12 weeks (about) from second show in life - weekly stat updates

[sfalexi]

So in Jan 2012 I didn't like how I looked. I've always been in shape in my life and I let myself go for about a year, year and a half so I made a new years resolution to work out again, and this time try really hard NOT to stop! I did a BB competition on base (I'm in the Army) and took third in the middleweight category!.....out of 4!!!! lol. Wasn't happy, so I been working out since and experimenting with different workouts and diets. Time to chronicle my journey to this years base competition. Figure knowing I have to make a weekly update somewhere will give me that little bit of extra reason to stay on track!!!

So I'll be making weekly updates, with pictures (Possibly posing ones if that's better for whoever might check in), and will post my workouts for that week. I have an app that will export my workouts for the week into an email so it's an easy copy/pasted and tidy up for me.

So this Tuesday, is the "start" and on Sunday will be the firstweek's update with the workouts for that week (monday through friday).

Here's the stats -

height - 5'4"
Weight - 167
BF - ? I just know I'm not at competition level yet.

Weightlifting routine. weights, bodyparts hit once a week. 3 on, 1 off, 2 on, 1 off. 4 cardio days (on weightlifting days), right now 2 are HIIT and 2 are LISS. From another thread, I might lower LISS to 1/2 hour instead of one hour so I have something to add should I hit a plateau. Diet is about 7 meals a day (including shakes as "meal") spaced out. low-moderate carbs most days, heavy carbs leg day, low carbs on the days off. About 2500 calories on moderate days, little more on legs, little less on off days.

Pics of the start. DISCLAIMER - Just finished dinner with a nice bowl of icecream and a beer. Last time for THAT much icecream, but I might have icecream on my leg days (LOVE a nice bowl of icecream with a beer....)

Alexi

[sfalexi]

11 Weeks to show. Sunday morning pictures and weight were taken a few hours after a protein shake. Here's the week's workout. Format is Exercise, time of day, weight, reps, and any notes I made. If I put -,- that means two "negatives" after that set.

WEIGHT: 166

Gym Buddy Set Report on Apr 7, 2013

All Workouts and All Exercises
Between Apr 1, 2013 and Apr 7, 2013


4/1/13 DB Press in Day 4
11:28:51 105 x 11
11:30:43 105 x 8
11:33:16 95 x 7

4/1/13 DB Incline Press in Day 4
11:35:37 70 x 12
11:37:35 70 x 9
11:39:51 65 x 10

4/1/13 DB Flys in Day 4
11:42:03 55 x 12
11:43:51 55 x 11
11:46:40 55 x 10

4/1/13 Upright Decline Press in Day 4
11:48:39 130 x 11
11:50:02 120 x 9
11:51:24 120 x 8

4/1/13 Bench Press in Day 4
11:54:31 135 x 12
11:56:13 135 x 10
11:58:43 135 x 8

4/1/13 Pushups in Day 4
12:00:14 120 x 28
12:02:28 120 x 13 -,-

4/1/13 Oblique Crunches in Day 4
12:06:06 35 x 15
12:09:42 35 x 15

4/1/13 Treadmill in Day 4
17:47:49 Distance: 4 Duration: 60:00 Pace: 15:00

4/2/13 Pullups in Day 5
11:34:47 0 x 20
11:36:19 0 x 8
11:37:32 0 x 5

4/2/13 Pulldowns in Day 5
11:39:31 13 x 9 (not sure how much the plates weigh....)
11:40:59 13 x 8
11:42:32 12 x 8

4/2/13 Iso Lat Pulldowns in Day 5
11:44:19 185 x 9 Nitro machine
11:45:53 170 x 8
11:47:36 170 x 8

4/2/13 DB Pullover in Day 5
11:50:07 75 x 12 80 next time
11:52:30 75 x 12
11:54:23 75 x 10

4/2/13 DB Row in Day 5
11:56:55 85 x 12 Start right first
11:59:10 85 x 10
12:01:16 85 x 8

4/2/13 Seated Cable Row in Day 5
12:04:25 4.1 x 12
12:06:15 4.1 x 10
12:08:12 4.1 x 9 -,-

4/2/13 Crunches in Day 5
12:13:52 70 x 3 20s

4/2/13 Flutter Kicks in Day 5
12:17:26 50 x 1

4/2/13 Rower in Day 5
18:13:06 Distance: 6702 Duration: :30 Calories: 0 Avg HR: 0

4/4/13 Leg Curl in Day 6
17:42:28 6.2 x 12
17:44:04 6.2 x 8
17:46:01 5.3 x 11

4/4/13 Leg Extension in Day 6
17:48:30 200 x 12
17:50:11 200 x 11
17:51:46 185 x 10

4/4/13 Squat in Day 6
17:56:31 270 x 12
17:58:35 270 x 10
18:02:01 270 x 9

4/4/13 Leg Press in Day 6
18:03:02 340 x 12 360 next time
18:04:55 340 x 11
18:06:29 340 x 10

4/4/13 Seated Calf Raises in Day 6
18:09:20 70 x 10
18:10:35 70 x 11
18:15:02 70 x 9

4/4/13 Calf Raise in Day 6
18:15:09 270 x 10
18:16:36 270 x 8
18:19:24 250 x 10

4/4/13 Incline Weighted Situps in Day 6
18:29:07 25 x 70
18:29:10 25 x 20
18:29:12 25 x 10

4/5/13 DB Curls in Day 1
12:56:10 55 x 10
12:58:16 55 x 8
13:00:17 50 x 9

4/5/13 Concentration Curls in Day 1
13:03:04 35 x 12
13:05:06 35 x 9
13:07:14 30 x 8

4/5/13 Barbell Curls in Day 1
13:09:23 70 x 11
13:11:05 70 x 9
13:12:43 60 x 9

4/5/13 Chinups in Day 1
13:15:01 0 x 11
13:16:31 0 x 8
13:17:57 0 x 6

4/5/13 Pushdowns in Day 1
13:19:56 82.5 x 12 87,5 next time
13:21:51 82.5 x 12
13:23:39 82.5 x 8

4/5/13 Single Arm Pushdowns in Day 1
13:25:52 22.5 x 11
13:27:58 22.5 x 10
13:29:55 22.5 x 9

