Pete's Offseason - Building a Super-Heavy Weight

[petem]

Before I start off my journal, I'll give a quick bit of backround. I've been competing for 3 years in Ontario. Most recently at the Souther Ontario Championships, placing 4th out of 7 in the Heavy Weights. I spent the last year working with Carter Schoffer from Precision Nutrition as my trainier and together we brougt the best shape that I have ever been in to the stage this past November. So we've decided to continue to work together as I try to grow my body into a super-heavy weight over the next year.

Well here goes - an off-season journal. After evaluating my recent performance and talking things over with Carter - my trainer, we've made a collective decision that based on my bone struture, muscle intesertions, height etc. - for me to be competitve I'm going to have to grow myself up to a super heavy weight. Next time that I hit the stage I will need to be competing at 230+. Not that far off, considering I last competed (November) at 217 - that's about 15-20 lbs. (hopefully 20 :)) So I invite you to follow along, adding coments, questions etc as Carter and I work together again to push my body to the next level.

[Big D]

thanks for the post, keep up the great work and keep us posted

[Sean Summers]

Super Heavyweight is greater than 220 lbs so you only have to go up 3 more pounds!!!
Hit it hard.
SS

[natenator]

Super Heavyweight is greater than 220 lbs so you only have to go 3 more pounds!!!
Hit it hard.
SS
thought it was 225+?

[Sean Summers]

Nope, 220 lbs.

Right off the OPA site:

Level: Weight Class:

One (Open, Novice & Masters) Light Weight (up to 165 Lbs)

Heavy Weight (over 165 lbs)

Junior Light Weight (up to 160 lbs)

Heavy Weight (over 160 lbs)

Two & Three Bantam Weight (under 143 lbs)

Light Weight (143 to 154 lbs)

Welter Weight (155 to 165 lbs)

Light Middle Weight (over 165 to 176 lbs)

Middle Weight (over176 to 187 lbs)

Light Heavy (Over 187 to 198 lbs)

Heavy Weight (over 198 to 220 lbs )

Super Heavy Weight ( over 220 lbs )

SS

[petem]

I started back in the gym yesterday - felt good to be back training with some calories and energy again.

Before I get into a training and diet overview, I want to thank Ulter and the AF Store again as they have agreed to continue my sponsorship during my offesason. I have no doubts that with the unique supplements that the AF Store offers that I will be able to take my physique to the next level. I will be detailing the supplements I'll be using and how I feel they are working to help me achieve my goals. Thanks again.

Yesterday was a real eyeopener for me. I'd forgotten just how stressful competion can be on your body and how quickly it eats into you strength - at least for me.

Carter suggested that I take the next two weeks and train instictivly to get a baseline for where my recovery is as at and then we'll work on a 3-4 week blast, capturing as much of the post competion rebound as possible and then take a bit of a cruise over the holidays.

Currently I've designed my own diet, but it's largely based on what I was doing during contest prep - just with more. . I'm trying to take advantage of my ability to take in more calories then normal as my apetite seems to have sky rocketed and sometimes I'm amazed and the amount of food that I've been putting down with out getting that 'stuffed' feeling.

Carb sources - primarily brown rice, oats, fruit, a little bread and occasionaly pasts for dinner - wife needs a change once in a while pw dextrose and Wazy Maize

Protein - lean meats - chicken, ground beef, some fish, eggs and milk blend protein powder. PW - whey hydrolysate

Fats - nuts, seeds, oils, ANPB

11/24

Meal 1 6:30
Cals 1400
Pro 71
Carb 220
Fat 30

Meal 2 Shake 8:30
Cals 1530
Pro 100
Carb 230
Fat 27

Meal 3
Cals 1440
Pro 82
Carb 213
Fat 18

Meal 4 - Shake
Cals 1450
Pro 100
Carb 100
Fat 56

Traing Shake
Cals 350
Pro 40
Carb 47
Fat 0

PW Shake #1
Cals 228
Pro 0
Carb 60
Fat 0

PW Shake #2
Cals 580
Pro 45
Carb 100
Fat 0

Meal 5
Cals 1100
Pro 75
Carb 150
Fat 5

Meal 6
Cals 680
Pro 66
Carb 31
Fat 27

Daily total
Cals 8900
Pro 575
Carb 1150
Fat 164

With each meal I also took 2 caps of Glucorell R. 2 Neurogenex first thing in the moring and then 2 more again around 3. 4 Tabs of Pure CEE before Training and my training shake and 1st PW shake has 4g of Beta Alanine as well.

Training

5:30 am - 20 min medium intensity Steady state energy expenditure work

3:00pm train - lower body, knee focused movements

1A) BB Front Squats (30s)
275/6, 275/4 255/6 255/4
1B) BB Back Squats (120s)
275/10, 275/8 255/10, 255/8

2) Back Forward BB Lunge (120 s)
95/4 x4

3A) Close Grip BP (10s)
225/6, 225/6, 225/5
3B) Chamfored Bar Curl (10s)
130/10 x3
3C) Dip - tricep focus (120s)
BW/15, BW/12, BW/10

[guest1]

You have sick hammies if those are actually yours. That's a shitload of cals. I couldn't do it. Good luck.

