ZOO's Contest Log (Full Disclosure)

ZOO

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Show: Mr. and Mrs. Muscle Beach
Location: Venice Beach, California
Date: July 4, 2019

Division: Classic Physique
Weight Cap: 210 lbs

Age: 28
Height: 6’ 1”
Starting Weight: 213 lbs

Supplement Sponsors:
- Gainbusters
- Vicious Labs

Now that I sit about 4 weeks out I wanted to start up a log tracking my progress and protocol leading into the show that I will be competing in on July 4th at Muscle Beach. Last year was a disaster to say the least, but a tremendous learning experience. Over these past 12 months I have made significant progress in terms of knowledge (particularly nutrition), training, and drugs (ask me about my Caber experience lmao). I know logs generally begin much earlier on in the process; however, I feel that the initial fat loss portion is pretty mundane with little to report on and I’m confident I can stick to posting for this relatively short period lol. I would like to become active on forums again... I’m just a reserved, isolated person... something I need to work on. Of course, if anyone has questions pertaining to anything I may have done prior to this phase then I am more than happy to oblige.

This log will be fully disclosed - diet, drugs (only tbh about what I'm taking not for discussion purposes so much), supplements, sleep, and even piss patterns will be included. Emphasis will be more on the diet, training, and supplements. By and large my nutrition plan is heavily based on the Vertical Diet and Peak Performance program made famous by Stan Efferding. I have incorporated this into what I have learned regarding prep from Bostin Loyd (love him or hate him he is a sweetheart and a true friend). As I get closer to the show I will be referring to Bostin for assistance with drugs, depletion, carb up, water/salt manipulation, etc. Up until this point I have been prepping myself. Guys, while my PED protocol is aggressive I cannot emphasize the nutrition aspect enough. In terms of importance, the food you shovel into your month far exceeds how much oil you can shoot into your body. You CANNOT out-drug a poor diet. Trust me, I have tried.

My general diet is posted below, but I do make incremental changes on a daily basis based on how look, feel, and perform in the gym. Twice per week I have a “high” day (Pull and Skwaat) where I will include extra carbs - I will post what I do for these days as they come up. I do not have any “cheat meals” implemented. Over the last year I have made good strides in lean mass gains and am doing my damnest to hang onto every ounce so I am closely monitoring overall weight loss to ensure that it is predominantly, or entirely, fat. Last years crash diet had me looking like a wrecked out, flat piece of jerky and at my height I need all the muscle I can muster. The Classic Physique division weight cap is 210 lbs, which is not very much for as tall as I am - at the moment I lack the muscle mass to do bodybuilding. This isn’t a big issue as it merely means I must achieve better conditioning.

The original goal was to slowly cut down to 210 lbs prior to the final week of depletion and re-load, but I am finding myself much closer to that point having weighed in at 213 lbs as of this morning (fasted/waking pics attached). It seems that I will be needing to cut down a little lower than anticipated but I’m still fairly excited as I shouldn't have to crush myself in the final weeks, which will lead to a much better overall look. We will see where I land at 7 days out (depletion phase) and how I look/weigh leading up to it. Pics will be posted on here periodically but feel free to hop on my IG for updates, food pronz, and noodz as well:

@zoo.the.blood.lord
@gainbusters
@viciouslabs


NUTRITION/SCHEDULE/TIMING
- 8:30am: T2 (Ember) 300mcg, T3 12.5mcg, T4 50mcg, Winstrol 50mg, Proviron 50mg

Meal 1 (9:00am):
7oz Beef (96%), 8oz Potato, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[Wrecking Crew, Nektar, Fish Oil, Chloro Heal, Vitamin D 10,000iu]

Pre-workout: Blood Lord 1/2-1 scoop, Special Forces 2-3 caps, Clen 20mcg
Intra-workout: 4oz Pure OJ, 10g BCAAs, 5g Creatine

Meal 2 (12:30pm):
7oz Beef (96%), 8oz Potato, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[Wrecking Crew, Overtraining Solution]

- 2:30pm: T2 (Ember) 300mcg, T3 12.5mcg, T4 50mcg, Clen 20mcg


Meal 3 (3:00pm):
3 x Whole Eggs, 1 Cup Egg Whites, 6oz Potato, 10g Cacao (100%), 1.5 tsp. Table Salt
[Wrecking Crew]

Meal 4 (6:00pm):
7oz Beef (96%), 180g Riced Cauliflower, 50g Carrots, 1 tsp. Table Salt
[Fiberlyze]

