My Road to the Olympia Week Six

by: John Hansen - August 7th, 2007

My Road to the Olympia

The Fat Loss Continues!


Monday, August 6th
My weight was way down to 207.5 pounds today and the waist was still at 35 ½”. I knew I would drop a few pounds from yesterday from the water I was retaining from the restaurant meal the day before.

It was back to the gym today after taking the weekend off. Matt was gone again all week on another tennis tournament so I hooked up with Dr. John again and another guy from the gym, Chris. We got to the gym around 12:30 in the afternoon for chest and triceps.

The gym that we train at, X Sport Gym in Darien, IL, got all new equipment today. They also replaced the dumbbells from the normal iron plate dumbbells to the new rubber dumbbells. They looked a little cumbersome but they weren’t too bad to use. One big difference is that the dumbbells really bounce when you drop them on the rubber mats. I was getting a double somersault out of some of the heavier dumbbells when they hit the floor.

Here is how the workout went:

DB Bench Press 75x15, 100x10, 120x7, 130x4
Incline Press 225x10, 255x7, 275x5
Incline Flyes 80x10, 85x8, 85x7
Close Grip Bench (Smith Mach.) 135x12, 225x8, 225x8
Lying Tricep Extensions 100x12, 120x10, 140x8
Bench Dips BWx15, 80x12, 80x10
Standing Calf Raises 310x15, 410x12, 510x8
Seated Calf Raises 100x12, 150x10, 150x10

As for the diet today, I increased the carbs today because it was a training day. Bumping up the carbs also increases the metabolism as opposed to eating the same amount of calories and carbs every day which tends to slow down the metabolism. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex, 1 scoop of Whey Gold Standard
Meal 2 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – Pre-workout drink consisting of Whey Force Shake and 1 serving of creatine
Meal 4 – Workout drink (sip during the workout) consisting of Optimum BCAA and Creatine, 1 serving of Vassive-NO and 1 scoop of Waxy Maize
Meal 5 – Post workout drink consisting of 3 scoops of After Max and 1 serving of creatine
Meal 6 – 4.23 oz lean ground turkey, 148 grams sweet potato, 2.86 oz broccoli
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop Pro Complex, 1 scoop Casein Protein
Meal 8 – 4.23 oz round steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Casein Protein with 1 T. flaxseed oil.

This came out to 2902 calories, 324 grams of protein, 258 grams of carbohydrates and 50 grams of fat.

Tuesday, August 7th
My bodyweight was still at 207 pounds this morning with my waist still at 35 ½”. Today is another training day so I will eat a little bit higher calories and carbs and then cut back tomorrow to stimulate the metabolism.

I trained back and biceps today at 12:30pm with John and Chris again. I got to the gym a little early so I could my floor exercises for my lower back using the stability ball. These exercises help to train the smaller muscles in the core of my lower back and abs which helps with my compressed discs.

We started out with Close-Grip Pulldowns for two sets to warm up. I used 130 lbs. for 15 easy reps on the first set and 180 pounds for 10 reps on the second and last set.

John was running late but he got to the gym just in time to join Chris and I for Barbell Rows. I started with 185 lbs for 12 reps then went to 225x10 on the second set. For the last two sets, I used 275 which is a slight increase from my last back workout where I did 265 and 275. I got 5 reps for both sets without using my straps after Chris was giving me a hard time when I pulled the straps out of my bag. You know how these powerlifters are when it comes to using straps (“Not if you’re a REAL man!”)

After our “bread and butter” thickness exercise, we moved over to Seated Cable Row for three sets to finish off the lats. I used the full stack of 250 lbs for 10 reps on the first set and then went to 275 lbs (the full stack plus a 25 pound plate added on) for two sets of 7 and 6 reps, respectively.

We finished off back with Deadlifts. I haven’t really gone too heavy on Deadlifts in the last couple of months because of my lower back but I did ok last time when I did this workout so I was hoping today would be good too. I was right. I did 225 for an easy 12 reps on the first set, 315 for 10 reps on the second set and I got a nice and slow and tight 6 reps with 365 on the last set.

I was pretty wiped out after we finished back but we went on to do biceps next. We started with Incline Curls for 3 sets. I started with the 40’s for 12 reps then went to the 50’s on the second set for 8 reps and I finished with the 55’s for 6 tough reps.

Next up was Barbell Curls for 2 sets. I started with 95 pounds for 10 reps on the first set and then went to 115 pounds for 8 reps on the second set.

