Introducing myself....

The new advertisment came out in "REPS" magazine today. Gunner told me I reminded him of He Man in front of Castle GreySkull. "I have the POWER!!!" Ha ha!!

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heman2.jpg



AustrianOakJr said:
The new advertisment came out in "REPS" magazine today. Gunner told me I reminded him of He Man in front of Castle GreySkull. "I have the POWER!!!" Ha ha!!

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If I could only get my calves to look like that.......:D

I used to love that show as a kid. Heck, I recently got the whole first season on DVD. :cool: I know im a dork.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
Thanks man. Yea, the weekend was great. I took my son on a little father/son overnight with his "Treeclimbers" (Cub Scout) group. It was a manly adventure complete with BB gun shooting, potato gun firing, archery, dodge ball, etc. Would have been better if it didnt rain all weekend but...you cant everything.

Been chipping away at "The Omnivores Dilemma". When I finish we will have some good discussion. ;)
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My little guy is still too young for the cub scots but I plan on enrolling him when he is of age. I never went to anything even close to that as a child myself so i want him to be able to experience it. Do you and your kid enjoy it?

I havent even completely read OD all the way yet. I pick it up and read a chapter or two here and there. I cant read through the whole boiiok straight through mainly due to my attention span (which is that of a 5 year old) and the fact it just pisses me off too much. The term organic has almost no value anymore in my eyes. It has just been watered down way to much. Which is why I now advocate for one to be a locavore above all else. It is always better to buy local IMO
 
JudoJosh said:
My little guy is still too young for the cub scots but I plan on enrolling him when he is of age. I never went to anything even close to that as a child myself so i want him to be able to experience it. Do you and your kid enjoy it?

I havent even completely read OD all the way yet. I pick it up and read a chapter or two here and there. I cant read through the whole boiiok straight through mainly due to my attention span (which is that of a 5 year old) and the fact it just pisses me off too much. The term organic has almost no value anymore in my eyes. It has just been watered down way to much. Which is why I now advocate for one to be a locavore above all else. It is always better to buy local IMO
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Oh yea...my son loves it. He couldnt wait to go and then hes been talking about it since we got back. It was a good time. Defintely good father/son time well spent. The club is through our church so there is a spiritual side to it as well which we appreciate.

I hear you on the book. Im on chapter 4 or so and I am reading about how the corn industry basically defies all the laws of supply and demand and how the government has basically made it so that the farmer is working for them producing more and more of a product that we really dont need or want and subsidizing the ever increasing gap between what the corn is worth vs. what is costs to grow. Blows my mind. And then to think about how that ties into the obesity epidemic......wow. Crazy.

Ive been trying to be as much "locovore" as I can with limited budget and access. My sis is a big proponent of organic/vegetarian living, etc. So I have been slowly indoctrinated. We have a farmers market that literally takes place about 100 yards from our house every saturday so we can grab a lot there. But in the winter we eat a lot of pesticide. ;)

Im also in the process of reading some Lyle McDonald stuff so I am going back and forth......and yea, not enough time to devote to either. Ive also been looking into some pub-med on the issue we were discussing before and found a few more recent studies correlating leptin to carb/glucose intake, etc, etc. Ill be sure to post some of the stuff up once ive read through it if you are interested.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
Oh yea...my son loves it. He couldnt wait to go and then hes been talking about it since we got back. It was a good time. Defintely good father/son time well spent. The club is through our church so there is a spiritual side to it as well which we appreciate.

I hear you on the book. Im on chapter 4 or so and I am reading about how the corn industry basically defies all the laws of supply and demand and how the government has basically made it so that the farmer is working for them producing more and more of a product that we really dont need or want and subsidizing the ever increasing gap between what the corn is worth vs. what is costs to grow. Blows my mind. And then to think about how that ties into the obesity epidemic......wow. Crazy.

