snagency’s BodyBlog

Friday August 1,  I was able to do some very light shoulder work, felt pretty darn good.. and then I went out & played tennis with the wife.. and tore my right calf muscle. At first I thought I nailed myself with the racket on the follow-thru or something, that’s what it felt like. Ridiculous sh!t. So me & the wife’s anniversary weekend celebration took a huge hit, as I was couch-bound for the duration. (We had the kids shipped off to the grandparents, all kinds of plans.. so much for that. We improvised & had all kinds of sex all w/e, so at least there was a silver lining! )
Anyway, got into my chiro on Monday, he said I’ve got a Grade 2 tear, 4-6 weeks recovery as best case scenario. Unfreakinbelievable. I’m becoming quite brittle it seems..
Whoulda thought tennis would be so rough? Other than the occasional sore back from overexertion I’ve never had any injuries from it. Depressing too - cuz I’ve been playing the best tennis of my life this summer.
All competition plans on hold for now; rest assured tho, I’ll be back.

Today: shoulder is on the mend, really feeling pretty good.  Calf is in healing stage as well - I can walk semi-normal now!  Will take rehab slow & gradual, but things are on the upswing..

Damn, age must be catching up with me, ahaa..
Saw my chiro yesterday, and an MRI showed I have a small tear in my labrum. He must’ve missed this last time, because it’s in the early stages of healing. Bursitis is still present too.
So now I’m out for 4-6 weeks. This pretty much kills my shot at the Natty Indiana. Turning my focus now to the Natural Northern in October, which I’m not too enthused about, but it does give me a chance to avenge my showing there from April.
Aside from being bummed about that, I’m also bummed cuz I went out & bought some kettleballs (first I’ve owned) and was going to start implementing KB clean presses (which I discovered this movement doesn’t stress my shoulder), as well I did some BB floor presses, noting that the limited ROM doesn’t stress my shoulder either. All of this was in preparation to move to a modified version of the "300 Spartan Workout" for awhile, but now I can’t do that either. Need total rest for upper body. Muscle tears scare me..

Last Thursday went to see my chiropractor, he diagnosed me with bursitis in the shoulder. Knew something wasn’t right. I guess it’s mild, and may be able to be treated quickly, but I can’t do any upper body work for 2-4 weeks, then I’m re-evaluated. Took a few days off, figured out a way to keep my training going (lot’s of lower body & cardio) and hopefully I’ll be able to maintain my mass thru this. Not counting myself out of competition at this point. Have to see how quick I heal.
Hit a hard leg workout yesterday morning, did some things I hadn’t done in awhile. DB split-squats, DB stiff-leg deads, leg extension, leg curl, 15 minutes mountain biking.

First day of summer..
and 12 weeks out from my bb’ing show..

and only 5 days left of Core ZAP..

Awesome workout today, even tho it was just bi/tri/calves day. One last time of fasted training to complete this cycle; I really do like this protocol, but I do miss eating right when I wake up. I think the main reason I enjoyed today’s workout so much (other than the great feeling the ZAP incurs) is that I’m in the “recomp” zone right now, body changes daily. Diggin it..
Training was a mix of standing db curls, incline db curls, skullcrushers, reverse cable curls, reverse-grip tri pushdowns, and standing calf raises with toes pointed in/out/straight; as with the whole weeks’ protocol, rest was kept to a minimum.
After w/o and breakfast, went down with the wife & kids and played some tennis. Courts were full, so we ended up playing on the crappiest one with grass growing thru the cracks, but it was still good times, GREAT sweat..
I’m feeling photogenic today, so here’s some pics from the tennis court. The last pic is me & my boy - we took on my wife & daughter (we won of course, ahahaa).

All right, mission accomplished. My run of fasted-training has tightened me up, brought bodyweight down to 191.0 as of this morning; time to get back to some normalcy.
Dropping back to 6 meals per day. Here are my macros:
Mon/Thur: 240/330/52 @2750 cals
all other days: 265/235/55 @2495 cals
About 13.5 weeks out.. FOCUSED!

Switched things up to reverse-pyramid protocol for the week, hella pump today, major sweat, energy & focus THRU THE ROOF! I’m still all revved up as I type this..

CHEST:
Flat BB Bench 5×6-15
Incline BB Bench 5×6-15
Flat DB Flyes 6×6-20
Explosion Push-ups 1xreps

A little pic after the workout..

Here’s a link to my tester log for Core Nutritional’s new ZAP product..

http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=108291661

Early feedback is 2 thumbs up!

Awesome back & hammy day yesterday; finished up the week strong with my last bi/tri/ab day in current format this morning, going back to the 4 days/week, upper/lower body split rotation that I utilized prior to running this scheme (just a few minor tweaks). I plan on running this out for the next 4 weeks, taking me to the 12-week out mark at which time I’ll incorporate the routine I originally started this log with, a 3-on/1-off format. I’ll detail as I go..
Time to break for the holiday w/e - no cheats for me, I’m in the zone right now! The 12-week out mark is the first day of summer (June 21); I’ll post a progress pic then & I’m telling ya’ll right now, be prepared to see some drastic changes!!
IT’S ON!!

