Bo Flecks' Training Lean and Power Density Experiment

[ljimd]

Hands over head looks good. Arms are thick. Midsection lean. You could climb on stage now. Easy as it goes - no injuries, no head trips. No offense to alex, but pecs look fine to me in that pose.

[mharrislove]

Steve, just a point from a bad mistake....practice your routine making entries from both right and left...I didn't for my first show....had always practiced entering from stage left...when called realized that entry was from stage right...got to the marker and froze like a deer in headlights...with a WTF couple of seconds unsure as to what I was supposed to do next. Can laugh about it now, but it wasn't so back then.

Interesting point, I hadn't read anything about this or addressed it in my own prep, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing the insight!

[ironwill2008]

Body Weight
My morning bodyweight has been up consistently about 2 1/2lbs for the past two weeks.

Tape Measurement- No Change
Waist- 30 1/4

Good deal.

The first kid then said, "Man, I hope I look like you when I'm almost 50." The other kid said, "Dude, I want to look like him now."

My wife got the biggest grin on her face .

FTW!

..Wal-Mart country..

Am aware. Unfortunately.

The 'fitness" of this entire country is going to heck in a handbasket.

Leg press-Wide Foot Position PWO
10x550
10x550
10x550
10x550
15x550

Hack Squats Wide Foot Position PWO
12x370
12x370
12x370
12x370
16x370

Good work; gotta keep it moving forward.

[Bo_Flecks]

Steve, just a point from a bad mistake....practice your routine making entries from both right and left...I didn't for my first show....had always practiced entering from stage left...when called realized that entry was from stage right...got to the marker and froze like a deer in headlights...with a WTF couple of seconds unsure as to what I was supposed to do next. Can laugh about it now, but it wasn't so back then.

That is a good point and something I need to be prepared for.

When the Gateway Naturals were at the Ft. Zumwalt HS auditorium, they always had the competitors enter from stage left. This year, they have moved the competition to Rickman Auditorium. With a new venue, there is liable to be some confusion.

I am pretty sure I will be dazed and confused the whole time, so I had better be prepared for just about anything to happen .

your low abs Adonis belt look real lean, the abs didnt look full or popped out but like u said , you felt tired. The biceps look huge with that pose. I think you should increase poundage for the chest though, make them pecs lil bit bigger.

It is interesting to look at the posing photos from one day to the next and how the vascularity, striations, and cuts will change.

I have not done a lot of homework on peak week yet. I just do not want to overload my mind with it right now, but I have done some preliminary reading. One of the things that Layne Norton talked about was not training legs too close to show time. I can see exactly why he says this when I look at posing photos taken on a Monday.

The day after training legs (Monday), my quads just look like hams. By Wednesday, I can get some pretty good definition going in them. By Friday, they actually look pretty cut.

Getting the most out of my current physique is an interesting process.

your posing is coming along nice. One thing you can bank on is you have a few "signature" poses that will impress the judges and separate you from the rest of the pack

I really have not bee working on any optional poses yet. All of my practice time has been spent on the compulsory poses so far.

I am going to get with my prep coach in August (when we return to school) and start working on my routine. He also said he had a couple of signature poses he knew worked well with the NANBF judges. I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Hands over head looks good. Arms are thick. Midsection lean. You could climb on stage now. Easy as it goes - no injuries, no head trips. No offense to alex, but pecs look fine to me in that pose.

At this point in my posing practice, I am running through the poses without a mirror, snapping the pics and seeing what shows up. The good news is I am getting a lot of consistency and remembering my mental cues. The bad news is, I can make the poses look better with the help of the mirror, so I still have work that needs to be done.

The Hands Over Head Abs shot was taken without the help of a mirror to get the position. I was able to get my abs flexed better with the help of the mirror, but I think that is simply due to my skin still being a little thick. Once I have my gut shredded down, small differences in the ab position should not really matter.

Interesting point, I hadn't read anything about this or addressed it in my own prep, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing the insight!

That is why having you competitors around is such a blessing to me!

The 'fitness" of this entire country is going to heck in a handbasket.

I remember having a sad conversation with my late father-in-law about food one time. Food in the family culture that my wife came from served a great many purposes. If something good happened, celebrate with a great meal. If something bad happened, console yourself with the food that makes you feel better. When the whole family was together, enjoy the company by putting out a huge spread of food and continually eating. If you were by yourself and bored, entertain yourself with some good food.

