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The Story of The Bodybuilding Powerlifter

Four days in, and today was better at work than yesterday. That’s not what I expected, because we’re having above average temperatures this week, and today was the warmest at almost 80 degrees. Speaking of work, I’ve started taking the stairs going to go down in the buildings I deliver to, rather than the elevator. I think it’s helping with my step count. My wake up weight over the last 2 days has been 183.2 and 182.8 lbs. I probably need to lose 10 more pounds - ideally of fat - in 7 weeks, and I think they’re going to be the most difficult to get off.

Thursday 3/14/24: 11,604 steps, 5.3 miles, 3 floors climbed

And catching up on yesterday…

Wednesday 3/13/24: 11,140 steps, 5.0 miles, 7 floors climbed

Lower #1, Planet Fitness

Smith Machine Squat - This was on a machine with a slightly slanted track, not a perfectly vertical track.

bar/10+ reps
90+/8
140+/5
190+/5
235+/5
270+/8 - wore a belt for this set

The last time I did these was 2/26, and I topped out with 270+/10. I’m not happy with that decline, but I’ve been expecting it. And I’m cutting myself some slack. Conditions were different in February.

Smith Machine Sumo Deadlift

90 lbs + bar/6 reps
180+/6
270+/5 - did one rep, realized my grip sucked, put on Versa Gripps, did four more
315+/10 - wore a belt for this set

Leg Extension

75 lbs/12 reps
135/20
60/12, left side - unilateral set was really 10 reps plus 2 partials

Prone Leg Cur

105 lbs/16 reps - 14 full ROM plus 2 partials

Calf Press on Leg Press Machine

For some reason, I didn’t write these down, and don’t feel like looking through clips to count it or see the weight. I did some reps and my calves got pumped.

Here’s a reel with a handful of clips from last night.
 
Four days in, and today was better at work than yesterday. That’s not what I expected, because we’re having above average temperatures this week, and today was the warmest at almost 80 degrees. Speaking of work, I’ve started taking the stairs going to go down in the buildings I deliver to, rather than the elevator. I think it’s helping with my step count. My wake up weight over the last 2 days has been 183.2 and 182.8 lbs. I probably need to lose 10 more pounds - ideally of fat - in 7 weeks, and I think they’re going to be the most difficult to get off.

Thursday 3/14/24: 11,604 steps, 5.3 miles, 3 floors climbed

And catching up on yesterday…

Wednesday 3/13/24: 11,140 steps, 5.0 miles, 7 floors climbed

Lower #1, Planet Fitness

Smith Machine Squat - This was on a machine with a slightly slanted track, not a perfectly vertical track.

bar/10+ reps
90+/8
140+/5
190+/5
235+/5
270+/8 - wore a belt for this set

The last time I did these was 2/26, and I topped out with 270+/10. I’m not happy with that decline, but I’ve been expecting it. And I’m cutting myself some slack. Conditions were different in February.

Smith Machine Sumo Deadlift

90 lbs + bar/6 reps
180+/6
270+/5 - did one rep, realized my grip sucked, put on Versa Gripps, did four more
315+/10 - wore a belt for this set

Leg Extension

75 lbs/12 reps
135/20
60/12, left side - unilateral set was really 10 reps plus 2 partials

Prone Leg Cur

105 lbs/16 reps - 14 full ROM plus 2 partials

Calf Press on Leg Press Machine

For some reason, I didn’t write these down, and don’t feel like looking through clips to count it or see the weight. I did some reps and my calves got pumped.

Here’s a reel with a handful of clips from last night.

 
STALLED?
It seems that I haven’t lost any weight his week, or at least not enough to be statistically significant. As of this morning, I was still 182.8 lbs, for a change in my weekly average of -0.2 lbs. That was little enough for my diet app to suggest a pretty drastic reduction in my macros - specifically carbs - next week. I saw those numbers and said to myself “this isn’t going to work”. It would have had me with some days as low as 55 grams of carbs, and possibly none over 100 grams (I tried to forget on purpose). I have demonstrated a lot more dietary discipline over the last 12 weeks than I actually expected from myself. But in spite of that, I don’t know that I could survive 8 more weeks with carbs at that level.

So here’s what I’m doing to try and overcome this stall: I’m going to increase my activity so that I can keep more food in my diet. If the app recommends a reduction in calorie, it has tiers of reduction - small/medium/large. The app said I should take a medium reduction. I chose small instead. But, I decided that I’m going to start training 5-6 days per week. These training sessions will be shorter than what I have been doing for the last several months. But even with 1/2 hour of “light weight training” and my daily steps, it will give me a more manageable daily allotment of carbs between 120-165 grams.

I don’t want to overcomplicate things any more than I normally do, so I’m going to start this by staying with my upper/lower split and reducing the workload per session. Here’s the template I came up with during some down time today.

Upper 1: dip, pull-up, lateral raise or upright row
Lower 1: squat, leg curl
Upper 2: Arnold press, shrug, biceps curl
Lower 2: good morning, maybe one squat set with the same weight that I use for good mornings, leg extension
Upper 3: Pec deck, rear delt (same machine as pec deck), row (any kind), triceps pressdown
Lower 3: leg press, adductor and abductor machines

Abs and calves will be alternated so they get hit every other session.

Let’s see how this goes. I got started today.

Friday 3/15/24: 15,634 steps, 7.0 miles, 7 floors climbed

Upper #1, Planet Fitness

I alternated sets of dips and pull-ups. I took normal rests after each work set, so these weren’t supersets.

Dip
-130 lbs assistance/10 reps
-85/10
-40/10
bodyweight/15 reps x 4 sets

Pull-up
-130 lbs assistance/10 reps wide overhand
-85/10 medium neutral
-40/5 overhand + 5 neutral
bodyweight/10 overhand - started using Versa Gripps here
BW/10 neutral
BW/10 overhand - barely got 9 and 10
BW/6 + 4 partials neutral - I may have moved upward 3 or 4 inches on that last partial.

Lateral Raise -standing with dumbbells; weights are per hand
10 lbs/12 reps
drop set: 20/13 + 15/7 + 10/8 - Several of these reps at the end of a round were partials to some degree or another.

