2013, WNBF World Championships

So at my best shape ever I took 2nd place in the light weight division to now 5 time light weight world champion Brian Whitacre. It was an incredible contest- a great experience. I am now excited about getting back in the gym and making some improvements for next years World Championships.

Tue., 11/05/13, Shoulders

Today is the final day of the depletion process. With a 26 set shoulder workout, they should blow up nicely when I start the carb load tomorrow. I'm feeling very depleted, energyless and tired, so I can only assume that it is working. I weighed in at 166lb this morning. I haven't been this light since I was 19. BOOM!

Mon., 11/04/13, Back and Tri's

Today was another high-volume-lower-intensity depletion workout. It was good- hard, but good. Here's what it looked like:
4 sets of wide pulldowns
3sets of T-bar rows
3 sets of V- pulldowns
3 sets seated rows
3 sets barbell rows
4sets of pushdown
3 sets seated rope extension
2 set lying 45 degree extension
2 sets seated 1 arm extesnion

Sat., 11/02/13, One Week Out

We're almost there! Today was my final leg workout. It was fairly chill for me. The intensity level was much lower than normal as I do not want to be sore or hurt anything at this point. This is the only quad workout during the course of this prep that I did not start with squats. Here's what it looked like:

leg extension: 45-30; 60-25; 75-20; 90-15; 105-15
   super-set with leg curl: 30-20; 45-20; 60-15; 75-15; 90-12
leg press: 180-30; 360-20; 540-15; 680-10
squat: 135-15; 225-10; 315-10
reverse lunge: 95-10
walking lunge: 50's-12
alternating forward lunge: 95-10
calf press: 270-20; 360-20; 450-15,12,15; 360-15; 180-20 + 10
standing leg curl: 60-15,12,10
back extension: 20,15,12

Note: Nothing was to failure, though I was definitely working on these sets. Everything was controlled, focused and visualizing what it will look like flexing on stage next week.

Fri., 11/01/13, Shoulders/ Diet Update

I got in a good shoulder pump this morning. It felt good. Everything is heavy at this point (brushing my teeth is an endurance exercise) but it was good. It was very similar to my last few delt workouts, just a little rearrange in some exercises.

The diet is pretty much the same. Here's what I ate yesterday:

meal 1: egg whites; oatmeal; apple
meal 2: chicken breast (I've been occasionally skipping carbs the meal before my workout to increase the growth hormone effect.)
post workout: 40g whey protein and glutamine
meal 3: chicken; sweet potato
meal 4: chicken; sweet potato, apple, oatmeal, peanut butter (a little bit of each carefully measured out and mixed together.... yeah, I'm to that point.)
meal 5: chicken; brown rice; peas
meal 6: 2 whole eggs, 6oz whites; red potato; spinach
meal 7: chicken; broccoli

The total is about 2685 calories: 285g protein, 285g carb and 45g fat.

Thur., 10/31/13, Back and Tri's

I got in a good workout today. It was hard. I'm used to training 1 muscle at a time and  I'm tired and depleted, so by the time I got to triceps it was bad. My forearms were giving out and my energy was non-existant. BUT, it happened:

row: 45-20; 95-15; 135-12; 185-12; 205-10; 225-8; 245-6
Free-Motion pull down: 150-12; 180-10; 200-6
seated row: 160-10; 180-10
close pull down: 180-10; 210-10
rope pushdown: 50-20; 70-20; 90-15; 110-10; 130-6
pushdown: 150-15; 170-8
lying 1-arm dumbbell extension: 40-6; 30-6,5 (no rest)
seated extension: 100-12 

Wed., 10/30/13, Chest and Biceps

I got in a good chest and biceps pump this morning. It was all the same exercises, but I increased the reps a little on several things. So I was hitting in the 8-12 range instead of the 6-8 range though I did get a few low rep sets in there. Here's how it went: incline dumbbell press, flat dumbbell press, bent over cable fly for upper chest, dips, pullovers, concentration curl, cable curl, preacher curl, and hammer curl.

tue., 10/29/13, legs

I again scaled back on the intensity of the leg workout today, because I will do them again on Saturday. Plus, I have been feeling it. I upped the reps a bit. It was a hard workout, just because I am depleted and tired. Here's what it looked like:

squat: 45-20; 135-20; 225-20; 275-15; 315-10; 365-6
hack squat: 90-20; 180-12; 270-10
reverse lunge: 95-15, 15
calf press: 270-30; 360-20; 450-15
   super-set with lying leg curl: 60-20; 75-15; 90-12
seated calf raise: 90-20,15,15
   super-set with seated leg curl: 110-15; 125-12

Mon., 10/28/13, Shoulders

I got in a great shoulder workout this morning. This is the last full week of training before the World Championships. I am very excited. My energy levels are pretty low, but the workouts are still happening. The shoulder workout was very similar to what it has been: Hammer Strength press; incline face-down front raise; incline rear lateral; military press; lateral raise and dumbbell shrugs. These exercises have been feeling good, so why change them? If it ain't broke don't fix it. I did lower the weight on the front raise a little, because I noticed I get a better feel in the muscle and better control. So, 12 days out and still progressing!

Fri., 10/25/13, Chest and Biceps

Today I changed my slit up again for this last 2 weeks. Now it's a 4 day split: day#1 chest/bi's; day#2 back/tri's; day#3shoulders; and day#4 legs. I'll do this right up to Wednesday before the contest.
It was a great workout today- killer pump! It was all pretty basic stuff: incline dumbbell press, bent over cable fly, flat dumbbell press, dip, pullover, curl, spider curl, hammer curl and concentration curl.

Thur., 10/24/13, Leg Day

It was a hard workout this morning. I was weak and feeling very depleted. It was freezing cold and took me forever to warm up. Yesterday was a low carb day. And the complaints go on. The bottom line: These are the workouts that count. You must push past the pain, weakness and fatigue. You must forget about the lack of sleep. You must forget about the weeks of dieting and depletion. You must do what has to be done. Period- no excuses. This is the day that separates the champions from everyone else.
So todays workout:  8 sets of squats; 3 sets of leg presses; 2 sets of reverse lunges; 4 sets of calf raises; 3 sets of seated curls; 2 sets of lying curls; 2 sets of leg extensions; and 3 sets of hyper extensions. It took about an hour and 15 minutes. And the gym manager asked why I was limping.

Wed., 10/23/13, Shoulders

I got in a great shoulder workout this morning. It was short, sweet and to the point. I did Hammer Strength presses, incline front raises, military presses, rear laterals and dumbbell shrugs. It was a good pump and I really put in some intensity and pushed some weight without hurting the joints.

Tue., 10/22/13, Back/ Diet Update

I got in a good back workout today- all basic stuff. It was heavy and intense and only took about 30 minutes: back extensions, rows, nautilus uni-lateral pull-down, dumbbell row, free-motion pull-down and 1 drop set of T-bar rows.

Here's what I've been eating:

meal 1: 1c egg white; 1c oatmeal; 1 apple
meal 2: 5 oz. chicken breast; 1/2 c oatmeal
 post workout: 40g whey protein and glutamine
meal 3: 5 oz. chicken; 11 oz sweet potato
meal 4: 5 oz. chicken; 6 1/2 oz sweet potato; broccoli
meal 5: 2 eggs; 1/2c egg white; 6oz potato
meal 6: 4oz chicken; 6oz sweet potato; broccoli
meal 7: 4 oz chicken; broccoli

This is about 2710 calories: 275g protein, 305g carb and 43g fat.

Mon., 10/21/13, chest and calves

I got in a killer pump today! It was great. My energy levels were very low, but I have to make a decision to do what must be done and the pump comes. Here's how it went:

calf press: 90-20; 180-20; 270-20; 360-20; 450-20; 540-15
seated calf: 90-20; 140-15; 190-12
smith machine calf: 180-20; 270-15

incline dumbbell press: 30's-20; 45's-15; 60's-10; 75's-6; 80's-6; 85's-6; 90's-6; 95's-6; 100's-6,6
bent over cable fly (for upper chest): 80-12; 100-8,6
dip: 15; 45lb-10; 90lb-6 + 45lb-6 + 6 (no rest drop-set)
flat dumbbell press: 100's-6,6 + cable crossover: 70-15

10/18/13, Chest and Back

Great pump this morning! It is definitely taking total concentration to complete the workouts at this point, but they are good. Nothing to out of the usual today:  7 super-sets of incline dumbbell press and under-grip pull-downs; 3 super-sets bent cable fly (for upper chest) and seated rows; 2 super-sets flat dumbbell press and bent dumbbell rows; 2 super-sets wide pullups and dips; and 3 sets of cross-bench pullovers. It was tight.