Ive been trying to be as much "locovore" as I can with limited budget and access. My sis is a big proponent of organic/vegetarian living, etc. So I have been slowly indoctrinated. We have a farmers market that literally takes place about 100 yards from our house every saturday so we can grab a lot there. But in the winter we eat a lot of pesticide. ;)

Im also in the process of reading some Lyle McDonald stuff so I am going back and forth......and yea, not enough time to devote to either. Ive also been looking into some pub-med on the issue we were discussing before and found a few more recent studies correlating leptin to carb/glucose intake, etc, etc. Ill be sure to post some of the stuff up once ive read through it if you are interested.
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Yea it really makes you think about our whole obesity epidemic we have here in the states. I try to not be a conspiracst but it is pretty evident that our government has this obsession with corn and pushes it onto the consumer as some holy grail of foods. Hence why our food pyramid is so largely based on grains and demonizes fat. We have made it so cheap for a farmer to grow corn vs any other fruit or veggie and now have such of an abundance of corn it is being used for literally everything! You will be amazed on the amount of products that use corn not to mention we also sell this corn to other countries and effectively put their farmers out of business since we can sell it for so cheap. Why isn't spinach subsidized? Why isn't tomatoes subsidized? Why is it just corn? Makes you wonder if they intentionally wanted to make us fat buy stuffing corn down our throat only to turn around and sell us all these meds to control our now acquired diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure medications. What I found the most intriguing was the section on corn and its ability to actually alter our DNA and our corn is really a capitalist plant with its unique strains which open the doors to companies patenting them. The amount of **** that goes on in the food industry and the level of impact it has on our government is insane.

As for the leptin stuff.. I am not that well versed in understanding all that is involved with leptin to the level of being able to hold a debate or discussion around it. There has been some recent threads posted by ssbackwards that you might find interesting. But as far as what you have come across regarding a leptin/carb correlation I would be more than happy to hear what you have learned about it and open to hearing whatever connections who found but again I really cant contribute much as I dont really know a ton about leptin to really comment on it.

What have you ben reading by McDonald? I recently put a order in for his stubborn fat book and look forward to giving that a read myself.
 
JudoJosh said:
Why isn't spinach subsidized? Why isn't tomatoes subsidized? Why is it just corn? Makes you wonder if they intentionally wanted to make us fat buy stuffing corn down our throat only to turn around and sell us all these meds to control our now acquired diabetes, cholesterol and blood pressure medications.
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I know that you know the answer to this but I figure I would chime in anyways......Why isnt it subsidized? Because there is no money in spinach. Spinach doesnt have any lobbying power.....companies arent making high fructose spinach syrup and stuffing it into anything and everything to make a buck. I dont believe the government WANTS to make people fat and I also dont believe there is anything inherently fattening about corn. Yes, its more calorie dense than say....spinach. But what "IS" inherently fattening is the availability of very cheap calories. HFCS and all the other variations provide those cheap calories. Coca Cola, Kellogs, etc keep make money because they continue to support big government intervention in the farming industry which supplies them with cheap corn so they can provide fat people with cheap food.....and the cycle goes around. It really is disgusting that we allow it to happen but this is the problem with big government. When Big Brother decides whats best for everyone, money always gets in the way of discernment.

JudoJosh said:
As for the leptin stuff.. I am not that well versed in understanding all that is involved with leptin to the level of being able to hold a debate or discussion around it. There has been some recent threads posted by ssbackwards that you might find interesting. But as far as what you have come across regarding a leptin/carb correlation I would be more than happy to hear what you have learned about it and open to hearing whatever connections who found but again I really cant contribute much as I dont really know a ton about leptin to really comment on it.
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Ill post some links to some studies. Its interesting stuff. There is definitely a correlation between circulating glucose and leptin. The hormonal response to carbs is primarily why I think they are beneficial to metabolism over a higher fat diet. Now, you can bring this discussion back to the obesity epidemic and recognize that at some point when you are outside of "normal" bodyfat range and activity levels, you become leptin and insulin resistant and carbs are easily stored as bodyfat. But again, I am referring to athletic individuals in my discussion around carbs. If you want to talk about obesity there are a seperate physiological responses to carbs to be discussed.

JudoJosh said:
What have you ben reading by McDonald? I recently put a order in for his stubborn fat book and look forward to giving that a read myself
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Ive read a lot of McDonald on the web but never a full book. I just got "Ultimate Diet 2.0". Its pretty darn good. I read it on the treadmill yesterday and before I knew it I was 40 pages in and burned a gazillion calories. Lots of good info on the type of hormonal environent created when dieting vs. overfeeding, etc. Lots of good info on Leptin too! Definitely recommend it.
 
Very solid session today despite the nagging knot in my left upper glute. Man is it painful. I have to warm up forever, stretch, roll, etc. I finally got to the point where i could do some working sets for my quads.

