Operation: Don't Get Laughed Off the Pro Stage

[mhilliard44]

2015 Offseason Log to the Pro Stage

Introduction
My name is Matt Hilliard, I am 24 years old at the time of writing this and will be turning 25 within the next month. This will be my first official offseason after competing in my first bodybuilding competition this past season. Two weeks ago I competed in the NANBF Natural Pittsburgh where I won the Overall Title, an IFPA Pro Card, 1st Place Open Tall, 1st Place Novice Tall, and Best Poser Novice. It was an unreal day from start to finish, I was not expected to place so favorably. I’ve been fascinated with the human body since I was a kid. I grew up watching the World’s Strongest Man competition on ESPN and thought to myself God**** I want to be like these guys someday. I began lifting weights in 6th grade for athletic reasons. I never imagined I would be good enough to compete in a bodybuilding competition. I have lifted pretty consistently over the past ten years now, with a brief period of time off to pursue running. I got serious about weight training when I decided to no longer play college basketball following my freshman year. In December 2013, I wrote down in a notebook that I would consider competing in a natural bodybuilding competition if I could grow enough muscle. In February of 2014 I committed to compete in a natural bodybuilding competition by writing it down as a goal in my training notebook. Around April 2014 I wrote a goal to place in the top 3 in Novice of a natural bodybuilding event. Needless to say, I crushed my goals.

Competing for the first time:


At my heaviest around 227lb:


Basketball days:


Purpose of This Log
The purpose of this log is to keep myself accountable, increase my knowledge about bodybuilding, serve as motivation for improvement, and to interact with others who have the same interests. I also hope that someday this log will be beneficial for another newcomer to the bodybuilding stage. As I have learned much from bodybuilders' past logs on here, I hope that one day my log will serve as a learning tool to someone.

Why I Love Bodybuilding
Bodybuilding is about art, science, dedication, discipline, nutrition, health, competition, setting goals, strategic planning, analyzing, its about expecting more out of yourself and never settling for less than you’re worth. There couldn’t be a more perfect hobby to fit my values and interests. What you can learn through bodybuilding transfers over to all over aspects of your life. It can help make you a very well rounded and respected individual. Bodybuilding is not my life, but has become a very important aspect of my life and who I am and who want to be for the next few decades.

Link to my first time competing log:
http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=161857393

Plans for the Future
Originally I was planning to take a 2 year offseason after competing for the first time to make the progress I felt I needed to make a run at a natural pro card. Plans have since changed and I am looking to take 2.5 to 3 year off before I compete again to make the necessary improvements I need to be competitive on the pro stage in the IFPA. I don’t consider myself pro physique worthy at the current moment and feel I have a lot to prove to have the credential, which motivates me even more to make progress right now.

Offseason Plan
Weaknesses:
- Chest
- Biceps and triceps
- Hip adductors
- Medial and posterior delts
- Overall mass/thickness

My focus is on bodyparts as opposed to lift numbers currently. For my first competition I dieted from 225 to 185lb in 29 weeks, which I believe was too quick, I feel I lost too much muscle mass in the process. If I start next prep around 215lb and diet down smartly to 185-190lb in the same amount of time probably even longer, I should retain more muscle mass.

Assessment of Potential
I definitely don’t feel I live up to pro status right now; however, I believe with at least two years to grow muscle I should live up to these standards. I think I have good potential to be competitive on the pro stage in the future despite my height at 6’3”. Now that I have had a chance to review my competition pictures, I can vision my future physique a few years from now, and boy does it look good. I got on stage at approximately 188lb this time around, dieting quicker than I should have. Realistically, if I would have dieted to completely shredded glutes I could have been 183/184lb on stage. No one ever brings their best conditioning their first time competing, this is good news for my future. There isn’t any reason why I can’t get on stage with better conditioning and weighing at least 5lb heavier still the next time I compete. The only thing that can stop me from achieving that is myself. At 6’3” I have a very good frame with good muscle insertion points and good muscle bellies. I just need more time to fill it out properly before I can do some real damage on stage.

