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Thread: Josh Niemi..."The Journey"
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11-26-2012, 06:28 AM #1921
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11-26-2012, 07:50 AM #1922
- Join Date: Dec 2002
- Location: Champaign, Illinois, United States
- Age: 38
- Posts: 5,306
- Rep Power: 1018
Awesome write up! As I told you on the day of the show, I think your legs have come up a lot. I remember seeing you 2 years ago and your upper body overshadowed your legs, but you have done a really good job of brining those up and 2nd place in a big stacked class like that is a great accomplishment. Congrats again on the physique you brought to the stage and I have no doubt that if you keep it up you will get that pro card!
Peter Fitschen M.S., PhD Candidate in Nutritional Science
NGA Natural Pro Bodybuilder
Fitbody and Physique LLC
fitbodyphysique.com
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11-26-2012, 08:06 AM #1923
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11-26-2012, 08:50 AM #1924
Thanks bro!
Yeah, legs have always been a weak spot. I have been squatting week in and week out and at least had some improvement to show for all the effort. This offseason will continue that focus, especially on the hammies. I will hit Legs twice a week as often as I can to keep bringing them up. In order to improve my placing I'm going to have to take 1st now!
No doubt, the simplicity is one of the best aspects. All the gurus give different theories (high-carb, low-carb, high-fat, no fat, zig-zag, etc etc blah blah blah) so I finally just said forget it and just started tracking protein and overall calories. That way I get the best of all worlds and can just eat like a normal person and not worry about the smallest little detail. The workouts are also pretty simple but to be honest I need to mix things up because it is definitely getting a bit stale for me. I am going to stick with my current routine over the next several weeks only because I know what my offseason strength was like so I will be able to tell how my strength is progressing compared to my bodyweight. Once I get back in a good offseason grind I will change things up and keep the growth rolling along!
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11-27-2012, 06:11 AM #1925
So yesterday I came home from work feeling pretty hungry after sticking with my diet, so I ended up eating a "cheat meal" consisting of a protein shake (crushed ice, 1 scoop Pronom, 1 fun-size pack M&Ms, 8oz milke) and a small bowl of Cheez-Its. Also had a Greek Yogurt cup later on. Other than that, hit my calories. Today, I wake up and I'm all veiny and shredded-looking and my glutes are just as striated as contest day!
I step on the scale and it shows 164.6... lol wut?!
I have no idea what that is all about but I guess I shouldn't complain. The only thing I can think that is happening right now is that with an increase in calories I am working out that much harder -- every day in the gym has been around a 2.5 hr session start to finish. That is of course combined with the fact that I've been nailing my daily reverse-diet calories pretty consistently. Anyway, I hit the gym early again today for Chest/Tris/Calves and had a fantastic session. Tons of volume as usual and finished with 15 min cardio on the Elliptical (my bodyweight also may be reacting to the post-lifting cardio).
My two main lifts for chest looked like this...
Bench: 135x10, 185x10, 225x7(+1 spot)
Incline DB Press: 70s x 8, 80s x 8, 90s x 6
Mentally I feel like I am already in the offseason but physically my body is still obviously not quite there yet so it's just gonna be a battle to get my strength back to where I want it to be. In the meantime, I guess this is just going to have to be good enough for a 164-pounder haha!
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11-27-2012, 08:53 AM #1926
- Join Date: May 2007
- Location: Erie, Pennsylvania, United States
- Age: 36
- Posts: 109,849
- Rep Power: 0
I think i PM'd this to you or linked you to it before about getting leaner and dropping weight as you increase calories
http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/fat...he-ltdfle.html
LTDFLE stands for Long-Term Delayed Fat Loss Effect (I’d note that I have also seen a LTDGE which is a Long-Term Delayed Growth Effect but that’s another topic for another article). Basically, this is the phenomenon whereby fat loss continues to occur even after the diet has been ended and/or calories have been raised back towards/to maintenance or even above. In the same way that fitness sometimes continues to increase after the period of heavy loading, it’s almost as if there is some type of fat loss inertia whereby the diet continues working even after the person ends it.
