April 12th Show

I spoke to the promoter of the show I will be doing, and am excited for it. There are THREE possible classes I could enter into, and I am thinking about doing all 3 (20 for each additional):

-Novice (170 and under, 170 and over)
-Junior (24 & under)
-Men's Open (I will be in the light heavy bracket, 174.5-195.5 lbs)

Better start posing a lot more!

Almost 6 weeks out, adjustments?

So this Saturday I will be 6 weeks out, and changing my exercise routine. The following is what I am CURRENTLY doing, the red text is what I am concerned about.

My day, with 30g protein at each meal and around 40g of fat (carbs vary):

7:00am - Wake

7:20am – 1 Syntrax Fyre thermogenic pill

7:30am – Meal 1

- 1 Multi-vitamin

- 1 Green tea extract

9:00am – Coke Zero (24 fl oz)

10:00am – Meal 2

- 2g Fish Oil

- 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

12:00pm – 1 Syntrax Fyre thermogenic pill

- 1 Green tea extract

12:30pm – Meal 3

3:00pm – Meal 4

5:30pm – Pre-workout, meal 5

6:45pm – Workout

7:45pm – End workout, drink

- 15g BCAA powder, 10g maltodextrin, 5g creatine

8:00pm – Post-workout, meal 6

- 2g Fish oil

- 1 Multivitamin

10:00pm – Meal 7 (Ultra Peptide mix)

- 1 Tbsp Peanut Butter

10:30pm – 5mg melatonin

- 15mg ZMA

11:00pm - Bed

CONCERNS:

• Syntrax Fyre thermogenic pill: I don't mind this thermo, but is it enough?
  

• Pre-workout, meal 5: Is this too far (1hr 15min) from my workout or okay?
  

• 10g maltodextrin: Is this, AND creatine okay all the way up to the final week?
  

• Meal 7 (Ultra Peptide mix): Ahhh my 7th meal. I like the idea of slow-release protein while I am sleeping for muscle retention, but is 1 hour before bed limiting my fat loss, in addition to the fact that it is dairy? I was considering just having a tbsp of PB here and 15g of BCAAs since I see other people use em with great success during contest prep
  

POSING

So tomorrow marks 7 weeks out. I look a little soft in the pics cause of a modeling show I am prepping for next week, but that doesn't concern me. I need some advice on my poses, as these will be the mandatories at the show.

My biggest concern at the moment is looking good for the judges, not my mirror - the camera was at waist level for these shots. I can't imagine how even more distorted I will look when judges sit even lower. Any helpful tips or criticism is appreciated!

CLICK ON IMAGES FOR ENLARGED PIC

--------FRONT RELAXED--------SIDE RELAXED----------FRONT DOUBLE BI-----


















----SIDE SERRATUS----------REAR DOUBLE BI---------------REAR LAT SPREAD-----



















-------SIDE TRICEP------------SIDE CHEST----

Modeling Gig

So I got invited to do a modeling show as a "sport" model next Fri/Sat. I was wondering if I should do anything to "tweak" my diet/exercise so that I come in looking good without sacrificing my contest prep. As it stands, that saturday will mark 6 weeks out and I had these exercises planned:

Thu - Quads + Calves (high)
Fri - Chest + Triceps (med)
Sat - Back + Hams + HIC (high)

Saturday will be a bigger show I believe, and goes from 8pm-midnight.

Sunday

Well my girlfriend came to visit on Friday. She is always patient with putting up with me so doesn't mind me running off to the gym every day. But life going out and running around has been a little stressful with eating.

I was thinking about purchasing some protein bars (without carbs) that would be contest-prep appropriate, but not sure if they exist.

They would make life a lot easier when I can't get that perfect meal in time. Any tips would be appreciated!

Off to the gym again.

V-day

Weight: 191 1/4 lbs.

With my competition two months away I need to order my posing suit and tanning supplies soon.

I am probably gonna be using Dream-Tan #2, and think I will get my posing trunks from cherrybombs.


Not sure if I should go with the French cut (3/4" wide seams) or European (1 1/4" wide seams).

Quick Update + HIC

Low Carb Day

Weight: 192 lbs.

I have been busy recently but been sticking strictly to my diet and workout routine.

I am a little unsure of what show to do at the moment. The OCB show I wanted to do in Gaylord, MI has no novice division I found out.

So I have been looking at a couple shows with the same date, not sure which I should go with...

http://www.100percentresults.com/onbforg/

Been thinking about going with the ONBF but haven't heard anything about them yet. And the videos they have posted show some pretty muscular guys, I would definitely have my work cut out for me. But it would be great to be in Columbus for my college support base. We shall see.

