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

[rich55]

BANGING OUT CHEST

I haven't started with flat DB presses in some time, so it was time for a change. Went more dumbbells today and will hit the barbells on Friday.

Flat DB Press
60 x 10
80 x 8
95 x 8 ---> felt light :-)
110 x 7 ---> took a tap on #8
120 x 3

Incline DB Press
4 seconds down, 1 second pause on the bottom
60 x 10
80 x 7
90 x 5
90 x 5

DB Pullovers
65 x 10
90 x 10
110 x 7
110 x 6

Finished up with some lighter 1-arm cable flies focusing on hard contraction. Chest was pretty taxed and I have to be sure not to do too much otherwise my shoulder flares up.

[rich55]

MORE ARMS!

My biggest weakness is my arms. I've done my fair share of getting them stronger this offseason, and right now I'm trying to make sure the tension is fully there. Right now my split has looked like this due to my desire to bring up my arms:

MON- Legs
TUE- Chest
WED- Arms
THU- Deads & Back
FRI- Incline Bench & Shoulders
SAT- Harder Arms

I did this last week and seemed to really benefit my Saturday arm session and then my chest day, so on and so forth. If it works, roll with it. Although today I forgot to do straight-bar skullcrushers thinking that I did mostly cable stuff to save my elbows. Oh well I crushed it:

Rope Pulldowns - 52.5 to 72.5
Seated DB Curls - 35's to 50's
Overhead Rope Extensions Kneeling - 37.5 to 52.5
1-Arm Cable Curls- 22.5 to 27.5
Fat Grip Barbell Curls - 70 for 3 x 15
Reverse Forearm Extensions- 30 for 3 x 15

BIG BACK DAY TOMORROW. I hope to be able to grip weights.

[farmerson12]

Dont' think I can bring myself to chew my BG yet.

Very interesting. May have to try that myself once I am back on.

[rich55]

BACK & A LITTLE REFLECTION ON THE START OF MY PREP

Today was a good day in the gym. I have certainly tightened up quite a bit with more definition showing in my abs and my vastus intermedius popping definition already. There is still plenty of fat around my midsection, but it was strange to see that change so quickly on so much food. I am sitting at 188 lbs this evening on a relatively empty stomach. At this rate I don't see myself being under 165, but it's all about the being the biggest and leanest possible. This is competition to bring my best self yet to stage and the rest will fall into place. Strength was good today:

Deadlifts
Moved from the rack to the ground for the first time since in 4 weeks.
135 x 10
225 x 8
315 x 5
365 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 3

Bent-Over Barbell Rows
Shoulder width grip low on the stomach to target lower lats. Burn baby burn!
135 x 15
165 x 10
185 x 10
205 x 9

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns
Much harder after the rows. Our lat pulldown stack is a 210 making it a tough pull.
120 x 10
140 x 10
150 x 8
150 x 7

Chest Supported Rows
70 x 8
90 x 8
115 x 8
135 x 6

1-Arm DB Rows
Gotta love the big chains.
80 x 8/arm
110 x 8/arm
139 x 8/arm
139 x 8/arm

Gotta build some size on my shoulders and why not some more motivation pictures. Thinking about tomorrow already!

[5six]

You're strength is absolutely insane, Richard. How far are you out from your comp?

[farmerson12]

You're strength is absolutely insane, Richard. How far are you out from your comp?

x2. I really dont think I have ever seen a natural bodybuilder at your weight have that amount of strength. Like a freakin baby rhino!

[rich55]

1 WEEK DOWN, 23 TO GO!

Yeah, so I have a long way to go haha. Reflecting on my first week of prep and striving for 3850 calories and 500+ carbs, man it's a lot of food. I probably hit full macros 2 times last week, but did so easily today. And, the scale has dropped from 191 to 188. Strength was on all week increasing with just a little knee soreness today through my warm-ups squatting.

The eating is going much better now that I found my enzymes and am taking Black Hole. I never thought I'd have to use Controlled Labs' Black Hole period let alone on a diet, but eating this much clean food is tough. It's lots of volume that I would get it in before with more calorically dense foods.

SUPPLEMENTS

Controlled Labs Orange Triad
CJI Omega3
CJI Insuload
Controlled Labs Purple Wraath
Controlled Labs Purple Intrain
Controlled Labs White Flood
Controlled Labs Green Magnitude
Controlled Labs Blue Gene
Active Edge Protein
Controlled Labs Black Hole
Now Super Enzymes

WRAP UP OF LAST WEEK'S TRAINING & LEGS TODAY

Shoulders excellent, arms needed more volume but was short on time, legs today excellent. Gotta crush my arms on Wednesday regardless of what's coming on Saturday.

