Josh Niemi..."The Journey"

[The Solution]

Definitely Bob! I appreciate the comments and I'm definitely tweaking my plan based on your guys' recommendations! You are dead-on, filling out in a few hours is impossible so I will be loading better tonight and monitoring more tomorrow....good call and that's why I'm asking for insight! Definitely appreciated...

You just owe me another one of those hand shakes from the Arnold. I thought Lobliner was going to rip off your hand before he gave you a 2 year supply of quake.. hahahaha

[triplewhammy]

You just owe me another one of those hand shakes from the Arnold. I thought Lobliner was going to rip off your hand before he gave you a 2 year supply of quake.. hahahaha

hahaha that was epic...never to be forgotten!

The main thing is that I want to do this carb-load in a systematic and orderly fashion (unlike last time where I just pounded meal-replacement protein bars every other hour) so that I can learn from it and have a clear picture for the next time.

[triplewhammy]

Was catching up on your log here and watched a few of the vids from the beginning (back in 2011!?). Awesome work and best of luck this weekend!

- Stan

Thanks bro! Yeah crazy to think we are coming up on 2 years! This has been a full blown competition-offseason-competition log!

[Frankdaddy]

I will just that I ended around 1750-1800cals before peak week and on Friday of the show I ate 350g of carbs and around 700+ before post show meal that night. I will say I wish I had eaten around 400g or more of carbs Friday into Saturday morning eating all night every 2 hours leading into the next 700+ because eating the 700 got me sick but yet still flat and not bloated at all. by eating that much from 6am to around 6pm...

I think when you eat your carbs eating things that digest quickly, take your laxative, and eat every 2 hours with very low protein intake and bouts of fat and plenty of sodium you should be fine. 2 days wont ruin with structured intake. Now leading high fat/carb binging weeks and weeks added post show iswhat will get you fat.

[triplewhammy]

I will just that I ended around 1750-1800cals before peak week and on Friday of the show I ate 350g of carbs and around 700+ before post show meal that night. I will say I wish I had eaten around 400g or more of carbs Friday into Saturday morning eating all night every 2 hours leading into the next 700+ because eating the 700 got me sick but yet still flat and not bloated at all. by eating that much from 6am to around 6pm...

I think when you eat your carbs eating things that digest quickly, take your laxative, and eat every 2 hours with very low protein intake and bouts of fat and plenty of sodium you should be fine. 2 days wont ruin with structured intake. Now leading high fat/carb binging weeks and weeks added post show iswhat will get you fat.

How would you rate your metabolism (in its normal state)?

[Frankdaddy]

Prob would help if I said that already LOL. My metab sucks, pretty low to average. I eat prob tops 3400cals in the offseason, and that is too much if I don't do cardio 2-3x a week or lift 4-6 days. I also don't lose weight day after on re-feeds, each reverse I gain weight no matter the size in macro change (ex. 5 or 50 carbs) I still put on some form of weight. I have no seen your legs but you don't seem flat from the front so pay attention to back, quads, glutes and hammies as I think your a tank from the front. I would shoot some videos and judge yourself as far as how everything is popping

[triplewhammy]

Prob would help if I said that already LOL. My metab sucks, pretty low to average. I eat prob tops 3400cals in the offseason, and that is too much if I don't do cardio 2-3x a week or lift 4-6 days. I also don't lose weight day after on re-feeds, each reverse I gain weight no matter the size in macro change (ex. 5 or 50 carbs) I still put on some form of weight. I have no seen your legs but you don't seem flat from the front so pay attention to back, quads, glutes and hammies as I think your a tank from the front. I would shoot some videos and judge yourself as far as how everything is popping

Well yeah and what's odd is that the latest pic I posted was after a low-carb workout. I haven't had carbs for days now so yeah it's just a tough call. I *like* how I like right this minute, BUT I also can tell I am flat. I know what I'd look like with a monster pump but I just don't want to toss out my conditioning. Well like I said I am going with your and Bob's advice and will start carb-loading after my light workout this afternoon. I will pop a GDA to supercharge dem dere muscles and then throw back a couple sammiches Overall I think I will be fine either way though, I'm honestly happy where I'm at and there is literally NO doubt in my mind that tomorrow I will be better than my 2010 self, and again that is with zero pump, tan, or carbs LOL!

