Time+Patience Plus Consistency

[Unholy]

4-5 weeks out I was at 1750 cals/day.

I was at 2000 for the 4 weeks prior to that.

I had 1 refeed/week where I bumped cals to ~3000 and carbs up to 600-700g

My macros were 55/200/210 then 35/165/200.

[Time+Patience]

Unholy,
I'll definitely be keeping the carbs in my diet as long as possible. I decided that I will have some rotation days though, high and low carbs. My energy has been great, and my workouts have been awesome, outside of 1 workout.


Thursday 2/4 @ Skytop

CG Flat BB
185x8/8

Preacher BB
80x8/7

Skulls + Stretch
80x10/10

Concentration DB Curls
40x7/7

Smith Overhead Ext.
105x8 drop 85x10 drop 65x7

Cable Curls
100x15 Dropset to no end

*** This was a very good workout. I might continue a plit similar to what I ended up doing this week Legs, Back + Hams, Chest + Tri's, Arms. I'm very happy working w/80 on Preacher BB, as I've usually been weak on these. The tail end of the workout really picked up a lot of steam, all 4 exercises felt great! I do like the Smith Overhead X, with the track position it allows a better stretch at the bottom. There's minimal DOMS from that workout which I'm surprised about.

[Coke]

That workout is not looking bad man.

[Time+Patience]

Sunday 2/7 @ Hyde Park

Front Squats
(Wrapped Knees)
225x5
245x3

Hack Squats
(Back to pad, Close stance)
445x4
495x2 Drop 405x5

HS Leg X
50x20

Hack Squats
(Wide stance, changed angle)315x10 Drop 225x5

*** This was another great workout! I wanted to try using my wraps for the Front Squats, and they felt ok. I wanted to try going real heavy, I was actually hoping to get 275 while I was fresh. I'll go without the wraps next time and try and compare. The Hacks felt great and tough, but I did them again at the end of the workout as I realized I can change the platform position, and I wanted to compare the feel in stance and angle variation. The angle change allowed more quad involvement.

I have been murdering my Quads as of late! I'm going to keep the Front Squats in for nearly every Quad workout. I'm going to see if I can tell a difference in development by implementing them.


My calories have been sitting around no higher than 2,800 for the past few days, so things have been good on that front. I eat more calories when I'm up for longer hours throughout the day.

[Unholy]

Yea dude, this is where it gets tough. You need to keep yourself busy and not get too preoccupied thinking about food. I know thats what killed me the most. Everyone around me was lookin at me funny cause all I would talk about it food. Getting unhuman conditioning comes at its cost I guess.

[Behemoth]

Not to psych you out bc you're doing great but pauls dead right the leaner you get the crazier your mind thinks. You loathe people you see eating a solitary skittle and think to yourself what a fatass as you crave them the rest of the day lol. Lock and load and remember just how short these final 6-7 weeks actually are in the grand scheme of how great you'll feel after stepping off that stage proud of what you accomplished. Can't wait to see those compeition photos bro

[Time+Patience]

Yea dude, this is where it gets tough. You need to keep yourself busy and not get too preoccupied thinking about food. I know thats what killed me the most. Everyone around me was lookin at me funny cause all I would talk about it food. Getting unhuman conditioning comes at its cost I guess.

Lock and load and remember just how short these final 6-7 weeks actually are in the grand scheme of how great you'll feel after stepping off that stage proud of what you accomplished. Can't wait to see those compeition photos bro

I am beginning to see myself always thinking about my next meal! It is starting to get crazy. This is the week where I'm really going to gauge myself and see where I'm sitting weight, physique and progress wise.

I'm going to take Paul's advice and keep the carbs, but I'm going to check in by the end of the week with a picture update and see if I should be cutting down my calories down closer to 2,200 rather than 2,800.

It's probably about time to make that change in my diet anyways.

My hamstrings and glutes have a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG ways to go. I've noticed the fat coming off, but I want them to be clearly separated and defined (I don't know about striations back there? That has to be tough to do).

[Unholy]

600 is a big drop.

This is why tracking is so nice. I would drop 200-400 cals.

Drastic changes are not where its at.

[Coke]

I have been murdering my Quads as of late!

No kidding dude, leg sessions have been especially tight.

[Time+Patience]

I've been tracking my calories more closely the past few days, and I'll be at 5 days straight of around 2,500 calories. I would say that I was over that amount prior, so I'll run with 2,400-2,500 calories for the next 7-10 days. The next calorie drop will be the subtraction of the creatine I've been taking, which is around 300 calories; I'll be done with that within 7 days, so next week I'll be arond 2,200 calories a day.

