"Mass"terpiece One Lego At A Time.

[TheNaturalOak]

It's all about improving yourself from show to show. If you've done that, you're doing it right!

What do current macros look like?

well since this is my second prep, and learning through experience (last prep I tried keto for 85% of my prep)
I quickly found out, that is not for me lol

I kind of started to lean out in january, just by eating less junk, and still focusing on hitting 1g p/lb
but as for the last couple weeks

70f/350c/185p ...

but I am starting to lose a little fast, so I'll be doing a 3200cal carb up today/once a week.

[TheNaturalOak]

had a nice carb up yesterday @ 3100cals & just a tad under 500g carbs

weird thing is.. this mornings weight is the same and or a couple pnts down @ 177.3lbs

this is like twice the amount of food I was eating during my last prep!!!

feelsgoodman.jpg

[TheNaturalOak]

178.2lbs in AM - I guess it was just a little delayed weight jump from the carb up

Workout: Plan on destroying some shoulders/arms/abs
then do some HIIT - hill sprints

been using a heating pad, stretching, and then some biofreeze and my lower back is feeling a lot better.

[TheNaturalOak]

176.9lbs in Am

Off day from gym

cardio: 20min MISS

ended up not being a complete off day, had a fitness challenge

I benched 140x38 (80% bw)
50reps of 20" box jump - 1:28sec
20ft shuttle runs (10bags) - 40sec

[TheNaturalOak]

176.4-177.2lbs this morning... cldnt get a consistent weight

edit

well I snapped my sh*t up today doing heavy squats.

135x15
225x10
275x8
315x5
335x5 (was so stoked I was still able to get thise)

then did a drop set of 315 and was shooting for 5reps.
hit 4reps and went real deep on fifth rep... as soon as I got to the bottom my lower back popped and I had to dump the weight off. I then was on me knees scared to try & get up.... decided to lay down on the floor for a couple minutes. Eventually was able to stand but barely walk... waited a little long (layed down on a bench) then hung from a pullup bar to try and decompress myself. After 15min I was okay enough to ride my motorcycle home. GOSH DAYUM IT!

It doesnt seem TOO bad (able to walk)... I obviously have to take it easy but idk what im going to do

[red_cat]

Remember that you should be dropping 20-30% of the weight on a drop set. So for 335 lbs you should drop a 45 from each side and try to go to failure. Personally, I'd never do drop sets in the 5 reps range. It's too risky.

Hope the back feels better, bud. that can be a scarey time.

[TheNaturalOak]

Remember that you should be dropping 20-30% of the weight on a drop set. So for 335 lbs you should drop a 45 from each side and try to go to failure. Personally, I'd never do drop sets in the 5 reps range. It's too risky.

Hope the back feels better, bud. that can be a scarey time.

well today was my heavy leg day, and by "drop set" I just mean less than my heaviest set :P I like to hit atleast 2 sets of 315x5 while squatting.

it had nothing to do with the weight really (would it of happened with 135lbs? probly not) but my point is that I just went WAY too deep and my hips came forward that something had to give.

[TheNaturalOak]

6 wks out!!!!!!!

Morning weight: 175.8lbs

Notes: Alright so when I hurt my back the other day, I got home iced every hour and rested. Next day I was feeling a little bit better, so I decided to head to the gym for a chest day. I strapped on a velcro belt, and took some advil. Tbh it went suprisingly well, I read that too much bed rest can make a back injury worse, and that getting up/walking can help.

Same thing today, was able to hit a decent shoulders/arms workout.

Strength loss is starting to kick in, I had trouble hitting 245x5 on bench but this is still much stronger than my previous 6wks out me.

skipping this comp had crossed my mind, but I dont think I'm goign to let this back get the best of me. I'll obviously take it easy when needed, but I feel as if I am still capable of getting in good shape!

[DannyQuach]

6 wks out!!!!!!!

Morning weight: 175.8lbs

Notes: Alright so when I hurt my back the other day, I got home iced every hour and rested. Next day I was feeling a little bit better, so I decided to head to the gym for a chest day. I strapped on a velcro belt, and took some advil. Tbh it went suprisingly well, I read that too much bed rest can make a back injury worse, and that getting up/walking can help.

Same thing today, was able to hit a decent shoulders/arms workout.

Strength loss is starting to kick in, I had trouble hitting 245x5 on bench but this is still much stronger than my previous 6wks out me.

skipping this comp had crossed my mind, but I dont think I'm goign to let this back get the best of me. I'll obviously take it easy when needed, but I feel as if I am still capable of getting in good shape!

yo bro!! thought I'd stop by your journey as well. sorry to hear bout your injury.

6 weeks out you still got a bit of tiem to make a decision; what comp you looking at doin?

[TheNaturalOak]

yo bro!! thought I'd stop by your journey as well. sorry to hear bout your injury.

6 weeks out you still got a bit of tiem to make a decision; what comp you looking at doin?

thanks man, glad u could stop in!

OCB Southeast natural Pro Q. (Orlando, Fl)

[DannyQuach]

thanks man, glad u could stop in!

OCB Southeast natural Pro Q. (Orlando, Fl)

nice dude! I'm doing the NANBF southern states in georgia which is also a pro qualifier. I didn't know until last week that NANBF and OCB both feed into IFPA

[TheNaturalOak]

nice dude! I'm doing the NANBF southern states in georgia which is also a pro qualifier. I didn't know until last week that NANBF and OCB both feed into IFPA

haha cool!

my main goal is to just bring a better package than last season. What I hope to happen is to win my class and at least get to go into the overall posedown, they way I can really compare myself to someone just winner their pro card.