[Frankdaddy]

Well yeah and what's odd is that the latest pic I posted was after a low-carb workout. I haven't had carbs for days now so yeah it's just a tough call. I *like* how I like right this minute, BUT I also can tell I am flat. I know what I'd look like with a monster pump but I just don't want to toss out my conditioning. Well like I said I am going with your and Bob's advice and will start carb-loading after my light workout this afternoon. I will pop a GDA to supercharge dem dere muscles and then throw back a couple sammiches Overall I think I will be fine either way though, I'm honestly happy where I'm at and there is literally NO doubt in my mind that tomorrow I will be better than my 2010 self, and again that is with zero pump, tan, or carbs LOL!

Good. Just focus each second on the physique. I wish I would've saw this log sooner I'm excited for you.

[triplewhammy]

Good. Just focus each second on the physique. I wish I would've saw this log sooner I'm excited for you.

Currently sitting in the hotel room with a loaf of bread, a jar of jelly, jar of peanut butter, jug of powerade zero, and bag of pretzels...LOL! Things are looking good bro, good call on the carb-load I'm thinking!

[Frankdaddy]

Currently sitting in the hotel room with a loaf of bread, a jar of jelly, jar of peanut butter, jug of powerade zero, and bag of pretzels...LOL! Things are looking good bro, good call on the carb-load I'm thinking!

Post some pics and I will give advice on if you should try filling out more, if yo uwant.

[triplewhammy]

Post some pics and I will give advice on if you should try filling out more, if yo uwant.

Alright, lemme get my shave on and get a first coat of DT on then I'll see what I can do

[triplewhammy]

Alright, here's after the first application of DT #2. I'm gonna cut off the carb-load now (6 sandwiches later...HAHA), although I think it has been fantastic. But I definitely stay bloated for a good 2 hours or so afterwards. So, I'm gonna ride out my carbs overnight and see how I wake up looking and probably just do one huge carb meal in the morning so I have time to de-bloat LOL! Overall good stuff and like I said I'm happy with how I am coming in...thanks guys for the advice!

[DiamondMaker]

Looking awesome man! You're going to do some damage.

[Frankdaddy]

Looking great. Prob not the best idea to carb load in one meal. I would say break it down into many many meals from real early in the AM until about an hour before stage time. I would recommend some rice cakes or gatorade an hour before stage and just focus on pumping up. If you eat just one meal I would imagine a person flattening out really easy after the bloat went away. GOod luck in the morning, will be checking first thing in the morning to see how things are going. You look fantastic with a great overall physique.

[triplewhammy]

Looking awesome man! You're going to do some damage.

Thanks bro, my best package to date so I'm happy. Would love to see improved placings too but of course it's out of my control who shows up...

Looking great. Prob not the best idea to carb load in one meal. I would say break it down into many many meals from real early in the AM until about an hour before stage time. I would recommend some rice cakes or gatorade an hour before stage and just focus on pumping up. If you eat just one meal I would imagine a person flattening out really easy after the bloat went away. GOod luck in the morning, will be checking first thing in the morning to see how things are going. You look fantastic with a great overall physique.

Alright, just popped another GDA. Gonna eat a couple smaller meals. I really feel bloated for a solid 2-3 hours after eating though and I'd hate to not be fully compressed back down when I step on stage....

[jaredmus]

Best of luck man looking good!

[swimmer32]

You look great Josh! Really impressed with how well your legs are looking.

[Frankdaddy]

Well that's why we said take a laxative and get up eating every two hours starting at 3-5am and stop food intake besides some salt and Gatorade 1-2hrs before. Good luck bro. Indent think it matters you don'tllook that flat in those pics anyway.I'm sure you'll look great.

[demonwareltd]

Details, details, details! Wanna know how you made out so don't leave your online brethren hanging too long!

[triplewhammy]

Well a quick update: I took 2nd place in Novice and 2nd place in Open...an improved physique and improved placing, exactly the combination I was going for. This show is RIDICULOUSLY competitive, some great guys showed up... absolutely nuts! Big thanks Frankdaddy and Bob for your late-game insight, for real I appreciate it! Will update better later...zzzz....zzz.....

[The Solution]

Not an easy show to be competitive in. That is a SERIOUS show with huge competition.

How did Aaron Lobliner do?

ANytime dude! you owe me a handshake in march

[triplewhammy]

Not an easy show to be competitive in. That is a SERIOUS show with huge competition.

How did Aaron Lobliner do?

ANytime dude! you owe me a handshake in march

Yeah the carb-up was great man, only up 4 pounds this morning since FRIDAY. Just weighed in at 167.4. Not bad at all in my opinion. Lobliner won his class but lost the overall. Had a great physique and he fills out his height very well, total beast mode. Yeah the competition was nuts. Thanks again.

