Prep log...well whats left of it!

[Sylva]

I'm entering my first BodyBuilding contest of June 1st of this year. I've been doing a long slow prep and started back around the second week of January.

Show time is in 32 days counting today so it's crunch time(not that it hasn't always been) it's just looming in the very near future right now.

I'm 28 and stand 6'1 and roughly 240lbs right now. I've still got plenty of room to tighten up but I should make the SHW class. I knew i would be one of the smaller SHW's in the show but I also knew I could be one of the most conditioned(something you don't see a ton with low level SHW competitors I feel)

I'm following a carb cycling approach to my diet.

Since March 4th my carb cycle has looked like.

Monday: No/Minimal carb
Tuesday: No/Minimal carb
Wednesday: Low carb
Thursday: High carb
Friday: No/Minimal carb
Saturday: high carb
Sunday: low carb

Monday April 29th I changed to

Monday: No/Minimal carb
Tuesday: No/Minimal carb
Wednesday: Low carb
Thursday: Low carb
Friday: No/Minimal carb
Saturday: high carb
Sunday: low carb

To really tighten it up and get a final push this last month.

Right now I train 6 days a week with sundays off.
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Shoulders
Thursday: Arms
Friday: Chest again(my weak point)
Saturday: Back

I do train fairly high volume but use a lot of "touch up" work which would be 3-4 sets of a lagging body part after my main training has been done for the day.

I train abs and calves 3x a week right now.

Cardio is two 45min sessions a day. Once when I wake up and once post workout. As of now I'm doing them both on the stepmill(FUN!)

The following pics are from a high carb day at the end of the day last thursday.

I'll post new pics every week leading up to the show. I know my posing needs work, that is for sure. I'm working on it as best I can...by working with a few national level competitors who are local to me and really hammering it this last month.

Like I said, show is June 1st and I have a plan laid out for this whole month that I think will bring me in exactly where I need to be. I have faith in the plan so it's full steam ahead, pedal to the metal!

Hope ya'll enjoy the log.

 

[Sylva]

Saturday (days got switched around a little due to work so this got bumped from friday and I combined it with some arm training, just make due!)

From saturday

Flat machine press
6 sets x 8 reps, 1 sec squeeze at top.

Incline smith bench(explosive reps)
225 x 5 x 3
275 x 4 x 2
315 x 3 x 2

Low incline smith bench(think first or second notch up on a bench that lays flat and is adjustable)(2 sec squeeze every rep)
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10

DB incline fly
40 x 10
50 x 10
60 x 10

EZ bar front raise
65 x 12
70 x12
75 x 12

Smith shoulder press
135 x 16
185 x 12
225 x 10
275 x 8

Rear delts on pec deck
4 x 16

Tri-sets(20 reps each exercise)
Dips SS w/ Alt DB curl SS w/ single arm cable pushdown(3 rounds)

Tri-set(15 reps each exercise)
Cable curl SS w/ V-bar pressdown SS w/ Rev- 1 arm cable curl(3 rounds)

Wrapped my EFS orange band around top of cable station.
Band curls SS w/ Band pushdowns(3 rounds, rep to failure each set)

plus dbl cardio that day.

 

[Sylva]

Monday 4/29

Bb incline
135 x 16
185 x 12
225 x 10
275 x 5 RP 3 RP 1

flat bb bench(all sets have 70lbs chain added)
135 x 20
225 x 12
245 x 9
275 x 4

hammer strength decline(all sets +efs average band)1 sec squeeze at top.
1pps x 16
2pps x 12
3pps x 10
3p+25ps x 8

flat db fly
40 x 16
50 x 12
60 x 10
efs avg band x 20

cable cross super setted with dips
30 x 16 ss bw x 16
35 x 12 ss bw x 16
40 x 10 ss bw x 12
45 x 8 ss bw x 12

preacher curl machine
16, 12,10,8

Plus cardio(s)

Cardio note, on mornings where I had carbs the day before, I usually throw 6-8 intervals in my training. Night is always just normal steady state. Days where no carbs where consumed the previous day my morning sessions are also just steady state. Morning cardio is always fasted.

