Rich's Road to the NPC Ohio State and INBF National's: Controlled Labs Sponsored

[rich55]

First Chest Day of New Routine

New Chest Day, Thurs 8/9:

Exhausted much of the day, but still got jacked up with White Flood before getting started. My upper chest needs more focus, so priorities first...

Incline Bench 205 x 9, 215 x 7 x 6
Incline Cable Flys 60 x 11, 62.5 x 8 - these felt different and good
Flat DB Press 80 x 9, 85 x 7 x 6
Hammer Wide Chest 115 x 8 x 8, 90 for drop set of 6
Donkey Calf Raises 390 x 9, 400 x 8 x 7
Standing Calf Machine 180 x 11 x 10

I am just tired from working at the bank, training clients, working out VERY hard and eating less. So, I granted myself a much deserving vacation day tomorrow during the day to sleep in. One of my friends is in town from Orlando and we went out a bit tonight. Drinking water out is no prob. My eye is on the prize!

[pu12en12g]

I am just tired from working at the bank, training clients, working out VERY hard and eating less.

Sounds like my schedule from hell... do you work at the bank mainly for the benefits (or as a long-term career) ?

[dogsofgold]

So, I granted myself a much deserving vacation day tomorrow during the day to sleep in. One of my friends is in town from Orlando and we went out a bit tonight. Drinking water out is no prob. My eye is on the prize!

Hell yes to sleeping in. I got 12.5 hours last night thanks to working second shift today. And I feel MUCH better! I think that did end up being why I felt so shitty at the gym last night.

And I spent all last weekend in Kentucky drinking water while all my friends were drinking. I thought it was going to be tough, but it actually wasn't, and I got a lot of kudos on my dedication!

[rich55]

Sounds like my schedule from hell... do you work at the bank mainly for the benefits (or as a long-term career) ?

Yeah, I basically work 12-13 hours days every week day. I am used to it though. The bank pays well and has excellent benefits. As much as I'd say I would like to train full time, it would be difficult to leave the day job. Only time will tell and the PT business continues to blow up.

Lots of Cardio 8/10:

I missed one cardio day during the week due to my hectic schedule, so I doubled up yesterday. I jogged slowly outside for 25 minutes first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. Slammed some Purple Wraath and Red Acid before. That was my first morning session and boy was I sluggish particularly in the 90 degree heat.

Later in the evening, I did 25 minutes on the elliptical after downing some Purple Wraath, Green Mag and White Flood.

Today my waist measured 29.75", down another 1/4" since last week!

[rich55]

Carb Depletion and Arms

Sat 8/11:

Afternoon-
Posing class went well despite being rather depleted from lower carb intake and heavy cardio the day before. I was better able to hold my poses as I continue to get into better posing shape. There were some monsters in the class today. I'm certainly looking forward to gaining some more mass in October. First things first though. After class I felt VERY lethargic due to my depleted state.

Evening Arms-
I weighed in at a depleted 175 lbs (down 3 lbs in one week)! Looking in the mirror I felt a little flat. So, I slammed P-Slin, 60 g of waxy maize starch, White Flood, Green Magnitude, Purple Wraath, Blue UP and nearly sprinted to the weight room rejunevated with energy.

A1- Dip Machine 330 x 9, 340 x 8 x 6
A2- Barbell Curls 110 x 7 x 6
B1- Decline DB Ext 36.25 x 9, 37.5 x 7
B2- Seated DB Curls 45 x 9, 47.5 x 7
C1- Reverse-Grip Pushdowns 115 x 11, 120 x 9 - close-grip pushups for 8 after last set
C2- Reverse EZ Bar Curls 85 x 11, 90 x 8 - preacher machine at 65 x 5 after last set
D1- Behind-Back Bar Wrist Curls 105 x 13, 110 x 10
D2- Reverse Bar Wrist Curls 40 x 11 x 8

Afterwards I slammed 4 scoops of Mass Maker and a scoop of Muscle Provider as part of my higher carb day. My physique looked entirely different postworkout. My muscles were full from all of the carbs and veins were bulging rather than hiding. Truly an awesome workout today!!

[rich55]

Leg Day, Sun 8/12:
James and I tore up our legs today! The workout was killer and was followed by some cardio. Blood sugar was on the floor afterwards.

