Commanding My Body

[Commander]

Saturday

Squat w/ Band curl
245x5, 4 sets

Bench with Chains
150 (+50) x5, 2 sets
160 (+50) x5, 4 sets

superset with

Front Lever Hold

Arms - 30 seconds rest for all sets

Wide Grip (elbows narrow) Preacher Curl
40x10, 3 sets

Narrow Grip (ebows wide) Barbell Curl
40x10, 3 sets

Tricep Band Extension
4 sets of 10

Tricep Suspended OH Extension
4 sets of 8

Suspended Pushups
4 sets of 8

* Really loving the wide grip preacher and narrow grip barbell curl. Wide grip hits the inner part of the bicep nicely and narrow grip hits the outer. I felt like my biceps were wider when I was done from the pump.

I believe it will help for the show, might get some sarcoplasmic hypertrophy with the higher reps/shorter rests.

Overall, I believe low reps and heavy training is the way to go. Getting myofibrillar hypertrophy gives a more thick and dense look in my opinion. But sarcoplasmic certainly helps too and I believe it can be attained quicker. So even though it's less than 3 months until the show, I think my bicep training will pay off.

[Venom]

Hmm, so sounds like you are focusing on lifting heavy, ah?

Whats your split looking like these days?

[Commander]

Originally Posted by Venom

Hmm, so sounds like you are focusing on lifting heavy, ah?

Whats your split looking like these days?

Heavy relatively speaking. I prefer lower reps and trying to explode the weight. But it's definitely not ME work in the Westside sense.

Split is constantly evolving. I actually just made some changes and here is how it looks:

Day 1 (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

6:30 a.m. - Isometric Holds with Bands (for chest and back)

11:00 a.m. - Squat, 4x5
Bench, 5x5
Front Lever Progression
Pressing movement on rings

Day 2 (Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday)

6:30 a.m. - Walk Dog

11:00 a.m. - Deadlift, 4x5
OH Press, 6x5
Additional back or arm work

That is the basics of it. Each day during the week will have a slightly different focus so I will choose additional movements accordingly.

Each night I try to add in some type of additional activity, here is my hierarchy of preferred activity depending on time and weather:

1. Eccentric-less work with my tire sled, emphasis on legs, but with upperbody thrown in as well.
2. L-sit holds superset with Weighted Serratus Crunches.

Next 3 are a tie in terms of preference:
3a) Jumps/Plyos
3b) Tire Sled Sprints
3c) Calve Raises

Also, given the proximity to my show, I tend to run through the mandatory poses at least once or twice per day. And once or twice per week I practice my night show routine.

Speaking of that, if you have time, I'd love for you to check out my videos and give your feedback:

Mandatory and Relaxed posing practice
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avg11imuaSY

Night Show routine
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXv7zoC8gOU

[Venom]

Wow! Very impressive man! You look extremely symmetrical, and 3 months should be plenty of time to finish the job. I guess the only thing that seems a little behind is the hamstrings. But I am sure once you get a little more cut they will come in nicely.

I liked the posing routine and great song! Looks like you were having fun with it, too. :-)

[Commander]

Originally Posted by Venom

Wow! Very impressive man! You look extremely symmetrical, and 3 months should be plenty of time to finish the job. I guess the only thing that seems a little behind is the hamstrings. But I am sure once you get a little more cut they will come in nicely.

I liked the posing routine and great song! Looks like you were having fun with it, too. :-)

Thanks!

Yeah, last cut (summer/fall 2010) my legs lagged behind as well. I am fairly happy with my quads and calves in terms of size, just need to shred them up a bit. However, hamstrings in particular need some additional work. I noticed when I was doing some side poses that they looked small. I will be trying to hit them with some extra sets of inverted glute ham raises.

Glad you like the song, got to give the glory back to God. I figured that song was a great way to do it. I love how it opens with James 1:16-17.

And yes, I am definitely having fun with the posing, especially the night show routine.

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* For anyone just checking into my journal, the time frame below is until April 1st. My show isn't until April 21. So the time frame is to drive me to achieve proper leanness 3 weeks early.

Monday - 61 days - chest focus

Squat w/ Band Pullapart Holds
247.5x5, 4 sets

* last set of squat paused at bottom on final 2 reps

Bench with Chains (+50 pounds at the top) - all reps paused on chest
165x5, 6 sets

superset with

Front Lever Holds

Triset:
A) Inverted Row on Rings - BWx4, isometric hold for 4 seconds on last rep
* see picture below for more info
B) Ring Dips - BWx5
C) Band Chest Hold - maltese position

Similar to what I do, but my torso is parallel with floor and legs are perpendicular to floor/torso.



Diet Update:

I don't have my macros in front of me, but I knocked them down about 200 calories from a mix of carbs/fat.

I am a hair under 3000 calories right now.

Bodyweight last week: 187.1
Bodyweight this week: 186.1

Things are right on track thus far.

[Commander]

FOLLOW UP ON SICKNESS PROTOL:

Seemed to work wonders, I am very happy. All the factors were there for me to succumb to the cold:
I was spending time outdoors doing physical activity in the cold and rain/snow, I was in a caloric deficit, and it's the time of year when many others are sick and passing around colds.

But the Vitamin C megadose and Hydrogen Peroxide saved the day. I will definitely be employing it again when I think I am getting a cold.

INTERMITTENT FASTING - DAY AFTER EFFECTS?

