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

[bull.dogz]

Feel the burn!!

[conda]

LEGGGGGS!!

My lower back and hams were pretty sore from back with Mike yesterday. Upper back and chest, REALLY sore!! So today we focused on quads and threw in some abs at the end. We started with 100 rep leg extensions and it was all up hill after that.

100 Rep Leg Extensions
This was broke into two sets of 50 with two smaller superset within. We did 35 reps or so on the hammer leg extension machine and then finished up the set of 50 walking over to the cybex leg extension machine. And repeat for 100.
90 lbs x 35ish, 85 lbs x 15ish
90 lbs x 35ish, 85 lbs x 15ish

MANY mini rest pauses were needed. I got to 25 or so on the first set before breaking, then probably took two more breaths, walked over and cranked out 9 or so before breaking to finish the set. Second set of 50 I stopped around 16 deep, so many more rest pauses were needed.

Low/Close Leg Presses
3 plates/side x 20
3 plates/side x 20 ---> had to take a few breaths around 16 on last two sets
3 plates/side x 20
- TRISET -
Walking Lunges
BW x 12-15 steps/leg
BW x 12-15 steps/leg
BW x 12-15 steps/leg
- TRISET -
Hack Squats Varying Stance
90 x 15 wide
90 x 15 close
90 x 15 close

Weighted Crunches/Twisting Crunches
25 lb plate x 14, drop plate & twist for 10/side
25 lb plate x 9, drop plate & twist for 8/side

While I was able to get all of my goal reps the presses and hacks were just brutal with the lunges being just a pre-exhauster. Clint puked after the 3rd set of leg presses and we made him finish his last set of lunges and hacks. AWESOME effort! He has only been training for 5 months and has stacked on some very good size and should do well next spring in his debut if he keeps it up.

James is looking good. He has brought up his quads and hams have improved as well. Some pix from today's extensions:






All those extensions ended in this:



James kept jerking around in pain, so I wasn't able to capture his reaction. Building big legs takes HUGE amounts of effort.

Wow that last james pic, reminds me of my reaction after eating taco bell during high school. WTH we're talkin about food again! Nice gym BTW!

[conda]

I love that blue CL shirt! I want one!

[rich55]

6 WEEKS OUT!!!!

Wow, how time flies!! I'm feeling REAL good about my progression last week and will be training hard to ensure another good week of progress. Again my goal is to be in better shape at 4 weeks out than when I won the Naturalmania last year.

DIET & SUPP CHANGES:

Replaced extra lean beef in meal 2 with tilapia, which reduces my calories to 2500-2550 on training days with still plenty of carbs. Free-for-all cheating has ended following this past weekend's killer barbecue. At this point, I will be refeeding once per week on Saturday.

I have also added Reduction and Blue Up.

INSANE PUMP CHEST 6/22:

I switched up the order just a bit and threw in dip and flys to mix it up a little. Last week my chest felt awesome during our workout and pretty much the same today.

Incline Smith Presses
Kept the tempo constant and rest minimal to fatigue my chest quickly
135 x 10
185 x 10
185 x 9
185 x 7

Wide Dips
BW x 10
BW x 10
BW x 10 ---> barely, getting tough
BW x 9
- SUPERSET -
Flat DB Press
65 x 7
65 x 6
65 x 5
55 x 8

Machine Chest Squeezes
130 x 9
120 x 11
120 x 10
- SUPERSET -
Rope Pulldowns
50 x 13
55 x 11
55 x 10

Slight Incline Flys
45 x 12
50 x 9
50 x 8
- SUPERSET -
Various Pushups
Med Ball Pushups x 7
Regular Pushups x 10ish ---> nice & slow
Close-Grip Pushups x 8

Oh, and here are a few pix from our barbecue that turned out to be a surprise birthday party for me. They also rented a DUNK TANK to dunk me! Check out the vid, haha.

Grilling, playing volleyball, volleyball cheering section and dessert!






Couldn't get the imbedding down, so here is the dunk tank vid:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTG-tALXi1w

[bull.dogz]

Fixed

[rich55]

Feel the burn!!

Feel!?! More like barely survive to type/talk about the burn later. Haha!

I love that blue CL shirt! I want one!

Yes, one of my favs!! I want an orange one. Those still around I wonder?

Thanks! Now, everyone can easily view me getting dunked in the tank.



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

Little behind on the logs. I've been quite busy this week, but all is WELL! Feeling leaner since last week particularly through the abs and legs.