[NaturalPursuit]

Looked great man!!! Tremendous job!!! I'm really looking forward to the write up!!!

[fltallpaul]

Congrats on a great showing. I have heard from Layne that the classes were all stacked with quality competition, taking 2nd is an accomplishment. Great work and way to roll right into your next goal!

[Frankdaddy]

Great job in a stiff show. Glad the loading went well, nothing worse than feeling like it isnt going as planned like at my last showing. Keep up the great work, I am sure you are already planning out some destruction for the offseason, anything you can throw out as far as goals ?

[triplewhammy]

OCB MIDWEST STATES 2012 WRITE-UP PART 1

Well, peak week for me was pretty grueling. I was down to 1500 calories, 500+mg caffeine per day, no dairy, no carbs, no carbonated beverages. On top of that, I was still battling the cold I had picked up the week before. Friday morning I woke up at 163-ish pounds, up about 3 pounds from 2 years ago when I competed. I think I could have probably lost another pound or two in the final weeks but the cold really put a damper on my energy levels and probably messed up my fluid levels as well. Either way, I knew going into the show that I would be looking better than ever so I had no complaints. The first half of Friday I finished out the low-carb diet. After work, I put in a final workout which was just 20 minutes of light circuit lifting and 20 minutes of light cardio just to get the blood flowing and keeping the muscles primed. Initially, my plan was to do very very conservative carb-loading that evening but after some good advice here in the log I decided it wouldn't be best to wait until late in the game to mess with carbs, especially because come Saturday morning there would be little to no time for adjustments. So, after my workout I popped 1 cap of a ProSupps I-Load which is a glucose-disposal agent supplement to help prime my cells for reintroducing carbs. I then ate a couple of sandwiches (1 turkey, 1 PB&J) which tasted absolutely delicious. Then got packed up and made the 2 hour drive with my wife to the host hotel in DeKalb, IL.

In my last show, I made the mistake of cutting water Friday morning on through Saturday night which is NOT a good idea. Well, I learned this time around kept chugging water through Friday night. Around 6:00pm I had another couple of sandwiches. Then later at the hotel I had a banana and another couple of sandwiches. I just carbed up with a loaf of bread, grape jelly, and peanut butter to keep things cheap and simple. Also had a banana at this point. As the earlier pics showed, I then put on my first coat of Dream Tan #2 to let it soak up and darken overnight. I was feeling pretty good at that point and I think the Dream Tan notched up the look of my conditioning another hair as expected. The nice thing about NOT tanning in a bed several weeks out is that there was no illusion of having deeper cuts. Staying more pale leading up to the show forced me to keep a realistic evaluation of my progress, so then the tan became the icing on the cake rather than a crutch masking a lack of progress. I will probably do it this way again, not to mention it makes the overall cost of competing less in that regard too.

So, after all that I popped some melatonin and finally got to bed around 1am I think (my buddy and his wife shared a room with us and he didn't have his polygraph until 11pm so they got in late). Woke up around 6:30am, popped another I-Load, had some coffee, water, banana, and another sandwich. My wife touched up my tan again based on what rubbed off into my full black sweatpants outfit. Headed to the venue at 8:30am for my polygraph and I continued the carb-up until about 9 or 10am which was during the competitor's meeting. After the meeting, my buddy and I took off to GNC to pick up some near-expiration sales (becoming a tradition now that we've done this twice). After all the discounts and deals, I came out with a month supply multivitamin and about 6 protein bars for under $8. The show started at 11am, but we knew with 95 competitors and being in Men's Bodybuilding that we would have at least a couple hours before needing to be on stage. In fact, my buddy has one of the crazy-fast metabolisms and went and ate Panda Express before we got on stage for prejudging LOL!

The show itself was run very well by Ray Binkowski. He does a great job and it especially shows when you have so many competitors. This show gets bigger and tougher every time I go and this time was no different. My Novice class was incredibly difficult and the interesting thing was that most of us ended up coming back out against each for the Open class as well. So with everyone doing a Crossover, it pretty much tells you that there were few hesitant first-timers who came only for truly "Novice" competition. But, like I've told others, until I win a Novice class I am still technically only a Novice-quality athlete so I will keep doing Novice until I take 1st, although I do feel for those who are looking for newer competitors to compete against. I think some shows or organizations do actually have a "First-Time" only division which would be good for them.

