172.5 lbs, been losing .5 to 1 lb per week for the last month, which is on target. My routine consists of the following:
Monday: Deadlifts/Back,Calves and HIIT
Tuesday: Chest
Wednesday: Abs, Calves and HIIT only
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Delts, Tris, Bis
Saturday: Explosive training and HIIT: Power cleans, push presses, power push ups, jump squats
Sunday: Rest
I’m doing a traditional bodybuilding routine since I haven’t done this in years. I figure it would shock my body a little…it seems to be responding well to this unfamiliar routine. Will keep it for another week. For cardio, I’m currently doing HIIT 3x per week. I’m keeping my daily average calories steady at 2500 per day, a little lower 2x per week, a little higher on weekends for social purposes.
[quote]paulieserafini wrote:
wait are you doing INBF physique? or NPC physique?
I dunno if you’ve ever been to a natty physique show but they looks small man. Like they don’t even lift. You’ll be like the biggest 5’8 on stage if you wanna do a natty show you should do bodybuilding. Your proportions look good man.[/quote]
Haha ouch! I agree that he would do well in bb’ing
Development looks fairly good. Hams and calves lag, but for physique, they’ll either be covered, or it will come down to who else onstage has any natural genetic development.
Posing wise, the Physique guys need to look more relaxed, and ‘natural’ as they flaunt their “wares” up there. The locked knees? Looks real bad. Definitely watch some videos and see how the better guys almost strut into their poses, shift their hips, twist ever so relaxed, and smile like there’s no place else on Earth that they’d rather be.
If you were to do bodybuilding, the front and back shots look ok, but the side really shows the weakness of hams, and narrowness of your upper arms. Also, you’d have to come down a bit more to really dial everything in, and you’d weigh considerably less than your current 170 lbs at 5’8. The usual cut-off for LIghtweight competitors in INBF shows (they are the strictest in terms of testing) is 160 lbs, and most guys in that class will be about 5’6 on average. Not to stress your height at the upper end because you never know who will show up, but, you can hide your height much better in bodybuilding poses than in physique ones.
Wish I had popped in here sooner, I’ll try to chime in whenever I can. Good luck!
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Development looks fairly good. Hams and calves lag, but for physique, they’ll either be covered, or it will come down to who else onstage has any natural genetic development.
Posing wise, the Physique guys need to look more relaxed, and ‘natural’ as they flaunt their “wares” up there. The locked knees? Looks real bad. Definitely watch some videos and see how the better guys almost strut into their poses, shift their hips, twist ever so relaxed, and smile like there’s no place else on Earth that they’d rather be.
If you were to do bodybuilding, the front and back shots look ok, but the side really shows the weakness of hams, and narrowness of your upper arms. Also, you’d have to come down a bit more to really dial everything in, and you’d weigh considerably less than your current 170 lbs at 5’8. The usual cut-off for LIghtweight competitors in INBF shows (they are the strictest in terms of testing) is 160 lbs, and most guys in that class will be about 5’6 on average. Not to stress your height at the upper end because you never know who will show up, but, you can hide your height much better in bodybuilding poses than in physique ones.
Wish I had popped in here sooner, I’ll try to chime in whenever I can. Good luck!
S[/quote]
Thanks Stu! That’s very helpful feedback. I’m definitely don’t think I’d be ready to compete in bodybuilding…I would have to lean out alot more. I think I would needed to have started at a larger base.
As far as the posing in Physique, Yeah I have absolutely no experience in that, I’ve only seen a few You Tube videos. I plan to start attending posing seminars the next few weekends…or hire a coach to help with that and hone in on my nutrition and training for the last 2 months. Thanks again!
Do you guys recommend any supplements for contest prep, especially the last 10 weeks? I’m not sure if any ingredients in Biotest are banned from INBF…I saw a pretty long list. For the beginning of my prep, I’ve been taking Creatine, Whey, Casein, BCAAs, Fish oil, Vitamin D and Glucosamine…the basics, you could say.
I’m looking to add something like HOT-ROX, and/or anything else to help me out in burning a little extra fat and maintaining muscle. But don’t want to risk failing the banned list for some unknown ingredient.
Have to say that you’ve made some great progress! Overcoming the phobia of becoming ‘small’ from dieting is hard enough to overcome, but you look bigger overall. As previously highlighted by others, hams require some work and calves but that will come over time. Just out of interest, I was wondering why your left leg appears to be far more defined and vascular than the right?
How are you finding the fasting? I couldn’t imagine it and everyone must avoid you until you’ve had your first meal haha. I would be irritable as hell! Jeez, I’m thinking about cutting soon - down from 210lb, should be interesting…
All the best and look forward to following your progress.
[quote]samking104 wrote:
Have to say that you’ve made some great progress! Overcoming the phobia of becoming ‘small’ from dieting is hard enough to overcome, but you look bigger overall. As previously highlighted by others, hams require some work and calves but that will come over time. Just out of interest, I was wondering why your left leg appears to be far more defined and vascular than the right?
How are you finding the fasting? I couldn’t imagine it and everyone must avoid you until you’ve had your first meal haha. I would be irritable as hell! Jeez, I’m thinking about cutting soon - down from 210lb, should be interesting…
All the best and look forward to following your progress.[/quote]
Lol, it might have been the lighting or maybe I just flexed it more, but I’ll check it out next time. The IF was going very well, I felt great energy, without the post-lunch crashes. But actually I’m giving it a rest for a little while, even though it was giving me results. Reason why is I think it may have been giving me bad cravings for food at night. Even after a large dinner, I felt like eating non-stop, I stopped myself, but it was hard. And on weekends it seemed to make me want to feast more. I have a sweet tooth, so that’s mainly what it triggered. Or maybe I was just using that excuse. Either way, I’m laying off for a little while, but I do plan to do a 24 hour fast every week or 2. I do believe in the benefits and have seen results, I was actually getting stronger while losing weight. I may go back to it the last few weeks but we’ll see. As far as irritable, maybe at first but I got use to it and I really enjoyed the convenience of it.
Thanks for your input!
front bicep
9 weeks out. 172.5 lbs, 1 lb loss this week, which is right on pace. Looking to add some cardio, maybe fasted walking 2x week, 20 min. Currently doing HIIT 3x week, 15 min after my weight training.
How’s the diet looking? Macros? How are you feeling physically and mentally?
You need to soften up a bit to give your competitors a chance.
You look great, man. You seem ahead of schedule, conditioning wise, in my opinion.
In the front relaxed you kept the knees bent slightly which looks better.
On the other poses it looks like you reverted back to straight legs, try and keep them bent a tad.
[quote]Gettnitdone wrote:
How’s the diet looking? Macros? How are you feeling physically and mentally?
You need to soften up a bit to give your competitors a chance. [/quote]
At 5’8", currently 173 lbs. I’ve been averaging my calories at 2500 from the beginning…will probably keep it there unless I really need to drop some the last month. I cycle my carbs, around 100 on lower carb days, up to 300 or so on higher days, which is mostly on the weekends to keep my social life a little normal. Protein 200g per day. Physically and mentally feel great, my strength has maintained. Eating much more greens probably conributes to feeling good. I like to eat so I’ve been eating alot more veggies to fill me up.
[quote]LankyMofo wrote:
You look great, man. You seem ahead of schedule, conditioning wise, in my opinion. [/quote]
Thanks so much!