Natural Bodybuilding Contest Prep 2022 Training Journal (13)
Training logs for week starting 25th April
Hi guys, hope you have all had a great week thus far. As I mentioned in my last blog post, I was preparing to change the routine for this week. I decided upon the following:
Day 1 - chest/back
Day 2 - shoulders/arms
Day 3 - legs
Posing practise post shoulders/arms session
This something I have done before, both as I've listed and the more difficult 6xpw version. The protocol works excellently - allowing plenty of recovery between session. Generally shoulders and arms tends to be the easiest session of the week - proving a little less debilitating than the other 2 sessions, especially legs!
During heavy cutting periods it is wise to reduce either training volume/frequency in accordance to the drop in overall energy levels that are likely to be experienced. Of course both cant be dropped too drastically or one may risk being unable to reach the necessary training threshold to maintain muscle. As long as sets are both heavy and intense then I think this would likely be a lot less than most would anticipate. That being said, I would rather reduce the frequency to 3x pw and spend a little longer in the gym for each session than spending more days in the gym for less time per session.
The reason for this is that I only have to psyche myself up for training 3xpw as oppose to 4,5 or 6 times. Training whilst on a sever cut can be extremely debilitating, not only physically but mentally too. The main focus being on preserving strength on heavy compound movements as you become lighter and lighter each week. The mental energy spent psyching yourself up for this task huge! So if I can do this 3 times instead of 6 then I believe it will benefit my psychological health and overall energy levels considerably going forwards.
The days between sessions can prove incredibly valuable, acting as an opportunity to rest and prepare for the next onslaught on the day after.
Once your in that training zone its easier to keep it going for a little longer per session than revving up to that state of mental preparedness more frequently per week. Additionally, it saves me additional travel and warmup time throughout the week. This is important considering the extra time spent doing cardio, preparing food and posing etc.
The week went well overall with training intensity kept high throughout. I'm continuing to chip away with cardio, averaging an hour a day currently, maybe more over the weekend. I'll weigh myself this Saturday morning and likely have a fairly large refeed on Sunday before heading into next weeks training.
It is important to keep in mind this is a refeed, not a cheat day! Essentially more food within the same macro parameters of the diet that I follow for the rest of the week. In my case this is exaggerating the amount of carbs whilst keeping fat and protein as close to regular values as I can.
These actions are being taken to dramatically lower bodyfat, remember that maintenance is much easier and will require less cardio and more food can be consumed
Grinding out a heavy leg press set.
This week I've shown my training logs direct from my excel tracker. Note the charts that demonstrate the number of sets/rpe per muscle group. You can buy this HERE
Data from training week
Overall...
Excited to see more fat come off next week. Hips definitely need to be loosened as they have been very uncomfortable during leg day now for quite some time. I will try my best to foam roll and stretch as much as possible going into next weeks session.
Any questions regarding training, mindset or nutrition just ask!
For full check in pics each week see my Instagram page HERE! Thanks for reading, see you next week.
Stay strong, Ross
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