Goodluck with you prep m8

[TheNaturalOak]

Hey errryybody

Morning weight 175.5lbs

Today leg day / refeed..... Aiming for 55/450/175

Lower back is feeling MUCH better, but ofc still taking it easy

Leg day went like this

4sets leg ext (superset) leg curl
3sets 1leg leg press
3sets adductor (ss) abductor
3sets squat machine
4sets seated calf

I experimented with some occlusion with the extensions/curls & squat machine.
I then tried it with calves and cldnt handle it lol.

Routine was a little off, mainly because I scored a job with my gym. New sales rep whaaatwhaat!
it will be interesting, and I'm looking forward to the job.

I now plan on doing some biking for a little 10-20min

oh yea, and stay tuned for updated pics this coming sat at 5wks out

[TheNaturalOak]

177.2lbs in am

This is after a day with a lot of cereal... lucky charm marshmallows to be exact

Hit my macros almost to the T on my refeed. 54/454/176

I was so anti fat during the day that I was able to fit in 20g fat from chocolate!

Workout: Chest/back hyper

[TheNaturalOak]

175.5 in am

Diet definitely wasnt spot on today... since I got a new job, they took me out to lunch.
place to eat... an asian buffet!

It could have been worse, like an all you can eat pizza :P but I dont think I did too bad.
they had this station where you put all the raw foods on your plate and the stir fry them in front of you.
had a mix of chicken/beef/broccoli/rice topped with a little spicy sauce.
after that I got about a cups worth of general tso chicken, and I called it quits.

Good thing is that I am doing IF (16-8) which means I only had that plus another meal today.

Workouts:
shoulders/arms/calves
20min of cardio... semi HIIT/MISS... 15sec sprint / 1min jog

[TheNaturalOak]

174.3lbs in AM

I also hit legs today!!!!!!!!!!
today was the test for my lower back, and well ...it passed!

I worked up to 315x5 without any pain. I didnt go quite as low as I normally do but still at LEAST parallel, some slightly below.
the break from squats did me good.

[DannyQuach]

174.3lbs in AM

I also hit legs today!!!!!!!!!!
today was the test for my lower back, and well ...it passed!

I worked up to 315x5 without any pain. I didnt go quite as low as I normally do but still at LEAST parallel, some slightly below.
the break from squats did me good.

Always good to hear brotha! Good job listening to your body-- your legs take a break for a little and the preventionn of injury will make up for that little time for sure

[TheNaturalOak]

5 weeks out!!!!!!!!!!!

174.5lbs (even had a larger meal later at night, and went to the bathroom a couple hours post weigh in)

Nudes: Sorry about the lighting, I didnt check the photos until they were all taken. Then I was hoping they wld be a little clearer when I uploaded them but not really :/






Other notes: comparing these to my last years pics @ 5wks out, I am much fuller and way heavier.
conditioning is still iffy but I'm keeping it in gear, going full blast these next 5wks.

[Reid456]

Quads and lats look sick. Arms looks awesome on the last back picture.

[TheNaturalOak]

just snapped a few pics... kinda had a large meal b4 this, and the pics have poor quality again *sigh*
but at least it has some shadows and will be better to compare to later in bodyb'ing





@ Reid thanks m8!

[TheNaturalOak]

174.2lbs taking the avg.
the scale hit below 174 two times, which is a new prep low.

[fltallpaul]

Great progress, I will see you at the OCB show in a few weeks! Let me know if you need a hand with color or posing...any last minute details.

[TheNaturalOak]

172.5lbs this morning

I had dropped by cals by ~200 and upped protein for 2 days because of the little spike in weight and the guesstimates from the AYCE buffet. BAM weight just fell off.

today I'll be hitting 55/300/200
which is what I was on b4 the 200cal drop, but since it's a leg day and the scales going down fast, I feel I cld use the extra carbs.

@ Paul - Thanks, and sounds good!

[Gibson5521]

You look noticably bigger+leaner dieting on carbs this year. (I also did keto for a brief stint) What shows you got lined up bud ?

[TheNaturalOak]

You look noticably bigger+leaner dieting on carbs this year. (I also did keto for a brief stint) What shows you got lined up bud ?

Thanks bruh, and yea I feel much better!
carbs have helped me keep strength and stay full

So far it's just OCB in <5wks
then from there I'd like to compete again in oct/sept which is another OCB pro Q (even tho I'll be 20 by then)
after that I pretty much plan on taking 2013 off to really put some size on my chest/legs... and everything else

[DannyQuach]

Thanks bruh, and yea I feel much better!
carbs have helped me keep strength and stay full

So far it's just OCB in <5wks
then from there I'd like to compete again in oct/sept which is another OCB pro Q (even tho I'll be 20 by then)
after that I pretty much plan on taking 2013 off to really put some size on my chest/legs... and everything else

eyes on that procardddddd yeaaaaaah buddy

[TheNaturalOak]

eyes on that procardddddd yeaaaaaah buddy

I figured I might as well see how I compare

and can save a couple $$ by sticking to the same org. Unlike last year.

really tho, the pro card is mine in 2014!!!

inb4omgursofullofyourself

[TheNaturalOak]

173.5lbs Am
Prolly will need a restroom break after my first meal today

off day for cardio
weights: chest/back hyper

[Reid456]

What are your legs measuring at these days?

[TheNaturalOak]

What are your legs measuring at these days?

although many people seem to think they're my strong point... measurement wise they're a weak spot.

Im not sure but I believe around the 24" mark. Havnt measured in a while, might have put some size on them but might have lost some " due to weight loss.