Alright so I'll start with some background since I haven't posted here in a long time. I've been working out since high school and I've been a trainer for 5 years. Durring college my friends and I would train each year for spring break and I was able to get pretty decent size, but I never got much leaner than like 11%. However being 6'5" I was able to carry 11% pretty good.
This year two of the female trainers I work with did body building shows. They were both in great shape to begin with, but I was extreemly impressed with their results. They both met with Tony, another one of the trainers at our gym who has been doing natural body building shows for years. He tweeked their progams and more importantly showed them how to get lean for the show. They won second and third place in the show they were in. So after being inspired by their amazing results, I decided to see how far I could take my training.
Now before I go any further I'm not saying that I am planning to acutally do a show, mainly because of the waxing and the banana hammock, but I would like to get into "body builder shape".
This was my New Years resolution, and I took my early January holiday-food-bloat pictures which I will be posting. I then proceeded to work for about a month an a half on a functional style routine to build up core strength and stability. My nutrition was not too focused durring this time, in other words, I was skrewing around and wasting time.
I've finally gotten serious and am tracking everything I put in my mouth. I met with Tony to get a my training and nutrition periodization down, and I'm off and running. Meeting with Tony also solidified my commitment and gives me more accoutability to keep me on track. This is also why I decided to start this log. It's time to see what I've got.
I guess I would ask what do you consider "bodybuilder" shape? Are you just talking lean-ness or have a size goal. Maybe some ideal stats or photos would be helpful.
I'll be following along with a lot of interest due in part to the fact that I'm 6'-4" and struggle with appearing too skinny while not want to gain a lot of fat.
Good luck and keep us up-to-date in this log!
Ted
__________________
Two Bears Dadda? Two Bears Benno, just two. ______________________________ ___________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971
Alright I'm back. I started this thread and then proceeded to get swamped with work. Plus preping all the food that I'm now eating is like another part time job. I'm starting to get a system down and getting solid quick prep meals.
Thanks guys for the encouragement, and I have some pics from January that I will be posting once I actually get to my home PC (posting from my Blackberry right now).
Anyway, I am finishing up my second week of the first phase of my 9 week building period. My calorie intake durring this phase is 3400cal with about 425g of carbs, 250g of protein, and 80g of fat. Carbs are mostly brown rice, whole wheat pasta, oats, and yams. Protein is mostly poultry, tuna, and supplement powders. Fats from flax/olive oil and nuts.
I downloaded a program for my Blackberry to record my food log and I was going to post the log, but the word doc is too large to attach, and when I try to paste it in body of a post it loses th formatting an just turns into one big paragraph. I'm open to suggestions on how to make it work so you all can see everything I'm eating.
My workouts for the first 3 weeks is full body mon wed fri, 4sets of 4-6 reps of the following exercises:
A) Squat
B) Chin ups
A) Standing bar shoulder press
B) Calf Raises
A) Dead lifts
B) DB chest press
A) Bar bicep curls
B) Dips
I do exercise A rest 90sec then do exercise B and rest another 90sec. Usually takes about an hour 15min. I also do 2-3 days a week of 30min light to moderate cardio, then stretching and abs.
I've got one more week of this program and then I'll be doing a split body routine.
To address Blackjack's ?, I've always had pretty good size for a tall guy, but I want to try to get bigger this time and then get lean the right way. So basicly I want it all . The plan is 9 weeks bulking followd by 9 weeks cutting. Goal date is July 4.
It appears that I'm coming down with a bit of a cold. Definetly feeling a bit run down and now I've got some congestion and a light cough. This sucks I haven't even had a cold in like 2 years. Usually as soon as I feel a bit of a sore thoat coming on I have a routine before I go to bed that I use and it always works. I gargle with warm salt water, then mix 5g of Glutamine with a cup of orange juice, drink that with Vit C, E, and two RALA. Then I take a shot of Nyquil and go to bed. Always works, I wake up feelin fine. Not this time.
I'm going to lay of the heavy wts today and see if I can kick whatever this is out. I guess there's always tomorrow
Still a bit sick. I managed to get through most of my workout yesterday and I got my calories back up to 3400. This is the last week of the full body 3x a week.
Well I made it through the strength/power pase with some great results. I ended up with some new personal bests for 6 rep max, in both squat and dead lift I got to 315lbs which I never even reached playing football in high school.
I got measured on Friday and my body weight went up about a pound from 226 to 227 but I dropped a little over 3% bodyfat from just over 16% down to 13%. Meaning that over these first 3 weeks I lost about 7.5lbs of fat and gained 8.5 lean mass. Kick ass!!
I will try to get some updated pics up, but I can definetly see the changes happening.