4/5/13 Skull Crushers in Day 1
13:32:11 70 x 12
13:33:53 70 x 10
13:37:11 70 x 9

4/5/13 Diamond Pushups in Day 1
13:38:05 0 x 30
13:39:17 0 x 17 -,-

4/5/13 Treadmill in Day 1
18:20:21 Distance: 4 Duration: 60:00 Pace: 15:00


4/6/13 Running in None
20:34:36 Duration: 37:00 Distance: 3.2 Pace: 11:00

4/7/13 Overhead Press in Day 2
15:33:14 75 x 12
15:36:10 75 x 9
15:38:12 70 x 9

4/7/13 Front Raises in Day 2
15:39:39 35 x 10
15:41:15 35 x 11
15:43:09 35 x 9

4/7/13 Lateral Raises in Day 2
15:44:42 25 x 11
15:46:55 25 x 9
15:48:34 20 x 10

4/7/13 Bent Over Lat Raise in Day 2
15:50:49 25 x 12 30 next time
15:52:26 25 x 12
15:56:30 25 x 11

4/7/13 Shrugs in Day 2
15:56:39 105 x 12 Grip is tough
15:57:45 105 x 10
15:59:10 105 x 10

4/7/13 Chair Leg Lifts in Day 2
16:06:13 0 x 15
16:06:14 0 x 15
16:06:16 0 x 12

And a few pics. I went for some poses, but will practice them. Also, my legs are SHOT! so the definition might be lacking cause they are so damned sore. Next week hopefully will be a little better.

[sfalexi]

10 Weeks left. Looked great on Friday, then I did a boating competition on base with recyclable materials. Our boat didn't sink....but it didn't float. And the sun was brutal, forgot suntan lotion, and I've got a RIDICULOUS looking sunburn. So I'll wait till next week to post so it looks less red and less laughable. But I'll post pics from Friday.

Diet was pretty good all week. Not great, but pretty good. I cheated with dominos, but it was thin crust veggie. Also got some chinese, but got some sushi, brown rice, steamed veggie roll, and overall not bad.

Here's the sets. Still going up in strength, but for some reason weight is still about the same.....can't figure that one out as I upped cardio a bit and diet has been about the same.

Weight - 167

Gym Buddy Set Report on Apr 14, 2013

All Workouts and All Exercises
Between Apr 8, 2013 and Apr 14, 2013


4/8/13 DB Press in Day 4
11:48:20 105 x 12
11:50:00 105 x 7
11:51:51 95 x 7

4/8/13 DB Incline Press in Day 4
11:54:13 70 x 12
11:55:46 70 x 8
11:57:40 65 x 9

4/8/13 DB Flys in Day 4
11:59:22 55 x 12
12:00:51 55 x 10
12:04:11 55 x 10

4/8/13 Dips in Day 4
12:06:20 45 x 12 (45 pound plate hanging from chain)
12:08:49 45 x 7
12:08:52 0 x 9

4/8/13 Bench Press in Day 4
12:10:34 135 x 12
12:12:27 135 x 10
12:15:59 135 x 8

4/8/13 Pushups in Day 4
12:16:02 25
12:17:50 13 -,-

4/8/13 Oblique Crunches in Day 4
12:20:45 35 x 15 (holding a 35lb dumbbell while doing oblique extensions)
12:24:41 35 x 15

4/8/13 Treadmill in Day 4
17:43:28 Distance: 3.9 Duration: 60:00 Pace: 15:34

4/9/13 Pullups in Day 5
11:38:05 45 x 8
11:39:31 35 x 7
11:40:48 0 x 8

4/9/13 Pulldowns in Day 5
11:42:44 13 x 10
11:44:22 13 x 8
11:45:56 12 x 10

4/9/13 Iso Lat Pulldowns in Day 5
11:48:05 185 x 10
11:49:23 185 x 8
11:50:53 170 x 9

4/9/13 DB Pullover in Day 5
11:53:35 80 x 12
11:56:02 80 x 10
11:57:40 75 x 9

4/9/13 DB Row in Day 5
11:59:50 90 x 12
12:02:31 90 x 10
12:05:27 85 x 9

4/9/13 Seated Cable Row in Day 5
12:07:05 4.1 x 12 4.2 next time
12:08:40 4.1 x 9
12:10:13 4.0 x 9

4/9/13 Crunches in Day 5
12:15:13 0 x 3 20s

4/9/13 Flutter Kicks in Day 5
12:18:25 0 x 1

4/9/13 1/2 Mile Sprints in Day 5
18:41:56 Lap 1: 3:17 Lap 2: 3:17 Lap 3: 3:27 Lap 4: 3:29

4/10/13 Leg Curl in Day 6
11:22:42 6.2 x 12
11:24:17 6.2 x 8
11:26:01 5.3 x 10

4/10/13 Leg Extension in Day 6
11:28:21 200 x 12
11:29:59 200 x 12
11:31:30 200 x 9

4/10/13 Squat in Day 6
11:36:24 270 x 12 290 next time
11:38:41 270 x 12
11:43:22 270 x 10

4/10/13 Leg Press in Day 6
11:43:26 360 x 12
11:44:54 360 x 11
11:46:52 360 x 10

4/10/13 Calf Raise in Day 6
11:49:51 270 x 12
11:51:30 270 x 11
11:52:54 270 x 9

4/10/13 Seated Calf Raises in Day 6
11:54:56 70 x 12
11:56:35 70 x 12 75 next time
12:08:40 70 x 10

4/10/13 Incline Weighted Situps in Day 6
12:08:44 25 x 75
12:08:47 25 x 25

4/11/13 Treadmill in Day 7
12:16:15 Distance: 3 Duration: 30:00 Pace: 10:00

4/12/13 DB Curls in Day 1
13:25:09 55 x 12
13:27:01 55 x 8
13:28:45 50 x 8

4/12/13 Concentration Curls in Day 1
13:31:05 35 x 12 On bench - 40 next time
13:37:00 35 x 12
13:39:36 35 x 11

4/12/13 Barbell Curls in Day 1
13:41:11 70 x 12
13:42:48 70 x 9
13:44:25 60 x 10

4/12/13 Chinups in Day 1
13:47:07 0 x 13
13:49:31 0 x 10
13:50:50 0 x 6

4/12/13 Pushdowns in Day 1
13:52:25 87.5 x 12
13:54:06 87.5 x 10
13:55:44 82.5 x 8

4/12/13 Single Arm Pushdowns in Day 1
13:57:39 22.5 x 12 25 next time
13:59:59 25 x 11
14:01:49 25 x 9

4/12/13 Skull Crushers in Day 1
14:03:55 70 x 12
14:05:54 70 x 10
14:08:25 70 x 8

4/12/13 Diamond Pushups in Day 1
14:09:40 0 x 31
14:11:26 0 x 17 -,-

4/14/13 Overhead Press in Day 2
15:13:44 75 x 12 80 next time
15:15:43 75 x 11
15:18:14 75 x 8

4/14/13 Front Raises in Day 2
15:19:46 35 x 12
15:21:43 35 x 11
15:23:41 35 x 10

4/14/13 Lateral Raises in Day 2
15:25:24 25 x 11
15:27:43 25 x 9
15:29:50 20 x 12

4/14/13 Bent Over Lat Raise in Day 2
15:31:31 30 x 11
15:33:32 25 x 11
15:36:27 25 x 12

4/14/13 Shrugs in Day 2
15:38:29 100 x 12
15:40:18 100 x 12
15:42:24 100 x 12

4/14/13 Chair Leg Lifts in Day 2
15:48:44 0 x 15
15:48:45 0 x 15
15:48:45 0 x 12

4/14/13 Treadmill in Day 2
16:01:31 Distance: 1 Duration: 7:25 Pace: 7.5

See you all next week!