I'm going to read up on what supplements will come in handy for these last few weeks. Right now I'll be adding BCAA's, glutamine, CLA. I'm looking into Bete-Alanine and I may just switch the creatine to a Creatine Monohydrate and drop it around 7-10 days out. But I might look into some NO product, or just Arginine.

I'll be updating some pictures this weekend, but I'm definitely seeing the difference from week to week.

On a side note, I see how hard it is to get your glutes and hamstrings in condition! They are lagging behind everything else, hopefully they start to come in better by March 1. I really don't want to be that guy with horrible glutes.

Onto the good stuff.

Monday 2/8 @ Bellevue

Smith BB Rows
225x12
245x10

Smith Top Deads
295x10
315x10

Wide Pulldowns
80x10
90x6

One Arm Machine Rows
110x8 Drop until no end....

*** This was a quicker workout, but it was efficient. I tried to keep my upper body parallel w/the floor on the Smith Rows, and these had a nice feel to them. I can't go very heavy on these w/out swinging and coming above parallel. The Top Deads felt nice, I tried to focus solely on my back and I think I accomplished that goal. I normally do full SLDL with 350+ and focus on the hamstrings, but I wanted to focus on my back.

Wednesday 2/10 @ UC

Smith BN Military
195x2 (Drop) 175x4 (Drop) 145x9

HS Decline
320x5 (pause) +2 (Drop) 270x5

BB Upright Rows
115x10 (pause) +5

Incline BB
185x3 (pause) +2 (Drop) 135x8

Leaning Cable Raises
30x10 (pause) +5 (Drop) 20x5+5

Flat DB
75x6 (pause) +3 Drop 55x4+4

*** I had to get this workout in quick, due to the snow the school gym opened at 10 and I had class at 11, or so I thought as it ended up being cancelled.
I liked the dropset method today on everything, it felt good, especially on BN Military and HS Decline. On the Flat DB I was going for a stretch + pause at the bottom of each rep, and they worked out very well. I was looking very full after this workout!

I'll tell you, things have been running very well ever since that weekend of drunken-ness. I've been sitting right around 184-185, and I'm looking to be in the mid 170's. I'll be at the top of the Middleweight class then, so I need to make that.

[Unholy]

If you are dropping the creatine switch to a monohydrate asap.

I would weigh everything I eat now. Stop eyeballing portions if you haven't already.

Keep creatine in the loop all the way throughout the show. You WANT your muscles to be as full as possible and this is exactly what creatine does.

I recommend getting some Xtend, drink it before semi fasted cardio, and introworkout. NO supplements are kind of a waste of money. You are better off scoopin some Nitor. I know that **** did the trick for me pre workout as far as crazy energy and mental clarity. Some HMB might be useful to once the deficit becomes even greater.

As far as dropping calories. If you are 6-7 weeks out I would go ahead and drop to 2200 now.

I would run 55f/200c/210p and refeed about 1x a week where you bump carbs 150g on that day. Off day or weak body part day.

Don't leave anything to chance. Its better to get leaner early and fill back out the week before the show.

[Behemoth]

Keep the creatine. And bcaa would be worth your while if you're doing fasted cardio (which id reccommend if you're 6 weeks out and stressing the fatty glutes). I take cla, and a lot of it. But I'm more or less guinnea pigging myself now, and unless you have a lot of extra cash to burn I wouldn't expect much from it these final few weeks. I forget the federation you're doing but it'd be worth your while to check the ban list on stims, I doubt yohimbe is and if that's the case a fatburner containing it may benefit you, especially if you decide to do am cardio.

[Coke]

Gonna be interesting to see you dial in for the show...great to be getting good advice in here to help you out too.

[Time+Patience]

I have began to drop my calories to about 2,200 a day. I started that Friday, and before then I was right at 2,500 calories a day for a week straight.

When I weighed myself on Saturday morning I was sitting right under 182 pounds, which is right on track with the numbers, but I still have some BF % to drop. I'm guessing I'm right around 8-9% right now. I am going to see where my weight is sitting by next week, I am hoping to be closer to 181. If it drops under 180, then I'll go back to 2,300-2,400 calories. My progress has been great, and I don't want to over-diet.

I took some pictures, that I need to get posted when I get the chance. I'm very satisfied with the progress still.

I'm just under 5 weeks out from the competition, and I think that should give me enough time to tighten my hamstrings and glutes up. I know that I'll make the Middleweights, and I'm starting to think that I'll get to the low 170's, considering water weight being dropped and 5 more weeks of dieting. I'm beginning to do cardio about 4-5 times a week, some days it's a slow walk, maybe 15 minutes or maybe 30 minutes, and sometimes it's a quick HIIT session. I have just been going by feel.

