More changes?!

Verse of the day: Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed-1peter 1:13

So today is my 30th birthday. I'm all ready to start a new decade.

Due to  some technical difficulties I can not do the Mr Universe... So my game plan is now to do the NGA East Coast Championship. Only the Lord knows if I'll make it to this one a week and a half from now. I'm going to be working hard to peel off the last little fat and wate. And we'll see what happens. But this is where I'm st now........

Week #12 THE CRAZY PREP OF 2017

Verse of the day: Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. -James 1:2-4

So, I started a contest prep 16 weeks out from the Mr America contest. At 11 weeks in (5 weeks out) I was informed that the contest is being postponed until the spring. So, after refocusing, I decided to set my sights on the Mr Universe on 9/23. This shorts me 2 weeks. So I've added a few minutes of posing and cardio and obviously am keeping the diet TIGHT.

So, we'll see what happens. I'm pretty much on point. The weight workouts are intense, as always; the cardio is 20-30 minutes a day; and posing 20 minutes a day. I do everything everyday, except Sunday- I don't do anything on Sundays.

I'm weighing about 168lb and my waist just nailed 29", so I'm close;)

WEEK #10 MR AMERICA PREP

Verse of the day: Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the LORD, not for men. -Col. 2:23

Saturday I weighed in at 170lb with a 29 1/2" waist. Progress is on point. Every week I see subtle changes. The training has been very consistent, with 6 days weight training, 6 days cardio and 5 days posing.

Week #8 Mr America Prep

Verse of the day: "...be wise about what is good and innocent about what is evil."- Romans 16:19b

This week has been a little nuts... But the diet is on point; the weight training is on point; the cardio is on point; and I'm getting the posing practice in regularly. Everything is where it needs to be. I did have a run in with a yellow jacket nest that involved my left hand blowing up to 3 times it's normal size. So I got an extra leg workout, and pushed shoulders back a day. I weighed in at 172 1/2lb. with a 29 5/8" waist.

Week# 7, Mr America Prep

Verse of the day: "offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to Him as instruments of righteousness" -Romans 6:13b

9 1/2 weeks out right now. 5-7 pounds left to lose. 3/4" on the waist to peel. Stoked. I weighed in on Saturday at 173.2lb, with a 29 3/4" waist. We'll see where I land on show day, but it looks like i'll be more peeled than ever. The training is all on point. I haven't further broken anything at this point. Rock on!

Week #6, Mr America Prep

Verse of the day: So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. -2 Corinthians 4:18

Yes. I missed the report last week, and only got one pic this week. But, I'm on track! My weight is down to 174.6lb and the waist is at 30 1/8".... If  I didn't know any better, I'd say I'm ahead of schedule. My weight workouts have been great, with a medium volume and always pushing to failure. The cardio is still 20 minutes, 6 days a week. And I started posing practice last week (at 12 weeks out.) So here I am at about 10 1/2 weeks out, and feeling good...

Week #4, Mr America Prep

Verse of the day: The LORD will keep you from all harm- He will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forever more. -Psalm 121:7-8

This week was a hair different, because my family was on vacation. So, I was there part the time and home part the time working. I got in an unconventional shoulder workout by taking some dumbbells to the beach house my family stayed at and incorporated some hand-stand-push-ups. Other than that the only change was the rest day was on Friday instead of Sunday and combined chest and back into one workout. It was the usual, 6 days weights and 6 days cardio. The weigh in was 175.4lb with 30 1/2" waist:

Week #3, 2017, Mr America

Verse of the day: I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth. -Psalm 121:1-2

This week I lost another 1/4" inch off the waist. My calories very from day to day, but average around 2900-3000. The cardio has been very basic- a 20 minute walk on an incline treadmill most days. My weight workouts are not crazy high volume, but I'm putting in some sets. Here's what this morning's arm work looked like:

5 super-sets of straight bar curls and V grip pushdowns 6-8 reps
3 super-sets of cable curls and lying triceps extensions 10-12 reps
3 super-sets of cambered bar curls and seated overhead triceps extensions 6-10 reps
3 super-sets of preacher curls and 1-arm reverse grip pushdowns 5-10 reps

The conditioning is coming along- just a hair tighter than last week:

WEEK #2, MR AMERICA PREP

Verse of the day: Unless the LORD builds the house, they that build it labor in vain -Psalm 127:1

So these are the pics from last week that did not show up. And here are this weeks pics:

 

 

This week I really haven't restricted the calories all that much- just dialed it in so there is no cheats. I'm averaging about 3000 calories a day. This first week the weight stayed basically the same, but I brought the waist down about 1/4", which is just about right. you can tell from the pics, it's just small subtle differences: a hair sharper in the back and less bloated in the gut.

The training is on point: a 5 day split, training 1 muscle group per day 6 days per week rotating accordingly.

Cardio is about 20 minutes a day 6 days per week.

Baby steps....

 

 

 

 

 

Week #1

So here we go again! I'm 16 weeks out from the 2017 Mr America. My current weight is 181lb and my waist is 31 1/2". When I get on stage I'll be about 165-167 with a 29" waist. So I've got about a pound per week to lose- a little less than I usually have, so I'm ahead of the game. I plan on posting progress reports and pictures once a week til the day of the show. So stay tuned to see what happens. Here's where I'm starting:

Recovery Week

Verse of the day: My eyes fail looking for your promise; I say, "when will you comfort me?"

It's been 9 weeks since my last "recovery" week, so it was about time. I usually train 5 days a week.Every so often I like to train everything the first half of the week and take a long weekend. Last week I did chest, shoulders and triceps on Monday; back and biceps on Tuesday; and legs on Wednesday; and rested Thursday- Sunday. It's also good because it shakes it up a bit. Here's how it looked:
Monday (chest/delt/tri):
Inline dumbbell press, bent cable fly superset with flat dumbbell press, dip superset with cable fly, machine shoulder press, seated lateral, rope push down, skull crusher, and seated dumbbell extension

Tuesday (back/bicep):
Pull-ups, row, v grip pull down, preacher curl, cambered curl and machine curl

Wednesday (legs)
Squat, reverse lunge, leg extensions superset with leg curl and calf press

Mon., 1/16/17, Chest

Verse of the day: May those who fear You rejoice when they see me, for I have put my hope in You. Psalm 119:74

So, it has been 1 month since my last post. I've not missed a workout, and, no I didn't take it "easy over the holidays." I've been hitting it hard. The improvements are slow, but coming. I'm getting stronger, and my body weight has not greatly increased. I'm still training each muscle once per week with a medium volume and high intensity. Intensity techniques, such as rest pause sets and drop sets, are included here and there.
This is my chest workout this morning:

incline dumbbell press: 25s-25; 50s-8; 75s-6; 100s-6; 120s-8
bent cable fly (for upper chest): 70-12; 80-10; 90-7
flat dumbbell press: 70s-8,11,10
dip: 20
cable fly (upright for lower chest): 70-9
standing incline press: 155-11