LEGS DAY - QUAD FOCUS

POWER WORK

SMITH MACHINE SQUATS (to knee height box)

365 X 6
405 X 6
455 X 6
455 X 7 (where'd that extra rep come from??:) )

HYPER WORK

LEG PRESS

7 pps X 15
7 pps X 15

LEG EXTENSION

155 X 12
170 X 10
170 X 11

COOL DOWN, STRETCH, FOAM ROLL - 25 min.
 
I am familiar with his UD2.0 book but I never read it nor really felt a desire to read it. The diet seemed too extreme with an over intensive carb refeeds and I am not really looking to make captain crunch pancakes and shove all sorts of carb dense processed junk foods down my throat.

But if it has a good section on leptin I might pick it up and give it a read sometime.
 
Wow looks like I missed a lot. I forgot what this thread was lol.

Anyway, yea america goes with the money. Logical for a power looking to stay in power. Sad though. By the year 2030 50% of america will be obese. Man.

Anyway, lyles stuff is interesting but he is not one to practice what he preaches and doesn't get much respect. Kinda like the how the guy who invented crossfit looks like a couch potato. He had good info, but I wouldn't consider him a role model.

UD 2.0 was good for aesthetics but the drop in performance i had due to so many carb type intolerances I have made the carb up almost impossible. Try eating 1400g in white potatoes... With a damaged gi track that's not happening. Tried for 8 weeks. All I got was constipated and horrible lifting days due to being bloated in my gut. SFLP seems to be a good read. Don't have it though.

Judojosh. You should read brocrimptin. I think that's what it is called. :). That's a good one.
 
mattrag said:
Judojosh. You should read brocrimptin. I think that's what it is called. :). That's a good one.
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Bromocriptine? If so then yes I have the book and it is one of my future reads
 
JudoJosh said:
I am familiar with his UD2.0 book but I never read it nor really felt a desire to read it. The diet seemed too extreme with an over intensive carb refeeds and I am not really looking to make captain crunch pancakes and shove all sorts of carb dense processed junk foods down my throat.

But if it has a good section on leptin I might pick it up and give it a read sometime.
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I havent gotten to the details of the carb up period. I was unaware that he recommended eating captain crunch, etc. If so, i would disagree that you NEED to eat any type of specific carb to achieve the desired result. I have heard it argued by many UD2 dieters that high-glycemic carbs should comprise the majority of the first half of your carb up. I dont know how much merit there is to that either. Regardless, I have no problem with "processed" foods but I make a point of keeping them the minority in my diet. I eat a lot of pancake mix, some cereals, granola bars, etc. But the majority of my carbs come from sweet potatos, oats, and veggies. But then again, I go by the "if it fits your macros" philosophy. Once your micro-nutrition needs are met, I dont know that it benefits you significantly to overemphasize whole foods to the exclusion of all "processed" foods. BTW, I am putting "processed" in quotes because I am assuming by using that word, you mean anything coming in a pre-packaged container. In reality, there isnt much out there that isnt processed to some degree before it hits our mouth.

mattrag said:
Wow looks like I missed a lot. I forgot what this thread was lol.

Anyway, yea america goes with the money. Logical for a power looking to stay in power. Sad though. By the year 2030 50% of america will be obese. Man.

Anyway, lyles stuff is interesting but he is not one to practice what he preaches and doesn't get much respect. Kinda like the how the guy who invented crossfit looks like a couch potato. He had good info, but I wouldn't consider him a role model.

UD 2.0 was good for aesthetics but the drop in performance i had due to so many carb type intolerances I have made the carb up almost impossible. Try eating 1400g in white potatoes... With a damaged gi track that's not happening. Tried for 8 weeks. All I got was constipated and horrible lifting days due to being bloated in my gut. SFLP seems to be a good read. Don't have it though.

Judojosh. You should read brocrimptin. I think that's what it is called. :). That's a good one.
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Eh.....I dont put much stock in the way someone looks. I know thats a big deal to many people, hence the reason why supplement manu's use bodybuilders in their advertisements. BUt I am much more interested in the content of what the guys says. Again, I havent read the whole book yet, but so far he seems like he knows his stuff.

