Pre-contest workouts: final 2 weeks

[trish123]

This forum was such a great help with my last question I thought I'd ask another one.

Background: Novice figure competitor, first show is a week away.

During the earlier 'mass building' phase of contest prep, you're eating a lot to fuel lots of muscle growth. Workouts/lifts are powerful and a lot of fun.

vs.

The final weeks leading up to a show and your diet is restricted, and the lifts just SUCK. Cardio workouts are rough but you sweat it out get through it.

Seems logical to me.... less fuel for the body = different workouts. Ya?

[_jim_]

I'm 1 week and 1 day out right now and all I can say is that I am spent. I am forced to do LISS with most of my cardio because HIIT is just not really an option right now, because I get fatigued easily. Physical strength is just OK, and my motivation in the gym sucks because I feel weak and tired. I remember like 10 weeks ago when all I would thing about was being in the gym the next day and now I dread it LOL. But you know what, I am super pumped to step on stage next saturday and show off all my hard work. No one ever said this was easy right LOL.

[Barn01]

Seems logical to me.... less fuel for the body = different workouts. Ya?

Not sure what you question is here?

Are you asking if you should change your workouts based on cal intake? Or are you just stating that your workout intensity and moods vary based on cal intake?

Keep your workouts basically the same up until the last 4weeks. At that time keep things heavy but pull back the weight a little and add more reps to any exercise that may cause you injury .. i.e. deadlifts, squats, tbar rows ......

Yes you're going to feel like crap the leaner you get.

[trish123]

Yes you're going to feel like crap the leaner you get.

Confirming my suspicions. thx

[GetCarved]

I'm 1 week and 1 day out right now and all I can say is that I am spent. I am forced to do LISS with most of my cardio because HIIT is just not really an option right now, because I get fatigued easily. Physical strength is just OK, and my motivation in the gym sucks because I feel weak and tired. I remember like 10 weeks ago when all I would thing about was being in the gym the next day and now I dread it LOL. But you know what, I am super pumped to step on stage next saturday and show off all my hard work. No one ever said this was easy right LOL.

I know the feeling, I went in to do 20 min of HIIT the other day, did two intervals, and went to LISS for 30 minutes. I knew I couldnt make it through. Yesterday I felt so bad that I didnt even want to move from the couch, then I went for a walk outside and made myself pose - competition prep is probably one of the hardest things one can do - pushing past limits is a necessity.

[_jim_]

I know the feeling, I went in to do 20 min of HIIT the other day, did two intervals, and went to LISS for 30 minutes. I knew I couldnt make it through. Yesterday I felt so bad that I didnt even want to move from the couch, then I went for a walk outside and made myself pose - competition prep is probably one of the hardest things one can do - pushing past limits is a necessity.

lol, yup. Went to do HIIT in the morning yesterday, and on the second interval my legs told me to go fu*k myself. did 40 min LISS instead.

[jrsiskey]

lol, yup. Went to do HIIT in the morning yesterday, and on the second interval my legs told me to go fu*k myself. did 40 min LISS instead.

if you think about it, what is hiit? if you keep it in terms of just thinking about your heart rate, its a series of intervals spiking your heart rate and hopefully surpassing your lactate threshold so your body releases the fatty acids to be carried out by oxidation from the low intensity training. yadda yadda....SO what do you think your weight training is?(specifically close to competition) granted, it is anaroebic, but if you keep thinking in terms of what your heart is doing, it is a series of spikes. set by set you jack it up, then give it 30-45 sec to come down. So at this point in the game, when energy is low and you need as much rest as you can get, why do more HIIT on top of your workouts?? If anything this proves that second to cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, cardio after your work out would be the second best option to burn fat, because it simulates doing your low intensity cardio after your 10-20min HIIT intervals. Theses are just thoughts, I'm no scientists, nor trying to be, just in the game trying to keep as much muscle and burn as much fat come down to show time. Hope the comp goes well.

[_jim_]

if you think about it, what is hiit? if you keep it in terms of just thinking about your heart rate, its a series of intervals spiking your heart rate and hopefully surpassing your lactate threshold so your body releases the fatty acids to be carried out by oxidation from the low intensity training. yadda yadda....SO what do you think your weight training is?(specifically close to competition) granted, it is anaroebic, but if you keep thinking in terms of what your heart is doing, it is a series of spikes. set by set you jack it up, then give it 30-45 sec to come down. So at this point in the game, when energy is low and you need as much rest as you can get, why do more HIIT on top of your workouts?? If anything this proves that second to cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, cardio after your work out would be the second best option to burn fat, because it simulates doing your low intensity cardio after your 10-20min HIIT intervals. Theses are just thoughts, I'm no scientists, nor trying to be, just in the game trying to keep as much muscle and burn as much fat come down to show time. Hope the comp goes well.

not sure where you're going with this. I mostly do HIIT on non-lifting days.

[jrsiskey]

I'm saying, you are already getting your "hiit" work out ON lifting days. just because you call it "lifting days" doesn't mean you're not burning fat. So why beat yourself up more and double up? just do your steady state low-intensity for your "cardio" unless you just have to play catch up and are willing to take the risk of sacrificing muscle.

[bustasinclair]

if you think about it, what is hiit? if you keep it in terms of just thinking about your heart rate, its a series of intervals spiking your heart rate and hopefully surpassing your lactate threshold so your body releases the fatty acids to be carried out by oxidation from the low intensity training. yadda yadda....SO what do you think your weight training is?(specifically close to competition) granted, it is anaroebic, but if you keep thinking in terms of what your heart is doing, it is a series of spikes. set by set you jack it up, then give it 30-45 sec to come down. So at this point in the game, when energy is low and you need as much rest as you can get, why do more HIIT on top of your workouts?? If anything this proves that second to cardio in the morning on an empty stomach, cardio after your work out would be the second best option to burn fat, because it simulates doing your low intensity cardio after your 10-20min HIIT intervals. Theses are just thoughts, I'm no scientists, nor trying to be, just in the game trying to keep as much muscle and burn as much fat come down to show time. Hope the comp goes well.

Great post!

I've thought of it that way as well. That's partly what has helped me move away from any high intensity cardio period--this coming from a former HIIT cardio addict