NZ's most Aesthetic Powerlifter

[Gym rat]

looking forward to seeing the photos bro

[HumanPerformance]

Yeah well done soundsgood was a competitive class but you pulled it out in the end.

[trainlikeafreak]

bro you looked mean last night. your sweeps are insane. what are your plans now man? you gonna rest up for a week or so? you'll have nats in 6 weeks right?goodluck brother.

[Grover]

:clap:

Soundsgood, looksgood,Donegood!

[Android]

bro you looked mean last night. your sweeps are insane. what are your plans now man? you gonna rest up for a week or so? you'll have nats in 6 weeks right?goodluck brother.

interesting dilemma...will he do the NABBA-WFF Nats or skip that and do the NZIFBB qualifier, same day Oct 8th.

Could head down to Wgtn and pick up an NZIFBB qualifier down there a week early Oct 1?

[soundsgood]

Thanks guys!

bro you looked mean last night. your sweeps are insane. what are your plans now man? you gonna rest up for a week or so? you'll have nats in 6 weeks right?goodluck brother.

interesting dilemma...will he do the NABBA-WFF Nats or skip that and do the NZIFBB qualifier, same day Oct 8th.

Could head down to Wgtn and pick up an NZIFBB qualifier down there a week early Oct 1?

Yes I do have a dilemma now. I can't not do the NABBA/WFF finals now so that means the Waikato IFBB show is off the cards. Might have to go down and do the Wellington show if I want to qualify for the Nats. No guarantee of a berth in the finals either if I have to face off with Philly, Byron Peach and of course Big Harry. I will have to bring my A game and that could affect my NABBA WFF nats performance because its only 7 days after. I have to have a good think about it.

Thanks Trainlikeafreak. You looked awesome up there too. Came in shredded! It was a good matchup, as Alex Simays said, best teenage men class Ive ever seen. You have a great future.

Good job and I look forward to seeing how you come into the nats.

I do plan to take today off then back into my prep 100% from tomorrow.

Well-done bro. was a close class - you were harder than Nelly .... Judges made the right choice. If he had come in a bit dryer it may have been diff.

:clap:

That was a genuine look of surprise on my face when I was announced winner bro haha. I thought Nelly had me. His Chest and arms are ridiculous! But looking back at some of the pics i see where i had him. Leg size I had him by a small margin, leg conditioning I was ahead more. I think I posed them alot better too. And I think my back is thicker and more developed. Again as you say, if he had come in a bit drier it could have gone the other way. Awesome to have such close competition anyway! I hoped you enjoyed the matchup.

[trainlikeafreak]

Thanks guys!

Thanks Trainlikeafreak. You looked awesome up there too. Came in shredded! It was a good matchup, as Alex Simays said, best teenage men class Ive ever seen. You have a great future.

cheers man means a lot comin from someone like you. you got some serious size bro good luck with nats

[trainlikeafreak]

just reading your comp prep bro. do you do all your cardio PWO never in the AM?

[soundsgood]

I'm not a big cardio fan bro. You can drop most of your bodyfat through your diet, so I just tack on 30 mins to the end of my workout 3-4 times a week off season and on.

Now that I'm coming down tp the business end of the season I will be adding in a few morning sessions to get the conditioning level required at the nats. The thing is I don't think it should be added into your cut too early or you'll get too fit and find it alot harder to drop the fat later on. That's the theory I'm trialling this year anyway!

Today was first day back in the gym and couldn't wait to get into the squat rack. Warmed up then loaded up 5pps and sets of 8/6/6. Belt only. Didn't want to push it too hard first session back but it felt good to be moving decent weight again.

Leg Extensions next. Did 8 sets at full stack at anywhere between 12-20 reps. Wasn't really counting just moving the weight nice and controlled and squeezing until I couldn't do anymore.

Seated Leg Curls next. Did 4 sets of 12-18 reps at 100kg. Felt good focusing on making the hammies work.

Finished on DB walking Lunges. Did 2 sets of 12 paces with a 100lb DB in each hand.

15 mins on the rower at slow pace and 10 mins on crosstrainer with no real urgency to finish. Pretty slack cardio session but was to busy trying to sort out what comps to do next with my TPs to care. They are both doing the CNIs in 4 weeks, but I'm not sure that would be a good idea for my prep because if I did the Wellington IFBB show as well as the NABBA WFF nats that would be 3 comps in 3 consecutive weeks.

