Rich's New Beginning: WNBF Pro Stage in 2009!

[rich55]

That is awsome lol SMASHED!, Thanks for answering my questions aswell just wasnt sure what they were.

Great job Rich keep it up m8! very inspiring.


Kam

Yeah, and it has caused some pretty awesome lower back and ham soreness too, haha. All good though! Much appreciated and happy to inspire!!

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I am training just through Wednesday before taking off 4 days to chill with my wife in family and Nashville. Then, PRECONTEST PREP BEGINS!!!

Power, hypertrophy, whatever? So, today I took the best of the past few weeks and just rolled into one.

Blowing Up Chest, Delts & Tris:

I say blowing up, because my chest, delts and tris felt more huge during this workout than ever before! Definitely added a little thickness this offseason.

Flat Bench w/ Purple Bands 3RM
The purples doubled make this SUPER heavy and brutal with over 110 lbs of tension!
95 x 3
115 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 2.5 ----> missed

Flat Bench w/o Bands
Just feels weird after the band work. Nice & controlled
185 x 10
225 x 7 + 1 w/spot
225 x 6 + 2 w/spot

Machine Chest Squeezes
110 x 15
120 x 13
120 x 11

Hammer Incline Press
115/side x 10
140/side x 9
140/side x 7 + 3 after a few breaths

Shoulder Stability Presses w/ Dangling Weights
165 x 9
165 x 8
165 x 8

DB Lateral Raises
Bringing in front for a little power.
35 x 10
40 x 7
40 x 6
- SUPERSET -
Rope Pulldowns
3 sets x 100 ----> not much rest between sets after the last set of presses

Overhead Rope Extensions
1 set x 80 lbs and 2 sets x 85 lbs

Lying Kickbacks & Close-Grip Bench Pushups
20's and BW for 3 sets -----> absolutely finished

[rich55]

BEATING UP BI'S & BACK:

Again, took the best of the last few workouts and rolled into one for straight-up assault. Feeling VERY tight already!!! Legs tomorrow then it off for a little vacation and home cooking. I get back after it on Monday with a 3200 calorie diet and 3 days of cardio in effect. I'm adding Blue Gene into the mix to keep getting stronger and building during the beginning of dieting.

Seated DB Curls
Simultaneous and very strict.
30 x 10
35 x 10
40 x 10
45 x 6
45 x 5 + 2 more alternating w/spot

EZ Reverse Curls
80 x 10
80 x 9
80 x 8
- SUPERSET -
EZ Close-Grip Preacher Curls
3 sets at 65 lbs for not many reps. These were just murder, but James was in my face to spot me for a few extra on each set.

Alternating Hammer Culs
Running the rack down as a big drop set for as many as possible. 40's were a bit much after everything else, haha.
35 lbs to 30 lbs to 25 lbs

Hammer Wide Pulldowns
105/side x 8
115/side x 8
125/side x 6 + 2 w/spot ----> these have gotten much better
- SUPERSET -
Alternating Hammer High Row
115/side x 8
120/side x 5 + 3 after a few breaths
120/side x 5 + 2 after a few breaths + 1 w/spot

Pulldowns Facing Up w/ Medium Grip
I like this name better, haha. Laid a pad down on the pulldown and put the row attachment up high on the pulley to blast the lower lats super strict.
120 x 12
130 x 9 + 1 w/spot
130 x 8 + 2 w/spot

Hammer Low Rows for Rhomboids/Lower Traps
Both arms at the same time for great stretch and squeeze.
75/side x 10
80/side x 10
90/side x 8 + 2 w/spot ----> James through another plate on as I jumped on and told me I needed to train to win
- TRISET -
T-bar Style DB Rows
100 x 10
100 x 10 ---> last few tough
100 x 8 + 5 after a little break
- TRISET -
Seated Hammer Shrugs
180 x 10
230 x 8 ----> again James was pushing me on this
230 x 7 + 2 after a few breaths

[rich55]

When I return from vacation....

My prep begins for The WNBF Mid-American Pro in Evansville, IN!!!

My motivation from the WNBF lightweight division last year Tony Ruffin (1st) and Jordan Chabinsky (3rd). UNREAL conditioning!! And Vaughan Twigger took 2nd with his CRAZY lats, quads and arms.

