Rich's Mission: Natural Pro Card 2008

[rich55]

Took some pix on Sunday. I am pleased with my conditioning at the 14-week out mark. But I need to bring up the arms, chest and upper body in general. Legs are looking nasty and the back is showing a little more detail. Delts are better too. Back to my weak points...

My cals are still high enough (3400) to make some improvements. Better yet I will be ramping my weak point days up to 3600 (twice weekly) and bringing the other days down to 3300. I will be hitting my arms more frequently (every 3-5 days) and ferociously as well. I am getting up early tomorrow morning to blast arms and coming back later to hit shoulders. Saturday, I am going in early at 7:15 am to train arms with Davies before I leave town for the weekend. Oh, it is on!!!

Sitting roughly 180 maybe (weigh in tomorrow) cold in these pix. Flexing my legs was extremely tough after hitting legs two days before.







BACK DAY 6/16:

Had to get some steam rolling today as both Greg and I were dragging a little. We got things rolling and had a good one though.

Wide-Grip Pullups BW x 12, 5lbs added x 8 x 6
A1- Straight-Arm Pulldowns 120 x 15, 130 x 13 x 12
A2- Close-Grip Pulldowns 160 x 10, 170 x 8 x 7
Seated Cable Rows 190 x 12 x 11 x 11
Bent-Over Smith Rows 155 x 13, 155 x 12, 165 x 10
Bent-Over DB Laterals 32.5 x 15, 35 x 12 x 10

[rich55]

DOUBLE DUTY TUESDAY 6/17:
Man on a mission here. Had a great day! My day went a little something like this:

800am- Woke & slam shake 3/4 c oats, 2.5 scoops protein with flax, 2 Orange Triad

845- Pop Blue Up, White Blood, Lean Green, Green Magnitude and hit the road (5 min drive)

900-945- Strapped on ipod & stretched. Then, downed half of my 60g CarboMax, 10g MaxGlutamine & 2 scoops Purple Wraath. ARM SMASHING!!

A1- Lying DB Extensions 36.25 x 13, 37.5 x 11 x 9
A2- Standing DB Curls 41.25 x 14, 42.5 x 11 x 8
B1- Overhead Rope Extensions 85 x 15, 90 x 14 x 13
B2- Barbell Curls 85 x 13, 90 x 10 x 8
C1- Dips BW x 18ish x 16ish
C2- Alternating Hammer Curls 35 x 11 x 10

Slammed Golden FinisH and 2 Orange Triad after.

1100-100- Napped

100- 8 oz 92/8 beef, 1 large sweet potato, broccoli, 2 super epa, 2 MaxCLA, 4 mass aminos

100-200- Worked on some emails
200-300- Hung out at Max Muscle and picked up some supps. Slammed more Green Mag & Lean Green.

315-415- Shoulders & Cardio!! 2 scoops Purple Wraath & 10g MaxGlutamine. Weighed in at 181 lbs. Waist down 1/4 inch to 30.5.

A1- Seated DB Laterals 30 x 15, 13 x 11
A2- Standing DB Upright Rows 30 x 17 x 14 x 12
Arnold DB Press 65 x 9 x 7 x 6
B1- Standing DB Shrugs 125 x 15, 130 x 12 x 10
B2- Barbell Plate Front Raises 25 x 15, 30 x 15, 35 x 13
Seated Machine Press 110 x 11 x 9 x 8, drop to 70 x 8
20 minutes walking on incline after 3.8mph at 7.5 incline

3 more scoops Golden FinisH & 2 Orange Triad.

500- 2 rice ***** and IsoXtreme whey. Trained a regular bro & new guy on back & bis.

600- Pounded 8 oz lean strip steak, 1 c brown rice, broccoli, 2 super epa & mass aminos. Smashed Sue's legs ---> 10.5 wks till North Americans!!

700- Client no show (she gets billed). Chatted with Greg & James who had to smash weights later cuz of work.

800- Total body workout with a new regular couple trying to get in shape

900- Pounded can tuna, 1 slice whole wheat bread, 1 whole egg, 1 white & broccoli, 2 MaxCLA. Then trained a regular on chest & bis.

1000-1100 Go home and chat with the woman.

1130- Drink a shake with 1 TB natural PB. Post up a days work. Crash.

[rich55]

Had a good leg smashing yesterday. Blasted chest today HARD! Now I have to peace out for the weekend as I will be traveling down to Tennessee for a bachelor party with 17 guyz. Yeah, should be interesting.

No worries though! I am packing all my food, sippin' on H2O all weekend and have found a place called the "Muscle Factory" to train. 7am arm training before we leave too. 13 weeks till go time!!

[bull.dogz]

No worries though! I am packing all my food, sippin' on H2O all weekend and have found a place called the "Muscle Factory" to train. 7am arm training before we leave too. 13 weeks till go time!!

Now that's dedication!

[rich55]

Now that's dedication!

You know it! I am not training for second place!!

The weekend certainly had several moments of, "I wish I could..." No big deal though. I got used to that several years ago.

