"Mass"terpiece One Lego At A Time.

[TheNaturalOak]

Bad News
Even though in the morrning I had a great leg workout without my back hurting.... throughout the day it got progressivly sore. At around 8pm I was helping my dad move some bricks from the truck bed to all the sudden my back kind of gave out

It hurt pretty bad but I tried to help still until my dad yelled at me lol, wen i got inside I realized how bad I was hurt and went striaght to bed. It hurt to even lay down, and almost impossible to switch from front/back or even think about getting up. after 10hours of laying in bed I strapped on my old weightlifting belt and could get up and walk around fine. Last night I figurede I wouldnt make it to the gym for a week but I felt so great this morning I was able to geo and get a nice bench session in and a few curling sets. But I am laying off the leg/back workouts for now, atleat the heavy loaded ones.

Todays bench
7x5 w/ 195lbs .. 7th set got 195x12 (felt great)

I wil be going to work tomorrow but I'll wear my back brace too.

[TheNaturalOak]

Good news... 4th page = pictures!!

Taken this sat / 3wks post comp.

[adamrochester]

lookin swole brother

no good about the back have you thought about seeing a chiro ?

i have had budging disc ect sounds like the pain i was in :|

imo ice it 3-4x a day for 20 mins each time take some ibuprofen as well

[ErickStevens]

If you're doing Smolov Jr., why are you max repping your last set? It's not 5/3/1. Just follow the program!

[red_cat]

No good on the back pain, bud. I'm quite familiar with that feeling. Hopefully it will keep improving for ya!!

[TheNaturalOak]

If you're doing Smolov Jr., why are you max repping your last set? It's not 5/3/1. Just follow the program!

yea yea yea :P I just feel like im "under working" by only doing bench and no other chest exercises.

Im used to demolishing my muscles

besides, I havnt yet been TOO sore to complete the following bench cycle & I only have 2 more bench days left

[ErickStevens]

A wise and very large man once said it best: Stimulate, don't annihilate.

[TheNaturalOak]

A wise and very large man once said it best: Stimulate, don't annihilate.

touche

Today I weighed in 178lbs... yesterdays diet was a little off because I had a lunch meating with my jobs owner.
I still got a chicken sandwhich & a side of fries w/ diet pepsi, but I think it was covered in olive oil lol

Bout to hit the gym, Planning on doing 8x4x205lbs for bench & then MAYBE some walking db lunges & a **** ton of leg extensions for quads + some stationary biking or something, will check back later 2day though.


J/W
Why does the "IIFYM Crew" (Sorry for the label guys) rant & rave poptarts? They really dont fit macros that great 210cals / 36carbs / 6fats / 3pro ..... for 1 pastry ???

[areya2005]

J/W
Why does the "IIFYM Crew" (Sorry for the label guys) rant & rave poptarts? They really dont fit macros that great 210cals / 36carbs / 6fats / 3pro ..... for 1 pastry ???

Because they're delicious :-) I have about seven different flavors in my pantry right now. Sure they're calorie dense, but oh well. IIFYM is being able to eat what you want without the limitations of boring, bland diet. I know I've used pop-tarts for my post workout snacks :-)

[TheNaturalOak]

Because they're delicious :-) I have about seven different flavors in my pantry right now. Sure they're calorie dense, but oh well. IIFYM is being able to eat what you want without the limitations of boring, bland diet. I know I've used pop-tarts for my post workout snacks :-)

You even use them?! With how low ur calorie are I would assumed you picked the most dense foods to help fill you up.

Idk, it was good I have chocolate chip but I think I would of rather ahd my cup & a half of fruit loop marsh mellows.

[red_cat]

A wise and very large man once said it best: Stimulate, don't annihilate.

That attitude is NOT how you win an Olympia...oh wait.

J/W
Why does the "IIFYM Crew" (Sorry for the label guys) rant & rave poptarts? They really dont fit macros that great 210cals / 36carbs / 6fats / 3pro ..... for 1 pastry ???

