prep pics at 39 days

[burnstacp]

Hey guys I'm 39 days out and plan on doing cat A Men's Physique. I was 7.7% in a bodpod about a week ago. I'm a tad leaner now and have started to throw cardio into my routine. Yesterday was a refeed and the next one is sunday. A little feedback would be appreciated. Good and bad are welcome. I'll try to get some full body after my afternoon lift.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a207/burnstacp/6096a73b.jpg[/IMG
[IMG]http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a207/burnstacp/97f51500.jpg

 

[burnstacp]

and one more

 

[ISU152]

Look great so far man! Why physique and not bodybuilding contest?

 

[MuscleGauge1]

Great job! You really put in the W-O-R-K

 

[burnstacp]

Actually my trainer and buddies have been trying to get me to do BB pretty badly but I just feel that I have a better chance of progressing further and going pro in physique. To add to that, getting down really low on bodyfat destroys me on every level. This is not conducive to my job as it is, and with all the traveling we do it's even more difficult. I'm a contract instructor and I'm actually going to be on the road until I'm less than four weeks out. If I wasn't taking some vacation days I'd be on the road up until the day prior.

I'll try to get one of my buddies to get a good full body to post up but he gets all insecure about it and doesn't really try to help too much, so I'm limited to photos I can take myself. Thanks for the words though guys. It really helps keep my motivation up through these last difficult days.

 

[ISU152]

Makes sense I guess...we all have some factors the play important roles. From what I can see though you definitely look more like a BB than a beach bod. Keep it up though man!

 

[burnstacp]

Overall pics from today

 

[burnstacp]

oops double post

 

[ISU152]

You definitely look more like a BB!

 

[sistersteel]

I agree with the bdybuilder thing, ONLY because he is LEAN LEAN LEAN. Definitely will need to smooth out just a tad when you hit the stage, but WOWZERS,

 

[Doss]

Looks great, man. I'm subb'ing so I can follow. Keep updating so we can see how you're progressing!

 

[burnstacp]

I appreciate everyone's input! Got tested in the bodpod again today, but due to some variables they asked me come back Thursday afternoon and retest. I'll get a couple more pics up soon though. According to initial reports I've lost just over two pounds of fat over the past two and a half weeks. This Saturday will put me at three weeks out. I'm still a tad paranoid that I'm not conditioned enough. I want to be lean enough that I dont have to flex on stage, just walk out and squeeze my abs while I have a good pump haha.

As far as working out I've been lifting five to six days a week pending my work schedule and knocking out about four to five hours of cardio per week as well, either morning fasted or directly after lifting while sipping some BCAAs.

My calories are now down to around 1800 which puts me at about a 300 cal deficit for someone of my composition with a sedentary lifestyle. This doesn't factor in my training which burns about 600-700 a day when I do both lifting and cardio.

 

[burnstacp]

Alright here are some pics! BF test tomorrow. Let me know what you guys think I'm at and we will see who's closest.

 

[howwedo107]

What kind of cycles do you normally run?

 

[Trank406]

Damn bro you are jacked! I agree with the rest of the guys you do look more like a BB! Keep it up brother!

 

[burnstacp]

So the outcome is 5.8%. Man I'm happy about that. I was feeling a bit discouraged but the hard copy results in paper have reinvigorated my motivation to continue.

 

[BigRigg]

Dang man get it, also wanting to know what ur cycles are looking like

 

[evodrag]

Dude, You look amazing! So your about 3.5 weeks out! You look about stage ready. Keep it up

 

[P094743]

Bro you look great, especially on a challenged work schedule. If you are still on 1800 cal/day, what are you going to kick that up to the week of the show?

And yeah, I agree with the others on the BB thing....

