Many people inquired regarding my training, diet and supplementation plan leading up to my next bodybuilding show on April 11th, 2015. In this journal, you will be able to witness the final 4 weeks before competing. I will update as much as I can with status, pictures and videos but make sure to follow me on Instagram (@mpatry88) for more content. I will also try to be as descriptive as possible in my posts but feel free to AMA (Ask Me Anything) whenever you feel like details are missing or a specific subject interests you. It is time-consuming but it’s a good way to keep track on everything and I’d love to help you out reach your goals. That’s why I’m doing this.
Competition
I am competing in a local federation under the CBBF (Canadian Bodybuilding Federation), the only Canadian organization that qualifies competitors for competition at the three annual IFBB World Championships. Fair enough, I’m far from that level but this lifestyle is a passion so who knows where it will get me in a few years. I am not stressing with weight this year. I will compete at whatever weight I feel confident and ready that day but it will be really tight between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight. We will see on D-day.
Diet
I’ve been doing a hybrid keto/carb cycling diet for all my preparation. I’d start with one low carb (LC) day, followed by a high carb (HC) day. As week would go by, I’d switch to 2/1 to finally end up with 3/1. These are the days were on the third consecutive LC day, I need to take some time off the gym. I won’t go into details as far as my meal plan goes (each and every meal), unless asked but the diet consists of 6 solid meals and a protein shake (post-workout). At the 6 and 5 weeks out mark, macros were roughly 125g carbs, 75g fat and 260g protein. Total calories are ± 2,215 per day.
Every week or so, I’d get the green light for a clean cheat meal. I hate that word though. I’d rather call them refeed meals (I will go into more details on this later during that journal) as there is nothing sloppy in those and everything is measured out to keep track. It is a great way to replenish glycogen levels and get a fuller look. What they are is mostly sushis, rice and oats to carb up and keep the body on a fat burning zone.
Today marks 4 weeks out. I’m on a high carb day and will end up the day with a refeed meal. I will enjoy it because it will be followed by a deplete week where absolutely no carbs will be consumed, other than vegetables.
Supplements (Health & Sports)
ALA
Ashwagandha
Calcium D-Glucarate
Chromium
Curcuma
Magnesium
Multivitamin
Omega-3 Fish Oil
Probiotics
Vitamin C
Vitamin D3
Zinc
AE APE
AE CreatineRT
AE IntrAbolic
AE LIV
AE PreSurge
Whey Protein Isolate
I will drop some of these as days/weeks go by.
Training
I just adopted a 3 days on, 1 day off training split to make sure I recover enough in between sessions. I try to stick with it as much as possible but I will manipulate the days if I’m at a second or third low carb day or if I’m having a high carb day or clean refeed. I’m a high volume kind of guy and like to train. In the offseason, I’m no stranger to two-a-days and/or training 7 times a week . It’s a bit harder for me to let go and take more days off but it will be beneficial, especially right now on such low calories.
Cardio
Currently doing 20 minutes of fasted LISS cardio on the stationary bike every low carb morning. On "high carb" days (let me put the emphasis on the quotation marks here), I will add another 10 minutes. Let’s just say I could eat a house after I get off the machine. Post-workout, I will add another 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical or stair climber immediately followed by 10 minutes on the treadmill. Fast paced walk on maximum incline.
Update: March 14th, 2015 (28 days out)
Met up with my coach last night to know what's the plan for the upcoming days. He had the Baseline caliper out but ended up mid-way because it was totally useless at this point. I did not train that day, it was late (9:30pm) and I was depleted from a 3rd consecutive day on low carb. We know I'm progressing just with the pictures and videos I'm sending him so we are right on schedule and I will be shredded comes D-day.
Here's a morning shot right when I woke up, before I did my fasted cardio. Still overing over the 200 Lbs. mark. As you can see, dry but really flat. Today's carb up should do some serious positive damage to my frame and training session. I'm doing quads, hams and calves today.
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Thread: The Final Weeks
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03-14-2015, 08:35 AM #1
The Final Weeks
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03-14-2015, 09:54 AM #2
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03-14-2015, 11:56 AM #3
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03-14-2015, 12:19 PM #4
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03-14-2015, 12:27 PM #5
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03-14-2015, 02:12 PM #6
Thank you Steve! My package will strongly improve in the next couple of weeks, mark my words.
You're right Bob, 4 weeks is a lot. The Final Weeks is where the magic happens.
I have a coach who's a good friend of mine. He takes care of me for nutrition, supplementation and contest preparation. Been with him since the beginning and I don't see any reason to change.
