Journey Back to The Stage

Steedie

Steedie

Steedie

Man of Honour
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
21,618
Location
Oxfordshire
Sub forum christening time!

So, as some of you know, I competed in 2011 in the BNBF Welsh qualifiers. It was an...eye opening experience, and an experience I have both good and bad memories. Good in that I got in to the best shape of my life, got on stage, had a blast and learned a lot on the way. Bad in that I made a lot of mistakes, didn't get in to the shape that I needed too to break the qualifying spots and wasn't happy with how I looked.

And then, I decided to compete this year, which didn't happen. As I knew I wouldn't be happy with how I looked again, I would have been in much better shape and a bit bigger, but in my eyes, not big enough for me to be happy.

Now, I'm working on having a solid off season, with the aim of competing in 2014, possibly as late as 2015, but either way I'm going to make sure I'm happy before I step on stage again

So the off season started in June...

Current split is:

Monday: Back Thickness/Hamstrings/Calves
Tuesday: Chest/Arms
Thursday: Quads/Calves
Friday: Back Width/Shoulders

Reason for two back days? Well my back is one area I really want to improve, and I always find trying to hit both areas in one session means one will suffer, so by splitting it into two days I really get to hammer it, and I'm noticing a lot of improvements, mainly in strength from doing it this way.

Current diet is a split of:

280/450/110

Protein is a bit higher than I'd normally like it too be, but that's mainly just because I don't want to go too much higher in carbs, and don't fancy having too much more fat, so just filling calories with protein instead

Will get some pics up later
 
So steedie, when are you next planning on competing, 2013 or are you gonna use the year and get really prepaared for 2014?
 
Freefaller said:
Got an example of your diet? Looks like a good split of macros for what you're hoping to achieve with your supplementation too. :)
Click to expand...

It depends, it's usually pretty similar day to day but I try and vary it. But typically it would look something like...

Meal 1:
3 egg omelette
80g oats with 30g whey, a handful of blueberries, a banana with almond milk
Half a red grapefruit and a couple of slices of fresh pineapple
Probiotic yoghurt

Meal 2:
60g brown rice, 100g chicken, 150g raw spinach, 1tbsp good oil

Meal 3:
60g brown rice, 170g white fish, 150g raw spinach, 1tbsp good oil

Meal 4:
60g brown rice, 100g chicken, 150g raw spinach, 1tbsp good oil

Meal 5:
Jacket potato with 170g white fish

Meal 6:
4-6oz steak, 200g sweet potato

Meal 7:
USN Pure

The variation comes from some days using gluten free pasta if I'm sick of rice, throwing in salmon fillets instead of white fish and some days I'll eat a 50g bag of almonds as a snack instead of using good oil on my meals for fat. So not a huge amount of variation, but it's enough to break it up sometimes. But I enjoy sticking to the same diet, it helps me feel like I'm in a routine, I tried eating a few different meals every day but it just felt like I wasn't really "dieting", just felt like I was eating what I want

The macros might be more than what I posted in that above example, some days that happens, it totally depends. As long as I'm hitting those numbers minimum, I'm not too fussed if it goes over slightly or even a bit. Off season baby ;)

Morba said:
2 hours and no pics?
Like a gay man in pink spandex in G.A.Y : I'm out!
Click to expand...

Haha, I'm still not keeping food down, so haven't eaten really all weekend and haven't managed the gym all week so look like poo, will wait until I'm better so I can get some decent ones
 
Well, back in the gym after last week off

Monday: Back Thickness/Hamstrings

Deadlifts - 60kg x15, 110kg x12, 140kg x10, 170kg x3 (felt weak here, maybe from the week off), 110kg x8
Seated Row Lever Machine - 40kg x10, 45kg x10, 50kg x8
Bent Over Row - 60kg x12, 80kg x10, 100kg x8
One Arm Row - 28kg x10 x3
Leg Press High Footing - 250kg x15, 300kg x15, 350kg x15, 350kg x10
SLDL - 60kg x10 x3
Hamstring Curls - 25kg x20, 30kg x12 x3

Tuesday: Chest/Arms

Incline Bench Press - Bar x15, 80kg x10, 85kg x8, 85kg x9, 85kg x10 (pause press)
Low Incline One Arm DB Press - 22kg x10, 24kg x12, 24kg x8
Pec Deck - 50kg x15, 55kg x15, 70kg x10
Weighted Dips - BW+10kg x15, BW+10kg x14, BW+15kg x12, BW x8
Incline DB Curls - 12kg x15x3
Cable Curls - 30kg x10, 35kg x15x2
21s x3
Cable Pushdowns - 25kg x15, 30kg x12, 35kg x10x2
Skull Crushers - 20kg x15x3
Ladders - BWx10x3
 
Thursday: Quads

Leg Extension (2 second pause at the top) - 45kg x15, 50kg x15, 55kg x15
Squats (Smith) - 70kg x15, 100kg x10, 110kg x8, 120kg x6 (failed :(), 110kg x8
Leg Press Single Leg - 150kg x10 x3, 170kg x10 x3
Front Squats - 60kg x10, 70kg x10, 80kg x10
Walking Lunges - BW x20, 20kg x20x2

Hamstrings were absolutely fried still after Monday, so it made this extremely difficult :( squatting especially, even on the smith (had too :( no rack) I struggled, just found it difficult to power up as my hamstrings would just feel so sore. So after I realised that wasn't happening, I just went with more volume instead. 6 sets on each leg for leg press was brutal, felt like I was ready to barf by the end.

Which proved to be a great idea, as come the end of lunges, I could barely move. Had to sit on a bench for a good 5 minutes before I could find the energy to walk to the changing rooms

Was meant to do calves after but there was no chance I would have had the energy to give them the crushing they need, so will do them tonight
 
Last edited:
Yeah it's an amazing exercise. Up until April, I trained at a different gym that only had one of the horizontal leg press machines, so the movement isn't that great, and it can make your back feel uncomfortable.

This gym though, it's one of these:

sQ5Lu.jpg

So it's a much nicer movement, allows you to go much deeper, and best of all, pile the weight on. Not that the weight I pile on is that impressive given some of the guys in that gym. Think I can do 400kg for a good set. Some guys in there do 500kg+ for fun
 
Weight on the leg press means nothing really, it doesn't translate into any other lift. Seen guys stacking the leg press but only able to partial squat 120.
 
Yeah that's what always puzzles me, guy last night for example, did about 550, decent ROM too, yet every other lift, I far exceed the weight he's lifting, so it always makes me think I'm doing something wrong with that, but glad you agree
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom