ArchangelEST - getting ready for stage

[ArchangelEST]

Hey guys,

I've been away for a long time. I've kept checking in on BB.com on a regular basis, but I haven't participated much. However, I have a lot of new things going on in my life and BB.com will be something I want to keep being involved in. So many smart guys around here, so many great people who can motivate, inspire and support you.

With that said I'll give some cliffnotes.

This is basically what has happened in the last 3-4 years:




Some more recent pics:



Current weight is around 92-93kg or 202-204lb, height 185cm or about 6'1.


I am currently basically chilling. I'm having fun just cruising. However, a lot of people have been pressuring me lately to step on the stage. Either Men's Physique or CBB. And I must say, it seems like a good idea. I've asked for some opinions from some friends and experts. For example, Alan had this to say:

Holger, I think you look great and - from the limited view in these pics - you appear to have the structure & shape to do very well in competition. Your height is conducive to physique, and your mass is conducive to BBing. Honestly you could do either one, and perhaps you should consider doing both just to gain first-hand insight. Prep does not have to destroy you psychologically/physiologically if you do it right. Sure, there will be challenges, but that's part of the fun of competition (for those who choose it).

Deciding to compete is a gut-level decision you must make on your own. I can tell you objectively that having competition pics & competition experience will skyrocket your career in fitness - if indeed fitness is what you plan on making a life of. It would be a major credential that is in a completely different class than mere academic degrees.

Me personally? I have no desire to compete. My joy is in writing, teaching, & researching. And eating anything that gets in my way. I enjoy having a slightly better than average physique on a permanent basis. If I looked like you, I'd probably just hit the clubs in an extremely tight shirt & fist-pump to that boom-zzz-boom-zzz music on a nightlee.

As you can imagine, such words are extremely motivating and I'm now very definitely considering competing in both classes. I think I'm better suited for Physique, just because of my height, it is hard to achieve the level of mass required for bodybuilding. As-well as Physique contests (around here anyway) having much less competition and thus you don't need to be insanely shredded. So it's easier to cruise into Physique, while CBB is gonna be really hard. I would be up against guys who've won medals all around the world in CBB contests. I don't really want to go and play the tourist on stage, taking last places.

But we'll see. For one contest at-least, in every category, I will be a "beginner", which means I'll only go up against other beginners. I will be in the overall category in the end, but the main class would be in the beginners. So I'm most likely guaranteed first place there. Don't see much chance of anyone "random" coming in and beating me there.


Well, as this is a nutrition log forum - here's my staple dinner. 1-2lb of oven roasted meats of some sort with a pound of veggie mix. Add some ketchup and it's all good. A 2lb piece of pork over here:

[gymjunki3]

1st

[ArchangelEST]

Pretty cool day today. Got my first client for nutrition/training consulting and we went to the local gym to set up his work-out routine. Luckily he is already pretty advanced so I only had to adjust the technique a little. Most of the time went into trying to find the exercises that best fit his physique in terms of his anatomy (tall guy) and also to make sure he enjoys what he does. No point making a routine that he's gonna hate.

I must say, this personal training stuff is pretty hard. It took us almost 3 hours to get this stuff done and I barely managed to move any weights myself. Now I know why coaches charge so much per session.

A good experience overall. I can definitely mark down some things I need to adjust for future sessions.


Diet and training for myself is going good. I've recently become very active. I walk. A lot. Today I think I walked about 10km and tomorrow I'll probably hit 20km. On average about 10km a day. May not seem that much, but man does it do wonders. I'm eating a ton of food yet the fat keeps melting. It's great. And walking in general is great. Fresh air, lots of time to think about stuff. Very nice indeed.

Alright, time to hit the sack. Gotta catch those winks. Gonna wake up at 5am for some cardio - not for fat loss per se, more like a character building exercise. Calorie burn is just a bonus.

[HealingHands8]

In on this. Amazing transformation, very inspiring

[PerpetualMotion]

In. You look awesome, man. Jealous that you get to walk so much. I spend 9 hours sitting.

[ArchangelEST]

In. You look awesome, man. Jealous that you get to walk so much. I spend 9 hours sitting.

Hah, I spend 13 hours sitting.

The only activity I do is morning cardio, then sit for 6 hours, then walk to the gym, work out, walk back. Sit down again and keep on sitting until it's time to go to bed. On most days anyway.

[ArchangelEST]

Weekend, wee. Time to head out to town soon. Beer and burgers on the menu!

