Being less fat is good!

Bad news is that my waist stayed the same along with my weight...good news is that I lost some fat elseware and my upper body is really tightening up! My upper abs are really starting to get a nice deep separation and lowers are getting better and better each week.

I'm going to cut out bread this week just to see how I react to it. I haven't done that since my last contest and even though I have over 230 days til comp. time, I more want to experiment to see if it makes a difference. I'll still eat plenty of carbs, just from rice, potatoes, veggies, oats and beans. I'm just trying to eat only things that come from the ground OR are less processed. One thing I've learned from dieting is that most carbs are processed and/or refined. You can't really escape it... I still have to unpack my camera so no pictures yet. The unfortunate part of pictures is that they don't lie...I think I look good, but a photo really is able to find all the minor things that people overlook, this causes second place finishes. Unacceptable!

What a morning

There is nothing more motivating than feeling nice hot coffee drip down your leg....the reason of course is because I didn't close the stupid lid enough and guess what, when the lid is not closed properly the coffee leaks out when you have the cup in your pocket while taking out the trash. Fantastic.

It's been a good week though, my zero days were fine and I definitely feel like I lost some bodyfat. Of course usually when I feel like I've had a good week...POOF I gain fat. Not this week though, my diet was spot on and my calorie intake was accurate. All my lifts went well and today's chest/shoulder/triceps was a good one. Of course the hardest part is actually exiting my bed at 4:45 AM. I don't care who you are, there's no getting used to waking up that early. The nice fresh sea air helps a lot though!

I'll post my measurements tomorrow and see if I can get my wife to finally take some pictures.

Zero is done

MMMMMMMM carbs. Just pounded about 1,000 calories for breakfast including two wonderful delicious hard rolls with jelly. The coffee intake will be great today because usually the extra carbs make me sleepy. Well worth it!

Once again it was destroy back wednesday and I can still feel the remnants of the work out from an hour ago. I definitely feel like the two "zero" days dropped some bodyfat, but so far my strength at the gym has been great. I even increased on some of my reps today! Go figure I have a decent beach body at the end of the summer. Hopefully I can get at least one or two more weekends with some beach weather. Ah well, off to the jobby job.

242 days to go

Bodybuilding is such a mind fuck. Today is an off day...I know I don't have to lift, I know that the rest is just as important as the training, yet I STILL want to just go to the gym and do some type of activity. Oh well. On this off day I reminisce of my first competition...much of the training was done up north and when my family saw my weight drop rapidly a lot of people thought I looked terrible. "Emmaciated" was used quite a bit. Interestingly enough I had almost the same amount of muscle on me just a whole lot less bodyfat from when I was 200 lbs. Although to sympathize not many men have a 27" waist!

So on this off day I will have another low carb/low fat day. My calorie intake will be around the 12 to 1500 mark. Hopefully that'll help get this lower ab fat off damnit! Diet will consist of three things...protein powder, chicken breast and maybe a steak for dinner...like I said every nutritionist's nightmare :-)

243 days to go!

Zero yesterday was pretty easy...luckily there's so much to do around home that my focus doesn't stay on food so the 1200 calories I ate wasn't that bad. Good news is that my strength in the gym was great! I maintained or went up on all lifts. Tomorrow is another off day since I switched my scheme from 5 days to 4. Definitely great for sleep time. I'll do my second zero tomorrow figuring that I'll minimize muscle damage when doing them on off days.

One other note. One of my workout buddies heard something on TV that makes perfect sense and I've been preaching this for years..."ABS ARE NOT MADE IN THE GYM, THEY ARE MADE IN THE KITCHEN." I love people that try all these crazy workouts, crash diets and weird butt cleansing stuff. Folks, you have to maintain a consistent, balanced diet first and foremost. I BARELY work abs doing only 6 sets of 10 per WEEK!!! I'm starting to see lower ab veins and I definitely have a decent six pack and I'm eating 2750 calories a day! I even manage to fit in a drink or cheat food during the week. The key is no binging and 90% clean food diet. Right now this falls on deaf ears, but hey one day I'll get more than 1 follower.

8/23/2009

Yesterday was a good day and overall had a good week considering I switched gyms. Waist measurement held at 30.75 inches (this is tensed not relaxed). The great thing is that all my upper body measurements increased! I tend to hold my fat in my legs and lower abs so the lack of increase there was great.

According to my trainer my day of contest weight could be somewhere around the 172 mark but shredded! The last time I competed I weighed 169, BUT I was not in good shape at all...I held way too much water and definitely was not in condition. It's really quite embarrassing when you prepare for 12 to 24 months and then show up only to look like crap. It's also a pretty good gut check on whether or not you really prepare properly. That won't happen again, I've worked out and watched my diet since college and have worked with my current trainer for 3.5 years. Although I'll probably compete novice I intend to win...that's my goal. He only trains winners. Call it what you will, but this is my sport, my passion and the activity that's changed my life. Going from a fat beer drinking offensive lineman to a lean athletic competitive bodybuilder was and is a big deal to me.

