***4th Place BNBF British Finals***Moved to Progress Journal Section***

Last year I competed as a Junior at the BNBF Scottish championships and took 2nd place.  This was my second contest of last year and was very pleased with my placing.  Since then I have been bulking and adding as much good quality size as a possibly can. 

Now I'm getting ready for my second year of competing and going back to the Scottish Championships to win the Junior title and go on to compete well at the British. 

With the nutritional guidance of James Coullier I will be embarking on a 16week pre contest plan and competing on the 7th of June.  My BF is estimated to be around 15% and my current weight is ruffly 89kg.  During my bulk I think I have gained around 5kg in lean muscle mass.  I look forward to hearing peoples comments and views.

DAY 1

For the past 12 weeks or so I have trained heavy with low rep range.  With this have changed slightly for the next 4weeks to a higher rep range and a lower weight with a 1minute 30sec rest time between each set.  There will be 4 exercises for major muscle groups and 3 for minor with 4sets in each.

Today I trained Chest and Biceps

Flat Bench
Incline Dumbel Bench
Flat Bench Flys
Cable crossovers

Cable EZ curls
Dumbell Curls
Hammer curls

My diet will be as follows:

Wake - 30g whey in water
           40min low intensity cardio
Meal 1 - 8 egg white + 2 yolk omelette
           40g porridge + 150ml skimmed milk + 1/2 tbls dried fruit + 1/2 tbls flaxseeds + 200ml Fruit Juice
Meal 2 - Pre workout 20g whey in water
            1 Oatcake
Meal 3 - Post workout 1 Serving Extreme Nutrition Build and Recover + 20g Whey + 20g Maltodextrin +
            5 Glutamine capsules
Meal 4 - 100g chicken Breast/Lean Red Meat + 30g Basmatic rice/wholemeal pasta/2boiled new                       pots/small sweet pot + loads of Veg
Meal 5 - 80g chicken breast + 1/2 tbls sunflower seeds + item of fruit
Meal 6 - 2 slices granary bread + 100g tuna/salmon + low fat natural yoghurt + mixed salad + 1/2 tbls             flaxseeds
Meal 7 - 20g whey in water
Meal 8 - 200g cottage cheese
    

Good to see you've started your Journal Gogz!

I will read it regularly and offer advice here as well as through email

Good luck, will hopefully be there to give you a shout.

I'll be reading throughout your prep, I love reading and following peoples preperations for shows.

Do you think you can improve on your placing from last year?

Hey Daz

Well last year I lost to the British junior champion so I think I have a good chance.  I certainly dont think al be the biggest guy in my field but if i nail my condition I think I have all the chance of doing better this year.

Well at least the guy that beat you deserved it then. Well you'll have plenty of people on MT following you so don't let us down lol.
You got a pic, or is it staying under wraps until show time?

Al hopefully be posting some pics tonight or tomorrow.

Week by week progess, good for my own motivation too.

Day 2

My second day of my contest prep.  Woke up around 9.00am quickly downed my whey in water and headed down to the gym for my morning cardio.  Did 40minutes at 6.5km/h with a 3.0 gradient. Nothing to challenging just enough to raise the heart rate.

Had breakfast when I got home and then headed back to the gym again for my weights session.  I'm definatley sure the gym staff think I'm bonkers :-).

Trained shoulders and traps today:

Dumbell Shoulder Press
Cable lateral raises
Barbell Shrugs
Rear Delt Flys
Front Dumbell Raises

Felt pretty good today not really hungry at all even with lower carbs than usual. I'm sure I wont be sayin that 12weeks down the line. Just finishing off my cottage cheese for now then off to bed soon.

Subscribed.

We sponsor Paul Todd who competes in the BNBF, perhaps you guys have met?

Day 3

Woke up today at 8am had meeting at 2pm so had to try and fit everything in a little earlier.  Pretty tired this morning think the cottage cheese was making me have some funky dreams lol.  Probably felt the most hungry I've felt for a good few months today.  Had a hardcore leg training session so that took alot out of me.  Did my usual 40minute cardio in the morning then back in for my weight training session at around 10am.

Good day I think, even with feeling the hunger didnt stray away once for a cheeky snack.

Trained Legs and Calves:

Barbell Squats
Seated Leg press
Leg Extension
Lunges (only 3 sets just couldnt squeeze out another)

Standing Machine Calve Raises
Seated Leg Press Calf Extensions

First time I had really done a high rep leg day.  Usually I go heavy with short rest periods but today pushed the reps up and the weight down to vary it alittle.  Pretty exhausted afterwards, walking down the stairs from the gym was more than interesting ;-)

Hey JMA,

Unfortunately I dont know him however had a wee browse on the BNBF website at previous shows. Really good showing last year will he be competing this year again?

Gogz87


Hey JMA,

Unfortunately I dont know him however had a wee browse on the BNBF website at previous shows. Really good showing last year will he be competing this year again?

I believe he is.  I will try and find out for certain.

Day 4

Another day another dollar.  Woke up at 9.00am today, had a little bit more sleep last night, got 8.5hrs so didnt feel to0 sleepy.  Downed my protein shake quickly and zipped off to the gym.  40minutes at 6.5km/h with a 3.0 gradient.  Again pretty easy just a little sweat.

