Contest Preparation For The INBF Wisconsin Championships: 11 Weeks Out!

I have great expectations for myself and sometimes this might cause me to be a little too hard on myself. I never feel sorry for myself though. I am doing this by choice. It is exhilarating for me to diet down for a contest...

It seems weird that as each day goes by, I get more and more excited to start my diet 8 weeks out from my competition. It might be because I am going to be leaner every time I wake up in the morning; or it could be because I will be trying new supplements to aid me in my diet. Whatever the case may be, I am stoked right now and nothing will get in my way of coming home with at least one first place trophy.

Kids around the school have been noticing that I am eating the same thing day after day. They always skip over me when they are passing around the food that they don't want at lunch. They know that whatever is one their plate, I wouldn't eat. I don't trust anything that comes out of a school cafeteria or a fast food joint.

I recently decided to not get anything at Subway when my dad went to pick up sandwiches for my family. I knew that it would be smarter and healthier to cook up some eggs and toast some bread. Even though they list the nutritional information on the Internet, it still can't be trusted. All of my food must come from the store and dependable supplement companies. None of it is going to come from restaurants, family members, or school.

I have great expectations for myself and sometimes this might cause me to be a little too hard on myself. I never feel sorry for myself though. I am doing this by choice. It is exhilarating for me to diet down for a contest, just as it is for a basketball player to perfect his jump shot. The pumps in the gym might be comparable to swishing a three pointer. Getting a first trophy on stage is like sinking a half-court shot to win the game for your team. But in bodybuilding, there are no teams. All the gratification falls upon you. You are the sole recipient of the glory.

Saturday, January 31

Diet

Meal 1: 2 cups of shredded wheat bran cereal w/ fat free milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Whey w/ 8 oz skim milk

Meal 2: Turkey sandwich on wheat bread, almonds, 12 oz milk

Meal 3: Tuna sandwich on wheat bread, small salad, 16 oz milk

Meal 4: 2 scoops of Optimum Whey w/ 46g of dextrose

Meal 5: 8 oz chicken breast, 1 cup of shredded wheat bran, 16 oz milk

Meal 6: Turkey sandwich on wheat bread, almonds, water

Meal 7: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 8 oz milk

Workout

Back/Abs

Barbell row

    : 185X10, 195X10, 205X10, 195X10


Dumbbell row

    : 110X10, 110X12


Cable row

    : 160X10, 160X9, 150X10
    Assisted Pull-ups: 20X8, 30X9, 40X9

Side crunches (on the hyperextension pad): 25X12, 25X12
Cable crunches: 160X20, 160X20, 150X16

I thought this was an awesome workout. I increased my reps on my barbell rows and dumbbell rows. I will switch the order of cable rows and dumbbell rows next workout. As for assisted pull-ups, I would've liked to get more reps, but I had already increased the reps or weight on all the exercises before it. The abs were worked good. I will keep this same routine, but add one more set to the side crunches. I might also try to drop set my last set of cable rows next workout.

Sunday, February 1

Diet

Meal 1: 2 cups of shredded wheat bran cereal w/ fat free milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Whey w/ 8 oz skim milk

Meal 2: 8 oz chicken breast, ¾ cups shredded wheat bran, 12 oz milk

Meal 3: Tuna sandwich on wheat bread, 12 oz milk

Meal 4: 2 scoops of Optimum Whey w/ 12 oz water, banana

Meal 5: Turkey sandwich on wheat bread, 12 oz milk

Meal 6: 2 egg yolks and 8 egg whites, 2 pieces of wheat bread, 12 oz milk

Meal 7: Turkey sandwich on wheat bread, 10 oz milk

Meal 8: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 8 oz milk

Workout

Shoulders/Traps

Military press

    : 125X10, 115X9, 115X7, 115X6


Dumbbell press

    : 50X9, 50X8, 45X10


Bent-over laterals

    : 40X12, 40X12, 40X12


Side-laterals

    : 25X11, 25X8, 20X10

Dumbbell shrugs: 100X10, 100X10, 100X10, 100X9

Although I didn't increase the weight or reps in military press or dumbbell press, I still felt this was a good workout. Now that I have down the form really good for bent-over laterals, I will do side-laterals before them (to concentrate more on my side delts). I didn't do barbell shrugs and only did dumbbell shrugs today. I do this every now and then. It seems as if it wasn't close to as great as my other trap workouts, but the mind to muscle connection was at its best. I will do barbell shrugs next workout.

Monday, February 2

Diet

Meal 1: 2 cups of shredded wheat bran cereal w/ fat free milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Whey w/ 8 oz skim milk

Meal 2: Ham sandwich on whole wheat bread

Meal 3: 2 turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, almonds and peanuts, apple, cereal bar, water

Meal 4: A tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread, 16 oz milk

Meal 5 (post workout): 2 scoops of Optimum Whey in 12 oz water, 8 oz orange juice, Swole v2

Meal 6: 2 egg yolks, 8 egg whites, 2 pieces of whole wheat toast, 16 oz milk

Meal 7: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 8 oz milk

Workout

Triceps/Biceps

    Skullcrushers: 95X10, 105X10, 105X10


Overhead triceps extension

    : 80X10, 85X11, 85X11


Pressdowns

    : 160X10, 150X10, 150X10

Ex-bar curl: 75X10, 85X10, 85X10
Incline dumbbell curls: 35X10, 35X6, 30X10
Preacher curls: 75X10, 75X10, 75X7

This was an awesome workout. Everything about it went well. I only got 6 reps for my second set of incline curls. I was a little upset about that, but I couldn't have done more. I think I should've rested slightly longer after my first set. Next workout, I would like to try the 90's on overhead extension because I got 11 reps for the 85's this workout.

