PRECONTEST DIETING
One of the most commonly asked questions I get asked is “How did I diet for a competition?” Many people are amazed that I competed in the Pro-Division and are curious at how a guy my size can hang with guys 15-20 pounds heavier than me and still win. Well there really isn’t a secret as to how I do it. It’s all a matter of dieting. Well not only dieting, there are many other factors that add to my success but I would have to say that diet is one of the biggest factors. It’s not easy to explain what I do, considering that much depends on my condition at any stages of the diet. However, I’ll try to shed some light on one of my precontest dieting modes.
Let me note that this precontest diet is not designed for just anybody who wants to compete. It relies tremendously on low-carb and high-protein intake, and less experienced bodybuilders may not be able to read some of the physical and emotional signs that the diet presents when it becomes severe. I do however believe that many athletes who wish to explore what works best for them can utilize some of the diet’s basics.
This is the preparation I used for my win at the NPC Nationals in 2006 in which I earned my IFBB Pro status.
Phase One: I break my precontest diet into three phases. The first, starting at 9 weeks out, lasts for one week. The goal is to prepare my metabolism for taking in at least six meals per day. In the off-season I usually eat four of five meals per day. For the first week, I’ll have a protein shake for my first meal at 8:00am. The second meal of the day comes four hours later, at 12:00 noon and it includes two chicken breasts and a half a cup of oatmeal. Each succeeding meal is eaten at intervals of three hours with my last meal landing at around 12:00 midnight.
If I don’t take in six meals a day phase, I don’t kill myself. I merely note it in a journal and then make sure to hit it strictly on the following day. I’m trying to entrain my system to expect regular provisions of fuel. When my system becomes accustomed to this process, it utilizes the food optimally, and when mealtime arrives, my body begs to be fed. Unlike many other bodybuilders, I don’t allow much latitude for variety in my food program. My food intake consists of chicken breasts, brown rice, oatmeal, yams, vegetables and salads with an occasional flank steak.
Phase Two: The goal of this period, which lasts about four weeks, is to start tightening up the diet some more. I’m trying to prepare my body for the final four-week push, and that means less cheating and a more rigorous approach to clean protein intake. From here on the 8am meal will consist of two chicken breasts and a half a cup of oatmeal. The 12:00 noon meal will now move to 11:00am and will consist of two more chicken breasts and a half a cup of brown rice. I’m nearly full blown into my dieting mode. With the third or fourth meal of the day, I’ll let my body and how I feel dictate – within reason – what I’ll eat. As much as possible, I’ll stick with the chicken breasts and half a cup of brown rice but if I feel I need to have a steak with yams instead, I wont stop myself. However, I’ll try to have these days before a major workout such as for legs.
Even though my program calls for two large chicken breasts with each meal, I have to admit that sometimes my appetite simply isn’t up for it. I have to choke down the chicken, and on occasion I won’t be able to finish the meal. I monitor my progress in my journal and note when I appear to get hungrier as the diet progresses based on how I chow down my meals, and when I feel I can handle it, I’ll slip in more chicken. This will go on for the entire phase, and by the time I reach the final four-week portion of the diet, I’m eating six meals a day right on target.
Phase Three: The goal of this period is to take in a minimum of 300 grams of protein per day, slowly cutting back on the carbs. I also begin checking myself in the mirror much more often and note in my journal my condition. I use my training partner as well to judge my appearance. His comments are honest as hell. Four weeks out, for example, he had the following comments about my condition in the diet journal: “Abs look good but back is still not showing X-mass tree. Legs not separated enough.” It’s great to have someone this honest to tell you how it is and not just blow smoke up your skirt. There’s no question that his comments and the way I look in the mirror will dictate how much action I’ll take. For example, if I think the progress is moving to slowly, I have two options: go low carbs or no carbs for a couple of days.
At the very start of this phase, for example, I will have a couple of low-carb days, which means a total of approximately 40 grams of carbohydrates per day. That’s barely enough to keep essential body function running at minimum. The only other food source is protein: one steak and 8 chicken breasts. Two days of this energizes the metabolism, and in order to prevent it from functioning as if it must endure a famine, I’ll increase carb intake on the third day to 110-120 grams. Then I’ll come back with two more low-carb days, followed by a high-carb day, immediately followed by a no-carb day, which will consist of 10 chicken breasts and 1 steak spread across six meals for more than 300 grams of protein.
Eating such tremendous amounts of protein without a substantial carb backup causes the system to drop water. Because the protein depletes water stores so dramatically, it’s crucial to increase water intake to superhuman levels. By the end of the first week of this final phase, I’ll be drinking two to three gallons of water a day! In addition to keeping the body well hydrated, which is crucial for continued intense workouts, the kidneys require the water to flush out the wastes and toxins that accumulate from such a high protein approach. At this point I carefully monitor my physique and notice my weight has dropped dramatically and will increase my chicken breasts to an additional two.
