The Making of The Long Road to Compete 2005 -2007

[michael arvilla]

 

[st@nco]

looking really good Mike - I'm convinced you'll nail your conditioning now

These new photos clearly show even more improvement. You're clearly doing everything right.

How are you feelin right now?

[michael arvilla]

looking really good Mike - I'm convinced you'll nail your conditioning now

These new photos clearly show even more improvement. You're clearly doing everything right.

How are you feelin right now?

i don't want to bitch and whine
but.....during this prep i got sick a lot (lowered immune system?)
today is a 50 gram carb day (actually all week is)
so im a little lethargic ...........but otherwise in great spirts!
thanks for asking

[st@nco]

bitch all you like! You've only got another week to go. If you wanna complain about 50g of carbs a day, then complain!... Shit mike, you've done such a good job, you've earnt the right to bitch.

With regard to your immune system, it's gonna happen, it did to me. I never felt 100% when cutting - your body is in a constant state of shock.

There's one thing you can be sure of though... when you carb up, you'll look great, feel great and know it was all worth it!

Have you planned your post contest meal yet?

[knny187]

Mike....other than legs....before your next contest....bring up the lats.

Hit them heavy & hard.  Get started on some pull-ups or weighted pull-ups.


Looking great Mike.  Seriously dude....I'm impressed how far you've come.

[michael arvilla]

bitch all you like! You've only got another week to go. If you wanna complain about 50g of carbs a day, then complain!... Shit mike, you've done such a good job, you've earnt the right to bitch.

With regard to your immune system, it's gonna happen, it did to me. I never felt 100% when cutting - your body is in a constant state of shock.

There's one thing you can be sure of though... when you carb up, you'll look great, feel great and know it was all worth it!

Have you planned your post contest meal yet?

thanks and..................... ........................ ......PIZZA!!

[michael arvilla]

Mike....other than legs....before your next contest....bring up the lats.

Hit them heavy & hard.  Get started on some pull-ups or weighted pull-ups.


Looking great Mike.  Seriously dude....I'm impressed how far you've come.

Thanks knny.................... ........very kind of you to say that

[Condor]

Mike--

I've followed your cutting for awhile now, I gotta say, you're doing so much more than most of these guys on this site could ever dream of.  I've cut a little weight before, but never like you, never strayed once from your diet---that's the meaning of dedication, man---you have so much more insight on the bodybuilding experience than most shit-kickers on here.  I'm very proud of you, as most get-biggers are, because you're on of our own.  You're doing what we all want to do.  As far as your last pics, your lines are looking great, man.  You turned in a real nice aesthetic physique.  I wish you the best of luck in the contest, and in future endeavors as well.  You really are an inspiration that we can look up to and believe in.

[michael arvilla]

Mike--

I've followed your cutting for awhile now, I gotta say, you're doing so much more than most of these guys on this site could ever dream of.  I've cut a little weight before, but never like you, never strayed once from your diet---that's the meaning of dedication, man---you have so much more insight on the bodybuilding experience than most shit-kickers on here.  I'm very proud of you, as most get-biggers are, because you're on of our own.  You're doing what we all want to do.  As far as your last pics, your lines are looking great, man.  You turned in a real nice aesthetic physique.  I wish you the best of luck in the contest, and in future endeavors as well.  You really are an inspiration that we can look up to and believe in.

Condor.............your post was very uplifting and means a lot to me

thank you!

Mike

[Condor]

Thanks for stealing my avatar and taking out the background, fag.

actually, "fag" I stole this from a website featuring artwork of many superheroes, including another shot of CAP that I almost chose to use.......it has been used in its original form, as is, from the website I took it from.  Perhaps you should better use your aggression elsewhere....we're both cap fans, leave it at that.

[Butterbean]

i don't want to bitch and whine
but.....during this prep i got sick a lot (lowered immune system?)
today is a 50 gram carb day (actually all week is)
so im a little lethargic ...........but otherwise in great spirts!
thanks for asking

I remember the Wednesday or Thursday before my (only) show (on Sat).  I was talking to my trainer and another competitor on the phone and I was sitting in the recliner and could barely move.  I said, "THis must be how those people on Survivor feel where all they can do is lay around."

