grabbed 10 pounds and 2 gallons of distilled water and had 4 big spuds before bed. I’m figuring I’ll eat a potato every hour or so, just to make sure I keep my calories high and continue to have this muscle bound look, which I’m trying to keep for Saturday.
I’ve put myself through some intense workouts this week going heavier then normal to shock the body and keep it swollen, now I have to eat tons of carbs to heal back even bigger and tighter for this weekend… tonight’s workout ends the week with Shoulders and Biceps
Time for a protein drink
My BF (best friend) the mirror, is still getting dryer looking with each passing day, I did hit the sauna last night and I’ll grab one more tonight.
Notice how my weight is slowly lowering, it’s the water I’m losing from going no sodium this week. I’m just as carbed up and big as I was at 212, only now with definition
But like I’ve said, I’m very happy with how I look right now, full and healthy looking, nice and thick and still very lean, abdominals pushing though with very little effort. Legs cuts have been a little deeper, but I still have a couple of days to dry out
I called my buddy yesterday to see if we are still on for Saturday’s departure at 3am for NY and he’s all for it, a true friend that would do anything for me, as I him!
So tonight after the gym, I’m coming home shaving my whole body, (thank god for my hairless chest and back) and putting on the Pro-Tan. I figure I’ll put on 2 or 3 coats tonight and another 2-3 tomorrow. I will need to make sure I wear head to toe clothes for bed so I don’t ruin our sheets, this shit stains like no tomorrow….
A little change of plan for my food, I decided to switch to potatoes for my carbohydrates. They tend to be a little dryer than pasta and are high in potassium.
So after the gym last night I grabbed 10 pounds and 2 gallons of distilled water and had 4 big spuds before bed. I’m figuring I’ll eat a potato every hour or so, just to make sure I keep my calories high and continue to have this muscle bound look, which I’m trying to keep for Saturday.
I’ve put myself through some intense workouts this week going heavier then normal to shock the body and keep it swollen, now I have to eat tons of carbs to heal back even bigger and tighter for this weekend… tonight’s workout ends the week with Shoulders and Biceps
Time for a protein drink
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Sometimes it just takes people longer
6:30am weigh-in 210
My BF says keep doing what your doing, the skins is starting to dry out and I look nice and thick with full muscles bellies (carbed up)
So about 6 weeks ago I showed this guy in the gym (lets call him Cliff) how to correctly do low rows and a week later I see him doing the rows incorrectly once again, I ask why?
He tells me that one of the trainers (not mentioning names) corrected him, told him that he was doing it wrong. This ended up being our joke whenever Cliff and I would see each other. I would tease him for not training right and he would flex his back at me and say things like “what you (say?), you see how big my back is…”
Now this trainer has no muscle and is by no means a bodybuilder or even a weightlifter. But he is “certified” (whatever that means)…
So last night, I guess Cliff noticed I do in fact have a back and a well develop back at that, because he finally broke down and asked me again to teach him how to row correctly- a “25 cent tip of the day”-and afterwards said “wow! you are right” doing it that way really does make a difference…
Sometime it’s takes people longer to understand a movement and to realize themselves how it should feel.
This made my night. If you know me, then you know how passionate I am about correct form, especially when training you back.
The funny thing is, Cliff has a decent back, and he’s just missing the lower part, the part this movement primary hits.
All I can hope for is that Cliff gives this a chance and in no time he should start to see a difference
Last nights Chest and Triceps work out was the bomb! We worked our way up to 275 on the flat bench, and then to 90# dumbbells on the inclines, to 90# dumbbells on the flat bench, to incline flies, ending it on the cable crossovers. Triceps started with lying down extensions, to over heads, to pushdowns.
My whole body is thicker and bigger then ever; I just need to keep removing water out of my skin. I hit the sauna again and worked up a nice sweat. I can see and feel I have less water in my skin, it’s just my legs are not as dry as they were at 197 and I’m not sure if while being this carbed up that this is possible, but we shall see.
Today is my 3rd day at zero sodium and my third day training in a row; let’s see what tonight brings in terms of how dry I am.