We finished with Hammer Curls for the brachialis and forearms. I used the 45’s for the first set for 9 reps and then got a tough 8 reps out on the last set with the 50’s. I was wiped out after this workout!

As for the diet, it was pretty similar to yesterday except I substituted the marinated salmon and green beans for the round steak and green peas for dinner. I ate a total of 2999 calories with 325 grams of protein, 253 grams of carbs and 68 grams of fat.

Wednesday, August 8th
Today was a day off from the gym so I kept the calories and carbs much lower. I started off the day weighing a very light 205.5 pounds and the waist was down another ¼” to 35 ¼”. I’m really surprised at how low my bodyweight is with my waist still being this big. What normally happens is that my bodyweight drops quickly in the beginning while the waist goes down very slowly and, somewhere along the way, my bodyweight stabilizes and stops dropping too quickly while my waist keeps going down. It should be interesting to see where my weight ends up by the time I get to Vegas.

Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Whey Gold Standard and 1 scoop of Pro Complex with 1 serving of CGT (Creatine, Glutamine and Taurine).
Meal 2 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 3 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex, 1 scoop of Casein Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 4 – 3.77 oz. lean ground turkey, 144 grams of sweet potato.
Meal 5 – 4.23 oz round steak, ½ cup green peas
Meal 6 – 8 egg whites, 1 t. peanut butter
Meal 7 – 2 scoops of Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil.

This came out to 2396 calories, 281 grams of protein, 143 grams of carbs and 64 grams of fat. This breaks down to 47% protein, 24% carbs and 24% fat. Back to the gym tomorrow!

Thursday, August 9th
My bodyweight this morning was back up to 207.5 lbs but the waist was still at 35 ¼”. Weird that my weight would be up after a low calorie, low carb day off but that’s how the body is. The weight is always up and down but as long as the waist keeps going down consistently, that’s what counts. I think I should be getting my new Skindex calipers this Friday so it will be interesting to see what my bodyfat percentage is with these top of the line calipers.

I met John at the gym 11am in the morning today. He had to get out of there early so we went pretty quick in training delts. Today was our superset day for delts so that worked out good.

We started with Seated DB Presses. We warmed up with two sets before doing the last two heavy sets supersetted with Seated Side Lateral Raises. I started with the 45’s for 15 easy reps and then did a set with the 75’s for 10 reps.

For the next two sets, I went up to the 95’s and did 8 and 7 reps, respectively. I supersetted these two sets with Seated Side Laterals using 35’s for 12 reps for the first set and 40’s for 10 reps on the second set.

For my next two sets of Seated Lateral Raises, I went up to 45’s for 10 reps and supersetted them with Upright Rows using 115 pounds for 10 reps. On the last set, I used the 50’s for 8 reps and supersetted them with 135 pounds for 8 reps.

For the rear delts, John and I did three sets of Lying Side Laterals on a decline bench. I used a 30 pound dumbbell for 12, 10 and 10 reps, respectively.

John had to leave so I stuck around and did some calves. I did Donkey Calf Raises on the machine which isn’t the same as the real thing but it was ok. I got a decent pump in the calves using the full stack of 400 pounds for 20 reps for 3 sets.

My diet today was a little higher in calories and carbs because of the workout. Here is what I ate today:

Meal 1 – 1 egg, 9 egg whites, 1 cup of oatmeal, ½ cup blueberries
Meal 2 – Pre-workout Drink consisting of Whey Force Shake with one serving of CGT (Creatine, Glutamine and Taurine).
Meal 3 – 1 serving Creatine and BCAA with 1 serving of Vassive-NO (I sipped this drink during my workout).
Meal 4 – 3 scoops of After Max with 1 serving of Creatine
Meal 5 – 4 oz turkey, 142 grams sweet potato, 3 oz. broccoli
Meal 6 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 serving Pro Complex, 1 serving Egg Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.
Meal 7 – 6 oz. marinated salmon, 1 of cup green beans
Meal 8 – Whey Force Shake with 1 t. peanut butter
Meal 9 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Casein Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil.

Today’s diet came out to 2818 calories, 294 grams of protein, 226 grams of carbs and 74 grams of fat.

Friday, August 10th
My weight and waist were still the same today as yesterday. 207 pounds bodyweight with a 35 ¼” waist. This was our last workout of the week. I was going to try and do legs today for the first time in a month. I missed the last two leg workouts because of the contest I promoted and also because of my lower back and knees.

