adamjohn32's 2012 Contest Prep Journal

[NaturalPursuit]

utterly TREMENDOUS job! You really had a great season! I'm very excited to follow more during your offseason!

[myo15801]

Glad you found a job man! Things are definately falling into place!

[jpfaherty]

2012 NGA American Natural Championships (Part 1)

Friday

That pic is MONEY. You were on point bud!

GREAT job this season.

[fltallpaul]

That pic is MONEY. You were on point bud!

GREAT job this season.

I love this picture...you have Dream Tanned bodybuilder and on the desk is a food scale, Walden Farms and the pale face caps it off!

[adamjohn32]

November 15, 2012

Training

Juggernaut 8's Wave/Week 1/OHP & Cardio

working sets only

OHP
90x8 (5 sets)

Bent Over BB Row
225x4 @ 9, 215x4 @ 8.5, 215x4 @ 8.5, 215x4 @9

Flat DB Press
90x4 @ 9, 85x4 @ 8.5, 85x4 @ 9

Close Grip Lat Pulldown
160x15 @ 8.5, 160x12 @ 8.5, 160x10 @ 9

HS MTS Tricep Extension
75x8, +4,+4,+4,+4

Precor Elliptical (level 12, incline 10)
5 minute warm-up
6 intervals @ 30 seconds all out, 3:00 easy
5 minute cool-down pedaling reverse

Weight

not sure, didn't step on scale in the AM. ~198 at before bed.

Nutrition ( P / CHO / Fat / Fiber )

251.4 / 229.3 / 50.1 / 39.5

Notes

Another long, but exciting, day. I had a job interview in St.Pete/Tampa in the AM, drove back to Orlando afterwards to my current job where I stayed late to finish up some work, then hit the gym around 8pm, finally passing out around 11 last night. However, I ended getting the job I interviewed for, finishing up what I needed at my current job, and having a pretty decent workout so even though the day was long, got everything done and stuck to my macro's pretty spot on.

I'm still a little bloated in my mid-section, which is weird b/c my arms and legs are probably the leanest / most vascular they've ever been. Go figure, at least I look pretty boss with my shirt and shorts on lol.

utterly TREMENDOUS job! You really had a great season! I'm very excited to follow more during your offseason!

Thanks Alex, hoping to get on the gain train like you man. You're definitely doing all the right things for your grow-season, I gotta take some notes

Glad you found a job man! Things are definately falling into place!

For sure, such a huge relief. Can't wait to get over to my new place permanently... Oh, and the Downtown Tampa Powerhouse is about a mile from the new pad. Can't wait to start training there.

That pic is MONEY. You were on point bud!

GREAT job this season.

Thanks JP, hoping to have a successful reverse and gains like you.

I love this picture...you have Dream Tanned bodybuilder and on the desk is a food scale, Walden Farms and the pale face caps it off!

lol, i didn't notice that stuff in the background. I bet if the laptop wasn't in sleep mode, it would have been open to bb.com haha

[robertfah]

That's great news that you got the job! Not so great that we'll be down a good friend and training partner, but I'm really happy for you finding a job over there. I know how stressful it is trying to go through all that, especially around the holidays. When is your last day at your current job? When are you out of Orlando for good?

[Frankdaddy]

Is the meet you spoke about the apa gator classic in arcadia florida?

[adamjohn32]

That's great news that you got the job! Not so great that we'll be down a good friend and training partner, but I'm really happy for you finding a job over there. I know how stressful it is trying to go through all that, especially around the holidays. When is your last day at your current job? When are you out of Orlando for good?

Thanks Bob. Didn't know you were searching for work too. Glad you found something new (right?). Hopefully you'll be in a less stressful atmosphere.

Is the meet you spoke about the apa gator classic in arcadia florida?

Not sure, I know Paul mentioned one coming up in March. It might be with the RAW United organization.

[FrmrHoss]

Free housing if you wanna come up to NC for our meet in April .

[adamjohn32]

Free housing if you wanna come up to NC for our meet in April .

hmmm, will think about this...

[robertfah]

Is the meet you spoke about the apa gator classic in arcadia florida?

