I am currently in a strange phase of my competitive year. Normally I would now be at a point where I would have finished my competitions and now be entering my rebound phase.
This was to be the case except for the fact that I have now been asked to compete at the Amateur Arnold Classic in Colombus, Ohio at the end of February and represent the UK and the UKBFF.

So it was a choice of getting big and out of shape or staying leanish and then just having an 8 week diet starting pretty much after xmas. I chose the latter option as the shorter the diet the better.

I also had the dilemma of coming off AAS for 6-8 weeks or staying on a very low dose with the addition of a peptide cycle to try to keep me slowly growing and keeping the BF lowish.

Again I opted for the latter.

The only thing which hasn't had to change is my training split. My off season is always spent training hard, intensely and infrequently 3 days on and 4 days off a week (mon, wed, fri with the weeknds off too)

As with my diet leading into the UKBFF British Champs, I have been assisted by a good friend and nutritionalist, Paul Booth. Paul has helped me gain over 20lbs in 18 months with his various diet protocols and it was he that came up with my diet over the next 8-10 weeks and he will also assist me after xmas in the diet proper leading up to the Arnold.

My current diet is split into 2 distinct parts: training days and non training days.

Training Days are as follows:-

Protein 330g, Carbs 300g, Fats 130g

Non training days are:-

Protein 330g, Carbs 250g, Fats 150g

These are each split over 6 meals with 1 of those meals on a training day being my PWO shake.

Meal times tend to be the same every day.

Meal 1 8am

Meal 2 11am-11.30am (PWO on training days)

Meal 3 1.30pm

Meal 4 4.30pm

Meal 5 7pm

Meal 6 10pm

I also have added another meal at around 2am which is not included in the macros stated above (25g protein, 25g carbs and 10g fat). This is the same whether it be a training or non training day. I always wake starving during the night!!!

With the addition of the peptide cycle I have had to shift around my fats on training days and now meals 2 and 3 are void of any fats but these are spread amongst the other 4 due to the intake of 5ius of insulin PWO 3x a week.

A typical days food on a non-training day would be as follows:-

Meal 1 100g oats, 70g propeptide, 30g peanut butter

Meal 2 4 whole eggs, 2 slices of wholemeal toast, 30g of whey (or100g chicken)

Meal 3 250g chicken, 50g basmati rice, selection of veg, 15g virgin olive oil

Meal 4 Same as meal 3

Meal 5 150g chicken, 100g salmon, 50g rice, selection of veg, 10g virgin olive oil

Meal 6 70g oats, 70g propeptide, 30g peanut butter


Meal 7 at 2am 35g oats, 35g propeptide, 20g peanut butter (same on both days)


A typical day on a training day would be as follows

Meal 1 100g oats, 70g propeptide, 30g peanut butter

Meal 2 60g whey isolate, 60g WMS/vitargo, 10g peptide bonded glutamine, 5g CEE

Meal 3 250g chicken, 70g basmati rice, selection of veg.

Meal 4 same as above plus 25g extra virgin olive oil

Meal 5 150g chicken, 100g salmon, 350g boiled pots, selection of veg, 20g extra virgin olive oil

Meal 6 80g oats, 70g propeptide, 35g peanut butter.

So thats it as far as food goes. Once a week I will have a cheat meal normally including chips and steak but no pudding. Cheating for me tends to be on complex carbs, fats and protein. I find sweets just spike my insulin and cause me very quickly to store a lot of fat and water and this phase I am wanting to stay lean. Normal off season would see a few treats of cheesecake etc every week.

Foods may vary but as long as the numbers add up at the end of the day I am not worried if some meals are more and some are less.

I take my nutrition super seriously and even take my scales to my parents house so I can weigh out my sunday dinner!!!!

Supplements are as follows during this phase

Multi vit/min
ALA
CLA
CEE
Peptide bonded glutamine
Whey isolate
Vitargo
Vit C
Pro peptide

Peptides

Mon 5ius gh/50mcgs igf (6am) 5ius gh/5ius Novo rapid (11.30am)

Tues 5ius gh/25mcgs igf (6am)

Weds Same as mon

Thurs Same as tues

Fri Same as mon

Sat and sun 5ius gh (6am)

All shots are done I.M in the muscle about to be trained or just having been trained.