BEATING UP BACK 6/23:

Bent-Over Rows
Overhand, low on stomach, emphasizing stretch and squeeze as always. Digging the new grip, which hit a definite weak area.
95 x 15
125 x 10
145 x 10
165 x 9
165 x 6

Close-Grip Underhand Pulldowns
150 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 9
170 x 7
- SUPERSET -
Medium-Grip High Pulley Rows
100 x 8
110 x 8
110 x 7
110 x 7

Seated Rope Cable Rows
Love these! Took a Davies move and modified it. Grips are necessary.
130 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 9
140 x 8
- SUPERSET -
1-Arm DB Rows
70 x 8
80 x 8
90 x 7
90 x 8 ----> dug deep

Partial DB Pull to Standing Shrug
70 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 10

Standing Barbell Curls
65 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 7

Was tore up by the end and am definitely feeling that in all the right spots today. Then we hit legs today!!

SQUATS, SQUATS & MORE SQUATS:

I haven't done heavier squats in several weeks and wanted to give them a whirl. After posing last night and cardio in the morning, I was definitely feeling tired. A little light-headedness has never stopped me before.

Squats
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10
255 x 10
275 x 8 ---> little help on # 7 & 8

1.5 Smith Machine Squats
Down nice and low as usual, up half way, back down AND THEN up.
135 x 10
155 x 10
175 x 10
185 x 10 ---> barely
- SUPERSET -
Walking DB Lunges
BW x length down
25's x length down
25's x length down
30's x length down

Narrow Hack Squats
90 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 8 or 9 ----> and finished with a set of 25 pop squats after that set

[conda]

Feel!?! More like barely survive to type/talk about the burn later. Haha!



Yes, one of my favs!! I want an orange one. Those still around I wonder?




Thanks! Now, everyone can easily view me getting dunked in the tank.



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

Little behind on the logs. I've been quite busy this week, but all is WELL! Feeling leaner since last week particularly through the abs and legs.

BEATING UP BACK 6/23:

Bent-Over Rows
Overhand, low on stomach, emphasizing stretch and squeeze as always. Digging the new grip, which hit a definite weak area.
95 x 15
125 x 10
145 x 10
165 x 9
165 x 6

Close-Grip Underhand Pulldowns
150 x 10
160 x 10
160 x 9
170 x 7
- SUPERSET -
Medium-Grip High Pulley Rows
100 x 8
110 x 8
110 x 7
110 x 7

Seated Rope Cable Rows
Love these! Took a Davies move and modified it. Grips are necessary.
130 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 9
140 x 8
- SUPERSET -
1-Arm DB Rows
70 x 8
80 x 8
90 x 7
90 x 8 ----> dug deep

Partial DB Pull to Standing Shrug
70 x 10
90 x 10
90 x 10

Standing Barbell Curls
65 x 10
75 x 10
85 x 7

Was tore up by the end and am definitely feeling that in all the right spots today. Then we hit legs today!!

SQUATS, SQUATS & MORE SQUATS:

I haven't done heavier squats in several weeks and wanted to give them a whirl. After posing last night and cardio in the morning, I was definitely feeling tired. A little light-headedness has never stopped me before.

Squats
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10
255 x 10
275 x 8 ---> little help on # 7 & 8

1.5 Smith Machine Squats
Down nice and low as usual, up half way, back down AND THEN up.
135 x 10
155 x 10
175 x 10
185 x 10 ---> barely
- SUPERSET -
Walking DB Lunges
BW x length down
25's x length down
25's x length down
30's x length down

Narrow Hack Squats
90 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 10
180 x 8 or 9 ----> and finished with a set of 25 pop squats after that set

Orange is around yeah. Not sure about blue though.

I see wives & Parents got revenge at your bday! lol

[rich55]

Orange is around yeah. Not sure about blue though.

I see wives & Parents got revenge at your bday! lol

Yup, just noticed the orange is still around. Yes, and everyone got revenge haha!

[rich55]

ON MY WAY TO SHREDDED!!!

5 weeks till go time and later this week a layer of body fat fell off that made me smile and thank God. I am going to be SHREDDED for the WNBF Mid-America more than ever before! My waist dropped to 28.25" today at 164 lbs and it's looking like my waist will be going down into the 27's! My legs are started to look sick nasty from the front and the glutes and hams are coming in as well. I was doing some posing at home after a hard day's work and Angie admitted to seeing a lot new detail she did not see last year. Awe yeeeaah!!!! Thank you Lord! And yes, I will be getting some pix here soon.

