I competed in NPC Junior Nationals on June 12-13, 2015. I came in with a much bigger and leaner package than years past. Since July we have slowly transitioned from a bodybuilding split to more of a powerlifting/strength focus, while still hitting lots of volume to build mass. Scott Paltos has been doing my programming since March. We've added quite a bit of muscle and are continuing to work some technical things with my raw lifts. Raw meet in May 7th!!!

I'm a creature of habit. I'm also a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to certain things. (Maybe not cleaning my house.) But for the past... oh, 9 months I've had the same routine of meals and training.  Meal 1 at 6:30. Meal 2 at 9:30. Pre workout at 10:15, warm-up and training between 10:30 and 11:00.  It doesn't vary much. And I like getting two full meals in before training.

If it's an accessory day, or back day or arm day, I wouldn't mind only have in 1 meal. But when it's a heavy/main day, I get a little OCD about it.  Saturday, my daughter had a rescheduled softball practice earlier than I expected. So we got up, got moving and I was squatting at 8:30 with only 1 meal in. *gasp!!!*  Lol. I know, not a huge deal... and in fact, come meet day, I'll most likely be squatting that early anyway. But for the hour before I got to the gym, I was actually a bit nervous being out of my routine.  All the more reason to learn how to get out of my own head.

The entire week was busy... filled with coaching, work, clients, meetings, the usual housework/groceries/laundry, baseball/softball practices, girl scouts, and even a mother/son dance! My little shy boy broke out of his shell with his buddies and had a blast!

Been thinking a lot about taking risks lately. What drives us to take risks. What makes us keep pressing on and what causes us to throw in the towel. I have some thoughts, and perhaps I'll put them together. Really just my own perspective and a lot from what's been going on in my own life. But looking for a few more book suggestions about this topic... if you know any, please comment below.

A. Close grip bench 4x6 @ 125-140
B. Machine shoulder press - 4x10
C1. Seated around the worlds 3x8
C2. Seated laterals 3x8
D. Pushdowns
E. Decline pushups
F. Machine laterals

Saturday - Squat and Dead
A. Squats - 225x1, 250x1, 2x2@ 275, 250x2
B. Deadlift - 240x1, 265x1, 2x2@285, 265x2
C. Pulsed Lunges - 2 sets
D. KB Swings - 3 sets