Hanging Leg Raise - I did these on one of those dip stations with a back pad, not the one I did dips on.
bodyweight/15, 10, 10

Torso Rotation Machine
85 lbs/20 reps left, 20 reps right

I wasn’t supposed to do the torso rotations, but my wife wasn’t done yet, so while she did her last few sets of abs, I threw those in.

As I’m typing this, I’m wrapping up my nighttime meal with 15 grams of a dark chocolate bar and some PB Fit that I made into peanut butter with water. I’m still under my daily macros allotment. This is by far the happiest I have been all day.
 
8 Weeks Out

Today I’m exactly 8 weeks away from the stage. I woke up at 182.4 lbs, down another 0.4 lbs. NOTE: my scale seems to display decimals only in increments of 0.2. I have never seen an odd number after the decimal on this scale. Regardless, if fat is coming off, then I’ll take any amount.

Saturday 3/16/24: 14,875 steps, 6.7 miles, 16 floors climbed - I wonder if floors descended are counted in that.

Lower #1, Gold’s Gym

Standing Calf Raise
100 lbs/15 reps
140/10
160/10 + 10 pump I typically do calf raises with a slow cadence, so the “pump reps” were full ROM but done faster.

Lying Leg Curl
60 lbs/15 reps
110/10
150/12 - 11 plus 1 partial
130/17 - 14 plus 3 partials

This is the heaviest that I’ll be doing these through the show, at least on this particular machine. The one at Planet Fitness may be different.

Squat - high(er) bar squat
bar/10 reps
145/10
215/6
255/6 - started using belt here
285/8 - went low bar for this one, probably had 1-2 more reps in me

So… for the first time in months, I felt like I lived up to the moniker I gave myself in the title of this log. This week has been a mental grind as much as any of the physical challenges. The gym was mostly empty, the powerlifting area was totally empty, and my wife was doing something in another part of the gym. The squat rack was calling me. And it might sound weird, but over the last twenty years or so, the squat rack has been a place where I experience some of the most notable moments of mental clarity. More than with any other lift, I find that I’m able to focus singularly on the lift and block out everything else before I get under the bar. It’s almost therapeutic at times. I missed it. And considering how much weight I’ve lost, how little I’m eating, and not having my technique anywhere near dialed in, I’m happy with what I was able to move.

Seated Leg Press - This is a pin/stack machine with a good ROM that I’ve never used before. Feet were narrow and low on the pad.
150 lbs/10-15 reps
290/13

Practice afterwards in the posing room. I feel less awkward hitting most of the poses. I feel pretty comfortable with the quarter turns. My next posing clinic is April 6.

Tomorrow, I have to do something that the mailman hardly ever does: travel for work. I am one of two union reps at my station, and there’s a regional union training Sunday through Tuesday. It’s not far (less than an hour’s drive in normal traffic) but with sessions starting at 8 am on Monday and Tuesday, I don’t want to deal with Washington DC area rush hour traffic on either side of that. So I opted for the hotel. I’m going to have to take some of my own food. My room should have a fridge, and a microwave should be available, if not in my room. Planet Fitness is everywhere, so a place to train shouldn’t be a problem. I came back home from the Arnold lighter than when I left. Maybe this will be the same.
 
Training At Home, While On The Road?!?
My wife and I had to get a document notarized. She’s off every other Monday, and I’m (scheduled to be) off every Monday, and today was one of her Mondays off. I’m still at this union training in the DC area, but we couldn’t put it off for two more weeks. So I left the training 2 hours early and drove back to Baltimore so we could make it to the UPS Store in time (they have a notary there until 5 or 5:30). So even though I woke up in, and am back at my hotel now, we ended up training at the Planet Fitness location 3 minutes from our house. Go figure.

Sunday 3/17/24: 5,832 steps, 2.2 miles, 12 floors climbed

Monday 3/18/24: 6,595 steps, 2.5 miles, 9 floors climbed

I have been walking the halls and staircases at the hotel on breaks to get some steps in. I’m hoping the floors climbed will help make up for having a lower total step count. I don’t want to be under 7,000 any day now, and preferably over 10K. On work days, I want to be over 14K.

Upper #2, Planet Fitness

Arnold Press - weights are per hand
20 lbs/14 reps
40/10
50/6
60/10 - max effort grind on rep 10

I haven’t done these since March 6, and I topped out at 9 reps with the 60’s doing them last in the workout. I thought I needed to push this as hard as I could to see if I could beat that doing them first again. It’s only a difference of one rep, and I don’t know if this means I’m weaker or not. But at least I can question it. If I matched or got less than 9 reps, then I would guess I’m weaker. Since I’m using strength as a proxy for muscle retention, that would be bad news.

Low Incline Dumbbell Press - bench on first setting above flat (2; 1 is flat, 7 is vertical); weights are per hand
rest-pause: 60/11.5 + 5

I thought I rested longer than I really did. It felt like a minute and a half sitting on the bench. Instant replay showed that I rested 40 seconds. I count any break under 45 seconds as a rest-pause. I assumed the Arnolds would serve as warm ups.

The curls and shrugs were done as alternating sets, with normal rest periods between each set.

Cable Shrug - short straight bar with cable set at the floor
57.5 lbs/15 reps
95/20 -full stack
95/13 left, 13 right - switched to a single handle for these unilateral sets

Cable Curl - same station, bar and setup as the shrugs
25 lbs/15 reps
42.5/15

Hanging Leg Raise - done on dip station with the back support
bodyweight/15, 15, 12

It turns out that there’s a Gold’s Gym 8 minutes from my hotel. I’ll pass it on my way home when the training ends tomorrow. I have never been to this location, but my membership will get me in. Maybe I should stop by and see what they have in there.
 
I did indeed stop at the Gold’s Gym near my hotel before going home yesterday. It was my first time setting foot inside this one, and the layout was odd. But they did have some cool stuff in there that my normal Gold’s doesn’t have, including not one, but two vertical leg presses. It also has a leg press with independent sleds for each leg which I would love to put to use some day. But yesterday, I stuck to the plan.

