Show Results

Well, the results are in.  I placed 2nd in the open heavyweight class at the 2008 Metrolina Show held in Salisbury NC on May 10, 2008.  I was fairly happy with the results, although I had some problems with water retention at pre-judging that left me a little off of my driest condition.  I weighed in at 211lbs.  Thanks to my wife for her support as this was our anniversary and she endured the long day of muscledom when she would have rather been celebrating our 5 years of marriage in another manner.  It was a good day nonetheless.  We took some photos, but most of them did not come out very good.  I will try and sort out some of the better ones and post them here in the next few days.  As for now, I’ve gone on a bit of a carb binge over this past week and I had to travel to Pittsburgh, PA for a work conference.  I’m now very big and full.  We are going on a cruise in a few weeks, so I’m going to try and keep my conditioning.  It does feel good to be off diet food for a week now. 

Long Lost Blogger

Well, so much for keeping up a blog.  I may have been a bit too ambitious last summer when I told myself I would blog every day for eight months.  Clearly, it didn’t come close to happening.  The good news is I am two days away from competing in the Metrolina Bodybuilding Contest. See here for info: http://www.morrisonproductions.net/ I had another back issue last fall and discovered that I have another small rupture in my L5 on the left side.  Long story short, I worked through it and am feeling better than ever.  My training and diet came together real well.  I had originally intented on competing in the North Carolina State Show, but my wife and I decided to book a cruise in June after she finished teaching for the year.  So I decided to compete in a show that was scheduled in June a week before our cruise.  Unfortunatley, they cancelled the show in mid February.  I decided to make a run at competing in the Metrolina which was scheduled for May 10, 2008.  There were two problems with this idea.  First, this would only give me 10 weeks to prepare for the show.  I had been half dieting since January 1, but I had June 7 in my head as my target date, so I didn’t have the throttle down the way I would have if I was shooting for May 10.  So I was behind schedule.  Second, May 10 is my anniversary.  My wife was less than enthused at the idea of me doing a show on our anniversary.  She agreed to support me in the endeavor nonetheless and here I am two days out.  I came a long way real fast.  I weighed in at 205lbs this morning.  I’m right one the fence between light heavyweight and heavyweight.  Last time I competed, I starved myself for two days before the show to make light heavy.  I decided I wasn’t doing it this time around.  I’ll be fine with wherever things end up as long as I look my best.  I will try and update this blog a little more regularly. 

Learning Your Body

You will hear competetive bodybuilders talk about learning your body.  I never really knew exactly what this meant until I had prepared for about 4 bodybuilding competitions.  In general, learning your body means understanding how your body responds to varied approaches to diet and training, how long it takes to see a response, and to what degree you need to alter diet and training to observe the desired changes.  What I’m remembering about what I’ve  learned about my body is that I forget a lot of things I’ve learned.  I noticed that both Saturday and Sunday morning this past weekend, I was very groggy when I woke up in the mornings.  It took me until the middle of the day on Sunday to realize that this was due to my calorie and carbohydrate increase that began on Friday and ran through Saturday.  My muscles have become noticeably fuller and I’m much stronger in the gym, but I forgot about the “fog effect” that those excess carbohydrates have on me.  It was not a big deal, but when you have calories below maintenance and carbohydrates very low, you are very alert most of the time.  This is one of the few drawbacks to calrie cycling that I talked about in the previous entry.

“The Slingshot”