Another friend of mine has won several "Best Poser" awards in local shows and has shown me the ropes during my first contest prep back in 2013. He's been keeping an eye on me for this one as well. My girlfriend's coach is an athlete and judge of the federation. I've been through mandatories and posing routine with him as well. I'm backed with a solid team.
Oh and you know it's my 2nd show.
Any plans on competing ever again, Dan?
Thanks for tagging along.
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03-14-2015, 03:11 PM #7
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03-15-2015, 04:15 AM #8
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03-15-2015, 05:21 AM #9
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03-15-2015, 02:34 PM #10
Update: March 15th, 2015 (27 days out)
Woke up this morning rounder and tighter in the core area. Doubled all my HC day carbohydrates portions (1/2 cup oats = 1 cup oats, 1 cup rice = 2 cups rice, 100g sweet potatoes = 200g sweet potatoes) and finished the night off with a solid refeed and just a single pound gain on the scale. This just goes to show how much my body needed those carbs. It pretty much used everything I fed him and didn't left anything behind. That's what I call a successful refeed. In case you don't know what a refeed is, it's a specific meal or serie of meals that take advantage of a supercompensation effect. Metabolism and training performance elevates from the calorie boost and glycogen is finally replenished.
I received the plan for the upcoming week, which will be 7 days of deplete starting today. The goal is to deplete my body of glycogen stores by gradually eliminating all carbs from my diet (except for green vegetables). This encourages significant fat burning. I will look soft and skinny so I will avoid pictures, mirrors and will most likely spend the week in long-sleeve shirts or hoodie. This is just a mental thing but I hate seeing me that way. Body dismorphia at its best.
Diet
Macros for this week are broken down into the following: 45% protein, 15% carbs and 40% fat for a total of 2,420 calories/day.
Protein: Chicken breasts, ground horse meat and cod.
Carbs: Vegetables only which means spinach and broccoli. Might mess with some asparagus but they aren't as filling and pretty expensive.
Fat: Coconut oil.
Still keeping the mustard, Red Hot and Valentina sauces but ditched Sriracha because it has calories.
Supplements
- Added 5-HTP dosed 3 times a day (3x100g) for improved mood purposes;
- Removed WPI post-workout shake;
- Dropping AE CreatineRT from here on out to avoid any water retention;
- Cycling off AE LIV this week to avoid any unnecessary stress (from high caffeine doses) on my body during deplete week. I'll add it back next week for sure.
Training
Warmed up with some core work, followed by delts and traps this afternoon. Pump was good from yesterday's carb up and energy was pretty high. Gotta take advantage and crush it while I still can.
Cardio
We will probably remove cardio in about two weeks.
- From now on, absolutely no cardio will be performed on off days;
- Fasted cardio is 10 minutes of LISS on the stationary bike;
- Post-workout cardio is 20 minutes of HIIT on the elliptical machine.
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03-15-2015, 07:43 PM #11
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03-15-2015, 09:54 PM #12
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03-16-2015, 05:36 AM #13
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03-16-2015, 07:15 AM #14
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03-16-2015, 09:34 AM #15
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03-16-2015, 10:03 AM #16
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03-16-2015, 10:03 AM #17
- Join Date: Feb 2007
- Location: the best h20, comes from, Fiji
- Posts: 45,761
- Rep Power: 486577
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03-16-2015, 06:21 PM #18
Update: March 16th, 2015 (26 days out)
Posting from my iPhone so this will be a brief update. Not much going on today. Day flew by at work and trained right after I clocked out of the office. Also went tanning (started last week at 3x a week) to get a quick base before spray tan. Look should improve slightly just because of my darker skin color.
Diet
I'm not hungry, which is awesome. Going through so many cups of broccoli I had to hit Wally World and get some more. Energy is pretty low already only after two days on really low carbs.
Training
Abs, glutes, hamstrings and calves for 2/3 of my training. Other third was some biceps work.
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03-17-2015, 10:06 AM #19
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03-17-2015, 11:50 AM #20
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03-17-2015, 04:56 PM #21
Update: March 17th, 2015 (25 days out)
Third deplete day down the book. Tomorrow is an off day so no fasted cardio, no training, no post-workout cardio, no nothing! I'll just enjoy myself after work and relax. I'll update tomorrow night, for sure.
Diet
Are you aware of juicing benefits? Every morning, when I wake up, I drink warm lemon water right before my fasted cardio. That's how I down my ALA and probiotics. D-limonene in lemon juice acts as a liver tonic and assists in digestion by clearing the detoxification pathways. The best way to use lemon juice appears to be in the mornings, when our bodies are in a natural cleansing phase. 1/2 fresh lemon juice in a cup of hot water.
