The Scale is not our friend.

How many times has someone told you dont use the scale to monitor your progress - use the mirror!!?!? I dont have fingers and toes to count how many times i heard that one; however, it's times like now that i remind me why i use the my eyes as well as others i trust to crtique my progress.

On my plan, i have the distinct pleasure (Yeah... right.. LOL) and prvilege of monitoring my weight on a daily basis. Is that what i prefer to do? No, but i do what my coach tells me to do. Over the last 3 weeks my goal was to shed a few lbs and shock the body so that i incrase my Lean Body Mass with little to no fat gain. Additionally,  when i increase calories after the process it utilizes them that much better. Even though i had people say i'm looking leaner and harder, i still didn't know what to believe because the scale didn't reflect what other people saw. I can speak for any of my TG competitors that for those ( probably all of us) that questioned his daily monitoring system; he simply replied, "You have to look at the big picture."

Previously i was doing 3000ish calories with 60 (20x3) minutes of cardio per week. At the start of the mini cut my calories were around 2600-2700 depending on the day with 140 minutes of cardio per week(20x7).
Here is my measurements for the last 14 days as i see it.

     Sat                                                                                                  Sun

221.4	222.4	220.8	220.8	224.2	221.0	223.0
219.4	220.6	221.6	221.6	220.8	219.0	218.6
218.4

Here is my measurements for the last 14 days as John and Leslie see it.

     Sat

221.4

219.4

218.4

Dont let the scale mess with your head.  Dont try to fix what aint broken. Do the work and the results will come. If your just starting out with a new diet or exercise program dont give up if you dont lose 10lbs in 10 days. Those ads they put out there are so ridicoulous it makes me sick just looking at them. If you must use a scale for sanity reasons then monitor your weight every 2-4 weeks. If your on point i guarantee you some one else will notice before you do - and trust me those compliments just what you need to get one step closer to your goal.

I'm going to add one more week to my mini-cut and then it's on like DONKEY KONG baby!!! Gimme back my calories, John!! Grrrrr....

CRACK IS WHACK!!!

For those that don't know. I definitely enjoy a good caffeinated  beverage. Not so much for the caffeine, but for the fact that is taste good....seriously. (IE: coffee, monster zero, pre-workout powders). So i got to the point were i was drinking 20-28oz of coffee a day + 1-2 energy drinks and double scoop in my pre-workout powders. Yeah - it's that bad.

A few months back i got so bad that i started Mixing different pre-workout powders just to see if i can find something that taste good. After a while i would find myself not falling asleep until 1-2 in the morning.

As of last Monday, i cut all coffee/energy drinks out and went from 2 scoops of pre-workout powder to .75-1 scoop. Bringing it down gradually IMO is the best way to go vs going cold turkey. I have heard some of the horror stories with my friends and ongoing headaches for days on end. Fortunately i had some better luck. It definitely took a little more time after i woke up to be at 100% but i didn't have any headaches.

After my experience this week i thought would share my experience as i seen many people thinking more is better but it just isnt' the case. People think more is better because they been taking a product for so long that their body as adapted to it and need more of the product to generate some type of effect. If you notice that certain stimulant-based products are not as effective, I strongly recommend taking a week at 1/2 serving and even an additional week with no caffeine at all if you can last that long ;).  4 weeks ago i tried going cold turkey... YEAH... that didn't work - after 2 days i had to get an energy drink!!

Ultimately - i think the reduced caloric intake + the caffeine drop what was did it for me but I'm still truckin.

1.5 more weeks left on the mini-cut and then I'm back at 100% with my off season prep: Operation Upper-Body Growth.


P.S. I am just about finished with the mini-biography! It definitely is taking longer than expected but i think it's a good thing. The more i think about what has happened over the years i continue to remember key elements and up re-editing the document. I hope you guys enjoy it!



A Combination of Nutrition, Weight Training and Cardiovascular exercise for Rapid Results!!

