snagency’s BodyBlog

Ah, supplements.  Aside from proper real food, a bodybuilder’s best friend.  The mistress in my life, according to the wife.  I do love ‘em!  There are sooo many choices out there, products that claim this & that, what’s a fella to do?

Sometimes I feel like a lab rat when I look back at all the supps I’ve experimented with.  The anal side of me enjoys the process… the wallet, on the other hand, screams at me from time to time.  But trying out so many different things over the years has given me a certain perspective on what works & what doesn’t (for me anyway), and here I’ll lay out what does the trick.  I’ll combine past experience with new, as I am trying some new things for this contest prep that I am extremely excited about.

Hardcore contest prep started January 21st, and the supp format that I’ll outline is for the period from that date to February 15th (basically first 4 weeks of prep), at which time I’ll make a few changes and update then.  Timing is displayed for my schedule, as I work out about 2 hours after my 1st meal (within 3 hours of waking).

Upon waking: 1 gram L-Carnitine, 1 gram Acetyl L-Carnitine, 5 grams BCAA’s (AST), 5 tabs Density (Beverley International), 2 caps I-GH-1 (LG Sciences, gh booster), 3 caps Speed (LG Sciences)     NOTES: the carnitine combo w/ BCAA is a great way to get the fat-loss going for the day, as well as jump-starting positive nitrogen balance after nighttime sleep; I like to take my metabolism/pre-workout energy booster here to get the day cracking (Speed).

15 minutes prior to Meal #1: 1 cap Anabolic Pump (USPlabs).  See yesterday’s post about this serious body recomp product - great pump all day long.

Meal #1: 1 Super Pak (Beverly Int.) or 1 Animal Pak (Universal), 3 grams fish oil, 500 mcg Chromium Picolinate     NOTES: I alternate the Super Pak with the Animal Pak as my daily multi-vitamin, because I like them both.

45 minutes prior to training: 3 caps White Blood (Controlled Labs).  Preworkout nitric oxide booster

30 minutes prior to training: 1 scoop Purple Wraath (Controlled Labs), 10 grams micronized Creatine (AST), 10 grams Glutamine (VPX).   This is my preworkout "shake"

Immediately prior to training: 1 scoop Purple Wraath, 7 grams BCAA caps (AST) 

Immediately after training: 1 scoop Purple Wraath, 7 grams BCAA caps (AST), 5 tabs Density (Bev. Int.)

15 minutes following training: 1 cap Anabolic Pump

30 minutes following training: w/ postworkout shake (Meal #2) - 400 mg COQ10, 1 gram vitamin C, 500 mg vitamin E, 5000 mcg Biotin, 10 grams micronized Creatine (AST), 10 grams Glutamine (VPX)

15 minutes prior to Meal #3: 1 cap Anabolic Pump

Mid-afternoon: 3 caps White Blood, 2 caps I-GH-1

15 minutes prior to Meal #4: 1 cap Anabolic Pump

With Meal #4: 2nd Animal Pak (if taking those multi’s for that day; if I take the Beverly multi earlier instead, I’ll supplement with 1 gram vitamin C & 500 mg vitamin E with this meal).

With Meal #6: 3 grams fish oil.

Bedtime: 3 caps ZMA (Beverly Int.), 1 gram L-Carnitine, 1 gram Acetyl L-Carnitine, 5 grams BCAA’s (AST).

I’ll also take 6 Ultra 40 tabs (Beverly Int.) with every meal during this time, and currently I am using Scivation’s Anagen (2 caps w/ meals #1,3 &5) for ecdysterone.  Out of all the supps listed, only Anagen has the jury still out.  Not convinced this is doing much, and I think the company has discontinued it.  I just happened to have some at the time, decided to throw it in there.

Workout #3 today before the off-day in the cycle:  BACK/ARMS

BACK: Heavy Rows  warm-up, then 5 setsx6 (90 sec. rest)

Front Pulldown:  5 setsx25/20/15/10/10 (all max. weight, 90 sec. rest)

Cable Row: 3×12 (60 sec. rest)

ARMS: Dips  4xmax reps (bodyweight, 60 sec. rest)

Triceps Pushdowns  4×12-15 (60 sec. rest)

Standing Barbell Curl  6×20/16/12/8/8/15 (all max. weight, 90 sec. rest)

Alternate Dumbbell Curl  4×12-15 (60 sec. rest)

Tomorrow is the off-day in the routine, but I’ll do my cardio here (1/2 hr. HIIT) and throw in 6-8 sets of abs.  Cardio is not a big part of my precontest plan; the last 3-4 weeks I’ll throw in sprints to bring out leg definition, but I usually only do 2 sessions of cardio a week at this point.