Back in the early to mid 1990’s, there was a bodybuilding magazine called Muscle Media 2000.  It was sort of an underground publication that, in my opinion, was on the cutting edge of bodybuilding diet, nutrition, and supplementation strategies.  The guys who began it later began a supplement company called EAS who brought creatine monohydrate to the world of sports nutrition.  At one point one of the regular writers wrote about an approach to dieting called The Anabolic Burst Cycling Diet Experiment (ABCDE).  The idea was that one would eat in an extreme caloric defecit (1100-1600cals) for a two week period followed by a period of two weeks where you would then eat in an extreme caloric excess (3500-5000 or more).  The idea behind it was that you were priming your body’s natural hormones and insulin cycle during the restricted state in a manner that would prepare them to be released at higher rates when you began eating excess calories.  The hope was that you would burn fat during the restricted state and gain muscle during the period of caloric excess.  I tried this approach with great success back then and have been doing variations of it over the years ever since those days.  Anyone who has competed in a bodybuilding competition can tell you how good it feels to come off a bodybuilding diet.  Most guys gain tons of muscle during the 4-6 weeks after a show and wish they could replicate this all the time.  I’m here to tell you that it is possible to do with practice, focus, and learning your body.  The only problem that many guys had with the original ABCDE was with the two week thing.  Two weeks was a little to long to be in a caloric restrictive state and you got grouchy, weak, and lethargic during the second week and possibly lost muscle.  Also, two weeks of gorging yourself with all the food in sight was just as uncomfortable and, while helped gain muscle, caused excess bodyfat to accumulate.  Personally, I always loved the 2 weeks of excess calories and often found it hard to go back on the low calories phases.  Over the years I found that you can do mini cycles of low and high calories and many competetive bodybuilders do this all the time with great success.  You can go 2-3 days of low calories and then boost your calories up for 1-2 days and just keep cycling along burniing fat on the low days and gaining muscle on the high.  Now, I don’t want to make it sound overly simple.  To make it work well, you need to track everything you eat and really count calories and look closely at proper ratios of  protien, carbs, and fat in your diet. 

I tell you this story becuase I decided to give this old plan a test drive yesterday.  I’ve been in a fairly decent caloric defecit for about 1 and 1/2 weeks now and yesterday, I took the day to eat everything and anything I wanted.  We had a Staff Development event at work and there was a cookout with tons of goodies.  I pretty much at a little of everything and grazed all day.  Today I got on the scale and weighed 221lbs in the morning and when I went to the gym this afternoon, I got great pumps and was noticably stronger.   I started calling this little approach to calorie cycling “the slingshot” becuase this is how it feels when you practice this approach to diet.  The days leading up to the calorie load are like slowly drawing back a slingshoot with more and more tension accumulating on the bands and then the release is when you gorge yourself and you feel your blood volume rise, the insulin release into your bloodstream and your muscles feel like they will explode in the gym.  Its a great feeling and I’m encouraged that I have been able to stay in the calorie restricted state long enough to reach the point where I can once again practice this approach.  Today, I got back on the plan and had two shakes and two meals with 4 oz lean beef and 1/2 cup of rice.  I still have a lot of fat to get rid of so I do not want to stay in a caloric excess for too long of a period, but I know I can recompensate my muscles when i need to.

Two Day Update

I forgot to write an update yesterday, so this will be a two in one blog entry.  Let’s get this out of the way first:

Today’s Training: No morning cardio this morning.  I did calves and abs this morning instead as my bodyweight has now dropped to 216lbs and I don’t want to overdo the cardio even though I’m getting real comfortable with it and I really hate it deep down inside.  I did 5 sets of toe presses on the leg press with very high reps to failure.  This afternoon I went back to the gym for workout #2 and did legs.  I did 3 sets of leg extensions, 4 sets of hack squats, 3 sets of leg press, single leg stiff leg deadlifts (back friendly), 3 sets of step back lunges holding dumbells (back friendly) and then I finished with three more sets of heavy leg extensions.  I’m hoping this will get the quads sore as I have yet to get real sore from a leg workout.  I am still keeping weights real light to prevent back injury and I’m trying to slow the eccentric tempos so I can really get deep into the muscle fibers.  I should be able to tell tomorrow morning if this did the trick.  Today’s Meals were:

8:00am        2 serving Meal Replacement (MRP), 1 serving protien

12:00pm      3 oz roast beef, kaiser roll, 4oz pretzels, cookie, 1 can diet soda (unplanned non diet meal)

3:00pm         6oz London Broil, 1/2 cup rice

6:00pm          2 servings MRP, 1 serving protien

7:15pm           12oz pasta, 2 slices bread, 2oz cheese, sauce, banana pudding (unplanned non-diet meal)

9:30pm       2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites

I strayed off the plan a bit today for two meals.  Since my bodyweight has dropped as much as it has, I felt like I have some room for some flexibility at this point.  I remain a bit under the 300 gram mark for protien, but I have not had substantial DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness) so I’m not overly concerned that I haven’t been hitting 300 right now.  I need to get comfortable with my resistance training to the point where I can increase volume and/or intensity a bit more.  For the most part, I’m pleased with my progress for only the second week into things.  I’m feeling great too.  I’m more alert and I’m lighter on my feet and I think I’ve made appropriate adjustments with my carbs to the point where I do not feel real lethargic.  Yesterday, I did not do any weights and I did my normal 30 minute morning cardio.  Meals were 2 shakes, 2 meals with 6oz salmon and 1/2 cup rice, and then the routine eggs and egg whites at the end of the night. 

