Weights and Measures Day:
It's Tuesday and I weighed in and measured my body fat this morning. I had planned to do it yesterday but I ate quite a bit of junk on Sunday. I didn't want the additional water retention to throw my numbers off so I waited until today.
Last week, I overate a bit. I knew I'd be starting my cutting phase this week so I ate a few of the junk foods I crave while dieting. This explains the weight gain over the past week. But now it's time to get serious. I have just over 9 weeks before I step on stage again.
This time through, I'm making a few changes that I believe will allow me to retain 100% of my muscle mass while getting even more shredded than last time. I'll disclose these changes after the contest. I just don't want anyone trying these things until I know they will definitely work.
Below is today's weigh-in with the numbers from last week's weigh-in:
With 9 weeks before the contest, I have about 13 pounds of fat to drop. This translates into about 1 1/2 pounds or 0.5% body fat per week. As usual, I'll make little tweaks to my training and nutrition program in the weeks to come but, for now, I'll start my cutting phase as I have outlined below.
Diet:
I'll start by re-feeding twice each week; Wednesdays and Saturdays. Therefore, Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays will be low carb, lower calorie days. Below is a look at what my low cal/low carb days will look like:
Below is a look at what my re-feed days will look like:
In summary, low days will consist of about 2400 to 2500 calories while re-feed days will be in the neighborhood of 3000 calories. Protein will be consistently high on all days while fat will drop down on re-feed days. However, I have a few hurdles coming up in the next few weeks. First, my wife, son and I are going to Las Vegas, for five days, soon. This is a combined business and pleasure trip. I know myself and I know that if I re-feed during the first day or two, I'll be in trouble for the balance of the trip. Once I start to re-feed and then have all the temptation of food everywhere, I'll never regain control of what I eat until I get back home. So, I've decided to deal with it this way...
We leave for Vegas Sunday morning. We return late Wednesday night. I'll re-feed this Thursday (instead of Wednesday) and maintain low cal/low carb days Friday through Tuesday (5 days). Then I'll re-feed next Wednesday and Thursday. Then, in a couple of weeks, my family and I will be heading to Newport Beach, California for a 5-day vacation. We leave on Friday, July 1st and return on Wednesday, July 5th. I'll do something similar, eating low carb/low cal for 5 days before the trip and re-feeding the last 2 days.
This technique will do a couple of things for me. First, I know myself fairly well. I know that I'll do much better and have a much better chance for success if I wait until the end of each trip to re-feed. If I were to re-feed early in each trip, I would risk caving into temptation for the whole trip - not a good thing. Second, I will still be maintaining the same low-to-high ratio. My original plan was to re-feed twice in a seven day period (1 week). My plan during travel is the same. I'll re-feed twice in a seven day period. The only difference is I'll go longer without re-feeding and I'll re-feed for twice as long. And finally, this will give me a chance to see which day, after re-feeding, that I look my best. On a 3 low, 1 high schedule, I never see how my body will look on day 4 and 5 of eating low carbs/low cals. I know that I tend to look better on day 3 of low carbs/low cals than I do on days 1 or 2. At some point, I will start to look flat. I want to know when that is. That way, I can time my nutrition during my final week, perfectly. If I look best on day 4 of low/low, I'll re-feed the Tuesday before my contest. That way I'll be on day 4 of eating low carbs/low cals on contest day. Anyway, this will give me a chance to know exactly when and how to peak for my next contest - as long as I'm not struggling to make weight as I have had to do in the past.
Supplementation:
Those of you who have been reading my journal all along know that I use supplements but I don't rely on them. I rely on proper nutrition, cardio and weight training. However, I do take some supplements. Here's what I take and why:
Multi-vitamin - This is probably the most important supplement I take. Just in case I don't get all the vitamins and minerals I need each day in my diet, I take a multi-vitamin with my first meal and, again, with my 5:00 PM meal. Now that I'm dieting, there are surely vitamins and minerals I'm missing in my diet. I use Multi-Pro 32X by AST but any good quality multi-vitamin will work just fine.