[sfalexi]

Ok. 9 Weeks left. I feel good. Been having cheat nights, but trying to minimize damage from the cheat nights (thin crust veggie pizza, limiting slices, frozen yogurt instead of icecream, that sorta thing). I'm 9 weeks out, so it's time to change my mentality. I will no longer be calling them "cheat nights" but rather "prepared food" nights. So I'll be going out, but will be sticking to much healthier items. Light menus at restaurants, subway sandwiches with light mayo/mustard instead of pizza, etc. In the meantime, also going to up cardio a bit putting in more HIIT training. But overall, I see progress which is good.

This will also be the week I start really practicing my different poses. From the pictures I took this morning, I had to delete and retake a few due to me not properly flexing quads, or calf muscles, or something like that so I need to really get my body used to what it FEELS like when everything LOOKS right in the mirror. And in a few weeks, (probably two), gonna order myself some posing trunks, and all the wonderful oils and whatnot that is needed for the competition. I don't know what my competition looks like, but this is the third annual bodybuilding competition on my base, it has more sponsors than the previous years, and even if I don't win, I want to make a strong showing.

There will be some pics at the end for ya, and here was this week's workouts.

Oh yeah, I missed a day of working out (had some REALLY long days this week so I skipped one day on the weekend) but I can make it up easily this week, and I made sure to eat less calories over the weekend since I didn't work out and burn my normal amount.

Gym Buddy Set Report on Apr 21, 2013

All Workouts and All Exercises
Between Apr 15, 2013 and Apr 21, 2013


4/15/13 DB Press in Day 4
11:36:52 105 x 12
11:38:53 105 x 9
11:41:42 95 x 9

4/15/13 DB Incline Press in Day 4
11:43:51 70 x 12 75 next time
11:45:29 70 x 9
11:47:55 65 x 11

4/15/13 DB Flys in Day 4
11:50:12 55 x 12 60 next time
11:51:50 55 x 11
11:53:58 55 x 10

4/15/13 Dips in Day 4
11:55:51 45 x 12
11:57:39 45 x 8
11:58:47 0 x 12

4/15/13 Bench Press in Day 4
12:00:38 135 x 12
12:02:23 135 x 9
12:04:21 135 x 8

4/15/13 Pushups in Day 4
12:06:01 21
12:07:19 12 -,-

4/15/13 Oblique Crunches in Day 4
12:11:34 15 35 lbs
12:15:49 15 35 lbs

4/16/13 Pullups in Day 5
11:37:42 9 45
11:37:46 7 35
11:37:48 9

4/16/13 Pulldowns in Day 5
11:39:15 13 x 12
11:41:12 13 x 9
11:43:03 12 x 10

4/16/13 Iso Lat Pulldowns in Day 5
11:44:54 185 x 11
11:46:36 185 x 9
11:48:12 170 x 9 Dropset

4/16/13 DB Pullover in Day 5
11:51:57 85 x 12
11:54:07 85 x 10
11:56:40 75 x 9

4/16/13 DB Row in Day 5
11:59:22 95 x 12
12:01:29 95 x 8
12:03:35 90 x 8

4/16/13 Seated Cable Row in Day 5
12:06:06 4.2 x 12
12:07:54 4.1 x 11
12:11:10 4.1 x 11 Drop set

4/16/13 Crunches in Day 5
12:16:26 4 20s

4/16/13 Flutter Kicks in Day 5
12:19:37 1

4/16/13 1/2 Mile Sprints in Day 5
17:31:32 Lap 1: 3:07 Lap 2: 3:15 Lap 3: 3:21 Lap 4: 3:27

4/17/13 Leg Curl in Day 6
10:04:22 6.2 x 12
10:06:19 6.2 x 9
10:07:51 5.3 x 10

4/17/13 Leg Extension in Day 6
10:09:26 200 x 12
10:11:11 200 x 12
10:15:56 200 x 10

4/17/13 Lunges W/ Db in Day 6
10:17:26 50 x 12 Forearms ouchie.
10:20:07 50 x 10
10:22:27 40 x 10

4/17/13 Leg Press in Day 6
10:25:19 360 x 12
10:27:33 360 x 11
10:32:09 360 x 10 Drop set

4/17/13 Calf Raise in Day 6
10:35:46 270 x 12 290 next time
10:37:51 270 x 12
10:41:18 270 x 10

4/17/13 Seated Calf Raises in Day 6
10:42:19 70 x 8
10:43:48 70 x 9
10:45:19 70 x 8

4/17/13 Incline Weighted Situps in Day 6
10:54:36 25 x 80
10:54:39 25 x 20

4/19/13 Chinups in Day 1
11:52:08 12 35 lbs
11:54:32 7 35 lbs
11:56:44 9

4/19/13 DB Curls in Day 1
11:59:11 55 x 8
12:01:03 50 x 9
12:03:35 45 x 9

4/19/13 Concentration Curls in Day 1
12:06:57 35 x 12
12:09:35 35 x 10
12:11:52 35 x 9

4/19/13 Barbell Curls in Day 1
12:13:43 70 x 12
12:15:19 70 x 9
12:17:53 60 x 11 Drop set

4/19/13 Pushdowns in Day 1
12:19:55 87.5 x 12 90 next time
12:21:27 87.5 x 11
12:22:56 87.5 x 7

4/19/13 Single Arm Pushdowns in Day 1
12:24:52 25 x 12
12:26:39 25 x 10
12:28:29 25 x 10

4/19/13 Skull Crushers in Day 1
12:30:31 70 x 12
12:32:22 70 x 11
12:34:07 70 x 9

4/19/13 Diamond Pushups in Day 1
12:36:14 0 x 35
12:38:32 0 x 19 -,-

[Devils]

Good spot for 9 weeks out.

Good luck mate

[sfalexi]

Ok. 8 Weeks out. Ok. Been good with diet, keeping cheat meals in (appx two not too bad cheat meals a week). Workouts have been good. I think I can push a little harder in each workout, but I'm happy with the steady progress so far. I did FAIL in my plan to start practicing posing. But this week FOR SURE I will practice at least 4 poses a night finding a good look for them and practicing holding them for 1 minute each.

