This will be the last entry for the blog entitled "Training Journal as I prepare for my First Bodybuilding Contest". My first contest is now over - or at least it will be after I reflect back in this journal entry. This entry will also be the first journal entry in the blog entitled "Preparing for the Washington State Bodybuilding Championships".
Reflecting Back:
Overall, everything went fine. I hit my goal of competing in my first contest. I exceeded my goal by winning my WNBF Pro card my first time out. I hit my goal of maintaining most of my muscle mass while cutting. I hit my goal of brining my legs in to proportion with the rest of my body. I fell short of my goal of reaching 5% body fat. I'm happy with my achievements my first time out but I see areas where I need improvement.
In review of my first contest - actually first 2 contests, there are a few observations I made that have lead me to make a few changes this time around.
1. I wasn't as lean as I would have liked to be. If I can look around the stage and see someone more shredded than me, than means I could have been leaner. This time through, I'll plan my diet better and, hopefully, hit my goals for fat loss. I'll also have a more symmetrical appearance with a smaller waist. Overall, improving my conditioning should improve my appearance the most.
2. After getting back in the gym and lifting heavy this week, I noticed that I retained most of my strength during my cutting phase. This is a great sign. Body fat measurements and retaining most of my strength tell me that I was able to get pretty shredded without losing much muscle mass. I felt slightly weaker during military presses, incline dumbbell presses and squats. But my biceps and triceps seemed to retain all of their strength. Also, I was able to do other heavy lifts like stiff-leg deadlifts with the same weight and rep range as I did at my strongest.
I have a couple of ideas as to what to change to retain all (100%) of my strength and muscle mass while cutting. I won't share these now because I want to test them out on myself first. But if my theory proves out to be right, I'll be able to tell everyone exactly how to drop fat and retain 100% of your muscle mass. I'll know for sure about a week after my next contest - around the middle of August.
3. Leading up to my first contest, I was concerned that my legs weren't large enough. Well, Tom Venuto told me they looked good on stage. He said even though they aren't as big as I'd like then by the measuring tape, the way my legs are developed, they looked great on stage. That put me at ease a bit about my legs. After all, he is the master. I've seen photos of Tom's legs and I can tell you this, he knows legs. But I still think there is room for improvement there without throwing off my symmetry. So, over the next few weeks, I will focus on my legs.
4. I was not extremely happy with the size of my arms for my first contest. I attribute this, in part, to having painful tendonitis in my right elbow and tearing my right bicep over the winter. I, pretty much, wimped out on my arms because of these injuries. Both injuries still bother me a bit but not nearly as much as they did months ago. So, I plan to really work my arms hard over the next few weeks.
5. My upper pecs were very underdeveloped after going through my initial transformation. I spent the best part of the last 8 months working on my upper pecs - and it worked. My pecs look much better but they aren't as good as I think they can be. I'll continue to work, primarily, my upper pecs on chest day.
6. I didn't work my abs once in the past 8 months - not a single crunch, sit-up or leg lift. My abs looked fine so I'll continue NOT to work them. They get a pretty good workout on the mountain bike.
Going Forward:
Today is Monday and I've begun my structured nutrition and training plan. Last week, I lifted heavy but I didn't workout with total intensity. I wanted to get my body used to lifting heavy weights again. This week I'll continue with lifting heavy but I'll ramp up the intensity. I have a little more than 11 weeks to make improvements. I intend to come into this next contest leaner and bigger than ever before.
I am pretty sore today. Last week was the first heavy lifting week for me in over 4 weeks and I can really feel it. Every body part has been really sore over the past week. Today, I'm still feeling a lot of pain in my lower back, hamstrings, glutes, quads and lats. I did chest and biceps this morning so, hopefully, I should start to feel pain from that workout in a few hours. It usually takes 10 to 12 hours after a workout to start t feel the pain.
Some people don't like to feel muscle pain. I hate NOT feeling muscle pain. If I don't have pain somewhere, I'm not working out frequently enough or hard enough. Besides, when I can feel muscle pain, I tend to eat healthier. I feel better about myself and muscle pain reminds me I've been working out. It's always in the back of my mind helping to keep me on track.
As I mentioned a few days ago, I'll attempt to gain a little muscle mass over the next few weeks. If I start to gain too much fat or if it's getting too close to the contest date, I'll switch to my shredding diet. To recap, below are copies showing my eating plans for workout and non-workout days:
Workout Days
Non-Workout Days
Until today, I've been eating more or less whatever I wanted to eat since my last contest. I've made sure that I ate ample protein every 3 hours but I didn't count calories, carbs or fat. I've notice the accumulation of fat around my middle so it's definitely time to clean up my diet a bit.
It's always good to let go every so often. Re-feeding is good but there are always foods you crave that you don't eat during re-feed days. I like to keep my re-feed days very structured. If I don't, I gain fat. But some people eat whatever they want when the re-feed. I can't do that. So a break from a structured nutrition plan every so often takes care of my cravings and allows my body to stabilize it's hormone levels. But the fun is over and it's time to get structured again.
As you can see from my nutrition plan outlines above, I am eating quite a few calories; more than my TDEE. I'm only doing cardio twice a week so I should be able to add some weight - hopefully in the form of lean muscle mass. I won't be carb/calorie cycling because my metabolism should stay high from eating above TDEE even though my carbs are fairly low.
As soon as I see the accumulation of more fat or if the contest gets too close, I'll immediately switch to a shredding diet where I'll use carb/cal cycling to keep my metabolism high while dropping body fat. Hopefully, I'll only need about 8 weeks of dieting for this contest because I am already pretty lean.
Regarding my workouts, I'll continue to lift heavy until I notice signs of overtraining. At that point, I'll switch between light weeks and heavy weeks. My light weeks will consist of super sets, drop sets, pause sets, pre-exhaustion sets, etc. I'll use all different rep ranges. You name it, I'll do it. Anything to really fatigue the muscles. On heavy weeks, I'll focus on lifting weights where I can do 3 to 6 reps before reaching positive failure. Each rep will be done with explosive power and total intensity. I'll either increase the amount of weight I'm lifting each week or I'll increase the number of reps. With any luck, I'll be able to do 3 or 4 straight weeks of heavy lifting before I start to notice signs of overtraining.
The primary sign of overtraining for bodybuilders is the tapering off of strength or size gains - especially, if strength decreases. Others signs include:
• Mild leg soreness, general achiness
• Joint Pain
• Washed-out feeling, tired, drained, lack of energy
• Sudden drop in ability to run ‘normal’ distance or times
• Insomnia
• Headaches
• Inability to relax, twitchy, fidgety
• Insatiable thirst, dehydration
• Lowered resistance to common illnesses; colds, sore throat, etc.
Anyway, I've begun my conservative bulking cycle. It won't last long but hopefully it'll last long enough to add a little muscle mass. I'll be working out 5 days each week using a 4-day split routine. Gym days will be Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Cardio days will be Thursdays and Sundays.
Until next time, train hard, drink your water and get Shredded!