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balius
03-08-19, 3:21 pm
What's up guys. I've lurked in here and posted randomly over the last several years, and want to start getting a little more active on the board.

My journey started at 18, at 6'2" and whopping 135lbs :lol: when one of my buddies joined our community college football team. Saw him putting on some good size, asked him to take me to gym, and the rest is history.

Fast forward 12 years, and I finally competed for the first time last December. NPC Classic Physique division. 1st in Class D (out of 2, so not much to brag about). Not sure where I landed in the overall, but didn't take the show. I wouldn't have expected to, my weight cap for my height is 230lbs, and I weighed in the night before at 185. Taking all of this year and next year to grow before I step back on stage either winter 2020, or spring 2021 depending on how things are looking. Goal is to be 215lbs+ for the next one, still well below my limit, but 30lbs in 2 years is a fair amount to add.

My buddy that got me in to the gym and I trained together for the first year or so, and then I was on my own after that. I have a few friends who lift, but nobody was ever as serious as me, and life has moved us around the country a bit. When I decided to do the show, I knew I'd need some guidance, so I hire a coach for the first time ever. Really pleased with what he did for/with me that year, and I'm still working with him, and plan to continue for the forseeable future.

As a tall dude, my long ass arms and legs were noticeably lacking on stage, so those are our current focus points. Current split is this:
Chest/Triceps
Back/Biceps
Quads/Calves
Off
Shoulders
Arms
Hamstrings

I've really enjoyed splitting legs into two days a week. My quad day is mostly compound movements, I don't do extensions until my last exercise, so my hamstrings still get a fair amount of engagement. We planned this since they lag behing my quads. Doing 30 minutes of cardio 6 days a week this offseason to stay healthy, and not put on quite as much fat as I did bulking up for last year's show.

Let's call that good for an introductory post. I'll come back with some photos later on.

balius
03-14-19, 1:21 pm
Been using Wednesday as my day off, so hit that yesterday, but going forward I may start using Thursday. There's a farmers market one street over from the little gym I go to, and parking in the neighborhood on Thursday night's is absurd.

Anyways, tonight I'll be there a little later than usual so hopefully parking isn't as big of a deal. Shoulders on the menu tonight...
Smith machine press (I find I'm able to get a better mind-muscle connection than with a barbell or dumbbells) x4
EZ-bar upright row x4
Cable side raises superset with front raises x4
DB rear raises x3
Machine rear raises x3
DB shrug x3

I keep my compound movements in the 6-10 rep range, and isolation movements are done slightly higher with 10-12 reps. Certain exercises, like shrugs, get a higher rep count since the ROM is so small that way I can still get a good amount of time under tension with them. Those will be done with a goal of 15 reps per set.

I'm on 30 minutes of cardio a day, fasted. I prefer to hit it first thing in the morning rather than after my workout, so I grabbed a cheap treadmill to throw in our spare bedroom and I'm up at 4:45 every morning hitting an incline walk on that.

balius
03-14-19, 1:34 pm
Here's what I'm putting down for food these days. Keeping things simple and really focusing on getting more veggies in than I have in the past.

Breakfast: 3 eggs, 250g egg whites, 4 slices of turkey bacon, 2 cups (160g dry) oats , 1 banana.
Meal 2: 8oz (cooked) chicken, 1.5 cups (90g dry) white rice, 1tbsp EVOO.
Meal 3: 50g protein from whey powder, 32g natural peanut butter.
Meal 4: 8oz (cooked) 91% lean ground beef, 1.5 cups (90g dry) white rice.
Meal 5: 8oz (cooked) chicken, 2 cups (120g dry) white rice.
Pre workout: 30g of carbs from low fructose fruit (pineapple, berries, etc..)
Post workout: 25g karbolyn, 50g from whey powder.

Animal's chocolate, chocolate mint, and chocolate coconut are all on deck right now for protein powder.

Twice a week, typically after each of my leg days, I do a cheat meal. Focus is on high carbs, 50g+ protein, don't pay too much attention to fat in this meal but I try not to go overboard with it. Example from this Tuesday was 1lb (precooked) top sirloin steak, 6oz (dry) pasta, 1cup pasta sauce. Snuck in a few bites of ice cream as I was doing the dishes from it too.

With my breakfast, I add mushrooms, spinach, and bell peppers to the eggs/whites and bacon and scramble that all up. Oats get blended with the banana and a mixed greens bag of chard, kale, and spinach.

Meals 2-5 all have some of that salad mix with them, chicken meals get stir-fry veggies added in, and I saute up more spinach with bell peppers and mushrooms for the beef meal in some bone or beef broth.

Pretty simple and straight forward. My weight is leveling out, so I'll be increasing calories in the next few weeks.