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Right now I am in the middle of a 12-14 day recovery phase. Testing and fine tuning both the Frequency Focus Physique (2FP) and the Shoulder/Arm Focus plans really took alot out of me. I typically take a nice time of leave from the gym every 3-4 months. Since I had to work out some issues with the programs, this time around I reached almost the 5 month mark. There were added recovery days sporadically thrown in but a day here and there never equals continuous rest. 

One of the main issues was with the 2FP program. The first month or so was easy stuff for me in terms of routine and practicality. The issues I faced was how to make each month progressively harder without pushing too much. Therefore, extra time was spent trying to find a careful balance between the appropriate amount of volume, frequency, and intensity. This added time is what really began to wear me out. 

Next the plan was to transition into a regimen that focused on the shoulders and arms all while not neglecting the other bodyparts. Once again, careful balance is required. At about 6 weeks into the program I could feel all the signs of over training kicking in. I no longer yearned to train, I always felt tired yet could never fall asleep, sexual drive suffered, and I was constantly irritated (more so than usual lol). 

Thats what led me to where I am now. I am about mid way through my recovery phase. The first 7 days consisted of no weight lifting and only walking. On a side note, I took an awesome trip to Austin Texas and the weather was beautiful. Perfect timing for a nice recovery phase. This made it much easier to keep my walking activity high. Loved it there. Here is a photo of me in front of the gorgeous capital building in Austin… read more…

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Yes, i know.. I have been slacking once again with my training updates. But it is all for good reason. I have alot of projects I am currently working on along with a large influx of new clients. 

Its been a while, so here we go….

So I have been working on my own version of a full body routine for close to 3 years. Each time I tried it something bugged me and I decided to step away. This time I feel like I finally nailed it. I did some careful modifications to the program and now I can truly stand behind it 110%. 

I named the program the 2FP which is short for Frequency Focus Physique. The thing that is so awesome about the program is the careful balance between full body routines and the concept of increased training frequency, and the focus days and the concept of volume. The added frequnecy ensured that I was hitting all the major muscle groups almost double the amount in a single month. There wasn’t much room for isolation based movements so with limited amount of sets per body part the only way is to use all the big compund movements. Best bang the buck. The Focus and cleanup  days then took care of the isolation based movements. 

I felt awesome on this program and def made some gains. I was also able to eat much more and maintain my same body weight. This is due to the increased calorie burn that takes place during the full body routines. 

I used my Polar watch to track my calories and here are the results: read more…

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I have always used a weight belt when lifting. I wear it majority of the time whether it be for support, comfort, or just as a security blanket. I wear it when training any of my bodyparts, I don’t discriminate. lol

So it goes without saying that a comfortable and secure weight belt is important to me. Despite this fact, the most I have spent on a weight belt is around $45-50.00. As with other things, I am starting to learn that you get what you pay for. 

The weight belts I have gotten in the past were very rigid and tough. They takes months, if not years to break in and feel comfortable. I have had the big back ones, and the narrow backed ones. I am a fan of narrow back. Anything over 4 inches wide is just plain annoying. In my opinion. 

So anyway, a few months back I decided to invest money into a better weight belt. First I looked around at people at my gym and discovered the Inzer Powerlifting belts. They are pretty hardcore, and perfect for power-lifting, but after trying one on, I wasn’t sure if it was what I was looking for. 

So then I took to the Internet, and by chance I bumped into a company called Cardillo. I noticed that they made custom embroidery weight belts. This of course got my attention. I then called up and asked a ton of questions like I usually do, and learned that they make belts for alot  of top bodybuilders as well as other famous celebrities. This was a plus in my eyes, as it was more proof of the quality. 

I took a week to design the custom embroidery that I wanted to appear on my belt and emailed it in. The people over there were very helpful throughout the process. 

I was then told that the belt would take 8-12 weeks to arrive. This was a slight downer for me, but that I realized that the better things in life are definitely worth waiting for. 

Well today is the day that my belt arrived and here is a photo: read more…

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In my latest training blocks I have been doing One Arm Dumbbell Rows as my power based back exercise. I have always been pretty strong with this exercise – while keeping good form. However, this latest block my strength has soared. The heaviest I have gone in the past is 155lbs dumbbells on a good for for 5. 

Those numbers have been obliterated this time around. In my past two power back days I have been able to do the 180 lbs dumbbells for 5 reps. 

I attribute this big gain in strength to a few variables: read more…

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My arms are def one of the laggers. It has alot to do with their overall length. I am about a hair under 6’2 but my wingspan is slightly over 6’6. This gives me a large disadvantage in terms of arm size and growth. 

As of late I have been chanding some things up in order to bring about so new progress. 

Focusing on the long head of the tricep is my main concern. The beefy look in this area has always eluded me. Due to the way I am built it has always been super difficult for me to really thrash this area.  

Decline Dumbbell Tricep and Straight Bar extensions seem to be helping alot. This is not like a typical skull crusher. With this exercise the weight is lifted more outward away from the body. This stretches and places alot of tension on the long head of the tricep. 

For biceps I have continued to use all straight bars as oppsoed to ez-curl bars. The straight bar allows me to keep my pinky at the same height as my thumb, whereas the ezbar doesn’t. This has an impact on the contraction that i feel. When the pinky is level or elevated of the thumb, the turning motion with your palm facing up, the bicep can fully contract. 

For forearms, i have been using the fatter bar to do all my forearms curls. I think I am ready to implement fat bar curls as well. This new grip has definitely given me sore spots where i previously haven’t ltfe. 

Here is a photo. so far so good, still plenty of time till my next show… June 2012

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10/6/2011

After a little break I am back to this training journal crap lol.

I have been doing extremely well with all my lifts and have entered into a new phase of my program. This means some new movements, new training styles and new focuses. 

I weighed 232 lbs. the other day. Wow danger zone. My midsection def suffered, but I can still see the top two abdominals which is good. I really feel as if I am making good progress in certain areas. The plan is to push hard through this month and then take a 6-10 day rest to fully recover. So lets do this. 

So tonight was shoulder and biceps. Two of my laggers. 

Shoulders was a pre-exhaust based workout. Once again, I pre fatigued the delts by performing all the isolation movements. Then on the last set of each isolation movement I supersetted with read more…

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If it were easy, everyone would do it. 
If it could happen overnight, everyone would be it.
If it wasn’t worth doing, I wouldn’t be doing it. 

It requires an unprecedented level of devotion.
It demands mental, physical, and emotional poise.
It represents untainted and true knowledge of the human body.
It is everything I stand for.

Natural Bodybuilding

- Ryan Sullivan

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8/29/2011

Chest Triceps and Abdominals. 

For chest I went back to the new pre-exhaust routine I made. Second time around was even better than the first. 

Started off with Incline dumbbell flyes, last set supered with Incline Dumbbell press. After this one of my training parters jokingly said that he was done and it was time to go home lol. We were already feeling it, in a real good way. 

The new intra workout supplement is still kicking ass. Very glad that I added it to the aresenal. Email me rsullivan@sci-unisonfitness.com for more details. You wont regret it. 

Next we did some flat cable flyes, last set supered with flat barbell press. This one was a real bitch. That barbell killed me lol. 

The rest of the chest workout followed this same structure. Numbers up from first run around. read more…

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8/21/2011

Chest Triceps and some abs. 

Went higher reps with chest, mostly 12-15 reps. Cut out a few sets because I put the added volume on the Triceps, a lagger for me. 

Since I cut out some sets I wanted to go best bag for the buck. Stuck to alot of presses. Started with flat dumbbell press. The 12-15 rep range gave me an enormous pump. By the time I moved on to incline hammer strength press I was feeling big and tight. 

I finished off with read more…

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8/12/2011

Today was an intensity based Chest/Shoulders/Triceps routine. I designed a new style of workout for today and it was great. I can honestly say that it gave me one of the best feels in terms of this specific training style. The entire workout was based around pre-exhaustion. Tons of isolation sets with supersets on the last set of each exercise. The supersets would be with a compound movement such as a press. 

I will continue to use this same routine in the coming weeks. If you like it, it feels good, then stick to it for a bit. 

There will have to be a slight adjustment due to the fact that I plan to switch up my training split. Instead of the Push/Pull/leg/circuit setup, I will be switching to a more tradtional split. Chest/Triceps, Back/Traps, Shoulders/Biceps, Quads/Hams/Calves. 

By the end of the routine I felt a serious pump and hardness is all my target muscles. 

I am also making use of the read more…