First Contest ~ My Prep Log

Training
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My first contest is 15 weeks away ~~~ (June 15 ~ Carolina Supernatural).

I’m 45.

I started my cut at 220, and I am down to 207. Target is 190-192 (Open light heavyweight classification). I’m also considering the Masters 40-50 division

Here’s my diet as it stands right now.

Meal 1
2 scoops of protein powder

Meal 2
1 boiled egg

Meal 3
280g of Grilled Chicken & 28g of grits (hey it’s the south)

Meal 4
Greek Yogurt & 2-tbs of p-nut butter

Meal 5
5 boiled eggs & 28g of grits (2 times a week I’ll replace the eggs with tuna)

Meal 6
2 scoops (56g) of protein powder.

Potential notables:
~ My routine has me lifting
Monday (chest, tri, sho),
Wednesday (legs),
Saturday (Back, bi, sho, abs)
Sunday (legs, delts, cardio)

I’m coming off a shoulder strain, and do therapy on it nearly daily.

I workout between meal 5 and 6.

Drinking only water.

Still eating whatever I want on Sundays ~ (without going crazy).

Monday seems to be the day to know where the facilities are ~ lol. I started weighing myself on Tuesday as a result.

I thought I’d start my post with the key on my diet, as I have moments where I’m hungry (especially between meals 3 & 4) ~ and sometimes I break the diet at that point.

I also wonder if I’m not getting enough carbs.

Attached pic was taken about a week ago. Sorry it is not a series of mandatories. My wife is not a fan of the BB scene, and isn’t keen on taking pictures of me (that I will then post on the internet) ~~~ lol I seriously doubt I’ll ever convince her to take a picture of me posing. Heck, for that matter, I’d be surprised if she even comes to the contest. No worries, she’s an awesome woman. I’m blessed to have her.

Relative to me and me only (and not comparing myself to anyone else), I thing my lats are a strength. Legs okay, calves better.

Weaknesses: shoulders, hamstrings, chest, biceps.

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My initial thought is that it sounds like a shockingly low amount of food for someone who weights over 200 lbs. Have you crunched the #s and actually contemplated what you’re eating, and what you should be eating to drop a well planned out amount of fat each week?

S

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Stu ~ I was hoping you’d jump in ~ you bring some serious insight.

To answer your question: there has been no number crunching going on.

Am I understanding that you think I should be eating more? (I’m cool with that if the answer is ‘yes’) ~

J

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A real beginner mistake (this is not a dig), is getting into the “drop weight asap” mindset. Remember that muscle preservation is key. It’s how you will actually have a “physique” and not just a ‘body’ onstage. It’s also how you keep your metabolism humming along during the prep process.

There are a bunch of different BMR calculators online, so my first suggestion is to figure out what you need to maintain your current condition. Then figure out a nice conservative (relatively) drop. Then figure your carb tolerance and how many grams you can honestly handle, plan your healthy fats, and go about targeting where the carbs will do provide the most benefit in terms of training. Fill the rest with protein and veggies, and Voila! Instant contest diet.

(It does get a bit more complicated than that, but this is a basic how to for you to consider)

S

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Meal 2 (1 Egg) … What’s up with that? As most have said already, Looks like your setting yourself up for a metabolism crash. Up those calories and increase your activity lvl.

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Re diet: Lots of issues. I agree with the above that the calories seem too low; Stu’s suggestion re formulating a BMR-based caloric plan is the way to go. Additionally, by eating the same diet every day (except Sunday), you’re not modulating your intake to reflect the caloric demands of the day (ie, you could eat more on training days, less on off days). Finally, carb intake–the amount you eat and when you eat it–should be related to your training. I prefer to limit all carbs to the intra- and immediate post-workout period; you will find others who limit carbs to the pre-workout period; others who take them pre- and post-workout; and still others who like to include them at breakfast. OTOH, I am hard-pressed to come up with a diet philosophy that would accommodate a bolus of high-GI carbs at Meal 3 as you have them here. I suggest you do some reading on the topic of carbs as they relate to training/cutting, and decide for yourself which approach makes the most sense to you.

Re training: You say your weak areas are shoulders, hamstrings, chest, biceps. But while you train Shoulders 3x/week and Legs 2x/week, you only train Chest and Biceps once. Why?

Finally, you may be shocked to discover just how far your bodyweight has to drop in order to be in contest shape.

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Thanks for all the feedback so far. This Saturday, the contest organizers are hosting a “Diet” workshop to help their participants. I was planning on attending. From the dieting comments so far, it looks like I ‘need’ to attend. lol I’ll be there!

