A Decade-Long Journey to the Natural Bodybuilding Stage Comes to a Close Follow Along

**BFJ** · 08-12-2013, 10:21 PM

Hey Everyone,

Thanks for taking a peek. My name's John Bosse and I plan to do most of this journal through video logs. As you may or may not know I am one of the videographers for the podcast Inside Natural Bodybuilding with Mike Neumann. I've been around the sport for a long time, but have never actually competed. Here goes nothin! Follow along........should be an interesting ride. I've been considering this vlog for a while and been putting it off. Was a little annoyed by the mediocre video quality, but decided it's now or never or I'll keep putting it off. Hope you all learn something. Thanks again for checking in.

John

**BFJ** · 08-12-2013, 10:41 PM

**BFJ** · 08-12-2013, 10:42 PM

check out the video coming soon and see that i'm a little late starting the updates, but anyways here's a pic from a couple weeks ago to show roughly where i'm at - getting there, but still lots of work to be done!

**BFJ** · 08-12-2013, 11:57 PM

**BFJ** · 08-17-2013, 10:22 AM

Word! Here are my starting pics that I sent off to Cliff Wilson at Team Wilson BB.com. Awesome coach. This was in late Sept to early Oct of 2012. It's a little embarrassing for me, but wanted to humble myself to show you all not to be afraid if you've got a lot of fat to lose. Currently uploading another prep V log that recaps my lessons learned during the first couple months of prep back in 2012 and also one that provides a pictoral slide show of my humble roots lol. I started with about as little mass as one could.

Pics in just a sec......

**BFJ** · 08-17-2013, 10:33 AM

pose late sept 0 01 54-07.jpg pose late sept 0 02 53-24.jpg pose late sept 0 04 06-09.jpg pose late sept 0 05 00-28.jpg Video 23 0 00 57-01.jpg Video 23 0 01 08-25.jpg

**BFJ** · 08-17-2013, 10:34 AM

I am fairly forum unsavvy. Thought I had this post pics in the post thing down, but apparently not lol

**BFJ** · 08-17-2013, 11:27 AM

vlog 2 is up - I share my thoughts on assessing your tool box when you start prep - meaning all the various things you can manipulate over the course of prep and how to not use them all too soon, implement them as needed , etc. also thoughts on the tough lesson learned of allowing enough time to carry out your prep as planned.

**BFJ** · 08-18-2013, 10:00 AM

here's prep vlog 3 and the story behind how most of my first 35 lbs was lost. set cardio. hardly changed my food and still ate well over 500 g carbs most of that time. it's all discussed in the vlog. easily integrated and not a pain in the butt like doing cardio the normal way. at some point i'll make sure to recap my macro changes and what not to this point

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWWlmbp5PX0

**BFJ** · 08-18-2013, 05:48 PM

more on my idea of set cardio then how I feel i'm learning more and more strongly everyday that context is so important in what does and doesn't work training wise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kzX_0tNha8

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 08:16 PM

Way overdue on actually contributing typed info. Vlogs are easy, but I recognize that's not the greatest format for anyone else so here goes some typed stuff.

Resistance Training - here's an example split
Leg Training - no less than 2 days between workouts - no more than 7 days between workouts - typical is 3-5 day between sessions

Upper Body split into: 1) Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio : 2) Back/Shoulders/Tris - both of these days have "pushing" and "pulling" in them - there's always either 2 or 3 days between each day. So it might be like Monday is upper workout 2) Friday is Upper workout 1) and then from there just those continued with 2 or 3 days always falling between each one. Usually there's 3 days after an upper 1) since I feel I need that extra rest day from pressing before doing the more auxillary type pressing work (shoulders and tris) in upper 2). Then typically 2 days after upper 2) before hitting upper 1) again.

Other Training: once a week a day that's cardio, core stability (weighted planks of various kinds), traps, forearm extensors, a little extra outer hip work

So a typical couple weeks might look like this (as mentioned above there's always autoregulation on when workouts are in):
Mon: Lower
Tue: Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Wed: Off
Thu: Other Training
Fri: Off
Sat: Back/Shoulders/Tris
Sun: Lower
Mon: Off
Tue: Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Wed: Other Training
Thu: Off
Fri: Lower
Sat: Back/Shoulders/Tris
Sun: Off

So I train 4 to 5 days per week and the exact days vary depending upon mostly how I feel training wise, but also life.