'Mirin?

[Chewmattica]

Subbed.

Do you follow IF or any specific diet plan (noticed the huge dinner meal). How many calories do you consume daily?

[ArchangelEST]

Subbed.

Do you follow IF or any specific diet plan (noticed the huge dinner meal). How many calories do you consume daily?

Nothing specific. Every day is an experiment in terms of food choices and macros. I keep things varied. But in general I've seemed to fall into this pattern: on all workout days, which is 4-5x a week, I eat about 2000-2500kcal per day, which probably puts me into a very heavy deficit. On my days off I stuff my face pretty much ad libitum. Often hitting 4-5k calories. Last saturday I went out and ate a huge-ass pizza and several beers after already having hit about 2k. That pizza was massive, my share was maybe 2k calories. And for some reason thought it a good idea to also pick up a bar of chocolate as I drunkenly wondered home, lol.

But still. Progress is being made. Here's a foggy shot from today, stupid phone lost focus cause my hands are shaking from all the excessive walking. I'm literally walking myself to death. I walked for 3-4 hours today I think. And in the middle I worked out for 2 hours. So yeah... 6 hours of non-stop movement. I'm pretty beat...

[ArchangelEST]

Feeling good. Ate something like 500g of carbs last night. I decided to keep it simple and cheap - oatmeal with jam and bananas and pasta with veggies. Oh man. I ate so much it wasn't even funny.

[Mr_Aryze]

Subbed.

Is this your first log? Would like to know basically the processes you have implemented through your years training.

[ArchangelEST]

Subbed.

Is this your first log? Would like to know basically the processes you have implemented through your years training.

Hey,

Not my first log, had one a while back. Not sure if it can be found or not, not gonna bother to look right now, but maybe later.

Well, through my years of training I've tried many things. I've gone through the usual "broscience" worship, authority worship, supplement craze etc. But now I've been practicing reasonable approaches for a while and that basically means - train often, train light, use proper technique and work the muscles you aim to work. Don't shun any foods, eat whatever you want, just keep an eye on the macros. And that's basically it. No magic, just consistency. I don't think I've missed a single work-out in over a year and even my most insane binges have just about all been planned that way. So no "falling off the wagon", cause there is no wagon to fall off of. I eat what I want, when I want. Just gotta keep an eye on the quantities and macros. Though of-course I sometimes sacrifice a couple of meals or even whole days to prepare for bigger binges. It's easy to restrain yourself for a few meals a day if that means you can stuff your face later, or even discipline yourself for a day or two to really knock it out of the park with a huge binge.

But yeah. I do what many guys on this site do, I suppose that I've just dialed it in maybe a bit more better than some. Kinda curious to see how lean I can get, so I'm gonna give a shot at that.

Saw the local BB champ yesterday who took some pics and gave some guidelines. I'm about 10-12lb away from stage conditioning, which is a fair amount of fat to lose, but it could be fun. I'll see if I can manage it.

Some cold posing, no adjustments - pose, picture, done. Remember, I'm home trained, lol. Legs suck, but when you squat with 100lb, you ain't gonna have no huge ass wheels. I'm kinda soft here, had a big refeed the day before and probably overdid it a bit. Like a 2lb cake and a bunch of candy and pasta and beer and... well, I just love to eat, lol.

[Mr_Aryze]

Thanks for the reply. And it sounds like we're basically doing the same thing, in regards to how we treat our caloric intakes.

When getting below that 10% mark, how many calories were you consuming on average? How large was the deficit? And did refeeding ever benefit you physiologically?

Thanks in advance for answering my questions bro.

[ArchangelEST]

Thanks for the reply. And it sounds like we're basically doing the same thing, in regards to how we treat our caloric intakes.

When getting below that 10% mark, how many calories were you consuming on average? How large was the deficit? And did refeeding ever benefit you physiologically?

Thanks in advance for answering my questions bro.

On average I think I'm around 2500kcal per day across the whole week. In practice it's like 2000kcal on most days and then a big 3500-4000kcal refeed on 1-2x a week. The deficit is a bit hard to gauge cause I've started walking around a lot and added morning cardio and such. But I'm probably around 500kcal in deficit on average across the week. Close to a 1000kcal on my workout days, but probably hitting maintenance and maybe a small surplus on my refeed days.