- 8:00pm: T2 (Ember) 300mcg, T3 12.5mcg, T4 50mcg, Anavar 50mg, Proviron 50mg


Meal 5 (9:00pm):
7oz Beef (96%), 180g Riced Cauliflower, 50g Carrots, 1 tsp. Table Salt
[KSM-66 (Blight) 600mg, Fish Oil, Chloro Heal, Machine Motion]


PED PROTOCOL
Intramuscular:

Testosterone Enanthate: 250mg eod
Masteron Enanthate: 250mg eod
Trenbolone Acetate: 100mg eod

Oral:
Winstrol: 50mg
Anavar: 50mg
Proviron: 100mg

Fat Loss:
T2: 900mcg (Vicious Labs Ember)
T3: 37.5mcg
T4: 150mcg

Ancillaries:
Exemestane: 25mg eod
Nolvadex: 20mg eod
Tadalafil: 20mg eod
KSM-66: 600mg (Vicious Labs Blight)


SUPPLEMENT LIST
1) Wrecking Crew (Gainbusters)
2) Special Forces (Gainbusters)
3) The Blood Lord (Vicious Labs)
4) Ember (Vicious Labs)
5) Blight (Vicious Labs)
6) Chloro Heal (Vicious Labs)
7) Nektar (Ambrosia)
8) Overtraining Solution (Ambrosia)
9) Machine Motion (MTS)
10) Creatine (MTS)
11) Fish Oil (MTS)
12) BCAA (Mutant)
13) Iso Surge (Mutant)
14) Fiberlyze (Species)
 

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ELROCK

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This will be interesting. Good luck on the contest!
 
xR1pp3Rx

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Caber?? Do tell .. I have a doosey of a prami story.
 
ZOO

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Caber?? Do tell .. I have a doosey of a prami story.
I took .5 eod for a total of 3 or 4 doses... can't quite recall as it is a blurry period now. At the onset I slowly was having difficulty sleeping. Didn't think much of it at the time. I figured it was "trensomnia" even though that was hardly an issue before except at stupid doses. But it quickly broke down into full fledged mania. Go figure. Caber is a dopamine agonist after all. I was legitimately scared (petrified) of the dark and would lay there in a constant state of severe anxiety. As soon as I would start to doze off I would snap out of it in extreme panic... even with my gf there trying to comfort me to sleep. Despite not having been able to sleep my days were filled with a weird, intense energy. My appetite was shot and I lost a lot of weight pretty quickly. The "weird energy" kept me going hard in the gym. Real hard. Basically trying to beat myself into oblivion so I would pass out from exhaustion, which didn't work at all. After doing some research I realized how stupid my caber dose was. Really, I didn't even need to use it for the "small" amount of tren I was on. Plus, I had plenty of other ancillaries on hand. Much to my dismay caber has a long long half life and took nearly 2 weeks for it to clear my system and close to 3 before I was back to normal. I'm not sure how much that hindered me in my prep (this was roughly 6-8 weeks ago) in terms of muscle loss and recovery, but it certainly helped lean me out as I went from 6 to 5 meals real quick with one of those being a simple 50g Isolate shake. In short, research everything you put into your body. This was a real rookie mistake on my part and I'm a little embarrassed to admit it, but I learned my lesson.
 
Brutefit

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added to watch list, there is a lot to learn from here (y)(y)
 
ZOO

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Update: 4 June 2019
Weight: 213 lbs (fasted)

Workout: Back
Time: 60 minutes (warm ups and cardio included)

1) Barbell Rows (315): 7, 6, 7
2) Parallel Grip Pullups: 10, 8, 6
3) Low Row (297): 6, 6, 6
4) Wide Grip Pulldown (209): 7, 8, 7
5) Lat Pushdowns (66): 9, 8, 7
6) Dumbbell Rows (120): 9, 8, 7

7) Yates Rows (155): 19, 15, 15
(I like to use light Yates Rows as part of my cardio and as a tool to help work on symmetrical contraction. My left side definitely struggles more to engage. Not sure if this is related to my twisty spine any but the exercise seems to help.)

8) Farmers Walk (45s): 1 set of 5 laps
(Another calorie burning exercise. Each lap is across the gym and back. I use these quite a bit for cardio as I feel being under load or utilizing high rep, weighted exercises is superior to long bouts of traditional cardio.)

9) Treadmill (Speed 3.0/Incline 5.0): 10 minutes
(Again, not a fan of long, intense cardio bouts so I will top things off with a quick 10 or 15 minute walk to kill some extra cals since I do need to lean out. I also hold a 10 second vacuum at every minute.)

