John Hansens Training Diary Week of June 22nd 2008

by: John Hansen - June 28th, 2008

John Hansen’s Training Diary – Week of June 22nd, 2008

Sunday, June 22nd, 2008
My weight today was down to 202.5 pounds and the waist went back down to 33 ¼”. I’m glad the addition of the sodium back into my diet over the last two days didn’t make any changes to my waist. I want to have my waist down to 33” or less by the time I do my photo shoot next weekend.

I was supposed to do cardio this morning but I was so tired from getting up early almost every day last week that I just slept in and took the day off from training. I had to eat some of my meals only 2 hours apart during the day in order to get them all in because I got up later than normal. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – 7.34 oz orange roughy, 155 grams asparagus
Meal 3 – 4.37 oz lean ground turkey, 150 grams sweet potato, 3.10 oz broccoli
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 5 – 3.25 oz round steak, 38 grams pasta sauce, ½ cup green peas
Meal 6 – 1 egg, 7 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 14 grams natural peanut butter
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2399 calories with 253 grams of protein, 135 grams of carbohydrates and 78 grams of fats. This breaks down to 42% protein, 23% carbs and 29% fats.

Monday, June 23rd, 2008
My weight today was up to 204 pounds and the waist is still at 33 ¼”. I did 30 minutes of cardio this morning before my first client and then I went to the gym at 12:30 in the afternoon to train chest, triceps and calves. Matt was out of town for a tennis tournament that he was helping to coach so I trained with a teenage bodybuilder from my gym whose name is Kris. Kris is young and hungry so he was a good partner and he trained really hard.

This is supposed to be my Heavy Week but I don’t want to push it too heavy. I trained pretty heavy but I didn’t do as many sets as I did the last time I did this workout because my energy is much lower now.

I remember reading something Phil Williams, the 1985 NPC Nationals champ, wrote after he won his contest. He said that many bodybuilders try to train heavier as the contest gets closer and they are dieting harder. This often leads to the bodybuilder being overtrained. Phil was wise enough to actually cut back on both his poundages and his total volume as the contest got closer. Phil said that the possibility of overtraining was much more likely as the contest approached because the calories are lower and there are less reserves available to recuperate from the training. Makes perfect sense to me so I thought I would follow that philosophy somewhat as I get closer to my photo shoot.
Here is how the workout went today:

DB Bench Press 75x15, 100x12, 120x7, 120x6
Incline Press 225x8, 255x5, 255x5
Incline Flyes 85x8, 90x6, 90x6
Wide-Grip Dips 25x8, 25x8
Close-Grip Bench Press 185x8, 225x6, 225x5
Lying Tricep Ext. 100x10, 130x8, 130x8
Bench Dips BWx12, 80x12, 80x12
Standing Calf Raises 420x12, 520x10, 580x8, 580x8
Seated Calf Raises 100x12, 150x10, 200x8, 200x8

I actually went pretty heavy for being so lean and eating such a restricted diet. Now that I only have two weeks left, I feel much more relaxed and not as stressed about getting ripped and in shape. I am not even craving certain foods anymore or dying to get off the diet. The way I feel right now, I don’t have any overwhelming desire to pig out or get back to a “normal” diet. I think it’s because the photo shoot is so close now and it’s not like there is so much longer to go.

My diet today was really good. I ate more than 300 grams of protein but I kept my carbs well under 200 grams. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 2 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving Threshold
Meal 4 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 5 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery
Meal 6 – 4.27 oz lean ground turkey, 128 grams sweet potato, 3 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 8 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold

Today’s diet came out to 2759 calories with 312 grams of protein, 194 grams of carbohydrates and 73 grams of fats. I also started counting up my sodium today just to see where I am at and what foods I could replace or remove by next week when I try to get really dry for my photo shoot. My sodium intake today was at 1210 mg, the majority coming from the egg whites, the protein powders and the Vassive NO.

Tuesday, June 24th, 2008
My bodyweight today was down to an all-time low (for this year, at least) of 201 pounds and the waist is still at 33 ¼”. Today was my day off, both from the gym and from cardio. I was going to get up and do cardio but I slept in instead, getting a full 7 hours of sleep. I needed it!

My diet today was pretty low calories, under 2500, and my carbs were very low again, only at around 133 grams. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – 4 oz lean ground turkey, 131 grams sweet potato, 3.49 oz broccoli
Meal 4 – 7.37 oz orange roughy, 158 grams asparagus
Meal 5 – 3.03 oz round steak, 28 grams pasta sauce, ½ cup green peas
Meal 6 – 1 egg, 7 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 18 grams peanut butter
Meal 7 – 1 scoop Whey Gold
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2488 calories with 284 grams of protein, 133.5 grams of carbohydrates and 79.5 grams of fat. The breakdown for today’s diet was 46% protein, 22% carbs and 29% fats.

Wednesday, June 25th, 2008
My weight this morning was up a little to 202.5 pounds and the waist is still holding at 33 ¼”. I’m disappointed the waist didn’t go down because I was hoping it would go to 33” this week and maybe get down another quarter of an inch before my photo shoot next week.

I was training legs today with Kris again. Matt was still out of town on his tennis tournament so Kris and I trained in the afternoon. I had a super busy day today with clients starting at 5:30 am until 11:00 am. I went home, had my pre-workout drink and went to the gym to meet Kris at 12:30.

