Dont know whether i missed it stu but what class are you hoping for?? And what weight is that class? and what do u expect to come in as?? If i remember correctly you came in about 174lbs last time??
[quote]Sarev0k wrote:
I also think its amazing thats its been a little over a month and youve already lost 17 lbs. Do you have a faster metabolism as well? Mine seems like it takes forever to process food.[/quote]
I was thinking the same thing. Stu’s calorie level is high for a consistent cut. I’d like to attribute that to a higher BMR/higher LBM than myself. But for a 2 lb/week cut with the same activity level, my calories are consistently 500-1000 kcal lower.
Must be nice!
I certainly don’t think that I have a fast metabolism, but I probably went into this prep expecting to get the most of my weight loss through dietary manipulation, like I did last time, and didn’t really bat an eyelash at the sudden drop in daily numbers.
Of course with the increase in muscle mass over the last year, I’m sure my required cals were a bit higher this time out, plus, I think my body must have gotten used to the amount of food I was ingesting on a regular basis.
I know that Yates used to actually raise his cals for a bit before starting a diet (pendulum analogy). If you may recall, I had planned on keeping my wight under 190/195 after the last show, knowing that I was going to have to diet down again,… but then I started with the FInibars, and Anaconda, and my body just started adding weight on its own.
After a while, I just went with it, and slowly I ended up just under 210 when I needed to start cutting (and still not what I think anyone would call sloppy-off season - you could always see my abs when I flexed 'em).
The amount of weight I’ve been losing each week is admittedly a bit shocking,… as I tried not to really focus on what weight class I’ll ultimately end up, condition being the real key. However, and I’m sure I’ve said this a bunch of times already (my brains runs in circles in regard to this stuff)…
Presently, I’m 10 lbs higher than this point last year. That means that if I aim to hit the exact same weight/conditioning as last time, I’d need to lose about 20 lbs by the show date. BUT, I came in 6 lbs under the limit last time.
Suddenly that 20 turns into a 14… and 14 lbs in 10 weeks isn’t a bad thing (IF it’s actual muscle!)… JUST SO LONG AS MY CONDITIONING IS THE SAME. I won’t try to weigh more just for the sake of weighing more.
Looking at last year’s pics, I think my legs could have been leaner, which maybe would have made me a lb or two lighter. So it’s actually entirely possible for me to end up weighing exactly the same, while having both more muscle, and better conditioning.
I know it’s easy to contemplate how things will turn out, and I run possible scenarios through my head on a daily basis. We’re all going to have to just see how things are going. In some parts of the gym, I can see my rectus femorus already, but in others (like in the dark locker room where we’ve been taking pics), I don’t think my conditioning is where I should be yet.
It’s going to be a weekly assessment process, with certain aspects handled differently than last time. Will everything work out the way I’d like it to? Not guaranteed,… but it’s all a learning experience. Sure I put a ton of research into my last prep, but I’d be foolish not to admit a bit of beginner’s luck.
Hopefully things will all come together, and I’ll show up at least half as good as some people seem to think I can (I’ve been contacted by 2 USBF judges who were at my last show, both of whom seem a hell of a lot more confident in what I can accomplish than I am -lol).
And you lucky T-Folks get to come along for the ride, and hopefully offer some advice, encouragement, or even forewarnings along the way 
S
Do you count or keep track of net or gross Calories? You eat between 2200-3000 depending on the day, does the exercise you do get factored into that amount so you’re actually eating more?
I’ve done calculations in the past where you just figure your BW x 15,16, or 17 for cals, and I’ve done more complicated methods where you take into account the MET coefficient of your actual food choices as well as the nature of daily ‘exercise’. For this prep, I’m keeping things as simple as I can. You can plan and plan and plan, and then still not get the results you want.
I always try to make educated guesses, and then assess if what I did is working or not. I believe I had figured my original number to be about 3300/3400, with 3000 cals being the average intake for a ~200 lbs decently muscled male. Sure I could have gotten into all sorts of aspects to work out the tiny minutae, but I’m also basing a lot of what I’m doing now on what worked last time,… which was a starting cal intake of 3000 a day (although with less carbs than this time). I’m hoping the higher starting carbs will offset the lower starting cals.
S
Your back is looking k-nasty!