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 08:21 PM

The Actual Workouts

I used a hybrid of a variety of styles. As you could see above there are basically 4 different training days I have:
Lower
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Other Training
Back/Shoulders/Tris

For each of those 4 training days I then have 4-6 workouts that I will cycle through in repetitive fashion.

Using lower as an example it might be:
Lower 1: 5-8 rep range back squat centered workout
Lower 2: 8-12 rep range leg press centered workout
Lower 3: 6-8 rep range RDL and volume leg extension/quad work
Lower 4: 7-10 rep range volume leg press and smith squat centered workout
Lower 5: 1-4 rep range heavy trap bar centered workout
Repeat

Lower I've generally had 5 or 6 different versions to cycle through, upper I've generally had only 4. But again just in general this is my style and it varies within those ranges.

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 08:24 PM

Originally Posted by BFJ

The Actual Workouts

I used a hybrid of a variety of styles. As you could see above there are basically 4 different training days I have:
Lower
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Other Training
Back/Shoulders/Tris

For each of those 4 training days I then have 4-6 workouts that I will cycle through in repetitive fashion.

Using lower as an example it might be:
Lower 1: 5-8 rep range back squat centered workout
Lower 2: 8-12 rep range leg press centered workout
Lower 3: 6-8 rep range RDL and volume leg extension/quad work
Lower 4: 7-10 rep range volume leg press and smith squat centered workout
Lower 5: 1-4 rep range heavy trap bar centered workout
Repeat

Lower I've generally had 5 or 6 different versions to cycle through, upper I've generally had only 4. But again just in general this is my style and it varies within those ranges.

For the longest time I trained one style - very heavy, intense, and low volume reminiscent of Max OT training where it was all 5-10 rep work and limited sets always to failure. While this is still how I train most of the time and the style I personally enjoy most I have def found need to mix it up over the years as you can see by the above. Within those multiple versions of a workout some days are just a couple sets per exercise whereas on more of a volume day it might go as high as 6-10 sets per exercise, especially lower stuff.

So previously my "periodization" was accomplished via exercise rotation only. Now it's a whole mix of exercise rotation and undulation of volume and rep schemes.

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 08:33 PM

Negatives

Explore the scientific literature and you're bound to run across some data on eccentric training. It just seems to keep coming up that there's something special about eccentric training. I have been a big believer in this and work in strategic eccentric training quite a bit. Here are some common examples:

Chest: at my heaviest off-season weight I might decline smith bench 445 6 times. I'd do that and whatever else I was doing then come back to decline smith negatives at the end for 3-4 controlled negatives with full spotter assistance on the concentric. Do even though at this point I'd be fried and totally unable to do 445 concentrically more than maybe once or twice, I can get say 495 for 3-4 if I am just doing the negative.
Back: will end workouts with negative pullups. I prefer parallel handles just for shoulder safety IMO. load up the dip belt, stand on something to get you to the top position. then let go and fight the descent. same thing where at the end of back I can handle something nuts like over 200 lbs on the dip belt when I could never do anywhere close to that concentric at that point or even fresh
Bis: one arm DB preacher curl negatives. fight the weight down - use the free hand to assist up, repeat. at the end of bis I can handle very good weight, again just for the negatives. be really careful with these, could see it as an easy opportunity to tear a bi if not careful
Tris: one-arm cable triceps pressdowns - rip the weight down with two hands, fight it back up on one, etc.
Hams: curl up the weight of a leg curl machine on two legs and then fight it down on 1. for example if I could do 200 lbs for 8 reps with both legs I might choose a weight like 135 lbs for this. goes up easy on 2 legs, but then is a bi**h to lower on one - which is the point

I think you all get the idea - get creative and there's pretty much a way to get good negatives going for any body part here. The whole difference if you're taking advantage of the fact you can do heavier weight eccentrically. I always see people just doing a weight they can do up and down and doing negatives with them, but doing them super slow. i'd really recommend using a weight more than you can handle for positives for maximal effect. there's even research studies showing faster negatives do more for hypertrophy than slow so the super slow negatives practice you see all the time might be untrue.

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 08:45 PM

Eating!