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11-27-2012, 09:15 AM #1927
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11-27-2012, 12:06 PM #1928
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11-27-2012, 12:24 PM #1929
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11-27-2012, 03:20 PM #1930
Thanks bro, I appreciate the kind words. You looked fantastic too, what a class! How many times have you competed?
Eh, I guess it's good at that weight...felt pretty weak sauce to fail on the 8th rep though LOL! Afraid my pec tendons wouldn't be able to handle twice a week, they get VERY sore and I've had problems with straining them in the past especially the left one. Plus, although Chest isn't my best muscle group, it is definitely not one that I consider a problem area. This past offseason I finally got some great strength on it too with that 365 1RM. This new offseason I will hopefully top that
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11-27-2012, 03:24 PM #1931
- Join Date: Apr 2011
- Location: Rochester, Minnesota, United States
- Posts: 1,125
- Rep Power: 450
I definitely wasn't expecting there to be as much competition as there was but it made things even more exciting I think. That was my first competition, probably looking to compete again in 2014 after I put on some more size and if I can get my wife to go through more prep and support haha
Free Shkreli
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11-27-2012, 05:02 PM #1932
Haha dude you looked WAAAY better than I ever did at my first one!
I hear you with the prep, my wife and I had our second child during prep...I did not plan well LOL! My wife definitely put in double-duty towards the end, there were some days I had no energy to do anything, completely worthless. We're actually going out of town this weekend as a family just to regroup, spend time together, and so I can treat my wife to some good food and two days straight of shopping. She deserves it that's for sure. I'm just glad that my energy levels are back to normal so I can get back to things that matter -- speaking of that, my boy and I just finished up a solid 30 minute foam sword fight actually...
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11-27-2012, 06:55 PM #1933
- Join Date: Apr 2011
- Location: Rochester, Minnesota, United States
- Posts: 1,125
- Rep Power: 450
hah thanks man, I put in a lot of time trying to learn how to contest diet over the summer. I know that worthless feel too, we moved into our new house at the end of October and I had zero energy which wasn't conducive to moving furniture lol. Congrats on the second baby too! have fun getting some together time, I as well owe a few dates with my wife if I wanna stay out of the dog house, all repayment for the dream tan slapping lmao
Free Shkreli
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11-27-2012, 10:10 PM #1934
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11-28-2012, 01:13 AM #1935
Nice, when did you start your diet? I was at it since April! My wife enjoys the opportunity to slap me around especially when it comes to DT'ing my face so I'm definitely not going to reward her for that LOL!
Yeah you are probably right. My buddy Cam and I are developing a strong attachment to our leanness yet at the same time we want to grow and get stronger...just tough saying goodbye to all the hard work of prep. But on the other hand, kind of like what I told you awhile back, I didn't do a reverse diet at ALL from my 2010 show yet I still managed to come in better for 2012 so it's not the end of the world if I don't nail it perfectly. It's just that the memories of all that contest prep pain and suffering (especially on the treadmill) is making me want to keep things tight right now, which of course will delay the offseason strength. Tough balancing act.Last edited by triplewhammy; 11-28-2012 at 10:37 AM.
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11-28-2012, 01:54 AM #1936
- Join Date: Nov 2006
- Location: Ephrata, Pennsylvania, United States
- Posts: 12,078
- Rep Power: 9531
Good man hear to treat the wife well! My son was 6 weeks old when I started prep and needless to say, my wife was the one getting up most nights with him so I could get sleep to be able to train twice a day and go to work. The sacrifices our spouses make for our silly obsession - we can't ever realize. We can only be thankful that their dedication is as strong as ours. Great job!
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11-28-2012, 05:06 AM #1937
Absolutely, like I told others...she has shown me a Christ-like amount of grace the past 33 weeks that is for sure. In fact, even though she isn't into competitions, she stays very active and has had to put her workouts on hold for me. Being that she was the captain of her college cheerleading squad, and now head coach at our local high school, she stays in great shape and still does backflips after having two kids! We picked up a nice new pair of Asics for her as good motivation now that she will be back at the gym.
