SP's on/off-season log

Weight 215

Remembered Mrs.SP's birthday at the last minute yesterday...picked up a (good) card, flowers, Earl's gift card & movie ticket vouchers on the way home then took her out for sushi.

For last minute I think I nailed it pretty good...bonus was that I was zonked by the time we were heading out to eat, had almost no macros left but didn't say anything then when we were almost there she said she was so tired she wanted to get it to go and just go home & watch true detective/eat sushi. So I still paid $40 for a girl-portion worth of fresh sushi...but didn't have to suffer through a sit down meal with 3pcs of cucumber maki roll lol, had an eggwhite omelette while watching TV at home then early bed & actually a decent sleep, too.

Scale holding pretty steady obviously, but I feel as though I am leaning out...a little confused about how/why but not necessarily complaining as 215 is a much better bodybuilding weight for my height than 205...

Weds - arms/abs
warmup - indoor track

reg BB curl - two warmup and four work sets, eight reps per set with a 2sec hold/squeeze at the top of each rep
superset rope pushdown - two warmup and four working sets, twelve reps per set with a 1sec flex/contraction at the bottom of each rep

tricep pushdown machine - four heavy work sets, 10-12 reps each
superset preacher EZbar curl - four working sets, slightly shortened ROM (cut the bottom third out) to save the bicep tendon and focus on the top of the biceps

hammer DB curl - four sets, alternating on each rep...no full reps just 15 partials (out of the bottom to 90 degrees) per set
decline skullcrusher - four sets of 15 reps, shortened ROM again with a full stretch but only coming 2/3 up to keep tension on the triceps

rope crunches - four sets, 16/17/18/20 reps respectively


AM Cardio:
30min LISS - stair mill


In other news, I think my ass is too big for my posing trunks. Looking at the pictures, I need to pull the sides up...that'll be a start at least. This was the first time I've ever put them on and had <2 mins before I had to change and leave for the gym...

On the subject of getting leaner, I do think I look noticibly tighter than I did even four days ago, but it's tough to judge for yourself (one of the best things a coach can offer imo): Jul22/2015 (midweek) cut - Album on Imgur
 
Looking mammoth matey, although I agree, time for a size up in trunks!

You've got an 'x-frame' going on now with those delt caps and quads... very dramatic shape!

Meant in a good way, I'd say off-season targets for you would be bringing up arms and upper chest.
But hey, you've got to look at where you were for your last show and see the changes you've made.
Awesome progress buddy!
 
Looking mammoth matey, although I agree, time for a size up in trunks!

You've got an 'x-frame' going on now with those delt caps and quads... very dramatic shape!

Meant in a good way, I'd say off-season targets for you would be bringing up arms and upper chest.
But hey, you've got to look at where you were for your last show and see the changes you've made.
Awesome progress buddy!

I'm going to play around with how they fit tonight when I have more than two minutes, hopefully I'm wrong but I do have a feeling I'll be buying another pair..

And yeah - see above about 5 posts, those are exactly what I'm focused on, in order :)

You're looking lean & mean in your avatar - how long til the shoot?
 
Weight 211

Was a little surprised to see that weight on the scale after holding steady for so long, I'm not sure I should've taken the advice to drop my carbs so drastically because I felt pretty unenergetic too, compared to almost every other day of prep so far...

Thu - back (light)
warmup - indoor track

one-arm DB row - two warmup/feeder sets and four work sets, increasing the weight slightly on each but keeping ten reps with full ROM and good lat contraction

regular/floor crunches - always the 3/4 ROM on these for constant ab tension, four sets of 25-30 reps each

straight-arm pulldown - four sets, first was higher reps until I figured out the weight then the last three were 10 reps each, rigid/perfect form though

narrow/neutral-grip pulldown - three sets of 10-15 reps, pyramiding the weight up

seated cable row - used individual handle attachments and a pronated grip so it hit the upper back and even rear delts a bit, three sets of 15 reps for a bit of a pump


Needed to get to work (and am here now, sort of working) but I may return for some cardio in the evening if I perk up a bit. Right now that doesn't seem likely, though.