I eat a lot. I use largely a servings approach - call me a Dietitian. In the off-season a serving of cereal around 100 kcals is a serving of oatmeal around 100 kcals is a serving of brown rice is a slice of whole wheat bread. Etc. you get the idea. So then my daily targets are something along the lines of say _____ servings of each food group. I've done this approach most of prep. I do measure things with measuring cups, particularly when prepping food in advance, but also eyeball when eating out, etc. I have not used a food scale all prep until say the last 8 weeks or so. This is because I am so darn busy that I usually eat almost the same thing so I'm very seasoned at eyeballing. Now as I've been mixing and matching more foods and trying to get more volume (to feel full) out of each meal I've leaned on the scale to keep me in check and since the numbers game is more critical now. Still though - for me personally I am not a huge macros guy. Only because for me personally I feel it gives too much freedom in where those macros come from. All food measuring and weighing is estimation anyways. A label says 100 kcals, but reality is it could be 95 or 103 - I've just never seen to the need to get picky down to the macronutrient when it's a very close estimate. For me, again for me, not hating on anyone's methods, I prefer to say while 100 kcals from honey bunches of oats may have a different macro profile than 100 kcals from honey nut cheerios, in general it's very similar. So for prep my diet has transitioned to more of something like this:

___________ kcals from lean proteins
___________ kcals from "carb" foods
___________ kcals from fruit
___________ kcals from veggies, etc.

and I transfer that into macro notation when checking in with others since I know most people work on that system. when people have the arguments of oh come on how can you have a pop tart for the same carbs as equivalent carbs from an apple I personally see that as an issue with the macros approach. they're probably not quite the same in terms of effect on the body as carbs, yet since it's close enough we say close enough. that's ok. just to me i'd rather have my kcal targets for each food group or type so I know i'm on a pretty similar keel on terms of what i'm throwing at my body each day while still having a lot of flexibility. so that's how I do it. kind of a hybrid approach.

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 09:05 PM

Starting Pics Late Sept 2012 When I Decided I wanted to Compete Fall 2013

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 09:15 PM

Eating to Fuel Training

So for each of my above training scenarios I have a certain intake I consume for that kind of day. So starting prep my numbers by converting my servings approach to macros per Sept 1 were:
Lower
Fat 68, Pro 483, Carb 681
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Fat 68, Pro 483, Carb 681
Other Training Day
Fat 67, Pro 480, Carb 654
Back/Shoulders/Tris
Fat 66, Pro 478, Carb 638
Off Day
Fat 111, Pro 354, Carb 456

Before I get the high protein police.........that's not a bro intake I started overnight. that was gradually worked up over a longgggggg period of time. and includes phases where I added equivalent additional kcals from carbs instead only to get substantially fatter than when those added kcals were from protein. so despite going a little against the grain, that's how I arrived at such a high protein intake. additionally, would were really want more carbs with them this high already? just saying. and yes of course I know I got too fat prior to this prep. again, just for this level of bodyfat I found through careful experimentation that I could eat more protein than carbs even if it meant going quite high. was just looking for a way to add kcals and keep pushing my metabolism.

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 09:35 PM

Sept, Oct, Nov

All weights are morning weigh ins. I was bad at remembering to log my weights at the beginning
wake wt
1-Sep
238.8 2-Sep
3-Sep
4-Sep
5-Sep
6-Sep
7-Sep
8-Sep
236.8 9-Sep
238 10-Sep
11-Sep
12-Sep
13-Sep
14-Sep
15-Sep
239.4 16-Sep
17-Sep
18-Sep
19-Sep
20-Sep
21-Sep
22-Sep
23-Sep
24-Sep
25-Sep
26-Sep
27-Sep
28-Sep
29-Sep
30-Sep
1-Oct
2-Oct
3-Oct
4-Oct
5-Oct
6-Oct
7-Oct
8-Oct
9-Oct
10-Oct
11-Oct
12-Oct
13-Oct
14-Oct
15-Oct
16-Oct
17-Oct
18-Oct
19-Oct
20-Oct
21-Oct
22-Oct
23-Oct
24-Oct
25-Oct
26-Oct
27-Oct
28-Oct
29-Oct
30-Oct
31-Oct
1-Nov
2-Nov
3-Nov
4-Nov
5-Nov
6-Nov
7-Nov
8-Nov
9-Nov
10-Nov
11-Nov
12-Nov
13-Nov
14-Nov
15-Nov
16-Nov
17-Nov
18-Nov
19-Nov
20-Nov
21-Nov
22-Nov
23-Nov
24-Nov
25-Nov
240.2 26-Nov
243.4 27-Nov
239.4 28-Nov
240.2 29-Nov
238.2 30-Nov

And hence didn't make much progress in my pics - these were taken Nov 15

Macro Changes During Sept,Oct,Nov
Not much - and was also not very good at documenting to look back on. Basically just shifted around different amounts of carbs and fat while slowly cutting carbs - those numbers will be reflected when I report on December.......

