"Eating and sleeping are a waste of time."

The above quote was made by the late U.S. president Gerald Rudolph "Jerry" Ford and could not be more incorrect when it comes to bodybuilding, lifting, strength training or any form of athletic training in general.

A proper diet and the right amount of sleep are key factors to get the most out of the tedious efforts you are putting in at the gym.

During the "off-season", I am following a meal plan which factors in my body weight, as well as body fat content to help me increase lean muscle mass. In one of my previous posts I went a little bit more into detail on this plan. While I usually stick to this plan most of the time, I allow myself a "window" every once in a while to enjoy a "cheat meal" or something sweet.

Now that I am dieting for a show, all those "cheat meals" are history and my food intake got even more boring and strict. My plan calls for 8 meals per day, including pre-and post-workout meals. Since I am basically required to eat every 2 hours, proper preparation and planning is key. I usually prepare my three main meals (chicken and brown rice, chicken and vegetables) the night before, pack it into plastic containers and just take it to work the next day. For the afternoon Protein Shake, I keep an extra container of protein and a Protein Shaker Cup at work. While I am preparing the food for the next day I also make dinner and eat it while the other food is cooking.

PROTEIN:

To meet my daily protein requirements, I am relying on Whey Protein Isolate, which I mix with water and consume 3 times a day, Casein, chicken, lean red meat and occasionally tuna.

Whey Protein Isolate is a dietary supplement created by filtering milk protein. Since it is quickly absorbed by the body and used to fuel working muscles and stimulate protein synthesis, it is the perfect protein for my pre-and post-workout meals.

Casein is a slow digesting protein and provides a sustained slow release of amino acids into the body's blood stream. This release can last for several hours, depending on the composition, and helps to maintain the muscles in an anabolic state. It is my choice of protein right before going to bed, since it will provide my body with protein for muscle recovery and growth during my sleep.

My main source of protein is chicken breast, of which I currently consume three meals of 10 ounces each. To keep costs manageable, I purchase a 10 lbs. bag of frozen chicken once a week and just throw it on my George Foreman Grill.

To get some variation and fat in my diet, I have an 8 ounce piece of lean red meat for dinner.One of the leanest cuts of beef is the so-called "eye round", which I purchase as a roast, trim off the excessive fat and cut into 8 ounce pieces. In case I did not have time to prepare chicken or feel like eating something different, I always keep a couple cans of tuna (obviously in water) at home.

Protein makes up the majority of my daily caloric intake with around 54%.

CARBOHYDRATES:

I have tried different foods to meet my daily carb intake, such as yams, sweet potatoes, brown rice and oats, but out of sheer laziness and measuring convenience I stuck with plain oats and brown rice, as well as Carbohydrate Powder. I buy everything in bulk and just measure whatever I need.

For my pre-workout meal I have 1.5 cups of oatmeal mixed with my Whey Protein and water and for faster absorption after my workout, I mix Carbohydrate Powder with Whey Protein and water for my post-workout meal.The 10am and 12:30 meals consist each of 1.5 cups of brown rice with chicken.

By now it should become obvious that I probably lack any taste buds in my mouth, so it should not come to a surprise that I actually enjoy plain oats in water or reheated brown rice. However to add some taste to my oats, I usually mix them with my Whey Protein, some cinnamon and Stevia or a spoon of Calorie Free Caramel Dip and to my reheated brown rice I like to add some Calorie Free Barbecue Sauce. When your diet is that plain, every tiny, little bit of additional flavor is amazing.

Carbs make up roughly 34% of the calories I eat every day and consumed with the first four meals of the day.

FATS:

My daily intake of fats is currently very minimal, with most of it coming from meat (chicken and beef) or in form of healthy omega-3 fatty acids from Flaxseed Oil Pills.

Calories from fats account for approximately 12% of my daily calories.

VEGETABLES:

To get more vitamins and also add some "volume" to my meals, I have two meals daily to which I add two cups of vegetables. I keep it here with the rule "the greener, the better" and switch between green beans, lettuce, spinach and broccoli. Again, mainly out of convenience, I buy them frozen and in bulk.

A detailed version of my current "pre-contest diet" can be found in the "FREE NUTRITION PLANS" section on the right hand side.

Besides proper nutrition, rest is one of the most essential principles of performance enhancement and oftentimes overlooked. Ones sleeping habits can seriously affect the body's own muscle building potential and prevent one from reaching his or her full potential.

