SP's on/off-season log

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 225

Friday friday friday...friend got himself fired from work which was a bit of a bummer but made it through (still employed) and hit the gym afterwards


Fri - legs

warmup/cardio1 - 25m LISS on the incline treadmill

prone hamstring curl - four sets, pyramiding weight up...10 reps per set
+++
superset adductor machine - four sets as well, one lighter set of 25 then full stack for 12/16/20(rp) per set, respectively

hack squat - this is a precor machine, really like it...did some heavy, lower rep sets here

8 x 1 plate per side
...2 plates
...3
...4
5+2+1 x 5 plates per side, had to take a breath a few times but muscled out a solid 8 without a spotter

Just out of curiosity I loaded up 2 more (6 per side) and did a triple which felt alright, probably could've gone higher but now's not the time to blow something out/up etc

HSPL incline leg press - three higher rep sets of 15 reps with moderate weight, feet high and wide on the platform

reverse-facing hack squat - three sets of 8, entirely focused on ham/glute activation
+++
superset BB SLDL - 8 reps after each set on the hack squat

seated leg extension - three sets of 8 with a hard 3 second flex/squeeze at lockout on every rep


cardio2 - 25m MISS on the stairmill later that night

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 224

Went and cheered on some friends at a local, regional-level show

The bodybuilders didn't place well (bottom or near the bottom of their classes) but my friend/friend's girlfriend won her figure class as well as the overall


Sat - back/abs

warmup/cardio1 - 20m LISS on the incline treadmill

wide/neutral grip pulldown - five sets, one warmup and four sets of 10 except only 8 reps on the last (rest/pause) with nearly the full stack (a lot of weight for me especially right now)
+++
superset straight-arm pulldown - 10 reps with a cambered bar attached to a high cable after each working set of pulldowns

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

smith machine row - three straight sets, pyramiding weight up then a fourth triple dropset

HSPL chest-supported row - one arm at a time, 8 reps per set with 2/3/4/5 plates per side respectively

lying DB pullover - three sets of 15, constant tension
+++
superset DB shrug - three sets of 15 as well with a hard flex/squeeze at the top of every rep


cardio - 35m MISS on the stairmill later that night

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 222

Morning weight, trained before going to a brunch for a friend who's also training for nationals (figure though, so six weeks away)

Mmmm...eggwhites (and a few whole eggs)

Did 'goat yoga', family/father's day dinner then cardio before prepping food for the week and hitting the sack


Sun - chest/delts/abs

warmup - 10m incline treadmill

flat DB press - six or seven sets, last four were working sets...only 3/4 lockout, doing 10 reps per set until the last where I only got 8 x 140lbs

incline smith press - four sets of 8, adding weight on every set

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

low cable flye - four sets of 8 reps

seated side lateral DB raise - five sets, pyramiding weight up with decreasing reps

rear delt/cable pull-apart - four sets of 16
+++
superset front DB raise - 10-12 reps after each set of cable pull-aparts


cardio - 40m MISS on the stairmill later on at GL

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 222

I don't want to complain too much because I'm sure everyone has shitty/busy Mondays but that was quite the day

Eventually made it to the gym though and met up with a few people for a group leg session

Everyone's in various states of meh/depletion, for two different nationals dates so it was a bit of a lethargic but still decent workout


Mon - legs

warmup - 5min LISS

prone hamstring curl - six sets of 12, pyramiding weight up

hack squat - five sets of 8, with 1/2/3/4/5 plates per side respectively...got 10RP on the final set with someone yelling in my face

BB SLDL - four sets, 12/16/20/25 reps with moderate weight

seated leg extension - four sets of 20
+++
superset seated leg curl - four sets of 20 as well


cardio - 45m MISS on the stairmill, pretty hypo by the time I got off

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 223

Left work to meet a friend at powerhouse for a mid-afternoon training session, back at work for a bit now...I'll go do some posing and cardio this evening