But later I was able to have some delicious and wonderful carbs and the day of the show had enough energy to go to the gourmet food store and get some of those wine biscuits that I love to have w/the wine I brought back stage    and the peanut M&M's.....and the Trail Mix....and the homemade cookies etc etc!!!  WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

[Princess L]

Repeat

I've posted this before.  Save it for later.  Maybe you'll find it helpful.

By: Dr. Joe Klemczewski
I could fill a book with the quotes I hear at contests from competitors who placed from second to last in their class. There are many versions, but just one quote. I'll paraphrase: "I screwed up my peak." That's it - end of quote. It's usually sandwiched in a paragraph including words like carb loading, sodium manipulation, water depletion, and it always comes right before the line, "I tried something new this time." Now, I'm talking about legitimate peaking screw-ups, of which there are many.
Why Most Fail...
The one thing I want to eliminate from your mind at the beginning of this article is to blame your body fat percentage on peaking. Some people start peak week at 14% body fat and think that by doing one neat, new little trick that they read about, they'll wake up Saturday morning looking like Frank Zane. You've seen them. The ones at 8% body fat who say, "Yeah, I was just holding a little water today." This article isn't for them. This is for people who know how to dial in on contest shape and now want to know exactly what to do in order to wake up Saturday morning and shout, "Eureka! (or 'Damn!' -if you're on the East Coast) - I did it!! I finally nailed my peak!!"
First of all, let's begin with how you should plan to enter peak week. If you still have to be concerned with losing "the last couple pounds" in the week before the show, you won't be able to peak properly. Peak week should be thought of as recovering slightly, being fresh, and focusing just on making sure the muscles are full and hard yet visible because of proper subcutaneous water elimination. Fat elimination should be over before this last week.
The next thing I want to erase from your thought process is the myth that you have to make extreme changes to manipulate your body into looking good on contest day. You've no doubt experimented with massive sodium loading and depletion, varying carb loading schemes, and endless water depletion schedules to try to be your biggest, hardest, and driest all at one time. You also have probably experienced the shock at looking at a flat, shriveled up, smooth physique (with it's mouth gaping open in terror) in the mirror six hours before prejudging. DO NOT PLAN ON DOING ANYTHING DRASTIC DURING PEAK WEEK!
Your body is constantly being monitored by your brain with thousands of chemoreceptors that are sending feedback on millions of chemical reactions happening in the body. It's how your brain manages to balance the chemical necessities for life. This vast neuro-hormonal-chemical network is brutally dynamic and always in flux. I'm not smart enough to predict and override these millions of reactions in my body to create an unnatural super-compensation effect exactly at prejudging and then maintain it all day.
Neither are you. What we can do is understand the cycles that our body goes through in directing water into muscles or outside of the muscle cells, the way our body stores carbohydrates, and how to gently massage these cycles so that we ride the right wave into the right day and predictably peak perfectly and naturally instead of trying to force a freaky, extreme response. That is a gamble you'll lose nine times out of ten.
How To Properly Peak...
When I peak a bodybuilder, I control protein, carbs, fat, sodium, water, and training. We start seven days from the show and I provide a chart that tells the athlete exactly what to do in what amounts each day for the entire week. I use these variables to control the normal cycles of water and glycogen flow in and out of the muscle tissue. We start out the week in a certain pattern and then each day the variables change in a subtle way to be able to predict and control peaking. Obviously, every bodybuilder is different in the amounts of each of the variables.
Some people have unbelievably fast metabolisms and some people are very carb-sensitive - two extreme differences which dictate different amounts of each nutrient variable and a slightly different schedule. But, the actual flow and cycle is still very similar. It is important to know and understand what to expect on each day so you know how to adjust. For this reason, even my "long-distance" clients have daily communication with me during peak week. I want to go through each of these variables and give you some physiological insight to why peaking is so elusive.
Carbing-up is the great myth started and continuing with 250-pound steroid using bodybuilders who consume huge amounts of food anyway and then take prescription diuretics to eliminate the steroid bloat. If this describes you, traditional carb depletion and loading may work. If you're body isn't an eighth grade science experiment out of control, let's stick with normal physiology. Even the hardest, leanest bodies cannot metabolize and shuttle glucose into muscle cells at a maximum rate without having some extracellular spill-over. Read that sentence again. You cannot deplete carbs and then supercompensate and expect all of the glucose and water to end up in the muscle.
"You cannot deplete carbs and then supercompensate and expect all of the glucose and water to end up in the muscle."
You'll certainly fill out, but you'll also smooth out. Some a little, and some a great deal. Yes, a lot of carbs will go into the muscle, but a little or a lot will end up outside the muscle cell with a lot of water which makes you smooth. Next time you're dieting and you're fairly lean, log some comments every day in a journal. "Woke up pretty lean. Very smooth - must have been the sodium in the chips. Very vascular. Hard as a freak'n rock!" Just write down comments on how you look in the morning. Get a Bodybuilding.com workout log, they are great! I guarantee that you'll consistently be your hardest after a couple of low-carb, high-water intake days.
You may not be your biggest because the carbs aren't as high, but the lack of extraneous carbs and water under the skin makes you very tight and you appear much bigger. Who wins the show: the big soft guy or the bone-dry striated competitor? The way I carb up my clients catches the wave of glucose and water entering the muscle on the way up, but not at the expense of smoothing out on the rebound effect of over-carbing.
Saturday & Sunday
My general carb cycle for peak week is to start at the highest point on the weekend before. I start at a slightly above "normal" level on Saturday and Sunday and schedule no training. I want this weekend to be a recovery time with a refilling of glycogen. As training starts again on Monday, I slowly drop carbs each day. It's a subtle drop, not a severe depletion.
Monday Through Wednesday
The training each day, Monday through Wednesday, with the slight drop will create a sufficient carb deficit without total depletion. Depending on the client's metabolism, I keep the carbs coming down and keep the water very high all the way through Friday.
For a very high metabolism bodybuilder, I'm not going as low on the carbs during the week, and I may start re-carbing on Friday. For carb-sensitive clients it's very important to wait until Saturday to reload. By waiting until later in the week to carb up, you eliminate the chance of glycogen and water spill over. Your body can metabolize glucose very quickly and you don't have to start three days ahead of time especially if you haven't completely bottomed out with a severe carb depletion. There are also some issues with the type of carbs you use to reload. There are some that create more subcutaneous swelling due to being food allergens. It's important to know which are the most common and how they affect you.
Water is just as misunderstood as carbs. The traditional carb and water theories have people drop their water sometimes days before the show. Nothing will flatten and smooth you out faster! You have to maintain a high water intake because your muscle tissue is around 70% water. No water, no hardness - just flat, squishy muscle tissue. The reason people typically start dropping water is because they've over-carbed so much that they're already spilling glycogen and water under the skin and think, "Oh, my gosh!! I've got to get rid of this water!!" With the carb reload as I described, you won't have that problem; you'll actually get harder and harder throughout the week.
 
