Controlled Labs MarkAnthony "LiGymRatt" Quest to perfection in 08

[liGymRatt]

**Controlled Labs MarkAnthony "LiGymRatt" Quest to perfection in 08**

Welcome all to my New Journal of the 2008 Season!
For all who have followed me before you know what to expect out of whats to come.

To everyone who doesn?t know me lets start of with a tiny introduction of who I am and what to anticipate with this journal.
At 5'5 Going on 50yrs, My father created this addiction.... couldn't of asked for a better "hand me down".
Bodybuilding is a sport in a world of its own... There?s nothing out there that could give you the same "High" you get when you smell the air of a gym.....
Bodybuilding in its self is motivating.. I do this for me and No one else.
I can say that have stayed 100% Natural, pushing my self day in and day out... From my eating to my training..
As of April 07 I was picked up by a wonderful sports supplement company, CONTROLLED LABS, a true blessing. Having the support by such a company puts you in a different mind set, a new world. I hope to continue with Controlled Labs and the products, launching my physic into the next stage. Thanks Controlled Labs, you truly have influenced this young Bodybuilder.

This will be my Fifth show. I have competed with the WNSO, INBF and NPC, all wonderful industries. 2008 NPC Long Island Championships is the show I am shooting for this year, coming in at Middleweight 174lbs. This was a weight class I missed by 1lb last year and will not allow myself to miss again. I am starting my preparation one month earlier and 5lbs lighter then last year, so I have no intentions of coming into this show but better then last year. Let me mention I have used nothing but controlled labs products this off season to get me to where I am now, lighter, tighter, stronger and bigger then ever before. For all may stats and pics check out my bodyspace page.

Supplements taking me to the show:
2:30am- Purple Wraath
3:00am- Meal 1
4:30am- Blue Up
4:45am-White Flood
5:00am-gym
6:00am- protein/CHO shake/Creatine
7:00am- Meal 2/ multi-vit, Cal/Mag
10:00am- Meal 3
12:00am- White Flood
1:00pm- Meal 4
3:00pm- Purple Wraath
4:00pm- Meal 5/ B-100
6:00 pm- White Blood
7:00pm-Meal 6- bed

Below you will find attached my Meal Plan. This will change every week or two depending on my weight. I plan to reduce the calories 5% and increase my cardio 30min every week when there is no change in the scale. I also have attached my previous meal plan from the week prier.

My training is like no other. People say there intense when they train, but you have no idea and can?t imagine the sweet and guts I put into every workout. Generally, I train for 1hr doing three or more exercises with 4sets per body part on most days. The training schedule will be changing next week do to my work schedule and will be remaining this way till the show. My cardio will be increasing as I get closer to the show, climbing its way up to two hr or more split in a day.

Workouts:
Monday-off
Tuesday- Back
Wednesday- Cardio
Thursday- Arms
Friday- Cardio
Saturday- Legs
Sunday- Chest and Shoulders

I will be posting the exercises, weight, sets and reps I do everyday. The first post of the day will include what I Plan to be doing and the second post will be what I did. Don?t miss a day of this journal cause in one day a lot can change. Pics and video will also be posted periodically. Nothing I do is written in stone and I tend to change my way of doing things a lot. The only thing that doesn?t change is the amount of effort I put into my workouts, 150% everyday, no matter if I am doing cardio or legs, I push my self till failure every set and every rep. If I say I am going for 8reps or 20reps, I have a weight on that bar that will take me to that number of reps and no more!

So lets get this journal started. Please ask any questions and responses are encouraged from everyone.

Its Back Day BABY!

Sets/reps
Cable rows: 4/8-10
Wide grip pulldowns: 4/6 w/ dropset 4/15
Underhand Barbell rows: 4/6-8
Hammer strength one arm rows: 4/8-10
Straight arm cable pushdowns: 4/10 superset w/ barbell shrugs: 4/8
Incline dumbbell shrugs: 4/8

The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow!

[pu12en12g]

The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow!

Awesome !