Also for this week, I'm going to take it easy working out. A sorta "decompression" week. I'll take the advice I've read about "deloading". Same workout, same cardio, same reps, but half the weight and doing perfect form. This would be perfect by giving me 6 weeks of full out working out and the 7th week would be the contest week where I'll stick to fullbody lighter weight workouts for glycogen depleting.

Attached are some posing. The body is getting tighter, but I still need to practice flexing all the muscles that need to be flexed at the proper time. You'll see my double bicep poses, the quads are just not even, not right all the time. And I gotta figure out a good back double bicep pose.

Gotta set some money aside for some posing trunks, tanning/posing oil, and gotta find some crappy dark sweatsuits to wear to keep the oil from getting on anything good.

Here's this weeks workouts....

Gym Buddy Set Report on Apr 28, 2013

All Workouts and All Exercises
Between Apr 23, 2013 and Apr 28, 2013


4/23/13 DB Press in Day 4
11:43:04 105 x 12
11:44:57 105 x 9
11:46:53 95 x 7

4/23/13 DB Incline Press in Day 4
11:48:52 70 x 12
11:50:42 70 x 10
11:52:47 70 x 10

4/23/13 DB Flys in Day 4
11:54:46 60 x 12
11:56:39 60 x 10
11:58:44 55 x 10

4/23/13 Dips in Day 4
12:01:56 45 x 12 - 55 next time
12:03:56 45 x 12
12:05:46 45 x 9

4/23/13 Bench Press in Day 4
12:08:20 135 x 12
12:10:05 135 x 11
12:12:23 135 x 10

4/23/13 Pushups in Day 4
12:14:21 24
12:16:35 16 -,-

4/23/13 Oblique Crunches in Day 4
12:19:29 15 35lbs - 40 next time
12:23:12 15 35lbs

4/23/13 1/2 Mile Sprints in Day 4
17:14:59 Lap 1: 3:03 Lap 2: 3:18 Lap 3: 3:35 Lap 4: 3:37

4/24/13 Pullups in Day 5
17:33:29 10 45
17:35:04 8 35
17:36:47 10

4/24/13 Pulldowns in Day 5
17:39:07 13 x 12
17:41:21 13 x 10
17:42:51 12 x 10

4/24/13 Iso Lat Pulldowns in Day 5
17:44:31 185 x 9
17:46:02 185 x 8
17:48:22 170 x 9 Drop set

4/24/13 DB Pullover in Day 5
17:50:41 85 x 12
17:53:01 85 x 11
17:54:59 85 x 8

4/24/13 DB Row in Day 5
17:57:09 95 x 10
17:59:08 95 x 8
18:01:10 90 x 8

4/24/13 Seated Cable Row in Day 5
18:03:07 4.2 x 12
18:04:45 4.0 x 11
18:07:05 4.0 x 9 Drop set

4/24/13 Crunches in Day 5
18:13:03 0 x 4 20s

4/24/13 Flutter Kicks in Day 5
18:16:21 1

4/25/13 Leg Curl in Day 6
11:36:55 6.3 x 11
11:38:23 6.2 x 9
11:39:52 6.1 x 8

4/25/13 Leg Extension in Day 6
11:41:51 200 x 12 215 next time
11:43:28 200 x 12
11:45:00 200 x 10

4/25/13 Lunges W/ Db in Day 6
11:47:22 50 x 12
11:49:33 50 x 10
11:51:55 40 x 12

4/25/13 Leg Press in Day 6
11:54:44 360 x 12
11:56:36 360 x 11
12:00:17 360 x 10 Drop set - ouch

4/25/13 Calf Raise in Day 6
12:03:21 290 x 12
12:04:53 290 x 12
12:06:46 290 x 11

4/25/13 Seated Calf Raises in Day 6
12:08:51 70 x 11
12:10:28 70 x 10
12:11:56 70 x 10

4/25/13 Incline Weighted Situps in Day 6
12:21:25 25 x 90
12:21:28 25 x 10

4/26/13 Chinups in Day 1
11:50:38 12 35 lbs - 45 next time
11:52:45 8 35 lbs
11:54:29 10

4/26/13 DB Curls in Day 1
11:56:53 55 x 8
11:58:44 50 x 8
12:00:38 45 x 9

4/26/13 Concentration Curls in Day 1
12:03:56 35 x 12
12:06:45 35 x 11
12:09:29 35 x 9

4/26/13 Barbell Curls in Day 1
12:11:24 70 x 12
12:13:13 70 x 10
12:16:08 60 x 11 Drop set

4/26/13 Pushdowns in Day 1
12:18:26 87.5 x 12 95 next time
12:20:11 87.5 x 12
12:21:43 87.5 x 8

4/26/13 Single Arm Pushdowns in Day 1
12:23:45 25 x 12
12:25:50 25 x 11
12:27:45 25 x 10

4/26/13 Skull Crushers in Day 1
12:29:39 70 x 12
12:31:34 70 x 11
12:33:52 70 x 10

4/26/13 Diamond Pushups in Day 1
12:35:34 32
12:37:38 20 -,-

4/26/13 Bike in Day 7
13:08:31 Distance: 8.3 Duration: 30 Pace: 9

4/27/13 Overhead Press in Day 2
14:34:53 80 x 12
14:37:07 80 x 8
14:39:18 75 x 8

4/27/13 Front Raises in Day 2
14:41:00 35 x 12 40 next time
14:43:20 35 x 12
14:45:14 30 x 11

4/27/13 Lateral Raises in Day 2
14:47:03 25 x 12
14:48:48 25 x 11
14:50:28 25 x 9

4/27/13 Bent Over Lat Raise in Day 2
14:52:28 30 x 12 35 next time
14:54:03 30 x 11
14:55:42 30 x 12

4/27/13 Shrugs in Day 2
15:00:27 110 x 12 115 next time w/ wrist strap
15:02:52 110 x 12
15:04:48 110 x 12

4/27/13 Chair Leg Lifts in Day 2
15:11:41 15
15:11:42 15
15:11:42 15

4/27/13 Jump Rope in Day 2
15:32:32 Jump: 3:00 Rest: 1:00
15:32:33 Jump: 3:00 Rest: 1:00
15:32:34 Jump: 3:00 Rest: 1:00
15:32:34 Jump: 3:00 Rest: 1:00
15:32:35 Jump: 3:00 Rest: 1:00

See you all next week.

Alexi

[conn1994]

Looking good bro, you should have a look into posing classes a few of your poses are looking pretty off - Posing classes generally aren't expensive either!

