My Road to the Olympia Week Five

by: John Hansen - August 2nd, 2007

My Road to the Olympia

Back to Normal Again!

Monday, July 30th

OK, back to normal again today! Now that my contest is over, I can get back to the business of getting ripped and having consistent, hard workouts. I actually thought I was starting to get sick today after my hectic weekend. I only got 6 hours sleep over two days plus my diet was really messed up all weekend, especially on Saturday.

I was going to train chest and triceps today but I ended up just taking the day completely off. I think I needed an extra day plus Matt was out of town (again!) on another one of his tennis tournaments.

My bodyweight this morning was at 211 pounds and the waist was back up a little to 35 ¾” which isn’t surprising since the weekend was so off track. This is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Whey Gold Standard and 1 scoop of Pro Complex.
Meal 2 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries.
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 serving of Pro Complex, 1 serving Egg Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.
Meal 4 – 3.92 oz. lean turkey, 107 grams sweet potato, 3 oz broccoli.
Meal 5 – Whey Force Shake with 1 serving creatine.
Meal 6 – 6 oz. marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans.
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Egg Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.

This came out to only 2284 calories with 299 grams of protein, 140 grams of carbs and 52 grams of fat. The breakdown of today’s diet was 52% protein, 25% carbs and 21% fat.

I’m anxious to get back to the gym tomorrow.

Tuesday, July 31st

I started off today weighing 209.5 pounds with the waist still at 35 ¾”. I think the waist should get down to 35 ½” before the end of the week as long as I stay on the diet and don’t go out for margaritas anytime soon.

I went to the gym at night to train chest and triceps. Matt was still out of town so I called John Spalla, who is a chiropractor right down the street from the gym. John was getting off work at the same time I finished my last client tonight. We met up at the gym at 7:30pm. This is what I did:

Bench Press 225x10, 275x6, 285x5, 285x4
Incline DB Press 100x10, 115x8, 120x6
Flyes 80x10, 85x8, 85x8
DB Pull-overs 100x12, 110x10
Tricep Pushdowns 100x12, 110x10, 120x10
Lying Ext. 100x10, 120x9, 120x8

I was feeling a little weak when I started the workout but I started to get stronger as the workout progressed. The barbell bench presses really went slow and it felt like the gravity meter was turned way up on those last three sets. However, by the time I got to the incline dumbbell press, I felt much better. I did 115 for 8 on the second set like it was nothing.

I guess it’s not unusual to feel sluggish since this was my first workout back in almost a week. The last time I trained was last Wednesday when I did back and biceps. Because of my back injury the next day along with the contest I promoted last week, I had not been to the gym since.

I finished up chest with dumbbell flyes and dumbbell pull-overs. For triceps, I did pushdowns for 3 sets and lying tricep extensons for three sets also. My triceps were feeling really pumped at this point so I called it a day for my first day back in the gym.

For my diet, I ate more calories and carbs because it was a training day. Here is exactly what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries.
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex, 1 scoop of Egg Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.
Meal 3 – 3.95 oz lean turkey, 127 grams sweet potato, 3 oz. broccoli.
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex and 1 scoop of Egg Protein.
Meal 5 – (Pre-workout Drink) Whey Force Shake with 1 serving creatine
Meal 6 – (During workout) – 1 serving Vassive-NO with 1 serving BCAA and Creatine.
Meal 7 – (Post Workout) – 3 scoops Recover-X with 1 serving creatine.
Meal 8 – 3.35 oz. round steak, ½ cup green peas.
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Egg Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.

This came out to 2691 calories with 312 grams of protein, 211 grams of carbs and 56 grams of fat. Great to get back to the gym!

Wednesday, August 1st
Wow, August 1st already! Where is this summer going? It’s going to be Christmas before we know it. But, before we get to Christmas, we have Vegas in September. That’s only 8 ½ weeks away. Meanwhile, it was in the 90’s again out here in the Chicago area. Not quite Christmas weather yet.

I was happy to see my waist go down to 35 1/2" today. My weight was down to 208.5 pounds so that was pretty steady but I'm glad the waist went down a little. As long as I stay consistent with my diet, my fat loss will be consistent also.

I went to the gym earlier today which was nice. I have been training late at night (7pm and later) every week for the last month and a half so it was nice to get in early and get the workout finished. I meet Dr. John again at the gym at 12:30 in the afternoon to train back and biceps.

We started off with Close-Grip Pulldowns for the lower lats and to warm up the arms and back. I did my first set with 130 pounds for 12 reps followed by my second set with 180 pounds for 10 reps.