I'd hardly call myself part of that crew, but I just really like pop tarts. When you've got somewhere around 4,000 calories to fill up, adding junk is almost necessary.

[ErickStevens]

Re: Pop Tarts. *I agree. *Not enough bang for my caloric buck. *That's why I prefer cereal!

[bballbrett5]

poptarts aren't even very tasty. i'm with ^^^, would much rather have cereal

[TheNaturalOak]

Alright glad we came to a consensus ... cereal > poptarts Was pressed for time so I had to get a quick workout in but still was a good one.

Bench: did my 7x4x205 and the 8th set I maxed out at 10reps!!! (Sorry Erick )

I will be jumping it up by 20lbs instead of 15 for this last bench session on saturday. I will be attempting 10x3x225lbs For quads today I did a **** ton of leg extensions, I even tried a "1 to 10" where basically you do 10 drop sets... you do for 1 rep then lighten the weight, 2 reps, lighten 3rd, light 4reps etc until you hit 10reps... killer on the leg ext.!!! Then did 2 sets of walking db lunges and 5min on the stationary bike.

[red_cat]

So what does your split look like right now with the Smolov Jr. thrown in?

[TheNaturalOak]

Basically its
Mon: bench/quads
Tue: Bench/pull
Wed Off
Thur: Bench/hyper quads
Fri: Hyper Pull
Sat: just bench

This will be the last week but then im going back to PHAT

[XClassic10]

nice pics man. looking good for your weight

[TheNaturalOak]

Thanks Classic!! Looking good over in ur log too.

Update
175lbs @ 1month post competitio
Just got done with final bench session!! 9sets of 3reps wth 225lbs!! 10th set 225x5 I was stoked, althought its far from impressive, I doubt I would of completed that session at 200lbs when I was my strongest!!
Feelsgoodman.jpg

[Reid456]

Hey Oak! Keep the updates coming! I would appreciate it if you would subscribe to my log I just started. I could use your advice as someone who just competed in their first (and second) competition.

[TheNaturalOak]

Thanks Reid, and dont worry, I will be following ur log!

Alright well I've been hitting my macros with like 75% accuracy. Its pretty safe to say I blew the "reverse" and have put on a decent amount of fat. But hey, better luck next time. I am still planning on hitting set macros as accurate as possible, I didnt up my macros last week because the fact I was going over on them on a couple days. Not binging but just not logging everything.
I'll start tomorrow with 55/250/200. I'm also going to include a bit more cardio like 20MIN MISS 2-3x a week.

Lower back is feeling MUCH MUCH better. I have heavy legs tomrw but I still dont think im going to back squat. Maybe some slow neg front squats on smith, some hvy db lunges & then leg ext.

Since I finished smolov, I'll be switching to a PHAT type routine, focusing on BB bench on hvy chest day. & then really going deep with hypertrophy on the other day & also stretching.

[Reid456]

Thanks Reid, and dont worry, I will be following ur log!

Alright well I've been hitting my macros with like 75% accuracy. Its pretty safe to say I blew the "reverse" and have put on a decent amount of fat. But hey, better luck next time. I am still planning on hitting set macros as accurate as possible, I didnt up my macros last week because the fact I was going over on them on a couple days. Not binging but just not logging everything.
I'll start tomorrow with 55/250/200. I'm also going to include a bit more cardio like 20MIN MISS 2-3x a week.

Lower back is feeling MUCH MUCH better. I have heavy legs tomrw but I still dont think im going to back squat. Maybe some slow neg front squats on smith, some hvy db lunges & then leg ext.

Since I finished smolov, I'll be switching to a PHAT type routine, focusing on BB bench on hvy chest day. & then really going deep with hypertrophy on the other day & also stretching.

Ahh good to hear. I'm training PHAT too. I'm interested to see how it goes for you. I'm so used to a lower volume training style that I think it will take a little time to get adjusted to.

