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some people have messaged me wanting to know what i did for my pre contest prep, so here it is....
my body reacts much better to growing into the show, i maintained a bw of around 250-255 yr round and stepped on stage at 258. my training consisted of different styles of training every day, (ex. dc,hit, high volume, milos giant sets) i figure that none of them is the holey grail but all work very well for our common goal in the gym which is breaking the muscle down. this is also very nice because it keeps my training very new and exiting, if i am bored or tired with a particular routine it is usually means i am not growing... i put on 20lbs stage weight in 1 year doing this, so i feel pretty good about how it worked for me...
i did some recovery therapy also, 2-3x a week i got deep tissue massage, this is great for opening up the muscle (breaking up fascia) and letting the body grow. i dont know if many of us understand how much scare tissue we build up while training, its a lot! and you really get an understanding of it when you have a good therapist that understand s how to work on bbers. normally i wouldnt be able to afford this but i have a buddy that i traded some pt with so it worked out nice... another thing i did was do some foam rolling 2-3x a week. this is the same principle as the deep tissue but it allows to get some extra bodyparts you feel need the work, plus its free! i go to go in the sauna 3x a week and stretch for 20-30min it is hot as hell but it allows your muscles to stretch more. i have a pretty detailed routine i go through while stretching.
my nutrition is pretty basic, here is a normal day in the pre contest...
meal 1 8 whole eggs (fried in coconut oil), 1 cup of ezekial cereal, 3-4 tbsp organic honey with 2/3 cup of vanilla soy milk
meal 2 75g protein from a pure whey isolate protein powder mixed with 10 oz of apple juice, 1 cup of ezekial cereal, 3-4 tbsp organic honey w/ 2/3 cup of vanilla soy milk
meal 3 (pre training) 60g protein from pure whey isolate protein powder mixed with 8 oz apple juice...
meal 4 (post workout) 20g eaa’s, 15g bcaa’s, 60g vitargo, 5g taurine, 10g glutimine, 5-10g leucine, mixed in water. i bring this to the gym and drink it immediately after my training session
meal 6 50g protein (whey isolate) mixed in 8-oz apple juice, 12oz new york steak grilled, 1 1/2 cup of ezekial cereal with 4 tbsp organic honey, and 1 cup of vanilla soy milk..
meal 7 75g protein (whey isolate) with 10oz apple juice or 12 oz new york steak, and 1 cup of ezekial cereal w/ 4tbsp honey, and 2/3cup of soy milk or 2 cups of br. rice
meal 8 6-8 whole eggs (fried in coconut oil), 1 cup of ezekial cereal 4tbsp organic honey and 2/3cup of vanilla soy milk, and a handful of a mix of almonds mac. nuts and dried cranberries
i really like the exekial cereal. it is loaded with fiber and is a complete protein.
i eat only whole eggs for the nutrients, and because i can, because of my fast metabolism. the red meat is the same, i like it and i can handle it while dieting...
i will wake in the middle of the night about 5 days a week and throw down a shake with 20-30 grams of protein, this helps me from going catabolic while sleeping and really speed up the metabolism imo.
not really starving myself like most, and you may not believe that you can get ripped off this but i did just fine on it... the only thing i think i will change in the future is to add in some more fish the last 4 weeks and back off the red meat more....my cholesterol goes up a little higher then i like it during this time, partially due to diet and partially due to supps. but it returns back to normal soon after the show. all other blood work was right on target the whole time. i checked it every 3 weeks....i check my blood pressure daily to make sure im doing o.k.
i probably did a total of 3hrs of cardio the whole prep, i am a furnace and have never had to do much cardio to get in shape... in the future i will incorporate it in as i feel i need it for cardiovascular effects, and i thought i could have shed a few more lbs of fat too...
i stopped training tuesday befor the show, and made it a priority to pose for an hr. the rest of the days leading up to the show. the reason for ceasing the training is to allow the body to heal up, it needs a lot of time to heal from the training and it needs a lot of rest to allow for a proper carb up.... i did go into the golds there in vegas thursday afternoon to go thru a light pump workout and move the blood into the muscles a bit, i dont really know why i did this but i felt like i needed to for some reason...
my final week of prep was nothing special except for few things i changed after the jr’s. i keep my carbs high the whole time, i dont see the need to deplete and it has been a guessing game when i have done it befor. i carbed up on the same foods i ate the whole diet, except for some sushi and cheeseburgers the day of and the day befor the show... i uped my anti e’s to 4x the normal dose the last 10 days, if you have never done this befor give it a try, it will make you dry as a bone! i dried out starting tuesday night-wednesday morning, this was one of the changes i made from the jrs, when i got off the flight at the jrs i was holding water and had a hard time drying myself out in time.... i figure i can always put water back in a lot easier then taking it out last minute if needed... the day of prejudging for the usa’s i had a combo of vitargo, glycerine,aa’s bcaa’s, potassium citrate, taurine.. and a few others all in a shaker cup with enuf water to make it liquid and drank this twice the day of prejudging at some predetermined times.. this is tricky to do and time correctly, if you are holding any excess water this will make you spill. if you are dried out correctly you will literally watch yourself get drier and fuller, i have some pics the day of that were taken in 1 1/2 hr increments that show this well.... i ate 2 double doubles from in and out burger about 1 1/2-2hrs prior to stepping on stage also, the extra sodium pulled some water in too....