Other Cardio:
- 1 mile walk after Meal 3
- 1/2 mile walk after Meal 4

Notes:
- Starting to feel the "cut" as it is becoming more difficult to use higher weights with proper form.
- Added a 4th egg to Meal 3 because ^^^
- At the very least I peed 6 times last night. Likely 7-8. Before anyone says go check your prostate I assure you I am definitely dropping serious urine lol. Listened to a podcast with Stan where he mentions taking 500mg of salt before bed to prevent this as it will subside diuretic hormone. Might give it a shot.
- Still managing lots of REM despite frequent trips to the toilet. Dreams are pretty messed up though. I'm often getting mutilated or killed and fairly frequently yell myself awake (night terrors). In one of last night's dreams I was having disk surgery on my lower spine; however, I was fully awake during the procedure and experiencing excruciating pain. Fun stuff.
- Decided to add an additional 20mcg Clenbuterol to my 3rd dose of PED's during the day. I will probably add 20mcg weekly until 1-2 weeks out.
 
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TheMovement

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Subd! Interesting in watching how you progress.
 
LeanEngineer

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Sweet! I'll get in on this!
 
GrizzleB

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I'm in! Started following you on instagram recently too you look great keep at it.
 
SkRaw85

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Very detailed log Zoo. Looks like you got this under control
 
TheMovement

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ZOO

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I'm in! Started following you on instagram recently too you look great keep at it.
Appreciate the compliment man! Working hard. I want my $5 trophy haha. Also, thanks for following the IG. Really want to get my social media presence up. I don't care to be insta-famous but it is imperative to being successful in the fitness industry.
 
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ZOO

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Very detailed log Zoo. Looks like you got this under control
Thanks, SkRaw. I think this will be a great way for me to keep track of things and have a reference to learn from in the future. Hopefully others find it helpful as well :)
 
ZOO

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Update: 5 June 2019
Weight: 212.0 lbs (fasted) (noodz attached)

I was pleasantly surprised to wake up at 212.0 lbs this morning. A bit of a dramatic drop from the day before, but this means I can proceed with a most excellent "high day" tomorrow in conjunction with what I hope to be a very productive leg workout - these are typically squat dominant. Anyways, here's the deets from today's workout...

Workout: Shoulders
Time: 60 minutes (warm ups and cardio included)
Song of the day: Scary Baby by Supermercado

1) Machine Press (5 Plates): 6, 5, 5
2) Dumbbell Press: (105) x 6, (85) x 8, (60) x 12 (Drop set).
(I try to hit three rep ranges when doing these types of drops: 4-6, 7-10, 12-15 reps)

3) Dumbbell Lateral Raises (60): 7, 6, 6
4) Dumbbell Uni-Lateral Raises (50): 7, 6, 5
(These sets were done consecutively switching back between each arm until complete. I use the non-exercising arm to hang off of a raised incline bench)

5) Standing Military Press (135): 13, 10, 9
6) Reverse Pec Dec: (310) x 5 x 3 x 4; (230) x 10 x 9 x 7; (150) x 13 x 13 x 10
7) Behind-the-back Cable Flys (22): 10, 7, 7

8) Farmers Walk (45s): 5 sets of 2 laps

Other Cardio:
- 1 mile walk after Meal 3
- 1/2 mile walk after Meal 4

Notes:
- Modified Meal 3 to be comprised of 4 whole eggs and 1.25 cups whites since my weight dropped a full pound since yesterday. This was also done in anticipation of what I hope to be an intense leg day tomorrow. For me, leg development is of the upmost important since it is by far my weakest body part. They are loooooooong... and sexy ;) lol

- I tried the salt thing last night to see if it would help with my peeing situation. It did not lol. Still hit the toilet 7 times.

- I've been having recurring pain in my left arm for a bit now. Not terrible, but it nags pretty decent time to time. From what I can tell it is most likely strain/tightness in my forearm, which travels a bit to my lower bicep. It was creating some difficulty in today's workout. Specifically on Dumbbell Presses, Military Presses, and Lateral Raises.

- Awesome dream of the evening was the pedals on my car suddenly disappearing and me veering off of a cliff. I woke up prior to impact.
 

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booneman77

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Subbed! I def like the idea of just doing this portion since this is the exciting period and usually when loggers tend to disappear just due to the stress and effort of prep
 
LeanEngineer

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Nice workout man! Looking lean and muscular in the pic!
 
SkRaw85

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Holy reverse pec deck! That explains those massive rear delts. Glad you survived the crash.
 
