"Climbing Everest": Half a Decade to Forge a Competitive Pro Physique

[mneugeba]

Subbed!

<-- Eagerly awaits the inevitable knowledge bombs...

[toddbz]

Hopefully it will also make my lats grow lol

Remember all those Kai Greene stylo pulldowns and DB rows. Even the Cordova one arm sideways pulldown thing we used to do on the free motion machine. That stuff did you a mountain of good. Well that and the way you started to do BB rows. Mucho articulation.

[tswdan]

Subscribed.

Another great log to follow. Your plan has great detail! Reminds me of the way I am with my own.

[toddbz]

Cool shoulder prehab exercises


Most of us have done the last one, but I've never done it with my hands rotated in that position. I normally do it palms facing down

[Slovation]

Hey Eric, I noticed you brought fat/protein up first. It seems as everyone post show when transitioning into a reverse the first thing to come up is cho. Is there any reasoning behind that? During my reverse I only started to feel better physically when I started to bring fats up.

[Quelly]

Congrats Sir Helms!... Welcome to the Pro's..been a long time coming. Do what needs to be done...and no doubt you will succeed at the highest limits!

Thanks Big dog! When is the next time you're making a splash in the pros? Can't wait to see you on stage clement!

LOL...your Hypertrophy squats are my 6 rep ME days. LOL

Hey its all just putting in the time and work, I'm looking forward to my strength slowly coming back, I'm going to keep the same rep set scheme and just add 5lbs/week for as long as I can, offseason I could have done that same 12, 10, 10, 8, 8 with 315. Hope to be there in a few months!

Subbed!

<-- Eagerly awaits the inevitable knowledge bombs...

Here's one for ya: don't eat after 6pm brah

Remember all those Kai Greene stylo pulldowns and DB rows. Even the Cordova one arm sideways pulldown thing we used to do on the free motion machine. That stuff did you a mountain of good. Well that and the way you started to do BB rows. Mucho articulation.

Yeah the work we did together really helped me get a good mind muscle connection on all the row and pull down movements, really is helping with the chins I'm doing now

Subscribed.

Another great log to follow. Your plan has great detail! Reminds me of the way I am with my own.

Glad to have you along!

Hey Eric, I noticed you brought fat/protein up first. It seems as everyone post show when transitioning into a reverse the first thing to come up is cho. Is there any reasoning behind that? During my reverse I only started to feel better physically when I started to bring fats up.

I brought up fat and protein because I am on a cyclical keto diet primarily, so I CAN'T bring up the carbs on the depletion days over 100, so I was just looking to get myself in the appropriate deficit.
That being said, an initial small bump in fat can help out with satiety and hormonal regularity when reversing, and that can either come immediately, or after a focus on rehabbing the met rate. It is very individual. But normally I like to see fat come up to a more healthy range if it was super low, like 20% of cals, and then focus on jumping the carbs up. If the person is having issues with binging or falling off the wagon a protein bump can help with satiety. A lot of the times its not what is most optimal on paper but what helps the person stay on track, reversing is a hard task. Its taken me til this season to where I'm finally not at all worried about even a minor slip up.

[Slovation]

I brought up fat and protein because I am on a cyclical keto diet primarily, so I CAN'T bring up the carbs on the depletion days over 100, so I was just looking to get myself in the appropriate deficit.
That being said, an initial small bump in fat can help out with satiety and hormonal regularity when reversing, and that can either come immediately, or after a focus on rehabbing the met rate. It is very individual. But normally I like to see fat come up to a more healthy range if it was super low, like 20% of cals, and then focus on jumping the carbs up. If the person is having issues with binging or falling off the wagon a protein bump can help with satiety. A lot of the times its not what is most optimal on paper but what helps the person stay on track, reversing is a hard task. Its taken me til this season to where I'm finally not at all worried about even a minor slip up.

Makes sense. I ended up at very low levels of fat and initially bumped cho. I was only up maybe 2 pounds 6 weeks post but didnt feel better at all. Did another slight bump in cho and all of a sudden started putting on weight. If I could do it all over I think Id do like you said and bring fats up first.

[Quelly]

Intro

Woke up at 177.4 this morning, and I'll probably keep dropping, I have a feeling by thursday morning weigh in after 3 days on 100g of carbs I'll be 174-175, which means I'm only up .5-1lb from my depleted dieted weigh in That's good I'd say! Really pleased I'm setting myself up to reverse and gain properly! I will probably have this neat vein in my right hamstring and striated glutes and quads for a few months if not more, I love it.
Knocked out upper hypertrophy today, feel a little draggin on the 100g of carbs but not nearly as bad as when my fats and protein were lower and with a second session of cardio. Plus I'm going really easy on my morning cardio, hardly even cardio really, just activity.

