Bigger, better, leaner - 2023 onward, postcontest

[juiceddunk2.0]

BACK
Straight arm pulldown - 4x12
Prime neutral grip pulldown - RP set
Prime seated nuetral grip row - 3x10
SA cable row - 3x12
Wide Grip pulldown - RP set
Chest supp high row - 3x15



CHEST/SHOULDERS
Fly Machine - 4x15 hard squeeze
Hammer Press - 3x12
Incline Hammer - RP set
Machine chest press - 4x10
Rear delt cable flies - 4x20
Cuffed side lateral raises - 4x15
DB side raises - 4x12
SS
Bent Over rear delt swings - 3x20
Front delt raises - 3x15

Strong as full right now. Weight hovering in that 315-320 area. I can feel that this is the tail end of my gaining phase. Im lean for 320 but i can tell that im creeping up and need to just hold for awhile. As awesome as it is to hit a new number on the scale, if you can only hold it for a week it makes no difference. You have to let your new tissue marinade. Let your body get used to this setpoint. So that just means a couple more months at this weight.

I need to probably build out a timeline for the year moving forward. Suppose i hold for 2 month, then maybe i start a cruise beginning of June and cruise for 8ish weeks depending on bloodwork. That would mean August im fresh and ready to roll. I could either mini diet at that time and trim some of the fluff off to see where im at around 280-290ish. Or we just hold tight until we decide to diet. We'll see.

Gear is lots of Sustanon + lots of EQ + a lil bit of Mast. One of my preferred cycles.
But will probably rotate to lots of Sustanon + some NPP + more Masteron. Thats a go-to of mine that never disappoints.

dumb question so forgive but what is "a lot" to you and gh/slin too I'm assuming? anti es?

 

[TheOtherOne55]

dumb question so forgive but what is "a lot" to you and gh/slin too I'm assuming? anti es?

Almost identical to what you’re runnin dude.
Little bit less test.
1.75g Sustanon + 1.75g EQ for the past 3 months or so. About to drop the EQ and throw in NPP and Mast. I kinda rotate between those.

 

[juiceddunk2.0]

Almost identical to what you’re runnin dude.
Little bit less test.
1.75g Sustanon + 1.75g EQ for the past 3 months or so. About to drop the EQ and throw in NPP and Mast. I kinda rotate between those.

right on looks good

 

[danieltx]

How was your estrogen with EQ being as high as test?

I've always used deca when I rebound but this year I'm using EQ just to see how it does.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

LEGS
Lying ham curl - 4x12
Adductor machine - 4x10-12 squeeze and pause during contraction
Leg Press - 5x15-20 build up from 5 plates to 10. Deep as hell to failure each time. Trying to really hit deep ROM
Other hack - 3x20 short rest periods
Leg Extensions - 4x12
Walking lunges - 2x failures in parking lot

Nothing crazy but more sets. This was my quad/adductor day. Looking at my last check-in i still feeel like my legs need more size. Whats so weird is that my last contest was 2018 as a HW and i was bottom heavy. I looked blah, conditioning was off, not super into the prep either. I was on cruise control. But my upper body was weak compared to my lower. Obviously me obsessively hitting upper hard has actually flip flopped it now. I honestly might incorporate some Neubie fit stuff into my quad training. I had a weird IT band injury around 2019 and my left leg doesnt quite fire liek the right leg does. Its strange and i know that only something like the Neubie could fix it.

Weight is consistently right under 320 which is nice. Holding steady. A little annoyed as i have an international business trip on the 21st. Flying to Serbia for another commercial. only 5 days but it always fucks my routine and having to get all my meals in is a bitch. Its actually easier when im dieting as almonds, shakes and rice cakes for 6 meals can work. But not when youre eating 6k a day.

Just chatted with Justin about how/wtf my plan this year. I mentioned it above, this little Greece trip with my family is fucking it all up. I would never put BBing in front of my wife and fam but ugh haha. The goal was always to start prep in august and then ride right into a show and maybe Masters USAs. But a trip smack dab in the middle of September is ruining. I basically told Justin we could 3 things.
1. Start prep when i get back meaning its only a 12 week sprint to a show
2. Prep starts when i get back and do a show maybe Jan/Feb (downside, NO other shows aroudn that time, no national level ones)
3. Ride it out, maybe mini diet later this year and basically wait till 2025 spring to do a show and then head into a national level show.
NONE of these are great options lol

 

[TheOtherOne55]

How was your estrogen with EQ being as high as test?