[sfalexi]

Don't think I'd be able to convince the wifey that I need posing classes (she already thinks me doing this small competition is kinda odd, but she's going along with it). But I'll take a look at the sticky again with examples of poses and scrutinize myself a lot better. I already see some huge mistakes just in what the pose is. Thanks. Still not sure how the hell people get that real thin skin going as I still seem to have thick skin around all my muscles, but maybe just continuing and the sodium load/depletion ala layne nortons guide will help. Not too worried about it. This is just for fun for me, not thinking about getting serious yet. Maybe if I do well and talk to the judges afterwards and they feel I might actually have a shot at more serious competitions.

Alexi

[Devils]

Don't think I'd be able to convince the wifey that I need posing classes (she already thinks me doing this small competition is kinda odd, but she's going along with it). But I'll take a look at the sticky again with examples of poses and scrutinize myself a lot better. I already see some huge mistakes just in what the pose is. Thanks. Still not sure how the hell people get that real thin skin going as I still seem to have thick skin around all my muscles, but maybe just continuing and the sodium load/depletion ala layne nortons guide will help. Not too worried about it. This is just for fun for me, not thinking about getting serious yet. Maybe if I do well and talk to the judges afterwards and they feel I might actually have a shot at more serious competitions.

Alexi

It's just fat dude, you'll get there, keep working hard over the next 8 weeks and see what happens. Good luck, and yeah practice posing every day!

[sfalexi]

OK. No REAL updates this week.

It was a "deload" week. So I did all the exercises I normally do, with half the weight. My cardio was the same intensity as normal as I wanted to keep something at 100%. Weight went up about .7 pounds (I know that's negligible considering what I drank and ate, but that means my diet was still very good since after a light week I didn't gain much at all.)

I posted on the nutrition side, got some pokes and jabs at my ineptness (expected, it's a forum after all), and after figuring out the proper calculations based on my body weight and whatnot, have decided to change up the diet slightly.

I've calculated the same amount of calories since I feel good, not tired, etc. but I backed down on protein and SLIGHTLY lower on fats, and went up on carbs. I was previously taking in nearly 2 grams per lb in proteins which is a TON. I backed down to about 1.5 grams per lb protein and added the missing calories in carbs which I hope will be able to translate to some good intensity in the gym.

Been practicing posing each day, doing each pose twice for at least 30 seconds and I'm feeling more comfortable with it. But holy crap do I need to get started on a posing routine!

Game-plan

I've noticed that even with my normal workout, I feel good and not bloated during my posing on Sundays. So for the final week, I plan to still workout heavy Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I will consolidate by doing Chest/tri on Monday, Back/Bi on Tuesday, and legs on Wednesday like I normally do. During those three days I''ll back off on carbs. Normal intensity. On Thursday I'll bike to work out some soreness from the legs and add carbs back in (a little bit). I'll be drinking 2 gallons of water a day for the final week. Thursday and Friday nights will just stretch the body parts out (probably use P90X X-stretch which I have) while eating some carbs (maybe 100g a day). Friday night around 6 PM, I will stop consuming lots of water. NOTE: Not "deplete" water, simply stop "loading" the water. I'll drink if I'm thirsty, but won't drink unless I get thirsty, and only drink enough to quench the thirst. Not 16 ounces at a time if I don't need to.

I'll go the extra mile and take pictures of myself Friday morning. This will be pictures of me during my water loading, carb depleted state. Then we'll see on Saturday how one day can swing things. I'm surprised I can't find many people doing this. Hopefully this'll help shed some serious light on whether ONE day of a slight water-cut and slight carb load CAN make a difference.

Feeling good though. And although I'm looking forward to this competition, I'm actually really looking forward to AFTER the competition where I start to add in calories and build up. I'm going to go for a very clean and athletic bulk, so I'll be adding in calories sticking with good Macros, a little heavier on carbs than right now, and I'll be continuing my cardio routine. It'll make it slower, but should keep the fat from piling on, and bigger for me, should keep me in overall shape for my PT tests. I do NOT want to be that guy that has to try to cram a ton of cardio in just to pass my 2-mile run. I'd rather build slower and MAINTAIN a good 2-mile run time.

See everyone next week.

Alexi

[sfalexi]

Weight - 163.5

How I feel
Feelin very VERY good!!! Energy is there, although lately I've had to make my days about 14 hours long (that's including the workouts) thanks to a Soldier of mine not passing the tape test and having to now personally work him in the gym every morning till he can pass the tape test. And he's asking when he can get promoted? lol. Yeah right! Can't take care of yourself enough to pass MINIMUM standards and you want to be in charge of Soldiers and help them exceed standards? Not anytime soon, my friend.

Diet
Awesome. Packin' lunch and breakfast and snacks, sticking to my macros almost perfectly. Only change I'm making to the diet right now is light carb cycling. Keeping the same amount of calories but swaying between carbs and proteins every three days. Switching chicken for brown rice on the heavier carb days, keeping normal for normal days, and switching oatmeal for protein shake on light carb days. Nothing crazy.

Workouts
Feeling good, feeling pumped! Upped the intensity and another guy at the gym was asking if I did cardio cause I was more cut than him and he was wondering how I got there. He was surprised to find out I was 25 lbs less than him. He thought I was about the same weight. Which means the illusion is working. Just gotta keep it up.

Posing
Practicing every day finding a good pose and holding it for 30 seconds. Only takes about 10 minutes a day and I feel more comfortable. I still need to work on it though. I need to make sure I hit the pose right and don't fumble for it. And I chose music for the pose routine - good beat, cool song. Just need to work on a routine. About 75 second clip.


Pictures and workout logs below. I took the pictures today one hour after some french toast breakfast (my Sunday breakfast). Next week I'll take it after two hours and see if there's a difference in the timing of morning carbs.

Alexi

THUMBNAILS - CLICK FOR BIGGER PIC

[sfalexi]

Thumbnails - click for bigger pic






Thanks all! I'll be working hard this week!

[sfalexi]

Sheesh. Only three days in and it's already one of the toughest weeks. Not the lifting part. The lifting, once I get the gym, is great. Focused, I feel great, and I'm pushing hard.

But getting to the gym. Sheesh. Tough week at work, doing these 14+ hour days, and it's gonna stay busy for a few weeks. But I've managed to make it so far. Tomorrow is just some light leg cardio to loosen up those sore muscles. I find I recover faster if I do this.

Also starting up with the work softball team. We're going to suck, but it'll be fun anyway. That'll help me keep my mind off those long days hopefully. Great workouts though. And diet has been awesome. Good calorie count, good macros. Just gonna monitor weight.

