So the dust has settled but the violent wind hasn't!! It's been a mad week since the show and taken a good few days to fully sink in what I have accomplished.
My dream ever since turning pro was to stand on the Olympia stage and I'll be honest with you, with standards rising fast and competition becoming fierce, I never thought I would realise it!
I knew the BGP was probably my best shot; no travelling, no time differences, a home crowd and a relaxed and more importantly focused, happy state of mind.
I have realised just how important your psychological wellbeing is when preparing for a show, none more so than the last 9 weeks.
A happy body is a responsive body and this prep was the easiest and most enjoyable of my 7 years of competing by a country mile.
Most of the improvements I made were in the last 6 weeks of my prep, after hooking up with BIG H and Mike and Leica Gelsei. They gave me the belief back again and the hunger and spirit that had been lost since 2008 on that fateful evening in Nottingham.
It enabled me to eat more food, train harder than ever before and feel energised throughout the whole 9 week diet, something that I have never felt when prepping previously. It also meant that my cardio never really went above 45 minutes 5 days a week!
I was that close to throwing the towel in last year with everything that was going on but I'm no quitter and that thought was quickly quashed once the prep got underway.
Add to this that in the middle of my prep I sold my house and moved my life down to Wales, not a particularly restful time at the best of times but I took it in my stride, sticking to the diet and training schedule even though I made multiple trip backwards and forward from Kent to Wales, travelling thousands of miles in the process!
So with all that said its now that the serious work starts. I have no goals for the Olympia except to stand on stage improved from the BGP and I KNOW that I will be, without question.
By the sunday evening show I was down to around 189-190lbs which means I still have nearly a stone (14lbs) of growth left in this class. Now on a frame of 5'5" thats a lot of muscle!!
Not only is myself and my team incredibly excited about this off season and what we can accomplish, the lure of Vegas and the Olympia in itself is the hugest motivator for me.
So when did my prep start? Well it started pretty much on tuesday!! I had one day of eating what I wanted and by the evening I had had enough. I didn't really have any cravings because of the volume I had been eating during my prep. Add to that I had three cheat meals in the last 3 weeks which pretty much satisfied any cravings I did have. Add to that my keeness to make improvements and no time was wasted.
I sat down with Mike and Leica and we set upon divising a training split to really prioritorise my weaker areas, chest and back.
The training split we have devised is over a 7 days period with 5 days training and 2 off days.
Monday CHEST/FRONT DELTS
Tuesday QUADS
Wednesday OFF
Thursday BACK/REAR DELTS
Friday HAMSTRINGS/CALVES
Saturday ARMS/SIDE DELTS
Sunday OFF
I will be performing NO CARDIO in my off season unless I feel it is necessary. I am fortunate that I can stay lean on a lot of food. The only benefit would be cardiovascular fitness (which admittedly is a BIG reason to do some) and also to keep my metabolism and appetite high (which fortunately I have anyway). So this maybe reassessed depending on how my conditioning slips etc. I am also mindful of guest spots that I am booked to do and although being lean for them is something I always do, I dont want them impacting on my growth phase, so you may see me a little rounder at guest spots this year :whistling:
My diet I have devised and is as follows. It is based around my pre contest diet (because I love the food) but obviously there is more of it. It will consist of at least 2 cheat meals a week and between 7-8 meals daily. Calories will sit at around 4300-4500 daily.
Meal 1 60g oats, 40g granola, 20g raisins, 30g cashews, 3 scoops pro pep, 125g yogurt, 1 banana
Meal 2 (snack) 1 pro flapjack, 1 scoop pro peptide
TRAIN
Meal 3 2 scoops pro recover, 1 scoop pro peptide.
Meal 4 200g chicken, 50g rice, veg, 10-15g olive oil, 20g nuts
Meal 5 same as above plus a pro flapjack
Meal 6 250g lean mince, 50g rice
Meal 7 6 whole eggs, 3 slices wholewheat bread
Meal 8 50g oats, 40g granola, 20g raisins, 20g cashews, 3 scoops pro peptide (all mixed together and made with WHOLE milk)
In night at 2-3am 1 scoop pro peptide.
ALL SUPPLEMENTS USED ARE CNP PROFESSIONAL
So that in a nutshell is what I will be eating pretty much day in day out but eggs maybe swapped for salmon, rice maybe swapped for pasta, morning oats maybe swapped for wholewheat bread, mince maybe swapped for ribeye steak and so on but the framework will be pretty much adhered to every day.
