Competition training log

[Fuglydude]

I've decided to enter my first bodybuilding competition. The competition I'm looking at is gonna be in Oct 2011. This will give over a year to train and prep for it. My fiance is prepping for her first figure competition in Oct. 2010 and her progress inspired me to take the plunge. There is supposed to be a new "classic" division with the federation I'll be competing in. This new division is supposedly more about the old school bodybuilding look: guys like frank zane, etc. I think this would be a good division for me because I naturally have a fairly wide shoulder girdle and fairly small waist.

I guess I'm always gonna need something to train FOR... Although my strength has been reasonable, I feel like I haven't made any significant progress physically ever since I stopped stripping earlier this year. I have trouble staying disciplined w/o something to train for.

I've hired a trainer/nutritionist... they're a husband/wife couple who train quite a few competitors. The dude is a IBFF pro who's been competing since I was in grade 3! I'm looking forward to working with them.

I'll be posting weekly pictures to document my progress along w/ weight changes. Week 1 will likely start in 1.5 weeks after I get my diet and new training regimen sorted out.

Current stats: 5'8" ~170. Will post week 0 pics soon...

Looking forward to taking my body to the next level. Does anyone have any experience competing here?

 

[Colossus]

Awesome! Cant wait to see your progress. Who did you hire for prep?? I've probably heard of him. How much do you aim to put on during your bulk phase? I'm guessing you'll probably compete around the 185 range....

I'm also really interested in your supplementation plan...we'll have to discuss.

 

[Fuglydude]

I've heard the excel nutrition crew... guy I'll be working with is Rob Belisle, he's an IFBB pro.

Here's a video of him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z8fZXNNL90

I'll probably enter middleweights and classic, so the weight limit in both those divisions is around 175 I think. Rob says he'll bulk me up to around 200 and then cut.

I'll have pics following my initial consultation... just working almost 70 hours the next couple of weeks, so haven't had a chance to see them.

 

[Fuglydude]

Just started my diet this morning.... its around 4000-4500 cals/day w/ 275-300+ g of protein per day. I know the volume of food will be tough to take in, but I'll get used to it.

Starting stats:

5'8" - 168 w/ slightly under 11% bf (caliper tested).

Starting a completely new training program tonight as well.

 

[Fuglydude]

Finished my first training session w/ the new program. Its VERY different from how I'm used to training. I'm glad there's one day a week devoted to heavy lifting, plyos/ballistics and olympic lifting otherwise I'd go nuts!

Bodybuilding movements are very different from what I'm used to, and what they lack in pure bone crushing intensity, they make up for in volume.

This is the routine I did today:

Seated leg curl 3x8
Smith Lunge 3x10/side
Lying leg curl 4x8
Leg press 3x8-10
Smith Machine Squat 3x10

Dumbell shoulder press: 4x8
Anterior shoulder raise: 3x10/side
Seated rear shoulder raise: 3x12
Wide upright row on smith: 3x8
Rear shrug: 3x8
Shrug: 3x10

The workout was pretty easy considering my regular workout today would have been 3x3 w/ 415 lb on deadlift and doing dips for reps w/ 115 lbs around my waist.

Getting all of the food in is tough. I'm effectively eating 7 meals a day and when you're used to eating 4-5 times/day, 7 is a lot. I constantly feel bloated and am nauseous at times. I hope these unpleasantries abate as my body gets used to the larger volumes of food.

Other than the obvious aesthetic goals, I have set these strength goals for myself:

* Deadlift 1 RM in the low 500s... I did 470 at 178, so this is doable.
* Squat 405 ... This will be tough, but I think I can do it.
* Dips: 5 reps w/ 145 - 155 lbs around my waist.
* Pull ups: 10 reps w/ 100 lbs around my waist.
* One arm pull up: 3-5/side.
* Pistols: 5 reps/side w/45 lb dumbells in each hand.
* 30 inch box jump w/ 100 lbs of dumbells. (50 lbs in each hand)...I'm too cheap to buy a heavy duty weighted vest.

I know the diet will be key to achieving my goals. Its tough, but I'll have to stick to it.

 

[cuzza]

Looks interesting, I think I'll follow this. Good goals - I wish you all the best.

The program looks weird though, and watching the guy train... I can't help but notice he was training VERY light. Obviously I don't know the background to the session, but it just struck me as odd for his size.

 

[Fuglydude]

Looks interesting, I think I'll follow this. Good goals - I wish you all the best.

The program looks weird though, and watching the guy train... I can't help but notice he was training VERY light. Obviously I don't know the background to the session, but it just struck me as odd for his size.

Thanks dude, and ya the program is quite different from what I'm used to doing. Remember pro bodybuilders are in it to look big and shredded... they could care less about how much they squat or deadlift. Remember strength is largely neuromuscular. I have several friends who are competitive bodybuilders, and they all say to focus on the contraction and force blood into the muscle to grow. This is what I've been trying to do. Its tough to isolate as my body is used to coordinating muscle groups to perform a heavy deadlift or powerclean, but not a light bicep curl. I think the change will help my progress though.