[daYDreAmErX]

Always impressed by your diet...

How much does it cost you to eat clean/that much food like that ? (if not to personal).

[Unbroken Soldier]

YEa gym rat Im dropping man. Ive lost 10 pounds as of today which marks the 10th day. And as far as strength its increasing but i believe thats muscle memory and green mag coming into play.

[liGymRatt]

As I started to type this morning I could feel this was going to be one great workout.
The idea of a Competition in sight and starting a new journal ignited a fire so deep in side me I felt my muscles filling with blood as my fingers typed.
Once I got to the gym and my earphones were in I knew right there this season is going to be mine.
It will be my best yet.

This is also my first year ever taking a Tribulus product, what better product to take then Blue Up by Controlled Labs.
I started it to day. I plan to take it 6 days on 1 day off for 4 weeks and taking 1 week off, then continuing it up again. As of right now I am following the labels directions taking 2 caps right before my workout. this will continue for the first 4 weeks, if I feel i need to bump it up to 3 caps I will be doing so after that week off.
This should be a great ride. I plan for this product to show some great results.

The workout today looked like this.
Cable rows: 90/15/2, 150/12/1, 190/10/1, 210/8/3
Wide grip pulldowns: 150/12/1, 160/10/3 w/ dropsets 90/15/4
Underhand Barbell rows: 135/10/4
Straight arm cable pushdowns: 100/10/4 superset w/ machine shrugs: 200/15/4
barbell shrugs: 235/10/4

I ended up not doing the hammer strength one arm rows due to time. But the pump I had in my back was sooo nice. I was squeezing every rep till my back felt like it was ripping out of my skin. This I have not felt in a while. I always feel I get better workouts as I drop weight. I feel every exercise so much more.

Well tomorrow is cardio!

Thank you all for jumping aboard! Its going to be a crazy ride!

[liGymRatt]

Always impressed by your diet...

How much does it cost you to eat clean/that much food like that ? (if not to personal).

its actually cheaper buying food without all the "extra" things in it. It may seem like more because you buy everything in bulk, but if you do the math you save a lot of money.

[liGymRatt]

YEa gym rat Im dropping man. Ive lost 10 pounds as of today which marks the 10th day. And as far as strength its increasing but i believe thats muscle memory and green mag coming into play.

nice kid! good to hear its working well for you! cant wait to see some progress pics.

[liGymRatt]

I paid my dues
Clocking in every day
Sacrificing time and sweet
Every day striving to improve
This is my year
The Time Is Now, This Is Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow.

I stick to 20%pro/50%CHO/30%Fat for the past two years or so, I found this worked well with me. last year in the off season I felt the fat was way to high and said I would change it this year, I did not. Now looking back I really should. My body likes CHO and runs well with them. I feel this is do to how I train. Well I am listening to my self now, if you look at my Nov plan and the Jan plan you will see I have dropped my Fat by 5% and increased my CHO. The pro will remain the same for now, but will be reduced to about 160g by the week of the comp, the ratio will still stay the same. I also will remain to keep all my meals solid, no bars no shakes but the one right after the gym.
Training will remain the same as always intense and balls to the wall. Like I said before I go to failure every set every rep no matter if its my first exercise or last. This is how I do cardo as well, I put my self on a setting high enough that when I am done I should be dead. As the comp gets closer the cardio will be come longer and longer, and the type of cardio will change due to energy levels. Right now it will be mostly the stepper and power walking, come next month it may shift to all power walking depending on how weight comes off and workouts feel.
This is my time. Right now I feel my best, the weight starts to come off, I look tighter and am still strong. As time goes by you will see a shift in my typing. The mood will change. I become very frustrated with my self, more then normal. Never really happy with my workouts or cardio. I now this happens every year and try and will deal with it.
To help with this I will be keeping in a cheat meal once a week, if I like it or not. I tend to take this out every year and kick myself in the butt for taking it out. This goes for my off day as well. I must keep this off day in othere whys my workouts suffer. A refueling week will be done some time in march, probably the week of the Arnold, placing one extra meal into my day, increasing my calories about 200-300Kcal a day. I must implement these things this year to be better, a must.
Today is cardio and abs:
Stepper: 1hr level 6
Crunchs: -/25/4
Roman chair: -/25/4



The Time Is Now, This Is Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow.