Thur., 10/17/13, Leg day

Today I decided to change it up a little- not a whole lot, just some subtle adjustments for where my body's at. I decreased the intensity a tad, and took out the 20 rep set of squats. This allowed me to add a couple more sets here and there:

squat: 45-20; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 405-6; 365-6
leg press: 450-15; 630-15
hack squat: 160-10; 300-8
reverse lunge: 95-10; 115-8; 135-8

calf press: 270-30; 360-20; 450-15,13
  super-set with lying leg curl: 60-20; 90-?, 9

seated calf: 90-15,15,15
  super-set with standing 1-leg curl: 60-12; 75-10; 90-8

leg extension: 135-20,14
  super-set with seated leg curl: 140-10,9

back extension: 20, 15, 15

Yes, it took a little while, and they were tight.

Wed., 10/16/13, Shoulders

I've been getting good results from a few particular exercises here recently, so the workouts have been very similar:
Hammer Strength shoulder press
incline front raise face down (My shoulders bother me with laterals a lot; these seem to nail the delts with the technique I use.)
military press
bent over dumbbell laterals
The reps are 6-15, with the final set of each exercise taken to failure.

Tue., 10/15/13, Back/ Diet update

This is what I ate yesterday:
meal #1: 8oz. egg white; 1 c oatmeal; apple
meal #2: 5oz chicken; 1/2c oatmeal
post workout: 40g whey protein, glutamine; 7oz sweet potato
meal #3: 5oz chicken; 6 1/2 oz sweet potato
meal #4: 5oz chicken; 6 oz sweet potato; 1/2 peas
meal #5: 5oz chicken; 1/2 c oatmeal; broccoli
meal #6: 5oz 93% lean beef; 5oz potato
meal #7: 4oz chicken; broccoli
Total: 2820 calories- 290g protein, 300g carb and 50g fat

Mon., 10/14/13, Chest

I got a killer chest workout this morning. My strength levels are maintaining. I'm doing a lot of sets of 6 reps to stimulate those fibers. Today's workout started with 10 sets of incline dumbbell presses. Next up was 3 sets bent over cable flyes for the upper chest- really focusing on my weaker area. Then 1 drop-set of flat dumbbell presses. I finished the chest with dips: 12; 45lb.-10; 90lb.-6 + 2 drop-sets +cable flys. They were tight. 

Fri., 10/11/13, Chest and Back

Today I've been very tired, I've been putting in a lot of time to posing practice and it has kicked my tail. So the workout today was hard, but I got it done. It was a good workout, just hard. Here's how it went:

incline dumbbell press: 35's-15; 50's-15; 65's-12; 75's-10; 85's-8; 95's-6; 100's-6
 super-set with pulldown: 105-10; 135-10; 165-10; 195-6; 210-6; 225-6; 240-6

pullover: 50-12; 65-12; 80-7

cable fly: 80-12; 100-7
 super-set with straight arm pulldown: 120-12,9

flat dumbbell press: 100's-6,8
 super-set with row: 225-8,8

pull-up: 15,9
 super-set with dip: 15, 10 + pullover: 60-12

Wed., 10/09/13, shoulders

I got in a great shoulder workout this morning. It only took about 25 minutes- in, kill it, out. I was a little stronger on my starting exercise than I have been recently. Here's how it went:
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 50-25; 90-15; 180-10; 270-8 + 2 drop-sets
incline face-down dumbbell front raise: 15's-15; 25's-15; 35's-?
military press: 95-12; 115-12; 145-5+fail
incline rear lateral: 40's-15; 50's-10 + lateral raise: 35's-8 + 20's-15

Tue., 10/08/13, Back and Calves

I got in a great workout today. It was a pretty low volume/ high intensity with only with multiple "feel" sets and only 5 failure sets for calves and 4 for back. I started with calves: 5 sets of machine calf raises the last to failure; then 1 calf raises on the press 4 sets back and forth with no rest. And back started with Nautilus unilateral pulldowns- 3 feel sets and 1 failure set; next was medium grip pulldowns- 1 feel set and 1 failure set; then rows- 3 feel sets and 1 failure set and I finished with seated rows- 1 feel set and 1 failure set with rest-pause reps.

Mon., 10/07013, Chest/ New Split

I changed the split up for the last few weeks before the contest. Here's the updated split:
Monday: chest, abs
Tuesday: back, calves, abs
Wednesday: shoulders, abs
Thursday: Legs
Friday: chest, back, abs
Saturday: arms, calves, abs

I got in a killer chest workout this morning:

incline dumbbell press: 30's-20; 50's-15; 65's-10; 75's-6; 80's-6; 85's-6; 90's-6; 95's-6; 100's-6,5
machine fly: 160-12; 190-9; 220-6
dip: 12; 45lb.-10,8
cable crossover: 80-20; 125-?; 155-9 (This was a different cable rack than I normally use, it was not as smooth, but the others were in use and I have a rule: never stop for traffic.)

Sat., Oct. 5, 2013, arms and calves at 5 weeks out

The status update: standing at 168 1/2 lb.; feeling very confidant with how I look; working on the glutes as they are the last to come; maintaining strength; waist is very small; limiting protein powder to 1 scoop before training and 1 1/2 scoop after training; lots of chicken, lots of sweet potato, lots of oatmeal, lots of broccoli; working on besting my stage performance, particularly the quarter turns. That's the scoop. Stay tuned.

Fri., 10/04/13, Chest/ Back/ Shoulders

Today is transition between changing my split up. So I had to double up some stuff today. I did less volume for each muscle but more muscle groups:

incline dumbbell press: 30's-20; 50's-15; 65's-10; 75's-6; 80's-6; 85's-6; 90's-6; 95's-6; 100's-6
  super-set with bent over dumbbell row: "
flat dumbbell press: 100's-6,6
  super-set with V-grip pulldown: 210-8; 225-6
wide pull-up: 12,8
   super-set with dip: 15,8 (no rest)
pullover: 70-12,8
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 90-15; 180-10; 270-4; 180-12
laterals: 20's-15; 35's-8
incline face down front raise: 25's-9,12,15
incline rear laterals: 35's-11
dumbbell shrug: 75's-15; 100's-15

BOOM! That's a lot! Great pump!

Thur., 10/03/13, Leg Day

I had a very encouraging leg workout today. I've been doing basicly the same squat workout for the past several weeks: 45-25, 95-6, 135-6, 225-6, 315-6, 405-6, 315-20. The goal here is to tell the legs that I need muscle mass, rips, shreds and strength in the quads, hams and glutes. That 405 has been feeling very hard, but today I could have gotten more than 6 on 405 and more than 20 on 315. They were hard don't get me wrong, but totally doable, praise God. Here's todays order of events:

squats: the above
hack squat: 180-6; 300-10
reverse lunges: 25's-10; 50's-10; 75's-5 + 50's-5 + 25's-5 (no rest/ drop-set)
lying leg curl: 75-15; 90-12; 105-8
  standing leg curl: 60-12,10,10
   super-set with leg extension: 90-20; 105-12
hyper-extension: 15,15,15

Wed., 10/02/13, Arms

I got in a killer pump this morning. It was a decision to make my body do what it has to do today- feeling very depleted and just worn out, part of the game. It was a good workout though- no excuses. I did 6 super sets of curls and rope pushdowns; 2 super sets arm blaster curl and seated rope extensions; 2 super sets concentration curls and lying 45 degree triceps extensions; and 2 super sets of hammer curls and 1-arm overhead extensions. It was totally focused and intense.

Tue., 10/01/13, Back and Calves

I got in a great back and calf workout this morning. I started with calves: 5 sets of seated calf raises and 5 sets of calf presses. For back I only did 3 exercises: 7 sets of rows, 3 sets of Nautilus uni-lateral pulldowns and 3 sets of seated rows.

Mon., 9/30/13, Chest

I got in a great chest workout this morning. I changed up the reps a little, where I've been keeping them lower I increased them a little:

incline dumbbell press: 30's-20; 50's-15; 65's-12; 80's-10; 90's-10; 100's-6,6
flat dumbbell press: 100's-6 + 75's-5 + 50's-10 (no rest)
crossovers: 60-16; 80-8, 10 + drop-set
dip: 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (30 second rest between sets.)

