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Marathon Man - Rebound into offseason

Theotherone55

Theotherone55

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(this is not me nor is it Dustin Hoffman, i'm way bigger than those dudes)

It's that time. I am 5 weeks post contest and i am 307lbs and it's go time.
Motivation is sky high and we have plans on how to fix things AND still make progress. Stuff to discuss with you all and my random thoughts per usual.
Let's get it!

Training
Just getting back to pushing things. Joints feel good as I was pretty cautious those first couple weeks. Didn't want to go full bore and tear something. But training feeeels good. The reality is i gained 15lbs of tissue from last year...and i did that with a slightly different form of training. For the seasons before this I was a pretty adament log book guy where I would make sure progress was driven by progressive overload. But last offseason, probably due to some injuries and just to test it, i stopped logging and just went as hard as i could that day. Maybe a bit more volume, more pump work. And that shit workedd...But i do love me some progressive overload. So although the "barely paying attention work" worked, i think im going to go back to logging a few major exercises. If anything, i just like being scary strong and i wasnt scary strong last year. I was big...but not powerful. But even with that, there are certain bodyparts that just through my experience, i dont neeed to log. Chest, yes. Back, yes, Legs, yes. Shoulders and arms, nah not really. So going back to PO (and we'll see how my L shoulder holds up with it) it willl be a change.

Cardio is also up, on my decision. Been doing 4x a week HIIT + 20 min walking. Just being active, moving, for digestion and insulin sensitivity and to make sure i keep it tight. I want to be UPP on this all year. Thats the goal.

Drugs
@Marathon Man it is. He's always the best and hooking me up with the best products. I'm an EQ and Test guy. NPP when i can too. Rebound right now is Sust, NPP and Mast. Other goodies in right now are SLUPP (because it worked so well in prep) as well as Reta. I had planned to take Reta precontest but just never threw it in, but now, as food and appetite are sky high, i threw 2mg in and am just chillin on that dose. I think toward the middle of offseason i was pushing so much food and with high GH, you can kinda spin out and get insulin resistant. And my theory is that with SLU and Reta in, someone pounding large food can do so LONGER without the fear of losing sensitivity. That also is a food choice thing.
ALSO, gonna get some bloodwork this week hopefully. Planning on just doing a walk-in Friday morning and sneaking one in.

Food
Food is always high. My low days durin prep were still probably around 3k. But i always level up. I would get lazy and throw some candy in knowing that Justin says that stuff is ok on high days. Im sure it is but i am better than that. Rice, rice based, oat based, corn based, potatoes, done. Even with that, my appetite is ravenous right now. Im eating potatoes still because they hold me over longer.

Physique Fixes
I feel like i keep it pretty real here. I'm no Flex Wheeler. I'm a PLer who turned to a BBer. That being said, go find other 275lb SHWs....there aint a lot of them. So i can grow, thats one thing i know how to do. But Justin and I had been using a sledgehammer and now its time for a scalpel. That means, no mass just for mass. Has to be areas that need work. The X frame, quad sweep, lats, wider shoulders, bigger arms.

Andddd fix this gut. I looked at pics of me at 258-260 last contest and i had this flat stomach that could push out air. I THOUGHT it was visceral fat. Dexa said otherwise. So i went TODAY to a hernia specialist in south LA. Of course i have to explain alll my training history but she pokes around and says what i kinda already knew, "you have a small umbilical hernia as well as diastasis recti." Great....i know this. She goes on to say that the recti cannn be fixed through PT but the hernia need some mesh....but that its not a bad one. Small that coulddd get bigger. Ugh. I knew i had this...but i was hoping id go in and they'd tell me i had like 4 weird unknown hernias and ahhh thats the reason youve lost some control of your TVA and the turtleshell...instead it was, "well its this...." and me thinking, "fuck, so this is a GI issue.." which means its MORE complicated, harder to fix, etc. Just sucks. I think the question is...do i even go get this fixed? They didnt seem OVERLY concerned but said there is always a chance it could get worse or biiger and then i'd definitely need to get it taken care of. So that's the dilemna right now. How do I go about it?