So now it's on to the first phase of hypertrophy. Tony and I worked up an upper body and lower body day that will be repeated 2x per week, giving me 4 days/week of lifting. Each exercise will a 3 set pyramid style (12,10,8) increasing weight with each set. 90 second rest periods.
Monday/Thursday: Lower body
Deadlifts
Lying ham curls
Quad ext
Squats
Seated calf raises
Strait leg calf ext
Hanging leg raises (low abs)
Stability ball planks
Tuesday/Friday: Upper body
Bent over row (wide grip bar)
Close grip lat pulldown
Incline DB chest press
DB flies
Seated lateral shoulder raises
Seated DB shoulder press
Cable bicep curl (bar)
Cable tricep ext (bar)
I'll also be doing light cardio on the off days, probably 2x a week.
Nutrition will now be staggered. Wed, Fri, Sun will now be 2800cal days with the breakdown being: 225g carbs, 275g ptn, and 80g fat. The other 4 days will stay at 3400cal with the same breakdown as before. Today has been my first day at the 2800 and I've definetly been a bit more hungary at meal times, dispite my low activity level so far. I'm excited to see the progress over the next several weeks.
Coming to the end of week 5 (week 2 of the second building phase) and I'm feelin even more lean. I don't get measured untill next week, but I can't wait. The scale weight is down a few pounds, most likely the result of the 2800cal staggered days, but my strength continues to go up so I'm pretty confident that the lb loss is just fat. For many of my lifts, the weight on the last set of these 12-10-8 pyramids is up to what I was lifting on the 6 rep power days.
I also found out that a couple of my friends from college have a bet going to see who could lose the most body fat. They started around the same time as I did and they said they would let me get in on their bet, but they both have a lot less fat to lose and I was already way ahead of them so I don't think it would be fair for me to jump in. Also my goal date is in July and their's ends way sooner. Here's one of my friend's my space page if any one is interested in his before and after pics: http://www.myspace.com/Thegood56
Comming to the end of the second building phase, only one more upper body day left. Just met with Tony to get measured and set up a game plan for the last three weeks of the building phase.
First the measurements, dropped a pound on the scale and 1.5%BF. That puts me @ 226.2lbs and 11.6%, that's down 11lbs fat and up 11lbs of muscle after 6 weeks. More pics to come...
Tony set me up with the basic break down of the next phase of workouts which is 5 day split one muscle group per day 20 sets per day. I will post the routine once I work it out.
Nutrition is also going to change. We're going back to the 3400 cal per day without staggered days. The ratios will change: 300g carbs, 120g fat, 300g ptn. We've decided to use the last part of the building phase to see how my body reacts to a higher fat intake, which will help in manipulating intakes for the cutting phase. I'm not overly conserned about body fat % right now, there's pleanty of time to cut. Additionally I have noticed a decrease in libido in the past few weeks so I am conserned that my testosterone levels may be down so the addition of the extra fat in the form of flax seed oil and mixed nuts will hopfully help boost the hormone production. In addition I have just started taking ZMA before bed, so we'll see how it all works out.
Alright, last building phase workout. This will be the last three weeks before I start the cutting phase. The workout will be a 5 day split one muscle group per day. The first two exercises will be 4 set pyramids 12,10,8,6 with 90sec rest between sets. The next 4 exercises will be done as compound/super sets 3x6-10 with 60sec rest between compound/super sets.
Chest Day: Pyramids:
Flat DB Press
DB Fly Compound Set 1:
SB Pushup
Cable Fly Compound Set 2:
Incline DB Press
Dips
Back Day: Pyramids:
Asst. Pull ups
Bent Over Row Compound Set 1:
DB Row
Close Grip Pull Down Compound Set 2:
Cable Lat Cross Pull
Wide Grip Row
Leg Day: Pyramids:
Dead Lift
Squats Super Set 1:
Calf Ext.
Leg Press Super Set 2:
Quad Ext.
Hamstring Curls
Shoulder Day: Pyramids:
DB Press
Lateral Raise Compound Set 1:
Upright Row
Front Raises Compound Set 2:
Shrug
Rear Delt Raises
Arms Day: Pyramids:
Barbell Bicep Curl
Strait Bar Ext. Super Set 1:
DB Preach Curl
DB Tricep Kickback
Leg day was tough yesterday. I fell down some stairs on Wed. night, wearing slippery socks on hardwood floors not too bright . I really landed hard on my left glute near the tailbone. I made it though the dead lifts with a slightly lighter weight, but when it came to the squats, that left glute started getting angry so I swiched up to leg press and went moderate on the weight.
