Road to the Stage: WEEKS 16, 17 & 18

BODY WEIGHT AND CURRENT CONDITION

Another 3 weeks are down and we are well into 2016! There is still a long way until show season but I am already getting excited for the shows.

For those that read my last log, they will remember that my weight actually increased to 189.6 last week. I didn’t know exactly why it happened but as I suspected, it was likely a fluke weight of some sort. Well, I figured out what the likely cause of the increase was. In Week 16 I ended up getting sick.

I had a slight fever, sore throat, cough, and runny nose. I should have suspected that this was a possibility because when working with my clients it is EXTREMELY common for me to see their weight increase in the week or days before they get sick. Now this isn’t the only reason for weight increases of course, but this is definitely a tell-tale sign that someone may already have an infection that their body is trying to fight off. Either way, I got sick and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.

Even though I was sick, in week 16 my weight dropped from 189.6 down to 188.3 which is a full 1.3 lbs. loss. Now, this would normally be a little faster than I would like to lose weight, however since I gained last week this likely explains the larger loss on the scale. With that, I decided to keep my plan the same for the coming week.

Weeks 17 AND 18 both saw another solid drop on the scale. In week 17 I ended up losing 1.1 lbs to drop down to 187.2 lbs. and in week 18 I lose 0.9 lbs to drop down to 186.3. With these losses coming so well I am happy to say that I didn’t have to make any cuts to my diet for this update.

It has been a while since I put in some full progress pictures. As I have mentioned in the past, I try to take my progress pictures in somewhat harsher lighting and from an honest angle. As you can see, I am starting to take shape here but there is still a significant amount of fat left that needs to come off. Overall I’m pretty happy with the changes I have been seeing in my upper body. We will just have to see if these hold up as I continue to get leaner.

NUTRITION + CARDIO

As I mentioned above, I didn’t have to make any changes to my plan this week. Below are my current macros. I’m actually very happy with how high my calories are at this stage. My intake has never been this high in previous preps when I hit this body weight.

Protein - 275g
Carbs -250g
Fat - 53.5g

I also have a high calorie day once every 7th day with these macros:

Protein - 250g
Carbs - 485g
Fat - 65g

Here is the timing of my meals. These are subject to change if I need anything adjusted.

Meal 1 (upon waking) - P- 55 C-25 F- 12
Meal 2 (pre-training meal) - P- 55 C- 75 F- 12
Meal 3 (post training shake) - P- 55 C- 40 F- 1
Meal 4 (post training meal) - P- 55 C- 45 F- 8.5
Meal 5 (before bed) - P- 55 C- 65 F- 20

CARDIO

Still no cardio.

TRAINING

In Week 13 I had suffered a small hamstring strain but by Week 16 this had fully healed and I was back to normal training. I am on my last weeks of this current program and here is my final upper body GVT day from this past week. Next log I will detail my next training program.

Hammer Strength Decline Press - 10x10 285 lbs. each set
Standing DB Row - 10x10 95 lb. DBs
DB Lateral - 10x10 35 lb. DBs
Preacher Curl - 10x10 70 lbs.
Cable Pushdown - 10x10 90 lbs.

SUPPLEMENTATION

I have kept my usual supplements the same as listed below.

Core ABC (7 scoops per day)
Core ISO (as needed)
Core PRO (as needed)
Vitamin D (1000 IU daily)
Multivitamin (once daily)
Core Commodities Beta Alanine (1 scoop daily)
Core Commodities Taurine (2 scoops daily)
Core FURY Extreme (as needed but typically one full scoop)
Core PUMP (one scoop before training)
Core HMB (4 grams daily)
Fish Oil (2 capsules daily)
Core Commodities Creatine Mono (5 grams daily)
Core Commodities Glutamine (15 grams daily, primarily taken for immune health)

ADDITIONAL UPDATES AND THOUGHTS

This week I figured I would talk about what I do when I get sick. When most bodybuilders get sick they absolutely panic. They curse the muscle gods for striking them ill as they scream “WHY?!?!” into the heavens! They then hold a funeral for all their gains that will be lost. Okay, I may be exaggerating here, however they still do some dumb things. So what does this lead to? This usually leads to bodybuilders that are sick as hell, dragging their coughing sneezing asses to the gym anyway which is how I probably got sick in the first place! I probably touched the barbell after some guy was coughing all over it when he should have been home.

Another thing that a lot of lifters do is convince themselves that they need copious amounts of calories in order to get well. So they over eat and stuff their face, gaining several pounds. This is not a good thing either.

Here is how I handled it. The first two days I was sick I took time away from the gym. This was when I was at my worst with a fever. By the 3rd day I was feeling much better. I want’ 100% as I still had some congestion. I used this day to slowly get back to the gym. I would say that I trained at only about 50% intensity. The next day I was slightly better so I trained at an estimated 65% intensity. Then the day after I trained at approximately 85% intensity and then normal after that.

For my diet, I didn’t increase my macros but I did increase my intake of fruits and veggies while I was sick. I also increased my glutamine intake by 25 grams daily as it has been shown to improve immune function. Along with this I increased consumption of garlic because it has antiviral properties. Finally, and most importantly, I made sure I got plenty of sleep. You don’t need to do anything drastic when you get sick. Just get rest and give your body what it needs to get better. I promise you won’t lose all your gains and you sure as hell won’t make any progress in the gym while your body is fighting off an infection.

Anyway, thanks for following along with my log! Next one should be coming soon!