As for the white potatos, I did an entire carb load for a show one time on white potatoes. I ate 8 lbs of them over two days. I had already learned prior to the load that it was the skins that caused my GI tract to go insane with bloating and gas. I peeled all 8 lbs of the potatos and I was totally fine. No digestion issues in the least. Not saying this is the case for you, but you might give it a try if you havent already.
 
Yea I don't eat any potato skins.
They have all the plant lectins. Basically inflammatory stuff.
 
mattrag said:
Yea I don't eat any potato skins.
They have all the plant lectins. Basically inflammatory stuff.
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But you miss all that good fiber that keeps the GI down......keeps from spikin dem insulinz. ;)
 
Whats up Sean have an update on my progress and hoping you can share some last min tips


Here i am 14 days out,Im doing the show 100% no going back!
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Really gonna go hard with posing practice but any tips you recommend last 2 weeks?

So far i cut out all supplements
no tap water just bottled
Only condiment im using is hot sauce n pepper


Also was getting great pumps between the cabergolean preworkout and Ergo-Blitz intra workout :),Review coming up for both of those!
 
Hell of a transformation Vin! Looking good bro!!!
 
Nice man. You have moved a lot of weight in 14 weeks. And you mentioned it in your blog.....but this is a learning experience so you just have to remember this experience.....what worked and what didnt.....and add that to your base of knowledge. You should get better every competition you do.

As for last minute advice, my advice would be to change as little as possible. You dont hold water in your natural state so there is no need to try and do crazy things to "shed water". You are not going to look dramatically better between monday of peak and saturday show day. It just doesnt work that way. The only thing I change is the amount of carbohydrates i eat. My supplements, water, sodium and other electrolytes stay the same as they were for the previous 30 weeks. Keep the water cranking, sodium, potassium and calcium elevated. Just maintain consistency and focus on the things that matter......like posing, mental attitude, etc. Carbs are the largest factor determining your look on show day. I backload my carbs on friday and saturday but I dont go crazy. If im not horribly depleted, 1000g of carbs spread over two days is plenty. If I were you I might just double your normal intake and play conservative. Better to be a little flat then spilled.

Keep me posted and let me know how you do!!

NYbodybuilder said:
Whats up Sean have an update on my progress and hoping you can share some last min tips


Here i am 14 days out,Im doing the show 100% no going back!
Invalid Link Removed

Really gonna go hard with posing practice but any tips you recommend last 2 weeks?

So far i cut out all supplements
no tap water just bottled
Only condiment im using is hot sauce n pepper


Also was getting great pumps between the cabergolean preworkout and Ergo-Blitz intra workout :),Review coming up for both of those!
Click to expand...
 
AustrianOakJr said:
Nice man. You have moved a lot of weight in 14 weeks. And you mentioned it in your blog.....but this is a learning experience so you just have to remember this experience.....what worked and what didnt.....and add that to your base of knowledge. You should get better every competition you do.

As for last minute advice, my advice would be to change as little as possible. You dont hold water in your natural state so there is no need to try and do crazy things to "shed water". You are not going to look dramatically better between monday of peak and saturday show day. It just doesnt work that way. The only thing I change is the amount of carbohydrates i eat. My supplements, water, sodium and other electrolytes stay the same as they were for the previous 30 weeks. Keep the water cranking, sodium, potassium and calcium elevated. Just maintain consistency and focus on the things that matter......like posing, mental attitude, etc. Carbs are the largest factor determining your look on show day. I backload my carbs on friday and saturday but I dont go crazy. If im not horribly depleted, 1000g of carbs spread over two days is plenty. If I were you I might just double your normal intake and play conservative. Better to be a little flat then spilled.

Keep me posted and let me know how you do!!
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Thanks alot Sean

this is the game plan from my coach

game plan

"im not loading you you're not lean enough to load we gotta keep you flat and dry"

he said hes gonna load me a little but not much at all,so seems good to me!
 
NYbodybuilder said:
Thanks alot Sean

this is the game plan from my coach

game plan

"im not loading you you're not lean enough to load we gotta keep you flat and dry"

he said hes gonna load me a little but not much at all,so seems good to me!
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In reality, you have to be pretty damn lean to notice a significant difference with any peak week strategy. Getting leaner is just a matter of dieting longer (and preferably slower to minimize muscle loss). My first show I dieted for 13 weeks and realized I needed to be much leaner to be real competitive. My next show was about 20 weeks of dieting. The show(s) where I won my pro card I had 25-30 weeks of dieting in prior. And I still wasnt happy with my level of leanness. It just takes time to figure it all out. Youre doing great.....just keep your eye on the prize and get ready to have some fun.
 
