airman

Welcome to the board.

Welcome to the board!

Thanks appreciate the support guys. Only 4 weeks to go... 33 days (sounds sooner when it's in days lol)

Welcome, lot of good guys here.

Looking forward to the updates. You look great man!

Just a quick update. Started 50mg Anavar today. Weight hit it's lowest yet this morning at 238lbs. Still feeling great, not suffering at all. I think I'm getting fairly flat, but since I'm still getting pumps in the gym, I think I will hold off on refeeds and keep pushing along. I'm still getting around 120g carbs daily (nothing compared to offseason, but don't want to slow down losing bf). With now Anavar and Winstrol in, thinking about lowering the injectables to only two shots a week. Not because of any negative side effects, but I don't think I will miss out on anything dropping to 500 Test, 400 Tren, 400 Mast. Still a good dose especially with the orals, so why stress the system more than it needs to be? Something to ponder this weekend. If you have some advice, it would be appreciated. A relaxed pic from this morning. Might just be a magic mirror, but I'm starting to like how everything is taking shape 5 weeks out now.

Appreciate it Mr. Gains. Yeah not sure if blood pressure was high, or low, all I know is I didn't feel right. Not sure how to explain it, it was as if I had faint ocean sounds in my head ha ha... but as soon as I lowered it back down, felt great again. There was no reason for the increase anyways, as I'm leaning out fairly well. Just a stupid prep brain decision

Just a quick update. BT has got me flying now. Hit a new low weight of 238.4. Everything still the same, strength going up. Only change I had to make is to bring down the clen back down to 100mcg. Going to 150mcg was a mistake lol. After a couple days, I just felt off. I didn't measure, but I suspect my blood pressure was high. The stuff is seriously potent. There was no need to raise it to 150mcg (probably can stay at 50mcg ha ha) but I felt victim to the "more is better" mentality; and as most of us know, it's not true. Especially if the stuff is on point. Attach is a 15 week comparison pic. 256.2 lbs to 238.8 lbs. Out of the 15 weeks, 11.5 was only home workouts, and the last 3.5 weeks finally back in the gym. Happy with the progress. Reached the stage, where I'm starting to see new lines, and seem to be getting leaner daily. Hopefully the momentum continues.

Thanks @Matho

6'5" , or at least that's what I've always claimed (might have shrunk a bit with age) Thanks man, appreciate it.

Just a quick update. Hit a low weight of 239.8, but weight is back up hovering around 243lbs now. However, in the mirror and pictures, I see my self getting tighter but yet fuller. So not complaining. Still pretty much the same workouts. Weekdays hitting the stepmill at lunch for 20 to 25 minutes, start my day off with about 5000 steps, and according to my smartwatch I'm hitting about 15,000 steps per day. So I think my cardio is pretty good at the moment. Only change I made, is the last couple days I bumped up clen to 150mcg. Probably didn't need to, but you get that prep brain sometimes, and think "might as well get leaner faster". Not sure I will keep it that high for, but feeling pretty good, so I will see where it takes me. A couple pics from today after a back session.

Welcome to the board. A lot of great guys on here!

Arms are looking good, overall I see some good shape underneath. Lean up a little more and you will look great.

