Jon's Road to the NATURAL PRO CARD--2013 Contest Prep--BRING IT!!

Greetings all so I decided to log my contest prep to get some support and to keep the motivation going!!

I am currently 14 weeks out of my competition and will be competing in both the men's bodybuilding and fitness categories for the Natural INBF/WNBF Pro Qualifier show in May.

This will be my second competition to date, I placed 3rd in Men's Middleweight bodybuilding and 5th in Men's fitness in my first competition, and I received a lot of positive feedback from the judges in my continued desire to pursue fitness and bodybuilding.

My long-term goal is to obtain my natural pro card and compete in some continental/international shows because that would be sweet!

I have only been seriously lifting for about 4 1/2 years and only got into competition a couple years ago, I still have a lot of room to grow as a natural competitor which is AWESOME! I am still pretty young so I have time to reach my goal, but because I am so competitive I am aiming for sooner rather then later :)


I plan on coming in at about 187 lbs sub 5% for the day of competition (was 5% last time), and will most likely be in the heavyweight category.

As my height can be a disadvantage when competing against shorter bodybuilders, I am currently learning some tricks and tips for posing and stage presence that can help me! As I play competitive volleyball at a high level alongside my bodybuilding, there is a fine balance in eating food for fuel and dieting down for competition.

I'd really appreciate any help or feedback on everything during this process and criticism is appreciated, I aim to at least finish better then last time, perhaps even win a category :)

I'll post my starting pictures once I get a camera to take them with, you can see my past competition pictures and transformation on my profile

I'M READY TO GET CRAZY SHREDDED AND DRY AND NOT GONNA STOP UNTIL I GET THERE AND WIN!

Just for fun I'll throw in one of my transformation pictures from where I started to where I was last year at my contest.

[img]http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2012/10/14/17171722/gallerypic/bLWztyDhAHlWCXUOGyyeJaPdCZkJeUrpPVbG.jpg[/img]

And from contest prep last time, I will be way better this year!!

[img]http://imagecdn.bodybuilding.com/img/user_images/growable/2012/10/14/17171722/gallerypic/ejGULGTbvasSQVfJOPAJussLhGQKPAHCCGPy.jpg[/img]

That being said, my first post will be regarding my diet breakdown for the first few weeks

I'll be operating at about 3700 calories of daily intake broken down into 6 meals over the course of the day and my current menu is as follows:

Meal 1
3 whole eggs
1 cup 1% milk
2 pieces of toast
1/2 banana

Meal 2
2 scoops protein powder (25g protein per)
1/2 cup oats
1/2 banana
1/4 cup nuts

Meal 3
6 oz meat
1 cup rice
2 cups of vegetables
1 tb olive oil

Meal 4
Repeat of meal 2

Meal 5
6 oz red meat
1 cup rice
2 cups vegetables

Meal 6
1 scoop protein powder
2 tb peanut buttter
1 banana

200 free cals every day (currently investing it in peanut butter for the toast and a bit of snack food)


CURRENTLY I just finished eating meal 3 and am going to head out to the gym and hit back/biceps today. I will put more information on my training split up as I go along, but heads up that it also incorporates a lot of plyometric movements (mainly on leg days) as I do sport specific training along with my bodybuilding program.


So jacked for the competition and it's still 14 weeks away gahh!!

im here for the food porn

Well done at your last show

Pictures looking good

Good luck this year! Enjoy prep

In.

[QUOTE=Bonkies;1013565043]im here for the food porn[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=Ccm644;1013566323]Well done at your last show

Pictures looking good

Good luck this year! Enjoy prep[/QUOTE]

[QUOTE=BabyOilBrah;1013590473]In.[/QUOTE]

great thanks! and there is sure to be a lot of food porn in here hahaha

Okeeyyyy so update here,

yesterday did back/biceps--as I am in maitenance and diet changeover for the next 3 weeks or so, my workouts still conform to a traditional hypertrophy-like type program for those of you who are wondering. This will change over the course of contest prep.

Anyways workout went down pretty straightforward. I am still nursing damage to my right patallae (Chrondomalcia Patellae and small Baker's Cyst), and so aggressive heavy bending movements with my legs have been modified to more volume-style training.

Warm-up and dynamic stretching-10 min

Deadlifts-3x15x225 lbs
Wide-grip pullups-3x8x25 lbs
Seated cable rows- 3x10x320 lbs

Lat Pulldowns-3x10x220 lbs
Face Pulls-3x10x200 lbs

Superset

Standing Barbell Curls-3x12x125 lbs
Back Extensions-3x10x45 lbs

DB Hammer Curls-3x10x60 lbs
Forearm roll-ups-3x12x40 lbs


Finish with one last light superset for maximum pump!!

Rope Curls-3x12x70 lbs
Isolated DB Preacher curls 3x12x25 lbs

After the workout spent about 5-10 minutes practicing running through the mandatory BB poses.