When I notice such dramatic drops in water weight, I know that it’s not safe to continue carb deprivation. This would only lead to the cannibalization of valuable muscle tissue to provide energy for my system. To slow down the process, I’ll go back to three or four high-carb days in a row. I’ll maintain protein intake at 10-12 chicken breasts and 1 steak, but I’ll also up the carb intake to about 80-100 grams. That’s equivalent to a half cup of oatmeal, one cup of brown rice and a small yam.
One of the keys to my diet is that I’ll make sure to take in most of those carbs during the first three meals of the day. I will eat my steak later in the evening allowing me to feel fuller longer. Essentially, I lower down my carb intake as the day progresses, which is said to allow for certain amount of endogenous growth-hormone release during the sleeping hours.
Five days out from a show, I alter the program a bit. My metabolism is screaming along, and I want to be able to control its progress as much as possible. I go into a suck-up mode five days out, eating again only protein: 12-14 chicken breasts and 1 steak. Three days out, I’ll load up on carbs, which means one cup of oatmeal and a few yams spread across the first three meals. Then I’ll decrease carb intake with each of the following days, while maintaining protein intake.
One day out, I get one cup of oatmeal for the first meal, and the rest of the day I rely on yams for my carb source. Also, I rely on one heaping teaspoon of salt-free natural peanut butter at remaining meal. A seventh meal will consist of two more teaspoons of peanut butter. Essentially, the point of the peanut butter is to maintain metabolic function without allowing any spillover of water into my tissues. By the way, from three days out I’ll cut my water intake. I’ll drink about one and a half gallons per day. Water in means water out, which means I will continue drying out.
Before prejudging on contest day, I’ll make sure to take in three meals each consisting of two chicken breast and two teaspoons of peanut butter.
I want to reiterate that this diet isn’t for everyone. Certainly, I’ve been hammering at this diet thing for a few years now. This is an extreme diet, not suited for most bodybuilders, considering the number of low-carb and no-carb days associated with it. I have found that this is one of the best diets that have worked for me and will continue to do so until I feel or look worse off.
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09-12-2012, 11:03 PM #121
Precontest Dieting
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09-13-2012, 05:54 AM #122
Stan i cannot find a direct answers for carbs on postworkout. One IFBB pro told me to down bagels, another told me they really dont matter and another told me to drink gatorade around 20 mins after? Can you clarify this? or give the most best answer for the most optimal results. thanks
..:::MSU MISC:::..
mod negged victim.
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09-13-2012, 08:00 AM #123
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09-13-2012, 09:33 AM #124
- Join Date: Sep 2006
- Location: Garden Grove, California, United States
- Age: 60
- Posts: 4
- Rep Power: 0
Amazing!
First off, I want to thank you and say that I think it's amazing that you take time out of your busy life to respond to these posts. I have been a fan for several years, following you in various magazines. Being a shorter guy myself, I find you a great inspiration for building a great physique.
In a previous post, you mentioned switching up routines every 4 weeks, which is one my sticking points. I'll vary exercises,weights and reps but when I'm on certain split, need to determine best way to switch it up more. In general for a male who is late 40's, what type of routine would you recommend for maintaining muscle mass while getting leaner?
Also, would you find a test booster beneficial?
Thank you,
Bob
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09-13-2012, 03:43 PM #125
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09-14-2012, 11:50 AM #126
- Join Date: Jan 2010
- Location: uk, uk, United Kingdom (Great Britain)
- Age: 42
- Posts: 884
- Rep Power: 297
Greetings from Ireland Mr McQuay,
wonder could i get your help please regarding training legs mainly the quads here?not my strong point but really trying to bring them up .Should i really focus and just train quads in the morning and hit them with a bit of vol and high reps and then leave hamstrings& calves for the evening?say for example squats ,leg presses and hacksquats all in the same routine as well as extensions and maybe some other quad movement.Could i get your opinion on this mr McQuay would really appreciate , be nice to get my legs up with the rest of my body .Cheers Russ
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09-17-2012, 01:57 PM #127
- Join Date: Jun 2009
- Location: Virginia, United States
- Posts: 2,026
- Rep Power: 47548
Hi Stan,
I just wanted to drop by and welcome you to the forum, better late than never! I was going through videos on youtube, and found this one of you from your Musclemania days. Even though I was already familiar with your story, it was still pretty cool watching you tell it in a documentary. It's amazing and inspiring to see how far you've come! I'm glad that you're here, and looking forward to more insightful responses like the one above (post #122). Thanks!
BTW, that's one heck of a reception all those students gave you at that guest appearance. The way those high school girls were screaming in adoration, I would have thought you were one of the Beatles. LOL!
