8 Weeks to prepare, first comp

[BigJoe15]

Ok, I sent a letter to a NABBA organisation in the UK asking for teen comps. They got back to me with a competition on the 22nd of April, I will be in the teen devision. I feel I am definitly ready to compete, I have trained for 2 years seriously now, I have been told my many members of my gym that I could do well in a comp and that I look pretty freaky for my age.
Anyway, Im currently about 10% on the caliper test and vascular in the upper body as I hold a little fat on my lower back and abbs. Its just a matter of dieting/cardio(ing) this off and thining out my skin.

I am 180lb at the moment standing around 5'9(ish). My problem is that I have read up on diets but everyone has their own method for contest prep and there are so many ways of doing it. I would like an answer from someone who knows there stuff who can tell me:

a) whats the best hardcore diet for comming in ripped in just over 8 weeks time? (nothing extreme or silly) Im natural and genetically blessed, so I hold onto/build muscle fairly easily and lose fat at a moderate pace.

b) any training/cardio advice that may help? I have my training down, I know what works for me, but I am open to advice from anyone and I wouldnt mind a bit of guidance in the cardio area.

Thanks for any help anyone can provide, just want to make sure I do this right as its my first comp.

P.S I have dieted down before, but very slowly and only to about 7% where I could see abb's clearly, though i am aware this is nowhere near contest standard.

BigJoe

[BigJoe15]

Nobody got anything to say? I will post in another forum and see if I can get any replys there.

BigJoe

[Clive Jones]

I am 180lb at the moment standing around 5'9(ish). My problem is that I have read up on diets but everyone has their own method for contest prep and there are so many ways of doing it. I would like an answer from someone who knows there stuff who can tell me:

a) whats the best hardcore diet for comming in ripped in just over 8 weeks time? (nothing extreme or silly) Im natural and genetically blessed, so I hold onto/build muscle fairly easily and lose fat at a moderate pace.

b) any training/cardio advice that may help? I have my training down, I know what works for me, but I am open to advice from anyone and I wouldnt mind a bit of guidance in the cardio area.

BigJoe

ive never done a contest but i can tell you most have 12 weeks to get completely to where they need to be. your 1 month short if you have 8 weeks and also, one diet for someone that works wont be the same for you, as goes for training and cardio and so forth..

if someone did give you a diet/cardio routine, it would be a general sense and you would have to mold it into what works best for u bro

go research the articles written by people who compete and see the basis of cutting

[bootymonster]

Hi there! What show are you doing? On May 6th, WNSO is holding FAME UK at the SENI show weekend in Birmingham, but this show does not include bodybuilding, fitness, or figure as they normally would in Canada or the States due to its size here in England. It is strictly the fitness model category, but if you do well, you could go to FAME Worlds back in Toronto and do bodybuilding too!!! It's a natural organization, and I think this may be a great place to get your foot in the door of the competitive comp scene. If you have any questions, you can contact me as I am the official contact and media rep for the event in the UK this year, and I am competing as well. You can check out www.muscletalk.co.uk forum under the contest section and read up on the posts I have put there about the details for the show, or you can go to the WNSO website and look up the event. There are also pics of last year's competitors from FAME UK to give you an idea of what the male fitness models look like. Be sure to check out the results for worlds last year too! www.wnso.com
Best of luck with whatever you choose to do!
L

[Ski]

My Pre-Contest Principles
by Tim Wescott
I have competed in a lot of bodybuilding contests over the years . I made a ton of mistakes along the way, but I feel that I have finally hit on a formula for success, at this point in time anyway. This may change in the future, but for now my strategy works out pretty well for me. I used to only diet for around 8 weeks, and went with a zero fat approach, with high protein, and low carbs. Nowadays, I cycle my carbs, and do have some fat, all the while keeping the protein high. I keep carbs fairly low throughout the diet. I pick out the show I am going to do well in advance, and start my diet at 16 weeks out.

This gives me plenty of time to lose body fat, while trying to retain as much hard earned muscle as possible. I think it is far better to be in shape in advance of the show, rather than to have to try some last ditch extreme measures that you can't predict the outcome of . My first move in changing my plan once I pick out the targeted show, is to eliminate junk food, bread, calorie dense foods, all simple sugars, except post-workout , and all dairy products. I also try to increase my water intake which is normally about a gallon a day or so, all the time.

