Big D's prep for the 2009 Team Universe-sponsored by Progenex

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by spirit3530

I agree with you. As I strive to be an up and coming Medical Anthropologist, my goal is also to present bodybuilding in a healthy manner. The current "cultural" stereotypes give me the fits and the people that perpetuate them annoy me.

Awesome field of study Sage!

An interest of mine has always been Nutritional Anthropology. Hence my dislike toward lots of grain-based carb sources...and my preference for veggies (especially raw veggies) AND higher fats.

Speaking of fats I wanted to try a high fat (50g), high sodium (cheat) to see how my body responded. I ate almost 1/2 of a "Blooming Onion" at Outback with 3 or 4 glasses of water and an hour or so later there were veins and new cuts all over. This approach worked much better than carbs...and it caused absolutely NO bloating.

I ate super low fat all day, so even with this "cheat" I stuck kept fat <60-70g.

[Quelly]

Originally Posted by dpd555

Experimented with a carb up last night by eating about 150-200g of clean carbs from mixed sources. Woke up fuller and more vascular, but watery and less defined. I've had much better results refeeding on protein and fats...so this will be my approach on contest day.

I'd much rather be a little less full and "dry" than ultra-full and spilled over.

another approach you could take would be to do that kind of carb up, and see how many days it takes you to "clean up" the spill on a tapered down carb intake...so for example

Wednesday: 200 full vascular, but watery
Thursday: 150 full vascular, less watery
Friday: 100-150 full vascular, dry
Saturday: play it by ear on carb intake, maintain friday's look

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by Quelly

another approach you could take would be to do that kind of carb up, and see how many days it takes you to "clean up" the spill on a tapered down carb intake...so for example

Wednesday: 200 full vascular, but watery
Thursday: 150 full vascular, less watery
Friday: 100-150 full vascular, dry
Saturday: play it by ear on carb intake, maintain friday's look

I planned something VERY similar and will stick to mostly veggies for carbs.
Monday --> Thursday 200, 200, 200, 100 (early in the day), then normal zero-carb diet 24 hrs prior to prejudging Friday (@6pm), but consume a higher fat, higher sodium meal like fried fish or chicken an hour or so before.

[Lowdown5]

Best of luck with the final prep Dom, regardless of the outcome you are still a winner.

[spirit3530]

Originally Posted by dpd555

Awesome field of study Sage!

An interest of mine has always been Nutritional Anthropology. Hence my dislike toward lots of grain-based carb sources...and my preference for veggies (especially raw veggies) AND higher fats.

Speaking of fats I wanted to try a high fat (50g), high sodium (cheat) to see how my body responded. I ate almost 1/2 of a "Blooming Onion" at Outback with 3 or 4 glasses of water and an hour or so later there were veins and new cuts all over. This approach worked much better than carbs...and it caused absolutely NO bloating.

I ate super low fat all day, so even with this "cheat" I stuck kept fat <60-70g.

Tx. It pairs two things I LOVE together food and culture.

That sounds good. I experienced a similar result when I did my peak week practice a few months ago.

Are you going to the Olympia this year?

[Quelly]

Originally Posted by dpd555

I planned something VERY similar and will stick to mostly veggies for carbs.
Monday --> Thursday 200, 200, 200, 100 (early in the day), then normal zero-carb diet 24 hrs prior to prejudging Friday (@6pm), but consume a higher fat, higher sodium meal like fried fish or chicken an hour or so before.

that sounds like a very smart approach...as you know the guys who really jack up their conditioning do the crazy carb loads coming off keto instead of something more moderate...

[Benny5]

Originally Posted by Quelly

that sounds like a very smart approach...as you know the guys who really jack up their conditioning do the crazy carb loads coming off keto instead of something more moderate...

yeah carb loads comin out of keto will sure enough ruin the conditioning.

i "fatted" up and was hardly hitting anything but omega fats and a lil water... and it filled me up good without losing detail.

week later with carbs in my system.... ay yi yi.... SPILL OVER

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by Lowdown5

Best of luck with the final prep Dom, regardless of the outcome you are still a winner.

Thanks

Originally Posted by spirit3530

Tx. It pairs two things I LOVE together food and culture.
That sounds good. I experienced a similar result when I did my peak week practice a few months ago.
Are you going to the Olympia this year?

At this point I just love FOOD

Probably not going to the Olympia this year- just too much work stuff going on

Originally Posted by Quelly

that sounds like a very smart approach...as you know the guys who really jack up their conditioning do the crazy carb loads coming off keto instead of something more moderate...