Muscle adaption or in other words muscle growth is occurring during the recovery time after workouts and not during them. Rest periods give the body time to repair muscle tissues and replenish the muscles' energy stores.

While not getting enough sleep is detrimental in the long-term and has serious negative effects on ones athletic progress, mood and overall health, too much sleep can make one lethargic and slow. By sleeping longer, the body also has to go longer without food and much needed nutrients cannot reach the muscles. A great way to provide continuous "fuel" for your muscles at night is by taking the above mentioned Casein before bedtime.

Recent studies recommend that athletes should sleep for 8-9 hours to give their bodies and minds enough time to rest, recover and refresh. I have discovered that my body reacts best to 6-7 hours of sleep at night.

Sleep, Eat, Train, Repeat!

Practice makes perfect

Today I want to talk a little but more in detail about my current workout plan.

Including weight training and cardio, I basically train every day at the moment. Five days out of the week I lift weights and do cardio, while the remaining two days are active rests (cardio and abs only) days.

In general I train every body part once a week, with the exception of abdominals and my weak body parts (traps and calves) and usually focus on one muscle group each workout.

Mondays I focus on chest in the morning and cardio, calves and abs in the afternoon, Tuesdays I train my back, Wednesdays are my active rest days with abs and cardio, Thursdays are reserved for shoulders and traps, Fridays my plan calls for an intense leg workout, Saturdays are my arm days and on Sundays I do cardio and traps again.

I mentioned in a previous post that my plan is somewhat FST-7 inspired. FST-7 is a training principle created by Hany Rambod and stands for Fascial, Stretch, Training and the 7 refers to seven sets of 12 repetitions performed as the final exercise of the target body part. The "Fascial" set is always a compound lift, the "Stretch" set an isolation exercise with the intention to stretch the muscle, the "Training" set another compound lift and the "7" usually another isolation exercise to focus on a weak part of the target body part and preferably done on a machine to follow a fixed motion. For the "7" exercise, it is important to keep the rest period in between sets around 30 seconds and to constantly drink. Staying hydrated and stretching in between sets pushes fluids into the targeted muscle and stretches the fascia even further. The result is an intense "pump" after the workout and an increase in muscle volume.

Before I get swamped with smart ass emails pointing out that I have other/more exercises than traditional FST-7 workouts or that FST-7 requires all smaller muscles to be trained twice a week, etc., I want to clarify again that my workout is not an exact copy of the FST-7 training principle but rather a combination of exercises and methodologies, that have proven to work for me in the past and evolved over time, with many FST-7 elements.

I usually perform 3 sets of 8-12 reps per exercise with 60 to 90 seconds rest in between sets and "finish off" the specific body part with the above mentioned "7" principle before doing cardio and 15 minutes of posing.

From years of experience I cannot emphasize the importance of training in the "right" environment and having a reliable and equally motivated training partner/s. Training at a "real" gym and not at a "fitness center" can have a huge impact one ones personal motivation and mood. Besides having the right equipment and sufficient amounts of weights (plates, as well as heavy dumbbells) "real" gyms also tend to attract more highly motivated individuals, creating a more "competitive" and more energetic environment. I changed gyms in the Fall of 2011 and could not be happier. I wouldn't say that going from the "poor man's country club" to a serious gym with experienced lifters and bodybuilders was a "life changing" event but definitely a huge step in the right direction. Learning from accomplished bodybuilders or powerlifters has helped me to gain more lean muscle mass and strength in the off-season and invaluable, now that I am preparing for an actual contest.

A detailed version of my current workout plan can be found on the right hand side under "FREE WORKOUT PLANS".

Lift sssings up and put sssem down.

I may not be there yet, but I'm closer than I was yesterday

The first week is completed, only 14 more to go.

I started early Monday morning with a solid chest workout, followed by 30 minutes of cardio and another 30 minutes cardio and ab session in the afternoon. Tuesday I did back and cardio in the morning and another 30 minutes of elliptical training in the evening. Wednesday was my non-training/active recovery day with abs and 30 minutes of cardio in the morning and Thursday my focus was on shoulder and traps. To accommodate for my training partners' busy work schedules I moved our extensive leg workout from Saturday to Friday and will keep it that way. So after "killing" my quads, hammies and calves on Friday I did forearms, biceps and triceps on Saturday. Even though I used to keep it "biblical" and Sunday was my "day of rest", I added another 30 minute cardio session Sunday mornings to further increase the chance to reach my goals by June 16th.

