CONTEST PREP - GIVE ME YOUR THOUGHTS

Hi gents, spesifically looking for Empire, Admin, 00pump, Oupa and other vets to weigh-in.

Did vitals, glucose, cholesterol and BP, all in-range. I would like to do a Novice show on 26 March. I have dieted strictly in Jan and dropped from 105kg to 98kg, only using 300mg Test E UPA. 28yo,180cm. My diet was around 3400 calories (I came out of a bulk, so 3400 calories was not much food for me). I have been doing cardio 45-60 minutes, 6 days a week, on the stairmaster & treadmill. 1 to 1.5 hours weights. Chest & arms, back & shoulders, legs - split, twice per week, 1 rest day. Calves and abs alternating days.

Deep heat massages on trained muscles every night. Cold plunges after training.

I want to drop 1kg per week until the show. Will be dropping cals and manipulating carbs as needed to achieve this.

Cycle starting tomorrow:
- 300mg UPA Test E per week(pull 2 weeks prior to show)
- 200mg UPA Mast E per week (run to show day)
- 300mg UPA Deca per week (pull 2 weeks prior to show)
- 15mg UPA Anavar (for 2 weeks from tomorrow)
- 50mg UPA Winstrol (3 weeks up to show day)
- L-carnitine (1ml every morning, 1ml every evening, using insulin needle up to show day)
- 40mcg UPA Clen per day (start at 20 and build up to 40)
- ECA stack on leg and back day (200mg caffeine, 20mg Relislim, 150mg asprin)
- 3g Biogen Arginine (pull 1 week before show)
- 5 to 10g Biogen Creatine (pull 1 week before show)
- 20mg UPA Cialis twice per week
- 60g Whey Iso per day (pull 5 days before show)

Please poke holes and make suggestions. This will be my first show, so I have much to learn. I know short esters are better pre-contest, I only have long esters to work with, so not ideal I suppose. I don't know which weight class I will sign up for, because I don't know what my body will do.

Tanning, I will be doing sunbed 2 week before show and Jan Tana spray (2 coats) on show day.

Posing, 15 min post workout to build endurance. Attending 3 posing seminars in March. Holding poses for 20 seconds.

Water, 6l per day leading up. 3l day before show. Sip on 1l on show day.

Sorry for the long post guys but the more info I give, the more you can correct me.

I would pull the deca at this stage and run masteron at higher dose. And drop the long Ester test 4 weeks out. Anavar can be run for 8 weeks. Winstrol 4 weeks till show day.

Water loading I still have 6L a day before the show. It all comes down to water manipulation.

Biggest thing is your Diet and training. Maintaining or adding strength going in.

Daily step count needs to be monitored, also cardio is really high at this far out. Clen needs to be cycled too. Yohimbine is a good option. Eca on clen isn't going to be a good idea.

Cialis, 10mg eod not 20mg 2 x a week.

When are you doing cardio and training..

What are your current macros?

Also don't know what your bf is at so to say what category you will be in is a tough call.

Fat calipers read 15%. Abs and obliques are showing. Lines in quads coming in. At a 30 waist now. Cialis only comes in 20mg tabs unfortunately. Cardio is high so I can eat more.
Macros, 106 fats, 289 carbs, 214 protein. Carbs, mixed veg, baked potato, baked sweet potato, baked green beans, rolled oats, white rice. Protein, ostrich mince, hake/gunnard, chicken breast, liver, full cream milk (will swop for 2%), whole eggs. Fats, sugar free peanut butter, olive oil. Fruits, banana.

So split the tab in half. Simple.

Those macros put you at 2966 calories, not 3400.

Yea doing that much cardio to eat more is all fine and well but you will burn out later when you start cutting back on food and changing macros, which I would already be doing and structuring your diet and macros better.

Also you are going to probably come into the light heavy category which is under 90kgs. Also, holding poses for 20 seconds? Try 1 minute each pose. At provincials last year they had my category on stage for first round of posing for 32minutes. We did front relaxed for 8-10 minutes of that. Then compulsory poses for ever and ever. Then went off stage and came back on as the top 6 for comparisons. So 20 seconds holding a pose is rather useless. And And you gonna need to be building that up to 30mins daily.

Thank you sir! All noted and will implement as of today! I used fatsecret to calculate my macros. Is there a more accurate source?

Also just looking at things, you got about 8 weeks to get really ready for a show, that might be ambitious, loosing a kg a week seems all fine and dandy, trust me, it can be hard to do when you are low level body fat.

You are using fat secret to Track calories, i wouldn't be using it to be a source of calculating your calories.

There is a show on 27 March and also one on 9 April. I suppose it would be more realistic aiming for 9 April then?

Also, what would you suggest as a tool to calculate macros? Thank you for your insights, it is invaluable.

I am stubborn as a mule though when I set my mind to something and I don't give up easily.

It's all dependant on what you are looking like currently. Post up photos and I can advise. This is a problem with first time competition, people see pros dieting for 12 weeks..they don't see the extremes they go to. You can diet on 1800 calories a day when you don't have a day job and a family and opportunities make decent money from Sponsors. But other than that, most normal people can't.

I will take some progress pics tonight and upload. Thanks again sir. And I hear you regarding the reality of dieting. The pro's do make it seem easier than it would be for a regular working joe like me.

I am very lucky in that my wife and son fully support me and I work from home 4 days a week. Appreciate your feedback.

Here they are Empire. Current conditioning at 98kg. A bit of swelling around my naval from L-Carnitine injection this morning.

