My Road to Competition

[Pretty Hardcore]

Hello,

I decided to start a journal in here to record my progress on the road to my BB competition in Aug of this year. I have read through some of your journals and thought that it was time for me to start my own. Hope to learn from you all and hope we can exchange ideas and suggestions.

I am looking to compete in women?s bodybuilding in August of this year (2008), at the INBF Show in Washington State. My goal is to gain as much lean mass as I can until April, then start my cut. I will be competing in women's bodybuilding this time (I competed in figure last year), and hope to bring my best physique possible, good muscle definition, low bf % (shooting for 8-9%) and good symmetry. Going up on stage will be a proud moment for me because I will know that I have put in a lot of hard work and determination to get there.

I am changing my workout split for the next 7 month until my show. Starting Monday, I am moving to a 4 day body part split, and it is kinda scary for me. For the last 8 or so months, I was doing an upper/lower split, with mostly compound exercises, I loved it and have gained some good mass and strength with this program. Hubby says that I should be doing a body-part, higher rep, type split to make sure that I am building all sides of my shoulders, biceps and triceps evenly, but I am nervous about it. I mean, I know what he is saying and I know that many people have had great success with a bp split, but for me, my compound only routine worked so well and I was making nice gains. Anyway, I will trust him, he's competed before and looks great on stage and he does know what he is talking about, so I am going to do it.

I am trying to bulk right now and I'm finding that I am having some trouble being ok with the extra fat and weight that I am carrying around. All of my life, my weight has been up and down, I have lost and gained the same 10 pounds over and over. I find that I am still dealing with this, when my weight goes up to a certain number, I start having all of those old feelings, I look in the mirror and see the old fat me and it starts to freak me out. I immediately feel the need to do a cut until the weight drops down again. Ugh! How can I gain muscle, if I don?t want to see an increase in scale weight? I know I need to throw the scale out and I?m working on doing that.

My new split workout:
I think that I will like this new split, it has all of the compounds that I like to do, but adds some iso?s,(that I will learn to like ). I will alternate between two workouts for each body part each week. On 4 set exercises, reps will be 10,8,6 and 4 and on 3 set exercises, reps will be 10,8 and 6, weight increases with each set. This plan is a good comprise for me cause I still get to do legs twice a week. I will play the routine for a couple of weeks first and maybe do some tweaking here and there. Thursday's Ham and Back day looks like a killer.

Monday Quads/calves
Squat (4 sets) In both routines done first.
Legpress (4 sets) alt. Dumbbell lunge
Leg extension (3 sets) alt. Leg press
Standing calf raise (4 sets) alt. Seated calf raise
Seated calf raise (4 sets) alt. Standing calf raise

Tuesday Chest/biceps
Flat Barbell press (4 sets) alt. Incline dumbbell press
Incline Barbell press (3 sets) alt. Flat dumbbell press
Low incline flyes (3 sets) alt. Dips.
Incline dumbbell curl (2 sets) alt. Dumbbell preacher curls
Hammer curls (2 sets) This is done every time.

Thursday Back/hamstrings (this is going to be a tough day)
Deadlifts (4 sets) In both routines done first.
Barbell row (3 sets) In both routines done second.
Wide grip pullups (3 sets) alt. Close grip pulldown
Dumbbell row (2 sets) alt. Seated row (staying upright)
Shrugs (3 sets) Alternate between dumbbells and machine shrugs.
Stiff leg deadlift (3 sets) alt. Leg curl
Leg curl (3 sets) alt. Stiff leg deadlift

Friday or Saturday Triceps/shoulders
Close grip bench press (3 sets) alt. Pushdowns
Skullcrushers (3 sets) alt. Close grip bench press
Bench dips (2 sets) alt. One arm overhead extensions
EZ bar curl (3 sets) alt. Straight bar curl
Seated dumbbell press (4 sets) alt. Military press
Side laterals (3 sets) alt. Upright rows
Rear laterals (3 sets) In both routines done last

Typical Diet:
Calories are around 2000 to 2200, with macros at about 40p/40c/20f

Half hour before workout: 1/2 Fruit (usually banana), coffee, 1/2 protein shake with Creatine and arginine.
Workout
Post workout: the other 1/2 Protein Shake and 1/2 Fruit
Meal 1: Egg Whites, Whole Egg, Oatmeal
Meal 2: NF Yogurt w/vanilla protein powder, frozen berries, WW Bread w/almond butter
Meal 3: Salmon, Brown Rice, Broccoli
Meal 4: Chicken, Sweet Potato, Asparagus
Meal 5: Tuna, salsa, almonds
Meal 6: Protein Shake
Drink a Gallon of Water throughout the day.

I will start posting my workouts tomorrow.

Well, there it is. Hope you will follow me in my journey to the stage.

