UKBFF Mens Physique Class Video

I’ve finally got round to editing the videos from my Mens Physique show and got them up on the AestheticLifestyle YouTube channel. Just watching the video back gives me a real buzz to get back on stage again, I’m still undecided if I should compete again in a few months time or hold out until early next year and carry on with my current training and calorific surplus. I’ll write a separate article discussing my current diet and training program, which I’m loving at minute but check out the video and let me know what you think.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndl_-Koir80

Lee

1 week to go!

Today I'm currently 1 week away from stepping on stage for the first time, in the first Mens Physique class of the UK. Since the UKBFF Nationals last week I've been looking through all the pics and videos, analysing poses etc. It really has motivated me throughout this final week especially seen as it was my last week of heavy weights and low reps.

One part of the prep that I've had to keep on top of, is being super organised and last week was the biggest test, planning my workouts, food shop, tan, wax, clothes, travel arrangements etc. I feel like I've covered everything and spent most of yesterday finalising everything so that Friday and Saturday next week I can just chill and rest up. 

I won't post any progress pics this week however yesterday I received one of my shots from Justin Tayler form our shoot 2 weeks ago, let me know what you think.

The photo wasn't the only thing I received last night, I also got my final week prep and had a Skype call with my good friend Dan Wheeler who has been amazing throughout my whole prep for the show. Not only has Dan worked on my own foods, his clients plans and moved house but what he personally has achieved from 2nd January until now is a great transformation and very motivational. I won't post any pics up but if your coming to the BodyPower Expo in 3 weeks time, keep an eye out for us and the rest of the 100 Day Plan gang on the Bodybuilding.com stand.

Anyway I'm now off down to Fitness Factory in Burnley for another shoot I have lined up with Simon Reeves, this one is more of a workout/gym shoot as oppose to a studio like I've done before so really looking forward to seeing the final images.

On to the home straight!!

Lee

Pre Workout Reviews & Supplement Box

As I diet down for my show I’m finding my energy levels are dropping just as quick as my body fat. I also noticed last week I tried 4 different pre workouts so thought I’d put together a mini review article to let you know what I tried and my initial thoughts.

One think to note about pre workout supplements is that everyone has different tolerance level when it comes to stimulants however over a period of time taking them you’ll find your body will adapt and you’ll need to keep adding an extra scoop here and there to still have that desired effect when you first started taking it. That’s why half way through November and throughout December I didn't take any pre workout supplements and started fresh again come January but only on leg days.

I’m not putting up any progress pics this week as I have a photo shoot this coming Saturday so I’ll save it until then, however I’ll be posting a few pics throughout the week of my condition seen as I’ll be upping my water intake and dropping my carbs for the shoot. Similar to my fluid manipulation I tried last year before I went to Ibiza- Part 1, Part 2 and Part3.

Ripped Freak – Pharma Freak (Chest Workout)

Price: £34.95

Servings: 45

Taste: 9/10

As you saw from my pictures on my last 5 week update, I got a heavy chest session in on Sunday while I was down in Wales with the lads. As I was travelling down and staying over the night I had to prep and pack all my food and shakers when I realised I had a Ripped Freak pre workout sample that I could bring with me. I've heard good things about this pre workout and couldn't wait to give it a try. I took a full sachet (blue raspberry flavour) and could already feel the Beta-Alanine kicking in as I was warming up and going through my mobility stretching.

During the session itself I hit a PB of 42kg dumbbells on incline press with strict form and maintained high intensity throughout the whole workout with short rest periods. I did feel a slight come down afterwards but not as bad as I've experienced before from pre workouts like Jack3d. I’d defiantly use Pharma Freak again but mainly for leg sessions as they can be so taxing or possibly a heavy back/chest workout.

Muscle Pharm - Assault & Sugar Free Mountain Dew (Back & Traps workout)

Price: £24.97

Servings: 32

Taste: 8/10

I've been using Muscle Pharms Assault for around 10 months now (I stopped taking a pre workout throughout December) and I really rate it as a product and recommend it to most people who ask for my suggestions on pre workout supplements. I got the idea of mixing  Assault with sugar free Mountain Dew from a Matt Ogus video a while back. I've never tried Mountain Dew before but 200ml mixed with the Assault (Raspberry Lemonade flavour) not only did it taste really good but the kick it gave me during my workout was incredible and a nice upgrade to my usual pre workout.

As I said, I always recommend Assault to people, it’s gets the job done for me and doesn't give a crash or come down after wards. I've even used Assault as a pre workout before my 2 hour mma sessions after a stressful day at work and my brother has even used it when he’s felt drained but had football practice.

Rocket Fuel (Legs Workout)

Price: £2.98

Servings: 100g

Taste: 7/10

I've never had a hot pre workout before so was unsure what to expect, I mixed two heaped teaspoons of Rocket Fuel with hot water (Not Boiling), mixed in my shaker and drank it on my way to the gym. Once I was in the gym I got the Swedish House Mafia album on my ipod and couldn't wait to get in the squat rack I could feel it that much. My legs session slightly changed this week, I was going for heavier weights and lower reps with a 4 second negative-1 second pause-1 second positive so I was glad I could feel the Rocket Fuel.