Tue - back/abs

wide grip pullup - three bodyweight sets, each to failure

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

ultra-wide grip pulldown - four sets, pyramiding weight up

one-arm DB row - three sets of 12 reps per arm, going up by 20lbs on each set

HSPL chest-supported row - one arm at a time, four sets of 8 reps per arm with 2/3/4/5 plates/side respectively

bent-over BB row - four sets, pyramiding weight up on the first three then a lighter/higher rep burnout set to finish


edit: I ended up heading out to the base & doing some cardio + posing with a friend who was on duty, also responsible for building his unit's fitness facility so it's pretty damn sweet

cardio1: 30m LISS incline treadmill


Stopped at a goodlife for stairmill on the way home, the only machine they didn't have at the garrison...

cardio2: 25m MISS stair mill

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 223

Tough day, might not sound like much but we had to put my cat down (she's been living with my parents for a few years) but I didn't get a chance to 'say goodbye'

Anyways, after work I hit the gym for training and cardio...


Wed - chest/delts/abs

warmup/cardio1 - 25m LISS incline treadmill, finished watching 10 Cloverfield lane...

rear delt/reverse pec dec - five sets, pyramiding weight up / decreasing reps

incline DB press - five sets, also pyramiding weight up but keeping the reps at 10 per set, not quite locking out each rep

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

incline smith chest press - four sets of 8, increasing weight on each set, only got 7 reps on the final 3 plates/side set

cable flye - three sets, 15/12/10 reps per set, respectively with increasing weight

side lateral DB raise - three sets of 10 reps with 30/40/50lbs DBs
+++
front DB raise - 10 reps with half the weight of the side raises


cardio2 - 30m MISS on the treadmill postWO

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 222

Honestly I'm a little hungry, not particularly sore (other than legs from pounding the stairs every day) but the main thing I'm struggling with for the past 2-3 weeks is exhaustion

Going to have to try and undo whatever I've done via caffeine and other stims after the show because not only can I not function without, but they almost have no effect other than making my withdrawal headaches go away


Thu - arms/abs/calves

warmup - 5min LISS

straight-bar tricep pushdown - five sets, pyramding weight up to the whole stack which was quite a bit, actually

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

HSPL preacher curl machine - one arm at a time, three sets with increasing weight of 12/10/8 reps per set (per arm) respectively
+++
superset seated/donkey calf press machine - three sets of 12 really slow reps with a hard 12-15 sec stretch after each set

cross-body DB curl - three sets of 12 with increasing weight, alternating arms on each rep
+++
superset reverse-grip EZ-bar curl - 12 reps after each set of hammer DB curls

rope tricep pushdown - three sets of 12 with increasing weight
+++
overhead tricep rope extension - 12 reps (or failure, which came sooner than 12 on the 2nd/3rd sets) after each set of regular pushdowns


cardio - 40m MISS on the stairmill over at the rec centre

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 220

Made it through the day at work (I think?) and to the gym...got a slow but decent leg workout in along with my cardio


Fri - legs

warmup/cardio1 - 20min LISS incline treadmill

prone hamstring curl - five sets, pyramiding weight up

seated adductor machine - not superset...just one warmup and four working sets of 20

HSPL incline leg press - two legged, nothing fancy...increasing weight while doing sets of 15 reps, did about 8 sets total with the last 4 'working' (7/8/9/10 plates per side)

BB SLDL - four sets, pyramiding weight up

seated leg extension - three sets of 20 reps


cardio2 - 40m MISS on the stairmill

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 220

Woke up relatively early, got some cardio and training done then grocery shopped and lazed around for most of the day

Mostly due to a lack of energy/motivation to do anything else, lol...eventually dragged my butt back to the gym and finished cardio in the evening


Sat - back/biceps

warmup/cardio1 - did 25m on the stairmill to start, not the best idea but at least it was half done...

