Not Squatting or Deadlifting Stinks

My offseason training was progressing nicely under the supervision of Dr. Zourdos, as I was working up to doubles in the mid-500 range for conventional deadlifts (I haven't pulled sumo since the contest with Layne - see post below) and finally getting some good reps with over 4 plates for squats. Unfortunately, however, something felt "off" during a squat rep about a month ago and although I trained around it for a while, I ended up pulling my groin fairly extensively during a heavy deadlift attempt several weeks ago. At that point I promised myself I wouldn't squat or deadlift again until everything was completely healed.

Training without heavy squats or deadlifts stinks.

I have been doing my best to do a "traditional" bodybuilding routine since then, but it's simply not as enjoyable.

2014 Update

This update is long overdue. Since competing at Worlds in November 2013, my focus has primarily been on family and work.  About 10 weeks prior to the show, Jill and I found out that she was pregnant once again – with twins this time!  Our excitement was soon tempered when we found out that the twins shared an amniotic sac – a condition known as a mono-mono pregnancy (this occurs in about 1 out of every 30,000 pregnancies).  Umbilical cord entanglement was likely, and mortality rates were scarily high (most recent research put them between 20-50%).  Jill was required to stay under constant monitoring at a tertiary hospital for the last 10 weeks of the pregnancy, literally only getting out of bed for 15 minutes a day.   This was a very trying time for our family, but we received constant support from our families, co-workers, and friends (including the natural bodybuilding community).

We were blessed to welcome Remy and Paige Whitacre into the world on March 14.  After a relatively short 9-day stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unity, they came home and joined our family. Aside from some minor sleep deprivation, we are all doing great!  The twins are growing nicely and Sidney is enjoying being a big sister.

On the bodybuilding front, OSU was proud to welcome my friend Dr. Layne Norton to campus in April for a series of seminars and some friendly competition.  Layne spoke on a variety of topics, including “Fitness Facts and Fallacies” and “Optimal Training Routines.”  The two of us also competed in a 3x bodyweight deadlift contest, which was watched by over 150 people at the OSU gym:

Layne ended up pulling 651 lbs for 7 reps weighing 217 lbs, which was pretty amazing to watch.  I managed 533 for 8 reps at 177.  It was a great time and definitely one of the highlights of my lifting “career.”

I knew even before the 2013 Worlds that I would not be competing in 2014.  With the additions to our family and everything that we had been through, going through the rigors of a contest prep was simply not very high on my priority list.  I am enjoying my training (and the amount of food I get to eat!) with the goal of returning to the stage in 2015 or 2016.  I am still working with Dr. Mike Zourdos on my training split, and though I am currently training around a couple of injuries I am happy with how the off-season is progressing.  My training partner Jason Vlastaras just won his IFPA pro card, and given the new “opening up” of the WNBF we hope to compete together at a few shows over the next couple of years.