PLUS i'll be real with you, all of the gut protocols ive ever looked (Austin Stout, Justin Mihaly, etc) usually seem like they are used at a time where diet can be heavily manipulated. That aint now. So my goal (at this moment) is to ride this rebound another 8 weeks maybe. Get thru it. Im eating a LOW foodmap diet anyways. just lots of food. So get through it. Throw some supps at it to see what works (I just bought a couple bottle of Biofilm Resolve and Gut defender from ScoobyPrep's Nuethix after hearing great things) and then post rebound maybe drop some doses down as I talk to one of these guru's about fixing me. But we'll see. I had a long ass day at work and I know my wife wants to know the deal about the hernia so i gotta explain that shit all over again lol

The ONLY other wrinkle that might get thrown in here is....my wife wanting another freaking baby lol. Im not overly for it but im not against it either. I have a great 2.5 year old girl and i learned A LOT during that first stint of trying to get my wife pregnant. I wasted too much time fucking around on and off and taking this and that. I have a protocol and i know what works. Still not 100% yet...but i would basically do an extended cruise, run GH higher and see if i can get it done in 12 weeks-ish. We'll see though
 
You got good mass. Following. There’s much to learn from you.
 
Chest/Shoulders
Machine Flies - 2-3 sets to pump blood
Hammer incline - top set back off
Regular hamme press - top set back off
Dips - top set back off
Cable decline flies - 3 pump sets
Rear delt reverse flies - 3x15
Cuffed side raises - top set back off
Seated DB side raises - 3x12
Upright rows - 2 sets
Hammer sh press - top set

Weight is hovering between 305-308. About 315+ when i got to sleep. Surprisingly keeping active which keeps the bloat and back pumps down. Still doing 12 mins of HIIT 4x per week + 20 min walks. The main bitch right now is electrolytes. Even had to ask Justin his opinion. The body is just so big right now and fluids arent thattt high that just regulating sodium, potassium and everything is a bitch. I cramp standing up from a chair. I usually get this mid offseason when GH is super high and im big and bloaty so this is the earliest ive gotten it. I drink around 4-6L a day of fluids so i just throw in 2 large Liquid IV packets with it and drink.

Training is nice though. As someone who basically logged nothing last year, i forget just how motivating a logbook is. Especially now when weight is just moving. More reps and weight everrrry workout. I notice the most pressing wise.

Only hiccup this week is a Mexico trip (wife's 40th) thursday - monday. I'll get a couple lifts there and im bringing enough food to handle me. Two big bags of COR, almonds, almond butter, 2 jugs of protein. That can easily make up 5 meals a day + two meals with my wife and crew. Should be fun. I spent a ton on this Villa in PV, 6 BD on the water, infinity pool. So should be amazing...AND kidless. I just turned 38 so who knows what the hell i wanna do for my 40th...probably go to vegas and hit up good gyms and eat like a god lol

The ONLY wrinkle that might get thrown in this offseason is....the possibility of kid number 2. My wife wants one...im neutral. And im ok with that because a happy wife, happy life. And i know the drill. I wasted too much time the first pregnancy protocol so i know what to do now. Should be much shorter. But it isnt a certain thing yet. We both said, "yeah, maybe after your rebound u take a long cruise and we try then" but also threw in, "and if we say ahh fuck this, then thats ok too." My wife is a baller and career woman so i get her POV of wanting to be a mom again AND wanting to ball. Both our incomes allow us to live comfortably in Los Angeles. But we'll see.

Also, echocardiogram and calcium score test next week. My bloodwork came back last week and it was immaculate. Im serious. Best cholesterol ive ever had. Apo B was a 60. My ability to handle drugs is genetic...thank god. I can run 3g of whatever and have pretty great looking bloods.

And lastly, shoutout to @Marathon as always. His NPP is the freakin best. Smooth as butter right now.
 
LEGS
Seated leg curl - top set back off
Adductor machine - top set back off
Leg extensions - top set back off
Leg Press - 2 RP sets
Hack Squat - top set back off (both these last ones are super slow, controlled and deeeep)
Glute bridge - 2 top sets

305.4
Weight has kinda settled. Justin and I chatted and have not upped the food the past 2 weeks. Just letting my body get used to the new weight. Its about a 30-35lb gain in 5 weeks for me. Back pumps arent killin me yet. But im still lean and not holding a ton of water. Again, cardio is pretty dialed in so that helps.

Training wise, i think i might break my split down into some blocks to allow for more specialization. Alll last year i did alternate weeks of 2 leg days, then 2 back days. It worked but i think 4-6 week blocks of one then the other would be the MOST beneficial. More time to feel the adaptations and monitor progress. I also think I need to play around with volume. Im still saying relatively low volume for myself as i dont wanna get to peak stimulation and stress levels thiiis early in the offseason. Save the more working sets for months down the line.

This week is a bit of mixup with my wifes bday. Leave on Thursday, get back Monday. And honestly, i need to bring food with me with every trip. Going from 6-7 meals to 3 never works. I end up losing like 10lbs. So im proactive. I bought 2 tubs of Redcon1 MRI Lite (give my body a break from whey), 2 rice & grinds bags and almond butter. That'll give me 1-2 meals with the wifey where i can enjoy myself + 4 or so meals of the basics. I know myself too, ill find a gym in PV and hit it acouple times haha.

