Hey, I know that there are folks who live for competing in these contests. This is my 1st one, so as long as I know i busted my ass, and looked ‘respectable’, I’ll be content.
S
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
Hey, I know that there are folks who live for competing in these contests. This is my 1st one, so as long as I know i busted my ass, and looked ‘respectable’, I’ll be content.
S
[/quote]
Looking good Stu. This is a recommendation for after the show. I don’t want to take your focus off your prep, so just put this in your back pocket till later.
Be sure to hit the gym hard no more than 2 days after the show. You’ll only feel tired for the first couple days then you’ll have lots of energy from eating again and it’s like your body overcompensates to the training due to the recent prep phase stress.
My personal experience was when I was a teenager. I did 2 shows, after the first I pigged out for a week and never went to the gym. I ended up 15lbs heavier than my precut weight and all fat.
Next time, I was in the gym the Monday morning after a Saturday night show, ate almost as much over the coming days and ended up about 6lbs heavier than my pre-cut weight with a waist 1" smaller than before!
Don’t just take my word for it. The guy that told me about it (and laughed at me the first time) was in his mid-thirties then and was making his comeback to competing at the national level. I also remember a Dave Tate blog discussing Justin Harris’ belief that post-competition may be a person most anabolic window.
Once again, it’s for after the show moreso than now, but just in case you were planning time off from the gym (as many do), I wanted to mention it.
I know it’s a few months off, but thanks for the heads up, I have heard similar remarks from others as well. I’m already itching to eat and lift big things, but do realize that I can totally end up putting on a lot of fat if Im not careful.
I’ll probably keep things as clean as I can, and just allow my calories to go back to a more maintenence/slow gain amount. Of course After the Sat night show, and Sunday I plan on eating whatever the hell I want, but yes, Monday will certainly be a gym day 
An IHOP will probably factor in to my bulking on occassion as well -lol
S