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Rantorcha's AAEFX Training Journal - Road to...

Had the opportunity to train with Eric yesterday and we hit bis and tris with pretty good vengence. It is always fun to train with him...I think we use each other to give each other a little extra motivation since we both train essentially alone most of the time.

We also had an opportunity to evaluate how things are going with me. At this point I am not really sure i am ready to annouce anything as far as contests this year goes, but I've got my eye on one in particular. We'll see as it gets closer.
 
Well, I decided late last week that I would go ahead and take this week off from training. I was feeling like I needed a week to recover, eat well and get plenty of rest - something that hasn't been 100% lately. Thank goodness I decided this because yesterday morning I started to feel a little crappy and I think I came down with something. Lucky for me, colds don't last long. I get the sniffles, maybe a little body ache (if it's bad), but after a day or two, I'm back at it almost 100%. I would say that it was Eric's fault, but I won't blame him this time. lol

Oh well, I sat on the couch pretty much all day yesterday and got to watch a ton of my DVR stuff in between naps!
 
TheWhiteRhino said:
Interested to see what this might be. Hopefully this is where I'm at this time next year.
Click to expand...

Hey Rhino! I'm leaning towards a local NGA show here in South Florida in August. The only reason I am not committing right now is because with my two girls and it being the summer, I never like to commit to something that far out. Something can always happen between now and when a decision needs to be made.

I'll keep ya posted though. :)
 
Slowly but surely during my week off, I start to feel like I NEED to get back to the gym and my focus and desire in intensified!
 
“BACK” at it today.

Last week was my scheduled week off and true to form, as the week went on, I just kept feeling the itch to get back at it. I was a little “off” form my normal diet to give myself a bit of a mental break, so I am sure that didn’t help how I was feeling. Although, my “little off” is still better than most people’s “on”…lol.

But, today was back-to-action. If I do end up doing the show in August, the way I am looking at it, I’ve got about 7-8 more weeks before I start a 13-14 week prep. In those 7 weeks and the weeks leading into the contest, I plan on making sure a couple of things….
a) add no more bodyfat to ensure my hard work will go into getting shredded – not losing any more fat I’ve accumulated.
b) I want to keep growing as much as I can in the coming weeks and my mental energy will be 100% into that.
c) Continue to keep up with cardio (see part “a”)

So, with that in mind, I’ll be keeping my split the same for now. Here’s how Back day was for me…

BACK
Rev Hammer Pulldown
125 each side/13+1
125 each side/11+2
125 each side/9
BB Bent Row
225/8, 225/11+1, 225/11+1
CG Seated Row
180/11, 180/11+1, 180/10
Rope Stiff arm Pulldown
130/14+1, 130/13
4-dropset - 130/11..drop..110/6…90/6…70/7

CALVES
Free Motion Calf Press
220/18, 220/15, 220/14..drop..160/6+2
Seated Calf
3 plates/10, 3plates/10
 
Had a pretty decent training day yesterday. Aside from the headache I had before getting there, I went in with a good mindset. The first week back after a week off is a bit tricky for me. I want to go in there and rip through everything, but I have to be smart and take it a tad slower.

CHEST
Incline DB Press
90/8, 85/8, 85/7
Star Trac Flat Press
180/15, 180/14..drop..150/7
Incline Flye – very slow reps
40/13, 40/11
Dips – bodyweight…very slow reps. Need to protect my shoulder
BW/10, BW/9

BICEPS
Life Fit Preacher Curl
140/8, 140/7
Straight bar Lying Top Cable Curl
130/9, 130/8
DB Curl
45/9each, 45/8

ABS
Lying Leg Lifts – 3 sets
Decline Crunch – 1 set of 25 with some twists at the end.
 
After a week off and last week being my daughter's bday week, I'm finally back! I took my girls to Disney this past weekend. Disney was amazing!! There was hardly anyone there the first 2/3 of the day so we got to do pretty much everything we wanted within 10-15 minutes. The great thing was that the girls got to see a ton of characters, take pictures with them and Sid got their autographs in a journal book that she got at her party. It was a seriously LONG day, but well worth it. We had so much fun. The girls even got to dance at the top of Main Street with Donald and Goofy in one of the afternoon parades - something I've never seen before. We took well over 150+ pictures and a few video clips.

Needless to say I came back pretty dog-ass tired on Sunday, but was ready to hit the gym again.

Yesterday's session was Back-width, Min-Delts, and Calves and I rocked it pretty hard. So much so that I gave myself another headache. I think the neck muscles are either tightening up or there is a nerve issue restricting air to my brain. I need to figure this out quick. Today I even had to postpone my chest training until later because I had a pretty nasty headache still. I'll keep everyone posted tomorrow.
 
Nothing to report on today as far as bodybuilding goes, but yesterday was good. I decided to train later in the afternoon instead of my usual noon time due to my continuing headache issues and it helped tremendously. I had a killer chest and biceps workout. Today was a matter of making sure my diet was in order...which it has been.

The rest of this week is the stretch of workouts I really look forward to. More tomorrow...
 
What a great training day! I have to say that this week “I’M BACK!!” My mental focus and my physical training has been through the roof. Aside from my headaches earlier in the week, it’s been perfect.

BACK – Thickness
Rev. Grip Smith Bent Row
275/16, 295/11, 295/11+1
Rack Deads-just above the knee
405/16, 405/15, 425/13
Corner T-Bar Rows
4plts/13, 4plts/11
Standing Lat Pulldown to mid- chest ss/ Horizontal Pullups on Smith Machine - 2 sets of each

Mini-CHEST
Incline Smith Press – did these in a new way…sort of like an FD/FS version
185 – 5 straight reps; 3 reps…3 sec hold at top AND bottom; 5 more straight reps
185 – 5 reps…3 sec hold at top AND bottom; 3 more straight reps
185 – 3 straight reps; 3 reps…3 sec hold at top AND bottom; 3 more straight reps
Horizontal Cable Cross
25/11, 25/10

My weights may not be anything to write home about, but I can certainly vouch for the effectiveness of the workout.
 
