12 more weeks till showtime!

[18gauge]

So im just over 12 weeks out from my second show and decided i would like to keep a workout/diet log of the things im doing during this time. here is a farily typical day in terms of diet-
Meal 1- half cup oats and 8 ounces 93% lean ground beef
meal 2- 8 onces chicken breast and vegetables or protein shake (varies depending on my schedule)
meal 3- 8 ounces of chicken and vegetables
meal 4- third of a cup of grits with 50g protein from egg whites
workout- on heavy back and leg day i have 30g dextrose and 10g bcaas during workout
meal 5- 1/2 cup to 1 cup white rice with 8 ounces chicken or lean beef (carb quantity depends on muscle group worked)
meal 6- varies. sometimes 75g casein, or 6 whole eggs plus 25g protein from egg whites
protein is pretty constant around 325-350g per day
carbs vary- between 100-200g per day, depending on what im working out.
i dont really add up my fat intake, i just tend to increase it when im extremely hungry

i only take one day off lifting per week and on that day i only eat carbs in my first meal of the day
one day a week i do a refeed where i drop the protein slightly and increase the carbs to 75-100g per meal for my first 5 meals

workout schedule is like this

[18gauge]

typical workout schedule-
monday back and hams- focus on rowing/ deadlifts
tues quads- volume day
wed shoulders and tris
thurs back- focus on pulldowns and pullovers
fri quads hams- heavy day
sat chest and bis
sun off

this is not set in stone. i lift very instinctively and im nursing a bad left rotator cuff, so things get switched around from time to time. also every third to fourth week i will only do one back or one leg workout. this is when my knees/ shoulders are really starting to hurt. as of right now im doing abs once a week and calves every time they arent sore.

[18gauge]

so today was supposed to be leg day, but this happens to be a week that my knees were hurting so hams and calves only.
after a warm up i did-
4 supersets of seated leg curls (10reps) and laying leg curls (15reps)
barbell stiff legs worked up to 315 3 sets of 8 and 2 sets of 225 for 15
hyperextensions focusing on hams 3 sets 15 reps
calves- i had a minor pull of my left gastroc last week so i was using lighter weight and higher reps
5 sets seated raises with 2 plates with 15-20 sec between sets
single leg calf raises on leg press- 2 plates per side sets of 8, 6 sets total
superset calf raise on leg press (3 plates per side) with seated raises (one plate) to failure. did this 3 times with no break between

[admin]

18gauge what show are you targeting? Looking forward to tracking your progress to show time, any pics to share?

[PillarofBalance]

Contest log? Kick ass- I'm definitely in on this one!

[18gauge]

its the NPC michigan on may 12. I will get some pics up in a couple days and will post weekly progress pics as well. Now its time to go hit chest and Bis.

[18gauge]

i almost forgot, cardio is done in the AM 6 days a week. i like the bike and treadmill for this- trying to keep the HR between 130-140. usually go for 40 min. also doing the stairmaster postworkout for about 20 min. this will be increased to about 1 hour in the AM and 30 min postworkout if needed

[18gauge]

chest workout-
-incline dumbells 85 pounds(8reps) superset with incline smith machine with just 45's on the bar (20 reps) 4 total supersets. this one starts out easy but gets difficult in a hurry. rest less than a minute

-incline hammer strength superset (8reps) with incline flies (15 reps). 4 sets total, minimal rest, and varied the grip on hammer the strength starting wide and ending narrow

-3 sets on the fly machine (reps-20, 16,15). went really light on this and holded the contraction for count with each rep. again, changed hand placement each time

-flat smith machine bench 3 sets. positioned the bar so it came down to the lower part of my neck. at this point my chest if fried, only using 45 pound plates on each side. went to failure on each set. was getting some really funny looks from people during this, i dont think people expect a guy my size to struggle with that little weight.

Biceps- the first exercise i saw on the new FST-7 video that a friend let me borrow, so i decided to give it a go!

cambered bar curls- i did 5 sets of this and i think that was plenty. 90 pound bar, 10 full reps followed by 2 negatives followed by 5 partial reps. minimal rest between sets

incline dumbell curls- 3 sets of 12

cable curls- went really light on this and did 5 reps then a 5 second static hold at the midpoint of th movement, 5 more reps then 5 second static hold at the lower third of the movement, 5 more reps and a 5 second static hold at the top third

dumbell hammer curls- 3 sets of 10 with 55's

heading back to the gym in about 30 min to go do my hour of cardio

[ritch]

cool log! need more letters for 10 characters...

[18gauge]

today is my off day for the week. ate very low carbs today and increased the fat slightly. only carbs came from vegetables and almonds. i cant wait to get cardio over with and get some carbs in me tomorrow.

so i have been dieting hard for about 5 weeks now, and im just under 3 months out. today was the first day i woke up feeling GREAT, meaning i really feel like im headed in the right direction. feeling huge and the cuts are certainly coming in. will put pics up shortly

[PillarofBalance]

Nice chest routine... I like the super sets at the beginning. Good way to trash everything in a brief period of time. Always good for some kick ass pumps.

[18gauge]

POB- yeah that really helps me not have to lift heavy. My left shoulder is always in pain after chest day, but the lighter i go the less pain there is. luckily my chest is not a weak point

[18gauge]

Time for some cardio!!! (if i act act excited about it maybe it wont suck as much)

[18gauge]

so one of the reasons i really enjoy competing is that i get this drive to make myself better in any way possible. so this prep i am trying to focus on what i believe are week points for me. so fompared to my last show i want to imporve-
#1 back width
#2 hamstrings/glutes (which i think will come with better conditioning)
#3 calves- i ruptured my left achilles in 2006. as bad as my right calf is the left is even worse than the right!
-of course im trying to improve everything but these are the areas i think need it the most
Any tips or tricks from anyone would really be appreciated

[ritch]

I love to help people when I can, but don't think during contest prep you can make much improvements. The exception would be the guy who was cruising, then decides to go on a big ass blast... Off season is the time to improve, during prep time time, you're looking to maintain what you have and lose the fat.

But splitting back into a width and thickness day to their own is the best way to improve on either or both. I will never train my back any other way again.