[Mike Zero]

The thing is I don't think it should be added into your cut too early or you'll get too fit and find it alot harder to drop the fat later on. That's the theory I'm trialling this year anyway!

What do you mean by this? Surely the fitter you are, the easier it is to burn calories?

[soundsgood]

My theory is if I'm super fit I'm going to have to work that much harder to get the heart rate in the fat burning zone than if I'm not as fit.

I.e when I'm superfit if I'm walking at 6kph my heart rate will be at a lower rate than if I was not as fit hence I will have to walk at a faster pace to get the heart rate up. It's not a water tight theory obviously but I'm just trying to weasel my way out of spending hours doing cardio lol

[I Declare War]

My theory is if I'm super fit I'm going to have to work that much harder to get the heart rate in the fat burning zone than if I'm not as fit.

I.e when I'm superfit if I'm walking at 6kph my heart rate will be at a lower rate than if I was not as fit hence I will have to walk at a faster pace to get the heart rate up. It's not a water tight theory obviously but I'm just trying to weasel my way out of spending hours doing cardio lol

That kind of makes sense.

[soundsgood]

Yesterdays workout was Heavy Chest and abs

Fueled up on a few kiwifruit pre workout as well as Mesomorph. I won a tub of Gaspari Size-on on the weekend so I sipped that during my train too. It's basically just BCAAs with a little bit of Creatine I think but if it can help me through the occasional heavy train it'd be nice.

Warmed up on pecdeck then hit the flat bench.

Warmed up to 2pps then loaded up 165kg. Managed 5 good reps and a couple spotted but I was wanting more reps so I dropped the weight back down to 140kg. Did 3 sets of 12/12/11

Incline Barbell press now. Hardly ever bench on the incline, prefer dumbbells but hit it today. Did 4 sets of 12 with 100kg.

Flat DB press next. The dumbbells at my gym only go to 100lb (46.5kg). We have manual ones but they kept breaking on me last week and I'm not a big fan of 60kg of weights in the face so we just used the 100lb DBs. Did a set of 20 first set so we decided to press the weights from another 8" further down our chest and half invert our grip. Really smashed the chest like this. Did 3 more sets of 12.

Incline DB press now. Did 4 sets of 10-12 with similar form as the Flet presses with the 100lb DBs. Had to drop to 85lb DBs on the last set.

Moved into the cables and did 5 sets of Cable flies alternating between standing and kneeling. Just used a moderate weight but focused on getting real wide and using a good squeeze.

Finished chest on a couple of sets of 21s on the chest press machine.

All that volume was done and dusted in 45 mins. Training partner and I must have been humming through the workout, little chatter and little rest breaks. Was a good session.

Followed up with about 15 mins of various ab work - hanging raises, weighted blowjobs, planks etc.

Did 10 mins HIIT on rower, 20 mins Med pace crosstrainer and 10 mins Spin bike.

There is still plenty of work to be done in the next 6 weeks so inspired by Androids journal post today I am going to write a new diet plan. I will be starting AM cardio 4-5 times a week from tomorrow. I'm thinking 40mins to an hour of low intensity in the mornings as well as 30 mins HIIT post training 5-6 times per week.

I will be starting the fat burners - Thermojet, from tomorrow too. I really need an appetite suppressor cos I find hunger pains the hardest thing when cutting. Might buy a tub of L-carnitine and see if that helps.

[steak]

weighted blowjobs

[nate225]

My theory is if I'm super fit I'm going to have to work that much harder to get the heart rate in the fat burning zone than if I'm not as fit.

I.e when I'm superfit if I'm walking at 6kph my heart rate will be at a lower rate than if I was not as fit hence I will have to walk at a faster pace to get the heart rate up. It's not a water tight theory obviously but I'm just trying to weasel my way out of spending hours doing cardio lol

That kind of makes sense.

Agreed.