The above ^^^ leg workout TORE UP my legs! We blasted shoulders and some incline for chest hard on Thursday and then crushed our arms and calves on Friday. Today, I was so sore today I could not go through a typical hamstring workout. It was refeed day, so I had to get some work in....

Posed for 15 minutes till sweating in the A/C
Seated Hammer Leg Curls superset Seated Leg Tucks - 3 sets of 10-15
1-Leg Straight Leg Deadlifts - 4 sets of 10 per leg
High Stance Leg Press - 1 set only, hips were toast!
1-Leg Standing Leg Curls - 1 set only, hams were toast!
Reverse Hypers - 3 sets of 10, superset Weighted Decline Crunches - 3 sets of 10-5
Twisting Decline Crunches - 1 set at end

I have SO much going on my life right now. I have been taking care of mommy-to-be on top of trying to unload my condo listed with a new agent, are moving next week to Angie's condo and I have been exploring new business possibilities as well. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we go through this transition!

[rich55]

33 DAYS TILL MY WNBF DEBUT!

Wow, that sounds so surreal! Counting the days out makes it seem just around the corner...cuz it is!! I hit chest this morning with Mike again for a change of pace. This man is the king of making little weights REAL hard! I blasted chest at 8:45am and then hit posing and cardio again at 3:45pm.

Slight Incline DB Press- 6 sets pyramiding from 15 to 6
Slight Incline Push Press- 4 sets of 10
Reverse Crunches- 1 set of 20
DB Pullovers Crunching Abs at Top superset Pop Pushups- 4 sets of 10 each
Modified Crossovers- Elbows over top supinating wrist over top - Love em! 3 sets of 10 each
Benchpress superset Bench Hold with Reverse Crunch Leg Raises- My favorite Davies twist of the day! I benched 135 lbs and then held it out extended at lockout while doing leg raises. Brutal on the chest, shoulders and tris!!
Twists on Rotating Board- Did these for 100 or so till I went longer than the IFBB figure pro training next to me was done

Our workout was done at this point, but I through in a few more sets of the twists hitting my stabilizers supersetted with Decline Pushups. I then blasted out 4 sets of various pushdowns cuz my tris needed it! Posing and cardio later was great. Seeing more detail yet again!

[rich55]

I thought about making a food porn post from the dinner I made my mom for her birthday tonight... but i decided to be nice. I wont even tell you what it is.

Much appreciated! Food fantasies & cravings are definitely high. Heck, Angie's Tums smelled like candy and made me jealous earlier haha.


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

BBBBBIG BACK 6/30:

We crushed our back and a little bis today. 32 days is the count and if I can make my back 1-2% better this last month then you betchya I am going to do so. Really, naming my exercises is kinda tough, but here is my best shot...

Bent-Over Overhand/Shoulder-Width Rows
95 x 15
125 x 10
145 x 10
165 x 10
175 x 7

Underhand High Stretch & Deep Squeeze Pulldowns
Variation on what I had been doing to hit my lats wide to real low.
150 x 10
160 x 10
170 x 10
180 x 8ish
- SUPERSET -
Alternating DB Curls
35 x 10
35 x 10 ---> had to set them down for a sec after 7 due to extreme forearm burn
40 x 7ish
40 x 5, set the down 3 more, set them down 3 more hammer style

Seated Rope Cable Rows
130 x 10
140 x 10
150 x 9
- SUPERSET -
1-Arm DB Rows
95 x 8
100 x 8
105 x 6

High Cable Rows
120 x 10
130 x 8
140 x 6
- SUPERSET -
Partial Pull with DB Shrug
Love how this combo just tears up my entire trap/rhomboid area.
95 x 10
95 x 10
95 x 10

We were pretty spent after that, but James and I headed upstairs to take each other through 15 minutes of posing. Lats were on fire and I was most definitely flat, but in the end I was dripping sweat. James is looking REAL good and has dropped a lot of body fat fast with some cuts that I made. He will be in the lightweight class again, but kind of looks like a light-heavy.

I'm sore throughout my entire upper body and abs something fierce this evening. I'm out to pop some Reduction PM and snooze. We are hitting both quads and hams tomorrow for a leg bashing extravaganza. Train insane!!!!

[rich55]

Happy belated Birthday Rich,..thanks for the pics! Nice eats too!

CHRIS!! Thanks man! How is your offseason treating you?

Yes, those eats were good. I miss all you can eat gorging, but now I will just have to focus on feeding up with continually higher amounts of clean carbs with little sugary treats. The taste of victory is what I want!

i heard it was quite a workout today!

YES! It most certainly was and it went a little something like this...