 

[Sylva]

4/30

Leg Ext
16, 12, 10, 8(+30 partials) - also, held each rep on all sets for 2 seconds.

V-squat
1pps x 10
2pps x 10
3pps x 10
4pps x 10
5pps x 10
6pps x 10
7pps x 10
8pps x 10 RP(rest pause) 5 rp 3

BB squat
225 x 8
275 x 8
315 x 8
405 x 8

single leg, leg press machine
150 x 16/16
170 x 12/12
190 x 10/10

adductor machine
4 x 25 x stack

Machine chest press
16,12,10,8

Morning and evening cardio.

 

[Sylva]

Diet looks like the following...at least till roughly the 13th or so and then we'll see if it needs to be adjusted one way or another.

Minimal Day: Monday, Tuesday, Friday
MEAL 1:
§ Protein: 5 whole omega-3 eggs and 1 scoop Whey w/ water


MEAL 2:
§ Protein: 10oz lean beef (96/4 lean beef) w/ mustard

MEAL 3:
§ Protein: 8oz lean beef (96/4)
§ Fibrous Carb: 1/2 cup of broccoli or asparagus


MEAL 4:
§ Protein: 10oz Chicken w/ cooked w/ olive oil or coconut oil (1 tablespoon)
§ Fibrous Carb: 1/2 cup of broccoli or asparagus

MEAL 5:
§ Protein: 5 whole omega-3 eggs and 1 scoop Whey w/ water

MEAL 6:
§ Protein: 2 scoops Whey protein w/ water
§ Fat: 1oz. raw almonds

Post Workout shake of 2 scoops of whey

 

[Sylva]

Low Day: Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday

MEAL 1:
§ Protein: 10oz. egg whites and 1 scoop Whey w/ water
§ Carb: 4oz. steel oats

MEAL 2:
§ Protein: 10oz lean beef (96/4 lean beef)
§ Carb: ½ cup of brown rice

MEAL 3:
§ Protein: 8oz lean beef (96/4)
§ Fibrous Carb: 1 cup of broccoli or asparagus


MEAL 4:
§ Protein: 10oz Chicken w/ cooked w/ olive oil or coconut oil (1 tablespoon)
§ Carb: ½ cup white rice

MEAL 5:
§ Protein: 10oz. egg whites
§ Carb: 4oz. steel oats

MEAL 6:
§ Protein: 2 scoops Whey protein w/ water

Post Workout shake of 2 scoops of whey

 

[Sylva]

High Day: Saturday

MEAL 1:
§ Protein: 10oz. egg whites
§ Carb: 1 cup any flavor oatmeal

MEAL 2:
§ Protein: 7oz lean beef (96/4 lean beef)
§ Carb: 1.5 cups of white rice or jasmine rice

MEAL 3:
§ Protein: 7oz lean beef (96/4)
§ Carb: 1.5 cup of red potatoes


MEAL 4:
§ Protein: 8oz Chicken
§ Carb: 1/2 cup white rice or jasmine rice

MEAL 5:
§ Protein: 10oz. egg whites
§ Carb: ½ cup of red potatoes

MEAL 6:
§ Protein: 2 scoops Whey protein w/ water

Post Workout shake of 2 scoops of whey w/ 1 large apple

 

[Sylva]

Note: On Low or Minimal days, since hunger will be greater now, when absolutely ravenous I can add 2oz of meat to my meat protein meals only.

 

[Sylva]

Event flyers for the show. Pakman and Flexatron will be there so that's pretty cool.

 

[turbobusa]

Hello Sylva . Very nice start to your log.. we will be watching.
You will be hitting that home stretch soon.
Thanks for sharing.. T

 

[Sylva]

Right now I'm in LOVE with this meal.