Just a plug as well, i know everyone cant afford a coach, but i would highly suggest everyone throw $30 at TroponinIQ.com. It's justin's new Ai model.
If you know anything about him, dude is smart and a nerd and beause of that he has saved basically every interview or article he's ever written. So he basically created an AI model then fed in 10000s of pieces of info from himself over the past 15 or so years. So its him...in AI form. Of course he gave me a free pass to mess around with it and test it and its pretty impressive. I had questions about that training block idea and it answered it all for me and then wrote it uppp. I asked for a carb cycling diet for a 5'11 190lb guy trying to diet, 15% bodyfat and it spit out an entire diet. Its pretty ridiculous. From training to nutrition to posing stuff, its crazy. His goal is to get other coaches to possibly add into it. Like imagine if DC and Dr. Scott Stevenson threw into that? My god. I still think reallll day to day, real eyes person, is the best bet. But this is that inbetween that can/will help 90% of PM members who arent competitors. Even myself, i use my ChatGBT to bounce ideas off. I basically tell it my daily routine, lifting, supplements, goals, etc. It knows im a SHW bodybuilder taking blah blah blah, goal is to do this while maintaining that. So EVERY ANSWER it gives me comes with a goal or perspective in mind. VERY helpful. Anyways, plug done. I have to eat like 4cups of rice and 8oz of ground chicken now.
 
SB Labs
Theotherone55 said:
LEGS
Seated leg curl - top set back off
Adductor machine - top set back off
Leg extensions - top set back off
Leg Press - 2 RP sets
Hack Squat - top set back off (both these last ones are super slow, controlled and deeeep)
Glute bridge - 2 top sets

305.4
Weight has kinda settled. Justin and I chatted and have not upped the food the past 2 weeks. Just letting my body get used to the new weight. Its about a 30-35lb gain in 5 weeks for me. Back pumps arent killin me yet. But im still lean and not holding a ton of water. Again, cardio is pretty dialed in so that helps.

Training wise, i think i might break my split down into some blocks to allow for more specialization. Alll last year i did alternate weeks of 2 leg days, then 2 back days. It worked but i think 4-6 week blocks of one then the other would be the MOST beneficial. More time to feel the adaptations and monitor progress. I also think I need to play around with volume. Im still saying relatively low volume for myself as i dont wanna get to peak stimulation and stress levels thiiis early in the offseason. Save the more working sets for months down the line.

This week is a bit of mixup with my wifes bday. Leave on Thursday, get back Monday. And honestly, i need to bring food with me with every trip. Going from 6-7 meals to 3 never works. I end up losing like 10lbs. So im proactive. I bought 2 tubs of Redcon1 MRI Lite (give my body a break from whey), 2 rice & grinds bags and almond butter. That'll give me 1-2 meals with the wifey where i can enjoy myself + 4 or so meals of the basics. I know myself too, ill find a gym in PV and hit it acouple times haha.

Just a plug as well, i know everyone cant afford a coach, but i would highly suggest everyone throw $30 at TroponinIQ.com. It's justin's new Ai model.
If you know anything about him, dude is smart and a nerd and beause of that he has saved basically every interview or article he's ever written. So he basically created an AI model then fed in 10000s of pieces of info from himself over the past 15 or so years. So its him...in AI form. Of course he gave me a free pass to mess around with it and test it and its pretty impressive. I had questions about that training block idea and it answered it all for me and then wrote it uppp. I asked for a carb cycling diet for a 5'11 190lb guy trying to diet, 15% bodyfat and it spit out an entire diet. Its pretty ridiculous. From training to nutrition to posing stuff, its crazy. His goal is to get other coaches to possibly add into it. Like imagine if DC and Dr. Scott Stevenson threw into that? My god. I still think reallll day to day, real eyes person, is the best bet. But this is that inbetween that can/will help 90% of PM members who arent competitors. Even myself, i use my ChatGBT to bounce ideas off. I basically tell it my daily routine, lifting, supplements, goals, etc. It knows im a SHW bodybuilder taking blah blah blah, goal is to do this while maintaining that. So EVERY ANSWER it gives me comes with a goal or perspective in mind. VERY helpful. Anyways, plug done. I have to eat like 4cups of rice and 8oz of ground chicken now.
Click to expand...
I’ll have to check that out. I’ve followed alot of Justin Harris’s carb cycle approaches in the past. Worked out great when cutting, about to try it again for my next growth phase as well
 
HAMS/GLUTES
Seated leg curl - top set back off
Glute ham raise - top set back off
Abductor machine - RP set
Leg extensins - work up to hard 3 sets
Lying leg curl - top set back off
SL leg curl - 2x12
RDL on Pit shark machine - build up to top set of 10 reps

303.1
A littttle light as yesterday was allll travel. Glad to be back in the fuckin states. it was the perfect time though. About 4-5 days. Enough to get 1 hard training session in and basically treat the rest like a sleep/deload week. I normally hate that but i have pushed my body pretty hard post show so i knew getting 3 days of 7+ hours of sleep was a good thing.