I have no problem stepping on stage in this condition, in fact the guys who beat me at the New England’s didn’t have dry legs, but had a full body, which is what I’m bring this time around
Happy Veterans Day!
Time for a protein drink
My BF says keep doing what your doing, the skins is starting to dry out and I look nice and thick with full muscles bellies (carbed up)
So about 6 weeks ago I showed this guy in the gym (lets call him Cliff) how to correctly do low rows and a week later I see him doing the rows incorrectly once again, I ask why?
He tells me that one of the trainers (not mentioning names) corrected him, told him that he was doing it wrong. This ended up being our joke whenever Cliff and I would see each other. I would tease him for not training right and he would flex his back at me and say things like “what you (say?), you see how big my back is…”
Now this trainer has no muscle and is by no means a bodybuilder or even a weightlifter. But he is “certified” (whatever that means)…
So last night, I guess Cliff noticed I do in fact have a back and a well develop back at that, because he finally broke down and asked me again to teach him how to row correctly- a “25 cent tip of the day”-and afterwards said “wow! you are right” doing it that way really does make a difference…
Sometime it’s takes people longer to understand a movement and to realize themselves how it should feel.
This made my night. If you know me, then you know how passionate I am about correct form, especially when training you back.
The funny thing is, Cliff has a decent back, and he’s just missing the lower part, the part this movement primary hits.
All I can hope for is that Cliff gives this a chance and in no time he should start to see a difference
Last nights Chest and Triceps work out was the bomb! We worked our way up to 275 on the flat bench, and then to 90# dumbbells on the inclines, to 90# dumbbells on the flat bench, to incline flies, ending it on the cable crossovers. Triceps started with lying down extensions, to over heads, to pushdowns.
My whole body is thicker and bigger then ever; I just need to keep removing water out of my skin. I hit the sauna again and worked up a nice sweat. I can see and feel I have less water in my skin, it’s just my legs are not as dry as they were at 197 and I’m not sure if while being this carbed up that this is possible, but we shall see.
Today is my 3rd day at zero sodium and my third day training in a row; let’s see what tonight brings in terms of how dry I am.
I have no problem stepping on stage in this condition, in fact the guys who beat me at the New England’s didn’t have dry legs, but had a full body, which is what I’m bring this time around
Happy Veterans Day!
Time for a protein drink
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Green light to New York
6:30am weigh-in 211.06
Day one of zero sodium and my BF is starting to change and I can feel my skin drying out around the top of my abdominals
Last nights workout was defiantly intense. We started with dead-lifts working up to 465, then to a free weight row machine, then to low rows, ending on reverse grip pull downs.
When you start your back workout with dead lifts, it really causes your lats to work extra hard when doing any type of row afterwards, because the middle of your back which usually takes on the brunt of the weight when rowing, is trashed from the dead lifts and you can really feel your lats working from this.
Great thick feeling back pump last night!
Hams started with stiff legged dead lifts, another killer after you have already done dead lifts… from there we added the ass machine and the standing leg curl machine, we just went around all three machines until the job was done
I jumped in the sauna for about 30 minutes, it wasn’t as hot as I would have liked. But I did manage to get a nice sweat going, during the time in the sauna I was just flexing and squeezing everything. It sure feels good to flex when your whole body is completely warm
I decided to cut back on the amount of chicken I’m eating this week, I’d much rather focus on calories and carbs than eating 300 grams of protein. I’m cutting down to 200 grams, a meal every 4 hours and a good helping of pasta along with that.
I am finding it a struggle to eat the chicken and I’m really only concerned with eating tons of pasta to keep feeding my muscle, so that they continue to grow and have this muscle bound look
So far it’s still a green light to NY
Time for a protein drink
Day one of zero sodium and my BF is starting to change and I can feel my skin drying out around the top of my abdominals
Last nights workout was defiantly intense. We started with dead-lifts working up to 465, then to a free weight row machine, then to low rows, ending on reverse grip pull downs.