TWO WORDS. LEG DAY.

I have dedicated myself as a trainer and friend to growing my best friend James' legs into WNBF pro card pillars upon to rest his massive upper body. Clint needs bodybuilder legs. I mean VERY GOOD bodybuilder legs. He has the foundation, but we need to prep for his stage debut next spring. And me, well I want the baddest wheels on that pro stage. Thus begins our journey into the trenches of a leg day:

Squats
Felt better with week 2 back at regular squats. Going for feel on these REAL low.
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10
255 x 10
285 x 8 ----> with little taps from James on # 7 & 8

1.5 Smith Squats
All the way down, up just a little, back down and then up. Repeat 10 times.
135 x 10
165 x 10
195 x 10 ----> barely
- SUPERSET -
Walking DB Lunges
One trip down our gym. Something like 10-15 steps per leg.
BW
25's
35's ----> forced myself not to stop continually striding and push through the pain
35's -------->for an extra long set at the end down and back to our front desk counter....maybe 30-35 steps

Seated Hammer Leg Curls
Squeezing hams hard and working the eccentric slowly.
90 x 15
105 x 10
120 x 8
- SUPERSET -
Hammer Leg Extensions
90 x 15 ---> had to take a breather after 12
110 x 10
130 x 12 ---> with a little rest pause in there to squeeze a few more out

Straight Leg DB Deadlifts
Found a good feet positioning to hit my hams out a little wider close to the sweep of my quad. Shoulder width, maybe a touch wider with my toes out an inch or two. Deep stretch held at the bottom and powerful concentric.
60's x 15
70's x 15
80's x 12 ---> DONE!

Not too shabby for not having down both quads and hams together in a while. Not too bad at all. I also did 30 minutes of morning cardio and then spent an hour at 9pm loading and unloading an explorer full of boxes after packing. Just some extra cardio!

[bull.dogz]

Dude! Your not going to be able to walk for a couple of days after that workout!



How's lil mama feeling these days?

Edit: MUST SEE!!!
http://www.juniorgym.com.au/product-...-Bench/20.html

Better add this to your baby registry!!

[rich55]

Dude! Your not going to be able to walk for a couple of days after that workout!



How's lil mama feeling these days?

Edit: MUST SEE!!!
http://www.juniorgym.com.au/product-...-Bench/20.html

Better add this to your baby registry!!

Surprisingly my legs weren't too shabby. My tolerance to extreme leg bashing has grown during my prep. Mom is feeling okay. Little swollen, hard to move around, but surviving. A little more than 2 months and our little girl will be here!!!!

Nice find on the junior gym, haha! Baby PUMP!!!

[rich55]

MISSION: BLOW UP CHEST 7/6

We are still getting settled in from the move, which has kept me very busy. It is different for me to pack up for an entire day, though which takes a bit more food prep. Such is the life! I hit our Pickerington gym today for AM cardio and got kind of excited as there were a lot of people, competitors and new equipment. SO, I am doing some work to see if I can train on Fridays out there to bump up my training on a typically slower day and have some fun in a new environment.

Today's workout was very fast paced as I knocked out chest in 40 minutes with HIGH VOLUME!

Slight Incline DB Press
60 x 15
60 x 15
70 x 10
80 x 6
85 x 5
85 x 5

DB Pullovers
65 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 10
70 x 8
- SUPERSET -
Wider Dips
BW x 10
BW x 9
BW x 7
BW x 6

Pop Pushups on Bench
Started with pushups and decided on more upper chest, so I through in some flys too.
BW x 15
BW x 10
BW x 10
- SUPERSET -
Incline DB Flys
40 x 10
40 x 10
40 x 8

Modified Cable Crossovers
60 x 10
60 x 10
60 x 10
65 x 8
- SUPERSET -
Twisting Crunches on Decline
BW x 10/side
BW x 10/side
BW x 8/side

Flat Benchpress
135 x 10
135 x 10
145 x 10
145 x 9
- SUPERSET -
Leg Raises Holding Benchpress
135 x 10
135 x 10
145 x 10
145 x 7 -----> couldn't hold any longer than busted a set of decline pushups for 8

Reverse-Grip Pushdowns SUPERSET Pushdowns for 4 sets of 10

I then posed afterwards for 15 minutes. Noticed more hamstring, abdominal and chest definition. James and I are posing hard afterwards on Thursday and then again on Saturday. The search for my routine music begins.

Oh, and here are some pictures from last Thursday. Little leaner since then already. Sitting at 162 lbs flat.