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11-28-2012, 05:18 AM #1938
Well as expected today, I'm up just a bit...weighing in at 166.0. Ate some Panda Express yesterday and even though it was hardly a cheat meal (just got mixed veggies, 2 servings broccoli beef, and 1 serving mandarin chicken no sauce), there was still a good 2500mg of sodium in there so who knows what that's capable of doing!
Got up this morning at 2:50am to train Legs. My daughter was sleeping just fine but I had to get in early so I could leave work earlier this afternooon to get home for my kids while my wife goes to coach practice. Definitely appreciate the flex-hours at work, obviously we can't abuse them but we can shift our day within reason to accommodate our schedule as needed. Speaking of work, you definitely know you are employed with the right company when your boss is the one spotting you on Bench at Gold's Gym haha! My boss has been training for decades and hits the gym nearly every morning. I'm not usually a morning lifter so I don't see him in the afternoons but yesterday our training lined up at just the right time where I needed a spot for my heavy bench set and he was near the benches hitting the Leg Press. Good stuff! He even reimburses gym memberships at the end of the year for anyone who goes at least twice a week on average. Work is definitely another blessing in my life, needless to say.
Leg sessions went like this...
10 min Elliptical (warmup)
3 min Bike (warmup)
Squats:
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10
275 x 8
Machine Squat Press:
270 x 15
360 x 15
450 x 12
540 x 8
5 sets Lying Leg Curls
3 sets Hamtractor Machine
3 sets Seated Leg Extension
15 min Elliptical
My legs were still INCREDIBLY sore from the last session so I did a bunch of foam rolling last night just to get ready for today. Really the only reason I trained Legs again so soon is that since we will be gone this weekend I wanted to get it in now so they could recover before spending a couple days back-to-back walking around shopping and being on my feet. And there was no way I was going to wait until Monday to train them so today was it! Felt pretty good about the work I put in today. So, in honor of my recent "magic" fat loss and my psychotic idea to train legs THREE TIMES IN THE PAST SEVEN DAYS, today will be a cheat day LOL! My metabolism seems to be on fire anyway. Normally I am NOT hungry after training legs but today I was feeling ravenous. My cheat days don't usually involve a bunch of crazy foods, really just eating until I'm full and not counting calories. So for example, my preworkout meal was a packet of oatmeal, 1 scoop CL Gold Feast, 1 scoop whey isolate, 2/3 banana, handful of grapes, and a slice of bread with peanut butter on it. No idea as to the calories/macros but obviously not bad!
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11-28-2012, 06:32 AM #1939
- Join Date: Aug 2007
- Location: Tampa, Florida, United States
- Age: 48
- Posts: 7,812
- Rep Power: 13603
Loving the dedication...up at 2:30am, and legs every other day. No doubting how serious you are.
Next time someone tells me they don't have time for the gym, i am going to point them to your journal and tell them...no, you just don't want it bad enough.Contest Prep Coach
Paul@ProPhysique.com
Core Nutritionals/Outwork Apparel Athlete
NGA & IFPA Pro Bodybuilder
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11-28-2012, 06:45 AM #1940
- Join Date: Dec 2002
- Location: Champaign, Illinois, United States
- Age: 38
- Posts: 5,306
- Rep Power: 1018
Josh,
I'm pretty sure you said above that you are reverse dieting, as I remember you saying you were upping cals from 1600/day to 1800/day after the show and then walking them up. When reverse dieting, what typically happens is that your metabolic rate speeds up as you add in food. In addition, since you are still at 1800/day you are still in a deficit (just not as severe of a deficit as 1600/day). IMO the combination of the fact your metabolism is starting to speed back up by adding food back in with the fact that you are still in a deficit is why many people actually lose weight while reverse dieting. Something I'm going to try next prep is to be ready early (starting prep ~20lbs over stage weight and giving myself ~35 wks to diet should help make this possible) and actually slowly raise may food slightly in the month heading into the show because I will fill out some and actually get leaner based on past exerpience.