When you start your back workout with dead lifts, it really causes your lats to work extra hard when doing any type of row afterwards, because the middle of your back which usually takes on the brunt of the weight when rowing, is trashed from the dead lifts and you can really feel your lats working from this.
Great thick feeling back pump last night!
Hams started with stiff legged dead lifts, another killer after you have already done dead lifts… from there we added the ass machine and the standing leg curl machine, we just went around all three machines until the job was done
I jumped in the sauna for about 30 minutes, it wasn’t as hot as I would have liked. But I did manage to get a nice sweat going, during the time in the sauna I was just flexing and squeezing everything. It sure feels good to flex when your whole body is completely warm
I decided to cut back on the amount of chicken I’m eating this week, I’d much rather focus on calories and carbs than eating 300 grams of protein. I’m cutting down to 200 grams, a meal every 4 hours and a good helping of pasta along with that.
I am finding it a struggle to eat the chicken and I’m really only concerned with eating tons of pasta to keep feeding my muscle, so that they continue to grow and have this muscle bound look
So far it’s still a green light to NY
Time for a protein drink
Monday, November 9, 2009
Here I go again
6:30am weigh-in 211.08
My BF (mirror), says what the hell… bring this to the stage!
I'm eating boiled Chicken and Pasta for the next 6 days, in hopes of riding myself of this layer of water from under my skin. I'm not going to zero my carbs this time around. I want to stay full and big for the judges, so they can see a different me, a bigger me, one with better lines and nice full belly muscles. I'm just hoping I can maintain this “swollen tic” affect for one more week.
I'll need to go super heavy while training this week, really shocking the muscles, causing them to remain swollen. So come Saturday, I will be ready to step on stage being big and shredded with thin skin
Tonight’s Back and Hams; I’m going to run it just like last week, only stepping it up with the weights and intensity.
After training I’m going to sit in the sauna for a little while to help pull some water out of my skin... Some will say, the water just goes back in once you drink it... this is true, but not the sodium held water that’s sits under your skin, which is what I want to get rid of and by not taking in any sodium, this will help not put any water back under the skin...
I just need to be careful with the sauna, because it also removes water from your muscles too, causing you become flat, which of course I can bring back by eating carbs and drinking water, but I’d rather not flatten myself out again... so I’m just going to do a little sauna just to help get the water out from under my skin, by Wednesday I should see a difference.
This week it’s all about training intensely heavy, eating real big and drying my skin out…
Time for a protein drink
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Completely different package
6:30am weigh-in 210.4
What did I tell you and I didn’t even eat as much as I would have liked to yesterday, but hitting the gym in the morning and filling myself up on carbs caused the body to hold more water in the muscle.
In one week’s time from pounding down carbs (mainly pasta) and training the whole body, I have gained back 13 pounds.
Please realize it is the weight lifting and not just the pounding down of the food that caused this. Sure if I eat a lot of food, I will gain weight, I don’t know about 13 pounds in a week, but I’d gain some. The weightlifting is where you’re breaking down muscle, causing them to pull in carbs and water and grow back fast
I like to call this the “swollen tic” affect, where you walk around all day with a pump. Everything is full and thick, you have that muscle bound look.
This is the look I want to bring to the stage.
Bev Frances, the women who put on this past New England’s competition I competed in, is doing another show, The Eastern USA in New York City this coming Saturday another National qualifying show.
I’m hoping the judges will notice I’ve brought a completely different package this time around
Here are my plans…
Starting Monday zero sodium, back to boiled chicken, but this time I am going to use pasta for my carbs. I’ll start out with a pound, but I have a feeling this will not be enough and it will probably end up around two. Why pasta? First off it gives me great energy to train hard and it’s easy, good cold and sodium free
I’m going to train Monday thru Thursday like an animal and as HEAVY as possible. (Carbohydrates enable me to do this) so that my muscles continue to get shocked and want more food.
To keep that “swollen tic” affect I will need to train even more intensity than this past week, giving the muscles a reason to stay big.
