Rich's Mission: Natural Pro Card 2008

[rich55]

AM ARMS & PM LEGS 8/18:

I woke at 9:30 am and smashed arms. I put back a 40 g of my mix of waxy/maltodextrin & 15 g of gatorade powder pre and during workout with Purple Wraath and MaxGlutamine.

A1- Lying DB Extensions 40 x 8 x 6, 30 x 16
A2- Hammer DB Curls 45 x 13, 47.5 x 8, 35 x 10 alternating
B1- Rope Pulldowns 90 x 12 x 10 x 9
B2- 1-Arm Cable Curls 35 x 14 x 11
C1- Dip Machine 270 x 12 x 11
C2- Preacher Machine 65 x 8, 45 x 13 ----> arms so tight it became hard to curl
D1- Cable Kickbacks 30, 20, 10 drop set
D2- Across Chest Hammers 25 x 15 x 15 self-spotting till nothing left

I put down 1/2 c oats, 1 scoop Max High5, 1 scoop Max Gourmet, 1 T greens and 2 strawberries postworkout. I then slammed down 2 more meals, trained some peeps, tried to nap and went back for legs with James and Greg at 6pm.

Squats 305 x 10 x 8 x 7
A1- Leg Extensions 190 x 12 x 10 x 10
A2- Seated Leg Curls 100 x 13, 105 x 11 x 10
Walking DB Lunges 45, 50, 50 down & back ----> 2nd & 3rd set BRUTAL!!
SL DB DL 105 x 15 ----> and then I felt a twinge in my lower back

At first feeling of even the smallest twinge I stopped. The workout was already killer, so I had enough after a long day. Right now, I just need to stay healthy and keep shedding fat. Proactive icing and ibuprofen will be done this evening.

Tomorrow, includes double cardio and chest with the fellas.

[rich55]

4.5 weeks and counting, so another 2-a-day for me! I slept a solid 9 hours last night after a long day. My meal plan and schedule:

10am- wake & pop REDuction, Lean Green, ALCAR and Drive

10:30am- Breakfast shake as usual, 2 Orange Triad, fish oil, CLA

12:40am- 2 scoops White Flood, Green Magnitude & Drive preworkout

1:10pm- Sipped on 2 scoops of Purple Wraath, 10 g glutamine & 30 g mixture of waxy maize, maltodextrin & gatorade powder. I finish before cardio and sip on H20 during cardio.

CHEST & CARDIO

Incline DB Flys 65 x 13 x 11 x 10
Incline DB Press 75 x 10 x 9 x 8
Hammer Wide Chest 145 x 13, 150 x 10 x 11
A1- Machine Chest Squeezes 110 x 13 x 11 x 11
A2- Decline Pushups on Fist 3 sets x 10ish
B1- High Crossovers 35 x 12 x 11 x 10
B2- Incline Machine for Pump 80 x 20, 110 x 13 x 12

30 minutes of cardio split between walking on incline & elliptical

2:45pm- 3 scoops Golden FinisH, 2 orange triad

4:00pm- 8 oz chicken mexican style, 6 oz sweet potato, 1 c broccoli, fish oil

6:30pm- 1 scoop White Flood, Green Magnitude, Drive, Lean Green, ALCAR

7:00pm- CARDIO - 40 minutes split between walking on an incline and elliptical. I definitely hit the wall here, but pushed through it sipping on more Purple Wraath and Glutamine.

8:00pm- 2 rice *****, 1 T gatorade powder and 2 scoop IsoXtreme whey

9:00pm- 8 oz 96/4 lean beef, 1 c green beans, fish oil, CLA

11:30pm- 1.5 scoops High5, 1 T natty PB, CLA

45-60 minutes later I am popping my REDuction PM and some more ALCAR.

[rich55]

Off day today, which was much needed. EXTREME chest soreness today! Arms are feeling it a bit too, but man my chest!! I can tell I am depleted of carbs when I get dizzy standing up fast and taking stairs.

I have been taking in a little under 2200 calories on my off days spread across 6 meals with carbs mostly in the first 3 meals accruing a total of 120 g for the day. They get up to 180-190 on my workout days, but when they are concentrated mostly in breakfast in postworkout you just burn through them doing as much cardio as I am doing. It happens.