MEAL 4:
§ protein: 10oz Chicken w/ cooked w/ olive oil or coconut oil (1 tablespoon)
§ Carb: ½ cup white rice


All mixed together with some spicy mustard. The trader joes coconut oil has a nice taste it adds to it as well and keeps everything nice and juicy.

side note: I'm SO thankful that both my parents can cook and passed that on to me and i'm not suffering eating complete shit chicken and beef cooked on a foreman like so many of my friends who also do this. I never have a problem eating my "clean" foods as they're prepared well not over cooked, dry, bland shit.

Now off to train some shoulders and hit the stepmill again!

 

[Sylva]

5/1

A.M. Cardio - Stepmill, 45 min. Avg BPM 125-135 BPM

Evening Training - Delts w/ Chest and bicep touch up

Cable Side laterals SS w/ heavy DB lateral partials
20 x 20/20
40 x 16/16 SS w/ 70 x 25
50 x 12/12 ss w/ 70 x 25
60 x 10/10 SS w/ 70 x 25
70 x 8/8 SS w/ 70 x 25

Hammer strength shoulder press
3p+15ps x 8 x 8

EZ bar front raise
90 x 12-16 x 4 w/ drop a double drop set every set.

rev pec dec
5 x 12-16 reps

DB hammer curl
16, 12, 10, 8

Dip machine
4 x 25

PWO cardio
Stepmill, 45 min. Avg BPM 125-135 BPM

Good training session today, got a little volume in w/ the shoulders but I like pumping them up more than I do hitting them w/ heavy weight. They get a lot of heavy loaded work w/ all my chest workouts. It seems to work well for me this way.

 

[Sylva]

So for this show I hav a feeling I'll weigh in about 228-230 which is what was expected. I'm excited about that, while still charging hard for this show I do at times think about the upcoming off season, goals, how to attack etc. I do a lot of thinking about progression, how to make that progress, plans of attack with training, supps etc. I go through and read a lot of old threads(as far back as one can go) from well respected members.

I especially always pay attention to threads involving SHW competitors, and even more so those around the 6ft mark. read and take in all I can. Saw some pics of a client of shelby's from around 2009 I think. Gave me a good "goal" to shoot for this off season. Putting on plenty of mass, staying lean and then letting me come in a good bit heavier next show season, I would hope say in the ~240 range. Here area a few pics. (6ft, 270)

Just kind of talking out loud here. Open to any comments, suggestions, links to good SHW progress or prep threads etc.

Again...pics are a good off season goal for me I think. We shall see what another year brings after I kill it at this show. Gonna take and post some more progress pics of myself tonight.

 

[Sylva]

5/2

A.M Cardio - 45 min, step mill.

Training

Superset #1

Machine curl – Yea, we are starting with a silly bicep machine. Don’t laugh…Find any bicep machine you can really, and do your curls on this one arm at a time this week. Lower the weight very slowly with a 4 count and then flex it back up hard. Try to envision the harder you squeeze, the more blood that you feel rushing in. Do 6 reps on one side, then 6 on the other, and then go back the first arm and do 4 more reps, and finish the set with 4 on the other side. So the total reps for each arm are 10 reps on these per set. I used a preacher type machine, but really the key is that I just want extreme isolation where you can totally focus on flexing each bicep and lowering the weight slowly to create time under tension.

Supersetted with

Single arm Rope pushdowns – Use the technique where you keep your wrists right along your body as you let the rope raise, letting elbows flare out to the side, and then driving back down and flexing hard for 1 second. You should feel your inner/long head of your triceps contract very hard at the bottom of these. Do 10 strict reps.

Rest for 2 minutes and then repeat. Do 5 rounds total.





Superset #2

Alt DB curls – 10 reps

Supersetted with

Bent over EZ bar cable extension – On these try to keep your elbows in, and go nice and slow on the way down feeling a good stretch. Go to ¾ lockout, and then come right back down so we keep continuous tension on your triceps. Do 12 reps here.

Rest for 2 minutes and then repeat. Do 5 rounds total.