Come Thursday if I was able to pull this water out of my skin, which I don’t see why not and I still have this “swollen tic” affect, I will start the Pro-Tanning junk and on Saturday morning at 3am I will leave to pick up a close childhood friend Eric Calvert and road trip it to NY
Time for a protein drink
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Nice & Quick
Weight still climbing up… I didn’t train last night, so the weight only when up a little, but after today’s workout and all the food I’m going to pound down afterwards though out the day, should put me up around 210 come tomorrow.
I’m still as lean as I was a week ago, just more filled out and thicker
Today damage will be Shoulders, Traps, Biceps and Forearms at 10am. It’s going to be a quick one, not much to do...
Start with standing Shoulder press, then to side laterals, rear laterals, front raises and upright rows. Barbell shrugs for the traps.
Biceps will start with standing barbell curls, then to a preacher curl, a reverse curl and for forearms just off the end of a bench I’ll do wrist curls reverse and regular to failure...
That’s it nice and quick, shouldn't take us more the an hour an a half
Time for a protein drink
Friday, November 6, 2009
Squat and Leg press Video
6:30am weigh- 208.4
As the weight still continues to climb with each passing workout, the muscles start to hold more carbohydrates and water due to the simulation from the weight training, the breaking down of the muscle is causing them to hold water and carbs again.
Remember I squeezed them out, like you would squeeze water out of a towel and now by training and giving them a reason to reach for and hold carbs and water, they are growing again and fast too, fast because they are returning to how they were
I started preparing for the show weighing 215 (8-10% body fat) when I get back to 215next week sometime, I won’t have over 5%bf, do you see what I just did to myself… I have grown…
You always grow after a competition. At this point I’m thinking that 8-10% bf weight should come in around 218-220, I’ll take a 3 pound lean body mass any day
Great leg work out last night, I started with 6 sets of squats and 5 sets of leg presses. I was able to get my training partner to video tape a set of each exercise to give you an idea of how I train. I was on my 5th set on the squats before coming down for the last and lighter set.
I like to do the last set lighter just to do that movement one more time, to try and get just a little more blood into the muscles. Form is ok here, I could have put the bar a little lower on my back which would help me to not lean over too much when passing parallel.
I usually only squat to parallel, but I think I need to start passing parallel to involve more legs and get the hamstrings to come in more. You want to at least have your hip joint pass your knee joint, but always make sure your legs end up at least parallel to the ground.
On the leg press video, this was my last set of 5, I didn’t do a lighter set, my legs had so much blood in them at that point, I didn’t feel the need and my lower back was screaming at me to stop, dead-lifts on Monday didn’t help…
Once I get use to doing dead-lifts again, my lower back should stop yelling at me, besides I got 15 reps with 11 plates (can’t get anymore on) going lighter for one more set, would not have gotten anymore blood into my legs
From there it was more movement from extensions to curls to hip flexor movements. I tried not to do the same leg curls machines as on Monday when I hit hamstrings.
I did end the workout on the calf machine even though they were still sore from posing, but the soreness was more so in my tendons then muscle, so it felt good to get a nice full calf pump…
Time for a protein drink
As the weight still continues to climb with each passing workout, the muscles start to hold more carbohydrates and water due to the simulation from the weight training, the breaking down of the muscle is causing them to hold water and carbs again.
Remember I squeezed them out, like you would squeeze water out of a towel and now by training and giving them a reason to reach for and hold carbs and water, they are growing again and fast too, fast because they are returning to how they were
I started preparing for the show weighing 215 (8-10% body fat) when I get back to 215next week sometime, I won’t have over 5%bf, do you see what I just did to myself… I have grown…
You always grow after a competition. At this point I’m thinking that 8-10% bf weight should come in around 218-220, I’ll take a 3 pound lean body mass any day
Great leg work out last night, I started with 6 sets of squats and 5 sets of leg presses. I was able to get my training partner to video tape a set of each exercise to give you an idea of how I train. I was on my 5th set on the squats before coming down for the last and lighter set.