No, I was talking about the Beau Moore Classic at Jackson Spring Recreational Center in Tampa. You may want to double-check the place but I'm 99% sure that's where it is.

[adamjohn32]

No, I was talking about the Beau Moore Classic at Jackson Spring Recreational Center in Tampa. You may want to double-check the place but I'm 99% sure that's where it is.

yup, that's the one I missed last year b/c I hurt my back. Man that seems like it was yesterday, but was last march

[Frankdaddy]

Too many options to choose. I am trying to find the most competitive shows + good location to stay a day or two. I am going to Miami this holiday weekend and realized if I waited another 2 weeks I couldve caught the master olympia

[fltallpaul]

Too many options to choose. I am trying to find the most competitive shows + good location to stay a day or two. I am going to Miami this holiday weekend and realized if I waited another 2 weeks I couldve caught the master olympia

Planning vacations around bodybuilding shows...true meat head! I love it.

[Emekaokammor]

Planning vacations around bodybuilding shows...true meat head! I love it.

lol

[Vanguard1965]

Great write up of the show and post show activities Adam! Congrats on the new place and now the new job as well. Lots of new things for you and soon new muscle as well I am sure.

[Reid456]

Dude awesome job! I haven't been following along this log at all and I just now realized you are the same Adam that trains with Paul so I've seen you in videos before but not connected the dots. Seriously awesome work! I know how it feels with the small class though. Both of my shows this season it was only me and another guy and the first show I crushed the guy and the next show I lost to the eventual overall winner. Oh well... all that matters is that you get up there and improve upon your previous best which it looks you did.

[adamjohn32]

November 16, 2012

Training

Juggernaut 8's Wave/Week 1/Deadlifts & Cardio

working sets only

Deadlifts
275x8 (5 sets)

Front Squats
185x4 @ 9, 175x4x2 @ 8.5, 175x4 @ 9

Speed Squats
175x3 (8 sets)

LifeFitness Calf Press
350x12, +6,+6,+6,+6

LifeFitness Leg Extension
120x15, +8,+8,+8

Precor Elliptical (level 12, incline 10)
5 minute warm-up
6 intervals @ 30 seconds all out, 3:00 easy
5 minute cool-down pedaling reverse
20 minuts stepmill

Weight

196.6

Nutrition ( P / CHO / Fat / Fiber )

252.3 / 229.9 / 50.0 / 30.9

Notes

Got a chance to meet up with Matt Stolz () and Mike Pucci (fellow Team Norton member who competed w/ me last weekend) for deadlifts at Gold's gym. I wasn't lifting any impressive numbers but Matt hit 500+, something I'm hoping to get to in a few months once my strength gets back. The rest of the workout I did solo, but it was nice hanging and chatting a bit with Matt and Mike.

I think next phase I'll start upping the weights, pushing it a bit now that my food is slowly coming up.

Too many options to choose. I am trying to find the most competitive shows + good location to stay a day or two. I am going to Miami this holiday weekend and realized if I waited another 2 weeks I couldve caught the master olympia

I hear you on the travel, I think the location is Tampa which has a ton of stuff to do. Seems like a no brainer IMO

Planning vacations around bodybuilding shows...true meat head! I love it.

so true

Great write up of the show and post show activities Adam! Congrats on the new place and now the new job as well. Lots of new things for you and soon new muscle as well I am sure.

Yup, lots of good things going on now. Hoping I can keep the momentum going in my personal life and the gym as long as possible

Dude awesome job! I haven't been following along this log at all and I just now realized you are the same Adam that trains with Paul so I've seen you in videos before but not connected the dots. Seriously awesome work! I know how it feels with the small class though. Both of my shows this season it was only me and another guy and the first show I crushed the guy and the next show I lost to the eventual overall winner. Oh well... all that matters is that you get up there and improve upon your previous best which it looks you did.

Thank man, better late than never And that's basically my approach to this sport, just continue to beat my previous self since that's really all I can control when it comes down to it.