Tuesday, February 3

Diet

Meal 1: 2 cups of shredded wheat bran cereal w/ fat free milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Whey w/ 8 oz skim milk, Swole v2

Meal 2: Ham sandwich on whole wheat bread

Meal 3: 2 turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, almonds and peanuts, apple, cereal bar, water

Meal 4: A tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread, 16 oz milk, 10 oz orange juice

Meal 5 (post workout): 2 scoops of Optimum Whey w/ 46 grams of dextrose, Swole v2

Meal 6: 2 86% lean hamburgers cooked on the George Foreman on a wheat bun, 16 oz milk

Meal 7: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 8 oz milk

Workout

Quads/Hamstrings (LEG DAY)

Barbell squat

    : 185X12, 215X12, 235X9, 205X10


Hack squat

    : 180X12, 180X12, 180X10


Leg extension

    : 120X10, 115X10, 110X10

Seated leg curl: 145X12, 145X10, 140X10, 140X7
Lying leg curl: 110X8, 100X9, 100X9, 100X8 drop setted to 70X8

I thought this was a decent workout. The mind to muscle connection has been better in the past. I think this is because I increased the weights in some of my exercises. I was mad that I only got 9 reps on my third set of squats, but I couldn't have done more. I almost failed on my 9th rep and knew I had to rack it. I will get more reps next workout. Watch me!! As for my hamstrings, I thought this was a great workout. Since I was working in with someone, I had to do my sets at a little quicker pace. This felt great, but I didn't get as many reps as I would have normally.

Wednesday, February 4

Diet

Meal 1: 2 cups of shredded wheat bran cereal w/ fat free milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Whey w/ 8 oz skim milk, Swole v2

Meal 2: Ham sandwich on whole wheat bread

Meal 3: 2 turkey sandwiches on whole wheat bread, almonds and peanuts, apple, cereal bar, water

Meal 4: A tuna sandwich on whole wheat bread, 16 oz milk

Meal 5: A small plate of pasta, 3 slices of turkey, 16 oz milk

Meal 6: Turkey sandwich on wheat bread, 16 oz milk

Meal 7: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 8 oz milk

Workout

Rest

Thursday, February 5

Diet

I woke up this morning at 3:30 with really bad cramps. I went to the kitchen, drank a few glasses of water, and went back to bed. At 5:30, I awoke again and headed straight for the bathroom. I hurled up what appeared to be my last three meals of yesterday!! I thought I was sick from the turkey that I ate last night, so I went back to bed.

I awoke about forty-five minutes later and puked again. This is when I realized that I wasn't going to school or the gym today. I stayed home and ended up puking 10 times. My last time was at 1:30 PM. This was one of the worst flues of my life and I felt miserable. The only things I was able to hold down all day were a few glasses of water and a protein shake with 46 grams of protein at around 6 PM.

Workout

Rest (Sick with the flu)

Friday, February 6

Diet

Meal 1:2 cups of shredded wheat bran cereal w/ fat free milk, 1 scoop of Optimum Whey w/ 8 oz skim milk, Swole v2

Meal 2: Ham sandwich on whole wheat bread

Meal 3: 1 turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread, almonds and peanuts, apple, cereal bar, water

Meal 4: A tuna sandwich on wheat bread, 12 oz milk

Meal 5 (post workout): 2 scoops of Optimum whey in 12 oz water, banana, Swole v2

Meal 6: 2 small steaks and a huge plateful of broccoli

Meal 7: 1 cup of cottage cheese, 8 oz milk

Workout

Chest/Calves

Dumbbell bench press

    : 80X10, 80X8, 80X7


Incline dumbbell bench

    : 70X9, 70X8, 70X8


Weighted dips

    : 35X10, 45X10, 45X9


Dumbbell flys

    : 60X8

Seated/slanted calf raise: 270X12, 270X10, 270X10
Seated calf raise: 100X12, 100X12, 100X12

I thought I was feeling good today, so I went to the gym. It was a big mistake. My flu symptoms aren't completely gone and let me tell you, I felt them during my workout. I was extremely weak and lethargic. I had lost five pounds from the day before. My whole workout sucked. I just went through the motions.

The highlight of my workout was when I got to see my friend Jeremy Strangfeld bench 500 pounds for the second time. Ask him about it online in the Bodybuilding.com forums. He recently interviewed the first man ever to bench 800 pounds. Check out the video of Ryan benching 800 lbs and an interview with him. Hopefully tomorrow will be better training wise. Today sucked big time, and I looked like crap.

This week was crazy. I went from looking my best on Wednesday to looking like a piece of crap on Thursday. It takes a long time to make improvements on your physique, but all it takes is a day to totally mess it up. I know that things will be back to normal in a few days though.

It's better that I got hit with the flu around 10 weeks out than if I would've been hit with it within two weeks of my contest. That could've totally ruined me. The flu has caused IFBB pro bodybuilders to pull out of contests in the past. If I get the flu before my contest, I will still compete, even if I am not looking my best. I won't go through all of this for nothing!!