Pat is preparing for his second professional physique show, the California Natural Muscle Mayhem. He’s also competing in the Washington State Pro show and potentially the World Championships in November. This means he’ll be prepping all year. At 15 weeks out from his first show, he’s already looking incredibly shredded. This article outlines our coaching strategy for his prep, including diet, cardio, and training. We’ll also delve into a back and abs workout.
Pat’s current macros are 225 grams of protein, 300 grams of carbs, and 55 grams of fat. We’re not implementing refeeds at this stage, focusing instead on consistent daily adherence to these macros. This approach allows for habit formation and avoids metabolic slowdown that might necessitate refeeds later in the prep.
Pat prioritizes whole, nutrient-dense foods for about 70-80% of his diet, incorporating “junk food” like ice cream for the remaining 20-30%. While a physique can be achieved with a higher percentage of less nutritious food, prioritizing whole foods supports health, adherence, and mitigates the risk of nutrient deficiencies, especially as macros decrease later in the prep. Clean foods like rice, vegetables, chicken, and salad form the base of his diet.
Cardio consists of four 30-minute LISS sessions and one 20-minute HIIT session per week. Given Pat’s relatively sedentary lifestyle working at a computer, this amount of cardio supports higher food intake, reduces the risk of nutrient deficiencies, and improves his work capacity in the gym. This enhanced cardiovascular endurance allows for higher training volume and intensity.
Our aim is a consistent weight loss of approximately one pound per week. This allows for a gradual approach and the possibility of increasing food intake later in the prep to optimize fullness and vascularity for the stage.
We started the back workout with power shrugs, focusing on leg drive to power the weight up and a strong squeeze at the top. Straps are avoided to maximize grip strength and trap engagement. Direct neck work has been incorporated into Pat’s training for the past year, yielding noticeable gains.
Next, we moved into one-arm lat pulldowns. This serves as both a lat activation exercise and a teaching moment on proper form. The key is to focus on driving the elbow down towards the ground, minimizing bicep involvement, and maximizing lat engagement.
Following the activation exercise, we performed heavy pronated grip lat pulldowns. We prioritize heavier weight and lower reps (6-8) for this exercise to maximize overload potential.
We then transitioned to chest-supported T-bar rows. The chest support minimizes lower back strain and enhances lat activation. This allows for more focused lat training, particularly useful since we only performed one other lat-focused exercise earlier in the workout.
For the next horizontal pulling movement, we opted for wide grip neutral grip seated cable rows. This exercise is excellent for targeting rear delts. Using a wider grip and focusing on pulling outward rather than straight back maximizes rear delt engagement.
To finish the back workout, we performed face pulls lying down with feet elevated for support. This position allows for heavier weight and greater overload on the traps and rear delts compared to the traditional standing variation.
We then moved on to abs, starting with partner-assisted decline crunches with a medicine ball. This exercise allows for explosive movement and increased engagement of the core. The focus is on shortening the torso rather than bending at the hips.
Finally, we finished with hanging leg raises, emphasizing controlled movements without swinging. The key cue is to tilt the hips upward, bringing them towards the ribcage, to maximize lower ab activation and minimize hip flexor involvement.