A detailed version of my training plan can be found in the "FREE WORKOUT PLANS" section in the right side bar.

So Sunday afternoon the first moment of truth came when I stepped on the scale. As expected my weight dropped. Even though probably most of it was water weight, the scale announced a drop of 3.4 pounds compared to last Sunday's weight in. A nice start to my quest.

Since a picture says more than a thousand words, I decided to add a weekly progress picture to my posts. As mentioned in my introductory post, I have been taking a picture of myself once a week over the past year and documented well the changes of my body. If you are starting a new diet and workout regiment, I would strongly recommend doing the same. Besides your body weight and picture, it also helps to record your body fat, the size of your arms, calves, chest, neck, thighs and waist, along with any changes in your diet and "supplement stack" (more about that in one of my upcoming posts).

Little Kodak Moment.

So it begins...

The title says it all. Today is the first day of my contest preparation, a.k.a. the beginning of my strict diet. I have been eating fairly clean over the past year and used a customized diet to build lean muscle mass.

My "old" diet was designed to add lean muscle mass by taking into consideration body weight and body fat content and working with the body's natural insulin production. The result was a pretty solid meal plan that was divided into training days and non-training days. Training days consisted of 7 meals plus an additional during/post workout shake with the last carbohydrate intake around 2:30 in the afternoon. Non-training days, including cardio days, reduced carb containing meals to a total of three and increased the total protein intake. The result was a gain in 15 pounds of lean muscle mass.

My "new" diet reduced my daily intake of carbohydrates by almost half and increased my protein consumption by around 25%. The pre-contest diet also prohibits any "cheat meals", fruits, sugars and dairy products. What's left is basically a mix of oats, brown rice, vegetables, such as green beans, broccoli, lettuce and cauliflower, chicken, lean red meat and various sorts of fish, as well as whey protein isolate and casein (obviously both sugar free).

A detailed version of my training plan can be found in the "FREE NUTRITION PLANS" section in the right side bar.

My current body weight is 286 pounds with a caliper measured body fat content of 6.5%. I am now 104 days out and will try to reduce my body fat to roughly around 3.5-4%, while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible. It is shear impossible to lose fat without losing some muscle mass, but I trust that this specific diet will minimize the loss of muscle.

In addition to this drastic change in my diet, I have also made some alteration to my training plan and increased my cardio. The new workout incorporates basically elements of FST-7 and was altered by me to focus on my weaknesses (upper chest, calves and forearms). While I am still doing fairly heavy weight, the emphasis is now also on reps (8-12), forced reps, shorter breaks, stretching/flexing the muscles in between sets reps and good technique.

Cardio went up from two sessions a week to 8 times a week, with a mix of elliptical trainer, steep incline treadmill and stair master. Since I am trying to lose fat without sacrificing too much muscle mass, I am trying to keep my pulse in between 110 and 125bpm.

Time to do some chest and cardio.

Let's get this party started!

I started this blog initially in August of 2011 but for the longest time I could not not decide on what format it should be. Am I going to start one of those many online training guides or is it going to be a workout diary?
I have been involved in sports and working out for well over a decade now and developed a passion for lifting weights in this time. I played collegiate American Football so lifting weights was essential to develop strength and speed during those days. Once my football "career" was over the idea of "getting/staying in shape" took over and the gym became more and more important.
Unfortunately at that time I had no clue about the importance of proper nutrition and continued doing my old football specific workout plans. The result was a drop in weight of almost 50 pounds; unfortunately now looking back, at the expense of muscle mass and strength.
In February of 2011 I decided to get more serious again about my body and health and started researching diets, supplements, workouts, techniques etc. I started reading everything weight training related and began documenting the progress with pictures, instead of solely relying on the scale. The results were overwhelming.
Even though I regained 20 pounds within six months, my waist size dropped 3 inches and so did my overall body fat.
With a "new" body and a good portion of found again self-esteem I recently decided to do my first amateur bodybuilding show. The show will take place on June 16th 2012 and is organized by the Organization of Competitive Bodybuilders (OCB), an all-natural Bodybuilding and Figure federation. Since I have never done a show before everything, from strict dieting to posing, is a complete new experience for me and I figured maybe worth sharing.
Well long story short, I finally made up my mind about the format of this blog and think this blog will be somewhat of a combination of training guide and workout diary and a nice tool to keep me focused over the next months up until my show.

So now let's get to work!!!