3 Weeks Out From NABBA North Britain Training Journal Recap

I’ve opened with this line before but… DAMN. 3 weeks out from the NABBA North Britain now, I seriously can’t believe how quick its came round. Things are shaping up and coming together good. Im not happy with how im looking this close to the show, but even if i was at 4% body fat i think i’d still be saying I was too fat (I wish i was 4% body fat). Let’s take a look at what i’ve been up to this past week in my 3 week out recap.

Training

So Monday I had an awesome heavy leg session on the morning, and high volume shoulder workout on the evening. As many of you know, I train in 2 gyms, due to my work schedule. Well this past Monday I had the day to myself, as I stayed up late Sunday night to watch Wresltemania XXX (that triple X looks so saucy), which i’ll speak about later in this recap.So I never got to bed till around 4.20 am Monday morning, and woke up 9.15ish Monday morning. It was a high carb day. It was a good day. I started off with 30 minutes fast walking on the treadmill, and followed this up with breakfast. I’ve actually done a full day’s worth of eating for that day, which you can check out in the video below (do it – do it NOWWWW). I then trained heavy legs around mid day, following a large breakfast.

My Leg Workout Was

Lying Hamstring Curls 5 sets 8-15
Standing Alternate Hamstring Curls 5 sets 8-12
Hack Squat 5 sets 6-15
Leg Press 4 sets 8-12
Walking Lunges till failure

My plan was to get a nap in on the afternoon due to a lack of sleep on the Sunday, and because I was feeling fubar after legs, but things didn’t pan out like that. I was pretty busy all day, so only had time to get 2 more meals before training high volume shoulders and abs on the evening.

Wrestlemania Hangover

Tuesday I was feeling the effects of Sunday & Monday’s lack of rest. I trained high volume biceps on the afternoon, and heavy chest on the evening. Baring in mind the past couple of weeks i’ve been working my way to incline dumbbell presses upwards of 40kg, this past week I started on 30kg for 15 reps, and stuck on that weight, finishing off the exercise with just 8 reps. I felt so fatigued and tired. I can only couple this to a low carb day on Sunday (200g) along with lack of sleep. Onwards and upwards however!

Wednesday I would usually train high volume back  in the afternoon, and heavy triceps on the evening. However this week I was unable to train them separately, and I trained them both together on the evening, like I used to until a few months ago. All in all a good workout.

Thursday was heavy shoulders and high volume legs. Before I started training twice a day, I would train with Martin, another competitior, 6 times a week. He really took me under his wing when I changed gyms, and has more experience in competing than me, as he’s been doing this for around 5 or 6 years. For the past few weeks our training together has been hit and miss with me training on afternoons and evenings, as such we’ve not trained legs together for quite a few weeks. This past Thursday however we trained high volume legs together, and man did I feel phucked Thursday night. NO matter how intense or how hard you train by yourself, when you physically fail, or fatigue you’re done.When you’ve got a training partner you’ve got someone to help you force a few extra reps out. Awesome workout, and the rest of the evening was a write off. All in all, a good night.

Diet

Nothing new to report here really, im still carb cycling with the usual 450/375/300, however as mentioned in last weeks recap i’ve been adding in a 200g carb day on the Sunday, as to not ‘waste’ a high carb day on a non lifting day. Food choices have been the same, and meals have been the same. I mentioned last week about changing up my carb timings slightly, and i’ve stuck with that this week. In regards to my diet, the only thing i’ve changed this week is adding spinach to my pre bed casein shake. Pop-eye got big and strong from it, so why can’t Shreddybrek? Seriously though there are some great health benefits associated with spinach which you can read more about by clicking here.

Sugar Rush

Despite my 3 week binge following my USN Novice Finals Show in 2013 I surprisingly don’t have much of a sweet tooth. In fact, I don’t ever really crave or have the desire to eat bad. Where lots of people dream about pizza, mcdonalds, cakes, sweets, when im dieting one of the foods I miss most is oats (I am gluten free during competition prep). Im quite partial to a pasta bake, which is also off the menu, however by many would be considered a ‘healthy meal’.

Well this past week, those sugar cravings have started to ramp up. Looking into it, for example this article by Layne Norton touches upon it, when losing weight, leptin levels rise, which causes sugary cravings. This is why so many incorporate re-feed days into their diets. Now a re-feed day, from what I know, is typically more associated with a lower carb intake than what I diet on, and depending upon an individuals body fat, will depend upon the frequency of a re-feed day.