Mexico was great though. Wife's bday was a hit. Hot as fuck and humid. I was constantly sweatin and chugging electrolytes just to stay with it. Basically in a bball jersey and swim shorts all day. Went on a boat trip to an island for a concert, no matter whereeee u go there are some muscle chasers. Had some weirdos keep asking me for pics lol I'm pretty nonconfrontational so that helps. I just smile and chat for a bit. Food wise, made sure i brought enough for 4 meals and ate 2 from the villa chef....my god, the food was great. Spoiled there, but i spent a lot of money so i better be. But glad to be back to reality. So today was just gtting back to the routine. Maybe it was the electrolytes (lack thereof) or someelse, but i was fatigued and exhausted out of my routine. I FEEl BETTER gettin up at 4am and getting into my own schedule quick.

Did a checkin with Justin while i was there and he feels we need a 3rd high day so well see how that goes. We're some hydration and a cheese burger away from 310 so we'll see. He doesnt seem to think we're in a bad spot though. One main thing im changing is my split a bit (think i mentioned this last time). As im going to block periodization almost. 6 week block of 2 leg days, then 6 week block of 2 back days and so on. This is what it looks like right now.
Glute/Hams
Chest/some shoulders
Back
OFF
Quads/Adductors
Arms/Shoulders
OFF

Just slight differences than last year. My chest/shoulder day was just tooo damn long with cardio and my arm day was too short. So just flipping the majority of shoulders to that arm day. I honestly dont think i have ANY exceptional BP but i know that i need some fuckin quad sweep and for my legs to match the thickness of my upperbody. I think, IF NO BABY INTERRUPTIONS and allll that, that this will lead to a 280+ package on stage. Totally doable.
The baby thing isss the biggest hurdle right now. To be honest, i'm having a hard time mentally with it. It will take us a year+ probably. A year with 0 gains and no change in physique. That means that i'll be one step closer to 40 which is when i was going to gear down and downsize. Baby to me means that this is the best my package is gonna be. I wont have time to level up by the time we have our 2nd child. Mentally, that is hard for me to swallow. I've mentioned this before, but my BIGGEST regret was not fuckin with the NFL post football. I was big and i was good. I was a multiple team captain, multiple all conference guy and i just got beat up and hurt my last year. So hurt that i basically said, "screw it." IN reality, i wouldnt have been any NFL player. I maybed wouldve made some cuts at a camp and been a 3rd string or practice squad guy for a year or two before that dream retired. BUT it wouldve been cool to say i was in the 0.0001 population big and strong enough to do that. And now...i'm in that 0.0001 population of muscular freaks. Again, not a pro quality, but i can stand on a big stage and not get blown away by elite SHWs. So the idea of TWICE not having that opportunity is difffficult in my head. This is just a view into my mindset. The reality is, i'm probably going to have to swallow that pill and be ok accepting the end of being "massive." We'll see.
 
CHEST
Machine flies - just pump stuff and stretching, not so much pre-exhaust
Decline hammer - top set back off
Incline hammer - top set back off
Dips - top set back off
Machine press - 3x12 pump work
Cable flies - 2x15+ pump work
DB side raises - 4x15
DB rear delt swings - 3x15
Moving the majority of my shoulder work to arm day this week

BACK
Rope cable pullover - top set back off
Mag CG pull down - top set back off
BO T-bar row - top set back off
Dante row - RP set
Hammer DY row - top set
Hammer high row - top set back off
DB Shrugs - 3x15+

307.5
Another high day today. Starting to make food choice that are lesss volumous just to i can handle the amount of food now. Immediately post show im so fuckin ghungry that i choose shit that wont make me binge...just choices that mean A LOT of food. But now i get a bit bloated and am making choices that allow me to eat, digest in an hour or two and then be ok to eat more.

Playing around with volume and working sets too. I love going back to progressive overload and everyworkout, the weight goes up. Feels good. But i also know this past offseason I got a more "balloony" BBer look and I swear it was because i did more pump work. So i want the best of both worlds. I remember Luke Sandoe making a similar change toward the end of his career. He was a Jordan Peters hard and heavy guy and then switched to basically logging his first couple exercises and then pump work the rest of the time. That willl be my approach, of course depending on BP too. Shoulders and arms thrive on volume. Back and chest, chase PRs but need some volume work at the end. Legs are more volume and pump.