Tuesday 3/19/24: 4,813 steps, 1.8 miles, 8 floors climbed

Lower #2, Gold’s Gym

Good Morning - done what is supposed to be a squat machine; machine weight unknown
empty/10 reps
90+ lbs/8 reps
180+/6
230+/6
270+/6 - started using the belt here
300+/6
320+/10 - This set took over a minute due to slow negatives. I didn’t think I’d get this many reps.

Vertical Leg Press - I liked this one more than the version they removed from my normal Gold’s.
sled/5 reps
90 lbs + sled/10 reps
180+/6 - kept changing foot position to find the right spot
180+/6 - used foot position I found on the previous set - just right
230+/6
180+/10

Lying Leg Curl - This one has a much steeper angle than the one I normally use. I liked it.
75 lbs/6 reps
130/10
150/7 - 7th rep was a partial
150/6 - 6th rep was a partial

I hit a lower rep range on these than normal on purpose. I want to see if doing some heavier leg curls will help me with contracting them while doing back poses. That’s something I haven’t been able to nail just yet.

Donkey Calf Raise - It was right next to the leg curl.
80 lbs/10 reps
140/10
140/15

Wednesday 3/20/24: 16,990 steps, 7.6 miles, 18 floors climbed

I went back to work today, and as you can see, it was a pretty active one. I was too beat to train tonight. So I’m practicing some posing and ordering my trunks. It’s getting real.
 
Note 1: I have imbalances in my legs that I mentioned before, which I think I have identified the cause of. I can contract my left hamstring a lot harder than my right, even though I’m right side dominant. Plus my right leg has a lot more visible detail from the side. I think it’s from the thousands of reps I’ve done getting into and out of the seat in my mail truck. Looking at the motor patterns of each movement, it makes sense to me. I turn to the right and push off of my right leg to get out of the vehicle, and I support my weight on my left leg as I lower myself onto the seat. There’s not much I can do in 6-7 weeks to overcome an imbalance that has developed over years, and is still being reinforced on a daily basis. But at least I figured it out now, and can figure out a game plan to (hopefully) correct it over time.

Note 2: I want to eat. I can already tell that it’s going to be just as difficult having dietary restraint coming out of the show as it is going in. It might be more difficult, because the prospect of being on stage serves as a deterrent to shoveling down everything I see. Once the show is over, I need to buy into a good reason not to get too fat, too fast.

Thursday 3/21/24: 16,965 steps, 7.6 miles, 11 floors climbed

My left hamstring felt odd throughout the day and evening. It’s not quite pain, but I don’t know what to call it. Maybe it was stressed from the workout on Tuesday followed by a long work day yesterday. Regardless, I had a row of some kind penciled in for today’s training, and decided not to do a variation that I would have to stand and brace myself for. Injury prevention at this stage feels more important than normal.

Upper #3, Planet Fitness

Seated Cable Row - neutral grip, medium width bar; looks like upside down handlebars on an old bicycle
70 lbs/15 reps
120/9
160/6
200/10 - started using Versa Gripps here; this is the set in the IG clip below
200/8 + a 9th cheat rep so I could get another negative

Pec Deck - I actually worked in with someone on this machine. It’s the first time I’ve done that since Covid hit.
75 lbs/15 reps
105/10
135/14 - final rep was a partial
135/13* - *that 13 was actually 8 reps + 4 partials + 1 really short partial so I could do a 4-5 second static hold in the stretch

Rear Delt - same machine, facing the other way
75 lbs/15 reps
130/17 - last 2 reps were partials

Cable Pressdown - I had to use a long straight bar that people normally do pulldowns with.
50 lbs/11 reps
70/9
rest-drop set: 100/6 + 85/6

Triceps Press Machine - like doing dips while sitting down
200 lbs/16 reps

Hammer Abs Machine - seated upright, crunching top and bottom at the same time
30 lbs/15 reps
60/10
60/11

 
3/29/24: I’m Exhausted

UPDATE

As of tomorrow, I have 6 weeks to go to the stage. For most of this past week, I have been exhausted. Since Monday, my weight has fluctuated from 177.8 up (that’s the wrong way) to 180.2 and back down to 179.0 this morning. I must have overeaten, but unfortunately, it hasn’t been enough to keep me from being almost perpetually hungry. I don’t mean hunger from my stomach. I’m talking about hunger on a cellular level, as if my body is screaming at me for more nutrients so it doesn’t have to burn more fat reserves. I’m doing okay with hunger pangs. Salads and fiber are my friends. Fortunately, my fat loss is trending at a pace that the diet app recommended I stick with the same macros this week. That gives me 180 grams of protein and 50 grams of fat, with carbs ranging from 120-165 depending on activity.

Checking my logbook, I have trained 5 times since my last training entry: Friday of last week, and then Monday, Tuesday, yesterday and today. I’m not going to try to type all of that in one post, so here are summaries.

Friday 3/21/24 - Lower #3, Gold’s Gym

Standing calf raise - 2 work sets, increasing weight
Adductor/Abductor machines - 1 work set each
Seated leg curl - 2 work sets, same weight
Seated calf raise (it was there)
Dumbbell SLDL - 1 set
Reverse leg press machine - 2 work sets, increasing weight

Monday 3/25/24 - Upper #1, Planet Fitness

Chin-ups- 41 total bodyweight reps over 5 sets (+1 total from last time)
Dips - 63 total bodyweight reps over 5 sets (+3 total from last time)
Standing dumbbell lateral raise - 1 drop set
Hanging knee raise - at dip station w/back pad, 4 sets of 12

Tuesday 3/26/24 - Lower #1, Planet Fitness

Smith machine squat - 2 work sets, same weight
Smith machine good morning - 1 work set; set the safeties to the bottom of my ROM to make sure I had the same ROM on every rep
Leg press - 1 work set
Calf press - 2 work sets, done on the leg press
Lying leg curl - 1 drop set

Thursday 3/28/24 - Upper #2, Planet Fitness

Smith machine Pendlay row - 2 work sets, same weight, less weight than last time
Smith machine shrugs - 1 work set
Arnold press: 2 work sets, same weight, -2 reps from last time I did these (they were first exercise last time)
Low incline dumbbell press: 1 drop set
Standing cable curl: 1 work set
Torso rotation machine: 1 work set, each direction
Hammer crunch machine: 1 rest-pause set

Friday 3/29/24 - Lower #2, Gold’s Gym

Standing calf raise - 1 work set
Good morning - 1 work set, done on reverse hack/squat machine
Seated leg curl - 2 work sets, same weight
Leg extension - 1 rest-pause set
Leg press - 2 work sets, same weight, different foot positions
 
A CROWDED STAGE

In most amateur bodybuilding competitions, the athletes can enter multiple divisions within the same category. Some organizations even allow you to crossover from one category to another within the same competition (ex. compete in both bodybuilding and classic physique at the same show). In my case, I’m eligible for 4 different divisions: open, masters 40+, novice (never won a class/overall), and debut (never competed before). However, I don’t want to be in a division of 1 and be on stage by myself.

