Contest Prep Essentials: Food Prep

One of the things I pride myself on is being as efficient as possible with my food prep when I diet for a contest. I thought I would share the basic steps that I go through each week. I typically do my shopping on Saturdays and some minor food prep on Saturday night after my daughter goes to bed (cutting fat off chicken, making rice). Sunday morning is when most of the food prep is done:

Here is my grill with roughly a week's worth of chicken and tilapia:


















Here is pretty much all of the food I'll eat in a given week, although I usually have to make more rice during the week:

And this is what I grab before I leave for cardio / work every morning:

I typically eat a tilapia / chicken & broccoli meal with the family when I get home around 6:15, and my last meal of the day is usually egg whites + whey.

In my opinion, food prep is the least desirable part of contest prep. I try to make it as painless as possible in true economist fashion - by being efficient.

Looking forward to the home stretch of this contest prep!

An Updated Cardio Regime

As I mentioned in my recent interview on Natty Talk Radio (see post below), I have reconfigured my cardio routine during my contest prep this year. Most of the changes I made are based on research presented at Layne Norton's fantasy camp, namely several studies by Jacob Wilson at the University of Tampa. In prior years, I have incorporated mostly steady-state cardio during my contest prep, walking for 15-20 minutes on an incline treadmill (making sure not to hold the handles! - that is a pet peeve of mine). I did some high-intensity interval training (HIIT), but typically only when I felt fat loss had stagnated. After reviewing the research presented by Dr. Wilson, however, I am incorporating more HIIT cardio this year, and doing a version of it I never had before - on the stationary bicycle.

The studies on concurrent (cardio + weightlifting) vs. resistance (only weightlifting) training have some basic and expected findings: Dolozel et al. (1998) found that concurrent training significantly reduced bodyfat compared to a resistance only group, while Wilson et al. (2011) performed a meta-analysis of 21 studies to demonstrate that concurrent training leads to decreases in strength, power, and hypertrophy. To try to minimize this loss, the Wilson et al. study compared hypertrophy, strength, and power changes among three distrinct groups of athletes: 1) those who performed running as their cardio (and also lifted), 2) those who performed cycling as their cardio (and also lifted), and 3) those who only lifted (no cardio). As expected, the resistance training only group had the largest gains in strength, power, and hypertrophy, ...BUT those performing cycling as their cardio outgained those that performed running. This same Wilson study also demonstrated that the biggest "bump" for fat loss occurs when heart rate reaches 81 - 90% of its max, which does not happen with steady state cardio but does occur under HIIT. Similar results were found in Balibinis et al. (2003) study on NCAA basketball players who trained with a variety of cardio workouts.

So, what am I doing this time around?

• 2x a week: Cycling HIIT
• 15 minute session: 6 30s all-out sprints, followed by 2.5 minutes slow pedaling
• 1 x a week: Car pushes
• 6 30s pushes, 4-5 min rest in between

I'm also doing SOME low-intensity cardio, as well as some blood flow restricted cardio (which is pretty fun!)

I'll touch on my current diet in a later post

Interview on Natty Talk Radio

I recently had the opportunity to be interviewed on Natty Talk Radio by co-hosts Zakary Walizadeh and Brett Freeman. We talked about quite a bit - from my contest plans for the year, to who I think are the "best of the best" natural bodybuilders in both the WNBF and IFPA, to my experience at Layne Norton's fantasy camp (and the changes to my contest prep that I made based on what I learned there), to how my prep has changed now that I have a daughter. Thanks guys for the awesome interview! It's fantastic that people are going the extra mile to get natural bodybuilding some exposure - great job Zak and Brett. You can check the full episode out here.

An Updated Workout Split based on Science

After participating in Layne Norton's Natural Bodybuilding and Figure camp last month, I was inspired to develop a new workout split based on some of the research that was discussed. In particular, Dr. Mike Zourdos gave a great talk on "Optimizing Periodization and Program Design for Hypertrophic Adaptations." He discussed the idea of Daily Undulating Periodization, which basically focuses on a different rep scheme incorporated for a particular bodypart multiple times a week. Some of the research he referenced was Willoughby (1993) who found that a linear periodization program resulted in significant increases in strength compared to non-periodized programs, and Peterson (2008) who used 14 well-trained firefighters to demonstrate that undulated training resulted in significant improvements in strength and power output versus linear periodization. Dr. Zourdas actually proposed a 6-day per week split, focusing on 2 primary bodyparts, each of which was hit 3x per week. One workout would focus on hypertrophy (maybe 4 sets of 12 reps), one would focus on strength (maybe 5 sets of 8 reps) and one would focus on power (6 sets of 4 reps). This was a dramatic change from the typical one-body-part per day, each body part one time per week bodybuilding split that I had been following variations of for the past 8-9 years. The thought of squatting 3x per week was somewhat intimidating!