I'm very happy with my progress. At 5 1/2 weeks out- I'm holding my strength pretty good, I'm more ripped than I've ever been this far out, and continuing to improve every day. My last waist measurement was 29 1/2" and my weight is about 170lb. I'm pumped about the World Championships!

Fri., 9/27/13, Shoulders

I got in one of the best shoulder workouts I've had in a long time. I did a couple moves that I have not messed with in a long time because of joint issues, but today the different moves felt good:

Hammer Strength shoulder press: 50-20; 90-15; 180-10; 270-6,5; 180-15
*incline face-down dumbbell front raise: 10's-15; 15's-15; 20's-15; 25's-8 + 6
seated laterals: 20's-15; 25's-12; 30's-9
bent-over-rear laterals: 50's-15
*standing military press: 95-10; 145-6; 115-9
dumbbell shrug: 75's-15; 100's-15

*These are the moves that I have not felt safe doing in the past due to joint pain, but praise God, they are feeling better and more natural as long as I use flawless technique.

Thur., 9/26/13, LEG DAY

I got in a very good and very hard workout today. The lighter I get the  heavier the weight feels, but the more determined I am that the weight must be moved. I started the workout with squats: sets of 6 up to 405 and a set of 20 with 315. Next was walking lunge: 1 set of 25 steps each leg with 95lb. Back to heavy stuff- leg press: 3 sets- 450-10, 890-7, 540-6. On to hams- seated leg curl, 2 sets: 110-15, 155-8. Then lying leg curl super-set with leg extensions, both with 90lb 2 sets back and forth with no rest: 12 and10 reps on the curl and 20 and 15 reps on the extension. Just to feel the different angle, I did 1 set of 15 reps with each leg with 60lb on the standing 1-leg curl. And I finished it up with only 1- 15 rep  set of hyper-extensions set very low to nail the hams and glutes. And they were, ARE, toast.

Wed., 9/25/13, Arms

I got in an awesome arm workout this morning. I did 5 different exercises for biceps and for triceps, but not very many sets per exercise. Here's what it looked like:

7 total sets of curls super-set with rope pushdowns, but only 2 working sets
2 super-sets of concentration curls super-set with lying triceps extesnions
2 super-sets of arm blaster curls with seated ripe extensions
2 super-sets of preacher curls with pushdowns
and just 1 super-set of hammer curls and 1-arm seated triceps extensions.
BOOM! They were pumped.

Tue., 9/24/13, Back/ Calves

Today's workout was great. I got in a good pump. The focus was really on the upper back- thinking about making the rear double biceps shot thick with more detail than ever:

I started with medium grip pull-downs: 4 sets of 12, 1 set of 10 and a set of 7
next up was T-bar row: sets of 12, 8, and 5 + 3 drop-sets
then double D-grip pull-down: 2 sets of 10 and 1 set of 6
and I finished with bent over row: 2 sets of 10 and 1 set of 8
I increased the weight on every set, with 5 sets too total failure.
I finished with calves (which I normally start with.) Only 4 sets of machine calf raises and 3 sets of 1-leg calf raise on the leg press- it was pretty short because I killed them pretty good on Saturday.

Mon., 9/23/13, Chest

I got a killer chest workout this morning. It was fairly short, about 30-40 minutes, and total intensity:

incline dumbbell press: 20's-20; 35's-15; 50's-15; 65's-12; 75's-6; 80's-6; 85's-6; 90's-6; 95's-6; 100's-6,4 (I've been doing so many sets increasing a little at a time for 2 reasons: I want to do sets of 6 to failure and we only have 100lb dumbbells at the gym, and my shoulder is wacky so it's good to go up in small increments.)
cable crossover: 60-16; 80-10; 100-6
flat dumbbell press: 100's-5 + 75's-6 + 50's-10 (no rest)
bent-over cable fly: 70-12; 80-8
dip: 20; 45lb-8
pullover: 90-10 

Fri., 9/20/13, Shoulders

I got in a great shoulder workout this morning. It was a little different than usual, just pumping the blood in the muscle, trying not to cause joint pain. This is how it went:

I started with a super-set with no rest at all- just running through it-

   machine lateral:        60-15;   80-15; 110-15; 130-12; 150-7
   machine rear lateral: 80-15; 120-15; 160-15; 190-12; 220-6

Hammer Strength press: 90-15; 180-12; 270-5 + 2 drop-sets
    followed by 1 set of lateral raises, 1 set of rear laterals and 1 set of front raises all with dumbbells.

dumbbell shrug: 50's-15; 75's-15; 100's-15

Thur., 9/19/13, Legs

I got in a killer leg workout this morning. To change it up a little, I alternated quads and hams. I feel like this helped me bring the hams in a little more, it was good. Here's how it went:

squat: 45-25; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 405-6; 315-20
seated leg curl: 80-15; 110-15; 140-10
leg press: 450-20; 720-10
lying leg curl: 105-10, 5; 90-9
    super-set with leg extension: 90-20,12(no rest)
reverse lunge: 65-12/  1-leg step-up: 15 (no weight)/  alternating lunge: 95-10 (All just to feel, squeeze the glutes.)

Wed., 9/18/13, Arms

My arms were pumped this morning. It was a great workout. I mixed it up a little, wanting to hit the muscle with both heavy weight and maximum pump. I included low and high reps:

curls: 30-20; 45-15; 65-10; 85-6; 105-6; 125-4; 65-21
 super set with rope pushdowns: 50-35; 60-20; 70-15; 80-12; 100-10; 120-10; 80-21

spider curl: 35's-7,5; 20's-13
super-set with seated rope extensions: 130-9,6; 100-9

hammer curl: 35's-12; 30's-8
super-set with lying extensions: 100-7; 70-10

cable curl: 130-12 + drop set
reverse 1-arm pushdown: 60-?

Tue., 9/17/13, Back/ Diet Update

I got in a great back workout this morning. It was all basic stuff: barbell rows, dumbbell rows face-down on an incline bench, medium-grip-pull-downs, 1 arm rows, and V-grip pull-downs.

This is what I ate yesterday:

meal #1: egg white; oatmeal; banana
meal #2: chicken; oatmeal
pre-workout: whey protein, glutamine
post workout: whey protein, glutamine; after cardio- sweet potato
meal #3: chicken; oatmeal; orange
meal #4: chicken; black beans; brown rice; spinach; hummus
meal #5: chicken; sweet potato, 1/2 tbs peanut butter
before bed: whey protein, glutamine
265g protein, 330g carb and 43g fat- about 2780 calories.

Mon., 9/16/13, Chest

I got in a great chest pump this morning. I've been doing relatively high volume for chest, with a total of 19 sets including warm-ups. I hit it from a lot of different angles, but the volume varies for each exercise: 10 sets for incline dumbbell press, 3 for machine flyes, 2 for flat dumbbell press, 2 and a drop-set for cross-overs, 1 set of pullovers and 1 set plus 3 rest-pause sets for dips. And they were pumped!

9/14/13, Calves 8 Weeks til World Championships

Everything is going well with the prep. I'm very happy with where I'm at. The waist measured 29 1/2" this morning. As long as I can lose 1/2" in the next 8 weeks we're good... ha ha. My average caloric intake this week was 2750, with some high days, some low days and one that was right at 2750. The split will remain the same as I am happy with the progress. This is the current training schedule:
Monday: chest/ abs
Tuesday: back/ calves/ abs
Wednesday: arms/ abs
Thursday: quads/ hams
Friday: shoulders/ abs
Saturday: calves/ abs
Sunday: rest
Note: every work day I do 20 minutes of cardio and 20 minutes of posing.

Thur., 9/12/13, Leg Day Report

I got a killer leg workout in yesterday. I went to the Life Fitness in Chesapeke, VA. I like this gym because it has a couple of unique pieces of equipment. They have 2 different leg press, a leverage squat machine and a Cybex kneeling 1-leg curl. When I go there I always do a pretty high volume workout to shock the muscles with the different stuff. Here's how it went:

squat: 45-25; 135-10; 225-6; 315-6; 405-6; 315-20
leverage Power System squat: 270-10, 12
leg press: 270-15; 450-12
Body Masters leg press: 540-12; 720-8
Cybex kneeling 1-leg curl: 50-15; 90-12,12,8
seated leg curl: 2 sets I don't know how much weight or how many reps
lying leg curl: 110-8 + drop-set
reverse dumbbell lunge: 50's-6; 75's-6; 100's-5 + 45's-6
....Yeah, they were toast and I looked like I'd just climbed out of a swimming pool.