Lower back feels good, but just a little stiff. Wrist feels great! AM cardio and afternoon back, posing & cardio tomorrow.

Friday, I weigh in and will assess my progress. I am leaning towards pulling out my carbs pre & during workout, depending on how I feel. Whatever it takes!

[rich55]

DOUBLE CARDIO, POSING & BACK 8/21:

Woke and did 40 minutes of walking on an incline and elliptical at moderate intensity. I then headed back in the afternoon to smash back.

Wide-Grip Pullups 10lbs x 8 x 6, assistance of ~30 lbs x 10
A1- Close-Grip Pulldowns 160 x 13, 170 x 8, 150 x 12
A2- T-Bar Style DB Rows 80 x 15, 90 x 12 x 9 -----> felt a little twinge in my lower back again
B1- High Pulley 1-Arm Cable Rows 95 x 15 x 12 x 13
B2- Straight-Arm Pulldowns 90 x 12 x 11 x 10 ----> lats toasted!
Wide-Grip Machine Rows 120 x 9, 110 x 11, 100 x 13, drop to 60 x 16
C1- Standing Calves 190 x 13 x 11 x 9
C2- Donkey Calves 180 x 10 x 9 x 8
C2- Ground Raises x 15 x 14 x 13

Done in 50 minutes. But, then headed up to pose for another 15 minutes through 3 rounds of mandatories. I then did 30 more minutes of cardio after. Man, was I beat!

I put back about 100 g of carbs in 75 minutes postworkout with no problem. Usually, it is spread across 2 hours, but I was starving after all that work. The next 2 meals will be spaced out 3 hours to compensate low carb as usual.

The next few workouts, I will be training with Mike Davies for a change of pace (shoulders, arms & chest). Tomorrow, we are hitting shoulders followed by arms the next morning at 7:15am. I will also be taking some pix this weekend at the 4-week out mark.

[rich55]

I weighed at 169 lbs today, which is down 2 lbs from last week!! Woohoo!


I certainly feel leaner, but have decided that I still have another 4-5 lbs to lose in the next 4 weeks (3 working weeks) to peak completely shredded. Abs are shredding up and obliques are looking better. Quad separation and vascularity is improving. Hamstrings are peaking through a little more.

Fat is still hanging on the lower abs, slightly through the quads, on the hamstrings and mostly at that glute-ham tie in area. It is ALL coming off though.

4-WEEK OUT DIET CHANGES:

I had been holding a few more things in my diet up to this point, but now they must go:

- Removed 30 g of waxy maize and maltodextrin drank pre & during workout
- Reduced and consolidated postworkout shake to 3 scoops Golden FinisH, 1 scoop IsoExtreme whey & a rice cake.

This cuts another 200 calories out of my diet and eliminates and will allow me to burn more fat during my workouts. Calories are down to 2400 with carbs around 150 g.

Carb-up days will be utilized. I have done one big meal previously, but now I am spreading the extra carbs out across an entire day to a little over 300 g of carbs and 2900 calories. They will be done as needed every 3-6 days. I will listen to my body and see how it responds. I am no longer cheating, cardio is in high gear and training is still going HARD! Carb-ups are needed.

OTHER CHANGES:

Cardio will continue to ramp up. I have done 200 minutes already this week and am considering another 20 minutes tomorrow. Next week, I will be doing 240 minutes.

I have also added in IGF-2. Blue Gene couldn't get here soon enough, so it will to wait till postcontest. Yohimbine is also being added and I have picked up a vanadyl/chromium blend for carb-ups.

SHOULDERS & CARDIO 8/22:

Lying Front DB Raises (on slight incline) 15 x 10, 20 x 10, 20 x 10 to warm-up
Lying Rear Delt Rows (on slight incline) 35 x 13 x 10 x 9
A1- Seated DB Shrugs 35 x 10 x 12 x 11 x 11
A2- Seated DB Lateral Pushes 35 x 10 x 12 x 11 x 11
DB Press Variation 35 x 13 x 12 x 10 x 10 ---->palms facing in and twisting to face forward & high at top
Seated Curl to Supinated Press 20 x 12 x 11 x 10 x 10
Shoulder Width Pushups BW x 21 x 15 x 12 ----> 20 seconds between sets

I then 30 minutes of moderate cardio after.