Next up was wide-grip chins for back width. I am still pretty strong on chins but I am still doing them with only my bodyweight and no additional weight, at least not this week. I did my first set for an easy 10 reps and got another 10 reps on the second set. I thought I would get another 10 reps on the last set but I was starting to lose my form so I stopped at 8 reps.

Next up, John and I did One-Arm DB Rows. I started with the 110 pound dumbbell with one of my knees on the bench. I got 12 easy reps on the first set so I went to the 130 pound dumbbell for my next two sets. I got 8 pretty easy reps on the next two sets and my back was feeling pretty good so everything was good at this point.

I thought I would try T-Bar Rows next even though I strained my lower back pretty bad last week. I was just going to start light and take it one set at a time. I started with only 3 45 pound plates on the end of the bar and that was super light. I went up to 4 plates on the second set and got an easy 10 reps. I was only planning on doing 4 plates and a 25 pound plate for my last set but I thought I would give 5 plates a try and see what happens. To my surprise, I got a pretty easy 10 reps on this set also. I made sure to keep my abs tight along with my lower back so I didn’t injure my back again.

We finished up with hyper-extensions for the lower back. I started with just my bodyweight for 20 easy reps. For the next two sets, I held a 45 pound plate to my chest for 15 reps and then dropped the plate and did 10 more reps. My lower back was pumped and feeling good after these.

For biceps, John and I started with alternate dumbbell curls. For the first set, I started with the 45’s for 12 reps each arm. For the second set, I grabbed the 55’s and got out 10 tough reps. On my last set, I used the 65 pound dumbbells but I only got out about 7 reps before I reached failure.

We finished off with Preacher Curls using a barbell. I use a cambered curling bar for this exercise. It doesn’t supinate the biceps as much as a straight bar but it puts less strain on the wrists and I’m a little afraid of going too heavy on this exercise because of the stress it puts on the bicep tendon. After tearing my own tendon back in 2000, I’m always careful of what I do in the gym or what I pick up outside the gym.

John and I only did two sets of Preacher Curls. I started with 90 pounds for 10 reps and then finished with 100 pounds for 8 reps. That was it for today!

For my diet, I stayed on track and ate 2794 calories with 322 grams of protein, 216 grams of carbs and 66.6 grams of fat. This breaks down to 46% protein, 31% carbs and 22% fat.

Thursday, August 2nd
I decided to take today off because I trained the last two days. My triceps were still sore from Tuesday’s workout and I was thrilled that my back not only survived the workout from yesterday but it was actually ok. I made the good decision of icing my back for about 20 minutes yesterday afternoon after I got home from the gym.

My weight today was at 208.5 pounds and my waist was still at 35 ½”. If I can consistently lose at least ¼” off my waist each week, I will be down to a 33 ½” waist in time for the Olympia in Vegas. That’s pretty lean for me. I am also thinking about purchasing a pair of the Skindex calipers to get another reading of how lean I am as I am dieting.

I stayed pretty low carb all day today because I was not training. I did add another slight “cheat meal” at night but it wasn’t too bad, just a small bag of Orville Redenbacher’s low-fat popcorn and a Whey Force Shake. I needed something to eat as I was watching the new episode of “Mad Men” on AMC. Have you seen this new series yet? It’s really good. Finally, something good to watch on TV now that “The Sopranos” is finished and I’m still waiting for “The Wire” to come on HBO in either the fall or early next year.

Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries.
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex and 1 scoop of Egg Protein with 1 T. flaxseed oil.
Meal 3 – 3.92 oz. lean turkey, 152 grams sweet potato and 3.25 oz. broccoli.
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 serving Pro Complex and 1 serving Egg Protein.
Meal 5 – 6 oz. marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans.
Meal 6 – Whey Force Shake with 1 bag of small Orville Redenbacher popcorn.
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Egg Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.

The diet today came out to 2353 calories with 273.5 grams of protein, 164 grams of carbs and 66 grams of fat. This breaks down to 47% protein, 28% carbs and 25% fat. I’ll finish off the workouts on Friday and Saturday this week and take Sunday off before starting up again next week.

Friday, August 3rd
I woke up this morning (wait, that sounds like “The Sopranos”) with my weight still at 208.5 and the waist at 35 ½”. There are now eight weeks left until the big Olympia weekend in Las Vegas.