Latest progress pics

[Arlecchino]

You already look great. Fantastic back. Good luck.

[dcerullo]

Hi Nancy!!! I'm here Looks like you've got a great start. Workouts look tough and should put some muscle on you. I have trouble with bulking and bodyfat too, it's just a chick thing damn estrogen LOL. You do have the advantage of your height you'll look like you have more muscle than long limbed competetors, like me Good luck and I'll be following along.
DJ

[CapitalJay]

Hi there! I'm looking forward to following your progress!

[Claudine]

Your pictures look amazing. No doubts you're on the right track!

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by Arlecchino

You already look great. Fantastic back. Good luck.

Thanks so much, honestly, I was very surprised when I saw that pic of my back.

Originally Posted by dcerullo

Hi Nancy!!! I'm here Looks like you've got a great start. Workouts look tough and should put some muscle on you. I have trouble with bulking and bodyfat too, it's just a chick thing damn estrogen LOL. You do have the advantage of your height you'll look like you have more muscle than long limbed competetors, like me Good luck and I'll be following along.
DJ

Thanks DJ, I really appreciate it, that means a lot coming from you. I will get over the fat thing, I hope that starting this journal will help keep me in line.

Originally Posted by CapitalJay

Hi there! I'm looking forward to following your progress!

Hi Jay, thanks, glad to have you on board.

Originally Posted by Claudine

Your pictures look amazing. No doubts you're on the right track!

Thanks Claudine, you look fantastic too. I'll be following your progress too.

[namtrag]

You look great, it's gonna be even better as you fine tune.

Your workouts look outstanding, lots of compound movements. You will bulk up if you aren't afraid to eat...lol!

PS-just have to say, you look a lot better at 18% than I do at 19.5%!

[Hibiscus09]

You look very nice right now. You have great lats and beautiful hamstring development! I'll cheer you on along your way. I know you'll do great!

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by namtrag

You look great, it's gonna be even better as you fine tune.

Your workouts look outstanding, lots of compound movements. You will bulk up if you aren't afraid to eat...lol!

PS-just have to say, you look a lot better at 18% than I do at 19.5%!

Eating is a problem, but I'm getting over it. Thanks for your encouragement.

[IronIc]

Welcome! You already look fantastic! I'm looking forward to following your progress as well

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by Hibiscus09

You look very nice right now. You have great lats and beautiful hamstring development! I'll cheer you on along your way. I know you'll do great!

Thanks Hibby, glad to have you. I'll be checking in on you too!

[Pretty Hardcore]

Monday Quads/calves (Workout A)
Leg Press 140X10, 180X8, 220X6, 230X4
Leg extension 105X10, 112.5X8, 120X6
Squat - Switched to Hack squats 50X6 3sets
Standing calf raise 95X10, 115X8, 112.5X6

Today was the first day of my new workout routine and I?m not used to doing legs on Monday. Woke up a little tried and not very motivated. Did a warm up set with the bar and noticed that my hip flexor was very tight, I have been dealing with this off and on since Sept and I thought it was better, hasn?t really bothered me for a while, but it?s back. So I skipped squats and did leg presses, extensions, hack squats and finished with calf raises. Turned out to be an OK workout, my quads were shaking when I left, suppose that's a good sign.

I stretch for about 30 minutes during lunch today and it is feeling much better now.

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by IronIc

Welcome! You already look fantastic! I'm looking forward to following your progress as well

Thanks Penny, Stop in anytime.

[dcerullo]

Nice workout Nancy. Good move on skipping the squats, no need to aggravate anything. Trish and I have lower back issues so we're always switching things around to avoid injury.

[Jimislash]

Good luck. You look great and I can't imagine what you will look like by the time your competition comes around.

[NotTooLate]

Mind if I follow your journey? Your back looks great, nice V shape there.

I know how you feel about the fat thing, it's pretty scary to see the scale go up but as you say it has to go up if your putting on muscle. Maybe hide the scale for awhile LOL

Good luck in your quest!

[CapitalJay]

That looks like a solid workout there. I used to (and still sometimes do) substitute leg press + hacks for squats. Seems to work pretty well, as you experienced! What are your hip flexor stretches, if you don't mind me asking?

[Hibiscus09]

Nice job on the legs, Nancy! It was smart of you to avoid the squats due to your hip flexor.

Happy Tuesday!

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by NotTooLate

Mind if I follow your journey? Your back looks great, nice V shape there.

I know how you feel about the fat thing, it's pretty scary to see the scale go up but as you say it has to go up if your putting on muscle. Maybe hide the scale for awhile LOL

Good luck in your quest!

Please do, would love have along for the ride.

On the fat thing, it is a total mental block. I'm slowly getting past it, I didn't weigh myself this morning (yeah, it's a big step) and I have been increasing my foods. Funny thing is, the more I eat, the hungier I get. Go figure!