The refeeds definitely help me psychologically. I mean it is very liberating to be dieting for a contest and still being able to eat like a whole cake, a bowl of pasta with cheese, down it with beer, have pizza, chips with dip... you name it, and still lose weight.
Sure I could even out the daily intakes and probably hit 2500kcal every single day - I'd lose weight all the same, but that would limit my food choices. Well, not choices as much, quantities really - it's no fun having half a pizza, half a tub of ice-cream, half a bowl of pasta or whatever. I just want to pretty much hit those bad boys ad-libitum. Can't do that on a paltry 2500kcal menu. 3500 is more like it, and 4k is even better obviously. You can fit so much great stuff into a single day that you'll be in a carb/fat induced coma half the day, lol.

But as you can imagine, this is all personal preference. I found through experimenting that this suits me very well. Others like to binge once a week maybe. Others just do IF and basically binge 1x a day and that's that. Whatever floats your boat, it's all good as long as you hit those macros and eat a wide variety of stuff. I mean I still get a couple of fruits and a pack of veggies every day - gotta keep those micros covered too.

Shot from yesterday:



It's gonna be tough losing all that fat, but I want to get contest lean just once in my life for bragging rights, lol.

[ArchangelEST]

Still at it. Getting a bit hard, but still doable.

[Mr_Aryze]

Looking great man. How much are you weighing at now?

And what does your macro intake look like on normal days? And for your refeed days, you say you like to eat pizza, etc, are you not concerned with the traditional "low-fat, high-carb" approach?

[ArchangelEST]

Looking great man. How much are you weighing at now?

And what does your macro intake look like on normal days? And for your refeed days, you say you like to eat pizza, etc, are you not concerned with the traditional "low-fat, high-carb" approach?

I think I'm about 200lb even.

On normal days my macros are probably 150-200g protein, 50-70g fat, 100-200g carbs. Not particularly set in stone, I keep things different. But I'm hitting mostly 2000kcal, 5x a week at the moment. Refeeds are similarly varied. I've been increasing the amount of carbs to keep me filled up for my workouts, but often times I do end up consuming a ton of fats. Two days ago I downed 200g of potato chips with 250g of dip. That's like a 100g of fat right there, lol.

[ArchangelEST]

Decided to take some time off this week. Felt like I was overdoing it with the cardio and weightlifting in such a huge deficit. It's clear that you can't really force your body to get in shape beyond a certain speed - well, not in a way that leaves you feeling like a human being, lol. I've lost about 2.5lb a week for the past 3 weeks, but the visual look isn't quite representing that weight loss. Obviously fat loss is different for everyone and certain parts of the body will lean out earlier while others take more time. All in all I think I've just stressed my body to the point that it's holding excess water. I think Lyle has mentioned this "whoosh" effect that might happen during a diet where you keep losing weight, but it doesn't look like you are getting much leaner, and then suddenly the fat cells just flush out water they have been retaining for some reason and Bam, you'll lean out considerably overnight. Would be cool to experience.

Right now I'm technically looking like I'm 6-8 weeks out, which sucks cause the contest is next week. However I'm not really worried as it's a mens physique show - for beginners no less. I've looked over my competition and there isn't really anyone to stand up to me in terms of muscle mass. I might come in a bit too soft, but I'll probably be the only one who has filled out properly.



I really need to practice my posing a lot as-well as stage movement and presence in general. Most beginners can manage a decent look, but they end up looking stiff on stage and pose from all the wrong angles. I'll aim to get some points with a more flowing and natural movement. It's not like there are many ways to get noticed in a physique show, so you have to make every second count.


One might think - what's the big deal with a silly beginners show - and you would be right. It's a pretty irrelevant contest and as a beginner I should be having fun just for the heck of it. However, I'm considered an expert on the local scene, I've gathered some respect for my sayings and such, so there's considerable social pressure to perform well - both from others, and myself. Doing well would considerably fortify my position as an expert on the local scene. All that, however, makes this prep a bit uncomfortable. Pressure that many others do not have. When you're a nobody, doing a small beginners show - who is really gonna care how well you do, aside from your friends. For me - a lot of people are very interested.

Well, we'll see how it goes.

[Mr_Aryze]

You're probably right that you're sufficiently conditioned for a physique show.

Were you hitting the same cals and macros?

[ArchangelEST]

You're probably right that you're sufficiently conditioned for a physique show.

Were you hitting the same cals and macros?

Yeah, roughly. I keep mixing things up, but the rough estimates hold.

[ArchangelEST]

Took a bit of trying, but I think I've found my "angle" for physique posing.



