ABP's "10 Weeks to the Stage" Contest Prep Thread

[abeachparty]

You can definitely see the difference over 5 years. The upper body is night and day. Your back really exploded. The heavy lifting also made you sprout a tattoo as well, lol!

Thanks! I was trying to make back a priority, based on feedback after my first few contests.

Yeah, the tattoo was part of my "Breaking Bad" midlife crisis. LOL

[abeachparty]

Woohoo! Lean body mass up! Body fat down!

[abeachparty]

Pics from last night. I'm a bit ahead of where I was 3 years ago. Which is NECESSARY, since my quads never got cut up for that show!

[abeachparty]

4 Weeks Out progress photos.

[abeachparty]

[jonnyboy44]

Hi Paul
saw the pics on o 35s pic thread.
looking good, progress being made. Great 5 year comparison pics. Following for the contest prep.

[abeachparty]

Hi Paul
saw the pics on o 35s pic thread.
looking good, progress being made. Great 5 year comparison pics. Following for the contest prep.

Thank you!

[chrismac365]

Good tread and it looks like your prep is going great !
Best of luck

[abeachparty]

"Transient Disturbances in Weight Progression During Pre-Contest Dieting Phase for Geriatric Bodybuilders due to Ingestion of Large, Highly-Caloric Frozen Confections."

[abeachparty]

High Carb day yesterday, Legs training this morning. I really need to emphasize my hamstrings; they are too small. From the side especially, my glutes look too big (stick out too far) compared to my hams - very distracting! Obviously, I can't really fix this before my 2013 shows, but I MUST prioritize hamstrings for the off-season!

My mind has started to play all kinds of games on me. Even though I'm sticking exactly to the diet and cardio plan, I have all kinds of phobias that it won't work this time (even though I have photographic evidence that it worked 3.5 years ago). Almost all day long, I feel a sense of doom and inevitable failure. My legs aren't getting cut up fast enough, my last bit of belly fat isn't going away, my butt is carrying a lot of fat still ... not enough time to get there by show time. This kind of negative mental self-talk assaults me all day long. Nothing to do but to plow ahead, stick to the plan (forget what it FEELS like is happening) and know that it will work.

There is a part in Raising The Bar 2 in which Dave Pulcinella is on the plane to Pittsburgh, and is talking about this negative self-talk. Very good to know that I am not the only one who gets this.

[abeachparty]

I attended a posing clinic with an NPC judge on Sunday ... that was VERY helpful. He was able to pinpoint some obvious mistakes I was making.

My frustration now is that I keep getting harder and leaner on my upper body (arms, shoulders), but not cuts whatsoever on my legs. I'm afraid that if I go lower on Calories to try and produce leg cuts, I'll cannibalize upper body muscle.

My plan is to change my type of cardio to more quad-centric stuff ... stair climber and cycling. Also, weight workout on leg day will emphasize higher reps rather than size-building rep ranges. We'll see how it works. If I'm not dialed in by the first contest on September 28, I still have 3 weeks to nail it before my 3rd and final contest of the season.

Here is a short video from this morning's back/biceps workout:

[abeachparty]

My body fat percent from this morning - now under 7%.

[Rypt1]

I attended a posing clinic with an NPC judge on Sunday ... that was VERY helpful. He was able to pinpoint some obvious mistakes I was making.

My frustration now is that I keep getting harder and leaner on my upper body (arms, shoulders), but not cuts whatsoever on my legs. I'm afraid that if I go lower on Calories to try and produce leg cuts, I'll cannibalize upper body muscle.

My plan is to change my type of cardio to more quad-centric stuff ... stair climber and cycling.

I'm like you, my lower body is the final spot that holds fat. I've really been utilizing HIIT cardio in this prep a lot and it seems to be helping a lot. I'm doing about 4 sessions a week. At this point, you are so close to the competition, you gotta strive to hit that next level. Of course, recovery when doing this is of utmost importance (sleep, extra greens, foam rolling, etc). Some of my sessions look like this:

3 min warm-up
5-10 minutes all out on a stepper (as hard as possible without reducing the level)
20-25 minutes of MISS

or

3 min warm-up
6-10 ten second all out sprints (100% exertion)
20 min MISS
6-8 30 sec sprints (about 80% exertion)

Maybe give you some ideas.

[abeachparty]

3 min warm-up
5-10 minutes all out on a stepper (as hard as possible without reducing the level)
20-25 minutes of MISS

This is very close to what I've ended up adopting. THANKS! (Too early yet to tell how it is working.)