 

[burnstacp]

Thanks everyone! Basically once I hit just over a week out I'll bring cals back up to just short of maintenance for my weight and composition. They calculate this for me when I go to the bod pod. Currently, for a sedentary lifestyle I need 2240 cals a day to maintain. I'll get tested one more time next week to see where I'm at. I reference sedentary because, once I hit peak week, I'll pretty much be sedentary other than my depletion workouts. I'll have one big carb up about friday the week prior, then carb depletion starting with 40g per day or less. I'll end my depletion with an absolute zero carb day on tuesday. I'll back load carbs on Wednesday then taper down through Friday, reducing carbs by 50% each day. This should allow me to be ultimately familiar with how my body will respond on contest day. On top of that, I should be just about where I need to be so that just a very small amount before prejudging should do the trick.

 

[GetBig05]

Awesome work so far! Keep it up because you are LEAN!! Goodluck in the competition.

 

[burnstacp]

A little difficult to get good pics b/c I'm a bit shaky but I'm eight days out, depleted, with no pump yet. Peak week is almost here!!! Man I can't wait to just get through next week. Getting BF% tested again in a few hours. Update to come.

 

[SlyCamaro]

Daym good work man, you look like rambo!

 

[burnstacp]

Well no change in BF, which is about what I expected. Used maintenance cals for the last two weeks and actually gained proportionate amounts of lean mass and fat. So I'm a little larger but just as lean. I'll take that haha! Gonna go back to a 500 cal deficit and bring up the cardio through Wednesday to lean out a touch further before I start to backload Wednesday night. I'll be going again next Thursday to get tested to see what my final numbers are.

 

[P094743]

Looking great, actually better than great!! Just wondering, so forgive me if this comes off wrong, but 500 cal deficit with increased cardio seems a bit extreme with regard to your current excellent condition. My feeling is you may do more damage to the muscle that you have worked so hard to build and keep by dropping that low when you are already depleted to the level you are at. The fat burning benefit may not exceed the muscle loss possibility.

I think that by the time you get tanned and kick your water out, you are going to look better at your current condition than you might be anticipating.

Just my devil's advocate mentality though. Best of luck this week and next.

Out of curiosity, what was the length of time dieting down? What calorie count did you start at? Calories today? Starting weight? Weight today?

Thanks for taking the time to read this!!

 

[burnstacp]

To be honest, you're right. There really is no need to kick up the intensity. I've been ready to step on stage for a week or two now. No need to do anything drastic. I'll keep my deficit, but I'm not adding anything else in. I've been dieting for a little over 4 months now. Unfortunately I lost a good bit of mass due to starting to hard into it. I was 185 initially and the 30 pounds I lost was definitely not all fat. In fact I'd say not more than half of it was fat.

My caloric intake is 1740 cals a day. Right now I'm getting 60% from protein and the rest is from fat with no direct carb sources. Running keto, I found towards the end of my prep unfortunately, gives me a good bit more energy throughout the day. Carb refeeds make me so drowsy. I typically refeed twice a week.

 

[Geoforce]

Looking good, keep up the hard work!

 

[ludbg]

u gonna crush them

 

[burnstacp]

Thanks all!

Leg depletion was brutal. 10 min stair climber, 4x10 heavy narrow squats, 10 min climber, 4x10 heavy leg curls with a drop set finisher, 10m stair climber, 4x10 heavy leg ext with drop finish, standing heavy calf raise same method, seated high rep calf raise two sets, tabata squats. 6g carbs, 82g fat, 238 protein.

Also, check out extremebodyfit.com if you wanna see my latest pic and first real interview.

 

[hvactech]

i found me a new screen saver! :booty:

 

[Doss]

6g of carbs and you still busted out that workout! Good work, man. I'm not looking forward to being that depleted. You're gonna destroy the competition on stage!

 

[burnstacp]

Last day of glycogen depletion before I start carbing up tomorrow. 24g of carbs today. All residual from my fat source, raw almonds. I'll be hitting upper pull at lunch.

 

[bobbymac]

Great work bro!

 

[burnstacp]

Last workout has been completed. 300g carbs today and 190g protein. I'll be tapering carbs by half each day. It all comes down to this. Just about everything I've consumed today was bagels, grilled chicken, egg whites, or raw almonds.