Decrease fat to 60g daily. Keep carbs at 250 of 50% needs to be pre/intra/post work out. The other 125 split into veggies and starches, max is 30g of fiber a day. Protein I would bring up to 260g.

Pre fasted cardio in the am: 20mg yohimbine hcl, 200mg of caffeine and 35mins liss cardio. Balance of cardio done post workout.

You will need to cycle clen but you gonna need to be off it for 1 week prior to the show. And I do 3 week cycles. Week 1 40mcg, week 2 80mcg week 3 120mcg. 2 weeks off. Repeat.

Thank you sir. I do appreciate your time. I will start going to low fat options and imcrease the lean meats. Do you think I could make it? Or rather put in more work and compete later in the year? Also, do you think it's worth it to sign up for classic physique and open class?

you could make it yes, is it going to be hard? yup. competing is up to you on your level as to what you are wanting to achieve, also depending on what province and federation you are in depends on when your novice show is, I got told this morning KZN novice is in may this year. so there are so many factors at play such as
how long have you currently been dieting to get to this level of body fat?
how many working sets are you doing, how is your recovery from training, how much sleep are you getting in are you getting stronger each session?

all these factors need to be taken into consideration

You have given me a ton of free advice, so I won't bomb you with more questions. Thank you for your time. I will be posting updates to this thread, just to share my anecdotal experiences for others to use or critique. Have a kick *ss day!

Just a quick update on my prep for the IFBB Mpumulanga Novice show on 26 March. My current diet consists of:
Meal 1 - 100g oats + 30g Whey + 1 banana
Meal 2 - 215g chicken breast/hake/gurnard + 100g white rice + 60g mixed veg
Meal 3 - 115g ostrich mince/lean beef chuck + 60g mixed veg/green beans/butternut
Meal 4 - 100g oats + 30g whey (pre-workout meal)
Meal 5 - 125g chicken breast/hake/gurnard + 60g mixed veg + 100g boiled potato
Meal 6 - 6 scrambled eggs

I have eliminated the use of full cream dairy products. I only use spray and cook. I skipload every Friday, with usually 2 bowls of spaghetti and mince and 2 choc muffins. My weight is still the same but my conditioning has improved significantly. Consuming 4L of water every day minimum. I had to back-off of Clen, it gives me terrible headaches, so I am running an ECA stack pre-workout. Cardio is at 30 min to 1 hour per day, fasted when my schedule allows it. I pose for 30 min every day.

Cut oats In half and cut the banana and move those carbs to intra workout and post work out.

I would have 20mg of yohimbine hcl with 200mg of caffeine pre cardio in the morning and have eca later on in the day.

Bud if you understood how skip loading works, it is very different from what you think it is, I was mentored by skip for 4 years, and you got it all wrong. First thing is, skiploads do not fall on training days, they fall on off days to aid recovery, and they work In a number of hours to refeed and the refeed is based on hunger not a certain food value, and you are trying to find the sweet spot to know how much carbs you need to carb up for your show day. It is a process and an art and I've seen guys butcher it based on what they read online.

So you are having is a cheat meal vs a skiplaod..

You also have alot of work to do in 6 weeks bud, need to see rear shots to judge bf levels there.

I am actually having my skipload on my rest days. Also, I have tried pizza and other meals, but the pasta and muffins seem to work well. I feel great the next day and maintain my conditioning.

I realize I have a long way to go in 6 weeks, but it's my first show so I don't expect it to be perfect. I want to make my mistakes, learn and then try again later this year with the knowledge I gained.

I will cut the banana and half the oats, as per your suggestion. I got an IFBB pro to gove me one-on-one posing sessions from next week as well.

i hope you are taking the advice of the yohimbine and caffeine pre work out.

yohimbine blocks alpha 2 receptors which are high in stubborn fat. Insulin affects the yohimbine HCL, so taking it with caffeine capsules, pre cardio with water, will allow for you to tap into the stubborn fat. there are a few fat loss protocols that i use with my clients, and yohimbine is always going to be beneficial for that.

use, it don't use it, but i wouldn't leave anything to chance by not using it.

TheTrain wrote: I am actually having my skipload on my rest days. Also, I have tried pizza and other meals, but the pasta and muffins seem to work well. I feel great the next day and maintain my conditioning.

see this is where you have gotten skipload all wrong. skip loading is loading carbohydrates hard for a certain period of time so that you can see where the tipping point between being completely full in terms of glycogen and spilling over. so if you are having the same set of meals each week whilst maintaining your condition, you arent doing it to a point of pushing how many carbs you need.

there is a whole process of logging your weight increase over the next couple of days, seeing how long it takes for the excess subq water to come off whilst maintaining muscle fullness, and how many days later you look your best in terms of fullness and dryness.

as i say, what you are doing is having a cheat meal, not a skipload by any means.

Yes sir, I am dropping the Clen because I can't even tolerate 40mcgs without headaches. So starting the yohimbine today.

I have been taking 200mg Biogen caffeine before every workout for about 6 weeks and I love it. Especially when I do cardio with a hoodie and beanie, I get a proper sweat going.

I will then rephrase as a "refeed meal" rather. Cheat meal implies it is unplanned, which I haven't done once.

I do track all the food I eat and my weight (fasted in morning) in a ledger. I have noticed after my refeeds it takes about 2-3 days to get back down in weight but I actually look better. About two weeks ago I had a large pizza and 2 milkshakes and some chips, that has taken forever to get off and I feel that delayed my progress.

What do you think about introducing Tren Ace? I have been trying to be conservative so far but it seems I have to go to Defcon 4 to make deadline?