Thread: 15 weeks out

I think you are looking very solid IW2BC!! Good luck and will be following this thread for sure.

yeah he is doing awesome. Good work bro! i will be following ya progress man.

Originally Posted by Shrek

Look for the problem, not an easy fix, you'll be better for it in the long run.

Any advantage you can gain over your competitors now is vital, esp getting closer to comp.
Start now, not later.

Yeah very good point. Hmmm, very good point indeed.


Cheers guys, I'm getting there!!

Originally Posted by Shrek

Stay away from the caffeine Matt, caffeine induces cortisol, the stress hormone. Not good for muscle growth.

If caffeine induces cortisol why is it that most (if not all) pre WO drinks contain caffeine? not an attack just a quiry.

Probably because it gives you a good buzz before you go to the gym. You didn't think that all supplement companies had your best interest at heart.. lol

of course i did?...? Last time i took cell tech i had to hook myself up to a drip of cortisol cos i was growing so much!

Hahaha now that Phil Heath has joined Jay at Muscletech, I'll be buying all their products, that way I can grow arms as big as Phil, legs as big as Branch and a back as big as Jay's!

looking jacked as hell man for 15 weeks out, i think you'll do very well if you stick to it and come in with good conditioning.
as someone else pointed out delts do look like a bit of a weak point but everything else especially traps looks really good.

looking good man. once u lean up u will look fantastic...

Cheers guys...

Legs Tonight - Went to the gym tonight feeling like crap again, had to have an energy drink with a few carbs in it just to give me that little bit extra, and it helped, trust me lol. I pretty much smashed them in the time I spent at the gym, warmed up on leg extensions, got out some pretty good work sets of 20/18/18 reps, then moved onto squats. I've sorta been following a bit of Lee Priest's leg routine with the squats, I start with 1 plate do 20 reps, 2 plates another 20, all the way up to top weight, or until I can't do the 20 reps. Then I'll usually do 2 sets at that weight, drop it down to 1 plate or 1 and 1/2 plates and shoot for 50 reps. Although I only got to 30, racked it then done another 10. Then leg press pretty much a strip from top weight down to 150kg maxing out at 25 reps. After that my legs were fried so I finished off with hams then left, limping to the car.

Overall considering the energy levels I had a pretty good workout week, so I'll have 2 days off, heading back to work for 2 weeks in the morning, prolly do a bit of cardio over those 2 days then get back into it on Saturday. I'm gonna add in a bit of Test tomorrow too, see if I cant hold onto more muscle while I'm on the DNP.

Oh and the bloody comp is on the 3rd of October I found out recently, so I need to change the thread title to 14 Weeks out, better get my ass into gear!!! Literally

Originally Posted by Thrasha

If caffeine induces cortisol why is it that most (if not all) pre WO drinks contain caffeine? not an attack just a quiry.

Originally Posted by RF1964

Probably because it gives you a good buzz before you go to the gym. You didn't think that all supplement companies had your best interest at heart.. lol

Exavtly.. well done young man.

They don't give a crap about your physique, as long as you got a buzz from taking there concoction and they are racking in the dollars.

Originally Posted by Shrek

Stay away from the caffeine Matt, caffeine induces cortisol, the stress hormone. Not good for muscle growth.

Fair point... BUT
If you have caffeine alongside a hit of sugar, the cortisol issue is negated...
Simple sugars induce an insulin spike, insulin and cortisol are enemies and basically cancel each other out...

So, if you like the kick that you get out of caffeine go ahead and have your espresso, latte, or caffeine filled supps as long as you have them with a decent hit of sugar...

In terms of supp companies doing this, some add dextrose to their pre-workout mixtures, some don't... Make sure you read the labels and if it doesn't have sugar but does have a decent hit of caffeine, add your own..
1Kg of Coopers brew enhancer 1 can be bought from most supermarkets for about $6 and has a 50/50 mix of dextrose/maltodextrin which is perfect for creating that insulin spike and combating cortisol...

Sugar is probably worse that the caffeine esp for Matt preparing for a comp.

Originally Posted by Shrek

Sugar is probably worse that the caffeine esp for Matt preparing for a comp.

Your kidding...
Sugar and insulin spiking have a profound effect on hypertrophy... Insulin being the King of anabolic hormones of course...
I take you point that when getting much closer to the comp this isn't ideal... But 15-8 weeks out there's absolutely no reason why sugar to induce insulin spiking shouldn't or couldn't be used... Around training times of course!