Nothing new on drugs. I'm actually using LESS than last year (at least at this point in the rebound/offseason) so i feel good. Letting training and food drive everything right now. Just Sustanon, NPP and Mast P.

Ill keep you guys updated about the pregnancy thing. And i get what you are saying @bbxtreme believe me. Having my daughter was the best thing ever and having another kid would be amazing. You will NEVER regretttt having a child. But you will wonder what could have been and possibly resent the situation if your hand is forced. Not saying mine is. I love my wife and I will bend over backwards to give her what she wants. But she doesnt understand how our minds work with this stuff so its such a difficult task to explain this stuff. It more has to do with me thinking i am very much in my prime in terms of muscle building and look and all of that. Of course i need to fix stuff before I can compete again...but if i drop to say a soft 280 to do this, chances are its never fulllly coming back to this. That's just the reality. My wife's good friend is an ex professional dancer...was on tour with Lil Wayne, was in movies, tv shows, music videos...and now she's a mom and her body cannot hold up. And she has explained to me how difficult it was to accept that her prime is done. No matter how much she wants it, it cannottt do the things it once did. Or i liken it to a Russian gymnast or like a swimmer. There is a brief period of time where they can set a world record...and then in an instant, they cannot. The time is slower and they are done. Anyways, ill keep u guys updated. Justin and i will chat about it this week.

In other news, doing an echocardiogram AND calcium score test this week. So thatll be a good check-up. My bloodwork 2 weeks ago was great. Best ApoB ive ever had and my lipids were amazing. Made me feel reallly good being this big and still having that shit under control. I'll keep u guys updated.
 
Getting destroyed by the flu right now guys, but will give some updates after.
Friday night feelllt something comin on, knocked me on my ass yesterday AND today.

NOTHING worse than the flu ruining your routine. I love training and i hate just laying round the house feelin like dog shit. trying to eat as much as i can.
 
Back and flat as a pancake. Was creepin close to 310 and after a full 3 days of just terrible flu-like sickness i am back.
You know you are flat when your fuckin slides are baggy on your feet lol Still hacking with this cough but feel good to train

303.1 today, time to fill back up

QUADS/ADDUCTORS
My strength was not going to be the same today so no logging this one
Seated leg curl - 3 top heavy sets
Adductor machine - build up to 2 top heavy sets
Leg Press (feet at the bottom of the platform) add 2 plates until 15 reps is hard as hell. That ended up being 9.5 pps. Then did 2 rounds of rest pauses with it
Hack squat - 1 top set
Bulgarian SS - I like doing this MR style, max reps on 1 leg, switch legs, max reps the other, switch legs. Back and forth to failure. Ends up being like 3-4 sets
Leg extensions - 4x12 pump sets
Lots of stretching

Man, this flu beat the fuck outa me. If i moved around too much, i felt worse. But slept like 10hrs for 2 days straight which is amazing for me. I would do 10g of glycine and 50mg of Tradozone before bed to knock me out. Chills, body aches, splitting headache and a hacking cough. Stilll have the cough buteverything else is good.

Getting food down was a bitch but i made it work. Just did my low day nutrition for the entire weekend. Low days for me are like 400g carbs, 420g protein, 85g fat...again those are direct sources so realistically those numbers are probably quite a bit higher. But thats just how i count them.
 
Out of curiosity, what was the protocol you used when you did get your wife pregnant three and a half years ago?

You know I'm always subbed and rooting for ya brotha! GET IT!!!

I like rooting for you because I like you I and like you, I have the same "blocky frame", pretty big love handles, but not fat in the sense of the word fat 😆

BB is better than PLing? Still not sure on that one myself. I just love raw power...
 
CompoundLifts31 said:
Out of curiosity, what was the protocol you used when you did get your wife pregnant three and a half years ago?

You know I'm always subbed and rooting for ya brotha! GET IT!!!

I like rooting for you because I like you I and like you, I have the same "blocky frame", pretty big love handles, but not fat in the sense of the word fat 😆

BB is better than PLing? Still not sure on that one myself. I just love raw power...
Click to expand...

Basically the good ole HCG 2x per week + HMG 4x.
I cant remember the HCG dosage off the top of my head. The initial 2 weeks were a high dose burst and then lowered it to slow down desensitization. HMG was 75iu 4x per week. I was also on 250mg of Sust at that time. HMG was the key though.
 
