Time To Get BIG

As promised in last week's post today I am going to talk a little bit more about my new workout plan. This plan is designed as an "off-season" training to add quality, lean muscle mass.
The weights got heavier and cardio has been reduced from an hour every day to a short and crisp 30 minute session once a week.
As with my pre-contest workout, I dedicate each workout to one specific muscle group or body part and even kept the days I train a certain muscle group/part the same.
Monday is reserved for chest, Tuesday is back day, Wednesday I do abs, calves and cardio, Thursdays I work shoulders and traps, arms are trained on Fridays and on Saturdays I torture my legs.

What has changed are the exercises, the number of sets and the number of reps. I have added more compound exercises to the workout, added a couple more sets and decreased the number of reps from 12-15 to 8-10 reps for most exercises. Reducing the number of reps allows me to work with heavier weight and should help me to gain more strength and muscle mass.

Here is the chest workout I am currently following. I start out with 4 sets of incline barbell bench press as a compound exercise to work on the upper part of my chest, then continue with 4 sets of flat barbell presses as another compound exercise before moving towards more isolation exercises, such as machine incline chest press, machine wide grip chest press, flyes and pullovers. 

Bulking Up

After 26 weeks of contest preparation, low carb diets and tons of cardio it is finally time to eat. 

For the first couple of days after the last competition and the photo shoot, I was basically on a "seafood diet". I was eating all the food I would see. 

Ice cream, cookies, french fries, fruits, peanut butter, yogurt, Chinese food, sandwiches, bread, basically everything I was not allowed to eat for the past half year. 

While it felt great to finally have the freedom again to choose different foods and eat what I wanted, it kind of got old pretty soon and I was longing for the structure my contest diets provided me with. 

So after a couple of days of "binge eating", I sat down and created my "off-season/bulking" meal plan. This plan is based on my daily calorie requirements plus an additional 500 calories to grow.

It ended up being around 5,000 calories, which are split up into seven meals and spread out throughout the day with set eating times. 

Compared to my contest diets, I bumped up my daily caloric intake and  noticeably increased the amount of carbohydrates I eat daily. 

The plan is fairly stringent but not as "radical" as my pre-contest diets, since I allow myself 3-4 "cheat meals" per week and some not so healthy food snacks throughout the day.
To be accurate, this diet actually consists of two plans.
One meal plan for days that I lift weights at the gym and one plan for non-workout and cardio only days. Even though the daily caloric intake remains the same with around 5,000, the macros change significantly between the two plans. On actual workout days 35% of my daily calories come from protein, 53% from carbohydrates and around 12% from fat. I am trying to take advantage of my body's natural insulin cycle and time my carb intake accordingly. The majority of my carb is therefore consumed in the morning and right after my workout. Meal 6 and 7 do not contain any carbs. 

On non-workout days, the focus shifts from muscle hypertrophy to preventing additional body fat storage.  This is achieved by decreasing the carb intake to only 30% of the daily calories and bringing protein up to 42% and adding healthy fats. 

My main source of protein remains chicken but I have also added some more lean red meat to my diet and use whey protein for my pre-intra and post-workout shakes.

Brown rice, oats and yams, as well as white rice for my post-workout meal provide me with the necessary carbohydrates and healthy fats come from extra virgin oil, flaxseed oil and all natural peanut butter.
Two to four cups of green vegetables, such as spinach, broccoli, asparagus or green beans are added to meals in both plans. 

The plan is supposed to be an efficient, lean gain diet program intended to add lean muscle mass without too much body fat. 

Two weeks into the new diet and workout routine, it becomes obvious that this plan is an "off-season" plan and that some fat gain is inevitable. But with Summer gone and the beach/pool season over, I am more concerned about gaining mass and strength than maintaining my abs. Sorry folks!

So far my plan has worked out great. I gained almost 30 pounds since I stepped on stage August 25th and also made huge progress in the weight room. I am getting stronger week by week and, to my surprise, my abs are still visible, well, at least to some degree. Next week I will get a little bit more into detail about my current workout routine but that would be it for today.   

Well, time to eat again!

Kodak Moment

Before entirely switching up my diet and starting to "bulk up", I thought it would be a great idea to preserve some of the shape I was in for posterity, well, at least on film/photo.