ZOO

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Following!
Thanks, man :)

Holy reverse pec deck! That explains those massive rear delts. Glad you survived the crash.
Haha me too. Rough period, but thankfully managed. Yeah. Definitely love those for rear delts. I have a hard time isolating the muscle with face pulls and bent overs so I tend to stick with the reverse pec to really hone in on the target area.

Subbed! I def like the idea of just doing this portion since this is the exciting period and usually when loggers tend to disappear just due to the stress and effort of prep
Exactly! Get the most bang for your log following buck haha

Nice workout man! Looking lean and muscular in the pic!
Thanks, bro! Trying my best to nail a balance of conditioning and muscularity.
 
ZOO

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Update: 6 June 2019
Weight: 211.2 lbs (fasted)

Woke up to a solid 0.8 lbs drop in weight so I was ready and relieved to pull the trigger on my "high day" meal modifications. It isn't anything too crazy because as I stated earlier I don't have cheat meals incorporated. Rather, I simply juice up my normal meals a bit, which I am more than satisfied with - I love these foods and prefer them. I attached food pronz pics for meals 1-3. Meals 4 and 5 are kept the same. I've been doing a second "high day" on Sunday for Pull training, but it will differ depending on weight, feel, and appearance.

Meal 1 (9:00am):
9oz Beef (96%), 12oz Potato, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[Wrecking Crew, Nektar, Fish Oil, Chloro Heal, Vitamin D 10,000iu]

Pre-workout: The Blood Lord 1 scoop, Special Forces 3 caps, Clen 20mcg
Intra-workout: 4oz Pure OJ, 15g BCAAs, 5g Creatine

Meal 2 (1:00pm):
60g Oatmeal, 50g Isolate, 150g Blueberries, 1 x Banana, 10g Cocoa (100%), 3 x Stevia Packets, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[2 x Wrecking Crew, Overtraining Solution]

Meal 3 (3:15pm):
4 x Whole Eggs, 1.5 Cups Egg Whites, 9oz Potato, 10g Cacao (100%), 2 tsp. Table Salt
[Wrecking Crew]

Meal 4 (6:15pm): UNCHANGED

Meal 5 (9:30pm): UNCHANGED



Workout: Legs (Squat focused)
Time: 70 minutes (warm ups and cardio included)
Song of the day: Megalomaniac by KMFDM

My leg day is now based heavily around squats. These are fundamental not just to leg development, but overall muscle development - deadlift type lifts as well. Frankly, you'll be hard pressed to find a better return on your investment in the gym. For myself, this is ideal to maintain muscularity and increase caloric expenditure. Plus, legs, as well as squats, have been a severe weakness so I use this as an opportunity to continually work on proper execution. This time last year I wasn't even able to correctly hit 135 lbs. Consequently, I stuck to light machine work and had noodle legs. I won't have anymore of that. The 3 caps of Special Forces nootropic really helped zone in on mind-muscle connection - it's a stacked formula so check it out.

1) Skwaaaaats:
335 x 3
315 x 6 x 6 x 5 x 5
225 x 11 x 7 x 10 x 9 x 7
(The weird rep range was largely due to recurring knee pain on my left side. It only hit me on the sets with 7 reps. This is why I've been placing so much effort on form.)

2) Leg Press (5 plates): 12, 11, 10, 8, 7
(Feet are positioned lower and close to make it more quad dominant since my squats tend to use more hams, glutes, and hips.)

3) Seated Leg Extensions (220): 16, 10, 9 (45 second rest)
4) Seated Uni Leg Curls (120): 7, 6, 5
(Sets were completed consecutively one leg at a time back to back until complete.)

5) Inner Thigh Machine (180): 12, 9, 6 (45 second rest)
6) Outer Thigh Machine (180): 10, 8, 6 (45 second rest)

Other Cardio:
- 1 mile walk after Meal 3
- 1/2 mile walk after Meal 4

Notes:
- Sleep was very poor last night. In addition to the peeing situation I was constantly tossing and turning. My bed sucks and it's starting to warm up here in SoCal lol
- My weightlifting belt is becoming very uncomfortable as my body fat continues to drop. It digs into my hips rather painfully when executing movements. Tbh I think I could have gotten an extra rep on a couple of my heavier squat sets. Particularly the first with 335 lbs. as it otherwise didn't feel all too heavy.
 

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Gridles

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In for the ride, looking swole my friend! Gainbusters & Vicious Labs have been treating you well. Looking forward to contest pics of you holding that trophy!
 