Superset #3

Ez bar curl 40 – Pick a weight that you can do for about 8 to 10 good clean solid reps. I want you to do a set of 6 with it using perfect form, squeezing every rep. Set the weight down and count to 10 and restart. Stop the set when you know your form will go bad. Just keep resting for 10 seconds and doing this until you get to 40 reps total.

Supersetted with

V-bar press down – elbows in tight this week for a little more stretch on the long/inner head of your tri. On these we are doing a big dropset. I want you to find a weight that is a tough 10, and then drop it and go to near failure (should be another 8 to 12 reps), and then drop the weight again and just blast to failure or until your tris just go completely numb.

If you have done this correctly, your arms will be as pumped as you ever had them.

1 round of the last super set

Then I did machine chest press. 4 sets of 16.

Cardio 2 - Elliptical - 45 min

Will post some updated pics, i was beat last night so posing was off but you can still see my condition which is good. I got some good "how to" videos on posing that i'm now watching and working on every day. I also have a posing clinic on sunday which should help a lot also. I WILL be in shape for this show and my posing WILL get much better.

Pics are 31 days our from show day.

^Need to bring hands closer to body

Ok at this pose, will get better.

need to make sure chest is up, head looking forward and lats are flared properly.

Need to make sure there is no gap/light between arms and body. rotate a little more possibly.

I like this one.

Need to work on leg positioning, creating a large X frame. Need to make sure lats are spread and i'm leaning back a little bit more to show back as big as possible, leaning forward takes away from back size.

Pretty much same as what is said for RLS photo, need to make sure i'm flaring my lats. After watching video I'm confident this will get much better. Got a few tips on how to actually do the pose and open up.

 

[Alinshop]

S, update your log!

 

[Ironbuilt]

Glad i caught this silva. Thanks bro . Dam cool. Now update us as it's near brutha! Ib

 

[FordFan]

Great log....update time!!

 

[Sylva]

Competed in my very first bodybuilding show Saturday. I did the Open division(there was a novice) but I figure if you're gonna do something, do it, don't mess around. Super heavy weight class And i took 3rd place. Had a very good first showing. Now ready to eat some food, have a productive off season and come back even better next time. No stage photos yet, very pleased for my first show, I was easily the most conditioned SHW which carried me far im just a small shw amd got out muscled by some larger guys im good shape. but with a smart lean growth plan I'll be addressing that this off season.


Additional notes: my legs also carried me a good bit in the placing's which we also knew they would, they were the most separated quads on stage etc. Judges want me essentially to bring up my whole upper body but especially shoulder caps, lat width and overall back thickness and my chest thickness. Most of that was kinda known already but good to know I've already been thinking of the right plan of attack! Now, on to the off season and making the necessary changes.

I had a great time with the prep and competing, im hooked!

My official weigh in weight was 228lbs.

 

[Ironbuilt]

That's awesome bro!! Congrats on that and now you know what you need to do,
Thanks for sharing this and now what's next?.ib

 

[Sylva]

That's awesome bro!! Congrats on that and now you know what you need to do,
Thanks for sharing this and now what's next?.ib

Whats next...well the plan is a productive off season haha.

In all honesty, to be a true competitive SHW I need to be at least 250 on stage with the same or better conditioning. I'd like to keep my gains a little leaner/tighter than last "off season I'm already about 240 in the same condition due to enjoying some foods but not going crazy. I'm hitting the gym this week but it'll be lighter, nothing to failure etc, just some pumping sets and then i'll speak with my mentor and see how we want to attack from there. If I could get up to about 270-280lbs this off season with seperation at all body parts and full abs i'd be very pleased. Something i've come to realize is there is no reason, especially being a bber, to get over 10-12% BF in the off season.

I will be chaning a few things about my training, going back to how I personally used to do some things(that worked very well) and keeping some true periodization to parts of my training.

It's all about progression, letting hunger dicate how much I eat etc. Taking this steps at a time, not leaps. You've got to earn it, hard work, no shortcuts.