The journey to developing one’s physique in attempts to reach its fullest capacity is absolutely amazing. I’m not sure how to describe it any other way.

Role Models
Some of the earliest bodybuilders I remember looking up to were Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, Phil Heath, and Layne Norton. I knew the first three were unrealistic attainable physiques at an early age, but I was always intrigued by Layne Norton. Then I discovered the world of natural bodybuilding. I thought it was cool there was a drug-free division of bodybuilding, but I never imagined I would be good enough to compete in a bodybuilding competition.

Some of my favorite role models right now are:
- Richard Gozdecki
- Paul Revelia
- Robbie Sardinia
- Brian Whitacre
- Doug Miller
- Samuel Okunola

Conclusion
For those who followed my first time competing log and contributed to my bodybuilding knowledge and encouraged me along the way, I am eternally grateful for. I hope you guys are all back in for a nice long ride this time around!!! Glad to have anyone in here, I’m pretty easy going, enjoy interacting with everyone here, and am pretty good with responding to questions!

Stay tuned for more competition pictures this week

[phillysteak]

You know I'm in!!!

(And maybe 1st?!)

Looking forward to staying connected in here man. Hell of a first season for ya.

[Vytis]

I'm for sure.

[robertdminer]

Yesss definitely following along for this!

[mhilliard44]

Currently

Current macros around 275p, 265c, 50f
Slowly weening myself off of obsessive daily tracking

Following PHAT right now, will continue for at least 8 weeks until I decide what to do next, I have a lot of different training styles/programs that I would like to try out at different points this offseason which include:
- Smolov Jr for bench press
- Focus on overall volume
- Focus on intensity (dropsets, supersets, minimal rest, crazy eccentrics, etc.)
- Higher reps (ex. 30/40/50)
- Possibly reserving one day per week for additional work to weak bodyparts especially chest

You know I'm in!!!

(And maybe 1st?!)

Looking forward to staying connected in here man. Hell of a first season for ya.

1st it is!!!! Glad to have you along for the long haul Brad Time to do work man

I'm for sure.

Yessir! I knew you would be

Yesss definitely following along for this!

Ahh yeahhhh, time to grow this offseason, you and I both!

[The Solution]

Agree 100%
take the time off and come back and awe some people

[mhilliard44]

More shots from the 2015 NANBF Pittsburgh

Top 5 in my class:


Saved my best Frank Zane impression for the Best Poser Award:


Shots from the Overall Posedown:

[Scruffy77]

In for sure.... are the photos up for the rest of the divisions?

[Bnizzle163]

I'll certainly be tagging along .

[jaredmus]

nice to see the stage pics looked great and Congrats again for the earning the pro card.
And heres what we all need on these forums BRUTAL honesty!
First show, looked great, winning pro card deserved at that show, Pro ready? Fill it out the next two years with everything you have learned through prep, plus the new stuff, def will not get laughed off stage, but training will need to better then ever to take you to that point, your dedication to what you put your mind to , competing and school from what I know of you is great!
Kill this offseason man and if your ever in NY come train with me

[LoganBrown]

In on new thread. Can't wait to watch you kill this off-season!

[IK9]

I'm in....

But first.... Can you even dunk brah

Jkkkkkkk

[mhilliard44]

Tues 5/12/15

Rest day from training AKA growing day, probably will go on a short walk later to stay active

Agree 100%
take the time off and come back and awe some people

yessir, gotta take the time to grow properly, you know whats up!

In for sure.... are the photos up for the rest of the divisions?

I ordered photographs from the photographer who was at the event, I'm not sure if they post pictures anywhere. I paid him and he mailed me a CD-ROM with digital copies of the pics he took of me. They came out real sharp, and I ended up being in a ton of pics on stage, so it was well worth the $40 cost

I'll certainly be tagging along .