Glutamine - L-glutamine is an amino acid. Amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Proteins are the building blocks of muscle tissue. Glutamine is classified as a semi-essential or conditionally essential amino acid. This means that under normal circumstances the body can produce enough glutamine to meet physiological needs. However, under conditions such as intense weight training, the body cannot produce enough. Therefore, in those who lift weights, L-glutamine becomes an essential amino acid. That means you must ingest it.
L-glutamine plays a very important role in protein metabolism. If your body doesn’t have access to enough glutamine, it will break down existing muscle tissue for it’s glutamine. By supplementing with glutamine, you can take advantage of it’s anti-proteolytic (prevents muscle tissue breakdown) effects. Studies have also shown glutamine to elevate levels of growth hormone (hGH) in the body.
I take a few grams after my workout as well as right before bed. I add glutamine powder to my post-workout drink and the protein drink I have right before bed. I use GL3 Micronized L-Glutamine by AST.
Creatine - Creatine phosphate makes up two-thirds of the total creatine supply in your body. When your muscles contract, the initial fuel used for contraction is Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP). ATP provides energy for the muscle to contract by releasing one of its phosphate molecules, changing the compound to Adenosine Diphosphate (ADP). Your muscles contain only enough ATP to provide energy for about 4 to 6 seconds of 100% exertion. Then, ADP is used. ADP provides less energy than ATP, so for optimal muscle contractions to continue, more ATP must be produced.
Enter creatine. Creatine gives up a phosphate molecule to ADP, recreating ATP. This ATP can then be burned again as fuel to be used for muscle contractions. Therefore, in order to produce maximal contractions, creatine is necessary.
In addition, creatine has also been shown to enhance your body's ability to make proteins within the muscle fibers called actin and myosin. Both are essential to muscle contractions. Creatine also absorbs intracellular water resulting in larger muscles. This leads to the pumped look.
Because of creatine’s ability to absorb intracellular water, it is imperative that you drink a lot of water when taking a creatine supplement. Water will enhance the effects of creatine as well as keep you hydrated.
However, you don’t necessarily need to take creatine as a supplement. If you eat a lot of red meat, there may be no reason to take a creatine supplement. Red meat contains a lot of creatine.
I flip flop on taking creatine all the time. When I don’t notice any effects of creatine, I stop taking it. After a few months, I usually go back to it. Currently, I’m not eating any red meat in my diet as I go through my cutting phase. Therefore, I need to supplement my diet with creatine.
In the bodybuilding world, it seems to be common knowledge that German creatine, that meets ISO 9000 & 9001 certified standards, is the best and purest. For that reason I use Prolab’s Creatine Monohydrate. It is imported from Germany.
Glucosamine and Chondroitin - Glucosamine is necessary for the construction of connective tissue and healthy cartilage. It is a building block of protein molecules that form protective tissues. These protein molecules act like a sponge to hold water giving connective tissues elasticity and cushioning effects. Without glucosamine our tendons, ligaments, skin, nails, bones, mucous membranes, and other body tissues cannot be formed.
we usually generate sufficient amounts of glucosamine in our bodies. But the rate at which our bodies use glucosamine increases during athletic activity, injuries, burns, arthritis and other inflammatory disorders, age associated chronic degeneration, and when bones are broken. In these situations our bodies may not be able to keep up with the demand for glucosamine.
Chondroitin is concentrated in joint cartilage. Like glucosamine, chondroitin helps produce substances needed for the formation of connective tissue. Unlike glucosamine, chondroitin has the ability to protect existing cartilage from prematurely breaking down by inhibiting enzymes that normally destroy cartilage. So chondrotion encourages cartilage formation while protecting existing cartilage by blocking enzymes.
Using glucosamine and chondroitin in combination may be synergistic.
I’ve beat up my joints so much over the years that glucosamine and chondroitin are almost a necessity for me. Prior to getting into bodybuilding, I was somewhat of a daredevil. In the past, I’ve broken over 30 bones and damaged many joints. I refuse to take pain killers and anti-inflammatories like aspirin. I’ll explain why when I go through the supplements I don’t take.
