The Spartans Quest For IFBB Pro Card Journal

[The Spartan]

In Sept 2011 i will be competing in the GNC IFBB North Americans and then in Oct 2011 at the NPC Nationals. I am in the hunt for my IFBB Pro Card.
Below is my training schedule till the middle of November. Then I will switch up my days.

My focuses for this program are
Upper chest development
overall arm development
thickness in back
increase in hamstring thickness

Monday
5am - Back (heavy)
2:45pm - Chest and Front Delts (heavy)

Tuesday
5am - Bicep and Tricep (high reps 15's)
2:45pm - Abs

Wednesday
5am - Hamstrings (heavy) and Glutes (isolate glutes)
2:45pm - Quads (heavy) and Glutes (glutes included)

Thursday
5am - Posterior Delts, Medial Delts, Traps and Neck
2:45pm - Calves (heavy), Chest and Back (high reps 15's)

Friday
5am - Bicep (heavy)
2:45pm - Tricep (heavy)

Saturday
Cardio - and make up muscles

Sunday
Cardio

[chevelle2291]

Oh I'm in on this.

[Time+Patience]

Well looky here. This is a nice surprise to see a BBer on here, and a pretty solid looking BBer at that. I'd definitely be interested in seeing you update your journal with your diet, cardio, and other things as well as your training.

Best of luck to you.

[The Spartan]

This weekend was a bust. I guest posed at a show in Kissimmee Florida. I was also sick a bit this weekend and didnt do any cardio, also didnt eat very well!
This mornings workout was good. I went up in all my weights and felt strong.

[The Spartan]

What a bicep pump this morning! on Tuesdays I superset bicep and tricep with high reps - 15's! i really felt like my biceps were going to pop!
My workout
preacher curls with ez bar (outside grip) superset with dips
spider curls with ez bar (inside grip) superset with straigt bar cable press down
flat bench dumbell curls (lying on flat bench) superset with dumbell kickbacks
hammer curls with bar superset with parrallel grip tricep press

what a killer!

[Time+Patience]

Just a question as there aren't any weights posted with the exercises that you worked out today, but do you pyramid your weights up towards your highest working set? Do you keep the reps relatively high across the board? Lastly what's your level of volume for the various bodyparts?

[The Spartan]

right now, I try to do all my sets to a certian rep range, and once i hit all sets with that weight and reps, i will up the weight. for example if I am doing preacher curls, at 4 sets of 10 with 100 lbs. set 1 i get 10 reps, set 2 10, set 3 - 9 reps and set 4 - 8 reps. I will keep the weight at 100 till i can get all 4 sets of 10. then i will increase the weight. Thats what I am doing right now till November. Then I will change up my scheme.

My rep range depends on the body part. my arms respond better to 8ish, my chest to 10ish, my legs 12+, and back it varies.

My volume depends on the body part and the rep scheme. but usually 3 to 5 exercises each part.

[The Spartan]

I had a great ab workout, went off the beaten path and mixed it up. I am trying to increase my ab size just a bit to bring them out more. So i am doing a lot of weighted exercises like, weighted decline bench ab crunches, cable crunches, haning leg raises. Trying to stay within the 10 to 20 rep range and beat the "snot" out of my abs.

[The Spartan]

The GNC IFBB North Americans are less than 1 year away! Need to Diet, Sleep and Train hard for it all to come together!

[The Spartan]

Right now I am weighing 230 - 235, i plan on growing into this weight and staying lean to put on quality mass. I need to diet down for the IFBB North Americans to come in at the top of the light heavies 196 - 198 and just as or even more shredded as my last show where i weighed in at 188. So that is 8 to 10lbs of muscle i will need to add. Shouldnt be a problem with staying leaner and dieting slower because I am leaner. I will post updates as much as possible!

You guys let me know what you want to know and I will tell ya!

[RBB]

Good to see a top level bb'er on here, Spartan. I'll be keeping an eye on your journal. Best of luck, bro.

[Coke]

Good luck reaching your goals Josh, no reason you can't reach pro status next year.

[The Spartan]

Thank you for your support and encouragement guys! Its nice to see good people! Remember if you are competetive bodybuilder or getting into, join the bodybuilding group i made!

[The Spartan]

Another great am training session! Hams, i sped up the intensity by taking a little less time between sets! what a difference! Plus i did a reverse set with lying leg curls! I started with 10lbs, did 10 reps, took 10 sec break, then increased to 20lbs for 10 reps, took 10 sec break, increased to 30lbs for 10 reps, ect untill i couldnt get 10 reps with a weight...............talk about a PUMP!!!!! That TOASTED my hams!!!!!

