Tomorrows leg destruction

Tomorrow is leg day thankfully! Here is what i'll be doing tomorrrow to make them grow.
Ex1: Barbell squats 6x10,8,6,4,3,1
Ex2: Hack squat mch 4x15-20
Ex3: Leg press 4x8-12
Ex4: Leg ext 3x8-12
Ex5: Leg curl 3x8-12
Ex6: Barbell step ups

This is how I am going to grow tomorrow. I like to stick with the basic movements and usually stick with 8-12 reps but am pumped for legs tomorrow so plan on going heavy so lower the reps but mix in some exercises with higher reps to get the volume in and get that blood flow. Hope you guys try this sometime.

Post Christmas

Hey guys this is my post christmas post. Hope everyone had a great christmas and truly embraced the meaning of the holiday. Were you able to maintain your workouts and maintain your diet? I know it is tough on the holidays with everyone eating everything right in front of you. I know i wasn't able to keep my diet as strict, I ate everything in sight this week I have spent at my parents. I have been doing cardio and training hard though to try to make up for the bad eating. Today is thursday and coming to the end of my vacation here so I have been back on the grind today with eating right. Well guys just wanted to let you know what was going on and let you know that everyone gives in sometimes so don't worry about if you made a mistake with your diet you can get right back into it right now!

School Shooting In CT..my ramble

I just wanted and felt like I needed to post a Blog on the shooting that has taken place in Newton, Connecticut where 18 elementary school children and 9 adults were shot and killed by a gunman who came into their school and did this. These are the incidents where we question God. Why he let's these things happen, I have often questioned it. How could he let something like this happen to such innocent people. But this isn't Gods work, this is the work of the devil who is such a big part of the world we are living in. We have let the devil take over this world, and if you don't believe it turn on your TV and just watch what comes on. I won't lie I watch jersey shore, that is just one show that shows that the devil is running America and this world. We are letting this happen by giving into "The American Dream". Is 27 innocent people being shot your dream? I bet not but giving into being of this world and us accepting the media and entertainment we watch and what we are told we need to be to make sure we get the full benefits of the american dream is what is letting stuff like this happen. We need to all re think the American dream and quit being part of this world. I am re-reading the book radical right now and we are told by Jesus to leave our possessions and follow him, but we can't because we are letting our possessions own us. We are so worried about being better than the next person or having what the other person has because the media we watch is telling us we need to be better. The only thing we need to be better at and have more of is Jesus Christ. I know I am just rambling on and on but this is just something that is hitting me so hard right now especially with this shooting. This should have never happened, why didn't this happen in earlier times? I think it's because we didn't have the media everywhere, the media is so easily an advertisement of the devil and easily corrupts people who aren't strong minded enough to break away from it and realize where it is coming from. Once again sorry this is me rambling and probably none of it makes sense, I sure won't be proof reading it. And I will certainly not care if people quit viewing my blog because of my beliefs, but all in all do not blame something like this on Jesus.  Pray for these children and adults that have been killed and especially their families. Pray that Jesus has his hand on them.

What are you on!

Hey guys, I am often asked what I take and well here it is. Maybe not always the same companies but always the same product basically.
Protein- Whey tech pro 24
Casein protein- GNC 100% casein
Pre-workout- Juggernaut hp
Creatine-Kre-alkalyn
Multi vitamin-ON perfor-maxx
fish oil pills
BCAA pills
vitamin C pills
These are the supplements I take on a daily basis. The only difference on non workout days is the pre workout because obviously don't need that. Any questions guys feel free to email me at cmccann29@gmail.com.

Have to start somewhere

Here is a picture of where I started in January 2010. I was very scrawny growing up and like many people I made a new years resolution to go to the gym everyday to change my life, to stop being made fun of or joked with about being skinny. The other picture is me at my first bodybuilding competition the NGA Potomac Cup in August of 2011. 18 months after beginning my journey, and let me tell you what a journey the fitness lifestyle is. I have grown up playing sports such as baseball, football and my favorite which is wrestling. Bodybuilding/fitness on the other hand has been by far the toughest I have experienced. It is not go to the gym and that's it, yea you've heard it's a clean diet but it is so far past that. It is a LIFESTYLE changing decision. This has taught me more discipline than I have ever experienced, it is something that won't only effect you but the people around you. You better have a good support team, I know you read those motivational quotes that say no matter how many people put you down you have to keep striving or whatever to achieve your goals. Well truth is yes they are right you will be told you can't do it as with every other dream you will ever have but also you will need people saying you can do it. Luckily I have the greatest parents you could ever imagine who supported me every step of the way and an amazing fiance who I can always count on to be their when I am struggling or thinking about backing out because I had a bad day. Guys/girls if you don't have these people come find me on fb or most importantly go to church and find Jesus. Without him your not going to achieve anything worth anything, and I know this for a fact you will always have a true support system. Hang in there guys it's all worth it!

