Men's Physique 5 Weeks Out

[veritas1]

Sup y'all,

I'm competing in the men's physique novice division at the Axis Labs Northern Colorado in 5 weeks and wanted to log my progress on here, and hopefully get some feedback/advice/encouragement from others as I progress on my journey!

This is my first comp, so I'm both really excited and nervous about the whole thing. If all goes well, I might compete again in July or August.

Let me know what you guys think of the pics.

[veritas1]

Although it's a Saturday night I'm eager to get to bed here in the next hour or so, and it's only 9 PM! Mostly because, aside from being tired, tomorrow I get to lift, and then EAT!!!

For my lifting routine I lift full body 2-3x a week. I know it's not your normal lifting routine, but it's what has worked for me.

Lifts are as follows:
--2 x 8 DB curls
--2 x 25 seated calf raises
--3 x 25 seated leg press
--2 x 15 standing cable crunches
--2 x 15 tricep cable pushdowns
--2 x 10 close-grip seated cable rows
--2 x 10 wide-grip seated cable rows
--1 x 60 seated leg extensions (drop set)
--1 x 15 DB shrugs
--1 x 15 weighted back extensions
--2 x 15 DB flat bench chest press
--2 x 15 DB reverse flyes
--1 X 8 hammer curls or ez barbell curls
--1 x 15 tricep pushdowns with bar

Normally I'll do some kind of cardio in the morning, usually either the elliptical or the stationary bike. I had been doing cardio 4-5 days a week, but decided to take a break from that for a couple of weeks since it was irritating my knee. I've had tendonitis issues with my left knee since I was 13, so I just have to work around it.

In other news, I've got my hotel, flight, and tanning all figured out for my comp. I setup an appointment with Elite Tan for the afternoon of the 12th for a base spray tan, and will then setup an appointment for the morning of the 13th for my finishing shade before I go on stage. I still need to pick out some board shorts. I'm thinking of going with a pair of aqua blue billabong shorts I found online. I'd post the link but BB.com won't let me since I have so few posts. Feeling stoked!

[veritas1]

Had a great lifting session this morning. Took 3 scoops of Gaspari Superpump Max and felt super focused and energetic.

Weight was 149.2, but I'm looking leaner. I suspect it's higher because of my re-feed from Friday night.

Intake for the day:

Pre-workout: 3 scoops of superpump

Post-workout: 2 scoops of whey, 4 caramel rice cakes, 2 cups of mixed veggies

Lunch: 8 oz grilled chicken, 2 cups of mixed veggies, 2 cups of peppers and onions

Dinner: 8 oz chicken

Felt great this morning during and after lifting, but am feeling a bit lethargic and hungry now. Diet soda and sugar free gum are keeping me going during the evening these days.

[veritas1]

Awesome workout tonight! My knee is feeling better, so I did 35 min on the stationary bike today in addition to my full body weights routine.

I've decided to increase calories a bit, since I was eating far too low before. I had been eating 1400 cal a day for the past week or so and was making steady progress, but I felt like utter sh*t by around 2 or 3 pm each today and felt like I could hardly function. I've decided to up my calories back up to 1600/day and bring cardio back in 3x a week.

I am planning though on dropping my calories down to 1400 again during peak week, doing a three day carb deplete, and then carbing up Thursday and Friday before the show (show is on Saturday). Any thoughts/suggestions on this?