Pre-Contest Bodybuilding Journal - 6 Weeks Out!

The road is slowly winding down to the 2005 New England Bodybuilding and Fitness Competition with only 6 weeks to go. Continue following Justin's program with just 6 weeks remaining.

The road is slowly winding down to the 2005 New England Bodybuilding and Fitness Competition with only 6 weeks to go. Justin is more focused than ever in his contest preparation, and has already surpassed his size and condition at last years contest with 6 weeks to go!

Everything is steadily moving along in Justin's preparation and these last six weeks will be focused on dialing him in for the show date. This year's competition in the light-heavyweight class will be a dog fight for sure, but I am confident that Justin will be up there posing with the best of the pack!

And now, onto the journal...

Justin's Training Journal

Weeks Remaining: 6 weeks

Body Weight: Around 197 lbs.

Body Fat: As you can see in the recent 6 weeks out photos, Justin has improved dramatically in his overall conditioning; he is tighter, harder, more vascular, and more striated than he has ever been.

As I stated in the first journal entry we do not do weekly body fat measurements to track progress. Instead we take many weekly photo's to asses the specific areas that need to improve on, and also look at the overall improvements with his condition to see the changes Justin must make in his diet, training, and cardio for the upcoming weeks.

The Diet Protocol

    Justin's diet up to this point has been basically the same as it was from 10 weeks out. Now that it is 6 weeks out we are beginning to implement a carbohydrate cycling protocol in order to tighten up the places on Justin (mainly his lower back, legs, and glutes) where he still needs work.

    We are also using this time to practice a carbohydrate loading plan on the weekends to find out what will work optimally for the show day. What we have been doing is using a "shit load" on Saturday morning after he has been going fairly low carbs towards the end of the week. On Saturday he will load on junk food for his first two meals of the day, and then go back to his normal diet for the rest of the day.

    It is pretty amazing how you can actually see him filling out after he eats his first meal, and he is pumped and vascular about an hour or so after the meal. This carbohydrate loading idea sounds crazy, but if it is done right, it works like a charm.

    Justin's carbohydrate cycle for the week looks somewhat like this:

    • Monday - 250g - 300g
    • Tuesday - 250g - 300g
    • Wednesday - 250g - 300g
    • Thursday - 200g - 250g
    • Friday - 200g
    • Saturday - controlled junk food load for the first two meals, then back to diet foods for the rest of the day.
    • Sunday - 300g - 400g

    Throughout the week Justin's protein remains high, around 300g-350g every day except on Saturday when it gets reduced a bit due to the high amount of carbohydrates.

    So far this method has been working extremely well, and there have been very noticeable improvements from 6 weeks out to 5 weeks out after implementing this method. The food sources still remain the same in this phase of the diet except Justin's red meat intake gets reduced to only 1 day a week.

    He also starts supplementing more with omega 3, 6, and 9 fatty acids on his low carbohydrate days.

    Justin's cardiovascular work has been staying at 1 short 15-20min. session per week on the Precor. This cardio session is primarily used to work his glutes and hamstrings.

    Cardio will probably get increased to 2 sessions a week at 4 weeks out, and then possibly cut out completely the last two weeks before the show depending on how Justin's lower body looks.

    Now, onto the training journal...


Sunday, March 27th, 2005

Diet

    Today's training consisted of legs (quads, hamstrings, calves). This means that his carbohydrate intake was pretty high, along with a moderate protein intake, and a low fat intake. So his diet for today looked like this:

      Carbohydrates - 400g
      Protein - 300g
      Fats - 30g-40g
      Total calories - Around 3,200 calories

    You can refer to the section above detailing his carbohydrate-cycling strategy for this week of his diet. His meals are still split up evenly over the day with a high amount of carbohydrates coming from his morning meal, and his post workout meal.

    His protein and fat intake is split evenly over the course of his six daily meals.

Supplements*

Workout - Legs (Quads, Hamstrings, Calves)

Exercise Sets Reps Weight
Leg extensions 4 20, 15, 12, 12 140, 180, 220, 220
Leg press 4 20, 15, 15, 15 8 plates*, 16, 20, 22
Front Hack squat 3 15, 12, 10 4 plates, 8, 12
Walking lunges 2 30 reps total 95lbs, 115lbs
Seated hamstring curls 3 15, 12, 10 140lbs, 180lbs, 200lbs
Lying hamstring curls 2 15, 12 80lbs, 100lbs
Seated calf raises 4 15, 12, 10, 10 90, 135, 225, 225

* When it says 12 plates that is the total amount of 45lbs plates on the machine.

Click Here For A Printable Log Of The Leg Workout.




Click To Enlarge.

This was a very effective leg workout, and Justin's legs looked awesome (as you can see from the pictures) for 6 weeks out. These pictures are from a new gym, Work Out Plus, which had some very nice equipment, and a nice overall atmosphere for a positive workout.

I am very pleased at how Justin is coming along in his preparation.


Monday, March 28th, 2005

Diet

Today was an off day from training, which means that Justin's carbohydrate intake was reduced from yesterday's amount. Since Justin's carbohydrate intake is reduced today to 250g-300g his protein intake will raise slightly along with his healthy fat intake.

    Carbohydrates - 250g - 300g
    Protein - 350g
    Fats - 40g
    Total calories - Around 2,800 calories

You can refer to the diet section in the 10 weeks out journal to see how this breaks down over the course of Justin's 6 daily meals. This is just the macronutrient breakdown for this particular day.

Supplements

- OFF DAY (training and cardio) -


Tuesday, March, 29th 2005

Diet

Today's training consisted of Chest and Triceps. For today his carbohydrate intake remained the same as yesterday, with a high protein intake, and a moderate fat intake. Today his diet is essentially the same as yesterday now that he is following his new diet plan for 6 weeks out.

