Dillema

[Bo]

Competition Advice

Okay my first post! Tried using the search function on this, but this is more of a personal dillema.

Currently, I'm 5'10" sitting at 200 @ 15% (big fat bastard)

I was planning on entering my first contest at the end of July. That give me roughly 6 months of prep time. I'm not sure exactly how much time it will take me to get into contest shape, but I'm assuming no more than 12-16 weeks maximum.

Now the dilemma... Since I have about 6 months what do you guys think I should do? I've been clean for almost a year now. Here is what I'm contemplating:

1. 2 month bulk cycle / 2 months off / 2 months contest cycle (I'd probably start dieting in week 12)

2. 4 month cycle (1/2 bulk cycle / 1/2 contest cycle) *probably wouldn't be the best idea

I'm open to any ideas, because I'm really stumped here and I do not want to waste any more time contemplating on what I should do so I'm coming here for some expert advice from all you guys. Thanks in advance and I'm looking forward to all of your insight.

 

[Armageddon]

More than the drugs I would concentrate now on eating clean and start the "diet" soon so you can spare as much muscle as possible. Then find someone god to consult with on your precontest.

 

[Grape Ape]

Ditto

Ditto Armageddon..and if you can get a hold of Wylde and he can spare a few minutes with you, that brother works wonders!! A couple years ago, he took time out and put something together for my (now) ex-wife, she was always stuck at 135-140 no matter what she did, he was kind enough to lay out a diet and workout, and within 6-8 weeks she was absolutley ripped, got down to something like 115, and very, very little supplements were used, obviously, a huge part of it was diet!

 

[xcelbeyond]

It'd really be nice to know your experience with cutting up, realizing that you've never done a contest.

The "key" to success in your contest prep is the diet, not taking the right drugs (but drugs will help). My mentor told me "It doesn't matter what your workout program or drug regime is if you're not eating properly!"

16 weeks should be good, esp if you've never dieted down (to 5% BF or less).

We also don't know your experience with drugs. Unless you're on the "lean side" when you start prepping, you're probably going to lose more muscle than you'll like in your quest to get lean.

NEVER FOCUS on how much muscle your keeping, gaining or losing during contest prep. The focus must always be to get as lean, hard, and ripped as you possibly can!

I would spend 16 weeks to cut, since it's your first time and do it slowly. As suggested, get a trainer - Wylde or Skip are excellent choices. They'll help you with what drugs will help.

xcel

 

[Bo]

More than the drugs I would concentrate now on eating clean and start the "diet" soon so you can spare as much muscle as possible. Then find someone god to consult with on your precontest.

Yes, I understand this is important and I started the "diet" last month. Here's the breakdown:

300g CHO
300g PRO
50g FAT

Carbs are coming from oatmeal and sweet potatoes. Protein is mostly coming from chicken breast, sole fillets and lean steak. Fats come from flax, fish and olive oil. I have CHO/PRO meals up to 5PM and then after that PRO/FAT meals. Don't get me wrong, my diet is squeaky clean I'm not only looking for information on the drug aspect of it. I haven't started cardio yet as even with 3000kcal+ I'm still losing about a pound every week. I still have six months to prepare and even though I've never dieted for a contest before I know that it does not take anywhere near six months to prepare, at least not for my bf% and weight.

 

[Bo]

It'd really be nice to know your experience with cutting up, realizing that you've never done a contest.

The "key" to success in your contest prep is the diet, not taking the right drugs (but drugs will help). My mentor told me "It doesn't matter what your workout program or drug regime is if you're not eating properly!"

16 weeks should be good, esp if you've never dieted down (to 5% BF or less).

We also don't know your experience with drugs. Unless you're on the "lean side" when you start prepping, you're probably going to lose more muscle than you'll like in your quest to get lean.

NEVER FOCUS on how much muscle your keeping, gaining or losing during contest prep. The focus must always be to get as lean, hard, and ripped as you possibly can!

I would spend 16 weeks to cut, since it's your first time and do it slowly. As suggested, get a trainer - Wylde or Skip are excellent choices. They'll help you with what drugs will help.

xcel

Xcel, yes I have never competed or dieted down to 5% before. I usually diet down to single digits for the summer. What I normally do is start with 15kcal x BW (1g/lb of bw of protein and carbs and the rest good fats) I like to have 7 meals per day and carb/protein meals until 5 and protein/fat meals after 5. What I normally do and this has worked well for me in the past is drop 50g of carbs every second week and replace them for protein. When I get down low (50-100g carbs) then I start throwing in a day (sometimes half a day) to carb-up. I don't rely on cardio to get ripped and only add it if I feel the need to. I rely on the diet aspect of it and carb manipulation to get me into the single digits. As for the chemical aspect of it, I've been using AAS for about two years now so I'm still a rookie. I spent about two years researching everything I can about them before jumping on though. I currently only have two courses under my belt. LOL! First was 500mg/week Sust 1-12, 30mg/day D-Bol 1-6, 400mg/week Deca 4-12. I gained about 35lbs and kept about 25lbs. Second one was 30mg D-Bol/day 1-6, 750mg/week Test Enth 1-8, 75mg/EOD Tren Acetate 8-16, 50mg/day Winstrol 8-16, 250mg/week Test Enth 8-16. I gained about 25lbs and kept over 15lbs. I guess trying to bulk and then finish cutting isn't the best idea in the world. Oh well, you live and you learn...