I had a fantastic couple of training days on Friday and Saturday. Friday was Delts and Triceps and I did a couple of different exercises for Delts. I did these interesting Clean and Presses where you Clean the bar up and double-press. Since I did these after Side Laterals, the weights weren't all that impressive, but it was VERY effective. I'm looking forward to using one of Eric's training tips this coming week for delts!! As for Tris, they got pretty thrashed too. I added DB Skullcrushers which helped me do these without too much discomfort in my elbow.

As for Saturday, I did some very fast (but took a long time!) legs.
QUADS
Feet-High Leg Press ss/ Sissy Squat - 2 sets each
Jefferesons ss/ Hack Squat - 2 sets each
Walking DB Lunges - 2 sets of 20+ steps

HAMS
DB Lying Leg Curl - 2 rough-ass sets
Seated Leg Curl - 2 sets w/ dropset on last
Stiff-Leg Deads - 1 dropset started at 275 then dropped to 185.

ABS
3 sets of Lying Leg lifts
3 sets of Cable Crunch

And today...its time to do some Back!!
 
Another nice workout today. Although, for some reason, it felt like I was going too fast. Not sure why, but I can assure everyone who reads this that muscle was stimulated today!

CHEST
Smith Incl Press (1-1/2 Reps)
195/8, 195/6
Flat Hammer Press
70each/11, 70each/10..drop..45/8+5XReps
Dips
BW/13; BW/13
Cable Crossover
35/13
35/10..drop..30/7…25/8

BICEPS
Incline Seated Curl
40/11, 40/8+1
Life Fit-Preacher Curl
125/7, 110/8+1/2
Fr Dbl Bi Curl (top cable)
225/11, 22.5/11

Side Laterals – 25/29, 30/15+3 XReps, 30/15+3 XReps

ABS
Lying Leg Lifts – 3 strong sets!
 
It was one of those days in the gym today…the good kind. Where everything was seemingly flawless – the weights felt good, the pump was great, time flew by! I can only hope days like this continue.

I had to do some switching around since my legs were still sore from last week, so I did Delts and Tris today.

DELTS
Side Lateral Raises – 3 sets…not to failure
Rack Smith Presses
165/12, 165/10, 165/10
Rev Pec Dec
150/15, 165/13, 165/12
Side Laterals – did a bunch of sets with 32.5 DBs

TRICEPS
Lying DB Tri Ext
30/12, 35/8
EZ bar Pushdowns
170/9, 170/8
Dip Machine
230/13, 230/12..ss/Rev EZ bar Pushdown-100/8..drop..80/6

That was it, but I was spent. I slugged my LG5 and hurried back to get in my post-workout meal! I NEED replenishment after this one!!!
 
Since my legs were still a tad sore from last week’s supposed chill-workout (but ultimately, a blasted workout!), I decided to switch up my normal Thursday Leg day with my Delt/Tri Friday. So, today I tackled legs. And since I am really concentrating on bringing up my Hams and reducing my glute area, I focused on that today…but make not mistake, this was not an easy workout on my quads either!

HAMS
Lying Leg Curl
125/16, 125/12
Elbows on pad/Chest up/Glute crunch-Lying Leg Curl (as my 3rd set) - 70/12
Rev Leg Curl (done as a “Butt Blaster”-type movement)
65/15each leg, 65/15 each
DB SL Deads
120/15, 120/13..ss/Hoist Seated Leg Curl – Pos. 10/13

QUADS
Adduction Machine
115/15, 115/10
Smith “Duck” Squat – slow & deep!
315/9, 315/11
Walking DB Lunge
40/28 steps, 40/20 steps
Diagonal Leg Press machine
80/12 each leg, 80/12 each

Major stretching after this one – especially in my Hams. I think that stretching is an area that I do pretty well in for the majority of my physique, but I do admit that I don’t do as good of a job with my legs, more specifically my Hams. That will be a major focus leading up to my next show.
 
So today was the start of a 2x Back training week (and a 5-day week). And, since I haven’t done a Power Week (of the Power, Rep Range, Shock Training system) in a while, I decided to run a modified Power Week. Instead of 4-6 reps, I am gearing more towards 5-7 or 6-8 reps. Not a bad day at the office.

Also, I gave away samples to 2 more people today – people who train often and I’ve developed a rapport with. Two very cool guys, so I told them that they need to give me feedback after they finish the week’s-worth I gave them. I’ll keep you all in the loop how that goes.

LATS-Width
Pullups – 2 warm-up type sets…hold at the top; stretch at the bottom.
WG Pulldown
210/10 (too easy), 240/5+1, 225/6+1
Rev Grip Pulldown
240/10, 255/7, 255/6+1
One-arm Row
120/12, 120/12
Rope Stiff-arm Pulldown
130/15, 140/13, 140/13
So much for Power Week on the last two exercises. One-arm rows…my gym doesn’t go higher than 120 & I LOVE Rope Stiff-arm Pulldowns, so I wanted to include them

Mini-DELTS: these will not be done as Power
Side laterals
27.5/11, 27.5/12, 27.5/12
Incline into Bench-BB Upright Row (Eric Broser-special)
85/10, 85/10+1, 85/10+1

ABS
V-ups – 3 sets
Medicine Ball Crunch – 2 sets
 
As I continue this Modified Power Week, I was ready to hit Chest. I usually include Biceps in this workout, but after the thrashing my arms on Saturday with Eric & CJ, I decided to skip it this week. It’s Wednesday and I’m still sore! So, I hit Chest a little more concentrated.