Ruffin:


JC:

[rich55]

PUSHING THE LIMITS OF LEGS 3/25:

Anxiety gripped me as I made my preworkout drink of Purple Wraath and CarboMax before what I knew had to be a grueling leg workout before justifying 4 days off before THE official precontest prep begins.

Last week's leg training was pretty heavy relatively speaking. I just wanted something grueling today. As we walked up the stairs to the gym floor, it came over me....

GIANT SETS WOULD BE PERFECT!!!

I asked Clint if he was ready and James was again late, so I felt bad for him to walk in this one blind-sided. And blind-sided he was as he only made it a little more than half way through. Clint took his sweet time, but he survived. Finished this in 50-55 minutes.

ROUND 1
All of this with NO rest between sets:
Front Squats 95 x 10
Low Leg Press 180 x 10
Walking Lunges Down (over 12 step each) BW
Lying Leg Curls 80 x 10
Walking Lunges Back BW
Narrow Hack Squats 90 x 10
Reverse Hack Squats 90 x 10

Effects: Legs were definitely burning. Totally out of breath and needed a few minutes rest.

ROUND 2
Alright, so I had to take a little rest between sets.
Front Squats 135 x 10
Low Leg Press 230 x 10
Walking DB Lunges Down (over 12 step each) 25 lbs
Lying Leg Curls 90 x 10
Walking DB Lunges Back 25 lbs
Narrow Hack Squats 90 x 10
Reverse Hack Squats 90 x 10

Effects: 4 trips through seems impossible. Heck, 3 seems VERY tough. I conveniently placed an extra water bottle after the lunges down and hit the drinking fountain on the lunges back. I killed 40 oz of water plus whatever I chugged out of the fountain.

ROUND 3
Rehydrating protocol remains allowing a little rest a key points in the giant set.
Front Squats 155 x 10
Low Leg Press 280 x 10
Walking DB Lunges Down (over 12 step each) 30 lbs
Lying Leg Curls 100 x 10
Walking DB Lunges Back 30 lbs
Narrow Hack Squats 90 x 10
Reverse Hack Squats 90 x 10

Effects: MEGA leg burn. James called it quits and Clint wanted to. This really just fired me up more. My goal is to have the best legs on that pro stage and no one will outwork me.

ROUND 4
This giant set was grueling. I did have to take a few more breaks on a knee, on a bench, praying, rehydrating, whatever it took to survive.
Front Squats 145 x 10
Low Leg Press 330 x 10
Walking DB Lunges Down (over 12 step each) 35 lbs
Lying Leg Curls 110 x 10
Walking DB Lunges Back 35 lbs
Narrow Hack Squats 90 x 10
Reverse Hack Squats 90 x 10

Effects: Extreme feeling of satisfaction. Now, I can go eat and chill for a few days...if I can walk.

[bull.dogz]

[rich55]

And that was how it felt for the next 4 days, haha. Try it Bull...I dare you!

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

PRECONTEST TIME BEGINS!!!

The WNBF pro stage is a much different stage. FREAKY conditioning is common and I am training to win! 18 weeks will do the trick to bring my best package to stage complete with personal best conditioning.

I just took 4 days off and went down to Nashville with the wife for a long weekend to visit family. Very good quality time with family and great church services. Smashed, I mean SMASHED some food before beginning the precontest diet. I took some pictures a little over a week ago and will get them up here soon.

NEW DIET:

3200 Calories
310 g Carbohydrates
336 g Protein
78 g Fat

While this may look like a bulking diet to most. I have spent the last month consuming 3500-4000 daily calories with more frequent cheats to allow my body to respond to this plan. I will not cheat for 2-3 weeks.

I am increasing my cardio from zero to 20 minutes Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

NEW TRAINING:

This new split will be a nice change of pace from the previous push, pull and leg workouts...

Mon: Chest
Tue: Back & Hamstrings
Wed: Arms & Calves
Thu: Off
Fri: Shoulders
Sat: Quads
Sun: Off

More volume, more intensity and less rest between sets.

SUPPLEMENTS:
I'm adding Blue Gene, Ultra 40, CLA, Lean Green and White Blood. Laying off the Blue Up and White Flood till closer to showtime.