a few things also, i use a psyllium husk powder heavily the weeks prior to the show, this really helps to clean the colon out and make sure the food put in is moving and assimilating properly. it also helps to bring the waist line inn too, just make sure you are drinking water heavily while doing this as it will have the opposite effect if you dont...i also used the vasodilator from synthetek 1hr prior to prejudging.....
i rented a house in vegas for the show and it was well worth it, made my trip enjoyable and let me cook all my food fresh, when we arrived at the airport we rented a car and drove to whole foods to get my grub... it is nice to eat your food fresh and not eat cold tupperwear food...it was cool the house had a bbq out back and a hot tub, (thats livin large to me! haha).. it was about 10 min drive to unlv so it was convient too... plus i was able to have my parents stay with me, its nice to have some people around to talk to and take your mind off what is going on... i find stress to be my worst enemy the week leading up to a show...
after the show i decrease my protein considerably, it is quit a task to get in all that food and my digestion needs a rest also..after the show i do a lot of cleanses to clean myself out, and get things back to normal. since the show i have been training 3x a week and the diet has been the same foods as listed above just less total calories...i am not a big junk food eater, i hate fast food and soda, and the only candy i like is my grandmas homemade fudge! so it is not that difficult form me to eat clean. Although i do enjoy eating some desserts occasionally when i eat out....
i have always been a firm believer in staying within 15-20lbs of your show weight, i am usually under by 5-10lbs. the easiest way to get in shape for a show is to never get out of shape! there are some sacrifices you have to make in the offseason but they are well worth it when you are eating a lot of food come pre contest time!
most will not be able to diet like this unless you have a fast metabolism and are willing to spend all the extra time doing stretching, foam rolling, sauna sessions and such to keep the metabolism burning fast...
i am sure i missed some things, but if there is anything else you guys want to know just ask....
my body reacts much better to growing into the show, i maintained a bw of around 250-255 yr round and stepped on stage at 258. my training consisted of different styles of training every day, (ex. dc,hit, high volume, milos giant sets) i figure that none of them is the holey grail but all work very well for our common goal in the gym which is breaking the muscle down. this is also very nice because it keeps my training very new and exiting, if i am bored or tired with a particular routine it is usually means i am not growing... i put on 20lbs stage weight in 1 year doing this, so i feel pretty good about how it worked for me...
i did some recovery therapy also, 2-3x a week i got deep tissue massage, this is great for opening up the muscle (breaking up fascia) and letting the body grow. i dont know if many of us understand how much scare tissue we build up while training, its a lot! and you really get an understanding of it when you have a good therapist that understand s how to work on bbers. normally i wouldnt be able to afford this but i have a buddy that i traded some pt with so it worked out nice... another thing i did was do some foam rolling 2-3x a week. this is the same principle as the deep tissue but it allows to get some extra bodyparts you feel need the work, plus its free! i go to go in the sauna 3x a week and stretch for 20-30min it is hot as hell but it allows your muscles to stretch more. i have a pretty detailed routine i go through while stretching.
my nutrition is pretty basic, here is a normal day in the pre contest...
meal 1 8 whole eggs (fried in coconut oil), 1 cup of ezekial cereal, 3-4 tbsp organic honey with 2/3 cup of vanilla soy milk
meal 2 75g protein from a pure whey isolate protein powder mixed with 10 oz of apple juice, 1 cup of ezekial cereal, 3-4 tbsp organic honey w/ 2/3 cup of vanilla soy milk
meal 3 (pre training) 60g protein from pure whey isolate protein powder mixed with 8 oz apple juice...
meal 4 (post workout) 20g eaa’s, 15g bcaa’s, 60g vitargo, 5g taurine, 10g glutimine, 5-10g leucine, mixed in water. i bring this to the gym and drink it immediately after my training session
meal 6 50g protein (whey isolate) mixed in 8-oz apple juice, 12oz new york steak grilled, 1 1/2 cup of ezekial cereal with 4 tbsp organic honey, and 1 cup of vanilla soy milk..