I'm not super fit, must be okay though (tho I do have lots of RBCs - Doctor asked if I was on EPO!) and its so hard to get HR up to a decent level doing low intensity cardio. Probably end up have to change to HIIT type cardio

[soundsgood]

Last 4-5 days diet have been okay, not great, a few more carbs than I would have liked, but appetite has been off the hook so needed to feed it for my sanity. Now I'm good to go and refocused on coming down shredded for the next few comps. Weight has blimped out a bit to 106kg, but will be able to pull it down over the next few days as its mainly water :shifty:

New Diet and training started today (6am cardio may be a little later in the morning depending on schedule)

6:00am - 45 mins low intensity cardio

7:00 - Meal 1: 10 egg whites w salsa, Banana

10:00 - Meal 2: 250g Chicken Breast, 40g Kumara, cup veges

12:00 - Meal 3: 250g Chicken Breast, 40g Kumara, cup veges

2:30 - Meal 4: Can Tuna, 1 row of Rice Crackers

4:30 - Meal 5: 8 egg whites + 2 whole egg & Spinach omelete, 50g Raisens

6:30 - Double WPI protein shake

8:00 - 250g Chicken Breast, 40g Kumara, cup veges

10:00 - Single Protein shake

Plus handful of brazil nuts if required during the day.

Am taking Co-enzyme Q10 pills as well as Vitamin C and a Multi everyday. If bones are aching I have magnesium tabs on hand. Mesomorph pre-workout if required.

I have dropped all bread from the diet, which is hard cos I love my vogels. :cry: Will drop the protein shakes out eventually so I am dairy free. Got the raisens idea from Android. Alkaline to counter the acidity of all the meat I'm eating.

Diet not 100% set in stone. Input appreciated

[soundsgood]

Today was Tricep workout.

Went into the gym and was feeling surprisingly good so I thought Id sneak in some squats before I hit my Tris.

Warmed up to 3pps then loaded up 250kg. Just a belt and chucks I squatted the 250 for a triple and was happy.

Now I was ready to hit my tris

Warmed up to 2pps on close grip bench

Chose 145kg as working weight. Did 4 sets of 10/8/8/7 drop set to 10 @ 100kg and 16 @ 60kg on last set. Around 3 minutes between sets so was not exactly high intensity. Dropped the rest breaks to around a minute for the rest of the workout

Weighted dips next. Had a 45lb DB on the ground so I could pick up with my feet and let go at the end of the set and finish with BW dips.

Did 4 sets of 20-15ish w an extra 6-10 BW reps at the end

DB Skullcrushers now

Did 4 sets of 16-10 reps with 50lb DBs

Finished on Rope Pulldowns

Chose medium weight and kept movement strict. Did 3 sets of 16-21

Did 10 mins HIIT rower and 20 mins HIIT crosstrainer to go with the 45 mins Low intensity cardio this morning.

Am definately feeling motivated now, as well as being Fucking hungry lol

The missus is working week days in another city at the moment, so I'm living by myself on weekdays for the next month or so. Probably a good thing at the moment, can really focus on training and diet as I come down. Not to mention she doesn't have to put up with Cranky the Crane when I'm decarbed and tired :shifty:

[Android]

That looks sweet, reminded me to get more Vit-C cheers. CoQ enzyme is for general health/ anti-oxidant or something else?

Are you doing a pre-workout powder still...was looking for one without creatine that's all close to the shows. Thinking Dymatize Amp'd since it's a fat burner as well, tried this b4?

Keep up the good work and get those legs shredded :-)

[thatwaslight]

lmao at cranky the crane! loving avatar brah sick.

[soundsgood]

That looks sweet, reminded me to get more Vit-C cheers. CoQ enzyme is for general health/ anti-oxidant or something else?

Are you doing a pre-workout powder still...was looking for one without creatine that's all close to the shows. Thinking Dymatize Amp'd since it's a fat burner as well, tried this b4?

Keep up the good work and get those legs shredded :-)

Cheers Android.

The Co Enzyme Q10 comes from current IFBB Mr Australasia Jason Konrath, he just finished his masters in Nutrition on the subject and said

"The more I learn about metabolism, the more I realise the importance of Co enzyme Q10. Especially when preparing for competition. When in an overtrained state from exercise, many free radicals are produced preventing oxygen from burning fat efficiently. As a result recovery is hindered and the body turns to glucose for energy. This is why you are always craving sweet things. Co Q10 acts to fight these free radicals."

I thought I'd give it a try. Took 450mg per day for a fortnight now on a maintanence of 150mg per day. I think it helps a bit.