Glad to have you again Billy!! Maybe I'll step my game up and start posting foodporn pics to rival yours...butttt that's hard to top!

nice to see the stage pics looked great and Congrats again for the earning the pro card.
And heres what we all need on these forums BRUTAL honesty!
First show, looked great, winning pro card deserved at that show, Pro ready? Fill it out the next two years with everything you have learned through prep, plus the new stuff, def will not get laughed off stage, but training will need to better then ever to take you to that point, your dedication to what you put your mind to , competing and school from what I know of you is great!
Kill this offseason man and if your ever in NY come train with me

You always have the right thing to say at the right moment man. Agreed! My training has got to step up a notch, I got lucky being able to build a decent physique just throwing random exercises and routines together, but that's not going to cut it anymore. Time to serious and grow some real muscle.

In on new thread. Can't wait to watch you kill this off-season!

Lets goooo Logan!! Boom, offseason gains

I'm in....

But first.... Can you even dunk brah

Jkkkkkkk

lmao, I knew that was coming so I posted the basketball pic from the first post :P

Glad to have you for the long run Inna!

[jpfaherty]

You know I'm in!!

better late than never

[Vytis]

You seemed to have the most competition from your class and not the overall. Do you have more stage photos?

[jaredmus]

Some mid week motivation great video IMO
these are guys you will be up against next time you hit the stage
Make each day count my man

[mhilliard44]

You know I'm in!!

better late than never

Knew you would be! Time to make some real gains now

You seemed to have the most competition from your class and not the overall. Do you have more stage photos?

Yep I have stage shots from the overall for I believe nearly every pose, I'll get some more up later for ya!

Some mid week motivation great video IMO
these are guys you will be up against next time you hit the stage
Make each day count my man

Oh God lol....How's that for motivation right now. BOOM. Paul gets some awesome footage, my favorite part is actually the backstage footage at the end of the video, just like he says, gives you a real idea of how big the guys really are.

Aaaaand since I'll be likely in the heavyweight class, I got some growing to do...a lot of growing...okay a stupid amount of growing.

Thanks for the motivation

[mhilliard44]

Wed 5/13/15

200 reps on back!

Today was a good workout, after going through one week of hypertrophy on PHAT already, I knew I needed to make some modifications for this week. Stepped it up a notch today with my back training. Much needed. Lots of volume. This is how I need to approach my chest training, same intensity, fury, and volume if not even more.

BB row - 165lb SPEED reps 6x3
Lat pulldown - 195lb 3x10; 100lb x20
Longbar row - 2pl x12; 3pl x10; 4pl 2x8; 4lb+25lb x6 dropset 3plx10 and 2pl x10
Wide grip pullups - BW x10, 10, 8
DB row - 70lb 3x10
Uni low row - 160lb 2x15

DB seated sh press - 60lb x10,10,12
Prone incline row - 25lb x12,12,10
Lateral raises - 20lb x12,12,0
Rev fly mach - parital ROM 45lb x15,17,17

I like the idea of measuring the effectiveness of my hyper workouts via number of repetitions completed. I'm going to use this as a measurement for progress in the coming weeks and make sure I am increasing weights and completing more reps than my previous workout. Today I did more weight or more reps than my last back/shoulders hyper workout and I am eating six solid meals per day on a calorie surplus, thus I am going to grow from this workout. Its that simple. Keeping this mindset.