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BACHELOR PARTY BODYBUILDING:

The bachelor party weekend was a ton of fun. Trained arms at 7am before we left at another Metro Fitness gym. Sunday I trained back and did some cardio at a place in Johnson City, TN called the Muscle Factory. It got the job done, but it wasn't the greatest place.

Our house on the lake had two kitchens so I was all set with eating. We hit up the grocery store when we arrived and I picked up a case of H20, while they hit up the liquor store.

I wasn't that active (besides jet skiing) and trained in the mornings, so I made some adjustments to my diet and had to with our schedule. I basically ate contest clean all weekend with good carbs early and none later. Lots of grilling and omelets...good stuff!

After a 6 hour drive yesterday I decided to push my shoulder day back one day as I was just beat tired and not feeling well. Today, I am blasting shoulder & cardio. Still tired, but I plan to get another good night of rest this evening.

CONDITIONING UPDATE:

I am definitely leaner as my waist is almost 30 inches. My legs are shedding some noticeable bodyfat too as I am starting to get some room in my jeans.

[rich55]

Did a relatively light day on shoulders today since I'm hitting chest in two days. Threw in some calves and polished it off with some cardio. VERY little rest between sets.

A1- Seated DB Laterals 30 x 15 x 12 x 10
A2- Standing DB Upright Rows 30 x 13 x 12 x 9
Seated DB Press 65 x 15, 70 x 11 x 9
Standing DB Shrugs 130 x 14 x 12 x 11
B1- Seated Calves 145 x 15 x 11 x 10
B2- Donkey Calves 180 x 11, 190 x 11 x 9
20 minutes on elliptical after

Friday I leave for NYC to watch good ole James do battle for his WNBF pro card at the INBF Natural Hercules Championships. I think I found a decent place to smash called Underground Fitness, which is less than a half mile away from the show. He went and had some t-shirts made for his entourage which are pretty cool.

[rich55]

LEG DAY 6/25:

Greg and I hit legs today. Both of us weren't feeling as strong as usual so we did some pyramiding and reverse pyramiding to increase tension and focus on working our muscles hard.

Squats 275 x 15, 295 x 12, 315 x 7
Hack Squats 230 x 12, 250 x 8, 180 x 15
Walking DB Lunges 35 down & back and 40, air squats after last set for 10
1-Leg Curl Machine 55 x 15, 60 x 11, 45 x 15

Another bodybuilder and strongman training at the same time in our gym concurred that it was WAY too hot in the gym. Yeah, it made for a rough one. We were tapped out by the end.

[bull.dogz]

LEG DAY 6/25:

Greg and I hit legs today. Both of us weren't feeling as strong as usual so we did some pyramiding and reverse pyramiding to increase tension and focus on working our muscles hard.

Squats 275 x 15, 295 x 12, 315 x 7
Hack Squats 230 x 12, 250 x 8, 180 x 15
Walking DB Lunges 35 down & back and 40, air squats after last set for 10
1-Leg Curl Machine 55 x 15, 60 x 11, 45 x 15

Another bodybuilder and strongman training at the same time in our gym concurred that it was WAY too hot in the gym. Yeah, it made for a rough one. We were tapped out by the end.

Sounded like you could've used a double dose of ice cold Purple Wraath!

[rich55]

Sounded like you could've used a double dose of ice cold Purple Wraath!

Oh I was sipping on some for sure during the workout. What I needed was ice cold Purple Wraath spritzing the gym to cool me off, haha.

The heat was bad, but I also don't think I was 100% after the long weekend. Today, was a different story...

I had a very productive chest and arm workout!! I am training arms whenever I feel recovered, so I figured why not throw them in after chest. I hadn't trained them since Saturday, so they were certainly feeling ready to smash. Greg and I kept up a good pace and knocked this long one out in only 75 minutes.

Incline DB Press 90 x 12 x 10 x 8
Incline DB Flys 55 x 13 x 12 x 11, Press again at end for 13
Machine Chest Squeezes 100 x 14 x 13 x 13
Decline Bench 185 x 12, 225 x 8 x 7
A1- Cable Crossovers 60 x 14, 65 x 11
A2- Pushups x 12 x 10 slow holding stretch at bottom
B1- EZ Skullcrushers 95 x 12 x 10 x 9
B2- EZ Bar Curls 95 x 10 x 9 x 8
C1- Alternating Hammer DB Curls 35 x 12, 37.5 x 8 x 8
C2- Overhead Rope Extensions 90 x 15, 95 x 13 x 12

I added more carbs during and after training. I have been eating a little less carbohydrates and calories the last 5 days down closer to 3000, so today I bumped the cals up higher.

[rich55]

Ah yes, the trip to NYC. James drove 10 hours with his brother, mom and roommate. I flew in on Friday to get him ready and coach him to victory. Unfortunately, he walked away with a narrow runner-up finish just shy of winning his WNBF pro card at the INBF Hercules Championships. The battle came down to the wire with an extended prejudging to determine this close and impressive class of 12. Myself and a few others disagreed with the call, but such is the subjective sport of bodybuilding.

He brought his best package yet to stage taking the stage at 160 lbs shredded. He had vascularity everywhere and he was peeled. He also manage to gain a few pounds of beef since his October shows looking his thickest yet.

