Jeff Rodriguez Thread

[jrod]

hey Jeff,
you going to the arnold?

I considered it, but seeing as I don't have vacation time (need to be at my job for at least 6 months to earn vacation) and I should save some money, I'm not going.

I like going to shows, though, so I'd go to the local ones in Northern California (EG the Contra Costa).

I'd love to go to the Arnold one day, and to the Olympia too.

You going?

[bigafro]

I considered it, but seeing as I don't have vacation time (need to be at my job for at least 6 months to earn vacation) and I should save some money, I'm not going.

I like going to shows, though, so I'd go to the local ones in Northern California (EG the Contra Costa).

I'd love to go to the Arnold one day, and to the Olympia too.

You going?

wanted to but it's the beginning of the peak time at my job and we aren't allowed to go on vaction until the fall...
when things slow down

[jrod]

ANy recent pics Jrod? i think we'd all like to see you in full offseason mode? how about your audio for the In the Trenches? any news on that

Here are those recent pictures I promised. I took some on 1-19-08, but they were too dark (see side chest below), so I wanted to wait till I could post a better light picture. The back double biceps is from today.

[bhman6]

looking thick in that side chest shot

[jerryjuice]

Jrod,
Been following your blog. Looks like youre really making good progress depsite minor injury setbacks. Your arms look like they have packed on ALOT of size this offseason..whats the schedule here in the next few months regarding your contest prep

[crou]

Looking great for off-season Jeff. Still have that nasty hamstring split.

[Deerod021]

Whats up Jeff just wanted to know your opinion on a couple of things, first off I wanted to ask you If you think walking a couple miles on Strength shoes and keeping that tension on the calves will make them grow If I do it like 3-4 times a week. I cant run or do squats, presses, or standing calf raises bc i had cancer of the bone in my knee and since i have a prosthesis the impact will be negative. Yesterday I did this and today my calves are real sore. I wanted to see if this method of walking with the specialized shoe will help bc with my limits there is only so much i can do.

Also eating every 3 hours sometimes I'm still a little full from my last meal. Do I still eat If I'm still full or wait longer?

Thank you for your time

[jrod]

Jrod,
Been following your blog. Looks like youre really making good progress depsite minor injury setbacks. Your arms look like they have packed on ALOT of size this offseason..whats the schedule here in the next few months regarding your contest prep

The schedule will remain the same for a while: off-season!

The TU is in September this year (was in July the last 2 years), so that gives me a bit more time. I'll put together a game plan and start dieting sometime in May.

[jrod]

Whats up Jeff just wanted to know your opinion on a couple of things, first off I wanted to ask you If you think walking a couple miles on Strength shoes and keeping that tension on the calves will make them grow If I do it like 3-4 times a week. I cant run or do squats, presses, or standing calf raises bc i had cancer of the bone in my knee and since i have a prosthesis the impact will be negative. Yesterday I did this and today my calves are real sore. I wanted to see if this method of walking with the specialized shoe will help bc with my limits there is only so much i can do.

Also eating every 3 hours sometimes I'm still a little full from my last meal. Do I still eat If I'm still full or wait longer?

Thank you for your time

I think its important to find the best exercises that work for YOU. One might find that squats work best for developing big quads, but for someone who has, say, a back problem, or something like you mentioned, this wouldn't be the case. Maybe for this person with a back problem, hack squats would be best (because they'd only last a few weeks squatting before getting injured). Therefore, its important to find the best exercise for yourself.

Since you are not able to do standing calf raises, maybe you could do seated calf raises. If not, you are going to have to be creative (like the idea you mentioned). Walking a few miles with strength shoes isn't going to make your calves smaller, so I think its worth a shot. If I were in your position, I would experiment with different things (as you're doing!) until I found things that worked. Give what you said a try for a while; I think its a good idea.

As for the eating when full, here is my take on it. First of all, have an idea of how much, by the end of the day, you should have eaten. Then break this up into as many meals as you're going to eat. Don't just eat randomly, huge meals followed by small meals. If you already have an idea of how much you should eat, but are having trouble eating it all (this happens to me), I suggest choosing foods that are low in volume and nutrient dense (EG rice over vegetables for carbs). This is actually the reason I get a lot of my protein from whey; because its easier and lighter on the stomach to drink 50g of whey versus eating 50g of protein from chicken. I hope this helps.
(on a side note, as I get to the middle of my contest prep, I actually do the exact opposite: High volume, low density foods. That way I get full from less food).

[warbird00]

wtf?!?! do u still have still have striations in your legs?!?

[demer_ma]

Question

Hi Jeff,

I was looking over your diet and notice how you keep fat very low. How low is too low and do you feel muscle will be wasted from such a low fat diet?

Thanks in adance,

Moe

[jrod]

wtf?!?! do u still have still have striations in your legs?!?

Haha, I always have a little something there year round; even if just faint.

[jrod]

Hi Jeff,

I was looking over your diet and notice how you keep fat very low. How low is too low and do you feel muscle will be wasted from such a low fat diet?

Thanks in adance,

Moe

I don't know EXACTLY what number or percentage is too low. I can say that 0% is too low, but I can't give you an exact number, X%, where X-1% is too low, but X+1% is fine. I think this is where an educated guess and trial and error comes in.

I don't think my fat intake NOW is too low. I have about 70+grams of fat per day. That may be 15% of my calories from fat, but I eat a lot of protein and a good amount of carbs. I am still learning from show to show/diet to diet. In the past, I think I have gone a bit low on fat, so I stayed a bit higher last year and will stay a bit higher again this year. But when it comes to contest prep, my number one priority shifts to getting as lean as possible.

As for muscle being lost from a diet too low in fat, yes, I think that can happen. For maximum muscle gains, there has to be an ideal environment and eating too little fat will hinder testosterone production, therefore hindering muscle gains. BUT, on the other side of it, too much fat will not make you produce more testosterone (it might just make you fatter). I think about 70g per day for myself is within this range of not too little and not too much fat.

[FATHER FLEX]

I train in Hayward (weekdays) and Oakland (weekends) at 24 hour fitness. Where do you train in Oakland?

No way 24 hour fitness Hayward? Dude! Got to start training there more, maybe I will run into you one of these days.

[Kiyoshi Moody]

Sup "J" Looking good Bro. Keep growing. Stay focused!!!!