[mhilliard44]

Thurs 5/14/15

Hyper legs

Squat - SPEED 190lb 6x3
DB walking lunges - 60lb x11,10,10 --> BW x12
LP low close - 320lb 3x10
Leg ext - 110lb 2x15
Smith squat - partial ROM 135lb x15,20
Hip ADD - 170lb 3x10; 90lb x20
DB SLDL - 75lb x12,10,10
Stand leg curl - 50lb x15,13
LP calves - 200lb x14,14,12,12; 100lb x8
SMith calves - 155lb 4x20

HIIT LV 10 6x15sec

Overall good workout today. Over 200 reps on quads (hip adductors included). Going to keep pushing the volume and growing. In efforts to decrease unhealthy mental habits, I am going to start weighing myself once per week instead of every darn morning. No need to obsess over a scale weight right now. Once a week will be plenty, probably every Saturday morning. Still counting macros for the most part, but leaving small things out here and there (ex. ate a banging pepperoni roll last night before bed simply because I was more hungry than usual and didn't want to go to bed hungry, and a PB sundae the other day after an hour long walk). Nice to eat food and not have to worry about how many grams of P, C, and F are in it!

[jaredmus]

good stuff on the workout. PB sundae will be a staple once I start going into a gaining phase again

[mhilliard44]

good stuff on the workout. PB sundae will be a staple once I start going into a gaining phase again

Sooo delicious, vanilla ice cream, PB, chopped nuts, topped with whipped cream....a little chocolate syrup would be great with it too. Perfect for the summertime. I'm not sure what it is about peanut butter, but it has to be one of the most delicious foods ever created...I could eat it with anything I swear

[The Solution]

Moderation goes a long way man!

[mhilliard44]

Moderation goes a long way man!

Agreed!

You seemed to have the most competition from your class and not the overall. Do you have more stage photos?

A few more different poses as requested!

















Pretty happy with the work the photographer did at the show!

[LoganBrown]

Impressive leg workout! Like Bob said, moderation is key in the off-season. No shame in allowing some kind of guilty pleasure food every now and then! Besides, sometimes those guilty pleasures make for one helluva workout the next day.

[IK9]

That hammy drop on that side chest $$$

[phillysteak]

Goin to work already!

Remind me where you're from again dude? Also yes PB rules the world haha

[mhilliard44]

Impressive leg workout! Like Bob said, moderation is key in the off-season. No shame in allowing some kind of guilty pleasure food every now and then! Besides, sometimes those guilty pleasures make for one helluva workout the next day.

Ah yeah you know it! Thats so funny and so true...before I started dieting, I would have some of my strongest lifts the morning after drinking a beer or two haha

That hammy drop on that side chest $$$

Cha-ching! I don't always hit it right, but when I do it actually looks kinda decent

Goin to work already!

Remind me where you're from again dude? Also yes PB rules the world haha

Yessir, no sense in wasting time. Got a lot of improvements to make to my physique.

I'm from northwest Pennsylvania, grew up here, but am actually moving to south Texas within the next few weeks now that I have graduated college and got a big boy job

[mhilliard44]

Fri 5/15/15

PHAT hyper chest and arms

Flat bench - 160lb SPEED with pause 160lb 6x3
DB incline bench - 70lb 3x10; 75lb x8
Chest press mach - 115lb x12,12,10; 50lb x10
Mach fly - 100lb 3x15
DB flat press 40lb 3x10 superset with close medicine ball pushups 2x10
Bench pushups wide 10 reps --> chest press left only 30lb x10

DB curl - 45lb 3x8
DB preacher curl - 35lb x11,11,10
Bi curl mach - 60lb 2x13
One arm french - 40lb x11,10,9
Tri ext mach - 85lb x12,10-->50lb x12
Tri kickback - 20lb x20; 15lb x20

Lots of exercises today, good amount of volume for chest. Chest actually felt worked by the end of my workout instead of the mediocre junk I've been doing the past year or so. Awesome arm pump today.

[jaredmus]

side tri is your best shot IMO

[mhilliard44]

side tri is your best shot IMO

I appreciate that, definitely one of my better poses when I hit it right. I'm partial to the front lat spread, despite it showing my weak chest (idk what it is about that pose, just the whole "power position" or "superhero position" I think). Lats looks so much better from the front with my waist, turn around and they look like a the lats of a high school swimmer...fml. Someday....