The Bent-Over Roll

My training partner and I are going to show you the differences of good form vs. bad form…
In this first video you see Rodney: as he starts to stand up more, he pulls the bar up, this is bad form
What you want do is try to stay as flat a possible with your lower back, almost as if your back was parallel with the floor, when you are pulling up

In this second video you notice how Rodney’s back is more parallel with the floor and he is not standing up as he pulls the bar to his stomach, this is good form, the only thing that's not correct is his feet are not parallel, which can make it difficult to maintain flat back

Grab the bar off the rack at bench press width, step back bringing your feet close together, just slightly less than shoulder width. With you feet pointing straight as if you were skiing downhill, sit back into your hamstrings, stick your ass out, flatten your lower back, keep your chest up, lower the bar to just above the floor, maintain a flat back.
Feel all the pressure in your legs, you then drop down a little more snapping the bar to your lower stomach (catching the bar below your bellybutton) with your shoulders low, squeeze everything, then lower the bar back down and repeat



Again start the rep at the bottom, in the flat back position. When you start the rep, drop down a little, slightly rounding your lower back, then snap the bar up and quickly flatting your lower back and catch the weight off your lower stomach Don’t be afraid to use you whole body in this movement

This is a compound mass building movement and should be a staple in your training regime

Time for a protein drink

Pass the sodium

In my last post I talked about a column I’m reading in a Muscular Development magazine, about contest preparation theory verses science and from a scientific point of view, why water depletion isn’t a good idea and why it’s simply doesn’t’ work.

Sodium depletion is another typical contest preparation and the results can be just as disastrous.

The article talks about sodium balance directly affecting your fluid dynamics and blood volume and because of its effect of blood volume it also effects blood pressure and since blood pressure is kind of a big deal there is a very tight regulation on blood sodium levels.

The kidneys will decrease or increase sodium excretion, depending upon how much sodium you take in. The more you take in, the more the excretion of sodium will be in your urine and if sodium is reduced, the kidneys will decrease their excretion of sodium and increase the re-absorption of sodium back into circulation.

A study was performed and the researchers restricted the sodium to practically zero for 6 days and examined the results for your serum (blood) sodium, urinary sodium and aldosterone (aldosterone is a hormone that causes re-absorption and retention of water and sodium)

After 6 days of zero sodium, the blood sodium concentrations were perfectly conserved. In fact, by the 6th day, the kidneys had almost stopped limiting sodium all together, so all that sodium depleting you did for a week doesn’t even charge the actual blood sodium levels.

There are some things that the sodium depletion does do however, it increased the hormone aldosterone big time, and after just 2 days of sodium depleting your aldosterone has almost double and almost tripled by day 6

Elevation in aldosterone will cause an increase in water retention, as the kidney reabsorbs both the sodium and water back into circulation, compounding this with the fact that the deficiencies in sodium with lead to a drop in blood pressure, means that plasma water has been push out of the vascular system.

Now instead of having water in your blood vessels making you look full and vascular, it will be around the vessels interstitially (i.e. subcutaneous) making you look softer

The article continues to say, if you haven’t realized that sodium depletion is a pie-in- the- sky fallacy by now, perhaps this will change your mind…

During the contest preparation, some bodybuilders also deplete their carbohydrates. The idea being that depleting the sodium will make you tighter and when carb loading (after 3 day of depleting) will fill you out to skin-stretching proportions.

I already stated how depleting your sodium will actually make you softer, but did you know that it will also impair your ability to achieve fullness as well.

SLGT-1 is the co-transporter in the intestine that is responsible for glucose (blood sugar) absorption. It is called the co-transporter because it uses sodium concentrations to drive the glucose from the intestine to be absorbed.

Research has demonstrated that sodium restriction will actually reduce the expression and activity of this transporter, limiting your ability to absorb glucose and thus preventing you from achieving the great fullness you desire.

Now all that undigested glucose is going to remain in the small intestine and pull water into that area in order to maintain proper osmolarity, and it will cause bloating in the small intestine.

So now you managed to put water in two places you didn’t want, the subcutaneous layer and the gut, making you appear softer and bloated

They end by saying that we have all heard someone say they looked soft and flat on stage and then talk about how much better they looked after they went out after the show and pigged out.

