First Bodybuilding Show Training Diary Week 3 and 4

It's been pretty busy with the holidays and moving so I wasn't able to post last week so I'll make sure to include both weeks in this one. The past couple of weeks have been up and down. It always seems difficult to keep your focus when your show is still so far out but you have to find it in yourself to suck it up and get done what needs to be done.

Week 3:

I've kept my workouts, supplements and diet the same the past two weeks and I have been able to put on some size since then.

Sunday:
Weight 184.6 lbs
Calories consumed - 2778
Rest day

Monday:
Weight 185.8 lbs
Calories consumed 2732
Workout - Hamstrings, Calves and Lower Back
Dead lift
10 reps x 3 sets
Stiffed Legged Dead lift
10 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 2
10 x 1
Single Leg Curl
10 x 1
8 x 2
10 x 1
Calf Press (Sled)
20 x 4

Today's day was more difficult than normal. My lower back was killing me through this workout. I was having difficulty feeling it in my hamstrings because my back would tire before my legs would. I skipped back extensions due to the fact that my lower back seems to be fatigued enough for the day. The fact that I was moving all day may have been the reason.

Tuesday:
Weight 182.6 lbs
Calories consumed 2963
Workout - Shoulders, Triceps and Abs
DB Overhead Press
20 x 1 (warm up)
10 x 1
6 x 1
5 x 1
9 x 1
Bent over laterals
12 x 3
Front Cable Raise
10 x 3
Standing DB Lateral
10 x 3
DB Shrugs
15 x 3
Close Grip Bench
15 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 2
Tricep Dip Machine
15 x 1
8 x 2
15 x 1
Cable Kickbacks
10 x 3 (no rest between sets)
Hammer Strength Crunch
15 x 3
DB Side Bend
15 x 2
Bicycle Crunch
100 x 1

I got a decent workout in today. My teres major/minor began to bother me during my shoulder exercises and would give out before my delts did. I'm not really happy with close grip bench. It seems to put alot of strain on my wrists and I don't really feel it as much in my triceps as I would like so I may switch out this exercise in the future.

Wednesday:
Weight 182.4 lbs
Calories consumed (it's new years eve so tracking what I ate and drank when I went out wasn't happening)
Workout - Back
Pull Ups
10 x 3
Partial Dead Lift
15 x 1
12 x 1
8 x 1
8/4 x 1 (drop set)
T Bar Row
15 x 1
12 x 1
8 x 1
6 x 1

I completely lost my focus and decided I should probably leave rather than risk injuring myself by not paying attention or getting a terrible workout in. I'm going to run some errands and see if I can get refocused later on today.

Lat pulls
12 x 3
Cable rows
15 x 1
12 x 1
8 x 1
6 x 1
12 x 1
DB Pullovers
15 x 3

Although I came back and finished up, it was definitely one of my worst workouts in a long time.

Thursday:
Weight 182 lbs
Calories consumed 3582
Rest Day

I really need to learn that drinking and training don't mix. My hands, feet and joints all feel swollen today after a long night of binge drinking for New Years.

Friday:
Weight 1888 lbs
Calories consumed 3044
Workout - Quads, Glutes and Calves
Hack Squat
12 x 1
12 x 1
8 x 1
6 x 1
15 x 1
Smith Machine Squats
10 x 1
10 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 1
Walking Lunges
10 x 3
Single Leg Extensions
10 x 1
10 x 1
6/5/5 x 1 (drop sets)
Calf Raises
20 x 3
13 x 3

My knees were tight due to excess fluid in my joints from Wednesday night still. I got a great workout in and felt an incredible pump in my quads. This is the first workout this week where I remained focused and intense throughout the entire workout. I increased my weights lifted on every exercise over last week.

Saturday:
Weight 187.2 lbs
Calories consumed
Workout - Chest, Biceps and Abs
Inc DB Bench
20 x 1
13 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 1
5 x 1
10/2 x 1 (forced reps)
Hammer Strength Dec Bench
12 x 1
4/4 x 1 (went too heavy to get good form so dropped weight and finished set)
5 x 1
10 x 1
Bench Press
6/4/5 x 1
6/3/4 x 1
4/3/4 x 1 (every set was done as a drop set to failure)
Pec Dec Flyes
18 x 1
13 x 1
12 x 1
Barbell curls
10 x 1
6 x 1
6 x 1
10 x 1
One arm preacher
10 x 3
Inc DB Curls
8 x 3
DB pullovers
15 x 3
Cable Crunch
20 x 3

I tweaked something in my right shoulder/lat today. It had no effect on my workout so hopefully the rest day tomorrow will help it heal. I got a great pump and increased my weights on every exercise over last week. My lower abs felt as if they were going to cramp so I had to cut that part of my workout short.

My measurements on 1/3/08 are as follows:

Body fat (didn't get it checked this week)
Lean body mass

Chest 44.5
Shoulders 51.5
R Bicep 17.1
L Bicep 17.1
Waist 31.75
R Quad 25.1
L Quad 24.75
R Calf 16.1
L Calf 15.75

I'm not too happy with this weeks workouts due to my inability to focus the first half of the week as well as it being New Years this week. I drank alot more than normal this week. I keep telling myself that I'm still far enough out that I can make up for drinking.

