Today it is officially 70 weeks until the 2011 WNBF US Pro Cup where I will be making my WNBF Pro debut. As of late, I have been putting a lot of pressure on myself to really drop some of the excess weight I have put on since my vacation to San Diego. I tend to eat more and lose some self control when I am under a lot of stress. What types of stress? Well… normal everyday challenges in life and the fact I am unemployed can put some unwanted stress on you. My downfall for me and for so many people out there when under stress is junk food! Not the best thing for a natural pro bodybuilder, but I look at myself as a human being first, instead of a pro bodybuilder. I use junk food to make me feel better and after eating it, I usually beat myself up pretty bad! I usually ask myself, “Why did I eat that? It only makes you feel crappy.” I then get down on myself and the guilt starts to set in. After some time goes by I tell myself, “I will eat good tomorrow”. Tomorrow comes I eat bad and then the process starts all over. It becomes a very vicious cycle. Also, knowing I am 70 weeks away from my next show, I feel at times there is no sense of urgency to buckle down. Many people will say to me, “it’s easy for you to lose weight or you look great”, but it is not easy at all. I may look okay, but I hide my weight very well. I carry a lot of body fat in my midsection and that is easy to hide with a nice big shirt. My legs and arms are fairly lean so that is what people see. They do not see the extra weight in my mid section. I am like anyone else trying to lose weight or get in shape. It takes a commitment and the will to get in shape. I like to eat cookies, ice cream and all the other good stuff! Just because I am a pro bodybuilder does not mean I am this robotic machine that hits the gym and eats clean all the time. I am a human being and the same pressure exists for me just like for everybody else. It is very hard at times, but it can be done!

For me it usually boils down to a timeline. A 70 week timeline is not cutting it for me because I know in my mind it will take me roughly 24-30 weeks to diet down and to be in contest shape. So, there is no urgency to really be strict and that is my problem. However, with our (TEAM 3DMJ) upcoming seminar on July 11, there is now a real sense of urgency for me to get in shape. I have been really cleaning up my diet and I have shed a few pounds and I am now down to 198 lbs. I was at 202lbs. last week so I am happy with my progress. I am aiming to be around 190 lbs by the seminar which will be a much more comfortable weight to walk around in. It feels good again to set a short term goal in my mind. Now I just have to execute it! And I will!! Here are some shots at around 200 lbs. in which I am hiding my 40 lbs. over contest condition.





Training
Training has been going quite well with the exception of shoulder pain. My shoulder pain just does not want to let up. I had to make some further changes in my training to try and avoid the pain. I had already stopped doing any kind of pressing movements. I added in flyes for chest instead of barbell bench and dumbbell bench presses, but now I can’t even seem to do that. I am now doing the pec-dec only for chest. It’s very frustrating, but I just have to accept it and try to improve.

I just finished a 4 week block with my last training routine and now I am geared for another 4 week block with a different training style. I am going back to my roots and I will be doing high intensity training (HIT). I will be taking my sets to failure and beyond with the exception of shoulder movements, squats, dead lifts and bent rows. Those  exercises are more prone to injury and going to failure on them can be very risky and it is not worth injury. I can’t do forced reps because I train alone, but I will be going to positive failure, static holds and some negatives. With this style of training I know it can be extremely taxing to your central nervous system. Because of this I will be training only 3 days per week with at least one day off, sometimes two, in between my workouts. I have 4 different workouts set up, 2 for upper body and 2 for lower body. I will be rotating the workouts each week. My sets will never go over 2 per exercise and rep ranges will vary from 4-6 per exercise. I will be using very strict form with little momentum and very slow movement. I am excited to be doing this routine for the next 4 weeks. I just started this week and WOW!!, am I sore! It feels great! Here is my set up for the next 4 weeks.

Workout 1 – Upper 1
Pec Dec
Bent Rows (under hand grip)
Side Laterals (delts)
Lying Triceps Dumbbell Press
Barbell Curls
Hammer Curls (with rope)

Workout 2 – Lower 1
Deadlifts
Leg Extensions
Leg Curls
Toe Press
Leg Lifts

Workout 3 – Upper 2
Pec Dec
Seated Rows
Moto Rows
Rear Laterals (delts)
Triceps Press downs
Cable Curls
Hammer Curls

Workout 4 – Lower 2
Squats
Stiff Leg Deadlifts
Toe Press
Decline Situps

We will see how this goes and until my next blog, keep training hard and naturally!!