Also, I took some more pics with the suit adjusted better this morning before I left, I think it will do actually now that I have a better idea where/how it should sit: Jul 23/2015 cut - Album on Imgur

jWTL24N.jpg


YlyWUOY.jpg
 
Thanks guys, I think I mentioned it already, I hesitate to call it "easier" but this has been a much better experience than my last prep. Knowing a lot more about peri-workout nutrition allowed me to intensely weight train seven days a week and really reduced the need for cardio...while I did do some, if I'd cut my calories a bit instead I probably could've gotten away with next to none.

My preference was to eat ~3600cal/d and add 20-30mins LISS 4-5x/wk but some would have an easier time just cutting 100g of carbs and probably accomplish the same thing.

(...) Whens the show?

First one (the warmup/practice, in my books) is aug 15th, the victoria cup - then I'm getting married two weeks later on the 28th.

I'll take it easy post-show until after the wedding then try to get as freaky as possible for muscle beach on oct 10th.
 
I'm new here and I didn't follow all your journey, but this look you have achieved with stack described in the first message of this thread? I ask because thread is started 1 year ago and cycle was only 6 months long.
 
Very impressive man, huge progress made over the past year or so :)

Solid V taper, wheels looking insane with good overall balance and I can actually see progress in your upper chest as well compared to pics from sometime last year IIRC.

Any chance of a front double bi pose?
I'm interested to see how the overall arms - shoulders - chest link looks.
 
I'm new here and I didn't follow all your journey, but this look you have achieved with stack described in the first message of this thread? I ask because thread is started 1 year ago and cycle was only 6 months long.

I looked back at the original cycle and I did run that to bulk after I had gyno surgery...came off for awhile, went back on and did a competition (physique), came off again and got engaged in mexico...went back on and bulked over the winter, briefly came off and went back on..."and now we here".

My primary compounds when bulking are EQ and anadrol, though I think next time I'll give deca another shot.

They aren't AAS, but of note my more recent 'bulk' (offseason) included GH and insulin as well.

When cutting it's primarily tren...then closer to the show I add mast and/or winstrol, moderate t3/clen, increase AI significantly and this time I'm going to use a bit of halotestin as well.

Very impressive man, huge progress made over the past year or so :)

Solid V taper, wheels looking insane with good overall balance and I can actually see progress in your upper chest as well compared to pics from sometime last year IIRC.

Any chance of a front double bi pose?
I'm interested to see how the overall arms - shoulders - chest link looks.

Thanks MRZ, my side chest is pretty strong but I find you need a lot of boob to look impressive from the front hah.

I was hoping to get the FDB for you last night but mrs.SP had a staff meeting and by the time she got home we were both beat & just went to sleep...I'll make it happen this weekend though, I especially need pictures of my back mandatories to make sure I'm hitting them as optimally as I can.

Weight 206

So...yeah I'm really not sure about the 10lbs weight drop in two days, well more than just not sure I'm unhappy about it.

I haven't decided yet, but I might have a bit of a "refeed" today, meaning just a few extra bowls of oatmeal this morning since I hit legs pretty hard...

Fri - legs (heavy/volume)
warmup - indoor track

prone hamstring curl - two warmup and four working sets, 12/10/8 rep scheme on the first three, increasing the weight with 90sec rest periods...then the fourth was a 10full/10full/25partial dropset

leg press - did about 10 sets of 10 here, increasing by two plates (one each side) each time...started with 2 and ended at 11 or 12 per side...lots of volume & a pretty good pump, this woke me up lol
superset quad stretches - nothing fancy, just ~20sec stretching between each set of leg press

smith machine 1.5 squat - not a big fan of squatting in the smith machine but these are quite effective...you go down completely ass to grass, up halfway, back all the way down then come up fully (that's one rep)...did two warmup and four work sets of 8 like that

SLDL - four sets of ten reps, coming up about 3/4 or 5/6 of the way but not locking out to keep tension on the hamstrings and a deep stretch to the bottom (used a bunch of 25lb plates instead of 45s to allow more ROM)
superset hamstring stretches - again nothing fancy, just a bit of dynamic + static hamstring stretching, some single leg elevated and some toe grab/pulls

adductor machine - warmup and three work sets, 12 reps each slightly increasing the weight

standing calf raise insanity - I've explained these before, basically 10 reps + 10 sec hold + 10 reps + 10sec hold + 10 reps + 10sec hold is one set...(total 30/30) and repeat for three total working sets
superset dorsiflexion - as many reps as possible (to failure) after each calf raise set...50/40/35 approximately


Cooldown on the track, calves were too pumped to risk the stairs so I just limped around until I was able to flex my ankles safely and shower/go to work...
 