[petem]

Yep they're mine -2 weeks out from the SWO Championships this year.

[icey_boi]

good luck bro! hope all goes well!

[#8]

LOL that is a BOATLOAD of food. Serious eating brother. More power to you for being able to chow down like that. Atta boy....good luck!

[petem]

No updates last little while as I've been busy with some family stuff - in fact today, I'm home with my little girl as she has pink eye so is out of day care for the next couple of days

Tuesday - 11/25

Meal 1
Cals - 980
Pro 58
Carb 135
Fat 24

Meal 2 - Shake
Cals - 1014
Pro 88
Carb 129
Fat 20

Meal 3
Cals 1260
Pro 78
Carb 175
Fat 17

Meal 4 - Shake
Cals 920
Pro 83
Carb 40
Fat 52

Traing Shake
Cals 350
Pro 40
Carb 47
Fat 0

PW Shake #1
Cals 228
Pro 0
Carb 60
Fat 0

PW Shake #2
Cals 580
Pro 45
Carb 100
Fat 0

Meal 5
Cals 1100
Pro 75
Carb 150
Fat 5

Meal 6
Cals 680
Pro 66
Carb 31
Fat 27

Daily Total
Cals 7300
Pro 535
Carb 920
Fat 145

So oveall Calories slightly lower

Supplements - 2 glucorell R with each food meal, 2 neurogenex first thing AM and then again before training. 4 CEE just before training, 4g Beta Alanine in first two training shakes.

Training

5:30 - 30 min light/mod intensity steady state EEW

Afternoon - training. Upperbody - vertical focus

1A) Wide grip Pull Up (10s)
BW/6 BW/6 BW/5 BW/4
1B) Standing Military Press (120s)
155/6, 175/6x3

2A) Neutral Grip Pull Up (10s)
BW/5, BW/4, BW/4, BW/3
2B) Standing Scott Press (10s)
60/8 x4
2c) Straight Arm Pull Down (10s)
60/12x2 50/12 x2

3A) Unwiding Press (10s)
25/8 x3
3B) Scaption (120s)
15/12 x3

One rotation through AB circut.

Again, still lifting much less then used to, but after yesterday, was more exepcted and was able to choose my weights more appropriatly. No doubt that strength should come back fairly rapidly. It does feel good to be back at it though. Only made in through one AB circut as I couldn't believe how sore they were - likely due to squating monday with out a a belt.

[spankmonkey]

just curious about what your weight is at now?

[petem]

Weight this morning was 238

[ubcpower]

Pete, keep this thread going buddy.
Can you explain the number in bracket to the right of your exercises?? (10's) (120's) ..etc what do they mean.
Also, if you have time can you give an example of the meals you eat to hit those macro numbers. like maybe one day's worth of eating, itd be interesting to see how much food volume those numbers translate too. thx bud

[fathead]

curious as to what foods the meals are made up of

[petem]

Here is a sample of the foods. This is what lower body training days look like - 8900. I don't include any of the cals added from vegies and I consider them to be neutral calories. There are 3 servings of veggies with each food meal.

Meal 1
3 whole eggs
1/2 C Egg whites
1 c Spinach
3 veggies
1/2 C Mixed Beans
1 2/3 C oats
2 tbs Maple Syrup
2 C Mixed Berries

Meal 2
2 scoops Milk Protein
1/2 svg Greens +
2 c Mixed Berries
1c Oats
1 Baggle
2 tbs Jam
1/3 c Fibre One
1 tbs Sesamee
2 tbs Flax

Meal 3
200 g lean meat
3 veggies
250g rice
28 g pumpkin seeds

Meal 4
2 scoops Milk Protein
1/2 svg Greens +
1c Mixed Berries
1/2 c Oats
28 g Almonds
28 g Walnut
1 tbs P Butter
1/3 c Fibre One
1 tbs Sesamee
2 tbs Flax

Training Shake
50 g Gatorade
40 g Whey Isolate
10 g BCAA
1/2 tsb Beta Alanine

PW #1
60 g Waxy Maize
10g BCAA
20g Glutamine
1/2 tsb Beta Alanine

PW #2
100g Dextrose
60 g Whey Isolate

Meal 5
200 g lean meat
3 veggies
250g rice

Meal 6
200 g lean meat
3 veggies
28 g Almonds
28 g Cashews


Rice is all measured dry weight and meats are all measured after cooking, and oats are measured dry as well.

[petem]

Pete, keep this thread going buddy.
Can you explain the number in bracket to the right of your exercises?? (10's) (120's) ..etc what do they mean.


Those are rest intervals. I do alot of super / tri sets. So you'll see to the left of the exercise 1A, 1B etc, those will be done back to back with the indicated rest interval, in seconds, in between sets.

[petem]

The last two days ended up being off days, and pretty similar. Typicaly I would have trained lower body with hip focus on Thursday, but due to the need to keep my daughter out of daycare, I had to switch - off Thursday and train Fri and Sat morning.

No cardio Wed morning, as the wife has to leave really early for work on Wed so time is very limited Wed morning. So I did 40min later in the day. Thurs, 30 min low/moderate intenstiy steady state EEW.