Anyway, I take a product called Glucosamine/Chondroitin/MSM from NOW.
Branch Chain Amino Acids (BCAA) – BCAAs are essential amino acids. That means your body does not produce them. You have to get them in your diet.
Leucine, Isoleucine and Valine are the BCAAs. They are also called the stress amino acids. They work best when taken together in balanced proportions. BCAAs are easily converted to ATP, critical to energy and muscle metabolism. They help to stabilize blood sugar, lower elevated blood sugar levels and help repair tissue from athletic stress. They also aid in producing a positive nitrogen balance which is mandatory for muscle growth.
I keep a bottle of BCAAs in my car. As soon as I finish my workout, I take a couple. It usually takes me 15 minutes to get home and mix up my post-workout shake so the BCAAs taken directly after my workout to help preserve and repair muscle tissue that was just damaged during my workout.
I use BCAAs from NOW. They are inexpensive and do the job.
Casein Protein - Casein is the slowest acting protein. It gels up in the stomach as it reacts to stomach acid due to casein being pH sensitive. This causes digestion to take a long time. I guess you could say casein has a natural time-releasing property. This makes it perfect for a bedtime snack providing an anti-catabolic effect. It helps provide protein to my muscles throughout the night. I usually take a second scoop of casein around 2:00 am when I wake up to use the bathroom.
I use Optimum Nutrition's 100% Casein Protein.
Post-Workout Drink - I'll elaborate quite a bit on my post-workout drink in the future. I attribute, in great part, my ability to gain muscle as I dropped fat, during my initial transformation, to my post-workout drink. For now, I just want to provide an overview of the 2 main ingredients.
Dextrorotatory Glucose - I use glucose in my post-workout drink along with whey protein isolate. I use glucose because it has the highest glycemic index and therefore it has the ability to enter the blood stream faster than any other type of carb. This means it causes high insulin secretion and promotes a rapid glycogen replenishment to the muscle. After a workout, the muscles are glycogen depleted. High insulin levels are anti-proteolytic (prevents muscle tissue breakdown) by blocking the release of cortisol after a workout. Cortisol is extremely high after an intense weight training workout and cortisol will eat up hard-earned muscle faster than anything else.
I use Dextrorotatory Glucose Crystals (DGC) by AST.
Whey Protein Isolate - I use Whey in my post-workout drink along with dextrorotatory glucose. I use Whey protein isolate for my protein source because it also enters the blood stream quickly making it available for new protein synthesis (muscle growth). Whey Protein Isolate powders go through a filtering process that removes carbohydrates and fat. Compared to Whey Protein Concentrate, Isolate powders contain a higher percentage of protein.
I use Whey Protein Isolate by NOW.
Well that's it. I don't take any other supplements; not even fat burners. Every fat burner I've tried has given me some sort of an adverse reaction. I've had heartburn, nervousness and problems sleeping. And now that effedra is illegal for natural bodybuilding contests, fat burners which don't contain effedra are the only option - and they just don't work. Besides, I feel strongly that there is no need whatsoever to waste hard-earned money on something that just isn't needed.
There is some evidence that 7-Keto is a valid fat burner. However, if you ever plan to compete in a natural bodybuilding contest, don't take it. It is illegal with the INBF and probably with other natural organizations. Taking this supplement will disqualify you.
One more thing... they aren't really supplements but I also use caffeine and diet soda during my cutting phase. Actually, I consume both caffeine and diet soda all the time but I have special uses for both when I'm cutting.
I consume caffeine, in the form of coffee, first thing in the morning, before cardio, to help with burning fat during cardio. I drink diet soda in the evening to help me deal with cravings.
For workouts, I'll drop back to working each body part out once per week and I'll continue with lifting both heavy and light in the same workout. I'll start to post all my workouts in my journal but I'll only post changes in my diet when I make them instead of summarizing what I ate each day.