Wed., 9/11/13, Arms

I got a pretty killer arm pump this morning. I used the arm blaster for 2 different exercises today. I've been enjoying that little thing:

6 total sets dumbbell arm blaster curl super-set with rope pushdown
3 sets concentration curl super-set with seated rope extension
2 tri-sets arm blaster reverse curl/ arm blaster curl/ lying 45 degree triceps extension
2 sets 1-arm preacher curl
1 set seated extension
1 set V-pushdown

Tue., 9/10/13, back

I started my back workout with the old basic king of back exercises: the bent over row. I did several sets increasing weight and decreasing reps with each set, doing 20, 15, 12, 10, 8 and 5 reps. Next was just 2 sets of  under-grip-pull-downs, 12 and 10 reps. Then 2 sets of Nautilus unilateral pulldown, 12 and 9 reps. To finish the pulls off I did 2 sets of Free-Motion Pulldowns, 12 and 10 reps. Then to finish the whole workout I did 2 sets of seated rows, 12 and 8 reps. I really hit a lot of different angles and got an excellent pump.

Mon., 09/09/13, Chest

I got an insane chest pump this morning. I'm feeling very confidant with where I am. Everything is coming together nicely- slowly but surely. I can see improvements all the time- new details popping. My training is very basic, everything once a week except calves twice and abs 5 days. The this is what my chest workout looked like:

incline dumbbell press: 10 sets with several warm-ups/ feel sets and 2 failure sets
machine fly: 2 sets 12 and 10 reps
flat dumbbell press: 2 sets 10 and 8 reps
cable crossover: 2 sets 12 reps and ? + drop set
cross-bench pullover: 3 sets of 12 reps increasing weight each set.

Fri., 9/06/13, Shoulders

You know those days when everything hurts, you're tired out of your mind and depleted from weeks of calorie deficit? This was one of those days. You have fight harder on those days. The weight seems heavier. But these are the days that count. These are the days that make you better, they make you stronger. I have to remember what the Book says, "This is not a battle of flesh and blood." It is a war of the mind and heart, and if you can overcome the physical, then you'll win.

I stuck with the 10 sets of 10 with 30 second rest periods for behind the neck press. Then 4 sets of laterals working up to the 35's. Next was bent over laterals- 3 sets: 15,12,10. I finished with barbell shrugs: 135-15, 225-15 and 315-10. BOOM! They were pumped, tight and the veins were popping.

Thur., 9/05/13, Legs

I destroyed the legs this morning. It was great. I got all the different fiber types with high reps, low reps and medium reps. This is the whole thing from start to finish:

squat: 45-20; 95-15; 135-10; 225-6; 315-6; 405-6; 315-20
leg press: 540-15; 770-9
reverse lunge: 65-10; 95-10; 115-10
Tri-sets:
    seated leg curl: 110-15; 125-10; 140-8
    back extension: 12, 12, 12
    lying leg curl: 90-10, 6, 7

 

Wed., 9/04/13, Arms

We got a new toy at the gym- an arm blaster. So, of course, I played with that today. It had been a long time since I'd used one of those. They are nice. I got a killer pump today. It was all basic stuff:
5 sets of barbell curls super-set with rope pushdowns
3 sets of arm blaster curls super-set with seated rope triceps extensions
2 sets of spider curls super-set with V-pushdowns
2 sets of arm blaster hammer curls super-set with lying triceps extensions

Tue., 9/03/13, Back Training / DIET

My calories have been fluctuating between 2500 and 3000 for the last week or so. This is a good range for me:

Monday, 9/02/13-

meal 1: 8oz egg white; 1 c oatmeal; apple
pre-workout: 20g whey protein, glutamine
post-workout: 40g whey protein, glutamine
meal 2: 5oz chicken; 11oz sweet potato
meal 3: 5oz chicken; 7oz sweet potato
meal 4: 5oz chicken; 1/2c oatmeal
meal 5: 6oz 93% lean ground beef; 5oz red potato; tomato, onion, cabbage
meal 6: 3oz tuna; broccoli

This totals 2600 calories: 275g protein, 270g carb, and 44g fat.

Mon., 9/02/13, Chest

My upper chest has always been a weaker area for me, so I definitely focus on that area. I pumped the mess out of it  this morning. Here's what it looked like:

incline dumbbell press: 20's-30; 40's-20; 55's-15; 70's-6; 80's-6; 85's-6; 90's-6; 95's-6; 100's-6,5
incline hammer strength: 160-12; 210-?
bent cable fly (for upper chest): 100-7; 80-12
flat dumbbell press: 75's-11,8
pullover: 50-12; 60-12; 70-12
dip: 20,10,8 (only 20 seconds rest) + cross-overs: 80-12

Sat., 8/31/13, Calves 10 Weeks 'til World Championships

I got in an excellent calf workout this morning. I did  a total of 10 sets of calf presses, 3 sets of seated calf raise and 1 set of machine calf raises. They were  pumped.
The progress report: I weighed in at 174 this morning, which is where I've been hanging all week, so progress is slowly, but surely. At 10 weeks out, I'm very happy with my progress. I know that I could be in my best shape 6 weeks from now, so baby steps.

Fri., 8/30/13, Shoulders

I'm still using the same technique with the behind the neck press- 10 sets of 10 reps with 30 seconds of rest between sets. I did these followed by machine laterals, bent over rear lateral, dumbbell shrugs and finished with 1 set of lateral raises. It was a great pump and low impact on the joints.

Thur., 8/29/13, Legs

I destroyed my legs today. I've been playing with ways to both use heavy weight and incorporate high reps. So, for squats today I got 2 spotters, the manager/owner of the Outer Banks Sports Club Stu Goliday, and my client and long time friend Wes Stepp- one on each side of the bar. And I started with 2- 45lb plates and 4- 25lb plates on each side, that's 425lb. The plan was to do sets of 5 reps with each weight 'til I ran out of weights, with no rest at all. I did not accomplish that, but it was an excellent pump and I feel like I really stimulated the thighs. Here's the whole thing:

squat: 45-20; 135-5; 225-5; 275-5; 325-5; 375-5; 425-3+375-3+325-4+275-4+225-3+135-?
leg press: 450-10; 720-8,10
walking lunge: 95-23 steps each leg
leg curl: 90-10; 120-10; 150-2+ 3 drop-sets
  super-set with leg extension: 90-20,15,11
standing leg curl: 60-12 + stiff leg dumbbell deads: 45's-12 

Wed., 8/28/13, Arms

I got in a killer arm pump this morning. It was definitely the best pump I've had in a long time. The workout didn't have too much volume, once I was warmed up. There was a total of 12 sets each bi's and tri's including warm-ups: 6 sets of bar curl s/s with rope pushdowns, 2 sets 1-arm preacher curl with seated rope extension, 2 sets hammer curl with seated dumbbell extension, and 2 sets concentration curl with lying 45 degree extensions.

 

Tue., 8/27/13, Back and Calves

This morning was all very basic stuff. The focus was on the upper back- thinking about the rear double biceps shot. I started with pulldowns with a grip just beyond shoulder width and only brought the bar to my chin, really focusing on the upper back. I did sets of 12 increasing the weight each set until I couldn't get 12. Next up was T-bar rows. These kill the upper back- I did 4 sets increasing the weight and decreasing reps each set, starting with 12 and ending with 6. Then came V-grip-pull-downs. I did only 2 sets, the 1st 10 reps and the 2nd failing right at 10 reps. I ended the  lats with bent over rows- 3 sets increasing the weight each set, the last to total failure. I hit a couple sets of back extensions to pump some blood in the lower back. For calves, I did 7 sets of 1-leg calf presses and 2 sets of seated calf raise. They were pumped full, and the veins were popping.... one step closer.

Mon., 8/26/13, Chest

Wow. I got a killer chest pump  this morning! It was very similar to last weeks workout, just a few rearrangements:
Several sets of cables flyes to pre-exauste the chest; then 4 sets of incline dumbbell presses; next was flat dumbbell press with 3 sets drop-set style with no rest; 1 set of machine flyes + rest-pause; 1 set of pullovers; and finished with 3 sets of dips with only 20 seconds of rest between.

 

Sat., 8/24/13, Calves/ 11 Weeks Til World Championships

This morning 175lb.- well on my way to my best shape ever- pumped up about the contest! My calves are looking better and better. This was my day totally devoted to making them better: 17 sets total, with 11 sets on the leg press, 4 sets on the seated machine and 2 sets on a standing position machine. They were pumped.

