By: Chris Meraz Mar 07, 2002

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Nutrition

Non-Training Days
5:50 a.m. - Wake up (I hate this part)

5:55 a.m. - Get ready for school

6:25 a.m. - Eat breakfast, I like to usually eat 4 eggs, 4 pieces of toast and 2-or-3 glasses of milk and a multi vitamin. Depending on if I have enough time. If I don't I will usually make two peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with as much milk as I can get, cause milk is a good source of protein.

7:25 a.m. to lunch - This time sucks because of school I do not have an opportunity to eat, and since I am still in a bulking phase that is not good. While your bulking you will have to try to eat as much as possible and that is why with summer coming I am still bulking cause once my vacation comes and I'm at home I can eat as much as I want.

Lunch - Yes! For lunch my school doesn't really have good protein stuff so I just get chicken tenders and French fries, if the line is too long I will get a pack or two of pop tarts since each package has 410 calories.

2:50 p.m. - I'm finally home. I will get out my protein powder and make myself a nice shake, and If I'm not training that day, that is when I will take my Creatine HSC.

3:40 p.m. - Once the protein and creatine have had some time to absorb is when I go all out with food. I will eat just about anything (that's healthy) except sodas. Sodas are the devil!

7 p.m. - Protein Shake

10:30 p.m. - *Yawn* Its time for me to go to bed but before I do I will take another protein shake with a multi vitamin, and say my prayers.

The days that I train are basically the same except for when I take my creatine. Instead of taking it right after I get home I take it right when I finish my workout, along with a serving of VP2.

Workout

Monday

Mondays are the foundation of my workout schedule. Since it's the first day of the week (actually 2nd) it will determine the rest of my week, if I have a good workout then my week will be good, but if I don't then my week will suck. I don't know why that is but, that's how it is for me. Now for my routine.

Legs:
Squats, 3 warm-up sets along with 3 very painful sets of 6-8 reps Leg Press, 3 sets with 6-8 reps Leg Curls, 3 sets with 6-8 reps

Calves:
Calf Raises, 4 sets with 20 reps Hack Squat Calf Raises, 4 sets with 20 reps

Legs are probably the most neglected part of the body yet they make up most of it. You cannot have a "buff" physique without a good pair of legs. One day at my gym I saw this guy with a nice upper body but no legs at all and it was hilarious. Not to be mean to any of the people who have big upper bodies with no legs, I'm just saying, would you like to be that guy that me and my friends were laughing at? I seriously doubt that. That's why you have to train your legs just like any other body part, and you have to SQUAT! If your not squatting then your just whimping out.

Shoulders:
Dumbbell Press, 3 warm-up sets, right before the good 3 sets with 6-8 reps Military Press, 3 sets with 6-8 reps Side Laterals, 3 sets with 6-8 reps

Shoulders help you a lot in the fact that they can make you look wider then you actually are. A good pair of shoulders are hard to come by though. Many of us have the tendency to work one part of the shoulders more then others causing us to not have the best shoulder development. Which is why when working your shoulders be sure to workout each part equally.

Wednesdays

Biceps:
Dumbbell Curls, 3 warm-up sets, then 3 sets with 6-8 reps Curl Bar Curls, 3 sets with 6-8 reps Hammer Curls, 3 sets with 6-8 reps

Ah yes! The biceps, the muscle every girl likes to feel on. For me getting big biceps is not very hard at all. Just work them out 1 time per week like I do on my routine. However, since muscles have a tendency to adapt to your workout switch the exercises around every once in a while. Like instead of the dumbbell curls do straight bar curls or instead of hammer curls do preacher curls, use your imagination and find what works best for you.

Back:
Lat-Pull Down's, 3 warm-up sets, then 3 sets with 6-8 reps Seated Cable Rows, 3 sets with 6-8 reps

For a "complete" body you cannot leave your back out. A big back will make you look bigger so why leave it out and only look good from the front when you can look good all over. A good back will also give you that famous "V" shape.

Saturday:

Chest:
Dumbbell Press, 3 warm-up sets, then 3 sets with 6-8 reps Incline bench Press, 3 sets with 6-8 reps Dips, 3 sets with 6-8 reps

Who doesn't want a big chest? I don't know anyone that doesn't. Your chest is probably one of the most noticeable muscles out there, and the girls love it too. When working your chest be sure to have good slow, non cheating reps, what I mean by non-cheating is if your benching and your bouncing the bar off your chest or if you have your back all over arched and crap then that's not good. Lower to weight so you can lift it correctly. It is more important to do an exercise with less weight and with proper form then more weight and terrible form. Since the bench press is the most common chest exercise, I will tell you the correct way to do it.

1) Lie flat on the bench with your eyes even with the bar. Your feet should remain flat on the floor and your butt and upper shoulders should remain in contact with the bench during the entire exercise. I have seen people throw there butt in the air to get a weight up, that is not a good sign.

2) Grip the bar evenly with your arms a little wider than shoulder width. Lift the bar off the rack and control the bar down to the bottom of your chest. With force, drive the weight back up. Not bouncing the bar off your chest, that doesn't mean don't have the bar come in contact with your chest, just don't use yourself as a trampoline.

3) That's it!

The flat bench press is arguably the best chest exercise of all, and it is important to know how to do it correctly.

Triceps:
Skull-crushers, 3 sets with 6-8 reps Cable Push-downs, 3 sets with 6-8 reps

Since triceps make up 2/3 of your arms and you cant the those big guns without them, they're a good muscle to workout when your trying to get those 20-inch arms. When working out your triceps, just like any other muscle you want to squeeze it at the top of the exercise, and be sure to control the weight and not let the weight control you.

That's a week in the life of Chris Meraz, not very exciting huh. If you have any questions feel free to e-mail me.