NYbodybuilder said:
Thanks alot Sean

this is the game plan from my coach

game plan

"im not loading you you're not lean enough to load we gotta keep you flat and dry"

he said hes gonna load me a little but not much at all,so seems good to me!
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Smart! Definitely a good move..that last minute crap just doesn't work like it's supposed to
 
Strength is still on the rise! I got 435 X 6 for sumo deadlifts last night. Heres my workout:

HAMSTRING AND GLUTE TRAINING:

SUMO DL's

Warm ups:
135 X alot
225 X 12
315 X 8
365 X 6
405 X 3

Working set: 435 X 6

ROMANIAN DL's

275 X 12

SMITH SPLIT SQUATS:

225 X 15
275 X 10

LEG CURLS

105 X 8
120 X 8
135 X 4, drop X 2, drop X 2

STRETCH/ROLL - 15 min.
 
I had another nice leg session last night. Pumped up on Ergo......felt real good. Im starting to diet down for the Tournament of Champions in April. I am about 15 lbs over my depleted stage weight so I have a solid 15-20 weeks of dieting in front of me to get shredded. Im planning on a bit of a loose schedule through the holidays that will include some big depletion days so I can eat relatively freely at holiday gatherings and still allow me to drop 3-5 lbs over the next 6 weeks. Then, ill be going deep into prep mode hitting my numbers every day right after Christmas.

LEG HYPERTROPHY - QUAD FOCUS

LEG PRESS
9 PPS X 8
8 PPS X 12
8 PPS X 12
6 PPS X 20 (head was spinning after this set)

LEG EXTENSION

3/4 stack X 12 X 3 sets

10 min cardio cool down, 15 min stretch and roll......Done and Done.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
I had another nice leg session last night. Pumped up on Ergo......felt real good. Im starting to diet down for the Tournament of Champions in April. I am about 15 lbs over my depleted stage weight so I have a solid 15-20 weeks of dieting in front of me to get shredded. Im planning on a bit of a loose schedule through the holidays that will include some big depletion days so I can eat relatively freely at holiday gatherings and still allow me to drop 3-5 lbs over the next 6 weeks. Then, ill be going deep into prep mode hitting my numbers every day right after Christmas.

LEG HYPERTROPHY - QUAD FOCUS

LEG PRESS
9 PPS X 8
8 PPS X 12
8 PPS X 12
6 PPS X 20 (head was spinning after this set)

LEG EXTENSION

3/4 stack X 12 X 3 sets

10 min cardio cool down, 15 min stretch and roll......Done and Done.
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Is the goal for you to be losing around 1lb a week?
 
benawesome said:
Is the goal for you to be losing around 1lb a week?
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Yes, I am actually 22 weeks out and 15 lbs over. It would be great if I could lose 15 lbs in 15 weeks, but i know the last 3-5 lbs are the real challenge and will most likely be coming off in dribs and drabs at the end. Im hoping to come in another pound leaner than last june though so I know its going to prove even more difficult. The big advantage i have this time around is that im starting my prep considerably leaner than I ever have before. However, I dont know that my metabolism has completely recovered from my last prep.....so its gonna be interesting. Worst case, if im not completely shredded by APril, I can compete in June.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
Yes, I am actually 22 weeks out and 15 lbs over. It would be great if I could lose 15 lbs in 15 weeks, but i know the last 3-5 lbs are the real challenge and will most likely be coming off in dribs and drabs at the end. Im hoping to come in another pound leaner than last june though so I know its going to prove even more difficult. The big advantage i have this time around is that im starting my prep considerably leaner than I ever have before. However, I dont know that my metabolism has completely recovered from my last prep.....so its gonna be interesting. Worst case, if im not completely shredded by APril, I can compete in June.
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That is a very wise move to take your time like this. Do you stay pretty consistent with your weight? Seems like you have a set number in mind just wondering if you stay consistent.