As you can see, I like to plan ahead and prepare a few days worth at the same time.
Training
Back and a little bit of shoulders action. Realized energy was pretty low today, even at 300mg of caffeine consumed pre-workout. I think I might drop it because it's pretty useless at this point and might cause more harm than good on my cortisol levels.
Most likely not getting the official video because competing is already expensive as it is but I'll purchase official pictures and good shots should be available throughout the day on Muscle Insider. I'll probably film myself in a posing room sooner or later, that's how I like to memorize my routine. I could still transfer from my phone to YouTube if you guys want.
Most meals are 200g chicken with two cups of veggies. Some have a little less meat (breakfast), some have a little more (post-workout). I'll also have fats in 3 of my meals (breakfast, lunch and pre-workout).
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03-17-2015, 06:25 PM #22
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03-18-2015, 04:43 PM #23
Update: March 18th, 2015 (24 days out)
As I mentioned yesterday, today is a day off. Went tanning right after work and did a little bit of posing before shower. It's all about the little things.
Diet
Since I got home early tonight, I prepared more meals and cooked bulk food (chicken) for the next couple of days. I'll try to get my last meal around 9 pm so I can go to bed early and get a good night of sleep. Hopefully I wake up tomorrow refreshed and ready to hit my two last training sessions of the deplete week.
Training
Off.
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03-19-2015, 05:45 PM #24
Update: March 19th, 2015 (23 days out)
Took these potato pics right after I woke up this morning. Not sure what's wrong with my iPhone or simply bad lighting but I'll definitely try to get better shots in the next couple of days. Really flat and depleted but that's temporary. To be quite honest, I just want this deplete week to be over already. Tomorrow is the last training session of this hell week and I'm training with my old partner so that's a good thing.
Cardio
20 minutes of intervals flew by.
Training
Abs, triceps and biceps. Couldn't get a pump if my life depended on it. No caffeine so I'm proud of myself but intensity was at an all time low, even with some hardstyle music in my ears. Things will get better soon, I just have to be positive and stay focused on my ultimate goal.
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03-20-2015, 10:13 AM #25
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03-20-2015, 10:19 AM #26
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03-20-2015, 12:01 PM #27
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03-20-2015, 06:14 PM #28
Update: March 20th, 2015 (22 days out)
Closing in on day 6 of the deplete. Worst day so far, even for a Friday where I should be excited for the weekend. No energy throughout the day, forgot a few things as well. Typical low carb behavior, I know. Tomorrow will be an off day and I'll enjoy some quality time with my girl and family. Should have a great time!
Cardio
20 minutes of intervals. Gave everything I got for the final day.
Training
Abs and chest. Training started with some flat bench. This is where I normally keep my reps low and weight heavy. Today was different as my numbers really sucked after warming up and doing 2 working sets. Decided to wear my Slingshot a little early and go for reps (10-15). The deeper I got into my training, I finally have something you could call a pump. It's like, you know your muscles are filled with blood but it's simply isn't as hard as it should because of the glycogen depletion. Really hate that feeling, to be quite honest.
You wish I'd pose to your favorite jam.
Hey, thanks for stopping by.
Thanks Bob, I needed this, for real. Things will get better.
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03-21-2015, 09:28 AM #29
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03-21-2015, 03:18 PM #30
Update: March 21th, 2015 (21 days out)
Final deplete day, at last. Woke up early this morning since I had to get stuff done. Got some meat (4 pounds of horse and about 5 or so of cod) and then I went tanning. Fast forward 9:30 I was on the road to downtown Montreal to get the posing trunks I ordered (pre-judging on the left, finals on the right).
Ordered a size bigger and they fit perfect. This is positive for me because I really worked my ass off (no pun intended) to get bigger glutes this year. Something I didn't have at my last show. Rookie mistake, I know.
Did a little bit of shopping afterwards (changing room lighting was perfect, veins all over and real dry look) and that's it. I'm home right now, cooking a bit for tomorrow and the upcoming week. I still have two meals left so I'm going to enjoy a movie (Taken 3) and call it a night.
Diet
Had my third meal of the day with my family and girlfriend at a local rotisserie. Brought my scale, weighted my chicken and went hard on the salad buffet (think I went over the 2 cups of greens allowed). Felt good to enjoy a nice clean meal with the ones I love and feeling full afterwards.
Training
Off.
Yes, I don't want to hold unnecessary water. Although IntrAbolic (BCAAs & electrolytes) is keeping me sane right now, it will also be dropped soon because of the artificial sweeteners. Still going to keep them for one more week I think, then it's robot mode till the end.
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