Can anyone critique my workout/diet plan?

[wrkoutqueen]

Alright i have about 5months to get ready for a fitness competition and im not sure i'll be ready by then but take a look at my plan and tell me what ya think:

6am - run 1.5 miles
7am- eat 3 egg whites, turkey slices
9:15: protien bar
11:30 - spinach leaves w/ low carb dressing
1:45 - protien shake (pre-workout)
3:30 - work out ( i work out mon - saturday, alternating upper body and lower body, with abs every other day)
leg workout - leg press, leg extension, leg curl, hip adductor inner, hip adductor outer, lunges holding 12lbs dumbbells. here are my reps in order: 12, 10, 8, 6, (now i up the weight), 8, 10, 12... its pretty intense

5:00 - tuna
7:15 - chicken , green beans
9:00 - cottage cheese
10:00 - i do 45 minutes of yoga, stretching, or floor exercises before i go to bed

I wasn't sure about running everyday... maybe i should run more? i don't know but someone let me know if you think this will work, i've been doing this for about a week now. Should i take supplements or anything??

[Emma-Leigh]

Your diet needs a lot of work in my opinion. You need to balance your meals, eat more nutritionally dense, wholesome foods and eat more food in general. Sure - you are eating a lot of protein, but you will soon find yourself drainined and your performance will drop as you have completely cut out carbs and fats. You are also relying a lot on shakes/bars and these are poor substitutes for real food.

So I would try to balance each meal - an energy source (carb or a fat) and a protein source. That gives you energy for your body, and leaves the protein available to sustain and build your muscle mass. Try to aim for these small balanced small meals every 3 hours or so to give your body a good stream of nutrients.

So something like:

7 am: Oatmeal, Egg whites

9.30 am: Rice, chicken, spinach leaves

12 noon: Sweet potato, tuna, green beans

2:30 pm: Rice, Egg whites

Immediately post workout: Whey-shake with a carbohydrate source (oats, fruit)

5.30pm: Sweet potato, Turkey, vegetables

7.30pm: Salmon, Vegetables

10pm: Cottage cheese, almonds


Closer to the comp you may want to start carb cycling or something more 'fancy', but at the moment you just want to focus on clean, consistant eating.

As for your workouts - it sounds like you are overtraining to me. Too much cardio (every morning is overkill at the moment).

Also - Why are you doing so many sets? Have you considered doing a split routine?

I would start with something like:
Monday - Cardio
Tuesday - Legs, abs
Wednesday - Cardo
Thursday - Back, shoulders, bi's
Friday - Cardio
Saturday - Chest, tri's, Abs
Sunday - Off

As for what I would do - heavy sets (8 - 10 reps), 3 reps per exercise.

Stick to mainly compound exercises - you are doing a lot of isolation work which is less effective in stimulation of your muscle mass and results in much less effective workouts.

Closer to the time of the comp, when you need to lean down, I would then slowly increase cardio, (up to 6 times a week - increasing the duration/intensity as needed).


I think you don't need suppliments at the moment - get your diet and routine in order first and then, if you need to, think about other things.