showtime

[finabear]

okay guys,
i am fairly new to the scene. i have competed in five shows and my first "national level" was the collegiate nationals 2002 where i took top five in the heavys, not 5th. i had to take off 2 years from an injury, and now i am back. i start dieting around 16 weeks out since i tend to hold more water than most and it is hard for my legs to come in. (a lot of diabetics have this problem) this time around, it is different. i have been dieting for 7 weeks and have 9 more to go. i am trying to re-qualify for national level. i started dieting 5' 9", 24 yrs old, @245 lbs around 9%. i just got tested today and i was 232 @ 5.7%. i am afraid i will burn off muscle mass if i continue at this rate. i do 30 min. cardio a.m. and 30 min p.m. after my workout. should i throw in some cheat meals...the only thing is, i want to make sure my back comes through extremely detailed this time. i hold 12% sub scap opposed to 3% in chest and tris. and i am not running any real "heavy doses" or a wide variety right now compared to the past. any advice will be greatly appreciated.

p.s. it is great being a diabetic staying in fairly good shape year round! just have trouble putting on lots of mass.

 

[w8's]

bro, you are nicely ahead of shedule this is a good thing. it will give you time to fill back out and allow you to eat more food when coming into the show. I think that you should change your cardio to 60 mins walking at a moderate to brisk pace. this is really good for you sanity and also really good to keep you burning fat and conserve your muscle. this walk should be done first thing in the morning.

 

[xcelbeyond]

I never tried this but guys like homonunculus swear by it - HIIT for cardio. He says it's much more effective for fat loss than low-intensity cardio. I'm just throwing it out for feedback.

xcel