After thinking it over for quite a while and tweaking the proposed split to have more of a bodybuilding focus, here is what I came up with:

• Monday: Upper Hypertrophy
• Tuesday: Lower Power
• Wednesday: OFF
• Thursday: Upper Strength
• Friday: Lower Hypertrophy
• Saturday: Upper Hypertrophy
• Sunday: OFF

With this split, I'm squatting twice a week and hitting most upper body muscle groups 3x per week. It was tough the first week or two, but as Dr. Zourdas made clear, the body quickly adjusts and my strength has been surprisingly good. Below are some example lifts that I would do on each day:

• Monday
• Incline Dumbell Press: 4 sets of 15
• Lying Tricep Extensions: 3 sets of 15
• Pull-ups: 3 sets of 15
• Bicep curls: 3 sets of 15
• Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 15
• Tuesday
• Squats: 5 sets of 6
• Leg Press: 4 sets of 8
• Stiff-legged Deads: 4 sets of 8
• Lying leg curls: 3 sets of 8
• Calf raises (2 exercises): 3 sets of 8 each
• Thursday
• Incline Dumbell Press: 5 sets of 8
• Seated rows: 3 sets of 8
• Tricep pushdowns: 3 sets of 8
• Upright rows: 3 sets of 8
• Barbell curls: 3 sets of 8
• Friday
• Squats: 5 sets of 15
• Leg Press: 4 sets of 15
• Lying leg curls: 3 sets of 15
• Glute-ham raise: 3 sets of 12
• Calf raises (2 exercises): 3 sets of 15 each
• Saturday
• Similar to Monday but different exercises

The following Monday would begin with a strength-oriented workout for the upper body. Thus, my hypertrophy / power / strength ratio for the upper body is 2:1:1. The idea is to incorporate more hypertrophy workouts in an effort to focus a bit more on muscle growth while allowing for training specific to power and strength. So far I have to say I am a pretty big fan of this split. I look forward to every leg day and feel like I am making good progress on upper days as well. I will re-assess this split in another month or so, but for now I am pleased with the results.

An Awesome Time at Layne Norton's VIP Camp!

I was fortunate enough to participate in Layne Norton's Natural Bodybuilding and Figure camp held in Tampa, FL a couple of weekends ago. It was just an incredible experience - Layne invited some of the top natural bodybuilders around, including Dave Goodin, Francisco Montealegre, John Hansen, Alberto Nunez and more. The campers got to train with the pros for three straight days, and we had some great workouts. The best part, though, was sitting through a series of seminars given by some of the best scientists doing work related to bodybuilding. This stuff was simply awesome - I listened to Dr. Jacob Wilson talk about HMB supplementation and his most recent studies regarding maintaining strength while dieting, Dr. Dominic D'Agostino talk about some of his relevant work on ketogenesis, Dr. Mike Zourdas describe optimal workout splits using non-linear periodization, Ben Esgro give an overview of the most useful bodybuilding supplements, and two Ph.D. students right down the road from me at that OTHER University in the state, Jeremy Loenneke and Chris Fahs, talk about their research on blood flow restriction. A lot of the studies referenced were still under peer review and hadn't officially seen publication yet - giving the campers a preliminary look at some of the most innovative research related to bodybuilding that anyone in the country is doing. This science-based approach to a bodybuilding camp was incredibly unique (we all even got our quad muscle density tested by Dr. Wilson's lab at the University of Tampa), and everyone who attended (including me) has really had no choice but to re-think some of their approaches to how they prepare for contests. I have since re-structured my workout split based on what I learned from Dr. Zourdas, have changed the way I incorporate blood flow restriction training (don't call it occlusion training!), and am reworking my approach to cardio. I'll try to discuss some of these in future blog posts.

One of the things that impressed me most about the camp was that even though Layne himself has a Ph.D. in nutritional sciences, and makes his living as a contest prep coach (or, as he prefers, "physique architect"), he included many people in the camp with ideas contrary to his, or, like me, have never used him for contest prep. Letting the attendees see the different ways in which many of the pros approach their off-season or how they construct their own diet was extremely useful for everyone.