HSPL chest-supported row - one arm at a time, four sets of 8 reps with increasing weight

lying DB pullover - three sets of 12-15 reps, constant tension

bent-over row - four sets of 12

narrow-grip pulldown - three sets of 8

EZ-bar preacher bicep curl - three sets of 10
+++
superset DB pinwheel curl - 10 reps per arm, alternating on each rep immediately after the preacher curls


cardio2 - 30m MISS on the stairmill

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 219

Kind of a frustrating day because a few different plans fell apart on me but I managed to get some decent workout(s) in and all my cardio, despite that


Sun - chest/delts/tris/abs/calves

warmup/cardio1 - 25m LISS on the treadmill

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises

side lateral cable raise - four sets of 12 per arm, increasing weight on each set

cable pull-apart - three sets of 15

tricep rope pushdown - four sets, pyramiding weight up
+++
superset overhead rope extension - to failure after each set of rope pushdowns


Took a break, did a few errands then hit the gym later to finish up chest/calves

warmup/cardio2 - 25m LISS on the treadmill

incline BB press - one high rep warmup set then five sets pyramiding weight up, last three were 'working' sets
+++
superset seated calf raise - four sets of 20 with slightly increasing weight on every set

flat DB flye - three sets of 12

high cable flye - four sets of 16/12/10/8 reps per set, respectively


cardio3 - 40m MISS on the stair mill

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight ?

Bad day/time to forget to weigh myself, but I totally did...whoops

Met up with some friends who're competing as well and did kind of a mediocre leg session followed by some lighter-than-usual cardio

All weekend has been lower carbs, I'll keep them low-ish until wednesday when I resume normal diet levels, thursday when I start to load and go by ear Friday (depending on Thursday's results)


Mon - legs

warmup - incline treadmill

prone hamstring curl - four sets, pyramiding weight up

HSPL one-legged leg press - four sets, 10/12/15/20 reps per leg respectively

DB bulgarian split squat - four sets of 10 per let
+++
superset DB SLDL - 10 reps after each set of split squats

seated leg extension - three sets of 20
+++
superset seated leg curl - three sets of 20 as well


cardio1 - 20mins LISS on the incline treadmill

cardio2 - 30mins LISS on the recumbent bike

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 226

Not feeling well in the guts...


Tue - upper body

warmup - incline treadmill

bodyweight pullup - four sets of 10
+++
superset straight-arm pulldown - 10 reps after each set of pullups
+++
superduperset EZ-bar curl - 10 reps after the pullups/pulldown combo with increasing weight on each set

smith bent-over row - four sets, pyramiding weight up for 15/12/10/8 reps per set, respectively
+++
superset rear delt/reverse pec dec - same sets/rep scheme as the bent-over rows

smith incline chest press - four sets, pyramiding weight up for 40/12/8/6 reps per set, respectively (1/2/2.5/3 plates per side)

flat DB flye - three sets of 20

side lateral DB raise - four sets, 10-12 reps with increasing weight
+++
superset front DB raise - same reps/sets with half the weight as the side laterals

rope tricep pushdown - four sets of 12
+++
superset overhead rope tricep extension - 12 reps, only going to 3/4 lockout after each set of pushdowns
+++
superduperset cambered bar/cable curl - three sets of 20/15/10 reps with increasing weight

unsupported hanging leg raise - three sets of 15 reps
+++
superset rope crunch - 15 reps after each set of leg raises


cardio - 30m LISS on the incline treadmill

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 229

Obviously I'm water-loading so I do expect weight to be up, but that's quite the jump...oh well


Wed - upper body (lighter)

I just did three sets, sometimes of mixed exercises, for every upper body part, rather than being too specific I'll just list the exercises I remember using

- rope tricep pushdown and overhead extension
- supinated DB curl and reverse-grip EZ bar curl
- cable pull aparts for rear delts
- side lateral superset with front DB raises
- bodyweight pullups and HSPL/chest-supported row machine
- high cable flyes

cardio1 - mid day I did 25mins on the incline treadmill at a fairly steep incline / pace

cardio2 - pre-workout I did another 25mins, on a shallower incline (10 degrees?) and only 3mph


posing - roughly 30mins during the day, very little lower body posing since I'm trying to rest my legs (other than the treadmill...which maybe I shouldn't have done)