The one thing that makes it difficult at this show is that due to the number of competitors as well as the importance of the facility, there are no backstage assistants allowed and no tanning products allowed inside. So, if you are using DT or similar, you have to get it all on first and then walk into the building. So, about 1.5 hours before I was set to get onstage, my wife and I walked outside, stood by the side of the road and did a full-body touch-up of my Dream Tan. Gotta do what you gotta do! She's definitely a trooper when it comes to this kind of ridiculous stuff haha.

During my pump up before stepping onstage I sipped on Dymatize Xpand Xtreme Pump. This has a good arginine complex in it as well as some glycerine to really help me swell up and fill out the muscles. I made sure to do a lot of stretching too because it is SO easy to tweak or overtighten a muscle and cramp up at this point. About 10 minutes before going out I put down some Halloween candy that I took/stole from my 3 yr old son and threw down a few "fun-size" candy bars. They tasted delicious, no doubt about it.





Onstage when we started our mandatories I was overflexing and shaking a bit but after a couple of minutes I settled in and hit my groove. I felt pretty good about my posing even though I didn't practice it hardly at all. The pose I need to work on the most in my opinion is the Side Relaxed, I have to get a good angle and feel to keep my glutes flexed and display some hamstring definition. All the other poses I felt good about. I think my Front Relaxed is one of my better poses which is great because that is the one you typically sit in for the longest. So, the posing itself actually seemed to go very quick. The judges were keeping things moving and it felt like we were in and out fast which is always tough to decide if that's a good or bad thing. I would definitely take shorter over longer if I had to choose though, especially since I was doing the Open class as well and would have to go back out there. After that, we went back to the pump up room and were down there for what felt like a very short amount of time and then it was back out for Open, which like I said basically was our same group of people as the Novice Middle class. Overall I felt very good about my physique and unlike past shows I definitely felt confident being backstage and with this being my 4th show was not nervous at all. Just chatted backstage and enjoyed the experience.





While onstage, my wife got some great shots of me with one of the other tougher competitors (who I happened to pose next to in both classes). This guy ended up getting 1st place in both classes and he deserved it. Edged me out in conditioning and overall just brought a very well-balanced and well-presented physique. He was being coached by Layne and it showed, great work from both of them. The judges made the right call by awarding him 1st, but I tell you what, I definitely felt like I was right there nipping on his heels. Better glutes, hams, and conditioning and I think it could've went either way, but again the judges picked the right man. I was just happy to do exactly what I set out to do, improve my physique and my placing. In fact, looking at my journal from 2 years ago I told myself that the next time I competed I WOULD crack top 3 in Open which is just what I did.

[Frankdaddy]

Wow great write up. I really enjoy the pics the wife took for you. I think it was very close, and his glutes were a bit more developed and sightly more conditioned, but you for sure had him on the lat spread pose overall from that picture. Good job either way, I am sure he edged you out in the right spots, but you have taken notice to what you need to bring up to have a better balance in your physique. Kudos bro!!!

[triplewhammy]

Looked great man!!! Tremendous job!!! I'm really looking forward to the write up!!!

Thanks bro, Part 1 up now. Part 2 coming later!

Congrats on a great showing. I have heard from Layne that the classes were all stacked with quality competition, taking 2nd is an accomplishment. Great work and way to roll right into your next goal!

Definitely stacked. Now I have my eyes on 1st place though...

Great job in a stiff show. Glad the loading went well, nothing worse than feeling like it isnt going as planned like at my last showing. Keep up the great work, I am sure you are already planning out some destruction for the offseason, anything you can throw out as far as goals ?

Thanks bro, you definitely influenced what I did! Mmmm goals so far are a 405 lb bench (365 current max), 495 squat (455 current max), and I HAVE to make sure to stay under 200 pounds this time...I just can't afford to diet this long any more. Competitively-speaking, I will be going into my next contest wanting a better physique and better placing which means I need to take 1st in my classes!

Wow great write up. I really enjoy the pics the wife took for you. I think it was very close, and his glutes were a bit more developed and sightly more conditioned, but you for sure had him on the lat spread pose overall from that picture. Good job either way, I am sure he edged you out in the right spots, but you have taken notice to what you need to bring up to have a better balance in your physique. Kudos bro!!!

Yeah it was close but like I said he earned it. My wife even knew too, she has an eye for the physiques now that this is my 4th time competing. Need to keep hitting my Legs and tighten down conditioning even more (which does not sound like it's going to be a fun task...LOL!)

[The Solution]

Very tough lineup and good job up there dude.

[MKW]

I said it in my rep to you but I just wanted to throw a post down as well. Awesome job. Inspirational stuff. Your attitude was pretty damn amazing throughout for someone on roughly 1,500 calories!