If I could pick one main question that gets asked the most( besides how much I bench….Sigh..) is this:

“I’m want to get lose weight AND get in shape. What can I do to get the results I want the fastest??”

I tell them a combination of nutrition, weight training and cardiovascular exercise is the way to go. A few weeks will go by without any progress and then they will ask me if I can write them a program because they are not getting any results. Of course, Ill ask them what are they currently doing and they will say they are doing only 1-2 of the 3 things I mentioned.

 Weight training is important because it builds muscle which increases your resting metabolic rate. The more muscle you have – the faster your resting metabolic rate is. The faster the metabolic rate, the more calories are burned and the easier it is to stay relatively lean. This is especially important for women as I see more women than men focused on excessive amounts of cardio, no weight training and little to no calories. If you don’t add weight training to your regimen, you will not achieve the lean/tone look that you are striving for. Anyone can lose weight, but if you’re looking to lose exclusively bodyfat when following an exercise program then weight training is an essential component for getting great results. Don’t worry, you won’t gain 50lbs of muscle instantly and lose your femininity – you don’t have the testosterone levels to do so.

 Nutrition is the number one reason why most people fail at achieving their goals in my opinion. They feel that if they exercise and do cardio they can eat whatever they want and not gain weight. Obviously, this is not the case. If you follow some basic nutritional guidelines then there is no way of knowing how much you should be eating, but more importantly, how many calories are you actually eating. It seems like all men think that when they are trying to put on size they need to take in 5000 calories. In addition, it seems like all women think they need to follow a 1200 calorie diet and basically starve themselves. Again, this is not the case. Whether you’re trying to gain muscle or lose fat – your ultimate goal nutritionally should be to create a structured meal plan comprised of lean proteins, complex carbohydrates, and unsaturated fats. Structured meal plans allow you to eat more frequently throughout the day as opposed to 1-2 times a day. Eating more frequently will keep that metabolism active.

 Cardiovascular exercise is a great tool for losing pounds and controlling body fat levels. The biggest issue I see with people adding cardio to their regimen is doing too much of a high-intensity cardio right off the bat. Most would be surprised that they can get great results sticking to 60-120 minutes a week of low-to-moderate intensity cardio. If the cardio is too intense and you’re not following a proper nutritional plan, you will be more prone to lose muscle mass along with body fat. A loss of muscle mass decreases your metabolic rate which makes it difficult to lose bodyfat when reducing your caloric intake. In other words, you cut back on calories but fail to look leaner. I don’t have enough fingers and toes to count how many people I know fall into this category. Unless you’re extremely obese – your ultimate goal should be LOOK leaner in addition to actually being leaner. It creates a positive atmosphere that influences others around you to want to change their lifestyle as well!

 Last but not least – supplementation. Here’s another one of those top 3 questions people ask me when they see me at the gym. What do you take for bulking/cutting? And then they hear the list and have the puzzled look when I didn’t follow with a laundry list of performance-enchancing drugs and fat burners. NEWS FLASH!!! Supplementation is what it is – to SUPPLEMENT your nutrition and training. Sure, there are probably some fat burners out there that work – but if you closely at those labels and testimonies they all say “Use in conjunction with a proper diet and exercise to achieve maximum results. I admit – I fell into this trend many years back in the early days as I was looking for any quick fix to lose a few lbs, but not anymore. There’s only one pill that’s worth taking – it’s called DISCIPLINE. Try it once and I promise you will never need another supplement again.