Today I sit at a hard and full 206lbs.
Any questions please ask away.
J
My dream ever since turning pro was to stand on the Olympia stage and I'll be honest with you, with standards rising fast and competition becoming fierce, I never thought I would realise it!
I knew the BGP was probably my best shot; no travelling, no time differences, a home crowd and a relaxed and more importantly focused, happy state of mind.
I have realised just how important your psychological wellbeing is when preparing for a show, none more so than the last 9 weeks.
A happy body is a responsive body and this prep was the easiest and most enjoyable of my 7 years of competing by a country mile.
Most of the improvements I made were in the last 6 weeks of my prep, after hooking up with BIG H and Mike and Leica Gelsei. They gave me the belief back again and the hunger and spirit that had been lost since 2008 on that fateful evening in Nottingham.
It enabled me to eat more food, train harder than ever before and feel energised throughout the whole 9 week diet, something that I have never felt when prepping previously. It also meant that my cardio never really went above 45 minutes 5 days a week!
I was that close to throwing the towel in last year with everything that was going on but I'm no quitter and that thought was quickly quashed once the prep got underway.
Add to this that in the middle of my prep I sold my house and moved my life down to Wales, not a particularly restful time at the best of times but I took it in my stride, sticking to the diet and training schedule even though I made multiple trip backwards and forward from Kent to Wales, travelling thousands of miles in the process!
So with all that said its now that the serious work starts. I have no goals for the Olympia except to stand on stage improved from the BGP and I KNOW that I will be, without question.
By the sunday evening show I was down to around 189-190lbs which means I still have nearly a stone (14lbs) of growth left in this class. Now on a frame of 5'5" thats a lot of muscle!!
Not only is myself and my team incredibly excited about this off season and what we can accomplish, the lure of Vegas and the Olympia in itself is the hugest motivator for me.
So when did my prep start? Well it started pretty much on tuesday!! I had one day of eating what I wanted and by the evening I had had enough. I didn't really have any cravings because of the volume I had been eating during my prep. Add to that I had three cheat meals in the last 3 weeks which pretty much satisfied any cravings I did have. Add to that my keeness to make improvements and no time was wasted.
I sat down with Mike and Leica and we set upon divising a training split to really prioritorise my weaker areas, chest and back.
The training split we have devised is over a 7 days period with 5 days training and 2 off days.
Monday CHEST/FRONT DELTS
Tuesday QUADS
Wednesday OFF
Thursday BACK/REAR DELTS
Friday HAMSTRINGS/CALVES
Saturday ARMS/SIDE DELTS
Sunday OFF
I will be performing NO CARDIO in my off season unless I feel it is necessary. I am fortunate that I can stay lean on a lot of food. The only benefit would be cardiovascular fitness (which admittedly is a BIG reason to do some) and also to keep my metabolism and appetite high (which fortunately I have anyway). So this maybe reassessed depending on how my conditioning slips etc. I am also mindful of guest spots that I am booked to do and although being lean for them is something I always do, I dont want them impacting on my growth phase, so you may see me a little rounder at guest spots this year :whistling:
My diet I have devised and is as follows. It is based around my pre contest diet (because I love the food) but obviously there is more of it. It will consist of at least 2 cheat meals a week and between 7-8 meals daily. Calories will sit at around 4300-4500 daily.
Meal 1 60g oats, 40g granola, 20g raisins, 30g cashews, 3 scoops pro pep, 125g yogurt, 1 banana
Meal 2 (snack) 1 pro flapjack, 1 scoop pro peptide
TRAIN
Meal 3 2 scoops pro recover, 1 scoop pro peptide.
Meal 4 200g chicken, 50g rice, veg, 10-15g olive oil, 20g nuts
Meal 5 same as above plus a pro flapjack
Meal 6 250g lean mince, 50g rice
Meal 7 6 whole eggs, 3 slices wholewheat bread
Meal 8 50g oats, 40g granola, 20g raisins, 20g cashews, 3 scoops pro peptide (all mixed together and made with WHOLE milk)
In night at 2-3am 1 scoop pro peptide.
ALL SUPPLEMENTS USED ARE CNP PROFESSIONAL
So that in a nutshell is what I will be eating pretty much day in day out but eggs maybe swapped for salmon, rice maybe swapped for pasta, morning oats maybe swapped for wholewheat bread, mince maybe swapped for ribeye steak and so on but the framework will be pretty much adhered to every day.
Today I sit at a hard and full 206lbs.
Any questions please ask away.
J