A few weeks ago, I asked the promoter if he would let me know how many entrants were in each division so I would know how many I might want to enter. The early entry deadline passed yesterday, and when I reached out to him, he told me that there are 9 registered for the open and 5 for masters 40+, with registration still open at a higher price until a week before the show. That is a lot! Last year, this show had 5 men in the open, and 1 or 2 in the 50+ (neither registered for 40+). Bodybuilding is the most difficult men’s category, and at some of this organization’s (OCB) recent shows, there haven’t been any entrants for it. But this competition is apparently one of their biggest amateur shows every year, and bodybuilders have come out of the woodwork for it. I’m waiting to find out how many novice and debut entries there are as well. Hopefully there are more crossover guys like me.

Regardless, this open division could end up having a crowded stage, and potentially enough guys by show day for them to split it into 2 classes by height, with the class winners facing off for the overall title. There are also enough competitors registered in the open and masters 40+ for each of them to be pro qualifiers. Yes - it is possible to earn pro status in your first show in this organization. That’s not really my goal, but I like winning.

With that in mind, I woke up today at 176.6 lbs - the lightest I have been in years, let alone this prep - then trained and practiced posing later at Gold’s. I did this at the end of the daytime, but we were headed to my mother’s for dinner afterwards, so I wasn’t worried about running on fumes for too long.

Sunday 3/31/24 - 4,028 steps, 1.7 miles, 7 floors climbed (that’s barely more than half of what I wanted to do )

Upper # 3 & Calves, Gold’s Gym

Standing Calf Raise - wasn’t planned, it was there
120 lbs/15 reps

Pec Deck - This Hammer Strength version is the best pec deck/rear delt machine that I have ever used - smooth and balanced.
55 lbs/16 reps
100/6
130/9
115/12 - The final rep was probably a partial. I didn’t record any of this.

Rear Delt - same machine, facing the other way
85 lbs/20 reps
105/14 - The last 5-6 reps were definitely partials.

Bench Press - used the Rogue bar with the neutral grip handles; I’m assuming it’s 45 lbs
bar/12 reps
135/10
185/8

Seated Cable Row - neutral grip w/the medium width anchor handle (I learned that one brand of these handles is called MAG)
70 lbs/12 reps
115/10
145/17 - My wife watched and counted these. She said none were partials.

Standing Triceps Extension - hands at shoulder width, standing with back against pad to prevent cheating
50 lbs/15 reps
drop set: 75/8 + 60/8

Seated Calf Press - again, unplanned; passed it on the way to the pullover machine
90 lbs/20 reps - had to reset my feet after the first 5 reps

Pullover Machine - I think these work better for me with my elbows off of the pads, and my hands closer together.
50 lbs/5 reps
125/13

“Super Abs” Machine - crunching from top and bottom at different angles
105 lbs/20 reps each to the middle, left, and right

I’m still using decent weight on most exercises compared to when I started this prep, but they are down a little bit. All things considered, I’m okay with it.

When my wife and I were in the posing room, she was putting me through the quarter turns. Some random guy that I’ve never seen was walking by and yelled in “Looking great man!” I thanked him. That was cool. I wonder how much leaner I’m going to have to be in order to be competitive in this field. There’s only so much I can do in 5-6 more weeks, and I’d rather be ready in 5 weeks. If I’m still trying to cut in that final week, then I’m probably in trouble. I’d like to be able to up my calories a bit - especially carbs - in the days before the show. I’ll keep working at it.
 
MY FAVORITE WEEK

I’m going to shift my macros a bit to give myself more carbs and less fat. The calories will be the same as it is for the macros prescribed by the diet app. Right now, protein makes up roughly 40-45% of daily calories, with fat taking up 25-30% and carbs 25-30%, depending on daily activity. I think I want to lower fat to 20-22% of daily calories, and switch those other fat calories to carbs. That should help to keep me from looking flat and depleted. Plus it should be more food, in terms of volume. Removing 11 grams of fat buys me 25 more grams of carbs. That’s not a lot in most cases, but I’m on a very tight caloric budget. I’ll take every gram I can get.

I heard from the promoter again, and there are at least 4 people in the debut and novice divisions for men’s bodybuilding too. So my plan is to compete in 4 divisions total: debut, novice, masters 40+ (pro qualifier), and open (pro qualifier). I also have a suspicion that I have seen some of the guys who will be in the open. I don’t know the names of anyone, but there were two guys who competed in a show with this organization (OCB) in Atlantic City recently, and they took 2nd and 3rd in the open. The promoter there said it was the best open class they’ve had in 5 years. I wouldn’t be surprised if either or both of those two take a a shot at their pro cards here. Also, I won’t be surprised if the runner up in the open at this show last year shows up. They’re all good. It should be fun.

Monday 4/1/24: 7,481 steps, 2.6 miles, 2 floors climbed

Lower #3, Planet Fitness

Hyperextensions
bodyweight/20 reps x 2 sets - hinge at the hips until my back is in line with my hamstrings, then flex at the knee for more ROM

Leg Extension
70 lbs/15 reps
115/12
140/13
rest-pause set: 140/15 (13 and 2 partials) + 10 (9 and 1 partial)

Adductor Machine
75 lbs/20 reps
100/25

Abduction Machine
100 lbs/20 reps
rest-pause set: 145/5 + 150/15 + 5 + 5 - I didn’t draw it up like that, but that’s how it happened.