Meal 1
Cals 650
Pro 67
Carb 44
Fat 22

Meal 2 - Shake
Cals 821
Pro 80
Carb 56
Fat 35

Meal 3
This is what is was supposed to be
Cals 673
Pro 62
Carb 23
Fat 27

This is what actualy happened:
Wed - lunch with client - assume 30 pro, 50 carb, 30 Fat - Cals 590
Thurs - McD's while driving daughter, praying for her to sleep, pro 39, carb 58, fat 56 - Cals 1400 - this was big mac, med fries small rolo mcflurry.


Meal 4 - Shake
Cals 763
Pro 77
Carb 35.5
Fat 38

Meal - Dinner
Cals 829
Pro 75
Carb 65
Fat 20

Meal 6
Cals 680
Pro 66
Carb 31
Fat 27

Daily Totals
Cals 5368
Pro 506
Carb 330
Fat 202

So I still have some post competition craving - as is evident by my Thurs afternoon lunch choice. Despite getting in over 5K in cals, and not much energy expenditure with the exception of light am cardio, I was hungry most of the day and could have easily eaten more. For those who are trying to bulk up, but having a challenge eating enough - add in some cardio and see what that does for you.

[Big D]

thanks for the update, your post are always interesting.

[lights_out]

Following this log really closely

[petem]

Thanks for the compliments and keeping up.

Whew, now I'm finaly caught up.

Today was a high calorie day - same as monday 8900 aprox total. The only meal that has presented a challenge so far is dinner - takes about 45 min to get down. I think it's in part to the sheer volume of liquid in my various shakes surrounding training. I'm going to try to reduce the overall fluid somewhat to see if that helps a little - but you get to the point where you almost need a spoon to 'eat' the shake and that's no good either.

Meals today, same as Monday.

Training
5:30 30 min low moderate intensity steady state EEW

Afternoon - lower body with hip focused movements.

1A) Snatch grip deadlift (30s)
315/6 x4
1B) Snatch grip Romanian Deadlift (120s)
225/12 x2 225/6 - stopped at 6 and didn't do the 4th set due to low back pump - wasn't feeling anything in my hamstrings - all low back

2A) Single Leg DB Romanian DL (10s)
35/8 x4
2B) Lying Leg Curl (120s)
60x12 x4

3) Seated Good Mornings (60s)
95/15 x4

4) Standing Calf Raise (15s)
200/15x4 200/10x4

I've heard from others that getting the lower back pump with RDL is a somewhat common problem, causing termination of the exercise before adaquatley working the hamstrings. For those in this similar situation, I suggest the single leg DB RDL. Very little to no low back involvement, the hardest part initialy is the balance, but this will come very quickly. I find that it is also a 'focus' exercise and it's quite easy to just go through the motion and 'move weight', but if you really focuse on the biomechanics of the movement and how the hamstrings should be contracting an pulling, I find it to be a very effective movemnt. Now this won't replace SLDL or RDL, but can be a good accessorie exercise to add in to a rotation.

[St]

Keep this thread going very nice indeed.You eat lots i can eat lots,but i would get fat and i'm a eco,so i would need gh to stay lean,and i can't eat that much only with gh since all i want to do is eat on gh.Best of luck bro again great thread.

[petem]

Thanks ST - hope to keep you interested :)

Today was my first am training day. I like to get in as early as possible on Saturdays so that I can get home and spend time with the family on the weekend. As it is I'm ready to go by 9:30, so by that time my wife and daugher have nicely gotten up and had some breakfast. Tomorrow, an off day, will be a family day - and that means a good chance for pancakes at breakfast - can't wait.

Meals and cals are the same as Tues, but due to the early training session, timing is slightly adjusted,

Breakfast - 6:00 am
Training Shake - 7:00
PW #1 - 8:40
PW #2 - 9:00
Lunch meal - 10:00
Shake #1 - 12:30
Shake #2 - 3:30
Dinner - 6:00
Pre Bed Meal 9:30

Training today was horizontal plane.

1A) Supinated Bent over Row (20s)
295/6 x4
1B) Incline Bench Press (120s)
255/6 x2, 235/6, 225/6

2) One arm DB Row - done as a rest pause type of set
120/8,6,4,2 x1

3A) Slight Incline DB fly (10s)
45/12 x3
3B) Seated V Bar Row (90s) 1-1/2 reps
75/12 x3

No EEW today - possibly tomorrow, see what time I naturaly get up - not setting an alarm. I want to get some extra sleep if I can. Ever since my comp, due to the rebound, I've had such bad sleep apnea that I'm not getting much quality sleep at nigh so I'll take it when I can get it.

[phatkid77]

have you ate this much before??? how did you look, personally i think that is way too much...

i always thought, if it was clean cals, you cant gain fat... i saw first hand what 7200 cLeAN cals does, and it was not pretty..... 270lbs, BLOATED!!!!

good luck

[petem]

No, have yet to consume this many calories. I suppose there is the possiblity of getting fat, but that's not soemthing that I'm concerned about just yet - it doesn't just sneak up on you. I'm aware that it can happen and if things start to go that way I'll either increse EEW or decrease cals or a little of both.