Nutrition
UD2 for Mass (kinda)

60/100/265

Training

Upper Hypertrophy (warm ups excluded)

Bench Press
185 x 12, 10

Cable Row
180 x 10
160 x 10
140 x 10

Incline DB Bench
80's x 10 (2 sets)

DB Shrugs
100's x 18, 14

DB Flys
35's x 15

DB Lateral Raises
25's x 15, 12, 10

Seated DB Curls, simultaneous strict
40's x 8

Seated OHD DB Tricep Extension
85lbs x 11

Machine Crunch
90 x 15
110 x 12, 10

Occluded Bicep Curls 4 sets
Occluded Tricep Extensions 4 sets

Daily Pull Up Quota: 30 reps (5 sets of 6)

Debrief

Got in 3 sets of 6 pull ups at the gym, I'll get another 2 sets of 6 at home when I get off work. My teres major and upper lats are sore boy! 3rd day doing 30 pull ups a day, might have to take advantage of the free massages from students we can do at work and get some work done on my teres major, ahhh that sounds nice

http://www.microgiving.com/profile/erichelms

[foodpr0n]

So E, are you doing any periodisation through your power movements? (Squat, press, bench, row?)
Or just keeping it simple trying to increase poundages in the lower rep ranges not going to failure? (staying in line with the mention of a lot of this being auto-regulatory)

On that too, will hyper days like today just operate more on a day-by-day basis? Meaning for instance, you hit 185 x12,10 on bench today. Next week you MIGHT be feeling a touch run down, hit 10 reps on the first set and call it there, perhaps going for 10 again or dropping weight? Same token, feeling great, you might hit 15 reps, so you'll add weight..

^If it were purely on feel like that, there would thus not really be the need to de-load (when implementing a scheme where lifts aren't taken to failure). One would have to be honest with themselves on a given day and be able to hold back, but what are your thoughts on that?

[Quelly]

So E, are you doing any periodisation through your power movements? (Squat, press, bench, row?)
Or just keeping it simple trying to increase poundages in the lower rep ranges not going to failure? (staying in line with the mention of a lot of this being auto-regulatory)

On that too, will hyper days like today just operate more on a day-by-day basis? Meaning for instance, you hit 185 x12,10 on bench today. Next week you MIGHT be feeling a touch run down, hit 10 reps on the first set and call it there, perhaps going for 10 again or dropping weight? Same token, feeling great, you might hit 15 reps, so you'll add weight..

^If it were purely on feel like that, there would thus not really be the need to de-load (when implementing a scheme where lifts aren't taken to failure). One would have to be honest with themselves on a given day and be able to hold back, but what are your thoughts on that?

right now the main thing I'm periodizing is increasing volume on the pull ups. coming out of prep into a caloric surplus I think all my lifts will slowly go up. So I'm actually looking to keep the sets, exercises, and rep schemes the same, and try to bump load very slowly each week. Next week I'll try 187.5 or 190 depending on how I feel on bench for example. Full offseason mode I can hit 225 for 9-12 depending on my bodyweight, what I've been focusing on etc. So I'm literally just going to go really slow and add 2.5-5lbs on my lifts as I can in a linear fashion until I get back to my normal non dieted strength levels. At that point I'll need to incorporate some more complex periodization.
Coming out of a long prep, 8 months of dieting in this case and losing ~25lbs, progress just comes, you don't need to finagle things much. I've probably got til the end of the year almost of just regaining strength and muscle that will happen just from having a surplus.

[Quelly]

ok so this is pretty cool....BERTO ON NATURAL BODYBUIDING RADIO!!!
http://naturalbodybuildingradio.com/...alberto-nunez/

[NattyFLEX]

ok so this is pretty cool....BERTO ON NATURAL BODYBUIDING RADIO!!!
http://naturalbodybuildingradio.com/...alberto-nunez/

Definitely will have a listen to that one thanks eric

[wheathins]

occluded bicep curls and tricep extensions!! I've only seen/heard the pleasure and pain that comes from occluded training and most of it seems to be done for legs - that has got to be the most insane bi/tri pump ever. One day I'll man up and try it... though I'm scared I'd do them terribly wrong, sort of like myo reps.

[wrkoutfrq]

occluded bicep curls and tricep extensions!! I've only seen/heard the pleasure and pain that comes from occluded training and most of it seems to be done for legs - that has got to be the most insane bi/tri pump ever. One day I'll man up and try it... though I'm scared I'd do them terribly wrong, sort of like myo reps.

dude the pump is UNREAL... and your arms get super veiny and start to turn blue. it's nutz, and hurts like a mutha-bitch, but after you finish the sets and take the wraps off, it feels amazing

[Bryce Hicks]

In and subbed! Good talking to you today coach. I'll have to start reading this tonight when I have some downtime at work.