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 09:44 PM

December 2012

Also did not document well, but here's the weigh ins I did record
237.2 1-Dec
239.2 2-Dec
239.8 3-Dec
4-Dec
239 5-Dec
237 6-Dec
237.8 7-Dec
235.8 8-Dec
236.4 9-Dec

Macros Update as of Dec 15 this was where I was at. At this point was mainly just leveraging my off days. Making most of the kcal cuts on those days:
Lower
Fat 76, Pro 466, Carb 621
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Fat 76, Pro 466, Carb 621
Other Training Day
Fat 77, Pro 462, Carb 594
Back/Shoulders/Tris
Fat 74, Pro 461, Carb 578
Off Day
Fat 117, Pro 398, Carb 337

Pics

You didn't miss much I either didn't take them or they showed little change - again learning the hard way that my tiny nitpicky cuts mostly on off days was not really enough to move the needle

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 09:55 PM

Jan 2013

Weigh Ins - finally starting to move things
1-Jan
231.8 2-Jan
234.6 3-Jan
235.8 4-Jan
234.2 5-Jan
233.6 6-Jan
233.2 7-Jan
8-Jan
9-Jan
233.4 10-Jan
233.8 11-Jan
232.4 12-Jan
231.8 13-Jan
233 14-Jan
233 15-Jan
232.2 16-Jan
231.4 17-Jan
231.8 18-Jan
231.8 19-Jan
232.6 20-Jan
232.6 21-Jan
230.8 22-Jan
230.8 23-Jan
229.2 24-Jan
230 25-Jan
231.2 26-Jan
229.8 27-Jan
230 28-Jan
230.8 29-Jan
230.4 30-Jan
228.8 31-Jan

Macros

Did not document well throughout in a manner that provides much useful info to anyone other than me who can translate the mess

Cardio

Began implementing one 2 minute elliptical break daily at work LOL. taking microprogression to an extreme

Pics from Jan 21 - I know I look ridiculous and have no clue how to pose

. Just hoping to inspire someone else I suppose that you can come from total newb to having half a clue

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 10:04 PM

Feb 2013

Weigh-Ins
228.6 1-Feb
228.2 2-Feb
227.8 3-Feb
228.2 4-Feb
229 5-Feb
228.6 6-Feb
229.2 7-Feb
229.4 8-Feb
230.6 9-Feb
228.2 10-Feb
228.8 11-Feb
229 12-Feb
228.4 13-Feb
229.6 14-Feb
229.8 15-Feb
228.2 16-Feb
227.4 17-Feb
228.6 18-Feb
227.4 19-Feb
227.2 20-Feb
229.2 21-Feb
227 22-Feb
227.4 23-Feb
225.8 24-Feb
226.4 25-Feb
226.2 26-Feb
226 27-Feb
225.4 28-Feb

Macros - again my bad, but nothing notable to report in normal language that's useful just gradual carb cuts of say 10 g as I saw fit, but really not that much

Cardio
Upped my daily 2 minute break to 3 mins. Yes ridiculous I know lol.

Pics from Feb 17

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 10:12 PM

March 2013

Weigh-Ins
225.6 1-Mar
225.2 2-Mar
224.4 3-Mar
225.2 4-Mar
227.4 5-Mar
224.6 6-Mar
224 7-Mar
223.6 8-Mar
223.2 9-Mar
225 10-Mar
227.2 11-Mar
225.8 12-Mar
224.2 13-Mar
222.2 14-Mar
224.2 15-Mar
222.8 16-Mar
222.8 17-Mar
222 18-Mar
222.4 19-Mar
221.6 20-Mar
221.4 21-Mar
220.4 22-Mar
219.8 23-Mar
220.6 24-Mar
222.6 25-Mar
222.2 26-Mar
221.8 27-Mar
221 28-Mar
221.2 29-Mar
220.8 30-Mar
220.2 31-Mar

Macros
Again sorry for being so useless in this department. Nothing organized to report besides that I tended to start to make cuts from protein during this period to save carbs

Cardio
At this point was up to three 2m30s elliptical breaks daily moderate intensity