I took some pics but there was not much of a visible difference from the last pics I posted so I'm going to wait untill the end of the building phase to post new pics.
I've been doing the higher fat diet for almost a week and it is tougher than I thought, I feel a lot less hungry at meal times. I also feel like I may be gaining back some body fat, but it might be all in my head or it could be the extra cals from dropping the staggered low cal day combined with more isolation work in this routine. I'm going to do some measurments probably around Wed. of next week and if I really am I'll add back in that staggered days or maybe some low intensity aerobics to curb any fat gains. I know that I've got 9 weeks to lean out but the thought of gaining back fat at this point is not so favorable.
The left hip/glute is doing better, I was able to do yesterday's leg routine with no problems. I did still feel it where I landed on that step, but it wasn't too bad.
I've also been seeing good results from the Z-MASS. I find that I sleep much better since I've been taking it and the low testosterone symptoms have deminished.
Started the cutting phase this week. I got measured on Monday and I was at my highest weight since I started: 227.4 lbs, but my BF measurement went back up to 13%. Although that will have an asterisk next to it because I did a little partying on Sat night, so I think some of those skin folds were a little artifically bloated. Oh well just more to lose durring this phase. Took some pics will be posted soon.
So the workout program has simplified a bit, but the nutrition has gotten more complicated, and a lot less pleasent. Most of the week will be carb depleting with carb loading on the weekends. I will be eating this way for 5 weeks, oh yea, also NO DRINKING UNTILL JULY 4!
Mon - Wed daily macros:
Carbs: <50g
Protein: 400g
Fat: grams not specified, but there are 3 rules
1) red meat only once a day
2) 1 tbsp of Flax oil per day is required
3) 1 serving of nuts per day is allowed
other than that what ever fat is taken in in the persuit of protein is allowed. So far it is working out to be between 70-80g per day including the 3 rules.
Thur & Fri daily macros:
Carbs: 150-175g
(the extra carbs can only be taken in durring breakfast and post workout)
Protein: 300g
Fat: Same as Mon-Wed
Sat & Sun daily macros:
Carbs: 500g
(75% from starches, 25% from fruit or simple sugars)
Protein: 200g
Fat: same as Mon-Wed
I started this week on Tue so I'm counting that as Mon this week and dropping Thur. Which means that I just finished the 3 days of super low carbs. It kind of sucked eating 4 plain hamberger patties and 3 strawberries, but I've already noticed a major lose of water weight. I've dropped a whole belt loop in three days and I haven't stopped peeing dispite the fact that I haven't been drinking anymore water than usual.
Alright the workout is a 3 day split, super sets or tri sets, 10-12reps, 3-4sets: Chest & Back SS1
SB Piston Chest Press
1 arm Bent Over DB Row SS2
Alt Cable Fly
Lat Pull Down SS3
Strait Arm Pull Down
SB Pushup SS4
Incline Fly
Seated Row
Shoulders & Arms Tri Set 1
SB Piston Shoulder Press
Barbell Curl
Cable Ext
Tri Set 2
Alt. Lateral Raise
Dips
DB Preach Curl
Tri Set 3
Upright Row
Rope/Hammer Curl
Rope Tri Ext.
Legs SS1
Squat
Calf Raise SS2
Leg Press
ST Leg DL SS3
Side Lunge
Quad Ext SS4
Box Jump
Ham Curl
I will be lifting 5 days a week so the 3 day split will be rotated through different parts of the week each week, cardo will be 20-30min steady state on designated days and some optional days:
MonTueWedThurFriSatSun
Yes Yes Off Yes Yes Off Yes Lifting
Yes Yes Yes Opt Opt Off Off Cardio
So far I've done a couple of workouts on the low carb days and they were tough. The energy is just not there.
It's been about 4 weeks of cutting so far and I'm down about 10lbs. I'll have the offical weight, measurements, and pics next week after I meet with Tony.
The low carb days haven't been too bad, a little low on energy on those days, but overall I've been feeling good. I have been relying a little more on caffiene when I get really low. The carb loading weekends are good I fill out nicely by monday, but I was a little more bloated that I wanted to be, so I adjusted the carbs down from 500g to 450g, and brought the protein up from 200g to 250g last weekend and it worked well, so I'll finish off this cycle doing that.
Still have not had a single drink since starting the cutting phase, so at least I've proven not to be an alcoholic. I will however be getting trashed after all this is done.
As far as the training goes, I've stuck to the basic plan, I've been swapping out exercises throwing in more tri-sets to keep the muscles from getting bored. I've also upped the cardio a bit in the last week to help facilitate a little more fat loss going into the last cutting phase.