I'm new here and I didn't follow all your journey, but this look you have achieved with stack described in the first message of this thread? I ask because thread is started 1 year ago and cycle was only 6 months long.

Dude, I've seen a few of your posts on other threads, and for you it's ALL about the stack.
Well I want to tell you this.

snowpatrol trains hard, very hard - he is methodical with his training, diet and cardio... yes, his stacks are impressive, and for sure they help.
But the way he trains and eats - ensures that every cycle results in success.

Just wanted to add this!
 
Dude, I've seen a few of your posts on other threads, and for you it's ALL about the stack.
Well I want to tell you this.

snowpatrol trains hard, very hard - he is methodical with his training, diet and cardio... yes, his stacks are impressive, and for sure they help.
But the way he trains and eats - ensures that every cycle results in success.

Just wanted to add this!

I'm glad you pointed that out bigben

Anyone who's having a reasonable amount of success actually bodybuilding, not just 'getting bigger' etc. will tell you it's at least 50-60% diet (if not more), 25-35% training INTENSITY (and volume, frequency etc) and the remaining 5-10% drugs (compounds, doses etc)

Literally no amount of drugs will overcome a bad diet, or poor / lazy training habits...but if you have those two in place, you can do pretty well with only a few drugs and adding a LOT MORE won't do a whole lot more...in my experience at least.
 
I'm glad you pointed that out bigben

Anyone who's having a reasonable amount of success actually bodybuilding, not just 'getting bigger' etc. will tell you it's at least 50-60% diet (if not more), 25-35% training INTENSITY (and volume, frequency etc) and the remaining 5-10% drugs (compounds, doses etc)

Literally no amount of drugs will overcome a bad diet, or poor / lazy training habits...but if you have those two in place, you can do pretty well with only a few drugs and adding a LOT MORE won't do a whole lot more...in my experience at least.

amen!!!
 
hes gonna do great!!

Thanks brother (:

Weight 207

Relatively early, first gym session...nice to have the place to myself basically.

Sat AM - chest/abs
warmup - indoor track

decline DB press - two warmup and three work sets, 15/12/8 reps on the work sets increasing weight each time...no lockout on these just constant tension
superset hanging leg raise (v-ups) - four sets, 16/17/18/20 reps respectively

reverse-banded incline BB press - bit of a change from last week, once I had it set up and did a few feeler sets the working sets looked like this:

3x5reps wide grip, explosive tempo
2x8 reps medium grip - little slower but still strong
2x10 reps narrow grip with tucked elbows - very slow tempo for max time under tension ("MTUT"?)

DB twist press - neutral grip to inverted "pinkies touching" at the top, four sets of ten reps

DB flyes - two sets of 20 reps, stopping before the DBs were at the point where pecs lose tension so kind of a 9/3 oclock to 11/1 oclock ROM

Had a pretty good chest/anterior delt pump going by this point: Imgur

AM Cardio:
30min LISS - indoor track


Took a break here, went to the farmer's market and bought fresh vegetables...had a mini-cheat (sushi) that actually fit my macros so I guess it was just a non-planned meal...walked around Whyte ave and looked for ties for our groomsmen then headed home for a bit of a nap, then some more cream of rice & back to the gym...