I’m noticing that my hair and fingernails are growing faster………water and protien!!

Improvement

I’m getting better at meal timing and frequency and I’ve added some complex carbs to my meals which has made a world of difference.  Body weight this morning was 219lbs and my pants are fitting better.  Here was today’s meals:

8:00am        2 Servings MRP, 1 Serving Protein Powder

11:30am       6oz London Broil, 1/2 cup rice

3:00pm        6oz Salmon, 1/2 cup rice

6:00pm         3oz London Broil, 1/4 cup rice

7:30pm          2 servings MRP, 1 serving protein powder

9:45pm          2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites

I felt really good about the diet today.  I’m getting better a remembering my meals and my meal spacing was better than last week.  My appetite is still not what it would normally be, but hopefully as my muscles continue to recompensate, my metabolism will pick up and I’ll be able to add meals and increase calories.

Todays Training:

Morning cardio was the usual 30 minutes (bike/elliptical)

Evening weight training was pulling (back) exercises:

Lat pulls 4 sets 12-15 reps

Standing front pull downs (stiff armed) 3 sets 12-15 reps

Machine pulley low rows (ground zero machine) 3 sets 12-15 reps

Lying Incline dumbell front raises 3 sets 12 reps

Seated machine pull 2 sets 12 reps

I remain conservative in my approach with resistance training;especially with the back workouts.  I’m not able to get a real good muscle pump because I’m just not using much weight, but it feels good to be able to get through complete workouts without any problems or warning signs from my back.

Lean Beef

I bought some London Broil yesterday and my wife and I cooked it on the grill last night.  For those who don’t know, London Broil is one of the leanest cuts of red meat available.  This is good because you get very little fat and tons of protein.  The drawback is that it can be pretty tough and carboard-like if not prepared correctly.  My wife is a great cook and knows how to marinate meats in a manner that makes them delightful and this is especially helpful to meatheads like myself who are inclined to survive on bland foods in many instances.  So after we grilled out, there was plenty left over for me to make meals for the next couple of days and the beef is very tasty thanks to my wife.  Today’s meals were:

8:00am         2 servings MRP, 1 serving protein powder

12:00             6oz london broil, 1/2 cup rice

3:15pm          6oz london broil, 1/2 cup rice

8:30pm          6oz london broil, 1/2 cup rice

10:00pm       2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites

I did not do any weight training today and I only had time to do 15 minutes of cardio this morning which was on the elliptical.  I contiue to lean out and my bodyweight was at 221 today with som eresidual soreness in my shoulders and chest from the weekend workouts.

One week complete!

Well, the first week of “focused” diet and training was not too bad.  As I reflect on previous years of contest preparation, I am recognizing similar thoughts going through my head.  As I entered the week, I was gung ho on plunging into a reduced carb stage and tons of cardio.  This works well when your muscles are full, water intake is high, and your metabolism is full throttle, but when you are just starting out, especially after a year of fairly sedentary lifestyle, this approach will be counter productive.  The good news is I’m already noticeably leaner.  I’m recognizing that I need to eat more carbs to build muscle in the coming weeks and months and my overall calorie intake must increase.  I do want to cut my body-fat below 10% before December though and so I’ll have to be strategic in my approach.  Cardio is pretty routine for me these days which is a relief as it has been a major burden in the past.  Here was today’s workouts:

8:00am-Cardio: the usual 30 minutes with a 15/15 split bike/elliptical.  This afternoon I trained Shoulders and Biceps at 4:45

4 Sets Single Arm Side raises

4 Sets cable Front raises

3 Sets rear delt machine

3 supersets cable curls/incline lying hammer curls (with dumbells)

3 Sets machine preacher curls

Today’s diet was:

8:45am      2 servings MRP one serving Protein

12:15pm    6oz lean ground beef, 4oz peas

3:00 pm     2 servings MRP

6:45pm       10oz london broil, 8oz baked potato

9:00pm       2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites

I’m sore from yesterdays workout and I will take tomorrow off from the weight training to recover from yesterday’s and today’s workouts.  See you tomorrow.