Lifetime natural bodybuilder, and certified nutritionist.
youtube.com/watch?v=bCHbsUEiyjU
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09-17-2012, 02:05 PM #128
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09-17-2012, 03:28 PM #129
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09-17-2012, 11:01 PM #130
I can tell you one thing, bagels sounds absolutely rediculous, but I couldn't actually rule it out since I don't know the whole story as to why this "pro" uses them. Could be alot of different factors that some into play since EVERY PERSON's BODY IS DIFFERENT. And as for "really dont matter", well that answer sounds like it is coming from a person who is clueless!
As I said, alot of factors come into play when it comes to post workout carbs: how is the rest of your daily diet, what supplements you are taking, how is your condition, are you using anabolics, are you using insulin, etc, etc..... But in general, for my clients I use some sort of fast acting, low glycemic carb...... something along the lines of "Karbolyn" or a "waxy maze type" of carb. Infinite Labs makes a great post workout drink that has postworkout carbs in it. The product is called MASS PORT. I have been testing it out and have been getting good results from this product! You really couldn't go wrong with using a high glycemic carb neither such as "Gatorade", but this would be used with my clients who are bodybuilders or endurance athletes, not so much for a person trying to drop weight.
What works for me is a variety of postworkout carbs that I will use at various times in my training: Karbolyn, waxy maze, gatorade, white rice, white potato....... just to name a few carbs I use after my workouts.
In a nut shell, I hope this helps?
Stan
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09-17-2012, 11:07 PM #131
Thanks Bob!
In general, I like to use high volume (12-15 rep range), high intensity (heavy weight), fast pace (very little rest) on all of my exercises while I am on my HIGH VOLUME month pattern. I find that high volume sets with heavy weight still hits the Central Nervous System, while providing more blood and nutrients to the muscle therfor giving more volume and a more harder appearance to the muscle. Plus, high volume when performed with great form will lead to less injuries.
Test booster for sure if you are over 40. Try Infinite Labs new Testosterone booster line!!!
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09-17-2012, 11:09 PM #132
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09-17-2012, 11:13 PM #133
As I have mentioned before, there really is no right or wrong way to train. But you should really listen to your body to determine if you arent training correctly! Training two a days is tough and works well! For me, I like to train weights once a day and concentrate more on my eating rest of the day! I will however train legs twice a week!
Day 1 focus on quad, glutes, minor ham work
Day 2 focus on hams, glutes and maybe one quad high volume movement.
Key is to keep switching routines, patterns, cadence, rest periods, etc..... be creative, but lift smart!!!
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09-17-2012, 11:17 PM #134
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09-17-2012, 11:21 PM #135
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09-17-2012, 11:21 PM #136
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09-24-2012, 01:24 PM #137
hi
Hi Stan, I was wondering what your arms chest measures .... I'm his fan and I think that is one of the best bodybuilders of all time, is large but definite, strong and aesthetic, like a Greek sculpture that has taken life. I hope to meet him someday
a big hello from mexicoLast edited by hocho; 09-24-2012 at 01:33 PM.
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09-24-2012, 02:47 PM #138
- Join Date: Dec 2009
- Location: New York, United States
- Posts: 15,687
- Rep Power: 42997
Yeah man! I'm looking into working with Young Life and eventually get some certs. to do after school powerlifting / bodybuilding. After hearing so many stories from bbers about how it got them out of the "stuff" I think it's a great alternative sport that can really teach ...
Journal: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=175642411
IG: parsonagegym
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09-24-2012, 03:45 PM #139
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09-24-2012, 07:29 PM #140
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09-24-2012, 11:04 PM #141
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09-24-2012, 11:08 PM #142
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09-24-2012, 11:11 PM #143
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09-25-2012, 12:28 AM #144
Abdonminal Workout
One of the most common questions I get asked is "what do you do for your abs?". Before I get into what i do for my abs, let me first note that if it wasn't for my clean eating and my eating smart, I wouldn't be able to show you what I do for my abs because you wouldn't be able to see them underneath the layer of would be fat! But since I do care about what I put into my body, thankfully my abs do show. So here I will share with you part of one of my older ab articles I wrote for Muscle & Fitness Magazine.
THE ROUTINE
Exercise Sets Reps
Hanging Leg Raise 4 20
Decline Crunch 4 20
Decline Weighted Twist (each side) 4 20
Cross-Body Crunch (each side) 8 20
THE EXERCISES
HANGING LEG RAISE
Targets: Lower abs
Start: Hang from a high bar with your arms fully extended, using a wide, pronated (overhand) grip. Keep your head straight and eyes focused forward. Your legs should hang directly below you. Keep your lower back slightly arched throughout the exercise.
Execution: Without swinging, contract your abs to raise your legs out in front of you until they're roughly parallel to the floor. Pause momentarily, then slowly lower back down to the starting position and repeat.