The next step is adding low intensity cardio, such as walking on a treadmill on an incline, into my training routine. I usually do no cardio in the off-season, unless I see myself slipping into "fat mode,"then it's only 20 minutes per day, at three times a week. A lot of people advocate doing cardio first thing in the AM on an empty stomach. I don't !! I believe that doing cardio in the AM, without any food in the system, is extremely catabolic, as you have not eaten all night while you slept, and the body is in a state of "negative nitrogen balance". Some people will disagree with me on this, but I have done it ,and I did lose fat, but also believe I sacrificed some muscle in the process.

Doing any type of training without food in the system, only increases the risk of catabolism. I now do cardio post-workout, after my training, and believe that after training hard and fast, the body's glucose and glycogen stores are depleted, and this is the perfect time for the body to burn fat as fuel. After 4 or 5 weeks on the treadmill, I go into doing HIIT cardio on the Elliptical Machine for 20-30 minutes, depending on how I look at this point in time. I find HIIT on the Elliptical to be very effective, and I burn over twice as many calories on it than I do on the treadmill, in less time. It also elevates the heart rate, and your body burns calories long after you are finished with the actual cardio routine. I call this the "after burn".

Briefly touching on my training, I train as heavy as possible throughout the diet, and simply try to move a little faster with less rest between sets. I sometimes incorporate some Giant -Sets, Tri-Sets, or Drop -Sets, into the mix to increase intensity. Never train light with higher reps, for increased definition, as this is another of those myths that are still hanging around. Training heavy is what gets you there ,so keep it as heavy as possible for the amount of reps you are shooting for. I think the term heavy is relative ,as a weight that's heavy for 5 reps, and a weight that's heavy for 12 reps, is still heavy, as long as you are training your hardest, and can't possibly push out one or two more reps at the most. I keep my protein at 1 gram per pound of bodyweight as the minimum amount, and go as high as 300 grams at times.
For carbs I cycle them, having 3 low carb days followed by 2 slightly higher days. I never go too high as a rule, unless I feel particularly drained. A lot of people expect to be able to still eat a ton of carbs and get cut ,this is bodybuilding, and you have to make some sacrifices, after all we are dieting not pigging out. Eat light, but keep protein high, to preserve muscle. You have to create a calorie deficit to shrink fat cells, and this means burning off more calories than you take in. I go as low as 1500-1700 calories at times, and on a high carb day it's never more than 250 grams, and usually more like 175-200.Never go lower than 50 grams of carbs.
Another useful tool is to use the mirror as your guide to progress, as it will not lie to you if you are completely honest with yourself. I do check my body fat periodically, but the mirror is the best weapon you have at your disposal, other than a knowledgeable friend with a good eye for bodybuilding. As far as carb depletion/loading goes I do neither but simply increase complex carbs slightly 3 days out from the show.
On water depletion ,I keep water intake high and only stop drinking on the night before the contest at about 10PM.I find that the more you drink, the more you will excrete and you will look full on the day of the show. I have done sodium loading and find it doesn't do that much for me so I will no longer incorporate it into my plan. Just eat with a slight amount of sodium, or even extra salt to your food throughout the diet, as sodium is only crucial the last 3 days before the show. Cut it 3 days out and you'll be fine. Stick to chicken breasts during this time as your protein source as eggs and fish contain a lot of sodium.

Here is a sample of the type of diet I use. I alter it at times as I feel the need depending on my condition.

- Meal #1
10-12 egg whites scrambled in Pam cooking spray
1/2 cup of oatmeal
10 oz. water

- Meal # 2 (Post-workout)
Protein shake in water with 50 grams of carbs in the form of Dextrose

- Meal # 3
8oz. chicken breast
salad with low fat low sugar dressing
baked potato or 1/2 cup of brown rice
10oz.water

- Meal # 4
1 can of water packed tuna
salad
10oz.water

- Meal # 5
10 egg whites
10oz. water

- Meal # 6
8oz. chicken breast
10oz. water

This is a typical low carb day. On higher carb days, I have more carbs, but try to eat them early in the day as possible. I hope this diet helps you out, or at least gives you some new ideas to incorporate into your pre-contest regimen. I'll have a lot more to say, about a lot more things, in future articles. If anyone would like to contact me to discuss bodybuilding, you can go to my website and e-mail me, or reach me on my message board.

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