Weight 205

Lost a few pounds in a few hours, for some reason despite what I would consider adequate hydration and some salty sushi...oh well, no big deal. Had a great delt session with my soon-to-be brother in law

Sat PM - delts/abs/calves
warmup - indoor track

internal/external rotation - two sets of each, high reps to warm up the rotators since this was hours after I'd finished chest

bent over DB lateral raise - one warmup and four work sets, 15 reps each with good form
superset rope crunches - four sets, heavy...16/17/18/20 reps respectively

seated DB press - four sets of 8
superset front DB raise - both arms at the same time, 10 reps...huge anterior delt pump from this combo

side lateral DB raise - three sets of 25 heavy partial reps

standing calf raise - six or eight sets, increasing weight with 10 reps per set and eventually when I couldn't pin more weight on the machine added 20 partials and called it a day
superset dorsiflexion - went to failure after each set of calf raises, approximately 50/45/40/35/35/30/30 reps (in or around)

PM Cardio:
20min LISS - indoor track
 
Weight 206

Not a super early gym session this morning but still got out of there around lunch time...hoping to go canoeing this afternoon and of course prep meals as usual in the evening...

Sun - back (heavy)
warmup - indoor track

smith machine bent-over row - four sets, 15/12/10/8 reps per set increasing weight each time (225->275->295->315) but basically doing 90% ROM by holding the weight above the stops (constant tension)

one-arm supinated-grip pulldown - leaning back slightly, 8 reps per arm flexing the lat for 1 sec at the bottom of each rep and stretching the other arm/lat...four working sets

DB deadstop row - four sets of eight, explosive movement focusing on not using the arms to pull

DB pullover - four sets of 12, short ROM again to keep tension on the lats/serratus, stopping the DB at the forehead and back down to a deep lat stretch

banded hyperextension - four sets to failure (22-25 reps)
superset regular crunches - four sets of 30 reps

Cardio:
30min LISS/HIT - stair mill (not quite full-on HIT with all-out effort, but ranging from 135-165 bpm the whole time with intervals)

Couple of shots from this morning, not really a FDB...still planning to get those this afternoon, maybe after my nap... jul 26 cut/prep - Album on Imgur
 
Weight 206

Gah, I need to shave...face & the rest. Planning to do evening cardio tonight, and that's about the only time I shower at home instead of the gym so that'll give me an excuse I figure...

Mon - legs (optional:quad/hip focus)
warmup - indoor track

leg extension - two easy warmup sets, then:
3 sets with toes curled up / upper thigh focus
-20x 2sec flex on each rep (light weight ~100lbs)
-20x 1sec flex (add a bit ~115lbs)
-20x quick flex/no pause (~130lbs)
3 sets with toes pointed out / lower thigh focus
-20 reps per set, pumping tempo with no pausing/flexing but heavier weight (145/150/155lbs approx...sounds light until you get to about 16 reps and still have four to go!)

front squat - heels on little 5lbs plates to put more emphasis on the quads, pyramiding the weight until I could barely get 12 reps:
12xbar
12x95
12x135
12x175
12x205
12x225 (had to rest/pause after 10 reps...knew this was about it for front squats)
Didn't take as much weight or as many sets to get there after pre-exhausting on the leg extension, good order of exercises in my opinion
I wish I could still rack a front squat properly though, instead of the lame x-arm method

hip flexor/glute machine - have to say I've never used this one before, either...it has a padded bar that fits under your knee, which starts at bellybutton/mid-chest height and you bring your knee down and behind you
10 reps per leg, one warmup/feeler set to get the adjustments and motion right, then four working sets slightly increasing the weight each time...I'll know I can start closer to the full stack next time I use the machine

seated hamstring curl - one feeler set then four heavy work sets of fifteen straight reps each, fairly short rest between sets

standing calf raise - three of the "triple" sets (10reps/10sec hold x3 per set)
superset dorsiflexion - got nearly 50 reps immediately after each standing calf raise set

AM Cardio:
20min LISS - easy walking/cooldown, wouldn't have called it cardio if I didn't end up being on the track for quite awhile and my heartrate was still quite elevated from pushing through the workout fairly quickly (~120bpm+)


Edit: went back after work and punched out some more cardio with Mrs.SP...


PM Cardio:
30min LISS - indoor track, moderate pace since I didn't have my socks/runners just barefoot running shoes...~120bpm
30min LISS/HIT - stair mill (moderate intervals, HR in 135-150bpm range)
 
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