Rich's Mission: Natural Pro Card 2008

[rich55]

Chest and bi's today, woot, woot! This past week in the gym has been OUTSTANDING and things kept moving forward today. Today was more of an acclimation day with heavier weights. I substituted Incline DB Flys for the High Cable Crossovers as my biceps were just to spent after Across Chest Hammer Curl supersets. At the end of my workout, I did Reverse EZ Curls and pumped out 80 lbs for 15 reps. NICE! 85 lbs killed em and forearm/biceps soreness is already setting in. Legs are certainly hurting today.

Weak point training demands more calories, so I treated myself 2 hours after my PWO shake to a Korma Bowl that included fresh broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, brown rice, tofu, extra chicken and tomato curry sauce. THE BOMB!!

I will be starting a new routine in the next 1-2 weeks. I'll keep things that are still working and try some new movements to continue development.GOTTA KEEP GROWING!!

[rich55]

3 days following my chest workout and I am still ridiculously sore! I apparently hit it pretty well, haha. Back was yesterday. I am still getting used to 405 lbs for reps, but I pulled it for 10 and 8 solid reps. We smashed through this workout very quickly as I was in a hurry due to clients following. I did notably move up to 120 lbs on my 1-Arm DB Row, smashing out 115 for 15 good reps. My goal is to make my back UNREAL looking.....bwahaa...bwahahaa!

A weak of clean of straight clean eating has yielded a little loss of bodyfat. I actually weighed in at 178 lbs yesterday and today my waist looked a little more trim. NICE! Tonight I will treat myself after my delt and triceps workout, but to simply tons of clean food.

SPRING CONTEST PREP BEGINS FOR CLIENTS

Spring contest prep has begun for 3 of my clients. Sue is doing the NPC Northern Kentucky and Natural Ohio in figure. Sean will be doing the novice bodybuilding division at the Northern and Jenn will be doing the Natural Ohio for her first figure show. I hooked up Jenn with her diet last night and put a BEATDOWN on her legs, haha. I take before pictures and provide diets for Sean and Sue today.

Oh, and go Oklahoma and Pitt!!! The Bucks need some help tonight!

[rich55]

Oh, and go Oklahoma and Pitt!!! The Bucks need some help tonight!

The Buckeyes are going to the national championship!! After losing to Illinois, we dropped to number 8 and EVERY team has lost since then. Guess who booked a flight and hotel to New Orleans with friends back in early November? YOURS TRULY!! I am going to New Orleans for the national championship that includes my alma mater. I will do some digging tomorrow on tickets to the game, but I am sure they will be PRICEY!

So, I just had to go out last night to celebrate. After the WVU and Missouri losses Columbus nightlife came alive! My training partner and friend James were pretty jacked up about our upcoming trip, so a few celebratory drinks were required

My solo delt and triceps workout earlier that day was solid. I always ask for a spot on my last set to get a few forced reps when solo. It is nice to have a supportive gym environment with several client and fellow competitors smashing weights as well. I treated myself to a few bison burgers with broccoli afterwards. Today is an off day. Legs tomorrow!!

[LiGymRatt]

oooh, soulders and tris, that harsh! lol your poor upper body

[rich55]

oooh, soulders and tris, that harsh! lol your poor upper body

My upper body needs the beating, haha!

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Strength Increases Continue

The last 2 days in the gym have been outstanding! Legs was killer as usual. I squatted 315 for 13 hard reps and then moved up to 325 lbs where I got 10 reps. VERY NICE! I also pushed more on leg extensions, DB lunges and 1-leg curls. My legs are swole and sore right now. biggrin.gif I'm gonna roll out on some dubs next fall, haha!

Chest and biceps went great, particularly chest. I pumped out 205 for 13 reps on the incline bench with just a touch on the last rep. I then pumped out 215 for 8 reps. Moved up on incline DB flys and my chest was just DONE after that. I've continually gotten stronger on biceps for the past few weeks, so I'm still adjusting to the heavier weights as I really just concentrate on working my muscles as hard as possible. My upper body is already feeling larger today...seriously! Shirts are fitting much more snug than before. Week by week they are shrinking. cool.gif

Today, another off day. I will get some cardio in on Saturday.

Supplement Changes

Goodbye WHITE FLOOD, hello WHITE BLOOD! I am going to come off of the preworkout stims for 3-4 weeks. Let the gains continue!!! I'm adding Anabolic Pump coupled with a small bump in calories from clean carbs. I will be also adding back SESAGLOW to keep the gains lean. Other supps:

Orange Triad
Green Magnitude
Purple Wraath
GlycerGrow
MaxGlutamine
Waxy Maize Starch
ZMA
Cissus
Ultra 40
Super Enzymes
Super EPA

[rich55]

The end of the week was solid. Notably, I pulled 405 for 13 reps on deadlifts, moving up to 415. I also pulled down 190 for 13 reps on close-grip pulldowns, moving up to 200. A triceps highlight was smashing out 310 for 13 reps on the dip machine, moving up to 320 lbs.

