James Llewellin's road to the Olympia 202 Showdown ~ The Connecticut 202 Pro

[MESOMORPH]

As many of you know my pro debut was around 6 weeks ago now in Orlando Florida, where I placed 4th, missing out on 3rd place by just a few points.

I'm now 7 weeks out from the Connecticut Pro in Hartford on 23rd/24th July 2010. It's another Europa show which I am pleased about as Betty Pariso and her husband know how to put on a show with nothing left to chance.

My goal is to show improvement to the judges and place in the top 3, enabling me to qualify and compete at this years 202 Olympia Showdown in Las Vegas at the end of September

I am starting my prep in 1 weeks time when I will be 6 weeks out. Just to give you some idea where I am condition wise, I am only around 7lbs above my contest weight, tipping the scales at around 13st 11lbs this morning after my cheat meal of yesterday. I am really pleased where I am sitting at the moment considering the amount of food that I am eating and also the fact that I have down no cardio for the last 10 days as I was actually losing weight!!!

My glutes are still striated and my obliques and serratus are through and very dry in the mornings. Normally I would have dieted for around 10-12 weeks to be where I am today so I am extrememly pleased where I have managed to hold things especially seeing as in the last 10 days I have had 7 cheat meals and 2 vodka sessions!!!!

As I mentioned my prep for the Orlando show was around 15 weeks long and although I was pleased where I was at the end, my lower body (excluding my glutes) was not where it should have been. However, today I am leaner below the waist than I was on show day and a lot more vascular, so I know come show day my legs (front and back) will be absolutely inside out.

During my last prep I wasn't in the right place mentally or physically due to a virus which I had for the last 6 weeks and also splitting mith my wife.
Now I am healthy in body and mind and feel I am in a great place to bring a better, tighter and heavier physique to the stage at the end of July.

Amanda will be taking some 'before' photo's this week down at The Ministry and then I will take these every week until the week before the show.

The journal will start a week today but in the mean time I thought I'd give you some background (above) and also my current diet (below)

Wake. 1 scoop pro peptide

CARDIO ~ None performed for last 10 days

Meal 1 100g oats, 20g granola, 20g raisins, I banana, 1 yoghurt, 2 scops pro peptide

TRAIN (5 days a week)

Meal 2 2 scoops pro recover, 10g glutamine, 5g creatine, 5g BCAA's

Meal 3 1 Pro Mr

Meal 4 200g chicken, 1 packet tilda brown rice, 10g olive oil, veg, pineapple

Meal 5 Same as above

Meal 6 Same as above

Meal 7 6 whole eggs, 2 slices wholewheat toast, salad, pineapple

Meal 8 2 scoops pro peptide, 60g oats, 20g natural peanut butter

In night at around 2am 1 scoop pro peptide

I have a cheat meal once a week on a sunday (but recently I have had a few more!!!)

On non training days I just remove my pro recover and shift the other meals around a little.

So there we have it.......

Any questions, fire away!!

J

[forddee]

Hi J welldone with the show and good luck with the next one.

Is there anything you have learnet from your last show to help you with this next one.?

I have one Q ,what is it with having pineapple in your meals i have a sort of idea why but is there a main reason for having it your diet or a few ?


Daz

[little mick]

Hi J seen you down the Britain at southport you looked nice and tight you were buisy eating so didnt want to disturb you , hope prep goes well for next show and good luck qualifying for olympia ,

[MESOMORPH]

Hi J welldone with the show and good luck with the next one.

Is there anything you have learnet from your last show to help you with this next one.?

I have one Q ,what is it with having pineapple in your meals i have a sort of idea why but is there a main reason for having it your diet or a few ?


Daz

Thanks Daz.


The main thing I learnt was that I need to be bigger and harder below the waist. Although my conditioning was very good it could have been better so that is my main focus now. As for the pineapple it helps break protein down for better absorbtion due to the enzyme found within it. Plus its nice a sweet!!

J

[MESOMORPH]

Hi J seen you down the Britain at southport you looked nice and tight you were buisy eating so didnt want to disturb you , hope prep goes well for next show and good luck qualifying for olympia ,

Thanks mate. Haha, yeah Im pretty much always eating....Bit like a cow, I graze all day!!! You should have disturbed me.

J

[MESOMORPH]

Just another quick update.

I returned from the UKBFF Northern Ireland show this weekend where I did a guest spot. I had a great weekend and Steve and his wife were absolutely brilliant hosts to me. The people were very warm and friendly and Steve has given me the invitation to go over there whenever I want during my prep to train and diet with him.

I am now just under 10 weeks out and my diet started today. I have had a fairly loose grip on my diet the last couple of weeks but am still in good shape and would probably only need 6-8 weeks to get in shape if push came to shove. However, I am wanting to be ready early for this show so I am relaxed leading into it.

My cardio started this morning and took a lovely route through the woods and along country lanes. It starts with a great big hill so my heart rate goes up pretty quickly and my hams and glutes are screaming at the top!!!

My diet is now back to where it was. My bodyweight has dropped a little and I was sitting at around 13st 7lbs this morning but I will now start to volumise as my prep gets underway.

So this is it, back on the wagon and steady as she goes for the next 9 weeks then I'll be flying out 1 week before for my final weeks prep.

J

[MESOMORPH]

I'm going to follow a 2 on 1 off 2 on 2 off approach, so just 4x a week for now. I may step this up to 5x a week but will just see how I feel.

This week its just about solid training and all the time my energy levels are good I'll stick with the Y3T approach. Once I hit that wall, its just counter productive and then its just about pushing a bit of blood through, the growing is done its just about muscle conservation at that stage!!