My goals will be the following:
I have one major concern as I start my cutting phase; cardio. I am housebound all day long so getting my cardio done is going to be tough. Right now, I plan to mountain bike 3 days each week; Wednesday and Saturday for about an hour and Sunday for about 2 hours. Each time I've gone through a cutting phase, cardio has been the core of the phase. But with my current schedule, I'll be lucky to get in 4 hours of cardio each week. That's about 1/3 of how much I've done in the past while cutting. If this isn't enough, I'll have to figure something else out.
Today's Workout:
Let me start listing my workouts with today's lousy workout. Yep, I had a terrible day in the gym this morning. My body feels a bit fatigued and I have a few aches and pains. My shoulders were still sore from the last time I worked them and my right elbow (tendonitis) has been acting up again.
I was shoulders and triceps day: I started out by working my shoulders heavy. After a good, long warm-up, I decided to do a couple of heavy sets of dumbbell military presses. My last warm-up set was 2 reps of dumbbell military presses with the 75 pound dumbbells. After a few minutes, I picked up the 85 pounders, sat down on the bench and attempted to swing the dumbbells up to their starting point; my shoulders. The problem is that the dumbbell in my left hand didn't quite make it to my left shoulder. I ended up dropping it right onto my left thigh. I'm lucky I didn't break my femur. But I did cause some damage. It hurt when it happened and now, several hours later, I'm feeling a lot of pain when I try to put weight on my left leg. I don't see a bruise but, them again, my skin doesn't usually show bruises. I think I might have bruised the bone. All I know is that my left leg is incredibly tender right now.
I decided not to do dumbbell military presses. Instead, I went over to the Body Masters military press machine. I did 2 heavy sets; one with the rack and the second with the rack plus 10 pounds of magnetic weights I added to the stack.
250 x 12
260 x 10
As I said before, my shoulders were still a bit stiff from the last time I worked them. On top of that, I forgot my iPod so I had to do my workout without any music - and I use music as a major part of my motivation. Anyway, I did 3 triple drop sets of dumbbell lateral raises:
30 x 12, 25 x 10, 15 x 12
30 x 10, 25 x 10, 15 x 12
30 x 10, 25 x 10, 15 x 10
That was it for shoulders. For triceps, I started with 2 heavy sets of cable pushdowns:
150 x 10
150 x 10
I know the rack only said 150 pounds but it was heavier than I was. I had trouble keeping my feet on the floor. Each rack seems to be different because I've used almost twice that amount on other racks. Next I did 3 triple drop sets of single-arm dumbbell extensions:
25 x 12, 20 x 10, 15 x 12
25 x 10, 20 x 10, 15 x 12
25 x 10, 20 x 10, 15 x 10
My right elbow was giving me a lot of pain so the amounts listed above were only for my left arm. For my right arm, I did 3 straight sets of somewhere between 25 and 35 reps with the 15 pound dumbbell.
That was it for today's workout. I feel fortunate that I got it done and got home without any further injuries. Tomorrow is supposed to be leg day but I'll make that determination when I get up and try to stand on my left leg.
Sunday's Cardio:
Over the past few days, it's been consistently around 115 degrees (46 degrees Celsius) here in Arizona. It's been a bit cooler here in Sedona but the temperature has still been above 100 degrees. It was really hot for Sunday's 2-hour mountain bike ride. Don't get me wrong. I love the heat and actually prefer these temperatures. However, it does take a couple of weeks to get acclimated to the extreme heat. After all, it's not even summer yet.
My problem on Sunday was one of dehydration. I drank a 1/2 gallon (2 liters) of water before we rode and took another couple of liters with me. But at these temperatures, water leaves the body very quickly. I ran out of water during the ride and started feeling signs of dehydration. I became very dizzy and weak. Fortunately, I noticed the signs early enough to know I had to head back to civilization while I was still able to do so.
Before the end of the day, I consumed almost 5 gallons (about 20 liters) of water, in total, without even trying. My body needed the water and I drank only when I felt thirsty.
Until next time, train hard, eat right and get Shredded!