Superset Shock
I will be making some small modifications to my training to include supersets and a few new movements. My reps will be kept in the 10-15 range till January. For example, I did some Arnold DB Presses for 10-12 reps to start my delt workout. I then did Seated DB Laterals up to 15 reps supersetted with Hammer Behind the Neck Presses for up to 15 reps. OUCH!!!

The leg extension/walking lunge superset has been working for my legs so well, that I thought I'd throw the same technique in for other muscles as well.

Speaking of legs, I'm training a fairly large group of young guys on legs tomorrow during my own training. It should be a blast!!

[Quelly]

The end of the week was solid. Notably, I pulled 405 for 13 reps on deadlifts, moving up to 415. I also pulled down 190 for 13 reps on close-grip pulldowns, moving up to 200. A triceps highlight was smashing out 310 for 13 reps on the dip machine, moving up to 320 lbs.

Superset Shock
I will be making some small modifications to my training to include supersets and a few new movements. My reps will be kept in the 10-15 range till January. For example, I did some Arnold DB Presses for 10-12 reps to start my delt workout. I then did Seated DB Laterals up to 15 reps supersetted with Hammer Behind the Neck Presses for up to 15 reps. OUCH!!!

The leg extension/walking lunge superset has been working for my legs so well, that I thought I'd throw the same technique in for other muscles as well.

Speaking of legs, I'm training a fairly large group of young guys on legs tomorrow during my own training. It should be a blast!!

that deadlift is ridiculous! bro you gotta make a video of that, 13 reps at 405 is nuts!

[rich55]

that deadlift is ridiculous! bro you gotta make a video of that, 13 reps at 405 is nuts!

Haha! Thanks bro. The next time I take videos of my deadlifts, I want it to be video of weight I have never done before. > 435 lbs

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LEGS-
Leg day yesterday was again brutal. I had to slow my pace towards the end to keep my Purple Wraath, waxy maize and MaxGlutamine down. Strength increases continue. I squatted 325 for 12 x 10 x 10 reps. biggrin.gif

SUPPS/DIET-
I have added in Anabolic Pump and therefore increased my carbohydrate intake bringing my total calories up to 3900 on lifting days. I have also added SesaGlow and more digestive enzymes to keep me lean.

My diet has had more cheats in the past 1.5 weeks than previous causing a little extra body fat accumulation. I will be more strict between now and Christmas and be sure to get my cardio in as well. I would like to stay where I am currently at in terms of bodyfat between now and my vacation in early January. After my vacation I will be doing a 3-week cut followed by lean gaining.

CHEST/BIS BLASTING-
I blasted my chest and bis today. My chest pump was CRAZY and the hammer wide chest and fly machine supersets at the end were killer. Bis were kinda tough, but in the end I could barely straighten them. I will make some changes for next week's workout as I didn't like the superset choice. I SMASHED them though!

[rich55]

I did some cardio and calves yesterday. My calf blasting has been awesome lately and I measured them just shy of 16 inches the other day with plenty of veins! This has been working like a charm nice and slow with holding at top and stretching at the bottom...

Seated Calf Raises 140 x 15, 145 x 11
Shoeless Standing Calf Machine 130 x 15, 140 x 12 x 11
Toes-Out Ground Raises for max reps immediately after last set - 1 set...OUCH!!

Today, I tore up back in a very quick workout that winded me more than cardio last night, haha. I HANDLED 415 on the deadlift for 12 reps!!! Wow! This was a high-paced killer back bashing. I was acclimating to heavier weight on most exercises, but all in all great stuff.

Tomorrow, my triceps are going down!!! My delts too, but they are looking diesel right now, so the back of my arm has some growing to do.

Oh, and I weighed in at 180 POUNDS! Nice, waist is not too shabby at 30.5".

[rich55]

Weight smashing is still in full effect! I pounded my delts and tris very hard and experienced some great triceps soreness as a result. I did some cardio on my off day and legs went well yesterday. Today was chest and biceps and it went a little something like this:

A1- Incline Bench 215 x 10 x 8 x 7
A2- Barbell Curls 100 x 13, 105 x 8
B1- Preacher Curl Machine 80 x 15, 85 x 11
B2- Hammer DB Curls 30 x 15, 31.25 x 12
B3- Incline DB Flys 62.5 x 15, 65 x 12
C1- Hammer Wide Chest 240 x 13, 250 x 11
C2- Fly Machine 100 x 12 x 11
Forearm Wrist Rolls with 20 lbs up and down 3 x's

This was an OUTSTANDING biceps workout! They felt awesome and pumped. I've been comments lately about how much thicker I am looking. I still have 5 more months to grow!! My workout was cut short b/c I had to train clients, so afterwards I finished my calves.

