26 Days out. Breif journal, Maximum Intensity

[Devils]

So rather than starting a journal 12 weeks out and not updating, It's time to do this and take it to completion. Currently 26 days out from my 3rd show. I competed in late 2010, this was during a shoulder and lower back injury, which basically meant I couldn't squat or bench so I lost a lot of size. Either way I dieted for a show and was happy how I came in.

However, there was much to improve on. After a 15 month off season I'm ready to show what I should of been.

It's a natural show which I only found out about 12 weeks out, so my diet started there. Day 1 of prep I weighed in at 89kg, after 9 weeks I am 79.5kg (depleted). Pictures are at 88kg and 79.5kg with about a 9 week difference. My maximum offseason weight was 91kg.







Training

First 8 weeks
M - Chest/Triceps + 30min MISS
T - Back/Biceps + 30 mins MISS
W - Legs + 45 mins LISS
T - Chest/Triceps
F - Back/Biceps + HIIT 30mins
S - Legs
S - Rest

Last 4 weeks - 10 mins warmup and 5 mins cooldown before and after weights.
M - Chest/Triceps + 20 min HIIT
T - Back/Biceps
W - Legs
T - Chest/Triceps
F - Back/Biceps + 20 min HIIT
S - Legs
S - Rest + 30 mins LISS

Diet

First 8 weeks
Esitimated ~ 2200 5 low days, 1 2500 high day, 1 Refeed 3000 cals

Last 4 weeks
Recorded ~ 1700 3 low days, 2 1900 days, 2 refeeds 2500 cals

The first 8 weeks I didn't weigh food, I'm pretty good at eyeballing it. Few social events put me around 3500-5000 cals but they were fine, no weight gain.
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Will try to update every few days, I appreciate comments of all kinds, good or bad. I'm here to learn as much as possible and any methods or advice would be welcome.

[LoganCL]

IN!!!!

Looking great in those pics man. Extremely motivating. Very excited to see how this ends!

[MaoriNate]

Woah... in.

[Gokus]

Great cut brah! Keep it up~

[Devils]

IN!!!!Looking great in those pics man. Extremely motivating. Very excited to see how this ends!

Woah... in.

Great cut brah! Keep it up~

Cheers, hope to make big improvements these last few weeks.

Today's Workout

XT - 10 mins
Flat Bench 40kgx10 - 60kgx5 - 80kgx3 - 100kgx8-6.
Incline Dumbbell 38kgx8-6
Tricep Pushdown 10levelx10 - 13Lx10-10
XT - 5 mins

Nutrition

180p, 150c, 55f - 1815 cals approx.

[zbert]

nice man, that is some great progress so far. Your upper body is looking almost ready. Your legs are not looking bad either. Going to be a good 26days leading up to your comp. I definitely think you can do it.

[Devils]

Today's Workout -----------------------------------------------

Lat Pulldown - light weight 2x15
Weighted Pullups - 20kgx8, 30kgx10-10-10
Seated Row, lvl15x10-10-9
Shrugs 100kgx12-12-10
Bicep Curl alternating 20kgx10-10

Nutrition

Will update at the end of the day, prob going to hit 1800.

edit* Ended up hitting 1,775 61.7f, 52.8c 247.6p. Brutal and flat as a pancake. Carb up tomorrow and chest session.

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nice man, that is some great progress so far. Your upper body is looking almost ready. Your legs are not looking bad either. Going to be a good 26days leading up to your comp. I definitely think you can do it.

Thanks, I need to get that thin skin with vascularity to have a chance.

[buyerofmtg]

in to check back on progress, good luck bro

[domingochavez]

Fantastic physique mate very balanced!

Smash the remaining 26 days

[MesoPeaks]

looking great

[Devils]

Fantastic physique mate very balanced!

Smash the remaining 26 days

Thanks, I've put a lot of effort into keeping proportion.

looking great

Cheers Peaksbrah

[Frankdaddy]

Good job bro. You stayed in pretty tight form during your offseason, and you have proven with those pics how it sets yourself up for a better prep. How is your strength feeling with your around1800. Sorry if I overlooked it, but do you have any refeeds, if so, how high?

[Devils]

Good job bro. You stayed in pretty tight form during your offseason, and you have proven with those pics how it sets yourself up for a better prep. How is your strength feeling with your around1800. Sorry if I overlooked it, but do you have any refeeds, if so, how high?