[liGymRatt]

Cardio is a wonderful thing. For some its torture, for others its mindless. Good thing for me its mindless.
It went really well. Got through 1hr on the stepper at level 6, then busted out some abs. started off with crunches, boy let me tell you I was feeling the crunches. It was like some one was stabbing me, I ended up doing 6 sets of 25reps with about 20 sec breaks. Then finished off with leg raises on the roman chair, 3 sets of 15. I know I will be feeling that tomorrow.
Tomorrow is one of my favorite days, ARM day! I already have in mind what I will be assaulting my arms with already.
Stand by for a Sick workout tomorrow!

[pereari]

i feel the stepper kicks my butt more than anything else.I wanted to ask you though,i usually do cardio after lifting, so the question is; should i have a carb/protein shake in between sessions or should i have it after im done with everything??? thanks mark.

[matt72178]

Hi Mark,
I just ordered my White Flood and Purple Wraath. I have a couple questions for you about those products.

1) How do you use the PW for best result? Or just simply take it pre and post workout?
2) Do I need to cycle the White Flood?

Thanks~

[liGymRatt]

Another day has past
Bringing me closer to my destination
Clash with destiny
Changing fate
The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow.

Turing up the heat everyday is a must. Making every workout count here on in is required, no excuses. The time my eyes open I need to be focused on the objective at hand. My back is not as sore as I like, next week I need to bring it up a notch. Deads will be the first thing I do that day.
Like I said yesterday, I am ecstatic about todays workout. Sure its another arm day, but it is official what show I am doing. This means I need to make this workout and every other one be as if it was my last. I dreamed of curls and scull crushers last night, thats just what I will be doing today. I really want to do bench dips, but will wait one more week for my shoulder to feel 100%.

Arm Assault:
Scull crushers: 4/8-10
Rope over head ext: 4/10
Pushdowns: 4/6 superset w/ Reverse cable curls: 4/12
One arm hammer preacher curls: 4/6-8
Incline dumbbell curls: 4/10
Rope for arm curls: 4/?

Thats what Im takin about. I will hit every last fiber in my arms from every direction. If there is time I may throw in 1 or 2 more exercises.

The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow.

[liGymRatt]

i feel the stepper kicks my butt more than anything else.I wanted to ask you though,i usually do cardio after lifting, so the question is; should i have a carb/protein shake in between sessions or should i have it after im done with everything??? thanks mark.

i would say after... just becuase of the fact it my make you cramp up or give you GI problems when your doing cardio... but i would not go longer then 1/2hr after weights..

[liGymRatt]

Hi Mark,
I just ordered my White Flood and Purple Wraath. I have a couple questions for you about those products.

1) How do you use the PW for best result? Or just simply take it pre and post workout?
2) Do I need to cycle the White Flood?

Thanks~

i like to take my PW upon wake and mid day some time, but thats me...
the WF you should go 8-12 weeks, come off for a week or two. thats what i have done in the past... there are studies done on building almost a tolorence with arginine, plus you may get use to the caffein aswell... but its not like a hormone if thats what your asking....
i would just go with it and feel it out.

[liGymRatt]

Can it be? There is no way, right?
It has to be in my head.

I feel as if I am tightening up fast. Weight loss yes, this happens when you drop calories. Of course this should be happening, but I don?t remember feeling this tight this fast last year. They say you tighten up faster every year, but I am telling you, if I feel like this now came April who knows what I will look like.
Now the question is this,
Is it the Blue up, White Flood or Purple Wraath that?s doing it?
Is it just the fact I have my diet down and know how my body reacts?
Or is it the combination of everything!
I would put my money on everything.
I also feel strong, great pumps and focus is ridicules.