As of right now

This is what I am looking right now while cutting down in weight. Weighing 176 right now and doing my diet but am cheating more than I really should be since I am not doing it for a show at the moment. Will post another at the end of the cutting phase!

Arm Blastin

Had a great Arm Blastin workout with my partner kyle today. So great that I thought it needed to be shared!

Ex1: Barbell curls
Ex2: one armed tricep over head D/B extensions
Ex3: Incline D/B curls
(This is a tri-set, we performed this set 3 times at 10-12 reps each exercise)
Ex4: Preacher curl Machine
Ex5: Tricep dip Machine
(This was a superset as well with 10-12 reps on preacher curl and did 15-20 reps on dip machine)
Ex6: One armed cable hammer curls
Ex7: EZ bar tricep pressdown
(Superset with 3 sets)
Ex8: Seated cable bicep curls to head
(We sat on a exercise ball to use more control while performing the reps and to add in our stability muscles such as our core)
Ex9: Reverse grip EZ bar press down

Our warm up at the very beginning of workout was 3 sets of a superset consisting of widegrip pull ups and weighted cable push ups. Hope you guys get to try this sometime!

Todays Shoulder training and nutrition plan

Today is shoulder day, one of my favorite days so I thought I'd post you guys how I hit them.
Ex1: D/B lateral raises 4 sets 8-12 reps
Ex2: Seated D/B Press 4 sets 6-10 reps
Ex3: Barbell front raise 3 sets 8-12
Ex4: Standing behind the neck barbell press 4 sets 8-12
Ex5: Bent over D/B flys 4 sets 8-12 reps
Ex6: Cable e-z bar upright rows 4 sets 8-12 reps
Ex7: Barbell shrugs 4 sets 6-10 reps
(And the clean eating plan I am sticking to which is low carbs except leg days is this. Remember I am only using this for about 2 weeks to get a quick lean look which is working well so far.)
M1: Immediately upon waking- Protein shake mixed in cold water
M2: About an hr after M1- 5 egg whites 1 whole W/ 1 slice of wheat toast
M3: 2 1/2-3 hrs later is 93% lean turkey burger mixed with Zucchini and small amount of chopped onions.
M4: Preworkout- 4-6 ounces chicken breast w/ 3.2-4 ounces sweet potato
Postworkout- Protein shake with supplements mixed in
M5: about an hr after post workout- 4-6 ounces tilapia w/ 1/2 cup brown rice
M6: 6 ounces chicken breast w/ veggies
Bedtime snack varies between protein pancakes or just protein shake depending on how hungry I am.

Who is your superhero?

So growing up us guys especially we all had superheroes. From Superman to Ironman somewhere along those lines was our hero. Or we had idols like Michael Jordan or an entertainer of some sort. Why did we look up to people who were of this world but reject someone who created this world. I often wonder why we all including myself especially have looked past a Man who could save our souls. We too often forget that we are not here for this world, were not even part of it. We are here for a purpose but it is not our home, our purpose of being here is to spread the word of God so that everyone will hear his name and word and have a chance to accept him in their hearts. You see these superheroes that we have all wanted to be like, I mean flying really who wouldn't want to do that. But our superheroes were of this disgusting world full of sin, it wasn't made this way but we created it to be evil and the devil is always there tempting us to be evil as well. But the thing is we have a true hero that can save us from sin, save us from temptations, save us from this world and save our souls giving us the greatest gift of all "ETERNAL LIFE". So guys lets be different, lets change our lives and if you have kids how bout you change their life as well and instead of giving them false heroes lets have a hero that will forever rescue us in our time of need. Who will always be their for us and will always save us.