I like to do the last set lighter just to do that movement one more time, to try and get just a little more blood into the muscles. Form is ok here, I could have put the bar a little lower on my back which would help me to not lean over too much when passing parallel.
I usually only squat to parallel, but I think I need to start passing parallel to involve more legs and get the hamstrings to come in more. You want to at least have your hip joint pass your knee joint, but always make sure your legs end up at least parallel to the ground.
On the leg press video, this was my last set of 5, I didn’t do a lighter set, my legs had so much blood in them at that point, I didn’t feel the need and my lower back was screaming at me to stop, dead-lifts on Monday didn’t help…
Once I get use to doing dead-lifts again, my lower back should stop yelling at me, besides I got 15 reps with 11 plates (can’t get anymore on) going lighter for one more set, would not have gotten anymore blood into my legs
From there it was more movement from extensions to curls to hip flexor movements. I tried not to do the same leg curls machines as on Monday when I hit hamstrings.
I did end the workout on the calf machine even though they were still sore from posing, but the soreness was more so in my tendons then muscle, so it felt good to get a nice full calf pump…
Time for a protein drink
Thursday, November 5, 2009
It all about the legs
6:30am weigh-in 207.4
Legs today gone tomorrow, yes tonight is legs and I can’t get to the gym fast enough, I can’t wait to squat my ass off, it’s been a couple of weeks
You really don’t want to squat the week of a contest, squats can take away your lines if done with too much intensity (is there any other way)
Last nights Chest and Triceps work out was just as I imagined… awesome huge pump with tons of energy (I love eating carbs) it is really the first time in two weeks as well, I’ve really got to train heavy, in fact that’s how this whole weeks going to be.
The week prior to competition, I was just doing a bunch of supersets running in-between exercises just to get a total body pump, not ever really hitting one muscle group and breaking it down completely as I normally would
With every passing work out, my body will slowly climb back up weight wise. I’m stimulating my muscles to hold more water again, filling them up with carbohydrates.
You can eat all the carbohydrates and drink all the water you want, but until you start training your muscles and breaking them down, they will not hold any water and fill out. They need a reason to grow and the gym (your training) is that reason
Notice how my weight is starting to climb faster after two workouts… nothing has changed since the weekend as far as how much I’m eating (a lot) except working out on Monday and yesterday and by the end of the week, once I’ve trained the whole body, I will weigh around 210, which is a 10 pound increase in one week. I am still just as lean as the day of the show, only now I’m much more filled out
Let’s start with squats tonight for 7 sets, then leg presses for 4-5 sets and the 3rd exercise is up for grabs, we will see what Rod wants to hit… definitely 3 pressing movements, before moving onto Hams and ending with Ass and Calves
When the damage is done, the legs will be gone and I will be happy!
Time for a protein drink
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Concentrating on weak body parts
6:30am weigh-in 204.6
As you all have heard me say, my legs need to come up to the next level, if I’m ever to make it to the Nationals.
My chest is another part that needs to come up. My chest used to be one of my stronger body parts, but when I left this sport in 92, I went into boxing for the next 12 years and boxers can’t have a thick massive chest, they need to put their elbow together to be able to block punches and protect their midsection. So one of the first things I had to do was make my chest smaller.
Now I need to bring it back to where it use to be, big and thick. The thing is, my chest may already be how it use to be, but since my shoulders and arms have grown since I was in my 20’s my chest doesn’t have that same look of being one of my stronger body parts
Tonight is chest and triceps, normally I would do two compound movements with two isolating movements, but years ago I would do three compound moments and two isolating, and also five exercises instead of four
Compound movements allow you to use heavier weights because you are involving more then just the chest. Shoulders and arms would be involved say if I was bench pressing or dumbbell pressing, as opposed to dumbbell flies, where it’s just the chest and no arms and not much shoulders
With that being said, tonight’s damage will start with flat benching followed by the incline bench, then incline dumbbell presses, and then dumbbell flies and ending on a machine: fly or cable crossovers.
