MisterJC’s BodyBlog

This is easy…competition. There is no better motivator in my mind than competition, good and healthy competition, not cutthroat competition. I know that when it comes to stepping on stage, especially now that I am a pro, there is no room for error, and that is a pretty big motivator. What some people may not realize is that a bodybuilding competition victory starts years in advance. You can’t expect to get serious about a show 2-3 months out and be the victor. As such the motivation of competition extends deep into the off-season when you are going after those big gains. It continues and perhaps amplifies once the contest diet begins (even though the off season diet should be controlled as well), and crescendos all the way up to the day of the show.

It is not uncommon for me to think about a competitor whose physique I admire as I am getting ready to perform a big lift. Thinking that they are likely doing the same thing or perhaps more tends to light a fire under my ass, if I don’t push myself outside of my comfort zone, then I know with certainty that I will be disappointed come the day of the show. It is mandatory for me to leave zero doubt in my mind that there was anything else I could have done to prepare better for a competition.

At times the competitor that drives me under that bar is a familiar one. I am my own toughest critic; I am constantly striving for some level of improvement in the gym and with my physique. So when getting under that squat bar, or strapping in and preparing for a big deadlift, I will often times take a long look at myself and commit to something more than I had done on the previous lift.

Life is about striving for improvement, pushing yourself past that point where you feel comfortable, and achieving something that you may have thought was unattainable, and doing so without any doubt of success. That notion itself can be a pretty powerful motivator.

Last weekend while I was in Buffalo to help some friends compete, I managed to squeeze in a pretty sweet leg workout that I haven’t posted up on here yet. Yesterday, a week later, I did another leg workout. Both were awesome, as I am typing this I can feel the soreness throughout the entirety of my legs and glutes. Both however where different from the other in style. The workout in Buffalo was a higher volume workout focused mainly on muscle hypertrophy, whereas the workout I did yesterday was focused on increasing strength. Both have their place in the bodybuilders training regime, the key is to know when to incorporate the different types of workouts.

High Volume Workout.
Warm up - 3 sets of squats with increasing weight (reps kept at 20 per set)

Giant Set
- Squat 225 x 20
- Lunge 40 lb Dumbbells x 10 steps each leg
- Prone Leg Curl 100 x 10
- Lunge 40 lb Dumbbells x 6 steps each leg
- Hack Squat 45 lb plate each side x 15 reps

Repeat that rotation 4 times
This should cause your heart to race as though you just sprinted a 5K!!

Superset
- Leg Extension heavy x 15 reps
- Leg Curl heavy x 12-15 reps

Repeat this rotation 4 times

Granted as far as "high volume" leg workouts go, this isnt the most volumous (is that even a word!!??), but after the first giant set I think you will find that you are toast. In the past I had done workouts consisting of 3-4 sets of 225 for 20 reps on the squat and was spent, now try adding all the rest of that onto it with no rest! The key is to pick weights that will make you have to dig deep. I found that by the second set of 225 for 20 on the squat that I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to make the full 20 reps. So you can imagine how I felt on the 3rd and 4th set!

Strength Workout
Warm up - 3 sets squats

Exercise 1
Squat - 7 sets total after warm up
225 x 15
275 x 12
315 x 6
365 x 5
385 x 5
405 x 3
405 x 3
315 x 12

Exercise 2
Dumbbell Walking Lunges
60 lb DBs x 10 steps each leg
70 lb DBs x 8 steps each leg
80 lb DBs x 6 steps each leg
80 lb DBs x 6 steps each leg
85 lb DBs x 5 steps each leg
85 lb DBs x 5 steps each leg

SuperSet 1
Leg Extension ss Prone Leg curl
3 total sets increasing weight each time.
reps kept between 6-10 on each.
All sets to failure.