kinkoshinkai’s BodyBlog

Went north 4 1/2 hours to SLC for the Utah NPC Open.  I actually saw more muscle in the audience than on stage!  There were a few REALLY strong bodybuilders.  A huge 19 year-old that won the teen division.  The middle and heavy winners, as well as the over-all winner and runner-up were superb.  The figure competition had some really qualified ladies.  Last year, my home town girl that won and qualified for nationals did well there, placing 5th in her division (shout out to Janae Stewart!).  I think the class winners this year were splendid as well.

But the highlight, by far, was that Jay "Cuts" Cutler, aka Mr. "O" was the guest poser!!  He hasn’t been to Utah as a guest poser since 2001, and after being on the road every weekend all year so far, his stop in Utah sported the largest crowd he’s visited all year!  He looked great, and I got to meet him earlier in the day at the Gold’s Gym that sponsored the show.  HE’S HUGE!!!  He really put on a show that night, and made it well worth the long drive.  I got to take my 15 year-old son, too, for his first show, and a photo with Mr. "O".  A pretty cool day, all in all.  The coolest part about Jay being there was that he actually was a "fill-in" for the guy who was originally scheduled, but cancelled.  Jay had an opening and accepted the gig!  On what could be considered short notice, to "fill in", and be so gracious, in shape and such a gentleman speaks volumes to who he is as a representative of the sport!

I just measured my arms!!  Haven’t worked out today.  Just lounging around watching the NCAA games I’d taped yesterday.  Got the urge to check.  I’ve been adding an exercise for my triceps and biceps with only my left arm, since it is smaller.  I’ve concentrated a bit more on hammer curls and cambered bar curls to hit the brachialis on the side of my arms for more thickness, too.  And I’ve been trying to break the plateau in arm size I seemed to have hit. 

Today’s measurement, unpumped and in the morning - 16.75 on BOTH ARMS!!! Of course, that’s flexed.  They are also up to 16 inches JUST HANGING RELAXED!!

Yea!!!!!

The first week of my new split routing is under my belt.  It felt pretty good.  I backed off on a few things in order to keep my 20-25 sets in about an hour pace, not overtrain, be able to recover, etc.  But I hit each thing pretty hard still.  Chest feels pretty good.  I really hope I get some significant growth out of the next 12 weeks. 

It feels wierd to not go to the gym today, but I may go down on the Bowflex and my ab/pull-up rack and do something just to keep the metabolism kicking.  I’ll probably hit 5 or six sets of high rep leg extensions, some knee raises and resisted crunches while I watch the basketball games.  Kentucky’s game (my home state) having been postponed due to the Georgia storm weather is today.  BYU, my alma mater, is on.  And if Kentucky wins, a second game tonight.  If I’m training during the games, evel lightly, that’ll be better than sitting around eating ‘game day’ snacks.  

Weighed in at 220 with 16% BF yesterday, so I’m feeling pretty good.  Today is cheat day (movie popcorn w/o butter) usually, so if I train a bit, keep the progress going as it has been, I feel pretty good with that.

OK, my chest just has not been getting thicker like I’d like it to, and my bench is not improving substantially.  In my ongoing search for knowledge, I read the magazines, blogs, and web-sites.  Notably, of course, bodybuilding.com and Flex. All good information.  Flex obviously must be adjusted to the amateur, and caution to see which training protocols are for pre-contest, bulking, conditioning, whatever.  Trying to train like the pro’s without the professional diet, pharmaceuticals, etc. is counterproductive.  But, by the same token, there’s a lot to be learned from anyone who can get that big.  SO…..

I’m switching from a 5 day a week split, one body part per day, to a 4 day a week, 2 bodyparts, and hitting chest twice.  Mon - Chest/back,  Tues - Delts, traps/tri’s, Wed - legs(quads, hams, calves), Thurs - rest, Fri, Chest/biceps.  The protocol calls for abs, too, on chest days, but with limited gym time (I still try to keep it at around an hour) I hit abs as the mood hits and can do them at home anytime, or with cardio.  I still try to keep the intensity up, hitting 20 sets or so within the hour, but with the split this way, that also means fewer set per bodypart, so I have to hit each set extra hard!!  I plan a program for each day, but when I reach the hour mark (provided I haven’t lost focus, socialized, or otherwise slacked my intensity) I cut out rather than overtrain.  Gotta remember I’m not a 20 year old chippy who can eat pizza at will.

So, in 13 weeks, focusing on chest growth, we’ll see what I can achieve. 

Let me just begin by saying, I hate cardio.  That said, I love to play basketball, which is cardio when done properly, or even walk a golf course, which is sort of super-low intensity cardio (except for running after clubs I might throw or hiking into the hills to find my horrendous Tee shot).  But cardio for the sake of cardio, elipticals, treadmills, jog/walk, etc, NOT A FAN.