[rich55]

AM ARMS & PM POSING 8/22:

Woke up at 6am to blast arms this morning. Pounded some White Flood, Green Magnitude & Drive and 30 minutes later downed a banana and some protein powder. Today, is a refeed day with basically lots of oats & sweet potatoes. Arms was a blast!

A1- Bench Close-Grip Pushups BW x 15 x 15 x 15 x 15
A2- Lying DB Kickbacks 25 x 10 x 10 x 10 x 10
B1- Reverse-Grip Pushdowns 110 x 12 x 11 x 11 x 10
B2- Close-Grip Cable Curls 100 x 10, 110 x 10, 120 x 10, 130 x 8
C1- Dip Machine Leaning Forward ??? x 12 x 12 x 11 x 11
C2- Seated DB Curls 35 x 10 x 9 x 8 x 7
Reverse-Grip Curls Up, Regular Curls down 25 x 10 x 10 x 10
D1- Machine Curls 50 x 10 x 9 x 8
D2- Hammer Curls 25 x 10 x 10 x 8
2 Tris-sets of different wrist curls

OUCH! Yeah buddy, they are already sore! Shoulders are CRUSHED from yesterday too. Good thing for the refeed day! Posed at 2pm for a solid straight 30 minutes.

My plan for the week:

Sunday- Legs & Cardio
Monday- AM Cardio & PM Chest
Tuesday- AM & PM Cardio
Wednesday- AM Cardio & PM Back/Cardio
Thursday- AM Cardio & PM Shoulders & Arms - REFEED DAY
Friday- Off - Travel to Nashville

[rich55]

LEGS & CARDIO 8/24:

My lower back is not 100%, so I mixed things up and really just wanted to put a beating on them while keeping my heart rate up high.

A1- Leg Extensions Machine 100 x 15 x 13 x 13 -----> holding at top for 2-count
A2- Lying Leg Curls 100 x 13 x 11 x 8
B1- High/Wide Stance Leg Press 10 plates x 15 x 13 x 11
B2- Front Squat Machine 90 x 15, 110 x 13, 130 x 13
C1- 1-Leg Curl Machine 50 x 15 x 12
C2- Walking Lunges 2 giant laps around the gym without weight

20 minutes walking on incline afterwards at pretty slow pace, haha.

PROGRESS PIX AT 4 WKS OUT:

I have certainly leaned out significantly in the last 2 weeks since my pictures. Another 4-5 lbs down in the next 3 weeks and I will be right on the money!!! I will certainly be bringing my best to stage yet!

[Quelly]

RIGHT ON THE MONEY!

4-5lbs and you will be shredded...I think you got a good shot at your card amigo!

By 09 lets give controlled labs some sponsored PRO athletes, you first!

[rich55]

RIGHT ON THE MONEY!

4-5lbs and you will be shredded...I think you got a good shot at your card amigo!

By 09 lets give controlled labs some sponsored PRO athletes, you first!

Thanks Eric! I certainly value your opinion. Yeah, I felt pretty good after seeing the pix. I'm pulling out all the stops these last few weeks! Your time is coming soon, so stay hungry!!

--------------------------

AM CARDIO & PM CHEST 8/25:

Woke and did 40 minutes of cardio with nothing but Purple Wraath and MaxGlutamine in the tank. Went back in and hit chest later with Mike:

A1- Flat DB Flys 30 x 15, 50 x 15 x 15 x 15
A2- Flat DB Squeezes 30 x 6, 50 x 6 x 5 x 5
Machine Chest Squeezes 92 x 10, 92 x 10, 94 x 10, 96 x 10
B1- DB Pullovers 65 x 15 x 12 x 10
B2- Flat DB Press 50 x 8 x 6 x 5
C1- Incline DB Press (semi-sup grip) 55 x 12, 55 x 12, 60 x 10 x 9
C2- High Crossovers 4 sets x 10 ???
Decline Pushups on fists x 21

I had a CRAZY pump going and felt great! My chest is really sore today. I have certainly flattened back out again, but that comes with the territory.

Today is a double-cardio day (40 + 30) with some posing.

[rich55]

Today was brutal. My last cardio session was last night at 9pm, preceded by 2 hard rounds of posing. So, this morning was a little sluggish.