Fairly standard pose to be honest but still, took some time to nail down more or less. Slight torso twist is a must to narrow my waistline to compensate for fairly narrow shoulder width. This will also flare up at-least one lat while still showing good abs, chest and arms.

Back posing is another thing all-together and I still need to work on that a lot. But it's kinda fun.

[ArchangelEST]

[Lvisaa2]

Following along. Looking great. I'll be throwing my hat into MP this summer as well so I'll be interested to see how things pan out for you.

[ArchangelEST]

Following along. Looking great. I'll be throwing my hat into MP this summer as well so I'll be interested to see how things pan out for you.

Thanks man! I wish you luck for your MP goals! Considering the level of your physique, you definitely have very good odds of placing high. Though I imagine that the competition in the US can be pretty tough compared to what we have over here. So you probably have to prep real good.

I'm not sure how things will pan out for me though. I'm fairly confident I'll be the most "developed" competitor. Meaning I'll most likely be the most muscular with negligible weak spots, I'll probably pose better than most as-well. However, I'm also fairly sure I won't be the leanest. Probably not even close. Whether or not that will be a noticeable disadvantage in this contest is yet to be seen.
To be honest, getting lean has been tough - simply because of the lack of time. This week I've basically been on maintenance, maybe even a little over that on some days. The two weeks before this one were too rough and I'm kinda mentally spent. The caloric deficit just sucked.

No wonder so many people fail their diets. Trying to sustain a 1000+ kcal daily deficit is freaking ridiculous. If I wasn't so short on time I'd never even consider trying it, but I am and I did. A good experience to have, but seriously. Never again. Fuk extreme dieting.

I'm going to have to keep the after-show binge fairly limited and then get in a productive next week for the next show on the 12-th. Perhaps I can get my stuff together to sharpen up a tad. And then it's two weeks to yet another show. I definitely have to improve a little more by then.

Man, I really wish I'd have another month to prep. Had I known that I needed to lose so bloody much fat, I'd probably never even entertained the idea of going on stage. I've lost about 10lb since starting this log and I can barely see a difference in the leanness. Sure a little here and there, but seriously... all that dieting, all that weight loss and so little freaking change. Bloody annoying.

With my luck, I've probably burned 10lb of ass-fat - and all that glorious fat loss will mean jack-nothing when I put on my board-shorts, lol.

[Lvisaa2]

Thanks man! I wish you luck for your MP goals! Considering the level of your physique, you definitely have very good odds of placing high. Though I imagine that the competition in the US can be pretty tough compared to what we have over here. So you probably have to prep real good.

I'm not sure how things will pan out for me though. I'm fairly confident I'll be the most "developed" competitor. Meaning I'll most likely be the most muscular with negligible weak spots, I'll probably pose better than most as-well. However, I'm also fairly sure I won't be the leanest. Probably not even close. Whether or not that will be a noticeable disadvantage in this contest is yet to be seen.
To be honest, getting lean has been tough - simply because of the lack of time. This week I've basically been on maintenance, maybe even a little over that on some days. The two weeks before this one were too rough and I'm kinda mentally spent. The caloric deficit just sucked.

No wonder so many people fail their diets. Trying to sustain a 1000+ kcal daily deficit is freaking ridiculous. If I wasn't so short on time I'd never even consider trying it, but I am and I did. A good experience to have, but seriously. Never again. Fuk extreme dieting.

I'm going to have to keep the after-show binge fairly limited and then get in a productive next week for the next show on the 12-th. Perhaps I can get my stuff together to sharpen up a tad. And then it's two weeks to yet another show. I definitely have to improve a little more by then.

Man, I really wish I'd have another month to prep. Had I known that I needed to lose so bloody much fat, I'd probably never even entertained the idea of going on stage. I've lost about 10lb since starting this log and I can barely see a difference in the leanness. Sure a little here and there, but seriously... all that dieting, all that weight loss and so little freaking change. Bloody annoying.

With my luck, I've probably burned 10lb of ass-fat - and all that glorious fat loss will mean jack-nothing when I put on my board-shorts, lol.

I can definitely see the leanness change. Overall, you just look tighter. With a proper peak, I think you may be surprised with how different you can look. Prep can take a mental toll, but it's just about staying the course.