So even with the added cardio, my weight was not budging. In fact, it would randomly fluctuate up (got up as high as 247lbs). Was hoping that it was a “recomp effect” but I don’t think I have the time to see. So adjusted my food. It’s pretty much the same, just removed some carbs. My only carbs are only pre, intra, and post training. Meals 2 to 5 are pretty much protein and veggies (with trace carbs from sauces). I did add an additional 25 to 30g carbs immediately post workout from cereal (just to hold me over on the drive to work where I eat my cream of rice). Current macros are roughly: 315 Protein, 154 Carbs, 32g Fats for approximately 2169 Calories. Been doing this for about a week, and it’s working. Dropped from 245lbs to 241.4lbs this morning. Will keep pushing until I hit 240lbs (hopefully in a couple days), and refeed by adding carbs back into my meals, then go do it again. Main reason why I’m pushing hard, is I pretty much have until August 11th to decide whether I will do North Americans or just focus on Canadian Nationals which is 2 weeks later. With the borders closed, and having to fly, I don’t want to commit unless I know I’m going to be very competitive. As to why I have to decide by August 11th, is because of the extra $250 USD late registration fee. With travel and all other expenses, I can’t justify spending $500 for registration for just a single class. That’s like $10K Canadian :laugh1: j/king Still hitting the gym every day. However, couple days are pretty much ‘off days’. Mainly still going, because of my sleep schedule, waking me up so early with nothing to do, and the fact that I’m still excited to be back at the gym after months of lockdowns. Won’t bore you with the actual exercises, but my split looked like this: Monday: Shoulder & Arms: 2 set sh. press, 4 sets laterals, 4 sets triceps, 4 sets biceps (pretty much off) Tuesday: Back Wed: Chest + 2 sets shoulders Thursday: Legs: 2 sets hamstring curl, 2 set adductors, 1 set Hack (off day) Friday: Arms: 6 sets triceps, 4 sets biceps Saturday: Back & rear delts Sunday: Chest Monday: Legs Tuesday: Shoulders Wednesday: Arms Also, pretty much every workout I start with 4 to 5 sets of Calves, a couple sets of Reverse Hyper, and as of the last few days, a 3 to 5 sets Abs. Plan to do this every day (depending on soreness). Clen still at 100mcg (doing it’s job). 250 Test E, 200 Tren E, 200 Mast E pinned 3 times weekly, and 50mg (oral) Winstrol daily. Here is a pic from this morning. Wasn’t too impressed in the last week (that prep mind messing with me, was contemplating not even competing this year lol) but I can see progress this morning.

3 day update. Over the weekend hit my lowest weight yet of 243lbs. This morning was back up to 245.2lbs. Getting tighter. For sure part of is the BT Clen I added in. Started off at 50mcg for three or 4 days, then bumped it to 100mcg. Don’t see the need to go higher than that. I’ve used other Clen before but nothing hits me like Bodytech. I never really felt negative sides from clen. But as soon as I increased this to 100mcg, within half hour, I felt it working. Take in on empty stomach, and feel almost a slight nausa when it kicks in. Nothing bad, but I know I’m on a stimulant. Also, added in 50mg of Winstrol daily. Looking at pictures of previous preps, I think I’m a bit behind, so for the next 6 weeks I think I will have to go all out. Could also just be my prep brain already kicking in. Either way, I think I’m going to order Anavar and add it at 50mg a day. Will also order some Anadarol and use it the last 2 or 3 weeks to fill out. My game plan now is, to go hard on the diet, get lean as quick as I can, and then use a couple weeks to put some water back in the muscle. As of yesterday, I decided to add cardio in. Will head to the gym at lunch hour and do 20 minutes on the stepmill. Nothing crazy, but burn some calories and hopefully keep the metabolism firing. As far as my workout split, I was going to do pull/push/legs/off, but the excitement of being back in the gym, and the feeling like I really have some catching up to do/rebuilding, I decided to go with: Back + 1 set bicep Chest + 1 shoulder press, 3 side lateral sets Legs Shoulders + Arms (3 x tricep, 3 times bicep) Repeat Not going to take days off, unless I feel I need to. I think the shoulder + arm day will be almost like a rest day, nothing crazy. Will play it by ear and see how it goes. Workouts since the last update were as follows: Saturday Back: D-Hangle single arm pulldown (lower lat focus) x 2 sets Chest supported wide row x 2 sets (call this machine the humbler cause with proper form, it’s tough to do a plate a side) Mag-Grip (medium) pulldown x 2 sets HS ISO Pulldown x 2 sets HS Low Row x 2 sets Seated Machine Row (plate loaded, no name brand machine) x 2 sets Sunday Legs: LF Seated Leg Curl warm up sets + x2 worksets Cybex Adductor x 2 sets Atlantis Hack, x 2 sets (10 reps, 15 reps) Cybex Vertical Press x 2 sets No Name Pendulum style squat x 2 sets (not a real pendulum, won’t be doing it anymore) LF Lying leg curl x 2 sets HS Plate Loaded Leg Extension x 2 sets Monday Arms: Rope Pushdown: warmup sets + 2 worksets HS Plate Loaded Dip x 2 sets Nautilus Plate Loaded overhead tricep extension x 3 sets Cable Curls x 2 sets Cybex Preacher Curl x 2 sets Seated Incline Dumbbell Hammer Curls x 2 sets Tuesday Back: D-Handle single arm pulldown (lower lat focus) x 2 sets Chest supported wide row x 2 sets (call this machine the humbler cause with proper form, it’s tough to do a plate a side) HS Seated Plate Loaded Row 1 workset + 1 cluster set of 5x4 HS ISO Pulldown (plate loaded) 1 workset + 1 set of “5 in the hole”* Wide grip Assisted pullups x 1 set Close Neutral Grip Pullups x 1 set to failure (bodyweight) *”5 in the Hole” is a 1 continues set consisting of: 5 full reps, on the 5th in fully concentric do 5 partial reps 4 full reps, on the 5th in fully concentric do 5 partial reps 3 full reps, 5 partials 2 full reps, 5 partials 1 full rep, 5 partials Gives a crazy pump. Pick a weight you can do for 15 reps or so, as this will destroy you. Pic taken post workout this morning. Could just be the better gym lighting, but I’m happy with the details coming in.