I’m not going to lie this was easily the best workout of the week, I've never felt like I've pushed myself on legs as I did, I loved it! Again I did have a slight crash afterwards and felt really drained but I don’t know if that was down to the caffeine of because of the workout.

Optimum Nutrition - Amino Energy (Arms Workout)

Price: £24.99

Servings: 30

Taste: 10/10

I sampled Optimum Nutrition’s Amino Energy at last year’s Bodypower Expo, however I've never actually tried it alongside a workout so seen as my MP Assault was running low I picked up a tub of ON Amino Energy using my Protein Discount Card. I had two scoops of the fruit fusion flavour mixed with 250ml cold water and the first thing I noticed was how good it tasted and mixed. Once I was in the gym I split my arms workout with super sets from Triceps straight into Biceps, again heavy weight and low reps.

On this particular session I was short of time so knew I had to up the intensity and be super strict on my rest periods. I genuinely think the pre workout helped me focus and drive through the workout. There was no crash afterwards and I felt full of energy throughout the rest of the day. ON have recently brought out a new pre workout supplement as part of their platinum range PRE and like last year I look forward to sampling some at this year’s Bodypower Expo in May.

Overall I’m going to stick with Optimum Nutrition’s Amino Energy, although its similar to the Muscle Pharm Assault that I’ve been on, its a nice change and I feel I got a better kick from it and like the MP Assault no crash afterwards.

Supplement Box

This article fits nicely into a package I received recently from a company called Supplement Box. They’re a monthly subscription service that sends its subscribers a curated box of the best sports supplement sample around. This is ideal for people to discover new products and save you money at the same time, with a kind of ‘try before you buy’ approach. The idea came when they guys over at Supplement Box walked into their local supplement store one day, browsed the different products and couldn’t decide which to go for, what they tasted like, amino acid content etc and came up with the idea of making it easier for people to try samples from the industry’s biggest brand to help make their mind up.

Not only do I think it’s a great idea as I’ve been in that situation before and have also helped people in that situation before when I used to work at Holland & Barretts when I was 17 but I also think it has more advantages, everyone knows how hard it can be to hit your dietary needs when you’re on the go and for that reason I always make sure I have a few whey protein and pre workout samples in my gym bag and in my car. Not only that but last year after the Bodypower Expo I kept 10 whey protein samples and 2 protein bars to one side and took them on holiday with me, so there’s a few added options for using Supplement Box. To find out more and to subscribe simply check out their web site: My Supplement Box

Lee 

Official Ambassador!!

Following on from my Paying too much for your sport supplements article I’m now pleased to announce that I’m an official ambassador of the Protein Discount Card. As an ambassador I can offer my friends/family/followers/readers an exclusive 10% off the Protein Discount Card reducing it to only £18. In order to take full advantages simply enter my unique code: ‘LMALONE’ at the checkout to redeem your 10% discount.

The Protein Discount Card was introduced as a result of the 20% VAT increase on sports nutrition products imposed by the coalition government as of 1^st October 2012. The VAT increase has applied to majority of your supplements in your cupboards at home; whey protein, all in ones, weight gainers and creatine. Before the increase these particular supplements had been excluded from VAT as they we classed as food, due to the main ingredient they use is derived from milk.

I have been using my Protein Discount Card for a good few months now for not only discount on my supplements but also discount on my subscription to Muscle & Fitness magazine. I have genuinely found the discount card very beneficial as before I received it I’d spend a good hour or two online looking at all the different companies, wholesalers, searching discount codes and trying to figure out which works out the best taking into consideration price and servings etc.

If this sounds familiar or if your own supplement stack is almost due for topping up then I highly recommend The Protein Discount Card, the goal of the card is for athletes and sports enthusiast to afford the biggest brands of supplements with offers that aren’t available anywhere else on the market such as ‘Buy One Get One Free’ offers and re-useable annual discounts of up to 40%.

I personally was surprised to see all the offers available on so many of the big brands and their popular products. Not only is there buy one get one free offers on the best products but also reusable discount codes to use on other products that haven't even been hit with vat increase until the end of 2013 when the new discount card will be available. See the table below for full discount details.

To get your own card simply head over to the Protein Discount Card site where you can purchase your own card, remember to use my code ‘LMALONE’ to apply 10% off the card, that will be sent out to you within 24 hours. Using the card itself couldn't be easier, once you receive your card in the post simply head over to one of the 8 top online brands and use your unique code at the check out to take advantage of the offers available.

Y3T Program - Week 3

So here it is, the week I’ve heard so much about from people that have already started the Y3T Program, Week 3. This week I’ll increase volume and involve, drop sets and super sets into the mix as well. Considering I normally train by myself I really had to utilise rest pause in order to keep the weight heavy, taking a 5/6 seconds break and then getting out another 3-5 reps.