I decided to do the superset routine again for legs so I wouldn’t have to do squats and end up hurting my lower back again. I started with abs, supersetting Hanging Knee Raises with Crunches on a bench. Since I missed the last two leg workouts, I also missed the last two ab workouts because I always train legs with abs.

I did 35 reps on my first set of Hanging Knee Raises and got out 30 reps on the Crunches with my head hanging off the bench so I got a better stretch in the upper abs. For my second set, I did 25 reps on the Hanging Knee Raises and 25 reps on the Crunches.

I started legs with Leg Extensions on the BodyMasters machine. I did 20 easy reps with 120 pounds on the first set, 150 pounds for 15 reps on the second set and 180 pounds for 12 reps on the last set.

For the superset, I started with 4 plates on each side of the Leg Press using a close foot stance for 15 reps and supersetted this with Hack Squats with one plate on each side for 15 reps using a wide foot stance. I did three more supersets like this, using 6 plates on the Leg Press for 12 reps and 2 plates on each side of the Hack Squat for 12 reps on the second set, 8 plates for 10 reps on the Leg Press and 3 plates for 10 reps on the Hacks on the third set and 9 plates for 10 reps on the Leg Press and 3 plates and a 25 for 6 reps on the Hacks on the last set. This is all I needed for legs after not doing them for a month.

For hamstrings, John and I started out with Leg Curls. I used 110 pounds for 12 reps for the first set, 120 pounds for 10 reps on the second set and 130 pounds for 8 reps on the last set.

We finished off with Stiff leg Deadlifts using dumbbells. For the first set, I used the 100 pound dumbbells for 12 reps then went up to the 120 pound dumbbells for 8 reps on the last set. This wasn’t as hard as I normally would have pushed legs but it was enough because of the long layoff.

For my diet, I ate slightly more carbs today because I know the next two days over the weekend are going to be lower. This 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, 1 scoop of Casein Protein and 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – Pre-workout Drink consisting of Whey Force Shake and 1 serving of CGT
Meal 4 – 1 serving of BCAA and Creatine combined with 1 serving of Vassive-NO (sipped during the workout)
Meal 5 – 3 scoops of After Max with 1 serving CGT
Meal 6 – 4 oz. turkey, 122 grams of sweet potato, 3 oz. broccoli
Meal 7 – 4.12 oz. round steak, ½ cup green peas.
Meal 8 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex, 1 scoop of Egg Protein
Meal 9 – Whey Force Shake, 1 bag of Orville Redenbacher’s Mini Bag Popcorn
Meal 10 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil.

This came out to 3011 calories with 334 grams of protein, 252 grams of carbs and 62 grams of fat. The break down for today was 44% protein, 33% carbs and 20% fat.

Saturday, August 11th
Everything was still the same today, bodyweight at 207 pounds and waist at 35 ¼”. I went to Dr. John’s office in the morning to have my knees x-rayed to see if there was something wrong with them. They have been giving me so much trouble over the last month, I’ve hardly been able to train legs.

When I was in the office, I jumped on the doctor’s scale that was in the room. My weight on this scale was 216 pounds, 9 pounds more than the scale I have at home. I only had breakfast since I weighed myself this morning and I was only wearing shorts and a t-shirt when I got on the scale so it couldn’t have been the clothes or the food I ate that accounted for the 9 pound increase. I think my digital scale is a little off. I thought my weight seemed too light for the size of my waist. I usually compete are a little over 200 pounds so it didn’t make sense that my weight would only be 207 pounds with over 2 inches left to shed off my waist.

I waited for the x-rays to be developed and John told me that my knees were fine. There was no cartilage damage judging from the x-rays. He just recommended that I ice my knees and that might help the pain. It’s a bitch getting older!

For my diet today, I ate low calories and lower carbs again. 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 Whey Gold Standard, 1 scoop of Pro Complex and 1 T. flaxseed oil
Meal 3 – 4.17 oz. lean turkey, 157 grams sweet potato, 3 oz. broccoli
Meal 4 – Protein Drink consisting of 1 scoop of Pro Complex and 1 scoop of Casein protein
Meal 5 – 6 oz. marinated salmon, 1 cup green beans
Meal 6 – Whey Force Shake
Meal 7 – Protein Drink consisting of 2 scoops of Casein Protein, 1 T. flaxseed oil.

Today’s diet came out to only 2335.5 calories with 277 grams of protein, 144 grams of carbs and 65 grams of fat. This breaks down to 47% protein, 25% carbs and 25% fat. This is perfect for a day off from training, the calories from protein is almost 50% and the carbs and fats are each 25%.

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