Felt pretty hungry after breakfast when I started my weights session.  Did back today with high reps.  Deadlifts were REALLY hard doing 20 at 110kg was exhausting!!!  Hopefully the body will adjust soon.

Just before the gym I was thinking about how your mind just seems to click into gear when you begin a pre contest diet.  If anyone has competed before they can appreciate how hard it is sometimes and the amount of will power it takes.  My mind was trying to get me to have a little bit of fudge at work last night but I resisted.  Hopefully I can keep it going for another 15weeks.

WEIGHT: 91KG

This was done on my scales at home.  Pretty cheap pair so not sure how accurate they are but will give me a general idea of how much I'm losing each week.

Trained Back and Abs today:

Deadlifts
Lateral Pull Down (wide grip)
Seated Cable Rows
Bent over Barbell rows
Hammer Stength Row (2sets)
ABS

Got a long shift ahead of me today, working 3pm until around 2am so wish me luck.

Day 6

Yesterday was pretty hard day.  Unfortunately had to work pretty much all day, from 1pm till around 2am so difficult fitting in food but did pretty well considering.  Took a day off from training yesterday, felt pretty hungry towards the end of the day but groound it out.

Started today the same as everyday.  40 minutes cardio in the morning then my breakfast then hit some hamstrings and triceps.  Not a great training day today, couldnt of been better.  Didnt feel as hungry this morning after my breakfast which was good.  Feeling a little tighter and less 'fluffy'.  Looking forward to the changes over the next coming weeks.

Trained Hamstrings and Triceps:

Stiff Legged Dealifts
Lying Leg Curls
Leg Press (high and Wide)
Seated Leg Curl

Tricep Pushdowns
Tricep Extensions

Off work tomorrow so will get a good day of training and eating.

Day 7

Had a day off from work today.  I was planned to do some HIT cardio today however I'm a little under the weather, hopefully just a quick passing thing!!  Decided to take the day off training and recover. Pretty uneventful day really managed to get all my meals in so from that point of few fine.  Bring on another week!!

Day 8

Woke up this morning at 9.30am, downed my protein shake and headed off to the gym for my cardio.  6.5km/h at a gradient of 3.0, nice and easy really, heart rate wasnt over 120. 

Had another day off work today so managed to split my workouts over the day.  Doing my cardio AM and my weights PM.  Still feeling a little under the weather so the weights session was as intense as usual but got through it.

Not as hungry today as previous days.  Body must be adapting to my lower carb intake.

WEIGHT: 90KG

Trained Chest and Triceps today:

Flat Barbell Bench
Cable Crossovers
Incline Bench
Decline Flys

Single Arm Tricep Pull downs
EZ Skull Crushers
Tricep Rope Extensions

Hopefully I can get rid of this cold ASAP.  Isnt hindering me too much just abit annoying.

Day 9

Pretty Chilly today when I woke up this morning.  Downed my shake at around 8.45am and headed off to the gym for my cardio.  Bumped up the incline a little, did 6.5km/h at 3.5 gradient.  Nothin to difficult just raising the heart rate a little.

Came home and had my breakfast.  Headed off to the gym at about 11am, still have this lingering cold thing. Think its going round work hopefully it'll disappear sometime soon.

Trained Shoulders, Biceps and Abs:

Dumbell Shoulder Press
Cable Lateral Raises
Barbell Front Raises
Dumbell Shrugs
Rear Delt Machine Flys

Dumbell Curls
EZ Concentration Curls
Cable Rope Hammer Curls

Abdominal Workout (3 excersises, 3 sets in each)

Felt good and pumped today.  Looking better in the mirror.  Slight striations in the delts so all is going well.  Would any recommend a 'fat burner' (i use this term lightly) or just keep going without the need?

Day 10

Not a great day today.  The cold has kicked in pretty hard with a good old fashioned blocked nose.  Decided I'd be better taking the day off today and trying to get over it.  Still managing to keep the diet going.  Had a really good day yesterday, followed the diet to the absoulute 'T'.

Hopefully I can get rid of this cold and get cracking with my training.

Day 11

The colds starting to wear off so managed to get to the gym this morning for my cardio.  Then headed down to RGU Sports gym for some back and abs.  Good session today, wasnt feeling totally 100% but ALOT better than yesterday!!

Managed to munch my way through all my food.  Quads are starting to show through with some good definition and my abs are getting better and better.  Good to see all the hard work in the off season was worth it.

Trained Back and Abs:

Deadlifts
Dumbell Row
Lat Pull Down
Seated Cable Row
Assisted Pull Ups

Abdominal Workout (3excersises 3sets)

Day 13

Been very busy over the past two days with work, so haven't quite found the time to keep things upto date.  Had a really good few days.  Managed to fit in all my training and ensuring I keep to my eating plan.

Havent had any problems really.  Nibbled on three slices of bread at work which was a little cheat, just felt super hungry at that moment and had to eat it.  Apart from that keeping things on track.

On holiday next week so should be able to train hard and eat right.  Tonights my leaving night with my work mates so I'm going to cheat and have a curry, also try and not be pressured into drinking.  Apart from tonight there won't be any other distractions.

Trained Hamstrings, Calves and Abs:

Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Lying Leg Curls
Standing Calve Raises
Leg Press (feet high and wide)
Seated Leg Curl

Abdominal Workout

This moring did my cardio as usual.  Next week if the weather is good I'm going to walk outside,  but theres never knowing with the good scottish climate.