The physique was there, time could be made and I was already practicing my "Blue Steel" pose, so all I needed was a photographer. 

By sheer coincidence that problem was also solved pretty quick. 

At the Delaware Championship, I started talking to the show photographer, Jim Wilmer, and during our conversation, it turned out that he was also doing private photo shoots. 

We both expressed our interest in working together and immediately scheduled a shooting for the Tuesday after my last competition.

I figured that after 26 weeks of strict dieting what would an additional three day matter. I was dead wrong. Once the competition was over, these three days turned out to take forever. Even though in theory I was not restricted by my contest diet anymore and "free" to eat whatever I felt like,  I had to get even more stringent for this short period, in order to maintain my stage physique as good as possible.

To stay lean and dry I forewent my "cheat meals" following the competition and ate beyond "clean" Sunday and Monday. My meals basically consisted of chicken, broccoli and lettuce.

Despite numerous showers, I still had a coat of spraytan from Saturday's competition left on my skin, so no extra tanner or lotion were needed for the shooting. The color was now, three days afterwards, much lighter, almost like a natural tan and I looked like I just got back from a Caribbean vacation.

Looking at myself in the mirror Tuesday morning I appeared just a tiny bit fuller than Saturday. The extra sacrifice had actually paid off and I was ready to have "some" pictures taken.

Well, we ended up with over 600!!! that day. 

This number shouldn't actually come as a surprise, since the photo shoot took place both indoors, as well as outdoors, and in a wide variety of different outfits.  

Jim Wilmer has been working with bodybuilders and physique models for decades and his experience can definitely be seen in the quality of work he delivered.  It was a pleasure working with him that day and the pictures came out great. 

Now that the shoot is over I can finally enjoy myself for a bit and eat some of the foods I had to deny myself of for the past 6 months, before I start preparing for next year.

"I'm pretty sure there's a lot more to life than being really, really, ridiculously good looking. 

And I plan on finding out what that is."

                                                                                    Derek Zoolander

Blue Steel

Le Tigre

A special Thank You to Jim Wilmer for these great pictures, and now I shall EAT!!!

Never Confuse A Single Defeat With A Final Defeat

This quote from F. Scott Fitzgerald probably sums up best last weekend's contest.
Even though I did not place well in my third and final competition of the year, the OCB Mid Atlantic's Battle for the Belt, I entered the contest in personal best form and was in the past shape since I started this quest 25 long weeks ago. 

Compared to previous shows, I came in leaner and exhibited nice shades and striation in my legs. I successfully transformed my body and got myself in a much better shape than I would have ever imagined.. 

I proved that I do possess the necessary discipline, work ethic and confidence to compete in the sport of bodybuilding and will definitely continue with it.

So while I lost this battle (no pun intended), I consider myself the winner of the war. However, before getting into analyzing the "war", let's recap this battle first.

The "Battle for the Belt" was held at the performing arts center of the Burlington Township High School and, unlike my my first two competitions, which were both sponsored by the NPC, the National Physique Committee, organized by the OCB, the Organization of Competitive Bodybuilders.

The Venue

The OCB is an all-natural Bodybuilding and Figure federation that only holds drug tested events.
So in order to compete at this event I had to take and pass (DUH!!!) a drug test after registering.
The "drug test" was in this case a short polygraph test with a handful of questions, administered by a law enforcement officer at the venue. Overall winners were further required to take a urine test immediately following the competition. However since I did not even make the top 5 in my class I can't tell you more about this procedure and have to limit my "drug testing experience" to the infamous lie detector.

Once I was cleared, I "staked my claim" in the backstage area and set up the area where I would spend most of the next 12!!! hours. Besides my cooler with food and my bad with towels, extra clothes, warm-up equipment (dumbbells and bands) and supplies I also brought my own mirror just in case.

"Setting up shop" backstage

Once I was settled in, the waiting began. I spent my time watching movies on my IPad and, of course, eating. Lucky me I ran into my friend and former pro bodybuilder Jack "Rhino" London who had a female client competing in the event and bugged him a bit until it was time for the competitor meeting.