The arm workout:

Scull crushers: 40/15/2, 60/12/1, 80/8/4
seated Rope over head ext: 70/15/1, 90/12/2, 100/10/2
Pushdowns: 150/12/1, 170/10/1, 190/6/2 superset w/ Reverse cable curls: 90/15/4
One arm hammer preacher curls: 25?s/8/4
Incline dumbbell curls: 25?s/10/4
Rope for arm curls: 5/?/3

Wish I had a cam to show the pump I had?. Hopefully some video next week some time.

[pereari]

i would say after... just becuase of the fact it my make you cramp up or give you GI problems when your doing cardio... but i would not go longer then 1/2hr after weights..

ok,thanks bro, was a little confused about this topic.

[liGymRatt]

Imagine gaining incredible muscle
Muscle without weights
A world lacking grueling workouts
Pills or injections taking you too undreamed of size
Size with no effort
This sounds like a boring world
It is the grueling, sweet, pain and dedication which drives us to continue
Of course muscle is our ultimate drive
But the Iron is what keeps us coming back
Calling and taunting me to lift one more rep

The season has officially started for me. Others are holding off one more month, praying to gain one more pound of muscle. Ahead of the game, I will triumph over all and my past self. Hell, coming in second or taking the show would be a dream, but coming in fuller, bigger, and tighter then the previous year is what I want. Taking a great placing against guys who don?t look great is not what I call a win. Coming in better then last year and just placing would be more of an accomplishment.

The only way to push forward is to push my self harder and harder. Yesterday was fantastic and today will be as well. Eating my plan is not a problem. I can always arrange my diet accordingly to fit my day, its pushing myself one step above the past workout that?s the challenge. How much more can you push if a wall is put up? You cant, Taking out dynamite an blowing the shi* out of the wall is wants needed! Taking out reinforcements to knock it down and continue your journey is the next step. This can be more mental focus and or some great supplements.

Cardio is the plan for today.
Stepper: 1hr
Leglifts: 4/25
Dumbbell side crunches: 4/15

[liGymRatt]

what a great morning it was! i felt like i could of stayed on that stepper forever! not that i would want to be on there one more min! but i did feel good.
i cant wait to start getting into the gym at 5am next week. being there at that time always me feel like i get so much more done that day...

anyway..
stepper: 1hr level 6
bench leg lifts: 25/4
dumbbell side crunches: 60/15/3
three sets were more then good for this. abs were burning like a mother.

yes i am going to train abs this season! lol i have never done abs in the past, but desided to do them durring the off season and liked it. so lets see if they do any thing. i still feel its not needed.

[pu12en12g]

I also feel strong, great pumps and focus is ridicules.

Awesome !

[Unbroken Soldier]

Im on the quest for perfection too man. I had legs yesterday. I forgot how brutal they are especially when you refuse to short change yourself

[liGymRatt]

Reaching deep
Grasping down within
Passing fate
Turning up the heat early
Confronting the Iron
Being defeated is not an option
The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow

Legs?.
What else do I need to say?.
This is the most demanding day on the body?. The day which put the most stress on every muscle, joint and emotion?.. It will break you down, there?s no doubt in that? The question is will you allow it to keep you there? Will you fight back or let it hold you there against that cold gym floor?.... I?ll fight? Throwing everything I got into getting up? Every last bit of strength, sweat, blood, emotion, and what ever else I can pullout will be fighting back!
What?s the worst thing that could happen? I cant get the rep?.. I?ll be back next time to rip it up then, never allowing it to take me without a fight.

Leg Day:
Sets/reps
Leg ext: 4/6-8
Dumbbell Lunges: 4/10 on each leg
Smith squats: 4/8-10
Standing one leg curl: 4/8
Barbell Stiff legs: 3/6 superset w/ seated leg curls: 3/12

Calves will be done on Sunday with cardio, taking off Monday. Tuesday is when the new schedule starts up, shifting my training days up one day and having Monday off instead of Sundays. This is due to school and work.


The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow

[liGymRatt]

Awesome !