Seated Leg Curl
55 lbs/15 reps
115/14
115/16 (13 and 3 partials)

This was quick for 2 reasons. First reason: we went to the chiropractor earlier in the day (I’m off on Mondays, and my wife is off every other Monday). As soon as she touched my back, with very little pressure, I could tell that it was beat up. Then I turned on my side for a different adjustment and discovered that my right hip was very tight. So I decided that when I got to the gym, I wouldn’t put any load on my back or hips. If the gym hadn’t been so crowded, I would have done this workout in 25 minutes. It took 34 minutes.

Second reason: this is WrestleMania week, which is typically my favorite week of the year. I wanted to be home to see the last Monday Night Raw before WrestleMania 40. Yes, I’ve been a fan for more than 40 years. I was tempted to splurge on tickets and drive 90 miles up the road to Philadelphia this weekend to see it live, but I can’t justify the expense right now. I’ve been to a few already, so it’s not like I haven’t experienced it. Tonight’s show didnt’ disappoint me. And as an added bonus, I got to see my beloved Baltimore Orioles walk off the Kansas City Royals. There’s a whole lot of season ahead, but I’ll take a 3-1 start.
 
A DOUBLE EDGED SWORD

Weight this morning: 177.2 lbs. The app says my recent average is 178.2 lbs, and I’m down 5.0 lbs overall in the past 24 days.

Tuesday 4/2/24: 14,512 steps, 6.6 miles, 9 floors climbed

Wednesday 4/3/24: 21,079 steps, 8.3 miles, 14 floors climbed

Yesterday was a planned off day from the gym. Today was not. I have worked 23 hours in the past 2 days, including today in which I completed my route (office filing and street delivery), plus delivering 2/3 of another route. I would estimate that 20K of today’s steps were done in the rain, and while wearing boots. I didn’t get home until 9:35 pm, and the logistics made a trip to the gym less practical than I would have liked. I’m used to training late and eating late, but I couldn’t do it today. Believe it or not, when I arrived back at the post office, they tried to send me out to help someone else until 10 pm. I respectfully declined. They can be mad tomorrow.

Overtime is the double edged sword of postal life, and I’m sure plenty of other professions. Sure, you can earn a lot more money from the extra hours at a bonus rate, but the time you sacrifice to make it means there are other things you won’t be able to do. The game plan is to get to the gym tomorrow no matter what, and abbreviate the workout if necessary. It’s an upper body session, and without looking in my logbook, I think it’s centered around chins and dips. That’s not going to take long anyway. Work only on Friday, then I’m taking off on Saturday for my final posing clinic before the show. I might take some of this overtime money and schedule a one on one session with the posing coach, a week or two before the show. I’m not sure yet. My oldest daughter has a prom to go to, and a graduation stage to walk. We’ll see. Besides, I might be doing better with posing now than I think I am. I’ll know on Saturday how well I’ve been practicing.
 
5 WEEKS OUT: “YOU’RE ON TRACK.”
Here’s a 3-day recap:

Thursday 4/4/24: 13,843 steps, 5.2 miles, 14 flights climbed

Upper #1, Planet Fitness

I alternated sets of the first 2 exercises from the first warmup to the last work set.

Pullups
-100 lbs assistance/10 reps (wide overhand)
-40 lbs/12 (6 medium neutral + 6 underhand)
drop set: bodyweight/11 + assisted/4 - wide overhand
drop set: bodyweight/10 + assisted/5 - neutral
drop set: bodyweight/10 + assisted/5 - underhand

Assistance on the work sets = -55 lbs

Dips
-100 lbs assistance/12 reps
-40 lbs/10 reps
drop set: bodyweight/15 + assisted/5
drop set: bodyweight/17 + assisted/3
drop set: bodyweight/14 + assisted/6

Assistance on the work sets = -55 lbs

Dumbbell Lateral Raise - weights listed are per hand
11 lbs/13 reps - standing
drop set: 22.5/10 + 17.5/7 + 12/9 - several partial reps in there

Hammer Abs Machine - sit upright, crunch from top and bottom
rest-pause set: 50 lbs/15 reps + 10 reps

My strength is starting to wane. I’m not shook. I’m glad it stayed with me so deep into this process.

Friday 4/5/24: 17,723 steps, 6.8 miles, 10 flights climbed

Saturday 4/6/24: 7,013 steps, 2.9 miles, 7 flights climbed

Wake up weight: 176.0 lbs

“You’re on track.”

That was the message I got from my unofficial posing coach today at the final clinic I will attend before the show, which is 5 weeks from today. Needless to say, that was highly encouraging. Another guy in there who is competing in classic physique said I look stage ready now. Maybe it’s because I was in my posing trunks. I don’t know. I don’t think I’m quite there yet, but to [mention]MarkKO[/mention]’s point from a few days ago, I don’t want to get stringy looking either. I do need more definition in my legs, but all I can do is drop weight and hope fat comes off from there. But I don’t want to diet so hard that I lose all my upper body size for the sake of leg definition. I don’t even know if I can. My target is to lose another 5 lbs or so. I have to hope that’s fat from my lower half. If not, then hopefully my upper half is so shredded that they don’t notice the lower too much.

On the way back to Baltimore from the clinic, we stopped and trained at the Gold’s I went to after my union training. It was supposed to be a lower body day for me. After the posing clinic, I was already feeling drained. Since they have a bunch of equipment I’ve never used (or seen in some cases), I decided to play around so to speak. I did what was essentially a full body workout. This wasn’t planned in advance, so I just picked things to do as we explored the place. I’ll go back to my upper/lower rotation on Monday with the planned lower session.