Jack "Rhino" London

Since it was my first time competing in an OCB sponsored event, I paid extra attention at the briefing to catch any rule variations or different requirements.
The biggest difference were the number of mandatory poses (OCB requires Side Chest and Side Triceps to be displayed from both sides and can ask for other poses such as Hamstrings Curl, Double Calf Raise, Side Serratus and/or Single Quadriceps), as well as that the classes would be divided by height and not by weight.
Being 6'8" I obviously ended up in the Tall class, which by OCB definition includes all competitors over 5'11", regardless of weight. So at 6'8"/250lbs. I was competing against 5'11" guys with 180lbs. or even leaner. Maybe I should file a petition to create a new class for big AND tall competitors next year.

Pre-judging started right on time at 12:30 but took, due to the large number of competitors, almost three hours. In my dehydrated eyes it took ages until the tall group was finally called on stage.
However once in the spotlight I was in my element and gave my very best. The judges kept us on stage for quite some time and despite cramps, exhaustion and pain I kept on smiling.

Every time I am surprised anew how exhausting a "little bit of flexing and posing" actually is. Once we were done, my body felt like I just had completed a three hour football game and I just wanted to lay down. So that's what I basically did until it was time again to prepare for the night show. I found a spot in the carpeted foyer of the theater, laid down and half delusional ate my plain potatoes and cold steak.
Then the waiting game began again until it was time for my individual posing routine at the evening show.
At 8 p.m., 12 hours after I checked-in, I was finally walking off stage and eagerly waiting for the results.

The final results of the OCB Mid Atlantic's Battle for the Belt were as follows:

Men's Open Group 3

1 Phil Cohen #55 (*) (BP) (P)

2 Phillip Roundtree #66

3 Jared Ferguson #56

4 Latwayne Galloway #40

5 Matthew Robertson #61

6 Marco Kristen #53

7 Perry Antrilli #47

8 Kelvin Moore #64

Congratulations to my fellow Trainingcenter buddy Phil for winning the overall and earning his IFPA pro card. Hard work and dedication finally paid off for him.
Unfortunately I did not make the top 5 and left Burlington, NJ empty handed. So besides hunger, thirst and exhaustion a feeling of disappointment overshadowed my ride home and didn't disappear until the next day when I realized how much I actually achieved in the past 25 weeks and that the transformation of my physique was the only true award (even though getting another one of those cool looking trophies would have been pretty awesome as well ;-) ).

Well this concludes the 2012 "season". The past 6 months have been quite a journey and I am very thankful for my friends who supported me during this time. I have learned a lot and am excited to apply my newly acquired knowledge during the upcoming "off season" and hopefully return next year as a more serious competitor. To put it in the words of one of my childhood heroes.

"I'll be baaaak"

                                                                            Arnold Schwarzenegger/The Terminator

Third Time's a Charm

So this was it, my third and final peak week. Since this year marked my first year of competing in bodybuilding contests, I have been trying out different peak week diets and methods over the past 25 weeks to see how my body would respond and which one would bring the best results. 

This week's approach had been fairly similar to my very first plan, as it did not include a keto run over an extended period, but rather slowly decreased carb intake over the course of a week and ended with only one zero carb day. 

In addition, the exercise program and water intake were also very much alike. 

Since I was coming fresh off the Delaware Championships and only had two weeks in between that competition and my next one, I started with the preparation right away and only allowed myself one cheat meal Sunday morning and went straight back to chicken and broccoli afterwards.

Sunday morning treat

Since my body was still sore and exhausted from the long day before, I did not work out on Sunday and gave my body some much needed rest. This was actually the first time in 168 days that I did not work out at all and even though my mind tried to guilt trip me I simply did not have the energy to do anything.

The rest day paid off and I went back to "work" fresh and revitalized early Monday morning.  

My trainer bumped up my carbs Monday and Tuesday which further helped with the recovery and resulted in great chest and back workouts. 

Starting Wednesday he slowly decreased the carbs every other day and increased my daily cardio to a full hour. 

Thursday and Saturday he had me doing two short but intense leg workouts consisting of only three exercises, leg extensions, leg curls and walking lunges.  

Each exercise required 8 sets of 20-25 reps and really pumped some blood into my quads and hamstrings. My legs were completely fried after these two sessions but the separation in between the individual muscles had never been better and I was excited to see how they will look at the show. 