Machforce1 said:
Jesus you’re fucking huge. Nice job man! How long you been at it to get to that size?
Click to expand...
Yearrsss man. I've always been a big guy (played college football) but post ball i actually dropped down to 220ish and chilled there for a bit before rebuilding myself all the way back up. I always say that to be a SHW competitive BBer you have to dedicate at least a decade to eating, lifting, being disciplined in trying to get huge though. Even then, the sheer eating and discomfort weeds most guys out lol
 
Back
rope pullover - 3x12
Dual handle prime row - top set back off
SA pulldown - top set back off
DY row machine - top set back off
Wide grip neutral pulldown - top set back off
High bar seated row - MR set
Smith machine shrugs - 4x12

310.2 comin off a high day.
Good back day though. I dig going back to the 2 sets progressive overload setup, just fits my "i need progress to stay motivated" type thought process. I did love the volume and pump stuff (Cris Edmonds style) from last year but I was always unsureee of if and how i was progressing. I also FELT WEAK for how big i was. im about 8 weeks post show now and weight and numbers are still moooving every workout.

Did my echocardiogram this past 2 days. I admit, i was nervous. But ejection fraction normal and i have slight "athlete's heart," which is come to be expected. To be honest, the cardiologist had never seen a BBer, knew really nothing about this lifestyle, but he listened to me and was cool. Basically told him some health history (gear related) which he said he wouldnt add to the medical notes (cool guy) but that he still wants me to do some iron bloodwork as well as get a cardiac MRI. Cardiac MRI will just be able to tell if the heart remodeling is truly from being a huge guy and athlete for so long OR if its iron related deposits and some other shit is at play. So i should be getting this next week sometime. But explaining to him that my bloodpressure is 120-130/70, i take rosuvastatin, nebivolol, telmisartan, and ezetimibe. AND do HIIT cardio, have an ApoB of 60, total cholesterol of 91, etc shows him ive been on top of my shit for awhile now and am very proactive. So he kinda backed off and was cool. A little nervous about my calcium score though. My fam genetics are not great for heart disease and as you know, regardless of how proactive i am NOW, calcium score is basically "how you've lived your life." Most of the time, regardless of gear usage, calcium score can. be bad just due to genetics. So we'll see. I'm being a realist and expecting an OK, not amazing result. But i'll keep you guys updated.

BTW, been talking to the wife about this pregnancy thing, still in debate. Realistically, i told her i hopefully wanna do 1 more contest. Knowing im 37, i was hoping to do next year's Amateur Olympia (would just be a cool experience) before i go into full downsize mode. I have a lot of people asking "why 1 more contest?" Because in order to be competitive, i need to be filled out at 6'1 and thick, and thick for me is 270-290 on stage. Yes, thats the reality. So downsizing down to 250 will make me look like a men's physique competitor lol I will always be eating like this, training hard as fuck, probably dieting once a year to look great, but it wont be to get on stage to be 280lbs at 5% any more. I would love to keep coaching and helping guys out tho. If i know one thing, i know how to grow and put on slabs of muscle. And i know there will always be dad's out there trying to live a mixed lifestyle like me, and i can help with that. But the days of chasing size will be done soon. To be honest, i would love to live a Jordan Peters lifestyle lol but for the sake of my daughter and my wife, not the way to go.
 
LEGS
Seated leg curl - top set back off
Adductor machine - 3-4 15-20 rep sets
Leg extensions - 4 sets, building up in weight
Hack squats - Top set, back off (ive reallly backed off weight here and have been going ass to grass with light weight to get around 20 reps)
Leg press machine - RP set
Walking lunges - 2 sets of 50 yards

SHOULDERS/ARMS
Cable rear delt flies - 3x15-20
SS
Band over and backs - 3x10 (these were a John Meadows movement i loved)
Cuffed side laterals - RP set
BO DB swings - 3x15-20
SS
Band pull aparts - 3x10
DB side raises - 3x15
Prime dual handle pushdown - RP set
SA cable curl - 3x15
Prime dual handle curls - RP set
Rope skullcrushers - 3x15
Rope hammer curls - RP set
Crossbody tricep ext - 3x10-15

315.5 coming off of a high day. Not quite sure how that number got so high. Did my regular meals and free meal of 2 96/4 beef burgers + 4 pop tarts.
I do stay ridiculously hydrated though with electrolytes in every jug of water i drink throughout the day. Im sure thatll come down a bit though.

Forgot i had bloodwork from the cardiologist today. They want to check my iron levels and do a cardiac MRI to make sure my athletes heart is just pure athletes heart and not some iron deposits showing siomething wonky going on. So rescheduled for tomorrow. Cardiac MRI is hard to fuckin schedule tho. The next open apt they had is in fuckin November...insane right. Either way, im being proactive looking at everything.