Full Body Freestyle, Gold’s Gym

Isolateral Seated Row Machine - Nautilus brand; this version is amazing
90 lbs/12 reps
180/12
270/14 - used Versa Gripps

Isolateral Incline Chest Press - Hammer Strength
empty/10 reps
90 lbs/12
180/1 + 140/6 - I overshot the weight, and recognized it after one rep.
150/13

Seated Lateral Raise Machine - seated with back against a pad, elbow/upper arms pressed into pads
25 lbs/15 reps
45/22 - rep 22 may have been a partial rep

Lying Leg Curl - I used this machine on my first visit. It has a very aggressive slope, so hamstrings get stretched better.
70 lbs/15 reps
100/17 - 15 + 2 partials

Leg Extension - Hammer Strength
100 lbs/13 reps
130/24 - last rep was a partial
 
33 DAYS TO “FINISH THE STORY”


WrestleMania 40 was fantastic, and in the main event we saw a changing of the guard in World Wrestling Entertainment. Cody Rhodes, youngest son of Hall of Famer Dusty Rhodes, ended the 1,316 day title reign of Roman Reigns by defeating him and almost his entire family (including The Rock) to become the Undisputed WWE Universal Champion. For the last 2 years, Cody has been spinning a narrative that winning the title was what he needed to do in order to “finish the story” - his story.

Several months ago, as I was mentally committing to stop making excuses and finally go down this road of bodybuilding competition, I was watching wrestling and that phrase struck a chord. It occurred to me that I’m trying to finish a story of my own that I should have completed a long time ago. And it seemed as though time wasn’t - and still isn’t - on my side, which is why I have an unshakeable sense of urgency to finally get this done now. Anyway, I’m saying this to say that I was pulling for the guy on Sunday, and hoping WWE would make the right call by putting the title on him. I must have been pulling for him more than I know, because when I went to post a clip from today’s workout on Instagram (shared below), his theme song was the first music recommendation it gave me.

On to the latest stats and box scores…

Sunday’s wake up weight: 175.0
Monday’s wake up weight: 176.2

My waist is down to 31”, and hips are down to 38”. My neck is holding at 15.5”. I hadn’t measured my arms (flexed ) this whole time, but I did yesterday just for kicks and they were 16”. None of these numbers matter. It’s all about how it looks on stage. I’m just using them as proxies for progress and points of relativity.

Sunday 4/7/24: 4,105 steps, 1.7 miles, 6 floors climbed

Monday 4/8/24: 3,517 steps, 1.4 miles, 9 floors climbed

Lower #1, Gold’s Gym

Standing Calf Raise
100 lbs/10 reps
140/12
160/10
160/12 “pump reps” - 2nd set eccentrics were still controlled, but done at a much faster pace than normal

Lying Leg Curl
50 lbs/15 reps
90/11
120/20 - This was “lighter” than I expected, so I went up a bit on the 2nd work set.
130/17 - 15 full ROM + 2 partials

Leg Extension
75 lbs/20 total reps on Flex brand machine; kept getting stuck; switched to old school Nautilus machine
100/12
130/10
170/18 - 16 full ROM + 2 partials

Leg Press (wide platform)
180 lbs + sled/7 reps
360+/5
450+/10

As you can hear in the clip below, my wife was adamant that I stop the set here. There’s a good chance I would have gone for another rep, or done something to make it more intense. But as we mapped out this final chapter, we agreed that injury and illness prevention are my top priority. If I don’t actually make it to the stage, then what was all of this for? But sometimes it’s hard for me to reign myself in. She knows this. I’m glad she spoke up, and I’m glad that I listened to her.

Double-Move Hyperextension - hinge at the hips, followed by a flex at the knee in the top position
BW/10 reps
+25/10

”Super Abs” Machine
125 lbs/20 reps, right side
125/10 + 10 left
125/10 + 10 middle

The left side and middle sets had to be split in half so I could to catch about 15-20 second breather.

10 minutes of posing practice in the posing room at the end. I might share some of that on Instsagram tomorrow. I feel a lot more comfortable and confident doing these poses, even though I still have plenty of things to fix. I’m at a point where I think posing practice is more important than training. I’m not going to gain any muscle right now. Training over the next month is to minimize the loss of muscle. But if I can’t show whatever is there, then it was all a waste of time.

 
32 DAYS OUT: SPECIFICITY IN BODYBUILDING TRAINING

Tuesday 4/9/24: 16,504 steps, 6.4 miles, 11 floors climbed

Posing Practice, Home: 17 minutes

There’s a concept in sports that I learned of from powerlifting, known as specificity. Essentially, practice like you intend to play in order to improve performance in competition. The unique thing about bodybuilding is that none of the training or dieting is a part of the competition. The competition is a posing competition, in which you present the product of your training, dieting, etc. But even as I’ve been practicing posing in posing rooms, in front of mirrors at home, or even in the clinics with the coach - it occurred to me that I haven’t done exactly what I’ll be doing in competition.

So tonight, I started what is going to be a major part of my posing practice for the next month. I’ll be doing “pose-alongs” to actual previous OCB competitions on YouTube. I’ll also be doing them without looking in a mirror. She wasn’t available tonight, but when she is, I’ll have my wife watch and point out what I need to keep and what I need to fix. In tonight’s session, I went with 3 rounds, all from the last 2 years of the competition I’ll be doing. I followed the 2023 debut class, the 2022 masters 40+, and the 2023 open, totaling about 17 minutes. Next week, I’ll add one more class, and possibly switch it up to some other competitions from the same organization.

The main takeaway tonight is that I’m not quick getting into some of the poses. I don’t need to rush, but I need to pick up the pace just a tad. I was fairly impressed with my conditioning. I didn’t take a break between the rounds, and I didn’t run all the way out of gas. I’m sure that adrenaline will be a factor at the show that I can’t replicate at home (sort of like a 3rd attempt deadlift). But I want to be ready in case the judging this year is tighter or more stringent.
 
THE HOME STRETCH: 4 WEEKS TO GO

I’ve been so tired at nights lately, that I didn’t even realized that I’d missed log entries. So here I’m going to catch up my last 2 workouts as succinctly as possible. I think it’s safe to say that with 4 weeks to go, I have entered the home stretch of this contest prep. I have entered 2 categories in the competition (open and masters 40+ bodybuilding), and will be entering 1-2 more (novice and/or debut). I have my trunks. My tan is scheduled for 11:45 am the day before the show. It’s all coming together.

I woke up this morning at 174.8 lbs. My waist was just under 31”, almost 30.75”. My hips were right at 38”, or just a hint under. One bodyfat calculator I’ve been using (Navy method) has me at 11% bodyfat. The other (Covert-Bailey) has me at 7.9%. I find it hard to imagine that I’m not in single digits yet. 9% or less seems about right.