I've always used deca when I rebound but this year I'm using EQ just to see how it does.

Its always good for me man. Honestly the bigger and leaner ive gotten, i swear i aromatize lesss. Me popping 25mg of aromasin EOD kinda holds me over just fine. I think EQ is significantly weaker than Deca but i just hold too much water on it. Im about to switch over to NPP soon though. Honestly, THAT (Sust/NPP/Mast) is my fav cycle. That and the Sust/EQ is what i rotate between all the time. BOTH keep me full and dry. I think youll like EQ though. Vascularity is amazing, i get no appetite stim from it, 0 RBC or hematocrit problems. Basically all the good shit with none of the bad.

 

[Hyperemia]

How high are your calories now? I know you push upwards of 1000 carbs on high days, which makes sense given your size, but damn that’s a lot.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Low and medium days are very similar right now. Just different macros. But both around 5000 right now.
High days are 6-7k though. The last bump up was my protein. Basically getting in 70-75g per meal on most days.
I basically been going with 8oz of meat + 8oz of liquid egg whites for those. Its a lot of food right now but i can handle it.
Thank god for variety.

And if you dont know justin's plans, he kinda allows me to rotate sources pretty frequently. His whole shpeel is that whether I tell you to eat 8oz chicken breast + 1 cup of veggies + 250g of potatoe, its nevvver gonna be crazy accurate to the T. So you should just have 3-6 meals that you know you can hit those macros at and rotate them. He kinda lets you have 3-5 sources of protein, 3-5 sources of carbs and same with fat. So I plug and play from there.

 

[Yousef12O2]

Low and medium days are very similar right now. Just different macros. But both around 5000 right now.
High days are 6-7k though. The last bump up was my protein. Basically getting in 70-75g per meal on most days.
I basically been going with 8oz of meat + 8oz of liquid egg whites for those. Its a lot of food right now but i can handle it.
Thank god for variety.

And if you dont know justin's plans, he kinda allows me to rotate sources pretty frequently. His whole shpeel is that whether I tell you to eat 8oz chicken breast + 1 cup of veggies + 250g of potatoe, its nevvver gonna be crazy accurate to the T. So you should just have 3-6 meals that you know you can hit those macros at and rotate them. He kinda lets you have 3-5 sources of protein, 3-5 sources of carbs and same with fat. So I plug and play from there.

Now that you're at your all time biggest, are you also the strongest you ever been?
Plus after how many meals do you usually train?

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Now that you're at your all time biggest, are you also the strongest you ever been?
Plus after how many meals do you usually train?

Dude, not even close. This just shows you how training and how training age really changes everything.
I also powerlifted in my 20s so I have raw benched 525 in the gym and deadlifted 720. But basically every bodypart is so much bigger and detailed now. Luki and I have talked about this. From PL and transitioning to BBing, I mostly stuck to a PPL type setup and got scary strong on that too. But at a certain point it becomes a detriment and dangerous. So this offseason I made a switch to a bro split and to really slow stuff down, concentrate on eccentrics and squeezeing shit. And with that has come a whole new set of gains. I think i got the most out of heavy hard weight and progressive overload. And in reality, to stay in the game longer, i needed a change. I now use a lighter load, still enough to challenge myself, but im still hitting stuff in a 8-15 rep range. Its just heavy mind muscle connection and focus now.

 

[KingOfSushi]

Curious, do you ever have it where meals almost overlap because you are eating so much?

I have this happen as my food is getting so high and it’s the WORST when you finally get that meal down then realize it’s about damn time to start cooking the next!

 

[svenrpb]

How has your sleep been with the newborn?

Looking massiveeeeee

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Curious, do you ever have it where meals almost overlap because you are eating so much?

I have this happen as my food is getting so high and it’s the WORST when you finally get that meal down then realize it’s about damn time to start cooking the next!