Congrats to Layne and his wife Isabel on a job well done, and a big thanks to all attendees and pros / experts who made the camp so special. Although it was tough to be away from my little girl for 4 days, it was an awe-inspiring time and I look forward to going back in future years if they'll have me.

For me personally at the camp, I gave a talk about how to mesh contest prep with real life, based on my experiences between 2006-2010 when I competed at the WNBF Worlds each year while going through the tenure process at OSU. It seemed to be very well received. I also managed to set a PR in the sumo deadlift, getting 585x3. I hope to get a video of that posted on here soon. Here are some pics from the camp:

Some of the Pros / Experts


Ben Esgro lecturing about bodybuilding supplements



585 x 3!

My Take on Occlusion Training

Over the past year or so, I have done a reasonable amount of reading on the topic of occlusion training. The basic idea is that muscular hypertrophy can result from restricting blood flow to a particular body part and performing low-weight repititions. This idea originated in Japan, where researchers use a specialized device called a Kaatsu to control exactly how much pressure was applied to the body part being trained. Unfortunately, the Kaatsu devices are not available to the common public, so I have attempted to replicate their technique using what I do have available: a couple of blood pressure cuffs. This allows me to set the pressures typically used in these types of studies (between 120 - 200 mm HG). The literature on this topic is quite amazing, as most research shows significant increases in muscle cross-sectional area, muscular strength, and levels of blood growth hormone (all good things for bodybuilders). One of the biggest benefits is that this type of training can be done multiple times a week since the low weights used do not tax the central nervous system very heavily. A couple of recent studies can be found here and here.

The growing consensus is that for the body part being trained, the weight should be set to 20-50% of your 1RM. The muscle should stay partially occluded (150mm HG is fairly constrictive pressure, but not "fully" occluded) throughout the sets, but the pressure should be released after no more than 5 - 10 minutes. The first set is fairly easy, and typically 30 repititions are done. Then, with about 30 - 60 seconds of rest, 3 additional sets are done of around 15-20 reps. These become increasingly painful as the occlusion continues and frankly is unlike any other type of pain I have experienced during weightlifting. However, the relief when the pressure is released feels amazing. Here are a couple of pics of how I use occlusion training for my calves (I don't use any weight, just toe raises):




I do this 4 times a week, usually after walking my dogs in the morning. I have tried it on a few other bodyparts, but mostly I only do that when I have no other options for training, such as when I travel for conferences. The few studies that have looked at how this type of training compares to traditional heavy weights suggests that I won't be stopping the heavy training any time soon, but that occlusion training does have its place. As to whether it has improved my calves...I won't know until I diet down again! But my calves are so poor (and have been since I started bodybuilding) that any type of growth would be a major improvement.

I love this type of outside-of-the-box thinking for improving as a bodybuilder! Keep the great scientific work coming!

Off to a quick start in 2012!

2011 ended on a very positive note for me, as my wife and I brought our new daughter back to our home state of Virginia for the holidays. We had a blast visiting friends and family and showing off Sidney. Being a dad is the best!

I was also fortunate enough to participate in Nancy Andrews' Pro Series Camp in Massachusetts for the 2nd straight year back in January, and will be helping out with Layne Norton's natural bodybuilding camp in Florida in June. It's pretty inspiring to see how far natural bodybuilding has come since I started participating in it - and Nancy and Layne are 2 huge reasons why. Thanks guys for all that you do for natty bbing!

Training has been going very well for me so far in 2012, and my weight is bordering on the 200-lb mark. I feel surprisingly good at this weight and have been sure to implement some off-season cardio at least a couple of times a week to prevent too much fat gain! My training partner Victor and I have implemented a modified Max-OT type of regimen, where reps are kept between 4 and 8. The focus here is on heavier weight and plenty of time to recover between sets. We are using a 4-day split with the following body parts:

• Monday: Chest / Triceps
• Tuesday: OFF
• Wednesday: Legs
• Thursday: OFF
• Friday: Shoulders / Calves
• Saturday: Back
• Sunday: OFF

The volume under this split is relatively low (typically around 6 - 8 working sets per body part), but the heavy weights used on each set don't make it seem any easier. I've been able to hit 455 x 4 on Romanian Deadlifts and 355 x 7 on Front Squats using the smith machine. I'm also doing quite a bit of occlusion training for my stubborn calves - I'll try to write more on that at a later date.

For now, here's a pic of the Whitacre Family supporting the Cowboys!


Looking forward to an excellent 2012!