Hgh_Peptides said:
I'd run hgh frag176 mixed with Cjc-1295....
1mg of each per day average of each.(arch it)
Split it into 2 - 3 doses.
Taper once you hit the goal.
End the cjc-1295 before the fragment.... (use fragment as PCT ) cut the frag at least a week before the date..... Preferably 2 weeks before...
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Did I miss something?
 
benawesome said:
That is a very wise move to take your time like this. Do you stay pretty consistent with your weight? Seems like you have a set number in mind just wondering if you stay consistent.




Did I miss something?
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This board has been getting mean spam lately... from bulk vita guys and I guess now... Peptide promoters..
 
Hgh_Peptides said:
I'd run hgh frag176 mixed with Cjc-1295....
1mg of each per day average of each.(arch it)
Split it into 2 - 3 doses.
Taper once you hit the goal.
End the cjc-1295 before the fragment.... (use fragment as PCT ) cut the frag at least a week before the date..... Preferably 2 weeks before...
Click to expand...

umm.....OK....:confused:. I like to use the 5432 superhindy watcha majig with my fragments......by I put it on toast with jam to make it all slide down nice and easy. :D

Dude, i have NO idea what you are talking about.

benawesome said:
That is a very wise move to take your time like this. Do you stay pretty consistent with your weight? Seems like you have a set number in mind just wondering if you stay consistent.?
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I have a set rate of gain/loss that I like to stay consistent with and how far out of shape I get is a matter of how much time I have to the next show. My last off season with over a year long so I got 30 lbs out of shape, then cut it off in stages.......one quick mini cut of 10 lbs, then a period of maintenance, then the final 20. But I move very slowly in either direction to minimize fat gain/muscle loss. I dont like to lose more than 1 lb per week.....maybe 1.5-2 lbs per week when I am above 10-12% BF. I dont like to add more than a half pound per week when "bulking".


benawesome said:
Did I miss something.?
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You and me both. :D
 
AustrianOakJr said:
umm.....OK....:confused:. I like to use the 5432 superhindy watcha majig with my fragments......by I put it on toast with jam to make it all slide down nice and easy. :D

Dude, i have NO idea what you are talking about.



I have a set rate of gain/loss that I like to stay consistent with and how far out of shape I get is a matter of how much time I have to the next show. My last off season with over a year long so I got 30 lbs out of shape, then cut it off in stages.......one quick mini cut of 10 lbs, then a period of maintenance, then the final 20. But I move very slowly in either direction to minimize fat gain/muscle loss. I dont like to lose more than 1 lb per week.....maybe 1.5-2 lbs per week when I am above 10-12% BF. I dont like to add more than a half pound per week when "bulking".




You and me both. :D
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Solid plan! I think it is awesome you have it under that much control. I have NO clue where I am going to end up next year and I hate that.

And hahaha at your response to the peptide comment! Put it on toast with some jam haha
 
So t-giving week wasnt a total disaster. At the very least my weight remained the same. I might have lost a half pound. Hard to tell because I am a little bound up....must be that turkey backlogging everything down there. I dont know.

I started a couple of experiments today. One of them was sparked by a comment my father made about his bad knee. He said he has noticed a correlation between diet soda and the pain in his joints. Could be total placebo type of a thing but I figured I might do some playing with artificial sweeteners. I cut out all artificial sweeteners this week (well, for at least 3-4 days). No protein powder, no splenda in coffee, no jello, no pre-workout drinks, etc. Im gonna see if it makes any difference at all in my hip/low back pain. Im still having a good amount of trouble, especially on my left side. I can work through it but I have to warm up and stretch for a solid 30 minutes before I can train heavy. So, this is just a whim, but I figure why not.

The other experiment im running is a little carb cycling with a little UD2.0 mentality of doing big depletion days on my low carb days and then massive carb ups on my heavy training days. Right now im just doing 3 days at 100g of carb, then a big 600g carb up, then 3 moderate carb days. Again, just playing a little bit but we'll see what I learn.

BTW, I nailed a PR of 440 X 6 (at 174ish lbs) on sumo deadlifts the other day.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
So t-giving week wasnt a total disaster. At the very least my weight remained the same. I might have lost a half pound. Hard to tell because I am a little bound up....must be that turkey backlogging everything down there. I dont know.