So, the training resumes. And now I am even more motivated to pound out these last 12 weeks for my shot at that pro card. Heck, immediately after prejudging I jetted to the gym to smash back.

BACK 6/28:

At NYC's Underground Fitness. Manager was not friendly in the least, so not a recommended facility. Served our purpose though. I just smashed weights going on feel since the gym was foreign.

Wide Pullups 3 sets, 1 set close at end
1-Arm DB Rows 3 sets up to 120's
Cable Lat Squeezes 3 sets
Bench Rows 3 sets
Close-Grip Pulldowns 3 sets
Bent-Over DB Laterals 3 sets

Kept thinking about needing to have the best back on stage in September. My strong points have to shine, so they must get better. Apparently it was a good one as I'm getting progressively sore throughout my entire back, bis and even abs haha.

I am back in Cbus now and heading into train peeps and hit shoulders, calves & cardio. Tomorrow begins a small cut. I will be the most conditioned athlete on stage in September.

[bull.dogz]

[rich55]

Thanks Bull! Motivation right now is running REAL high. Gotta improve!!! Speaking of improving....

I have ferocious intensity to improve after what I saw on stage this past weekend at the INBF Hercules show. HUUOOGE bantams and lighweights! Bring it!!!



SHOULDERS & CALVES 6/29:

Seated DB Press 75 x 12, 80 x 10 x 8
Seated DB Laterals 30 x 14 x 12 x 11, 20 x 17
Seated Machine Press 100 x 15, 110 x 12 x 10, drop to 70 x 13
Standing DB Shrugs 130 x 14 x 12 x 11
Standing Calf Raises 140 x 17 x 13 x 11 x 10 ---> extra slow & controlled
20 minutes walking on incline after

TRIS & SOME CARDIO 6/30:

EZ Skullcrushers 95 x 12, 100 x 9 x 9
Overhead Rope Extensions 95 x 13 x 12 x 12
Dips BW x 17 x 13, drop to assistance for less than 10 reps, dropped again for less than 6 reps
15 minutes elliptical after

Today, my bis were still quite sore from back, so I hit tris instead of arms. Had 30 minutes to train between clients so I figured why not do 15 minutes triceps and 15 minutes of cardio.

DIET CHANGES

My cutting progress continues, so I have decided to make just a small cut from just under 3500 calories to 3200 calories. Cardio remains at 2-3 days per week for 20 minutes. My waist measured at 30 inches last week, which is where I stood 6 weeks out from the Ohio. This means two things. First, I am track to be at my leanest and two, I was not in good shape at the Ohio last year.

The changes in my diet consist of eliminating carbs from meal 6 and increasing fat. Also, reducing fat from meals 2 & 3 and reducing carbs from meal 2. I will take pix again in 2 weeks at the 10-week out mark.

[rich55]

I was fired up to train legs today. Focus is on bringing up weak points and making my strong points even better. Freaky wheels will help me in September...

Squats 285 x 15, 305 x 9, 325 x 6
SLDL 315 x 15 x 11, 275 x 11
1-Leg Machine Curls 60 x 11 x 10
High Wide Stance Leg Press 10 plates x 20, 10.5 plates x 11
Leg Extensions on Machine 100 x 15 x 12, 80 x 13

Legs were on fire the whole workout! Nausea kicked in at the end sending me down for a postworkout nap, haha. Another outstanding workout. Looking forward to smashing chest super hard tomorrow and may throw in some biceps too.

SUPPLEMENTS:

Pretty much in full swing here minus lots of stims. Will be adding Reduction in at 8 weeks out & White Flood at 4 weeks out.

Orange Triad
Green Magnitude
White Blood
Purple Wraath
GlycerGrow
Golden FinisH
ActivaTe Extreme
Lean Green
Acetyl L-Carnitine
Ultra 40
Super EPA
Max CLA
Max Glutamine

[bull.dogz]

[rich55]

Oh you know it bull!!!! Big weights = big muscles, bwahaa!

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CRUSHED my chest, bis & forearms yesterday. I am quite sore already from training. James was off and Greg had a doctor appointment, but fortunately a guy I train who competes showed up in the nick of time and just happened to be training chest.

Incline DB Press 90 x 12, 95 x 8 x 7
Incline DB Flys 55 x 15, 60 x 13 x 11, press x 13 at end
Machine Chest Squeezes 100 x 14 x 13 x 13
Hammer Wide Chest 115 x 13 x 12, 90 x 13 x 12 with rest pauses
EZ Bar Curls 90 x 11 x 9, 70 x 10
Alternating Hammer DB Curls 37.5 x 11 x 9, 25 x 11
Rope Hammer Inside Curls 50 x 15, 55 x 12 x 11
Wrist Rolls 20 down up for 2 sets, 10 down & up followed by some 3 sets of wrist curls

Today is an off day. I am hosting a little get together on the rooftop of my pad to watch the downtown Red, White & Boom fireworks. I have marinated a bunch of steak for kabobs with plenty of veggies. Sippin on some H20 and maybe if I am feeling crazy I will have a diet Dew.