 

[jherman08]

Looking shredded! Just out of curiosity are you pinning test prop? Quad looks pinned as well as your bicep in the last shot. You have some dense quality muscle on you bro.

 

[burnstacp]

No prop. Not sure what makes them look pinned. Didn't think test was site specific if you're askin because of size. Just had my BF tested for the last time. Down to 4%. Pretty stoked. 150g carbs today. Feeling a bit sluggish but driving my "new to me" turbo SS camaro helps me wake up a bit lol. Come on Saturday!

 

[P094743]

Good luck tomorrow, sounds like you have nailed it BF wise. I hope you will post contest pics and results SOON after. Don't forget to show em your smile!!!

BTW, what are you going to eat after the show??

 

[burnstacp]

Thanks just finished with check in and waiting to get sprayed. I'm not 100% where I'm going directly after the show but there's a recommended bakery I'll be hitting for bfast, toby Keith's bar and grill for lunch, and my fat kid food waiting at home is unbelievable. I made homemade s'mores ice cream from scratch then used it to make icecream sandwiches with smores poptarts. Oh yes. I get a good two days to eat then back to primarily healthy or contest dieting again depending in results. If I win I'm going to compete in the Team Universe contest in NJ in a month.

 

[burnstacp]

Quick update: made first round callouts. Way too lean and hard though and almost caused me not to. Had lots of delicious fatkid food and we will see how finals go.

 

[jherman08]

Quick update: made first round callouts. Way too lean and hard though and almost caused me not to. Had lots of delicious fatkid food and we will see how finals go.

Nice. Good luck

 

[awickham544]

This is what i aspire to look like, you're ripped to the max.

 

[burnstacp]

Well didn't place top three. Physique isnt my thing and I'll be sticking to bodybuilding the next time I compete. It's definitely gonna be a while though as I'd like to I bring my leg mass back to where it was since its been a bit drained during this dieting.

Post contest diet has been pretty lax. I've filled back out. I'm back up to 158 and 5% bodyfat. New diet "goals" (should I be able to stave off the inner fat kid) are C 320, P 240, F 107. This is all based on current RMR and TEE calculated with the Katch McArtle formula. I was actually able to crush legs hard yesterday finally with my new found energy. 6 heavy working sets of squats, 5 heavy sets of front squats, 5x12 Romanians and 5 heavy sets standing calves. I literally fell into my drivers seat haha.

 

[jherman08]

Good work none the less, enjoy the summer bro

 

[burnstacp]

Contest pics are in! I fell in behind the two guys that tied for 2nd.

 

[bobbymac]

You should be proud bro!

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

 

[P094743]

Superior conditioning bro, without question. Your back looks SICK!!! Obviously in an awesome way. Its a shame that physique doesn't let YOU showcase those quads (saw em a few posts back)!

Best of luck with your next show!

 

[Geoforce]

Congrats on the placing man! Might not have been what you wanted, but subjectivity is a tough thing. Keep up the hard work and keep us updated as you move towards bodybuilding.

 

[Jbeezee]

Stick to bb bro. You'll got a good frame on you. You should do fine in some local shows. You look like you know how to get in good condition

 

[burnstacp]

Hey thanks guys! Yeah I'm definitely going to compete again in October in lightweight BB. I'm already back up 23 (173) pounds now that I'm eating carbs and I'm still as of a few days ago only 5%. I had an idea that things would turn out this way, and I always said I wouldnt mind losing for looking too good. Turns out I was not totally correct. Losing is still losing lol. No big deal though. Learned a lot from this show too and it'll make me unstoppable for the real deal. Definitely not looking forward to cutting all the way back down to 154 though! Ole girl may not be patient enough to stick around for a third round Hahahhaa!

 

[JOHNJESSICA20]

Ye bro i agree with sum of the other guys your prob gonna have point deductions for being to muscular. Now I could be wrong and sum of your size comes off before show then ull be fine. Im doing my first show in Sept and I'm tryn hard to feel in those lower abs .But anyway man You look great, I'd jus pack on 20lbs and enter BB'n show Good luck!!