CHEST
Incline Smith (Low Incline)
225/7, 235/5, 235/4-1/2
High Incline DB Press
90/8, 95/5, 95/6 (with a little bit of help by a passer by!)
Incl Flye
60/9, 60/8, 70/6
BW Dips
13, 13
Flat Machine Press (triple drop set)
165/12…135/10…105/10

CALVES
Leg Press Raises
5plts each/20
6plts each/15
7plts each/11..drop..6plts/9..5plts/9
Seated Raises
115/12+

My calves were fried after those, so I decided to stop. The rest of the day was a focus on diet, as usual. However, I had to drop 1 meal from my 7-meal day because it was just getting too late and I didn’t want to force food. I am only a few weeks away from starting my prep (if I decide to do the show in August) and I don’t want to add any more bodyfat. Hell, I might even start my strict dieting a couple of weeks below. We’ll see how it goes.
 
The past few days have been a tad rough. I've been fighting a pretty bad cough/head cold/chest-thingy. To be honest, I've got to give a lot of credit to my LG5 and other EFX supplements. Other members of my family have the same cold and trust me...it ain't pretty.

Friday I attacked Delts and Tris with the same vengence as always. Friday night was a bit rough...not feeling well at all, but I did manage to get up on Saturday & hit Hams/Glutes, Calves and Abs. I also had time to do a LOT of quality stretching. Saturday night was worse than Friday night, but I ended up sleeping very hard and took all of today (Sunday) to rest. All day...on the cough...resting, sleeping and watching my DVR!
 
So, like I’ve mentioned I’ve been dealing with a bit of a cold the last few days and I woke up feeling really congested Monday morning. That didn’t quite stop me from hittin’ the treadmill. I hit that for 20 minutes and was of and running with my day.

By the afternoon, I was feeling a little bitter but my head was still a little foggy. I wasn’t sure how the workout was going to go, but I pressed on. It started out pretty crappy…I just couldn’t get the fire going. By the 2nd or 3rd set, it was on.

This week will be more of a Rep range week…

LATS/LOW-BACK
Chinups (warmup)
Life Fit. Pulldown Machine
210/13, 210/12
CG Seated Row
225/11, 225/9+1
Rev Grip Pulldown
240/8+1, 240/7..drop..180/7
Extra-Wide Grip BB Bent Row
225/10, 225/11
Rope Stiff-arm Pulldown
150/12, 105/10+2, 150/10+2
Horizontal Pullups (for mid-back) on Smith machine
20, 17
Hyperextensions
25/25, 25/22, 25/15..dropbw/7


So, this morning I woke up feeling a lot better than I had the last few days. I think I’ve turned the corner! After my morning cardio on my treadmill, I was really looking forward to seeing how training went.

CHEST
Flat DB Press
85/11, 85/10
Incl DB Press
85/8, 85/7
Incl Flye
50/10, 50/12 (rear delts really sore, so I moved slowly)
Hammer Incl Press
90each side/10+3XReps
90each side/11+3XReps
90each side/9+1..drop..45each/12

BICEPS
Hammer Preacher Curl
90/10, 90/8
DB Hammer Curl
42.5/8, 42.5/8 – went lighter than normal…dealing with a few nagging injuries
Low Cable Curl
160/8, 150/7..drop120/7

Side Laterals…threw some in there
32.5/20, 32.5/16, 32.5/13

ABS
Really thrashed Abs today with various movements done in superset style.
 
Wow…I can’t believe I haven’t been able to post for almost a week! It has been quite a few days over the last week. I’ve had my girls for the majority of last week; my kid’s end of the year show; Mother’s Day and all of the work I’ve had – like I said…busy!

Anyway, I haven’t stopped at the gym (obviously). To be honest, I’m really crankin’ it up! I’ve decided that I will be doing the NGA Flamingo Show in Miami on Aug. 21st, so my prep is underway already. It wasn’t my plan when I started out this year, but my pro card is something that I am vying for and this is my best shot without waiting until November. It’s actually my only shot before November because I don’t want to travel for a while (no expendable cash at this point).

CARDIO – right now I’m only doing 20 minutes 4x a week, but I know that’s changing soon. I am also changing things up by doing the Stairmill at the gym on the mornings I don’t have the girls.

TRAINING – I am still focused on my side delts and back as far as improvements I want to make. We will reevaluate things in a few weeks to see if we need to change things up. But make no mistake, this won’t necessarily be about muscularity. It will primarily be about condition…and THAT is my main focus.

MONDAY – BACK (width)
Wghtd Chins
BW+45/6, +35/6, +25/7..drop..BW/5
Rev Grip Pulldowns
225/11+1, 240/10+1
CG Pulldowns
240/7+1/2, 240/6
Stiff-arm Rope Pulldown
150/11, 150/8, 140/8, 130/9

SIDE DELTS
Upright Row superset w/ Side Laterals
80/12..27.5/13; 80/13..27.5/13
Free-motion Mach-1-arm side Laterals
30/13, 30/13..drop..20/7+2

CALVES
Free-motion mach Calf Press
106/20, 200/18, 240/13..drop..200/7..drop..160/8




TUESDAY - CHEST
Incl Hammer Press
115each/13, 135ea/4+1/2, 125ea/7..drop..90ea/6
Incl Flye
50/12, 50/13
Star Trac-Flat Press
180/11+1, 180/14+1..drop..15/6+2
Cable Crossover (Life Fit)
30/15, 30/16+, 30/16

BICEPS
Alt DB Curl
45/10, 45/9
2-arm Incline Curl
40/10, 40/7
Lying Top Cable Curl
103/8, 110/10+2

ABS

CARDIO- on both days I went to the gym and hit the Stairmill.
 
Alright, so I had an off day yesterday, so no activity yesterday other than making sure my diet was “on”. I know THAT will change soon as we get further in to prep, so I sat back and enjoyed sleeping in.

Today was a different story, though. HOLY COW, was it a different story. I had “it” at the gym today. I went in with that adrenaline that I usually get when I enter the gym and it didn’t stop for about an hour! And, today was probably the most taxing day weight-wise I’ve had in quite some time. I must say I was impressed and happy with my results today. And I KNOW I’ll need to get to sleep early tonight and have an extra serving of LG5 before bed, because the recovery process will be extensive after this one!