More work to do

I did not post yersterday’s diet and training, so I’ll recap yesterday and today in this post.  Yesterday I did not weight train, but I did do my usual 30 minutes of cardio in the morning with the 15/15 split elliptical/bike.  I was at work until 7:30 as I am every Monday Wednesday and Friday, so I did not weight train and I’ll have to work on scheduling weight training on these days.  Yesterday’s diet went like this:

8:15am        3 servings protein powder

12:00pm      6oz lean ground beef, 4 oz snap peas

3:30pm        2 servings protein powder

8:30pm        Dinner out with my wife at Sweet Tomatoes (salad joint) where I had a huge plate of salad, 4 oz chicken breast, and an 8oz baked potato.

When I weighed myself yesterday morning I weighed 221lbs.  This was six pounds below what I weighed on Monday.  Most of this weight loss was fluid loss, but this was a little drastic and explains why I was pretty tired and lethargic later in the week.  The baked potato really helped and I also had a diet soda earlier in the day Friday and I could almost instantly feel a sense of greater alertness.  My blood sugar must have been pretty low.

Today (Saturday) I did not do any cardio in the morning, but my wife and I took a trip to a new gym in Cary this afternoon where they have all new equipment and lots of space.  Here’s what I did:

Calves: 2 exercises 4 sets of 40-50 reps on each (not sure what the machines are called, on was a modified leg press)

Chest:    Flat bench-6 sets 8-15 reps

                Dips-4 sets 12 reps

                Dumbell pullovers-2 sets 12 reps

                Cable Crossover-3 sets 12-15 reps

Triceps:  Seated Tricep Machine-3 sets 15 reps

                 Cable push down- 2 sets 15 reps

Abs:        Hanging straight leg lifts (pike position) 3 sets to failure

The gym in Cary was really nice and my wife and I spent time experimenting on some of the equipment.  The company that opened this gym is opening several of them in our area and one of them will open within 5 minutes from our house sometime in the fall, so we are excited for that. 

Overall, I’m recognizing that I will be working out the kinks in my diet, training, and work schedule in the weeks to come so that I can get in a good “groove” with all of it and start to feel comfortable that I will make the progress I need to make.  In my experince it usually takes me 4-6 weeks to really get everything clicking the way I want it to. 

My new protein powder and meal replacements arrived by fed-ex on Friday, so this should help with the carb issues.  

Back to work

I have been of vacation from work since Friday June 29, 2007.  I returned to work today with lots to do and several important meetings back to back in the morning.  I got up and hit cardio for 30 minutes before going to work and had a solid first meal (protein shake).  The diet was downhill after that.  Not that I ate anything really bad or strayed away from my plans, I simply ate two few meals and ate them way too late.  I did not eat my second meal until nearly 12:00pm and then I didn’t hit my third meal until 4:30pm.  This was way too few calories and I’m feeling the effects of this right now as I’m feeling pretty tired and lethargic.  This is likely due not only to the limited calorie intake, but also due to limited carbohydrates that I’m taking in today.  I’m not necessarily trying to significantly limit carbohydrate intake, but this tends to happen when you try and clean up your diet.  I’m awaiting some new meal replacement shakes I’ve ordered that should be here tomorrow and this should hopefully help to provide me with some good carbohydrates that are easily digested. 

Today’s Diet:

8:15am        3 servings protein powder

11:45am      6 oz lean ground beef

4:30pm        6 oz chicken breast

7:45pm        6 oz lean ground beef, whole wheat bun, 1 oz swiss cheese

9:45pm        2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites, 1/2 cup oats

This gave me a grand total of only 1618 calories and 210 grams of protein.  I will have to make more of an effort to get my meals in while at work, but this is pretty typical for me when I’m starting out on a new path with my diet. 

Today’s Training:

Morning cardio at 6:30am-15 minutes on the elliptical and 15 minutes on the bike-30 minutes total.

Evening workout was legs at 6:45pm. 

4 sets leg extensions

5 sets leg press

3 sets single leg stiff legged deadlifts (back friendly appraoch to training hamstrings)

3 sets step back lunges (also back friendly) 

Training legs is a big challenge for me since the back injury, so I’m pretty conservative in my approach.  I do real high reps (20-25) and keep the weights light to moderate.  My energy levels were low during the workout due to the low calorie intake which I will have to remedy tomorrow.