LeanEngineer

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Meals are on point! Squat form on point as well:)
 
ZOO

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Meals are on point! Squat form on point as well:)
My sore legs agree with the squat form sentiment lol

In for the ride, looking swole my friend! Gainbusters & Vicious Labs have been treating you well. Looking forward to contest pics of you holding that trophy!
Hell yeah! Vicious Labs and Gainbusters supplements are theeeeee best. Yes, I am biased af haha
 
booneman77

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Update: 6 June 2019
Weight: 211.2 lbs (fasted)

Woke up to a solid 0.8 lbs drop in weight so I was ready and relieved to pull the trigger on my "high day" meal modifications. It isn't anything too crazy because as I stated earlier I don't have cheat meals incorporated. Rather, I simply juice up my normal meals a bit, which I am more than satisfied with - I love these foods and prefer them. I attached food pronz pics for meals 1-3. Meals 4 and 5 are kept the same. I've been doing a second "high day" on Sunday for Pull training, but it will differ depending on weight, feel, and appearance.

Meal 1 (9:00am):
9oz Beef (96%), 12oz Potato, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[Wrecking Crew, Nektar, Fish Oil, Chloro Heal, Vitamin D 10,000iu]

Pre-workout: The Blood Lord 1 scoop, Special Forces 3 caps, Clen 20mcg
Intra-workout: 4oz Pure OJ, 15g BCAAs, 5g Creatine

Meal 2 (1:00pm):
60g Oatmeal, 50g Isolate, 150g Blueberries, 1 x Banana, 10g Cocoa (100%), 3 x Stevia Packets, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[2 x Wrecking Crew, Overtraining Solution]

Meal 3 (3:15pm):
4 x Whole Eggs, 1.5 Cups Egg Whites, 9oz Potato, 10g Cacao (100%), 2 tsp. Table Salt
[Wrecking Crew]

Meal 4 (6:15pm): UNCHANGED

Meal 5 (9:30pm): UNCHANGED



Workout: Legs (Squat focused)
Time: 70 minutes (warm ups and cardio included)
Song of the day: Megalomaniac by KMFDM

My leg day is now based heavily around squats. These are fundamental not just to leg development, but overall muscle development - deadlift type lifts as well. Frankly, you'll be hard pressed to find a better return on your investment in the gym. For myself, this is ideal to maintain muscularity and increase caloric expenditure. Plus, legs, as well as squats, have been a severe weakness so I use this as an opportunity to continually work on proper execution. This time last year I wasn't even able to correctly hit 135 lbs. Consequently, I stuck to light machine work and had noodle legs. I won't have anymore of that. The 3 caps of Special Forces nootropic really helped zone in on mind-muscle connection - it's a stacked formula so check it out.

1) Skwaaaaats:
335 x 3
315 x 6 x 6 x 5 x 5
225 x 11 x 7 x 10 x 9 x 7
(The weird rep range was largely due to recurring knee pain on my left side. It only hit me on the sets with 7 reps. This is why I've been placing so much effort on form.)

2) Leg Press (5 plates): 12, 11, 10, 8, 7
(Feet are positioned lower and close to make it more quad dominant since my squats tend to use more hams, glutes, and hips.)

3) Seated Leg Extensions (220): 16, 10, 9 (45 second rest)
4) Seated Iso Leg Curls (120): 7, 6, 5
(Sets were completed consecutively one leg at a time back to back until complete.)

5) Inner Thigh Machine (180): 12, 9, 6 (45 second rest)
6) Outer Thigh Machine (180): 10, 8, 6 (45 second rest)

Other Cardio:
- 1 mile walk after Meal 3
- 1/2 mile walk after Meal 4

Notes:
- Sleep was very poor last night. In addition to the peeing situation I was constantly tossing and turning. My bed sucks and it's starting to warm up here in SoCal lol
- My weightlifting belt is becoming very uncomfortable as my body fat continues to drop. It digs into my hips rather painfully when executing movements. Tbh I think I could have gotten an extra rep on a couple of my heavier squat sets. Particularly the first with 335 lbs. as it otherwise didn't feel all too heavy.
I feel you on the squat form vs weight... I hurt my back late last year and was forced to renew my focus on form simply to keep from re-injuring myself and I have actually seen a marked improvement in overall athleticism by working lower weight but better form.

Have you tried putting your belt on a bit higher? I personally wear mine pretty high as I tend to push more of my upper abs out into it to keep the tension.
 
Segansational

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Subbed. Glad to see you posting on here @ZOO already looking pretty lean!
 