I then chugged some more Purple Wraath and MaxGlutamine and cooked a fatty angus steak when I got home equipped with green beans and a slice of whole wheat bread.

[rich55]

I took yesterday off as planned and then hit back today. Is it strange to think about deadlifting just before you drift off to sleep? I began to think about the day ahead and started getting psyched up to lift. Haha, yes I'm aware that I'm a freak. I also thought of other things such as girls, work, how great it would be to sleep in, etc.

Well, I crushed my deadlifts pulling 415 for 13 and moved up to 425 for REPS! I got one more rep on pulldowns, rows and shrugs killed and I moved up on bent-over laterals. I mixed it up a little doing supersets of the seated row machine and bent-over DB rows to shock my muscles.

I have progressively moved up to or near personal best weights on most exercises. But, I'm repping weight for 10-12 that I previously repped for 6-8. Lifting heavier in January should have a nice effect and I can't wait! The gains continue!!!

[rich55]

My delt and tri workout yesterday was rushed, but in the end my muscles were numb and swolen. Rest between sets was minimal resulting in an EXCRUCIATING burn! I got an additional rep on my Arnolds and Dips over last week and it flat out just hurt so good!

Arnold DB Press 75 x 11 x 9 x 7
A1- Seated DB Laterals 32.5 x 13 x 12 x 11
A2- Hammer Behind Neck Press 130 x 13, 140 x 11 x 9
Hammer Dip Machine 320 x 11 x 8
B1- Lying DB Extensions 35 x 11 x 9
B2- V-Bar Pushdowns 115 x 13 x 9
---> One extra set of Lying DB extensions with 20's immediately at end. Nothing left!!!

I am continuing to have peope tell me almost each day that I am getting noticeably thicker! My shirts seem to shrink each week, haha. I will be prioritizing my arms as always with my new program. I still need more size all over in my upper body as my legs seem to grow like weeds.

My diet has been pretty clean the last week and a half sticking around 3900 cals on workout days. I treated myself to a Chipotle burrito bol last night after my workout with chicken, steak, rice, black beans, pico, corn, lettuce and a little cheese.

I am up to 181 lbs (up 1 lb in a week). The elusive 190 lb mark is not that far away!

[rich55]

I have off until next Thursday from work and will be using this time to rest quite a bit. I will continue to train, but sleep and relaxing is a top priority. 6 days off from the day job rocks!

I mixed up my leg training yesterday throwing some front squats back into the mix and supersets of lying leg curls and SLDL for hammies. Honestly, though I am gonna have to add something after the killer prior program. I have some ideas for next week.

Of more importance, chest and biceps was today. I was flying solo, but it still rocked! I had plenty of time and decided to do a little extra throwing in some seated DB curls nice and slow, some wrist curls and why not some 1-arm reverse pushdowns as well. My triceps have some growing to do!! It kinda hurts to type right now b/c my arms are so spent!

My Christmas schedule:

Tomorrow- Off
Eve- Back at Sheffield Lake World Gym
Christmas Day- Basement Delts & Tris, Eat, Eat and Eat some more!

[LiGymRatt]

crazy numbers your posting bro! nice!

[rich55]

crazy numbers your posting bro! nice!

Thanks bro, it's coming along. I'm looking forward to doing more moderate reps after the new year. The heavier poundages should spur some good growth.

TIS THE SEASON - TO KEEP SMASHING WEIGHTS!!

My Christmas Eve workout was good. I only had a half hour to smash out back, but I made it happen with all supersets. Supersetting deadlifts with well anything is not fun, but you gotta do what you gotta do. Lifting weights in a different gym is always different, so I don't pay attention to how many or even how much that closely and just give 150%.

And yes, I worked out on Christmas day as well. I like to do things most people wouldn't even fathom doing. This is what will separate me from the rest come contest day. Plus, I had some extra time between gift opening and our family lunch. My basement delt and triceps beating was intense:

A1- Military Presses
A2- Standing DB Presses
B1- Seated DB Laterals
B2- Upright Bar Rows
B3- Standing DB Laterals
Close-Grip Benchpress
1-Arm Overhead DB Extensions
C1- Pushdowns
C2- DB Kickbacks

I did 2-3 sets on each exercise with no comprehension of how much weight and I didn't count reps either. We have a limited amount of weight in my basement at home, so I tried to get the most bang per pound by doing supersets. It worked! I then smashed food all day long after that and slept 12 hours.