In my limited experience so far I can tell you that training for aesthetics is very different from training from strength/performance. When I do a standard session I focus on lifting light (very light in some cases!) and performing slow, quality reps that pump blood into the muscle. It feels very different from what I'm used to, but change is good. I still do have a strength day every week.

Other sessions this week:

Wide grip pull up: 3 x 10
Lying dumbell pullover: 3 x 10
Bent over BB row: 3 x 10
Lat pulldown: 3 x 8
Underhand Pull down: 3 x 8

Hanging leg raise: 4 x 10
V-Sit: 4 x 10 (only got 2 x 6 as my gut was too bloated from the food!)

Incline bi curl: 3 x 10
Conc. Curl: 3 x 10
Preacher Curl: 3 x 10
Standing Barbell curl: 3 x 10
_____________________________________________________

Incline dumbell press: 3 x 10
Incline dumbell fly: 3 x 8
Bench: 2 x 5 (couldn't do this ... too many shoulder issues)
Pec deck: 3 x 10

Seated french press: 3 x 10 (hard exercise!)
Close grip bench: 3 x 8
Cable tri push down: 4 x 8
Dips: 3 x 8 (just did bodyweight... these are tough when your tri's are already beat up from the other stuff!)

Standing calf raise: 3 x 20
Was supposed to do another calf exercise but saved myself for strength day.

Bodyweight this AM: 173 (up 4-5 lbs in 4 days .... man I must be full of shiit and water!)

 

[Colossus]

Volume training is way different huh?

Personally I think it feels awesome after years of low-rep grinding. I've been doing super high reps lately, like sets of 20 and 30 and 120 reps per exercise. It really does feel good.

That's a lot of calories too! That's prob what I get on a good day, and I'm 70 pounds heavier. You'll adjust though. Just make sure and get enough fiber to keep all that food moving, lol.

 

[EFFORT]

http://www.bodybuilding.com/store/now/super.html

http://www.walmart.com/ip/METAMUCIL...0000007346330&ci_src=14110944&ci_sku=11027556

 

[Fuglydude]

Thanks for the link Effort.

Yes volume training is very different from power/explosion shiite that I'm used to. I think strength sports such as olympic lifting/strong man stuff and even powerlifting favor individuals who are more injury resistant. As I get older I think I may have to restrict the amount of heavy lifting I do in the name of staying healthy. I've done over a decade in the trenches and been into lifting heavy and explosive for the past 6-7 years.... I'm 28, but I have a lot of small lingering injuries that I have to deal with. I thinking changing training modality will help with injuries as well as progress.

Haha, diet's getting better for sure. My craps in the morning are so big now that I gotta flush twice to make sure I dont' clog up the toilet (I'm sure you guys wanted to know that haha!).

 

[Kerpal]

I'm obviously not a fan of bodybuilding, but I do think you're one of the few people on this board who is actually qualified to do this type of program, since you've already built a good strength base. What are you doing on your strength days?

 

[Fuglydude]

Thanks Kerpal. Its kind of a free day actually. My trainers are sneaky in that they have it at the end of the week where I'm tired and sore. I'll probably do stuff like powercleans, one arm dumbell snatch, deads/squats, weighted chins/dips, and maybe some plyo work. Just focus on keeping my reps low and weight heavy.

 

[Fuglydude]

Busy week this week... working close to 85 hours... basically 12 hour shifts every day of the week. Have had to break the workouts into single 30 minute sessions. Even with that, I'll be in the gym every day.

Last "free" day:

Powerclean:

185 x 3
135 x 5 (hang)

Pistols:

25/side x 5
30/side x 5
35/side x 4

Box jumps (30" box)

2 x 25 lb dumbells x 5 reps
2 x 30 lb dumbells x 5 reps
2 x 35 lb dumbells x 5 reps
2 x 40 lb dumbells x 3 reps

Back squat:

225 x 6
275 x 3
295 x 1

Focusing on using lots legs rather than lower back/hips/ass...

Wt: 176-177

 

[Fuglydude]

Today:

Chest/tris:

Incline bench: 3 x 10
Incline fly: 3 x 10
Seated hammer press: 4 x 10
Pec deck: 3 x 10

French press (unilateral): 4x10/side
Narrow grip bench: 3 x 10
Cable push down: 4 x 10
Dips: BW x 3 x 8

Overall felt pretty good. Bdwt is ranging from 176-179 now... 3 weeks into the diet and up around 10 lbs.

Went to my first bodybuilding show this weekend, and it was inspiring to say the least! Had an IFBB guest poser there... what a total freak!!! I can see why bodybuilding isn't mainstream anymore.

 

[Fuglydude]

Today:

Legs/shoulders:

Seated Leg curl: 3 x 8
Smith lunge: 3 x 10/side
Lying leg curl: 4 x 8
Leg press: 3 x 10
Smith Squat: 3 x 8
Leg ext: 4 x 10

seated Dumbell press: 4 x 8
Anterior raise: 3 x 10/side
Posterior raise: 3 x 12
Wide grip smith upright row: 3 x 10
Rear shrug: 3 x 8
Shrug: 3 x 10

 

[Fuglydude]

Haven't updated this thing in a while...

