Repping MTS and growing with Mountain Dog training! 270+ here we come!

[Cronos1247]

Introduction:
I was "blessed" with the gift of being too damn tall for this sport. After showing up at a stage weight of 234lbs for the NPC Better Bodies last month, I quickly realized to be competitive I was going to need to come back with some serious mass added to this frame. I've been picked up to represent Marc Lobliners brand MTS Nutrition here in the Houston market and have no intentions of letting such a great company down. John Meadows has always been a serious inspiration to me as well, my training/nutrition utilizes a lot of his Mountain Dog style intensity techniques and progressions as well as his general philosophy. I value anecdotal evidence almost as much as I do empirical, so while I think both of their place, I'm not one to base my training strictly on this study or that study, but with emphasis on experience and what I've tried and know to work for myself.

Few shots from the show and where I'm standing currently. Roughly 235lbs at the moment.





Nutrition intake:
3700 Calories
Protein: 325 Protein
Carbs: 416
Fat: 82

Supplements:
MTS Machine Greens + Multi
Ethitec Fish Oil
Bulk creatine mono
Vitamin D2
Cycle Support 2.0
I rotate my pre workouts between MTS Clash / Hyde / Platinum PRE
Intra-MD (1 scoop intra workout, will be dropping this soon and switching to strictly BCAA)
MTS Machine Fuel
MTS Whey (Red Velvet & Cookies and Cream are my go tos)

I'll be adding extra emphasis to my legs this off season. Training days are usually about 5-6 days a week, legs twice a week.

Hope to see some of you in here!

[Cronos1247]

Chest & Shoulders
Dumbbell Incline presses: 3-4 feeder sets before hitting my working sets of 100x8, 110x8, 120x8 -->Drop 20%, AMRAP, Drop another 20% to failure.
Hammer Incline Presses: 4 sets of 8 with a one second pause at the bottom, top set of 3 plates per side
Flat Hammer presses: Same scheme - 3 sets of 8 with a one second pause, top set of 3 plates per side
Slight incline cable flys: 4 sets of 15 with a one second peak contraction
Reverse Pec Dec: 3 sets of 15
Standing side laterals: 4 sets of 8 with a one second peak contraction
Barbell front raises: 4 sets of 12 slow and controlled

Decline crunches: 4 sets of 12
Hanging leg raises: 4 sets of 15

Cardio: 10 minutes of HIIT

My pre workout ritual: The infamous concoction bowl of cream of rice, almond butter and SF chocolate syrup alongside MTS Red Velvet sludge.

[Cronos1247]

Arm Day
Rope Pushdown Superset with Preacher Curls x5 working sets
On the ropes it was essentially 4-5 warm up sets of 10 reps with a one second hold at peak.
One arm preacher curls with 4 second negatives. (6 reps on each arm and then 4 reps on each arm back to back, for 10 reps per set)

One arm hammer curls with 4 partials at the end of 10 reps superset with laying incline DB extensions. 5 working sets.
Alternating DB curls: 3 sets of 8
Dip machine with 3 second negatives: 3 sets of 8
Dumbbell Shrugs: 4 sets of 12 with a 3 second hold at each contraction

Cardio: 25 minutes on the elliptical.

Talked to John briefly last night and was advised to take a full two weeks off from the gym starting 4 weeks after my show. While it's probably good advice, I love every second of training and really can't see myself taking a full two weeks off. I may roll with one week though and run around with my kid playing soccer or something. Ordering my sled from Elite FTS today so I'll get some video of doing some sled pulls for HIIT. Maybe I'll let my kid ride it too while I pull it. FOOTAGE TO COME!

[Cronos1247]

I talked to John a bit the other night and he has suggested to take a full two weeks off from the gym following four weeks of training post contest. I haven't actually decided which route I'm going to take, maybe a week off but I'm not positive. I love to train, so two weeks of not doing such sounds like hell. In any light, here's my new toy that I just ordered

[Cronos1247]

So Sunday I had intended to take off but after seeing the video of Marc and DLB, I ended up going in to hit shoulders instead of pairing them with chest this week.



Yesterdays Back Day

4 sets of 10 on the Hammer Strength DY rows | Semi - pronated grip with a one second hold at the contraction (last set triple drop)
One arm barbell Rows: 8x135, 8x185, 8x225, 8x225, 8x225
Rope pull downs: 4 sets of 10 with an exaggerated stretch
T-Bar row Rack Pulls superset with hyper extensions: 2 plates x 10, 3 plates x 10, 4 plates x 10 for 3 more sets. Super each set with 15 hypers.
Away facing close grip pull downs: 4 sets of 10 with extra focus on driving the elbows and holding for a 1 second contraction
Traps: 4 sets of 10 upright rows with the cambered bar
Cardio: 20 minutes elliptical

[Cronos1247]

Today: Chest Day
Incline DB Presses: Feeder sets and then 90sx8, 100x8, x110sx8, 120x8
Incline Hammer Press: 2 Plates x 10, 3 Plates x 10 with 10 partials at the end (3 more sets like this)
Flat dumbbell presses: 4 sets of 10
Pec Dec: 3 sets of 15 with a 15 second iso hold on the last set
Stretch push ups (feet elevated on a box and using step ups for added height): 2 sets to failure

[Cronos1247]

Finally took some time off from the gym and have been back in there getting at it! I was suggested taking off two weeks, I made it three days...but feeling better already. This isn't the first workout since I've been back, but honestly I don't think anyone really cares too much to read a log that's just workouts and numbers. That being said, quick recap of this mornings leg session...

Box squats, sets of 5 for working sets. 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 275 x 8-- drop to 225 x 10 --drop to 185 x 15.
Hack squats: 1 plate each side x 10 super set with 10 reps on leg extension. 1.5 plates per side x 10 super set with 20 reps on leg extension. 1.5 plates per side x 30 super set with 50 reps on leg extension.
Goblet squats: sets of 8 with a 3 second eccentric. 70s, 90s, 100s, 100s, 100s
Laying leg curl: 4 sets of 10 strict sets. 2 more sets with 10 partials and an iso hold to failure.
Cardio: 25 minutes on the elliptical.

First leg day in about a week so it wasn't as productive as I expected it to be, but I definitely stimulated some fibers here. Walking out was a challenge.

I've contacted John and am running a program from him following some % progression, more geared toward numbers with some auxiliary work added in for hypertrophy purposes. I would compare it pretty similar to Laynes Nortons PHAT routine, but a little more intense with some added banded work, grip4orce, etc. All in all, excited to get some strength up and some weight up for a better showing next year.