Most people think this means they didn’t carb up enough, but that simply isn’t true because they loaded carbs for 2-3 days… the pig-out meal contained lots of sodium and they drank a lot of water with it… The result, the sodium and water finally allowed them to fill out properly

Part 3 next months issue they will be offering some recommendations for proper peaking

Oh boy, I can’t wait… stay tuned

Time for a protein drink

How dry I am…

So I’m reading this article called “The Final-Week Contest- Prep Fallacy” in a column in Muscular Development magazine called No Juice Bodybuilding.

This column claims it’s going to bust the myths behind contest prep, it talks about how so many bodybuilders prepare the final week out of theory instead of doing it scientifically

How many times have you heard a bodybuilder say they looked great a week out from the show and then looked terrible on stage?

This first of 3 articles talks about cutting out your water and using diuretics. It’s interesting to read the scientific side of this, they talk about water being held in the bodies intracellular (inside the cell) and extracellular (outside the cell) at a 70:30 ratio. Intracellular held water is what we want as a bodybuilder, giving us that full and volumized muscle belly look, that we try so hard to bring to the stage and the extracellular water which is what as a bodybuilder we try to eliminate by cutting out the water and taking diuretics approximately 24 hours before hitting the stage.

But scientifically speaking, in reality, since our body regulates the balance so closely, we can’t change one side of the water balance with changing the other side instantaneously.

So to cut out the water or to take a diuretic isn’t really helping you achieve the desired look of pulling the water out of your skin for the dry look on stage and giving yourself volumized muscle bellies, in fact scientifically speaking your causing you body to flatten out, because as you remove water from the outside cells, you are also removing water from the inside cells, causing your muscle to become flat

Further more we as bodybuilders deplete our carbs for 3 days from Monday to Wednesday and on Thursday up until the contest we carb-up eating tons of carbs, but ironically, we can eat all the carbs we want but they will do nothing to our muscles in terms of filling them out, if we don’t drink water…

Cutting your water out seems kind of ridiculous and counterproductive when you think about it…

Part two: I will talk about the myth behind sodium…

Time for a protein drink

Let’s put things into perspective

So my 6:30am weigh in seems to be leveling off at 215. I’ve been as heavy as 219 but at this point it’s only excess water weight from over eating and drinking

Weighing 215 with my abdominals showing is clearly the biggest I’ve ever been in my life and I’m growing be the week. You can’t expect your weight to increase extremely if you consider how much muscle actually weighs

Lets take 3 pounds of steak, if you were to lay this out on a table you would appreciate how much meat that really is and to put that much meat on your body, well that is quite a bit.

For my body weight to stay at 215, but continue to become leaner and leaner, well that’s growing even though my body weight hasn’t increased.

Increasing body weight faster then a pound or two a month is too fast, especially if you’re increasing it by eating tons of non fatting foods and you are fully carbed up all the time, you weight should not change much

Increasing body weight at this rate, under those conditions, assure that it is muscle you are putting on and not fat or external water weight
Let’s take a look at what I consume in a weeks time from Monday to Sunday

7 pounds of pasta
14 cans of tuna fish
14 weight gainer drinks
27 protein drinks
4- 400 calorie carb drinks (pre-workout)
6 pounds of chicken
14 cups of rice
And sugar of some sort we like to have after dinner, i.e. gum drops, fat free ice cream, frozen yogurt or any candy that doesn’t have fat.
In one week’s time, that is well over 35 thousand calories and no more this 10% coming from fat. That’s pretty amazing when you put it all into perspective…

As I mention in my last post this is truly a second job. I find myself always eating when I’m not hungry to eat. But I know it’s my job to keep the calories coming, so that I continue to heal from my workouts as fast a possible, continue to grow lean muscle mass as fast as possible, and continue to have the energy to train as intense as possible. I know if I don’t eat like this, I‘m only fooling myself thinking I will grow as fast as possible

Remember, the more you eat the bigger you get, the bigger you get the more weight you can push, the more weight you can push the bigger you become, the bigger you become the more food you need to eat…it’s a vicious cycle and I want to do it….

Time for a protein drink

It’s a second job

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

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

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