I started a couple of experiments today. One of them was sparked by a comment my father made about his bad knee. He said he has noticed a correlation between diet soda and the pain in his joints. Could be total placebo type of a thing but I figured I might do some playing with artificial sweeteners. I cut out all artificial sweeteners this week (well, for at least 3-4 days). No protein powder, no splenda in coffee, no jello, no pre-workout drinks, etc. Im gonna see if it makes any difference at all in my hip/low back pain. Im still having a good amount of trouble, especially on my left side. I can work through it but I have to warm up and stretch for a solid 30 minutes before I can train heavy. So, this is just a whim, but I figure why not.

The other experiment im running is a little carb cycling with a little UD2.0 mentality of doing big depletion days on my low carb days and then massive carb ups on my heavy training days. Right now im just doing 3 days at 100g of carb, then a big 600g carb up, then 3 moderate carb days. Again, just playing a little bit but we'll see what I learn.

BTW, I nailed a PR of 440 X 6 (at 174ish lbs) on sumo deadlifts the other day.
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Nice lift! Keep us posted on your experiments. I would be interested to see if there is a correlation between artificial sweeteners! You could definitely be on to something
 
benawesome said:
Nice lift! Keep us posted on your experiments. I would be interested to see if there is a correlation between artificial sweeteners! You could definitely be on to something
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Well I went without art sweets for a few days and noticed no difference in the way I felt. BY slicing my carbs and upping my fats I did confirm that which I already kind of new.....im very carb dependent. I actually gained a bit of weight......most likely from a change in hormonal environment or something. Other than that I cant explain it, but as soon as I hit a big refeed of 500g of carbs, the weight dropped back off. I may play around with small cycles in the future.....like a day at 100g and then the next at 300 or something. But its probably all just overcomplicating it......its much easier just to hit the same target no's every day.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
Well I went without art sweets for a few days and noticed no difference in the way I felt. BY slicing my carbs and upping my fats I did confirm that which I already kind of new.....im very carb dependent. I actually gained a bit of weight......most likely from a change in hormonal environment or something. Other than that I cant explain it, but as soon as I hit a big refeed of 500g of carbs, the weight dropped back off. I may play around with small cycles in the future.....like a day at 100g and then the next at 300 or something. But its probably all just overcomplicating it......its much easier just to hit the same target no's every day.
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Over complicated? Yep! That's what we do though hahaha. I actually just dropped the carbs myself from 400 a day to 200 a day and kept fats and proteins the same. I gained weight! Very interesting
 
benawesome said:
Over complicated? Yep! That's what we do though hahaha. I actually just dropped the carbs myself from 400 a day to 200 a day and kept fats and proteins the same. I gained weight! Very interesting
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Yea, there are so many factors at play. Day to day weight loss and gain is very hard to meter when you throw in the variable of carbs oscillating up and down. I think hormonal water retention can really mess with you....or even fluctuations in sodium, bowel weight, etc. Theres a lot going on and thats why its important to pay attention to the big picture.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
Yea, there are so many factors at play. Day to day weight loss and gain is very hard to meter when you throw in the variable of carbs oscillating up and down. I think hormonal water retention can really mess with you....or even fluctuations in sodium, bowel weight, etc. Theres a lot going on and thats why its important to pay attention to the big picture.
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Definitely true! I have been much more consistent lately (pertaining to my carbs) and this is really helping. I have the carbs pretty low (200-250). I just thought it was interesting that I cut about 1,000 calories from my diet and yet I am still putting muscle on. The human body is sensitive haha
 
Oh man, this Christmas season has been rougher than anticipated. I know that I have the will power to diet through the parties and fun, but the question is whether i want to make that commitment and trade away that time with family and friends. The answer for me right now is "no". This sport has to come in balance for me because there are too many other important things that demand my attention. That said, my weight has only been "trickling" down at best......in reality its probably pretty much stayed the same. Im at about the 175-176 range right now. The heaviest I saw this off season was 177.5. So its moving but my lack of commitment to a full blown laser-focus diet is not there. Im hitting my numbers about 4-5 days a week and then loosening the reigns on the weekends a bit. We had a dinner party at our house on Fri night with about 25 people or so. I was pretty good until desert came out and then I wound up having about a half dozen christmas cookies and a half bottle of wine. And there goes this weeks weight loss. Looks like I broke about even. But I enjoyed the party and made some progress in the gym......I hit a PR the next morning (yesterday) on smith machine military press. I got 260 lbs for 6 reps! Booyea!

