precontest supp thread

bolt10 said:
o crap.....i totally forgot with all my exams oops ima write a pm and send it now.......
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okay, let's see if this works. this is from thursday, and adding in the cardio has already produced mass changes in body comp; if this works, i'll post a current one tomorrow or monday...

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hey, there i am, cool...

now this was after the mini-bulk phase that i posted about.
body comp's changing so quickly, daily, that's not really how i'm looking even today.
 
so if you've been following my thread, you can see i'm not joking when i tell you the USP stack has had some unbelievable & unpredictable body recomp on my physique.
i'm learning...
 
danggggg thats some significant improvements. thats pretty darn impressive keep up this crazy work and im sure that it will all pay off in the end
 
USPLabs said:
Amazing progress.
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Thank you Jacob.
The support & guidance I've received from Team USP has been awesome, and very much appreciated.

Thought I'd slip into my posing trunks for the first time during this prep, see where I'm at & show the whole progress. This is fresh off the press, about 30 minutes ago...
 

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That will be the last progress pic I post till after comp; gotta go into hiding in case my competition is scoping me out here, don't wanna give away too much...

Trying not to be concerned about the weight, but I was at 179.2 when I woke this morning, yikes.

Training today:

10 sets abs (2 sets each of 5 different movements)
30 minutes HIIT cardio

Diet-wise, I was planning to reduce carb intake for the day:
52g carbs pre w/o
52g carbs post w/o
24g carbs last meal
all w/ AP prior

As for switching up other macros, adding more protein & fat:
more protein to every meal (except #6)
3g fish oil @ meals 3 thru 6
as well as olive oil meals 3, 4, & 5
 
Just realized that I cropped off my head in the last update pics. I had to crop some of the others to fit the 800x800 site format, but there was no reason for me do the last one. Not trying to be anonymous or anything, I'm a USP athlete for crying out loud. Guess my linear mind just was thinking in terms of maintaining continuity...

The dietary changes made for yesterday's intake were pretty effective; woke this morning harder & drier than ever. I've been thinking about increasing protein intake for awhile, so now will be adding an egg white or two to some meals thru the day. Also, the scoop of Mass Maker to my nighttime shake w/ AP prior will become a mainstay I believe - this is producing fantastic results. Starting Saturday (4 week out mark) I will swap the one scoop Ultra Size in this shake to Muscle Provider instead (net changes of: -3.5g fat, -2g carbs, +4g protein, -10 calories). You know, I love Beverly, their protein has no rivals, but I am amazed what they charge for this stuff... unbelievable.
I don't have a feeling right now for when (if?) I should eliminate the ff cottage cheese from this meal, but I'm guessing the final week...

Feeling pretty pumped as I prepare for this workout (I love P-Slin!), and excitment abounds as I enter this week knowing that I really haven't hit my full stride yet...

Today's workout format:
6x8-15 flat bb bench
4x8-12 db decline bench
2xmax reps dips (bodyweight)
4x8-15 close-grip bench
6x8-12 seated front press
4x12-20 standing laterals
4x8-20 shrugs

no cardio or sprints today; my legs are a bit sore, gotta rest 'em for heavy legs & sprints tomorrow.
 
This post has nothing to do with supplementation -- come to think of it, this thread has really evolved into more of an "everything contest prep" kind of theme instead of just supps...

I'm sitting here just amazed at the definition that has come into my legs over the last few days. I've done leg training, HIIT, or sprints now for 4 straight days, and the progress is off the hook. I posted a few days ago that some cardio was recommended to me, but I didn't expand. So...

I’ve already written (I think anyway) about my dislike for cardio; I’ve always preferred to lose bodyfat & get shredded thru diet & ramping up the training sessions with supersets & tri-sets, even double-double sets. Using my prior ketogenic approach had something to do with this as well; there just wasn’t a lot of room for error on that kind of a diet, and I was always fearful of chewing into my muscle stores.