[petem]

Well Sunday was a nice day, an off day. Slept in to 7:45, got up, and wife and kid were still asleep so I figured, why not, go get some cardio done. Something may come up later when I'll have to skip some, so might as well get things done when I have the time. After had a normal egg omlete, and by that time, everone was up and we had pancakes - I really enjoy pancakes. Then off to the Mall. A little A&W for lunch and then back home. Had my usualy scheduled shake at this point, but then pizza for dinner and normal pre bed meal. I guess the point of this is that even though I'm following a fairly structured eating plan, there is room for deviation. If I was living on my own, it would be much easier, but as part of a family, it's important to share things together - including what your eating - it's not the same if the family eats one thing and dad has his own food. Once and a while, especially in the off-season isn't going to make or break a physique. Overall net calories were probably with in 10% of my target for the day, although not the same balance of macros, and meal times were relatively consistet.

[Michael 2009]

Great,Bro,Keep it pumping...

[petem]

Today was my second go around at leg training since my comp. Felt good as strength and endurance is starting to come back.

High calorie day today. I can feel that the post competion rebound drive for calories is slowing down a bit - got the full load in, but was a little more difficult then last week. I imagine that it will continue to get more challenging untill I'm forced to decrease my overall intake to a more reasonable 7K or so - where it was before I started my diet. But I'm going to try to stay here as long as I can.

Training
5:30 - 30 min EEW - low/med intensity

Afternoon - lower body - knee focus

1A) Front Squats (30s)
275/6x3, 245/6
1B) Back Squats (120s)
275/12 x3 245/12

2) Back Forward BB lunge (120s)
115/4 x4

3A) Close Grip BP (10s)
245/6 x2 245/4
3B) Cambered Bar Curl (10s)
120/10, 120/8, 110/8
3C) Dips - tricep focus (120s)
BW/20, BW/9 x2

Couple of people have asked about the nuber/letter combinations before and the numbers after. I do alot of supersets and tri sets. The number letter combination denotes an exercise as part of a super or tri set and it's place within the set. The numbers after are rest intervals between the various exercises.

This is a totaly new way of traiing that was introduced to my by Carter when we first started working together. There has been many benfits to this style of training for me. One, it forces me to keep a good pace in the gym and not waste time, this gets me back home with the family in a reasonable amount of time. Two, it keeps my fitness levels up and helps to keep bodyfat down. It has forced me in many occasions to use lighter weights which has decreased joint stess and allowed me to train virtualy injury free this past year. Dispite using lighter weights, I'm still generating intese contractions, working the target muscle resulting in growth. Comparing pics from this year and years past, this type of training has worked very well for increasing my overall density and mass.

[lights_out]

keep it up bro

[waderow]

interesting blog

[petem]

Haven't updated for a little while and that's becaue I've been busy as hell. I had a fairly big exam to write last Friday that I've been studying for since the summer. Studying got a little de-railed during the last weeks of my prep so I planned to take last week of of work, finish the material and then have a couple of days to review. Well as luck would have it, the day care thought that my daugter's pink eye was flairing up again so I had to have her home and of course, she didn't want to nap. And then a good friend of mine that I grew up with happended to be in town Wednessday to we had him over for dinner - needless to say, every spare minute I had, which at the start of the week I thougt would be lots, but by the end, were very few - were spent trying to get every last bit of information in.

Fortunatley things worked out, ended up with an 83 on an exam that 60 is considered a pass - so I was happy with the result.

As for training and diet the last week. Kept up with my trainging pretty well, diet was about 80%. Most of my meals I'll make in bulk - Sunday and Wed, so usually it's just a matter of assembly or even getting it out of the fridges. Morning EEW got missed most of the week as I was up much later then normal and used the morning hours before Hailey was up to get some more studying done.

12/2

5:30 - 30 min EEW work

Afternoon - training - vertical work

1A) Wide grip Pull Up (20s)
BW/6 x2, BW/5, BW/4
1B) Standing Military Press (120s)
185/6 x4

2A) Neutral Grip Pull Up (10s)
BW/6 x2, BW/5, BW/4
2B) Stading Scott Press (10s)
70/8 x 4
2C) Straight Arm PD (120s)
60/12 x3, 50/12

3A) Unwinding Press (10s)
75/8 x3
3B) Scaption (120s)
20/10 x2, 15/10

1 set ab rotation.

[petem]

12/5

1a) Snatch Grip DL (30s)
365/6 x4
1b) Snatch Grip RDL (120s)
225/12 x3, 225/6

2a) Single Leg RDL (10s)
50/8 x4
2b) Lying Leg Curl (120s)
70/12 x4

3) Seated Good Morning (60s)
115/15 x4

4) Staning Calf Raise (15s)
220/15x4, 220/10 x4

12/6

Today I was up at my parents place - we went up to celbrate my mom's birthday. So this morning I went with my dad to train over at his fitness club - and it truly is a fitness club. Top end DB's were 100, it has only 1 olympic free bar, no power rack / squat rack, but other then that not too bad based on some the 'fitness' clubs I've seen

1A) Pronated Bent over row - from floor (20s)
245/6 x4
1B) Incline DB BP (120s)
100/8 x4