So.....ive pretty much made up my mind that im going to coast through december at worst ill break even on my weight staying around 175ish. Then I will have 5+ months to move about 15 lbs and get ready for the WNBF Pro American in Mass. June 6th. Giddyup!
 
AustrianOakJr said:
Oh man, this Christmas season has been rougher than anticipated. I know that I have the will power to diet through the parties and fun, but the question is whether i want to make that commitment and trade away that time with family and friends. The answer for me right now is "no". This sport has to come in balance for me because there are too many other important things that demand my attention. That said, my weight has only been "trickling" down at best......in reality its probably pretty much stayed the same. Im at about the 175-176 range right now. The heaviest I saw this off season was 177.5. So its moving but my lack of commitment to a full blown laser-focus diet is not there. Im hitting my numbers about 4-5 days a week and then loosening the reigns on the weekends a bit. We had a dinner party at our house on Fri night with about 25 people or so. I was pretty good until desert came out and then I wound up having about a half dozen christmas cookies and a half bottle of wine. And there goes this weeks weight loss. Looks like I broke about even. But I enjoyed the party and made some progress in the gym......I hit a PR the next morning (yesterday) on smith machine military press. I got 260 lbs for 6 reps! Booyea!

So.....ive pretty much made up my mind that im going to coast through december at worst ill break even on my weight staying around 175ish. Then I will have 5+ months to move about 15 lbs and get ready for the WNBF Pro American in Mass. June 6th. Giddyup!
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5 months is plenty of time! Glad you are enjoying the holidays I always felt it was important to do so
 
benawesome said:
5 months is plenty of time! Glad you are enjoying the holidays I always felt it was important to do so
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It comes down to priorities. And as much as I love this sport, my family comes first. 5 months is a good chunk of time to lose the weight. I would like to be able to eat into the show for a few weeks though and fill out a bit. Hopefully i can hit striated glute territory by the beginning of may.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
It comes down to priorities. And as much as I love this sport, my family comes first. 5 months is a good chunk of time to lose the weight. I would like to be able to eat into the show for a few weeks though and fill out a bit. Hopefully i can hit striated glute territory by the beginning of may.
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I really like that technique of eating into a show I hope I can accomplish this as well this year! I love bodybuilding too but family is where its at!!
 
benawesome said:
I really like that technique of eating into a show I hope I can accomplish this as well this year! I love bodybuilding too but family is where its at!!
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I like the idea of it also...but have never successfully pulled it off. I thought I left enough time with 30 weeks prior to this last show but I found myself wanting to continue to get leaner and wound up dieting right into my last show. I really wish I could come to a place where I was happy with my level of leanness and then start incrementally bumping my carbs to come in full and hard as nails. Thats what im shooting for this year.
 
AustrianOakJr said:
I like the idea of it also...but have never successfully pulled it off. I thought I left enough time with 30 weeks prior to this last show but I found myself wanting to continue to get leaner and wound up dieting right into my last show. I really wish I could come to a place where I was happy with my level of leanness and then start incrementally bumping my carbs to come in full and hard as nails. Thats what im shooting for this year.
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I am never happy with my leanness haha I hear you though I have never pulled it off
 
Sorry i have been slacking on the updates. Contest prep gets rolling along and its all I can do to fit the normal day's activities in. So I am now about 15 weeks out from the WNBF Pro American and I think I am in a good spot. It all depends on how my metabolism co-operates, but I should be ready about 3-4 weeks early if the fat continues to move. At this point I am a few pounds heavier than I was at this bodyfat level last year (and about a month ahead of last year's prep). Ive been using cabergolean in conjunction with D-Aspartic acid and I really like the synergistic effect that these two supps have hormonally. Im still feeling pretty good. So things are looking up. I snapped a few pictures about a week ago and figured I would post what I look like mid-prep. I am planning on moving another 10+ lbs and hopefully that will put me in "WTF shredded territory".

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Look awesome Sean!!!!
 
gymrat827 said:
you gotta spray yourself down with a tan now. cut, big, lines, your ready to rock man
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Ha ha! Yea....well....got a little ways to go yet. Lol. We are thinking that in another month we'll be venturing into some good conditioning and then another month later hopefully be into some WTF conditioning and begin raising calories again.

ginge205 said:
Welcome to am
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Thanks man!

BigGunn said:
Look awesome Sean!!!!
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Thanks Gun....looking to do us proud come June!
 
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