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First competition!

strong4six

strong4six

New member
Hey guys! Just picked my first show August 22nd PA Muscle NPC. Going for True novice and 40-49 Physique. I have about 14 weeks to prep. Pics are where I'm starting at. I'm currently running 600test cyp 400 mast. I was thinking of bumping the mast to 600 and possibly lowering the test (at least a little closer to the show). I'll also add 50mg daily Split dose for the last 8 weeks. I've never ran Tren but was thinking about adding 200mg Tren E the last 6-8 weeks? Is the Tren overkill for me, considering pics and age? Currently running a slight 300 cal deficit which I'll adjust (was at a 600 deficit, lost too much too quick, lack of experience 🙃) every 2 weeks or so. I was hoping the Tren would help me keep more muscle, I have no issue with eating less, I just don't want to lose too much muscle, not a lot there, so I'm told I'll realize when I get truly lean for the first time, lol. Is the Test, Mast and Anavar enough to maintain?? Any who, thanks for your thoughts, brothers. Just a 45 yr old dad who wants his kids to see him do something far outside his comfort zone!
 
Photos are giving me a Lil trouble...
 

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You are shredded brother, you definitely don’t need Tren. Save that for another time or when you hit a plateau down the road and are stuck with no progress
 
You are already in great shape. At 600 test and 400 mast, your taking a gram a week. That's not insignificant for a 45 year old. Especially when you have kids to consider. I'm not saying stop. I'm thinking a gram is plenty. Especially, and I mean no homo - you already are in great condition. If you add a new compound, especially tren perhaps drop the dosage on one of the existing compounds. Just my $0.02. Good luck bud.
 
Thanks everybody! I'm going to leave the Tren out. I will add some anavar 8 weeks out then switch to test prop several weeks out. Thank you all for the advice and encouragement. It feels good to have my back against the wall with everyone knowing I plan on competing and when. I'll definitely keep updating this thread!
 
Current stats 5'11 180lb...guessing I'll need to be down close to 170-172 for my build in the physique category? Trial and error, let's get it!
 
First meal, overnight oats, 1 serving oatmeal, 1 scoop whey 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk 1/2 cp blueberries 2 hard boiled eggs. I eat this 5 days a week. Weekend, egg whites and warm oatmeal instead. Meal 2 and 3 200gram chx breast 150g sweet potatoes or jasmine rice, rest day today, (300 grams training days). I'll eat at maint on back and leg day. 300 cal deficit the other 2 training days and a 500 cal deficit on off days. 2100 cal weekly deficit for now since I'm already pretty lean for being 14 weeks out.
 

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Heading to a different gym tonight to hit back and look for a prep coach. Let's get it!
 

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Found a coach and started full prep protocol on Saturday. Seems I've been eating way to restricted and not enough fats. I purchased my NPC membership, signed up for a show and booked a hotel already... it's a weird feeling actually committing like this. All of a sudden it feels more serious, like a job. But, like a job I'm obsessed about and love. Scary but exciting. Let's get it!
 
A little late to your party, but you have done an excellent job brother. You are in great shape and the cycle you are running is good choice for your final prep. Test at 600 and Mast at 400 are very good on a cut. And Anavar is a great finisher the last few weeks and will have a hardening effect for you, as well as help you maintain strength and muscle as you go into those final weeks. Test and Mast or Test and Primo are the compounds I recommend the most for us older lifters. And although I don’t plan on using orals anymore, Anavar, as a finisher, is the oral I did still feel comfortable taking even in my 50s, without hardly any negative side effects. And like I said, Anavar at the end with Mast should have you coming in with that dense vascular look. Good luck man, keep us posted how it goes.💪😎👍
 
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gphagan1 said:
A little late to your party, but you have done an excellent job brother. You are in great shape and the cycle you are running is good choice for your final prep. Test at 600 and Mast at 400 are very good on a cut. And Anavar is a great finisher the last few weeks and will have a hardening effect for you, as well as help you maintain strength and muscle as you go into those final weeks. Test and Mast or Test and Primo are the compounds I recommend the most for us older lifters. And although I don’t plan on using orals anymore, Anavar, as a finisher, is the oral I did still feel comfortable taking even in my 50s, without hardly any negative side effects. And like I said, Anavar at the end with Mast should have you coming in with that dense vascular look. Good luck man, keep us posted how it goes.💪😎👍
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Thanks for the encouragement brother!
 
Hey everybody. I haven’t posted in a while because I didn't really get much traction here, but gphagan inspired me, lol. I'm 7 weeks out as of yesterday. I've been on pretty much maintenance calories the last 4 weeks because I was so lean to start prep my coach was worried I'd lose too much muscle so we shot for a tiny recomp. Weight on the scale stayed the same but the look changed quite a bit. Crabs are getting cut pretty decent starting tomorrow. My coach adjusts my amounts frequently based on look, scale, quite a bit. I'm thankful for it, he is very involved unlike some others who just write a basic plan then never pay attention for adjustments to be made. Anyway. I started my prep at 192 and am now 168. I'll be starting the Anavar tomorrow 50mg daily split 25mg twice a day. I had a little cns issued last week amd coach shut me down for 2 rest days in a row. I'm glad he did, I needed it. Even on PEDs at 45 I still don't recover like I did in my twenties or early 30's. I'm learning to let go of the ego and lies that your gonna "lose muscle" resting. Recovery is definitely key. Here's some pics, wifey took the bicep one Friday when I wasn't paying attention, lol. Have a great day men!
 
