joelk

If you take cell-tech hardcore along with all their kic products (Leukic, Gakic, Creakic, Vitakic) you should 8.4% better than Arnold in seven days

Deftones- White pony Down- Over the under

Can't wait to get my hands on a copy, looks awesome. They don't call it a teaser for nothing

Would you be able to prepare meals in advance? Steaming some vegetables and cooking up some tempeh a few days worth at a time wouldn't be too time consuming. Even getting some sprouts in bulk would be quick to eat and can be added to most foods to add some more nutrients. It is pretty difficult to fit it all in around work but it may be better than trying to find someone else to cook for you.

I think if it breaks parallel it is legal. Let us know when you get the 200 bench

Had a very brief workout yesterday as I had to work at my gym in the evening after I finished my other job. A bit of a chest and back workout again- they are my weakest bodyparts so I hit them more frequently. I tried to push my chest hard as I don't think I'll be able to make it to MVS on the weekend due to the Aussie Pro Grand Prix show which I have to attend for work. Even though I bodybuild I'm not all that interested in seeing the top pro bodybuilders, not something I ever wish to try and attain. Anyway I only did a few exercises as I had about 30 mins to train. Dumbell bench press - 20kg x 20 30kg x 8 45kg x 5 x 3 sets Bentover rows on bench - 60kg x 10 x 3 sets - I stand on a bench so I can lower the bar right down. Incline bench press - 115kg x 3 x 3 sets T-bar rows - 85kg x 10 x 3 sets It was short and sharp but I got a good pump out of it. I'll start getting some pics up online here, I just have to work out how to do it! Diet was a bit of a refeed day, I figured I won't get much of a chance to eat on the day of the pro show, just quickly fitting in a lentil burger or a protein shake. Meal 1- Nitrofusion shake, strawberries, flax sprouts, spirulina, glass of spinach, parsley and celery juice Meal 2- 2 packets of vege chips- I could eat them all the time if I didn't stop myself Meal 3- Lentil burger, beetroot, corn, mung bean sprouts Meal 4- Tempeh, beetroot, alfalfa sprouts, quinoa Meal 5- BCAA's, spirulina, no coffee today Meal 6- Seaweed salad, 3 sushi rolls with avocado Meal 7- Spelt pasta, tomato sauce, parmazano vegan parmesan cheese. Another packet of vege chips, 99% cocoa dark chocolate. I will be back on my diet again today but yesterday was fun.

Or go out every weekend and hit the booze and finish it off with a kebab or three

Ha ha ha!!!!

You can PM me mate anytime, I'm always hanging around and can answer any questions- not that I'm an expert yet but will try and help. I think I will try some of MaryStella's training routines when I'm into my diet, it would be a good change.

Your deadlift is huge!

Congratulations on your decision mate. You will find it isn't so difficult, particularly as you get more used to food preparation. I think if you find a few different protein sources you can prepare meals around them, adding in vegetables, some sort of wholegrains which are not going to be too rough on your stomach, etc. I personally use tempeh and lentils as my main protein sources, but do use some veggie burgers, seitan and a whole variety of legumes regularly. Because your exercise regime is mostly cardio based it is probably most important you get enough carbohydrates, so eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and legumes will ensure you get enough carbohydrates to give you energy without needing sweets. Quick meals would be fruits, salad based wraps, maybe with some hummus or tahini for extra protein, nuts, some sort of bar, like raw food bar or a Lara bar or Vega bar, carry around a shaker with some protein powder and add water when you need it. If I think of anymore I'll post them. As for vitamins, I think start just with a multivitamin/multimineral, just to try and reduce any deficiency you may have. I think instead of the fish oil use flax sprouts or hemp seed, something which will also give you some fibre so you don't need a fiber supplement-fruits and vegetables will also reduce the need for that too. I'm guessing you take the glucosamine to deal with joint pain? There are vegan friendly forms of it which you may still want to take but you may find that cutting out the dairy may make your joints feel a lot 'smoother'. Apart from the vitamin/mineral I don't think you need anything else, just make sure your diet is varied and as fresh as possible. Good luck

Great intense workouts you do. They would be great for dieting bodybuilders too, especially the conditioning circuits. Awesome training blog

But as long as people stay away from our cooler bags with our meals and not ask silly questions, we're all pretty tame

Keep us posted mate, looking forward to hear that you did it Good squat mate, now you can get your bench into the 200's

It's true, I get asked about protein all the time, mostly by people who aren't in shape at all. Robert's a tank

I have learnt a lot from this forum in general, there are so many people here with all kinds of interesting knowledge. I think you have a lot to teach me Robert, fitting in all you do and still managing to diet and compete is very impressive.

I've seen it countless times, it always gets me worked up though, so I try not to watch it so much now. I know what happens and try to do something about it, rather than keep subjecting myself to watching the miserable lives of those animals and make myself feel bad. I have shown it to many others too, it touches people more so than most other documentaries I have ever seen. I recommend it for people who are ignorant of the abuse animals face, AR activists probably find it too depressing, unless they need some more motivation.