So today was the first day back in a real gym. Was fantastic. Perfect timing from BT (awesome quick service as usual), so as of yesterday started 50mg Winstrol daily, and 50mcg Clen. Missed my shot this morning, but plan on doing it tonight to get my weekly dosage up to 750 Test, 600 Tren E, and 600 Mast E. I tried to take it easy back in the gym with not many intensifiers sets but over did a bit on the variety of exercises. Hey it’s been a while since I had the opportunity to use the machines. Did a push workout this morning, and it went as follows: 4 sets of Calves, warmed up shoulders with some band work, and pecs on a pec deck. (only work sets listed, taken to failure) Incline Dumbbell Press work set x 11 reps, backoff set x 15 reps Hammer Strength ISO Incline Press work set x 8 reps, backoff set x 12 reps Hammer Strength Flat Machine Bench Press workset x 9 reps Nautilus Vertical Chest Press 2 sets (increasing weights) x 10 reps, x 9 reps LifeFitness Pec Deck 1 set x 20 reps, 1 set x 12 reps Hammer Strength ISO Shoulder Press Triple Rest Pause Set: x12 x 2 x 2 Atlantis Machine Standing Lateral 3 sets (increasing weight): x 20 reps, 19 reps, 10 reps Cybex Plate Loaded Shoulder Press x14 reps x 5 reps SuperSet with Cybex Machine Seated Lateral x 15 reps x 18 reps Underhand Cable Fly x18 reps x15 reps SuperSet with Rope Pushdown x15 reps x14 reps Cable Fly x10 reps x10 reps Superset with Weighted Dips x12 x10 Overall a great workout. Not where I used to be, but got a great pump. Will take a couple weeks to be 100%. A little too much chit chat this morning, was almost an hour late for work, but hey first day at the gym lol. Weight this morning was 244.8 lbs. Diet still on point. Might introduce some cardio next week, haven’t made up my mind yet. A couple pics from this morning below:

Ok time to give this a much needed update. Back into prep now. So we are finally opening gyms here in a couple days. It’s been a long, horrible year. So far in 2021, I’ve only had access to a gym for 6 weeks. Started off the year in a lock down, then mid-February, I got the opportunity to access a gym, and then we went into a “4 week” lockdown on April 2 that has lasted 15 weeks. Luckily from past experiences, as soon as they announced the last lockdown, I knew it wouldn’t be only 4 weeks, and I managed to pickup a rack, some weights and a bench. Cost me a fortune, but it was well worth it. However, even though I did manage to continue to workout, the progress (if any) has been miniscule. Just not the same when you are limited to a barbell. Did the basics as much as my old man body allowed me, but man I look forward to being back in a fully equipped gym. The highest weight I reached was 262lbs, for the last 6 weeks, I’ve been slowly dieting down, and I’m hovering now between 244 and 247, depending on diet/refeeds. The weight drop is good, but I looked a lot different last November at 247lbs. Now that was a post contest rebound, so that’s pretty much expected. As always (it has been my only source for the last couple years) I’ve been using Bodytech Pharma, and will be doing so this prep. I started 6 weeks ago, and the plan was to run 500 Test E, 400 Tren E, and 400 Mast E. However, due to lazyiness, loss of motivation, and maybe just being tired of pinning, it was more like 250 Teste E, 200 Tren E, and 200 Mast E for those weeks. Maybe a couple times I got 2 shots in for the week, but mostly it was once a week, or every 6 days. But with the gyms opening, it looks like there is a very good chance, I will be competing in 9 weeks and possibly 7 weeks. In 9 weeks I plan to do Canadian Nationals (September 18), and if everything goes well, no issues with the border, and I’m ready in time, I hope to also do the North Americans in 7 weeks (September 1st). North Americans is the only show I competed in last year, and only had 5 weeks back in the gym and still managed to place 4th. So hoping, I’m in a much better spot now. So no more missing shots, and I’m planning to bump the oils this week to the following: 750 Test E 600 Tren E 600 Mast E Next week will thrown in Clen at 50mcg daily, and will probably start oral winstrol at 50mg per day. Hoping the winstrol will give me a nice quick boost being back in the gym. Will continue that, and then later thinking about throwing in Anavar, and the last couple weeks Anadrol (if I’m conditioned enough). I did that last year, getting ready for the Canadian Nationals which later turned into the TO Pro Qualifier, which ended up getting cancelled the day before the show. It sucked getting ready for 4 months, I think I had my best look ever. It was the first time I tried Anadrol on prep, and BT Pharma did not disappoint. Got super full, and had a whole new look (being tall I normally look lanky imo) Diet is as Follows: Upon Waking: 1 scoop Protein Shake Pre-Workout Intra Workout of: 20g EAAS, 30g Dextrose (Gatorade), 5 to 10g Creatine 1 scoop Protein Shake Post Workout Meal 1: 100g Cream of Rice 2 scoop Protein 50g mixed berries Meal 2: 170g (cooked weight) Rice 200g Chicken Breast Handful mixed veggies (stir fry mix) Meal 3: Can of Tuna Couple Cups of Spring Mix/Kale/Arugula Meal 4: 170g (cooked weight) Rice 220g Basa Loins Handful mixed veggies (stir fry mix) Meal 5*: 170g (cooked weight) Rice 200g Chicken Breast Handful mixed veggies (stir fry mix) * Sometimes I replace this meal with a couple Chicken breast burgers with cheese, or a Cheesburger and a Chicken burger (homemade), if I dropped weight too quickly or extra hungry. Will probably stop now, but so far been doing it every few days. This is about 2675 Calories per day, 305g Protein, 286g Carbs, and 33g Fat. If I do the Chicken burgers for lunch, it bumps it up to just over 3000 calories. As far as cardio, have done any yet other than walking the dog a couple times a day. Once gym open up (this Friday), I plan to start off with a Push Pull Legs workout. Will probably adjust in a couple weeks, to focus on what I need to bring up (arms, shoulders, chest), so it might be push pull legs push pull shoulder/arms legs. Will take off days as needed. Will probably have to force myself, as the mistake I did last year, I think I never took a day off for 5 weeks once the gyms opened ha ha…. Not the smartest move. Anyways, will update more (and regularly) once I'm back in the gym. Will provide diet/gear updates, workouts etc if there is interest in following it. Here is a couple pics from back near the end of May vs this week.

Keep the diet up.

Think I'm going to start dieting for Toronto Pro Qualifier. August 20, so just under 16 weeks out. The week after that are the North Americans. Depending on the border situation (and if I need to go) might do that also. Even if the Toronto Pro Qualifier doesn't happen, just as @Physlifter I'd want to lean out for the summer anyways, so might as well start

The workout looks good to me if you can handle it. The only critique I will give, is that if it was me, it would probably a bit too many working sets, if I was truly taking them to failure. As far as the twice a week leg training, I would suggest than rather doing the entire leg twice a week, I would split it to a quad focused workout, and a hamstring focused workout. You will still hit the entire leg on both days (can't really isolate just quads or only hamstrings) but it wouldn't be as draining and allow you better recovery between workouts. Better recovery = better gains. Also, with that much work at the gym, I would probably cut out the cardio (not just because you hurt yourself). I just think with that amount of volume (especially if you take short rest peroids) and a proper diet, cardio wouldn't be needed much. If anything I would just do a bit of extra walking in the morning, or on weekends just for health. But at the end of the day, you know what works for you.

Congrats on the pregnancy! Nice! For warmups no need to go that super high. I would rather just walk on treadmill or stepmill for 8 minutes then just do maybe like a light 20 rep, then higher weight 10 rep, then higher weight 5 rep, then higher weight rep 2 rep, then higher weight 1 rep, and then go hard on my work sets. Basically the warm up sets are more about getting the body, CNS, primed for the movement with heavy weight rather than just get blood moving. After the first exercise, I wouldn't do as many warm up sets, maybe just 2 as you should be warmed up. I try not to waste energy warming up, so it doesn't affect my intensity on the real worksets.

The diet looks fine, no issues with it. Not really liking the workout. If I understand correctly, on the high days you are planning to do 100 to 200 (unbelievable) rep sets, it's a little pointless and almost ridiculous. 100 reps in a single set will achieve nothing but some caloric expenditure and lactic acid buildup. I'm not even sure I can do 100 rep bodysquats. If your goal is still to burn some fat, there is no need to change your workout. Weightlifting is not about burning fat, it's about building or maintaining muscle. 100 rep workouts I think would make me lose muscle. My recommendation, whether you are cutting or trying to grow is to stick to 8 to 12 rep ranges for most exercises and maybe on legs when doing leg go up to 12 to 15 maybe even as high as 20 reps. (to save my lower back, knee pain, if I'm doing squats now, I pick a slightly lower weight and do 20 reps, rather than heavy and only 8 reps, but I'm picking a weight that I almost fail at 20 reps or do fail if its safe to do so) If you are planning to do a PPL split, and want to workout 5 days in a row (M thru F), I would do Pull, Push, Legs and then Thursday and Friday I would save for body parts that need most attention. Maybe do an arm day on Thurs, and Shoulders on Friday or whatever. If you are truly training hard, I think it would be very difficult to do pull, push, legs, pull, push without a break. If doing a pull push legs split, keep it to 2 exercises per body part, and only two worksets per exercise. Maybe first workset heavy where you fail between 6 to 8 reps, and second set a more back off set where you fail at 8 to 12 reps. Log your weights and once you beat the reps you are aiming for, next time move up in weight. So if for example on the hammer incline press you are doing 2plates a side and you hit it for 9 reps, next time I would up the weight to 2 plates +5lbs per side and try to get more than 8 reps again. If you don't stick to the same weight next week and try to beat it again. This is what I would do. A sample workout for you might look like this: Monday: Pull - Back Width and Biceps Back Width: Pull Ups: 2 worksets to failure Hammer Strength High Row: 2 worksets; 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Close Grip Pulldown: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Biceps: Dumbbell Curls: 2 worksets 8 to 12 reps Hammer Curls: 2 worksets 8 to 12 reps Tuesday: Push - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps Incline Bench (dumbell, smith, wherever you can fail safely): 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Machine Press: 2 worksets, 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Flies (pec dec, cable or dumbbell)): 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Dips (hits triceps and chest): 3 worksets to failure Rear Delts (pec deck, or bent over dumbbell swings): 3 sets 20 reps Machine Shoulder press: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3 worksets to 12 to 15 reps Wednesday Legs: Seated Leg Curl: 3 worksets 8 to 12 reps (push to real failure here) Squat or Hacks: 2 worksets 12 to 15 reps (if using machine push to real failure) Leg Press: 2 worksets 12 to 15 reps (to failure) Leg Extension: 2 worksets 12 to 15 reps Lunges: 2 sets Thursday: Back Thickness Bent over Barbell or Chest Supported Rows: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Machine Low Row: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Dumbbell Rows: 2 worksets 6 to 8 reps, 8 to 12 reps Deadlift or Rack Pulls: 2 worksets 8 to 12 reps Friday: Arm Day Alternate Tricep and Bicep Exercises Cable Pushdown: 3 worksets 10 to 15 reps Dumbbell or Cable Curs: 3 worksets 10 to 15 reps Dips: 3 worksets to failure Hammer Curls: 3 worksets 10 to 15 reps Overhead Tricep Extension: 3 worksets 10 to 15 reps Preacher Curls: 3 works sets 10 to 15 reps That's it. If you truly bring those worksets to failure, I don't think you will need to do much else. Doesn't have to be exactly this split or exercises, but that's the way I would structure it if I was to workout 5 days straight and wanted to hit bodyparts multiple times per week. Whatever you do, just remember that your job at the gym is to destroy the muscle (smartly), and feed yourself properly and allow the muscle to recover outside the gym. Let me know if you have any questions, here to help (will be checking this thread daily on weekdays) Are you still dropping weight?

Thanks @musclebeauty hopefully can get back to it, as of right now with no gyms, not looking so great

Not sure what you mean by change in body odour, and getting blood work is the way to go. One thing I've noticed if I'm dieting really hard, and protein is high, and carbs are low, I notice my sweat has an ammonia type stench to it. Right away, I know I'm converting protein to glucose and burning through it in my workouts.

Hope you had a great Christmas. Reading your log, I'd like to make a few suggestions. I think the reason for your slow down (other than hormone issues) is that you've been on very low calories for a long time. If I were you I'd take 4 weeks to reset your metabolism. Feed your body, and I believe that after four weeks you should see fat loss even at the higher calories. (I've seen it in the past with many clients). It's a bit of a mind fuck when you gain a pound or two at the beginning, but believe me this won't make you fat. If I were you, I'd structure my diet/cardio this way: Wake up: 20 to 30 minutes cardio, drink a glass of water and go for a fast paced walk outside if you don't have cardio equipment at home. Meal 1: 40g of Oats or 45g Cream of Rice (dry weight) with 1 scoop protein, 1 table spoon (15g) Natural Peanut Butter or Almond Butter, 50g Blueberries Meal 2: 150g Flank Steak (if can't get it then 150g extra lean ground beef) with 1 small or half large Avocado (about 75g without pit/skin) Meal 3: 1 can tuna, 3 chopped celery stalks, half a red Apple diced, 28g walnuts crushed. Mix it all up. Can add some hot sauce or other zero/or low calorie sauce, but the apple and stuff makes it pretty to easy without sauces Meal 4: (about 1.5 to 2 hours pre-workout) 200g lean white fish (Basa, Tilapia, Cod, Haddock etc...) with 150g Cooked White Rice Meal 5: Post Workout : 150g Cooked Rice, 150g Chicken Breast, 75g Red Kidney Beans, 100g pineapple. If extremely hungry (dying) or post workout meal is hours away from sleep (meaning 5 meals don't cover the whole day) you can add in a protein shake post workout and delay your post workout meal a bit. As far as cardio, not sure if you are actually running on the treadmill (as I interpret incline 8 at level 5 meaning 5mph) but that is extremely difficult and if you are hanging on to the handles, you are just wasting your time. I prefer to have people doing a fast paced walk on the treadmill at an incline of 4 to 6 and speed of 3 to 4mph with no hands on the handles at all. This is what I would do post workout for 20 to 30 minutes. Workouts, make sure they are intense. Make your work sets count. Last couple reps should be extremely difficult. The kind of difficult where even if you had a gun to your head, you couldn't do anymore. Try throwing in a couple rest pause, where you go to failure, rack it, rest for 15 seconds and try to do a few more reps, rack it again, rest for 15 seconds and try to do another rep or two. (do this on your last set, do it on machines where it's safe to fail, don't try this on squats lol) Anyways, you don't have to follow my advice but this is how I would approach it. Forget fasting and other diet gimmicks. Feed your body every 2 to 3 hours, let it get used to digesting a good amount of food, keep working out intensely, and I promise the body will start burning fat again. Maybe not the first week, but it will.