Road to the National Level Stage

BabyBeast05 · Nov 23, 2011

I've never really been to this part of the forum but after reading so many of you guys logs I decided to start one of my own.

I took 2011 off from competing cuz my daughter was born in July and I had alot of money tied up into buying our house. I did however still manage to have a pretty good offseason and add some quality size to my frame.

My plan for 2012 - My first show will be the Greater Gulf States here in Louisiana where I plan to qualify for a national level show. From there its kind of up in the air as to where I'll go next. I'd like to go back to the USAs to improve on my placings from 2010 but I'll have to wait and see how I look first.

Current weight is 195lbs, been cruising for about 6 weeks or so now so I'm really just maintaing my size. I did get up to 205lbs during my blast this summer but I could not stay at that weight. I'll hit a 12 week blast before I begin the contest prep and see where my weight goes.

My current training split looks like this:
Mon- OFF
Tues- Chest & shoulders & calves
Wed- Back & traps & abs
Thur- Arms & calves
Fri- Off
Sat- Chest & shoulders & abs
Sun- Legs

Current diet roughly looks like this:
Meal 1
4 whole eggs
1 cup egg whites
2 packs grits

Meal 2
Gaspari's Real Mass

Meal 3
8oz lean beef
1 cup rice

Meal 4
8oz chicken
1 cup rice

Meal 5
Gaspari's Real Mass

TRAIN

Meal 6
3 scoops Gylcojet
2 scoops whey

Meal 7
8oz chicken
1 cup rice

Here are a few pics from early on in my cruise

Queefer · Nov 23, 2011

I look forward to seeing your progress. I've always thought you had loads of potential to go a long way in this sport. Good luck BBeast!

BabyBeast05 · Nov 23, 2011

Queefer said:
I look forward to seeing your progress. I've always thought you had loads of potential to go a long way in this sport. Good luck BBeast!

Thanks bro!

zman12 · Nov 24, 2011

Looking good and some nice thickness there.

BabyBeast05 · Nov 24, 2011

Today's back & trap workout looked like this:
Close grip pulldowns
Cable rows using rope attachment
Smith machine barbell rows
Rack deads
Db rows
Machine shrugs

Got it done all in an hour

BabyBeast05 · Nov 24, 2011

Diet for today will be...

FEAST!

BabyBeast05 · Nov 28, 2011

Here are some pics from yesterday afternoon in trunks so you can see how fat I really am

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/jra9498/DSC02179.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/jra9498/DSC02182.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/jra9498/DSC02180.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/jra9498/DSC02183.jpg

https://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i445/jra9498/DSC02181.jpg

All critiques are welcomed!

BabyBeast05 · Dec 6, 2011

Checked my weight today around 4pm at work just to see where it was mid day and to my surprise ... 212lbs. By far the heaviest I've ever been, must have been that pint of ice cream last night : )

Mini Truck · Dec 6, 2011

Great Job BB

You're on target Brother. Nice fullness, good muscle bellies, great overall shape and structure.
I was the VP of the CT NPC and judge for 7 years before relocating to FL.
From that perspective, I'll offer my input. I hope it inspires you to improve on what is already a well rounded package. So here it goes.
Maybe a bit top heavy. A little more thigh sweep would create that X factor
look.
Hams and glutes and calves need to be brought up so they get that full,
round shape, especially from the side where that "hamstring hang" is so important, especially at the National level.
Back is good but needs more detail.
I strongly suggest you incorporate some short HIIT cardio training. It will absolutely not sacrifice any muscle and it will also make my next suggestion
easier.
Switch over to some high volume training, definetley for those bodyparts but
you should consider it for all bodyparts. Often, people interpret this as using light weights, just going after a pump. That's hardly the case. You will still be using heavy weights but your rep range will be in the 20's. An example would be, try doing T-Bar Rows for 20 reps supersetted with reverse grip pulldowns for 20 reps. Do that using as heavy a weight as you can handle, focusing on full range of motion with a 1 second squeeze at the end of every rep. Do that for 4 sets. Same concept, same rep scheme with hack squats and leg extensions. Tell me what is harder - what you're doing now vs that new concept. It takes a little getting used to, but I have no doubt you will like the results. Especially if you haven't tried it before.
I'd also suggest dropping your bodyweight. My guess, and tell me if I'm wrong, is that once you're dialed in and dry, you probably weight in the low to mid 180's. The top guys in the lightheavies are generally shredded around
205-208, but drop down to make weight.
If my assumption is correct, consider dropping to make the middleweight class. You are not gonna be judged on what you weigh but how "peeled" your package is, especially at today's level.
One last fact. Contests are won from the back. Every tie in, striation and detail will determine the winner. I have a few tats myself so I know how meaningful they are to you. As I looked at your pics, my eyes were first drawn to them. They will hide the hard work and detail you worked so hard for. Jan Tana makes a product you can use to cover them up if you wish to do so.
I wish you the best, my friend. Please feel free to reply if you'ld like.
Be Blessed,
Mack Truck