Now, I am still losing bodyfat at an appreciable rate on my carb-infused diet, that’s not an issue. I will still add in some super & tri-sets as well. But I recently had the pleasure of meeting online with Joe Franco, an accomplished all-natural pro bodybuilder and also a member of Team USP. Joe suggested, among other things, that I needed to do cardio in order to hit my trouble spots - my ham/glute tie-ins, as well as to reduce to bodyfat in my kidney/lower back area, which is where I always hold my bodyfat. He took one look at my progress pics, called out my weak points immediately & said "Dude, you need cardio". That was pretty impressive, and as much as I hate cardio, how am I gonna argue with Mr. Pro Joe Franco? While suggesting cardio may seem like a simple thing to some people, I was pretty floored with the quickness that Joe dialed in my weaknesses.

While I don’t wish to sound cocky by any means, I am confident that I can do well in my show; and now, by utilizing Joe’s expertise as well, I am that much more pumped to see April 5th roll around!

I probably shouldn’t do this right now (in case I have some of my competition reading this & they decide to get Joe in their corner too, lol), but in the interest of being informative & putting out information that I believe will help some guys out there out, I’ll put in a plug here for Joe. He does online personal training, is very accessable, and can be reached thru his website at FitFranco.com. If nothing else, go check out some of his competition photos on there — this guy really knows how to dial it in.
 
mmm interesting...so i see you mention HIIT and sprinting, is that the only cardio you do? I ask because the majority of cardio i do is HIIT cardio and i regularly do sprints
 
bolt10 said:
mmm interesting...so i see you mention HIIT and sprinting, is that the only cardio you do? I ask because the majority of cardio i do is HIIT cardio and i regularly do sprints
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yeah, noticed that in your logs.

that's it. during contest prep is the only time i've ever done HIITcardio, and then only once or twice a week; when the final 4 weeks rolled around i'd ditch cardio in favor of sprints. HIIT is the only form of "extended" cardio i know - unless you count outdoor biking w/ my kids or basketball pick-up games.

so this is like the most cardio i've ever done in my life dude.
never been interested in running around if i didn't have to...
 
snagency said:
yeah, noticed that in your logs.

that's it. during contest prep is the only time i've ever done HIITcardio, and then only once or twice a week; when the final 4 weeks rolled around i'd ditch cardio in favor of sprints. HIIT is the only form of "extended" cardio i know - unless you count outdoor biking w/ my kids or basketball pick-up games.

so this is like the most cardio i've ever done in my life dude.
never been interested in running around if i didn't have to...
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o nice..yea i do cardio, preferably sprints, once a week. Idk why really but i kinda enjoy it :p it probably something to do with how much i have had to sprint in my life due to football and football training. Sounds good tho keep up the good work
 
bolt10 said:
o nice..yea i do cardio, preferably sprints, once a week. Idk why really but i kinda enjoy it :p it probably something to do with how much i have had to sprint in my life due to football and football training. Sounds good tho keep up the good work
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Cardio ROCKS!!!
 
Well, I figured after a day off from working legs yesterday (after the 4 straight days hitting them) I'd be good to go today for squats, what with the incredible recuperation I've been experiencing...
Wrong. Quads were still very tender, and I actually thought about rearranging my week to avoid them today. Ahh, couldn't bring myself to do it. But after warming up with 3 sets squats @15x135, I knew I wasn't going heavy today; so I adapted on the fly.

Today's format:
3x15 (135) deep squats
5x10-12 db jump squats (love these, haven't done in awhile)
4x12-15 leg extentions
6x8-15 leg curls
3x10 ham/glute raises w/pause
3x10-12 romanian deadlifts
3x20 db 1-legged calf raises
3x10-12 bb calf raises
10 min. HIIT cardio
10 min. steady-state cardio

Rest periods were kept between 60-90 seconds, altho most ended up being on the 90 side today. I couldn't maintain the HIIT, so I fell back to 75% effort on steady cardio the rest of the time. Really wanted to run sprints today rather than the cardio (I love sprinting after squats!), but there was ice on the roads this a.m. so it kept me inside. Took me about 70 minutes,; all-in-all a very productive workout. Don't like the fatigued legs tho; taking tomorrow off from any leg work, will just do back/bi/tri.
 
