Old Navy 
"After winning my 4th Pro Card at the 2009 NPA Nationals and Masters Universe in North Carolina on July 18, I am taking some time off from competiting to add 5-8 pounds of lean mass for my next Pro Show in 2010."
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Archive for April, 2007
Monday, April 30th, 2007
Monday, April 30, 2007 - 12 Days Until My First Pro Show
Body Weight: 155.8 Contest Goal: 150.0
News Flash
I have decided to compete this Saturday in the NPC Vulcan Classic in Birmingham, Alabama. Quite a few of my gym budds are competing in this non Pro-Qualifier and I feel it will be a great warm-up show for my Natural Pro debut a week later in Salt Lake City, Utah. I will compete in the Men’s Master 50+ and Men’s Master 60+ Classes. So, I am now in a final week contest prep mode. This will be my first show since I won my Master Pro Card in Toronto last November. I’m pumped.
Today I did an upper body, core workout with 6-8 rep sets of heavy weights, followed by a moderate cardio session. I will do more cardio this evening and complete a couple of practice posing rounds.
Posted in Training
Saturday, April 28th, 2007
Saturday, April 28, 2007 - Exactly Two Weeks From Today I Will Be On Stage In My First Pro Contest
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I weighed 155.0. Contest weight goal is 150.0 I’m looking hard and vascular
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I can’t think of a better way to spend part of my birthday than working out in preparation for a bodybuilding competition. I was focused, energetic and driven. With two weeks to go until the 2007 NGA Olympic Gold Junior Pro Championship in Salt Lake City, Utah, I don’t have any time to waste, and I didn’t waste any.
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Today I did Lactate-inducing lifting. It was incredible. I was drained after this workout.
Lactate-inducing lifting
The objective of a lactate-inducing session is to stimulate growth hormone release (as well as burn a lot of calories for fuel) via a whole-body lactate production. The more the numbers of muscles are involved in the process, the more effective the session will be. So in that regard, here are the guidelines:
1. Work the whole body
2. Minimize rest-intervals (or maximize the work-to-rest ratio)
3. Use sets lasting 50-70 seconds (12-20 reps)
4. Alternate exercises for muscle groups that are far away from each other and “unrelated”
CIRCUIT A: (12-15 reps per set)
A1. Bench Press - 15 x 150
A2. Hack Squat - 15 x 235
A3. Cable Row - 15 x 125
A4. Leg Curl - 15 x 125
A5. Knee Raise 15 x each knee
No rest between exercises within the circuit (or as little as possible). Perform the circuit three times.
CIRCUIT B (15-20 reps per set)
B1. Push press - 20 x 125 pounds
B2. Lunge 20 x 130
B3. Close grip chin 20 (some rest to get them all done)
B4. Dead Lift 20 x 140
B5. Incline Sit Up - 20
No rest between exercises within the circuit (or as little as possible). Perform the circuit three times.
CIRCUIT C — (15-20 reps per set)
C1. Dumbbell Curl - 20 x 25
C2. Calve raise - 25 x 300
C3. Triceps Extension 20 x 50
C4. Crunch on Exercise Ball 20
C5. Upright Row 20 x 100
No rest between exercises within the circuit (or as little as possible). Perform the circuit three times.
After the Circuits, I ended the session with 30 minutes of moderate cardio, designed to blow off the built up lactic acid. After I returned home, I did a practice posing session. I will do a couple more practice posing sessions during the weekend.
Posted in Training
Thursday, April 26th, 2007
Thursday, April 26, 2007 - 15 Days Until I Check In at My First Pro Show
I weighed 155.6. Contest Goal is 150.0
Heavy lifting
The objective of the heavy lifting portion of this training is maintenance or even an increase in muscle mass while in a fat loss phase. I have two heavy lifting sessions per week.