My pm session of Quads was going well, i got my 3 sets of front squats with 275 (deep in the pocket or butt to the floor), so next workout, i will increase to 285 and see what happens! Then it happened, i strained my calf on leg press. i let go of concentrating on my form and was pressing too much with my toes and POP, my calf gave way. So, now to rest and recover my calf! Injuries stink!

[The Spartan]

calf is pretty painful today! But, i have HUGE goals, so a little calf pain isnt going to hold me back! Had a great medial, posteiror and trap workout this morning! My delts dont get pumps, they just BURN!!! haha, it was actually pretty painful burn, but not a bad pain! I rocked them out and this afternoon, I will do the same for chest and back supersets!

[chevelle2291]

Hey Josh,

It'd be awesome if we could get some more detailed workouts when you have time. I'd be very interested in seeing what a top-level bber does in terms of exercises, set/reps, etc.

What's you current split look like?

[The Spartan]

Hey Josh,

It'd be awesome if we could get some more detailed workouts when you have time. I'd be very interested in seeing what a top-level bber does in terms of exercises, set/reps, etc.

What's you current split look like?

Hey Chevelle! I posted my split on the first post! Thank you for the interest! I will def start putting some weights, sets and reps in there! Below is my split!
Monday
5am - Back (heavy)
2:45pm - Chest and Front Delts (heavy)

Tuesday
5am - Bicep and Tricep (high reps 15's)
2:45pm - Abs

Wednesday
5am - Hamstrings (heavy) and Glutes (isolate glutes)
2:45pm - Quads (heavy) and Glutes (glutes included)

Thursday
5am - Posterior Delts, Medial Delts, Traps and Neck
2:45pm - Calves (heavy), Chest and Back (high reps 15's)

Friday
5am - Bicep (heavy)
2:45pm - Tricep (heavy)

Saturday
Cardio - and make up muscles

Sunday
Cardio

[chevelle2291]

Hey Chevelle! I posted my split on the first post!

Ah of course I missed it haha.

Damn you do lots of high volume. Is it normal for pros to do two workouts a day? You must have crazy recovery ability.

[Dedaw]

Damn! You sure are ripped! Wish I had the time to be able to workout both morning and night, sure would make things nice.
Good luck the card!

[The Spartan]

Thank you Dedaw! I dont look like that now! I am weighing 230. My shows this year I averaged 192lbs. and I am 5 foot 9.

[The Spartan]

This mornings workout was biceps (heavy) - great workout! went up in weight on my first 2 exercises!

Barbell Curls (wide grip)
1st set - 120lbs 10reps
2nd set - 120lbs 10 reps (almost failed)
3rd set - 120lbs 8 reps (toasted)
4th set - 135lbs 6 reps (cheat reps last 2)

Barbell Curls (narrow grip)
1st set - 110lbs 10 reps
2nd set - 110lbs 10 reps
3rd set - 110lbs 10 reps (almost failed) so next workout up the weights to 115lbs

Barbell Preacher Curls (normal grip)
1st set - 75lbs 9 reps
2nd set - 75lbs 8 reps
3rd set - 75lbs 7 reps
4th set - 75lbs 7 reps

[Kiff]

Good work mate and good luck, great to get another pro or damn near pro journal up that is a bit different

[Shemz]

Looking good! How's the calf doing?

[Behemoth]

Wow. 5'9" and your in the 190s on stage!

Whats your diet look like as far as calories and macros?

[The Spartan]

Good Monday Folks!

The Calf is still out of commission. Its getting better though. I figure another week or so and it will be ready...........hopefully! It hasnt hindered any part of any workout so far, but Legs is comming up Wed so we shall see then!

Todays workout was Back!

I started out doing the top half of the dead lift on the smith machine to increase total weight pulled and put more stress on the back. What a pump. i am going to do this for the next few weeks. I call them top halves.

Top havles 4 sets of 365 for 10 reps
Pull ups 4 sets of 8 (weighted with 20 lbs) I am not a great pull up person, but i am forcing myself to do them!
Bent over rows 4 sets of 10 with 235
Reverse grip pulldowns 3 sets of 10 with 225
T-bar rows 4 sets of 10 with 7 25s.

Great workout, excellent pump! Going to be very sore!! LOVE IT!!