Hey,

Strength has been fantastic all through prep. Obliviously volume is down but the sets are still heavy and intense. Most de-loads have been to prevent injury as I didn't want to push it too hard while on lower calories. Starting to hit the 1800-1900 days now so I expect I will start losing some power soon.

I do refeeds by feel, usually it just means an extra 200g carbs on the day then tapering down again. The last 2 weeks I've been on around 150-180c a day, I've lowered it to 100-150 now as I'm getting lighter. I keep and eye on fats and I usually like having it at least 45-50g.

[TheNaturalOak]

looking lean

but curious to what you mean by "first 8wks" and "last 8wks"
which would imply you've been dieting for 16wks... which u stated was only 12 :P

also I noticed you comment over in andybois (sp?) thread about him being high on cals
where as I personally thought you are actually pretty low. I mean obviously nothing crazy low because I too dropped down to 1700 cals last year but that was my first time dieting and lets just say was far from optimal. Now im <5wks out and dieting on 2250/2500/3k cycling throughout the week!! Just saying, that maybe you can do some srs metab rehab after this comp, makes dieting much more enjoyable imo.

keep it up!

[Bnizzle163]

Awesome work man. You've made some real solid progress!

[Devils]

looking lean

but curious to what you mean by "first 8wks" and "last 8wks"
which would imply you've been dieting for 16wks... which u stated was only 12 :P

also I noticed you comment over in andybois (sp?) thread about him being high on cals
where as I personally thought you are actually pretty low. I mean obviously nothing crazy low because I too dropped down to 1700 cals last year but that was my first time dieting and lets just say was far from optimal. Now im <5wks out and dieting on 2250/2500/3k cycling throughout the week!! Just saying, that maybe you can do some srs metab rehab after this comp, makes dieting much more enjoyable imo.

keep it up!

Typo, meant to say 8, 4 = 12 weeks total. Cheers for spotting.

Interesting. 1700 is roughly my target when I'm doing a low day and about 1900-2200 for the other days. For example this week I've hit Sun -1,913c, Mon -1,843c, Tue - 1901c, Today - 1750c. With today being the lowest day, then back up around 2000 tomorrow.

How lean are you looking 5 weeks out? I don't think I would lose any weight on 2500, unless I was burning 500+ calories a day. How's your cardio? The reason why I'm aiming below 2000 cals is because I'm only training weights and light warmups, two days a week I'll do HIIT on a high day. I don't see how the last few weeks can be enjoyable, if it is I wouldn't feel lean enough. Thanks for the comments.

Awesome work man. You've made some real solid progress!

Thanks mate, been reading your log for a bit too.

[Devils]

Yesterday I didn't go over 70g carbs, felt like a zombie. Very keen for reefed this morning, will be hitting 400g carbs today so I'll try to take some new pics at the end of the day. Will update later.

[TheNaturalOak]

well im 4.5wks out but got pinch tested at 8.75% & 9% probly a week ago
Hand held says im 10.5%

obviously im not going to reach super shredded conditioning, but I still think I'll be able to come in looking better than my last comp.
this comp snuck up on me, and although I was already making my way down with weight, I wld of liked a better schedule to prep for.

Cardio had came up a little, I do 3 on 1 off, also rotating with HIIT and MISS. nothing over 20mins
I also workout 3 on 1 off but they arent all together, which allows me to do cardio on my off lifting days.

after my last comp I was gaining fat on 2k cals. After making my way 30lbs up from competition weight, I was able to start my diet on 2800cals and lose a good 1-2lbs with minimal cardio.

also in for pics!

[Bangzy]

In...Looking good mate! You've motivated me to start my own log shortly! Keep it up brah

[Devils]

Pictures didn't come out too well, used wrong setting and rushed the posing a bit. This is after a carb up day, about 2600-2700 cals. I'm guessing I'm going to have to grind the daily cardio to get my legs in?

[domingochavez]

Looking awesome!

You wont drop much fat between now and the show, so don't go killing yourself and potentially loosing muscle.

What does peak week look like for you?

[WoopItsKevin]

Update shots look great, you've come a long way from when you first started prep! Definitely kept all of your mass

As for the separation in your legs, yeah grinding on cardio is about all you can do and obviously keeping the diet on point which doesn't seem to be an issue for you because you look great. Keep hitting it hard these last couple of weeks can't wait to see the final result

[Devils]

Wednesdays Workout -----------------------------------------------

Bike Warmup 10 mins
Barbbell Squat 60kgx8, 80kgx6, 100kgx6, 120kgx6 (I go easy on these as I don't want to get and injury so close)
Calf Raise 120kgx15, 160kgx12-12-12
Lying Leg Curl 1 leg 4levelx8-8-8
Bike Cooldown 10 mins

Nutrition

1,775c, 61.7f, 52.8c, 2476p

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Thursdays Workout -----------------------------------------------

XT Warmup 10mins
Barb bell Bench Press 40kgx10, 60kgx5, 80kgx3, 100kgx6-6-5
Incline Dumbbell Press 38kgx6-6, 34kgx8
Tricep Pushdown lvl13x10-10-10
Rower Sprints HIIT 10mins

Nutrition

Around 2,700 calories, carb up.

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Looking awesome!

You wont drop much fat between now and the show, so don't go killing yourself and potentially loosing muscle.

What does peak week look like for you?

Probably looking at 3 days at around 100-150g carbs then 3 days around 250-300g, I don't want to do any tricks so that fits into my usual carb cycle. Just adding a little bit extra to fill up.

Update shots look great, you've come a long way from when you first started prep! Definitely kept all of your mass

As for the separation in your legs, yeah grinding on cardio is about all you can do and obviously keeping the diet on point which doesn't seem to be an issue for you because you look great. Keep hitting it hard these last couple of weeks can't wait to see the final result

Yeah I think I'll add some cardio back in. Weight is still dropping so I guess It will just be time that I need the most. Thanks for the comments, I do feel I've kept a lot of strength this time round as my lifts are still good for me. I actually have another show 1 week after so I've definitely got time to tweak things before then.

[JMCandelario]

Following. You've got some killer delts imo.

[MyBodyIsRdy420]

In...dude, you look SICK!!!

[Devils]

Following. You've got some killer delts imo.

Thanks. They do a lot of the work while benching so they where always more developed than my chest.

In...dude, you look SICK!!!

Good to have you following.

[Devils]

Friday Workout -----------------------------------------------

XT Warmup 15mins
Pullups - Bwx10, 20kg addedx8, 40kg addedx8-8-7
Cable Pulldowns - 12Lx8-8-8
Shrugs - 100kgx12, 120kgx12-10
Rear Delt Fly Dumbbell - 10kgx12-12-12
Alternating Bicep Curl - 20kgx16-16
Alternating Hammer Curl - 20kgx16, 26kgx10
Pullups Bodyweight - 15 reps
XT HIIT 10 mins

Nutrition

2,032 cals - 44.9f, 211.1c, 197.5p


Thoughts

Getting that deep hunger in my stomach all the time, but it's nothing compared to how much I want to win. Feeling pretty good at this stage, still strong in the gym especially today's workout being up there with my off season. Did not intend to do HIIT today but decided I need to do more to come in the condition I want. Go figure my knee ended up feeling off the next morning, going to do light bike ride today and possibly legs tomorrow.

Very comfortable with this prep, the experience I've gained from last time has been invaluable. Just when you think you've reached your peak you realize how much more you can achieve. All you need is the willpower, you have to see your weak points and be realistic about your expectations.

Felt really flat today in the early and late morning. This is after a big carb meal also. I adjusted my water intake and it's have some good effects, must remember to drink more.

[Devils]

Went over my limit last night by about 300-400 cals, not great considering I didn't train either. Had yesterday as my off day and training today. Knee is not 100% but I'll go in and see how it is after a warm up, I'll also check my weight later on and update.

Not noticing any big changes recently so I'll up the cardio this week and see how things go.

[JMCandelario]

Went over my limit last night by about 300-400 cals, not great considering I didn't train either. Had yesterday as my off day and training today. Knee is not 100% but I'll go in and see how it is after a warm up, I'll also check my weight later on and update.

Not noticing any big changes recently so I'll up the cardio this week and see how things go.

What kind of knee issues are you having? I've been dealing with some knee issues myself over the past 4 weeks.

[Devils]

What kind of knee issues are you having? I've been dealing with some knee issues myself over the past 4 weeks.

I have bad knees, especially left. Had tendonitis issues with them and general aching when cold type thing. Occasionally after constant cardio or a leg sessions they will give me some discomfort and feel a bit worn.

Obviously while cutting the ability to repair and lubricate joints is down, so often they feel rough when cold. I'll see how they go after a warm up today, might just do some bike.

I take calcium and fish oil regularly and run warm water over my knees in the shower. Sometimes I wear compression bandages during cold mornings. Seems to help.