Interesting workout this morning. Woke to 5" of snow, had to shovel the drive so the wife could get to an appointment, so I shoveled about 25 minutes, enough to get her to the car & out. It was workout time, so had to cut it short. Hit back/bi/tri in format below, had my AP immediately after, ate post w/o shake 15 mintues later, then went out and finished shoveling for another 15 minutes. Muscles were pumped to the max after all that. I don't mind shoveling snow; my wife says I should get a snowblower, but I'm old-fashioned that way - I kinda like the exercise.

The workout:
8x16/16/16/12/6/6/6/12 bent-over rows
3x12-16 front pulldowns
3x8-12 cable pulls
3x22-25 dips (bodyweight)
3x12-15 tri cable pushdowns
3x12-15 db kickbacks
3x15 straight bar curls
3x8-12 ez-bar curls
3x8-15 alternate db curls w/ twist
 
fitfrancopro said:
Go for it!
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Cool, appreciated man. Jacob might be right tho - on the degree of difficulty scale, that one's up there even if you make it look so easy. I'll practice on it...

Okay so today was cardio & abs:
5 abs exercises x 2 sets each in circuit fashion
20 minutes HIIT
10 minutes steady state cardio

I'm beginning to like the 20 min. HIIT/10 min. steady cardio format (instead of 30 min. HIIT), it just feels right.
Tried something different w/ diet today. I'm not trimming back on intake until Saturday (4-weeks out) but I wanted a low-intake variation today. As well, I wanted to try P-Slin prior to a cardio w/o, as all I typically use on these days is AP.
Reason being I only slept 5 hours last night & felt I needed a bit more fuel for cardio today. I should mention that was the first time sleeping less than 6 hours in a couple weeks; usually been hitting close to 7 hours/night. PowerFULL has been awesome to get my sleep patterns corrected, last night must've been a blip.
Anyway, P-Slin meal was:
1/2 cup oats
1 scoop Mass Maker
1 scoop Isopure Isolate
1 piece Ezekiel cinnamon raisin bread
59g carbs, 41g protein @420 cals

post w/o meal (w/ AP):
1 scoop Mass Maker
1 scoop Isopure Isolate
1 piece Ezekiel cr bread
1 grapefruit
53g carbs, 35g protein @370 cals

I'll make the remaining 4 meals of my day between 260-310 cals, w/ 28g carbs at meal #4 and 24g carbs w/ meal #6. That'll make just over 2000 calories for the day. Kind of a preview for the dietary changes I'll slide into full-time next week.

I'm diggin this Ezekiel bread. Just got hip to it last fall; living on a keto diet, I really wasn't looking aroung for carb sources so it never came to my attention. Some awesome stuff tho, good macro profile, minimum fat, perfect carb amount to be versatile w/ my meals, and biblically righteous! Gotta like that...
 
I'm diggin this Ezekiel bread. Just got hip to it last fall; living on a keto diet, I really wasn't looking aroung for carb sources so it never came to my attention. Some awesome stuff tho, good macro profile, minimum fat, perfect carb amount to be versatile w/ my meals, and biblically righteous! Gotta like that...[/QUOTE]


I just picked up some Cr ezekial bread from sprouts. I have to agree with u the macros fit perfect into my ckd diet as well and it taste good. They have these ezekial tortillas that im gonna start making chicken quesadillas with.
 
Link24 said:
I just picked up some Cr ezekial bread from sprouts. I have to agree with u the macros fit perfect into my ckd diet as well and it taste good. They have these ezekial tortillas that im gonna start making chicken quesadillas with.
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now that sounds interesting, tasty too...

yeah there's a couple diff. varieties of that stuff, i've been using the orange wrapper variety (still do) w/ lower fat content for chicken breast sandwiches, just started using the cinnamon raisin variety for pre/post w/o, figured the small sugar content from the raisins wouldn't hurt me at those times.
 
kind of random...but the raisins made me think of it...do you ever look at the acidic value of your meals? i was just wondering because i noticed mine used to be pretty acidic and since i have tried to have a more alkaline diet it seems to have helped with several factors...anyways though ima have to try some of that cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread it sounds delicious :food:
 
bolt10 said:
kind of random...but the raisins made me think of it...do you ever look at the acidic value of your meals? i was just wondering because i noticed mine used to be pretty acidic and since i have tried to have a more alkaline diet it seems to have helped with several factors...anyways though ima have to try some of that cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread it sounds delicious :food:
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never gave that much thought, kinda out of my realm. what factors improved do you refer to (alkaline vs. acidic?)

it is pretty tasty tho...
 