Natural BBing Season Wrap-up

For the first time in 6 years I did not participate in the WNBF Worlds in NYC in November. With the birth of my daughter in July and a clear need for more muscle in order to improve, I shelved any notion of competition in 2011. However, I still followed the results of both the WNBF Worlds and the IFPA Yorton Cup, the 2 best shows in natural bodybuilding. On October 29, my friend Valentine Ezugha beat out 10 other pro bodybuilders to take home the LW class title at the Yorton Cup. Valentine's victory at the biggest IFPA show came at the tender age of 25. Valentine has now won a World title at an age when I had just started hearing about natural bodybuilding. What a future for this guy! Valentine pushed the overall winner Cleveland Thomas very hard, losing primarily due to quad and hamstring thickness. At his young age, with plenty of time to grow and arguably some of the best symmetry in the sport, look for even bigger things down the road. The top 2 IFPA bodybuilders, Philip Ricardo and Doug Miller, sat out this year's competition. Valentine will need a bit more size to hang with those guys, but with his work ethic and discipine I know he will be among the IFPA elite for a long time.

The Overall at the Yorton: From Left: Valentine Ezugha (LW), Cleveland Thomas (MW and Overall), Henry Graham (HW)


The WNBF Worlds were held on November 12, with my friends Vaughan Twigger and Kurt Weidner competing in their 3rd pro show of 2011. The LW class featured 10 pro competitors, although I was disappointed to see that none of last year's top 5 returned. The class win went to Leonardo Casagrande out of Italy, who I have never seen in person. Pictures from the show made it look like a clear win for Leonardo, with outstanding quad sweep and decent condition. The MWs and HWs looked much more competitive, with Shevon Cunningham beating out Greg Rando (2nd), 2008 Overall champ Brandon Greenwood (3rd), and Vaughan Twigger (4th) for the class win. I have always been impressed with the amount of muscle that Shevon carries, and the pictures made it look like his condition was very solid. Congrats to Shevon for avenging a questionable 3rd place finish back in 2009. The HWs presented perhaps the biggest surprise of any class, with the newcomer Rich Gozdecki from England outsizing Martin Daniels for an incredibly close 1-point decision. Rich weighed in at close to 230 lbs, something I frankly thought was impossible for a natural bodybuilder, and outconditioned Martin from the back, although he did look somewhat smooth from the front. Kurt Weidner took 3rd with easily the best condition in the show - while he matched the top 2 in terms of pure muscularity, their genetically superior structures gave them the advantage. The overall went to Gozdecki, although it sounded like the decision was quite close between him and Cunningham.

The HW Class at Worlds: Rodney Helaire (4th), Kurt Weidner (3rd), Rich Gozdecki (1st and overall), Martin Daniels (2nd), Richard Peacock (5th)



On a personal note, my training is going very well and I am confident that I am making improvements in my physique. I have been training with a student here at OSU, Victor Galvan, for the past several months. Victor has a powerlifting background (in fact he just pulled an impressive 565-lb deadlift at the OSU Powerlifting meet a few weeks ago) and is willing to push himself extremely hard. He is also very knowledgeable about hypertrophy-specific training and is always seeking to learn more. Thanks Victor for being an awesome workout partner!

Also, Kurt interviewed me for his website, and did a great job throwing in some pictures along with the interview. You can check it out here if you are interested: http://teamanimal.net/2011/11/18/feature-interview-of-the-week-brian-whitacre/

Congrats to Valentine Ezugha!

My friend (and former OSU student) Valentine Ezugha participated in the IFPA Pro International show in Kansas City on Sept. 17, and took home a class win. He lost a 1-point decision to 3x WNBF World HW Champ Ben Tennessen in the overall, which speaks to Valentine's potential. Personally I would have gone with Valentine in the overall, he was much more conditioned than Ben from the back and his tiny waist gives him an added edge structurally. Ben is exceptionally complete and has not lost since transferring over to the IFPA...this should make for an interesting Yorton Cup!

Congrats to Kurt Weidner & Vaughan Twigger!

Congratulations to my friends Kurt Weidner and Vaughan Twigger on their class wins at the WNBF Universe in NYC on Sept. 17. The overall between these training partners must have been an incredible feeling. Kurt took home a 1-point victory, but both he and Vaughan looked fantastic (in fact Vaughan defeated 2007 WNBF World Overall champ Jim Cordova in the LW class to get to the overall). I competed against Vaughan back in 2005 as an amateur...boy has he grown since then! The sky is the limit for this guy. Kurt and Vaughan began training together soon after I left Blacksburg in 2006, and are close friends who push each other every day. Great stuff guys!