2) 1 Arm DB Row
100/8,7,5,4,3,2,1

3A) Slight Incline DB Fly (10s)
50/12 x3
3B) Seated row 1 1/2 reps (120s)
120/12 x3

Now although the weights weren't as heavy and the equipment didn't allow for the same type of workout - I found some real benifit to training in such an envirioment. First off, due to the lighter weights, it forced me to really focuse on form and properly squeezing the targeted muscle to ensure I was getting the most out of the weight that was available. I notice this most on back triaing now, and I first started to pay closer attention during my contest prep. Carter sent me to see a chiropracter that he had had some good success with who does myofasciacal release. The reason being is, looking at my back, specificaly my lat spread, it looked as though there was more muscle there then I could show, mostly due to the fact that my scapula's were locked up and couldn't properly slide out over my ribcage to get the full effect.

When I first saw Paula (Chiro), one of the thigs that she noticed was that the muscles in my back were all above my scapulae, and it was almost as if there was a 'hole' down towards the apex. When she asked me to do a lat spread, she realized that part of my problem was that there was lots of muscle to pull my scaplulae up and in, but very little to counteract that and pull it down and out. So she did some release work and then showed me how to properly 'set' my scapula to balance out the muslce. The easiest way to explain it, it s put your arms straight out as if performing a straight arm pull down, now, before pulling down, depress your shoulders and your cavicle and feel the contraction at the apex of you scap, now perform the exercise.

This had made a huge difference for me in my back training, although I had to start off with some lighter weight, I feel a much better over all sence of working the msucle rather then just moving weight. My shoulders used to always get sore doing pull ups, but now if I retract and pull down my scap, keep it tight, I feel nothing but work in my lats - same thing for rows or any back exercise - don't let your shoulder creep up.

Training with lighter weights once in a while and focusing on getting the form that properly hits the target muscle and pay of significantly in the the long run. This can also be an advantae and something to thinkg about during warm - ups.

[Big D]

hey petem

thanks for the update, I always enjoy your post.

[petem]

Thanks Big-D!

Unfortunatley I didn't get to train yesterday. Ever since my comp on the 15th, I've been suffering from some pretty bad sleep apnea. I've always experience a little for a week or two after past comps due to the water re-bound, but this time, it's going on 5 weeks almost and no sign of improvemnt. A significant part of my job is behind the wheel, and it's gotten to the point where I'm becomming a significant danger on the road so I made a sort notice apointment with my doc yesterday to get thigs on the the road to being fixed. I'm also seing a specialist tomorrow who has had great success with appliances - so hopefully I'll avoid CPAP.

Anyway, back to normal today. Diets still the same, forcing the carbs down, and surprisingly I still have a set of abs - I'll attibute some of this to the morning cardio and some of it to Glucorell-R (http://https://www.theafstore.com/product.php?productid=13&cat=4&page=1). This is by far the most I've consumed in a post competition state, and the longest I've maintained any sense of 'leanness'. I'll be dong some progress pics in a couple of weeks to guauge where I'm at. After realizing the severity of the sleep apnea, and the relationship to body weight, I'm going to re-focus my goal on keeping as close to 250 as possible, and as muscle comes, remove bodyfat - so attempting to maintain as lean an off season physique as possible.

Training

530 am 30 min EEW

Afternoon

Upperbody - vertical

Wide grip pull up (20s)
10/6x3, BW/5 x2
Standing Military Press (120s)
205/5 x4, 205/4

Neutral Grip Pull Up (10s)
BW/8, BW/6, BW/5 x2
Stanindg Scott Press (10s)
70/10x2 70/8, 60/10
Straight Arm Pull Down (120s)
60/14, 50/14

Unwinding Press (10s)
25/8x3
Scaption (120s)
20/10x2, 15/10


I dropped down weight on the straight arm pull down becasue this is one of those exercised that is a real 'feel' exercise. Last time I spoke about pull the scapula down and making sure it is 'set' before performing the movement. After my second set, I could feel that my scap was comming up and I wasn't getting the same contraction at the apex of my scapulae. The last two sets were more a collection of 14 sets each time pausing at the top and then making sure everything was set before performing the rep - less weight, but after all this isn't a mass builder -it will however help me contol and properly target my back when performing rows and chins.

[Big D]

keep up the good work, you must be putting on quite some size considering all the food your shoveling down.

[Drifter]

Looking good bro , keep up the hard work .


Looking forward to those pics

[petem]

It's been a while since my last update - this sleep apnea thing is a real kick in the pants. I had a sleep study done last night and that should give some answers. The tech couldn't say much as I need to wait for my doc to read and analyze the results, but she told me that I would regularly stop breathing for 10-20s at a time and all though I went to bed at around 11, didn't finaly hit my first REM cycle until after 5am - so that may explain why I have been so tired lateley.

Last week I received my supplements from AF store, and thank god, my Neurogenex. Those of you who have tried it know what I'm talking about, after a couple of days, I feel totaly different from a mental perspective and I'm really excited to see how I feel once I get this sleep apnea corrected.

