First Competition

[deltpecx]

yea! sorry for not posting, just finished up midterms. That being said, prep is going great - stayed to the plan 100% thus far! Ive started jogging to and from the gym (20mins total) for every workout and while im not cutting salt, just staying away from super high salting on my foods. current macros are 95C 50F and 175P. Posing going well - just working on transitions for each pose

Keep in mind that when you turn from the rear pose to face the judges make sure your abs are flexed as you turn around. Really the only time you can relax your abs is when you're facing the back curtain.

Do not spend time setting up the front pose when you turn from the rear pose. Turn and go right into your pose.

[waldoehf]

just saw this. thanks for the tip, will keep practicing that.

Getting somewhat nervous about the show tbh, questioning if im lean enough etc lol. seems as though every meal I eat I bloat beyond belief. although competing is a recreational thing for me to challenge myself, I dont want to be completely out of place up there.

Going to be registering for the show and tan today. show is 20 days away! Do you guys think I should get my npc card at the show or online? Is it more expensive at the show itself?

[deltpecx]

just saw this. thanks for the tip, will keep practicing that.

Getting somewhat nervous about the show tbh, questioning if im lean enough etc lol. seems as though every meal I eat I bloat beyond belief. although competing is a recreational thing for me to challenge myself, I dont want to be completely out of place up there.

Going to be registering for the show and tan today. show is 20 days away! Do you guys think I should get my npc card at the show or online? Is it more expensive at the show itself?

Is it $120? It should cost the same.

I've always bought it at my first show at check in.

You looked more than lean enough in the last pics you posted.

Also when you walk on stage make sure you keep yourself 'looking big'.
Keep your abs flexed, chest high, lats flexed and keep smiling.

The judges are watching you as soon as you enter the stage.
Their first impressions are everything.

[waldoehf]

Yes, it’s 125 - I believe the same price at the show.

Thanks, my mind is playing games one me.

As far as leanness goes, trying to decide if I should just continue my exact diet until show day or deplete and then load carbs in the final week. I don’t have a super long track record at this point - I’ve only done one refeed, so I don’t know how my body will respond. Any thoughts?

[smokinal]

Yes, it’s 125 - I believe the same price at the show.

Thanks, my mind is playing games one me.

As far as leanness goes, trying to decide if I should just continue my exact diet until show day or deplete and then load carbs in the final week. I don’t have a super long track record at this point - I’ve only done one refeed, so I don’t know how my body will respond. Any thoughts?

I think the deplete/carb thing is a lot safer and more consistent than messing with sodium and water.
That said, if you feel you look good now, which we all do, you are a lot safer staying consistent; don't alter too much.
It wouldn't hurt to add some carbs Thurs and Fri; keeping water the same. Then just sip on show day. And that's not so you drop water, but more to keep your stomach empty so you don't look bloated. And on Thurs and Fri I would come up to maint or slightly over to make sure you refill glycogen.
Check out Layne Norton's vids on peak week; very easy approach.

[deltpecx]

...
Getting somewhat nervous about the show tbh, questioning if im lean enough etc lol. seems as though every meal I eat I bloat beyond belief. ...

I think the deplete/carb thing is a lot safer and more consistent than messing with sodium and water.
That said, if you feel you look good now, which we all do, you are a lot safer staying consistent; don't alter too much.
...
Check out Layne Norton's vids on peak week; very easy approach.

^^^
This!!!!

You mentioned you're bloating.

Do you know what food is making you bloat?
How long does it take for the bloat to subside?

The answers will help you judge how to proceed on Thurs. , Fri. and Sat for your carb up.

OVER THINK THIS YOU SHOULD NOT!!

It's normal to have mind games going on the last few weeks of prep especially the first time.

DOUBT YOURSELF DO NOT!

You've already come this far and changed your physique immensely.
You've accomplished something most people will never do or attempt.
Use this as a learning experience regarding prep, competing and life.




Now the important question;

How's your posing practices been going?

[deltpecx]

I've been posting in this guy's thread for his first show.
https://forum.bodybuilding.com/showt...6277301&page=2

Check it out for pointers I may have missed posting in your thread.

[misterworkout12]

Great job ! Keep going

[waldoehf]

Sorry to keep everyone waiting! These last couple weeks have been insane with peak week and midterms. However, peak week went pretty well I would say. funny enough, it is 2:30 AM the morning of my first show, and I just had my first meal for the day. I’m following Layne Norton’s peak week plan and gonna have fun today!!!

[smokinal]

Bad AZZ MAN!! I'm pumped for you!

All sprayed?
Got your resistance bands? Good pump routine planned?

Quick selfie to post?

Go get after it bud! Remember to own that stage. You earned it.

[deltpecx]

Show Time!

Own the stage!

Show the judges you belong up there!

Good luck and have fun!

In for results.