Chest and Tris

Medium Carb Day

• Incline DB
  
• warms: 20x20, 35x12, "x12, 50x8
  
• working: 75x6, "x5, "x5 (pos. fail)
  
• Mid Bar Press
  
• warms: barx12
• working: 115x9, "x8, "x8
  
• Chest Dips
  
• working: 10, 10, 8 (pos. fail)
  
• Rope Press Down
• warms: 40x10
  
• working: 60x8, "x8 (pos. fail)
  
• V-Bar Press Down
  
• working: 80x10, "x10, "x10, "x10

Note: I wasn't sure if the "mid bar press" was for tris, but I kept my elbows in and emphasized them.

Quads and Calves + HIC

High Carb Day

• Squats
• warms: barx20, 135x12, 205x7
• working: 225x6, 235x6, "x6
• Leg Extensions
• warms: 90x10
• working: 130x10, 170x9
• Hack Squat (machine)
• warms: 180x12
• working: 270x10, 300x10
• Step Lunge DB
• working: 35x20, "x20
• Seated Calf
• warms: 35x18, 50x12, 60x10
• working: 85x8, 95x8, "x8
  

9 Weeks Out Pics

Weight: 193 lbs
Height: 6'0"

Pics taken with no pump, before bed.

CLICK TO ENLARGE

New Training Routine

Per Joe's recommendations I have put together this regiment that I will start tomorrow, 9 weeks out.

high = High Carb Day
med = Med. Carb Day
low = Low Carb Day

HIC = High intensity interval cardio

Week 9 out (2/9)
Sat - Quads + Calves + HIC (high)
Sun - Chest + Triceps (med)
Mon - HIC (low)
Tue - Back + Hams (high)
Wed - HIC (low)
Thu - Shoulders + Biceps (med)
Fri - Quads + Calves (high)

Week 8 out (2/16)
Sat - Chest + Triceps (med)
Sun - Back + Hams + HIC (high)
Mon - HIC (low)
Tue - Shoulders + Biceps (med)
Wed - HIC (low)
Thu - Quads + Calves (high)
Fri - Chest + Triceps (med)

Week 7 out (2/23)
Sat - Back + Hams + HIC (high)
Sun - Shoulders + Biceps (med)
Mon - HIC (low)
Tue - Quads + Calves (high)
Wed - HIC (low)
Thu - Chest + Triceps (med)
Fri - Back + Hams (high)

Week 6 out (3/1)
Sat - Shoulders + Biceps (med)
Sun - Quads + Calves + HIC (high)
Mon - HIC (low)
Tue - Chest + Triceps (med)
Wed - HIC (low)
Thu - Back + Hams (high)
Fri - Shoulders + Biceps (med)

Week 5 out (3/8)
Back to first rotation, new exercises

First Workout

BACK AND HAMS

• Bent over row
• warmup: barx20, 75x12, 95x12,115x8
• working: 165x10, 215x6, "x6

• Lat Over
• Not sure if it was right, but I did lat pulldowns with a wide grip
• warmup: 110x10
• working: 170x8, "x8, "x8

• 1-Arm Row (dumbbell)
• working: 65x10, 75x10, "x10

• Leg Curl
• warmup: 70x12, 90x10
• working: 130x10, 150x8* (* = to failure)

• Stiff Leg Db
• Again I wasn't sure what to do, so I did some stiff leg deadlifts with a db in each hand!
  
• working: 65x10, 75x10, "x10

Overall it went well I think. I will be doing shoulders+biceps on friday, and on saturday will start my new plan, marking 9 weeks out. I will also be getting my new digital camera in the mail and will start snapping away some pics.

First Day

So today marks the day I am starting my new modifications to my workout per Joe's recommendations. I am thinking about scrapping my plans for a March 29th ABA show, and just going for the April 12th OCB contest. That means I have a little over 9 weeks to get in top shape.

Weight: 193.5 lbs

Cardio: I just finished my first 15-interval HIIT session jump roping. Gave me a good sweat, followed it with a drink (10g BCAAs, 10g Maltodextrin, 5g Creatine).

I am off to work but will jump into my new workout regime this evening.

Snowed in!

After driving through a snow storm I finally made it to the rec center just to realize they were closed "due to weather" (whatever that means!).

I can't wait to start my new routine and diet (once I know what I should be eating and when).

Also looks like I will have to place an order for supplements soon, since I am running low on creatine and multi-vitamins - not a bad time to get my posing trunks I suppose.

Looking forward to working with you Matt!