LATS (Thickness)
Rev Grip BB Row
275/11+1, 275/9+1, 275/9+1
Rack Deadlifts - from just below the knee
405/13, 405/13
Corner T-bar Row
5plts/8+2, 5plts/7+1, 5plts/7..drop..4plts/6
One-arm Row
120/13, 120/11
Standing Row w/ Lat Pulldown Machine
135/10, 135/11

CALVES
Seated Calf (went lighter than normal to get higher reps!)
3plts/18, 3plts/15, 3plts/15..drop..2plts/7

I am completely toasted after this one!
 
On Saturday, I had the opportunity to train with my coach and friend (and fellow-Natural Freak), Eric. This Chest & Delt session was an intense as ever. We kept things moving pretty briskly, but hit each set with a purpose. It is always fun training with Eric...he brings out a certain level of confidence in me that I can accomplish things in bodybuilding that I would never have dreamed of before.

Along the same lines, my pro card IS on the horizon. I don't know exactly when it will come to fruition, but I am banking on it being my next show...The NGA Flamingo Bodybuilding Championships on August 21st.
With now less than 14 weeks to go...it is ON!
 
So, after training with Eric on Saturday, I knew that Sunday was going to have to be a day of rest and recovery. I woke up, hung out for a while and ended up heading over to South Beach for a few hours. I have to tell ya, hanging out on South Beach sure can be fun! I couldn’t drink or eat what I wanted, but that wasn’t a big deal. Hanging out with my cousin is fun enough. I even planned it where I had to eat only one meal at the beach. When I got back in the late afternoon, I took a nap, cooked some food, did some laundry and got ready for my week!

Today I was back at it. I woke up and moseyed on over to the gym to use the Stairmill. At lunch I hit the gym to train Back. I decided to use this week to reacquaint myself to Eric’s FD/FS Training System.

LATS
Pullups (6/1/X)
BW/6, BW/5, BW/5
Corner T-Bar Row (5/1/X)
4plts/6, 4plts/5+1, 4plts/5
Reverse Grip Pulldown (2/5/X)
195/7+1, 195/7
High WG Seated Row (1/4/X)
180/8, 180/7
Horizontal Pullups on Smith machine
BW/20, BW/15+3

CALVES – my calves were still sore from the other day so although I hit them with a ton of reps, I didn’t quite overdo it.
Life Fitness Calf Press – toes in
140/25, 180/20, 180/15 (not too much rest b/w sets)

I ended things today with a little bit of side and front delts work using a cable. Since I’m not training tomorrow and won’t train delts until Friday, I thought I needed a little work.
 
Since I trained on Saturday and shifted things around, today and tomorrow are my off-days. To be honest, it's gonna suck not to train, but hopefully these two days will go by fast.

However, that doesn't mean I didn't put in some work...I did my off-day cardio session today. This way I'm off for the weekend and get to have a little bit of fun, sleep in, etc. It won't last long, so I am going to take advantage of it while I can.
 
After training Chest on Saturday, I wasn’t quite ready to train it again on Tuesday (my normal day), so I took Tuesday off. I woke up this morning and thought to myself that it would be too long between chest workouts if I didn’t train it again until next Tuesday, so I decided I would go today for a Chest and Biceps session – just about 2/3 the volume, especially for Biceps since they were pretty sore from Back day on Monday.

Still using FD/FS this week.

CHEST
Low Incline Smith (6/1/X)
185/7 or 8 (lost count), 185/6+neg
Higher Incline DB Press (2/4/X)
70/7, 70/6, 70/6
Cable Crossover (20+)
22.5/35, 22.5/28

BICEPS – I really lightened the volume because I was still sore from Back day (not a good thing)
Low Cable Curl (5/1/X)
130/9, 140/8
Hammer Preacher Curl (2/4/X)
70/6
Lying Top Cable Curl 1x20+
80/21

ABS
Decline Crunch ss/ V-ups (did these back and forth with no rest in between)
35..16..25..18
 
Yesterday I was completely exhausted by the time I got home, but I got a pretty decent night’s sleep and was ready for cardio this morning. Again, since I have my kids all week, I’m using my home treadmill for my 25 minutes.

Today was my bi-weekly thrashing of legs. I do hit Hams every week still since I am trying to bring up my Hams and Glutes to match my quads (and that’s seemingly a never-ending battle). So, as I was prepping my pre-workout supps, I felt like I was a tad below par as far as energy goes. So, instead of using my regular Kre-Alk, I used my Kre-Alk Pro!...and it was ON!

I started with Hams (as usual) and, as is the case for this week, doing it FD/FS style. And the fun ensued from there…

HAMS
Lying Leg Curl (5/1/X)
110/11, 125/7, 110/8
Stiff Leg Deads (2/3/X) – doing these FD/FS is tough on my lower back and makes it really difficult to breath!
185/10, 185/9
Seated Leg Curl (20+ reps)
95/29+1, 105/20

QUADS
Leg Press (6/1/X)
6plts each/9
6plts each/7
Sissy Squat (3/4/X) – doing these after leg press was ROUGH. I had to squat down to the floor so I wouldn’t fall over. Then when I got up, I nearly passed out!
25/7, 25/7
Reverse Hack Quats (20+) – the weight doesn’t look like much, but I was toasted after these!!!
2plts each/20
2plts each/20

GLUTES
Buttblaster using bottom cable w/ foot thru handle
25/15, 35/12
 
Today was my last day of training for the week and it did not disappoint! It started with my cardio on my home treadmill for 25 minutes.