Orange Triad
Flaxseed Oil
Green Magnitude
Purple Wraath
MaxGlutamine
Blue Gene
White Blood
MaxCLA
Ultra 40
Lean Green

NEW CHEST DAY 3/31:

New workouts rock! Started with a power move and then just got a little crazy from there. Only one chest day a weeks means tons of VOLUME!!!

Incline Bench w/ Green Bands 5RM
45 x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5 ---> getting tough
155 x 5 -----> beats my previous PR from a few months back
165 x 2 + 1 w/ a spot

Incline Bench
Feels totally weird and hard after the previous band work.
165 x 10
185 x 7 + 2 w/ a spot
185 x 6 + 2 w/ a spot

Flat DB Flys
55 x 10
55 x 9
55 x 8
- SUPERSET -
Flat DB Press
Love this combo. Kills the chest and leaves the tris pushing to exhaustion.
55 x 8
55 x 6
55 x 6

DB Pullovers
These felt awesome! Good stretch on the chest and hard contraction at the top.
55 x 12
60 x 12
60 x 10

Hammer Incline Press
This was interesting after all of the previous work. I just wanted to pound my upper chest and tris today.
90/side x 10
95/side x 10
105/side x 7

[rich55]

BACK & HAMS 3/31:

It was nice to have a full group of 4 blasting again with big Greg. He was with us the whole month of February, but was on his own the whole month of March. He still has some work to do for the Buckeye, but has dropped from 248 lbs to 219 lbs in 13 weeks. Clint and Michael were also on hand. James was MIA, which is not surprising. New stuff:

Bent-Over (All the Way) Bar Rows
Still got room to improve on these. Underhand medium grip.
135 x 8
165 x 8
175 x 8
185 x 6 + 2 after a few breaths

Straight-Arm Pulldowns
Pulling back with elbows and squeezing real hard.
100 x 12
110 x 12
120 x 12
120 x 12 ---> last 2 real tough
- SUPERSET -
T-Bar Style DB Rows
100 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10 ---> last 2 sloppy

Wide-Grip Pulldowns
150 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 10
170 x 8
- SUPERSET -
1-Leg Standing Machine Curls
60 x 10/leg
65 x 10/leg
70 x 9/leg + 1 w/spot

Pulldowns Facing Up w/ Medium Grip
Totally self explanatory
120 x 12
120 x 10
120 x 9 + 2 w/ spot
- SUPERSET -
Lying Leg Curls
100 x 12
110 x 11
110 x 9 + 1 w/ spot

Pullthroughs
Squeezed through the glutes hard at the top and got a deep stretch on lower back at the bottom.
100 x 15
110 x 15
130 x 15

[rich55]

LIMB TRAINING 4/1:

We had a full posse today with Greg, James, Clint and Michael all ready for a little arms & calves.

Straight-Bar Skullcrushers
65 x 8
75 x 8
85 x 8
90 x 6 + 1 w/spot
90 x 5 + 1 w/spot
- SUPERSET -
Alternating Standing DB Curls
30 x 8
35 x 8
40 x 8
45 x 7
45 x 5, set them down, took a few breaths & then 2 more on my own & 1 w/ spot

Incline Hammer Curls
30 x 12
35 x 12
35 x 10 + 1 w/spot
35 x 9 + 1 w/spot
- SUPERSET -
Overhead Rope Extensions
90 x 12
95 x 12
100 x 11
100 x 10

BIG GIANT SET OF:
Inside Cable Curls
100 x 11
100 x 10
100 x 9
1-Arm Reverse Pushdowns
30 x 12
35 x 12
40 x 12 + 1 w/spot
Forearm Rockers
15 lbs x 15 each way
20 lbs x 13 each way
20 lbs x 12 each way
Standing Calf Machine
180 lbs x 15
200 lbs x 10
200 lbs x 10

Hammer Leg Press Calf Raises
230 x 15
230 x 13

[rich55]

Here are two pictures from 1.5 week ago. These are completely cold. I'm looking almost as thick as I did before when pumped. I will post up full progress photos at the 15-week out mark. I just now feel as lean as I did before vacation.




Today is a cardio only day with 20 minutes on the elliptical. My ENTIRE upper body is really sore.

[jiritt0]

/\/\
nice hair

[rich55]

/\/\
nice hair

Haha, it was extra shaggy and all jacked up. Don't worry it will be all tamed an cool looking on the day of the show


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SLAMMIN' SHOULDERS 4/3:

Clint was wondering how we could do a whole session of training on just shoulders. I smiled. In this workout I pulled from Branch, Cutler, Davies and really created a slamming shoulder workout that left my entire delts, traps and even upper chest swell up and burn something beautiful.