Pics from March 17

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 10:23 PM

April 2013

Weigh Ins
218.6 1-Apr
219.8 2-Apr
219.4 3-Apr
219.2 4-Apr
218 5-Apr
216.2 6-Apr
216.6 7-Apr
218.6 8-Apr
219.8 9-Apr
220 10-Apr
219.4 11-Apr
219.2 12-Apr
218.2 13-Apr
217.6 14-Apr
218.6 15-Apr
219 16-Apr
220.2 17-Apr
218.6 18-Apr
217.4 19-Apr
216.8 20-Apr
217.4 21-Apr
217.4 22-Apr
217.4 23-Apr
217 24-Apr
215.2 25-Apr
214 26-Apr
213 27-Apr
215.2 28-Apr
29-Apr
30-Apr

Macros
Macros Update as of April 13
Lower
Fat 73, Pro 442, Carb 575
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Fat 73, Pro 442, Carb 575
Other Training Day
Fat 72, Pro 440, Carb 561
Back/Shoulders/Tris
Fat 72, Pro 439, Carb 551
Off Day
Fat 101, Pro 312, Carb 354

Cardio
First half of the month worked in 2 HIIT intervals into my daily total of 7:30 elliptical breaks. By end of month was up to three 3 minute elliptical breaks daily. each with 2 HIIT intervals

Pics from April 14 2013

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 10:52 PM

May 2013

Weigh Ins - during this month I went to speak at an academic conference in China and was out of the US for a while
216.8 1-May
215.4 2-May
215.8 3-May
214.2 4-May
211.8 5-May
212.6 6-May
212.4 7-May
214.8 8-May
214.6 9-May
214.4 10-May
212.4 11-May
213 12-May
13-May
14-May
15-May
16-May
17-May
18-May
19-May
20-May
213 21-May
211.8 22-May
23-May
24-May
211.4 25-May
213.4 26-May
212.6 27-May
211.8 28-May
213 29-May
213.8 30-May
214.2 31-May

Macros Update as of May 27
Lower
Fat 73, Pro 442, Carb 575
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Fat 72, Pro 438, Carb 545
Other Training Day
Fat 72, Pro 435, Carb 528
Back/Shoulders/Tris
Fat 72, Pro 432, Carb 512
Off Day
Fat 101, Pro 312, Carb 354

Cardio
During this month I still had three 3 minute elliptical breaks daily, but now had four 15 sec HIIT sprints in each

Pics from May 10 2013

**BFJ** · 08-19-2013, 11:08 PM

June 2013

Weigh Ins
213.4 1-Jun
213 2-Jun
212.6 3-Jun
212 4-Jun
211.8 5-Jun
211.8 6-Jun
212 7-Jun
210.6 8-Jun
210.4 9-Jun
210.8 10-Jun
210.2 11-Jun
210.2 12-Jun
211 13-Jun
211 14-Jun
211 15-Jun
210 16-Jun
210 17-Jun
209.2 18-Jun
209 19-Jun
209.8 20-Jun
208.8 21-Jun
208.6 22-Jun
207.8 23-Jun
208 24-Jun
208.6 25-Jun
208.6 26-Jun
209.4 27-Jun
209.4 28-Jun
29-Jun
208 30-Jun

Macros as of June 15 - this is where I went to the 2013 ISSN Conference in Colorado Springs and learned more about fish oil in fat loss. The added fat is from going to 1-2 one gram capsules daily to 8 daily. Saw awesome results on scale first couple weeks then not so sure.
Lower
Fat 73, Pro 442, Carb 575
Chest/Bis/Forearms/Rotator Cuff and a Little Cardio
Fat 78, Pro 432, Carb 512
Other Training Day
Fat 78, Pro 423, Carb 505
Back/Shoulders/Tris
Fat 77, Pro 413, Carb 505
Off Day
Fat 108, Pro 312, Carb 354

Cardio
Now doing three 4 minute elliptical breaks daily - each have five 15 sec HIIT intervals

Pics from June 23 2013

**jpfaherty** · 08-20-2013, 01:39 AM

Late to the party and I have a lot to catch up on, but I'm in from here on out

**BFJ** · 08-20-2013, 06:34 PM

Originally Posted by jpfaherty

Late to the party and I have a lot to catch up on, but I'm in from here on out

nice thanks for checking the log out. you're not late............i'm just late starting this. i'm recapping each month up till now, but i think probably the most useful info to catch up is like the first several posts after those initial posts where i explain my overall training and diet. then all these monthly recaps with macros listed for each type of training day etc will make more sense.

