Demon Embraces the Inner Monster - Path to MASSiveness in 2014

[DarrenConroy]

For sure. I hate losing, especially after getting a taste of what it's like to win. I have improved both physique and placement in each show I've done since my first show when I placed 6th. Of course, I'm moving up from Open to Pro so the competition is much stiffer, but I still want top 5.

You can do it buddy! work your craft up there!

[demonwareltd]

Woke up this morning at 3:50 AM with some motivation so I didn't let it go to waste...

Hopped on the scale and weighed in at 194.9 lbs (new prep low)

Crept downstairs in the dark, had half a cup of oats and a whey shake and off to the gym I went....

Did 16 minutes on the treadmill, 3.6 MPH, Incline gradual increase to 9.0. Then did 17 minutes on the elliptical on level 7.

Afterwards I did 3 sets of the following:

Rope Crunches
Swiss Ball Crunches
Ab Crunch Machine

Home before 6 AM and getting an early start to the workday. Heading back in later today to hit some back.

[demonwareltd]

So today got away from me pretty quickly. I took the day off work to maximize time with the family before my trip. Also went in for a back workout. Decided to wing it and do whatever exercises I felt like. Turned out to be a great workout. I saved deadlifts until the end of the workout and even hit 405x3 and 425x3, which I was stoked about.

I'll post up the full workout along with my legs from yesterday AND my chest/calf workout from tomorrow once I'm settled into my hotel on Sunday in Romania. I will be on the logs a good bit during my evenings since I doubt watching Romanian television will be entertaining and I can only do so much evening cardio

Talk to you all again from Eastern Europe!

- Stan

[DarrenConroy]

So today got away from me pretty quickly. I took the day off work to maximize time with the family before my trip. Also went in for a back workout. Decided to wing it and do whatever exercises I felt like. Turned out to be a great workout. I saved deadlifts until the end of the workout and even hit 405x3 and 425x3, which I was stoked about.

I'll post up the full workout along with my legs from yesterday AND my chest/calf workout from tomorrow once I'm settled into my hotel on Sunday in Romania. I will be on the logs a good bit during my evenings since I doubt watching Romanian television will be entertaining and I can only do so much evening cardio

Talk to you all again from Eastern Europe!

- Stan

Funny how those workouts unexpectedly turn into the best ones... Cheers to that!! Nice work!

[curjo]

Good luck in Romania and enjoy that long ass flight!

[NaturalPursuit]

best of luck on the trip man! hope all goes well!!!

[demonwareltd]

It's 10 PM local time here in Brasov, Romania and I'm all settled into my hotel room after a solid 24 hours (including time changes) of traveling. Little to no sleep and EXHAUSTED! Ate mostly tuna and almonds during my flights. Hoping I can get some solid sleep and then up at 6 AM to do a chest routine here in the hotel gym (they have decent circuit equipment so I'm keeping an open mind), then over to the breakfast here at the hotel, probably for just oatmeal and eggs.

I brought whey protein along so I can have shakes as needed which is nice. My plan is to chat with one of my Romanian co-workers at the office tomorrow about potential gyms and go check them out to see if I want to get a short term membership. As a backup plan, I will make the equipment work at the hotel, but there are no free weights at all, so legs/back would be severely limited. Really hoping it works out and I find a gym close by.

Very intimidating being in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, as it's hard to get around and communicate with the people. Hoping by the end of 2 weeks though I will get the hang of it!

[DarrenConroy]

Enjoy your trip!

[Vanguard1965]

It's 10 PM local time here in Brasov, Romania and I'm all settled into my hotel room after a solid 24 hours (including time changes) of traveling. Little to no sleep and EXHAUSTED! Ate mostly tuna and almonds during my flights. Hoping I can get some solid sleep and then up at 6 AM to do a chest routine here in the hotel gym (they have decent circuit equipment so I'm keeping an open mind), then over to the breakfast here at the hotel, probably for just oatmeal and eggs.

I brought whey protein along so I can have shakes as needed which is nice. My plan is to chat with one of my Romanian co-workers at the office tomorrow about potential gyms and go check them out to see if I want to get a short term membership. As a backup plan, I will make the equipment work at the hotel, but there are no free weights at all, so legs/back would be severely limited. Really hoping it works out and I find a gym close by.

Very intimidating being in a foreign country where you don't speak the language, as it's hard to get around and communicate with the people. Hoping by the end of 2 weeks though I will get the hang of it!