Extreme dieting does suck. I'm 13(ish) weeks out and I'm already playing with some extreme methods, simply because I want to be able to take my official prep (start in May at 10 weeks out) as a time to really refine, play with my peak week, and maybe even grow a tad into the show. My theory is get in condition early then you can manipulate so that you look your best on stage. Either way, I think you'll do well - you've got a good look for MP, but I agree that you've really got that 'classic' look. MP can be a bit fragile and thin looking, but even dieted down you still look like a solid fella.

[ArchangelEST]

I can definitely see the leanness change. Overall, you just look tighter. With a proper peak, I think you may be surprised with how different you can look. Prep can take a mental toll, but it's just about staying the course.

Extreme dieting does suck. I'm 13(ish) weeks out and I'm already playing with some extreme methods, simply because I want to be able to take my official prep (start in May at 10 weeks out) as a time to really refine, play with my peak week, and maybe even grow a tad into the show. My theory is get in condition early then you can manipulate so that you look your best on stage. Either way, I think you'll do well - you've got a good look for MP, but I agree that you've really got that 'classic' look. MP can be a bit fragile and thin looking, but even dieted down you still look like a solid fella.

Thanks man. Judging your own physique is hard, especially after looking in the mirror a dozen times a day. You just tend to lose perspective.

Peaking for a show can definitely change everything - unfortunately I have little experience with peaking. Granted, I know a ton in theory, but not sure how much I can realistically achieve. This week I'm not really gonna do any extremes. Just gonna make sure I'm decently full and that's about it. Mostly because the positive effect you can have is greatly diminished when you are still holding as much fat as I am. And considering there is always the risk of making things even worse by trying to peak using extreme methods - I'd rather not go down that road.

I agree with your mentality about refining during your prep time. Prepping for a show is no fun when you are torturing yourself with huge caloric deficits and whatnot. It's best to be ready several weeks out and then just refine and try to nail your physique perfectly on contest day.

About my "solid" look. Yeah, I suppose you are right. I guess it's because of how I've been training for years now - aiming more for that natural classic bodybuilder look. So I've developed pretty big arms and shoulders - both of which show no reduction in size whatsoever due to dieting. They are just as big as they were 25lb ago. And that's a bit freaky to be honest. But I suppose one has to be thankful to have any bodypart that responds well to training. Even though I train both minimally.

I hope the judges will see it as positive. Judging MP has been really weird for a lot of people because it's as much of a subjective modeling show, than it is demonstrating actual muscles. Hopefully I will stand out in a positive light and that will get me higher marks. From what I gather, you can place a ton higher by just standing out, even if you aren't the leanest or the most developed. I managed to pick up a nice pair of sunset colored shorts, which will hopefully get some attention. The shorts people wore last year were pretty bland and boring. So I'm hoping that trends continues and I can get a few points there, lol.

[ArchangelEST]

Won my category -190cm, beginners, Men's Physique.

Took 4-th overall, tied second in points, but placing orders put me forth. Still, I'm very happy, because the level was way, way higher than last year. Last year you had a couple of guys with six-packs, this year half the guys were shredded. I was definitely too soft, so - I'm pretty happy with the result.

Next week, next contest. I'll try to tighten up a tad if possible and see what's what.

[Mr_Aryze]

Congratulations man.

Hope you'll be uploading some contest pics?

So what are the plans now?

[ArchangelEST]

Congratulations man.

Hope you'll be uploading some contest pics?

So what are the plans now?

Thanks!

Yeah, I should get some pics tomorrow, I'll upload them then. And as for plans, next week is another show, albeit there's only one other competitor in my class, the guy who took the overall today. So yeah, it's not likely that I'll be able to improve enough to challenge him. Though, still a couple more guys in the overall to beat, so I'm aiming for overall II-nd at the very least.

Then there's another show in three weeks. Again, probably not as many competitors, but it's a major show technically, so it will be on a huge stage, with top level lighting and such. I'm probably gonna partake, even though that means I'll be out of the beginners class and in the open. And depending how I do there - well, I could do just about anything. Local shows will be over for the season - next ones will be in autumn, so unless I'll get invited to the official national team that goes overseas, I'm probably gonna relax all summer. I'm definitely not going to pay for my own entree fees and transportation at this point. That's really expensive and it's not like this sport pays anything.

I got a bunch of cool lifting gear out of this win though. Solid lifting belt, straps, wristwraps and also a couple of shakers, a cap, a towel, some supplement samples but that's about it. Cool stuff, but it won't pay the bills. So we'll see.

[Mr_Aryze]

Right of course haha. That's still all cool though.

How is the nutrition plan going to be from this point?