Yeah it's really nice, then again I have some weird taste buds! The only problem is the others' I train with want to train like bodybuilders and I want to start training more like a powerlifter. To be honest, apart from a few changes I eat like this pre contest, there's nothing to be envious of, it still tastes like diet food for the most part! There are more interesting blogs than mine, you're too kind mate I do enjoy writing out my diet and training though, I at least feel more accountable for what I do, rather than just forgetting like I have been Anyway, yesterday was a day off from training, either way it would have been a struggle because my legs are still very sore. My diet was pretty good, I drop some of the aminos but the rest is similar. Meal 1- Sunwarrior protein, teaspoon of almond, brazil, cashew butter. Glass of parsley, celery and pineapple juice with 10g spirulina. Meal 2- 120g tempeh, mung bean sprouts, tablespoon avocado oil Meal 3- Lebanese herb pizza, just with oregano and some salad in it. 1/2 serve of Nitrofusion Meal 4- Lentil burger, alfalfa sprouts, beetroot, 1/2 avocado Meal 5- Lima bean soup- more like a stew with carrots, celery, onion. Added some dulse flakes to it. 2 chickpea patties Meal 6- Nitrofusion shake with blueberries, spirulina, strawberries, flaxseed sprouts and lots of ice. Kind of like a slurpee but high in protein That was it for the day, glad to have a day out of the gym.

Ha ha manstruating! Now I know the technical term for dieting bodybuilder. Sometimes we need some signs around us warning others we are moody and to beware

I doubt it would protect your hands from getting roughed up by the barbell. I found regular chalk to be helpful, not with gloves though, just got too messy. I didn't like the liquid chalk, regular chalk works better and isn't as sticky

I doubt the VPX one would be vegan, none of their other products have ever been vegan friendly. I think creatine monohydrate powder is still the way to go. The way I take it is 3g before and 3g after training for 4 weeks and then take 2-4 weeks off, seems to work ok for me using it that way. Apart from creatine I also take amino acids, protein powder, b12 lozenges, sometimes some extra zinc and just a multi vitamin when I remember. I take spirulina and sometimes maca powder and ginseng liquid but I don't look at these as bodybuilding supplements, even though they do benefit my training.

Good numbers mate, nearly a bodyweight benchpress

Thanks MaryStella, I've been reading your journal for a while too, you train hard! Keep on posting Last night I trained legs. I trained with another guy at the gym so my workout deviated from the normal a little. The guy I trained with wants to build his legs up more, his upper body is competition ready, he's just very top heavy. I couldn't back squat because my back is still giving me some trouble but the workout was very hard and I'm very sore today. We started with front squats - bar x 12 40kg x 10 80kg x 6 120kg x 6 x 4 sets Vertical leg press - 180kg x 10 x 3 sets - I don't normally do these now, I use the smith machine and lay on the floor and push the bar up with my feet. It's tricky and I need a spotter to stop the hooks from catching. It works well though. Split squats - 65kg x 6 x 5 sets Dumbell leg curls - 30kg x 8 x 4 sets - Again, another exercise that is better having a spotter for, I find it a lot more effective than leg curl machines. Single leg calf raise - 15kg dumbell x 12 x 5 sets Stretched a fair bit after the workout and finally caught my breath, the front squats took it out of me. Yesterday's eating Meal 1 - 2 slices of dark rye bread with chocolate coconut butter (coconut butter with cocoa added) Nitrofusion protein shake Meal 2 - 120g tempeh, mung bean sprouts, beetroot Meal 3 - 2 spinach and onion 'pastries' - my mother in law made them, they are like the spinach and cheese pies but she makes some without cheese so I can eat them. Meal 4 - Lentil burger with salad, 1/2 avocado, 25g almonds Meal 5 - Pre workout - Double espresso shot, 15g BCAA, 15g spirulina, no creatine (taking a couple of weeks off) Meal 6 - Post workout - Nitrofusion protein shake, electrolyte tablet, blueberries. Meal 7 - 3 chickpea patties (were very small), arame leaves, alfalfa sprouts, 50g brown rice. Ate a little bit of dark chocolate after dinner.

I use the powder. There are a few vegan powders, it is much easier to take big amounts that way, rather than using capsules. Yeah, the tofu! I never really eat it any other time apart from the closing stages of a diet. Not long to go for you now mate, I wish all you guys competing a smooth preparation.

To be honest, I don't count calories as much as i should in the offseason. I try to just eat more fresh foods, like juices, vegetables and beans, which I tend to omit during contest preparation. Generally though, I still keeps my carbohydrates lower during the week and have a refeed on the weekend but I don't drop them so low that I'm bordering on ketosis. Protein levels stay pretty consistent all year round, near enough to the 200g per day. My fats are lower in the off season because my carbohydrates are higher and also because I'm less active in terms of aerobic exercise. Like I wrote in my opening post, this log should help me become more regimented with my off season diet and keep more of a track of what I eat. To answer whether I bulk/cut, my weight doesn't get too out of control in the offseason. I'm sitting at about 87-88kg at the moment and I aim to compete about 80kg