Resolve10

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Beastly. In just for inspiration I guess and hoping the more people in here the more motivation you get.
 
ZOO

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I feel you on the squat form vs weight... I hurt my back late last year and was forced to renew my focus on form simply to keep from re-injuring myself and I have actually seen a marked improvement in overall athleticism by working lower weight but better form.

Have you tried putting your belt on a bit higher? I personally wear mine pretty high as I tend to push more of my upper abs out into it to keep the tension.
Amen to that. I blew my back out doing deads back in Oct and it forced me to reevaluate how I approach everything... it turned out for the better in many ways - I also have scholiosis and kyphosis (spell check lol) so it's extremely important to adhere to form. Glad to see you're getting better results from the change as well :) Execution will amount to a much better return in the long run. We can't let our egos get in the way of the real goal.

Yeah, I was adjusting it up and down to find a more comfortable placement. It could very well be just too large of a belt for my leaner body atm. I bought it when I was upwards of 270. Need one of those cushioned under-belt things haha. I'll try making a point to exert my upper abs though to see if it'll take some of the pressure off the lower part. Appreciate the tip!

Subbed. Glad to see you posting on here @ZOO already looking pretty lean!
Thanks, man! Let's see if I can trim up even more now :D

Beastly. In just for inspiration I guess and hoping the more people in here the more motivation you get.
Awesome! I hope doing this can inspire others to keep going hard while emphasizing the importance of training and nutrition. In my experience most guys want the quick fix thinking the supps/gear will do the work when in reality it's a culmination of all aspects... nutrition sitting at the pinnacle.

Absolutely, bro. It helps a lot by having more folks in here following. The more the better. I love the support and interest. It keeps me fired up and wanting to post progress. While I am very self-motivated to achieve greater heights in my bodybuilding and supplement company endeavors, having like-minded individuals behind me drives a sense of obligation to remain diligent and committed to the process even more.
 
booneman77

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I hear you on just being leaner making it not fit the same. I go through the same issue every summer and just start adding more layers of hoodies and shirts under my belt to “fill the void” ha. It’s a great feeling to be “too lean for the belt” but makes everything awkward and painful ha
 
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ZOO

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I hear you on just being leaner making it not fit the same. I go through the same issue every summer and just start adding more layers of hoodies and shirts under my belt to “fill the void” ha. It’s a great feeling to be “too lean for the belt” but makes everything awkward and painful ha
Haha talk about good problems ;)
 
ZOO

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Update: 7 June 2019
Weight: 212.0 lbs (fasted)

Looks like my body was able to take in a little glycogen and water from yesterday's bump in calories. This is kind of what I was hoping to see as too quick of a weight drop is not good. Controlling weight loss in a manner that refeeds the body on the most taxing training days I feel is an excellent way to preserve muscle and reignite the metabolism. Traditionally, I am an all or nothing type who would bulk or cut too hard, which does little more than make you look, feel, and perform to a lesser degree. Also, where do you go if you keep lowering calories?

Workout: Arms
Time: 60 minutes (warm ups and cardio included)
Song of the day: Because the Night by 10,000 Maniacs

Superset
1) Close Grip Bench (255): 7, 6, 5
2) Dumbbell Curls (50): 10, 9, 7 (alternating each arm)

Superset
3) Close Grip Bench (225): 10, 7, 6 (I was really feeling the tricep work so I repeated close grip today)
4) Hammer Curls (50): 10, 9, 7 (one arm at a time)

5) Rope Extension (66): 11, 8, 7
6) Seated Cable Curl (165): 12, 8, 8
7) Body Weight Dips: 20, 12, 11
8) EZ Bar Curls (80): 8, 7, 6

9) Farmers Walk (45s): 3 sets of 3 laps
10) Treadmill (Speed 3.0/Incline 5.0): 10 minutes (Held a 10 second vacuum at every minute.)


Other Cardio:
- 1 mile walk after Meal 3
- 1/2 mile walk after Meal 4

Notes:
- Meal 3 again was modified to 4 whole eggs. I will be maintaining this since I was still losing weight while eating 4 eggs instead of 3. Should things stagnate I will adjust back to 3 eggs.
- Noticeably more tired and hungry today than I normally am. It is the end of the week with today being my 6th training session so not surprising. Tomorrow is an off day from the gym.
- Sleep was very bleh and still pissing 6-7 times.
- The recurring pain in my left arm was acting up a bit, but subsided after getting warmed up. Doing unilateral curl type exercises don't appear to aggravate it nearly as much. Again, not terrible, but worth mentioning. I generally do higher volume arm work (mostly just for the love of training); however, this could be my body telling me I need to back off a bit in that regard.
- No terrible dreams that I can recall. Probably because of the **** sleep lol.
 
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Sparkss

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Amen to that. I blew my back out doing deads back in Oct and it forced me to reevaluate how I approach everything... it turned out for the better in many ways - I also have scholiosis and kyphosis (spell check lol) so it's extremely important to adhere to form. Glad to see you're getting better results from the change as well :) Execution will amount to a much better return in the long run. We can't let our egos get in the way of the real goal.

Yeah, I was adjusting it up and down to find a more comfortable placement. It could very well be just too large of a belt for my leaner body atm. I bought it when I was upwards of 270. Need one of those cushioned under-belt things haha. I'll try making a point to exert my upper abs though to see if it'll take some of the pressure off the lower part. Appreciate the tip!
I have bulging L4-L5 and L5-S1 discs from an injury dating back to when I was in my early 20's (30 or so years ago). I haven't have an MRI for it in the last decade or so, but from the feel of things when I lift it hasn't gotten an better LOL. What I found is that I actually can't wear a belt, especially not on deads. Every time I do I end up crippled the next day. It also feels "wrong" when I am wear it during lifts. I think that it puts pressure on the bulging discs and causes irritation/inflammation. So I just stick to lower weights and make sure that my form is on point.

Following along to see Zoo kill it! :)
 
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m1k3_d0z4

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Following along for all the awesome insight and content.

I listened to your podcast a couple months back with SuppTalk Radio and thought you were a stand up guy.

Best of luck with your progress and competition!
 
Afi140

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Late but in. I want video footage of the show this year!!!
 
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I have bulging L4-L5 and L5-S1 discs from an injury dating back to when I was in my early 20's (30 or so years ago). I haven't have an MRI for it in the last decade or so, but from the feel of things when I lift it hasn't gotten an better LOL. What I found is that I actually can't wear a belt, especially not on deads. Every time I do I end up crippled the next day. It also feels "wrong" when I am wear it during lifts. I think that it puts pressure on the bulging discs and causes irritation/inflammation. So I just stick to lower weights and make sure that my form is on point.

Following along to see Zoo kill it! :)
Damn, Sparkss. We are all jacked up... and not in a good way lmao. Pretty interesting that the belt is actually counterproductive for you, but impressive you still manage to work around it! Thanks for joining, bro!

Following along for all the awesome insight and content.

I listened to your podcast a couple months back with SuppTalk Radio and thought you were a stand up guy.

Best of luck with your progress and competition!
Haha that's awesome. I wasn't sure if anyone would catch that. Happy that you did :) Thanks for the support, man!

Late but in. I want video footage of the show this year!!!
Agreed! Hopefully we can get some good footage this time around. My gf is likely doing the Vintage class so I don't think she'll be able to. The people that do vid/pics for the event don't seem to give much love outside of the girl divisions lol. But perhaps if I look good enough they'll give special consideration to us fellas ;)
 
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Update: 8 June 2019
Weight: 209.8 lbs (fasted)

- OFF DAY -

Well here we go! Broke below the 210 mark today so I guess I must have fried up whatever was left from Thursday's food boost lol. I will be repeating the same food strategy I did then for tomorrow's "pull" session as it is equally taxing. Today is an off day from the gym, but I'm not entirely sedentary as movement is essential to recovery as well as keeping the body furnace revved.

Today's meals are largely the same minus the exclusion of my intra-workout drink and preworkout cocktail. Only notable modifications are increasing the potato with my egg meal from 6 to 8oz and then switching up the order in which I eat them:

Meal 1 (9:30am): 1/2 mile walk after eating
7oz Beef (96%), 180g Riced Cauliflower, 50g Carrots, 1 tsp. Iodized Salt
[Nektar, Fish Oil, Chloro Heal, Vitamin D 10,000iu]

Meal 2 (12:45pm): 1/2 mile walk after eating
7oz Beef (96%), 8oz Potato, 1 tsp. Iodized Salt
[Wrecking Crew, Fiberlyze]

Meal 3 (3:45pm): 1/2 mile walk after eating
4 x Whole Eggs, 1 Cup Egg Whites, 8oz Potato, 10g Cacao (100%), 2 tsp. Iodized Salt
[Wrecking Crew, Overtraining Solution]

Meal 4 (6:45pm): 1/2 mile walk after eating
7oz Beef (96%), 8oz Potato, 1 tsp. Iodized Salt
[Wrecking Crew]

Meal 5 (9:45pm): no walk
7oz Beef (96%), 180g Riced Cauliflower, 50g Carrots, 1 tsp. Iodized Salt
[KSM-66 (Blight) 600mg, Fish Oil, Chloro Heal, Machine Motion]
 
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booneman77

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The walks after eating just to help stimulate digestion?
 
