Pre contest advice

jlineberry27

jlineberry27

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I'm cutting for my first contest may 5 and I was wondering if anyone has some good advice on how I should be doing it. Like my carb-protien ratio how much fat this early in the pre contest stage and total caloric intake per day here are my stats:
6'1
210lbs
9-10% bf as of today
I'm new to this and have read lots of articles and guidelines but I still know there's much more to pre contest than just good nutrition, any advice will be greatly appriciated!
Thanks!
 
alexoc949

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not that i'm the guy to answer this.. but what or is there a weight class for the competition?
 
jlineberry27

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It's just over 6ft and under. It's also a physique competition not BB. so it will be board shorts no speedos. They said that "the goal of physique" is to look like a guy on the cover on mens fitness.
 
SoCalMuscle

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post what you are already doing now and then i can guide you from there.
 
jlineberry27

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Ok Well let me start by updating that im 8.5% bf not 9-10. But this week I've just started cardio every other day for 45 mins on the stairmaster. I hit atleast 200 floors so my intensity is pretty high. I'm taking in roughly 3000 calories pd. Eating 4 oz of chicken atleast 5x a day 2 pshakes and probably 2 tablespoons of pb. I have probably 2-3 cups of veggies. And I have beans /whole wheat tortillas/and whole wheat bread for carbs... I'm a full time college student w a full time job so I dont have a definate time to eat everyday I just make sure I get those meals in sometime. Im Relly just lost when it comes to pre-contest strategy tho cause I've read so much diff stuff. And advice/critique you have that will help I'll be glad to accept.
Thanks socal.
 
wtmdcg91

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You look good it looks like you holding a little water . If you can work on that still keep tight that will help you look a bit bigger also tan it will be a good asset. Not the real dark tan but a nice coverage it brings out the muscles and once you tighten up with your water you should be good!
 
tyyler

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What's the best way to get rid of the water weight? Just cut out fluids? For how long? Im curious myself. Thanks!
 
jlineberry27

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You look good it looks like you holding a little water . If you can work on that still keep tight that will help you look a bit bigger also tan it will be a good asset. Not the real dark tan but a nice coverage it brings out the muscles and once you tighten up with your water you should be good!
Yea I knew that but I'm 3 months out so u didn't wanna cut water yet
 
jlineberry27

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What's the best way to get rid of the water weight? Just cut out fluids? For how long? Im curious myself. Thanks!
Cut your fluids, avoid sodium salts and carbs. And as you get closer to peaking (the day you wanna look best) you take in less and less water
 
SoCalMuscle

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yeah prep with school and work sux... but it looks like you are getting 140g protien from you chicken. how much is in your shakes? pretty sure you are going to need up your protein. cut out the tortillas and the breads. go with oats and brown rice for your carbs its the easiest for somebody thats busy.

but for a base i would go with 300p 250c 30g fat. i believe in cycling so those numbers would change from day to day.

but you are looking good bro just keep up the hard work, stay focused, and no need to worry about the water yet you have plenty of time.
 
Castor87

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Cut your fluids, avoid sodium salts and carbs. And as you get closer to peaking (the day you wanna look best) you take in less and less water
Do not follow ANY of this. Dropping water, sodium AND carbs is a recipe to turn your body into a smooth, flat a lethargic lump. You cannot manipulate this balance no matter how hard you try. If you drop water leading up to your peak, how are you meant to store ANYTHING in your muscles? All that dropping water intake results in is your body leaching intracellular water and making it extracellular.

You aren't holding water, you just have more fat to lose. It's okay, you're in a good spot for 3 months out, but it's crunch time. Don't worry about what percentage of bf you are...it doesn't matter. All that matters is how you look. Are you losing weight on that calorie intake? Don't estimate your numbers, make them accurate and consistent. What is your macro split like for a general day? Be a little more detailed and we can help you out more mate.
 
jlineberry27

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Define macro split it's over my head atleast that term is. If your talking about like how I do my workout/cardio it's 545 am lift and depending on when I get off work between 6-9pm then I do cardio

And I read that cutting your salt sodium and carbs is a pre-contest must? I guess I'm wrong
 
jlineberry27

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yeah prep with school and work sux... but it looks like you are getting 140g protien from you chicken. how much is in your shakes? pretty sure you are going to need up your protein. cut out the tortillas and the breads. go with oats and brown rice for your carbs its the easiest for somebody thats busy.

but for a base i would go with 300p 250c 30g fat. i believe in cycling so those numbers would change from day to day.

but you are looking good bro just keep up the hard work, stay focused, and no need to worry about the water yet you have plenty of time.
30g in one that is ON hydro whey
50 in another that is ON gold standard whey
I have steel cut oats cause I was told there the best oats for you.
And I'll pick up some brown rice thanks for that help.