I mean not really. I tryyy to space everything out accordingly. Its tough though.
For instance, my 1st meal of the day is at 7am and my last is usually 830pm. Roughly try to get 2-3hrs inbetween my 6 meals.
But yes, definitely tough. Personally, i would rather eat CLOSER TO BED than overlap meals. But my life is very organized with the baby and all. Im UP at 4am, gym at 5-615ish AM, back to help take care of baby in the morning, 1st meal at 7am.
Im lucky that I work from home right now, that helps a tonnn so i can go to the kitchen at any time and cook something up.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

How has your sleep been with the newborn?

Looking massiveeeeee

Thanks brother.

Its good man. She's a lil older now (15 months) so its much better than it was when she was little little. I also am not the best sleeper in general. If i get say 5-6 is an average night for me. I also dont really notice much of a difference between 5 and 7 or 8 which is weird. CPAP life i guess. IF i have any dead time during the day (usually when it aligns with her naps, i will nap too) but thats pretty rare.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

LEGS
Lying Leg Curl - RP set
Adductor machine - RP set
Leg Extensions - 4x15 with hard pause at the top
Power Squat - Top set back off
Leg Press - 12 wide stance + 12 close stance ...3 sets of that with short rest periods
Hack Squat - Muscle Round set
Walking Lunges - BW x2

Hard and heavy today. Literally, i was writing this i pulled my desk chair forward with made my left hamstring crammppp hardcore. As i try to straighten it...my lower abs cramp....I lean back to try to lengthen my core and straighten my leg...R quad goes too LOL It was bad. Wife heard me groaning a bit and was like, "WTF is going on in there" lol just chugged some crystal light with some salt added.

Heavy day today. 318.9 as i had a low day yesterday. Goal is to just sit in this 320ish area for awhile...let it marinade and settle.
Lots of carbs today being a high day too. Had a giant bowl of rice crispies for meal 1 and then huge bowl of COR for meal 2. Next couple meals are basic 96/4 ground beef and white rice with some vegg on top.

This week will be tough as I leave for Europe on saturday afternoon. Put in an order on Chicken Pound so trying that out. Flying with like 10lbs so thats enough for like 2 meals per day there. 6ish lbs of protein as well which i can get 2-3 meals out of that. Huge bag of almonds. TEMPTED to buy a small rice cooker and fly with that then buy white rice there. Kinda depends on how crazy my work days are there. Ill be on set the majority of the time and making sure everything runs smoothly with the director and shit. I ALWAYS lose weight the first day of travel...total time is like 16hrs of travel so i leave Saturday and get there SUnday afternoon. So ill just be eating non stop. I'm also at the size now where maintenance is so damn high that having a free meal or two during the day (and just making sure it isnt trash) is fine. I remember talking with Jamie Johal "The Giant" and him telling me that same thing. "You get away with more when you are giant...it takes so much food to hold the weight that you could eat a burger and fries all day and stillll lose weight." And theres truth to that. Still not the best approach but i do realieze that a meal with the client where i eat a steak and plain potato isnt bad and wont fuck my progress. My goal is to just not LOSE WEIGHT when im gone. I also search out the best gyms wherever im going though. Very few true BBing gyms but im shot commercials there before and there's one i will check out again.

 

[KingOfSushi]

Im UP at 4am, gym at 5-615ish AM, back to help take care of baby in the morning, 1st meal at 7am.

I’ve considered training fasted too just to get rid of the time lost waiting for my giant ass meal to digest pre training…

 

[TheOtherOne55]

I’ve considered training fasted too just to get rid of the time lost waiting for my giant ass meal to digest pre training…

Exactly why i do it man. I cannnoottt train with a meal in my stomach as much as im eating right now. Plus, if i do train during a diff part of the day, i give myself a 2 hour window post meal to digest which in turn pushes my meals later in the day. That meals im going to be at like 11pm just so i dont feel like shit.

I also train with intraworkout carbs so its not like im fulllly fasted. Usually have like 25-50g of carbs plus 10-30g of EAAs.