Based on my weight Tuesday, losing 1 lb a week would get me down to 190 ~~~ Do you think that will have me anywhere near contest shape?

Chest training is limited by the shoulder, so as the shoulder returns to form, I hope to increase my volume in that area. Before the injury, the chest was a bit of a strength, so I’m hoping it will come back quickly.

As to only having a single arm workout listed, I did fail to mention in the original post that I do an arm specific day every other week (which is an idea I got from “Teamskip”). Not trying to justify the volume there, just saying that I had omitted that in my initial post. Arms have always been a problem… any suggestions?

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[quote]iplan wrote:
Based on my weight Tuesday, losing 1 lb a week would get me down to 190 ~~~ Do you think that will have me anywhere near contest shape?
[/quote]

How tall are you?

I’m 5’8, and I thought that I’d be 190 for my first show too. Then I got into the 180’s and still not ripped. Then I entered the 170’s, still not ripped. Finally, on contest day, I weighed in at 170 lbs. Definitely a sobering experience of how “not big” I really was -lol.

Don’t worry about #s, just worry about your reflection in the mirror.

S

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[quote]iplan wrote:
Based on my weight Tuesday, losing 1 lb a week would get me down to 190 ~~~ Do you think that will have me anywhere near contest shape?
[/quote]

Many others have weighed in on the diet so I will just address your question above.

From the picture you posted, I am sure you will be way under 190 if you are hoping to be very lean.

You may want to aim for closer to 1.5 pounds per week of fat loss.

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[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:

[quote]iplan wrote:
Based on my weight Tuesday, losing 1 lb a week would get me down to 190 ~~~ Do you think that will have me anywhere near contest shape?
[/quote]

Many others have weighed in on the diet so I will just address your question above.

From the picture you posted, I am sure you will be way under 190 if you are hoping to be very lean.

You may want to aim for closer to 1.5 pounds per week of fat loss.[/quote]

What do you know about getting lean?

(j/k man; you look like an anatomy chart!)

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[quote]iplan wrote:
Based on my weight Tuesday, losing 1 lb a week would get me down to 190 ~~~ Do you think that will have me anywhere near contest shape?
[/quote]

Get the idea of 190 out of your head now.
Your goal is to be ‘stage ready’ at whatever weight that is. If that is 190 great; if it is not, that is great too! You must be able to ‘make peace’ w/yourself.

Everybody is different; however…for reference I’m 208 in the avi. pic. and there is video at 195 in my profile. I would have some substantial work left to reach stage ready condition from 195.

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No advice here, but “45 and first contest” is AWESOME - with sauce. Keep us posted.

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[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
No advice here, but “45 and first contest” is AWESOME - with sauce.[/quote]

lol ~ thanks.

Other information: my height is 6’0" ~~~~~~

Per Stu’s suggestion, I went to a Calorie Calculator Website and according to the input data, my maintenance would be 2631 cal per day, and target for 1 lb of fat loss would be 2105 cal (1.5 lb per week would be 1881). The diet I had posted, assuming no cheating totaled 1600 ~~~~ (so if I went with 1881, I’d only need an additional 281c per day ~ right?

As to cutting leading to the realization of how ‘not ripped’ you are, this is somewhat of a concern! lol

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[quote]iplan wrote:

As to cutting leading to the realization of how ‘not ripped’ you are, this is somewhat of a concern! lol
[/quote]

i bet it is…

i dont know how else to say this, but… expect reality to be a real bitch

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[/quote]expect reality to be a real bitch[/quote]

No surprises there.

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[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
What do you know about getting lean?

(j/k man; you look like an anatomy chart!)[/quote]

Thanks!

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[quote]timmcbride00 wrote:

[quote]EyeDentist wrote:
What do you know about getting lean?

(j/k man; you look like an anatomy chart!)[/quote]

Thanks![/quote]

I agree w/ eyedentist ~~~~ your avatar pic is freaky ~~~~~

On Other Fronts:

Today was Leg Day:

Straight Leg Deadlifts: 5x20
Reverse Lunges: 3x12
Hack Squats: 5x10
C. Raises: 3x max

  • Traps: DB Shruggs: 3x20

Cardio: 20 min

  • Traps (I don’t know why I train traps on leg day, but it seems to suit me).
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[quote]iplan wrote:
I agree w/ eyedentist ~~~~ your avatar pic is freaky ~~~~~
[/quote]

Thanks!

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Best wishes! I will be following along for sure :slight_smile:

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Its really hard to judge from one pic but from what I see imo if you want to come in really dry ull be on stage at around 172-174

Dont aim for 190… that is 100% sure too high. .actually dont aim for anything, go by what you see

Or take weekly pics and post them here for ppl to evaluate it