Reid's Offseason Journey to become a Natural Pro

[Reid456]

And the numbers are in for this macrocycle of 5/3/1

Starting maxes used for calculations:

OHP - 120
Deadlift - 340
Bench -165
Squat - 285

Average estimated 1RMs for 5+, 3+, and 1+ sets
OHP - 130
Deadlift - 375
Bench - 185
Squat - 315

[jpfaherty]

and the numbers are in for this macrocycle of 5/3/1

starting maxes used for calculations:

Ohp - 120
deadlift - 340
bench -165
squat - 285

average estimated 1rms for 5+, 3+, and 1+ sets
ohp - 130
deadlift - 375
bench - 185
squat - 315

Saweeeeeeet!

[jiveinhere]

5/3/1 can be great fun brudda. I got lazy with OHP day when I did it though haha.

Also, late but Im in eventually

[The Solution]

Killing the eats man.. good ideas for meal suggestions in here!

[Reid456]

5/3/1 can be great fun brudda. I got lazy with OHP day when I did it though haha.

Also, late but Im in eventually

OHP is my favorite day! Probably because its one of my weakest lifts and I've never really trained it much before. I'm slowly working my way out of little girl weights territory. Somehow my deads and squats are still relatively strong for my standards. Bench and OHP though.... Prep really did a number to my strength. I think I'm setting myself up for a really big comeback though. Bench will be at 200 minimum by the end of the next cycle. MARK MY WORDS! In another couple weeks I'm expecting big strength increases as my food continues to go up and my body comes out of prep mode. Welcome!

At this point, macros are at 50/350/190 with no weight gains so far. I think next week I'll bump up fats again. In the offseason I was hitting 90-100g of fat and I think I might respond best to a high amount of fat.

[adamjohn32]

just read through thread... good god the food! and nice workouts as well In for sure now.

[berzon]

^^ just did the same and jesus i could hire you just to make me those pancakes! in as well and good luck man, be glad that your main focus is on upperbody :P

[bigryan03]

You're going to love 5/3/1 dude! Macros are in a great spot too.

[ironpump22]

subbed to the thread!! will be making my own contest prep thread shortly as I aim for 2 shows this upcoming year, always love learning what other people are doing.

you mentioned 3DMJ (or something like that), is that your company that you work with?? I did my last show pretty solo with the help of a friend who is a nutritionist, and some posing practice. Would like to perhaps engage a more serious approach as I have the same goal as you (Natural Pro). At the very least looking to improve on my 3rd place result from last time.

Will be checking back in here occasionally, keep it up man!

[jiveinhere]

OHP is my favorite day! Probably because its one of my weakest lifts and I've never really trained it much before. I'm slowly working my way out of little girl weights territory. Somehow my deads and squats are still relatively strong for my standards. Bench and OHP though.... Prep really did a number to my strength. I think I'm setting myself up for a really big comeback though. Bench will be at 200 minimum by the end of the next cycle. MARK MY WORDS! In another couple weeks I'm expecting big strength increases as my food continues to go up and my body comes out of prep mode. Welcome!

Haha gangsta. 531 is great for building strength back up slowly and steadily. I actually decided just today that Ill be back on the 531 train. Yiew

[Reid456]

subbed to the thread!! will be making my own contest prep thread shortly as I aim for 2 shows this upcoming year, always love learning what other people are doing.

you mentioned 3DMJ (or something like that), is that your company that you work with?? I did my last show pretty solo with the help of a friend who is a nutritionist, and some posing practice. Would like to perhaps engage a more serious approach as I have the same goal as you (Natural Pro). At the very least looking to improve on my 3rd place result from last time.

Will be checking back in here occasionally, keep it up man!

Hey thanks for the support! 3DMJ is a contest prep coaching service founded by Alberto Nunez, Brad Loomis, Eric Helms, and Jeff Alberts. They are all natural pros who also have tons of experience prepping clients. It was seriously probably one of the best decisions I made to help get prepped by them. Not only do you get contest prep planning, you develop an athlete/coach relationship and Brad pretty much became my life mentor during prep. Also, you become part of the 3DMJ family and get to interact and talk to all the other athletes (mainly through ********). Lol, I sound like a salesman, but seriously go to 3dmusclejourney.com and/or shoot one of the coaches an email with any questions you have.

Also, I see your a pro volleyball player? That's awesome! Probably my favorite team sport to play! Nothing beats a competitive game of volleyball.

And let me know when you put your log up and I'll come check it out.

Haha gangsta. 531 is great for building strength back up slowly and steadily. I actually decided just today that Ill be back on the 531 train. Yiew

Hop on, there's plenty of room!

[NaturalPursuit]

enjoy 531 bro!!!! startin numbers lookin great!

[Shazriki]

Crushing that relative strength Reid, keep it up, you're doing fantastically! Presence of mind, no doubt.

[Reid456]

Well the reverse was going well....

This log's purpose is not only to highlight my successes but also to be completely transparent about my failures. Last night I messed up. I ended up drinking too much then had a binge session with food. Woke up 157 this morning... And to top things off today is Thanksgiving and I'm not even hungry. Just a really bad decision. But there's no sense crying over spilled milk. Just need to get back on track after today. Not really sure how I can really mitigate the damage. Might just lower macros for a little while or do more cardio.

[jpfaherty]

Well the reverse was going well....

This log's purpose is not only to highlight my successes but also to be completely transparent about my failures. Last night I messed up. I ended up drinking too much then had a binge session with food. Woke up 157 this morning... And to top things off today is Thanksgiving and I'm not even hungry. Just a really bad decision. But there's no sense crying over spilled milk. Just need to get back on track after today. Not really sure how I can really mitigate the damage. Might just lower macros for a little while or do more cardio.