Fri., 8/23/13, Shoulders/ Diet Update

I got in a great shoulder workout this morning. It was very similar to last weeks, the only difference was for rear delts I did incline raises and for traps I did dumbbell shrugs.

Progress is great. I've kept the diet between 2900 and 3050 calories. Here's what it looked like yesterday:

meal 1: 8 oz. egg white; 1/2 c oatmeal; 6 oz. sweet potato; banana
meal 2: 5 oz. chicken (all chicken is breast); 6 oz. sweet potato
meal 3: 5 oz. chicken; 1 c oatmeal
post workout: 40g whey protein
meal 4: 5oz. chicken; 12 oz. sweet potato; apple
meal 5: 4oz chicken; 1/2 c oatmeal
meal 6: 5 oz. chicken; 2 eggs; 3/4c brown rice; veg.
meal 7: 25g whey protein; spinach

Thur., 8/22/13, Legs

I destroyed my legs this morning! It was great. I did drop-sets on squats, leg presses and leg curls. I meant to make a video of the working set, but my camera battery died! Here's what it looked like:

squat: 45-20; 135-6; 225-6; 315-6; 405-7 + 315-6 + 225-8 + 135-12
leg press: 450-6; 630-6; 900-6 + 8 drop sets (awesome pump)
alternating lunges: 95-6; 115-6; 145-6
leg curl: 75-12; 105-10; 135-7 + 5 drop-sets (this hurt)

They were swollen.

Wed., 8/21/13, Arms

Today I split up biceps and triceps. I did biceps early this morning and triceps this afternoon. I got an excellent pump in both. This was to stimulate the metabolism. Here's the rundown:
am bi's:
6 sets of seated dumbbell curls
3 sets of concentration curls
3 sets of spider curls
3 sets of 1 arm machine curls
1 set of cable rope hammer curls

pm tri's:
5 sets of rope pushdowns
3 sets seated rope extension
2 sets lying triceps extension
1 set pushdowns + 3 sets  of 1 arm pushowns no rest

Tue., 8/20/13, Back and calves

I got in a killer back pump this morning with the basics:6 sets bent over rows, 2 sets V-pulldowns, 3 sets T-bar rows, and 2 sets medium-grip-pull-downs.
And for making progress on the great weak point: just the 1-calf press with 90lb. for 30, 30, 20, 20, 20, and  20 with no rest- an excellent pump.

Mon., 8/19/13, Chest

My chest was swollen this morning after a great workout. Always playing with new things to keep it out of the shoulder joints and in the pectorals, it was a little different than the typical bodybuilding chest workout. Here's how it went:

cable fly: 30-25; 50-15; 70-12; 90-10; 110-7 + 3 drop-sets
incline dumbbell press: 50's-12; 60's-12; 70's-10; 80's-7; 65's-10
free motion cable press: 90-8; 70-8
machine fly: 160-9
dip: 15,10,10 (20 second rest between sets)
pullover: 70-15

Boom! It was pumped.

Sat., 8/17/13, Calves/ 12 Weeks Til World Championships

Well, at 12 weeks out I'm ahead of schedule and on target to be the very best I've been so far. This morning I weighed in at 175 1/4 lb. I'm taking it slow and keeping the calories about 3000 per day- feeling good.
Today was totally focused on calves- just bringing up my weak point. And I believe there will be a visible difference in them. The workout is very much focused on feeling the calf muscles, not just moving weight. I did 8 sets on the leg press machine, 3 sets on the seated calf machine and 3 sets on a pin loaded leg machine that I like to use for calves. It was a great pump.

Fri., 8/16/13, Shoulders

Got a good shoulder pump this morning, it was all low impact on the joint. I went through my old training log and dug some stuff out:

seated behind the neck press: 45-30; 65-15; 95-12; 115-10,10,10,10,10,10,10,9,6,6 (30 seconds rest between sets- no more.)
machine lateral: 80-15; 100-15; 120-12
machine rear lateral: 140-15; 170-15
   super-set with cable rears: 50-12,?
dumbbell bent lateral: 50's-12
shrug: 135-15; 185-15; 235-12; 285-8

Thur., 8/15/13, LEGS

I got an awesome leg workout this morning. It was very hard, I put a lot of weight on the muscle and definitely stimulated some growth, but did not annilate to the point where they won't recover- which I have been known to do on occasion.

squat: 45-20; 95-10; 135-10; 225-10; 315-10; 405-6 + 3 drop-sets
leg press: 360-10; 540-10; 720-10
standing leg curl: 75-10,10,10
   super-set with leg extension: 105-12,12,12
leg curl: 105-12
walking lunge: 95-20 each leg

Wed., 8/14/13, Arms

I got in a great arm workout this morning. It was nice to be doing some normal stuff, after having done all the crazy high rep sets the last 4 weeks. They were super tight and pumped. It was very basic:
dumbbell curls super-set with rope pushdowns
hammer curls super-set with seated 1-arm extensions
preacher curls super-set with pushdowns
cambered bar curls super-set with skull-crushers with the elbows back at 45 degrees

Tue., 8/13/13, Back and Calves/ Diet

I got an excellent workout in this morning. The pump was great. It was pretty basic: machine calf raise; seated calf raise; pull downs; T-bar rows; V-pull down; rows.

meal 1: egg whites; sweet potato; banana
meal 2: chicken
(post workout) whey protein; sweet potato; apple
meal 3: chicken; oatmeal
meal 4: chicken; oatmeal
meal 5: chicken; brown rice; black beans; banana
meal 6: chicken; oatmeal; 2 eggs
meal 7: whey protein

Mon., 8/12/13, Chest

I got in a great chest workout this morning. Here's the rundown:

incline dumbbell press: 20's-30; 40's-20; 55's-15; 70's-12; 80's-10; 90's-10; 100's-5 + 2 drop-sets
machine fly: 150-12,10,8 (30 second rest)
dip: 15,10,8 (30 second rest)
pullover: 50-12; 60-12; 70-12 + cable fly: 80-11

Sat., 08/10/13, Calves

Well, today begins week 2 of 14. I seem to be progressing nicely: weighed 177 this morning, with a quarter off my waist.
Just calves and abs today: did 3 sets of decline crunches; 1 set of knee-ups; 8 sets of calf presses; 4 sets of 1- leg calf presses; posing and cardio....boom- one step closer.

Fri., 8/9/13, Shoulders

This was my last workout with the incredibly high rep sets. It was good:

machine laterals: 50-15; 70-10; 90-50; 110-15; 130-12; 150-8
hammer strength shoulder press: 270-6; 230-8; 180-13; 90-30; 50-50
machine rears: 110-50; 150-20; 190-8
shrug: 135-50; 225-15; 315-8

Killer pump, they were tight.

thur., 08/08/13, legs

I did my legs in 2 workouts today: 
quads in the morning with- squats, hack squats and lunges. Only 1 failure set each and they were destroyed.
hams in the afternoon with- seated leg curls, lying 1-leg curls, standing leg curls and back extensions. 2 working sets each (though not all were total failure) with 10-15 reps.

Wed., 8/07/13, Arms

This week is the last of these incredibly high rep sets (which you may notice I'm not doing for back or legs.) It has been a nice break for my joints, but I'm looking forward to normal sets of 6-12 next week. I got in a great pump this morning with only 2 exercises for bi's and 2 for tri's. It was super-set style, not much rest. The super-set was barbell curls with rope pushdowns, with normal reps working up to just 1 failure set 6 and 10 reps respectively. The second super-set is where it got interesting: cable curls and seated rope extensions overhead. Sets were- 50, 25, 15, 14, 5, 5, and finished with 4 drop-sets super-set style....they were pumped.

