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I like that you don't worry about power too much. I need to get this through my head. I'm a bodybuilder so the weight is a means of tension but the number doesn't matter. What would you attribute your significant physique improvements too? Seems like you constantly come in bigger and leaner

I guess it all depends on how you define the word "power". I don't get caught up on the actual number. Example, a POWER workout could look like this: Squats, 135x10, 225x10, 315x10, 405x8, and 495x6 if I am taking 1.5-2 minutes between sets lol. Thats how I like to train really. OR, on the slim occassion you will see me up to 585+ plus for 6 or so reps, but I'm taking a much greater rest time between sets. I would rather keep the rest time down and break the muscle down that way.

I feel the body is a creature of habit so it needs a constant change to keep moving in the proper direction. That being said, I am constantly manipulating my diet. I change it based on what it needs, wether the food needs to go up or not. Also, I don't like the idea of "macros" as too many people are falling into the "fitting their macros" plan when they need to focus on mircos IMO. My diet will change around every few days but to give you an example, here is todays plan

THANKS MAN..PRETY INFORMATIVE! CAN YOU ELABORATE A BIT ON THE " FOCUS ON MICROS" AND HOW YOU APPLY THIS ON YOUR DIET?
I SEE YOU ARE EATING PRETY HIGH CARBS..AND MOD TO LOW PROTEIN ..YOU ALWAYS HAVE DONE THAT APPROACH?

THANKS MAN..PRETY INFORMATIVE! CAN YOU ELABORATE A BIT ON THE " FOCUS ON MICROS" AND HOW YOU APPLY THIS ON YOUR DIET?
I SEE YOU ARE EATING PRETY HIGH CARBS..AND MOD TO LOW PROTEIN ..YOU ALWAYS HAVE DONE THAT APPROACH?

I focus on macros AND the micros. I am seeing it more and more thru the boards and on facebook people are falling into just the macro thing. Just because your are getting X amount of this and X amount of that doesn't mean your getting QUALITY nutrition. I do focus on the macros, and if I change things around, the macros will stay the same but I will sub in foods that my body is going to get good use out of rather than just hitting the numbers for the day with whatever foods I feel like eating. There will be someone on every corner argue that it doesn't matter, and they have the right to their opinion and I am only stating my opinion and philsophy here.

About the protein intake, if you actually went in and added the total protein up from ALL of the food, you will see the meals are relatively balanced and the protein isnt' that low...400+ grams. I made a typo on meal 5, that was actually 7oz not 5. I used to be guilty of not counting all the protein coming in from the carb sources and whatnot and come to find out I was eating WAY too much

I dont seem to digest the carb powders very well, so I dont really use any shakes post or during. What are some easy ways of getting in some quicker whole food carbs post workout. I typically do white potatoes and white rice, but would anyhting like honey, fruit juice, etc be worth using?

Hey Justin what's your arm training like ? and also how much cardio would you do in the off season? thanks !

Arms have always been one of my favorite bodyparts to train. I have trained them once per week and twice per week. I find I got better results from twice per week. Frequency works great on my body.

As for cardio, last offseason I didn't do any. I am currently still doing cardio at 4 days a week 30 min. I will probably taper it down just a tad bit more but I will not fully cut it out as I feel so much better with it in. It is great for overall health.

I dont seem to digest the carb powders very well, so I dont really use any shakes post or during. What are some easy ways of getting in some quicker whole food carbs post workout. I typically do white potatoes and white rice, but would anyhting like honey, fruit juice, etc be worth using?

Cream of rice would be my first recommendation as its fast digestion and very easy to eat a large portion if you are like me and require alot of carbs!

I waited till today to respond to this since I did arms today. I did chest/biceps/and triceps today. I started with chest so by this point my upper body was very full of blood and my ticeps was beat down some so I didn't do as much as my usual volume so here is what it looked like.

Triceps:
Rope Pushdowns - 1 second squeeze at bottom 4 sets - 15, 13, 12, 9
EZ Bar Overhead Extensions - 15, 12, 10, 9 supersetted with dips - started with bench dipsthe first 2 sets, but my upper body was so pumped it felt very uncomfortrable so for the 3rd and 4th set I used a dip machine I was able to focus on the triceps much more

Usually how does your training split looks like in off-season and contest-prep?

Do you do a lot of cardio typically in both off and contest-prep?

I like how you mention on the tricep w/o you listed to squeeze the rep down and filling the muscle with blood and once in awhile you do a power day. Can you explain more of this if you got time.

Good luck!!

Hey v177,

My training split remains the same pretty much year round regardless of which season it is. My workouts become quicker in prep, although the volume remains the same. My endurance goes up during prep even a small 3-4lb change in bodyweight can make me move alot faster thru the gym.

For cardio, I want to keep it about the same! I am going to try to keep it at 4-5 days a week 30-40 mintues a day year round and just let the diet do the work! It may go up in prep, just got to play it by ear but in the past I have done alot more cardio than that in prep.

As for power workouts and whatnot, every so often I will come in and usually do the same exercises but instead of focusing on the squeeze I'll keep my form 100% but I'll purposely put up alot heavier weight. I like to shock the body from time to time with the extra weight

hey justin
Im really lacking hamstring thickness and currently i train them 1x a week after quads and do 3 sets single leg curls 20,15,10 lying leg curl 20,12,8 and straight leg deads 20,20,20 just wondering how this looks in your opinion?

hey justin
Im really lacking hamstring thickness and currently i train them 1x a week after quads and do 3 sets single leg curls 20,15,10 lying leg curl 20,12,8 and straight leg deads 20,20,20 just wondering how this looks in your opinion?

I usually hit mine twice per week. You could also try to start your leg wokrout with hams, so your fresh from the start to give them 100%. Keep workouts mixed up. You could also try what I call a reverse leg curl it looks like a hyper extension but the only thing that moves is your knee not your back, its all hams but very hard even with bodyweight.