Well most people who eat a balanced and healthy enough diet are pretty alkaline. If your diet gets to acidic it can deplete you of certain nutrients. Since i have read about it i try to make sure to have lots of veggies with my meals and fruits and nuts as well bc they are very alkaline foods. Sorry to hijack was just wondering
 
bolt10 said:
Well most people who eat a balanced and healthy enough diet are pretty alkaline. If your diet gets to acidic it can deplete you of certain nutrients. Since i have read about it i try to make sure to have lots of veggies with my meals and fruits and nuts as well bc they are very alkaline foods. Sorry to hijack was just wondering
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you hijaacker you...

it's all good, i like learning things.
i eat a pretty balanced diet tho, lots of veggies, broccoli 2-3 daily & a huge salad w/ tomatoes every day. i should be cool eh? grapefruit is the only fruit i eat currently tho, that's got to be pretty acidic...
used to eat lots of cashews, peanuts & almonds but not during contest prep.
 
snagency said:
you hijaacker you...

it's all good, i like learning things.
i eat a pretty balanced diet tho, lots of veggies, broccoli 2-3 daily & a huge salad w/ tomatoes every day. i should be cool eh? grapefruit is the only fruit i eat currently tho, that's got to be pretty acidic...
used to eat lots of cashews, peanuts & almonds but not during contest prep.
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yea you should be cool..grapefruit is actually pretty alkaline. It just gets hard for me to keep fresh veggies in my dorm room so i have to rely on other foods like nuts and fruits to help. The raisins made me think about all this just because i use raisins alot to help balance my acidic foods(raisins are very basic/alkaline) I was just looking out for ya :thumbsup:
 
bolt10 said:
yea you should be cool..grapefruit is actually pretty alkaline. It just gets hard for me to keep fresh veggies in my dorm room so i have to rely on other foods like nuts and fruits to help. The raisins made me think about all this just because i use raisins alot to help balance my acidic foods(raisins are very basic/alkaline) I was just looking out for ya :thumbsup:
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good stuff, like that boltster! ;)
 
Link24 said:
I just picked up some Cr ezekial bread from sprouts. I have to agree with u the macros fit perfect into my ckd diet as well and it taste good. They have these ezekial tortillas that im gonna start making chicken quesadillas with.
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my wife just told me they have ezekiel pasta & noodles too. nice line there...
 
Decided to start my training shift a day early. Focus now for next 3 weeks (don't count last week of prep, as that format is geared to glycogen depletion) is mind-muscle connection & perfect from w/ less rest (mostly supersets) rather than strength & going to failure to build muscle. If I ain't got it by now, sure ain't gonna build it from here on out. It's all about dialing in the definition now...
I also switched up body parts in my split, so I can focus more on push/pull supersets.

Today's format: chest/back supersets
4x6-12 flat bb bench
4x8-12 bent bb rows

4x8-15 db flyes
4x8-12 one-arm db rows

4x8-12 incline bb bench
4x10/9/8/7 pull-ups (bodyweight, very strict, pause)

12 min. HIIT
12 min. steady state cardio

The weight training took me @ 32 minutes, taking 1-minute rests between supersets. Very brisk pace.

I've also come to the conclusion that I need to drop back to 1 piece of the Ezekiel cr bread, w/ post w/o meal. Even this might be too much sugar for me; def. seeing adverse effects from just 3 days of using it w/ both pre & post w/o meals, losing my tightness it seems.
Also, decided to drop into my lower cal intake starting today; just really wanting to focus on shredding it up at this point.
Might drop back a smidge on the cardio as well, 20-25 min. sessions instead of 30 min., just being conscious of chewing into muscle stores.
 
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snagency said:
Thank you Jacob.
The support & guidance I've received from Team USP has been awesome, and very much appreciated.