But… I DO want to keep fitting in my clothes.  I DO need to cycle my training periods, whether competing or not.  And with a family where eating ONLY perfect lean meals ALWAYS can be tough, it’s time in my training to add some cardio.  I have the elliptical in my room, and as long as something decent is on the TV, it goes by relatively smoothly.  I actually prefer that to even some outdoor cardio.  I don’t have to deal with car exhaust, vagueries of weather or street crossings, dogs barking, etc.  Sooo, starting this week, just 20 minutes per morning to start, low/medium intensity elliptical.  It fits well in the time between waking and sending the first wave of kids to the school bus. 

This is the ONLY change I’ll be making to my routine, so I should be able to determine pretty well how that one variable affects my BF%, how quickly and to what degree, given that diet, sleep, and weight training will remain constant.  I’ve not completely lost sight of my abs, though they are much softer, so before I lose sight of them entirely, this should be the right time for my cardio nemesis to join the training rotation.

I was hesitant to post my photos from today.  Granted, I’ve seen Jay Cutler, Branch Warren, and lots of other pros’ off season photos.  They are not akways tan and ripped.  Ane whatever I look like now, it’s a huge leap past where I started.  But still, having onlydieted down once, relinquishing my more toned self to public view is a shot in the chops.

I take comfort in the fact that I’ve put on mostly quality pounds in the last year, and calculating for body fat, I’ve put on 10-12 lbs of muscle since March nearly eleven months ago.  With only over the counter commercial proteins and supplements, and at age 48, I think that’s pretty good. 

So, chubbier or not, I post my photos in a phase of training that is totally new to me, bulking.

It’s interesting to me how some weeks I can really feel certain bady parts after a work-out, and other weeks, doing the same exercises, not so much.  I know that there are numerous vaiables, not the least of which are food, rest, supplementation, intensity, duration of training session, time of day, mood, etc.   But I think the thing that makes the single greatest difference in whether or not I really feel it is the mind muscle connection that is so frequently touted in bodybuilding circles.

I keep a pretty good log of my training, so I know how much I’m lifting and how long my sessions go and all that.  So I can see I’m gaining strength generally, adding a rep, more weight, and extra set, or some small progress nearly every session.  Yet, it’s when I’ve really had my focus on the exact muscle I want to hit, and truly concentrated on getting that specific muscle to go through a complete range of motion, stretching and fully contracting, and I KNOW during and after the workout that I’ve done that, I really can get a great pump and feel it for the next couple days. 

I still have trouble with the "letting my ego go" and taking a lighter weight in order to sometimes facilitate that connection, but when I do make the connection, the difference is massive in terms of the effects I feel in my body. 

Still learning and striving.

I received my acceptance letter today for the new Master’s degree program at Souther Utah University.  It’s a Master’s of Science in Sports Conditioning and Performance.  I’m excited, and hope it opens more dooors in personal training as well as working with local athletic teams in the High School or even collegiate level.    School starts this summer!!!!  (48 year old college guy!!)

Typically, on arm day, I superset bi’s and tri’s.  I’ve been doing it that way for about as long as I can remember.  Partly to save time, but also, figuring that any blood pumped into the area is good for the WHOLE area of my upper arms.

Today, partly because of recent reading, I decided to do bi’s first, finish them, and then do tri’s.  The other advice I tried was to limit smaller body parts like arms to 9 or 10 sets total.  I’ve usually done from 12-15 sets using either 4 or 5 exercises or 4 to 5 sets of fewer exercises.  The advice I’ve been seeing says that’s a bit of overkill that can lead to overtraining.  Lastly, I usually push EVERY set pretty hard using mostly the same weight for working sets, so the reps go something like 15, 12, 10, and 8 for a for set exercise, which is what most advice recommends.  But usually that is achieved by not going near failur on the first couple sets and then increasing the weight so that only the last set or maybe two approach and achieve failure.

So, today, fewer total sets and only 3 exercises for each part of the upper arm, and bi’s first before tri’s.  Verdict - I think I like the lover volume, but I didn’t like the non-superset.  I still finished 22 sets in under an hour, so the intensity was good.  But I didn’t feel the complete tight skin burst like I usually do, and I missed it.  I think I’ll go back to a slightly lighter set first, then up to my "training" weight without going to failure but still pushing it, and then failure on the last set or two.  I stay pretty well in the working rep range that way.  AND, supersetting arm day is my preferred way to go, based on today’s feeling.  I’ve consistently increased in strength, measured last week my largest pumped-arm circumference to date, and over the last two years added 2 inches to my arm overall, or an inch a year which I think is pretty good.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.