1st Time on Stage

Training Bodybuilding
262

[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:
Thanks, tim. I started January 31st and actually lost closer to 50lbs. A few weeks before that I cleaned up my diet a bit just so it wasn’t a huge shocked when I started the prep.

The main goal was to retain as much lean mass as possible and I think I succeeded with that. On average, I lost 2 pounds a week. I dieted for 16 weeks to my first show (so was around 190) and then had 5 more weeks to the 2nd where I ended up at 180.

Good luck with your show. You looked great after your last cut.[/quote]

That’s incredible.

And thanks for your kind words.

What are your plans now?

263

Dude, I just want to say after watching you in the indigo vids you have some absolutely SICK muscle bellies. I’m jealous, haha.

264

Right now my plans are simple. Get hyoooge, lol.

I actually plan on competing again next year/summer and hopefully becoming a pro eventually. My main goal is to put on more muscle (specifically focus on my back) while maintaining a lowish bodyfat (~10%). The main criticism from the judges were to bring up my back which is why I’ll be focusing more on that (width especially) and to come in with better conditioning. I think as far as dieting down, I did as good of a job as I could of, I just was starting too high over my contest weight. Staying relatively lean in the off-season will help me come in with great conditioning as I won’t have to lose another 50lbs (hopefully just 20-30).

Right now, I’m enjoying my summer and not following a strict diet, but come September I’ll be planning out my weekly diet again and keep a food log. Currently, I’m getting customized routines from Christian since I’m part of the Indigo project. I really like the programs, but I can’t afford to take Indigo indefinitely, so I don’t know if I’ll continue to get routines. If not, I’ll still incorporate a lot of Christian’s methods as I think they work and it’s fun to train his way.

265

[quote]waylanderxx wrote:
Dude, I just want to say after watching you in the indigo vids you have some absolutely SICK muscle bellies. I’m jealous, haha.[/quote]

Thanks, way. Hopefully I can make the most of what I was given.

266

[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:

[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Wow, great transformation.

When exactly in January did you start your prep? I am curious because 40 pounds was a lot to lose, but it seems as if you retained your lean mass well.[/quote]

Thanks, tim. I started January 31st and actually lost closer to 50lbs. A few weeks before that I cleaned up my diet a bit just so it wasn’t a huge shocked when I started the prep.

The main goal was to retain as much lean mass as possible and I think I succeeded with that. On average, I lost 2 pounds a week. I dieted for 16 weeks to my first show (so was around 190) and then had 5 more weeks to the 2nd where I ended up at 180.

Good luck with your show. You looked great after your last cut.[/quote]

So your fat loss was generally pretty consistent? If I recall you weren’t doing a ton of cardio.

I don’t know whats with my body but I could lose a lot of fat one week then absolutely nothing after that. It seems a lot of people make a change and then that allows progress for another month, or they add 20min of cardio a week and that keeps them progressing with fat loss. For me it’s like I’ll make a big change, lose 2lb in a week and then be in a standstill again…just happened again this week actually. It’s weird because from reading your log and many others experiences that doesn’t seem to be typical at all. The end result is I end up doing more to get to 12% than most people do to get contest ready :\ lol

267

[quote]David1991 wrote:

[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:

[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Wow, great transformation.

When exactly in January did you start your prep? I am curious because 40 pounds was a lot to lose, but it seems as if you retained your lean mass well.[/quote]

Thanks, tim. I started January 31st and actually lost closer to 50lbs. A few weeks before that I cleaned up my diet a bit just so it wasn’t a huge shocked when I started the prep.

The main goal was to retain as much lean mass as possible and I think I succeeded with that. On average, I lost 2 pounds a week. I dieted for 16 weeks to my first show (so was around 190) and then had 5 more weeks to the 2nd where I ended up at 180.

Good luck with your show. You looked great after your last cut.[/quote]

So your fat loss was generally pretty consistent? If I recall you weren’t doing a ton of cardio.