Stan's Tip: "I keep my knees and hips bent just slightly at the start, which helps take the pressure off my low back." Advanced Technique: To add intensity, hold a dumbbell or medicine ball between your feet and perform reps. When that becomes too difficult, drop the weight and continue repping out using just your bodyweight.
DECLINE CRUNCH
Targets: Upper abs
Start: Lie faceup on the decline bench with your feet securely under the rollers. Your knees should be bent roughly 90 degrees. Place your hands lightly behind your head.
Execution: Contract your abs and slowly raise your upper body off the bench. Squeeze your abs at the top, and then slowly lower back down to the starting position.
Stan's Tip: "I don't come all the way up to where my upper body is perpendicular to the floor; rather, I pause at about a 45-degree angle to the bench, where I really feel my abs burning."
Advanced Technique: For a boost in intensity without adding weight, make the angle of the bench steeper. Between sets, sit or stand up so blood doesn't pool in your head and cause dizziness.
DECLINE WEIGHTED TWIST
Targets: Upper abs, obliques
Start: Sit faceup on a decline bench with your feet securely under the rollers. Have a partner hand you a weight plate, dumbbell or medicine ball.
Execution: Holding the weight close to your chest, lean back until your upper body is at roughly a 45-degree angle to the bench. Gently twist your torso to one side, pausing and squeezing briefly before twisting to the other side.
Stan's Tip: "It doesn't take a lot of weight to make this exercise work. Start light and work your way up. For anything heavier than 25 pounds, I suggest using a dumbbell - it's easier to control during the twist than a large weight plate." Advanced Technique: With the weight in both hands, extend your arms straight out in front of you and slowly twist from side to side. This transforms the exercise into the more difficult Russian twist.
CROSS-BODY CRUNCH
Targets: Upper abs, obliques
Start: Lie faceup on the floor or a flat bench and bend your knees. Place one hand lightly behind your head and put the other hand down at your side. Cross one leg over the other.
Execution: Without pulling on your head and neck, contract your abs to raise your torso as you turn your shoulders to point your raised elbow toward the opposite raised knee. Pause and squeeze at the top, then slowly return to the start and repeat for reps. When you complete all reps to one knee, repeat on the other side.
Stan's Tip: "I like to do these on a bench to keep me from being sloppy and using bad form; this way, I stay slow and controlled without wasted movement. I don't want to end up on the floor!"
Advanced Technique: Lie faceup in front of a cable station, head near the stack. Grasp a stirrup handle attached to the low cable behind your head, performing all reps to one knee before switching sides.
STAN AND DELIVER
By Stan McQuay
1 I hit my abs often, and I hit them hard! If possible, I start my day with an ab workout. I even like to get to the gym early in the morning, allowing me to knock them out before my clients arrive.
2 I train my major bodyparts at night, and if I didn't hit abs in the morning, I do them at the end of my workout. I suggest you never train abs right before other bodyparts such as back or legs - you need your abs and core to be fresh since you use them for stability during your lifts, especially bent-over moves, squats and deadlifts.
3 I vary my ab workout on a daily basis, although the hanging leg raise always comes first in my routine. I hit my lower abs right away. Since I feel they're much weaker than my upper abs, I give them the attention first.
4 While I typically use just my bodyweight for most of my ab exercises, I think it's important to do weighted moves to help bring them up and get them harder. Especially in my off-season, I add a weighted element to every exercise throughout the week.
5 No matter how many ab exercises you do, you'll never see the fruits of your labor without proper nutrition. In fact, if you're hitting your abs hard and you don't watch what you eat, you run the risk of actually making your waist look bigger, even though you've developed a great set of abs underneath the fat.
6 When I want to really shed the fat and uncover my six-pack, I do plenty of cardio. I prefer using the treadmill or StepMill first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. I do anywhere from 45-60 minutes a day. I especially like the StepMill because it helps me keep size on my legs as I diet and lean out.
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09-25-2012, 01:54 PM #145
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09-25-2012, 06:07 PM #146
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09-26-2012, 11:59 PM #147
Depending on what stage I am in with my training, my training split will change.
But generally, when I am prepping for a competition I will incorporate two leg workouts a week.
First leg day is Quad/glute with one ham exercise. So 16 sets for quads, 4 sets for hams.
Second leg day is Hams/gluit with maybe on quad exercise. So same, 16 sets for hams, 4 sets for quads.
Hope this better explains in more detail?
Stan
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09-27-2012, 01:21 PM #148
What is your predictions at the o stan? (politics aside)
wish i could make it to the 0 and meet yah at the booth...
youre one of my inspirations.PROSUPPS BOARD REP
RESULTS PERIOD!!!
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09-29-2012, 06:03 PM #149
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10-04-2012, 09:16 PM #150
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