Thought I'd slip into my posing trunks for the first time during this prep, see where I'm at & show the whole progress. This is fresh off the press, about 30 minutes ago...
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You just may make the box:thumbsup:
 
I forgot to mention earlier that in conjunction with lowering my caloric intake, I have started adding 2g BCAA's as well as 500mg L-Carnitine to each meal. I'll run this until 2 weeks out, when I'll move to Beverly's Muscularity BCAA's (3 each meal; right now using Twinlab) and then I'll move up to 1g L-Carnitine per meal as well. Some have said this is overkill (on the carnitine), but I've gotten great results in the past using this format, fat just melts away...
 
Are you using just plain L-carnitine or are you using acetyl as well? I'm Curretly taking 1gram with Breakfast, 1gram Pre workout, and 1gram pre bed.
 
Link24 said:
Are you using just plain L-carnitine or are you using acetyl as well? I'm Curretly taking 1gram with Breakfast, 1gram Pre workout, and 1gram pre bed.
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good usage man, that's almost what i've been using up till now.
except i do use acetyl pre w/o (1g), then 1g reg carnitine in afternoon, and i do 1g acetyl prior to bed too. i like the acetyl version for anabolic effect, reg. version for fat-loss. so yeah, on top of the reg l-carn thru day now, wake/bedtime, additional 1g acetyl prior to w/o & bed as well.
 
boxmeman said:
hey snag whatcha gonna weigh for contest??
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you know, i could usually tell ya, but i really have no clue. weight's been fluctuating between 179-182 lately, was 182 when i woke up this morning. been pretty unpredictable; fat loss is still happening, so i'm not concerned really. definitely be middleweight tho...
 
snagency said:
you know, i could usually tell ya, but i really have no clue. weight's been fluctuating between 179-182 lately, was 182 when i woke up this morning. been pretty unpredictable; fat loss is still happening, so i'm not concerned really. definitely be middleweight tho...
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yea dam nice... i think they should have a super light weight division because the weight from light to middle is to dramatic in my opinion im gonna get stuck with the middleweights when i weigh 165 and shredded which will def suck!!!
 
boxmeman said:
yea dam nice... i think they should have a super light weight division because the weight from light to middle is to dramatic in my opinion im gonna get stuck with the middleweights when i weigh 165 and shredded which will def suck!!!
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that does suck psychologically, being at the bottom of the class. if you're that close tho, just drop a pound & get in lightweights (or whatever class they have). the ohio show has a welterweight division 154 1/4 to 165 1/4, which is pretty cool.
i thought about doing lightheavy, but like you i don't want to be at the bottom. i guess if you look good enough tho it really don't matter.
 
snagency said:
that does suck psychologically, being at the bottom of the class. if you're that close tho, just drop a pound & get in lightweights (or whatever class they have). the ohio show has a welterweight division 154 1/4 to 165 1/4, which is pretty cool.
i thought about doing lightheavy, but like you i don't want to be at the bottom. i guess if you look good enough tho it really don't matter.
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yea it goes from 154 1/4 to 176 and theres no novice divisioN!!!!AHHH this pisses me off...:thumbsup:
 
boxmeman said:
yea it goes from 154 1/4 to 176 and theres no novice divisioN!!!!AHHH this pisses me off...:thumbsup:
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ahh, well that's not too bad dude. i weighed in at 167 my last show, lost 6 pounds(!!) the last 2 days w/ a sodium/water cut & potassium load, and i still looked pretty good, placed 3rd outta 24. tough competition; a lotta other shows i woulda won.
 
Weight, who cares!

Bottom line is to have muscle, balance, and then to be the most shredded, period.
Dont let the weight classes play mind games with you.
After winning a weight class, you still have to beat someone that is heavier then you if your not the heavy weight!
 
fitfrancopro said:
Bottom line is to have muscle, balance, and then to be the most shredded, period.
Dont let the weight classes play mind games with you.
After winning a weight class, you still have to beat someone that is heavier then you if your not the heavy weight!
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Fitfranco is the man, listen up guys!:thumbsup:
 
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