I have been unable to do deads for around 6-8 weeks now. I have a hip problem (dislocated at birth) and as a result my sacro illiac joint is out of kilter and causes hip, glute and lower back pain when aggrivated. It got so bad last time I couldn't even bend over to put my shoes on. As a result I have gone much lighter with BOR's too. I was up to 3.5 plates a side for a solid 8 reps but that now doesn't go much above 2.5 a side now.
I have been doing a lot more behind the neck pull downs. My flexibility has improved and the lat activation I get is phenominal. Its not an exercise I would recommend to a novice but an experienced bodybuilder can benefit from it, just as he can from behind the neck press for delts. Rotator strength is crucial in both exercises so make sure you are warmed up well first.

So all good

J

[MESOMORPH]

The volumising I was talking about is happening. My starting weight was 13st 7lbs and it then dropped by 3lbs and today its back up to my starting weight. I would expect my weight to climb up to around 13st 12lbs before coming back down again in the final 6 weeks. That would leave me around 12lbs to lose in 6 weeks which fits into my weight loss of 2lbs a week nicely.

I trained legs last night in the searing heat. Made myself feel so sick that it took me an hour later to drink my PWO drink and 3 hours later to eat my PWO meal!!

Today my legs are mashed, cardio was OK after they loosened off but now they have siezed up again. Oh well, serves me right for taking a week off them.

Its another hot day here in the SE with the temp already up to 26c and its only 10.30am!! Luckily its a day off training today and then tomorrow I'll hit delts for my final bodypart this week.

I dont know what I'll have for my cheat meal this week, I must admit right now I dont feel like one, the heat has really hit my appetite. Oh well I guess be thankful of small mercies cos in 4 weeks time I'll be starving!!

J

[forddee]

Great reading J,

Ref;
"getting your legs up"

Training being the main why to get them better or is there more to the plan ? would the type of CV you do be an added factor here ?
.

Daz

[MESOMORPH]

Weight today is up another 1lb from yesterday to 13st 8lbs, so after the initial drop of 3lbs I have gained 4lbs this week, so the volumisation is well underway. I feel and look a lot fuller now and I am happy where my conditioning is 8 weeks out.

I will up my cardio next week to 40 mins 7x weekly from the 30 mins I'm doing now. Due to my conditioning I can now afford to drop nice and slowly and just make very subtle changes to cardio and diet to get the desired results.

J

[MESOMORPH]

Great reading J,

Ref;
"getting your legs up"

Training being the main why to get them better or is there more to the plan ? would the type of CV you do be an added factor here ?
.

Daz

Not really mate. Due to my diet and staying lean between shows my legs will be a lot leaner than my first show and with the amount of food I am eating 8 weeks out I know they will be fuller come show day too. This will give the illusion of 'bringing my legs up'. The real growth will happen from Oct-Dec when I start my off season phase.

J

[MESOMORPH]

Its sunday today and it's cheat meal day. Oh what to have. My appetite has been a little bit battered this week due tot the excessive heat here in the SE but I'm sure I'll be able to tuck away something.

My weight continues to climb and this morning I was 13st 10lbs, so a net gain of 3lbs for the week and a climb of 6lb from my lowest on tuesday morning.

I feel fuller and bigger and raring to go!!!

J

[MESOMORPH]

Today I woke at 13st 10lb, so the same as yesterday.

My cheat was very reserved indeed, not high in carbs but higher in sat fats as my appetite still isn't great.

I had crab cakes and then chicken with mozzerella, tomatoes and Parma ham with a side of fries.

Today I upped my cardio to 40 minutes and it was the first day for days where the sun wasn't shining!!

I helped out at the gym yesterday moving some of the kit to the new premises. Today they open for business but the official launch and opening is on the 1st August I believe. Today I'll be training chest and some triceps.

I have found myself a new training partner which will mean that I will be training later in the day now at around 6pm. It will be interesting how I find this as I have always trained in the mornings after just 1 meal.

J

[little mick]

Hi J good luck im sure you will qualify for olympia hope the last couple of weeks of prep have been going well , and you are were you wanted to be , 

[MESOMORPH]

OK so update time. Tuesday 27th July 2010

Everything has been going very well so far. I quickly saw Neil on saturday at Panther's Gym in Uxbridge before he flew out to the U.S and he said that I am on track, in fact a little ahead....But thats exactly where I want to be and where I want to say. I backed right off my cardio last week and think I only did 3 sessions or so. This week I am doing every day cardio at 20 mins pre meal 1, so not too bad for just over 5 weeks out.

I am sitting at around 13st 12lbs at the moment and although my weight isn't dropping by a lot, I am seeing new lines appear daily now.

I feel fuller and leaner this time around and Neil reckoned another 5-7lbs to come off which would mean I'd be around 5-7lb up from my last outing in April which on my frame is a lot of extra fullness. Its definately helped my cause staying leaner this time around and meant that I have been able to come in steadily on around 300g of carbs a day and little if any cardio.

So all good in my world at present

My present diet is as follows

Meal 1 100g oats, 2 scoops Pro Peptide, 20g raisins, 1 banana, 1 Youghurt

Meal 2 2 scoops of Pro Recover, 5g BCAA's, 10g glutamine, 5g creatine

Meal 3 1 Pro Mr

Meal 4 200g chicken, 50g rice, veg, 10g olive oil, pineapple

Meal 5 Same as above

Meal 6 5 whole eggs, 2 slices of wholewheat bread, pineapple

Meal 7 50g oats, 2 scoops Pro Pepetide, 20g natural peanut butter



J