It‘s getting really close…very close and I am getting more and more fired up. The start of my contest prep is just 9 short days away! It is hard to believe 15 months of offseason have gone by. There are many questions that are spinning around in my mind that are causing some doubts as to what kind of gains I have made… if any at all. This offseason had its share of injuries that has tested my mental will. Usually that only happens when I am in full contest prep mode, but mentally it has been tough to train in pain. My initial goals heading into the offseason were to improve my chest and back, but shoulder issues have hindered my chest training. So, my goals ended up changing and the main priority was to come out of the offseason pain free and intact before heading into prep.  I feel my back training went really well although I did sustain a lat strain. That injury is almost healed up so that is great news.  I have been doing deadlifts for over a year now, so I should see some gains to my back as I lean down. All in all this offseason had its ups and downs, but I feel I managed to set myself up nicely heading into prep. Most of my pain has subsided, but on some rare occasions it acts up. I just have to deal with it and roll with the punches.

Remaining Balanced
It is very hard to say what true gains I have made because I am currently 40 lbs over and it is just too hard to see any visual muscular differences right now. I know 40 lbs over is a bit too much, but for me I really enjoy the offseason when it comes to food. I find it way too stressful to be a year round bodybuilder. In the 1990’s, you could say I was a bit obsessed with this sport. I was constantly watching what I ate and always thinking about my training. I remember not ever wanting to go out to eat with family and friends because I didn’t want to sit and watch people eat knowing I couldn’t. I also remember going to the gym for me was like life or death. If I didn’t get to train because something came up, I would not be a very happy camper. People around me had to deal with my selfishness. Nowadays, it is okay to miss a workout because the gym will always be there tomorrow. Bodybuilding is a hobby to me and it does not define who I am like it did before. I still love it, but I am not obsessed. During the 90’s, it was a very selfish time in my life because of the imbalance with my priority choices. This was not fair to my wife, family and friends. I have learned over time that I am the one who chooses this sport and with that choice I am the one who should sacrifice… not the other way around. So, I have learned to enjoy the offseason and I am somewhat care-free when it comes to food…probably a little too much, but that is why I am starting my prep now. I am not saying to go out and eat whatever you feel like to have balance, but it is okay from time to time (even during prep… just count your macros J) to enjoy a nice meal with family and friends.

Off Track – Back to the Offseason
Wow…I was supposed to cover my offseason and went off into another direction. LOL! Anyways back to the offseason. Since training with Eric Helms these past couple of months, I seem to be getting stronger and hitting personal records at almost every workout. My squats are 380 for 5, deadlifts are 440 for 3. My pressing is still hit or miss depending on what my shoulders want to do on a given workout. I kind of just go with the flow as far as my shoulder issues with each upper body workout. We have been steadily improving with the static holds to negatives (holding of a weight in the contracted position until gravity slowly brings it down while we continue to fight it from coming down). This is an extremely brutal style of training as volume and frequency should be closely monitored. A bit of an example, in today’s workout I pulled 425 for 5 reps on the deadlift which was a personal best for reps. I was a bit too excited with it because I pushed myself pretty hard and that final rep was a real grinder. On my second set, I could only handle 1 rep and man did it take forever to pull it up. Moving on to hack squats, I just wasn’t feeling it and my legs had no energy left in them. Instead of fighting through with the rest of my workout I decided to call it a day. Tomorrow is a new day and should bring better energy to finish up with that workout.  Some may question my will, determination or my work ethic, but for me it is a smart decision. I am not trying to do work just to do work...I want to be smart about the work I am doing and have it be productive. I do not let my ego take over…common sense tells me to come back stronger tomorrow. I like to think of it like a boxer who is getting pummeled in the late rounds while being down on all the scorecards and he has no chance of winning. Should he continue to fight knowing he is getting his a** kicked or would it be smarter to throw in the towel and come back to fight another day? The one’s who say continue to fight because of their ego and pride are the individuals who end up getting hurt really bad.  I choose the latter. Okay…I did it again…I went off course for what I was going to say. LOL! Training with Eric has been just what I needed to keep the motivation high and I want to thank him for making these past couple of months so productive! It has been a blast training with him and I look forward to sharing the journey this year!

2011 Tentative Contest Plan
My tentative plan for now is the WNBF Pro US Cup in September and according to the WNBF website that will be in Sacramento. So, if that is the case than I have 10 months to get ready which is an eternity. I may end up doing a show earlier, but we will have to see what the schedule brings and what my teammates want to do. My plan is to start on December 6, 2010 and get to my leanest point by late May/early June. After that I will be increasing my food intake as I get closer to the show. This should help me maintain size, keep my metabolism firing, and keep me sane. LOL! My starting macros will be 200p, 300c, and 50f for the first week to see how my body responds. I will make adjustments accordingly based off of that first week. I will not implement any cardio the first week. I want to see what the diet alone will do before implementing any cardio. Weight training will probably not change until I see a performance drop off or any recovery issues. During the 2009 contest season, I dropped quite a bit of intensity in my training as the show approached. I still trained hard and heavy, but just did not go to failure like I did in the past. That helped with my recovery abilities and allowed me to stay injury free.

Eric and I are currently training 3 days per week with high intensity, low volume and moderate frequency.  We are rotating between 2 upper body workouts and 2 lower body workouts. Sets are between 1-2, rep range 3-8, static holds to negatives, rest pause and an occasional all negative workout. Some exercises are substituted from time to time. No static holds to negatives on squats, bench presses, military pressing, barbell rows, stiff legged deads & deadlifts due to higher risks for injury. The workouts are as follows:

Upper Body 1
Bench Press or Flat Dumbbell Press

Incline Bench or Incline Dumbbell Press

Barbell Rows

Lat Pulldowns (close grip)

Seated military Press or Dumbbell Shoulder Press

Tricep Pressdowns

Barbell Curls
 

Lower Body 1
Squats

Stiff legged deads

Leg Extensions

Calf Press

Ab exercise of choice

Upper Body 2
Bench Press or Flat Dumbbell Press

Incline Bench or Incline Dumbbell Press

Seated Cable Rows

Lat Pulldowns (wide grip)

Dumbbell Press

 Side Lateral Flys

Overhead Tricep Press

Hammer Curls

Lower Body 2
Deadlifts

Hack Squats

Leg Curls

Calf press

Ab exercise of choice 

That is my plan as of now and I know things will surely change as I progress during my journey. I just have to stay focused and remain balanced and everything will fall into place. I have a great team behind me in my teammates here at 3DMJ, so I know if I do get off course they will lead me back on the right path.

Until my next blog, keep training hard and naturally!