40 minutes of cardio first thing in the morning, then I hit a back workout in the afternoon with Greg, Constance and Jenn. Good times!

A1- 1-Arm DB Rows 95 x 12 x 12, 105 x 12
A2- T-Bar Style DB Rows 95 x 10 x 8, 105 x 8
Medium-Grip Pullups BW x 10 x 8 x 7
B1- Straight-Arm Pulldowns 100 x 13 x 12 x 10
B2- Bent-Over Medium Grip Cable Rows 100 x 15 x 15, 110 x 13
Wide-Grip Pulldowns 150 x 12
Standing Calves, Donkey Calves Ground Raises tri-set

Another 25 minutes of cardio after. THEN, I did 2 brutal rounds of posing again later in the evening. My muscles were cramping, I was sweating profusely and I just had nothing left. No amount of Purple Wraath could help me. Much needed rest tonight and then tomorrow I am doing morning cardio, followed by a full day of refeeding as planned.

Shoulders and arms up next!

[rich55]

Morning cardio was rough as I was certainly depleted. I can also tell I am due for an off day, which I am taking tomorrow. BUT, today was a carb day, woohoo!

I had a very busy day of training and had to pack 5 meals to take with me as I was out from 9:30am to 10:00pm. Blasted my shoulder and arms today!! Less than a minute rest between sets, so I knocked this out in just over an hour dripping sweat. Yes, all of this. I trained like a madman with very little rest. It even looks crazy typed up.

Lying Front Raises 15 lbs x 15 x 15 x 14
Lying Rear Delt Rows 30 x 15 x 13 x 12
A1- Seated Shrugs 35 x 10 x 10 x 10
A2- Seated DB Lateral Pushes 35 x 10 x 10 x 10
Seated DB Press Variation 35 x 15, 40 x 14, 45 x 12
C1- Front DB Glass Raises 15 x 15 x 15 x 15
C2- DB Underhand Laterals 15 x 12 x 10 x 10
C3- DB Laterals 15 x 8 x 6 x 6
D1- DB Shrugs 75 x 20, 80 x 16, 85 x 13
D2- Lying DB Kickbacks 25 x 15 x 15 x 15
E1- Close-Grip Cable Curls 85 x 12, 90 x 12, 95 x 9
E2- Alternating DB Skullcrushers 20 x 7 x 6 x 6
F1- Seated DB Curls w/ Hard Twist 25 x 10 x 9 x 9
F2- Close-Grip Bench Pushups x 20 x 18 x 16
1-Arm Reverse Pushdowns 35 x 13 x 11 x 10
G2- Reverse Zottmans 20 x 8 x 6
G3- Hammers 20 x 8ish x 8ish
Dip Machine 2 sets with different grips

I felt very full after this workout. 2 LARGE meals of carbs before certainly helped. Tomorrow, I am driving to Nashville with the woman, her roommate and sister to spend the weekend with her family. I am psyched!

Do not worry, I will be hitting a nearby World's early Saturday for legs and a Gold's some time on Sunday. Monday is a cardio only day and I may just have to resort to some jogging. I will be doing some jet skiing on Saturday after a leg day too. That should be interesting. Packing the cooler, yet again!!

Have a happy Labor Day weekend!!

[pumpiron2]

Question concerning joint pain

Hey Rich you are in great shape man! I am 44 and have been training for years! I have come down with arthritus and get joint pain in my elbows and at the bottom of both thumbs. Did you ever get joint pain. I am taking Universal Animal Flex can you suggest some advice if you have any.

I love training man and like to also try Control Labs products. I have taken No ShotGun, SuperPump, Multi Vitiman, Whey Protien, T Bomb 2, .

I love the No products I love the pump but want to get bigger and harder man.

Louie

[Quelly]

Thanks Eric! I certainly value your opinion. Yeah, I felt pretty good after seeing the pix. I'm pulling out all the stops these last few weeks! Your time is coming soon, so stay hungry!!

You should, your looking about right for where you are at, once the hams and glutes tighten up you should be golden, and you got PLENTY of time, keep killing it!

And me?! hungrier every day, that's all there is bud...

[rich55]

You should, your looking about right for where you are at, once the hams and glutes tighten up you should be golden, and you got PLENTY of time, keep killing it!

And me?! hungrier every day, that's all there is bud...