I don’t know whats with my body but I could lose a lot of fat one week then absolutely nothing after that. It seems a lot of people make a change and then that allows progress for another month, or they add 20min of cardio a week and that keeps them progressing with fat loss. For me it’s like I’ll make a big change, lose 2lb in a week and then be in a standstill again…just happened again this week actually. It’s weird because from reading your log and many others experiences that doesn’t seem to be typical at all. The end result is I end up doing more to get to 12% than most people do to get contest ready :\ lol[/quote]

Fat loss was pretty consistent from 1-2lbs a week. I was doing a good amount of cardio though. Ramped it up throughout the prep and ended at 40 min every morning and 30 minutes after every workout with cardio intervals every 3rd day.

I think the reason that I consistently lost weight was that we were more proactive than reactive. Instead of waiting for me to hit a plateau, my cardio would get increased by 5 minutes one week. The next week we would cut cals, etc. However, eventually I reached a point about 4 weeks out where we didn’t have to change a thing and I kept losing weight. This might have just been due to the amount of muscle mass compared to my lower body fat, so I was in a bigger calorie deficit even though I was eating the same amount of cals (just guessing).

Maybe your problem is that your changes are too drastic so your body just stores everything you give it. Try making smaller adjustments week to week instead of making one big change and hoping it’s good for the month.

268

[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:

[quote]David1991 wrote:

[quote]thoughts1053 wrote:

[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:
Wow, great transformation.

When exactly in January did you start your prep? I am curious because 40 pounds was a lot to lose, but it seems as if you retained your lean mass well.[/quote]

Thanks, tim. I started January 31st and actually lost closer to 50lbs. A few weeks before that I cleaned up my diet a bit just so it wasn’t a huge shocked when I started the prep.

The main goal was to retain as much lean mass as possible and I think I succeeded with that. On average, I lost 2 pounds a week. I dieted for 16 weeks to my first show (so was around 190) and then had 5 more weeks to the 2nd where I ended up at 180.

Good luck with your show. You looked great after your last cut.[/quote]

So your fat loss was generally pretty consistent? If I recall you weren’t doing a ton of cardio.

I don’t know whats with my body but I could lose a lot of fat one week then absolutely nothing after that. It seems a lot of people make a change and then that allows progress for another month, or they add 20min of cardio a week and that keeps them progressing with fat loss. For me it’s like I’ll make a big change, lose 2lb in a week and then be in a standstill again…just happened again this week actually. It’s weird because from reading your log and many others experiences that doesn’t seem to be typical at all. The end result is I end up doing more to get to 12% than most people do to get contest ready :\ lol[/quote]

Fat loss was pretty consistent from 1-2lbs a week. I was doing a good amount of cardio though. Ramped it up throughout the prep and ended at 40 min every morning and 30 minutes after every workout with cardio intervals every 3rd day.

I think the reason that I consistently lost weight was that we were more proactive than reactive. Instead of waiting for me to hit a plateau, my cardio would get increased by 5 minutes one week. The next week we would cut cals, etc. However, eventually I reached a point about 4 weeks out where we didn’t have to change a thing and I kept losing weight. This might have just been due to the amount of muscle mass compared to my lower body fat, so I was in a bigger calorie deficit even though I was eating the same amount of cals (just guessing).

Maybe your problem is that your changes are too drastic so your body just stores everything you give it. Try making smaller adjustments week to week instead of making one big change and hoping it’s good for the month.[/quote]

Yea I’ve been lifting for about 3 years but I definitely have so much more to experiment with (and on that note it amazes me we’ve been lifting about the same amount of time!). Generally I definitely don’t make such big changes and actually am more reactive than proactive, but have actually had people say THAT was the problem lol. Like I’ll lose fat one week, take away another 100 calories/day the next week (for example) then not lose anything and be confused/annoyed so then I mention it to someone more experienced and hear something like “why did you change anything when you lost fat that week” lol. Oh well though, I guess that’s just how my body is and I’ll have to keep experimenting.