Unsure about competing...

[Nelly87]

Hi All,

I was in really bad shape the beginning of this year. I joined this site just in February and it has completely changed my life. Did the hypershred contest, went from 215 @ 29% body fat down to 188 @ 11.2% body fat in 12 weeks (pics on bodyspace account). It was crazy hard and took a lot of work. Looking around and seeing all the information, competing looks like fun and also a way for me to stay motivated and keep on the ball.

Where I am unsure is I suppose I am a little discouraged because there are so many people out there that it seems like all they do is workout and diet professionally. I work full time and am currently a full time student as well. Is competing an extremely demanding lifestyle?

Thanks!

[risingcougar]

If you make it your lifestyle you can eventually compete. It's just a matter of not making excuses in your scheduling.

We all get the cards we're dealt. I had to work full time while I was in school, but I still did it. I have friends that had everything paid for them and they dropped out. If you want to compete then aim for it.

I luckily get to work in the fitness industry now so it helps with my own goals, but I wish to get out of it eventually and make it just my hobby again some day.

If you love training and are fine with making sure you eat the right amount of food then sure, you can do it man. Keep up the hard work!

[CertifiedMuscle]

I know what you mean, I've been kind of interested in competing in men's physique lately. But I'm a full time student and not sure how I can devote enough to it. I'm planning on finishing a 24-week cut by the end of September, and then try to slowly add a little more size over winter while staying in single-digits and perhaps I'll be ready to compete next year without needing to spend tons of time on prep.

And great job on the transformation! Just curious, how did you get your bodyfat measured? I'm definitely not below 12% and you look more like 15-16% so I was wondering how you got 11.2% BF.

[Nelly87]

I know what you mean, I've been kind of interested in competing in men's physique lately. But I'm a full time student and not sure how I can devote enough to it. I'm planning on finishing a 24-week cut by the end of September, and then try to slowly add a little more size over winter while staying in single-digits and perhaps I'll be ready to compete next year without needing to spend tons of time on prep.

And great job on the transformation! Just curious, how did you get your bodyfat measured? I'm definitely not below 12% and you look more like 15-16% so I was wondering how you got 11.2% BF.

Thanks, I used calipers and measured (well my wife did) stomach, back and front of arms, and the back. Added those numbers up and looked at a chart. I thought the same as well so I am unsure how accurate the scale was that I used but I wanted to use the same scale all throughout the process just to stay consistent. I really do not feel I am that low but according to my numbers and the chart I was. I measured weekly though and my stomach started out at 48, the front of my arm was 10, back of my arm was 7, my back was 20. On Monday my stomach was a 12, back and front of my arms were 1 and my back was 10. So I use those to measure my results, I agree with you that I am probably more like 15% though. It could also be that my skin has not tightened around my muscles yet as I have had such a quick loss but I am not really sure since this is my first time doing anything like this.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and I also appreciate the feedback!

[CertifiedMuscle]

Thanks, I used calipers and measured (well my wife did) stomach, back and front of arms, and the back. Added those numbers up and looked at a chart. I thought the same as well so I am unsure how accurate the scale was that I used but I wanted to use the same scale all throughout the process just to stay consistent. I really do not feel I am that low but according to my numbers and the chart I was. I measured weekly though and my stomach started out at 48, the front of my arm was 10, back of my arm was 7, my back was 20. On Monday my stomach was a 12, back and front of my arms were 1 and my back was 10. So I use those to measure my results, I agree with you that I am probably more like 15% though. It could also be that my skin has not tightened around my muscles yet as I have had such a quick loss but I am not really sure since this is my first time doing anything like this.

Any advice is greatly appreciated and I also appreciate the feedback!

Hmm...perhaps try using the Jackson/Pollock 7-point method (chest, abdominal, thigh, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac, midauxiliary) because that would be more accurate (http://www.linear-software.com/online.html). Really make sure your wife digs in with her fingers to grab everything above the muscle (a light pinch will only get the skin without all the subcutaneous fat), and her pinch angle is correct for each site (some are vertical, others diagonal, etc.). Even if you had loose skin, that shouldn't affect the calipers too much because they measure thickness.

Some tips for skin: make sure you stay well-hydrated, get plenty of vitamins and minerals through healthy diet (these are largely responsible for skin health/elasticity), and try using some shea/cocoa butter. I'm sure your wife won't mind giving you a rub-down ;-)
Hope this helps

[Nelly87]

Hmm...perhaps try using the Jackson/Pollock 7-point method (chest, abdominal, thigh, triceps, subscapular, suprailiac, midauxiliary) because that would be more accurate . Really make sure your wife digs in with her fingers to grab everything above the muscle (a light pinch will only get the skin without all the subcutaneous fat), and her pinch angle is correct for each site (some are vertical, others diagonal, etc.). Even if you had loose skin, that shouldn't affect the calipers too much because they measure thickness.

