Mailman Muscle: Story of The Bodybuilding Powerlifter

[K.Diesel]

Folks, the last several weeks have been interesting. I’ll try to be succinct in summarizing it.

Overall, training has gone pretty well since my last post. I was able to maintain the every other day training frequency, using a torso/limbs split and doing 2 max effort sets on most lifts. However, it seemed that a lot outside of the gym started stressing me out, particularly the dieting. Even though I had a bit of a diet break after The Conquer, I was stressing over getting damned near stage ready before this trip. That stress was carrying over, or exacerbating stresses from other things, and I think that in spite of keeping the physical grind going, mentally I was done. I really wanted to abandon plans for this pro show in October, hit a few buffets, and stay out of gyms for a while.

Somewhere about a week or two before the trip to Florida, I decided to stop pressing to get myself down to a certain weight before we left. I decided to abort the diet until I returned to Baltimore, and go into maintenance mode several days before leaving for Florida. So I went into the RP Diet Coach App, ended my fat loss diet, and set up parameters for a 2-3 week maintenance diet that would end once we got home.

Then a few things happened that I didn’t expect. As soon as I went into maintenance, I felt as if I had just put a barbell loaded with 500 lbs back in the rack. I thought I would feel disappointed by aborting the diet plan. I felt relieved, and that relief allowed me to manage such that I lost a couple of pounds before we left. Then while we were gone, I didn’t deprive myself of things I wanted. I went to Disney breakfast buffets. I went to a cookie spot in Disney Springs that I’ve been wanting to go back to for a whole year (the ones I didn’t eat are in my freezer 😁 ). My wife and I kept a fairly new - 3 years old - anniversary tradition alive by going to what may be our favorite restaurant, where they only serve desserts. (Side note: If you have a Better Than Sex - A Dessert Restaurant located within a reasonable drive from you, go there with your significant other ASAP) I went all in. But I also ate salads and grilled chicken and other reasonable stuff on this trip, and I walked a lot - maybe more than I do at home. I also took my bathroom scale so I could make sure I wasn’t going too far off the rails. End results: I left Baltimore weighing 175.0, and yesterday morning (our first full day back), I weighed 175.8 lbs. For 10 days of being away from home, I’ll take a <1 lb gain in a heartbeat.

Now, I feel renewed and energized. Not only do I feel like I can run this race for another 6 1/2, more importantly, I want to. I set a series of goals in this bodybuilding endeavor for myself that I still want to meet, and they all require me to give my best effort at presenting my best possible physique on October 12. Barring catastrophe, that’s what I intend to do.

So we’re back to work in the labs: the physics lab (aka the gym), and the chemistry lab (aka the kitchen). On the latter, right now my daily macros look like 175 grams of protein, 45 grams of fat, and 150-175 grams of carbs. The carbs are assuming at least 7,000 steps per day, and the extra depends on whether or not I’m training that day. Once I go back to work on Saturday, I have chances to exceed 14,000 steps in a day. If I do, I’ll be allowed even more carbs. The training plan is still every other day, torso/limbs. But at this point, I don’t think building new muscle is as viable a goal as maintaining what I have. So starting yesterday (my first workout since returning home), I went from 2 max effort sets to 1 drop set on most exercises. The idea is to stay close to the number of reps I would do in 2 sets, use less time if possible, and reduce injury risk.

WEDNESDAY 8/28/24, Torso, Planet Fitness

Cable Pulldown - medium width, neutral grip
70/15
120/10
180/1
drop set: 180/13 + 140/9 - used Versa Gripps

Pec Deck
40/15
85/11
145/1
drop set: 145/11 + 110/9

Seated Cable Row - medium width, overhand grip
85/12
160/1
drop set: 160/14 + 120/9 - used Versa Gripps

Seriously, I wasn’t getting 9 reps after the drops on purpose. That’s all coincidental.

Rear Delt - I actually did the warm up sets before the seated rows, but didn’t want it to be confusing in the write up
40/15
85/12
drop set: 145/1 + 130/8 + 100/8 - That 1 rep wasn’t a primer or tester. I overestimated my working weight.

Arnold Press
30’s/12
drop set: 55’s/11 + 40’s/6

Upright Sit-Up/Crunch Machine
100/10
drop set: 130/10 + 100/5 + 70/10

Finally, I haven’t been posting nearly as many physique updates in the run up to this show. But here’s the most recent public documentation of what I look like. This is from our first day in Florida, August 18, which was also the actual anniversary date for me and my wife (married 23 years). I still have a ways to go, but I believe I can get there in the next 44 days.

Link to post: Kaisheem Muhammad | With 7 weeks and 6 days until the @ocbchesapeakeclassic I was goofing around on the beach. After I saw these photos that @strokeofwellness... | Instagram

Gentlemen (and any ladies here for that matter), thank you for reading this and catching up with me. I should be back in the mix more regularly here.

[K.Diesel]

My wife and I are back on mostly the same training schedule now, so our last trip to the gym was a “date night” of sorts. She has a more of an upper/lower split, while hitting glutes every training day. Mine is torso/limbs, so the biggest differences are that she doesn’t do direct arm stuff on her lower days, and I don’t do extra glute stuff on my torso days. But I do hit calves every training day. All that said, here’s how things went on Friday night. Some of this were inspired by what she was doing.

FRIDAY 8/30/24, Limbs, Gold’s Gym

Standing Calf Raise
100/15
160/10
drop set: 200/10 + 160/8 + 100/15 - 1-2 count stretch at the bottom of each rep

Horizontal/Upright Leg Press - I think this replaced the vertical leg press as my favorite
90 lbs + sled/20 - trying to figure out right seat/foot position
270+/11
work set 1: 410+/8
work set 2: 360+/11 - drop sets aren’t too practical on this machine, so I stuck with 2 sets here

Prone Leg Curl - different machine than the one I normally use for this exercise at Gold’s
70/10
110/5
drop set: 130/6 + 95/9 - more like 8 1/2 on that second round

Leg Extension - old school Nautilus machine w/chains
100/12
drop set: 150/15 + 120/8 + 2 partials

Standing Leg Curl - obviously doing one leg at a time
drop set: This is interesting - I got this on video, but never watched it to record the reps in my journal. I did 60 lbs left side, then right, then 50 lbs left and right.

Sissy Squat
work set: bodyweight/17

Gluteator - plate loaded machine; my wife loves this; my first time using it; sort of an exaggerated abductor; hits part of the glutes I don’t usually feel
work set: 90/23

Adductor machine
work set: 65/1 + 80/1 + 95/20 - wasn’t sure which weight I needed at the start

Standing Cable Curl - EZ bar handle
50/10
drop set: 80/12 + 60/6

Standing Cable Pressdown - EZ bar handle; back against pad to prevent cheating
50/6
drop set: 70/9 + 50/6

Plans for today are to train torso, plus go grocery shopping, which means I need to plan my meal prep for this week. I woke up weighing 171.2, easily the lightest I’ve been since either side of a week away from the show in May. I’m 2 lbs lighter than I was yesterday, so I’m sure much of that is water. It will probably go up tomorrow. That’s okay. I have 6 weeks to get things where I need to be.