REMEMBER:
Keep the water intake up and let it follow the carbs into the muscle! If you're not over-carbed, the rest of the water will be eliminated!
 
Thursday
Sodium also has to be cycled. Start with a moderate amount of sodium, up to two grams at the beginning of the week and around Thursday start dropping it slightly but don't eliminate it completely. If you do, you'll force water out of the muscle cell, you'll look flat and smooth, and you'll cramp like there's no tomorrow. You need approximately four times more sodium than potassium for your muscles to contract normally. Again, don't let the myths from the pharmaceutically dominated side of our sport lure you into doing things that aren't physiologically correct.
You don't have all those drug side-effects to combat in peaking properly. If you sodium load and/or deplete in a big way you're gambling with extreme chemical rebound effects that you can't possibly time. If you're lucky enough to stumble into a good effect, it will be short lived because you're on a pendulum swing that your body will adjust to and you'll look absolutely lousy in a very short time.
I also use specific tricks regarding fat intake and schedule very specific contest day meal strategies for the individual needs and characteristics of my clients. As I get to know their metabolic rates through the dieting process, I'm already planning their peak and everyone's a little different. These general guidelines, however, I hope will dispel some common mistakes and put you on a path to learn your body type and peak perfectly every time!!
About The Author
Dr. Joe Klemczewski is a WNBF Pro and has graduate degrees in health and nutrition. From his office in Evansville, Indiana he works with clients all over the country, including top WNBF Pros, using his online consulting program. He can be reached at drjoe@joesrevolution.com.