Squats
415 x 4 again. Felt better on them

Hit some GHR's, seated calf raises and a superset of low/wide stance leg presses with lunges that was brutal. Dreaming of a bigger chest!

[rich55]

You're strength is absolutely insane, Richard. How far are you out from your comp?

Thanks man! It's improved a good bit this past year. I've got 23 weeks till Texas! I'd still like to break some more PR's in these next few months. Cals are still high, but the extra padding won't be the same haha.

x2. I really dont think I have ever seen a natural bodybuilder at your weight have that amount of strength. Like a freakin baby rhino!

Heck man, you should see what happens at my gym Beyond Limits each week. My training partner James, also a WNBF Pro is a beast, and Terrell is no slouch. Big Nate has been pushing me on legs the past several months and he is in the 160's at 9 weeks out from the Buckeye. There are a dozen other natty guys beast strong coming up and I have stay towards the top of the pile. God keeps me pushing forward!

[rich55]

GETTING SOME CHEST WORK IN

Chest, chest, chest. My lat flare has improved and thickness, but to help me on those front and side shots I have to keep crushing my chest. Good work today, but I'm looking forward to Incline Bench with shoulders on Friday.

Incline DB Press
Finally hit those 110's for 8 and now I want to see how the 120's feel a bit more fresh.
55 x 10
80 x 10
95 x 8
110 x 8
120 x 3
120 x 1 ---> toasted

Flat Bench
Haven't done this 2nd in a long time.
45 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 8
225 x 5
245 x 4 ---> wasted tris
255 x 2 -----> took a tap on #3

DB Pullovers
70 x 10
90 x 10
110 x 7

Incline DB Flys
45 x 10
60 x 10
70 x 6
- SUPERSET -
Neutral Grip Chain Pushups
19 lbs x 12
31 lbs x 8
19 lbs x 10 + 3 w/o chain

TOASTED! Let's see how my chest feels after this one. And, I'm crushing my arms tomorrow.

[rich55]

BIG BACK DAY!

Just found out I may be sharing the stage with Mr. Alberto Nunez. A true champ from 3DMJ out in Cali whom I respect. I found out this morning and his beast strength gave me some motivation today.

Deadlifts
135 x 10
225 x 8
315 x 5
365 x 3
415 x 3
465 x 3 ---> 1-rep PR is 470, climbing! Got a vid coming on this.

Bent-Over Bar Rows
Narrow grip, low on rib cage.
135 x 15
170 x 10
200 x 10
210 x 10 ----> Had to take a few breaths between last 4 reps

Wide-Grip Pulldowns
Stalemate on these. Time for pullups!
120 x 10
140 x 10
160 x 9
160 x 8

Prone Plate Loaded Row
Yes, I think I call this something different each week depending on mood haha.
70 x 8
90 x 8
115 x 8
140 x 6

1-Arm DB Rows
Running out of time so just dove in.
100 x 8/arm
120 x 8/arm
151 x 8/arm

Oh and so far I'm 4 for 4 this week crushing myself. Arms and chest were toasted. I need to soak in liniment or icy hot. All good pain!

[rich55]

Nice work Rich.

Thanks, Rich. I crushed it this week. So much so that I felt to take it easy today and just got back on some of my evening carbs.

SLAMMING SOME SHOULDERS!

Incline Bench
These could have gone better, but tris were still pretty sore.
45 x 10
95 x 10
135 x 8
175 x 5
205 x 5
235 x 3
240 x 2

Seated Military Press
These felt good.
95 x 10
135 x 8
165 x 8
185 x 5
190 x 4

Standing DB Laterals
30 x 10
40 x 10
45 x 7
45 x 6, drop to 35's and 25's after last set

Front Barbell Shrugs
225 x 10
315 x 10
365 x 8
365 x 6, drop to 225
- SUPERSET -
Prone Rear Delt Lateral Raises
25 x 10
30 x 10
30 x 8 to Bent-Over Laterals, drop to 20's

And for my deadlifts the day before, not the prettiest but it came up. Butt down, push out on my heals and shoulders back:



And for those coming in for the Arnold Classic. Come hit up Beyond Limits. Cheaper than Metro and 0.7 miles from the Expo. Email me at rich@richbodyfit.com if interested.

[rich55]

KILLER START TO THE WEEK!

I dropped 3 lbs in week and 1 lb last week with noticeable improvements in hardness. Valentine's Day and a killer leg workout lined up, so a cheat meal was in order. But, first I needed to earn it:

Squats
45 x 10
135 x 8
225 x 8
275 x 5
315 x 5
365 x 5
415 x 4 ----> missed on #5, but getting there
315 x 16 -----> yes, you read that right

And, I was dead after that.

