James Llewellin's 'Arnold Classic' preparation thread

[gunit]

Good luck wit 2008 James,im sure u can hang wit them hanks!!!lookin awesome my friend,u no what u got to do so jus bring it to all of them!!!!

Good luck

Gary Farr

[supercell]

Today is Friday 28th December 2007

Weight this morning was 14st 5.5lbs

DAY 2

Today started off with 60 mins of cardio. Felt good doing it today (better than yesterday anyway).

My delts and tri's are sore today and I must admit that this is the first time in months that my shoulders are sore, and a real deep soreness too.
The press behind neck (well to top of head) really worked them so much harder than to the front. The shoulders were being used to a far greater extent in stabilisation and balance as the seating position is almost upright.


Today is a non training day and my diet was/is as follows:-


6.00am ECA stack, 200mcgs t3, 1.5g CEE, 10g glutamine.

6.30am CARDIO 60 mins

8.00am 80g oats, small banana, 30g peanut butter, 60g total protein, am vit/min pack

11.00am 3 slices of wholemeal toast, 8 eggs (2 yolks), 2x CLA

1.30pm 35g basmati rice, 175g boiled new pots, 200g chicken, selction of veg, 15g olive oil, ECA stack.

4.30pm Same as 1.30pm meal, 2x CLA

7.00pm Same as 1.30pm meal, pm vit/min pack

10.00pm 80g oats, 60g total protein, 40g peanut butter, 2x CLA

10.30pm 10g glutamine, 1.5g CEE, 3x ZMA caps.

That is basically what every non training day will be like food and supplement wise.

Tomorrow is leg day so something to really look forward to and time to introduce Nytol to the wonderful world of walking lunges

J

[genesis]

Are you putting pics up as you get closer to the comp?

[supercell]

Look back at page 16 I posted a few there of me taken on wednesday 26/12, the day before my diet started.

J

[martzee]

hi mate hope you had a good christmas! looking superb in your latest pics,your quads look amazing looks like you are well on the way to giving the yanks a big surprise!!

[supercell]

Originally Posted by martzee

hi mate hope you had a good christmas! looking superb in your latest pics,your quads look amazing looks like you are well on the way to giving the yanks a big surprise!!

Thanks Martin,

Hope you both had a good one too. I had a lovely christmas spent with family and friends, all just seems to go so quickly tho!!
Back to earth with a bump now as the comp draws ever closer!!

Stay in touch mate

J

[supercell]

Today is Saturday 29th December 2007

Day 3

Weight this morning was 14st 5lbs

The alarm went off at 6am for Nic to go to work and I really thought very hard about not doing cardio this morning as it was leg day!
Unfortunately (or fortunately) I decided to do cardio anyway.:crazy:

I felt fine doing it (very hungry) but then felt sick afterwards and did battle a little to eat breakfast. Anyway after a shower I felt a little better and headed off to meet Nytol for legs.
I felt a little weird training, not my normal buzzing self. I felt a little heady and strange. Anyway we got on with training and started with some leg extensions to get some blood in there. My legs felt very pumped after 3-4 sets.
We then moved onto the staggered leg press and I worked up to 5 plates a side for 24 reps. The burn on this exercise is severe and the pump is ridiculous.
Anyway after 4 sets of that it was outside to the carpark for 3 sets of walking lunges with 19kgs dbells. The first set was done with 24 steps and the second and 3rd with 30 steps. The pump was painful and my legs soon started to cramp.
After a very short rest it was onto hams and 5 sets of lying leg curls were performed. Half way through both quads cramped up and the set came to a sudden end. After much stretching I carried on and completed the set.
The last exercise was straight leg deads and 4 sets were done here starting with 2 plates each side and working up to 3.5 plates a side plus a 1.25kg each side, just so I got more weight than last week.

All sets of SLDL were done with 6 reps with a full stretch and flat back with a bend at the knee. I find doing this really forces all the stress onto the hams.
By the end my legs were like jelly and even after 5 mins my hams were starting to cramp too.
I think I may have been slightly dehydrated which left me feeling a little sick as last night I visited the toilet a lot more than previous nights.

I feel absolutely fine now and my appetite has returned (not that it ever really went away) plus the heady feeling has gone too, which is good news.

Tomorrow is a rest day and then its back with chest and bi's on monday.
I said to Nytol today that I can already see changes in my physique and being as lean as I am these are more noticeable than if I was carrying a lot more fat as I normally do going into a pre contest diet.

I am meeting my family tomorrow for a long walk and a pub lunch (dont worry provisions have already been made). My cheat next week will be NY eve as my brother is cooking as all a 3 course meal and while they all get p1ssed:beer1:, I'll be supping my diet coke but on the plus side NY day I'll be the only one feeling great!:lift:

J

[Marsbar]

James

What do you mean by staggered leg press?

Cheers

Ian

P.S. Would it be okay if I pm'd you to get your opinion on something?

[pitbull]

Originally Posted by Marsbar

James

What do you mean by staggered leg press?

Pure evil lol..

But i'll let J explain

S

[supercell]

Originally Posted by Marsbar

James

What do you mean by staggered leg press?

Cheers

Ian

P.S. Would it be okay if I pm'd you to get your opinion on something?

Hi there,

Staggered leg press is a really good alternative to regular leg press which I seem to get very little out of TBH.
Paul B showed me this one earlier in the year.

When placing your feet on the plate one leg (foot) goes at the normal position and the other goes low on the plate (ball of foot) about 4-6 inches from the bottom. What is in effect happening is that when you perform the exercise most of the force is thru the normal positioned foot whilst the other is there as a stabiliser. It also means that the lower leg (and quad) is kept flexed right thru the movement so never has a chance to straighten.
You perform 12-15 reps like this then without resting swap feet positions and repeat for the same number of reps. The following set you start with the positioning you finished with on the last set.

The burn in the quads is something else and the pump is fierce. Dont be fooled by the first set of 15 because once you change legs all hell breaks loose. Also dont try to go too heavy. I manage about 24 reps with about 5x20kgs a side before I want to cry.
You should use a full range of motion making sure the reps are controlled and continuous. The higher leg should be flexed at 90 degrees in the bottom of the movement before pushing and extending until the knee joint is just off straight (soft knee).

Try it, Nytol did and I wont tell you what came out of his mouth when he finished the set!!


J

ps Pm me if you wish, no problem.

[Marsbar]

Interesting. Does it not place a lot of stress on the knee of the lower leg as you are pushing through the ball of your foot? I sometimes do single leg leg press and find these to be very effective.

[genesis]

Originally Posted by supercell

Look back at page 16 I posted a few there of me taken on wednesday 26/12, the day before my diet started.

J

oh yeh didnt spot that! as said before looking great mate

[ah24]

Originally Posted by Marsbar

Interesting. Does it not place a lot of stress on the knee of the lower leg as you are pushing through the ball of your foot? I sometimes do single leg leg press and find these to be very effective.

I don't think your pushing as much as with a normal leg press....tha lower leg is purely there to help stabilize.

[Nytol]

Originally Posted by ah24

I don't think your pushing as much as with a normal leg press....tha lower leg is purely there to help stabilize.

Thats right, but it still get hit, maybe a 75/25 split in favor of the upper leg.

And yes, it f*cking hurts

[anabolic lion]

so did u puke then ???