I am spent and I am looking forward to a nice, relaxing weekend with the girls. I’m hoping to hit the beach or the pool on one day and go to see Shrek on the other day. Tonight I get to take Sidney to her dance recital photo shoot. Ah, the life of a single dad! lol

Here was today’s fun…
DELTS
Smith Press (5/1/X)
185/4, 175/5, 165/6+neg.
Upright Row - facing Incline bench (2/3/X)
80/10, 80/9
Side Laterals (20+)
25/20+6, 25/12+8
Rev Pec Dec (20+)
135/22, 135/20

TRICEPS
Smith CG Press (5/1/X) – sure, it’s an embarrassing weight…but it was effective. My Tri’s were smoked and that’s all that matters.
I did what was supposed to be an acclimation set to “get my groove”, but ended up not finding it and doing about 10+ reps with 135.
175/5, 165/7
Dip Machine (2/3/X)
190/7, 190/9
Rope Pressdown (20+)
90/26, 90/19

CALVES
Seated Calf
3plts/15, 3plts/13
Life Fitness Calf Press
200/16, 200/15+1

ABS

So, I got my plan for next week, and as expected, there are changes. There weren’t any macro changes to the diet, but one little food choice change. There were a couple of changes, most notably more cardio. I’m up to 30 minutes now, 5x per week and still 13 weeks out. On paper, 13 weeks sounds like a long time, but body-change-wise, it’ll be here before you know it.
 
What a crazy last few days. I've had my girls for all of last week - except for one night - and it was so much fun! Even the mundane stuff is something I thoroughly enjoy. I took Sidney for her dance-recital pictures on Friday night...man, I'm in trouble as these girls get older!

Saturday, I took them to see Shrek, which was pretty good and after to McD's against my better judgement, but they love the treat. Sunday I took them to my pool and we spent a really nice time there before lunch and a nap. When they woke up we played Chutes and Ladders and ended the night and weekend with Family Movie Night. Since our trip to Disney, I've been making Sunday nights a Family Movie Night and we've been watching all classic Disney movies. So far we've watched Robin Hood, The Fox & the Hound, and a couple others.

Things with the diet and training have been going perfectly. Today was supposed to be a training day, but work had other ideas. I have a seminar for the first part of the week, so I've had to switch some things around. My "off" day was today and I'll be training at least 4 days in a row. Gotta do whatcha gotta do! I'll be training rather early tomorrow, so we'll see how that goes.
 
Because of my work schedule shake up, I had to wake up this morning at 5:30am to hit the gym. I used to do this regularly when I was married, but haven't done it in quite some time. It takes a certain mindset to wake up that early and train effectively.

I did my best to keep the intensity high, but it was pretty mediocre at best. It was a Back-Width day with some side delts mixed in.

Afterwards, I did my cardio on the Stairmill - for the HIIT version of cardio. THIS is not for the faint of heart by any means and I think it's even WORSE on that damn stairmill. Not sure, but it might be a staple when I can make it to the gym for cardio.
 
I had a great workout Wednesday morning. Again, I had to switch some things around this week. Wednesday is usually my off day, but training today was a bonus! I hit Chest and Biceps very hard and the difficulty of training in the morning that I had on Tuesday was better today.

CHEST
Smith Incl Press – 3 sets with dropset on last
Incl Flyes – 2 sets
Hammer Incl Press – 2 sets
Flat Chest Press Machine – 2 sets
Cable crossover – triple dropset

BICEPS
DB Curl – 2 sets
Preacher Machine – 2 sets
Lying Top-Cable Curl – 2 sets

CARDIO – I did the Stairmill again using the HIIT version. Sweating is a serious problem! lol


NO REST FOR THE WEIRY!!!

Today it was back to my normal training time, but I’ve still had to move some things around bodypart-wise to accommodate my strange schedule. I started my day at home with my treadmill cardio session. I didn’t do HIIT, but it was seriously difficult at 5:30am!

So, today I hit some legs…
Lying Leg Curl – I did 3 sets for 22 reps, 18reps & 13 reps with a dropset on the last for 8 more! I did this on purpose because I really wanted to up the reps for Hams
SL Deads – 2 sets using 225 for 15 reps each with a hold at the bottom & up with concentration on glute/ham tie-in.
Jeffersons – 2 sets of 10 for each side

Reverse Hack Squats superset w/ Hack Squat – 2 sets each using 15 reps for Rev Hack & 12-13 on regular Hack squat

Cable Glute Kickback – 2 sets
Abduction – 2 sets

After this session, I am ready for stretching!! I did about 15 minutes to make sure I don’t get too tight.
 
What an absolutely sickening workout today! I went in with a so-so mindset (don’t know why), but I willed myself to get on the horse and get crackin’. I’m not sure if its because of my work schedule changes or what, but my mindset hasn’t been 100% the last couple of weeks. I’ve been doing everything 100% as far as diet, cardio, etc., but for some reason my mind isn’t completely consumed with this prep. Not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing…but today was different.

Cardio was done at home again this morning on my treadmill. I’ve been setting the incline at 6.0 and starting out at a speed of 3.6 for 5 minutes, then 3.7 for 5 more, then 3.8 for 10 and finishing at 3.9 for 10 (30 minutes).

For training this afternoon, I’ve kept going with the higher rep/intense sets for this week, and you’ll see today was no different!!

BACK (Thickness)
BB Bent Row – I haven’t done these for a bit since it kept giving me pain in my left upper-forearm, but I went ahead and gave it a go today…lighter than usual, but effective!
225/16+1, 245/12…135/12+1
Corner T-bar Row
4plts+25/13+1
4plts+25/12..drop..3plts/10
Rack Deads
365/16, 365/15
Standing Pulldown to Chest (mid-back)
135/17, 135/13..drop..105/7

Mini-CHEST
DB Incl Press
90/8, 90/6..drop..45/10 (squeeze at top)
Hammer Flat Press – for some reason this machine is much heavier than the other Hammers
45each side/15, 45ea/14+2, 45ea/12+4-XReps

CALVES
Leg Press Raises
4 plts each/25
5 plts each/15
5 plts each/14 (seriously foul language was used after these last two sets) lol
Seated Calf
3plts/12
3plts/10..drop..2plts/8
 
This week is my 5-day training week so I went on Saturday mid-morning...and it did not disappoint!

My focus here has and will continue to be hitting side delts, so here is what it looked like...