[waldoehf]

Thanks guys! Yes I got everything all packed and ready to go! About to have the athlete meeting soon. Per Laynes plan, had a sub sandwich this morning, and I can feel the energy rushing through my veins - feels awesome! Unfortunately I don’t have my computer so I can’t post pictures but I have been taking them so I can dump a bunch later!

[smokinal]

Remember, the placing is just for fun.

Go show everyone what you've got; and be proud of what you accomplished.

Not many people can stick with the kind of dedication it takes to get stage ready.

[deltpecx]

Remember, the placing is just for fun.

Go show everyone what you've got; and be proud of what you accomplished.

Not many people can stick with the kind of dedication it takes to get stage ready.

This!

[waldoehf]

UPDATE:

It appears that I did not place. UNfortunately, it turned out to be a HUGE show - therefore everything was delayed. That said, by the time I got to step on stage, I was a little more depleted that I should have been (I didn't want to overdo carbs and spill over). Some really big guys at this meet, so I'm not too worried about it. Feels great to have accomplished my goal and I feel proud to have gotten here! Nightshow starts in about 2 hours and I will prolly go on in about 4.5hrs for the nightshow.

I had some discussions with guys in the locker room and I decided to see how my body would react to eating a lot between shows. I figure it is more helpful to see the difference than to just simply keep things normal because I know that my physique would simply maintain its current state. Ate a big lunch, and now just waiting for finals! Interested to see how things look with the food difference!

[waldoehf]

Here is a pic from just before stagetime!

[smokinal]

You look DAMN good brother!! Like I said, don't look at where you place; that's just for the show. Look at where you've come from.

The other hyuge bonus to the whole competing/prep thing is the knowledge you gained learning how everything works and how diet affects your body. If you never compete again, you will still have the knowledge you gained during this whole experience; that, too, is something not a lot of people aquire either.

I'm proud of ya for following through with the whole thing.

[waldoehf]

Thanks so much - really means a lot. Really encouraging to hear from other competitors on my progress! Not bloated too much, will post a pic of pre-nightshow physique later but I’m excited! Some of my family made it out!

[deltpecx]

Thanks so much - really means a lot. Really encouraging to hear from other competitors on my progress! Not bloated too much, will post a pic of pre-nightshow physique later but I’m excited! Some of my family made it out!

First congrats on getting up on the stage. You look really lean .
Being that you're so lean you could probably eat a lot more carbs than you did without worrying about spilling over.
between pre judging and the night show would be a good time to see how your body reacts to more carbs.

Feels great doesn't it to have accomplished this?

[waldoehf]

Hey everyone!

Thanks for hanging tight, was waiting until official show photos were uploaded until I updated on here. I ended up placing 8th in the show - which was slightly a bummer but I wasnt too worried. The reason being, I came in much leaner than I had originally anticipated! I feel that this was an indicator of my dedication and commitment to my diet and training - therefore I couldnt be happier with my personal results! And as stated above, even if I didnt do any more shows, I have learned so much about myself, my body, and gained a ton of discipline in the process! Was an awesome experience, and I may do another one in the future. However, it would probably be some time from now due to school, and all the costs involved XD. Attached are pics from the official photographer and my own pics as where my posing was a bit tighter LOL

Final stats were ~153lbs on show morning.

Things I learned about my body for next show day:

1. I may hold some water, so I may SLIGHTLY reduce the amount of water I am drinking before the show. Because I didnt want to dehydrate, I continued drinking a ton of water until show morning. The morning after the show, I had dried out a lot and saw a HUGE difference in how dry I was. I tend to hold water in my abdomen, so I need to be on the lookout for this. Additinoally, I feel that I am at my most dry stage after fasting overnight. May be something to consider for next show...

2. I dont spill over very easily - even after a huge lunch, I was still lean during the nightshow. Additionally, I dont feel that my pre-stage pump was really affected by what I ate. For prejuding, I ate rice cakes and two small candy bars. For the nightshow, I ate .25 piece of pizza, about 6 pieces of candy, and a ricecake with peanutbutter. Virtually no difference in the pump experienced between these foods.

3. Practice posing more WITHOUT a mirror - although my posing was okay, I think I would have done better if I had practiced while not in front of the mirror.


POST SHOW:

1. After my show, I have put on ~8lbs in about a week. A lot of this has been water, as I still have a high level of vascularity in my arms and still have ab veins in the morning. My body has still been adjusting to the processed foods I have been slowly adding to my diet - causing me to bloat a lot. Also, for the past two days, I have fasted until the early afternoon. When doing so, the bloating goes down quite a bit. I believe this issue is simply due to my body getting used to handling the volume and types of food I am having. For the most part, I have been eating clean while enjoying snacks at night without overdoing it. Pretty happy with overall post show eating.

2. After the show, I took a complete week off the gym to fully recover. Found a lot of extra time to wrap up some unfinished projects and get more energy before going back into things. This was a nice break, however I am now back at it!

3. Not exactly sure what my goals are. For now, I want to stay fairly lean while slowly working in more "normal" foods. Because of the social aspects of food, I dont want to be super limited by what I can eat while out with friends. Rather, I would prefer to eat clean foods in my day-to-day and be able to eat a burger here and there while out with friends.

[smokinal]

You looked great brah.

The think I like best about getting stage lean is that it's so much easier to maintain than it was to get there. You can have that burger or pizza once in a while now because
A.You know how to lose it afterward if you need to
B.You can adjust your macros so it doesn't make a difference

I've felt great the last 8 weeks after my last show, eating some normal foods again, a few cheats etc... but I'm still staying relatively lean at the same time. I've gone up a little and put on some fat of course but still feel its acceptable.

Go out with your friends, eat a burger here and there; it's all good man. Just adjust as you go and you'll be fine.

Think of it this way; if you took 3 days cleaning and organizing a messy garage; put up shelves, painted the floor, organized everything, everything had a home etc... It would be so much easier to maintain that than it was to get it in that condition. If one thing is out of place, you just take 2 seconds and move it to its correct home; you get a little dirt on the floor, just a quick sweep and it clean again.
Same with keeping your body in cood condition; just a few tweeks here and there and your back where you want to be.

Now go eat some food!

[TrainBeastMode]

Hey everyone!

Thanks for hanging tight, was waiting until official show photos were uploaded until I updated on here. I ended up placing 8th in the show - which was slightly a bummer but I wasnt too worried. The reason being, I came in much leaner than I had originally anticipated! I feel that this was an indicator of my dedication and commitment to my diet and training - therefore I couldnt be happier with my personal results! And as stated above, even if I didnt do any more shows, I have learned so much about myself, my body, and gained a ton of discipline in the process! Was an awesome experience, and I may do another one in the future. However, it would probably be some time from now due to school, and all the costs involved XD. Attached are pics from the official photographer and my own pics as where my posing was a bit tighter LOL

Final stats were ~153lbs on show morning.

Things I learned about my body for next show day:

1. I may hold some water, so I may SLIGHTLY reduce the amount of water I am drinking before the show. Because I didnt want to dehydrate, I continued drinking a ton of water until show morning. The morning after the show, I had dried out a lot and saw a HUGE difference in how dry I was. I tend to hold water in my abdomen, so I need to be on the lookout for this. Additinoally, I feel that I am at my most dry stage after fasting overnight. May be something to consider for next show...

2. I dont spill over very easily - even after a huge lunch, I was still lean during the nightshow. Additionally, I dont feel that my pre-stage pump was really affected by what I ate. For prejuding, I ate rice cakes and two small candy bars. For the nightshow, I ate .25 piece of pizza, about 6 pieces of candy, and a ricecake with peanutbutter. Virtually no difference in the pump experienced between these foods.

3. Practice posing more WITHOUT a mirror - although my posing was okay, I think I would have done better if I had practiced while not in front of the mirror.


POST SHOW:

1. After my show, I have put on ~8lbs in about a week. A lot of this has been water, as I still have a high level of vascularity in my arms and still have ab veins in the morning. My body has still been adjusting to the processed foods I have been slowly adding to my diet - causing me to bloat a lot. Also, for the past two days, I have fasted until the early afternoon. When doing so, the bloating goes down quite a bit. I believe this issue is simply due to my body getting used to handling the volume and types of food I am having. For the most part, I have been eating clean while enjoying snacks at night without overdoing it. Pretty happy with overall post show eating.

2. After the show, I took a complete week off the gym to fully recover. Found a lot of extra time to wrap up some unfinished projects and get more energy before going back into things. This was a nice break, however I am now back at it!

3. Not exactly sure what my goals are. For now, I want to stay fairly lean while slowly working in more "normal" foods. Because of the social aspects of food, I dont want to be super limited by what I can eat while out with friends. Rather, I would prefer to eat clean foods in my day-to-day and be able to eat a burger here and there while out with friends.

Congrats on your placing and you look great. You've come a long way, so that's something to be proud of. A placing is just how the judges keep their jobs and the free food from the promoter. How you felt about yourself is way more important. Keep at it man, you'll do great.

[deltpecx]

Hey everyone!

Thanks for hanging tight, was waiting until official show photos were uploaded until I updated on here. I ended up placing 8th in the show - which was slightly a bummer but I wasnt too worried. The reason being, I came in much leaner than I had originally anticipated! I feel that this was an indicator of my dedication and commitment to my diet and training - therefore I couldnt be happier with my personal results! And as stated above, even if I didnt do any more shows, I have learned so much about myself, my body, and gained a ton of discipline in the process! Was an awesome experience, and I may do another one in the future. However, it would probably be some time from now due to school, and all the costs involved XD. Attached are pics from the official photographer and my own pics as where my posing was a bit tighter LOL

Final stats were ~153lbs on show morning.

Things I learned about my body for next show day:

1. I may hold some water, so I may SLIGHTLY reduce the amount of water I am drinking before the show. Because I didnt want to dehydrate, I continued drinking a ton of water until show morning. The morning after the show, I had dried out a lot and saw a HUGE difference in how dry I was. I tend to hold water in my abdomen, so I need to be on the lookout for this. Additinoally, I feel that I am at my most dry stage after fasting overnight. May be something to consider for next show...

2. I dont spill over very easily - even after a huge lunch, I was still lean during the nightshow. Additionally, I dont feel that my pre-stage pump was really affected by what I ate. For prejuding, I ate rice cakes and two small candy bars. For the nightshow, I ate .25 piece of pizza, about 6 pieces of candy, and a ricecake with peanutbutter. Virtually no difference in the pump experienced between these foods.

3. Practice posing more WITHOUT a mirror - although my posing was okay, I think I would have done better if I had practiced while not in front of the mirror.


....

As I said previously Congrats for going through prep and getting up on the stage.

#1 You mention you were drier the morning after the show. If you compete again REMEMBER this. Do as you did for this shoe BUT drink the water as if the show day if FRIDAY. The the next day Saturday the real show day you should be direr.

A similar thing happened to me. It takes a lot of carbs for me to fill out.
The day after my last show , Sunday, I at potato chips and pretzels off and on all day long with my regular meals. Monday morning when I woke up and looked at myself in the mirror.
I looked totally different than I did Saturday at pre judging. I was 'huge' and shredded.

#2 This is HUGE.

#3. Learned a lot you have! Eventually we have to practice posing by feel. We have to KNOW how to hit the pose and KNOW that we did/can without the mirror.

The first three pics are posed pretty much spot on.

Learned well you have!

[waldoehf]

Thanks so much all! Really appreciate all the support and advice - it helped a ton! Each of you has had great input and helped me tremendously throughout the whole process, I am very grateful!

[waldoehf]

Hi all!

Hope the holidays and the past few months went well for all of you! It has now been about 2.5 months since my show and things have gone fairly well I would say. I have not stayed quite as lean as I would have liked, but its not too bad. I am not currently studying abroad in Spain until May. Throughout my travels thus far, I have been eating a lot of salads, lean meats, and yogurt.

Getting down to business: I would love all of your input if you wouldn't mind sharing your thoughts. I would say that I am about 13% bf currently. However, although I was trying to stay as lean as possible after my show, I have found myself yo-yoing back and forth between deficit days and surplus days. This is because I have not decided if I want to bulk or cut. I realize that I am 20 and this is a great growing period for me, but summer is also coming in about 5 months. However, I realize I am ultra primed for making gains at this point in my life. Plus, my apetitie has never been as high as it is right now - which I attribute to my show cutting diet.

1. do you think I should bulk or cut right now?

2. If I do bulk, should I avoid putting on any more bodyfat that I currently have?

I attached a picture in good lighting of where I am currently. Can upload more pics if needed.

Thanks all!

[smokinal]

Good to hear from you; and still lookin great.

Id bulk
Remember how much you had to lose to get really lean? People always underestimate how much they have to lose to get lean. You really have to be at a pretty high starting point before you cut.

That being said, I've found that once I got really lean the very first time, it's much easier subsequent times.

Just slow bulk at that typical .5 lb per week, if you can do that lol I have a harder time keeping it as linear as possible going up than going down. Try and put on weight slowly and there won't be too much fat. And you'll see your next cut will be easier than the first.

[deltpecx]

... I've found that once I got really lean the very first time, it's much easier subsequent times.

This so true!

I think it's because;
1. The body has don't it before and knows ot can survive on less body fat. Thereby not fighting loseng it as hard as it did the first time.
2. We know what to expect me... Been there, done that.



You look good. You didn't acquire too much of The Fluff. That in itself is impressive!
Most guys after a show just get fluffy much to quickly.

The mistake I made between shows was to not eat enough, slowly adding calories, to put on some muscle instead of fat.

Decide what you want to do and go for it.
If bulking take it slow to avoid adding too much fluff.


What was your stage weight?
What's your weight now?

[waldoehf]

Thanks for the input!

Right now I am about 174, and my stage weight was right around 152.

[deltpecx]

Thanks for the input!

Right now I am about 174, and my stage weight was right around 152.

You stayed pretty lean.

[waldoehf]

Thanks! What do you guys think about doing a very slight bulk (keeping bf levels around where they are now) and then doing a 4 week cut for summer and then bulking again in the fall?

OR, would you just say to commit to either right now?