As I stated at the beginning of this blog, the diet format I’m using now is totally new to me.  While it may look the norm to a lot of you, it’s a whole new animal for me, and I’m still adjusting to it.  The first & foremost goal the last 4 years has been to be as shredded as I could be, and I did this by utilizing a low-carb diet year-round.  I think it worked well for me, and I’d probably still be using it now except for 2 things: first, I decided I’d like more size, and tho I have added some lean mass over the last few years, I’ve seen others add quite a bit more.  As an all-natural bodybuilder, I concede that it’s kinda tough to add size to begin with, let alone when you are following a borderline ketogenic diet.  So I knew I had to expand my intake in some fashion.  Second, when researching others’ approach to dieting, I came across some interesting supplements out there that seemed perfect for my new goal, but required a lot more carb intake than I have ever really used.  So with some supplemental inspiration (thanks, Tommy Jeffers) and some diet collaboration (thanks, Layne Norton), I devised the following pre-contest plan to utilize at this point:

1 cap Anabolic Pump (5:45 am)
Meal #1 (pre-workout) at 6:00 am
3 scoops Beverly Int. Mass Maker, 1/2 grapefruit

(55 grams carbohydrates, 20 grams protein, @315 calories)
multivitamin

3 grams fish oil
7:45 am workout
1 cap Anabolic Pump (8:45 am)
Meal #2 (post-workout meal) at 9:00 am
1/2 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop Mass Maker, 1 scoop Isopure isolate, 1/2 grapefruit
(55 grams carbs, 35 grams protein, @ 385 cal)

1 cap Anabolic Pump (11:45 am)

Meal #3 at 12 pm

6 oz. chicken/fish/tuna, 1/2 cup brown rice, 1 cup broccoli
(35 grams carbs, 40 grams protein, @ 380 cal)

1 cap Anabolic Pump 2:45 pm
Meal #4 at 3 pm
6 oz. 96% lean beef, 6 oz. sweet potato

(30 grams carbs, 40 grams protein, @ 340 cal)
Meal #5 at 6 pm

6 oz. tuna, 5 oz. salad w/ 2 TBS Ken’s Steakhouse olive oil vinaigrette dressing, 1 cup broccoli

(no impact carbs, 40 grams protein, 10 grams fat, @ 300 cal)
Meal #6 at 9 pm
1 scoop Bev. Ultra Size, 1 scoop Cytosport Complete Whey, 1/2 cup fat-free cottage cheese

(12 grams carbs, 47 grams protein, @ 290 cal)
3 grams fish oil

DAILY TOTALS: 200 grams carbs, 225 grams protein, 35 grams fat (inc. fish oil)

@ 2050 calories

This is in stark contrast to my usual daily macro-nutrient splits of 40 grams carbs/325 grams protein/80 grams fat, with a 2x weekly carb meal prior to bed.  It didn’t take much of a leap of faith to think this diet would work tho; check out those two aforementioned guys and you’ll see what I mean.

I’ll cover supplements soon, but I did want to touch on the one supp outlined above: Anabolic Pump by USPlabs.  WOW!  Using this for the last 3 weeks in conjunction w/ the carbs in my diet, I have to say that I really do not ever recall feeling this full, strong & pumped — not only during workouts, but all day long!  The feeling is incredible, powerfull.  My one fear was not dropping fat like I am used to doing on the old diet (and remember, I was behind the game to begin with, so this to me was crucial); as you can tell by the progress pics, that has not been an issue at all over the last 2 weeks.  I’ve been very pleasantly surprised by this result.

The diet will change over the course of this blog, in fact I’ll be adding some different supps (yet again!) starting Feb. 15 - just shy of 7 weeks out from the show date.  I am allowing myself one cheat meal with my wife for Valentine’s Day - can’t turn down her invitation to take ME out to Red Lobster (my favorite restaurant).  Don’t worry, I’ll be taking my carb/fat blockers to blunt the blow, and that is the ONLY cheat I will indulge in during prep time.  Sticking to a diet has never been a problem for me.

Day #2 in the training format was this morning.  

