Men's Physique

[MSus1992]

Hey all.

I am a National Assoc. of Sports Medicine (NASM), Cert. Personal Trainer. I am looking to compete this Summer in Men's Physique.

As a NASM-CPT I know what I need to do via workouts and the gym, and I have a basic understanding of Macros, BMR/RMR, and Caloric Intake (As I have had 2 college level nutrition courses, and have had to mess around with different macro/caloric intakes to bulk and keep weight on).

My issue is, do I need to cycle carbs, while trying to bulk? How should I cycle my diet? I have cleaned bulked from 145 lbs to a current 180 lbs, while only having BF% go from 4% to currently 9.2%. Do I need to keep clean bulking or what? And any other tips?

Current Stats:

Height: 6 ft 1.5 inches
Weight: 182
BF%: 9.2

I have not had a chance to measure my actual muscle groups, but will be doing that this week.

Diet:

Cals: 4,800-5,100 day (Some days I unfortunately miss a meal, due to classes)

PROTEIN: 280-300 G
CARB: 650 G
FAT: 120G

Supplements:

BSN:

Syntha-6 ISOLATE
CellMass
AminoX (Take with CellMass DURING WORKOUT)
NO-Xplode 2.0

Optimum Nutrition:

Omega-3 (2x Daily)
Glutamine Caps 1000 mg (1 AM, 1 30 mins pre-workout, 1 Post)
HydroWhey & Casein (Post Workout Shake, with Universal Carbo Plus)

As for my workouts:

Day 1: Abs ONLY
Day 2: Back/Bis
Day 3: Active Rest (Core, Flexibility & Cardio)
Day 4: Chest/Tris
Day 5: Legs/Shoulder (It works, gained 2" on both parts in 8 weeks, I'm not changing this split, cuz it works for me)
Day 6: Active Rest (Core, Flexibility & Cardio)
Day 7: Lagging Body Parts

I do swim on one of those Active Rest days.

Hopefully someone can answer my ??'s and perhaps give me some guidance. And hopefully this is everything someone will need to answer!

Thanks for the responses,

Markus

[Kratistos]

damn I wish I could eat that much. read the contest prep stickies, should answer your questions.

[splerf]

I cant say that I know for certain what you NEED to do. But it has been my experience to carb cycle when preping for a contest, and to keep the bf% down. I am currently preping for my first MP contest in Spring of 2013. My nutritionist and trainer (who has coached some great guys) has be carb cycling with 1 high carb day, 4 med carb days, and 2 low carb days.
I hope this can help you out!