Well, I am three weeks out from the end of year two of my bodybuilding journey and If I have learned one thing it is to trust my instincts more than trainers in magazines. This year was not as successful as I had hoped and it is probably because I thought too far ahead. The problem with long range planning is that you can sometimes feel obligated to follow it even when it is not working so well.
The other thing I have learned is the value of consistent nutrition and nutrition planning. Skipping a meal or not eating clean can be more detrimental than missing a workout. Right now, I have three weeks of an extreme cut diet of 2000 calories a day with no, I repeat NO cheating. This going to be tough. Life has a way of throwing temptations in your face as fast as or faster than you can manage.
I now am aware that my body reacts far better to high volume than high weight but having the weight be as high as possible for that volume is very important. I also am very aware of my goal to look good year round. That has cause me to look around and see if there is way to change things up constantly and have a diet that gives both growth and keeps the fat monster at bay at the same time. I think I have an answer.
1) My training is going to be constantly changing from week to week. There is a little pattern to it but the idea is to be different every time I hit the body shop. I am following a six week cycle.
a) Week 1 - Strength and Power 5x5
b) Week 2 - Mass Building 4x8
c) Week 3 - Mass Building 4x10
d) Week 4 - Mass Building 4x12
e) Week 5 - Mass Building 4x15
f) Week 6 - Cutting - 3x25: Double Cardio
I want to repeat this two time and then have a reset week. There is also the fact I want about 20 sets each workout. That means four to six exercises per body part depending on the week. The sole exception will be Strength Weeks where there will be one exercise for building strength and another based on building power. After going through this cycle twice -- reset week. I think with this I can have consistency but variety as well as flexibility when I sense something is not working.
2) Nutrition will be another matter, Week 1 and the reset weeks will be a free for all. Clean but eat a lot. Weeks 2-5 I am going to carb cycle. On high carb day which will coincide with leg day, one medium carb day which is also back day and the rest low carb with everything else. Cut week will be all low carb.
3) Other things include a simple but changing training split, a commitment to regular cardio with double during cut week. Changing exercises and exercise order every cycle will help too. During mass building I want to pyramid up as well and use other advanced techniques when I can like partial reps, failure, and rest pause.
4) Supplements - simple, basic but effective. If it does not work in a couple cycles -- it gets dumped.
The focus for this year is to gain mass but stay lean. I am not going to focus on a particular body part this year. I want mass all over and then next year I can see what needs fixing.
5) I am going to try to do something with this loose skin of mine and get more acquainted with the skin care side of this business next year. Tanning and all that.
Three more weeks. August 15th is coming soon.
Some suggestions...I think something that could be hurting your leanness is cardio. Personally I feel that sprinting is a better cardio idea, but not intense sprinting. Set up two cones about 40 yards apart. Go down and back running at like 85% then walk down and back then sprint again. Do it for 15 minutes 3 times a week. I believe it can cut down on cardio time and days, but lead to a more lean body. Plus get 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down each day thats 10 min each training day plus 45 mins of sprinting each week. This is a new idea I kind of came up with.
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