Hope you can find a gym and yes being in a place where few speak your language is very intimidating. Even a trip to the mall etc you feel out of place because you are so use to over hearing bits of english conversation and when you don't its very unnerving feeling.

[demonwareltd]

Enjoy your trip!

Thanks!

Hope you can find a gym and yes being in a place where few speak your language is very intimidating. Even a trip to the mall etc you feel out of place because you are so use to over hearing bits of english conversation and when you don't its very unnerving feeling.

For sure, it is! Luckily my Romanian coworkers are more than accommodating to us over here. Two of them met us for dinner last night at an Italian place (I had steak and plain spinach) and then we walked around the square in Romania. I did walk into a McDonald's and order a Coke Zero, so my confidence is slowly improving

They even went so far as to plan out an entire weekend for us next weekend to take us around and show us the sites. Very excited about that.

As for now, it's 5:30 AM local time and I'm up, though bleary eyed. Going to wander downstairs and see if I can get into the fitness center and train chest best I can and then some cardio before meeting my coworker for hotel breakfast @730. Will see what kind of foods are available. Really hoping for some oatmeal since I have no carbs along to eat right now in the room

[demonwareltd]

So the fitness center wasn't open. As far as I can tell from the signage I saw, it may be open from like 8 AM to 11 PM. I was hesitant to go for a run outside in the dark, but there is a well-lit park across the street which I ran a couple miles around the perimeter of. Will have to put off lifting until the evening I suppose. Definitely going to be tough to adapt to any semblance of a routine while here. The anxiety it is causing is palpable!

[Stncldsnake]

Have a great trip and don't let the small stuff get you bro!!

[demonwareltd]

So I'm glad I got a run in at least this morning. After work I came back to the hotel and got dressed and prepped for a chest workout down in the fitness center, only to find out that on Monday's the entire fitness center and pool are closed for cleaning. ALL FCKING DAY! I also have not been able to locate a gym anywhere close to where I'm staying.

Very close to saying to hell with the show in November, because two weeks without hard training are not going to get me to where I need to be. Giving myself tomorrow to try and figure out a routine of sorts but if I run into more issues, I'm just going to eat and drink on the company's dime and be merry instead of eating tuna like a hermit and not being able to train.

[curjo]

Keep it up, don't get discouraged. Remember that your ahead of where you were in your prep at this point last time. You'll figure something out. Throw the bed on your back and do some push ups! Lol. Seriously though if you can get through this it will be a great motivator for future clients that may have the same obsticals facing them. Think of all the hard work you've put in up until now.... Then again drinking on the company dime is always fun. Whatever you decide will be the right choice for you, just in the mean time try not to stress over it. Good luck!

[NaturalPursuit]

Keep it up, don't get discouraged. Remember that your ahead of where you were in your prep at this point last time. You'll figure something out. Throw the bed on your back and do some push ups! Lol. Seriously though if you can get through this it will be a great motivator for future clients that may have the same obsticals facing them. Think of all the hard work you've put in up until now.... Then again drinking on the company dime is always fun. Whatever you decide will be the right choice for you, just in the mean time try not to stress over it. Good luck!

agreed! Stay strong and stick it out...SOMEONE ALWAYS HAS IT WORSE....and that person isn't quitting...

[demonwareltd]

agreed! Stay strong and stick it out...SOMEONE ALWAYS HAS IT WORSE....and that person isn't quitting...

I know, I plan on sticking it out. Honestly though, I can guarantee you that nobody else is spending 2 weeks in an Eastern European country with less than 6 weeks until the stage and has no access to a kitchen or full gym.

I think curjo has it right. Time to get creative with the furniture. Overhead TV squats may be in order...

[demonwareltd]

Alrighty then. Another day and going to give this another go....

Had a decent breakfast of fat free yogurt, some sort of whole grain granola mixture and some eggs. Heading down to the hotel fitness center in about 10 minutes. At least it's supposed to be open at 8 AM. We will see if that really is the case

[demonwareltd]

Okay, so here is the plan...

It costs 33 LEI a day to use the gym (that's about 10 USD). That sucks, but is to be expected. Equipment is limited to the following:

Incline Chest Press Machine
Pec Deck
Cable Crossover Station with straight bar attachments and handles
Lat Pulldown stations
Shoulder Press Machine
Arm Curl Machine
Leg Extensions
Seated Leg Curl
Leg Press Machine (not plate loaded)
Glute Machine
Ab Crunch Machine

Given the limited equipment, I have decided to adopt the following split while in Romania:

Chest/Biceps
Back/Triceps
Shoulders/Legs

Will be doing cardio every day, either running outside or using the treadmills in the fitness center.