Also, Kurt now has 2 WNBF Overall titles to his name, a feat accomplished by only a handful of pros. Very impressive! Check out www.teamanimal.net for more contest pics and tons of good info from Kurt.

A New Addition!

Today my wife and I welcomed our first child into the world. Becoming a dad is without a doubt the greatest feeling in the world, far exceeding anything I have accomplished in either bodybuilding or academia. During the week that she was born, I missed two workouts for the first time in over 10 years, and I couldn't have cared less. I can't wait to spend more time with my little girl!

Welcome to the world Sidney Ryan Whitacre!

More Techniques for Growth

I have used a much wider variety of training splits and techniques this year than I have in the past. After another month-long trial of German Volume Training (see below), I put some thought into setting up a split where I could focus explicitly on bringing up some of my weak points. I came up with a routine that looks like this:

• Monday: Upper body (bicep focus)
• Tuesday: Lower body (quad focus)
• Wednesday: OFF
• Thursday: Upper body (bicep focus)
• Friday: OFF
• Saturday: Lower body (quad focus)
• Sunday: OFF

The key here is that the two focal points of this routine (biceps and quads) are hit with both intensity and volume over the duration of the split (I plan on using this for about 5 weeks). All other body parts are essentially being trained only for maintenance. The focus body parts are trained using a 5 x 5 technique with relatively heavy weight, followed by 3 sets of a different exercise with higher volume. Finally, all other upper (or lower) body parts are trained for 2-3 sets each with only moderate volume. So for example, my workouts for this past week went like this:

• Monday:
• Standing bicep barbell curl (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Alternating dumbbell curls (3 sets of 10 - 12 reps)
• Tricep extension (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Lateral raises (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Incline chest press (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Lat pulldowns (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Tuesday:
• Front squats (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Leg press (3 sets of 10-12 reps)
• Hamstring curls (4 sets of 10 reps)
• Calf raises (4 sets of 10 reps)
• Thursday:
• Alternating dumbell curls (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Preacher curls (3 sets of 10-12 reps)
• Tricep extension (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Lateral raises (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Incline chest press (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Lat pulldowns (2 sets of 10 reps)
• Saturday
• Squats (5 sets of 5 reps)
• Front squats (3 sets of 10 reps)
• Hamstring curls (4 sets of 10 reps)
• Calf raises (4 sets of 10 reps)

The hardest part for me is not training to all-out failure on the non-focal point muscles (triceps, chest, back, hams). It's going to be tough not doing deadlifts for more than a month! But so far, after a week of this, I think my quads and biceps are responding well to the extra work they're being given. I'll probably use this on some other body parts that I want to focus on in the coming months, but I think it's best used interspersed with more traditional training splits.

Back in the real world, I successfully made it through the review process and am now a tenured associate professor at Oklahoma State. I set this as a goal for myself even before starting the job back in 2006. Here is an updated vitae if you are interested, which includes links to most of the journal articles that I have published. I'm proud of accomplishing such a long-term goal - hopefully I can accomplish a few more as my career progresses. And who knows, maybe I'll even be a decent bodybuilder at some point in my bodybuilding career!

Off-season Deadlifts

Below is a video of some sumo deadlifts from this past weekend. This was a PR for me, as I hit 495 x 12 reps. It's still nowhere close to my friends Doug (405 x 30) and Kurt (545 x 14), but it's pretty good for me. My off-season is going very well so far - my strength is as good as it's ever been and I feel like I'm making some solid muscle gains. My weight is hovering in the low to mid-190s (eating lots of food is fun!). I enjoyed the GVT split, but am now back on my traditional 2-week split and am considering implementing a Sheiko powerlifting split in the near future.

Posterized in the Latest Edition of Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness

The May 2011 issue of Natural Bodybuilding and Fitness included a pullout poster of me (and probably a more enticing pic of World Figure Overall Champ Amy Llinas Lynch on the back):


Also included in this issue was an article I wrote regarding confidence vs. cockiness in bodybuilding.

Think Highly of Yourself? Think Again - by Brian Whitacre

I have never understood some people’s need to boast.  Whether it’s professionally, in the gym, or in a social environment, someone bragging about their accomplishments – or worse yet, something they haven’t done yet but feel sure they WILL accomplish – is an immediate turnoff.  It remains unclear to me what these people hope to achieve by speaking highly of themselves.  Do they hope to positively influence others’ opinions of them?  Do they hope to be seen as someone to look up to?  Do they hope to intimidate other people?  Does it make them feel better about themselves to know that others are aware of the things they have done?  Regardless of the reason, speaking highly of yourself does little more than make you come across as arrogant, self-important, and egotistical.  