It was a surprisingly decent leg workout. My right hip has been bothering me the last week and I felt it on one the heavy sets of leg presses so I stopped the set and didn’t do any more because I didn’t want to risk getting injured. Instead, I did an extra set of Front Squats and I did three sets of Walking Lunges. Here is how the workout went:

Hanging Knee Raises BWx40, BWx30
Crunches – Bench BWx35, BWx25
Leg Curls 110x12, 130x8, 150x6, 150x6
DB Stiff-leg Deadlifts 100x10, 130x8, 130x8
Leg Extensions (Body Master) 150x20, 190x15, 230x8, 250x8
Leg Press 450x12, 720x10, 900x5 (Hip hurt)
Front Squats 135x12, 205x6, 185x8, 185x8
Walking Lunges 135x8, 145x8

My diet today was a little higher in calories and carbs because it was a tough training day. Hopefully, this will stimulate the metabolism a little more and bring the waist down by tomorrow.

Meal 1 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 4 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving Threshold
Meal 5 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 6 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery
Meal 7 – 4.27 oz lean ground turkey, 133 grams sweet potato, 3.56 oz broccoli
Meal 8 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 9 – 7.16 oz orange roughy, 145 grams asparagus

Today’s diet came out to 2606 calories with 301 grams of protein, 195 grams of carbohydrates and 62 grams of fats. My sodium intake today was approximately 1255 mg.

Thursday, June 26th, 2008
My weight this morning was up a little more to 203 pounds but, unfortunately, the waist did not move. I’m still stuck at 33 ¼”. I did my cardio early this morning at 6:00 am before my first client and then I went to the gym later at night to train with Matt who was back in town today.

I didn’t get much sleep last night and I wasn’t training until 7:30 at night so I didn’t think I would have much energy but the workout went pretty good again. I’m not doing as many sets as I was a month ago but I was still training pretty heavy considering how much weight I’ve lost. Here is how the workout went:

Seated DB Press 45x15, 75x12, 95x8, 95x7
Seated Side Laterals 40x10, 50x8, 50x7
Upright Rows 135x8, 165x7, 165x7
Lying Side Laterals 30x10, 35x8, 35x8
DB Shrugs 110x12, 135x8, 135x8
Donkey Calf Raises 190 plus 45 lbs x 25, 190 plus 135 lbs x 25 x 2 sets
Face Down Calf Raises 260x10, 280x10, 280x10

My diet today was even a little higher in calories and carbs than yesterday because I added an additional protein drink with all my other meals. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 2 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – 6.91 oz orange roughy, 154 grams asparagus
Meal 4 – 4.27 oz lean ground turkey, 141 grams sweet potato, 3.14 oz broccoli
Meal 5 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold
Meal 6 – (Pre-Workout) – 1 scoop Whey Gold, 1 serving Threshold
Meal 7 – (During Workout) – 1 serving Vassive EA8, 1 serving Vassive NO
Meal 8 – (Post Workout) – 2 scoops 2:1:1 Recovery
Meal 9 – 2.89 oz round steak, 37 grams pasta sauce, ½ cup green peas
Meal 10 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2889 calories, 333 grams of protein, 206 grams of carbohydrates and 72 grams of fats. This breaks down to 46% protein, 29% carbs and 22%. My sodium intake today was at 1662 mg.

When I was working the Optimum Nutrition booth last weekend at the Jr. Nationals, I had a chance to talk to fellow ON rep, Sean Royer. Sean just successfully competed at the NPC Illinois State in May and he was in ripped condition for that contest. We were talking contest prep because I told Sean that I had a photo shoot coming up and I wanted to get really ripped and dry for this shoot, more than I’ve achieved over the last few years.

Sean told me what he did in his last week of contest prep. To get rid of the water, Sean consumes a lot of distilled water exactly seven days from the scheduled contest/photo shoot. He increases the amount of water he drinks for the first three days and then begins to decrease it as the target date gets closer. Here is what Sean recommended to do regarding my water intake (to be in peak condition the next Thursday) –

Thursday – 2 gallons distilled water
Friday – 2 ½ gallons distilled water
Saturday – 3 gallons distilled water
Sunday – 2 ¾ gallons distilled water
Monday – 2 gallons distilled water
Tuesday – 1 gallon distilled water
Wednesday – ¼ gallon distilled water
Thursday – Photo Shoot (no water on this day)

Sean said that when he cuts the water on the last day, he gets really vascular and dry, which is exactly the look I am shooting for. I am very lean and cut right now but I still see a little bit of water retention on the lower abs. Some it may still be fat but I think it is more water than fat because I am much leaner this year than I have been in the last four years. I think this is the leanest I’ve been since 2004 when I last competed.

I took Sean’s advice and drank 2 gallons of distilled water today. It wasn’t that hard to do and I like drinking water, especially when I am dieting. The taste of the distilled water is definitely different and I am hoping this last minute “trick” does it’s job and pulls that last remaining bit of water from under my skin.

Friday, June 27th, 2008
Wow, my weight was all the way down to 200.5 pounds this morning when I weighed myself. My waist was still at 33 ¼”, which really surprised me because I thought the increase in calories yesterday would do the trick and bring the waist down to 33”

I took today off from the gym because I trained the last two days. I also didn’t do cardio this morning. I will probably do cardio the next two days over the weekend and I’m going to train back and biceps tomorrow afternoon.

My diet today was low calories and carbs again. I increased my water intake to 2 ½ gallons of distilled water and my carbs were all the way down to 130. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 2 eggs, 8 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – 1 egg, 7 egg whites, 3 T. salsa, 20 grams natural peanut butter
Meal 4 – 5.43 oz orange roughy, 153 grams asparagus
Meal 5 – 3.81 oz lean ground turkey, 137 grams sweet potato, 3 oz broccoli
Meal 6 – 6 oz marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 7 – 1 scoop Whey Gold
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Whey Gold, 1 T. flaxseed oil

Today’s diet came out to 2513 calories, 287 grams of protein, 133 grams of carbohydrates and 82 grams of fats. This breaks down to 46% protein, 21% carbs, 29% fats. My sodium intake today was at 1965 mg.


Saturday, June 28th, 2008

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