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
I’ve done calculations in the past where you just figure your BW x 15,16, or 17 for cals, and I’ve done more complicated methods where you take into account the MET coefficient of your actual food choices as well as the nature of daily ‘exercise’. For this prep, I’m keeping things as simple as I can. You can plan and plan and plan, and then still not get the results you want.
I always try to make educated guesses, and then assess if what I did is working or not. I believe I had figured my original number to be about 3300/3400, with 3000 cals being the average intake for a ~200 lbs decently muscled male. Sure I could have gotten into all sorts of aspects to work out the tiny minutae, but I’m also basing a lot of what I’m doing now on what worked last time,… which was a starting cal intake of 3000 a day (although with less carbs than this time). I’m hoping the higher starting carbs will offset the lower starting cals.
S
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Sorry I’m a little slow today. I’m not asking how you figured out how many Calories to eat a day. I was wondering if you included exercise as part of your intake.
Example
daily budget - 3000 Cals
food calories consumed - 3100
exercise calories burned - 300
Net calories 2800
So with the above, you could eat more depending on how much exercise you did for the day. (Am I making this too complicated?)
Do you account for extra Calories burned during the day or just stick to your numbers and consider activities a bonus?
guess the calories burned through actual training are just a bonus. I figure it’s always better to under guess your numbers a bit, just so long as it’s not excessive enough to allow for serious loss of lean muscle.
I’m sure that has been a factor in my quick initial drop in weight.
S
Had a pretty intense workout this morning, and figured I’d share, in an effort to give a better insight to what, and why I’m doing.
Firstly, I had to get to the gym early, as I usually do on Saturdays. I’m not thrilled with having to do this (train at 5pm during the week), as I’m stronger, and just feel better overall after I’ve been awake for a while, and especially after I’ve had several feedings in me.
Also, with the recent addition of 20 mins of easy, steady state treadmill walking each morning, I basically woke up, walked the dog, did my treadmill walking, then waiting about 20 mins, starving, drank some Alpha GPC, then waited until it was time for my finibars and the rest of the protocol. The two guys I usually train with (both of whom are prepping for Spring Shows as well), and I planned to meet up, so I sucked it up and took care of business.
The actual workout was as follows:
1-Leg Extensions - always a great pre-exhaust exercise. Performed in an explosive concentric manner, with a slight squeeze at the top before lowering the weight (no rest at the bottom of each rep).
2-Front Squats - I just love these, and even after being pre-exhausted, managed to rep out with about 285/295 for sets of 5-6, all just blasting out of the hole, and making sure not to lockout at the top of each rep. We all made sure to utilize a narrow stance, trying to really accentuate the outer quad sweep.
3-Leg Sled - With feet close together, and very low on the actual platform, we tried to keep a higher rep scheme, and really just zone out pain wise as we kept a continuous cadence for sets of 12-15 reps.
4-Stiff Leg Deads with DBs - Always a great way to start any hamstring workout. Not only are they hard as hell (which is why I think most trainers don’t have decent hams), but I always feel that anything that follows will just have more of an impact after being worked so hard out of the full stretched position.
5-GHRs on a Lat Pulldown Machine - One of the best exercises I have ever stumbled upon. If you’ve never tried these, or if you whine that they are uncomfortable, I suggest sticking with it until it gets a bit better. Some sessions we’ll do three exercises for hams (usually adding in seated leg curls with a plate tacked on to the stack), but other times (like this morning), we just pound away with two until we can’t walk.
6-Seated Calves - Nothing crazy here, but while still trying for explosive concentrics, we kept a higher rep scheme (10-15), a good hard squeeze at the top of each rep, and a nice slow (painful) negative.
After this, I could barely walk, but really felt like I earned the discomfort. Training with other guys who are pushing themselves just as hard is really motivating, and hopefully is keeping me at the very edge of what I’m capable of each day.
S
That’s an intense workout! Definite prop’s for pushing yourself hard on the training through the calorie deficit.
LtL
Some shots from tonight. Weighing in at 191.0 lbs this morning, so I’m still heading in the right direction. I keep a very detailed spreadsheet and have penciled in where I need to be at certain points, and so far, I’m right on track. Yes, I realize I may need to drop my carbs a bit at maybe 8, or possibly 6 weeks out, but in the meantime, as long as I’m dropping, I’m going to try keeping them as high as I can. Still need to work on my posing a bit, as I have a tendency to turn my legs forward, which definitely makes them seem narrower than they are. Also I’ve been working on my posing routine, and I think it’s going to be pretty good. I kept a decent amount of the pose combinations that I used last year, and just added a few extras, or changed the order. I feel pretty good about where things are.