 

[snowpatrol123]

So, to recap the training portion in the days I left out prior to the show:

Thu - not much

warmup/light cardio - 20mins on the incline treadmill

upper body circuit - literally one set per bodypart in the 15-25 rep range, always stopping at 80-90% of max effort (a few reps or pounds left in the tank)

posing, stretching and a relaxation-type massage to try and loosen up my legs which had been especially sore and inflamed


Fri - nothing at all

- got my ABBA nationals jacket
- spray tan
- weighed in at 227.5 (well into the supers)
- cut water off at roughly 6pm (had drank approximately 6L thus far)
- half a tab of dyazide
- moderate sized (5oz?) steak and half a piece of key lime pie for dinner at 8pm (no salt, minimal seasoning of course)
- nearly-dry rice cereal and some simpler carbs, all low sodium starting around 10pm

 

[snowpatrol123]

I started adding salt, mostly via salty carbs around 7am Saturday morning, I had a few whole eggs with real ketchup and some more rice cereal

I was around 219 even when I woke up (pee'd a fair bit during the night and ate some plain rice cereal with a few low sodium rice cakes)

Took a selfie around 3am then forgot to take anymore before leaving for the venue:

 

[snowpatrol123]

So I didn't place at the show, but had a good time and received some positive feedback regardless.

Hi <snowpatrol>,

You had good conditioning and nice skin tone. In addition your posing was on point.

However given your height ***8230; more muscle mass is required to stand out above the rest at this level. I recommend you specifically concentrate on your lats and back.

Congratulations on all you***8217;ve accomplished thus far. Looking forward to seeing you in future competition!

Regards,
<CBBF head judge>

After the show on Saturday I went and showered then met friends at a local craft beer place for post-show eats

We had quite a bit of food, hence the food babies, then headed to whyte ave for some frozen yogurt and fireworks watching

Got home late, slept in then headed to Denny's for brunch on Sunday...

 

[appleton111]

So I didn't place at the show, but had a good time and received some positive feedback regardless.

Got home late, slept in then headed to Denny's for brunch on Sunday...

sorry to hear you didnt place. what a jip for sure. your still a champ in my book.

 

[snowpatrol123]

On monday I headed back to the gym to shower off some more tan and do a bit of light cardio while watching more Vikings (I'm addicted)

I did weigh myself out of curiosity and wasn't surprised that I'd packed on some weight...233 on the scale at the rec centre

But that was just the beginning...

 

[snowpatrol123]

Tuesday to Friday were all 20-30mins cardio per day, once on the stairmill I believe but mostly on a treadmill at the steepest incline while watching Vikings

I only did upper body, with increasingly heavy but still pump-focused work on Wednesday and Friday, with no other resistance training other than helping with moving and some yardwork.

My weight climbed as I ate pretty freely, including a 2am pizza delivery on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning...I don't think I've done that in almost a decade but it was hella good though not quite the same without beer.

Some real workouts began last weekend with legs on Saturday which I'll detail in my next post.

 

[snowpatrol123]

Weight 235

That was an AM weight, vs my usual evening/gym-weigh-in

After some decent but only semi-serious upper body workouts to get back into the swing of things near the end of the week, I started off last weekend (9 days ago now) with a leg workout


Sat (July 8th) - legs/calves

warmup - 10-15mins on the treadmill

prone hamstring curl - a few warmup sets then three working sets of 15, increasing weight until I could just barely get 15 reps

adductor machine - one warmup and three working sets, stack maxed out so I was doing 20 reps each time

highbar ATG squat - first time squatting in a little bit, didn't go super heavy but it felt good to have the bar on my back again

15 x 95
8 x 185
8 x 275
8 x 365

HSPL incline leg press - four sets of 15 reps with 3 sec descents
+++
superset seated calf raise - three sets of 20 to help release my lower back (pretty tight lately due to the extra weight I'm carrying and not quite used to, yet)

seated leg extension - three sets of 20
+++
superset seated ham curl - three sets of 20 as well


no cardio