I've also added sessapure to the glucorell-R I've been taking. Its too early as of yet to tell the exact effect that the sessapure is having but I've been very impressed with glucorell as my diet has been about 70% clean. I always ensure to get in the required calories, but once in a while instead of lean meat an veggies - it may become ice cream - gotta love the off season. Despite this, I still have the 'turtell shell' look to my abs - even when full and bloated and distended, they still have some clear divisions. I can only attribute this to the partitioning effect of the glucorell. The sessapure will have a good trial over the next couple of week during the holidays.

Pre-workout I've started taking Red Blast and I have no doubt that this is the reason I'm still progressing in my training despite technicaly not having any restorative sleep over the past month.

As far as for training, I'll catch up on my workouts. I plan on finishing off this week, then taking the next two weeks off. Not completely off, but likely just 2x week and 70-80% type of recovery training. Carter and I will be starting back together in the second week of January so I need to get my rest in now.

This weekend I'll take some progress pics and then I'll have something to measure the holiday damage against in the new year.

RECENT TRAINING:

12/11

1A) Snatch Grip Dead Lift (30s)
405/5/ x5
1B) Snatch Grip Stiff Legg Romanian DL (120s)
225/12 x4, 225/6

2A) Single Leg Romanian DL (10s)
55/10 x4
2B) Lying Leg Curl (120s)
70x12 x4

3) Seated Good Morning (60s)
115/15 x4

4) Standing Calf Raise (15s)
220/15 x4, 220/10x4


****************************************
12/13

1 set ab rotations, 2 vacumme holds

1A) Supinated Bent Over Row (30s)
315/5 x5
1B) Incline BB Bench Press (120s)
255/5 x5

2) One Arm DB Row
130/6,5,4,3,2,1

3A) Slight Incline DB Flye (10s)
60/12 x3
3B) Seated Row 1 1/2 reps (120s)
90/12 x3

************************************************** *****

12/15

1A) BB Front Squat (30s)
295/5 x4, 295/4
1B) BB Back Squat (120s)
295/10 x5

2) Back Forward BB Lunge (120s)
115/4 x4

3A) Close grip Bench Press (10s)
245/8 x2, 245/4
3B) Cambered Bar Curl (10s)
110/10 x2, 110/6
3C) Dip (120s)
BW/12, BW/10, BW/8

[petem]

Holidays are fianly here and I think it's time for me to take a bit of a holiday as well. Looking back I haven't had a week off since before I stated to diet for my Nov 15th show - I think it's time. Now I don't plan on avoiding the gym for the next couple of weeks, but rather taking it easy when I'm there - you know - like most people , carry on a conversation or read the paper during a set - you know who I'm talking about we all have them at our gyms.

As for diet, I'll be taking a bit of a break there two. Now mind you, that doesn't mean McD's and beer all day, but I'll eat more freely - eating when I'm hungry, still making good choices, but I'll also treat myself from time to time, after all thats the whole point of this time of year right?

I'm going to keep up with some light cardio, likely 2-3 vs 3-5 times druing the week. Not always first thing in the am as I hope to enjoy a late morning here and there.

As for supplements, two that I wll be sure to maintain are Glucorell-R and Sesapure, as they should both work to blunt some of the inevitable impact on my body that some of my dietary choices will have over the next couple of weeks. I'll be sure to let everyone know just how well they worked as I'm sure there will be much interest on this point. For the sake of removing some bias, I took some progress pics this morning and I'll take them again in Jan before I start back on some more focused training with Carter - so this will also help to form my oppinion.

Over all the last week of training went well and I took some video of my most recent deadlift workout - only have the 1st and last (6th) sets due to size restrictions by youtube. I'll post the link at the bottom.

************************************************** *
12/16

1A) Wide Grip Pull Up (30s)
10/4 x4, BW/4x2
1B) Standing Military Press (120s)
225/4, 225/3, 205/4x4

2A) Neutral Grip Pull Up (10s)
BW/10, BW/8, BW/7, BW/5
2B) Standing Scott Press (10s)
80/8x2, 80/6, 70/8
2c) Straight Arm Push Down (120s)
50/14 x4 - kept weight light and really focused on form - made a huge difference

3A) Unwiding Press (10s)
30/8, 30/7, 25/8
3B) Scaption (120s)
20/8 x2, 15/6

************************************************** *************
12/19

1A) Snatch Grip Deadlift (30s)
455/4x3, 425/4 x3
1B) Snatch Grip RDL (120s)
275/8 x3, 245/8x3
***This is the video at the bottom of the page***

2A) Single Leg Stiff Leg DL (10s)
55/10 x4
2B) Lying Leg Curl (120s)
75/12 x4

3) Seated Good Morning (60s)
135/15 x4

4) Standing Calf Raise (15s)
240/15x4, 240/10x4


************************************************** **************

12/21

1A) Supinated Bent Over Row (30s)
335/4 x6
1B) Incline BB Bench Press (120s)
265/4 x6

2) 1 Arm DB Row
140/6,5,4,3,2,1

3A) Low incline Flye (10s)
65/12 x4
3B) Seated Row 1 1/2 Reps (120s)
100/12 x4

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMlh9_iEEmU

These pics were taken this morning, bodyweight 239, first thing in the moring.

[fathead]

lookin good. nice dumbbells.