BB: Training/Nutrition Update

I am currently sitting at 222lbs at 8% body fat. I am very happy with my progress thus far coming off my last show. My coach had me utilize a reverse dieting protocol that allowed me to gain about 9lbs in 9 weeks with little to no fat gain. Truthfully, we were both a bit disappointed that we did not get the opportunity to eat into the show as we now see the results would have been amazing. For those that are not familar of reverse dieting it is a protocol competitors use post-show to add muscle with minimal to no fat-gain. I believed the original version/concept was introduced by Dr. Layne Norton in an MD article back in 2010 and has become the new fad for some of the bodybuilders that take their offseason seriously. Most competitors will cut calories and/or increase cardio as they get closer to a show so the goal is to do the complete opposite - GRADUALLY increase calories while decreasing cardio after the show to put on Lean Body Mass. The process is done slow and steady to avoid fat gain. If i had to guess i think my first 5-10lbs increase after the show was mainly stored glycogen in the muscle but i definitely saw a change in a few bodyparts after the first few months - especially the back.

I still remember hearing some of the horror stories with competitors gaining 15-30lbs in a matter of days following a show. I know for my first 3 shows i didn't follow any true off season plan, continued drinking/eating the world and definitely through  away a good years worth of dieting after 4-6 months.

My recommendation for you up and coming competitors would be to have some type of plan following the show. This will prevent unwanted fat gain and make the next show easier to diet for. Take it from me: i spent over 11 months dieting for 2 shows in 2005 and 2009; it is not fun at all.

Training:

I structure my training to build a better overall package for my bodybuilding shows. The first step into creating a  training program for a person aspiring to be a bodybuilder is to look at yourself subjectively and admitting your weakpoints.  I am a bottom heavy bodybuilder with decent muscle bellies but my big legs and wide waist overshadow my overall symmetry. With that being said my current goals are thicker/fuller chest, wider back, rounder delts. In addition to these goals i would like to incorporate direct forearm training and would like to have a little bit more density to complete my arms because i grew up watching popeye and chicks dig dudes with big forearms - just sayin :).

I created of variation of Layne Norton's PHAT Training with the help off my coach John Gorman and my good friend/owner of Ahlstrom Fitness Counseling - Brian Ahlstrom.

Here is a brief sketch of the program:

M- Upper Power- Back/Chest/Shoulders/LISS Cardio   - Rest/Pause Technique
Tu- Lower Hyper- Quads/Hams/Glutes/Calves   (every 14 days)
W- LISS cardio/ABS
Th- Back/Forearms                                                 - High Volume
Fri- Chest/LISS Cardio                                           - High Volume
Sat- Shoulders                                                         - High Volume
Sun- LISS Cardio

The goal is to do this regimen for 6-8 weeks depending on recovery the follow with a deload week.


Nutrition:

I am currently taking in ~3100 calories at a ratio of:

300g Protein
80g   Fat
300g Carbs

Once every 2 weeks I have a cheat meal with my fiancee` and have been utilizing cheat meals for the last 3 months following my reverse dieting. So far so good!! No issues with unwanted fat gain - still maintaining 8% bodyfat!!

Next week i will be starting a 3 week mini-cut followed by a 12 week offseason plan. Again, the goal is to make sure I increase my LBM without adding too much Fat.

The more difficulties one has to encounter, within and without, the more significant and the higher in inspiration his life will be.
                                                    -Horace Bushnell



OH EM GEE: My First POST!!!

Hey everyone!! Welcome to my new blogspot page! If there is one thing I have learned over my 11 year journey into this lifestyle is the value of Paying it forward. Words cannot describe the motivation and support my family and friends have given me over the years to be where I am today. My Goal is to keep you updated on my training and nutrition as i get ready for the 2013 season as a Drug-Free Professional Bodybuilder, but more importantly keep people updated with new and exciting health trends/tips that I feel are valuable into pursuing a healthier lifestyle. Hopefully you guys enjoy this information and be able to share it with your friends and family as well. In addition, I will also be using this page to share a small summary of my journey from a 331lb weightlifter to a 202lb Professional Bodybuilder. I hope that my journey will inspire you all to push yourself to the next level -whether it be trying to lose those last 10-20lbs or maybe even just creating a new environment to suit your healthy lifestyle. Thanks again and never hesitate to ask a question. If I can't answer it, I will definitely find someone who can.

The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.
                                                                                                                - Vince Lombardi