DELTS
Seated Side Laterals
27.5/18, 27.5/16, 27.5/16
Hammer Delt Press
105each side/5
95each side/9
95each side/8..drop.. 80each/5..drop..45each/8+2
BB Upright Row
80/24, 90/18, 100/12
Free-motion Cable Front Riases
17.5/16, 17.5/15+1
Side Laterals
35/12..drop..30/5..drop..25/6
35/12..drop..30/5..drop..25/6

TRICEPS
EZ bar Pushdowns
170/10, 160/12, 160/12
Dip Machine
210/16, 210/15, 210/13
One-arm Rev Pushdown
2 sets...forgot to write it down.

ABS
CARDIO - 30 min HIIT on Stairmill



TODAY..........................

........was maddness! It was Back day and I almost feel badly for my back. it got crushed...and crushed hard! I decided that this week was going to be a modified Power Week (6-8 reps mostly), except for Legs later in the week.

BACK
Wghtd Pullups
25/8, 25/7-1/2, 25/7 - very slow with a pause at the bottom AND the top
Rev BB Bent Row
275/6+2, 275/7+1, 275/7+1..drop..185/10
CG Seated Row
225/9+1, 240/6+1
One-arm DB Row
120/11, 120/10+1
REv Grip Pulldown
240/8+1, 240/6+1
Hyperext
25/20, 25/16

CALVES
Leg Press Raises - toes pointed in
6plts each/16
6plts each/13
6plts each/11..drop..4plts each/10
Seated Raises
115/15, 115/13

CARDIO - 30 min HIIT on Stairmill!!! I'M DONE!!
 
I was at Disney a couple of weeks ago. :)

Hopefully I will get to see Eric this weekend. It has been a year since the NC show!

Log is looking great!
 
I have been terrible about posting this week, but I do have good cause! Work has been absolutely insane this week with more meetings, calls and overall work! And by the time I've gotten home, I end up usually passing out on my couch (if I'm not cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, hangin' with my girlies, etc.).

Anyway, training this week has been crazy. I decided to run a little modified Power Week (except on leg day) and it did not disappoint. Holy cow am I sore this week. Cardio and the diet are fine as well. Unfortunately, I'm not sure what's going on with my body, but it isn't responding too well.

I sent a note to Eric about it and I am anxious to get his feedback. WE'll see what he comes up with as we are now 11 weeks away from the show.
 
slackadjuster said:
I was at Disney a couple of weeks ago. :)

Hopefully I will get to see Eric this weekend. It has been a year since the NC show!

Log is looking great!
Click to expand...

That's awesome! Hope you liked Disney. I always love going...I'm like a little kid at that place.

I can't believe it's been a year since the NC show already! A lot has happened in a year!
 
This weekend was outstanding! On Saturday afternoon, I had the little birthday party for Sienna with family and friends. What a fantastic day not only for my little one, but for me as well. It is something extraordinarily special for a father to watch his daughter grow up. I watched her eat her birthday cake and I had to take a moment and soak it all in. Sunday, we went to the pool for a little while, came back home for lunch and a nap, then later in the evening we had out Family Movie Night…we watched Bambi!

That was the family stuff. Now let’s get going on the hardcore stuff….contest prep!
As I mentioned before, I had been getting a tad bummed about how things were progressing (or not, as it were). But, I got back my changes from Eric and I think this week will be a truly positive one. He upped my fat burner dosage, cut my carbs a bit on non-training days and upped my cardio from 6 to 7 days.

So, Saturday I was able to hit the gym for cardio in the morning. On Sunday, I hit my home treadmill for 30 minutes after naptime (I didn’t read properly that I had cardio on Sunday too…oops!), I punished myself for that little error by starting at a faster pace and ending up at 4.1 mph with a 6.0 incline.

I had a little issue with my fat burner too. I took my second dose before cardio (and Meal #4) and I started to feel weird…lightheaded and just “off”. Even today during my afternoon training session, I had cramps! Very strange…I’ll have to keep my eye on that.

Today, I woke up and hit my treadmill for the 35 minutes this morning. And my afternoon training session was just ok. I gave maximum effort, but I was cramping up for some reason (due to my fat burner) and my concentration was on that for the first half. I’ll have a better gauge by tomorrow if I am sore or not.
 
This morning I woke up and I wasn’t sure how cardio was going to go. I was a little tired and pretty sore from the thrashing I gave my back yesterday. But, after having my morning supplements (Nytric, l-Carnatine & fat burner), I was slowly but surely ready. A pretty good session…I got up to 4.0 with a 6-incline for 35 minutes.

By the afternoon I was chomping at the bit to go train. It was Chest & Bi’s day!

CHEST
Incline DB Press
90/7, 90/7, 90/5
Incline Flyes
70/8, 70/6, 70/5
Flat Hammer Press
70each/7, 70each/7, 70each/5
Top Cable Crossover-real cable stack (not Life Fit stack)
60/20, 70/13, 70/11

BICEPS
DB Curl
55/7, 55/6
Hammer Curl
45/8, 45/8
90 degree Preacher Curl
85/5, 85/5

ABS
Leg Lifts ss/ V-ups – did 2 sets of each
 
I woke Thursday morning in a great mood and feet extremely refreshed. I had a terrific night’s sleep which always is the saving grace. I threw on my clothes and sneakers and went to the gym for a little (ok, a lot) of HIIT cardio on the stairmill – 35 minutes worth.

After that I was still feeling pretty good, which was a little surprising. By the afternoon is was time to train. I’ll be training with Eric again on Sunday, and it’ll be Chest & Delts, so I decided to switch today’s workout for tomorrow’s and train delts today.

DELTS
DB Press
70/8, 70/7
DB Front Raises
25/20each, 30/20each
Free-Motion Cable Rear Delt
17.5/12+1, 17.5/7+1, 15/8+1
Side Laterals - did several sets...got a great pump!

TRICEPS - once again, the damn Smith machine was taken. This time with a guy that was doing his whole body using the Smith...so I had to improvise!
Dip Machine
250/10+1, 270 (full stack), 9, 270/8..drop..190/9
Incline EZ Bar Ext
80/11, 80/10, 80/9
Rope Pressdown
100/10, 100/10..80/6.. 60/6
 
Ok, so you know the old saying...when life hands you lemons, make lemonade! Well, today we were makin' some lemonade for sure!