It led to his early death. He had six stints in his heart and was insulin dependant. He was 62 when he passed.

I still fight with a family culture of indulgence rather than fitness. My in-laws are physical wrecks. It is something that really concerns me for my kids.



On a more upbeat note- Shoulder training this afternoon (yay!), and I have an interesting comparison I have made.

[Bo_Flecks]

Steve, just a point from a bad mistake....practice your routine making entries from both right and left...I didn't for my first show....had always practiced entering from stage left...when called realized that entry was from stage right...got to the marker and froze like a deer in headlights...with a WTF couple of seconds unsure as to what I was supposed to do next. Can laugh about it now, but it wasn't so back then.

That is a good point and something I need to be prepared for.

When the Gateway Naturals were at the Ft. Zumwalt HS auditorium, they always had the competitors enter from stage left. This year, they have moved the competition to Rickman Auditorium. With a new venue, there is liable to be some confusion.

I am pretty sure I will be dazed and confused the whole time, so I had better be prepared for just about anything to happen .

your low abs Adonis belt look real lean, the abs didnt look full or popped out but like u said , you felt tired. The biceps look huge with that pose. I think you should increase poundage for the chest though, make them pecs lil bit bigger.

It is interesting to look at the posing photos from one day to the next and how the vascularity, striations, and cuts will change.

I have not done a lot of homework on peak week yet. I just do not want to overload my mind with it right now, but I have done some preliminary reading. One of the things that Layne Norton talked about was not training legs too close to show time. I can see exactly why he says this when I look at posing photos taken on a Monday.

The day after training legs (Monday), my quads just look like hams. By Wednesday, I can get some pretty good definition going in them. By Friday, they actually look pretty cut.

Getting the most out of my current physique is an interesting process.

your posing is coming along nice. One thing you can bank on is you have a few "signature" poses that will impress the judges and separate you from the rest of the pack

I really have not bee working on any optional poses yet. All of my practice time has been spent on the compulsory poses so far.

I am going to get with my prep coach in August (when we return to school) and start working on my routine. He also said he had a couple of signature poses he knew worked well with the NANBF judges. I am looking forward to seeing what he comes up with.

Hands over head looks good. Arms are thick. Midsection lean. You could climb on stage now. Easy as it goes - no injuries, no head trips. No offense to alex, but pecs look fine to me in that pose.

At this point in my posing practice, I am running through the poses without a mirror, snapping the pics and seeing what shows up. The good news is I am getting a lot of consistency and remembering my mental cues. The bad news is, I can make the poses look better with the help of the mirror, so I still have work that needs to be done.

The Hands Over Head Abs shot was taken without the help of a mirror to get the position. I was able to get my abs flexed better with the help of the mirror, but I think that is simply due to my skin still being a little thick. Once I have my gut shredded down, small differences in the ab position should not really matter.

Interesting point, I hadn't read anything about this or addressed it in my own prep, but it makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing the insight!

That is why having you competitors around is such a blessing to me!

The 'fitness" of this entire country is going to heck in a handbasket.

I remember having a sad conversation with my late father-in-law about food one time.

Food in the family culture that my wife came from served a great many purposes. If something good happened, celebrate with a great meal. If something bad happened, console yourself with the food that makes you feel better. When the whole family was together, enjoy the company by putting out a huge spread of food and continually eating. If you were by yourself and bored, entertain yourself with some good food.

It led to his early death. He had six stints in his heart and was insulin dependant. He was 62 when he passed.

I still fight with a family culture of indulgence rather than fitness. My in-laws are physical wrecks. It is something that really concerns me for my kids.



On a more upbeat note- Shoulder training this afternoon (Yay!), and I have an interesting comparison I have made.

[Payton1221]

I remember having a sad conversation with my late father-in-law about food one time.

Food in the family culture that my wife came from served a great many purposes. If something good happened, celebrate with a great meal. If something bad happened, console yourself with the food that makes you feel better. When the whole family was together, enjoy the company by putting out a huge spread of food and continually eating. If you were by yourself and bored, entertain yourself with some good food.

It led to his early death. He had six stints in his heart and was insulin dependant. He was 62 when he passed.

I still fight with a family culture of indulgence rather than fitness. My in-laws are physical wrecks. It is something that really concerns me for my kids.