**BFJ** · 08-20-2013, 07:25 PM

July 2013 Recap

Weigh Ins - here's where progress really starts to slow and things get harder. I attended the California natural muscle mayhem during this month and had a booth for my company PR Products http://www.setprsnow.com so while I did weigh during that trip there was a glitch with my scale and it didn't save the info
208.6 1-Jul
207.8 2-Jul
207.4 3-Jul
207.6 4-Jul
207.8 5-Jul
207.6 6-Jul
207.2 7-Jul
8-Jul
9-Jul
10-Jul
11-Jul
12-Jul
13-Jul
14-Jul
15-Jul
205.6 16-Jul
205.8 17-Jul
205 18-Jul
204.4 19-Jul
205.4 20-Jul
205.8 21-Jul
206.8 22-Jul
204.2 23-Jul
205.6 24-Jul
207.4 25-Jul
206.4 26-Jul
204.2 27-Jul
204.6 28-Jul
205.6 29-Jul
204.2 30-Jul
205.8 31-Jul

Macro Changes
Just gradual reductions of 10 to 20 grams of carbs at a time. Not well documented in terms of numbers because if you read earlier in how I document my food I am just always rotating within my food groups very similar foods etc so I have been making these reductions without conscious awareness of the totals. Basically there's a lot of macros to cut from so have just been gradually cutting back 60-80 kcals roughly every week with most of that coming from carbs. Shortly here I will be retallying up my macros and then documenting them all the way in till show time on this home stretch. Sorry for the vagueness here. I really began to use the food scale a lot this month as there was greater variety in my diet, etc. Really starting to take note of food volume. Example rather than raisins after a workout something like strawberries or apple slices - way more volume for the kcals. Doing this with many other foods. Will likely do a vlog on these kinds of substitutions I've made to common foods I eat in order to get more volume in.

Cardio
In the early part of this month my hip bone spur really started to act up. Back in March I had x-rays that finally explained the burning sensation up high in my groin area and the restricted ROM. I was diagnosed with femoroacetabular impingement syndrome. Basically in the neck of your femur where the bone usually dips down in to leave a nice free path for movement I instead have an extra bump of bone which has been slowly eating into my labrum over the years. I guess I was born with it, but it's just caught up on me. So with resistance training since March now that I know the problem I've developed a lot of work around strategies which largely consists of going with a very narrow stance on all my squat type moves and going a little shallower by a couple inches on all those. Ok so on to cardio. Since things were really flaring up I had to switch over to just walking stairs and pool cardio. Late in the month I was able to go back to my elliptical sprints for my 7 days a week elliptical breaks. I think some of why things flared up was because I went to 24 minutes of total elliptical breaks per day on off days and 16 minutes for on days. And within these I'd have five 15 sec HIIT intervals for every 4 minutes on there. I think it just became too much of the same thing in terms of total HIIT. Meaning just way too much repetition of the same movement pattern. Thus when I brought these back in - for my brief cardio done after chest and leg days and my main cardio of my "other" day I subbed in mostly pool jogging just to have more variety. Since that was moderate or low intensity I just did double the total minutes I'd normally do from the higher intensity elliptical work. All was good.

Pics taken July 7. A note on my pics: they are always taken fasted, no pump, and in poor lighting that makes me look semi washed out and doesn't show definition well. I do this on purpose. I figure if I work toward looking good in this lighting I'll know I'm ready. All other conditions are the same - I take the pics at night so not effected by lighting. This also means I am usually very low on food and carbs - haven't eaten many carbs for several hours and again just a variety of factors contributing to looking about the worst I can possibly look, but also have consistent circumstances. One of them being that pics are always taken on off days so as to not be affected by any transient changes from a workout done earlier that day. I've really learned to appreciate the factors of pictures this prep. Most people take their pics in lighting that makes them look great because they always want to show their very best. That's fine, but it's amazing how you can look like two different persons simply by lighting and all the factors mentioned above. I've never appreciated it so much until now, but SOOOOO true. Anyways, here's the pics

**dogg74** · 08-20-2013, 08:38 PM

Nice to see you are gonna put your foot forward..keep up the good work..Nice rear lat spread btw!

**BFJ** · 08-20-2013, 08:41 PM

Originally Posted by dogg74

Nice to see you are gonna put your foot forward..keep up the good work..Nice rear lat spread btw!

thanks man. still have a lot of work to be done on all areas, but can honestly say i don't recognize my back as i'm not much of a mirror checker till now. i know it's a complex thing to gain size in a lagging area, but i honestly credit it a good amount to the heavy negative pullups described earlier in this thread. badass pic btw

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A Decade-Long Journey to the Natural Bodybuilding Stage Comes to a Close Follow Along

work smarter not harder with cardio!

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