Day 1: Chest and Back
Day 2: Quads and Ham strings
This was Quads and Ham strings Day + some Calves
A1. Leg press - 6 x 300 Pounds
No rest
A2. Full Squats - 8 x 235 Pounds
Two minutes of rest, and then I moved on to…
B1. Stiff leg dead lift - 6 x 185 Pounds
No rest
B2. Leg curl - 8 x 125 Pounds
Two minutes of rest then I got back to A1. I Performed each superset 5 times
C1. Calf raise - 300 pounds (seated machine)
5 sets of 25 reps (I did one 25 rep set after each A + B cycle)
I did 50 abs chunches and then tried to do a practice posing session, but ran out of gas. Whew!
Posted in Training
Tuesday, April 24th, 2007
Tuesday, April 24, 2007 - 17 Days Until My First Pro Show Check In.
Today I did Lactate-inducing lifting. It was incredible. I was drained after this workout.
Lactate-inducing lifting
The objective of a lactate-inducing session is to stimulate growth hormone release (as well as burn a lot of calories for fuel) via a whole-body lactate production. The more the numbers of muscles are involved in the process, the more effective the session will be. So in that regard we respect these guidelines:
1. Work the whole body
2. Minimize rest-intervals (or maximize the work-to-rest ratio)
3. Use sets lasting 50-70 seconds (12-20 reps)
4. Alternate exercises for muscle groups that are far away from each other and “unrelated”
CIRCUIT A: (12-15 reps per set)
A1. Bench Press
A2. Hack Squat
A3. Cable Row
A4. Leg Curl
A5. Knee Raise
No rest between exercises within the circuit (or as little as possible). Perform the circuit two times.
CIRCUIT B (15-20 reps per set)
B1. Push press
B2. Lunge
B3. Close grip chin
B4. Dead Lift
B5. Incline Sit Up
No rest between exercises within the circuit (or as little as possible). Perform the circuit two times.
CIRCUIT C - (15-20 reps per set)
C1. Dumbbell Curl
C2. Calve raise
C3. Triceps Extension
C4. Crunch on Exercise Ball
C5. Upright Row
No rest between exercises within the circuit (or as little as possible). Perform the circuit two times.
The lactate-inducing sessions are performed twice a week; they should not be performed before a heavy lifting session to avoid a decrease in performance. Limit strength is something that cannot be trained efficiently in a fatigued state.
After the Circuits, I ended the session with 30 minutes of moderate cardio, designed to blow off the built up lactic acid. Whew!
Posted in Training
Monday, April 23rd, 2007
Monday, April 23, 2007 - 18 Days Until Check In At My First Pro Show
Body Weight: 157 (I put on a few pounds over the weekend at the OCB Sprit of America) - Target 150
Heavy lifting Day
The objective of the heavy lifting portion of this training plan is maintenance or even an increase in muscle mass while in a fat loss phase. The plan calls for two heavy lifting sessions per week.
Day 1: Chest and Back
Day 2: Quads and Hamstrings
Chest and Back Weight Training
A1. Incline Dumb Bell press - 6 x 60 pound dumb bells
No rest
A2. Dumb Bell Flies 8 x 40 pound dumb bells
Take 2 minutes of rest, and then move on to…
B1 Medium Grip Chins 1 X 10 (full reps)
No rest
B2. Machine Lat Pull Downs 8 x 120 pounds
Take 2 minutes of rest then get back to A1. Perform each superset FIVE times.
C1. Dumb Bell Curls 3 x 6 x 30
D1. Triceps Rope Pull Downs 3 x 6 x 70
After the weight training, I did 100 slant board crunches, 200 skip ropes and a practice posing session, where I worked on my symmetry, mandatory rounds and individual posing routine.
This was a great workout.
Posted in Training
Sunday, April 22nd, 2007
Sunday, April 22, 2007
I just want to say how awesome it was to be a judge at this year’s OCB Spirit of America Bodybuilding and Figure IFPA Pro Qualifier Championship in Plymouth, Massachusetts on Saturday. Last year I competed in this contest and this year, I watched it from a totally different perspective. There were 88 athletes competing. My report card is good, as my scores were very much in line with the consensus. It was a great learning experience for me as a competitor. I have now judged shows in the FAME SNBF and the OCB Federations. I have been asked to judge a NGA show in a couple of months. I know this experience will impact how I compete in future contests and I’m grateful for the opportunity to learn more about our sport.
