1 week from competition & a little nervous about training & stuff

[TennisChik]

OK, here's where I need you experienced competitors.....

Everything's going great. My trainer finally got with it and we're cramming hard with the posing and it's good.

So, we're one week out and I have to quit my split training routine and go to full-body circuit. I am such an obsessive spaz about training hard and building muscle that going to a full-body circuit is freaking me out a bit. It's going to mean less weight, more reps, fewer sets per muscle group. I need reassurance that I'm not going to shrink before next Saturday (i.e. my last hard leg workout was day before yesterday and I won't get another one before the show. That bugs me.).

My next question is, how exactly should I do this circuit? How many circuits should I do? Each time I finish a circuit, do I start over with new exercises for each muscle group or repeat the same ones? Can I train my abs more during this next week or just stick with keeping them in the circuit routine?

I also got sun poisoning from the tanning bed; just breaking out in an itchy rash all over, so I can't do that again, but I guess the pro tan will be dark enough.

Any tips for getting my makeup matched to the rest of my body when I put on the tan? Any other tips you guys might have would be great!

[VanillaBean_21]

I'm not much of a help but Good luck on the comp!

[Sistersteel]

#1 Stop stressing about losing muscle! It is only for one week, and doing a circuit doesn't make you lose muscle, it gets you ripped, and shredded. And that is your main goal when steppin on stage, not mass.

#2 Make sure you spend lots of time visualizing yourself on stage, going through the poses. Be sure to remain positive, don't let doubt, or fear enter your mind. You are going to great, you have worked hard, you've put the time in, now step on that stage like you own it!!!

#3 You don't want to work legs because you want all the blood to drain out of them so that when you flex you can see your cuts. If they are full of blood then they won't look defined, just bulky. If you ever flex after a leg workout you can really see the difference.

That sucks that you got a rash from tanning, the same thing happened to me, and I found if I tanned without lotion I didn't get the rash. I am sure protan will be dark enough.

Sorry If I seem a little harsh. Best of LUCK!!!
SS

[TennisChik]

No, you are absolutely not being harsh and I need to hear this stuff. Thanks for the great advice.

I know your show is the same day as mine. How are things going for you?

[Lil Bullet]

i'm not sure if this is 100% accurate, but to my knowledge the main purpose of the circut training during the last week before the show is to first push out all the glycogen from your muscles (during the carb depletion stage), so that when you start carb loading all the glucose from the carb load days (thurs. and fri) gets taken up by the muscles, giving you a fuller look. if you are not carb depleting and carb loading, it's still a good idea to do the circuit and not any real heavy lifting. you don't want to lift heavy because a sore muscle is hard to squeeze and flex, and that's what you'll have to be doing on stage.

ESPECIALLY your legs. don't work them hard during the week before the show because if they get sore it is harder to flex your quads and hams. i made the mistake of working my legs hard 2 days after one of my shows, and i was doing another show the next week. well, my legs were so sore, i couldn't flex them and they looked bloated on stage for that second show.

i use about 4 to 5 coats of protan, and i put a coat or 2 on my face as well. i also put foundation on, but i never seem to get the color to match. i've been told to go to MAC and they will match foundation to the protan, but you've got to go there with protan on and i am not about to walk thru the mall like that.

good luck on your show, remember to be confident and smile the entire time. and stay flexed the entire time you are on stage.