meal 7 75g protein (whey isolate) with 10oz apple juice or 12 oz new york steak, and 1 cup of ezekial cereal w/ 4tbsp honey, and 2/3cup of soy milk or 2 cups of br. rice
meal 8 6-8 whole eggs (fried in coconut oil), 1 cup of ezekial cereal 4tbsp organic honey and 2/3cup of vanilla soy milk, and a handful of a mix of almonds mac. nuts and dried cranberries
i really like the exekial cereal. it is loaded with fiber and is a complete protein.
i eat only whole eggs for the nutrients, and because i can, because of my fast metabolism. the red meat is the same, i like it and i can handle it while dieting...
i will wake in the middle of the night about 5 days a week and throw down a shake with 20-30 grams of protein, this helps me from going catabolic while sleeping and really speed up the metabolism imo.
not really starving myself like most, and you may not believe that you can get ripped off this but i did just fine on it... the only thing i think i will change in the future is to add in some more fish the last 4 weeks and back off the red meat more....my cholesterol goes up a little higher then i like it during this time, partially due to diet and partially due to supps. but it returns back to normal soon after the show. all other blood work was right on target the whole time. i checked it every 3 weeks....i check my blood pressure daily to make sure im doing o.k.
i probably did a total of 3hrs of cardio the whole prep, i am a furnace and have never had to do much cardio to get in shape... in the future i will incorporate it in as i feel i need it for cardiovascular effects, and i thought i could have shed a few more lbs of fat too...
i stopped training tuesday befor the show, and made it a priority to pose for an hr. the rest of the days leading up to the show. the reason for ceasing the training is to allow the body to heal up, it needs a lot of time to heal from the training and it needs a lot of rest to allow for a proper carb up.... i did go into the golds there in vegas thursday afternoon to go thru a light pump workout and move the blood into the muscles a bit, i dont really know why i did this but i felt like i needed to for some reason...
my final week of prep was nothing special except for few things i changed after the jr’s. i keep my carbs high the whole time, i dont see the need to deplete and it has been a guessing game when i have done it befor. i carbed up on the same foods i ate the whole diet, except for some sushi and cheeseburgers the day of and the day befor the show... i uped my anti e’s to 4x the normal dose the last 10 days, if you have never done this befor give it a try, it will make you dry as a bone! i dried out starting tuesday night-wednesday morning, this was one of the changes i made from the jrs, when i got off the flight at the jrs i was holding water and had a hard time drying myself out in time.... i figure i can always put water back in a lot easier then taking it out last minute if needed... the day of prejudging for the usa’s i had a combo of vitargo, glycerine,aa’s bcaa’s, potassium citrate, taurine.. and a few others all in a shaker cup with enuf water to make it liquid and drank this twice the day of prejudging at some predetermined times.. this is tricky to do and time correctly, if you are holding any excess water this will make you spill. if you are dried out correctly you will literally watch yourself get drier and fuller, i have some pics the day of that were taken in 1 1/2 hr increments that show this well.... i ate 2 double doubles from in and out burger about 1 1/2-2hrs prior to stepping on stage also, the extra sodium pulled some water in too....
a few things also, i use a psyllium husk powder heavily the weeks prior to the show, this really helps to clean the colon out and make sure the food put in is moving and assimilating properly. it also helps to bring the waist line inn too, just make sure you are drinking water heavily while doing this as it will have the opposite effect if you dont...i also used the vasodilator from synthetek 1hr prior to prejudging.....
i rented a house in vegas for the show and it was well worth it, made my trip enjoyable and let me cook all my food fresh, when we arrived at the airport we rented a car and drove to whole foods to get my grub... it is nice to eat your food fresh and not eat cold tupperwear food...it was cool the house had a bbq out back and a hot tub, (thats livin large to me! haha).. it was about 10 min drive to unlv so it was convient too... plus i was able to have my parents stay with me, its nice to have some people around to talk to and take your mind off what is going on... i find stress to be my worst enemy the week leading up to a show...
after the show i decrease my protein considerably, it is quit a task to get in all that food and my digestion needs a rest also..after the show i do a lot of cleanses to clean myself out, and get things back to normal. since the show i have been training 3x a week and the diet has been the same foods as listed above just less total calories...i am not a big junk food eater, i hate fast food and soda, and the only candy i like is my grandmas homemade fudge! so it is not that difficult form me to eat clean. Although i do enjoy eating some desserts occasionally when i eat out....
i have always been a firm believer in staying within 15-20lbs of your show weight, i am usually under by 5-10lbs. the easiest way to get in shape for a show is to never get out of shape! there are some sacrifices you have to make in the offseason but they are well worth it when you are eating a lot of food come pre contest time!
most will not be able to diet like this unless you have a fast metabolism and are willing to spend all the extra time doing stretching, foam rolling, sauna sessions and such to keep the metabolism burning fast...
i am sure i missed some things, but if there is anything else you guys want to know just ask....