I want to concentrate on my upper chest; it gives you a much better look to have well developed upper chest muscles as opposed to stronger looking lower chest muscles
For triceps I’ll start with close grip benching, this is a nice ending to the chest as well, really allowing you to squeeze your chest. Then onto scull crushers (lying down triceps extension) to triceps push downs, ending with over head extensions. I like to do three angles for my triceps. One with my elbow (mid range) to my body, one with my elbow by my side (full contraction) and one with my elbows over my head (full stretch) all three angles hit all three heads
Time for a protein drink
As you all have heard me say, my legs need to come up to the next level, if I’m ever to make it to the Nationals.
My chest is another part that needs to come up. My chest used to be one of my stronger body parts, but when I left this sport in 92, I went into boxing for the next 12 years and boxers can’t have a thick massive chest, they need to put their elbow together to be able to block punches and protect their midsection. So one of the first things I had to do was make my chest smaller.
Now I need to bring it back to where it use to be, big and thick. The thing is, my chest may already be how it use to be, but since my shoulders and arms have grown since I was in my 20’s my chest doesn’t have that same look of being one of my stronger body parts
Tonight is chest and triceps, normally I would do two compound movements with two isolating movements, but years ago I would do three compound moments and two isolating, and also five exercises instead of four
Compound movements allow you to use heavier weights because you are involving more then just the chest. Shoulders and arms would be involved say if I was bench pressing or dumbbell pressing, as opposed to dumbbell flies, where it’s just the chest and no arms and not much shoulders
With that being said, tonight’s damage will start with flat benching followed by the incline bench, then incline dumbbell presses, and then dumbbell flies and ending on a machine: fly or cable crossovers.
I want to concentrate on my upper chest; it gives you a much better look to have well developed upper chest muscles as opposed to stronger looking lower chest muscles
For triceps I’ll start with close grip benching, this is a nice ending to the chest as well, really allowing you to squeeze your chest. Then onto scull crushers (lying down triceps extension) to triceps push downs, ending with over head extensions. I like to do three angles for my triceps. One with my elbow (mid range) to my body, one with my elbow by my side (full contraction) and one with my elbows over my head (full stretch) all three angles hit all three heads
Time for a protein drink
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
Back to the grind
6:30am weigh-in 203.6
Last nights workout was Back, Hams and Ass
My training partner and I decided to change things up a little.
We are going to hit hams on a different day than with legs (I may do them twice a week)
Day one: Back and Hams/Ass/Calves
Day two: Chest and Triceps
Day three: Legs and Hams/Ass/Cows
Day four: Shoulder and Biceps
This way here we can have shorter workouts and have more energy to concentrate on weaker body parts
I started yesterday with dead-lifts working my way up to 4 plates (405) for 2 set of 5 reps, then onto bent-over rows, going up to 2 plates (225) for 8 reps, then pull-downs for 4 sets, ending with close grip pull-down for 4 sets. Back is not a weak point for me, so you won’t see me doing too much in terms of sets or exercises
For Hams, I started with stiff legs going up to 150 pounds for 4 sets, then into that Ass exercise I talk about and finishing off with Standing Leg Curls. I would have probably hit my Calves too, if they weren’t so sore from posing at the competition
In hindsight, I realize the mistake I have been making for contest preparation. Years ago in my 20’s I would eat myself up to competition, but for some reason I’ve been eating myself down to competition, leaving me left with no muscles (It’s been a long time)
When I was in my 20’s I would eat more food while preparing for competition than I would when I wasn’t getting ready to compete… this is my problem, because what I’ve been doing now for contest prep, is eating less food and because of this, I have been coming in too small for my frame.
I can’t compete at less than 200 pounds; I'm not built that way anymore. I need to come in close to 210; this is where I’m nice and full with size
So the plan is, as I mentioned in my last post, to eat myself up to 235 and then depending on how fat I get (hoping not too fat) I will start to diet as early as 12 weeks out from May 2nd for the Jay Cutler Classic, only this time when preparing for competition, I will keep my calories over a 3000 minimum to start
Time for a protein drink
Monday, November 2, 2009
How I plan to grow:
6:30am weigh-in 203.8
Eating more and lifting heavy is the fastest way to grow.