Starting Monday:

DAY 1 Heavy Upper Body
Barbell Bench 6×3
Bent Rows 6×3
Standing Shoulder Press 5×5
Pull-Ups (weighted) 5×5
Skullcrusher 3×5
Barbell Curl 3×5

DAY 2 Light Lower Body & Abs
Front Squats 1×25/1×20/1×15
Dumbbell Stiff-Leg Deadlift 3×12-15
Barbell Walking Lunge 2×30 (15 steps each leg)
Seated Calf Raise 3×20
Crunch 3xfailure

DAY 3 Rest

DAY 4 Light Upper Body
Decline Dumbbell Bench 1×15/1×12/1×20
Dumbbell Row 1×15/1×12/1×20
Dumbbell Lateral Raise 3×15
Pulldown (to front) 3×15
Preacher Curl 3×15
Overhead Unilateral D-Bell Extension 3×15

DAY 5 Heavy Lower Body & Abs
Squats 6×4
Deadlifts 1×8/1×6/1×4/1×2
Lying Leg Curl 3×6
Standing Calf Raise 5×5
Hanging Leg Raise 3×8

DAY 6 & 7 Rest

This is a program geared to increase size & strength; I especially like it because, aside from producing awesome results, you never get burned out. I’ve slightly adapted this to fit my equipment, but the original program was written by Dr. Clay Hyght, a competitve bodybuilder himself.
Although I will change back to the 3-on/1-off training at the 12-week out mark (due to show prep), I think one could use this routine almost indefinitely if they wanted too, maybe switching things up for a week every 6-8 weeks or so, then getting right back into the groove..

Felt like moving some heavy weights today, so ran with it, concentrating on quick & powerfull lifts with slow & controlled drops. Strength continues to rock; set a PR on my incline press leading off, set the tone for a good session..
Time to get serious - shaved off all my hair, ready to get lean & mean!! LET’S DO THIS!

Chest
Incline Bar Press 5×6
Flat D-Bell Flye/Press Combos 4×6
Dips 3xbw (to failure)
Explosion Push-Ups 1xfailure
Ab work 6 sets

I’ve been selected as a tester for the new Core Nutritionals Zap product, a preworkout energy enhancement matrix. Looking forward to stacking this with Recreate for some PHENOMENAL results! I’ll be running a tester log here on bb.com, so look for it!

Thought I’d throw out some progress notes. Was a rough last week, physically I just wasn’t "on" where I usually am, and intensity was suffering, so I took consecutive days off from training and made the 3rd day all cardio with treadmill/bike ride/tennis. Nice change of pace to recharge my batteries, had a very intense back/hamstring day Friday and an awesome bicep/tricep/ab day yesterday, resting today. Weight’s at an even 200 this morning. Really feeling the Recreate these last few days; tennis esp. was crazy, had to break out the headband to control the sweat in my eyes!
Yesterday was the 17-week out mark.  I’ve never started prep this far out before, but Ben (Scivation athlete) sure has made me reconsider my timing, dude looks incredible for 11.5 weeks out.  My previous preparation was always focused on doing it in the least amount of time possible..
The goal is still to compete in the 182-185 range; I mean I’ll go wherever the diet takes my body (obviously), but I’d like to think with this much time to prepare I’ll be able to hold more muscle than last time around. Quality mass has been added in the last 6 weeks, shoulders & traps are the biggest they’ve ever been, and legs are thick..
I am thoroughly enjoying the VasoCharge/Xtend combo, this is good stuff. Very impressed with the Core products as well; I plan on rotating the ABC/Xtend throughout prep. I created a concoction of 2 scoops Beverly MassMaker/1 scoop Core PWO for my after w/o shake (then some solid complex carbs 45 min. later), this is one tasty shake & the macro complex is PERFECT!

Yesterday’s workout:
Close-Grip Bench 4×6-12
Reverse-Grip Pressdowns 4×6-12
V-Grip Pushdowns 4×6-8
EZ-Bar Curls 4×6-12
Spider Curls 4×6-8
Reverse-Grip Curls 4×6 ss w/
Wrist Curls 4×20-30
Hanging Leg Raises 4×12-16
V-Ups 4×12-16

The body is really responding to the change in w/o format; back day today, pump was just off the hook, lats swole to the hilt!

Bent Rows 5×6-12
Lat Machine Pulldowns (D-Grip attachment) 4×6-15
1-Arm Long Pulley Rows 4×6-15
Standing Straight-Arm Pulldowns 2×15
Flat-Back Deads 4×6-15

Wrote up a structured diet that I’ll start out with; will run this for the next couple weeks or so, see where I’m at then.
Macros are 300/270/40@2640 cals from whole foods, 5 days/week (not counting aminos or liver tabs or the like, which of course I’ll be using), and 2 days/week (SUN/WED) I’ll bump the carbs up to 450 or so. I’m spreading the foods out over 7 meals. Just ordered some Core Nutritionals ABC (so I’ll be using this and Xtend/VasoCharge this time around instead of PurpleWraath), Core MRP & PWO (so I’ll be using these in addition to Beverly MassMaker/Ultra Size/Muscle Provider). Adding back PowerFULL & Recreate into the mix Saturday. All the supps are lined up (wish I had some USP test booster tho…), diet’s ready, LET’S ROCK!