Lookin’ real good right now. Keep it up!
Stu, these are some very impressive improvements in just under a week. Overall leanness has significantly increased. Additionally, I can see much improvement in the very pesky spots, such as the “love handle area”.
Shoulders, back and arms look much fuller. Wich, since you cycle your carbs, could depend a lot on the day you take pics, or if you take them on or a day after your leg day, e.g.
The funny thing about dieting is, that up to a certain point, you look bigger while losing bodyfat. The increased definition creates this illusion.
So far, I’m very impressed. Your back and rear shoulders will be very strong bodyparts on contest day. Legs will lack a bit behind your upper body.
You do things very systematically and put a lot of planning effort into your prep. That’s fantastic. Therefore you can probably judge very well by yourself, whether you have to make some adjustments in your diet. To me, it doesn’t even look like you’ll have to reduce carbs any further. I’d certainly try not to do it too eraly, because that’s normally the point where too much muscle mass is sacrificed.
The additional daily activity (treadmill) really seems to work well in terms of accelerated fat loss.
Keep it up! Great thread to follow!
Congratulations Stu. The six pack has been now officially revealed, and improvements comparing with last year are really notorious. Shoulders are looking just crazy; if I’m not wrong, your best bodypart is close between your back and those.
Seeing your prep makes me wanna cut again, but I think I’m young, so I’ll have to venture on a mass phase until the next cutting ends in a radical visual difference (15-20 pounds of muscle increased).
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
[quote]TheDudeAbides wrote:
Great thread, thanks for sharing. Contest prep has always been intriguing/interesting to me. Your willingness to share has been enlightening.
I know its early in the prep, but do you rotate/cycle your diet or cardio time? Or are you going to keep your Calories as posted previous and increase cardio?
Also, I’m a fellow educator. Does your training or prep ever come up and do you discuss it with them?[/quote]
As of now, I cycle 3 different days (low, basline and high), with the low and baseline each entailing a different degree of caloric deficit. The carbs cycle up and down accordingly as well (based on what I will be training on that given day). Obviously I expect to have to drop my overall numbers a bit as the weeks go on, but I don’t want to rush into dropping excessively as there is no surer way to lose muscle. Even last prep, I think except for the last couple of weeks, my baseline never went below 2400 cals, and yet I hear about people on here who are routinely eating 4000 cals a day, suddenly dropping to 2200 and wondering why they don’t look good afterward.
Cardio - You always want to do just what you need, as too much will undoubtedly lead to LBM loss as well. I started at 20 mins the first week (feeling very unconditioned), and will up to 25 mins this week. I doubt I will ever go about 30 mins a session, as I believe dietary manipulation is a much better way for the majority of fat loss to occur than through over excessive caloric expenditure. As I prefer to do interval work, the prevailing reational (I have read through many many sources) is that while you do in fact burn less calories during a session, you will ultimately be losing more fat due to the partitioning effect on your body (will rely on burning fat throughout the day). Considering that I choose to do my cardio work on days where I am intentionally ingesting lower overall cals and carbs, obviously you walk the line of hammering your body too hard (ie. 60 min of intervals while eating only 2000 cals and zero carbs -lol).
My students get a real kick out of my little hobby. There are always the questions because some kids are used to seeing me at 210 lbs, while others think my cheeks always look sunken in. I also have a history of eating in class, mixing up my met drive shakes, and lately, lugging around my jug o’ MAG-10 (everyone has their theories about what I’m actually drinking -lol). I answer questions when I can, but try not to let it derail actual classroom lessons. The few times I’ve had to grab a workout in the school weight room have always been interesting (when was the last time you saw your high school art teacher shoulder pressing 2 plates and change per side?). I just constantly try to remind the kids that just because you can lift a lot, or even get some muscles, it doesn’t make you a better person, and it definitely doesn’t make you better than anyone else. All it means is that you can be proud of yur accomplishment.