Posted in Training
Thursday, April 19th, 2007
Thursday, April 19, 2007 - 22 Days Until I Check In For My First Pro Show
I weighed 155.0 - Contest goal 150.0
Today was Legs and Calves day. I did three sets of couplets (supersets with no rest) of the following:
Machine Leg Press - 3 x 8 x 300 pounds
Lunges - 3 x 8 x 150 pounds
Squats - 3 x 8 x 285 pounds
Ham Curls - 3 x 8 x 125 pounds
Extensions - 3 x 8 x 150 pounds
Seated Calf Raises - 150 pounds (3 sets of 25 reps seated + 3 sets of 25 reps standing)
Then I did 30-minutes of stationary bike, 100 abs crunches and a practice posing session. I’m feeling strong.
Tomorrow morning (Friday) I leave Birmingham at 6 AM in route to Providence, RI, to then drive to Plymouth, Massachusetts to see my Coach, Sean, “Sully” Sullivan and to help him with his show, the OCB Spirit of America, on Saturday.
Posted in Training
Wednesday, April 18th, 2007
Wednesday, April 18, 2007, 23 Days Until I Check In For My First Pro Show
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Today was a non-weight training day and I dedicated my time to practice posing and cardio. I went through a hard pump up and then two complete contest rounds of hitting and holding all of my poses. I ended the session with 30-minutes of moderate cardio. I will practice my posing each day until the contest. It’s the only way I can be sure I will be able to be on stage for what ever length of time is required without shaking or losing my form.
Posted in Training
Tuesday, April 17th, 2007
Tuesday, April 17, 2007 - 24 Days Until My First Pro Show Weigh In
I weighed 156.0 - Target Weight is 150.0
Lactate-inducing lifting
The objective of a lactate-inducing session is to stimulate growth hormone release (as well as burn a lot of calories for fuel) via a whole-body lactate production. The more the numbers of muscles are involved in the process, the more effective the session will be. So in that regard I respected these guidelines:
1. Work the whole body
2. Minimize rest-intervals (or maximize the work-to-rest ratio)
3. Use sets lasting 50-70 seconds (12-20 reps)
The specific exercises I did for this session are listed in a prior post. I completed three cycles of three sets of high reps of several exercises, alternating between upper and lower body. Then, I did a moderate 30- minute cardio workout to burn off the lactate acid buildup.
I was wasted after this session.
Posted in Training
Monday, April 16th, 2007
Monday, April 16, 2007 - 25 Days Until My Pro Show Weigh In
Body Weight: 156.0 - Target Weight: 150.0
The Shark – The Predator Workout and Diet
The workouts:
To maximize fat loss we’ll need four different types of training. These four aspects of our fat loss training approach are:
1. Heavy lifting
2. Lactate-inducing lifting
3. Aerobic work
4. Anaerobic alactic energy systems work
Heavy lifting
The objective of the heavy lifting portion of our training is maintenance or even an increase in muscle mass while in a fat loss phase. You should have two heavy lifting sessions per week.
Day 1: Chest and Back
Day 2: Quads and Hamstrings
Today’s workout looked like this:
A1. Incline DB press
6 reps x 60 pound dumbbells
No rest (or 10 sec. to change exercises)
A2. Dumb Bell Flies
8 reps x 40 pound dumbbells
Take 2 minutes of rest, and then move on to…
B1. Weighted Chins
6 reps x 25 pound plate
No rest
B2. Bent over rows
8 reps x 75 pounds
Take 2 minutes of rest then get back to A1.
Perform each superset 5 times. Then add:
C1. Curls
3 sets of 6 reps x 30 pound dumb bells
D1. Press downs
3 sets of 6 reps x 70 pounds
I followed this workout with a 30 minute HITT Cardio session of 20 second speed splits at 10 degrees elevation and 8.0 speed on the tread mill, followed by 10 minutes of cool down. I ended today with practice posing of symmetry and mandatory rounds.
Posted in Training
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