[gordi]

That's a great look: Lean and powerful. Your hard work is obviously paying off.

[lights_out]

Fix the link on your deadlift video.

Really impressive lifting in that video though. Lookin rock solid in the pics as well.

[petem]

Link is fixed - thanks for the compliments.


I'm back after a much needed and much enjoyed vacation. No gym, no cardio and a whole lot of just relaxing. Enjoyed watching my little girl at Christmas this year as she just turned one and has an absolute blast opening presents and playing with boxes. My wife and I are hoping that next year maybe she'll show some interest in whats actually in the box.

As well as relaxing on my gym time I also relaxed on my diet. well relaxed may not be the right word - more like quit for the two weeks. Lets review quickly,
protein - somtimes grilled, but mostly fried sources as they taste better
fat - only trans and saturated for this kid,
carbs - yes please! Oh whats that, their sugar based and high glycemic, in that case I'll have two.
Needless to say it was somewhat of a disaster but no big deal - metalty I need a break once in a while.

Some may remeber that in an earlier post I mentioned that I would be using sessapure and glucorell through out my 'vacation' to give them a good test to see just how well they helped with fat gain. I also took some progress pics before I started and took some new ones this morning. I must say that I'm very impressed with that combination. Body weight was the exact same - 239 before, 238.6 this morning. And judging from my pics, not much fat gain if at all - so much to my amazement, it worked quite well.

As for training, for this week I'll be hitting the gym only twice. Did some horizontal work today, will do some vertical work on wed and then I start back up with Carter next week. I'm looking forward to it as I was talking with him today and were going to try a powerlifting based routine for the next couple of months. I've never trained like that before so it'll be all new to me and depending on how it goes I may look for alocal meet in the spring.

Hope that everyone had a great holiday and all the best for the new year.
Pete

These are from this morning, 238.6

[petem]

So I know I haven't posted in a while and thats because I've been rather busy - no real excuse I know but that's what I'm going with.

I've elected not to follow a true powerlifting routine as I mentioned earlier, but rather stick to a more bodybuilding type of routine but with more of a focus on strength development on some core lifts. So I guess it would be somewhat of a hybrid routine.

Bodyweight has crept up a little, sitting mid 240's right now, so to slow it down a little I've cut back on cals a little - only to say that instead of going with a high, med, low day, I'm just going with a med and low day. Having said that, med days are still around 6500ish and low days close to 5K, but I'm skipping the days that used to touch 9K.

Tuesday

First day back so to speak. Decided to do some leg training - figured get things started on the righ foot.

1) BB Back Squats
405/4, 405/4, 365/3, 315/6, 315/6

2) BB Blugarian Split Squats
135/8 x3

3) BB Back Squats
225/8, 275/8, 325/8

Decided to back squats to start and finish. I've been having a problem with glute/hip area for years. When squating heavy, I'll get a 'biting' sensation about 3/4 of the way up the lift - very sharp and very painful. It forces me to maintain perfect form and keep everthing 'tight' throughout the lift. As soon as I loose focus, it hits. So the purpose of the squats to start and finish is to work to train a proper firing pattern so that maintaining the proper form will become more and more automatic and then I can re-focus on just pushing weight - time will tell.

Thurs

1) Wide Grip Pull Up
BW/6, BW/5, BW/5, BW/5, BW/5

2a) Staning DB Scott Press
80/6 x4
2b) Close Neutral Grip PD
150/9 x4
2c) Not sure what this is called, but similar to an arnold press, but as you press the dumbell up, move them out and forward, ending in a similar position to front lateral raise.
30/9 x4

3a) Kneeling Cable X-Row
70/8x3
3b) Standing Strt arm push down
40/12 x3

4) Straight Bar Preacher Curl
90/6, 90/5, 90/5, 90/4, 90/4



Friday

1) BB Bench Press
275/6, 275/5, 275/5, 275/4, 275/3

2a) Pronated BB Row from ground
225/6 x4
2b) Neutral grip incline DB Press
85/10 x4
2c) Seated Row
160/8 x4

3a) Kneeling low cross over
70/8 x3
3b) Neutral Grip DB flye
30/10 x3

4) Reverse Grip Bench Press
225/6 x4

Saturday

1) Snatch Grip Deadlift
495/2, 455/4, 405/6, 495/2, 455/4, 405/6

2a) Lying Leg Curl
80/8 x4
2b) Single Leg Hip Bridge
BW/10 x4

[ubcpower]

thanks for the update man, keep us posted this is a great journal to track

[Felinecougar]

hey..are you taking in any fats? Nuts or stuff?

[petem]

hey..are you taking in any fats? Nuts or stuff?

Absolutely - oils, nuts, seeds. I'll have anywhere from 20-30% comming from fats, 150-200g / day right now.

[petem]

Was supposed to train yesterday, but daycare called and my daughter had a temperature so I had to go pick her up and bring her home - so training got put off for a day - that's one of the challenges that kids present - the unexpected.