For this week I’ve noted down the weights I’m lifting and have also put the daily workouts in a different format than previous weeks, so I hope this helps.

DAY 1 – Quads & Hamstrings

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
(warm up) Leg Extensions	28kg x 20	28 kg x 20	28kg x 20	29kg x 20
Leg Extensions (2 triple drop sets)	63kg x 15 49kg x 15 35kg x 10	56kg x 15 42kg x 15 35kg x 10	XX	XX
(warm up) Squats	30kg x 15	40kg x 15	XX	XX
Squats (25 reps x 2)	55kg x 25	60kg x 25	XX	XX
Standing Platform Lunges (20reps x 2)	20kg dumbbells x 20	20kg dumbbells x 20	XX	XX
Leg Press (50reps x 2)	61kg x 50	61kg x 50	XX	XX
Superset	XX	XX	XX	XX
Lying Leg Curl (25 reps x 2)	35kg x 25	40kg x 25	XX	XX
Stiff Legged Deadlift (25reps x 2)	40kg x 25	40kg x 25	XX	XX

DAY 2 – Chest & Triceps

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
(warm up) incline Smith machine	30kg x 20	30kg x 20	30kg x 20	30kg x 20
Incline Smith machine (3 drop sets x 15 reps)	60kg x 15 50kg x 15	60kg x 15 55kg x 15	60kg x 15 55kg x 15	XX
Incline dumbbell flyes (3 drop sets x 16 reps)	16kg x 15 12kg x 12 8kg x 12	16kg x 15 12kg x 12 8kg x 12	16kg x 15 12kg x 12 8kg x12	XX
(warm up) Tricep push down	14kg x 20	14kg x 20	14kg x 20	14kg x 20
Tricep push down (3 drop sets x 20 reps)	20kg x 20 16kg x 20 12kg x 20	20kg x 20 16kg x 20 12kg x 20	20kg x 20 16kg x 20 12kg x 20	XX

DAY 3 – Rest Day

On my rest day last week I received a tweet from Y3T creator Neil Hill and he also retweeted the link for last week’s post as well, so a big thank you for that.

DAY 4 – Back & Biceps

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
(warm up) Low pulley row	14kg x 20	14kg x 20	14kg x 20	14kg x 20
Superset	XX	XX	XX	XX
Low pulley row: (16 reps x 2, wide grip pull downs 16 reps x 2)	16kg x 16 50kg x 16	16kg x 16 50kg x 16	XX	XX
Superset	XX	XX	XX	XX
T Bar row (20 reps x 2)	20kg + Olympic bar x 20	20kg + Olympic bar x 20	XX	XX
Straight arm pull downs (14 reps x 2)	28kg x 15	28kg x 15	XX	XX
Dumbbell pull overs (20 reps x 2)	24kg x 20	24kg x 20	XX	XX
(warm up) EZ bar curls	15kg x 20	15kg x 20	15kg x 20	XX
EZ bar curls (25 reps x 3)	10kg + EZ Bar x 25	10kg + EZ Bar x 25	10kg + EZ Bar x 25	XX
Seated dumbbell curl (2 drop sets x 15 reps)	10kg x 15 8kg x 15	10kg x 15 6kg x 15	XX	XX

DAY 5 – Shoulders & Calves

Exercise	Set 1	Set 2	Set 3	Set 4
(warm up) Seated side lateral raise	4kg x 20	4kg x 20	4kg x 20	4kg x 20
Seated side lateral raise (2 triple drop sets x 15 reps)	10kg x 15 6kg x 15 4kg x 15	10kg x 15 6kg x 15 4kg x 15	XX	XX
Power clean press (3 sets x 25 reps)	10kg + Olympic Bar x 25	10kg + Olympic Bar x 25	10kg + Olympic Bar x 25	XX
Seated front dumbbell raise (20 reps x 2)	8kg x 20	8kg x 20	XX	XX
Reverse machine flyes (triple drop set 16 reps x 3)	42kg x 16 35kg x 16 28kg x 16	42kg x 16 35kg x 16 28kg x 16	42kg x 16 35kg x 16 28kg x 16	XX
(warm up) machine calf raise	40kg x 20	40kg x 20	XX	XX
Single leg calf raise (25 reps x 2)	25kg plate x 25	25kg plate x 25	XX	XX
Smith machine calf raise (25 reps x 2)	55kg plate x 25	55kg plate x 25	XX	XX

I’m not going to lie this week had some seriously tough workouts and I loved them, I’ll post a progress pic with my current weight and a few measurements at the end of this week so you can see my gains after 4 weeks on the program. I’ll also be addressing questions regarding my nutrition on the program next week as I’m eating a lot more and trying a slightly different approach that I have in the past with my nutrition.

Any questions feel free to comment below or hit me up on Twitter @lee_malone and @AsetheticLifest.