6wks Out, Help Please

[Bailey2006]

Hi Guys! Would appreciate any comments or tips! Going for the first place trophy this time around. This will be my 4th show and I have yet to take home the title. I have done all prior shows natural. This time I have done things differently. I am 33yrs old, 5'9, lightweight,current weight is 172( need to be at 165). Since 10ks out of have been on EQ (1CCwkly) Test/Prop(1cc every other day. My diet has been First Meal: Whey Protein Shake, 2tbs of low fat Peanut Butter, 1cup regular oatmel Second: 7eggwhites Third: 6oz of Chicken Breast or Cube Steak with Sweet Potatoe and garden salade with Newman Dressing. Fourth : Same as Third Fifth: Protein Shake, 2tblspoon of low fat Peanut butter, 1cup reg oatmel. I have taken my cardio up to twice daily. I started winny at 8wks out will be cutting out EQ this week and Test till two weeks out and winny all the way till show. For my thermogenics I am taking Hydrocut Hardcore at 7wks out. Any tips or advice please.
Any place but FIRST is last! Posted Pics taken 09-14-06, will update photos wkly.

[stayinstacked]

Well, 1cc of EQ weekly probably didnt do a whole lot unless it was 400mg EQ, and I hope you took more than 1 shot throughout the week. I dont like the diet, for me it would be very detrimental. I'd do more whole foods instead of shakes, especially for breakfast. I'd drop the cube steak too, and also the salad and replace w/ steamed broccoli or green beans. A good diet for a guy your size that would yield a much leaner and more muscular appearance IMO would be a protocal such as this;

meal 1; 8 egg whites(w/ either a little hot sauce or low sodium salsa)
1 cup of oats

meal 2; 6 oz of chicken breast w/ 3 tbls natural pb

meal 3; 1 large bowl of steamed broccoli, 6 oz chicken breast OR 2 cans of albacore tuna

meal 4; 2 small baked potato's, 4 oz chicken breast, 1 scoop whey

meal 5; 1 bowl of raw green beans, 6-8 egg whites, 2 tbls flax oil

meal 6; 1/2 -3/4 cup of oats, 6 oz chicken breast


A diet like I've layed out is definitely not as convenient and can be a real pain in the ass, but you'll look 10x better than what you would off your diet. If I was taking a shake I'd be sure to use them minimally and consume some whole food w/ it. I definitely wouldnt do any shakes once you get to 3 wks out. I'd never just eat egg whites alone w/out something else like a serving of veggies or a carb source. If your 172 already taking cardio to twice/day is too early IMO, save that for about 3 weeks out. Just my .02

[Bailey2006]

Stay, Thanks for the comments. I live in a very small East Texas town and I received the diet from a guy who competed in competition I am fixing to do and placed first. It seems the diet is somewhat the same. Except for the AM WheyProtein Shake and the recommended dosage you took of EQ was 200 mg wkly, so that was not enough??

[stayinstacked]

Stay, Thanks for the comments. I live in a very small East Texas town and I received the diet from a guy who competed in competition I am fixing to do and placed first. It seems the diet is somewhat the same. Except for the AM WheyProtein Shake and the recommended dosage you took of EQ was 200 mg wkly, so that was not enough??

Nope, 200 mg of EQ/wk will hardly put a dent in anything. If you can't run at least 400mg/wk of it, it's pointless, and you should have started the EQ at 12-14 wks out(you need to run it at least 10 wks, if your only doing 400mg then more like 12) so you could drop it by the time you were 2-3 wks out since it holds fluid. If that guy got first place w/ that diet I'm damn surprised. The truth is for 6 wks out your looking too flat and not lean enough. You look as though your losing muscle and not as much fat. I think your under eating and you need more whole food and better carb sources, not necessarily double cardio sessions. I think cardio twice/day on that diet is going to make you smaller but in no way looking better

[stayinstacked]

I'm not trying to discourage, only help you. I think if you swith the diet around and start taking alot of amino acids as well, you can turn things around quick though

[Undecided09]

The truth is for 6 wks out your looking too flat and not lean enough. You look as though your losing muscle and not as much fat. I think your under eating and you need more whole food and better carb sources, not necessarily double cardio sessions. I think cardio twice/day on that diet is going to make you smaller but in no way looking better

My sentiments exactly....