PT!! Hahaha!

Just ordered Golden FinisH from Jon the other day! cant wait to throw this in my day!




The Arnold is in less then 2 months!!!!!!! LOOKOUUUTTTTTT!!!!!!

[liGymRatt]

Im on the quest for perfection too man. I had legs yesterday. I forgot how brutal they are especially when you refuse to short change yourself

THATS WHAT IM TAKIN ABOUT!!! never short change your self!! use that money for somthing important! every last penny counts! lol

[liGymRatt]

II haven’t walked out of the gym in a while. I can say, I was satisfied with the workout today. Was it my best? No. I can tell you the best is still to come, but the focus and deep muscle stretches I was getting was nutts. There is no way in hell I’ll be walking straight tomorrow, I can feel the tightness already. Now that puts a smile on my face.


Leg ext: 50/15/2, 150/12/1, 210/6/4
Dumbbell Lunges: 25’s/12/4 – alternant leg, 12 on each
Smith squats: 225/12/3, 315/3/1
Standing one leg curl: 45’s/10/4
Barbell Stiff legs: 225/6/3 superset w/ seated leg curls: 90/12/3

Tomorrow is chest and shoulders will see how it goes, shoulder is feeling good. Going to go in 10min early and really warm it up, then the pounding will begin.

[liGymRatt]

Try to keep up
Dont hesitate
Passing you up in a blink
Step up your game
This is my show
The Time Is Now, This is the Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow!

The achy-ness is upon me, lovin it. My legs are shot, and they have every reason to be, yesterdays workout was intense. Now its time to hit the upper body hard, doing chest and shoulders. Going in early, about 10min, really going to warm up my shoulder. Its feeling good today, don’t want to aggravate it. Going to stick to mostly dumbbells with shoulders, this will give me more free motion taking the pressure off little. Ether way, its going to be nutts, intense and heavy ass weight.

New product has come in the mail, Golden Finish By Controlled Labs.
What to expect? Well what it is a Carb/Pro, amino infused Powder, I normally do take a shake after the gym so the results should not be that drastic. But the difference here is that Golden Finish is made with Hydro Whey compared to isolate that I normally would take, plus the extra aminos. Having these two components in the supplement should help in a faster muscle glycogen up take, enhancing recovery time, putting muscle loss to a stop. This is critical now that I have started to reduce my calories. Gaining muscle at this point probably will not happen, but maintaining as much muscle as possible is the key to coming in to the show big and tight, Golden Finish will help in do just this. If this was a couple of months back when my calories were high, then Golden Finish would surly be putting some great gains in muscle and strength on me. This is going to be a supplement that is and will be a staple in my diet year round. Who knows though, the combination of White Flood, Purple Wraath, Blue up, White Blood and now Golden Finish I may make some serous gains why’ll dieting! Only time will tell.

Let’s focus on the goal at hand, pounding the crap out of my chest and shoulders. Its time to turn up the heat another notch, destroying my upper body. In order to maintain muscle you must keep your strength up as much as possible, so continuing to go heavy is a must. Through out this preparation for the show you will notice the amount of weight I use will only start to drop only a little due to the shear fact cant lift it, but this will be a minimum amount.
The workout:

Sets/reps
Incline dumbbell press: 4/10
Incline barbell press: 3/8 superset w/ knelling high cable flys: 3/12
Flat bench dumbbell flys: 3/8 superset w/ decline dumbbell press: 3/12
Rear dumbbell flys: 4/10
Front/side dumbbell raises: 4/12
Seated Dumbbell shoulder press: 4/10

That should do it. Lets get to it.

The Time Is Now, This is the Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow!

[liGymRatt]

One great pump!
My pump lasted all the way till my last shoulder exercise. Most the time I feel it disappearing mid workout do to the fact I am depleted, but not today. I was movin pretty fast today too. It was definitely a good workout.
My shoulder did start to pinch on dumbbell shoulder press. So I just took it slow and went till I hurt, then took a rest. Didn’t get the reps I wanted but finished the sets.