November 17, 2012

Training

Juggernaut 8's Wave/Week 1/BB Day

working sets only

HS Incline Press (weight per side)
70x15 @ 8, 80x14 @ 8.5, 90x9 @ 8.5, 70x12 @ 8.5, 70x12 @ 9

HS Front Lat Pulldown (weight per side)
115x10 @ 9, 100x12 @ 8.5, 100x12 @ 9

DB Side Lateral Raise
20x15, 25x15, 30x12

HS Low Row (weight per side)
90x15 @ 8.5, 90x15 @ 8.5, 90x15 @ 9

Close Grip Bench SS DB Curls
135x15 / 30x15 (3 sets)

HS MTS Triceps Extension SS DB Hammer Curls
60x15 / 35x15 (3 sets)

Weight

191.7 (there's the drop I was looking for)

Nutrition ( P / CHO / Fat / Fiber )

265.5 / 249.3 / 64.9 / 34.2

Notes

Nice pump workout this afternoon. Just went from station to station with about 30-60 seconds rest between each set. Really focused on the MMC and listening to when I was getting tired regarding the RPE.

Resting tomorrow. Gonna be watching football while I prep for the final stages of my move to Tampa. Almost done and ready to start my new journey in Tampa

[adamjohn32]

November 17, 2012

Training

Off day

Weight

190.9

Nutrition ( P / CHO / Fat / Fiber )

250.5 / 351.2 / 55.6 / 42.5

Notes

Finally took a day off from the gym, spent most of the watching football and doing some packing for the last stages of my move.

Upped my food yesterday as a kind of mini-refeed in prep for my chest session later today. Was curious as to how it would effect my weight since I didn't really do much yesterday... woke up today at 190.1

[NaturalPursuit]

Thanks Alex, hoping to get on the gain train like you man. You're definitely doing all the right things for your grow-season, I gotta take some notes

Thanks a lot man! Just really enjoying lifitng!!! And I'm REALLY pumped to see so many people doing jugg! Workout from the 17th looked SOLID!

[adamjohn32]

found really the only decent stage pic from the NGA show, me and my trophy

[adamjohn32]

Second part of the NGA video Paul put together. He's getting pretty good at the video stuff

[Frankdaddy]

I like the shot of you on stage with your trophy. It may be the only one you like, but it sure is a money shot fo sho, would be worth getting printed and framed for memories with that capture. The video is great, Paul is getting much better...Really glad he filmed that so some of us can re-live the experience. I love when MTV does a bodybuilding segment, always brings good reality that most normal people could still never understand but in our minds we know why that person is doing this or doing that at certain moments. He's eating a huge bowl of sweet potatos before stage, most would think wouldnt that bloat you, but do not understand the theory behind peaking the physique to better for a small moment in time, gotta love it

[adamjohn32]

I like the shot of you on stage with your trophy. It may be the only one you like, but it sure is a money shot fo sho, would be worth getting printed and framed for memories with that capture. The video is great, Paul is getting much better...Really glad he filmed that so some of us can re-live the experience. I love when MTV does a bodybuilding segment, always brings good reality that most normal people could still never understand but in our minds we know why that person is doing this or doing that at certain moments. He's eating a huge bowl of sweet potatos before stage, most would think wouldnt that bloat you, but do not understand the theory behind peaking the physique to better for a small moment in time, gotta love it

yeah, capture those videos will be great when looking back. And I was able to get that picture off the NGA site in 1800x1200 scale, so making a good picture to frame is a good idea

[adamjohn32]

November 19, 2012

Training

Juggernaut 8's Wave/Week 2/Bench & Cardio

working sets only

Bench
145x3, 165x3, 180x8 (3 sets)

Weighted Chin-ups
+45x4 @ 9, +40x4 @ 8.5, +40x4 @ 8.5, +40x4 @ 9

DB Shoulder Press
65x4 @ 9, 60x4 @ 8.5, 60x4 @ 8.5, 60x5 @ 9

Cable Low Row
165x15 @ 8.5, 180x15 @ 8.5, 195x12 @ 9

BB Curls
105x6, +2,+2,+2,+2

Precor Elliptical (level 12, incline 10)
5 minute warm-up
6 intervals @ 30 seconds all out, 3:00 easy
5 minute cool-down pedaling reverse
20 minuts stepmill

Weight

190.1

Nutrition ( P / CHO / Fat / Fiber )

297.3 / 700.7 / 110.3 / 56.0

Notes

Great night in the gym. Pressing actually felt pretty good, and the back movements really got my lats a huge pump.