I’m not looking to get fat; I will continue eating a clean, high protein, high carbohydrate, low fat diet.
I’d much rather over eat my carbohydrates and get fat that way, than to eat fat. Chances are the carbohydrates will never have a chance to turn to fat, because they will give me the energy to train even harder and burn fat efficiently, keeping my muscles big and full
Caloric intake values will be 60% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 10% fat.
I’m going to start with 300 grams of protein a day, equaling 1200 calories 30% of the caloric intake.
I’ll double the calories for carbohydrates to 2400 equaling 60% of the caloric intake and the remaining 400 calories will come from fat at 10% of caloric intake, totally 4000 calories, eating 6 times a day
I’m going to start here and see what happens. I should grow pretty steadily around one pound a week, that is, once everything slows down.
I’ll most likely be around 218 in a couple of weeks, 3 pounds heaver from where I left off. You always end up growing a few pounds more after you compete.
Now all I want to do is eat around 500 calories more than what I need each day, so that by the end of the week (7 days) I’m one pound heavier, this will assure to me I’m growing and it’s not fat
For training, I plan to concentrate on the basic movements and try to get as strong as possible. I plan to try and keep increasing the weights a little every time until I plateau and then go from there. The heavier I get (body weight wise) the more weight I will be able to move.
Everything works hand-in-hand, the more you eat, the bigger you grow; the bigger you grow, the more food you need to eat. The bigger you get, the more weight you can push; the more weight you push, the bigger you get.
But it all starts in the kitchen; you need to eat food first, good clean healthy whole foods
Time for protein drink!
Eating more and lifting heavy is the fastest way to grow.
I’m not looking to get fat; I will continue eating a clean, high protein, high carbohydrate, low fat diet.
I’d much rather over eat my carbohydrates and get fat that way, than to eat fat. Chances are the carbohydrates will never have a chance to turn to fat, because they will give me the energy to train even harder and burn fat efficiently, keeping my muscles big and full
Caloric intake values will be 60% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 10% fat.
I’m going to start with 300 grams of protein a day, equaling 1200 calories 30% of the caloric intake.
I’ll double the calories for carbohydrates to 2400 equaling 60% of the caloric intake and the remaining 400 calories will come from fat at 10% of caloric intake, totally 4000 calories, eating 6 times a day
I’m going to start here and see what happens. I should grow pretty steadily around one pound a week, that is, once everything slows down.
I’ll most likely be around 218 in a couple of weeks, 3 pounds heaver from where I left off. You always end up growing a few pounds more after you compete.
Now all I want to do is eat around 500 calories more than what I need each day, so that by the end of the week (7 days) I’m one pound heavier, this will assure to me I’m growing and it’s not fat
For training, I plan to concentrate on the basic movements and try to get as strong as possible. I plan to try and keep increasing the weights a little every time until I plateau and then go from there. The heavier I get (body weight wise) the more weight I will be able to move.
Everything works hand-in-hand, the more you eat, the bigger you grow; the bigger you grow, the more food you need to eat. The bigger you get, the more weight you can push; the more weight you push, the bigger you get.
But it all starts in the kitchen; you need to eat food first, good clean healthy whole foods
Time for protein drink!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
2009 NPC New England’s contest day
Eveie dropped me off at 8:30am, I checked in, got weighed (197.4), and received my number 51, which I lost within an hour…
They decided to run things a little backwards, having the men’s bodybuilding before the fitness and figure competition, which caught a lot of us off guard.
Shortly after the event started I decided to go backstage to stretch and warm up. As soon as I put my bag down, I hear “masters get ready” WHAT… I basically stripped down, put some posing lotion on, grabbed a few push-ups and without really having a pump, I was on stage competing in the over 35 division.
I won the heavy weight over 35 class, because I was the only person in that class. They put me in with the 3 contestants in the lightweight class so I could at least have a pose down. The over 35 class had 2 divisions, lightweight and heavyweight.
Then it was time for the open, I was able to get a better pump, but everything was still moving really fast.