Squats 365 x 6 x 6 x 6, got a little help on the last rep on the last 2 sets
Bar Lunges 155 x 11 x 11, supersetted with Leg Extensions after last set 140 x 7
Seated Leg Curls 135 x 8 x 6 x 6
A1- Standing 1-Leg Curls 65 x 12, 70 x 9
A2- Hanging Leg Raises BW x 15 x 12
A3- Reverse Crunches BW x 10 x 8
A4- Twisting Crunches BW x 12 x 12
20 minutes on elliptical

[rich55]

Jacked up For Delts - Mon, 8/13:

I was all jacked up today to smash some weights. I was sluggish at the office today and was looking forward to hitting my delts hard. I moved up on pretty much everything today. Hell yeah!!

Lateral Raise Machine 105 x 10 x 8 x 8
Upright Rope Cable Rows 130 x 11, 140 x 11, 150 x 8
Arnold DB Press 70 x 9, 75 x 6
A1- Standing Machine Shrugs 410 x 9, 430 x 7 x 6
A2- Bent-Over DB Lateral Raises 32.5 x 11, 33.75 x 9 x 8
Seated Calf Raises 160 x 11, 165 x 9 x 8
Leg Press Calf Raises Triset Toes Out/In/Straight 290 x 10/6/4 x 9/5/4

I ran on out of time again to do cardio due to clients, so I am lucky enough to get to morning cardio tomorrow am. Gotta do what you gotta do!!

[rich55]

Half Blind

I have managed to incur a strange allergic reaction in my left eye causing some wicked redness and irritation. So, for the next 3 days I have only one contact in and will not be able to see well. I do not wear glasses and am legally blind. Oh well!

Tues 8/14:
30 minute walk first thing in the morning. Legs were REALLY sore.

Wed 8/15:
Morning-
30 minute walk again first thing in the morning

Evening-
Had a great back day, particularly with my deadlifts. They are certainly getting back up to par. Man was I wiped out after this intense 45-minute workout.

Deadlifts 385 x 13, 395 x 8 - My CNS felt crushed after this!
Close-Grip Weighted Pullups 25 x 7 x 6 x 6
Hammer Low Rows 150 x 8 x 7
Wide-Grip Pulldowns 180 x 10 x 8
1-Arm Inside Cable Curls 50 x 8 x 8, 30 x 6 directly after last set - OUCH!

Tomorrow is chest day and it will be a blast!!

[rich55]

Mind over Matter

Today was rough as I was tired b/c of a storm at 4 am. It woke me up for a half hour. I popped some Mass Aminos and BCAA's sleep walking to the can. I was sluggish at work all day, partially b/c I was blind. Coffee and Red Acid couldn't really keep me driven. I guess working 40 hours in 3 days can cause a little fatigue.

Then gym time rolls around and everthing changes. Blasting some hard Linkin Park and jacked up on White Flood, I told myself that I would have the best chest day EVER. I would be training with my two fall competition-bound bodybuilders and had plenty of aggression to get out.

Best Chest Day Ever 8/16:

Incline Bench 215 x 9, 225 x 6 x 5
Incline Cable Flys 62.5 x 9 x 8 x 7
Flat DB Press 85 x 9, 90 x 7 x 6
Hammer Wide Chest 115 x 11, 120 x 8, drop set with 90 x 5
Donkey Calf Raises 400 x 9, 410 x 7 x 6
Standing Calf Machine 190 x 9, drop set with 130 x 6, drop to ground raises

Yeah, yeah...moved up on 3 of 4 chest lifts and my partners kicked some butt as well! 4 weeks out and getting stronger!!! Pro card up for grabs, woot, woot!

P.S. It is 11 pm and I'm gonna pose for 20 minutes despite my fatigue.

[rich55]

Progress & Carbing Up

Cardio 8/18:

Waist measured 29.5" (down 1/4" since last week) and weighed in at 174 lbs (down 1 lb), which I am pretty happy with.

I had only done morning half-hour walks the past few days, so I blasted out 45 minutes on the treadmill jogging and elliptical on my Friday night at 9pm.

Arms & Posing 8/19:

Blasted out arms with Joe and James for a pretty kickass workout. Did some close-grip benchpressing for the first time in a while and it felt really good. We trained at the Worthington World Gym, so we mixed it up a bit. After a while I just stopped thinking about the weight and just started pushing as hard as possible.

A1- Close-Grip Bench 205 x 9, 215 x 7 x 5
A2- Barbell Curls 110 x 7 x 6
B1- Lying DB Extensions
B2- Seated DB Curls
C1- Reverse/regular Pushdowns
C2- EZ Reverse Curls
D1- Behind-Back Bar Wrist Curls
D2- Reverse Wrist Curls

I took my White Flood, Green Mag, P-Slin, glutamine, Purple Wraath and 60 g of WMS and even downed an extra 15 g of WMS, glutamine and Purple Wraath afterwards and still was flat for posing. The late night cardio and lower carb day before caused the nice problem of not being able to keep my legs tight and rendered me depleted after a few hard days in a row. 4 scoops of Mass Maker and a scoop of Muscle Provider were sucked up and spit out like a measly teasing appetizer for much needed glyogen replenishment.