Don't worry about it bud! Night before thanksgiving is a day with your friends and alchohol! Day of is family and food Start the rebound on Friday and you'll be fine. There's more to life than bodybuilding, enjoy your friends and fam!

[Reid456]

Don't worry about it bud! Night before thanksgiving is a day with your friends and alchohol! Day of is family and food Start the rebound on Friday and you'll be fine. There's more to life than bodybuilding, enjoy your friends and fam!

You are so right, and I'm definitely struggling a little with having too much of an obsessive and polarized mindset. I'm not happy with the mental place I'm in right now and I'm trying to figure things out.

[The Solution]

Things happens, move on and forget about it. Will you be sweating it in 2 weeks? hell no..

Eat reasonable, enjoy the time with family and friends (What thanksgiving is about) not an excuse to use it as a holiday for gluttony(which most use it for) and overeating.

Be thankful for your friends/family and their support today.!

Happy Turkey Day.

[adamjohn32]

Well the reverse was going well....

This log's purpose is not only to highlight my successes but also to be completely transparent about my failures. Last night I messed up. I ended up drinking too much then had a binge session with food. Woke up 157 this morning... And to top things off today is Thanksgiving and I'm not even hungry. Just a really bad decision. But there's no sense crying over spilled milk. Just need to get back on track after today. Not really sure how I can really mitigate the damage. Might just lower macros for a little while or do more cardio.

I'm going through the same mental struggles, but I figure I can always do a little extra work next week in the gym / kitchen if needed. I just keep reminding myself I'd rather enjoy my time with friends and family not stressing about calories. I'll still be trying to eat "reasonable" but I'll definitely be enjoying some food.

Just know you're not the only one going through this right now, hang in there mang.

[bigryan03]

Well the reverse was going well....

This log's purpose is not only to highlight my successes but also to be completely transparent about my failures. Last night I messed up. I ended up drinking too much then had a binge session with food. Woke up 157 this morning... And to top things off today is Thanksgiving and I'm not even hungry. Just a really bad decision. But there's no sense crying over spilled milk. Just need to get back on track after today. Not really sure how I can really mitigate the damage. Might just lower macros for a little while or do more cardio.

Bro don't stress these things. It can become a vicious cycle if you continue to binge/cut macros/binge/cut macros etc. The big goal of the reverse is to get your metabolism in a good spot again and you do that by slowly adding food. Cutting cals to try make up the damage is spinning your wheels. Get back on track now and just continue on with the reverse as you were doing previously and watch your weight come back down.

[Reid456]

Yeah I'm just playing things by feel for a couple days to get back on track. Today I ate my normal 400kcal breakfast then an intense contest-prep mode head fog by 11am, lol. Guess the metabolism is getting its butt in gear. Today I've got 900 kcal left but I'll probably keep it a little short and go by my hunger.

I can't really explain it, but I'm just in this really, really weird funk in life right now. It's like nothing feels right and I'm living in a different world or something. Kind of crazy, but it'll pass.

It's been a deload week this week so that's why I haven't been posting any workouts.

[Reid456]

Been deloading.... Here's a couple meals I've had recently:

Cottage cheese/yogurt pancakes



Oat pancakes


Flounder fillets with vegetables

[andyboi]

Hope you're going well mate. Try not to do extra cardio. Get back on track and forget about it. Really try to keep on track from here on in.

Maybe lower macros by a little bit, but not much. No stress

[The Solution]

Good to see an update my man!!!!

[Shazriki]

Eats look good man. Don't worry too much about the binge, I know exactly what you're going through from a mental perspective. This is all part and parcel with being as lean as you are. You WILL start feeling better once you start putting on a bit more weight, I promise.

[Reid456]

Eats look good man. Don't worry too much about the binge, I know exactly what you're going through from a mental perspective. This is all part and parcel with being as lean as you are. You WILL start feeling better once you start putting on a bit more weight, I promise.

Oh I'm pretty much already over that. I was back into the 155s today so all is well. Focus is on school right now. I've got 3 weeks until Christmas break.

[Shazriki]

Oh I'm pretty much already over that. I was back into the 155s today so all is well. Focus is on school right now. I've got 3 weeks until Christmas break.

I was actually referring more to feeling strangely out of place and not "right" - the binge was just a bump but what you're going through, at least for me, was more long term (and I never binged so it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with that).

[Reid456]

They see me Bro-ing..... they hating..... Patrolling, they trying to catch me eating dirty!

I was actually referring more to feeling strangely out of place and not "right" - the binge was just a bump but what you're going through, at least for me, was more long term (and I never binged so it doesn't necessarily have anything to do with that).

Ahh I see. Yeah I can see things starting to turn around a little bit. I see what they mean now when they say the post-contest blues.

For those of you who play video games, I just started playing Borderlands 2 and I'm having a blast with it. Also, Dishonored just came in the mail today. non-deload workouts start back up tomorrow so expect updates and PRs.

[hamiltronj]

Pancakes look amazing! Keep you the hard work in here buddy!

[Reid456]

5/3/1 M2W1 OHP
3x warmup sets
1x5x80
1x5x90
1x5omx105 - 9
That's +2 reps from last cycle.

5x10x65
It's surprising how hard the last couple sets can feel after doing a 5om set.

Dips
bw+20 x 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 +5lbs from last session; still not too difficult but the last couple sets are starting to get a little tough. Adding 5lbs a week until I can't anymore.

Bodyweight has been evening out to around 155.6, about 3lbs over stage weight 4 weeks post contest. Brad suggested a goal of staying under 160 by the end of November, and I can happily say I've (somewhat easily) done that.

[The Solution]

only up 3 pounds after a binge in 4 weeks. WINNING

nice PR's man!