Pre contest hoping for advice.

[mrutah]

Hey guys I was hoping for advice, I have been cutting now for a long while. I am currently around 170 with a show I had in mind in five more weeks, but I am thinking of passing on this show, and doing a recomp then in august start cutting again and give myself 8 weeks before another show.
So basically I am curious what your thoughts are, im thinking do a month recomp eating at maintenence to help my metabolism get back to normal then start carb cycling at 8 weeks out and try to get rid of my lower ab/back fat. Thanks for the help I just feel like im turning into a walking skeleton. And I have been losing intensity in weight training trying to give the stubborn fat off so i think maybe stepping back with maintenance for a month then giving myself 8 weeks to cut the rest might do the trick.
Any thoughts would be great, thanks everyone.
pics are from today.

 

[swollwilliams]

first off, thats some crazy vascularity in your shoulders and chest. dieting down, losing weight, strength, all your clothes start fitting loosely, man, its tough. you feel tiny, weak, your mind starts messing with you that you are getting too light, losing too much muscle. dont let this happen. i say, if you planned on doing the show, then forge ahead. dont let your pysche through you off track. people you havent seen will ask if you still work out, if you've been sick, all sorts off comments that will get in your head. there is always room for improvement, thats what your off season is for. by getting in that ultra dry and lean contest shape, the rebound after will be phenomenal, you will add some quality muscle mass, and every time you do diet down, the next time is easier than the last. stay focused, and go for it and have fun along the way. even though you may feel like you are shriveling up, when you get your color on and under those bright competition lights, you will look nasty. good luck in what ever you decide..

 

[mooch2321]

^^^^^good advice there.....you look good man...everyone always wants a little more size but thats the nature of the sport....dont let your head throw you off...youve got 5 weeks and your alredy real lean...come into this show shredded and work on what you want in the off-season

 

[mrutah]

thanks for the advice and help guys, my head is really getting to me right now, I basically am eating low cal all the time do you think a carb refeed a week would help me get some energy back for training or am I basically to the point that I am just going to have to keep working without the energy.
I just started carb cycling with more carbs but I have been doing around 160 carbs 230 grams of protein and 45 grams of fat, I have just hit the point that I am fighting to have any intensity. Again thank you guys for the advice.

 

[mooch2321]

im going to differ to swoll here as he is much more accomplished in the sport but if it were me id keep the carbs pretty low and mabye add in some 15-20 grams of healthy fats and see how your energy levels look from there....when are you taking your carbs in and what type of carbs are we talking about? also how much cardio are you doing?

 

[mrutah]

as far as carbs I eat oatmeal, yams, veggies. Brown rice sometimes. Mostly just oats and yams though.
And I do cardio in the morning sessions for 25 minutes and then later that night after my last meal for 25 minutes.
If I can get it worked out I would perfer to eat more food and have energy and do more cardio to create the deficit.

 

[mooch2321]

well...id be hesitant to add back in anything other than 20-30grams of carbs at this point....im not sure about a refeed....ive never used that sort of a diet myself but only you really know how your body is going to react...have you been doing refeeds throughout or would this be a first?...the first few shows are really jusst a learning experience....it seems to me you dropped your carbs too low too early....but hindsight is always 20/20 right....what type of cardio are you doing? hiit?? low intensity??? is your morning session fasted?

 

[mrutah]

I have been doing a refeed once a week that I go up to 230 carbs. As far as cardio I mix it up alot, I usually do interval training 1 minute slow 1 minute fast, and then 3 times a week i do hitt for 20 minutes.

 

[youngandfree]

A friend of mine is a competitor and usually will have a high cal day somewhere when he starts to stall out on fat loss. I don't know if you thought about it or not, but you are pretty lean. I've heard of people practicing their carb load a couple weeks out if they are pretty lean, to see how their body reacts and learn their timing for the show. My buddy would always have a large cheese pizza, at one time, in the middle of his prep to kick start his system again. It wouldn't derail anything, but as your body slows down after 5-6 weeks of dieting, you need to shock your system a bit. Maybe think about doing something where you have a much higher calorie meal than normal, to bump your totals for that day. My buddy would always eat the pizza on saturday night.

 

[mrutah]

I just want to thank you guys for all your opinions, you guys have helped me clear my head and get back on track, So in your opinion judging from these pics do you guys think I can be lean enough to compete in exactly five weeks?

 

[youngandfree]

I think so. What is your goal weight and class? You should be able to hit 160-162 or so and shred it up. Worst case go a little overboard and blow away the top of the light weight division. I think you will do well. I would rather hit the top of the next lower class rather than be in the bottom of a higher class, but that's just me.

 

[mrutah]

I am planing on just doing the novice division, it is just an open weight division in a nga show. I just figured if I could get as ripped as possible I might stand a chance even if some of the other novices are heavier.
Thanks for the response.

 

[youngandfree]

you'll do fine then. Typically not a lot of beef in novice NGA lower weight classes. Shred it up and you'll place well. Now that's based on the couple NGA shows I have seen in my hometown a couple years ago. You would probably do respectable in novice NPC as well.

 

[mrutah]

thanks for the confidence boost, I still have a ways to go my diet is pretty dialed in but I still am holding a little in my lower back and lower abs I hope that will be gone before the show. Thanks a ton for everything.

 

[youngandfree]

Depending on what your daily carb intake is, slowly whittle away at that maybe. I would whittle down to say 100 carbs and then spike them once or even twice a week at 150-160. Keep high carb days evenly spced if you do 2 per week. Do that for another week or 2, then drop them some more, but still doing the carb cycle. The totals are just lower numbers. You kind of know your body, I'm sure there are others that are well versed in maximizing the last 4-5 weeks precontest. I just think if you go very low carb right now from the amount you have been taking, you will feel even more like hell. If you can tough it out, mybe try it, I think where you are carb wise, it would be less taxing mentally to ramp them down vs. obliterate them alltogether so quickly.