    Carbohydrates - 250g - 300g
    Protein - 350g
    Fats - 40g
    Total calories - Around 2,800 calories

Supplements*

* The supplement intake will increase as the show approaches.

Workout - Chest, Triceps

Exercise Sets Reps Weight
Incline barbell press 4 15, 12, 10, 6 135lbs, 185, 225, 275, 315
Flat hammer strength press 3 12, 10, 8 225, 275, 275
Flat bench d-bell flies 3 12, 12, 12 50lbs
Pec-deck machine flies) 2 15, 12, 10 160lbs, 200lbs, 220lbs
Cable crossovers 2 15, 15 50lbs
Cambered bar pushdowns 4 15, 12, 10, 8 80lbs, 100, 110, 120
Flat bench nose breakers 2 15, 10 95lbs, 115lbs
Single overhead d-bell extensions 2 15, 12 30lbs

Click Here For A Printable Log Of The Chest & Triceps Workout.


Click To Enlarge.

Today's workout consisted of chest with triceps. Today's workout went very well and Justin is still maintaining his strength for this point in his prep. This week we will be paring triceps with chest and biceps with shoulders so that we can take an extra day of rest this weekend.

I feel that this will help Justin recover better, and at this point in his prep he does not have to do extensive workouts for his biceps and triceps.


Wednesday, March 30th, 2005

Today's training consisted of back and calves. The diet for today was the same as it was yesterday.

Diet

    Carbohydrates - 250g - 300g
    Protein - 350g
    Fats - 40g
    Total calories - Around 2,800 calories

Supplements

* The supplement intake will increase as the show approaches.

Workout - Back

Exercise Sets Reps Weight
Close grip pull downs 4 15, 12, 10, 10 130lbs, 180, 220, 250
D-bell pullovers 3 15, 10, 8 100lbs, 120lbs, 100
Corner T-bar rows 3 15, 12, 12 4 plates, 6, 8*
Incline bench d-bell rows 3 15, 12, 10 50lbs, 60lbs
Seated pulley rows 2 15, 12 160lbs, 200lbs
Hyper extensions 2 15 bodyweight
Standing calf raises 3 15, 12, 10 140lbs, 180, 220

Click Here For A Printable Log Of The Back Workout.



Click To Enlarge.

* The plates used on the T-bar rows are 25lbs so that you can get an increased range of motion through out the movement, rather than with 45lbs plates. This is an excellent movement for the back, and if your doing them off the ground I suggest using 35lbs plates at the most, so you can get a full range of motion during the movement.

This was an awesome workout for back, and Justin was able to maintain his energy throughout the whole workout. He is looking noticeably tighter and harder compared to the beginning of this week.


Thursday, March 31st, 2005

Today's training consisted of traps, shoulders, and biceps. Justin's carbohydrates were slightly reduced today in comparison to the previous day's diet. The carbohydrate intake will come down slightly over these next two days in order to deplete for Saturday's carbohydrate load.

Diet

    Carbohydrates - 200g - 250g
    Protein - 350g
    Fats - 40g
    Total calories - Around 2,600 calories

You can refer to the diet section in the 10 weeks out journal to see how this breaks down over the course of Justin's 6 daily meals.

Supplements

* The supplement intake will increase as the show approaches.

Workout - Traps, Shoulders, Biceps, 15min. Of Cardio

Exercise Sets Reps Weight
Smith machine shrugs 4 15, 12, 10, 10 135lbs, 225, 275, 315
Behind the back smith shrugs 2 15, 12 135lbs, 225lbs
Smith machine behind the neck press 3 15, 12, 10 135lbs, 185, 225
Machine press 3 15, 12, 10 120lbs, 150lbs
Cable side laterals 2 12, 10 40lbs
Front raises 2 12, 12 30lbs
Upright barbell rows 2 10, 10 100lbs
Standing alternate d-bell curls 3 20, 16, 16* 40lbs, 50lbs, 50lbs
Single arm preacher curls 3 15, 12, 12 40lbs, 50lbs
High cable curls 3 12, 12, 12 40lbs

Click Here For A Printable Log Of The Traps, Shoulders & Biceps Workout.


Click To Enlarge.

* This is the total number of reps for both arms combined.

Today's workout was pretty long, and Justin was dragging towards the end of it, but still put forth 100% effort. In order for Justin to be his best at the New England's he knows that he is going to have to suffer, and he is prepared to do what needs to be done to be successful at the show.


Friday, April 1st, 2005

Diet

Today's diet was the same as yesterday's diet. Justin's carbohydrate intake remained low today due to the fact that it was an off day from training and cardio, and also because he would be carbohydrate loading tomorrow.

    Carbohydrates - 200g
    Protein - 350g
    Fats - 40g
    Total calories Around 2,600 calories

Supplements

- Workout - Off Day (training and cardio)-


Saturday, April 2nd, 2005

Diet

This morning Justin had a huge breakfast consisting of a variety of tasty breakfast foods. His calories were not recorded today because it is difficult to keep track of the amount of calories and macronutrients that are coming from junk food.

After this meal Justin was looking very full, pumped, and vascular all over. The posing pictures from this week were taken after this junk food meal, and you can see for yourself the improvements he has made in his physique over the past few weeks.

Justin then followed this meal up with another meal consisting of clean food mixed with some junk food. After this Justin resumed his normal diet for the rest of the day. Like I mentioned before, most people may think this idea is crazy, but if you have a fast metabolism it works like a charm!

Supplements

Workout - Off Day (training and cardio)


6 Weeks Out Summary...

With the new changes that were implemented in Justin's diet this week he has noticeably improved since last week. Until then, if there are any questions or comments about Justin's preparation please feel free to e-mail me at Kas1n0l3i30y@aol.com.