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hitting it hard!! love the diet detail brother.
Thanks, Rip!

The walks after eating just to help stimulate digestion?
Precisely. It helps with food digestion and appropriating nutrients throughout the body - blood will be forced to move through muscles. In a sense, it acts similarly to a GDA, but with the added benefit of keeping metabolism up. If I recall correctly, Stan links a study in his program showing it is more effective than Metformin. Of course, I still take my Wrecking Crew GDA religiously with carb meals because I want to maximize every edge I can. Also, breaking up the cardio throughout the day after eating is shown to exhaust more calories than doing 1 long session. Should be able to find it on his channel if you search for 10 Minute Walks on YouTube.
 
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Update: 9 June 2019
Weight: 210.4 lbs (fasted)

Only up 0.6 lbs from my Off Day. That's spot on the money so it was all systems go for another "high" day of food, which is almost an identical repeat of Thursday with only a couple of subtle differences. These weren't so much strategic as they were how my food came out after cooking it. For example, the potato in Meal 1 was a tad under 12oz and the leftover beef I made came up a little over 9oz so I just rolled with it.

Meal 1 (9:00am):
9.5oz Beef (96%), 11.5oz Potato, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[Wrecking Crew, Nektar, Fish Oil, Chloro Heal, Vitamin D 10,000iu]

Pre-workout: The Blood Lord 1 scoop, Special Forces 3 caps, Clen 20mcg
Intra-workout: 4oz Pure OJ, 15g BCAAs, 5g Creatine

Meal 2 (1:00pm):
60g Oatmeal, 50g Isolate, 150g Blueberries, 1 x Banana, 10g Cocoa (100%), 3 x Stevia Packets, 1 tsp. Pink Salt
[2 x Wrecking Crew, Overtraining Solution]

Meal 3 (3:15pm):
4 x Whole Eggs, 1.5 Cups Egg Whites, 8oz Potato, 10g Cacao (100%), 2 tsp. Table Salt
[Wrecking Crew]

Meal 4 (6:15pm): UNCHANGED

Meal 5 (9:30pm): UNCHANGED



Workout: Pull/Calves
Time: 85 minutes (warm ups and cardio included)
Song of the day: Another Love by Tom Odell

The time spent for today's workout is more than my usual on account that it takes a bit longer to set up and un-rack weights. Not to mention it can be competitive getting certain equipment. My gym (24 Hour Fitness) only has one Trap Bar so I had to improvise my workout a tad by throwing calves in between my rack pulls and trap deadlifts. Other than that no complaints. Everything felt pretty good so I'm happy. In particular, the nagging pain I've been battling in my right lat for the last couple of months seems to have subsided :) It's a very simple workout, but quite taxing nonetheless. Naturally, I full scooped The Blood Lord and dropped 3 caps of Special Forces along with my 20mcg of clen. Twas glorious.

I included a couple of pictures, but I posted a couple videos on my Instagram if you want to see Set 4 from Rack Pulls and Set 1 from Trap Bar Deadlifts: @zoo.the.blood.lord

1) Rack Pulls (495): 10, 8, 6, 7, 4 < - Last set was done very shortly after the preceding one.
(Bar placement is just below knee level. I'm confident I could have done 6 plates, but being this close to the show and just having recovered my lat I saw no point in ego lifting.)

2) Standing Calf Raises: 5 sets of 8-10
3) Seated Calf Raises: 5 sets of 10-12
(I ran through these pretty quick so didn't really care to detail the weight. Important part for calves with me is the quality of contraction. Also, I intended to follow up these with the Seated Calf Press, but it never opened up since it's one of those pieces of equipment people like to sloth around on.)

4) Trap Bar Deadlifts (405): 8, 7, 7, 6, 5

5) Farmer's Walk (45's): 3 sets of 3 laps
6) Treadmill (Speed 3.0/Incline 5.0): 9 minutes
(Reason for 9 minutes is because I hopped off a tad early to give a back of supplements to an IFBB Classic Pro that goes to my gym. He's a pretty cool dude and was interested in trying out the goodies.)

Other Cardio:
- 1 mile walk after Meal 3
- 1/2 mile walk after Meal 4

Notes:
- Sleep and nightly peeing is unchanged.
 

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