As far as other updates, i thiiink the trying for baby 2 is gonna happen. My wife says she's on the edge and can be swayed which means yes. Im going to be doing something different this time though. Baby #1 i FULLY CAME OFF for 9 months, using HCG to try and restart it all. I ended up feeling terrible and watched as my levels dropped. I actualloy had better fertility the first 2 months (as everything fell) than month 7-9. Then i got baack on 200mg and added HMG and shit started moving. I basically wasted 3/4th of a year with that shit. THIS TIME i'm going to be doing Justin's fertility protocol (this is what Ben Chow did) where its basically blasting Test only to drive free test as high as humanly possible which in turn actually stimulates the Leydig cells directly to produce sperm. THAT plus an aggressive HCG/HMG protocol has worked for a ton of Justin's guys. It also allows me to kinda keep chuggin along offseason wise and not lose probabloy my last competitive year trying to have this kid. My wife is also in the thought process where "if it works, we were meant to have another one. If not, it wasnt supposed to be." So basicalloy im going to stock up on my GH this week and place a large 5 month order for HMG/HCG. Justin has had 50+ cases of this working so im down to try. Its just getting that free test sky fuckin high. For the order to come through, should be a couple of weeks hopefully (Chinese source) so maybe early/mid september i can hit the ground running.
 
BACK
Rope pullover - 3-4 sets of 12
Dual handle seated row - top set back off
CG pulldown - RP set
Seated high row - MR set
DC rows - RP set
CG seated row - RP set
Smith machine shrugs - 4 sets of 15

321.2
GOod workout, threw more intensity techniques in as i was in a hurry to get the f out of there. Ate at home then went to a DEXA I scheduled.
Couple things i wanted to see - weight gain, LBM and visceral fat. I wanted to compare the past 2 Dexas:
Peak offseason 2024 - 324 @13.5% - 265lb LBM - 9lbs visceral fat
2 weeks before show 2025 - 279 @5.2% - 252 LBM - 1.1lb visceral fat
Today 2025 - 331 @10.1% - 285.5 LBM - 5.9lbs visceral fat

So some pretty striking changes there. I dooo think these become less accurate the bigger you get so i take it all with a grain of salt. BUT...ive been using this same place since 2017. I have data sets for basically 8 years worth of lifting and dieting. Again, the main things were looking visceral fat accumulation and LBM changes. What i can tell is, maybe reta is helping body recomp with less visceral fat at a higher BW and less bf%. And during that offseason i went to Justin nervous about the visceral fat i had. He basically told me that the biggest and leanest guys he ever had ended up having more visceral fat than sub. Not realllly...but being that big their body was basically like, "i need a storage bank in case there's a famine or we cant kill a whooly mammoth." and visceral fat was the choice when they are that big AND preferentially gaining muscle mass with little subQ fat. So again, not crazy concerned but just something i like to check at certain times of the year.

But still pushin along. Weights are still moving up and not slowing down too much. Doing a mix of progressive overload + pump work seems like the best of both worlds for me. Strong and round. Food is high but appetite still going strong.

IMG_4475.PNG
 
Skylerjohnson1996 said:
How is that even possible your rebound you wound up heavier than your last ending in off-season congrats man !
Click to expand...
LOL honestly, ive done it a couple times. I always end up being a lil bit of a leaner version post rebound too. Just shows that in a years time my body composition IS changing for the better. In terms of BF%, visceral fat gain as well.

That SHOULD happen tho. Every year, you SHOULD be able to get to that same weight you were before, and look better. Maybe not in the rebound, but at some point of the year. I cannot fathom how some guys can just be 180lbs year after year, taking 2 steps forward, 3 steps back, 1 step forward, etc. My mind cant understand that lol
 
QUADS/ADDUCTORS
Seated leg curl - top set back off
Leg Ext - 4x15-20
Adductor - 3x10-20
Pit Shark squat - reps of 10 until i cant hit anymore, then a back off set
Leg Press - top set + 2RP set
Diff leg ext - MR set

320.9
Today is a high day, yesterday low day. Bloat is coming down a bit. Hard and heavy leg day that i like.

Been toying with the idea of switching from Reta to Tirz. I bought a big amount of Tirz like 6 months ago and have never touched it. And the main reason is the big anti-inflammation sides i hear about. Even tho Reta seems like the king in terms of best of both worlds, i have an inflammation problem. I have 2 anti-inflammatory conditions - Hidrentitis Surpative and Plaque Psoriasis. And when im in offseason, they reallly dial up. This past week was just shitty because i felt bloated, full, weight swings and inflamed. And when i talk to guys whove run Tirz, they allll talk big about how great their inflammation numbers are, joints feel great (mine kinda always do) as compared to Reta where isnt bragged about as much. I might just dabble as Tirz will probably neutralize my appetite more and at this moment, reta allows me to eat. Even Daniel (RIP) had told me he preferred Tirz due to this. He could eat on it though. I think the key will be trying it at a veryyyy low dose and seeing if i notice anything. If i cannot eat, get off of it and back to reta. Just a thought.

