I was reading through my first precontest journal and was rather impressed with how much stronger I am now doing nearly 20 pounds more on most big exercises.

New pictures will be taken next Monday following a joyous body hair removal session.

I will be adding some ActivaTe and Anagen next week and move up to 3 days of cardio then.

I have started training a little heavier this week, lifting in the 6-8 range. I hit a few poses after my chest and bicep workout today and felts AWESOME!! My conditioning is coming along very well as striations continue to become more prevalent. Chest striations showed through today a little.

Progress pictures are getting taken Monday and I'm excited!

11 WEEKS OUT

I have gotten used to being a little hungry between meals and have learned to kind of embrace it as a sign of my getting leaner. I am feeling leaner and maintaining my strength nicely. I have been feeling rather muscular due to improved hardness....that is until I saw Miguel Neil in the gym today. He won the middleweight class at the Team Universe and is doing the Arnold Amateur as a light-heavy. Dude is looking HUGE! Oh well, some day...one step at a time and first things first!

This past week I began lifting a little heavier now in the 6-8 range with quite a few new exercises. I progressively lift heavier as the show nears to hang onto muscle size and I find it easier to do fewer reps when calories are restricted.

I will be taking a day off on Tuesday (1/16) as I missed an off day due to trouble fitting everything into busy gym schedule. I have now begun scheduling my own training. If I am in a hurry I superset as shown below. Wow, after typing this I noticed I was in a hurry nearly every day.....such is life.

1/8
Deadlifts 405 x 10 x 7
Wide-Grip Pulldowns 190 x 9 x 8
1-Arm DB Rows 115 x 9 x 9
Seated Cable Rows 180 x 9 x 8
Standing Machine Shrugs 390 x 8 x 8
Rear Delt Machine 110 x 8 x 8

1/9
Military Press 180 x 9 x 9 x 8
A1- DB Lateral Raises 42.5 x 10 x 9
A2- Dip Machine 310 x 11, 320 x 10
B1- Modified DB Extensions 52.5 x 9 x 9
B2- Donkey Calve Raises 360 x 12 x 10 x 10 w/ calve torture after
Cable Pushdowns 160 x 10 x 7


1/10
23 minute jog at 6.2 mph pace

1/11
Squats 335 x 7 x 6 x 5
High Stance Leg Press 630 x 9, 650 x 7
A1- Leg Extensions 180 x 9, 190 x 8
A2- Standing Single Leg Curls 60 x 9, 65 x 8

1/12
A1- Incline Benchpress 215 x 8 x 6
A2- Barbell Curls 105 x 7 x 6
B1- Flat DB Presses 85 x 9, 90 x 7 x 7
B2- Cross-Chest Hammer DB Curls 40 x 9, 42.5 x 7
C1- Decline Benchpress 225 x 8 x 8
C2- Reverse EZ Bar Curls 85 x 9 x 8
Behind-Back Bar Wrist Curls 105 x 11, 110 x 9

1/13
A1- Donkey Calve Raises 370 x 11, 380 x 8, 380 x 8
A2- Weighted Decline Crunches 25 x 20, 30 x 16
A2- Twisting Crunches NW x 15
B1- Standing Calve Machine 200 x 9, 200 x 9 - drop set to 160 x 7
B2- Weighted Seated Leg Tucks 25 x 18, 25 x 15
---- 25 minutes moderate pace on elliptical

1/14
Deadlifts 415 x 9, 425 x 5
Close-Grip Pulldowns 210 x 7 x 6
Close-Grip T-Bar Rows 115 x 9, 120 x 7 x 7
Angled Hammer Pulldowns 135 x 7 x 7
A1- Seated DB Shrugs 100 x 11, 105 x 8
A2- Bent-Over DB Lateral Raises 30 x 8 x 8

DIET
Second week at ~3200 calories and right on point. I slammed about 6 FAT pieces of pizza on Monday, drowning my sorrows in food as I watched the Buckeyes get toasted in the national championship game. Oh well, the pizza was GOOD.

SUPPLEMENTS
Same. I have ordered some ActivaTe and Anagen, which I will be adding to preserve muscle size, handle stress and improve hardness.

OTHER
I shaved my legs and arms today. 2 hours later....what a pain in the ass even with using clippers first. Boy does it make a difference in terms of seeing my definition.

Picture taking day is tomorrow at 10 weeks out!!

178 LBS - Down 2 more!

I am feeling great right now. I am going to be smashing my arms, hammies and calves as hard as possible over the next 10 weeks.

Here are some pics I took yesterday. I haven't started practicing posing yet, so there is some room for improvement here. I start in 2 weeks practiing regularly.

...Front Relaxed

Side Relaxed

Back Relaxed

Front Double Bi

Front Lat Spread.... I look like I can fly

Side Chest

Side Tricep....need to drop my shoulder a tad.

Back Double Bi

Looking absolutely incredible. Every new series of pictures you are looking bigger and bigger. You have some great lat, chest, and quad development almost over powering the arms but they look good too.

Back Lat Spread...my fav!

Blurry Ab & Thigh Serratus and obliques are peeking through though!

Most Muscular....need to flex abs here!

cant wait to head out to your shows rich. i hate you and your quads though

yea man, your quads......wtf......ill steal those wheels. crazy man. I dont even wanna look in the mirror or take pix of myself after seeing your pix u ass.

But anyway, good job bro and bry and i will be rooting you on, im sure you got this comp in LOCK !!

Thanks guyz. I squat and squat hard.

These shows are no cake walk. The Northern Kentucky had about 240 competitors last year with 9 welters and is a non-test national qualifier. The Natural Ohio had over 130 competitors with 10 welters and is a Team Universe qualifier. I have to train and diet my ass off!