Help for a first time bikini competitor

[Danipowell7777]

Hi, I am wondering if anyone has any advise or tips for a first time bikini competitor. I am coaching myself (I'm a personal trainer) but have no knowledge of the competing industry. Things are very different for contest prep! So to bring you up to speed where I am I'm I've got my bikini and shoes, I haven't yet had any posing practice, I'm 5.5 weeks out. I'm eating 1200 calories (I'm only 5"2 so this is to give me a 1000 calorie a day deficit to lose 2lbs per week) I'm doing 4 weights sessions per week and about 4 hours total steady state cardio but I'm thinking I need to increase this now big time! My macros are 40-40-20 but I don't know whether I should introduce carb cycling and if so do I up my fat on low carb days or do I adjust my calories so I have more on high carb days and less on low carb days? Sorry for all the questions my gym isn't really a competing gym and I live in a small town where there arnt many competitors about to ask these things! Plus I can't afford a coach trying to do this on a budget and would also like to see what I can achieve without one! Oh one last thing what do I do on peak week in regards to training, water and sodium, carbs ect ! I'd post a picture so you could see where I am so far but I don't know how? I'm new here too! 😃 Xx

[Prickly69]

The information you seek is readily available.
The world no longer need paper nor pen.
Good luck in your show.

[WeeRocket]

You should have started posing practice weeks ago...posing will make or break you, regardless of how great a physique you have.

Find a posing coach, or go on youtube, practice daily for 30 minutes minimum.

Diet wise, you haven't said if your progress has stopped? If not, don't change anything. If it has, add in a bit more cardio as your calories are already quite low.

How long have you got and how many pounds do you guess you have left to lose?

Don't mess around with peak week strategies if you aren't experienced in that area. You really shouldn't need to 'dry out' for bikini anyway.

[Garage Rat]

Spot on advise above^^^.
I wouldn't necessarily focus on weight loss itself but fat loss.
This can be confusing because if you gain any muscle the weight drop can be less than you think it should be.
Use the mirror,pictures and video and access yourself each week.
Doing things by yourself is a trial and error learning process.
You should be documenting diet,supps,and training for your contest prep and even off season if your really serious.
Good luck.

[sy2502]

Spot on advise above^^^.
I wouldn't necessarily focus on weight loss itself but fat loss.
This can be confusing because if you gain any muscle the weight drop can be less than you think it should be.
Use the mirror,pictures and video and access yourself each week.
Doing things by yourself is a trial and error learning process.
You should be documenting diet,supps,and training for your contest prep and even off season if your really serious.
Good luck.

I doubt anyone can gain muscle on a 1,000 calorie a day deficit. She's lucky if she gets to keep whatever muscle she has, let alone gain any.