So I typically I use my weekends to make adjustments to my diet based on how my bodyweight was that week. If I am weighing heavier than expected/feeling soft, I will eat lighter on the weekends, if I am weighing lighter than expected, than I will eat as I was eating during the weekdays to keep weight up (serves as a little surplus because activity is lower on the weekends).

It has been working well. This weekend I choose to eat less than normal because my bodyweight was on the high side all week and I wanted to stay on target. Sunday in particular was fasted until dinner. I had a good size dinner and even some leftovers, but for me, the calories/carbs were still quite a bit lower than a normal day.

I was at 185 Sunday morning (right where I wanted after a lighter eating Saturday) and 185 on Monday morning. Monday was back up in terms of calories/carbs but Tuesday morning I weighed in at a super light 183.

"Crap!" was my first reaction. The thing is, I am finally getting in tune with my body and I remember looking in the mirror on Monday afternoon and thinking for the first time on this cut, that I looked flat. Well, no wonder, I was in the process of shedding two pounds that day (and with no change in liquid, drank my normal water intake).

I guess that either the Sunday fast was powerful and continued to have effects on my body the day after Or another way to look at it, would be even though Monday's calories were normal, it was almost like a refeed in comparison to Sunday. So the unintentional "refeed" really got my metabolism revving.

I believe I have read that if you weigh in light AFTER a refeed, that it means you may have been too restricted going into it. I will definitely be paying close attention to the diet and scale this week (not that I haven't been) because I don't want to lose LBM.

Good thing is, I feel on track, if not ahead of schedule. (Recent pictures don't do it justice IMHO, but my upperbody is almost stage ready - meaning striations even in the lower back and lats coming in nicely) This allows me the opportunity to push calories back up if I need to and slow things down.

Heck, it would be awesome to be stage ready 4 weeks early and gradually introduce some carbs since the post cut period seems to allow one to get even leaner for a period of time while filling out. Of course, that is mentally a bit scarey thinking of increasing carbs going into the show (not counting the carb load - I have no problem with that).

I am going to do an ACTUAL refeed today and I am looking forward to it! Tons of brown rice and raisins!

I would love to hear my fellow ABCer's thoughts on my recent fast and psuedo-refeed phenomenon.

[Commander]

Tuesday - 60 days - extra arms/legs focus

Deadlift w/ Stiff Arm Lat Hold
338.5x5, 5 sets

OH Press
130x5, 7 sets

superset with

Inverted Glute Ham
BWx8, 3 sets

and then

Band Bicep Curl Hold, 3 sets

Wide Grip Preacher Curl
40x10, 2 sets - 30 seconds rest

Narrow Barbell Curl
40x10, 2 sets - 30 seconds rest

Floor Press w/ Fixed Bar OH Tricep Extension, BWx6
130x10, 3 sets

[bigbear6708]

great progress! I like the weekend idea you employ as well! also, can you enlighten me on this hydrogen peroxide thing???

[Commander]

Originally Posted by bigbear6708

great progress! I like the weekend idea you employ as well! also, can you enlighten me on this hydrogen peroxide thing???

My weekend idea typically works well, however, I didn't listen to my body on Sunday. My body was telling me not to fast until dinner (and I know the difference between eating out of boredom/pattern/hormones and actual hunger), but I ignored it and paid the price by weighing in so low Monday.

Regarding the hydrogen perodixe, it came from this article:
http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_..._your_progress

Good tips to help beat a cold before it beats you!

-------

New posing video, please watch and critique:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dl6nkJ1z8Y

[Commander]

Thursday - 58 days - chest focus (was supposed to be leg focus, but my lower back was sore from previous glute ham raises and I may drag my tire latter today anyways)

Squat w/ Band Pullapart Holds
25ox5, 4 sets

Bench with Chains (+50 pounds at the top) - all reps paused on chest
167.5x5, 6 sets

superset with

Front Lever Holds

Triset: 5 rounds
A) Inverted Row on Rings - BWx4, isometric hold for 4 seconds on last rep
B) Ring Dips - BWx5
C) Band Chest Hold - maltese position

------

After taking yesterday off, I weighed in at 182 this morning.

I still had a great training session today, but I must get this bodyweight under control.

I don't fear that I have lost any muscle mass yet. I am assuming most of it is water weight, I really don't think I lost 3 pounds of fat or muscle in a day or two. My concern is if I REMAIN this low and I am depleted then I will be catabolic and losing LBM. So I am refeeding again in an attempt to get weight back up to 184-5 ish where I expect it to be for now. With glycogen stores refilled, than I can safely resume previous diet. At least, that is my thinking, if anyone else has input I'd love to hear it.

TONS OF POSING PRACTICE

Something else to consider. On my refeed on Tuesday, I did 14 poses (10 mandatory and 4 relaxed) for 10 sets of 8 to 10 second contractions. Even taking 8 seconds, that is 1120 second of hard muscle contraction. Goal was to drive the refeed into my muscles (like I did during my "mock" contest carb load). But I wonder how your body reacts to that intense stimulus the following day when you go back to reduced carb/calorie eating?

I lost 2 pounds the following day. Was my metabolism still revving from the 1000 plus seconds of intense contractions?

1000 seconds of contracting hard is a lot. A normal workout of 5x5 on bench and squats comes to about 200 seconds (50 reps at a 2,1,1 tempo roughly) plus assistance work, so maybe 350 total. Was my body recovering from the equivalent of 2 to 3 workouts?