At around 4:30 this morning, my power went out for a couple of minutes (and woke me up). But it came back on pretty quickly, so it was all good. At 5:15am, it went out again...this time for good. And, of course, I was supposed to wake up at 5:30 to do my cardio. But since there was no power...no treadmill! Cardio is not going to happen this morning. And of course, no power...no breakfast! So, my 1st meal had to be a shake with my Ezekiel cereal.

So, now I have to train in the aftenroon as usual and then get my cardio session in before my last meal. Not the most ideal scenario, but I gotta do what I gotta do!
 
Well after the day I've had trying to get everything in, I am just glad that I was able to train. I ended up training at around 4ish, had a tremendous workout & did 35 minutes of excrutiating, side splitting, cramp-inducing cardio...35 minutes on the Stairmill as HIIT.

Here is how it went...

BACK-Width
Rev Grip Bent Row
275/9+1, 275/6+1, 255/10+1
Corner T-bar Row
4plts/12, 4plts/10+1, 4plts/11+1
Rack Deads - slow, strong and deep
405/10, 405/9, 405/8
Seated Hammer Row
3plts each side/15 (too damn light!), 3 plts+25 each side/10+1 (still too light, but went slow for good pump)
Standing Pulldown to chest
120/12, 135/11, 135/10+1

ABS - 3 sets of V-ups

CARDIO - mentioned above...

FEELING...dead! :)
 
So, if you follow my journal at all, you know that I have a two-week split (and on the 2nd week I train 5x in the week so I can hit Back-width and Back-Thickness). Saturday, I gave my legs a nice thrashing focusing on my hams & glutes. Then I jumped on the Stairmill for 35 minutes of hell for HIIT cardio (2 low, 1 high). For the rest of the day, I pretty much did some running around, but mostly resting since I knew I was in for a killing on Sunday when I trained with Eric.

And, it did not disappoint! We hit Chest and Delts with some serious nastiness. We also took the opportunity to have him evaluate where I am at in my prep. And although I am not exactly thrilled where I am, Eric (coach) assures me I'll be ready!

The fun didn't end Sunday either. I woke up early this morning and got my cardio in and then it was off to pick up Eric and Robyn and head to the South Florida Morning Show studio. We did a fitness segment on there that was so much damn fun! Here is the link in case anyone wants to see it.

http://southflorida.sun-sentinel.com...body-sculpting
 
Yesterday was pretty brutal! It started as normal with 35 minutes of cardio on the Stairmill. I’ve been doing HIIT cardio for the last couple of weeks, but decided to give my body a bit of a break (sort of) and instead in 2 down and 1 up in intensity, I’ll go for 5 minutes and then turn it up gradually every 5 minutes. So that’s what I did.

Since I trained Chest and Delts with Eric on Sunday, I still needed to do Back and Biceps.

BACK
Pullups (started as a warm up, but ended up pushing it)
13, 10, 7
D-bar Seated Row
240/8, 240/8..drop..195/6
Rev Grip Pulldowns
225/11 (lighter than I wanted), 240/8, 240/7
One-arm DB Row
120/11, 120/10
Stiff-arm Pulldown – did several sets

BICEPS
Incl DB Curl – super slow, very inclined & concentrated on the squeeze
35/10, 35/7
Life Fit. Preacher Machine – again, really focused on the squeeze
110/8, 100/8+1
Low Cable Rope Hammer Curl
100/12, 100/12

ABS
Lying Leg Lifts – 3 sets
Decline Crunch – 2 sets (did twists at the end)



TODAY…
…is another off day. I still woke up this morning and did my morning 35 minutes of cardio on my treadmill. I started at the normal 3.6 and increased it every 5 minutes until I reached 3.9 (10 minutes), then 5 min @ 4.0 and finished my last 5 min @ 4.1.

The rest of the day will be concentrating on eating and resting. And, to be perfectly honest, I am ready for bed right now!!
 
What a terrible night sleep last night. UGH! I had funky ass dreams last night and for some reason I kept waking up thinking it was morning at 2am, 3am and then again at 4am. At the 4am hour, I was really awake, so I decided to try to turn on the TV to go back to sleep. That lasted until 4:45, then I turned it off and got about another hour of sleep before I had to wake up. What a night!

Anyway, cardio was done again with an increasing level for 35 minutes on the home treadmill. I got a nice sweat going.

In the afternoon, it was time to hit LEGS!

HAMS
One-leg Lying Leg Curl – major concentration on using the muscle and squeezing hard!!
50/10each, 50/10each, Two-leg Curl-95/14
“Hoist” machine Seated Leg Curl
Pos.11/9; Pos.10/10..drop..Pos.8/6..drop..Pos.6/5
SL Deads
285/10; 285/8..drop..235/6..drop..185/7

QUADS
Smith Squat – MAJOR-ASS PUMP!!!
275/20, 225/20, 225/20 (that’s right, 20 reps non-stop, ass-to-ground & pretty fast-paced)
Leg Press
7plts each/8
7plts each/10..drop..6plts/7..drop..5plts/8..drop..4plts/10..drop..3plts each/13…DEAD! But must continue!
Cross body single-leg press
70/20 each leg; 70/20 each leg
Abduction Machine
130/22, 130/21
 
I woke up this morning and had my weekly weigh in…196.2. Seems like 195 is the right weight for me. Clothes fit well (actually, the fall off “properly”) and there is what I would deem an acceptable amount of BF. Anything over that weight for me, and it starts to not look like I wanted to. Unfortunately, it appears that I went over that mark during my off-season by about 7-8 pounds. That doesn’t mean I won’t be ready for my show…it just means, I’ve got some work to do. But make no mistake, I will MAKE SURE my weight stays around the 195 mark after this show.