[toddbz]

Yeah the work we did together really helped me get a good mind muscle connection on all the row and pull down movements, really is helping with the chins I'm doing now

Reminder that your arms went nuts when you did incline curls and spider curls with your wrist cocked back

Makes sense. I ended up at very low levels of fat and initially bumped cho. I was only up maybe 2 pounds 6 weeks post but didnt feel better at all. Did another slight bump in cho and all of a sudden started putting on weight. If I could do it all over I think Id do like you said and bring fats up first.

Is gaining weight a precursor of metabolism repair?


yes, total baited question in order to spur further conversation on the topic.

[Quelly]

Definitely will have a listen to that one thanks eric

its a good one

occluded bicep curls and tricep extensions!! I've only seen/heard the pleasure and pain that comes from occluded training and most of it seems to be done for legs - that has got to be the most insane bi/tri pump ever. One day I'll man up and try it... though I'm scared I'd do them terribly wrong, sort of like myo reps.

can't really do them wrong...restrict blood flow, do curls and extensions, do like 4 sets or so, wait 30-60 secs between sets, expect pain and light weights lol

dude the pump is UNREAL... and your arms get super veiny and start to turn blue. it's nutz, and hurts like a mutha-bitch, but after you finish the sets and take the wraps off, it feels amazing

yup good times Been doing them 1-2x/week for like 4 months now

In and subbed! Good talking to you today coach. I'll have to start reading this tonight when I have some downtime at work.

Glad to have you Bryce!

Reminder that your arms went nuts when you did incline curls and spider curls with your wrist cocked back



Is gaining weight a precursor of metabolism repair?


yes, total baited question in order to spur further conversation on the topic.

I remember all the stuff we did Todd, but I don't remember a specific correlation to those exercises and my arms changing shape or size or getting stronger lol
And weight gain is a part of reverse dieting, part of it is simply glycogen replenishment, regain of lost tissue, but also some people need to get out of lower bodyfat ranges depending on where their set points are, how they operate below, at, or above set point (and realize their seems to be multiple set points...or more of a continuum), and that putting on fat does actually play a role in metabolic repair.
But this is different for everybody.

[miggstersf]

Sup E-Rock! digging the thread thus far. Congrats on the new Pro status. You have definitely entered a new level of competition, but I'm sure you have the mental and physical capabilities to be a great contender. I also wanted to say best of luck hitting your goals with the donation for school. You have a lot on your plate, but you definitely show the appetite of a champion.

[Quelly]

Sup E-Rock! digging the thread thus far. Congrats on the new Pro status. You have definitely entered a new level of competition, but I'm sure you have the mental and physical capabilities to be a great contender. I also wanted to say best of luck hitting your goals with the donation for school. You have a lot on your plate, but you definitely show the appetite of a champion.

Thanks Miguel! I tell you what I feel like I've really got all my ducks in a row mentally, which I've learned over these years is EVERYTHING. I have the balance to track macros for the rest of my life, I don't have the need or desire to eat meals that are untracked and thus have no fear of binging, and most importantly, tracking macros is not at all stressful to me, and I've developed the eye to be able to do it on the fly, on te go, at restaraunts and to be able to guestimate really accurately. Instead of in the past not knowing how to track, so I'd just go off the diet and it would turn into a binge day.
I THINK I've got an idea of the best way for me to go about adding mass in a way that allows me to do so long term with minimal time spent dieting off excess fat and I hope to set myself up for a shorter, less intensive dieting phase when it comes time to step up against the big boys (hell, HUGE boys) in the pros. I've also figured out how to peak without sacrificing upper body fullness for leg crispness and vice versa, and learned a few critical pieces to holding onto my size while dieting.
Outside of the world of bodybuilding, hell my PhD and Masters are going to be a blast and a journey and so exciting! And I've got a few powerlifting goals I want to achieve over the next four or five years before I step on stage....ELITE!!!

[Quelly]

Intro

175.8 this morning meaning even if I don't drop more weight by tomorrow worst case scenario I'm 1.5lbs over stage weight, but with another 100g carb day today, I have feeling I'll see a 174-175.0 which means as I thought I'm only up .5-1lb from my depleted dieted weigh in. Can't tell you how good it feels to reverse properly. Hell, I talked to Jeff today and he was like "so if you're in almost the same condition as you were at your shows come october, you gonna jump in the show?" And I said "if I have striated glutes still, hell why not!" I guess I just can't be in the mindset of prep right now....but if I'm at least "legally shredded" as we like to say (the 3dmj slang meaning the condition of being the minimal amount of leanness to display striated glutes and full muscle separation everywhere else) then yeah why not?
Anywho, today was a boring day with regards to training, just a 30 min walk in the morning, my daily pull up quota, and last day of depletion...and oh yeah libido is coming back, me and my wife offcially broke our couple month long "room mate status" this afternoon and reconsumated our marriage lol

Nutrition
UD2 for Mass (kinda)