I've heard it said that MOST of the people who have heart attacks have made no meaningful changes to their diet/lifestyle just 6 months from the attack. My mother-in-law is a great example. After her heart attack, she and my father-in-law vowed to make MAJOR changes, but these didn't last 2-3 months. They're both extremely sedentary, and their diets are horrible. 2-3 years later, she goes to the hospital because she isn't feeling well, and the doctors learn that she has extreme blockage requiring a quadruple bypass! Fastforward a few months from the bypass: business as usual with sedentary lifestyle and poor diet.

[Lou1se]

I like this pose, your arms are huge and the serratus anterior muscles stand-out. Thin waist looks even thinner with those lats and big shoulders. The leg positioning could be making it a bit tricky to keep the elbows level. Not sure if the camera had a slight tilt also. Glad you achieved some extra growth in the quads, you are looking a lot more balanced

I've just come home from the gym and had the camera with me to mainly take shots of my abs. I've never posed before lol But I certainly have an appreciation of how difficult it is to find them(concentration wise), getting it right, hold it...focus the camera and click the button lol As you say, without the mirror it's hard to tell if you are making them pop out like you want.


I found this interesting \/\/ -

"I have not done a lot of homework on peak week yet. I just do not want to overload my mind with it right now, but I have done some preliminary reading. One of the things that Layne Norton talked about was not training legs too close to show time. I can see exactly why he says this when I look at posing photos taken on a Monday.

The day after training legs (Monday), my quads just look like hams. By Wednesday, I can get some pretty good definition going in them. By Friday, they actually look pretty cut."

[bamazav]

Steve, another thought to practice on,"just in case," is straight on. If they want to make it a "Show", they could have you come from back stage, through a curtain, walking straight out. Be ready for anything.

[Bo_Flecks]

Thursday 6/28/12- Shoulders/Traps/Legs "A Week" Rotation

Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press
10x97
10x97
10x97
10x97
12x97

Barbell Front Raises
10x67
10x67
10x67
14x67

DB Lateral Raises/Front Raise Combo
12x12x32 1/2
12x12x32 1/2
12x12x32 1/2
15x15x32 1/2

Bent Lateral Raises
10x57 1/2
10x57 1/2
10x57 1/2
12x57 1/2

Medium Grip Barbell Shrugs
11x330
11x330
11x330
11x330
12x330

Seated Dumbbell Shrugs
11x115
11x115
11x115
11x115
11x115

Hack Squats
12x370
12x370
12x370
12x370
12x370

Lying Leg Curls
10x70
10x70
10x70
10x70
10x70

Calf Presses
25x445
25x445
25x445
25x445

Observations
This workout capped off another really good week of training. There will be no reason again this week to do a re-feed since my strength, energy, endurance, and body weight stood up well with my scheduled weekly macros.

Shoulder Workout
Seated Overhead Dumbbell Press:
Weight increased by 2lbs and rep increase day. Adding 2lbs per dumbbell is an overall 4lb increase in the weight being pressed, so this was a fairly significant bump. Bringing the dumbbells down until the backs of my arms go well below the parallel plane.
Barbell Front Raises:
Weight increased by 2lbs and rep increase day. Very narrow grip on this one to isolate the front delts as much as possible. Raising the bar to just above shoulder level, and then controlling a slow negative for the burn.
DB Lateral Raises/ Front Raise Combo:
Rep increase day. This combination really brought the burn today. Especially with that last set of 15x15x32 1/2 . I will only increase the weight of each dumbbell by 1lb next week.
Bent Lateral Raises:
Weight increased by 2 1/2lbs and rep increase day. Chest supported at a 30 degree angle. Concentrating on pulling the dumbbells up with the elbows, forcing the work to be done by the rear delts.

Trap Workout
Medium Grip Barbell Shrugs:
Rep increase day. Chest supported at a 45 degree angle forcing the traps to pull a little more to the rear. Holding and squeezing at the top.
Seated Dumbbell Shrugs:
Rep increase day. Dumbbells brought around a little more to the back to try and focus on the top of my traps. Performed seated on my SuperBench, back supported at an 80 degree angle.

Legs
Hack Squats:
Weight increased by 10lbs and rep increase. Secondary work on the outer quads.
Lying Leg Curls:
I backed the weight down on this movement so I could focus a little better on the hammies. I had kind of got in the habit of slinging the weight up on this secondary leg day. Yates cadence with a short hold at the top and a slow negative.
Calf Presses:
Weight increased by 5lbs. Hi rep work with the feet together and toes straight forward to hit the belly of the calves.