Trying to make the most of a less than ideal situation. Today's workout consisted of the following:

<b>CHEST</b>
Incline Chest Press - 5 sets
Pec Deck - 4 sets
Cable Crossovers - 3 sets
Push-ups - 1 set

17 minutes incline treadmill walking

I was short on time this morning since the gym only opens at 8 AM. Just so happens I don't have to start work until 10 AM today. Rest of the days I will be working out in gym in the evenings and going for a run in the AMs outside before work. I will be coming back in tonight to hit biceps and to do another 20-30 minutes of cardio.

Hoping and praying I can do enough while here for 2 weeks to keep my fat loss going and at least give me a fighting chance the last 4 weeks once I'm back home to get stage ready. Wish me luck.

- Stan

[Ccm644]

Slightly better news for you that you can get some workouts in. The hotel charge you is not great

Im sure in the two weeks you will be fine and be really pumped to get back to your normal routine

Keep it up

[demonwareltd]

Yeah, I'm feeling a bit better about the situation just by getting to workout. It had been 3 days since I lifted and I'm sure many can relate to how that really makes you feel down when you are so used to the endorphin rush you get when lifting.

I talked to some of my Romanian co-workers and they are going to try to find me a "health store" or vitamin store so I can maybe pick up some RTD protein shakes or bars. There are no grocery stores here like we have in the US where you can go and get whatever you want. Not to mention all the labels are in Romanian anyways. I don't have much in my room in regards to healthy snacks, so last night I grabbed a chocolate bar from the mini-fridge that the hotels stocks (only 80 cents USD) for a full-size hazelnut chocolate bar

[HARRYBEAST]

Hell yeah man get it!

[curjo]

Glad to see your feeling a bit better. To be honest that sounds like a pretty decent setup for a hotel gym. Most just have a few pieces of cardio equipment. Good luck and keep pushing.

[demonwareltd]

Glad to see your feeling a bit better. To be honest that sounds like a pretty decent setup for a hotel gym. Most just have a few pieces of cardio equipment. Good luck and keep pushing.

Yes, I agree. If they didn't have any weight equipment or only one of those universal weight stack machines, I would have no choice but to learn how to ride the bus here in Romania and get somewhere that has better equipment!

I was stuck at a company dinner with senior management until 1030 tonight so I was not able to get in to do biceps and cardio. I did however stick solid to my diet plan which is promising. It's hard here because I have no access to a scale so just the mirror. As far as I can tell I look as lean as when I left, but I feel flat and less vascular. Most likely because my carb intake is less than at home because I don't have a way to measure and eat my own food so I only eat carbs on purpose with breakfast and very little. Also, I think once I get a few consecutive days of weight training back in me, the muscles will get pumped again and I'll start looking better.

Plan is to get up just before 7, down a whey shake and head out for a 2-3 km run (you like that metric thing? ). Then breakfast and to the office. Going to make sure I'm back at the hotel in time to lift tomorrow night and will include biceps with triceps and back tomorrow.

Pray for me, I need all the help I can get!

[Stncldsnake]

Hope it all goes according to plan for you bro, I know you will kill it if you can get the workout in...Good Luck!

[demonwareltd]

Here's an update from the last two days....

Yesterday I ignored my alarm in order to get a bit more sleep. Being how I am 7 hours ahead of the eastern US, I find myself staying up to midnight at least every night to talk with friends and family back home, leaving me with 6 or 6.5 hours of sleep a night. Not ideal. So I slept in and skipped cardio. I did however make it to the gym after work last night, hitting biceps/triceps/back. My triceps are actually quite sore today and it's been awhile since I've had DOMs at all so that was promising. Workout looked something like:

Lat Pulldown (wide-grip) - 5 sets
V-Bar Tricep Extension - 3 sets
Bicep Curl Machine - 3 sets
Low Cable Row - 3 sets
One arm tricep cable extensions - 3 sets
Barbell Cable Curls - 3 sets
Underhand closegrip lat pulldown - 2 sets
Diamond Pushups - 1 set
Overhead tricep cable extensions - 3 sets

Took almost an hour after which I did 27 minutes on the treadmill, working up to an all out run. I felt great.

This morning was the same fight with my alarm and I opted to stay in bed for an extra hour instead of going out running. Had a hard day in the office and opted to skip my planned shoulder/leg workout tonight as well. Things seem to be falling a part as motivation continues to dip.