 

[Bo]

Can anyone else offer any advice?

I've been reading quite a bit using the search function and have read some great posts. Does Homonunculus still post on here as we use similar techniques for dieting.

 

[big_byrd52]

he spends alot of time over at musclechemistry now. havent seen him over here in a while.

 

[Bo]

he spends alot of time over at musclechemistry now. havent seen him over here in a while.

I see, well maybe I need to see what that's board is all about. Are there any boards that deal strictly with contest prep? That would be interesting.

 

[weight77]

Get some test and tren eat around 4500-5000 cals a day of all healthy food. Chicken, potatos, rice, tuna, steak, salad and a few other things and you will do great. When I bulk I eat about the same as most of people I train with but I get all my cals from clean foods and in turn I only add quality weight all year long. So bulk for 1 month the way I said. The reason I say bulk is becaue you need more muscle. Then cut for 3 months. So run a 4 month cycle straight through.

 

[Bo]

Get some test and tren eat around 4500-5000 cals a day of all healthy food. Chicken, potatos, rice, tuna, steak, salad and a few other things and you will do great. When I bulk I eat about the same as most of people I train with but I get all my cals from clean foods and in turn I only add quality weight all year long. So bulk for 1 month the way I said. The reason I say bulk is becaue you need more muscle. Then cut for 3 months. So run a 4 month cycle straight through.

Okay I was thinking I had a bit of time to still try and gaining a few pounds prior to competition. Just don't know how well a bulk to cut cycle would work. I tried it last year and I ended up losing quite a bit of muscle while dieting.

What are your thoughts on a DC style course? 4 weeks (BLAST)/2 weeks (CRUISE) for 12 weeks to bulk, then switching different compounds and dieting still using DC's method? Or I can keep it simple and do an 8 week bulking cycle, start dieting and cutting carbs/calories in week 9 and then start a contest cycle in weeks 17-24. That gives me two months to bulk and 16 weeks to get ready for competition.

 

[weight77]

You don't need to switch compounds just get some tren and test run them all the way through. You should look over what you are doing when you cut because you said you lost alot of muscle and that should not happen.

Don't make this more complicated than it has to be. You are going to add some muscle and then cut some fat for a show, done deal. Train how you know how to train unless you are working with dc yourself.

 

[Bo]

You don't need to switch compounds just get some tren and test run them all the way through. You should look over what you are doing when you cut because you said you lost alot of muscle and that should not happen.

Don't make this more complicated than it has to be. You are going to add some muscle and then cut some fat for a show, done deal. Train how you know how to train unless you are working with dc yourself.

Sounds good, I'll keep it simple then. I'll bulk for a couple months and then diet for 4 months to give me enough time to get into contest shape without having to sacrifice some muscle.

The reason why I believe I lost some muscle mass last time was that I did a bulking cycle and then after that I immediately cut my calories and started dietiing.

 

[yardrock]

Bo, Check out cotest prep article by Big A in Article Forum of this board.

 

[Bo]

Bo, Check out cotest prep article by Big A in Article Forum of this board.

Yes, it's an excellent article indeed! I just want to take my time to prep for this contest to make sure I don't sacrifice any muscle mass. This is my first time dieting for a contest so I want to ease into it. Don't get me wrong, it looks like an excellent strategy for a more advanced bodybuilder that has had at least a few comps under their belt. I do agree with Big A's strategy of slowly dropping carbs and replacing it with protein. That's what I've always done and it works great for me.

 

[homonunculus]

Hey Bo

Can anyone else offer any advice?

I've been reading quite a bit using the search function and have read some great posts. Does Homonunculus still post on here as we use similar techniques for dieting.

I would spend your time dieting down to get yourself within striking distance.

Since its your first show, I'd suggest cutting to get yourself to the point where you are about 4 weeks out - lean as hell but not quite ready.

Assuming this is not 4 weeks from the show, then you make have time to make use of a rebound for 2-4 weeks (and reset your thyroid with some carbs and food) and diet in.

As Xcel said - getting lean is numero uno, especially for your first show.

-Randy

 

[Bo]

Re: Hey Bo

Thanks for the reply Homonunclus! I really appreciate it! So if I'm understanding you correctly what you're saying is to diet down now and get to about 5%, then use the rebound to my advantage to try and gain a few pounds for a month or so and get my thyroid and metabolism going again? I would never had even thought of that, but it's pretty ingenius. I'd just be interested in what would be the best way to use the rebound and the only thing I would worry about is putting on too much weight from the rebound and not having enough time to get completely shredded.

I would spend your time dieting down to get yourself within striking distance.

Since its your first show, I'd suggest cutting to get yourself to the point where you are about 4 weeks out - lean as hell but not quite ready.

Assuming this is not 4 weeks from the show, then you make have time to make use of a rebound for 2-4 weeks (and reset your thyroid with some carbs and food) and diet in.

As Xcel said - getting lean is numero uno, especially for your first show.

-Randy