Final Thoughts
Before posing practice yesterday, I decided to take a gratuitous flexing pic of the striations and vascularity I have at my current BF level.



Earlier this week, hazto asked me to post some information about the gains I have made while training in a fairly lean condition:
( http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...#post905161203 )

I reported that over my last 15 month mass gaining phase I had added 6.4lbs of lean mass. Not bad, but as I was going back over the stats, I actually ran across some data that really surprised me.

Eight months ago, at the beginning of November 2011, I changed over to the higher rep scheme and volume of the 5x10 protocol and also started my first 10 week run with a DAA/Triazole stack. As I began the new method in my training, I took the picture on the left. At the time I weighed 185lbs. Yesterday, when I took the picture on the right, I weighed in at 180lbs.



While it is obvious that I am leaner (and tanner )now, it is interesting to note that there is only 5lbs difference between the two photos. Looks to me like I lost 5lbs just in my face- lulz

Anyway, I will let the pictures speak for themselves and you can draw your own conclusions about my last 8 months of training.

[Payton1221]

Eight months ago, at the beginning of November 2011, I changed over to the higher rep scheme and volume of the 5x10 protocol and also started my first 10 week run with a DAA/Triazole stack. As I began the new method in my training, I took the picture on the left. At the time I weighed 185lbs. Yesterday, when I took the picture on the right, I weighed in at 180lbs.

Mind = Blown !!!

What's your opinion on the DAA/Triazole stack? (inquiring minds)

[bamazav]

"I wanna look like him..."

[Lou1se]

Wow! Congrats! You must be very happy with the results

You've grown some wings! The lats give added depth to the torso.

Improvement in width everywhere, delts fanned out to form broader shoulders.

How does growing the muscles and losing the fat still get you 5lbs leaner? It can't all be from your face!

[BergMuscle]

Great progress, both in appearance and in the weights you're moving.

[rendylee]

WOW, those are some major gains you acheived.

[Bo_Flecks]

Mind = Blown !!!

What's your opinion on the DAA/Triazole stack? (inquiring minds)

I have been doing some different things over the last several months to try and manipulate my hormones.

In November 2011, I started my first 10 week run with the DAA/Triazole stack. I took 10 weeks off and then ran another ten weeks of the DAA/Triazole in April. I finished that last run in early June. So I have spent 20 of the last 34 weeks running the stack.

After reading several articles and some research on de-aspartic acid, I decided to run Prima Force DAA stacked with Driven Sports Triazole. The DAA is about the only thing I have studied that will naturally and effectively boost test levels. The science behind it makes a lot of sense: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19860889

The Prima Force DAA is a good product, but it is a powder. Tastes kind of like aspirin dissolved in water. I just put it in a glass of Chrystal Light and can't taste it at all that way. The normal dosage per day is 3,100 mg. It comes with a 3,000mg scoop but I like to separate the dosage out to two times per day. I take half a scoop (which is 1 teaspoon full) in the morning, and half a scoop in the afternoon. That is probably not necessary, but some of the guys I talked to do it that way so I thought I would not buck the system, and it has worked well for me that way.

For the Triazole, I take two caps in the morning, and one in the afternoon along with the DAA.

The Triazole will control any boost in estrogen that comes from the test boost. The good thing about Triazole is it does not wipe out your estrogen like some other AI's. If that happens, you get issues like achy joints, etc. Triazole has also been shown to be an effective test-boosting agent on its own.

The protocol is to run the DAA for two weeks, then AFTER two weeks on the DAA start the Triazole...run the DAA a total of 10 weeks and then CONTINUE the Triazole for two weeks after you have stopped the DAA. This is because the DAA will continue to keep levels elevated for some time after you quit taking it.

I've never had any blood work done to test my levels. In a way, I really don't care where they are. I was just looking for that final piece of the puzzle that may give me the boost to take it to the next level. Once I started the DAA, I didn't feel much of a difference in the gym until about two weeks into the run when I started taking the Triazole and then I really started noticing a boost in my strength and endurance with my lifts.