After the thorough thrashing I gave my legs yesterday, I got a terrific night’s sleep. I woke up this morning and attacked cardio pretty hard. I went and did the Stairmill for 35 HIIT minutes – going 2 minutes at 55steps/min and 1 min at 90steps/min.

By the afternoon I was itching to hit the gym and I hit it with a vengeance.

DELTS - In this session, I did a few different exercises that I wanted to try out. Some good, some not so much. But I think it was worth the effort.
Smith Delt Press
185/5, 180/5-3/4, 16/7..drop..135/7
Underhand Grip BB Front Raises
40/15 (little too light), 55/15
Rev Pec Dec
16/18, 16/14..drop..120/10
Overhead Laterals (a la Roelly Winklaar)
25/?, 25/13
DB Front Raises
25/20 each side
DB Side Laterals - strict from the side to start; ending with DBs at front
25/14..6; 25/12..6

TRICEPS - really concentrated on using all of the triceps; did each rep deliberately really feeling the muscle work
CG Smith Press
195/5, 185/6, 175/7..drop..15/10
Overhead EZ bar Ext
80/12, 80/11+neg
EZ bar Pushdown
160/11, 160/9
Rev Grip EZ bar Pushdown
90/11+1, 90/9+2

CALVES
Seated Raise
100/20, 135/12, 135/12
Leg Press Raises (toes in)
4plts+25each/15
4plts+25each/15..drop..4pltseach/11..drop..3plts each/11
 
If you’ve read and/or followed my journal, you know that I tell it like it is. So, here goes…After the absolute pounding that I took (well, more like gave myself) on Friday training Delts and Triceps and the leg session on Thursday, I woke up on Saturday feeling like the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. Add to that, I had to wake up and hit the treadmill for a 45 minute cardio session (one of the changes this week)

I have to tell you, I was struggling for those 45mintues, but I got through it. Then we had a terrifically fun, but long day and we didn’t get home until about 9:30pm! That including driving around and being out in the sun, so it was draining as hell.

Sunday, being Father’s day of course, my daughter runs into my room and wakes me up way too early. But, you know I have to get in my morning cardio, so while I was hitting the treadmill, we watched morning TV together. I tell ya, if Saturday’s session was rough, Sunday’s was worse because I was SO tired! I got through it though and made it through the weekend.

This morning, I hit my cardio as usual and was ready to start the week. I’m not sure if it’s due to the intense weekend we had, the change in fat burner, or BOTH, but I did not have the energy that I normally do. I decided to switch to Kre-Alkalyn PRO for pre-workout and thank goodness for that!! I started out rather flat, but as time went along I got into it pretty good.

BACK (Width)
Pullups (warmup) – 13, 9 (hardly any rest between)
Pulldown Machine (Life Fit)
190/10+2, 190/9+1..drop..1506+2
Rev Grip Pulldowns
225/9+1, 225/8+1, 210/9+1
Rev Grip BB Row
235/10, 235/10
Rope Stiff-arm Pulldowns – a few sets

DELTS – still a bit sore from Friday, so got a great pump, but took it easier than normal.
Hammer Delt Press Machine
95each side/10
95each side/9..drop..45each side/12
Lean-away Side Laterals
25/13, 25/13
BB Front Raises
60/12+3, 60/11+4

CALVES – again, still sore from Friday. Hit ‘em hard, but did less sets
Leg Press Raises
4plts each/20
5plts each/18
5plts each/16

It certainly was a more difficult day trying to train as hard as I normally do and I wasn’t as strong as I normally am, but thanks to my Kre-Alk PRO, I had just enough in the tank to really get in a good workout. I am def going to bed early tonight!
 
After work yesterday, I had a few things to do, but nothing was that pressing. So, I decided to do nothing!...and rest. I ended up watching a few recorded items on my DVR, getting the rest of my meals in and I went to bed early. I got a whopping 9 hours of sleep! I woke up this morning feeling pretty darn good.

I went to the gym to hit my morning cardio on the Stairmill for my 35 minutes. HIIT cardio – 60 steps/min for 2 minutes; 90 steps/min for 1 minute.

By this afternoon, I wasn’t feeling 100% again. I am just feeling tired. But, thanks to my Kre-Alk PRO, I had enough gas in the tank to have a solid workout. I guess I am getting to the point where my energy levels start to go down and my weights start to decrease. We’ll see how the rest of the week goes.

CHEST
Incl Smith Press
215/7, 205/9, 205/6-3/4..drop..135/10+2
Incl DB Press – super slow with angled hands
75/8, 75/7, 75/6
Incl Flye – slow & hold at the bottom
45/10, 45/10
Free Motion Cable Crossover
35/9, 30/9..drop..25/11..drop..20/15

Not only were my weights lower than normal, I think I might have tweaked my left shoulder again.

BICEPS/TRICEPS – done as supersets
EZ bar Curl ss/ Straight bar Cable Pushdown
85/11...150/12; 85/10...150/11
Dip Machine ss/ Life Fit. Preacher Machine
195/18...95/12; 195/16…95/11
Rev Cable Pressdown ss/ Lying Cable Bicep Curl
90/15…90/15; 90/15…90/15

ABS
3 sets of V-ups with barely any rest between sets.
 
After tweaking my left shoulder a bit yesterday, it was a tad tough to sleep. I kept turning over and the pressure of sleeping on that side was a bit too much for my shoulder. Oh well, can’t worry about that now! I MUST press on. lol

Today was my off day, but it wasn’t completely off! Hell, I won’t have a completely off day until probably mid-August…a couple of days before my show. I didn’t have the girls again, so I went to the gym to hit the Stairmill. Unfortunately, my brain function is starting to slip and I forgot it was an actual off-day…I did 35 minutes instead of the 45 minutes I needed to do. Looks like I’ll be “making up” those minutes over the course of the next couple of days. ARG!!!!

Did I mention I must press on?! Sheesh! Oh well. I’ll be picking up my girlies tonight, so that always gets me all giddy inside. All I’ve got to do for the rest of the day is keep eating and taking my supps on time and get mentally prepared for tomorrow’s Leg Day!
 
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