Jettisoned Ponderings

Tonight was back and triceps. I decided to take some pics pre-workout and post-workout to show its effects. I worked back first, so a little of the pump was lost by the time I got triceps done and drove home. Looking at things now the pics don’t entirely do it justice at these angles, but there are still some subtle differences. If nothing else, consider them progress pics and give me some feedback on it from that angle

Tonight was rough. My boss was a national level competitor bodybuilder and I’ve been needing some new ideas for leg workouts. I asked him what his looked like when he was competing and gave it a shot tonight. Lets say that for the first time in a long while I think that getting out of bed in the morning may be a challenge. Here’s the routine:

Leg Extensions - 6-7 sets (Progressive load to failure each set, no less than 8 reps)
Squats - 6-7 sets (5 progressive load to failure, 1-2 back down sets)
Leg Press or Hacks - 5-6 sets (20-8 reps, 4-5 progressive load, 1 back down or drop set to 30 reps)

So tonight was 7 sets on extensions, Precor front squats for 5 sets and 2 back downs, and 4 unilateral leg press sets with one triple drop set. Yeah, they’re good and worked… and I’m out of epsom salt. *sigh*

I’ve been off a consistent meal plan for a while now. Working at a restaurant really throws a wrench in things when we get a rush and I can’t slow down to get my meals at the ideal time, if at all. Despite this, I’m going to try to get as close to it as possible and get back to prepping all my meals in advance now that we’re moved and I’ve got a full kitchen at my sole disposal.

This time around I’m going to be trying to pull out as many simple carbs as possible avoiding any direct sugars. This is one diet method that I have not personally tried myself, though I know the benefits of. I have a couple friends I’ve been doing nutrition plans for as my guinea pigs (which is working out beautifully for them both) and this would be the next phase for them so I need to make sure its gonna work. I also have bulked enough that I’m a solid 14% bodyfat and generally I prefer to stay around 11-12% for maintenance. Instead of doing a quick keto blitz to get back down I’m building this diet to be around 2900 calories (2700 on non-training days without pre and during workout supplements) for a calorie deficit of roughly 450 calories per day. Protein is still high at 310g/day (I very much prefer 1.5-1.75g/lb bodyweight), carbs being moderate for me at 221g (only 41g simple carbs), and fats around 86.5g. Fats are mostly from whole eggs, olive oil, and meat sources where saturated fats will be minimized by the cooking means.

I’m pretty excited to see how it works out for me. Usually my diet is fairly high in dairy sugars so pulling those out alone will contribute a good deal to improved definition. I’ll keep you all updated how it goes and hopefully have some good progress pics to show with the results. If you want the specifics of the diet lemme know.

I’ve taken over the responsibility of doing all the custom nutrition plans at my work. One client in the last two weeks has actually stuck to it and is down two belt loops and over 10lbs! Her husband after adjusting to the diet (he didn’t like giving up his snack foods and ice cream at first) is now starting to see results on it, too.

So to extend the offer, I’d be glad to work with anyone online to help them out as an extension of my work. Of course progress photos and such would be needed to know whether or not the plans are working, but if you’re interested please let me know and I’ll get you the information. My rates are far less than what it would cost for an normal registered dietician who may not be in tune with the fitness lifestyle to be able to accomodate it as well.

This is a new one… managed to strain the distal attachment of pec minor yesterday doing delts. I have a feeling the overhead presses did it since I pushed a bit harder than usual doing 75lb overhead presses for my first set then switching to the Nautilus plate load  machine (new absolute favorite!) working up to 100lbs each side on it. Everything felt fine till I went to do rear delts and felt a twinge. Lightened each following set but it still persisted. Last night and this morning its still sore. Guess a little rest is needed for it since I don’t want to take any chances of a shoulder injury. Had to work on far too many clients with that problem to ever want to deal with it myself.

After 3 weeks I’m up from roughly 6lbs and down slightly on the bodyfat finishing at 14.0%. New progress pics are posted in my profile. For the next few weeks I’ll be focusing on maintaining the 200lb+ mark and keep the training intensity high. I know I’m gonna need a lot more food to sustain and build more weight than this. That 225lb mark is reachable, but gonna be a lot of work to reach.

MHP makes some great products and I’ve always been a fan of Trac Xtreme-NO since I used it back a few years ago. So when I heard they were coming out with a new product I got pretty excited to see if it would rival or surpass its predecessor. The product is called Dark Rage I’ve tried it for two workouts now and I’m dead sold on it. I’ve tried quite a number of pre-workout products and I will honestly say that MHP is the only one that has been able to best itself. Plenty are good for energy from stimulants and a good thermogenic punch, and some give good pumps, but this puts it in a whole new category of performance. I tried it a couple days ago for shoulders and triceps then today for chest and biceps. The first time my workout partner was delayed so it was over an hour before we got to lifting but it still kicked in noticeably. Today I downed it about 35 minutes pre-workout and I haven’t has such a blood swell in my biceps for well over a year. I physically could not flex the dumbell past 90 degrees (this was only a 10lb dumbbell at the end of a drop set) there was so much pooled blood. Energy was high the whole time, fatigue was minimal and a faster recovery was noted, overall a fantastic product. From here on out I won’t be using any other products unless I feel the need to mix up what I give my body and revert to a tub of Full Blown Extreme for a round. I would highly suggest it to anyone who is training at a good intense moderate to high rep volume and wants the fullest swole pump possible.

I’m curious how the rest of you view things that the general population seems to have double standards on. At what point does one in efforts to have the competitive edge become a cheater? Where is the line between sport and competition? Effort and determination versus whatever it takes? Dedication or obsession? On what grounds do you base your stance? I have my own opinions, but I’m just curious to hear some other peoples’ takes on it all.

In case you’re wondering, I was discussing the film Bigger, Stronger, Faster with someone recently and it got the gears turning again. Its an excellent film that everyone should see just to make them think a little.

Things have been going great. Up to 201lbs this morning at 14.6%. Still 1 week more to go, possibly 2. I’m excited!

It is NOT nutritionally the same as sugar, nor is it ok in moderation. I’m tired of those stupid ads and this article finally explained it in detail:

Take A Look