Some other things I noticed were:

*After about a week on the DAA, I started noticing some positive effects on my attitude
*After about ten days, I noticed a definite increase in my libido
*After about two weeks I started to notice some changes in my strength and endurance in the gym
*After about a month, my strength on lifts really started to kick in
*After about six weeks, all of the above changes had jelled together and I was convinced of the impact on my training

DAA is one of the few supplements I have ever used that actually felt like it was making a difference. While completely anecdotal, I had obvious strength and endurance gains in the gym at a much faster than usual rate.

Another thing I observed during my two DAA runs was that while there WAS a noticeable increase in performance as I ran the stack, once off of it, there was NOT a noticeable decrease in performance.

I will be running it for 10 weeks and then taking a 10 week break from it. This lets your body get back to normal. I plan on running it during my contest prep this fall to keep my hormone levels up and maintain as much muscle as possible. After that, I will probably continue running it 10 weeks on and 10 weeks off indefinitely.

"I wanna look like him..."

lol- Thanks for the props, my friend!

Wow! Congrats! You must be very happy with the results

You've grown some wings! The lats give added depth to the torso.

Improvement in width everywhere, delts fanned out to form broader shoulders.

How does growing the muscles and losing the fat still get you 5lbs leaner? It can't all be from your face!

The whole process kind of gets convoluted between the bulking and cutting phases. While I hate to use the term bulking, it seems to be what everyone around here wants to use. I prefer mass gaining phase.

The thing about a mass gaining phase is always the question of how much extra body fat do you add while trying to maximize your muscle gains. Then, once it is over, how do you quantify those lean mass gains because body weight is a real tough thing to use because of fat stores. Carb loads also play into the whole body weight matrix of comparison.

So I can do a comparison like I did last week when my skin folds are nearly identical and get a rough estimate of how much lean mass has been gained, or I can compare pictures. The bottom line for me is that given the information from both methods, things are going in the right direction.

Great progress, both in appearance and in the weights you're moving.

I am experiencing a high point in progress right now and it is coming at a good time right before this first competition.

I have an oddball statistical anomaly going on right now. My body weight has steadily been increasing on my Saturday morning weigh ins since May. I have gained over 4lbs in the last 5 weeks, yet the skin folds and my waist measurement are exactly the same. I am really not sure what to make of that. I keep waiting for my gut measurement to expand, but it has not happened.

WOW, those are some major gains you acheived.

I mentioned earlier that I have been doing some different things over the last several months to try and manipulate my hormones. Along with the DAA runs to try and manipulate my T production, I have also started using GABA and Melatonin in April to try and manipulate my GH production.

I put some of this information in the supplement thread out in the open forum last night:

Melatonin
Throughout this entire contest prep I will be taking .5mg of melatonin one hour pre-workout which has been shown to boost post workout Growth Hormone surge significantly. Even if it is just a tiny boost, I do not believe there can be such a thing as an insignificant GH release. Any surge over what I would normally produce would have to be of benefit and melatonin is ridiculously cheap.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2174513/

GABA
I will take 4gr of GABA each night 30 minutes before going to bed during the entire contest prep. GABA contributes to proper development of the body and sleeping habits. A proper sleep encourages digestion and in turn allows proper metabolic functions. GABA plays a major role in controlling the hormonal balance of the body. It increases the level of Human Growth Hormone (HGH), thereby increasing the proper secretion of growth hormones by the pituitary gland.

www.gabasupplement.com

The things I have noticed about the Melatonin and GABA usage is that since April, my fingernails and toenails grow much faster and have to be cut more often. I also have noticed that my hair grows much faster.

Common sense tells me that if my nails and hair are growing faster, there also has to be some recovery benefit in there for my muscles, too.

This may have absolutely nothing to do with the GH manipulation, but when I got my hair cut last week, the stylist asked me if I had colored it because she was not seeing the gray she normally sees. When I looked down at what had been cut off, she was right. There was not nearly the amount as usual. Weird.

[VoxExMachina]

Good info on the supps, Steve. I've kind of worked myself down to just some protein and creatine, and possibly glutamine, as those are the only ones I'm truly convinced are worthwhile. (Other than a multi-vitamin and that sort of thing). But you've got me thinking....


Sorry I've been absent. I've been out west on vacation for the past couple of weeks, and was really busy getting ready the week before that. But I'm still here!

[-=FLEX=-]

That's a solid improvement for 8 months, Steve.