Some tips for skin: make sure you stay well-hydrated, get plenty of vitamins and minerals through healthy diet (these are largely responsible for skin health/elasticity), and try using some shea/cocoa butter. I'm sure your wife won't mind giving you a rub-down ;-)
Hope this helps

Thanks for the info! I must be doing something wrong. I had my wife measure again using the 7-point method from the site above. I made sure she grabbed a lot! It was pretty uncomfortable and hurt sometimes and that site calculated at first 9.7%. So I must be doing something wrong. I had my friend measure me and second time came out at 10.2%. I think I might try one of those scales or have a trainer at my gym measure me to get a more accurate measure because I am obviously doing something wrong...

I do take Opti-men multivitamins, is there other supplements I can take to better help the skin?

Thanks again!

P.S. I am working on the wife giving me a shea/cocoa butter rub down ;-)

[CertifiedMuscle]

Thanks for the info! I must be doing something wrong. I had my wife measure again using the 7-point method from the site above. I made sure she grabbed a lot! It was pretty uncomfortable and hurt sometimes and that site calculated at first 9.7%. So I must be doing something wrong. I had my friend measure me and second time came out at 10.2%. I think I might try one of those scales or have a trainer at my gym measure me to get a more accurate measure because I am obviously doing something wrong...

I do take Opti-men multivitamins, is there other supplements I can take to better help the skin?

Thanks again!

P.S. I am working on the wife giving me a shea/cocoa butter rub down ;-)

As long as you are getting more than the minimum for each vitamin & mineral (it should say the %DV on the bottle...Opti-Men is a great vitamin, that one and MegaMen Sport are my favorites) you should be good in that area. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with many other methods or approaches for helping skin elasticity (I've never really lost more than 10lbs in a given time period) but I know a lot of people who claim that cocoa/shea butter helps so I guess if that doesn't work you could as a dermatologist or something.

And good luck on the rub-down lol maybe she'll make a deal if you reciprocate

[kallhprotein]

I work a lot too. I find it so hard to make time to lift especially since I'm tired after work. I made it a goal to lift at least 4 days of the week despite me feeling dead after work, and it is working out so far. I just want it so bad that nothing is getting in the way. I eat light a few hours before to give me a spike of energy and drink a lot of liquids. For me it is working so far and I'm goin to keep making progress little by little. Try something that works for you to give you energy

[CLPeller]

I say go for it man!! I plan on going to my first comp ever 5 months from now. And I work a 15 on 6 off schedule. During my 15 I work stupid long hours and never know where I'm going to be so finding a gym is hard at times. But I'm still pumped to give it my best!!

[Nelly87]

As long as you are getting more than the minimum for each vitamin & mineral (it should say the %DV on the bottle...Opti-Men is a great vitamin, that one and MegaMen Sport are my favorites) you should be good in that area. Unfortunately I'm not very familiar with many other methods or approaches for helping skin elasticity (I've never really lost more than 10lbs in a given time period) but I know a lot of people who claim that cocoa/shea butter helps so I guess if that doesn't work you could as a dermatologist or something.

And good luck on the rub-down lol maybe she'll make a deal if you reciprocate

Sweet thanks man for all the info! And yes, the rub-down did work! So thanks for that as well !!

[Nelly87]

I work a lot too. I find it so hard to make time to lift especially since I'm tired after work. I made it a goal to lift at least 4 days of the week despite me feeling dead after work, and it is working out so far. I just want it so bad that nothing is getting in the way. I eat light a few hours before to give me a spike of energy and drink a lot of liquids. For me it is working so far and I'm goin to keep making progress little by little. Try something that works for you to give you energy

Yea, I know how you feel! I was way bad when I first started out. I was tired 24/7, sore I got un-motivated very quickly. That was when I luckily found this site and ever since it has been amazing!

[Nelly87]

I say go for it man!! I plan on going to my first comp ever 5 months from now. And I work a 15 on 6 off schedule. During my 15 I work stupid long hours and never know where I'm going to be so finding a gym is hard at times. But I'm still pumped to give it my best!!

Nice, what is your routine going to be? I used P90x and insanity mixture. I got the plan on my page if you have the tapes and wanna check it out. It helped a ton!