Week 4:

Sunday:
Weight 185 lbs
Calories consumed
Rest day

Monday:
Weight 186 lbs
Calories consumed 2360
Workout - Hamstrings, Calves and Lower Back
Stiffed Legged Dead lift
15 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 2
10 x 1
Single Leg Curl
10 x 1
8 x 2
Lying Leg Curl
10 x 1
8 x 2
Calf Press (Sled)
20 x 1
15 x 2
12 x 1

My lower back got pretty sore early in this workout. Once again I couldn't really tell how well I hit my hamstrings because my the lactic acid build up in my lower back made it give out before my hamstrings. I have yet to have a hamstring workout where I felt I pushed myself as much as I'd like to.

Tuesday:
Weight 184.4 lbs
Calories consumed 2866
Workout - Shoulders, Triceps and Abs
DB Overhead Press
18 x 1 (warm up)
10 x 1
6 x 1
5 x 1
5 x 1
Bent over laterals
15 x 2
12 x 1
Front Cable Raise
10 x 3
Standing DB Lateral
10 x 3
DB Shrugs
15 x 3
Close Grip Bench
15 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 1
6/6 x 1 (drop set)
Tricep Dip Machine
8 x 1
10 x 2
8/6/10 x 1 (drop sets)
Cable Kickbacks
15 x 2
10 x 1 (no rest between sets)
Hammer Strength Crunch
15 x 3
DB Side Bend
15 x 3
Bicycle Crunch
100 x 1

I felt as if I wasn't into the workout mentally during the first half of the session. The injury to my right shoulder/lat from last week also made it difficult and affected my range of motion today. My triceps got a good pump once I found my focus.

Wednesday:
Weight 185.6 lbs
Calories consumed 2860
Workout - Back
Pull Ups
10 x 3
Partial Dead Lift
15 x 1
12 x 1
8 x 1
3 x 1
DB Row
15 x 1
10 x 1
8 x 2
Cable rows
12 x 1
6 x 1
6 x 1
12 x 1
Lat pulls
10 x 3

That was another terrible workout today. The injury to my right lat made pull up pretty painful today and my lower back is still very sore from Monday's workout. I felt as if I rushed through the workout just to get out of there asap since I ran into someone I was hoping I didn't. I'm pretty annoyed with myself for allowing someone to mess up my training.

Thursday:
Weight 183.8 lbs
Calories consumed 3586
Rest Day

Friday:
Weight 186 lbs
Calories consumed 2700
Workout - Quads, Glutes and Calves
Hack Squat
15 x 2
12 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 2
7/7/7 x 1 (drop set)
Leg Press
12 x 1
10 x 1
6 x 1
6 x 1
Walking Lunges
10 x 3
Single Leg Extensions
10 x 1
10 x 1
10 x 1
Calf Raises
25 x 2
20 x 2

Since my lower back is still sore I decided to do leg press over squats today. My intensity and tempo were great today and I pushed heavier weights this week on every set. My quads actually began cramping on me once I got home after laying down for a bit. I couldn't get up to walk without looking like an old man since I couldn 't stand up straight:)

Saturday:
Weight 186 lbs
Calories consumed -
Workout - Chest, Biceps and Abs
Inc DB Bench
20 x 1
10 x 1
10 x 1
4 x 1
5 x 1
Bench Press
10 x 1
5 x 1
3/5/8 x 1 (drop set)
Hammer Strength Dec Bench
10 x 1
10 x 1
15 x 1
Barbell curls
10 x 1
10 x 1
7 x 1
6 x 1
8 x 1
One arm preacher
8 x 3
Inc DB Curls
8 x 1
6/4 x 2 (drop sets)
Hammer Strength Crunch
15 x 3
DB Side Bend
15 x 3

I got a terrible nights sleep and woke up with a headache today. I felt exhausted most of this workout and my injured lat made some exercises more difficult than normal. I skipped DB pullovers because of it. I felt more into the workout by the time I got to biceps.

My measurements on 1/12/08 are as follows:

Body fat 6.7%
Lean body mass 176.71lbs

Chest 44.75
Shoulders 51.5
R Bicep 17.25
L Bicep 17.25
Waist 31.5
R Quad 25.1
L Quad 24.75
R Calf 16.1
L Calf 15.75

That was a terrible 2 weeks of workouts but I still got done what needed to be and still increased my lean muscle mass which, at this point, is more important to me than my body fat. I also made some gains in my chest and arms over the last 2 weeks. I still haven't fully committed myself mentally to the idea of doing bodybuilding. I think this as well as some personal stress is causing my lack of focus so often lately.

For the upcoming week, I am going to stick with the same diet and workout. This will probably be the last week I do this workout and then I'm going to switch it up to shock my muscles into hopefully growing some more. I'm also going to begin posing this week up to the show. I will practice with my coaches for at least an hour a week and also do some additional posing on my own after my workouts. I've never done it before so this should be interesting. It should help shape my muscles some more and allow me to get deeper muscle separation in preparation for this show.

See ya next week!