LEGS:

Squats: warm-up X20/warm-upx15/max. weightx15 reps/max. weightx10-12 reps/max. weightx6 reps/drop weight, max. x15-20

Lunges: 5×12-15 reps  (NOTE: I do these in my home gym, as I do not have a leg press machine here.  I would probably recommend presses if you go to a gym, or alternating presses/lunges every other time if you like the lunge.)

Leg Extension: 3×15 (slow & controlled)

Leg Curls: 3×12-15/3×10-12

Calves: Standing Raises 6 sets x15-20 (2 sets each toes pointed straight/in/out)

Great workout this morning, chest & shoulders pumped to the max!  I’m utilizing a 3 on/1 off routine in a heavy/light split, so everything gets hit 2x week & all muscle fibers are getting worked.  Here’s today’s workout:

CHEST: Bench Press

10/10/15/8/4/15/15 (90 sec. rest)

Incline Barbell Press

10/6/8×8x8 (90 sec. rest)

Incline Flyes

12-15 (3 sets, 60 sec. rest)

SHOULDERS:

Seated Front Press: 12 (4 sets, 90 sec. rest)

Standing Behind Neck Press: 20/15/15/10/8

D-Bell Laterals: 12 (4 sets)

Will touch on more this weekend.  Pics from end of today’s workout attached.

I am definitely behind the pace for an April 5th show at this point.  Made the HUGE mistake of thinking my metabolism could shrug off a couple weeks of poor diet & binge junk-food eating like it was a bump in the road.  The body is a funny thing; treat it like gold 11 months outta the year (good diet, supplementation, exercise) and then slack for a month, it’s almost like starting all over again.  Almost…

I’m 36 now, so that might be the issue.  Us guys have a tendency to have the "Superman Syndrome" — think we’re bullet-proof.  When we’re healthy, pumped, in good shape, hell, nothing can happen to us, right?  Bottom line is, it’s a fact that eating the right things & exercising regularly gets us a certain set of results, and doing the opposite also gets a set of results.  And the inevitable clock ticks away all along, making it harder for us to realize the same results - from the same effort - the older we get.  

If it looks like I’m feeling a bit guilty for sabotaging myself, I am.  Since January of 2004, my constant goal has been to stay in the best shape possible, stay lean & ripped, and add quality lean mass.  I didn’t drink alcohol (maybe 5x in that timeframe), didn’t have too many cheat meals (maybe 1-2 per month) let alone cheat DAYS (maybe half a dozen over the last 4 years).  I worked out consistently, usually 5x a week.  My only mistake (in terms of costing me size, which really has never been my main goal) was living on a low-carb, bordering on ketogenic diet as a lifestyle.  Like I said, my goal was to be as lean & ripped as possible.  I feel I accomplished this, and it really was not a "sacrifice" or much of an effort to do so (dieting); I just did it.  

So then this past New Year’s Eve I got hammered, ate a bunch of crap, and it kinda just led into a bunch of days like that, while at the same time I took some time off from the gym (again, possibly another mistake I’ve made over those 4 years, not really taking any time off - I definitely believe there should be periods of rest & recuperation throughout the year, I just never really practiced that belief).  Man, the combination really put the whammy to me.

So, seeing my sad-looking self really inspired me to shake the rut I was in, and, always one to embrace a challenge, I determined that I would compete again this year.  Not only compete, but do it by the first of April.  There’s that Superman Syndrome coming out again…

In looking at my past pictures, I really don’t feel I’ve made the kind of progress that I was capable of making, again because of my goal to remain lean.  I’ve seen the progress other all-natural guys like Layne Norton have made over the past couple of years.  I’ve looked into alternative ideas.  And so… I’ve scrapped my entire dieting philosophy in favor of something different.  New diet, new supplements, trying some different training strategies.  I’ll share these strategies as I prep for this April 1 target date, and I’ll tell ya this: I am behind timeframe-wise, but I believe I can overcome this obstacle & catch up.  No Superman Syndrome to that thinking; I am firmly convinced that the dieting/supplementation regime that I will follow (along with my always-intense training!) will not only produce spectacular results, but will be something that will help many people out there.  I’ll lay out the entire format of what I’m doing in this blog, to a "T".

I’ll start with current pics.  The first pic is from January 26th (what I term as rock-bottom), and the second is from today, February 7th.  I’ve made some headway in the last 12 days, but like I said, there’s a long way to go.  Still feel soft, and have very little vascularity.  I feel that "zone" coming tho — that special time during prep when you wake up every morning & see improvement every single day (that’s the fun part to me!)…

I’m excited & amped, ready to rock!