[hazto]

Great side by side pics, while you are 5lbs smaller in the right, the leaness makes you look larger. The definition in your arms and chest are amazing. David

[bamazav]

Interesting insights about the melatonin and GABA. I have been taking Melatonin and ZMA at night and have been sleeping like a baby, hard and deep. I too have noticed my hair and nails growing fast. Seems like I need a trim almost daily. I have never considered Melatonin pre workout. Will need to read up on that. I am looking into cortisol control. I have read some articles recently suggesting that controlling cortisol is as beneficial or more beneficial than boosting testosterone. Well let you know what I find out.

[baker]

Wow.... that's a heck of a difference. It appears you know what your doing.

[Payton1221]

Another thing I observed during my two DAA runs was that while there WAS a noticeable increase in performance as I ran the stack, once off of it, there was NOT a noticeable decrease in performance.

Thanks for the very detailed info, and what you've written here is particularly important!

[Bo_Flecks]

Saturday 6/30/12- Chest/Biceps "B Week" Rotation

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press
12x107
12x107
12x107
12x107
15x107

Incline Dumbbell Flyes
10x92
10x92
10x92
10x92
14x92

Decline Dumbbell Bench Press
12x95
12x95
12x95
12x95
15x95

Seated Dumbbell Curls
10x48 1/2
10x48 1/2
10x48 1/2
10x48 1/2
14x48 1/2

Tricep Bar Spider Curls
10x160
10x160
10x160
10x160
10x160

Dumbbell Reverse Curls
10x52
10x52
10x52
10x52
13x52

Wrist Curls
11x102
11x102
11x102
11x102
11x102

Observations
A very good start to the training week. I got all of the increases I had hoped for today, plus some. For right now at least, everything seems to be firing on all cylinders. At 15 weeks out, it means I only have 5 more weeks of positive calorie training before I start the contest cut. Every rep of every set counts.

A big wheel hammering coming tomorrow.

Chest Workout
Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:
Rep increase day. Getting my sets of 5x12 with the 107s was not a problem today, and blowing past that with the set of 15 on the final set felt good. I will increase the weight by 3lbs next time I do incline dumbbell press to using the 110s. Performed at a 30 degree bench angle.
Incline Dumbbell Flyes:
Weight increased by 2lbs and rep increase day. Performed at a 30 degree bench angle using the classic "hug the tree" form.
Decline Dumbbell Bench Press
Rep increase day. This movement felt very solid today and running the last set up to 15 reps was not a problem. I will increase the weight by 2lbs next time I do the declines. Performed at a 30 degree decline.

Bicep Workout
Seated Dumbbell Curls
Weight increased by 1 1/2lbs and rep increase day. A very nice burn was delivered by the increased weight and reps. I started the dumbbells at the bottom in the hammer position and put a quarter twist on them as I raised them to their apex. I work hard on my bicep movements to use a controlled speed so that no momentum builds up. Slow negative where constant tension stays on the biceps.
Tricep Bar Spider Curls:
Weight increased by 5lbs. Ten across was all I wanted with the added weight today. Chest supported at a 45 degree angle. Using a total hang at the bottom to stretch the bis, and then pulling the bar to the apex. Slow, controlled negative.
Dumbbell Reverse Curls
Weight increased by 2lbs and rep increase day. Chest supported to protect my lower back. This variation really feels good on the outer part of the bicep.

Forearm Workout
Wrist Curls:
Rep increase day. Continuing the forearm rehab work. Performed with a barbell with my wrists facing up.

Final Thoughts
Patience. Sometimes having it pays off.

Some of you might remember that my birthday was back in November, and for gifts from my mom and MIL, I got some money to buy extra weight for my leg press. Basically, I had about $90 to spend.

With the cost of iron having gone up, that $90 would have bought two new 45lbs plates or 4 used ones from the place I bought my leg press. 50 cents a pound was even the going rate locally on CraigsList for used iron. So I made do, and decided to hold out to find a better deal.

Today my patience finally paid off. At a garage sale, I found 310lbs of weight, a 7 foot Oly bar, an Oly curl bar, and two Oly dumbbell handles. I got the guy down to $75. It is all Weider stuff, so nothing fancy. The only thing I will not use out of that purchase is the 7 foot bar (since the one I already had is a Hampton and is freakin nice ).

Now I have enough iron that I can load 1,000lbs on my leg press (but I really do not know if it is rated for that much ).

[Vytis]

Awesome score with the weights. Load up that press...