So for eg:- I train chest on a mon so would shoot my 6am peptides in my chest and again after training.
On the tues I would again shoot my chest at 6am.

Weds I would shoot my 6am peptides in my lats and again after training.
On thurs I would shoot my lats again at 6am

And so on.....

At the moment I am also running 250mgs of test enanthate EW taken on a monday
T3 is supplemented ED at 25mcgs taken with my 6am peptides.

As for my training, short and sweet sums it up

Cardio is performed 6x a week (mon-sat) for 30 mins (pre meal 1 at 6.30am) at a HR of 120-125BPM on xtrainer and incline tread (15 mins each)

I feel cardio is essential even during the off season to help metabolise all of that food plus it keeps the endorphins flowing and the BF in check. Its win win all round!!

I am only training chest, legs (concentrating on hams esp) and back (width only) in this phase. Arms are too big and shoulders will get hit with a few sets after back (rears and sides)
Calves get hit every 2 weeks.

My sessions last no longer than 45 mins for the larger bodyparts (back and legs) and 30 mins for chest.

Sets will vary but will consist of a maximum of 10-12 sets for chest, approximately 20 for legs (hams and quads) and around 12-15 for back. This includes warm ups. I will do 3-4 exercises for chest, 4-5 for back, 2-3 for quads and 3-4 for hams. Calves (when trained) will be hit by 3 exercises of 3 sets.
Reps vary between 10 and 20 depending on the muscle group. Quads up to 20, chest up to 12 or poss 15, back between 10-15 and calves between 10 and 20.
I am very instinctive with my training and have no set pattern to it. I change the order of exercises each week tho and throw in some negative and drop set work every so often.

Hope this helps and gives you an insight into what i am currently doing.

I am nearly 4 weeks into this diet now and these pics were taken on sunday this week and my current body weight is 13st 13lbs at a height of 5'4"

Next week my training day nutrition changes and I will outline that in a day or so.

Any questions i will gladly answer.

Happy reading

regards

James

you look bigger than ever mate, good luck with your prep and the show!!  

Almost same surname llewellyn here..

awsome pics,looking in good shape , good luck

Looking real big there and in superb shape James.

Look forward to watching your progress and thanks for sharing.

C'mon the Brits

'wow' weighing out moms sunday roast??? by the name i'm guessing lamb right??  

thats hardcore man my mum would slap me upside the heed if she cought me doing that. but then i dont and would never look as you do so its paid off. they must be proud?

good luckwith it fella. not to clued up one all that comp stuff but if having arms that look like they should be legs and a back wider than you advrage lounge fire is a requirement then you'll have my vote.

James - its great that you are making this post on here and sharing your knowledge and progress with everyone. Keep us posted on your progress when you can.
Good luck and all the best for the AC
PJ
P.s ill take back my statement of good luck - because you wont need it!

Many thanks for all the information and very good luck in the Competition. Viva Britannia!

Yes good luck James, I know your gonna bring it to the AC stage.

All the best

PJ

Break a leg James.

Looking forward to seeing the pics, know you will do very well out there.

Reaper.

Ok, the time is nearly upon us and I'll be flying out to Columbus in exactly 1 week from now.

Prep has gone well and currently I am sitting at around 90kgs first thing in the morning.

Diet is predominantly white fish, pots, rice and oats along with extra virgin olive oil, natural peanut butter and CLA. Kcals have been around 3600-3800 per day with carbs around 400g daily.

Cardio has been at 60 mins pre meal 1, 6 days a week

Weights have been heavy, intense and brief 4 times a week (40 mins)

I am around 6-7lbs up from the British.

Some shots were taken yesterday by headz which I will post here for you to see.

WOW, Meso, you look great!  All the best man and I'm sure you'll do well.  However don't flash those buttocks too often or you may do better than you think!   My daddy told me about men who do that!   Seriously, you deserve to get the rewards after all the dedication and discipline you have put in.  It is an incentive for the rest of us to keep trying.

Only a couple of days to go, so just wanted to say all the best and I hope you knock 'em out James. If your last pics are anything to go by you sure will.

Will be sure to be keeping an eye on he web for results as soon as they come up.

B.

Your looking amazing, ripped and your vascularity is excellent
Good luck in the Arnold Classic

james m8 u look great all the best i hope i can take some advice from ur self

You look amazing, good luck with your comp and thanks for all the info!

WL