Originally Posted by Benny5

yeah carb loads comin out of keto will sure enough ruin the conditioning.
i "fatted" up and was hardly hitting anything but omega fats and a lil water... and it filled me up good without losing detail.
week later with carbs in my system.... ay yi yi.... SPILL OVER

OK, general theme is that carb loads are a no no. My basic approach will then be to just eat a little more of the same foods 4 days out....taper down over the last 24hrs and then hit a moderate protein fatty/salty meal prior to stage time

[dpd555]

Bent Rows (wide grip, underhand): 3 warm ups: 405 x 8, 405 x 6
Chins: 2 sets x 20
Pause Squats: 3 sets of 315 x 8-10
One-Leg Curls: 1 set

Cardio: 90-100 minutes of brisk walk in the sun

Comments: Keeping it VERY basic, slow and controlled over this week since being on LOW fat, LOW calories and HIGH cardio has finally taken a big hit to my strength. I still feel OK from a mental perspective, but the weight just feels heavier than normal.

[italianplaya30]

Originally Posted by dpd555

comments: Keeping it very basic, slow and controlled over this week since being on low fat, low calories and high cardio has finally taken a big hit to my strength. I still feel ok from a mental perspective, but the weight just feels heavier than normal.

ahhhh almost there buddy keep on moving!

[krives55]

Hey dom been away for a bit because I was real busy getting back into school and all. Don't worry about the weights... if it feels heavy... MAN UP AND LIFT IT! lol. jk dom

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by italianplaya30

ahhhh almost there buddy keep on moving!

Originally Posted by krives55

Hey dom been away for a bit because I was real busy getting back into school and all. Don't worry about the weights... if it feels heavy... MAN UP AND LIFT IT! lol. jk dom

Thanks for stopping by guys...and good to see you back Krives. yes...I am am manning it up this week for sure. low fat aint fun

[dpd555]

A few very minor adjustments can make a BIG difference.

Dropped fat from ~80-100g --> 40-50g over the last few days. Without fats (or carbs) I smell like ammonia when doing extended cardio, and this catabolic IMO. SO, I added 60-80g of carbs (just veggies) post AM and PM training. Calories are still in the 2000K range.

This small adjustment in macros put my weight back up to a fuller looking 223-224lbs. no spillover either. I'm just amazed at how sensitive my body is to adjustments in macros at this point. This sport is definitely a science!

[spirit3530]

thanks for posting these small observations. I am sure people will begin to understand the detail required to truely come in truely shredded after reading your blogging.

[dpd555]

I was too spent to record this last night....

Incline Bench (slightly narrowed grip): 3 warm ups; 315 x 2 (paused on chest), 365 x 1 + 1 (lil help on 2nd rep)
Note: did a set of 30 rep chins in between sets
Dips: 2 warm ups; BW (220) + 150 x 20 (PR!)...rest 5-10 sec x 7 reps....rest 5-10 sec....x 5 reps
One-Arm Cable Extensions: 3 sets ...up to 80 x 6-7
Donkey Calves: 3 sets back-to-back with stack

CARDIO: >>2000 calories spent on LISS totalling about 150 minutes with combined AM and PM sessions.
Weigh-in for the TU is one week out from today. I am sitting at exactly 218lbs
.
.

[devinh]

One week! That is awesome. And at 218 right now. Big changes from 221 too I'm sure. This is it dom, you're almost there now

[italianplaya30]

So close dom!

[RIKTER]

We're all pulling for ya Big D!

[Chris2512]

all the way from sydney...you're going to have a hectic one dom. best of luck mate

[SSK1903]

hit it home! BINGO!

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by devinh

One week! That is awesome. And at 218 right now. Big changes from 221 too I'm sure. This is it dom, you're almost there now

yeah, i am very very "dry", flat and stringy looking, but freaky vascular too....like veins across my hams and glutes

Originally Posted by italianplaya30

So close dom!

Originally Posted by RIKTER

We're all pulling for ya Big D!

Originally Posted by Chris2512

all the way from sydney...you're going to have a hectic one dom. best of luck mate

Originally Posted by SSK1903

hit it home! BINGO!

Thanks for the support guys. I'm 1 week out, but this week will not be as harsh as the previous week. Training and diet will be more "normal", but still intense and strict...and hopefully my body will recover and fill out a little.