My carbs aren’t really all that low, they average at around 375g, which is around 1.8g of carbs per lb of body weight (give or take a bit). However I am leaning out, and although im having that ‘high carb day’ which is the 450, its not really satisfying any craving. There’s no food in particular I am craving, it’s just weird that I find myself thinking about ‘sweet treat’ types of foods. I also don’t think that matters have been helped by my fiancé getting me the following treats for my post show pig out. I seriously cannot repeat November however. I was looking pretty shredded, and fat gain is always inevitable following a show, and when adding mass.

However I should have easily been able to maintain a low level of body fat, maintain a 6 pack, and add some quality muscle. Instead I added some muscle, but a hell of a lot of fat because I was pigging out on chit every night. This has seriously halted my progress, and I felt like crap after the 2 weeks, and regretted putting all that hard work and 17 weeks of dieting down the toilet, for the sake of pigging out on cherry bakewells, pop tarts and golden syrup every night. Following the NABBA North, I have a show at the body power 2 weeks later, so I know I can’t go too crazy, and I don’t want to go crazy. I talk about my post show training diet & plans in this video

Realistically, the treats I’ve got will last me for both shows. I’ll enjoy myself after pre-judging on May 4th, and me and my girlfriend will go for a meal on the Monday. However i’ll be back on my diet and focusing towards

the Body power which is 2 weeks later, on the Saturday. My plans for the Sunday at body power however is to have a sensible pig out day. I wont go crazy calorie wise, however I will enjoy some of the treats she’s got me (as i love fudge and peanut butter), along with enjoying some oh yeah protein bars. I’ll make sure to hit my protein for the day, i’ll make sure not to over indulge on carbs too much, i’ll treat it as a ‘IIFYM’ day (which is something I never do). I think another thing that has got me going is this site right here.

With food like that, no wonder im craving! Back to show prep though, I believe with me being just 3 weeks out, it will be time to drop carbs again slightly. Whatever I do, i’ll update you guys with in next weeks recap.

Outside Of The Gym

So this week has been pretty eventful. Like I say last Sunday I watched Wrestlemania XXX. A small part of me wanted Triple H to win, just to see the IWC blow up, but Daniel Bryan winning was a ‘feel good moment’ for wrestling fans. Speaking of moments, WTF at the Undertaker losing to Brock Lesnar. The streak is done.

And in more WTF news, The Ultimate Warrior died. Its so strange that seeing him at the Hall Of Fame, Mania and Raw on Monday, to discover he died just days later. Very saddening, and definitely WTF.

Carrying on from my ‘sweet tooth’ craving, i’ve been watching a lot of the Protein Chef on Youtube. His videos are amazing, and are definitely a contributing factor to my sweet tooth craving I think! However to combat this, i’ve posted my own chocolate bodybuilding dessert recipe!

I also received a slew of new samples this week. I’ve received sugar free syrup from The Protein Works, which you can get for cheaper using a The Protein Works Discount Code, along with protein porridge and some samples of their whey protein concentrate. I’ve yet to try the protein porridge, but i’ll be uploading video reviews and written reviews of these supplements in the supplement reviews section. I’ll be getting some new myprotein reviews up of their Hydro Extreme & Beef Protein, neither of which i’ve tried yet as I only received them on Friday. From Sci-MX i’ve also received a box of goodies, but haven’t gotten round to opening these yet, so im not sure what i’ll be reviewing for them as of yet.

 

Although in the gym, i’ve been keeping myself busy this past week watching Toy Hunters when doing cardio. As many of you know Im a geek. I love collecting Pokemon cards, Yugioh Cards, comics, i love Dragonball Z and collecting figures and gaming memorabilia. Toy Hunters is basically that on a tv show. And its awesome. Im quickly running out of episodes to watch, so I’ll start mixing up my viewing for next week. That’s it guys, we’re now 3 weeks out from the NABBA North Britain. Make sure to check out my entire NABBA Training Journal Log, for all my competition prep posts. I hope you’re enjoying the weekly training logs im bringing to you. If you are make sure to leave a comment down below, and of course subscribe to my youtube channel and follow me on Facebook & twitter. You can also subscribe to my newsletter for free to be notified of new recipes, and blog posts.

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