Anyway enough of the serious stuff. Today is an off day although I'll play some racquetball. I also have to do every nutritionist's nightmare, eat low carb AND low fat for two days. This will strip off bodyfat, but by not doing it longer than a couple of days I should retain my muscle mass. Hopefully I'll lose another quarter to half ince off my waist. I'll get some pictures up ASAP.

It's Friday!!!

Nice off day yesterday...although with some frustrations at work and other things annoying the shit out of me I had a great start to my day this morning with a chest/shoulders/triceps drop set day.

Tommorrow will be interesting to see if not doing cardio for two weeks yet eating high calorie will change my measurements. Hopefully my waist will stay the same, but my other measurements will increase. We shall see. Will update later as I have to get my ass to work for some training!

250 days

Woke up at 3:45 AM (fell asleep at 8:30 on the couch)...might as well get to the gym to get started early. Back today with a switch up on the workout.

6:40 AM: Destroyed my back today doing 6 exercises drop set style. My method of training is a bit unique comprising only of drop sets for all muscle groups. It's quick but brutal and highly effective. When you push past the point of failure and your weights move upward, muscle will be built.

No cardio this week, which is nice but when I start to do it I'm thinking that walking by the water at home is the best bet, might as well take advantage of living 2500 feet away from LI Sound! I'll be interested to see what my measurements will be after taking off from cardio for two weeks, but working on my house and moving stuff around...and now off to sell some staffing!

End of day: decent eating day today...went over by 100 calories, but I played racquetball and didnt really have to do cardio so it's all good. One thing I'm learning now that I'm training for my 5th show is that you can balance certain things. If you either reduce calories the day after eating too much, or do some extra cardio to make up for it. One thing that's nice is when you eat clean all the time the little cheats aren't a huge deal. Some may think I'm obsessing over all this stuff, but that's what bodybuilders do.

Rant: Personal Trainers....THEY SUCK! Yes I was one, so I can say this without giving a shit. Club 24 employs skinny hunched over guys and fat guys...some of these people probably never work out!!! The reason they stay employed is because the average PT client doesn't ever do anything so any workout will work...listen folks THEY TELL YOU THIS DURING TRAINING. PT is all about playing to people's emotions and then getting them to buy more sessions. Once you build a relationship with a trainer it's hard to break it...don't get me wrong there are plenty of legitimate hard workers who truly care about people and I've worked with and hired many (I will point out my friend Elaine is one of the best, no last names though!), but the majority are either uneducated or just trying to make a buck...buyer beware.

251 days pt. 2

Had a decent eating day today...it's tough with a job that keeps you on the road and always out with clients and candidates for lunch. Right now I'm at 2750 calories and 250 grams of protein. I keep my fats below 15% which despite what some may say works quite well for me. At this calorie intake I'm happy :-) I actually have a tough time getting all the food in, but at 181 pounds with a 30.75 inch waist (that's sucked in) I guess I can't complain. The nice thing at 8 months out all I really need to track is calories and protein. As long as I keep it relatively clean there's room for a drink or two or even bread! I'll probably cut out processed carbs between 4 and 6 months out and I'm tinkering with the idea of complete gluten free. Right now I am starting to see some veins in my lower abs, shoulders and even lats. The challenge will be getting my lower body dialed in.

I think that's all for now. If someone does acutally read this and want to hear about a specific topic related to my training drop me an email at bigsd67@hotmail.com.

251 Days to go

Hello all (right now that's absolutely no one)! My name is Steve and I am a natural competitive bodybuilder. This blog is dedicated to my contest prep after a 3 year hiatus from competition. Before I get into the details I want to get a couple of facts straight. For one body building is judged on a few things and they are: symmetry, leanness or cut level, size and overall condition. It's a very subjective sport and you can win one competition and then come in second the next day based on a judge's preference (some prefer size over condition etc...). 2. I am a NATURAL competitor meaning that I do not take any performance enhancing drugs (aka steroids). The shows I compete in either have urine tests or polygraph tests...more on that later. 3. This is not a power lifting competition I will lift weights for the purpose of getting my body into great shape, but the competition itself involves posing and flexing muscles. If you don't want to hear about that then don't read this blog!!!

Today I lifted for the first time in 5 years at Gold's Gym in New Haven (I've switched many times since I worked as a trainer). I was a member there back in college and enjoy the atmosphere. When I graduated I've had memberships at Bally's, North Haven Health and Racquet, Malibu Fitness, Club 24 and I've lifted at LA Fitness a couple of times. Gold's is not fancy, nor is it very "trendy." It's a gym, it has heavy weights, a lot of equipment and people who are serious about working out, not picking up a date for the weekend. Today I lifted at 5:15 AM and did Chest, Triceps, and Shoulders. It was great getting back to Gold's. After being promoted, buying a house and moving into it the gym is my 40 minutes of alone time. It's me, the weights and my headphones.

Finally, this blog is not going to get into technical aspects of losing weight, lifting techniques or dieting. I'll talk about all of this at times but if you are interested in hiring me as a personal trainer then feel free to email me at bigsd67@hotmail.com. That's all for today just the intro. I'll try to get on here at least once a week or more with the week's goals, measurements and progress. If I can post pictures I will. Thanks for reading!