Just finished another 70+ hour work week... Bodyweight is slowly creeping over 180. Morning bodyweight when I woke up today was 180.5. Overall, up around 12 lbs since starting the diet around a month ago.

Will have to post pics soon...

 

[Fuglydude]

Haven't updated this thing in a while... I've 5 weeks into my diet/cycle and am up around 16 lbs. Just checked my weight this AM and I'm sitting at 184. (Started at 168). Oddly enough, I don't really feel bigger. My fiance says I look bigger, and I know I've had some pec/arm development, but overall definitely don't feel that much bigger. Just hope I can break the 200 lb barrier and still stay < 15% bf, as I'm competing in the middleweight (155-176 lb) division. Obviously I wanna show up as close to the 176 limit as I can and still be as lean as possible.

Strained by lower back w/ yesterday's work out. Haven't deadlifted that much since starting the new routine, and I think with the additional growth, my CNS still has to learn which muscles are capable of doing what. I pulled 405 x 1... as a max, it felt quite easy, but I strained my lower back in the process. My upper back and legs are stronger now, but like I said my CNS didn't know how to fire everything properly to pull that weight with my developing physique. Left me w/ a lower back strain. Probably take a week or two to heal up.

Anyways rest of my last power day:

Hang clean:

135 x 5
185 x 3

Power clean:

205 x 1
215 x 1

Deads:

315 x 3
405 x 1 (hurt my back at this point)

Weighted dips:

(BW + 90) x 6
(BW + 90) x 6

Weighted underhand pull up:

(BW + 90) x 6

I had to get a new belt as my last one broke. This new belt is very uncomfortable, and I'm gonna return it. The chain is so short that I can barely get 2 plates hanging. I think the positioning of the belt also contributed to my lower back injury.

Anyways finished with some more pull up variations, light shoulder press, dumbell french press, seated curls are core work.

Can't wait for this stupid injury to heal. Think I'll be doing lotsa upper body this week and am gonna have to re-teach myself how to deadlift/squat with my new body.

 

[Colossus]

Yeah man the lower back is a b!tch. I really think it is the most anatomically-prone area to injury for most lifters. There is just a lot going on back there structurally and it basically acts as the fulcrum for the entire body during squatting and deadlifting. Plus like you said there is definitely a neuromuscular adjustment period when you gain a bunch of new weight. Actually, I dont know if there is any real evidence for this; but empirically it makes sense.

Pretty soon you'll be visiting the 200 lb club....

 

[Fuglydude]

Yeah man the lower back is a b!tch. I really think it is the most anatomically-prone area to injury for most lifters. There is just a lot going on back there structurally and it basically acts as the fulcrum for the entire body during squatting and deadlifting. Plus like you said there is definitely a neuromuscular adjustment period when you gain a bunch of new weight. Actually, I dont know if there is any real evidence for this; but empirically it makes sense.

Pretty soon you'll be visiting the 200 lb club....

I think the problem of neuromuscular adjustment w/ muscle gain and big compound lifts would be an excruciatingly complex thing to study. But like you said, it makes total sense logically/empirically. Squats and pistols feel a lot easier as my legs are bigger and stronger, however, my lower back doesn't know how to act and balance everything else, and my hips/ass kinda feel left out as well. With less hip/ass recruitment my core doesn't fire as well. I think this is what may have happened w/ the deads: My upper back/legs are stronger, so they tried to do all the work and this caused my lower back to not engage and fire properly. After the mishap w/ the deads, I'm a bit weary of trying heavy squats.

In my limited experience so far, I'm finding hypertrophy is most pronounced when you really concentrate and do quality reps and force blood into the muscle. Obviously diet is crucial as well, but I think lighter weights/higher reps and more controlled reps are key for hypertrophy. Heavy squats/deads/bench are almost designed to build up neuromuscular efficiency. This is why I espouse combining both forms of training for most guys on here that are just looking to get bigger and stronger.

Its just frustrating because this time last year I was doing maxes in the 450-460 range and I was 5 lbs lighter. Although my posterior chain would be tired, I never sustained a lower back injury like I did w/ that work out. I'm definitely liking how my joints feel with all the lighter hypertrophy work, but I do miss pulling close to a quarter ton off the floor. Hope I can get to the 200 mark.... that would be sweet!

 

[Colossus]

Since you're bodybuilding this may not be as much of a concern, but if you want to bring your deadlift back up I would suggest doing special exercises for your lower back (that mimic the DL), in lieu of actual pulling. Problem is, when we pull heavy (>90%) we will naturally use what muscles/leverages are strongest. Everyone has weaknesses, and they usually go unnoticed unless you apply a critical eye to your max efforts. They wont show up with moderate loads. Plus as you know, when you squat AND pull heavy weekly, the lower back and CNS tends to get overtrained quickly.

If it will work with your routine, try doing a close-stance good morning variation on your heavy day. Provided you're not squatting heavy every week this should strengthen your low back without burning you out. Change the exercise weekly or bimonthly.

Also one other thing, expect some roadblocks with your deadlift as you gain weight. It's the only powerlift that is often adversely affected by weight gain, and can take some getting used to.