Work has been pretty busy lately. We just opened a NYC office so thats exciting. I worked for an NYC company the past 3 years, working remote and at home. Now finally at a LA based spot but now have some confidants in NYC to help me a bit creatively. Pitching some weird companies which is fun.
 
ARMS/DELTS
I honestly dont really log this one as its just high volume pump stuff but just from my memory
SA cable curls - 3x15
EZ bar pushdowns - 3x15
Rope hammer curls - RP set
Rope skullcrushers - 3x10-15
incline curls - 3x10-15
Assisted pullup pushdown (I swear JM invented this) - 3x12 (i position myself where the path feeeels like a JM press)
Rear delt cable flies - 3x20
Cable cuffed side raises - 3x15-20
DB side raises - RP set + drop set
Rear delt DB swings - RP set

Too much time in the gym this morning so will do my HIIT cardio on the spin bike at home tonight.

325.5
This is just water from my high day. Lots of white rice + labor day BBQ with some friends. A buddy of mine is great on the grill and smoke 2 chickens then cooked 2 racks of lamb. Will fall off me by EOD today lol

Stumbled upon Jordan Peters log today, first time ive kinda caught up on what hes doing in awhile. I remember being an OG member there back in like 2017. Never posted much but watched all the OG videos (this is before James was a pro and was posting on there a lot). I appreciate Jordan's give no fucks attitude and just desire to share his personal info. It was crazy to see him give it up for awhile, slim down, and then say FUCK IT and get back up. But from lookin at his new log, he's fully on the peptide game (in on Reta, Mots-C, SS-31, BPC) and seems to have just dieted down to the mid 240s and working his way back up. Talked about goin close to 5g's this push lol guy is a monster.
The highest ive pushed is around that 3.5g route and even then i feel kinda sluggish. I never get side effects but at that time i usually get just fatigued, its probably when im at peak weight too. I mean, im right at 3g right noww...and i feel fine other than being tired because im peak weight. But no like side effects from certain drugs or bloodwork problems. 1.5g Sustanon, 900mg EQ, 600mg NPP. I WILL push higher but i dont wanna push at this moment as I have A LOT of the year left. Again, goal is Amateur Olympia next year.

As usual, I was chatting with Justin about distention. And obviously i know at 320+ this shit is gonna be big because im peak weight right now. Like going to bed, end of a high day is nuts. Like my abs are full turtle shell lol 1200g carbs deep. But i do wake up tight and ok. But we've ruled out so many things. Visceral fat? Nope. There is some...but its not a lot at all. Hernia? Ehh, have one but cant be the culprit. SIBO? Negative. Antibiotic round didnt do anything. The reality is its probably a mix of a couple things. Probably a mix of posture change from being massive (hips back, full stomach all the time, creating anterior pelvic tilt a bit) + belly breathing (i just naturally want to breathe from my stomach and not my chest, pussshin my stomach out and stretching the fascia there) + justin thinks its just the volume of food back up. We're gonna do some supplemented Dulcolax + Mirolax just to make sure food isnt staying in my system too long. LIke flush it out a bit and keep it regular. He had me to that last couple weeks of prep which felt ok. Im just getitng into that JP category where I'll look like a fuckin monster but never be a realllly competitive BBer because of it. And the problem is there isnt a trial group or data on it. You cant find anything because it would ONLY be bodybuilders and there just arent THAT many 320+ guys experiencing the same thing as me. IF they maybe did feeel like this wwas happening at 280, they fuckin quit lol I just didnt quit and now im 40lbs heavier and more muscled. UGh. never ending. I DO look at my 2-3 week out pics and My stomach is much flatter so i do know this look goes away when im super lean. I think we learned some shit from prep too. I just cannot pound 2-3 meals before stage. I know guys that have to do nothing in their stomach and i am in that group. I also think next we are keeping GH and test in. When i pull those two, my appendages lose fullness quick. So im 2-3 meals deep, wide waisted, with smaller arms and shoulders? Fuck that. EVEN me flat at 280-290 (hopefully my next stage weight) would be big as fuck. Anyways, rant over.
 
Been following alot of Jordon Peters lately also.. guys a fucking animal! Really want to start doing one of his programs soon!
 

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