[abeachparty]

I calipered out at 6.9% body fat today. Pretty happy with that. Here is a plot of my body fat percentage versus time:

[abeachparty]

All 3 of my contests limit the posing routine to 60 seconds, which is fine with me! I can't dance or move to save my life, so the free posing routine is just about the most uncomfortable part of the contest for me.

I'm getting there, though. I'm about 90% done "choreographing" it. I mostly need to work on some transitions. Now where is that Russ Testo posing DVD?

Anyhow, I've been practicing in my basement, and I like the grainy look I can get after posing for a while, in the rather harsh lighting I'm using.

[abeachparty]

New body fat measurement from this morning (7-site caliper test):

[abeachparty]

Sorry for the lack of updates.

I'm so, so tired. If I couldn't take naps I would just stop functioning.

I'm in Peak Week now for my first of three contests. I'm pretty happy with what I'm seeing in the mirror each morning. The plan is still to run no diuretics whatsoever, and to not really drop water very much, either. I need to make sure I don't have any rebound after this show from dehydration, because I have the second contest the following weekend, on October 5.

I was expecting my weight to drop a few more pounds, but it has stabilized at 173 pounds. I'll probably weigh almost that much at weigh-ins. But I'm looking pretty hard, so I'm not to worried about what the scale says.

I'm so ready for this! C'mon, Saturday!!

[Rypt1]

Good luck this weekend. Take it all in and enjoy every minute of it!

[abeachparty]

Good luck this weekend. Take it all in and enjoy every minute of it!

Will do! I look forward to comparing notes with you after the competitions.

I had an unpleasant experience this morning ... my little commuter car broke down on a heavily-traveled thoroughfare, about half way to work. Fortunately, the car only weighs 2050 pounds, so I was able to push it off to the side of the road. The adrenaline rush from trying to make sure I didn't get run over, plus the exertion of the pushing ... really was a nice little high-intensity cardio blast.

I highly recommend this activity for peak week! LOL

[abeachparty]

Two Days Out - Body Fat Measurement

[abeachparty]

Well, I entered the Grand Masters and crossed over to the Masters, but competed unopposed in both divisions. So, next weekend, I plan to cross over to the Open Middleweights.

I had tons of fun, met some super cool people, and had a great "shake down run". I was gratified to get two little bursts of applause and appreciation early in my routine, but then I TOTALLY botched one of the poses in the middle and never quite recovered. At least now I know exactly what to practice!

[abeachparty]

I had a blast at this contest. I crossed over from Grand Masters to Masters, but still ended up competing unopposed in both divisions. Next Saturday, I will most likely cross over to the Open Middleweight class, to avoid this scenario.

I was happy with some, but not all, of the things about my physique at this show. I truly need to work more on my posing. And I still need to get leaner in the next 3 weeks.

Anyhow, here are some pics from the show:

[abeachparty]

I have another contest coming up on Saturday, October 5th. This looks to be a larger contest, so I should have some others in my division.

I was thinking of crossing over to the Open Middleweights, but I think I would be out of my league there, so I'm planning to cross over to the Over 40 Masters. They usually get 6 or 7 competitors in that division.

I'm trying to get leaner this week, and after having talked to some of the competitors last Saturday, I think my Low Carb days were still to generous with the carbohydrates, so I'm dropping them down further. Kind of suffering! But it will be worth it.

[abeachparty]

I just started a new assignment in my company, at the location where I spent the first 16 years of my career with them. They have a company fitness center. It was kind of sad to see the same exact guys, doing the same exact workouts, but getting fatter and weaker over the 6 years I was gone. I literally was the only one there who looked better than 6 years ago.

I feel especially sad about my one friend whose every workout is running at ilke 9 mph (fast!) on the treadmill. In spite of doing that regularly, he HAS to have put on 12 or 15 pounds. I need to take him aside and explain weight training to him. Sheesh.

[Rypt1]

Pics looked awesome. Good luck in this weekend's show. Looking forward to the results (and more pics)

[abeachparty]

Pics looked awesome. Good luck in this weekend's show. Looking forward to the results (and more pics)

Thanks!

[abeachparty]

Some pics from this morning, with a base coat of color applied:

[Rypt1]

Poses are looking really good! Enjoy this weekend!!

[abeachparty]

Poses are looking really good! Enjoy this weekend!!

Thanks, I will!