Currently in the process of selecting music and creating my routine for competition day--always a fun time :)

Meal wise, nothing too special as I said I'm very routine. We also had a practice yesterday night that focused a LOT on defense-- which meant a ****load of diving, hitting the floor, getting back up and diving again. Had I known my coach was planning on killing us, I probably would have done my back workout a different day I bloody hurt afterwards!! Had a long hot shower and stretching session last night before bed haha

Today was nothing too special, it was an (almost) TOTAL rest day for me. I had no school AND no workout for today. Probably good as I woke up this morning feeling like somebody punched my lower body 1,000,000 times as hard as they could. Thanks to my coach for killing us last night hah.

Anyways, meal-wise pretty straightforward, as I get into the swing of things I will be continuing to come up with creative ideas for eating my food, right now I'm extremely basic in what I'm eating. I personally really like throwing the oil into my protein shakes as I can't taste it--I tried taking it straight off the spoon and it wasn't a super enjoyable experience hah.

Just had volleyball practice for 2 hours tonight, thankfully it was a little bit slower and less taxing just some serving, passing and basic team-play. Good little low key cardio workout which will be beneficial to contest prep means :)


It will be interesting to see my weight and how it fluctuates depending on my caloric output because what we do for games/practices will influence my energy requirements and caloric output. Pretty tricky to get everything right but I'm determined to do so!!

Going to shower up, kick back and relax do some foam rolling on sore hamstrings and eat of course. I really need my fam to bring my camera home so I can put some pictures in this picture dry thread lol

While I'm asking though, anyone have any tasty food ideas for 6 oz of red meat, 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of vegetables?? Besides stirfry haha would appreciate

in. here for food options. Keep up the work!

[img]http://sphotos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/252794_10151624653213243_2091805091_n.jpg[/img]

some food pron of my lunch today :)

just some chicken and cucumbers/carrots......used some of my free calories for chipotle bbq sauce

also used 1 tbsp of my oil to pan fry the chicken a bit so it was a little crispy....mmmmmmmm


Also hit Chest/Triceps yesterday for my workout--really trying to focus on the upper chest in particular I want more definition there for contest day

Warm-up- 10 min

Flat DB Press-3x10x85 lbs
Incline DB Press-3x8x75
BB Skullcrushers-3x10x125 lbs

Superset
Incline Cable Flyes-4x10x50 lbs ea.
Flat DB Flyes-3x12x40 lbs

Superset
T-bar Tricep Pushdowns-3x10x160 lbs
Rope Pushdowns (focus on pushing out and squeezing at bottom) 3x10x130 lbs

Superset
Seated Incline DB Military Presses (Hammer Curl grip)-3x12x45 lbs
Pushups-3 sets to failure

Superset
DB Tricep kickbacks-3x12x30 lbs
Oil Pistons-3x12x20 lbs

And that was all she wrote!! Today will be fun as I am going to hit the smaller muscles--calves, shoulders, and traps :)

hopefully get my swell on for trap day, few things feel better!!

Nice work. Damn that meal looks good as hell haha as much as I am IIFYM I enjoy eating meals like that ^.

Interested in the trap workout to!

good workout. how long you been lifting for?

good stuff man, will be following this!

Solid stuff there hitting the upper chest hard. Can never go wrong with chicken, rice, and vegetables.

[QUOTE=Bonkies;1015141743]Nice work. Damn that meal looks good as hell haha as much as I am IIFYM I enjoy eating meals like that ^.

Interested in the trap workout to![/QUOTE]

I'm not a huuuuuge fan of IIFYM, mainly when it comes to contest prep because there is so much extra to consider (hidden ingredients, things that cause you to retain water, sodium, etc.) So I always love food like this during prep time :)

[QUOTE=HipoDawg;1015418543]good workout. how long you been lifting for?[/QUOTE]

thanks, it has been about 4 1/2 years of actual lifting, only got into competition in the last year or so though. I love it though and I've gotten really good results so I am continuing to pursue it as far as possible!! I look at where I came from and I can truthfully say never again

[QUOTE=Bbeasley89;1015479403]good stuff man, will be following this![/QUOTE]

sweet thanks and welcome

[QUOTE=BabyOilBrah;1015506353]Solid stuff there hitting the upper chest hard. Can never go wrong with chicken, rice, and vegetables.[/QUOTE]

upper chest for whatever reason has always been hard for me, super frustrating because I'm pretty strong but it just seems that it always lags behind. I believe that my long-time volleyball playing experience has hindered it's development to some degree due to the emphasis of other muscle groups such as the shoulders, legs and core (due to jumping hitting etc.)

As much as I didn't think about it initially, all of the plyometric movements and training that I have done in volleyball over the years has definitely benefited some muscle groups more then others, so I feel I am behind in the chest/lats which suckkkkkks

BUT I have great squat capability, muscle endurance, explosiveness and core strength which some people lack so I count my blessings hah

Anyways, quick recap on that small muscle group workout that I had yesterday. I kept it relatively light because today was game day for me and I didn't want to be unable to jump or move or get cramps (the worst by the way). I love supersets on this day and I've found I get the most gains on smaller muscles when I superset.

