SammyJr's goal for a Pro Card

[SammyJr]

Hi everyone. I don't normally post here but decided to make one of these for this prep.

I did my first show august 2013. Was really hoping to win a pro card haha but I ended up last. Was extremely hurtful at first but now very motivating for me to come back much better this year. I'm much more lean starting prep as opposed to last year.. Not sure if I added much mass but I know I have the opportunity to be much much more conditioned.

I knew I needed a coach, so I went with Pro Paul Revelia

I was 180 lbs at 23 weeks out last year, 155 on show day. Some pics:










after prejudging




stage pics

[SammyJr]

Okay. So that was an NGA show. My plan right now is to do another NGA show this year, their biggest show of the year, "NGA American National Championships". I will have Paul as my coach again. I am 21 weeks out right now. Unfortunately 11 weeks ago I tore a hamstring tendon doing hamstring curls.. Still haven't fully recovered but I want to compete so badly again, so I am going through with it. I will show some pics from today and pics from right before the hamstring tear soon. I can do leg days pretty normally now, but doing hamstring isolation exercises is still very tough. I used to do 90 lb hamstring curls on each leg, now I still struggle with 6 lbs. I don't think it's the muscle that's weak, but the tendon. I feel tendon pain doing too much weight with hamstring isolation exercises .

Well here is one last pic, 24 weeks out from my show. 170 lbs.. in position to look much more conditioned for this show! Legs had come up great in my offseason but after the injury the right one really atrophied . Now it seems at best my legs will look the same as they did last year :/



^24 weeks out (kevin levrone represent)





^didn't show legs cause they had atrophied a lot at that point (3 week old pic)




I was really liking how I looked right before the injury. Here is 7.5 months out, 1 week before the injury (171 lbs). Prep was just about to start for an august show which I had to cancel.

So the first set of pics is right before the injury. second set of pics is 7 weeks after the injury.. i've been working it out for an extra month since, it's gained some size but the hamstring tendon still pains when doing above light weight hamstring isolation stuff




my leg after 5 weeks of not working it in the gym, at its worst..

[Giant_Killer]

In!

Looking great man!

would be really interested to see some full day of eating/macros

[hlss09]

How did you manage to stay so well-conditioned this offseason? Did you reverse out of show condition? Did you work with a coach in the offseason? Looking good bro.

[mhilliard44]

IN!

Great physique and great conditioning last show. No doubt you will do well this time around. Sorry to hear about the hammie injury. That blows bad. Lean as hell at 24 weeks out!

Definitely will be following man, you got a lot of potential

[The Solution]

Good to see you posting in the CP section again bro. see you venturing in the IFBB section and mostly another board.

[NaturalPursuit]

Always see you in the IFBB section and you always seemed like a cool dude! SUBBED!

[jaredmus]

for your age espc great physique wheels for days man, sorry to hear about that injury, I think this is your year man, condition was good last year and I am sure will be even better this year, real jelly of those legs

[SammyJr]

ill get to all your replies in a second guys, ty for support though.


i just took these today, 21 weeks out. I feel I look very good everywhere except that damn right leg. The quad is just not growing, I don't understand. I've been doing occlusion training during my legs days.. not sure if that's even helping. Any chance my leg will keep growing as I get more into prep? It's so frustrating, I think the best thing to do health wise is to not diet and not compete this year and let the hamstring heal but I just don't think I can do that mentally. ugh it's been nearly 3 months.. it should have healed by now

[SammyJr]

In!

Looking great man!

would be really interested to see some full day of eating/macros

thanks a lot man. I don't have interesting meals like most of you though lol. I pretty much eat the same thing everyday. I don't eat out and usually don't eat anything without a nutritional label. Too lazy to cook up fancy stuff either haha. I'm very strict in hitting my macros as close as possible. right now im on (training day) of 225p/440c/80f.

How did you manage to stay so well-conditioned this offseason? Did you reverse out of show condition? Did you work with a coach in the offseason? Looking good bro.

thanks man. yes, a very strict reversal. At first I was just gonna pig out after the show, but my coach told me about reverse dieting being much better. After that I fell in love with staying lean.. I was near contest shape for 3 months, only gained 3 lbs in about 10 weeks after the show.. I reversed too slowly haha. Ever since then I've just been adding 10-15g carbs every week along with 2g fat. Strict about hitting macros every day of my life.