[dpd555]

Hack Squats: 5 warm ups: 6 plates/side x 10 (brutal!!) ...supersetted with 3 sets of G/H Raises...followed by hyperextensions
Pause Squats: 3 warm ups: 2 sets of 315 x 10 (315 never felt so heavy!)
Lots of stretching and hanging from the chin bar

Cardio: 10 minutes each on 3 types of cardio machines

Comments: I entered the gym VERY hungry, but ran into a friend and talked for 30 minutes or so...getting even more hungry. After getting thoroughly warmed up for hacks a student walked over with a pen and pad and asked to interview me. This sorta freaked me out, but I agreed to do the "5 minutes interview"....that ended up being quite longer..but was flattered. Anyways, this session went very well considering that I did not expect to get 10 ATG reps (last 3 paused) on hack squats in a fully depleted state. I pushed on my knees very slightly on the last rep to break the weight from paused position, but on all my reps this week I focused on a sloooow eccentric...extreme stretch...a slight pause....and hard contraction. This seems to be the recipe for max stimulation preventing injury and I'll probably continue training this way into the offseason.

[spirit3530]

SOOOO close. I am nervous and excited for you. You describe the way I perform my reps on legs for about 6 months now. I like it.

[Quelly]

Originally Posted by dpd555

Hack Squats: 5 warm ups: 6 plates/side x 10 (brutal!!) ...supersetted with 3 sets of G/H Raises...followed by hyperextensions
Pause Squats: 3 warm ups: 2 sets of 315 x 10 (315 never felt so heavy!)
Lots of stretching and hanging from the chin bar

Cardio: 10 minutes each on 3 types of cardio machines

Comments: I entered the gym VERY hungry, but ran into a friend and talked for 30 minutes or so...getting even more hungry. After getting thoroughly warmed up for hacks a student walked over with a pen and pad and asked to interview me. This sorta freaked me out, but I agreed to do the "5 minutes interview"....that ended up being quite longer..but was flattered. Anyways, this session went very well considering that I did not expect to get 10 ATG reps (last 3 paused) on hack squats in a fully depleted state. I pushed on my knees very slightly on the last rep to break the weight from paused position, but on all my reps this week I focused on a sloooow eccentric...extreme stretch...a slight pause....and hard contraction. This seems to be the recipe for max stimulation preventing injury and I'll probably continue training this way into the offseason.

we are down to the wire dom, it is our time!

[the natural one]

Hey Dom wanted to stop and say good luck to you!!! I'm heading out there today!!!!

[dpd555]

Originally Posted by spirit3530

SOOOO close. I am nervous and excited for you. You describe the way I perform my reps on legs for about 6 months now. I like it.

Originally Posted by Quelly

we are down to the wire dom, it is our time!

Feels like I should be nervous, but with so much other stuff going on right now bodybuilding seems like a trivial thing. I'm not the least bit nervous (yet). However, I have put 100%+ into this prep and have NO regrets.

Originally Posted by the natural one

Hey Dom wanted to stop and say good luck to you!!! I'm heading out there today!!!!

Thanks for stopping by Kiyoshi
I really look forward to meeting you up there. Good luck and safe travels!


----------------------------------------
Drove from FL to NJ yesterday. Brutal drive, but it gave me time to think and listen to a few good audio books. (snapped a pic of a semi-relaxed thigh on the drive up north- skin is thin... ~3-4mm now).

Food over the last few days has been steak, fish, raw asparagus, lettuce and progenex....and a 3 gallons of water/day.

Today is my last day of severe depletion...so after this next session i can enjoy a big dinner with family!

Tried an experiment last night/today- water restriction for 12 hours overnight. Just a few sips here and there...and not my usual 2+ gallons I consume over that period.
I KNOW this goes against Layne's philosophy, but I was tempted. Well, he's right...all it did was get me super flat. My weight in this pic 214.5...and the water restriction made me look smoother too.

Now I'm rehydrated (with Xtend) and back up to 218 (fuller and vascular)...and ready to fill out over the next few days.

[devinh]

That leg pic is crazy! And that's just sittin in the car. You're going to do great dom. It's almost here, just follow the plan and let everything else fall into place now. Can't wait till Saturday.
Was it one of your students that interviewed you? You teach only a couple classes right? Do you discuss your bodybuilding with any of your students?

[will-work4ANDRO]

looking right on Dom...this weekend should be a blast...best of luck

[italianplaya30]

peeled!!!!!!! have fun this weekend!!!!!!!!

[low blow]

why does your left quad appear to have 5 heads 0_o