I was the first one out leading the line of seven, we hit our compulsory poses and they moved some people to the middle, I wasn’t one of them. They moved more people, I wasn’t one of them. Then they moved people one more time and again, I wasn’t one of them. Each time a move was made we would hit more poses to compare.
They then asked 3 guys to step off the stage which left 4 of us. We hit a front double bicep and they moved me into the middle, well from 4th spot over to the 2nd spot over (kind of the middle) they were now comparing me with the other 3 and trying to decide who was taking 4th place and 5th place
I didn’t place in the open lightheavy weight class, which kind of shocked me because looking at the other guys, I was in much better condition. Oh well, it is what it is and there is always next year!
I think it’s my legs that hold me back. They have grown a lot in the last 2 years, but they still lack the thickness to match my upper body. They were completely separated in a way they have never been and are bigger then ever, but they still need to be bigger and thicker
As I mentioned in my last post, I am already a winner, after not touching a weight for over 15 years (back only 2.5 years) and to bring myself to this condition, which is the best condition of my life, at 44; it is an incredible wonderful feeling!
Time to do some growing before the Jay Cutler Classic May 2nd 2010. I’m planning on packing on some pounds this winter, I’m going to see how heavy I can get and maintain a 34” pants waist ( I don’t want to buy new work clothes) I’m thinking around 235’ish and at 5’10” I should be able to carry that weight well.
I believe the only way I’m going to get thick legs is to put on some weight, which at a heaver weight you are able to lift heavier and the more weight you can lift, the bigger you can become (giving your muscle a reason to grow bigger)
I want to thank everyone for their support and interest in the world of bodybuilding; you made my road to competition a wonderful experience
Time to grow
They decided to run things a little backwards, having the men’s bodybuilding before the fitness and figure competition, which caught a lot of us off guard.
Shortly after the event started I decided to go backstage to stretch and warm up. As soon as I put my bag down, I hear “masters get ready” WHAT… I basically stripped down, put some posing lotion on, grabbed a few push-ups and without really having a pump, I was on stage competing in the over 35 division.
I won the heavy weight over 35 class, because I was the only person in that class. They put me in with the 3 contestants in the lightweight class so I could at least have a pose down. The over 35 class had 2 divisions, lightweight and heavyweight.
Then it was time for the open, I was able to get a better pump, but everything was still moving really fast.
I was the first one out leading the line of seven, we hit our compulsory poses and they moved some people to the middle, I wasn’t one of them. They moved more people, I wasn’t one of them. Then they moved people one more time and again, I wasn’t one of them. Each time a move was made we would hit more poses to compare.
They then asked 3 guys to step off the stage which left 4 of us. We hit a front double bicep and they moved me into the middle, well from 4th spot over to the 2nd spot over (kind of the middle) they were now comparing me with the other 3 and trying to decide who was taking 4th place and 5th place
I didn’t place in the open lightheavy weight class, which kind of shocked me because looking at the other guys, I was in much better condition. Oh well, it is what it is and there is always next year!
I think it’s my legs that hold me back. They have grown a lot in the last 2 years, but they still lack the thickness to match my upper body. They were completely separated in a way they have never been and are bigger then ever, but they still need to be bigger and thicker
As I mentioned in my last post, I am already a winner, after not touching a weight for over 15 years (back only 2.5 years) and to bring myself to this condition, which is the best condition of my life, at 44; it is an incredible wonderful feeling!
Time to do some growing before the Jay Cutler Classic May 2nd 2010. I’m planning on packing on some pounds this winter, I’m going to see how heavy I can get and maintain a 34” pants waist ( I don’t want to buy new work clothes) I’m thinking around 235’ish and at 5’10” I should be able to carry that weight well.
I believe the only way I’m going to get thick legs is to put on some weight, which at a heaver weight you are able to lift heavier and the more weight you can lift, the bigger you can become (giving your muscle a reason to grow bigger)
I want to thank everyone for their support and interest in the world of bodybuilding; you made my road to competition a wonderful experience
Time to grow
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