IN!

Great physique and great conditioning last show. No doubt you will do well this time around. Sorry to hear about the hammie injury. That blows bad. Lean as hell at 24 weeks out!

Definitely will be following man, you got a lot of potential

thanks a lot man!! . yeah, hamstring injury is depressing. it's even worse that I probably didn't do what's best at first which is why it's still very weak nearly 3 months after the injury. plus the MRI was done wrong and it said nothing was wrong -.-

Good to see you posting in the CP section again bro. see you venturing in the IFBB section and mostly another board.

thanks dude. first 2 years i was always miscing, then for the last year or so i've strictly been ifbb. now im posing a little more in the sports misc/misc again. another board? like another website? which one?

Always see you in the IFBB section and you always seemed like a cool dude! SUBBED!

thanks a lot man

for your age espc great physique wheels for days man, sorry to hear about that injury, I think this is your year man, condition was good last year and I am sure will be even better this year, real jelly of those legs

thanks dude, yeah my wheels really came up this season, sucks so much that this happened. I'm really hoping I make great progress through this diet though, maybe look into legal peptides which can help speed recovery. ha you're not jelly of my leg anymore. I managed to keep striations in the quad the whole offseason, but as soon as I got injured the striations disappeared

[sculpt07]

in for this dude! also remember you from ifbb section.

[2276]

Sweet in for this.

I can't see the leg growing too much in a deficit, but maybe you'll add some shape to it?

Have you consulted various sources about your tendon to ensure a speedy recovery and no long term damage?

[SammyJr]

in for this dude! also remember you from ifbb section.

thanks man . a lot of ppl seem to know me from there! I don't think I've ever seen you guys there haha.

Sweet in for this.

I can't see the leg growing too much in a deficit, but maybe you'll add some shape to it?

Have you consulted various sources about your tendon to ensure a speedy recovery and no long term damage?

that's what people have been telling me which really sucks . i'm just very confused about all that. I mean right now I'm eating 440g carbs per day.. sure that's a deficit but that's still alot imo. Back when I was like 2 weeks out I was eating 220g carbs per day yet my legs were bigger than they are now (i think). so if they could be at that size at 200g carbs... why can't they at least get back to that size at 440g carbs..


Plus, I am going heavier in the gym. My leg days now are almost the same as they were before my injury, except I can't do hamstring isolation stuff anymore because of tendon pain. I was wondering if continuing to work legs would prevent the tendon from healing, even though I don't feel pain. Also, I wonder if the leg will refuse to grow until that tendon is 100% healed. :/.

I am going to try to go to an orthopedic doctor soon, maybe 1-2 weeks. I never went to a doctor and just recently got a (free) MRI of the entire leg.. so hopefully I'll know exactly what's up. Not having money/insurance blows.

Is anyone very familiar with peptides? Specifically ones for tendon injuries? I read into it a little and there are legal peptides you can inject, and they can really help with tendon recovery. I'm probably going to look more into that as well as I can't stand the leg staying this size, but I also can't stand not competing for another year. I heard the best thing is HGH but that's illegal and I'm doing a natty show so I can't do that



here is a recent pic, 20 weeks out. Increased weight in the gym, yet the leg looks smaller

[NaturalPursuit]

Legs all in good time bro! Lean as hell for 20 weeks out bro!!!

[phillysteak]

In!! Looking awesome especially at this stage, but none the less just great.

I'm closing in on the end of my season and even more motivated now to reverse properly.

[jaredmus]

loook to be in a great spot

[SammyJr]

not only training, but dieting through an injury is dangerous I feel. I almost posted earlier to say I was quitting my prep. My pec has been bothering me (not really pain but a weird tightness/discomfort at times) and the (hamstring) tendon just feels weak, but once again I decided to go thru with it. Getting my leg striations back in the right leg, that's a plus.

Legs all in good time bro! Lean as hell for 20 weeks out bro!!!

thanks man. hopefully they can grow at least a little more in these 20 weeks, and not get injured.

In!! Looking awesome especially at this stage, but none the less just great.