Wednesday 4/8/24: 15,925 steps, 5.9 miles, 13 floors climbed

Upper #2 + Calves, Gold’s Gym

Standing Calf Raise
80 lbs/12 reps
120/10
160/10

Arnold Press - weights listed are per hand
15 lbs/13 reps
30/9
45/6
60/10
60/7

Last time I did these, they were the 3rd upper exercise I did, and I got 8, 7 reps with 60’s. Pleasantly surprised here.

Pulldown - using anchor style (MAG) handles
70 lbs/10 reps neutral wide + 6 reps neutral medium grip
130/10 wide
175/12 wide
175/9 close, underhand

Pec Deck
85 lbs/5 reps
150/12 - 10 full ROM w/2 partials
120/9 - 8 full ROM w/1 partial

Dumbbell Shrug - weight is per hand
100 lbs/12 reps

Pullover Machine
125 lbs/12 reps

Thursday 4/11/24: 15,429 steps, 6.6 miles, 11 floors climbed

Friday 4/12/24: 15,816 steps, 7.1 miles, 24 floors climbed (!?!)

Lower #2 + Delts, Gold’s Gym

Standing Calf Raise
100 lbs/15 reps
140/12

Abduction Machine
65 lbs/15 reps
110/20
145/25

Adduction Machine
65 lbs/15 reps
90/20

Abductor/Adductors were done as alternating sets on the same machine. I never got up until all 5 sets were done.

Good Morning - done on reverse hack squat machine
90 lbs/10 reps
180/10
230/12 - This is 2 more reps than the last time I did these with the same weight. More than pleasantly surprised.

Leg Extension - old school Nautilus
100 lbs/15 reps
150/10
210/1 (too heavy!) + 200/15 - maybe partials for reps 14 & 15

Lying Leg Curl
100 lbs/15 reps
150/11 - 9 full ROM w/2 partials

Extensions/Curls were done as alternating sets. The machines are right next to each other.

Leg Press -wide platform, feet low and fairly narrow (maybe shoulder width)
360 lbs/11 reps - Not quite a superset, but I did these right after the work set of leg extension.

Standing Lateral Raise Machine
add-set: 40 lbs/7 reps + 60/6 + 70/5

Saturday 4/13/24: 12,591 steps, 5.3 miles, 11 floors climbed

The plan for today is to get some steps in, come home to eat and watch a movie with my youngest daughter, then train upper body and pose a little later.
 
The last week has been a blur. Work hasn’t been too bad, but a little overtime on top of our children’s activities have me feeling like I am all over the place. That’s not a complaint though. Our firstborn is in full prom and graduation mode now, right after she choreographed and coached her class to their second consecutive victory in her school’s annual Field Day. It’s a competition that combines dance and athletic performance, and I can’t explain it succinctly beyond that. Our youngest daughter was front and center on stage in her spring dance recital on Friday. Our son was the Opening Day starting pitcher for his recreational baseball team on Saturday.

SIDEBAR: In 2 innings, he struck out 8 batters, and recorded the only out in the field on an infield pop up. You might be reading this and thinking “How? There are only 6 outs in 2 innings of baseball.” That’s absolutely right. But when a catcher drops a 3rd strike, the batter can take off for first base and the catcher has to throw him out. Their defense is so bad that 7 of the 8 strikeouts he threw reached first because the “catchers” and/or first baseman couldn’t catch. Then other batters reached because they couldn’t handle infield ground balls or outfield pop ups. He walked one guy and gave up 2 legitimate base hits. I can only imagine what the stat line looks like. The rule in their league is a 3 inning limit for pitchers, and I told the coach he wasn’t going back out for the 3rd inning because he produced what should have been 9 outs already. I’m not letting them wreck his arm, especially not in the first game, all because their defense can’t get off the field.

Believe it or not, this is the third time I have sat down to update this log over the past week. I’m hoping that I will successfully finish this time.

Rather than try to write the details of my last 4 workouts since my last log entry, I’ll share the main takeaways:

* If I’m lethargic, I can still train hard if I get a cup of coffee and about 30-40 grams of carbs at least a half hour before training.

* Strength is holding up better than I expected on almost every machine lift. Upper body free weight/Smith machine lifts are down slightly (Arnolds, bench at any angle, rows). I think it has more to do with my slimmer body having less favorable leverages for them, rather than muscle loss. But I don’t know how I would confirm that either way.

* My average daily step counts over the last 7 days were 11,483 steps, 4.9 miles, and 11 floors climbed.

So, after all of that, here’s what I see on the horizon:

I woke up at 172.6 pounds today, the lowest point of this prep. According to the diet app, my “recent average” weight (I think it’s the last 7 weigh-ins?) is 175 lbs. I’m balancing on that line [mention]MarkKO[/mention] mentioned a few weeks ago: the difference between shredded and stringy. I think I’m still on the right side of that line, and I think I’m just about where I want to be for the show. If I lose any more weight on purpose, it shouldn’t be more than 2 pounds.

After looking over the scheduled order of events the promoter sent out, I have decided to cut my entries to 3 divisions: debut, masters 40+, and open. I’m going to skip novice, mostly because it is scheduled to happen directly after debut, and directly before masters 40+. I expect there to be some crossover competition with debut and novice anyway. Masters is the category I care about the most, and I would rather give myself a breather before going back out to take on my fellow oldheads. There are a few categories scheduled between 40+ and open (50+, 60+, teen, armed forces), but I’m not sure how many of them will actually happen. As long as one of them happens, then I’ll get another breather before the open class, which might be split into two. It seems like there are a lot more bodybuilding entries this year. I bet I know who some of them are too (not personally, but seen on YouTube). They’ll be tough.

I’m experimenting with carbs at night and in the morning to see how it affects muscle fullness. This is so I can plan what I eat and when on the night before, and the morning of the show. The schedule says that the men’s session will be first, starting at 8:30 am. It also says that bodybuilding will be up first out of the three men’s categories, which means I won’t have a big window to eat that morning. I almost never eat that early anyway. But regardless, I don’t want to wake up on May 11 guessing about what I should eat.

