Prep Life: Chest, Jr. Nationals and IPF Raw World Musings

Chest: UNL Rec:
Bodyweight: 204 lbs


Machine Press:
75/21
100/15
125/12
150/12
175/10

*drop sets*
175/10
150/8
125/5
100/5 (3 sec contraction at the top)

Incline Press:
135/8
185/8
225/8,5,5

Incline Hammer Press:
2pps/10
3pps/8,6
pps=plates per side

Not a barnburner, but for sure felt it on the incline press after those drop sets on the bench press machine. It's a pretty good one the rec has. It's a fixed one by Hammer Strength I absolutely love. I was going for more weight on the incline press bus simply did not have the strength. It's something when 225 makes you feel like a complete bitch.

Jr. National Impressions:
Once again, didn't get to go to Jr. Nationals, but was impressed by a couple of competitors. Notably in the heavyweight class. Christian Salcedo and Justin Maki are two pros in waiting. This is Justin's second crack at Jr's while I'm not sure if this was Christian's first or if he competed in Rosemont at another time. Great shape was showcased by both, but Salcedo's shape and condition edged out Maki. Salcedo ended up going on to win the overall later than night.

Salcedo vs Maki

A couple of others I was impressed were ironically number one and two, but in the middleweights. Valentino Harris of Wisconsin and Vlad Petric of New Jersey. I knew Vlad would bring in condition as I've seen him before at North American's I believe. Harris was new to me, but you can tell he did work. He ended up winning the middleweights with Petic placing second. Both men will be eventual pros as well.

Harris vs Petric

*Photos from Musculardevelopment.com, Photog: Dan Ray*




IPF Raw Worlds:
Lots of impressive lifting from Team USA Members in Finland. Since powerlifting is a sport of doing, lets just show video as analysis means little.

Ray Williams: 

Blaine Sumner:

Layne Norton:

Excellent work by Team USA! First time in awhile they brought home a gold medal for team performance!

Also.....before I go.....because I can.......GO BLACKHAWKS!!!

You mad? Or Nah?

Prep Life: Chicago Bound and Changes.

Leg Day: June 7th
Bodyweight: 206 lbs
4 weeks out from The NPC Tim Gardner Extravaganza/Wings of Strength (whichever you call it).

Bike Warm-up: 10 mins

Seated Leg Curl:
80/40
100/32
120/15
135/15
160/13
Drop Set:
160/12, 130/12, 100/12

Leg Extension:
70/50
85/40
105/30, 25
130/20
Drop Set:
150/20
120/20
100/20

Leg Press:
3pl/15
4pl/12
5pl/12,12,12

Squats (or something that resembles squats)
Bar/12
135/6
185/5,5,5

Single Leg Curl:
3 sets.


This is what leg workout number one looked like. Next one will be different from this one, but will include some type of squatting movement. I need more (much more) separation in my quads and hams, so I'm going to continue to beat the shit out of them as much as I can with some volume, lots of squeezing and the stepmill. At least I'll try on the stepmill. I won't lie....it sucks after legs.

Back is getting the same treatment. More work, more squeezing. It's four weeks. It's going to suck, but I would like to improve some

Another change is dropping the second chest day. Lets be honest, from the pics I really don't need a whole lot more upper chest. More hardness for sure, but that will come through increased posing.

As far as diet goes, just keep the protein high, the carbs low and fat decent. Lots more pushing in the next couple weeks, but I'm ready for it.

From Sunday. Lets get down

Prep Life: Done with Omaha, onto Chicago.

 I'm currently caught in the throes of insomnia as I'm writing this with the Battle for the Olympia playing in the background. It's about 3:40 am and I just got done grocery shopping at a couple supermarkets here in the beautiful resort town of Lincoln, Nebraska.

So here it is a week after the NPC Omaha Duel of Champions and four weeks out of the NPC Tim Gardner Extravaganza/IFBB Chicago Pro. I think Jack and Ann Titone did a bang up job of putting on a good pro show in Omaha and really bringing a great NPC presence to the state. There were a lot of class competitors in the show as well. The good thing about it is that It's only going to grow in numbers, so I look forward to seeing what the future holds for the NPC in the state.

As far as my own prep goes, I'll give you an example of what my schedule was the last month and a half before the show.

1:30 am: wake up (hopefully. Latest would be 2:00 am.)
3:00 am: At work to do a morning show
7:10 am: Run out the door to do morning cardio for around 45 minutes at a Golds Gym not far from here.
8:20 am: Back at the station, slam a shake and set up for an agricultural show at 9:00 am
9:30 am: Break set down and get to work on a midday show
11:30 am: Booth midday show
12:00 pm: Get done with said show, cut interviews off a video player and go home or hit gym.

Most day's after the above, I would get home and take a nap, but I really pushed to try and train. We I did that I found my workouts were VERY uninspired and just plain shitty. My mind would wander and not be where I wanted it to be during the session. I found a nap worked better to get my mind and body right for a training and cardio session.