I trained shoulders and calves today at 12:30 with Dr. John. Matt was out of town all week so I don’t think he’s training at all this week. My lower back was feeling a little strained but I thought I would try the workout and see how it went.

We started with seated military presses to the front. I did 1 ½ reps on this exercise to make it more difficult and also to limit the amount of weight I was going to use so I wouldn’t wreck my lower back.

I started with a warm-up with 95 pounds for 15 reps and then moved to 135 pounds for my first real set. I got 10 reps out using the 1 ½ reps technique. For my second set, I did 8 reps using 155 pounds and then got a very tough 6 reps out using 175 pounds on the last set. My delts were super pumped after we finished this exercise.

We did dumbbell side lateral raises next. I warmed up with the 45 pound dumbbells for 12 reps then went to 50 pound dumbbells for 10 reps on the second set. For the last two heavy sets, I grabbed the 55’s and got 8 reps on the first set and 7 reps on the second. For the last set, I did a drop sets, going immediately to the 40’s for another 6 reps.

Next up was rear delts with the bent-over lateral raise exercise. I started with the 40’s for 10 easy reps and followed up with the 45’s for two sets of 8 reps each sets. This was all we needed to blast the delts today. Next up was traps!

We did seated barbell shrugs sitting on the end of a flat exercise bench. I started with 225 pounds for 12 reps and then moved to 315 pounds for an easy 10 reps. For my last two sets, I used 365 pounds for two sets of 8.

Donkey calf raises were up next. This is the BEST exercise for developing big, massive calves. Not enough bodybuilders do this exercise and then they complain that they have bad genetics for building big calves. In many cases, it’s simply that they don’t work them hard enough.

Since John weighs 250 pounds, he is 70 pounds heavier than Matt is. This factor alone made the donkey calf raise a whole new exercise! I didn’t need to strap on as much weight with John on my back. I did the first set with just John on my back and got 20 reps. For the second set, I added another 45 pounds with the weight belt and got another 20 reps and I finished with John plus an additional 90 pounds and I got another 20 reps.

To finish off the calves, John and I did calf raises on the leg press machine. I used 6 forty five pound plates on each side of the machine for 12 easy reps on the first set. For the second set, I added a plate to each side and did 10 reps and then finished off with 8 plates on each side for 8 reps.

As for the diet today, I stayed on my normal diet all day but I did go out to dinner at night. I wanted to take out all the people who helped me with my first contest promotion last weekend. The contest would not have been the success that it was without their help. They were nice enough to refuse my money when I offered it to them last weekend so the least I could do was take them out to dinner.

We went to a local seafood restaurant in the area and the food was delicious! They really had some great food at this place but I played it safe by sticking with the salmon and asparagus. I didn’t even have any drinks choosing to drink the bottled water instead. With only 8 weeks to go until Vegas, I can’t afford to have the chocolate martini’s or mojito’s anymore.

Saturday, August 4th
Today was an off day for me. I was supposed to do legs at the gym today but my back is still pretty strained so I decided to relax and just take the day off.

My bodyweight is still holding steady at 208.5 pounds with a 35 ½” waist this morning. I didn’t think the dinner last night would set me back and I was right.

I went out to see the new movie, “The Bourne Supremacy” this afternoon and then my friend and I stopped at a local restaurant for lunch after the movie. I had the “Classic Chicken” which is a whole roasted chicken with mashed potatoes and asparagus. In addition to this meal, I also ordered the lobster bisque soup which was awesome! I stayed away from the mashed potatoes and just had the soup and the chicken. I’m sure the sodium was off the charts but it wasn’t too bad.

All in all, I had a total of six meals today. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and three protein drinks. My goal is to bring the waist down another 2 inches in the next eight weeks.

Sunday, August 5th
Today was another day off from the gym so I was really strict with my diet to really starve those fat cells so I can start getting leaner. My bodyweight today was up a little to 210 pounds and the waist was still at 35 ½”. I’m sure the weight was up from the sodium when I ate lunch at that restaurant yesterday.

Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries.
Meal 2 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex, 1 scoop of Casein Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.
Meal 3 – 4.06 oz ground turkey, 122 grams sweet potato, 3 oz. broccoli
Meal 4 – Whey Force Shake and 1 serving of Optimum’s CGT (Creatine, Glutamine and Taurine)
Meal 5 – 6 oz. marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 6 – 8 egg whites, 1 t. peanut butter
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Casein Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.

This came out to 2321 calories with 257 grams of protein, 145 grams of carbs and 71 grams of fat. I’m sure the waist will go down in the next couple of days. More next week!

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