You were saying caffeine induces cortisol, which is true... I merely advised an effective and useful way to combat that...

Lol thanks for the info guys!

Anyway I trained chest tonight, and fuck me what a waste of time! For some reason my right arm was very weak, I havent injured it or anything, but I could feel it giving out on pretty much every set, so much so that I had to over compensate big time. So suffice to say mu chest workout sucked, I got more of a pump in my left pec then right. My strength was down a fair bit too, my max bench was 120kg for 6 reps tonight, whereas last week I lifted 150kg for 4 reps, couple assisted reps. Kinda screwed with my head.

I have however started taking 400mg / day of DNP since thursday, and am very dehydrated today (yeah yeah I know, but it sorta couldn't be helped), so I figure some of my strength loss was due to those factors.

My weight is worrying me a little too, I did cardio for half hour a day on Thursday and Friday and for the last 3 days my weight has stayed the same, give or take. I am still consuming the same amount of food as I did at the beginning of my diet, which I must admit is pretty easy going in regard to quantities as I cant weigh or measure the food at all, and thursday I added in 0.5ml Test E, to be taken Monday/Thursday for the next 4-5 weeks.

I might start a thread with a few more specific questions regarding this, as I cant see why I'm not dropping weight still, its got me all confused. I am thinking of adding in 20min cardio in the mornings before breakfast (which will have to be at bloody 4am!), and will calculate to the best of my abilities how many calories I'm consuming at the moment to see if I can trim some off somewhere.

So overall pretty disappointed with tonight's effort, but will endeavour to keep pushing myself hard!! Again feel free to leave comments/suggestions/tips, they will be muchly appreciated!!

Cheers.

Why do you think you are so dehydrated IW2BC? Just because you arent drinking much fluid? Urine cloudy/stinky? If anything DNP will make you hold water. Even if you arent drinking as much as you should (naughty boy - ha) - that *might* explain why the scales arent moving due to water retention.

Mate if your strength is dropping so dramatically week on week, id be looking to your rest and nutrition to be 110% spot on. Ive never comp prepped, so far from an expert. My concern is you are still some weeks out, I know strength/etc will drop eventually, but thought this far out it shouldnt be as pronounced as what you are seeing? 150kg to 120kg in a week?

Just some comments I had. As I said though - far from an expert.

Originally Posted by determined

Why do you think you are so dehydrated IW2BC? Just because you arent drinking much fluid? Urine cloudy/stinky? If anything DNP will make you hold water. Even if you arent drinking as much as you should (naughty boy - ha) - that *might* explain why the scales arent moving due to water retention.

Mate if your strength is dropping so dramatically week on week, id be looking to your rest and nutrition to be 110% spot on. Ive never comp prepped, so far from an expert. My concern is you are still some weeks out, I know strength/etc will drop eventually, but thought this far out it shouldnt be as pronounced as what you are seeing? 150kg to 120kg in a week?

Just some comments I had. As I said though - far from an expert.

Just cause I know when I'm dehydrated (headaches, urine colour, and lack of water intake), thats what I put the strength loss down to, as its not the first time. Nutrition is pretty good, if anything I think it might be a little too many calories, but carbs are pretty low as well, about 150-180/day. The strength loss from carbs I can feel pretty well, so I'm pretty sure its not that either.

I'll drink a shit load of water tomorrow and see if it makes a difference I think.

Good plan mate. And its good to hear how you are trying to stay in tune with your body - noone knows it better!

Search for some posts by xtremist on DNP mate. When I ran it I didnt use enough carbs (or fruit). His posts on the topic are awesome. Well worth reading. You might actually get some better results out of DNP if you run some carbs at optimum times.

Originally Posted by Scottie85

Your kidding...
Sugar and insulin spiking have a profound effect on hypertrophy... Insulin being the King of anabolic hormones of course...
I take you point that when getting much closer to the comp this isn't ideal... But 15-8 weeks out there's absolutely no reason why sugar to induce insulin spiking shouldn't or couldn't be used... Around training times of course!

You were saying caffeine induces cortisol, which is true... I merely advised an effective and useful way to combat that...

And I was alluding to Matt being pre comp.
Insulin spiking can be useful post workout with carbs,

FYI

I estimated I'm eating 3655 calories per day, 432g Protein, 185g Carbs, 100g fats.

I calculated using http://fitnesspros.net/calculators/calorieneeds.html That I should be consuming 3632cal to maintain my weight. I might have to drop a few calories I think, and I rekon that'll come from my protein intake...