Incline dumbbell press: 40’s/15/2, 60’s/10/1, 80’s/8/3, 100’s/3/1
Incline barbell press: 185/8/3 superset w/ incline dumbbell flys: 25’s/15/3
Flat bench dumbbell flys: 30’s/10/3 superset w/ decline dumbbell press: 50’s/10/3
Rear dumbbell flys: 15’s/15/1, 20’s/10/3
Front/side dumbbell raises: 15’s/12/4
Seated Dumbbell shoulder press: 35’s/6/4

My boy is putting a website together for me! not sure how it will look, but there will be a lot of things on there. Things from youtube videos, shirts, upcoming shows, supplements, training, diet, personal training and nutrition consulting. As well as things I will only be posting on there. Will let you all know when its done, hopefully soon.

Tomorrow is Weight IN! Yeah! Lets see where I’m at. I know I def tightened up, but not sure if I dropped weight. Will see tomorrow.

[pu12en12g]

My boy is putting a website together for me! not sure how it will look, but there will be a lot of things on there. Things from youtube videos, shirts, upcoming shows, supplements, training, diet, personal training and nutrition consulting. As well as things I will only be posting on there. Will let you all know when its done, hopefully soon.

Awesome, is he hosting the site for you as well ?

[liGymRatt]

Saturated in sweat
Unable to catch your breath
Muscles twitching
Gulping at your water
One day down
I can taste victory
The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow.

Well to my surprise I have not lost a pound, but gained a pound. Yes this happens, not all the time but some times. I was 193lb last week, cut my calories by more then 5% and added 30min of cardio. I have also went down on a belt hole, waist is smaller. The only thing now to do is throw in the towel……….
No Just kidding! Lol….. “In order to see Change, you must make a Change” Remember that!
Tuesday I will post my new meal plan. There will be a decrease of 5% in calories and I will also be adding in another 30min of cardio to my week. The ratio will remain at 20%Pro/55%Cho/15%Fat. The Cardio will be added to Sunday after noon 30min before my 5th meal, which will be a power walk outside. Weigh in will be on Mondays for now on.
I will still be having my cheat meal today. The meal will ether consist of 6 pieces of sushi, yellow tail, on rice with a large salad or my moms cooking. If she is making spaghetti and meatballs there is no way I can pass that up on a cheat meal. In that case will have 1 cup macaroni and 3-4 meat balls depending on how big they are. Trying to keep the meat about 4oz as a serving.

My chest and shoulders are sore. I thought my shoulder was going to be very tight today but it actually feels ok, no pain.

Thank you everyone for all the emails! If I haven’t responded yet I apologize, I cant keep up. And for the people who ask me about the “gear”, I don’t take it, never took it and don’t know enough about it to give you advice. I don’t know if I should take the “gear” questions as an insult or compliment….. Anyway,

Today is cardio baby, the stepper is calling my name kid!
Plan:
Stepper: 1hr level 6
Side crunches: 4/25
Decline weighted sit-ups: 4/25

The Time Is Now, This Is The Day That Counts, Its Time To Grow.

[liGymRatt]

Awesome, is he hosting the site for you as well ?

?... hosting meaning controlling it and posting on it him self? ... i will be writing on there and desiding what to keep or what not to keep but he is the one who will be making the changes with the things i send him...
is it ok to have a link to Controlled Labs Web Site on there?

[liGymRatt]

As I was doing cardio I started to really think about the weight gain this past week and what is going on in my body. what I came up with is that the nutrients I am consuming, fat pro cho, are getting utilized optimally by my muscles. The controlled labs products I feel are playing a large part in this. This weight gain is certainly not fat, it cant possibly be, I have reduced my calories and increased my cardio. The muscles are holding and retaining more glycogen, providing more fuel for them selves. In turn this will allow me to train harder, heavier, and more efficiently.

Anyway, cardio went real well.
Stepper: 1hr level 6
Side crunches: -/15 on each side/4
Decline situps: 25/15/4

Tomorrow is an off day, Hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend!