mrdead’s BodyBlog

As you can see, I’ve added a pre-contest area. I’m right at 9 weeks, and it’s "Crunch time"!

Morning cardio 45 min, fast paced, hill infested walk.

Back/rear delt/biceps

All exercises today, done wth 3 sets of 30

Close grip front pull-downs

Wide grip front pull-downs

Seated row machine alternate 3 sets of close and wide grips

Low seated cable row

High seated cable row (rear delts)

One arm Hammer Strength Machine rows

Reverse cable crossovers

Barbell curls

Incline dumbell curls

Spider curls

Overhead cable curls

Preacher curls

Calf machine shrugs (Sets of 10, incrementing plates by 2-3, until stack weight is reached)

10×10’s for chest/back and biceps/triceps

Posing

Tonight 45 min walk, as above, after work.

Last night was legs.

Leg extensions: 4 sets of 20 (Warm-up)

Leg Press Machine: 1 set of 20, 1 set of 15, 2 sets of 10 (Increase weight by 2 pins, each set)

Leg Extensions: 1 set of 20, 1 set of 15, 2 sets of 10, 1 set of 100. (Yes, that’s 1 set of 100 reps) Increase weight each set, and drop it down for the 100.

Leg press (Plate-loaded) 1 set of 20, 1 set of 15, 2 sets of 10 (Add a plate on each side, each set)

Hack Squats: 4 sets of 10

Lying Hamstring curls: the usual 20, 15, 10, and 10

Seated Hamstring curls: same as above

Calf raises: As above, but add 1 set of 100 reps at the end

Seated calf raises: As above.

10×10’s (Isometric contractions of 10 sets 10 seconds each) for hams and quads

Poses

30 min on treadmill.

Okay. I went to Applebee’s for a friend’s birthday. I was good, and drank my water. And, I saw that they had a "Weight Watcher’s" portion of their menu. I looked, and saw that there was a plate of steak, mushrooms, steamed baby potatoes, and broccoli. It was only 10 grams of fat, not that many carbs, and had actual meat. All this for the bargain price of $9.99. So, I order this, and eagerly await my meal, quite pleased that I found something that wouldn’t totally blow my diet. Then, reality hit me, as I see my plate approaching me. The steak took an actual 4 bites to eat. and 3 bites apiece for the broccoli and potatoes. $9.99 for an entire 10 bites of food! I was fiinished waaaay before everyone else, and still starving. Note to self: Just eat my tuna or chicken breast beforehand, and just drink my water. Don’t even consider ordering anything off their menu, because I’ll spend a bit of money, to still be starving, and watching other people eat their food, anyhow!

Any help and advice for pre-contest prep is very welcome. But down to my questions. Any ideas for a great hair removal system? What is the best coloring system to use? When do you start to carb load, instead of deplete? When do you start increasing and then decreasing water intake? How much posing oil is enough? Can I trust a mail order suit to fit? Buy one or two posing suits? I’m totally new to all of this, but D-Day is in just over 9 weeks, and I want to have all my ducks in a row, beforehand. So any advice or past experiences would be more than welcome!

Thanks in advance,

Chris (A.K.A.) Mr. Dead

I’m on my third day of 75 grams of carbs and twice a day cardio. Been feeling extremely drained, but I’ve been told that it will pass in a few days. After keeping better track of my nutrition, I’ve found out, that I need to give up my one true love. Peanut butter. I’m one of those people that can sit there, and down a jar of it, and not even think twice. I used to get 4 PBand J sandwiches in my lunch at school. But, after seeing the fat content and carb content, I must forego this childhood friend, until after my contest. Because, at this point, I can’t afford any self-sabotage or setbacks. I’ve come too far to turn back now. Sorry, just had to get my farewell to peanut butter over with.

This weekend, I went to a posing class, to learn, and not look like an ass on stage. It was an extremely educational experience. Especially after learning that every time I thought I was hitting a pose, in the past, I wasn’t anywhere near correct! *L*  And, I now have a complete and total respect for anyone that hits the stage for a physique contest. It takes serious endurance and conditioning to keep those poses up, for that period of time. I also got a lot of good nutritional info, and had the opportunity to visit with some of my fellow bodyspace members. So look out, come August 11th, I’ll be hitting my poses with total crispness!