Train insane or remain the same

As my tray of chicken breasts cook, I'm going to write a quick post!

I've been training exceptionally hard...in the kitchen! I've been forcing myself to have proper nutrition during the day and replaced a few of my whey protein meals with more real food. I am actually happy about that.

I work in an office and can't have multiple lunches (not really feasible) so I have taken to the following pattern:

1. Breakfast - Egg whites (and carbs on off days)

2. Lunch - Chicken or tilapia, asparagus and PB

3. Shake

4. Shake

5. Chicken or tilapia and PB

6. Shake

I am working on getting making it a 4/2 ratio of meals to shakes. The shakes are very convenient and enable me to keep my protein levels as high as I want. Currently they are hovering between 250 and 300g a day, which is right where I want them.

I trained arms pretty hardcore today. I also learned something about triceps - try to get a full extension on rope press downs, even if it means going lighter. Who cares how much is on the stack if your arms look amazing.

Train hard or go to sleep (or train hard THEN go to sleep).

Be well!

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Nobody's gonna mess with me because I'm a monster

Today I trained shoulders and traps 10 X 3 style and I loved it. I've been pushing out some standing shoulder presses that I saw Lou Ferrigno do in "Pumping Iron".

Sometimes in the gym I have to say "F" them all...or really "F"orget them all so that I can stay focused. When you work out at a public gym you get a lot of guys in there trying to prove they are the "stuff"...I don't have to prove it to them - only to the judges. I'm trying to bring a new direction to my physique. I really like the way Frank Zane looked when he competed. I want that type of build - so I am really focusing on bringing up my upper body while not trying to grow my legs too much.

Meals have been great today:

1. 6 Egg Whites + 2 Whole Eggs

2. 2 scoops of Muscle Milk

3. 6oz of chicken + 2 scoops of PB + 4oz of Asparagus

4. 60z of chicken + 2 scoops of PB

5. 60z of chicken + 2 scoops of PB + 3 slices of whole wheat bread (PWO)

6. ??? (if I am still awake at 11:30 I'll have a shake).

Keep lifting hard and remember that you'll only achieve what you believe you can.

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Something to grow on

After washing a ton of dishes I'm preparing some Tilapia for tomorrow's day of training.

My diet has been pretty bad today but I'm going to attempt to eat clean until dinner Saturday night but the rest of the time keep my diet super tight.

Tomorrow's training includes back and chest with a side of jump rope cardio. That stuff is the secret sauce of cutting, I'm telling you!

More details to come!

Good girl gone bad? Wait...I mean I have been training hard!

Weekend update!

Been hitting the 10 X3 plan pretty seriously (pronounced "ten ex three"). This is probably the best system I've made up to this point! The only thing missing is for me to get rich from it lol.

But seriously - smashed arms today and did 30 mins of cardio (on the STAIR MASTER!!). Every time I think about cheating on my diet I start to think about what it feels like to have my six pack and then I grab my shaker cup and go to town on some Syntha 6.

Here's what I ate today:

1. 2 cans of tuna w/4oz of Asparagus

2. 2 scoops of whey protein + 2 spoons of natural pb

3. 2 scoops of whey protein + 2 spoons of natural pb (Pre-Workout)

4. 7oz of Tilapia + 2 spoons of natural pb + 3 slices of whole wheat bread (Post-Workout)

5. ???

6. ???

There may be a small popcorn light butter + small diet coke in my future if I go to the movies with the love of my life.

I will not give up on this goal.

Weight? Approx 216

Stay tuned! Show me some love!

I will find a way to turn you into a monster

So much has changed! I used to be on the track to getting a couple of top 5 finishes in 2011 and now it looks as if I won't even be competing in 2011. But on the bright side, I'll be getting married this year! So that's something to celebrate.

In the mean time, I'm working on my beach body. I'm not so concerned with have super ripped legs or back, just a nice body I can flaunt on the beach while on my honeymoon with my future wife! Then when we get back, we'll train for the 2012 season together - this I can't wait for!

I'll be updating this blog regularly with some pics since I ballooned from a nice and lean 188 to a pudgy 216 lol.

Bodly going where I've never been before...TOP 5!!

Hey guys,

The life of a bodybuilder is filled with weights, scales and food - then there is your non-gym life!

For me I have been trying to be more diligent about my dieting and training. Been really busy so that makes things more difficult. Most recently I've had to cut back one of my weight training days to accommodate my schedule. So I'll only be doing weights 4 days a week and cardio possibly 5. Since I won't be lifting on Saturdays for a while, I'm probably going to use that day to do some fasted-cardio to help cut some bodyfat.

Here are my goals for now:

Short term: cut 15 lbs by January 1st - I'm really focused on this goal. I want to hit a weight of 215lbs by then so that I can start my official contest prep in January with a nice solid weight of a lean 200lbs. That's almost where I competed last year for my first show. Then I'll have approximately 4 months to cut down to a SHREDDED 185. This should guarantee me my first top 5 finish. I can't wait.

Long term: Two top 5 finishes in 2011. I'm not sure if I'll be doing more than two shows in 2011, but if I keep up the pace that I've been going I'll probably end up doing one more show than I did the year before. Here's my tentative schedule:

April: ABA Nat. IL

May: NGA HOA

AUG: ABA North American

The last show is one of the biggest of the year and I would love to do that show and come in with the best shape of the year. Stay tuned for more info. I'll be posting updates to my diet, progress pictures as well as some training videos as I move toward an EPIC 2011 bodybuilding season!!

Change of plans

I have officially withdrawn my plans to compete in the OCB midwest States 2010. There may be hope for the 2011 show, but for now here's what I'll be doing:

Fall 2010 - Winter 2010:

Cutting down from the summer off-season. I think I've gained about 25lbs since my last show. I haven't checked the scale, but I think I'm in about what I was last January when I started my contest prep for the 2010 season.

Now I'm aiming to go in with something I've never had - shredded legs. I'm trying to cut down to 200 by the start of 2011 - then I'll be working on getting to my new contest weight of 183. I competed at 188 last year and looked great at the NGA Heart of America. But I could have had even more striations.

Diet:

I'm actually eating fully clean right now. I had a candy bar this week but I still am eating about 5 meals (hoping to move it to 6 starting next week) and I haven't started supplementing yet with my normal supps. Currently I'm taking Xtend, Quake 10.0, Syntha 6 and Solution 5. I've been enjoying eating clean because it's been saving me so much money! I love it :)

Training:

For the offseason I'm going to try and bulk my arms while cutting fat. Which translates into 2 arm days and 3 other days for regular training. That brings me up to a 5 day split. I'm also starting a new cardio routine, 2 times a week I'll be doing the step mill instead of the eliptical so that I can really start to etch in my legs (glutes and hams). 15 minutes nearly killed me and my training partner but I think it's going to yield results.

By the time I hit the stage at the April ABA Natural Illinois I'm hoping to be at my 183-185 rate...I competed there 10lbs too heavy last year and looked a bit soft - I won't be using dream tan any more as I've fully switched to pro-tan and for oil, I like musclesheen. It worked wonders last year, I wasn't too wet and I didn't look dry.

I'll be weighing in and taking progress pics over the next 3 months and posting my stats! This is going to be great! Stay tuned!