By: Dino Pierce

I will break this article down for you into 5 sections. Before I announce the sections I must begin by stating that the motto of my off-season this year is having and maintaining a "stress free attitude". I live a very stressful life being a competitive bodybuilder and it gets really hectic during the contest season. I juggle my passion in life, which is bodybuilding with all of the other issues associated with life. I need to allow for some "fun time" this year. I have a tendency to say this every year but I never allow for that breath of air to happen. This year I promise you that I will do it. I have to, in order to be able to suck back really hard next year and surpass my newly found level of conditioning. If I do not do this I will stay drained all year long, once again. Doing this will let me come to life in the off-season! We need a rest and growth period to come on as a huge competitive threat when we hit the national scene next year. Now, let us get back to those 5 sections. The 5 sections will concern prohormone use, nutrition plans, training regimen, attitude, and finally supplementation.

Prohormones

I would like to begin with the fun stuff, the chemicals. This is the cycle that I am going to experiment with for the first portion (6 weeks) of my off-season. (Week 1-6 600 mg of 1AD and 600 mg of 4AD) I pulled it out of an article that Peter AKA "Big Cat" wrote. By the way I respect and admire this guy's knowledge of molecular science, he really amazes me.

To complete a full cycle and do it properly, I (or you if you are attempting to emulate my off season) will need 5 bottles of 1AD and 2 Bottles of 4AD. These products can be obtained from the Bodybuilding.com super store at the lowest price I could find. I have figured the price breakdown for you. The price comes out to $282.68 for the whole 6-week cycle. Wait, before you say that you will never be able to afford that for whatever reason read on. I broke the cost down for you in attempt to prove something. You can expect to spend $188.45 for each month of the cycle, $47.12 for each week, and a measly $6.73 for each day. It is an economical stack like Peter said in his write up on the stack. Now without even putting forth much effort, I can think of several simple little sacrifices that anyone can make each week that would free up the required $6.73 needed to get on this cycle.

Think about it. Skip one night of happy hour, cook your own meal instead of eating out one night during the week, leave that pack of smokes alone for a couple of days, leave the beer alone for one night, or skip a tanning session. These are just a few of the many small time sacrifices that you can make to obtain the products required for the stack. The point that I just tried to get across is that if you want it bad enough you should realize just how affordable this stack really is. Additionally, I will be writing a detailed report on my experience on the cycle. So if you will not try it now, hopefully you will after reading what it does to me.

All of the information below was pulled straight from the Bodybuilding.com site:

Stack #5 (1AD and Nor-diol, 4-AD)

Peter "Big Cat" Writes:

"This is a hypothetical stack based on what I know of 1AD. Like I said, I'm trying it at the end of summer and will report back with detailed results, the good and the bad and the terrifyingly ugly (let's hope there is none of that) on just how useful 1AD really is.

Week 1-6 600 mg of 1AD and 600 mg of 4AD

Take in 3 evenly spread doses of 200 mg of each product throughout the day.

This is a dose that allows you to see decent benefits off of 1AD without putting you straight in the poor house. In this instance it's a 6-week iso-stack, using 4AD as the counterpart. Because of the moderate dose and the daily spread you can get a lot out of the 4AD too. This is a very androgenic stack and should under no circumstances be taken by women. The 4AD makes a good partner for 1AD because it enhances the androgenic effect and it repairs a loss of libido that may come with the use of 1AD. Not to mention that these are possibly two of the most anabolic legal substances available today."

Read the full article here.

I choose this cycle because it is not so powerful that it will put my system into shock. It is sort of a starter stack for what is to come later on in the off-season. I also like the fact that it is economical and it give even the commonly associated poor man, the student to give it a whirl. Additionally, I really like the fact the 4AD will repair the loss of libido that is associated with some prohormones. I personally had a bad experience with prohormone before and the product that I was using to raise the androgens in my blood was bogus and did not fix the problem. My system really was wacky for about 4 weeks. I decided to go with a different brand of 4AD this go around. The brands that I choose for my cycle are listed below. ErgoPharm has a great credibility and I know from experience that their products work. Again, you can order this stack directly from Bodybuilding.com at the lowest prices I could find.

ErgoPharm presents:
1-AD
1-Androstenediol

Serving Size: 1 Capsule
Servings Per Container: 60
60 Capsules
$66.99 $44.98

Higher Power Presents:
Androstenediol 300
The Most Potent On The Market

Supplements Facts
Serving Size 1-2 Capsules
Serving Per Container 30-60
60 Capsules
$37.99 $28.89

That about wraps it up for the first section of this article. There you have it my first 6 week cycle is listed right here for you and you know that an article concerning the results will follow in about 7-8 weeks. Stay tuned for that article, but for now, let us move on to the nutritional plans for the 2002 off-season.

2002 Nutrition in the Off-Season

I am going to experiment with a theory that I comprised through the knowledge obtained by reading Daniel Duchaine’s Body Opus, my dieting experimentation, everything that I learned from Maris Lee, Dr. Atkins’s theory, and basically any low carbohydrate diet theory out there. I am actually going to use a high protein and "no fear" fat diet. I will consume 300-500 grams of protein each day at the least. I am promoting anabolism 100% with a positive nitrogen balance. I will not actually restrict fat grams or eat a set amount, but I will not be afraid of them either. I will come up AKA having a high carbohydrate day once every five days. This will allow me to fill the muscles with glycogen. I believe that this is necessary to keep the muscles full, round, and healthy. You can consider this a quasi-ketogenic diet. I will enter ketosis for a short time but when I do there will be fat there to burn off as fuel. It will be an extremely low catabolic environment and a very high anabolic environment, which is always desired for the sake of bodybuilders. The addition that I add to the diet that most "high fat high protein diets" do not advocate is dietary fiber. Most do not condone it, but I have yet to see one that pushes it real heavy as in the way that plan on using it.