I'm thinking of the last three or four weeks just doing some cardio 6 days a week to for one month just burn off the rest of the fat. I'll definitely think long and hard about it and do my research first. So far though, I think this contest prep is going well. It's my first actual "prep" for a contest (last year's contest I had no CLUE what I was doing so I just signed up and showed up), but so far so good!

Alexi

[sfalexi]

Ok. Been two weeks since an update, oh well. I worked out hard last week and this week. last week I started a (I guess) carb cycle. Nothing crazy, just replaced some grams of protein during lunch and dinner with carbs. So about 100g less protein and 100 g more carbs every third day for the swing. Feel fine.

Lost a little weight. I decided after talking to some people that I'd rather be at the top of the 154.5 lbweight class than at the bottom of the 176 lb weight class. I'm at 161 right now so I'm doing great and am right on track.

I also decided, why the hell am I doing all this week and just competing in a small amateur show?! So I signed up for an NPC competition the week following the amateur show. So I'll be competing in an ACTUAL sanctioned show, at a lightweight weightclass. We'll see what happens.

Still wishing I looked more shredded. I'd love to assume it's a water shedding thing, but I've seen pictures of people two weeks out looking WAY more shredded than me. I can see lots of veins through the skin when there's a bright light on it so I KNOW my layer of fat is thin....but I have no idea how much of a difference the drinking tons of water the week before and stopping the water the night before a competition + carbing up with make. Well, first time for everything, I'll do my best and hope I can be some serious competition.

Practicing posing often (not every night, but at least 4 nights a week), and came up with a posing routine to about 75 seconds of music. It's 5 poses and one athletic move timed well with the music. The first and last moves should get the crowd going pretty well.

Here are pictures, with my new posing suit (DAMN that thing feels tiny! Stupid posing suits....)

Oh yeah. And today's pictures were not in the morning fresh out of bed. I had to work today so they were after work, but before lunch. Also, as always. these pictures are unpumped. For the contest of course I will spend some time pumping up before going on stage, but for now I'm just taking pictures as is without a pump.

THUMBNAILS- Click for bigger picture.

[sfalexi]

Mandatories

[Devils]

Lost a little weight. I decided after talking to some people that I'd rather be at the top of the 154.5 lbweight class than at the bottom of the 176 lb weight class. I'm at 161 right now so I'm doing great and am right on track.
Great decision

I also decided, why the hell am I doing all this week and just competing in a small amateur show?! So I signed up for an NPC competition the week following the amateur show. So I'll be competing in an ACTUAL sanctioned show, at a lightweight weightclass. We'll see what happens.
More experience the better!

Still wishing I looked more shredded. I'd love to assume it's a water shedding thing, but I've seen pictures of people two weeks out looking WAY more shredded than me. I can see lots of veins through the skin when there's a bright light on it so I KNOW my layer of fat is thin....but I have no idea how much of a difference the drinking tons of water the week before and stopping the water the night before a competition + carbing up with make. Well, first time for everything, I'll do my best and hope I can be some serious competition.
Keep working hard, a few more lbs would will make a big difference, do your best and I think you'll bring some respectable condition. Especially for an NPC show.

Comments in bold

[joe the man]

hey man great job on your prep. I myself have very similar body structure 5'5 at 162 i steped on stage at 150 a few months ago. I took overall novice at an OCB show, and think you should do well at the NPC show. The last photos you posted you are six weeks out. You are still carrying fat in your back and glutes, glutes are the last to come in for me also. I think you are 8-10 weeks to being completly shreded. Skip the small show use the NPC show as a warm up and dial it in for another show a couple weeks later. Use a row machine and stairmaster to try and get rid of your stubborn areas. I use a thermogenic (oxi-lean pro) to help also. Again great job on your cut, i love to see other short stocky guys run the stage!

[sfalexi]

hey man great job on your prep. I myself have very similar body structure 5'5 at 162 i steped on stage at 150 a few months ago. I took overall novice at an OCB show, and think you should do well at the NPC show. The last photos you posted you are six weeks out. You are still carrying fat in your back and glutes, glutes are the last to come in for me also. I think you are 8-10 weeks to being completly shreded. Skip the small show use the NPC show as a warm up and dial it in for another show a couple weeks later. Use a row machine and stairmaster to try and get rid of your stubborn areas. I use a thermogenic (oxi-lean pro) to help also. Again great job on your cut, i love to see other short stocky guys run the stage!

Funny you should mention the rower and step machine. I do the rower once a week for my HIIT (60 seconds row as hard as I can, then rest and row slowly for 60 seconds) and I use the stairmaster once a week as well (albeit very lightly, to recover from leg day). Well, I'll keep plugging away.

Alexi

[Cytrainer913]

I too wound agree if you want that super tight look have to get those protein carbs n fats down consistently n with you being about my height n if competing naturally then I figure for to be on n really low bodyfat like I was 150 or slightly less would b a great weight for you and still retain some really good muscle.

Good luck with the show coming up n keep pressing forward n if your narcos get hit n you don't drop ur carbs too much you won't feel that crappy n you can do well n work on that posing.

[sfalexi]

Weight - 157.5

Weight's just been melting off. As far as diet goes, I have really hit my diet on point, but I did make two small changes. I added in two "refeed" (higher carb) days. My two days off are Sunday and Thursday.

Diet - Doing great.

So Sunday (after legs and before back) I had five guys cheeseburger (no condiments) and fries for lunch, and dominos thin crust chicken and pineapple pizza for dinner. According to myfitnesspal, this only bumps up my calories that day about 300 above what I've been eating the rest of the week, and lowers proteins and replaces with carbs and a little more fat. Still well within "healthy" macros though. And tastes great!

On Thursday, I simply replace about 100grams of proteins with 150 grams of carbs. So a slight bump in calories, and a swing into carb world. This is the second week doing it and I feel and look great.

Workouts

Unfortunately, with this weight loss, I think I can finally see a little bit of muscle/strength loss. At least, I seem to have plateaued. Not necessarily a bad thing cause I'm coming up to a competition anyway, but it is a little frustrating to see that I haven't gone up in strength in a lot of exercises this week.

On the plus side, I ran a 5k on Friday to see where I'm at (I'm in the Army and was worried that all this working out would be hurting my cardio for the 2 mile run). Was able to run the 5k in 24:23 at a pace that was not punishing myself, and I had a 15:00 2 mile split. 1st mile was 7:07, second mile 7:53. So this bodes well for my PT test as this is faster than when I started cutting.

Visually, this morning I looked in the mirror and saw those serratus muscles poking out without any flexing! And for the love of God, I am actually seeing a glimmer of veins appearing on my abs! MY ABS! Didn't even know that was possible! So I love the progress I've made!

