NPC SHOW BASICS Originally posted by capinatl
Often the weigh-in occurs on the Friday before the Saturday competition. Sometimes both options are offered; an early weigh-in on Friday and one Saturday before pre-judging that takes place in the morning, sometime around 10am. The competition and placings all occur during pre-judging. If you are in a line of 9 guys and you are on the inside doing your quarter turns for the judges and they ask you to switch places with someone on the outside - that's a bad sign. If you are anywhere off dead center and they ask you to move inside to the middle, that means you are in the top of your class, this is termed a "callout". So, with 9 guys, if you are on the outside after the quarter turns you can bet you took 8th, or 9th. Look into dead center and you will know the top three. The winner is usually kept in the middle with second and third on either side (those two can be a guess). Compulsory poses are called out by the head judge; double-back-bi, front lat spread, etc. Some shows have individual posing routines that are 60 seconds with no music; bigger shows may leave that out to speed up the process.
Once you leave the stage the hard work is done. Pre-judging backstage is often tense, while I've experienced much looser environments at night. The night show is all for the crowd, time to show off and get ****y on stage. It's all about having fun at night. After your music routine lasting 60-90 seconds their will be some quarter turns and compulsories for the crowd to make it look like the competition is actually happening at this time. However, if you look at the judges they are up walking around, getting coffee, etc. The winner of each class finally returns to the stage for the overall. There are six weight classes in the Men's Open division:
BW = Bantamweight...........143 1/4 lbs and lower
LW = Lightweight................143 1/4 lbs - 154 1/4 lbs.
MW = Middleweight.............154 1/4 lbs - 176 1/4 lbs.
LH = Light heavyweight........176 1/4 lbs - 198 1/4 lbs.
HW = Heavyweight..............198 1/4 lbs - 225 1/4 lbs.
SHW = Super Heavyweight...225 1/4 lbs and higher
Quarter turns are called, compulsories, and finally a pose-down to music. The overall winner of the class winners gets the overall trophy, and the show is over. Time to eat.
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GOLDEN RULE #1: Find someone you trust and ONLY listen to them.
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GOLDEN RULE #2: If it tastes good you can't eat it.
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GOLDEN RULE #3: If it tastes good you can't eat it.
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WEEKS OUT OVERVIEW
Chronologically detailed by "weeks out" from the show date. All shows take place on Saturday.
DRUG OVERVIEW
The compounds listed here can differ greatly. Anavar, masteron and primobolan are also quality cutting enhancers. This is not the exact regimen I followed but I attempted to follow this stack. I actually left out the EQ and skipped a lot of injections particularly from 3-4 wks out. There was no strategy in skipping injections - I was just sick of them. My GH dose is higher than many use, but for most the ED dose is financially related. The primary scheme followed is bulking drugs from 16-9wks while dieting, then cutting drugs at 9wks, and finally short ester cutters from 4wks out. I did not use insulin, although I assume most serious competitors use the short acting insulin for filling out. For those who think using drugs will make or break you - you are mistaken. I did half the doses this year then last year and came in 5 times more vascular, hard and lean. It's all about the food - whole foods.
ED (QID) = Every Day / EOD = Every Other Day / BID = Bi-daily / E3D = Every 3 days
TRAINING OVERVIEW
Expect to be in the gym 3-4hrs per day. The low carbs and high intensity training will offer no "extra" energy for other interests; girlfriends, work, family, friends, etc. During precontest training I accomplish little else than just making it to the gym and getting through my routine. The closer the show gets the more reps I complete, and around 7-8wks out I hit my weaker body parts twice a wk, once heavy and the other day with light with high reps. Legs are also hit hard twice a wk at 6wks out - this does not include the 20 minutes of straight no weight lunges that occur once per week. Next year I will only do weighted lunges with about 80lbs on my back, aka, "country-mile lunges". Striated glutes I hope to be the result of the use of heavy weight.
DIET OVERVIEW
When I'm asked what diet can be followed to lose weight my simple answer is the backbone of a precontest diet (save carb cycling and depletion). 6-8 meals per day of varied protein sources that include chicken, fish and lean beef. Protein shakes don't cut it - whole foods are crucial in retaining your lean body mass. Carbohydrates at 300 grams a day from potatoes, rice and oatmeal offer a low glycemic index and just enough value for muscles to stay full and have energy for training. Sweet potatoes, brown rice and oatmeal are preferred over the white potato and white rice options for competitors. Mashed, overcooked potaotes and instant oatmeal are unacceptable as the GI is lowered. Throw in two 40 minute intese cardio sessions a day and anyone will average a 3lb wk fat loss.
GI = glycemic index (
The Glycemic Index)