S
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I wish my art teacher was like this, he keeps telling me how im not thinking about long term effects on my health all the protien shake is having on me. Our class and him have a good relationship so one day I “snapped” reminded him that he has a degree in Art and not nutrition and lectured him on how stupid his comment is. lol
Thanks guys, the support helps a lot. ParagonA, I really appreciate your input having been in the same boat before as well. It’s a fine line between cutting those cals too much and really losing muscle. Last year I was so preoccupied with making a certain weight class, that even though it ultimately worked out in the end, I think had I done things slightly differently, I could have been a bit better.
I think the tiny bit of morning cardio is making a difference as well. I just have to have faith that it’s a matter of time, and that I’m right on track.
I do realize what certain strengths in my physique are, and as is the case with anyone, a strong body part will further bring attention to a weaker one. While my legs look a bit better in some shots, this last bunch of photos don’t really look as good as I would like. We did try a new setting on the camera so get a much better (and honest) view of what we’re working with (no flash, and a ‘sports’ setting).
While I can plainly see certain shots (ie. the ‘Yates’ bicep shot, twisting back shot, arm behind head, and Crab shot) where I’m definitely thicker than a year ago, I’m thinking that when my legs finally start showing more prominent details, that they will look better (they were a lot smaller last year, but onstage, in the shots where I remembered to flex 'em, they weren’t too bad).
Last Monday (10 weeks out), I weighed in at 192. This past Monday (9 weeks out), after a somewhat less than what I should be having Valentine’s day dinner with my girl, I weighed in at 191, a tad more than I wanted… but then the next day, and steadily until this morning, I was 189 and change. These are all first thing in the morning weights.
If accurate, that means I have about 13 lbs to lose in the next 8.5 weeks in order to make Middleweight. Factoring 2-3 lbs of water (being conservative here), makes that about 11 lbs… My cals are now closer to 2600 on an average day (down from 2700), and the carbs are still fairly high at 225g (mostly from the 3 finibars pre-training, and then some oatmeal and ezekial bread earlier in the day).
I don’t want to jinx myself, but I may seriously be able to keep the carbs respectable for a lot longer than I thought. Truly this is a factor in my maintaining so much more size this time. Even when I have to (I imagine) at some point drop a little, with 3 other carb feedings besides the peri-workout stuff, I have a lot of area to play around with.
Just the FINiBARs and morning oatmeal put me at about 150g, which is more than I was taking in at the end of my last prep, and to be honest, with the whole targeted carb approach, I imagine the effects will be better overall.
I’m also at the point where I’ve been working on my posing routine. Obviously I don’t want to use the same one as last year, but to be honest, I am keeping about 80% of the pose combinations (they worked well, so why screw with it too much). I had planned on using Powerman5000’s track ‘Drop the Bombshell’, but changed my mind last week.
After going through my routine to a few other pieces, I think I’ve ultimately settled on Motorhead’s ‘The Game’ (yes, I know it’s Triple H’s entrance music!). My pal Corey asked me if I planned on splitting water at the judges -lol.
S
[quote]11kamita wrote:
I wish my art teacher was like this, he keeps telling me how im not thinking about long term effects on my health all the protien shake is having on me. Our class and him have a good relationship so one day I “snapped” reminded him that he has a degree in Art and not nutrition and lectured him on how stupid his comment is. lol
[/quote]
Lol, well, I’m sure he’s not uneducated on the subject because of his degree in art. Most people have no clue what they’re doing when it comes to basic nutrition. I only know what I know because I had a personal interest in finding things out so I could better myself.
I know it’s not always the case, but I’d like to think that he genuinely had at least a bit of concern for you by expressing his thoughts. Take comments like that with a grain of salt. I know I have to let a lot of things slide off of my back or else I’d be lecturing everyone around me who doesn’t train
S
You are looking leaner and leaner each week. Your weight is going down at a good steady rate while keeping a good amount of carbs. You only have 11 lbs (at most) to lose and still have 8.5 weeks. I’d say you set yourself up nicely! Can’t wait to see the contest shots. Keep it up Stu.
[quote]The Mighty Stu wrote:
If accurate, that means I have about 13 lbs to lose in the next 8.5 weeks in order to make Middleweight. Factoring 2-3 lbs of water (being conservative here), makes that about 11 lbs… My cals are now closer to 2600 on an average day (down from 2700), and the carbs are still fairly high at 225g (mostly from the 3 finibars pre-training, and then some oatmeal and ezekial bread earlier in the day).
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This is what fascinates me the most - making little tweaks to continually drop fat. Please keep posting because I’m still learning.