Chest and Shoulders

Bench

185/5

210/5

225/2,2

255/2

270/3x2

Dumbbell Presses(3 grips, 10 sets)

Arnold press

40/20,16,10,12

Neutral grip

40/14,20,15

Prone

15,14

Dips

BW/10,10,10,10

Superset with

Nautilus Laterals

80/10,10,10,10

Lots of work in a small amount of time. I got into the gym and it was 8:45 pm already, so I was working against the clock. I got in the work I needed to and caught a great pump. So I'm happy with it. Tons of running around and no end in sight. 

Onward. 

Training and the NPC USA.

I've kicked off prep for the NPC Illinois Ironman. It takes place on November 2nd and I'm actually looking forward to showing up conditioned this time. First workout was legs/back and was designed by Jennifer Petrosino. I have liberty to play around with it, but I'm trying to follow things to a T right now. We give each other feedback based on what the mirror is saying as well.

I don't have far down to go, so I'm trying to get in my best shape possible.

Legs/back

Squats:
Bar/10
135/10
185/3
225/8 x 5

On all my sets with 225, there was a 5 second eccentric, one second in the bottom position and a explode on the way up.

Lat Pulldowns:
80/10
120/10
180/5
120/20

Leg press:
3 sets of 10 (4 second eccentric)

Leg extension
3 minute timed set

This was an abbriviated workout as me and a buddy helped out Ben Pakulski (2nd place finalist at the Arnold Classic) out with getting him hooked up with food while he's in town. I'm trying to be a bit better about my time with workouts and what not, but somedays I just get caught. Yesterday was that kind of a day.

It was a good session overall and having more time under tension is something I'm really striving for. I'm also playing around with angles in certain exercises to make sure I'm hitting the muscle the way it should be hit and not just lifting. Although somedays I may get a wild hair and do that, I'm trying to minimize those days. But hell........somedays deadlifts be calling me.

NPC USA

I was going to make one big, blow out post about it, but everyone else has it covered pretty well and I'd only be repeating things everyone has heard. I will say that Max Charles was a deserving winner. He still has work to do to become a big time pro, but I say he should test his mettle in Tampa. It's not far off, he has time to come in a bit tighter and see where he stands. Golden opportunity in my eyes.

Heavyweights were called correctly. Rafael Jamarillo (sp) has never really not come in shape. He was always shredded, but lacked a bit of that "umph" to push him in the pro card circle. Cant really say that now. Matt Burzacott did himself justice. Very flowing physique and did right by going back to work in the gym to make a name for himself. Another year and he may take the class.

Kevin Ofurum was a deserving winner in the light heavys. He could've been a tad drier, but no one was really dry (I blame the vegas heat). Caleb Blanchard moved up a few spots from 5th to 2nd and has a pretty good back double biceps. Joseph Hubbard was in the mix with some good conditioning although he appeared a bit flattish in the upper body. Thomas Linihan has the potential to leapfrog everyone and take this class. I think he had the best structure out of the lineup. He must be tighter though to make that a reality.

The middleweights were a bit smooth for my liking which is uncharacteristic of middles in pro qualifiers. Breon Ansley looked good, but needs more work to make himself noticibale in a 212 show. The second(Chuck Williams) and third place(Robert Whichman) looked fine, but could've came down more. All the aforementioned gentlemen need to take their conditioning to another level, especially Ansley since he's a pro now, to move up the ranks. Good thing is that it's not impossible

Pretty much the same thing for the welters. Delcampo, Hester (a blast for the past), Aman, Vengas and San Juan have work to do. I will say that San Juan could've been moved up a spot if he was fuller at prejudging. If he filled out, he may have been as high as 2nd or 3rd. But he showed a degree of hardness the other guys, DelCampo included, didn't show.

Derek Leverant has to have the best pair of legs I've seen on a lightweight. Back double bicep is impressive as well. Luis Moreno has a great structure, but just came in pretty smooth for a show of that caliber. He can do Nationals and possibly take that class however. Martae Ruelas could take Nationals as well. Everything is there, he just needs to come in grainy hard.

Richie Langit and Eric Yamashita in the bantams didn't even push the envelope in the bantams as far as conditioning. That is very unusual as they usually show some pretty sick conditioning.

If I sound like I'm repeating myself a bit with "conditioning, conditioning, conditioning"......I am. What was showed in all class winners and top five guys, won't cut it on a pro stage. Things become doubly hard when you have "IFBB" attached to your name.

Thats all I have for now. Chest and shoulders tonight.

Later

The Road Back Part 2: Methods

When we set out on a quest we usually have some sort of map to guide us along the way. The map can be based on some template we've seen or done in the past, it could be based on another competitors plan, or it our map can be various aspects of dieting and training philosophies, strung together, to create something we think will work perfectly.

Going back to competitive bodybuilding, I was in a predicament. I didn't want to lose a lot of strength I worked real hard to attain. I'm not a freak that can move six plates on the squat for reps or bench over 400 like it's paper. I'm more of a "struggle to get brute strength" type guy. So while I know bodybuilding has never been about developing strength as a skill (yes, strength development is a skill) it's still an important one to have. You can't be weak and big. Everyone that stood up on that stage in the pro division for bodybuilding slung some fucking weight around in preparation for the show. You can best believe it that as gospel. Heavy lifts combined with rep work give you that dense thick muscle you can't, or at least shouldn't lose .

Programming:

Since this was my first time back onstage in awhile, and I wanted to experiment a bit because the "conventional" way of training didn't appeal to me, I talked to Team EFS athlete Jennifer Petrosino about what I wanted to do.  I agreed to let her program me for this show, but I made no bones I would take liberty with the program. So the days were set up like this

Legs/Back
Chest/Shoulders
Glutes/Hams
Tricep/Bicep
Calves/ Rear delts

Without getting into much detail, I pretty much followed the program. Some changes were made here and there, but overall, the program was followed. Lots of tempo based movements, along with some eccentrics and timed sets. The goal was to grow into the show a bit as well, so even though I was dieting and doing an upwards of two hours of cardio a day, I think I added a couple pounds. Or I at least think I did.

I also wanted to stay strong for the majority of my prep. That way, I didn't lose much size.

Cardio and a quick word on gym performance:

Like I said before, I went on the "King Kamali" special which was an upward of two hours of cardio a day. This can prove to be a recipe for disater, but with what I had to work with, I thought to myself, why not? So me and the Stepmill became best friends forever. From the Monday after USPF Nationals, all the way to the end, it was only a couple of times I couldn't work up the gumption to do it. During the last three weeks of prep, I would be on the stepper twice a day for 45 minutes. I tried to peel the fat off as much as I could, and it worked to a point, but I didn't want to overstep (no pun intened) what the purpose of cardio was. I also wanted to use more energy for my gym sessions. To showcase a phenomenal physique, you have to be able to perform in the gym. If you don't have optimal gym performance, then you're setting yourself up for failure. Optimal performance is different for everyone. I like to use Paul Carter's philosophy of +10/-10 for gauging workouts. Look for it on his blog Lift-run-bang.com


Diet:

I pissed in the wind in regards to this one. I just kept the protein high, kept carbs low, had some refeeds and kept going. Nothing scientific. It did get to a point where I wasn't eating enough and I had to increase portions. Made the adjustments and got tighter. Wasn't a wise thing to do. At all.  But that will be fixed moving forward

Just some of the things I did leading up to the show. Nothing fancy............and some stuff, just not even optimal.