I sent my posing coach some photos from today. She said I’m going to “crush the stage”. I guess that’s good. I hope I can schedule a virtual session with her next Monday (4/29) to tighten things up over the final 11 days.

Here’s my latest Instagram post. It should give you an idea of how I’m looking, without showing too much.

 
19 DAYS TO GO

Let me see if I can get back to regular updates here. I enjoy the interaction on this forum.

Monday 4/22/24: 7,783 steps, 3.1 miles, 6 floors climbed

My game plan for the next two weeks is to reduce workload to one max effort working set per exercise. If I do any partials, it’s because I think I can get a rep, and find out I’m wrong. I think it’s highly unlikely that I’ll grow any new muscle (or regrow any lost muscle) between now and the show. But I’m sure this is enough to maintain what I have. It’s also laying the base for a training experiment I want to run coming out of the show. I’m still putting it together, so more on that later.

Upper #2, Planet Fitness

Seated Cable Row- done with what I call the “inverted handlebars” - neutral grip barely outside of torso, cambered handle
70 lbs/15 reps
add-set warmup: 70/4 + 100/4 + 140/4 + 180/2
180/14 - used Versa Gripps for this; ROM may have been short on last rep or two

An “add-set” is what I call something I saw in a John Meadows video, which is basically the opposite of a drop-set, and none of the rounds in the set are done to failure.

Cable Pullover - rope handle
add-set warmup: 25 lbs/6 reps + 35/6 + 50/3
57.5/10

I didn’t plan on doing pullovers, but my wife was doing them on the other side of the station where I was doing the rows. I hadn’t tried these with a rope, so I figured I’d give it a shot. Turns out she was onto something. These are a keeper.

Pec Deck
add-set warmup: 60 lbs/5 reps + 85/5 + 115/5 + 145/2
125/13

I intended to do Arnold presses at this point, but in a first, there were no adjustable benches available near the dumbbells. I decided to keep moving and revisit an overhead press option later.

Rear Delt Machine - facing opposite way on pec deck
85 lbs/15 reps
115/14

Hammer Crunch Machine - move from top and bottom simultaneously
drop set: 6 reps each at 60, 50, 40, 30, and 20 lbs - none of these were to failure

Arnold Press - finally got an empty bench; weights listed are per hand
40 lbs/6 reps
60/9

I’m exceedingly happy about this. This exercise is one I started doing during this prep. I usually do Arnolds first in a workout, and I don’t think I’ve done them later then third. Last time I did them, I got 10 reps on the first of 2 sets with the 60’s doing them second. So to get 9 reps with the same weight this late in the workout, and almost 2 weeks deeper into the prep is encouraging.

Smith Machine Shrug - I was ready to skip these. But I saw an empty smith machine on my way to the locker room.
90 lbs + bar/12 reps
230+/19 - used Versa Gripps

I had to reset myself on the bar twice: once after rep 1, and again after rep 10. I felt imbalanced, like my right side was doing all the work.

It might seem like a lot, but I got all of that done in less than an hour. Nothing hurts. Overall, I feel pretty good. Surprisingly, I have felt a lot less stressed about this show over the weekend. I’m not sure why, but I’m not complaining.
 
18 DAYS TO GO
Tuesday 4/23/24: 17,038 steps, 7.8 miles, 8 floors climbed

An observation, and it’s not something I’ve just noticed, but I think it’s my first time sharing it here: I look better at night. My muscles look more full, lines are more visible, separation is better, veins are more veiny - everything looks better. The only time that isn’t true is if I’ve eaten something that makes me bloated. My guess is that it has to do with all food, beverage, salt, etc. that I’ve consumed over the course of the day. Unfortunately, I will be on stage at about 8:30 am.

In order, my top 3 priorities from now to the show are:
1. Stay healthy and intact so I make it to the stage.
2. Posing, posing, posing (I have a one-on-one virtual session with my posing coach on Monday)
3. Figure out how to replicate the way I look at night in the morning.

Lower body day tomorrow.
 
2 WEEKS TO GO, 2 WORKOUTS TO LOG

Since I have 2 workouts to log, I’m only going to list the work sets for each exercise to make it easier for all of us to get through.

Wednesday 4/24/24: 16,101 steps, 7.3 miles, 8 floors climbed

Lower #2, Planet Fitness

Smith Machine Good Morning
140 lbs + bar/8 reps

I tried a suggestion from Dr. Mike, and set the safety pins at the low point of my reps as a way to standardize my range of motion, and ensure that I stay tight and control the eccentric. Good call from him - it helps.

Smith Machine Squat - high bar, sitting on my ankles, video of heaviest set posted below
*190+/7 - *This was supposed to be a work set. I added my belt, but forgot to increase the weight like I planned for this set. No wonder it felt easy.
230 lbs + bar/7 reps
180+/8

Calf Press - on plate loaded leg press
180 lbs + sled/20 reps
230+/20

Seated Leg Curl
130 lbs/13 reps - tried a rep at 145, aborted that mission and dropped it by a plate



Thursday 4/25/24: 14,322 steps, 6.3 miles, 10 floors climbed

Friday 4/26/24: 15,827 steps, 6.9 miles, 13 floors climbed

Upper #3, Gold’s Gym

Rogue Bar Bench Press - neutral grip
185 lbs/9 reps

I’m replacing these with dumbbell bench press - flat or very low incline - after the show.

Cable Pulldown - very wide, MAG (anchor) handle
180 lbs/13 reps

Seated Lateral Raise Machine - the kind where you bend your arms and put your forearms against the pads
60 lbs/20 reps

Standing Triceps Pressdown - back against pad to prevent cheating, and I guess for stability
60 lbs/13 reps

Standing Cable Curl
70 lbs/18 reps

I made some clips from last night into a reel that I posted to my Instagram and Facebook pages. It was inspired by all the comments I’ve been getting lately from people telling me how slim or skinny I look. I don’t know if they realize it or not, but it’s not a compliment. I can’t wait to start eating and gaining again. Fortunately, with only 2 more weeks until I finish this story, I can see the stage lights at the end of this tunnel.

 
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