Still following along...looking fwd to seeing the progress photos...Ted
__________________
Two Bears Dadda? Two Bears Benno, just two. ______________________________ ___________
There are three things in my life which I really love: God, my family, and baseball. The only problem - once baseball season starts, I change the order around a bit. ~Al Gallagher, 1971
Well it's official, I've finally reached 10% body fat for, I think, the time in my life!!! And the good news is I managed to do it at 216lbs, that was on the third day of low carbing as well so I was probably down a few lbs of glycogen. My previous best was 12% @213lbs.
So now I'm in the final stretch. Workouts aren't going to change much, the splits will be the same, I will continue to mix and match exercises on the days. The only major difference is the volume. I will be adding a fourth set to everything. Also cutting out the cardio, except for the spin class I teach once a week. I also added creatine back into my supplement list to help with flat workouts and for the cell volumizing benefits.
Nutrition has changed. Tony is putting me on his eating plan that he uses leading up to shows, (adjusting for my body weight). I will be eating the same thing everyday except every 3rd day is a carb loading 6th meal.
Meal 5
Large salad: (4 cups Romaine, 1/4 green pepper, 1/4 cucumber, 1 small tomato)
6oz meat
1tbls Flax oil
2tbls Balsamic vinigar
Meal 6 (right before bed)
Protein Brownie (3 scoops of Bev Int Ultra Size mixed to brownie batter consistancy then mirowaved for about 40sec)
1tbls natural peanut butter
Every third day will be a carb load 6th meal.
1 1/2 cups of oatmeal
10oz Yam
1 medium banana
1tbls nat pb
2 caps R-ALA
It's been a week since I started the final phase. The last pics posted were 216lbs @10%. I'm now down to 213lbs. I'm not used to eating a 6th meal so it's a little strange to eat right before bed but it helps that it's the ptn brownie so it's kind of like desert, but for me I would rarely eat desert and if if I had desert it would be right after dinner not right before bed. I can't argue with the scale though, it's definetly working. I just get paranoid that I'm not loosing fat fast enough, it's easy to see how people can get that "starve yourself" mentality and end up eating up thier lean tissue.
Also added some new supplements to the mix. Figure that now's the time to use what I can when my diet and exercise is already maxed. First I switched up creatine to GNC's blend which includes Beta Alanine to boost Carnosine in muscle. I also decided to go to thermogenics and picked up some Hotrox Extreme based on Lost Dog's endorsement of it on some threads. So far so good. The combination of the two seems to have boosted my workouts and I am getting good next-day soreness again.
Coming up on what was suposed to be my final week, however I've been holding steady at about 211lbs for about a week and a half. I think I'm going to extend the cutting phase because despite the fact that I have still been getting leaner, these last few lbs of fat are proving to be a lot harder than I thought. I am happy with my progress so far, but I feel like I can still go further, there's still some low ab and love handle fat that I want gone. Overall muscle size/fullness has been holding steady and I'm seeing great definition in the upper abs and intercostals. I will be droping the evening protein brownie and going back to a 5 meal day at about 2000 cal for a while, and hopefully that extra calorie deficit will spur some loss.
Any tips from those who have been here would be greatly appreciated.
Hey, Brian! Thanks for stopping by my Log Seeing the change in your pictures is really inspiring! It gives me hope Unfortunately, I have no advice to give on your current situation--I'm the leanest I've ever been in my life, and I'm still flabby (as shown in my photos)! Your goal date is in just a few days, so best of luck getting to where you want to be!! I'll be checking back!
Been so busy I haven't been on the board in a while. Still keeping up with diet and workout though.
Azure: Thanks for the encouragement, keep up your good work.
So since I last posted, I met with Tony for a measurement. I weight in at 209! at 8%!! Finally single digits
That was two weeks ago and we decided not to really change much. On the diet end we moved the 6th meal carb load days to only Wed and Sat. That gives a 3 day and 4 day. Workouts are pretty much the same.
I've since weight in at 206lbs this past Sat. But then I went to a party, and since I was supposed to be done with dieting by this point I decided to give myself a little break. So Tony suggested that I take a two hour window at the party to eat/drink what every I wanted... and I definetly managed to pack a lot in.
The next day after drinking lots of water to feel better, I weighed 212 in the evening. I've been a bit bloated this week but being back on track with the diet has helped me get back to 207lbs as of this morning.
So the quest for 6% continues. And having blown off some steam this weekend I am feel recomited to my goals.
Body Building Exploratory Committee
. I really landed hard on my left glute near the tailbone. I made it though the dead lifts with a slightly lighter weight, but when it came to the squats, that left glute started getting angry so I swiched up to leg press and went moderate on the weight.
Linear Mode