Also, big props to you for getting it done at the gym at 2:30am. I can't imagine how you made it through a successful prep with a newborn in the house. I am impressed.Peter Fitschen M.S., PhD Candidate in Nutritional Science
NGA Natural Pro Bodybuilder
Fitbody and Physique LLC
fitbodyphysique.com
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11-28-2012, 07:34 AM #1941
Exactly. I got a slight whiff of that 1st place IFPA Pro-card and now the hunt is on. Honestly, my biggest problem is that my body simply isn't ready for the onslaught that I want to put it through! Mentally, I'm deep in the offseason ready to start hitting PRs and throwing heavy weight around hahaha. Just a tough balancing act to know when to push but also when to back off. I definitely don't think "overtraining" happens as much as I used to though. Either way, my hip flexors and quads are on fiyah right now! Stim-break is on tap for January though, this is just getting ugly.
Yeah, that is what I'm thinking is going on. I will definitely follow your progress if/when you try that approach. We all know how much better we end up looking just a day or two after a show, there needs to be a "cheat protocol" developed in which you grind it out up until the final week or two and then hammer some cheat meals and come in striated, full, and grainy LOL! I was actually talking backstage with Lobliner about this quite a bit.
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11-28-2012, 07:47 AM #1942
- Join Date: Oct 2004
- Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
- Posts: 11,149
- Rep Power: 17608
Awesome workout my man! Mirin that dedication, what exactly is your plan for hitting legs twice a week? Same movements or are you planning on incorporating another "core" leg exercise to avoid redundancy and boredom. If so consider front squats!
My Workout Journal:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=142212621
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11-28-2012, 07:57 AM #1943STAND TALL AND SHAKE THE HEAVENS!!
"Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own." - 1 Corinthians 6:19
▪█─-─█▪ Equipment Crew #71 ▪█─-─█▪
[]---[] York Barbell Club #32 []---[]
[]---[] Ivanko Barbell Crew #66 []---[]
||---|| Rogue Barbell Club #6 ||---||
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11-28-2012, 08:23 AM #1944
Yes, that is a great idea. I've done some Fronts in the past and I will probably implement them again. The 2nd Leg Day will be more of a hypertrophy day with no Back Squats (get a mental break) and focusing on hammies and teardrops. It will be more of a "fun" day and give me a chance to try out some other leg exercise variations (such as the DB Lunges I did last time). Front Squats will be a great movement to work in from time to time although I will probably go with a Machine Leg Press for a majority of the time. Last time I implemented twice-a-week Leg training I had major hip flexor problems but now that I know how to foam roll and stretch better (thanks to Derek Charlebois for his vids awhile back), I am able to overcome that a lot better now.
With the recent addition of cals and carbs I feel like I am back on a mission. The gym has gone from black-and-white back to full color, so to speak. It's crazy what kind of a mental refueling I've experienced in just two weeks. I just need to listen to my body and know when to back down a bit, but until them I'm pushing back towards those epic offseason sessions where I was getting back to back PRs, only difference this time around is I'm going to try to stay leaner longer!
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11-28-2012, 08:25 AM #1945
Exactly. The first year he started the company he paid up front for all his employees and then audited at the end of the year only to find that some had gone to the gym less than 10 times LOL! So now I pay up front and then expense it after 12 months. Good stuff though, just yesterday we chatted for quite a bit about training, protein, BCAAs, etc. Believe it or not, he was actually dosing BCAA pills + carbs between meals back in the 70s when they really didn't know the science, they just knew from all the "good bros" at the gym that it worked LOL!
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11-28-2012, 08:56 AM #1946
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11-28-2012, 09:53 AM #1947
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11-28-2012, 10:04 AM #1948
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11-28-2012, 10:30 AM #1949
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11-28-2012, 12:03 PM #1950
- Join Date: Dec 2002
- Location: Champaign, Illinois, United States
- Age: 38
- Posts: 5,306
- Rep Power: 1018
Thanks guys! I appreicate the support! Glad someone could take something from my ramblings...
Josh, man you dug that pic out of the archives. I remember it snowed the night before that contest because it was mid-April in northern Michigan. That was also the show when a guy in our class about crapped himself when he saw that I had downed an entire gallon of water before prejudging that day. Good times man. Keep crushing it in the gym and the kitchen!Peter Fitschen M.S., PhD Candidate in Nutritional Science
NGA Natural Pro Bodybuilder
Fitbody and Physique LLC
fitbodyphysique.com
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