photos 7 weeks out
 

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Feel like a zombie, lol. Got switched to night shift 7 weeks out. 4-5 hours of sleep a night. We're already there condition wise so my coach just dropped cardio amd lowered my steps from 12k a day to 10k to start reducing inflammation. Still.eating in a deficit but with the cardio/step change its like getting a bump in calories. Hopefully we can start dropping a little fatigue after the first couple of days. The goal is really to stay where I'm at and cruise in looking like this but feeling better. We'll do a little water manipulation at the end but that's about it. No crazy foods, just the same stuff my gut is used to leading up to the show.
 
strong4six said:
Feel like a zombie, lol. Got switched to night shift 7 weeks out. 4-5 hours of sleep a night. We're already there condition wise so my coach just dropped cardio amd lowered my steps from 12k a day to 10k to start reducing inflammation. Still.eating in a deficit but with the cardio/step change its like getting a bump in calories. Hopefully we can start dropping a little fatigue after the first couple of days. The goal is really to stay where I'm at and cruise in looking like this but feeling better. We'll do a little water manipulation at the end but that's about it. No crazy foods, just the same stuff my gut is used to leading up to the show.
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Right on, makes sense to feel a bit depleted. I've never competed, that's why I ask. My goal is to compete at least once so I can truly call myself a bodybuilder. What's your carb intake right now?
 
175g training days 150g rest days. Yeah, prep is definitely the hardest thing I've ever done. I've learned a lot about myself and had some good prayer times through it all. It breaks you and builds you up at the same time. Totally worth the sacrifice though!
 
Officially 3 weeks out today. Pretty flat being so low on food. Strength is still good in the gym with good pumps. I'm thankful for high stim pre workout. I need that to get through with the fatigue. Started my cut at 192, down to 166.3. I'm looking forward to titrating carbs up into the show to see what I look like full this lean. Not sure of exact BF but guessing around 6% 6 1/2%. I had a posing session with the man himself, Gary Udit. He said I could step fill up, dry out and step on stage right now and the goal should.be to maintain my look without losing any muscle. Why is it such a pain in the ass to upload photos on this site!? I'm trying to add now and they stay a 0%?? Frustrating.
 
Yesterday
 

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Here..
 

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I was going to guess about 6%. Once you’re able to get your carbs up you will be in a good place going in full and that lean. Get your posing down and you should do great.🏆
 
Men's Physique, but I don't want anyone thinking we all skip leg days, lol.
 

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Yeah buddy….legs look like a road map…good job. You’re definitely carrying good muscle for 5’11” and 166 lbs.
 
Hey everybody! So, 1st show. I got 3rd place in Masters Men's Physique. Realistically I was hoping for a top 3 but of course training for 1st. That's the only way to do it! I also did true novice for Men's physique. There were 12 guys, in the final we lined up and after the first seven guys walked up one of the moderators said you 5 stay back, your top 5. That was pretty cool because at 45 (2months out from my 46th bday!) I was the only one not in my twenties. I took 4th out of the top 5. Felt good to beat some youngins, lol. I need to put on some stage weight and placed where I did because my conditioning was the best. That was a rewarding feeling because I dieted so hard and didn't slack on my cardio. Overall walked away with two medals and the pride of knowing I worked so hard and made it through a true prep. That was the hardest thing I have ever done, mentally and physically. I can't even explain the mental side, you just have to go through it to know. Post show, 2 days now..my emotions are pretty crazy. Thankfully I have a post show plan that was laid out beforehand, otherwise I would feel "lost". No depression for me, being marries with 4 kids gives me plenty of things to "lock in" on. I owe my family some much deserved attention after all their sacrifice for dad to do this show. I'll probably take 2 years and try to gain a true 10-12 lbs stage weight. I had a few cheat meals...and cookies! I am holding a good bit of water and got a pump so hard just chopping potatoes today's it felt like my bicep was going to burst. I never felt so "jacked" with the glycogen replenished. Looking forward to dropping some water amd hoping to not be more than 5lb over my stage weight by this Saturday, q week post. I really want to take advantage of this post amd not just go off the rails and ruin all my insulin sensitivity. I'll take off training until Thursday which will give me 6 days off. I have kept my steps at 9k to keep moving. I'm itching to get in the gym but I k ow my body needs to recover. I only got 2hrs of sleep the night before the show, just too amped up to sleep. It was a crazy whirlwind experience, physically and emotionally. I feel incredibly proud and grateful, humbled to be able to do such a thing when so many around the world wish they could eat the food I did everyday for 14 weeks. I won't lie, that burger amd fries, then finishing all 4 of my kids leftovers was awesome! My first meal was actually just oatmeal Elev8 peanut butter cup COR with banana blueberries, chocolate granola and a whey drip that I DIDNT WEIGH ON A SCALE! Felt like a rebel! Anywho, thanks for listening to my ramblimg! If your thinking about competing, do it! You will learn so much about what your actually capable of! God bless everybody! Keep grinding!
 

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Thank you, everybody! Back to baseline to drop this water weight and try to take advantage of this rebound! Fasted am scale weight is up 14lbs this morning, lol. Time to shed this water and see my abs again and feel strong again. I'll post update pics this Sat for 1 week post show update..
 
Well done! A top 3 for your class, and a top 4 overall is awesome - especially since it was your first show. Conditioning looked great. Also, sounds like a great post-show plan and hearing that you've still got the bug do build and do it all over again!

Very inspiring for us!
 
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