I have however been sticking strong to my diet for the most part. I only eat carbs with breakfast (whole grain cereals and yogurt) and then the rest of the day is whey shakes, almonds, tuna fish and whatever i get when eating out. Today it was grilled salmon with a garden salad. I did however go out with my co-worker for a beer (German wheat beer). Was quite tasty. I've decided I have to let myself enjoy this trip at least somewhat, as I've never been to Europe and my company is paying for all my meals.

My guess is I will get back to the US a week from tomorrow and will be about the same spot as before I left (assuming I can continue occasional workouts and clean eating). This leaves me with 4 weeks to get in stage conditioning and if I'm honest with myself, it's just not enough time.


Will let you know how tomorrow goes as it seems I have my ups and downs alot while here in Romania. Will see what tomorrow brings...

- Stan

[HARRYBEAST]

I need some motivation myself. Or more self-discipline actually. Wifey keeps bringing good eats home and I am not doing a good job of resisting them.

[offroadatv200]

Here's an update from the last two days....

Yesterday I ignored my alarm in order to get a bit more sleep. Being how I am 7 hours ahead of the eastern US, I find myself staying up to midnight at least every night to talk with friends and family back home, leaving me with 6 or 6.5 hours of sleep a night. Not ideal. So I slept in and skipped cardio. I did however make it to the gym after work last night, hitting biceps/triceps/back. My triceps are actually quite sore today and it's been awhile since I've had DOMs at all so that was promising. Workout looked something like:

Lat Pulldown (wide-grip) - 5 sets
V-Bar Tricep Extension - 3 sets
Bicep Curl Machine - 3 sets
Low Cable Row - 3 sets
One arm tricep cable extensions - 3 sets
Barbell Cable Curls - 3 sets
Underhand closegrip lat pulldown - 2 sets
Diamond Pushups - 1 set
Overhead tricep cable extensions - 3 sets

Took almost an hour after which I did 27 minutes on the treadmill, working up to an all out run. I felt great.

This morning was the same fight with my alarm and I opted to stay in bed for an extra hour instead of going out running. Had a hard day in the office and opted to skip my planned shoulder/leg workout tonight as well. Things seem to be falling a part as motivation continues to dip.

I have however been sticking strong to my diet for the most part. I only eat carbs with breakfast (whole grain cereals and yogurt) and then the rest of the day is whey shakes, almonds, tuna fish and whatever i get when eating out. Today it was grilled salmon with a garden salad. I did however go out with my co-worker for a beer (German wheat beer). Was quite tasty. I've decided I have to let myself enjoy this trip at least somewhat, as I've never been to Europe and my company is paying for all my meals.

My guess is I will get back to the US a week from tomorrow and will be about the same spot as before I left (assuming I can continue occasional workouts and clean eating). This leaves me with 4 weeks to get in stage conditioning and if I'm honest with myself, it's just not enough time.


Will let you know how tomorrow goes as it seems I have my ups and downs alot while here in Romania. Will see what tomorrow brings...

- Stan

Stay strong and keep enjoying the trip!
You are keeping your diet in check which is more then half the battle. Dont look back on the days you fell off the wagon, look forward to the days you have to get your ass back up and on the wagon!!!

That beer sounds pretty tasty.

[therockap1]

Enjoy your trip out there brotha!

[demonwareltd]

This morning started out like most days here. Shut my alarm off and promptly went back to sleep. However, today I opted to skip a lunch out on the town with my co-workers and walked back to the hotel where I got some legs and shoulders in. Looked something like this:

Side Cable Laterals - 3 sets
Seated Shoulder Press Machine - 4 sets
Rear Cable laterals - 3 sets
Upright Cable Rows - 3 sets
Front Cable Raise - 3 sets

Leg Press Machine - 4 sets
Leg Extension - 3 sets

I attempted to figure out how to comfortably use their leg curl machine but without success. I wasn't about to risk injury by performing a movement that didn't feel right.

One of my co-workers I believe is going to Zumba after work and asked if we had interest in joining her. While I am sure I will be the only male in the class, it would get me some cardio for today so I'm seriously considering it!


Tomorrow the plan is to hit the gym around 8 or 830 AM, then we are taking a trip out to Bran to see Dracula's Castle (Vlad the Impaler). Should be awesome. Then heading to a co-worrker's house in the afternoon for the christening.

Sunday we have some hiking planned and hopefully another lifting session beforehand in the AM.

[jdgaines]

Keep up the hard work!