So today was vertical with a push focus,

1)Standing Military Press
205/6, 205/6, 205/5, 205/4 205/4

2A)Neutral Grip Pull Up
25/6, 25/6, 25/5, BW/6
2B) Standing Alternate DB Shoulder Press
80/8 x4
2C) Straight Arm Rope PD
50/12 x4

3A) Iron Cross
20/8 x3
3B) Rear Delt Fly
45/12 x3

4) Reverse Grip BB Curl (2 movement technique)
95/6 x4

2 movement technique - this is a way to train using an eccentric focus. For the Reverse Grip BB Curl, it was essentialy a clean movement to the top and then lower the weight under control back to the start position. It allows for use of weight that exceeds the concentric maximum.

I'll be off until the weekend due to other commitments - just won't be able to train - but I guess that's what you get for not being a pro BB

[petem]

Haven't updated this in a while so I figured I would update what I've been doing training wise and then add a few comments about how I've structured my program and my goals witht the training.

1/24

1)Pronated BB Row 120
316/6, 315/6, 315/5, 315/5, 315/5

2A) Slight Incine DB BP 10
110/8 x4
2B) Seated Row 10
170/8 x4
2C) DB Pull Over 120
80/12 x4

3) Tri-Grip T-Bar Row
140/115/90 /8 x2

4) Skull Crusher - Ecentric focus
145/6 x4

1/26

1) BB Back Squat 150s
405/6, 405/6, 405/5, 405/5

2) Bulgarian Split Squat 120s
155/8 x3

3) BB Back Squat 120s
275/8, 325/8, 325/6

1/28

Ab - Crunch and Reverse Crunch

1) Pull Ups 120s
BW/6 x4

2a) Standing Scott Press 10s
90/6, 90/6, 80/6, 80/6
2b) Neutral Grip PD 10s
165/9 x4
2c) Modified Arnold Press 120s
35/8, 35/8, 35/6, 30/8

3a) Kneeling X Row 10s
70/10x3
3b) Straight Arm PD 120s
40/12 x3

4) Straight Bar 90deg preacher 120s
90/6, 90/6, 90/5, 90/4, 90/4

1/29

1) BB Bench Press 120s
275/6, 275/6, 275/6, 275/4, 275/4

2a) Pronated BB Row from floor 10s
255/6 x4
2b) Neutral Grip Incline DB 10s
95/10 x4
2c) Seated Row 120s
175/8 x4

3a) Low Cable Flye 10s
70/10, 70/10, 70/9
3b) Neutral Grip DB Fly 120s
35/10 x3

4) Close Grip Floor Press 120s
225/6, 225/6, 225/6, 225/5

1/29

Abs - Cable Crunches

1) Snatch Grip DL 120s
515/3, 425/6, 515/3, 425/2

2a) Lying Leg Curl 10s
90/8 x4
2b) Single Leg Hip Bridge 120s
BW/10 x4

3) BB Standing Calf Raise 60s
225/6 x6

2/2

AB circut

1) BB Military Press 120s
215/5, 215/5, 215/3, 195/5, 195/5

2a) Neutral Grip Pull Up 10s
25/6, 25/6, 25/6, 25/5
2b) Standing Alternate DB Press 10s
85/8 x4
2c) Straght Arm Rope PD 120s
50/12 x4

3a) Iron Cross 10s
20/10 x3
3b) R Delt Fly 120s
50/12 x3

4) Reverse Grip Curl - Ecentric Focus 120s
95/6 x4

So my training has been going well. I've structured my program to have more of a foucs on my upper body so as to bring it more inline with my lower body. My basic program design is choosing a main compount movement for the muscle group I'm focusing on and work to get as strong as possible on that movement. I then typicaly follow with a tri-set that works in an antagonist / protagonist set up with mininmal rest and this allows for me to help maintain my fitness level while working to balance out the opposite muscle group that was the focus in the primary exercise. I finish off with a super set, either pre or post fatigue with the targeted muscle group to ensure full exhaustion of the target area.

I've added in some arm focused training as well. They get alot of indirect work with all the pushing and pulling but I decided to add in some focused work as the impact on the nervous system is low due to the relative size of the muscles, and with my traing being spread out over 6 days instead of 4, it allows for a shorter training session and the opportunity to add some focused arm work without extending the total training time too long. I've choosen to take advantage of both concentric and ecentric focused training. Thus far I like the addition of the eccentric as it has the greatest potential for strength and hypertropy and again because it is a releativle small muscle group, the over all impact on the nervous system will be small.

Recently I did learn that although training sessions are brief, there is an accumulation of nervous system fatigue, making it important as to where to place lower body focused training. Currently I'm training with a 3 days on one day off type of split, however, I also will take Sundays off as a family day, so once it a while I end up with 2 days off over the weekend. Due to this variation, most recently I ended up with lower body, hip focused work on the third day in a row. About 1/2 way through my DL work, I could feel that my body was no longer keeping tight during the lift and I had the sense that an injury was just around the corner due to mental fatigue. Therefore I've realized that when structuring a traing block, it's important to put your most taxing workouts at the start so as to allow for maximal effort. Things like deadlifting and squating have a completley different mental requriement then bench pressing and rowing.

[wolverine]

Hey where did you go Pete, this was an awesome thread,need an update.

[Sean Summers]

I'll text him and see what's going on.....
SS

[wolverine]

Thanks Sean!!!