In the world of competitive bodybuilding, this trait is not only irritating but it can be detrimental to your overall growth in the sport.  Many competitors new to bodybuilding become fixated on any outstanding body parts or poses they might have.  “Man, my quads are gigantic.”  “No one can touch my front double biceps!”  That may well be true, but focusing on your strengths only gets you so far in this sport.  Once you get to a higher level, winners are determined by a lack of weaknesses, not by a particularly outstanding component.  Consider each of the past 5 WNBF Worlds Overall winners:  Harris, Cordova, Greenwood, McGill, and Daniels.  Sure, they have some good individual bodyparts, but their lack of weaknesses is amazing.  THAT is what sets these guys apart from the rest of the pack.  If you spend most of your posing practice admiring your best poses and not working quite as hard on your sub-par ones, you’re going to fall short of the upper echelons of the WNBF.  So the next time you think a certain body part looks great, remind yourself that someone else out there is focusing on their weaknesses instead - and they may very well beat you because of it.

I will agree that there is a place for confidence, but not cockiness, in bodybuilding.  If you have no confidence in yourself, the odds are dramatically against you – regardless of whether you’re standing in front of a new personal record in the deadlift or if you are standing onstage amidst 12 other competitors.  What is the difference between confidence and cockiness in these instances?  One simple answer is verbalization.  Confident people think about what they will accomplish, while cocky people feel the need to speak it out loud.  If you are confident you will get that deadlift, tell yourself that in your head, crush the lift, and give yourself a congratulatory head nod when done.  If you are cocky, you will yell “light weight!” at the top of your lungs, complete the lift while screaming, and then go tell anyone who may have managed to miss it.  Similarly, it is relatively easy to pick out the confident competitor on stage – they stand tall with a smile and exude a belief in themselves.  While it is rare to get a competitor so cocky that they actually talk while onstage (although I have seen it happen), in today’s era the verbalization of an egotistical competitor usually comes through commentary on Internet forums.  Comments like “This show is mine!” or “No one will touch my conditioning” or “I’m bringing that overall title home” are little more than tough talk that frankly will make you look silly if the result doesn’t come out quite as you thought.

In general the Internet is a great source of information for both neophyte and experienced bodybuilders, and “contest prep” threads can be very useful.  Unfortunately a lot of people seem to want to use these forums as a source of ego-building instead of a way to obtain any useful feedback.  As nice as they are to hear, any bodybuilder who truthfully wants to improve has little use for any positive comments on their physique.  The most beneficial comments are the constructive ones that suggest what body parts need to be brought up, discuss innovative training techniques that might provide a needed improvement, or propose posing tweaks that could better suit your physique.  Personally I prefer to use a trusted group of friends to critique my progress pictures, simply because I know they won’t waste my time with complimentary fluff.  

I have had the opportunity to interact with two groups of individuals widely known for their egotism – academics and bodybuilders.  It has been my experience that the best in both fields have no need to boast.  They simply do their best, every day, and let the accolades fall to them.  They are confident in their abilities, but are receptive to critiques and always keep an open mind about how to improve in the future.  So the next time you feel the need to brag about your physique or your lifting accomplishments, take a second and reconsider.  Focusing your attention on ways to train that lagging bodypart instead might be much more productive in the long run.

German Volume Training

After keeping the same 2-week workout split for over a year (see bottom of this blog), I have decided to implement a new lifting routine. In keeping with my New Year's resolution to spend less time in the gym, I have started my own 4-day per week version of German Volume Training (GVT). GVT is elegantly and brutally simple. It consists of 10 sets of 10 repititions per bodypart, typically split into 3 separate days - push (chest / triceps), pull (back, biceps) and legs. The key components, which a lot of people overlook, are 4 second negatives on each rep and 90 seconds of rest between sets. I will be doing a 4-day split as follows:

• Monday: Chest / Triceps
• Tuesday: Back / Biceps
• Wednesday: OFF
• Thursday: Shoulders / Calves
• Friday: OFF
• Saturday: Legs
• Sunday: OFF

This will allow me to get some direct training in on my weak points while still sticking to the basis of GVT. I can't wait to get under some deadlifts and front squats with this split and feel the pain!