Mike Davies suggested that I eat more carbs regularly, but I think I will stick to my plan and add in a few clean carb refeeds. I was clearly depleted today and this evening, but I'm getting leaner and my strength is still improving like never before.

Tonight, I downed the following carb-up meal before bed:

1 T butter
1 c green beans
1 c oatmeal with cinnamon and splenda
1 banana mixed in the oatmeal
1 8 oz sweet potato with a little butter, splenda and pumpkin spice

My veins have been hiding all day due to the depletion and they are bulging now and my muscles are certainly more full. I'm going to down a grapefruit for breakfast tomorrow. I will be taking some progress photos to mark the 4-week out look.

[rich55]

Legs 8/19:

I finally got to sleep in as I crashed for 10 hours. Today's leg day got off to a rough start, but I finished strong. Squats were tough, but I improved on the rest battling through some light-headedness.

Squats 365 x 5 x 4 x 4
Barbell Lunges 155 x 12, 160 x 10, leg extensions immediately after last set 120 x 10
Seated Leg Curls 135 x 9, 140 x 6 x 5
Standing 1-Leg Curls 70 x 10 x 9
Hanging Leg Raises, Reverse Crunches & Twisting Crunches
20 minutes of cardio on elliptical

[rich55]

Blowing Up Shoulders 8/20:

I was all kinds of fired up today. I refuse to weaken just yet. Mind over matter baby and I was tenacious today!

Lateral Raise Machine 105 x 11, 110 x 8 x 7
Upright Cable Rows 150 x 11, 155 x 9 x 9
Arnold DB Press 75 x 7 x 6
A1- Hammer Shrug Machine 430 x 9, 450 x 7 x 6
A2- Bent-Over DB Lateral Raises 33.75 x 11 x 10 x 9, bring on 35's next week
Seated Calf Raises 165 x 11, 170 x 8 x 8
Leg Press Calf Raises Toes Out/In/Straight 290 x 13/6/5, 300 x 11/6/4
25 minutes on elliptical afterwards

Conditioning will need to be my best yet at the Ohio, considering I will be giving up some size to the middles (class is 155 to 175). I know two guys who have done the Juniors and North Americans who will be in my class. Next week = official carb cycling as I will be pulling my carbs down to bring my best ever conditioning. I will kick in two-a-day cardio sessions at 2 weeks out if needed.

[rich55]

I took my one off day yesterday from working out. The storm again last night woke me up and made me too tired to do cardio. But, I got it in. I am feeling leaner since this weekend as my obliques are starting to shred up.

Competition on my Mind 8/22:

I am beginning to submerse fully into the competition mode. I trained twice today and will work on my routine when I'm finished posting this.

Lunchtime Cardio-
I went through the mandatory poses twice, which was hard and then I hit the elliptical hard for 25 minutes.

Evening Back-
I told myself that I would get stronger on at least half of my back lifts today and that 405 was gonna be my bitch on deadlifts....mission accomplished!!

Deadlifts 405 x 12, 415 x 6
Close-Grip Weighted Pullups 25 x 8 x 6 x 6
Hammer Low Rows 150 x 9, 155 x 9
Wide-Grip Pulldowns 180 x 11, 190 x 7
Inside Cable Curls 50 x 8 x 8, 30 x 7 drop set at end
Lying Leg Curls 130 x 10, 90 x 8 drop set at end

Tomorrow is going to be the best chest workout I have ever done!!!

[rich55]

Chest, Calves & Cardio 8/23:

Incline Bench 225 x 6 x 5 x 5
Incline Cable Flys 62.5 x 11, 65 x 8 x 7
Flat DB Press 90 x 7 x 6 x 5
Hammer Wide Chest 120 x 11, 125 x 8, 90 x 6 drop set at end
Donkey Calf Raises 410 x 8 x 8 x 7
Standing Calf Machine 190 x 10 x 9
20 minute jog on treadmill

After my workout I had to train a couple of clients and I had ZERO energy. My blood sugar was on the floor despite the small amount of carbs from the half of grapefruit and muscle provider. I still feel like crap, but tomorrow is another day and it kicks off with some morning cardio. Time to get shredded!!

[rich55]

A few new pictures

I am never able to upload pictures here because of the weird file requirements, but here is a link to my progress page that has some newer pix:

http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/ri...n=progresspics