BabyBeast05 · Dec 6, 2011

Mack Truck said:
You're on target Brother. Nice fullness, good muscle bellies, great overall shape and structure.
I was the VP of the CT NPC and judge for 7 years before relocating to FL.
From that perspective, I'll offer my input. I hope it inspires you to improve on what is already a well rounded package. So here it goes.
Maybe a bit top heavy. A little more thigh sweep would create that X factor
look.
Hams and glutes and calves need to be brought up so they get that full,
round shape, especially from the side where that "hamstring hang" is so important, especially at the National level.
Back is good but needs more detail.
I strongly suggest you incorporate some short HIIT cardio training. It will absolutely not sacrifice any muscle and it will also make my next suggestion
easier.
Switch over to some high volume training, definetley for those bodyparts but
you should consider it for all bodyparts. Often, people interpret this as using light weights, just going after a pump. That's hardly the case. You will still be using heavy weights but your rep range will be in the 20's. An example would be, try doing T-Bar Rows for 20 reps supersetted with reverse grip pulldowns for 20 reps. Do that using as heavy a weight as you can handle, focusing on full range of motion with a 1 second squeeze at the end of every rep. Do that for 4 sets. Same concept, same rep scheme with hack squats and leg extensions. Tell me what is harder - what you're doing now vs that new concept. It takes a little getting used to, but I have no doubt you will like the results. Especially if you haven't tried it before.
I'd also suggest dropping your bodyweight. My guess, and tell me if I'm wrong, is that once you're dialed in and dry, you probably weight in the low to mid 180's. The top guys in the lightheavies are generally shredded around
205-208, but drop down to make weight.
If my assumption is correct, consider dropping to make the middleweight class. You are not gonna be judged on what you weigh but how "peeled" your package is, especially at today's level.
One last fact. Contests are won from the back. Every tie in, striation and detail will determine the winner. I have a few tats myself so I know how meaningful they are to you. As I looked at your pics, my eyes were first drawn to them. They will hide the hard work and detail you worked so hard for. Jan Tana makes a product you can use to cover them up if you wish to do so.
I wish you the best, my friend. Please feel free to reply if you'ld like.
Be Blessed,
Mack Truck

Thanks for the recommendations bro, and I have already switched to a higher volume approach to my leg training just recently and I know they are my weak point. And yes I do plan on competing as a MW, I don't have nearly enough mass to be a Lt Heavy just yet. I know the heavier I get the harder it'll be to make MW but I'm not scared of suffering through the diet. I will start adding a little pwo cardio into my routine very soon though.

Mini Truck · Dec 6, 2011

I'm confident you'll "wow" the judges.
Success in this sport is due to a huge part to one's attitude and keeping an open mind. This part of your personality shines bright.

Be Blessed,

MT

ps; try "hamstring falls". They are a killer.
If you go to flexonline, you can see Flex Lewis doing them on one of the vids.
Best exercise I know of for hams and glutes.

BabyBeast05 · Dec 6, 2011

Mack Truck said:
I'm confident you'll "wow" the judges.
Success in this sport is due to a huge part to one's attitude and keeping an open mind. This part of your personality shines bright.

Be Blessed,

MT

ps; try "hamstring falls". They are a killer.
If you go to flexonline, you can see Flex Lewis doing them on one of the vids.
Best exercise I know of for hams and glutes.

Ok I know the exact exercise your talking about, I have tried them before and their pretty damn tough. I need to start doing more of them!

Mini Truck · Dec 6, 2011

Man, they are tough.
They're a mainstay of every ham workout I do and I do hams 3 x week.
Results guaranteed!

BabyBeast05 · Dec 8, 2011

Changing my training split to only 4 days a week now to help with my recovery since my strengths going up and I'm using much heavier weights now. Split looks like this:
Sun- legs
Mon- chest biceps
Wed- back calves
Fri- shoulders triceps

I'm also adding in 20min cardio pwo

Mini Truck · Dec 20, 2011

BB,

I was messing around on the site and opened up the pics from the 2010
USA's. Good job my friend. Just think how much better you'll look
in 2012. Very good, I imagine.

Mack

ps: have you've been doing lots of those hamstring falls?
I'm tellin' ya - they really work :headbang: