7 weeks out and I think I've hit a plateau

[shankuan]

I am seven weeks out from my first competition for this year and I don't think I'm where i should be at this stage. I've been sticking to the book for the last 6 weeks and i don't see the results i expect to see with a month left to go.

I train 6 days for the week, 4 of which include 1.5hrs (twice a day) or more of cardio (steps, studio cycling, elliptical machine). My diet is pretty much the same thing everyday, 6-7 meals a day (b/f- 6 egg whites, 3oz oatmeal, flaxseed oil; mid-a.m. - 12 oz zero carb whey protein shake + fruit; lunch - 8 oz chicken/tuna/fish + 6 oz salad+ 3oz sweet potatoe; mid-p.m. - 12 oz protein shake; pre-workout (2 hr) - tuna sandwich/8 oz protein shake; postworkout - 8 oz protein shake + 6 oz fish + salad)

The only supplements i take however are daily one multivitamins, 500 mg vitamin c, b-complex, glucosamine chondroitin (700mg, 600mg) and I drink at least a gallon of water each day. I had started taking Lipo 6 around 3 weeks ago but i felt no difference in the way i trained or how i felt, nor did i see it make a difference in the way my body looked (maybe i didn't give it enough time), so i quit taking it.

I am currently 147lbs, with 15.7% bodyfat and I am aiming for 8-10% by April 28. I had to take a few weeks off late last year due to stress, so my program got derailed for a while. I think the way i eat and train now, i should be closer to 12%. I am only entering a figure competition, not bodybuilding, but i expected to see a bit more vascularity and a bit more leanness, given the amount of cardio i do and the variety i utililze in my weighttraining program. I am not sure where to go from here, so please if anyone has any advice for me, I'd really appreciate it. I'm a novice at this, it being my second serious competition, but i'd really like to do well at it. For the first one, i hadn't done any real preparation for it, i was simply training at the time for the beach volleyball circuit with follow up weight training and cardio which kept me in shape. So with games most weekends and the time i spent in the gym, i looked pretty lean and my workout partner encouraged me to enter so i did. I placed 5th out of 17 women, so it felt good. I want to do better this time around.

[shankuan]

See a few pics of back, legs and abs (or wateva they are....they're nowhere near what abs should look like).

Again ya'll honesty would be appreciated.

[RBEliminator]

You can help us out by listing your daily protein/fat/carb count. Its tough to tell by the diet you have listed. You protein looks high, well I can't really tell to be honest. But you should be able to drop a considerable amount of BF in 7 weeks, so I wouldn't get worried. You are doing A LOT of cardio, what is your resistance training like?

[BigStew]

You look fine and on the right track for a figure contest.
3 are you saying that you lift weights twice a week and cardio 4 times. You seem to be doing way too much cardio for this far away from the contest. PM or email me your diet and workout schedule(both cardio and weights) I would love to look them over and give you some advice

[FATHER FLEX]

Besidea fixing the little things in your nutrition plan, which I suggest you post for us.

Have you tried HIT cardio? It really helps when the fat gets a stubborn attitude with me. :)

Tinkering with the nutrition alone should help so much, the answer usually lies there. I do suggest some HIT cardio on off days though.

[shankuan]

1. Protein/fat/carb count - i assume you are refering to calories right? well if you are then i try to consume 1200-1600 calories of which 70% is protein (from chicken/tuna/fish), 25% is carbs (veggies/sweet potatoes/(brown rice-rarely), and 3%-5% (which i get from the fish i eat or the flaxseed i include with my oatmeal) is fats. To be quite honest, i don't measure most things, i have gotten the hang of eyeballing my food (deck a cards =6-8oz chicken...that kinda thing).

As for the cardio now...well i do cardio everyday, at least for 40 mins. This may vary, depending on the weight training schedule. Like my current two week run (which started 2 sundays ago) is such that, i do cardio low intensity cardio (cycling) Monday, Wed, Fri and high intensity on Tues & Sat. For weights: Sun- chest/triceps/abs, mon-back/bicep/forearms, tues-active rest day with cardio/abs, wed-quads/hams/glutes/calves, thur-rest day, fri-shoulders/traps/abs.

That's just an example. I have my heavy days (weights) which involve low reps and i have my low days which is the reverse. I only do that though if I'm doing circuit training, which is once every other/two weeks. Additionally, i change up the # of sets i may do, the order i may do the exercises in as well as whether i do isolation then compound, or straight compound, or supersets etc.

Some examples of the exercises i do include (but aren't limited):

Chest (shoulder injury limits my resistance)- declined push ups (3 sets of 20), dmbell inclined press/flyes (max 1 rep @ 35lbs), pec dec flyes (1RM - 65lbs), declined dmbell press/flyes (1RM - 35lbs)

Tri's & Bi's - wghted dips with 45lb plate, overhead press (1RM-40lb dbell), machine tricep pressdwn (1RM - 60lbs), barbell curls (1RM -50lbs), dbell bicep curls (1RM - 35lb dbells), concentration curl (1RM - 25lbs...dis one i absolutely hate)

Back- pull ups, wide grip pulldwns (1RM - 130lbs), str8 arm pulldown (1RM - 60lbs), seated row (1RM - 110-120lbs), one arm row (1RM - 50lbs), bent over row (i'm not sure on dis one), deadlift (145lbs for 12 reps).

Legs -squats (1RM - 245lbs), leg press machine (1RM- 450lbs), leg curls (1RM- 120lbs),

Shoulders - now for this area, i have had to be careful because of the effect of an injury i had so the 1RM max for most of these exercises are extremely cautious. Shoulder press - (1RM - 45lbs), front raise - bbell - 40 lbs; dbell - 25lbs, lat raise - 1RM-25lbs, bbell upright row (1RM -60lbs).


Ok fellas that's pretty much all i can handle right now. I hope this painted a better picture for you.

[teenyGreen]

You look great. I would suggest carb cycling. When I plateaued in January it really helped me get back to dropping fat. I used this article as a base.
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/par30.htm

A couple of weeks ago I felt like I wasn't making gains while lifting, so I changed my split and did different exercises.

Adding a fat burner can be a good alternative too. I would just watch your body carefully. I've been feeling really stressed out lately and my digestive system seemed out of whack. It was the caffine in the StimX. I stopped taking it, and I'm back to normal.

[RBEliminator]

You protein is too high, and your fats/ carbs are too low. Also, eyeballing things will get you to a certain point but that's all. Too often you'll get it wrong expecially at this point. I suggest you start weighing and measuring all foods, especially now since you feel you've plateaud. It will make a major difference. And of course write each and every meal down. Try adjusting your protein to 40-45%, carbs to 30-35%% and fats 25%. Also, try to eat meals where you have fewer carbs and ones where you have a larger percentage say preworkout and postworkout for example. I see someone suggested carb cycling, which will certainly help if done properly. My prep guy prefers re-feed days, but there are other ways as well.

Eat for what you are going to do or did. For example, eat more carbs on legs day versus arm day or shoulder day. I see a few tweaks you can make, next time however it's always best to hire someone to do your prep. It takes A LOT of the guesswork out and its nice to always have someone there for the motivation, etc.

[shankuan]

RB, thanks for your thoughts and i take your suggestions. I'll admit that the eyeballing is really because i prepare my meals in the morning BEFORE i go to the gym (5:00 am) so it becomes a quick meal. I do measure particularly the fluids and the dry foods (like oatmeal etc). However, i hate monotony, and its bad enough the food is always the same, so i just eyeball. Unfortunately i can't afford to get a 'prep' guy, i have to do everything myself. I have only recently started reading more and checkin out the forums on this website to try and get feedback and as much info as possible. I suppose it boils down to me sticking with it and being a bit more deliberate in my food prep and such.

As for me writing my meals down, to be honest, half the time i forget to do it immediately. I remember to write it down whenever i go to write out my work out plan for the day, which often times end up being long after i have eaten. But i suppose i need to become more consistent in this as well. Man i hate monotony you won't believe. I get pretty bored easily and have to do so many things to keep myself interested. Its a wonder how I have remained interested in this for so long. But again, thanks for your feedback.

What are 're-feed days???? I keep seeing mention of it in the other threads i read, but i have no idea what it is. Please enlighten me.

As for the carb cycling, I'll definitely have to give that a try as well. I had heard of it but never tried it, at least on any consistent basis. So, hopefully it gets me the results i'm looking for. The fat burner, as i had said, i have tried lipo6 which i felt did nothing for me, so i quit it. I'm not into really starting another one so soon, so i'll wait and see what the carb cycling does before i make a decision in that regard.

i'll keep ya'll posted on my progress.

[RBEliminator]

shankuan,

I guess it all comes down to how bad you want it? And the sacrifices you are willing to make to get there. Not trying to sound to like a jerk, trust me. But if writing meals down and weighing ALL your foods is to much then IMO you don't deserve to win. Know that your competition is DOING ALL of these things.

Ask yourself how bad do you want it? It will help. As for re-feed days, In theory it is designed to reset the metabolism and release leptin, concuring to also replenish the body of muscle glycogen. Re-feed every 3-4 days, 16-24 meals or so. Refer to Laynes artical at the top of the contest prep forum for more information, he's the doc I'm just the trainer :)

If you design an approach off of Layne's article over the next 6 weeks leading up to your show, at least it will give you some structure and theory into contest prep (dieting) with a proven approach. It's a much better structure than where your at right now.

Kyle