What about the veggie and pb.? I've heard almond butter is better, is it a major advantage? I have all natural low sodium peanut butter cause I love it so much. Haha
 
SoCalMuscle

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ok so you i would add some protein in. maybe up your chicken by 2oz/meal. i believe protein is key during your cut because thats what gonna help keep your muscle.

your pb is cool i use the all natural kind too just make sure you dont over do it. same with your vegs.

macros are when you break down you daily food intake by protein carbs and fat. like the above suggestion i gave you for 300p 250c 30fat.
 
jlineberry27

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ok so you i would add some protein in. maybe up your chicken by 2oz/meal. i believe protein is key during your cut because thats what gonna help keep your muscle.

your pb is cool i use the all natural kind too just make sure you dont over do it. same with your vegs.

macros are when you break down you daily food intake by protein carbs and fat. like the above suggestion i gave you for 300p 250c 30fat.
So you think 300/250/30 is a good guideline?
 
SoCalMuscle

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Yeah I think that would be good for this far but your weight loss is what will ultimately determine it. If you start dropping to fast add in a few more Carbs. You want to be dropping 1-2lbs per week anymore and a few Carbs less take out some. But that should be good from here and once that stalls I'll start cycling my Carbs.
 
Castor87

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Define macro split it's over my head atleast that term is. If your talking about like how I do my workout/cardio it's 545 am lift and depending on when I get off work between 6-9pm then I do cardio

And I read that cutting your salt sodium and carbs is a pre-contest must? I guess I'm wrong
Macro split is the amount of macronutrients (protein, carbs and fat) you are trying to hit in your diet. For example, I'm eating 300/225/65 a day, which means 300g protein, 225g carbs, 65g fat. That's my 'macro split'. I strongly encourage you to figure out these numbers based on your diet URGENTLY, so then we can help you on where to adjust.

That's very outdated info mate, it's completely understandable because that is the norm in bodybuilding circles that aren't kept up to date. Think of it this way...sodium is essential for fluid balance, i.e the ratio of water that sits inside the muscle cell (intracellular) to outside the cell and underneath the skin (extracellular). Common logic would suggest that cutting sodium will skew this ratio...which it does, but not in our favour. The body has a mechanism called 'homeostasis' which essentially means 'in balance'. Our bodies will do EVERYTHING they can to maintain homeostasis. To give you an example... when you inject test, your body begins to shut down it's own natural testosterone production. This is because it senses levels of outside (exogenous) hormones, and decides "well, I've got plenty of testosterone floating around now, no need to produce any more". That's a very simple explanation.

In terms of carbs and water...for every 1g of glycogen (what your ingested carbs get turned in to once ingested), 4g of water is stored in the muscle. Take away the carbs, and you just have water floating around...hence the 'flat' look and feel. Periods of low carbs will make your body less 'full'. Take away the water, and you just have glycogen floating around. No point in having carbohydrates lying around if they have nothing to shuttle them in to the muscle cells. You need a balance of both to maintain a full look and feel.

Dieting down will require some form of carb restriction (usually), however the peaking process is delicate. You want to ingest enough carbs to fill your glycogen stores without 'spilling over', but also enough water so that these carbohydrates can actually be used to fill the muscle. I agree to some extent that carb depleting/load and a SLIGHT taper in water intake can help, though in reality it makes possibly a 1-2% difference. The best way to look diced on stage is to, well...GET DICED BEFORE HAND! When you think you're lean, get leaner.

As for sodium manipulation...don't mess with it. Your body will adjust to whatever level of sodium you are ingesting, so whatever you have been doing for the 3 months prior to your show...keep doing it. DO NOT change this in the last week or final days, it will mess up your aldosterone levels and you'll either end up constantly pissing, unable to get a pump, cramp like crazy, look flat as hell, or all the above.

Hope that helps mate.
 

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