Road to Victory

I don’t know if anyone else has read the Weider books, but I recently decided I was going to try and expand my ribcage in an effort to make my chest cavity bigger. According to the book, a good way to do this is to superset breathing squats with breathing pullovers. 25 reps per set.

Honestly, the book even tells you to use a light weight, no more than bodyweight, but in all honesty I think my legs are still too weak to do that, because the instructions are thus:

1. Get in starting position with the weight for breathing squats.

2. Take three deep breaths, making sure to completely fill and empty your lungs.

3. Hold the third breath and descend, only exhaling when you are halfway erect.

4. Repeat the procedure up to rep #10, then switch to four breaths up to rep 20. Switch to five breaths up to rep 25.

5. Take advantage of how breathless you are and take a shoulder width grip on a light barbell (only 25-30 lbs, but that’s still too much for me) and inhale deeply and slowly as you slowly do your first rep. Only exhale when you complete the rep. Do this 25 times.

I guess the problem I was having was that I was probably doing too much weight to even attempt the breathing squats, though the pullovers were no problem. Apparently even 145 lbs. is too much for me so next time I’m doing it with 95 lbs. in an effort to see if 1) my arms won’t numb out before rep 10, and 2) if I can actually follow through to 25 reps.

Anyone else tried this technique? If so, what was your opinion on its effectiveness?

This is mainly for impumpingiron, who was wondering what my meal plan was. I’d like to believe that I eat really, really damn clean but I guess I’ll leave that up to you guys. I welcome any criticisms about my diet and if anyone should feel I need to improve, know that your opinion will at least be taken into respectful consideration. Here it is:

6 AM - Upon Waking

Low Fat Yogurt w/ fruit (for fructose)

1 scoop of  Muscle Milk (Chocolate Milk) with 8 oz skim milk.

7-7:30 AM - Meal 2

2-3 egg whites

1 bowl Kashi Go Lean Crunch w/ milk (a LITTLE soy never hurt anyone too badly)

OR

1 bowl Cranberry Almond Crunch (sans soy, still complex carbs)
app. 1-2 cups of skim milk

9:15/30 - Meal 3 / Snack

1 All Bran honey and oat bar

1 cup skim milk

11:15-12:00 - Meal 4

3-4 slices cajun turkey w/two slices of Rudi’s Organic Wheat & Oat bread (sandwich)

2 cups skim milk

2-3 servings of Kashi 7 grain crackers

handful or blueberries/raspberries

1/4-1/2 bottle of RTD Isopure (optional)

1:30 - Meal 5

1 All Bran honey and oat bar / Detour protein bar

3:00 - Meal 6 (preworkout)

1 banana / 1 apple

5:15-5:30 - Meal 7 (postworkout)

2 scoops Xyience XM2/Muscle Milk w/ 10 oz water (I’m well aware of the fats in these products)

1/4-1/2 bottle RTD Isopure

7:00 - Meal 8

Protein Source (varies from salmon, chicken, beef or pork, app. 30 gram serving)

2-4 cups skim milk

2 servings grilled or boiled vegetables (or fresh if possible)

1 serving carbs (rice, noodles, etc. postworkout white noodles are best I feel)

9:30-10:00PM - Before Bed

1 scoop Muscle Milk w/ 8 oz. skim milk

app. 1/2-1 serving of low fat cottage cheese

Keep in mind that this diet is not set in stone and there are times when I feel that cheating is a necessary evil. I am well aware that my diet seems devoid of many fruits and vegetables but in my defense I usually from time to time eat raspberries and blueberries over the span of the entire day, especially when I’m at home doing nothing.

I try to keep fats low but as the fats in Muscle Milk and XM2 are MCT’s (assuming they actually do burn more for energy) I feel that I am fine. I haven’t noticed any noticeable dirty weight gain within a span of 2-3 months.

Once again, comments and criticisms are greatly welcomed. I am always willing to learn more (since I do that every day within the bounds of this sport anyway)!

I’m on my first day of rest after my back to back stint of lifting and I’m feeling pretty good. Just had a protein shake and some yogurt to start the day off.

One of the things I’ve been thinking about for a little while is having other people seriously criticize me for what weaknesses I have (from the front side at least for now). I know I need to upload a few other photos showing my back and the side, as well as my legs, but for now I’d still like to see what other people think I need to greatly improve on.

I’ve already decided for myself that I need to work the inner and upper pecs a bit more. IT’s not as evident in my profile photo but I can tell I have better outer definition, simply because all I’ve done for quite a while is the flat bench; flyes and incline kind of went by the wayside for a little while (but I’m bringing ‘em back for good measure).

So please tell me what you think I need to improve on and I’ll definitely appreciate it.