Tue., 8/06/13, calves and back

Today was a pretty typical back workout for me: fairly low volume, high intensity, a killer pump. For the calves it was all high rep and I didn't do as much as normal because they're sore from Saturday:

seated calf: 45-20; 90-30; 140-20
smith machine calf: 90-30; 180-25; 230-16

back extensions: 20,20,20
  super-set with kneeling rope crunch: 130-30,20; knee-up: 40,30

row: 45-13; 95-10; 135-10; 185-10; 225-10; 275-5 + 1 drop-set
free motion pull-down: 140-10; 170-10; 200-6
seated row: 150-20 + wide pull-ups

Beginning Prep for The World Championships

This is day 3. Saturday was 98 days (14 weeks) out from the World Championships. I am pumped. Starting measurements have me in better shape with more muscle than when I competed in and won my first contest. I am on target to be in the absolutely best shape I've ever been in. And I need to be because I am going against the very best natural bodybuilders on earth.
Here is what I'm eating to get there:

meal #1: egg white; oatmeal; apple
meal#2: chicken; sweet potato
meal#3: chicken; grits
meal#4: (after workout) 40g whey protein; sweet potato
meal#5: chicken; oatmeal
meal#6: chicken; grits
meal#7: chicken; sweet potato; spinach
meal#8: whey protein

Thur., 8/01/13, Legs

Well, today was very busy. The only time I had to train my legs was a 30 minute window. SO... I'm always down with a challenge, so I quickly devised a circuit:

squat              :   45-20; 135-10;  225-6; 315-20
leg press        :  180-20; 270-15; 360-10; 540-10
lying leg curl :    30-20;  60-10;   75-10; 90-?
walking lunge:    40-16;  60-12;             110-10
seated leg curl:    80-10;  95-10; 95-10; 125-15 + (1-set each) leg extensions, leg curls, leg presses

There was no rest between exercises, and I rested between sets just long enough to stretch and add weight. Only the last set was to failure, and I couldn't breath, I couldn't see straight and could barely walk from station to station. It was good.

Tue., 7/30/13, Back

I got in a good back and calf workout this afternoon. I incorporated a little bit of the high rep for back, but it was pretty much a low volume, high intensity workout:

stretch thoroughly/ warm-up with pulldowns
wide-pull-up: 34
row: 135-6; 185-6; 20 back extensions; 235-6; 285-4 + 3 drop-sets
medium-under-grip-pulldown: 200-13
double D-grip pulldown: 180-10
1-arm row: 100-10

machine calf: 90-50; 135-40; 180-30; 225-20; 270-15
calf press: 450-23+ 1 drop set

Mon., 7/29/13, chest

I in a killer chest pump this afternoon. Here's how it went:

incline dumbbell presses sets of 50, 20, 13, 7 and 5
bent over cable fly for middle chest sets of 5 and 8
flat dumbbell press set of 13
dip set of 22
flat barbell press set of 36 reps

lots of stretching

fri., 7/28/13, shoulders

I got a pretty intense shoulder workout this morning. I used a combination of rep ranges again. It seems to be good on the joint and really pumps the muscle. It requires total focus and concentration.
Here it is:

laterals: 15's-45; 20's-30; 25's-15; 30's-12
hammer strength press: 270-5; 230-8; 180-15; 90-30; 50-45
machine rear: 100-50; 140-25; 200-9
shrug: 135-40; 225-15; 315-8

Thur., 7/25/13, Legs

I got in a great leg workout this afternoon. It wasn't nearly as intense as most of my leg workouts are, because I could still feel that crazy workout from last Thursday. Here's what I did:

squat: 45-20; 95-20; 135-20; 225-20; 315-20 (This was working, but not failure.)
leg press: 450-15; 540-10 (Again, I was working here, but it was not failure.)

seated leg curl: 95-20; 110-12; 125-8
  super-set "Hill squats" 1-leg: 45-12,12,12 (No rest.)

lying leg curl: 105-8; 90-8; 75-12
  super-set leg extension: 90-20,15,10 (No rest.)

Wed., 7/24/13, Calves and Arms

I torched the calves in about 12 minutes and arms in 20 + 20 minutes on the treadmill and that's it. Here it is:

calf press: sets of 20 with each plate up to 520 then drop set back down to 2 plates

curl: 5 sets up to 115-6
  super-set rope pushdown: 5 sets up to 130-12

cable curl: sets of 50, 20, 15, 10, 8, 7, and 40 reps
  super-set seated rope extension: just about the same reps, a little lower on a couple

Tue., 7/23/13, Back

My legs are still sore from Thursdays workout! Ha!
I got in an excellent chest workout yesterday incorporating some extremely high reps, extremely low reps and everything in between.
I did a similar workout for back today, just not many high rep sets- killer pump. Here's today's workout:

row: 45-20; 95-15; 135-10; 185-6; 225-6; 295-5 + 3 drop-sets
free-motion pulldown: 100-50; 150-15; 180-7+2
seated double-D handle row: 150-12; 180-9; 210-6

Fri., 7/19/13, Shoulders

Yes, my legs are sore! Quads are totally destroyed, glutes are sore and hams are fine.

I got a killer shoulder workout in. Again I used some of the DTP style, but didn't follow exactly. Here's how it went:

warm-up rotator cuffs with dumbbells and cables

laterals: 15's-50; 20's-35; 25's-20; 30's-10
Hammer Strength shoulder press: 230-10; 180-20; 90-30; 50- rest-pause to 50
machine rear laterals: 100-50; 140-25; 170-10
shrug: 135-50; 225-16+4; 315-7

And they were pumped!

Thur., 7/18/13, Kris Gethin's Psyco Quad Killer

I decided to try this workout created by Kris Gethin. He said this is the hardest leg workout you will ever do. WOW. It was. Here's how it looked:

Leg extension: 75-15; 105-15; 100 rep drop-set starting with 180 for 35 then dropping every time I hit failure 'til I hit 100 + 60 partial reps....WOW!

leg press: 450- (1st set)14,12,10,8,6,4,2 (locking the knees for 5 seconds between.); (2nd set) 15,12,10,4,5,5,3,3
super-set with sissy squat:(1st set) 20 lb. dumbbells-20, 10's-20; (2nd set) 20's-40

1-leg Hill squat: 45-20, 20, 14 + no weight for 8
super-set with 1-leg curl: 30-15,15; 15-15

Leg extension: 45 lb. - 100 reps + 60 partials reps
This is supposed to be a drop set, but I put 135 on the stack and could not budge it! So I tried a couple other weights and I could not move anything, so I put 2 little plates on there and finished it. He said get the reps no matter what... it was ugly- cheating, rest-pause. My legs were so stinking fried they were not functional. I sat where my training partner, Buddy Newell, left me for 20 minutes trying not to puke, with my face getting whiter and whiter. I finally got my protein shake down and managed to crawl on the treadmill for 20 minutes, to regain mobility. Ha!

 http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/leg-workout-from-hell-kris-gethins-quad-radical-equation.html

Wed., 7/17/13, Arms

I got a killer pump in the arms today, 1 of the best I've ever had. I used some of Kris Gethin's DTP principles. I got in most of the reps ranges toasting all the different muscle fiber types:

rope pushdowns:           50-40; 70-20; 90-15; 110-12; 130-8
  super-set barbell curl: 30-30; 60-12; 80-10; 100-6; 120-4+drop set

cable curl:                            60-50; 100-15; 130-6; 150-6; 60-50
  super-set seated rope curl: 70-48; 110-8 + rest-pause; 120-6,8; 60-34 + rest-pause to 46

WOW

Tue., 7/16/13, Calves/Back

I got a killer back and calf pump today. I started with calves and followed a DTP workout by Kris Gethin- it worked. Back was a basic low volume, high intensity workout for me:

machine calf raise: 135-40; 180-30; 225-20; 270-15; 315-12,12; 270-15; 225-20; 180-30; 135-40
row: 45-20; 95-15; 135-6; 185-6; 225-6; 275-6; 225-12
under-grip medium-pulldown: 150-10; 180-6; 220-8
T-bar row: 180-5 + 3 drop sets

Mon., 7/15/13, Chest

I got in a great chest workout this morning. It was a little unconventional, and different than how I normally do it. Everything was totally by feel. Here's what it looked like:

incline dumbbell press: 35's-15; 50's-40; 65's-23; 75's-9
incline hammer strength: 90-30; 180-?
bent cable fly (for middle chest): 60-12; 70-12; 80-7+3
dip:12,8,10 (20 second rest)

Fri., 7/12/13, Push

Today was all the pushing muscles of the upper body. I didn't do too much volume for each muscle and didn't really have a set # of sets, exercises or reps- I just went by feel. It was a good workout:

cable fly bent over for upper chest: 30-20; 40-15; 50-15; 60-15; 70-12; 80-12; 90-12
incline smith press: 90-12; 180-7
incline dumbbell press with a hammer grip: 50's-12; 70's-9
machine fly: 150-12; 200-?
seated smith shoulder press: 50-10; 100-10; 150-4
seated laterals: 15's-15; 20's-15,12,?,8
cable rears: 5 sets changing the settings each set
pushdown: 80-30; 120-15; 160-10; 200-6; 240-6
seated triceps extension: 110-10
lying triceps extension: 110-6

Thur., 7/11/13, Legs

I trained my quads early this morning and my calves and hams this afternoon because a schedule change. This was a little different than what I've been doing, though I used to always train quads and hams in different workouts. I do feel that I put more intensity into the second muscle this way. Here's how it looked:
AM
squat: 45-25; 95-10; 135-10; 225-10; 315-10; 405-9
leg press: 450-10; 630-10; 860-10
reverse lunge: 135-12
PM
standing leg curl: 30-15; 45-15; 60-12; 75-10; 90-6
1-leg curl (done as shown by Chris Gethim): 30-10,10
machine calf raise: 135-30; 180-25; 225-20
seated calf: 90-25
1-calf press: 90-15,15

Tue., 7/09/13, Rest

Yesterday I ate 8 times. They were small meals and totally clean:
meal #1- whey protein; oatmeal
meal #2- chicken; sweet potato
meal #3- chicken; sweet potato
meal #4- chicken; oatmeal
meal #5- chicken; sweet potato
meal #6- chicken; sweet potato, honey; peanuts
meal #7- 5 eggs; corn, veg
meal #8- whey protein
The total was only about 2800 calories, with 250g protein, 300g carb and 65g fat.
There was no weights yesterday, just 30 minutes cardio.