Here's what went down

Superset
Seated DB Press: 3x12x45 lbs
Reverse Smith Machine Shrugs; 3x12x225 lbs

Superset
Rear DB Flyes: 3x12x20 lbs
DB Shrugs:3x12x70 lbs

Superset
Lateral DB Raises-3x12x20 lbs
BB Pullups- 3x12x75 lbs

Superset
Anterior Delt Cable Raises-3x12x27.5 lbs
Most Musculars (essentially you hold light dumbbells and bring yourself into full flex most muscular pose....focus is on muscle contraction and control, more of an isometric exercise, also gets sick trap pumps!!) 3x12x15 lbs

Superset
Standing Machine Calf Raises 3x12x300lbs
Seated Calf Raises 3x12x205 lbs

Superset
Soleus Raises (Reverse Calf raises) 3x12x45 lbs--VERY important!! I feel like a lot of people neglect the soleus muscle which gives your calves stability and also creates the illusion of ripped and bigger calves by hypertrophying the shin muscle
Isolated DB Calf raises-3x15x40 lbs

Superset
External Shoulder rotations (REALLY IMPORTANT for rotator cuff strength and small muscles of the scapula) 3x12x12 lbs
Wall touches 3xto failure--Utilizing the balls of the feet and calves only in this instance, gets a great pump to finish the workout!!



Annnnnd anyways, food has been pretty straightforward, nothing special.........had some chocolate chips with my oatmeal the other day (and today actually) to spice it up a little bit. Soon I will be denied even those :(


Today as I said, no lifting due to game day!! We play again tomorrow, but at 3 pm so after post-game recovery I'll hit the gym in the evening for a bit. We'll see how I feel, I'm slated to do quads, glutes, and hammies!


Also tomorrow morning is my first posing practice session, hopefully will get some help on my technique in order to minimize my flaws, thing that sucks about competition is that I'm so **** tall and so I have to manipulate the poses a bit to stack up against all the manlets and compressed muscular marshmallows (as I'm fond of calling them).

I'll see if anyone has a camera for some "before pics" my fam doesn't get home for a couple days yet with my CAMERA :( grrrrrrr

love before after pics I find it so motivating

So last couple of days have been pretty good.

I actually didn't hit the weights after our game the other day, it was a hard fought match against one of the top-ranked teams in the country and we pulled off a win--wasn't easy but well worth it!

Instead I went for 20 minutes of HIIT cardio in the evening and then hit the hot tub/sauna and did some stretching. I've found that active stretching every day has helped a lot with my ability to lift heavy weight and has also helped me keep felxibility anyone else have this experience??

Sunday was a good day, had posing practice with some other competitors (figure, bikini, bodybuilding competitors). Still working on my front and rear lat spreads as I find those to be the poses I struggle the most with. I always find it hard to get a good flex in the traps and lats at the same time and so I usually end up relaxing one and contracting the other one so it looks kind of silly. Oh well still have lots of time to nail it I suppose!!

Also I'm in the process of choosing music for my routine, leaning towards something like Blashpemy by Immediate Music (or something else super sweet)

[video=youtube;NuQYngLEeY0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuQYngLEeY0[/video]

Sunday's workout ended up being my quads/hams/glutes workout as our coach gave us Monday off practice:

Went pretty light with higher volume, especially on squats as I'm still recovering from a knee injury :(

High bar squats:3x12x185 lbs
Leg Press:3x12x655 lbs (odd number is because the machine resistance is 115 lbs on top of the 6 plates either side)
Hack Squat:3x12x315 lbs

DB Lunges:3x15x30 lbs/leg
Seated Hamstring Curls:3x12x220 lbs
Leg Extensions:3x12x245 lbs

Finished with Box Jumps 3xFailure x 40"

Was pretty good workout all in all!!

Monday was given off of us for practice so I took advantage of it and took the whole day off......legs were CRAZZyyyy sore, I hit them with the most volume I have in a while due to the injury.

Butt no pain no gain, so I'm actually happy in my difficulty getting up the stairs :)

Weight-checkMonday I lost a bit of weight already which is not suuuuper ideal, however it's most likely just some excess water weight and what not due to my high level of activity in playing. I've added an extra banana daily for a little bit more intake.

Generally just a relaxed day not too much was happening. I'll update on yesterday (Tuesday) and today later tonight once I'm done practice and my workout.

Took a sneak peak photo of my back relaxed I'm so jacked to get all cut up!! Progress photos motivate me so much so I thought I'd share hah

was taken with my phone though still waiting on the good camera..... so no hate haha

[img]http://forum.bodybuilding.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=5341383&d=1359587871[/img]

mirin pic hard, no homo.. lol

saw your progress pix in the - aushowitz never again. Good job bro. i couldnt find it in the misc section so i am posting here.
what other workouts are you doing for back? i been following the chest one , and it has been building me upper chest! reps !