Mesomorph doesn't have alot of creatine in it, but you're right, I should probably look into a better pre workout this close to comp. Haven't used the Dymatize amped before. Dfine8 was all the rage in Aussie when I left. Stim-free pre workout with Appetite suppressor and fat burner. I havent seen it for sale over here yet, might need to order it online.

lmao at cranky the crane! loving avatar brah sick.

Haha Cheers brah! My son makes me watch way too much Thomas the Tank Engine :shifty:

I heard that Steve Orton will be competing at the NABBA WFF Nelson show this weekend and will be coming up to the Nationals too. Can't wait to see how he is looking, I think he is one of the best BB'ers NZ has produced so will be great to say I once competed with him! Well not much of a competition, he will clean the floor with me, but you know what I mean lol

[soundsgood]

Today woke up and did 45 mins Low intensity cardio before work

Trained Chest in the evening

Warmed up on flat bench but after doing close grip bench as my compound for tri's last night I thought Id start on Incline DB press. As mentioned before the adjustable DBs keep falling apart on me mid set so I had to settle with the 100lb(45.5kg) DB's.

Warmed up with a set on the 85s then got into working sets with the 100s

First set I aimed for 20 reps, but kept pumping them out. Managed 28 reps which is a PB.

Second set did 21

Third set 18 and fourth 16 with a dropset to the 50s

Did 4 sets of 12 DB flies with the 50s, slow strict with a big stretch

DB pullovers were next for a change, did 3 sets of 12 with a 100lb DB. Never usually do these but thought if they were good enough for Arnie, I will throw them in every now and again.

Finished on a superset of Cable flies with Low cable pulls. Did 3 sets of 12 each with medium weight.

Did about 15 mins ab work - hanging raises, ab crunches, planks etc.

10 mins HIIT on Rower + 10 mins HIIT on Crosstrainer.

Done for the day.

Had a pack of rump steak in the freezer, so I cooked that up for dinner and 2 meals for tomorrow instead of chicken breast. Wanted to use it up so it didnt perish and better now than later on. After this will be off red meat for rest of the season (except for cheat meals lol).

[soundsgood]

45 mins Low intensity incline walk on the treadmill before work this morning.

Went into the gym this afternoon to train Quads / Hams / Calves all in one session. Unfortunately this turned out not to be the case.

Started off with Leg Extensions. Did several sets of single leg and both leg extensions at moderate weight to get the blood flowing.

Then got started on Squats

Warmed up with sets at 1pps and 3pps

Working sets

225kg x 6 (Belt and loose wraps)

250kg x 6 (Belt and medium wraps)

180kg x 15 (Belt only)

Started to feel a bit sick so decided to go with Paused explosion squats last set. Deep as poss then explode back up with a glute squeeze.

Did a set of 8 @ 180kg, racked the bar and head went into a spin.

One of the boys was leg pressing, he had 6pps on the press so did a warmup set at that weight then we loaded 10pps.

Did a set of 30, then another of 21. Whole body was vibrating and starting to cramp up. Gave another set a go but got to 12 and that was it.

Tried a set of calf presses on the leg press with the same weight but it wasn't happening.

Had to unrack the plates on the leg press but felt like I would rather take a bullet. Over about 5 minutes I slowly unloaded it and then had a sit down.

Went over to the seated leg curl, did one set of 12 @ 100kg and knew I wouldn't be able to do it justice so I left the workout there.

Went out to the carpark and as I was jumping into the work van my right calf seized up big time. Worst cramp ever. Had to lie down on the asphalt for a minute while it was pumping up and I was in agony. It eventually came right. Drove home very cautiously, didnt want it to happen again when driving :doh:

Worst train in ages. Oh well you get those every now and again. Probably a combination of low carbs, heavy weights and high reps. Got to remind myself I'm not in off season any more, so I can't train like I am!

[I Declare War]

Damn, gutted bro. I've been like that a few times too... and ended up with injuries. Count yourself lucky that you didn't break yourself.

How are you going to adjust your workouts? By feel or something else? I usually just end up eating more and throwing the towel in on my cut... but you're preparing for a comp...

[Optimass]

Body will tell you when it needs to rest ... sometimes you just cant argue. Hopefully its a one off bro. :nod:

[Android]

Bugger, but there's gotta b one day where things don't go as we hoped ay. At least it isn't like that everyday. Clen makes me cramp easier, so does to little sodium. Am sure you'll find the reason and beat it 8)