Mon., 7/08/13, Rest

Last week I got everything in on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, and rested the remainder of the week. I'm also resting the 1st half of this week and getting everything in on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. So that's what I'm up to. This weekend was a mental break and I ate whatever I wanted. I'm back to a more strict diet this week and I'm still doing cardio.

Wed., 7/03/13, Legs

I switched my leg workout from Thursday to Wednesday because I will rest on  Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Today was a less intense workout than last week. I started with squats and did sets of 20 with 45, 95, 135, 225 and 315. This was the easiest "working set" I've done- it was a breeze to get that 315 for 20 with no rest (using the constant tension principle for every set of squats.) That really shocked me. After squats I did 1, 20 rep, set of smith machine lunges; then super-set leg extensions and leg curls, 2 sets of 20 each; next was 2 sets of 20 seated leg curls; and I finished with 2 sets of leg presses, 30 and 23 reps respectively. It was a great pump, they were crazy tight, but again my intensity was purposefully lower than normal. I'm excited to start next week fresh and rested.

Mon., 7/01/13, Arms and Calves

It's always awesome to train your calves with twice the volume you train your arms with! Ha Ha.
I did my arms in a 1/2 hour window I had this morning between clients and did my calves with my good friend Sonny Macaranas this afternoon. We did a good 13 sets of calves and I only did 8 sets for arms. The week point will improve! It was a great calf workout- all sets of 20 reps- a killer pump.

Fri., 6/28/13, Calves and Arms

My joints are feeling much better after a week of this 20 rep sets deal I've been doing. It is a nice break in the routine and is giving great pumps. Here is todays calf workout:
calf press: 90-30; 180-20; 270-20; 360-20; 450-20,12,12
machine calf raise: 135-30; 180-20; 225-15
seated calf raise: 90-20; 140-15

6/26/13, thursday Leg day

I think my legs got tighter than they've ever been before today. Yes, it was an awesome pump- all sets of 20. Here it is:
squat: 45-20; 95-20; 135-20; 225-20; 275-20; 315-20
leg press: 450-20; 690-20
walking lunge: 100-20 steps each leg
leg curl: 60-20; 90-20

Wed., 06/26/13, FOOD

This is what I ate yesterday:

meal # 1: 8oz egg white; 1c oatmeal; raisins; 1/2 banana
meal # 2: 5oz chicken; 200g sweet potato
meal # 3: 5oz chicken: 1/2c oatmeal
post workout: 40g whey protein; electrolyte powder
meal # 4 (1 hr. after shake): 4oz chicken; 250g sweet potato
meal # 5: 5oz chicken; oatmeal pancakes (I substitute flour with ground oatmeal. And, yes, I used half honey and 1/2 syrup.)
meal # 6: Whey protein shake

This is a good idea of what I'm every day.

tue., 6/25/13, arms and calves

I got a great workout today. The pump was awesome. Again it's all high rep sets this week. Here is the workout:

3 sets of 20 machine calf raises
3 sets of 20 seated calf raise
3 sets of 15-20 calf press
3 sets of 20 preacher curl super-set with rope pushdown
3 sets of 10-20 hammer curl super-set with seated 1-arm dumbbell extension (no rest at all)
3 sets of 10-20 cambered bar curl super-set with lying 45 degree extensions (no rest at all)

Mon., June 24, 2013, Chest/ Back/ Delts

I got in a killer pump this afternoon! The reps were all very high; I didn't use a lot of volume, it was just focused and intense. The whole idea is to not have to use much weight, to give the joints a break. Here's how it went:
5 super-sets of 20 reps each increasing weight each set of incline dumbbell press and rows
3 super-sets of 12-20 reps same weight each set of cable fly and straight arm pulldowns
2 sets of pullovers 20 reps and 15 reps
3 sets laterals 20 reps each
2 super-sets of 12-20 reps each of machine rears and Hammer Strength shoulder press

Sat., 06/22/13, Calves/ Arms

The 2 week shock/recovery split:
  Day #1- chest/ back/ shoulders
  Day #2- calves/ arms
  Day #3- quads/ hams
I will throw in rest days where needed (I'm not sure how it will pan out yet- just putting the things that stress the shoulders all on 1 day to give the shoulders a break and I'm not training legs more than once a week. It may change.)

Today I torched the calves with 9 20 rep sets of calf presses, 3 20 rep sets of seated calf raises and 3 sets of machine calf raises with 20, 15 and 12 reps. Then I just pumped the arms with mostly 20 rep super-sets back and forth with little rest. I did 4 exercises for bi's and 4 for tri's- 2-3 sets each.

Fri., 6/21/13, Chest/Back/Shoulders

I'm taking 2 weeks and changing my split up a bit. I'll do much less volume, less intensity, higher reps and everything will be trained twice a week except legs. Here is today's workout:

6 super-sets of incline dumbbell press with pulldowns 12-20 reps
3 super-sets of cable fly with seated row 8-20 reps
2 sets of pullovers 15 reps
3 sets of laterals 15-20 reps
3 super-sets of machine rear delt and hammer strength shoulder press 15-20 reps
3 sets of shrugs 12-20 reps

Thur., 6/20/13, Leg Day (and my anniversary)

Killer leg workout this morning!!! Sets of 12-15 was the target and trying to keep the sets close together. I didn't use crazy weights but got an incredible pump. Here's it is set for set:

lying leg curl: 30-20; 60-15; 90-15; 120-12
standing leg curl: 60-15,12
seated leg curl: 110-15, 12
squat: 45-15; 95-15; 135-15; 225-15; 275-15; 315-10; 225-15 (tight baby!0
hack squat: 90-12; 180-12; 270-9
reverse lunge: 95-10
leg extension: 135-17

And, dude, my legs were so tight it was nuts!

Wed., 6/19/13, Arms

I got a killer pump this morning! It was great. My elbow's been a little sore lately, so I kept the sets close together, used higher reps and went up in small increments. The volume was medium. Here it is:

dumbbell preacher curl: 10's-20; 15's-15; 20's-12; 25's-12; 30's-10; 35's-8
super-set w/ rope pushdowns: 40-30; 60-20; 90-15; 110-12,12; 130-10

cambered bar curl: 70-10,8,7
super-set w/ 45 degree lying extension: 70-15,12,9

hammer curl: 35's-9, 7+3
lying 1-arm dumbbell extension: 35-8,6

concentration curl: 45-8,6

seated rope extension: 100-14,9

AND THEY WERE PUMPED!

6/18/13, Chest and Back

This was the 1st time I've taken off 3 days in a row since my last contest. I feel well rested and nothing is sore (this is a new experience.)
I weighed myself this morning: 178 1/2 lb. That's right where I want to be.
I knocked out chest and back today so as not to fall behind or miss anything. It was a great pump.
I super-setted incline dumbbell press with rows; flat dumbbell press with wide pulldowns; crossovers with straight-arm-pulldowns; and dips with seated rows.

