2015 body transformation challenge!

[77Davis]

I'm pretty excited about this. It is an annual challenge my gym does starting in February, and goes on for 12 weeks. Three winners are chosen based on the amount of points they have earned.

Points are earned by:
- 1 point for Weekly weigh-ins
- 1 point for completing the weekly challenge
- 1 point for every % of body fat lost
- 1 point for every lb of muscle gained
- Maximum of 10 points for completing an essay towards the end of the competition talking about how the challenge has helped achieve your goals.

You get some freebies along with it such a evaluations from personal trainers, body composition assessments, and a nutrition seminar.

So here is my question for you all:
How would you handle this if you were me? I started at this gym on Nov 4th of this year at about 172lbs and 20% body fat. My idea initially was to cut for 12 weeks, and then proceed to bulk for the next 12 weeks. The timing of this competition is perfect since it begins when my cutting is supposed to end. Right now, I am down to 162 lbs average weigh-in, and about 16.5% body fat.

I was thinking that probably at around 14% body fat (my cutting goal) the body really starts to fight you with additional losses; it would likely be much easier to work on muscle gain at this point if gaining points is also the goal. However, it would be a short duration to bulk lasting only 6 weeks, before going back to cutting for the last 6. I think this ration is how I would maximize transformation and points during a 12-week duration.

What do you all think?

Edit to add: I also wanted to point out that my true goal in this is the motivation. It really doesn't matter if I win or not (sorta haha!) I just want to utilize this competition to push me further and harder.

[tmac4919]

If it sparks your motivation and enables you to push harder, I say go for it. Good luck!

[Squid24]

I'm pretty excited about this. It is an annual challenge my gym does starting in February, and goes on for 12 weeks. Three winners are chosen based on the amount of points they have earned.

Points are earned by:
- 1 point for Weekly weigh-ins
- 1 point for completing the weekly challenge
- 1 point for every % of body fat lost
- 1 point for every lb of muscle gained
- Maximum of 10 points for completing an essay towards the end of the competition talking about how the challenge has helped achieve your goals.

You get some freebies along with it such a evaluations from personal trainers, body composition assessments, and a nutrition seminar.

So here is my question for you all:
How would you handle this if you were me? I started at this gym on Nov 4th of this year at about 172lbs and 20% body fat. My idea initially was to cut for 12 weeks, and then proceed to bulk for the next 12 weeks. The timing of this competition is perfect since it begins when my cutting is supposed to end. Right now, I am down to 162 lbs average weigh-in, and about 16.5% body fat.

I was thinking that probably at around 14% body fat (my cutting goal) the body really starts to fight you with additional losses; it would likely be much easier to work on muscle gain at this point if gaining points is also the goal. However, it would be a short duration to bulk lasting only 6 weeks, before going back to cutting for the last 6. I think this ration is how I would maximize transformation and points during a 12-week duration.

What do you all think?

Edit to add: I also wanted to point out that my true goal in this is the motivation. It really doesn't matter if I win or not (sorta haha!) I just want to utilize this competition to push me further and harder.

If you are going to do that...you might as well enter this one too...... $200,000 Bodybuilding.com Challenge,