staying updated

Hey guys just giving you an update of what my next 5 weeks of training is going to be like. I'm planning on doing 3 weeks of a cutting phase with the 4 day a week program I posted yesterday and then 2 weeks of a mass gaining phase with the 3 day a week from yesterday. My diet during will just be clean eating for the first 3 weeks, with me I have to watch my sodium intake more, my carb intake I can base it day by day, I usually don't eat enough carbs so I am not really worried about them. Protein intake will be high as always. For my mass gaining I am going to still try to keep my sodium low so its a clean gain especially low sugars. My carb intake I am really going to focus on eating a lot more carbs especially more starchy  carbs. I will be posting pics at the end of each phase!

Workouts

I'm sure you guys are wondering what my split looks like and here it is as well as my new mass gaining split.
(This split is the one I am currently using to sort of stay lean and kind of play in the middle gaining while staying lean.)
Monday-Chest & Triceps & Calves
Tuesday-Legs
Wednesday-Active Rest Day
Thursday-Back & Biceps & Calves
Friday-Shoulders & Traps
Saturday & Sunday Rest
(This is the one I will be using after about 4-5 weeks of using the other so I can gain a little more weight)
Monday-Chest & Shoulder & Back
Tuesday-Rest
Wednesday-Legs
Thursday-Rest
Friday-Arms
Saturday & Sunday Active Rest
This is the workout split that has worked for me in the past hope it helps guys!

A new beginning

Just got back from the gym and I must say my training partner and I killed it. We have been for the past two weeks mostly because of me, searching for the "right" regimen that would spark our physiques to the next "level". Well that regimen was in my head the whole time. this week I started us off with DC training 3 days a week. Well day one on monday was not that great, not enough intensity in it. So wednesday for leg day we did something us I found and well that sucked too. So Today we did Chest, Shoulders and back which is basically what DC style called for on this day but we did it our way and we killed it, I think it was a mental if not also physical plateau breaker for at least me if not both of us. Also helped me come up with a new Mass gaining workout regimen for a weekly schedule so some times you just have to be creative and do what you feel is necessary for you body to achieve the goals you want. Here is a progress pic of day 1 of a new beginning. 

Plateau

Are you training your tail off and eating everything perfectly and still not seeing gains as you were say a month or two ago. You may be hitting a slight plateau. I have done it and am actually starting to come out of one. I tried everything by switching up routines that I found online and eating more junk food to add extra weight because I wanted to have that appearance in the gym when my shirt was on. Well both terrible ideas. The workout programs for me at least are just not cutting it. I never used any but my own until now and they just don't really cut it for me. I find best is that when you take maybe a little knowledge from each and throw into your own workout regimen. They all have great philosophies when it comes to their lifting strategies so why not just use something from each to throw into your weeks of hard intense training. And as for eating junk food to gain the extra calories well that isn't the best idea either. If your like me you have a mental block when  it comes to getting out of shape which makes you stay away from the fast gaining "bulking" stage which consists of all types of junk food. For being a natural bodybuilder you cannot do this "bulking" stage. You may gain 1-3 lbs of muscle from it but you will also gain multiple pounds of fat and fat cells that will be hard to get rid of and not worth it, and will also make it easier for your body to gain fat later on in life. If your serious and committed in the Natural fitness lifestyle, don't mind the slow gains that eating correctly will give you. Just stay focused and keep a mental reminder that your healthy and your still making gains. Also that being a  natural means that it will take longer but will be well worth it. 

What is your Foundation Built On?

I feel the best way to start this Blog off is to praise God for the ability to be able to do what we love, to be able to have an opportunity to read this and to post this, to live in a country where we can freely express our opinions and beliefs and for saving our souls by being our Father who is in Heaven who sent His Son to die for our sins on the cross. What is your foundation built on? Is it built on idols that we see on tv because they have everything this world desires. Or the men and woman on the cover of fitness magazines because they have the "bangin bods"? If they are what we in our mind and hearts idolize then we have a foundation that will soon fall and be washed away. The bible clearly states in Matthew 7:24-27, "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock. 26 Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sane. 27 The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell-and great was its fall." Are you someone who has heard the words of God but are not producing them to the world? If so now is the time to start building your new foundation on the "Rock". The Rock of Christ Jesus our Father.