After the gym, I weighed in at 193 lbs, so I decided to experiment with a higher food intake last night. I basically kept eating foods around the house until I felt full. Mostly they were low fat ice cream, pop-tarts, toasted pepperidge farm whole wheat cinnamon bread (HNNNGGGG!). I ended the day with the macro's posted above. Woke up today still weighing in the mid 190's so we'll see how my body processes all the food. I'm gonna hit my 250/250/55 macro's today, doing my squat lifting and probably more HIIT, am curious to see how my body responds. If my weight stabilizes itself tomorrow or Thursday, I might start implementing this type of re-feed on a once a week until my calories on the other days get back to off-season levels.

[Reid456]

I think one refeed a week during a reverse is a great idea. That's I've been doing and it definitely helps to keep things sane. You could also treat it as an untracked sort of day as long as you can maintain self control and moderation.

[fltallpaul]

You have stumbled upon my method of rebounding. I am keeping my cals conservative 6 days and then blowing it out 1 day a week. It makes dieting much easier for me when I know there is a day coming up when I can have things I am craving.

[adamjohn32]

I think one refeed a week during a reverse is a great idea. That's I've been doing and it definitely helps to keep things sane. You could also treat it as an untracked sort of day as long as you can maintain self control and moderation.

Yeah, biggest thing with me is self control. After dieting and tracking things pretty much spot on since March, it just feels weird not tracking what I'm eating. I'm slowly getting there though. Coming out of a long prep is definitely harder than I thought.

You have stumbled upon my method of rebounding. I am keeping my cals conservative 6 days and then blowing it out 1 day a week. It makes dieting much easier for me when I know there is a day coming up when I can have things I am craving.

Yup, you were talking about this on our ride home from south FL. Also, after watching that video about reverse dieting out of contest prep I decided to try it out. Worst case is I put on a few lbs... which is OK since I tied my all time prep low yesterday lol.

[Reid456]

Yeah, biggest thing with me is self control. After dieting and tracking things pretty much spot on since March, it just feels weird not tracking what I'm eating. I'm slowly getting there though. Coming out of a long prep is definitely harder than I thought.

Man, you aren't kidding. It's like I can't look at food the same way again. My perspective is permanently changed it seems. I'm sure it'll get easier the further you get into the reverse and then eventually you start eating so much food that you care less and less. Also, I'm sure when the hormone levels get back to normalcy things get a bit easier. I think its still a good idea to track though, just maybe be a little less strict on weighing certain things. There's lots of way to skin a cat though, at the end of the day its whatever works for you mentally. Post-contest is probably the most vulnerable time bodybuilders go through though. What helps me is I just try and remind myself how valuable a good reverse is.

I think this videos helps put things into perspective from a metabolic standpoint. I don't agree with all of what he says but there's some good info regardless.

[adamjohn32]

Man, you aren't kidding. It's like I can't look at food the same way again. My perspective is permanently changed it seems. I'm sure it'll get easier the further you get into the reverse and then eventually you start eating so much food that you care less and less. Also, I'm sure when the hormone levels get back to normalcy things get a bit easier. I think its still a good idea to track though, just maybe be a little less strict on weighing certain things. There's lots of way to skin a cat though, at the end of the day its whatever works for you mentally. Post-contest is probably the most vulnerable time bodybuilders go through though. What helps me is I just try and remind myself how valuable a good reverse is.

yeah, i ate all ton of food last night... but still weighed and tracked every single thing lol. To me tracking things isn't that hard, I'm always honest with myself. It's just those urges, and like you said I have to keep my eye on the prize so to speak. A proper reverse will setup success for my next dieting season, even if it's 2-3 years down the road.

I think this videos helps put things into perspective from a metabolic standpoint. I don't agree with all of what he says but there's some good info regardless.

This is the video I was referring to in my comment to Paul. Great info and a pretty simple approach, basically what I'm trying to do