 

[bbxtreme]

LEGS
Lying ham curl - 4x12
Adductor machine - 4x10-12 squeeze and pause during contraction
Leg Press - 5x15-20 build up from 5 plates to 10. Deep as hell to failure each time. Trying to really hit deep ROM
Other hack - 3x20 short rest periods
Leg Extensions - 4x12
Walking lunges - 2x failures in parking lot

Nothing crazy but more sets. This was my quad/adductor day. Looking at my last check-in i still feeel like my legs need more size. Whats so weird is that my last contest was 2018 as a HW and i was bottom heavy. I looked blah, conditioning was off, not super into the prep either. I was on cruise control. But my upper body was weak compared to my lower. Obviously me obsessively hitting upper hard has actually flip flopped it now. I honestly might incorporate some Neubie fit stuff into my quad training. I had a weird IT band injury around 2019 and my left leg doesnt quite fire liek the right leg does. Its strange and i know that only something like the Neubie could fix it.

Weight is consistently right under 320 which is nice. Holding steady. A little annoyed as i have an international business trip on the 21st. Flying to Serbia for another commercial. only 5 days but it always fucks my routine and having to get all my meals in is a bitch. Its actually easier when im dieting as almonds, shakes and rice cakes for 6 meals can work. But not when youre eating 6k a day.

Just chatted with Justin about how/wtf my plan this year. I mentioned it above, this little Greece trip with my family is fucking it all up. I would never put BBing in front of my wife and fam but ugh haha. The goal was always to start prep in august and then ride right into a show and maybe Masters USAs. But a trip smack dab in the middle of September is ruining. I basically told Justin we could 3 things.
1. Start prep when i get back meaning its only a 12 week sprint to a show
2. Prep starts when i get back and do a show maybe Jan/Feb (downside, NO other shows aroudn that time, no national level ones)
3. Ride it out, maybe mini diet later this year and basically wait till 2025 spring to do a show and then head into a national level show.
NONE of these are great options lol

Why not start prep as planned, take a low/de-load period while in Greece and then come back and hit the ground running?

As many times as I’ve tried, I’ve yet to have a prep where something with travel doesn’t comes up.

Either way you’re going to come in solid.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

Why not start prep as planned, take a low/de-load period while in Greece and then come back and hit the ground running?

As many times as I’ve tried, I’ve yet to have a prep where something with travel doesn’t comes up.

Either way you’re going to come in solid.

I liiike the idea and was truly thinking about that. But this vaca isn’t reallly a hangout at one spot chill vaca. We’re going to London, then Crete, then Santorini then Athens, then back to London. Lots of moving around. Very little time for me to keep a decent lifting/cardio routine in. Even bringing gear is gonna take some planning lol

If it was a vaca to like Mexico where we were in one spot for like 10-14 days, I know I would just keep a decent training/cardio plan in and just easeeee up a bit. Deload-esque. But with the insane planning of this trip (blame the wife) and knowing how ON PLAN I kinda stay during prep, it would almost be impossible. I think it’s almost guaranteed I come back about 10lbs lighter just from all the walking and deflated a bit with less food volume and cals. I think it’ll be touuugh to live like a BBer on this vaca. What I can do is train when I do find a gym and basically travel with extra food. Eat 4-5 meals a day and add 50-70g of protein shake to each of those meals.

 

[TheOtherOne55]

GLUTES/HAMS
Seated leg curl - 4x12
Lying leg curl -3x10
Abductor machine -3x20 then RP set
SS
Rounded back hypers - 3x10
Glute ham raises - 3x15
Leg press - 3x20 then triple drop set
Leg extensions - Muscle Round set

I’m on Serbian time now. Looong flight to Istanbul then to Belgrade. Regardless of seat, it’s tough for me to sleep ona flight. I fly business but I’m just bigger than the seat so lying down WITH my cpap is miserable. I get maybe 2 hrs of sleep on that 12hr flight. But found a 24hr gym about a 20 min walk from the hotel. Not a lot of equipment but enough to make it work. Gonna have some very early workouts before I’m on set all day. And food is ok. Brought 10lbs of chicken pound with me plus protein powder, almonds and brought a small rice cooker in my bag lol I’m prepared.

Just ate some cereal post workout, making rice and thawing chicken before I go to wardrobe for like 6 hrs. Long day but a high day so I neeeed food to get me thru it. The life of a professional…who happens to bodybuild lol