[TheNaturalOak]

Morning Weight: 183lbs Had few too many pizzas for dinner sunday night

Training: Had a decent leg day this morning, used 70lb db's for walking lunges

Diet: Goal Macros: 2295cals 55/250/200 ... Macros Hit: 2235cals 55/245/190

Status: Feeling good, I think my lower back problem has a lot to do with hip flexability. I used the smith machine with 45's on the side & did 3x10 SLLOOOOWW reps focusing on depth/stretching.

[areya2005]

You even use them?! With how low ur calorie are I would assumed you picked the most dense foods to help fill you up.

Idk, it was good I have chocolate chip but I think I would of rather ahd my cup & a half of fruit loop marsh mellows.

You better believe it! For me, I'm not 100% IIFYM, but I believe if you can balance it out with clean foods, it's no problem whatsoever. So if I see something I want, I'd rather have it than have to think about it for so long and mentally crucify myself. Plus, it does fit my macros, so no harm done :-)

[areya2005]

Morning Weight: 183lbs Had few too many pizzas for dinner sunday night

Training: Had a decent leg day this morning, used 70lb db's for walking lunges

Diet: Goal Macros: 2295cals 55/250/200 ... Macros Hit: 2235cals 55/245/190

Status: Feeling good, I think my lower back problem has a lot to do with hip flexability. I used the smith machine with 45's on the side & did 3x10 SLLOOOOWW reps focusing on depth/stretching.

Something else to touch on is sodium. I'm not sure how clean you were eating while prepping, but if you were eating very clean, you were likely taking in little sodium. I'm sure your sodium increases are causing you to retain more water than usual, even if you are hitting your macros.*

[juliacheh]

Wow, you look great and so much better than me. I am fat as fuk LOL. BRB redheaded version of Jamie Koeppe. Got a ton of compliments though Please update more. I am only reading like 5 logs now, and yours is one of them. And for mepersonally poptarts>cereal

[TheNaturalOak]

Wow, you look great and so much better than me. I am fat as fuk LOL. BRB redheaded version of Jamie Koeppe. Got a ton of compliments though Please update more. I am only reading like 5 logs now, and yours is one of them. And for mepersonally poptarts>cereal

HEYYY.... yea im sure u look fine!

Funny about the ocmpliments, I ran into a guy I havnt seen since PRE PREP (when I was 200lbs) & he's like damn dude your super lean!,, I lol'd & told him im 20lbs HEAVIER.

Update: Morning weight 179lbs

To sum it up "Rainy Day" Had the day off from work, caught up on some sleep, eventually hit the gym.

DB rows 3x10x90lbs felt pretty good, & also did 4x7x90lbs straight bar curls

[Philip81193]

I dunno what happened, you and I were hitting the same macros for the longest time, then all of the sudden you were gaining weight and mine was dropping! Now you're eating like 55/250/200 and I'm at 75/350/200 and I'm still not gaining, it's a crazy world my friend.

[TheNaturalOak]

I dunno what happened, you and I were hitting the same macros for the longest time, then all of the sudden you were gaining weight and mine was dropping! Now you're eating like 55/250/200 and I'm at 75/350/200 and I'm still not gaining, it's a crazy world my friend.

Haha that it is!! Again, I cant have my macros set too high yet because I wasnt hitting them 100% of the time & weight was still fluctuating.

Alright guys, I found this picture today.. Just started lifting at home with a few old db's
October 2007

[NattyFLEX]

You were looking huuuge bro

Inspirational change, I hope i can make those sort of gains soon.

70lb Dumbell Lunges?? Ouch! You okay? LOL

[TheNaturalOak]

You were looking huuuge bro

Inspirational change, I hope i can make those sort of gains soon.

70lb Dumbell Lunges?? Ouch! You okay? LOL

Thanks

and "soon" is the word you should throw out the window. That pic is from the start & also 3 years of consistent lifting, and thats the key! Time under pressure, I have slowly built my body bigger & will continue to do so because im not going to stop!

Keep learning & keep working & you'll be in the direction of success.

70's werent bad tbh