On Sunday I started adding another evening cardio session  to my workout plan.

For the next three days I lifted weights, immediately followed by an hour of steady state cardio, in the morning and did a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session in the evening. 

Besides cardio, my weight lifting workouts also changed and the focus switched to low weights/high repetitions. Sunday I did chest and back, Monday I trained shoulders and arms, and Tuesday, as well as Wednesday I worked my entire upper body.
Wednesday was also the last day before I would start loading up my body with carbs and reduce my water intake so my diet for that day called for 3 gallons of spring water, 30 oz. of salmon, 30 oz. of chicken, 22 spears of asparagus and 2 cups of spinach.

ZERO Carb Day

It took me quite some time to get used to having salmon for breakfast since fish, with the exception of canned tuna, hasn't been part of my diet since my trip to Germany (where I developed a strong dislike for broiled fish). Over the past 14 days I ate a total of 13 lbs., which probably equals the monthly consumption of a full-grown Alaskan Grizzly bear, and will definitely avoid any salmon for a very long time after these two weeks.
Thursday I was finally done with fish and started with the carb loading process after twenty minutes of cardio in the morning.

Different to the two previous two times, this time's carb loading only included carbs from foods that were previously part of my diet, such as rice, potatoes and yams.

Carb loading done the right way

My carb loading menu on Thursday consisted of 6.75 cups of white rice, 13 oz. of sweet potato, 12.75 oz. of regular baked potato, 2 whole eggs, 31.5 oz. of chicken breast and 60 oz. of water. I surely missed my apple pie filling/dry oats mix but am confident in my trainer's plan and trust his expertise. 

Talking about my trainer, for this preparation I worked with IFBB professional bodybuilder Fred "Biggie" Smalls of Above and Beyond Physiques and gained a great deal from his vast experience in the sport.
He was very accessible through text messages and email if I had any questions or concerns, and since his office is conveniently located in my gym, I was also able to get immediate feedback from him and have him closely monitor my progress.

After looking at me Thursday, he increased my carbs from 620gr to 810 gr for the following day, which brought my total calories up to 4,500 and limited my water intake to 12 oz..
It is amazing what he has done over the past couple of days. I have never looked that lean and cut.
Despite the great improvements in my physique in such a short time, the past few days seem to have taken forever, as I felt physically and mentally exhausted. This week I was completely drained and had almost no energy left. I could not wait for the contest to be over so I could finally take some time off from the gym and enjoy some less healthy foods. I think after 25 weeks of strict dieting and tons of cardio I deserve some ice cream, pastries, pizza, chocolate, Chinese food, pasta, cakes and french fries. Maybe not exactly in that specific order, but I guess you get the point. 

If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

NPC Delaware Championships 2012 Recap

If you've been following me on Facebook you already know how I performed at the 2012 Delaware Championships last Saturday and seen some of the pictures.

Regardless of this, I wanted to talk a little bit more about the competition, my performance and above all, my great friends who came out to support me. 

This was my second show and even though I am relatively new to the sport, I felt much more relaxed going into this competition and less nervous.
The contest preparation went as planned and despite my fear of having peaked too early, I still came in relatively lean.
After two meals in the morning I went over to the venue, registered and weighted in. At 254.2 lbs., I was almost three pounds heavier than at the last competition and started again in the Super Heavyweight class. 

The time in between registration and pre-judging I spent watching a movie on my new IPad, which I finally had an opportunity to use, and eating my "delicious" dried pineapple rings, dry oats/granola mix, and rice cakes with all-natural peanut butter and strawberry jam. 

After the competitor meeting, it was time to head backstage and start preparing. I put on a sweatshirt and sweat pants to keep myself warm and set up my warm-up area. Compared to the last show I was much better prepared this time and brought my own set of 10 lbs. dumbbells, exercise bands and even my own mirror. 

Twenty minutes before going on stage for the pre-judging I started pumping up with my "girly weights" (please re-read with an Arnold voice) and put on some Pro Tan Hot Stuff oil.  

When it was finally show time I was literally pumped up, physically, as well as mentally, and ready to face the judges. 