I got my meals in and someday's would fall a little short of what I was supposed to hit protein/carb/fat range, but I made sure to correct the issues when I could. As far as actual training goes, I followed John Meadow's Mountain Dog principles. I did daily training and really felt it helped me improve quite a bit.

Let's fast forward to the show in Omaha though. I didn't do as well as I had hoped. Even with my buddy Jose Beleton helping and numerous other people helping me and pushing me, I just wasn't lean enough. I knew coming in condition would be an issue for me......and once again it was. I lost to people who were leaner than me, but who I had more muscle than (from my vantage point). No ones fault but my own, and lessons were learned.

No, I've never torn a pec. Just the way it is.

So my weakness is still a weakness, although I did beat my previous best by a mile. one reason for that is that I decided a drop to the light heavy class would be a much better choice for me. I wanted to be conditioned and thought the drop in weight would be good. Bad thing is I had no baseline for my macros and calorie count. I was pretty much pissing in the wind in the offseason. No more lazy offseasons. Yes, still eat big, still train heavy, but don't be a fat fuck.

 I did what I could with what I had available to me as far as tools and knowledge. I learned a lot this prep. A whole lot......

2013 Chicago versus 2015 Duel of Champiosn

So whats next? The Chicago show. It's another pro/am show and I'm looking forward to seeing people who I haven't seen in a year or more rather than the show. I'm not conceding defeat, yet I'm not promising victory (from my pics last week, I'm far from winning shit). I just want to be competitive and let the chips fall where they may.

Here's some before and after pics and I'll have some after after pics when Chicago is over.

19 weeks versus one week out.

The guy on the rights needs a sammich and some Doritos.

Omaha Prep: Leg Training 4 weeks out

 Leg curl:
60/15
80/15
100/15
120/10
140/10,8,8 (with a drop to 100/5)

Leg Ext:
70/ lots of reps
90/25
110/25
130/14,15 (drop to 110/7)

Leg Press:
3pl/12
4pl/10
5pl/10,10,10,10

Icarian Power Squat:
2pl/10
3pl/10
4pl/10,10,10

Single Leg curl:3 sets
RDL'S: 4 sets

Backing off the weight a little bit and focusing more on getting some reps. Squeezing and contracting with a decent (notice I didn't say light) amount of weight is the goal right now. I'm still holding some fat around my waist and abs. It may or may not come off in time, but I'm damn sure trying to get it off.

Lets keep it moving.

Omaha Prep: Secondary Chest Day at Seven Weeks Out

Right at seven weeks for the NPC Omaha Duel of Champions and everything is clicking along. Had a shift change at work and a slight workload increase, but adapt and overcome. So no problem.....

Machine Presses: 5 sets 

Hammer Incline Presses : 4 sets

Dips: BW/ 3 sets

Dumbbell Bench: 70/s done FST-7 style. Seven sets with 30-45 seconds between each set. 12 reps each set.

Flyes: 3 sets 

Pretty good volume overall. Training seven days a week right at the point in the game. I've never trained that much for a show. Usually train 4-5 days week, but this increase is something else. But I feel good (outside the occasional energy loss). Easily the most food I've ever eaten in a prep and I'm still coming down. Cardio is still up there, but will be changing for the next month due to work related issues. 

The last time I posted pics was 11 weeks out. Here they are compared to ones taken this morning (April 11th). Still have to pull it together.

Tighter overall, but still have much work to do. I'm proud of where I'm at, but I can do better. 

Omaha Prep: Just Under Eight Weeks Out and Changes

I'm going to kick this off with yesterdays training session, which was back.

Pulldowns:
85/12
120/12
160/12
180/10
200/10, 10(drop to)160/10

Bent Rows:
135/12
185/10
225/10
315/8,6

Suitcase Rows:
75/10
100/10,10,10

Hammer Strength DY Row:
3 sets

Seated Rows: 3 sets

Getting down to crunch time and while I'm better than I have been at this point in the past, I'm still not where I think I should be. Shift change at work doesn't help either. With that being said, we still do work, and I've done the following changes.

-I've been using Intra-MD so far this prep. Since we're in the single digits as far as weeks go, I'm going with aminos on shoulder/arm day and my second back day. That cuts out about 60 grams of carbs a day.

-Training may get an increase to seven. Not all of these will be hard workouts. I'm still on the fence about this.

-More supersets and drop sets. I haven't really used these techniques much, but adding these back in. Old school thinking of more definition.

-Stepmill is at twice a week so I don't flatten my legs out.

That's it for right now. Like I said, I feel good where I am, but I just need and WANT more so I can possibly be a competitive light heavy. Lots more to go.

Omaha Prep: 11 weeks out

Chest day: Goodlife Fitness in Lincoln, NE.....

For some reason, I did a lot of incline pressing with dumbbells and barbells.

Incline DB Press:
40/20
60/15
80/10
105/8,10

Incline Press:
135/12
185/10
225/10
275/6,4

Machine press:
4 sets (drop set on the last set)
Flyes: 4 sets

Moving right along, but need to push harder. These pics are 228 versus 225. I had about 400 grams of carbs the day before the pics on the right.