Plans for the next weeks

So far, I'm happy with the progress. This will be the roughest week for me coming up because I have to move from one apartment to another on the other side of town. So I'll have to fit in workouts early so I can get home and continue packing to get ready for an over the weekend move.

I'm maintaining my current workout/cardio/diet for this next week. AFTER this week, I'm going to up the water intake to 2 gallons a day for the final two weeks, and do 1 hour of LOW intensity cardio the three days I don't have any scheduled cardio. So it'll be cardio 7 days a week, with 4 of those being high or medium intensity, and 3 being low and long. Just to get a little extra burn.

Pics









Workout log and relaxed poses in next post.

[sfalexi]

[Devils]

Some good proportions,

Spread your lats in the front relaxed and lean back a little in the rear double bi and spread. Side triceps turn your torso to the camera a little more. All good though keep it up!

Oh and turn to the side more in the quarter turns.

[sfalexi]

Some good proportions,

Spread your lats in the front relaxed and lean back a little in the rear double bi and spread. Side triceps turn your torso to the camera a little more. All good though keep it up!

Oh and turn to the side more in the quarter turns.

I keep forgetting to lean back in the rear poses. I knew I should, but for the life of me I just keep forgetting.

Thank you for the tips in the relaxed and side tri. Will definitely practice that. 3 weeks till show #1, and 4 weeks till show #2. I might even do another show in August if things keep looking better and better as I go. Same lightweight weight class.

Alexi

[sfalexi]

Mid-week update.

Feeling good. The pizza day isn't hurting me and I've been confident with the way I look when I wake up the last couple days. Been good workouts. Workouts feel tough and I feel like I've put in the some good intensity.

And just for a record, for peak week, I'm going to take pictures of what I look after my body has adapted to 2 gallons of water, and then take a picture the next day to show people what (if any) difference is actually made when you stop loading water around 6PM Friday night and go back to only drinking when you're thirsty.

Also, for peak week, I think I'll do a daily journal of diets and workouts and you can see how it affected me. Including a "day after" report. I'm getting bit by this bodybuilding bug and I'm looking at more and more contests!!! Darn it!

Alexi

Alexi

[sfalexi]

Up front, no updates this week. No pictures, no workout logs. Weight HAS gone down more and I'm DEFINITELY gonna hit that 154.5 lb weight class without any problems.

This week (from Wednesday on through today) has been hell. I had to move my apartment from one town to another. So I was on point with diet and exercise up through Friday morning (ran a 5k Fri morning). Then I had to put the gym to the side and continually load and unload a uhaul trailer all weekend, while also having to go to work Saturday night and clean the old apartment today (Sunday). Haven't lifted a weight in 3 days! AAARGH!!!

needless to say, my diet has been very good despite the funky schedule. A LITTLE cheat here or there, but not cheating on calories. more of a "IIFYM" cheat. Starting to REALLY get that shredded look. Veiny, skin is tightening, it's almost hard to believe that I was able to achieve this.

I'm feeling GREAT for these bodybuilding competitions. So much so, that I'm going to sign up for a third at the end of July (INBF I believe) since it's going so well. May as well capitalize on the fact that I'm in the best shape of my life and do as much as I can with it.

Today I DID start my water loading. Got 1.5 gallons down today (just was busy cleaning and driving between apartments for more moving so didn't refill the water like I should've). But tomorrow will be back on point with workouts, and will be doing an hour of low intensity, low heartrate cardio on my days off. So the only NON-cardio day will be leg day.

These past three days did throw my planned monday-friday schedule off a bit, but in reality, THIS close to the competition, it's not like I'm gonna build any noticeable size. So it really doesn't matter what day of the week I workout a particular bodypart, just THAT I continue to work out.

PEAK WEEK PLANS:
2 Gallons of water a day
Will start applying protan a week out and monitor how it looks as I go.

Sunday - Legs, 1 coat of protan at night.
Monday - Shower off protan, Back/Chest - HIIT, 1 coat of protan at night
Tuesday - Shower off protan, Bi/Tri - HIIT, 1 coat of protan at night
Wednesday - Shower off protan, Light full body circuit - No cardio, 1 coat of protan at night
Thursday - Shower off protan, Posing for an hour, 1 coat of protan at night
Friday - Shower off protan, walk for an hour (probably before weighin if I need it), stop water loading at 6PM, have a beer, and switch to "drink if I'm thirsty", however many coats of protan needed to finish up (1? 2? who knows?). Will NOT shower it off Sat. Morning.
Saturday (Contest day) - Egg whites early in the morning, then snack on rice cakes. I found that salty stuff makes me feel vascular/pumped so I'll have some ruffles chips about an hour and then about twenty minutes before prejudging. Will do circuit stuff 20 minutes before prejudging including some light jump rope to stimulate but not TAX the quads and to get those calves pumped. I seem to have awesome calves during my jump rope workouts.

For the first contest, there will be NO variation in diet. No trying to carb deplete, carb load, none of that. For the SECOND contest, it will be tried, but very mildly (calories will stay the same, but I will switch to fish/chicken Sun-Tue, add in oatmeal again Wed, and brown rice thur/fri, keeping calories the same)

Alexi

[sfalexi]

Ok.

Weight - 153.5
Hit the goal. This is also after three days of water loading (2+ gallons of water a day).

Current pics (sorry about the lighting, moved to a new apartment)

Good thing about these pics are they were taken tonight, after my full day of eating, after 1.75 gallons of water. IF stopping water loading is supposed to shrink wrap a bit more, then I'm feeling very good about these contests!!! Cause I'm happy with how it looks after eating dinner and drinking almost 2 gallons of water!






Tomorrow starts "peak week".

Going to continue with the plan. Not changing diet at all. No carb up, no nothing. Just continuing to drink water, eat like normal.
Sunday will be legs with 1 hour of LISS.
Monday will be chest/back with 1 hour of LISS
Tuesday will be arms with 1 hour of LISS
Wednesday will be full body light circuit training with 1 hour of LISS
Thursday will be posing for one hour with NO cardio.
Friday will be weighin's and ONLY 1 hour of LISS.

Saturday foods will be eating normal breakfast, but about 4 hours before prejudging. Then sipping water and snacking on rice cakes throughout if hungry and thirsty. About 1/2 hour before prejudging I'll be eating some ruffles chips, and 20 minutes prior will be light circuit training to pump up. Then normal lunch, and slight snacking through the finals, saving dinner for AFTER the show.

Then for peak week #2! based on how I look for this contest will depend on whether I change my peak week strategies.

Feeling great and I look forward to this second amateur contest (a MUCH MUCH MUCH stronger showing than last year!) and my first REAL show with an organization the week after!