I had a great time being on stage and felt much more comfortable compared to the previous show. Having a great number of friends in the audience cheering for me, definitely helped and gave me some extra motivation. Instead of the grim and strained face from the Philadelphia show, I was all smiles, as I truly enjoyed every second on stage. 

Front Double Biceps

Rear Lat Spread. I will definitely have to work on my width this off-season.

Having fun on stage

Just like the event in Philadelphia, the promoters put up a great, well organized, show and ran it very well.

The venue, an intimate 389-seat theater on the Riverfront in Wilmington, was perfect for the event, providing sufficient room backstage for the competitors, as well as comfortable seating for the audience.

The evening show flew by, but was extremely exhausting. Right after I finished my individual posing routine, I was called back on stage for the division awards ceremony, immediately followed by the overall pose off, first in in the Open category, then again for the State. 

Constantly flexing and holding the poses for a long time took a lot of energy out of me but I had such a blast during the pose off that I forgot all the pain and exhaustion. 

My individual posing routine went a lot smoother this time as I experienced my time on stage more vividly. Being more calm and less nervous, I was more aware of my surroundings, including the cheering from the audience, and was able to fully appreciate being the center of attention. A narcissist's dream come true. 

Little Video of my posing routine in case you missed the event 

Overall Most Muscular 

Comment Sean R.:"u are a man among boys" ;-)

Pose Off

So how did I do when all was set and done? 

Well I did not win the "Mr. Delaware" title (this year!?!) but I won my class (Super Heavyweight) in the Delaware Open, as well as the Delaware State, championship.

But besides the outcome and the nice trophies, I am actually more impressed with my work ethic and the physical changes I achieved over the past five months. 

And the Winner is...

1st place Super Heavyweight Delaware Open 

1st place Super Heavyweight Delaware State 

First Place Trophies

First I wanted to thank Broderick Chavez from Evil Genius Sports Performance who helped me with my peak week diet for this competition.

A big shout out goes to each and every one of my friends who came out last Saturday to support me. You guys were awesome. Hearing your voices coming from the dark auditorium, shouting out my name and number or cheering me on motivated me to go above and beyond and to put on the best show I possibly could. It really meant a lot to me that you guys took the time out of your busy schedules to sit in a dark theater on a gorgeous summer day to watch a bunch of half naked men and women (I can understand the later part ;-)). It was great seeing all the Six Eight Fitness shirts in the audience, the homemade signs and the familiar faces.

Thank You!!!

A very special thank you goes out to my friend Chris for taking some great pictures and to my friends Amy and Lou for supplying me with one of the most delicious cherry cobblers. Since I'll be doing another show in two weeks, I probably wasn't allowed to have it, but I just had to get a taste of it. AMAZING, but please don't tell my trainer about it. ;-)

BEST CHERRY COBBLER EVER!!! Courtesy of Amy and Lou. THANK YOU for this great treat and your support.

Another surprise awaited me later that evening when I saw the marquee at the Best bar/Irish pub/restaurant in Wilmington, DE, Catherine Rooney's/C.R. Hooligans. Therefore another big THANK YOU to my friends at Catherine Rooney's/C.R. Hooligans. 

Local Celebrity ;-) 

So what's next?
I have have been dieting now for almost 24 weeks straight and, besides the couple cheat meals after this show and the one before, not given in to any food temptations.
However I am starting to feel the effects of the strict diet, the strenuous workouts and the long cardio sessions. I feel tired and drained, both mentally and physically.
Regardless of this, I decided to do one more contest this year and will be competing in the OCB Mid Atlantic's Battle for the Belt on August 25th in Burlington, NJ.
So if you want to come out and support me, this will definitely be your last opportunity to do so this year, since this kid needs to finally eat.

As much as I enjoy competing, I cannot wait for the show to be over and finally eat some "unhealthy" foods, such as ice cream, frozen yogurt, chocolate, pizza, Chinese food and finish off the delicious cherry cobbler in my freezer. 

OCB Mid-Atlantic's Battle for the Belt

When: Saturday August 25, 2012
Where: Burlington Township High School, 610 Fountain Avenue Burlington Township, NJ 08016. 
Prejudging begins at 12:30pm and the finals are scheduled for 5pm. 

"Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half."

                                                                                                                       Bum Phillips