Thursday, 6/13/13, Legs

Today I focused on the 8-12 range for just about everything. It was a great workout, everything was pumped and exausted by the end. Here's the order of events:

squat: 45-20; 95-8; 135-8; 225-8; 315-8; 405-8
hack squat: 90-10; 180-8; 300-13 or 14 (not quite sure, it was hard)
alternating lunge: 95-10, 10
lying leg curl: 60-12; 90-12; 120-10
seated leg curl: 110-12; 125-13
hypers: 10, 12

Wed., 6/12/13, Arms

I got in a killer arm workout this morning. My right elbow has been very sore just from constant heavy lifting- so today I did 5 sets or more of rope pushdowns, real light with higher reps, to pump some blood into the area. Then I did 6 total sets of cambered bar curls and seated overhead extensions, (only the last 2 were working sets) working down in reps and up in weight. Next, was 3 super-sets of rope hammer curls and rope extensions (all working sets of 9-15 reps.) Then 4 sets of concentration curls back and forth with little rest of 6-8 reps. After that was lying triceps extensions with a dumbbell: 4 sets of 7-15 reps, no rest. I finished the biceps with 2 sets of barbell curls with enough weight to fail at 15 on the 1st set and 11 on the 2nd. And the triceps finally was 1 set of under-grip pushdowns, fairly light weight and I have no idea how many reps.

The Diet Update

This is a good example of what I'm eating right now except that this week I'm eating totally clean to lose some extra weight (I want to be 180 and I've been 181.) This is what I ate yesterday:

meal 1:  8oz egg white; 1c oatmeal; 1 apple
meal 2:  chicken breast
  (workout) post-workout:  whey protein
meal 3:  (1 hour 15 minutes after workout) chicken; sweet potato
meal 4:  "
meal 5:  "   + orange
meal 6:  chicken; rice; peas
(right before bed: whey protein)

Fri., 06/07/13, Shoulders

I got in a good shoulder pump this morning. It was the usual exercises- basic effective stuff. Here's how it went:

seated dumbbell press: 20's-20; 35's-15; 50's-15; 65's-12; 80's-7 + 50's-10 (no rest)
lateral raise: 20's-10; 25's-10; 30's-10; 35's-10 + 20's-12
incline rear lateral: 35's-15, 12, 10
shrug: 135-10; 225-10; 315-10

Thursday, Legday, 6/06/13, (D-Day)

WOW. My leg workout this morning was intense. Sets of 20. Here's how it went:

squat: 45-20; 95-10; 135-8; 225-6; 315-5; 365-19
leg press: 450-20, 20
reverse lunge: 95-18
leg curl: 60-20; 90-23
standing leg curl: 60-20
hyper-extension (for hamstring): 20

I thought this was a fitting workout on the anniversary of the largest assault in history.

Wed., 6/05/13, Arms and Calves

I got in a good workout for my calves and my arms this morning. I did the very same calf work that I did on Monday: Calf presses: 90-30; 180-20; 270-20; 360-20; 450-20, 15, 14. It was an excellent pump; I will do a similar workout on Saturday (the theory is not too much intensity, just a good pump and 1 or 2 real failure sets, stimulating it as often as possible.) For arms:
6 super-sets of standing dumbbell curls and rope pushdowns (the last 2 sets to failure.)
2 super-sets spider curls and incline dumbbell extensions
2 super-sets rope hammer curl and seated rope extensions
2 super-sets preacher curl and lying 45 degree extensions
And this was a killer pump- they were swollen!

Tuesday, 6/14/13, Back

This week I'm cutting back the overall volume to give my body a little break. I've been going hard for a while now. So, this morning I did a very short back workout  with only 6 working sets. Here's how it went:
row: 45-15; 95-15; 135-12; 185-8; 225-6; 275-6 + 2 + 2 drop sets
V-grip pulldown: 210-10, 8
wide-pulldown: 150-12; 180-9; 210-7
That's it: 1 working set of rows (plus forced reps and drop sets), 2 working sets of V-grip pulldowns, and 3 working sets of wide pulldowns. And they were pumped.

Mon., 6.03.13, chest

I got in a great chest workout this morning. I used some different stuff, to change it up and hit some different angles. I started with incline cable flyes then went to incline Smith presses; then high incline dumbbell presses; after that, machine flyes; and I finished with dips. The reps were mostly in the 10-12 range and I did not do many sets only 1 or 2 working sets per exercise.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6X1WzxyxX5w

Fri., 5/31/13, Shoulders, in 20 minutes!

I torched them in 20 minutes this morning here's what it looked like:

Lateral raise: 3's-45; 5's-15; 10's-15; 15's-15; 20's-15; 25's-15; 30's-15 + 2 rest-pause sets
Seated dumbbell press: 50's-15; 60's-13, 11
Seated cable rear lateral raise: 40-15; 50-15; 60-11 + 6 partials

Boom! They were pumped!

Thur., 5/30/13, Leg Day

Today's focus was mostly the 12-15 rep range targeting some fibers that I may miss with my 20 rep and 10 reps sets. It was an intense pump! Check it out:

seated leg curl: 50-20; 80-15; 110-15; 140-15 (this was a very hard set)
lying leg curl: 60-15; 90-15, 11
squat: 45-20; 95-15; 135-15; 225-15; 315-12; 365-7
leg press: 270-15; 450-15; 750-14
walking lunges: 85-22; 105-22 (steps each leg)
leg extension: 90-34 + 5 + 5 (crazy pump!)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGUj1Oop0lA

Wed., 5.29.13 ARMS

I got a killer arm workout in this afternoon. I kept the reps between 8 and 12 for most of the sets. Here it is:
5 super-sets of seated dumbbell curls and rope pushdowns
3 super-sets of hammer curls and seated rope triceps extensions
super-set skull-crushers with spider curls (I did 7 sets of the curl and only 3 of the triceps)
2 super-sets of cable pushdowns and cable curls
And they were PUMPED!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peB9vkKdbvY

Tue., 5.28.13, Back

I got in a killer back workout this morning. It was a combination of high volume and low volume (which I guess means it was medium volume) I used fst-7 on wide pull-ups then everything else was only 1 or 2 working sets. Here's what it looked like:

3 sets hyperextensions super set with rope crunches, knee-ups and crunches
wide-grip pull-up: 12, 12, 12, 10, 9, 7, 7 (30 seconds rest between sets)
seated row: wide grip- 150-10, 9 / close grip- 180-12
row: 95-8; 135-8; 185-8; 225-8 + 2
medium under hand grip pulldown: 210-10

Mon., 5/27/13, Chest

I got in a great chest workout this morning. I'm still keeping the reps higher because my shoulders are sore. The volume is a little higher than usual, but not all sets are to failure. This is how it went:

incline dumbbell press: 35's-20; 50's-15; 65's-15; 80's-15; 100's-10; 65's-13
machine fly: 120-15; 150-11
cable fly: 110-14, 13
flat dumbbell press: 50's-15; 55's-10; 60's-9; 65's-8; 70's-8; 75's-6; 50's-15 (30 seconds rest between sets)
1 tri-set cross-over: 80-?/ dip: 7/ pull-over: 65-12

And they were pumped.

Thur., 5/23/13, Legs

I had a killer leg workout this afternoon! I focused on lower reps and really squeezing the muscles today. This is what it looked like:

squats: 45-20; 95-8; 135-8; 225-8; 315-8; 405-8
hack squat: 90-8; 180-8; 270-13(?) + leg extensions
walking lunges: 70-40 steps; 90-40 steps
leg curl: 75-12; 90-12; 105-12 (this was a very hard set)
seated leg curl: 125-12, ?(total failure)
low set back extension: 12, 12, 12, 12

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uc4PpnwU5BU

5/ 21/ 13, Back - 5/ 22/ 13, Arms

For those who are worried about me missing a weight-class, Tuesday morning after meal #1 I weighed 178 1/2 lb. That's exactly where I want to be and I'm right there today as well, so peace.

I got in a killer back workout in 25 minutes yesterday: 3 warm ups and 2 work sets on the Free-Motion pulldown; 2 feel sets and 1 failure set of rows; 2 working sets of 1-arm dumbbell rows; and 1 total failure set of medium-under-hand-grip pulldown (and they were totally full of blood.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yyPVKqry4dE&feature=youtu.be

Today was almost the opposite style workout for arms. I did 18 sets for biceps and 14 sets for triceps. It was a pretty big workout, implementing Hany Rambod's FST-7 principle for biceps. I really focused on hitting a variety of angles with seated dumbbell curls, French presses, preacher curls, over-head extensions, hammer curls, rope pushdowns, high cable curls, reverse pushdowns, barbell curls (using FST-7: 7 sets of 6-10 reps with 30 seconds rest between) and V-bar pushdowns. And they were crazy pumped.