I'll also post pics of how I looked last year compared with how I looked this year so you can see what I mean by a HUGE improvement from last year this time!

Alexi

[sfalexi]

Few days to show.

Weight in morning - 152.
Weight at night before bed - 156.5

Still drinking 2+ gallons of water of day and weighing in every morning and also night to see how it affects me through the day.

Diet has been cut back another 150 - 200 calories. Instead of 2300ish, I'm going 2100ish. This is (in my mind) to compensate for not lifting an hour a day heavy since I've switched up a little lighter for peak weeks.

plan has been spot on. With the exception of Sunday where I was stupid and gave in to cravings (consumed about 1000 more calories than planned, pretty much all on pizza! lol!). But I've been doing 2 cardio sessions a day, one LISS and one HIIT. And for weights, not going to failure. all sets are ten reps, and difficult, but not to failure.

Sunday - Legs, LISS
Monday - Chest/Back, LISS, Rower HIIT
Tuesday - Arms, Bike HIIT
Wednesday (today) - Circuit training (60 second intervals) all calisthenics for 1/2 hour, then LISS at night
Thursday - LISS, 1 hour posing practice
Friday - LISS weigh-ins, quick pose-through
Saturday - SHOWTIME!

Weight's on target, feeling great, feel like I look great, and I feel like the water load philosophy with NO diet manipulations (no carb loads, sodium manipulations, etc. etc.) will be enough to come in very strong. Feeling great and I FULLY intend to continue competing. Hell, with my height and weight, I may actually even have a chance if I can keep into those lower weightclasses!!!

Alexi

I will post my contest pics and results in a new thread and link to that thread from here. More than likely it will be under "motivation" and show my journey from my first time working out, to my first competition, to current competition.

[sfalexi]

So diet is on point. Not sure why I've been a little heavier, but I've been about 152 or 153 in the morning, but 156 pretty much the rest of the day. Maybe I'm just doing too darned good a job at drinking TONS of water! lol.

Still on a 2300 calorie a day diet. Still hitting my macros really well.

Planned out my diet for the day before the show (stopping water at 3 PM and then just sipping water and gatorade when I feel, well, thirsty). Diet is comprised of mostly "dry" stuff. grilled chicken, rice cakes, peanuts and almonds, granola bars, that sorta thing. Probably not even gonna drink water since I'll STILL be having my protein shakes. So 5 protein shakes a day (my norm), mixed with 8 ounces of water each. And only 1 of them before the prejudging, and two of them between prejudging and the final judging means only 16 ounces of DEFINITE planned water on Saturday. Considering I've loaded my body with water, I'm good on all my levels and macros, I don't see this being dangerous. Not depleting way ahead of time and NOT taking any diuretics.

For the NPC show, I may try the total sipping of water without protein shakes, but I want to see how I look and feel with this smaller amateur show. If I'm feeling like I NEEDED that little water I had, I will continue it the next week.

Alexi

[Devils]

So diet is on point. Not sure why I've been a little heavier, but I've been about 152 or 153 in the morning, but 156 pretty much the rest of the day. Maybe I'm just doing too darned good a job at drinking TONS of water! lol.

Still on a 2300 calorie a day diet. Still hitting my macros really well.

Planned out my diet for the day before the show (stopping water at 3 PM and then just sipping water and gatorade when I feel, well, thirsty). Diet is comprised of mostly "dry" stuff. grilled chicken, rice cakes, peanuts and almonds, granola bars, that sorta thing. Probably not even gonna drink water since I'll STILL be having my protein shakes. So 5 protein shakes a day (my norm), mixed with 8 ounces of water each. And only 1 of them before the prejudging, and two of them between prejudging and the final judging means only 16 ounces of DEFINITE planned water on Saturday. Considering I've loaded my body with water, I'm good on all my levels and macros, I don't see this being dangerous. Not depleting way ahead of time and NOT taking any diuretics.

For the NPC show, I may try the total sipping of water without protein shakes, but I want to see how I look and feel with this smaller amateur show. If I'm feeling like I NEEDED that little water I had, I will continue it the next week.

Alexi

Good luck mate, been a good journey. I'm sure you'll come in good, get the tan spot on!

One trick I used is to wake up first thing in the morning and do pushups, squats and pump up and then start to pose. If you don't cramp and look really dry and sharp, you will know cutting water works for you. If you're cramping and look flat then you will know you need water and sodium before you go on stage. Remember during sleep is a good 8 hours without water so you will see the effects as if you're thinking of cutting water before stage.

Often I would look great in the mornings having a big sodium loaded carb meal before bed and waking up dry and shredded and thirsty the next morning.

[sfalexi]

Ok. Prejudging complete. I felt I was better cut and did a good job posing, but...

PROTAN IS NOT ENOUGH!!!!! PROTAN IS NOT ENOUGH!!!!!

Still WAAAAY too light. Not nearly as light as last year, but still WAY too light. Center stage I was washed out. When I got moved around a little bit, standing BETWEEN two lights was much better.

But on the good side, I ran into a professional spray tanner who was at the competition spraying another person. Got her number and I'll be hooking up with her for next week's competition. And I'll be MUCH better.

NOTE 2:

That whole dehydrate yourself by stopping water the day prior? Complete crap for me. I looked fine with 2 gallons of water. I SHOULD NOT have messed with it. Thank goodness this is not a sanctioned NPC or other organized event! Next week I'm continuing to drink water throughout. I'm using this week's competition as a test so I know what to change and manipulate.

NOTE 3:

I tried eating and pumping about 1/2 hour before I was supposed to be on stage. Then the prejudging got longer. And they moved people around. And by the time I took the stage it was an hour and a half from my salty, fatty snack. So I lost a decent pump and the vascularity. Then I just went to grab a light lunch and drank a coffee cause I'm tired. Ten minutes after my cup-o-joe and sippin' on some water, I could literally FEEL the veins popping out. Check my forearm? Sure enough, veiny. Check my calves? Sure enough, veiny. Check my abs? Sure enough, veiny.

So for some people it's wine. For me, apparantly, it's coffee. And it only needs about ten to fifteen minutes which means it's MUCH easier to time before going on stage.

Gameplan for next week

1) PROFESSIONAL tan! PROFESSIONAL tan! I'll just pay the damned money and save the time to get it RIGHT! Sigh.

2) Don't mess with water or diet at all. Conditioning is conditioning. Just make sure I don't have so much water in my stomach that it's literally bloated.

3) Coffee to bring out the vascularity.

And will work on transitions between poses.

So these next two shows (next week and then 4 weeks after that) should be better, and I'm feeling great. Next year should be a GREAT year!!!

Alexi

PS - Of course I'll post results and pictures of both shows.