[fbcoach]

Hey Bo,
Just want to say your pics look amazing. Great job on your diet, as well as your training.

[ArchAngel'73]

You have no idea how you've impacted my prep...in a good way. So I thought I'd tell you.
"I don't front load cardio"-these truthfull words haunt me-as a former obese dude, I relied heavily on cardio to get in shape but not this time. For the 1st time ever I am not doing 2 hrs./day to get ready. And will never do so again.

DAA- you and Bob got me interested.

and now yesterday I find myself buying melatonin. Damn it Steve, you are having far too much of an impact.

Training imo, is an individual thing. But your attention to diet and supps has in fact helped me by showing me the right path.

Thank-you Steve.
In some way, we all feed off of each other here.


and you look awesome!!!

[FastCatChamp]

Lurking and reading as usual. This time by I have looked over your most recent training session (Im usually reading stuff from 2 years ago).Great progress all of the way around. Your training really shows what is possible over a long consistent haul. I hope to accomplish a bit of what you have going on in here.

[cmoore]

Thank-you Steve.
In some way, we all feed off of each other here.

^^^this and I think he's put more on the table than the rest of us. As always, thanks for sharing Steve.

[bamazav]

Way to go with the yard sale find!

[Bo_Flecks]

Sunday 7/1/12- Canada Day Wheel Blasting "B Week" Rotation

Leg Extensions
12x150
12x150
12x150
12x150
14x150

Leg press-Narrow Foot Position PWO
12x550
12x550
12x550
12x550
16x550

Hack Squats PWO
12x375
12x375
12x375
12x375
17x375

Lying Leg Curls
10x77 1/2
10x77 1/2
10x77 1/2
10x77 1/2
10x77 1/2

Glute-Ham Raise
12xBW+25
12xBW+25
12xBW+25
12xBW+25
12xBW+25

Leg Press Calf Raises w/Toes turned out PWO
12x575
12x575
12x575
12x575
16x575

Leg Press Calf Presses w/Toes in PWO
12x575
12x575
12x575
12x575
15x575

Observations
Oddball injuries. We all get them, but that does not keep them from being aggravating.

Yesterday as I was carrying the new plates I bought down to my gym, I sort of pinch a chunk of skin in my lower abdominal area. It stung for a few minutes, but nothing that I paid too much attention to.

Then last night as I was getting ready for bed, I noticed that in the area I pinched a lower abdominal vein was standing out more than normal and it looked a little blue around it. There was also a bit of an ache from the area.

This morning, the vein was still swollen and about six inches above and 8 inches below the pinched area, the vein was standing out. Now I am not a doctor, but that leads me to believe that there is a little bit of pressure built up in the vein due to some swelling. Weird.

Anyway, it is the type of thing I look at and wonder just how hurt I am and if I need to postpone a training session.

Then I looked at the calendar. 15 weeks out. Meh, it was on.

Leg Extensions:
Rep increase day. Leaning back to put more of the stress higher on the quads rather than down around the knee. Slight hold at the top as per Yates protocol.

Leg Press-Narrow Foot Position:
Weight increased by 40lbs, and rep increase. The last time I did narrow stance leg press I had a tough day. I had spent the hour before training out in the heat changing a flat tire. During warm-ups today, I knew it was going to be a different story. I will keep loading up the leg press until I hit a stalling point.
Hack Squats:
Weight increased by 5lbs, and rep increase. I think I set off the lunk alarm with the primal scream I let out on rep 17 of the last set. I plan to be at 400lbs on these before I start the contest cut.

Quads were blowed up!

Lying Leg Curls:
Yates cadence with a short hold at the top and a slow negative.
Glute-Ham Raise:
Wide knee position which brings a little more of the upper hamstring into play.

Leg Press Calf Presses- Toes turned out:
Weight increased by 5lbs, and rep increase. Gastrocnemius focused.
Leg Press Calf Presses- Toes in:
Weight increased by 5lbs, and rep increase. Tibialis focused.

Final Thoughts
Happy Canada Day, my Canadian friends! Hopefully you have the day off tomorrow .

[VoxExMachina]

Yesterday as I was carrying the new plates I bought down to my gym, I sort of pinch a chunk of skin in my lower abdominal area.

Just add a 6-pack of beer and some potato chips to your nutritional stack, and you'll soon develop more abdominal damage resistance.