Hams and glutes are always the last to go. But, overall body fat continues to decrease with not much left in my quads, lower abs and tris. Ah, the glutes and hams!

[rich55]

LABOR DAY WEEKEND IN NASHVILLE

My weekend was spent traveling and meeting my girl's family down in Nashville where they live. It was a wonderful weekend in whole and my regimen remained in tact throughout. Fortunately there was a World Gym less than 5 minutes from their house and I had precooked and packed my food for the 3 days.

FRIDAY 9/29 OFF:

Dropped my carbs a little and spread out my meals to 3 hours apart following Thursday's refeed. The result was mucho hunger! I lived. The drive was 6 hours long and we arrived after midnight.

SATURDAY 9/30 AM LEGS & CARDIO:

I trained legs with my woman's roomie (current client who gets after it) and my woman's younger brother (who is aspiring to get fit). Knowing that we all had a full day of activities, we hit the gym early. I slammed 4 oz of sweet potato and scoop of High5 protein upon waking, then 30 minutes later slammed some White Flood and Green Magnitude. They were both dragging, so I gave them a scoop and they LOVED IT! Two more CL fans!!

A1- Leg Extension Machine 4 x 10-15
A2- Lying Leg Curls 4 x 10-15
B1- High Stance Leg Press 3 x 15-20
B2- Sumo DB Deadlifts 3 x 10 each hand
Walking DB Lunges for half lengths around indoor track 3 trips + 1 drop set trip back at end

30 minutes of walking on incline at end ----> Killer. Had to fight the spinning and nausea during the first 15 minutes

The evening was pretty active as we walked around a Opry Mills area and shopped. Later, we tossed around the football, so I got a few sprints in that caused me to break a sweat. I brought my plastic container of protein powder and little bit of oats to dinner at the Aquarium, haha.

CHEST & CARDIO 9/31:

After church, we all rolled back to her parent's house with quite a gathering of people. Food dishes of amazing homemade mexican food and desserts began rolling in. At that time, I left to hit the gym for a quick 30 minutes of chest and 30 minutes of elliptical:

A1- Incline DB Flys 3 x 10-15
A2- Incline DB Squeeze Presses 3 x 8-10
B1- DB Pullovers 4 x 12-15
B2- Flat DB Press 4 x 8-10
Incline Smith Presses 3 x 10ish for 2 second holds at bottom
C1- Peck Deck Machine 3 x 10-15
C2- Pushups on Fist 3 x 6-10 (steep decline 1st, slight decline 2nd, flat 3rd)

30 minutes of elliptical after. This machine got my legs up higher and burned more calories (~350) while keeping my heart rate in the 65-70% range. I treated myself to a 8 oz filet and asparagus for dinner (no butter or oil) with the family at the Chop House. Delicious!

Later that evening, we all walked around downtown Nashville for a few hours. I caught the tail end of a Peter Frampton concert on the riverfront for free. VERY cool!

AM CARDIO & PM POSING 9/1:

Rolled out of bed first thing and headed back to the World Gym for 45 minutes of morning cardio doing some walking on an incline and that pretty cool elliptical again. Burned around 500 calories with nothing but Purple Wraath and MaxGlutamine in the tank. Burn fat, BURN!!! REDuction was obviously popped with a little Drive too.

I am refeeding tomorrow, so I dropped the carbs LOW today. About 45 g for breakfast postcardio and nothing but veggies the rest of the day. I certainly felt depleted during the travel. Walking into gas stations was hard! I had a big salad at the Texas Roadhouse on the way home in Kentucky with extra chicken, a little egg, tons of lettuce, tomatoes, onions & a small touch of low fat ranch.

We didn't get back in from Nashville till 10:30pm. In my depleted state and experience major leg soreness, I decided to get my heart rate up a little with some posing. I went through 3 flat rounds of posing for 15 minutes and then finished up with a 15 minutes of crunches and ab circuit work. Treated myself to a cup of cottage cheese, 3/4 scoop of strawberry High5, few strawberries, fish oil and MaxCLA afterward. That totaled about 425 calories and 16 g of carbs.

I am hitting 45 minutes of AM cardio tomorrow, refeeding, smashing back & arms and then refeeding some more. The rest of the week will include many 2-a-day cardio sessions.