Low & Wide Stance Leg Press
320 x 15
450 x 15
590 x 11
- SUPERSET -
Walking DB Lunges
BW x 17 steps/leg
40's x 17 steps/leg
60's x 17 setps/leg

Dizzy, cold sweat, panting, dry mouth = head on a bosu ball flat in my classroom with a trash can next to me. 25 minutes later I ate a bite of banana that felt like it saved my life haha. Then, I ate a whole pizza, loaf of appetizer bread and most of an order of fried ravioli.

Then came chest today. Solo, but took a spot on the chain pressing:

Flat DB Press
These felt awesome. One more rep on the 120's without dying on the second set.
55 x 10
75 x 8
95 x 8
120 x 4 ---> missed on 5, but better
120 x 3
100 x 9
80 x 11

Flat Bench with Chains
Numbers without 63 lbs of chain:
95 x 10
135 x 8
165 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 4
215 x 2

Incline Flys
No elbow strength left to support.
50 x 10
65 x 9
65 x 8

Then, I grabbed the heaviest resistance bands we have and pumped out 3 sets of crossover style flys wrapped around a pole for high reps since my shoulders don't like my cable machines right now.

STELLAR START TO THE WEEK!!!

[rich55]

Been following along for a while now and wanted to say thanks for the motivation. Its nice to see somebody put so much into balancing family, faith and bodybuilding.

How's the little one doing? Keep pushing brother, I'll be following.

Thanks man! The weights are just part of the much bigger picture. I dig it, but things like this are just awesome:



She's getting big and into trouble more often haha. Thanks, pushing is what I will do!


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

BEATING UP ARMS

As I sit here my hunger is kicking hard as I just feel my body sucking nutrients down faster than usual with extreme DOMS in my legs, chest and already setting into my arms. The soreness leaves me hungry, but I have to get a pound off by Monday despite my cheat meal this week. Solid arm day.

Alternating DB Curls
Kept these supinated the whole way through, which makes it much harder.
35's x 10
45's x 10
50's x 8
55's x 5
55's x 4
- SUPERSET -
Cable Pushdowns
Cables to warm up seem to be a staple lately.
50 x 15
65 x 12
80 x 10
97.5 x 8
97.5 x 6

Barbell Curls
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 8
- SUPERSET -
Barbell Skullcrushers
65 x 10
85 x 10
105 x 6

1-Arm DB Spider Curls
Bis were toasted already.
30 x 9
35 x 6
35 x 5
- SUPERSET -
Kneeling OH Rope Extensions
37.5 x 10
42.5 x 10
47.5 x 10

Behind Back Bar Wrist Curls
95 x 15
105 x 14
110 x 9
- SUPERSET -
Reverse Bar Wrist Curls
30 x 15
35 x 11
35 x 8

Back tomorrow. Glutes and hams are crushed so not really optimistic about deadlifting. May opt for another plan of attack.

[rich55]

COMPLETED BACK

Back training was completed, but not conquered today. We will see how the DOMS sets in as I can be a little skeptical prematurely at times. Owning a gym tried to get in the way today, but I pushed through.

Rack Deads
Glutes & hams are still toast, so went from the rack just below the knee.
135 x 10
225 x 8
315 x 8
405 x 8
455 x 6
495 x 4

Wide-Grip Pullups
It's been a month or so since I've done these. Weak, so I'm hitting them again hard now. No biceps help at all thanks to yesterday.
BW x 8
25 lbs x 8
25 lbs x 7
35 lbs x 4
BW x 9

Interruption #1 - Tanning Person

Prone DB Rows
45's x 10
55's x 8
65's x 8
70's x 5

Interruption #2 - New Person Arrives Early

Straight-Arm Pulldowns
Need to do more of these as well as I've been stronger on them.
65 x 15
80 x 11
80 x 9, drop to 65 x 8

Interruption #3 - Talked to New Person

Prone Plate Loaded Rows
90 x 8
115 x 8
135 x 8
150 x 6

Interruption #4 - CC Processing Issues

Knocked out 2 sets of 15 on Hypers and Reverse Crunches, which made my core feel awesome telling me to do more core work. All in all a solid day. I'm feeling pretty tired from a hard week training, so I will be crashing early to get some Z's.

[rich55]

WRAPPING UP THE WEEK:

Took off Friday to take care of a very sick little one. I had an abbreviated light shoulder and arm workout on Saturday. CGB, Arnold Presses, Seated DB Curls, Across Chest Hammers and a circuit of Medicine Ball Pushups, OH Kettlebell Presses and Bench Dips to get my heart rate up a bit. Ran the rack up with Lateral Raises and had to bounce.

I am holding steady at 187 lbs, but dropped another 1/4" off the waist.