I'm closing in on the end of my season and even more motivated now to reverse properly.

good luck man. and thanks. i probably won't do as strict of a reverse after this show just so my tendon can heal and get enough nutrients or w/e

loook to be in a great spot

ty man

[The Solution]

how long has the pec been bothering you?

[SammyJr]

how long has the pec been bothering you?

Hey. It's been at least a month. Maybe more. I remember a few months ago I tried increasing chest volume by a lot, like 12 sets per day, 2x per week, plus another 3 sets on another day... so working chest 3x per week. not a good idea.

then (like 6-7 weeks ago) i started feeling clicking in my pec tendon when doing most chest exercises. I asked my uni's athletic trainer and she said it's normal. Then maybe 4 weeks ago I've just been feeling the new symptoms of it being abnormally sore and weaker (even though it's bigger than my right pec). I asked my athletic trainer and Paul and they both said it doesn't seem like an injury since there's no pain.

So Paul suggested I do massages with soft objects.... rolling it back and forth on the pec. been doing that a couple weeks, maybe it's helped a little. sometimes i can do max bench without feeling any unusual symptoms, then after my workout it feels abnormally sore again. I'm not sure if this is new, but now when I bend down all the way and have my arms go all the way down, sort of like this



and then flex my chest and bring my left arm to my right side, I do feel pain in the pec. i have no idea why or what that means.. but doing anything else, I do not feel pain. I have an appt with a sports medicine physician on july 17..










also, for some reason my injured leg actually looks bigger than my noninjured leg here lol. i have no idea why. and why once i'm 8 feet behind the camera the injured one (imo) looks a looot smaller.










injured one is my right (on the left side of the pic)

[sculpt07]

looks good dude! keep trucking and keep and eye on it as you have been. Keep smashing the pec minor with ball that always helps mine

[SammyJr]

looks good dude! keep trucking and keep and eye on it as you have been. Keep smashing the pec minor with ball that always helps mine

thanks man.

unfortunately it looks like I will have to quit prep. I can train legs heavy but I think that's really messing the healing process up. Plus my leg is starting to hurt just walking now, and the tendon is still extremely weak doing any isolation hamstring stuff. I don't think I can go another 19 weeks dieting and no lower body HIIT. I'd be spending a lot of money and won't even be at 100% and can get a severe injury out of it... not worth it
plus the leg is just not growing, it's so small imo





still im finally going to a sports med doctor on thursday and got an entire leg MRI, hopefully it'll be read by next week. i'll still update this thread with my leg progress and eventually competing in 2015.

i really wanted to be shredded again but i guess it'll have to wait. also i've been having a very difficult time getting macros in, esp carbs/protein. i hate eating so much. having to bulk back up is going to be brutal. it's such a waste of time. anyone know extremely calorie dense foods?

[Giant_Killer]

longevity before everything bro, keep your spirits up

[The Solution]

Pasta + Oil + Beef = Classic bulking meal
Trail Mix + Granola in a bowl and top it with a whey shake as milk and toss in diced banana's + Honey

[Vytis]

thanks man.

unfortunately it looks like I will have to quit prep. I can train legs heavy but I think that's really messing the healing process up. Plus my leg is starting to hurt just walking now, and the tendon is still extremely weak doing any isolation hamstring stuff. I don't think I can go another 19 weeks dieting and no lower body HIIT. I'd be spending a lot of money and won't even be at 100% and can get a severe injury out of it... not worth it
plus the leg is just not growing, it's so small imo





still im finally going to a sports med doctor on thursday and got an entire leg MRI, hopefully it'll be read by next week. i'll still update this thread with my leg progress and eventually competing in 2015.

i really wanted to be shredded again but i guess it'll have to wait. also i've been having a very difficult time getting macros in, esp carbs/protein. i hate eating so much. having to bulk back up is going to be brutal. it's such a waste of time. anyone know extremely calorie dense foods?

Sorry to hear this. I know it's easy to say, but you're young and have a lifetime ahead of you with respect to this pursuit. Get healthy!

[vivtheraiden]

Wow Phenomenal, so lean yet great muscle definitions, another inspiration for me, I really would wish to have a look like yours.

[sculpt07]

sammy how did you go dude?