60/100/265

Training

30 Min Walk in the morning while doing client work (did this mon tue also)

Daily Pull Up Quota: 30 reps (5 sets of 6)

Debrief

Starting to get back into the swing of enjoying everything in life a bit more, draggin a little butt today with 3 days of 100g of carbs, but hunger is totally a non issue, an upside of keto with higher fat and protein, but lethargy is a bit sucky, but hey, coffee does the trick for me and only having to caffeine it up 2 days a week aint bad. Looking forward to 500g of carbs tomorrow By thursday morning next week I'll be able to compare my weigh in spreads and see if I need to bump up calories, and then figure out where and what days and what macronutrients to bump, that'll be interesting.

http://www.microgiving.com/profile/erichelms

[bwelch1985]

Thanks Miguel! I tell you what I feel like I've really got all my ducks in a row mentally, which I've learned over these years is EVERYTHING. I have the balance to track macros for the rest of my life, I don't have the need or desire to eat meals that are untracked and thus have no fear of binging, and most importantly, tracking macros is not at all stressful to me, and I've developed the eye to be able to do it on the fly, on te go, at restaraunts and to be able to guestimate really accurately. Instead of in the past not knowing how to track, so I'd just go off the diet and it would turn into a binge day.

"wait...so you're telling me you don't offer fat-free italian dressing?!

well....f*ck it....

i'll have the nacho platter w/ a side of cheesticks...."

[dogg74]

Thanks Big dog! When is the next time you're making a splash in the pros? Can't wait to see you on stage clement!

Sir Helms
Grb job on the recent reverse and not piling on loads of crapfat post contest like me lol
well ahhhh.the only time u will see me on stage is on the archives of old clips.actually made the decision to hang up the gloves..just havent announced it per se..only to a few..so been relaxing and looking more like Garfield cat..only in dog form

[Pikku]

Congrats on the pro card!

Will be good to follow along as you take it to the next level

[jdarndt]

"wait...so you're telling me you don't offer fat-free italian dressing?!

well....f*ck it....

i'll have the nacho platter w/ a side of cheesticks...."

<-------This guy laughing his ass off

[bwelch1985]

Sir Helms
Grb job on the recent reverse and not piling on loads of crapfat post contest like me lol
well ahhhh.the only time u will see me on stage is on the archives of old clips.actually made the decision to hang up the gloves..just havent announced it per se..only to a few..so been relaxing and looking more like Garfield cat..only in dog form

Say it ain't so, Clement!!! Natural bodybuilding needs you brother.

[fltallpaul]

Say it ain't so, Clement!!! Natural bodybuilding needs you brother.

No, just no!

[Quelly]

"wait...so you're telling me you don't offer fat-free italian dressing?!

well....f*ck it....

i'll have the nacho platter w/ a side of cheesticks...."

<-------This guy laughing his ass off

Its funny....because we've all done it lol

Sir Helms
Grb job on the recent reverse and not piling on loads of crapfat post contest like me lol
well ahhhh.the only time u will see me on stage is on the archives of old clips.actually made the decision to hang up the gloves..just havent announced it per se..only to a few..so been relaxing and looking more like Garfield cat..only in dog form

My soul just died a little clement BUT, I also am reminded how Jeff alberts did his first show in 1993, and he told me that he pretty much decided to retire almost every other season from that point til now....and here he is in 2011 making his IFPA pro debut at the KC in 3 weeks
So I'm going to sit here in denial and hold onto the hope of the return of the great Mr. Yearwood...BUT if you do decide to retire permanently, know this, you've always come off as a genuinely good, cool person and you are more than a freaky waist to shoulder ratio! You've always been a good guy who has supported and encouraged me and I got love for you as a person homie! Still hope to meet you some day!

Congrats on the pro card!

Will be good to follow along as you take it to the next level

Thanks! Glad to have you along!

Say it ain't so, Clement!!! Natural bodybuilding needs you brother.

No, just no!

[BaFtub]

Clement ima have to kidnap you at the naturalmania and force ya back on stage you ain't hanging nada up!

[Stoner90]

"wait...so you're telling me you don't offer fat-free italian dressing?!

well....f*ck it....

i'll have the nacho platter w/ a side of cheesticks...."

I love that. Definitely done that. I'm trying to approach eating like I would a budget. I've never been one to get some kind of cash lump sum, like a bonus or refund and just blow it all at once. Rather I would space out the spending, thinking long term. After all a budget never really ends. One needs money in some form or another as long as they are living. If only I can totally buy into this thinking as it applies to my diet, I will be one happy camper. Good start so far.

[Quelly]

Luis....GREAT mindset to have...the food is always there, just gotta budget it in

And check out Upcoming Natural Pro Chris Jantz and his interview with me!

http://www.3dmusclejourney.com/fa-jantz-chris.php

great guy, we met backstage at the INBA California the week before I did my last show