Alternating DB Front Raises
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 10 ---> getting hard, but doable
40 x 10 ------> hard, had to take breaths between reps to finish set

Seated DB Laterals
25 x 12
25 x 12
25 x 12
25 x 10 + 2 w/spot at elbows

Seated Military Presses
95 x 10
115 x 10
135 x 10
145 x 8 + 1 w/spot

DB Shrug to Lateral Push
45 x 10 each way
50 x 10 each way
50 x 10 each way

Seated DB Curl to Supinated High Press
25 x 10
25 x 10
25 x 10

Bent-Over DB Laterals
25 x 10
30 x 12
30 x 11 + 3 after a few breaths
- SUPERSET -
Shoulder-Width Pushups
BW x 15
BW x 15
BW x 20ish ---> Greg was doing these next to me and just kept yelling to do more, haha

PROGRESS REPORT: I am down to 178 lbs from 180 lbs and am feeling much harder already!!

Going to the NPC Natural Ohio show in Cleveland to cheer on friends, clients and promote the Buckeye Classic. My wife and I will be hanging with the parents all weekend. I will be hitting quads at the Sheffield Village World Gym and toting my cooler around all weekend.

[Kamm]

You look awsome Rich how do i get legs like that


Great job dude

[rich55]

You look awsome Rich how do i get legs like that


Great job dude

Thanks Kamm! See an example of my workout below and the many listed here.

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PRECONTEST TRAVELING LEGS:

I travelled to Nashville, Bristol, NYC, Indy and a few random trips around Ohio during my last prep alone and am no stranger to precontest prep on the road. Pack a cooler with plenty of food, find a gym in advance and stay flexible with your training. Ipod can also help to provide motivation.

I hadn't hit quads since before vacation and splitting up hams and quads. I am pretty SORE as result. A few days prior I thought to myself, "I have never supersetted walking lunges with squats." Till now.

Just quads, although the hams are sore too from my squats....

Walking DB Lunges
I think it was about 12 or so steps each leg. It could have been more. I just picked a distance and went after it.
BW to warm-up
25 lb DB's
30 lb DB's
35 lb DB's
35's again
- SUPERSET -
Squats
Had been doing front squats the last month, so it was definitely needed. I had not used a mirror in a while and discovered I go actually below parallel. Nice!
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10 ----> burning like crazy but manageable
275 x 7 -------> on fire
275 x 6

Leg Extensions
As usual my 2-second hold a the top. They were pretty cooked at this point.
110 x 12
115 x 11
115 x 10
115 x 10 + 3 after a few breaths

Narrow Hack Squats
This machine needed some oil haha, but it worked.
90 x 15
140 x 15
190 x 13 ----> many breaths to finish this set

Guess, how fast my pace was without partners? 35 minutes!! BTW, cross-striations are already visible and veins are peaking through my teardrops. This was a nice surprise!

[rich55]

STRONG CHEST DAY 4/6:

I was feeling very strong, much leaner and just awesome today.

Incline Bench 5RM w/ Green Bands
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5 ----> felt quite easy, so I went right in for my PR next
165 x 5 ---> got it!

Incline Bench
Feels weird after doing band work first, but just awesome additional work.
165 x 10
185 x 10
205 x 6 + 2 w/ spot

Flat DB Flys
55 x 10
60 x 10
60 x 10 ----> tough
- SUPERSET -
Flat DB Press
55 x 10
60 x 5 + 2 w/ spot
60 x 4 + 2 w/ spot ----> pre-exhaust on this is just brutal

DB Pullovers
60 x 12
65 x 12
70 x 10

Incline Hammer Press
90/side x 10
115/side x 7 + 1 w/spot
115/side x 4 + 2 w/spot after a few breaths

[Kamm]

Il have a good read, i think i take too long rest when doing legs. It just seems to be so hard for me to train them.

I usually use kettlebells for heavy squats, but never really shot 100% for mass, which is my top priority at the moment so i will read through what youve done as your legs are the shit! ahha

Some sexy workouts going on rich keep it up m8, look forward to seeing more!


Kamm