I will eat as much fibrous carbohydrates as I want. These carbohydrates are metabolized differently than that of starchy carbohydrates and are basically a digestive track aid, which is beneficially packed with vitamins. Fibrous vegetables also help to keep me full while keeping my digestive track in check during the feeding frenzy of the off-season.

I feel that after five days of carbohydrate deprivation the body will be more than ready to suck some in and cram them into the muscles. This will give me the glycogen necessary to training hard for the next five days until I come up and reload again. This diet will be much easier than the traditional up and down day diet that I used in preparing for this years contest season. Basically it follows my stress free theory; I will be eating fats and protein on an unlimited basis. I plan to have an intake every 2-4 hours, except when I am sleeping. I will not be a routine nocturnal feeder unless I awake for some reason. I wake up I will obviously eat some type of protein; I never pass up an opportunity to eat. Besides that situation I choose to get my much-needed rest during the PM hours.

In addition to the caloric portion of my nutrition program I have a huge non-caloric portion. Water! I will continue to down at the least one full gallon of water each day. This will assist the fiber in digesting all of the food that I will be housing as well as keep the muscles fully hydrated.

I have decided to post my off-season grocery list for all to see the typical items that are seen in my grocery cart.

Dino’s Grocery List

Eggs or eggs substitutes
Soy cheese
Meats (Chicken, steak, tuna, turkey, Etc.)
Jell-O sugar free (for protein drinks and joints)
Jell-O Pudding (for carb drinks)
Honey
Black Strap Molasses
Crystal Light (sugar free for protein drinks)
Promise Spread
Soy, Almond, & Peanut Butter (all natural versions)
Fibrous vegetables (Broccoli, Green Beans, Spinach, Cauliflower, Broccoflower, Etc...)
Nuts (I like almonds)
Pam (for cooking in skillet)
Grits (the 5-15min brand)
Cinnamon (as a glucose disposal agent used in grits and drinks)
Raisins
Rice
Corn
H2O

Off Season Training Regimen

I will continue to hit the muscle from every angle. I will go heavy, moderate and light with the weight. I will adjust my reps as needed. Light to me is 15 reps used in warming up, moderate is 10 reps, and heavy is 6-4 reps. I use an Arthur Jones approach to training. It is not uncommon to see me in and out of the gym in 35-45 minutes. I do not talk or mess around; when I am in there it is about business. I just go at it full tilt with my goals in mind. I firmly believe that as long as you are stimulating the muscle you will grow. A sure tell way of knowing that you will are doing this is by experiencing delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). I will also continue to do my cardio in the off-season.

I plan on completing 20-30 minutes on my training days and at least 30 minutes on my off training days. I chose to do this for a couple of reasons. Cardio is good for bodybuilders. It keeps the blood pumping at an accelerated rate for some time afterward. I also want to keep in shape and active, as that is important to me. I am not talking about sprinting for 20 minutes straight people. I am talking about getting on a treadmill, swimming, walking briskly, getting on the rowing machine, Stairmaster, or elliptical machine and enjoying a cardio session of some sort everyday. I am not trying to kill myself here okay? I am just staying active, besides it is good to get the blood pumping on a daily basis.

Attitude

I really want to take this year and work on managing my mental attitude. I want to come across as a confident bodybuilder in any given situation that life presents to me. This is important to the company and me marketing them as a professional, but it is also important to me. I need to constantly market myself as a true professional and realize who I am. All too often I forget who I am and who I am becoming. Ultimately, I never forget who I want to become. So with that in mind I can say honestly that I am a great up and coming amateur bodybuilder that is educated and full of experience. I am a true professional at heart and I need to realize this when interacting with others. Attitude is everything!

Supplements

I plan on using prohormone cycles this year as I previously stated. When I am not using prohormones I will utilize HMB and ZMA. I used HMB this year in a rather small dose and it seemed to help me hold onto my muscle when dieting. When I am not cycling I will use 3 grams each day of HMB. The ZMA will be Higher Power ZMA Nighttime. This will help keep my testosterone levels up naturally so I can retainall of my prohormone gains. In short, if I am not on a prohormone cycle I will be on HMB and ZMA.

I will also use the following supplements: protein powders (whey & soy), glucosamine, vitamin C, creatine, L-glutamine, Multivitamin, EFA, Ephedra (cycled as well 12 weeks on 6 off), chromium picolinate, antioxidants (vitamins A & E), and vanadyl sulfate. I will keep track of these supplements by using the a paper log every day. When I take the supplement I place an X in my log. This assures that I have taken the supplement and gives me peace of mind at the end of the day. I carry all of the supplements in a 7 day partitioned pillbox. Of course I use it daily, but hey, it gets the job done. Every morning I wake up and load my pillbox. I have it with me at all times. I use empty film containers for carrying around my doses of L-glutamine and creatine. These are great carriers for the previously mentioned supplements. I also circle which type of day it is for me. The days are listed on the top of the page. I print one of these off every day and use it as a food log as well. This is how I keep track of my diet and supplements everyday! This program works well for me and I am sure that you can utilize it also.

Dino Paul Pierce, CFT (III)
B.S. Dietetics
Natural Bodybuilder

You can contact me with your questions and comments at littlekahuna69@hotmail.com.

littlekahuna69@hotmail.com

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