[Princess L]

i don't want to bitch and whine
but.....during this prep i got sick a lot (lowered immune system?)

This is when glutamine is very effective

[Freakzilla_2]

Repeat

Dr. Joe is a cool guy, but......

He throws like a girl.  LOL!  Long story.....

Freak

[michael arvilla]

 

[littleguns]

I think with all the dieting and stuff any competitors immune system goes down significantly...eliminat ion of fruits and veggies

I use alot of Vitamin C, Emergen C's and Echinacea to keep every thing well...

Seems this is very common.

One week to go....

So after you win the big one are you going to Disney World?

[~salmon~]

Holy smokes!  Mike it looks like nothing was spared from shrinking on your physique.  Not even your nut sack   There is NOTHING in your posing trunks HA HA HA HA!  Cheri, I'm sure he has you howling with that pinky-sized unit - HA HA HA HA Oh bother

All joking aside, looking good Mike.


 

[littleguns]

Actually I heard the opposite...

For every 20 lbs of fat you loose from your gut, your Penis grows 1/2 inch....

So Mike you must be giving Grant Michaels a run for his money 

[Man of Steel]

Holy smokes!  Mike it looks like nothing was spared from shrinking on your physique.  Not even your nut sack   There is NOTHING in your posing trunks HA HA HA HA!  Cheri, I'm sure he has you howling with that pinky-sized unit - HA HA HA HA Oh bother

All joking aside, looking good Mike.


 

Yet another Salmon post that reeks of the ugly stench of manlust.

[jeffrey.]

I think with all the dieting and stuff any competitors immune system goes down significantly...eliminat ion of fruits and veggies

I use alot of Vitamin C, Emergen C's and Echinacea to keep every thing well...

Seems this is very common.

One week to go....

So after you win the big one are you going to Disney World?

i always have problems with my teeth when i diet.obviously from the lack of calcium due to elimination of all dairy products.

[HERACLES]

Well, from what we see in the pics, Mike has a great shot at winning. It all boils down to who else shows up, and what conditin they are in.

Im sure you will all agree, that Mike did go above and beyond, and truly is entering this show in the BEST shape he can possibly get in for it, and its mind blowing to me, the conditioning he got in FOR HIS FIRST SHOW! OMG... You make it look like your a veteran at this man.

[michael arvilla]

I think with all the dieting and stuff any competitors immune system goes down significantly...eliminat ion of fruits and veggies

I use alot of Vitamin C, Emergen C's and Echinacea to keep every thing well...

Seems this is very common.

One week to go....

So after you win the big one are you going to Disney World?

no  lol

PIZZA WORLD!

[michael arvilla]

Holy smokes!  Mike it looks like nothing was spared from shrinking on your physique.  Not even your nut sack   There is NOTHING in your posing trunks HA HA HA HA!  Cheri, I'm sure he has you howling with that pinky-sized unit - HA HA HA HA Oh bother

All joking aside, looking good Mike.


 

thanks Salmon!

[michael arvilla]

Thanks Herc
and thanx for starting this thread...........
as you all know Florida is a brutal state for bodybuilding competition
so.....im just going in as "the best Mike Arvilla" i can be,and let the judges decide the rest

i got a lot of support here at GET-BIG and that helped imensely.....

Mike

[WOOO]

Thanks Herc
and thanx for starting this thread...........
as you all know Florida is a brutal state for bodybuilding competition
so.....im just going in as "the best Mike Arvilla" i can be,and let the judges decide the rest

i got a lot of support here at GET-BIG and that helped imensely.....

Mike

bodybuilding is a competition against one's self... Mike, you have already won!  Now get on stage and kick ass!