I'm going to update some workouts from Saturday and Sunday, as well as pictures.

[Behemoth]

Looking forward to the picture and workout updates, can't wait to see the stage pics too... I might even come up to see thes show if i m able to make it

[Unholy]

If you drop under 180 then great!!! Believe me if you bring the sick conditioning you will look BIGGER and FREAKIER than anyone else. Don't worry about the scale too much. How tall are u again?

[Time+Patience]

If you drop under 180 then great!!! Believe me if you bring the sick conditioning you will look BIGGER and FREAKIER than anyone else. Don't worry about the scale too much. How tall are u again?

I am just a shade under 5'9".

I'm trying to balance the scale and the mirror; I've been satisfied with what I'm seeing in the mirror, but I don't want my weight to start taking big drops each week. I believe that dipping under 2,000 calories a day would be too little for me, as I am a very active person. I think that the 2,200 or so calories per day that you recommended will be ideal, but I'm going to just have to re-evaluate things this upcoming weekend, and each and every weeekend.

I agree that the conditioning always helps out drastically, I'll always see guys onstage that are lightweights, but look like top end middleweights.

I definitely am a fan of keeping the carbs within my diet. When I was on the low carb, with carb up days over the summer, I dropped the weight, but I "shrunk". I'm keeping a solid deal of size thus far.


On a side note, as soon as my WiFi works I'll post the pictures up from my computer. I tried taking different lighting shots, they show a pretty drastic difference IMO.

[Time+Patience]

Here are some updated pictures, I got this photobucket down now!!!

[Time+Patience]

Thursday 2/11 @ Skytop

Lockouts
225x7
235x7 Drop 205x8

BB Curls
100x10
110x4

CG Lockouts
205x7
215x5

DB Hammers
45x10
50x7

DB Skull Crushers
30x12

Spider DB Curls
30x10+5

*** This was a solid workout, my Lockout strength is still staying steady. My bicep strength is definitely staying up also. This was another good workout on my road to the contest. The definition in my arms are starting to show through better and better every week.



Saturday 2/13 @ Skytop

Front Squats (wide)
205x9/8

Hack Squats
315x10
365x6 Drop 315x6+6

*** I wanted to get in a low volume workout. I've been trying to focus on the Front Squats and Hack Squats; I'm really trying to get the feel of these 2 exercises down.


Sunday 2/14 @ Hyde Park

Standing Leg Curls
45x20
75x8

V-Bar Pulldowns
180x8
185x6

T-Bar (wide)
135x9
145x6

SLDL (plates under toes)
325x7
345x6

Incline DB Rows
50x12/10

*** I'm really loving any close grip pulling exercise. The SLDL's felt great, and the plates under my toes added to the stretch at the bottom of the motion. I'm going to continue with the Incline DB Rows. I finished my routine with some Lying Cable Leg Curls, which felt nice, I'll definitely incorporate those for a few sets in my next Hamstring workout.

[Time+Patience]

Here are a few more updated pictures....










Yeah, I know, I just went picture posting crazy. But, I finally got this photobucket to work right, I'm going to update my old pictures and add them to the posts as images not attachments.

[Chris Rodgers]

You are looking sick man! Great work! Good luck with your last 4-5 weeks of prep!

[Coke]

Looking exceptional, clearly on the mark to do serious damage in the upcoming show.

[f=ma]

nice quads man, looking good

good luck with your continued prep

[Behemoth]

Looking awesome man, your back and abs look loads leaner since the last pics. You're gonna kick ass bro

[Time+Patience]

Monday 2/15 @ UC

Incline DB
85x5
90x5+4

HS Military
200x6 Drop 150x8 Drop 100x8

Reverse Flat BB
185x5/5

BB Military
140x8+4

Incline DB Raises
25x12+5

Flat DB Flyes
35x12+5

*** This was a better workout for my delts rather than my chest. I wanted to try some Reverse BB's and they were ehhhh. the HS and BB Military felt very good, and the Incline Raises were to perfection! I had one hell of a pump going on this workout and I still felt strong.


Tuesday 2/16 @ Forum

DB Skulls
40x8 Drop 35x8

DB Hammer Curls
50x10+5

BB Curls (Close)
115x6 Drop 70x10

Overhead DB Ext.
35x8

*** This was another nice workout, I'm still playing with my biceps and triceps as those are my lagging bodyparts. I'm going to hit 'em hard after this contest. My biceps' strength is still thriving! I ended with some higher reps and I swear I saw the hint of striations in my triceps! I'm starting to have noticeable results every few days, it's been very encouraging to say the least.