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by dcerullo

Nice workout Nancy. Good move on skipping the squats, no need to aggravate anything. Trish and I have lower back issues so we're always switching things around to avoid injury.

Originally Posted by CapitalJay

That looks like a solid workout there. I used to (and still sometimes do) substitute leg press + hacks for squats. Seems to work pretty well, as you experienced! What are your hip flexor stretches, if you don't mind me asking?

Originally Posted by Hibiscus09

Nice job on the legs, Nancy! It was smart of you to avoid the squats due to your hip flexor.

Happy Tuesday!

Yeah, I'm learning when to stop pushing. I was doing a lot of running (hills) combined with squating, and not enough stretching did me in.

I do lots of lower body stretches, for the glutes itb and hips. This one mostly for the hip flexor

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by Jimislash

Good luck. You look great and I can't imagine what you will look like by the time your competition comes around.

Thanks Jim, much appreciated.

[orca]

Look forward to following your journal. Your pics look amazing. Good luck!

[Hibiscus09]

I love that stretch! I do it a lot in between sets when I'm doing legs.

[Pretty Hardcore]

Tuesday Chest/biceps (Workout A)
Flat Barbell press 65X10, 65X8, 70X6, 75X4 - Need to start with a lighter next time
Pec Deck 45X10, 50X8, 52.5X6 - Someone was using the incline bench so I did pec deck first.
Incline Barbell press 55X10, 60X6, 62X4 - I was burnt out by the time I got to these.
EZ Bar Curls 25X12, 30X10, 35X6, 37X4 - I was stronger than I thought, need to start heavier next time.
Incline dumbbell curl 15X8, 15X8

Great workout today, got an unbelievable pump. Started too heavy on Flat chest and too light on bicep curls, so the first couple of week I will be figuring out reps and weight. Felt great, Chest and bis are already starting to feel sore already!

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by orca

Look forward to following your journal. Your pics look amazing. Good luck!

Thanks, come by anytime.

Originally Posted by Hibiscus09

I love that stretch! I do it a lot in between sets when I'm doing legs.

That is a good stretch.

[MuscleMom]

Hi Nancy! So glad you started a journal! Looking forward to following along.

Your pics look terrific! You are going to knock em dead!!

[NotTooLate]

Your workout looks good. If your chest and bis are already sore your doing something right!

[Buffycat3]

Hi Nancy

I have to agree with everyone else...You have an amazing physique to start with.
There is no doubt that you will achieve your competition body!

By looking at your photos, you have great symmetry and beautiful muscle all over. What a wonderful start!

Your workouts are planned out super...I think this is a good program for you to follow..you will see results.
I can tell you are focused and a smart bber.

Keep up the drive and determination!

EDIT: Salmon..What a perfect muscle-building food ! YUM!

[Pretty Hardcore]

Originally Posted by MuscleMom

Hi Nancy! So glad you started a journal! Looking forward to following along.

Your pics look terrific! You are going to knock em dead!!

Thank you, glad to have your support. I will have to look for your journal, would love to follow along in yours too.

Originally Posted by NotTooLate

Your workout looks good. If your chest and bis are already sore your doing something right!

I hope so, I was doing a heavy weight/low reps before, and this routine is so different, I'm hoping the higher reps will work for me. Yes, my chest and bis are sore today, hope that means growth!!

Originally Posted by Buffycat3

Hi Nancy

I have to agree with everyone else...You have an amazing physique to start with.
There is no doubt that you will achieve your competition body!

By looking at your photos, you have great symmetry and beautiful muscle all over. What a wonderful start!

Your workouts are planned out super...I think this is a good program for you to follow..you will see results.
I can tell you are focused and a smart bber.

Keep up the drive and determination!

EDIT: Salmon..What a perfect muscle-building food ! YUM!

Thanks Joan, I'm working hard, hope the results follow.
Salmon is my favorite, I eat it everyday. My husband when to Alaska and caught several salmon and six halibut, we have a freezer full. Love it.

.

[MuscleMom]

Originally Posted by Fit_Focus

Thank you, glad to have your support. I will have to look for your journal, would love to follow along in yours too.



I hope so, I was doing a heavy weight/low reps before, and this routine is so different, I'm hoping the higher reps will work for me. Yes, my chest and bis are sore today, hope that means growth!!



Thanks Joan, I'm working hard, hope the results follow.
Salmon is my favorite, I eat it everyday. My husband when to Alaska and caught several salmon and six halibut, we have a freezer full. Love it.

.

Love to have you follow along and add any advice and pointers. Us female BBers have to stick together



Soreness =growth =more muscle =

Salmon, yum! Im eating it almost every day now too. Love it! Enjoy yours!!