~M.A.D.

[Bailey2006]

If this is the diet, I switch too. Do I do it up untill the day of the show? I started it today and I will post photos again next Thursday! Also what about Thermogenics do I need to continue them?

[Undecided09]

Im surprised how many/the type of questions you have seeing this is your 4th show, not a flame, just very interesting???

~M.A.D.

[SVTMuscle*]

Yeah I agree on Undecided.... you still havnt found a somewhat decent scheme after 4 tries?

[JohnboyF]

Im surprised how many/the type of questions you have seeing this is your 4th show, not a flame, just very interesting???

~M.A.D.

It's called a learning process. If it was easy to get it 100% correct everytime then wouldn't everyone be 1st place...


You look good bro.. Listen to Stayinstacked

[Undecided09]

It's called a learning process. If it was easy to get it 100% correct everytime then wouldn't everyone be 1st place...


You look good bro.. Listen to Stayinstacked

Not what I'm saying at all Faiz, your point is valid, but its not applicable to what i mean...what I mean is that after 4 shows wouldn't you know the proper diet for ur body, essentially at every stage of the prep??? I know after I have done 4 shows I better not be on this board asking what my diet should be, otherwise I've learned nothing...Once again, not trying to be critical, seeing as im in my first prep, but it just seems odd to me, thats all I'm saying...

~M.A.D.

[bigsd67]

Not what I'm saying at all Faiz, your point is valid, but its not applicable to what i mean...what I mean is that after 4 shows wouldn't you know the proper diet for ur body, essentially at every stage of the prep??? I know after I have done 4 shows I better not be on this board asking what my diet should be, otherwise I've learned nothing...Once again, not trying to be critical, seeing as im in my first prep, but it just seems odd to me, thats all I'm saying...

~M.A.D.

I know what you mean here Undecided. However I also consult with a coach after 4 shows, mostly because I just dont feel like thinking about all this stuff. I like having my plans laid out for me. Call it laziness, but competing, working 60hrs a week and maintaining a good marriage takes a good amount of energy in itself.

[Undecided09]

I know what you mean here Undecided. However I also consult with a coach after 4 shows, mostly because I just dont feel like thinking about all this stuff. I like having my plans laid out for me. Call it laziness, but competing, working 60hrs a week and maintaining a good marriage takes a good amount of energy in itself.

Fair enough, its understandable...I would assume you do that pre-prep though right?? as well as with someone in person as a opposed to a forum, and not with only 6 weeks left, thats what i found stange??

~M.A.D.

[Bailey2006]

First of all I mentioned in the beginning I live in a very rural town. The closest place is almost three hours to go to a coach. I did a search on the net and found this site and it looked as if after reading for about a week, maybe a post would bring some insight on winning tips. I see maybe NOT! This is not my first bodybuilding show and each time I have had someone tell me something DIFFERENT! I have learned to take each thing I felt was Postive and implement it my training. I thought maybe I could have someone look at my progress each week and give me some tips on my progress. Stayinstack I appreciate you giving me the diet( so much more energy than the one I was on). This is a forum where you go for information and ideas or was I wrong? I posted my diet for critique and Stay was kind enough to give me another one. I DID not ask for one. Thanks for all the comments and I will continue to post.

[Undecided09]

First of all I mentioned in the beginning I live in a very rural town. The closest place is almost three hours to go to a coach. I did a search on the net and found this site and it looked as if after reading for about a week, maybe a post would bring some insight on winning tips. I see maybe NOT! This is not my first bodybuilding show and each time I have had someone tell me something DIFFERENT! I have learned to take each thing I felt was Postive and implement it my training. I thought maybe I could have someone look at my progress each week and give me some tips on my progress. Stayinstack I appreciate you giving me the diet( so much more energy than the one I was on). This is a forum where you go for information and ideas or was I wrong? I posted my diet for critique and Stay was kind enough to give me another one. I DID not ask for one. Thanks for all the comments and I will continue to post.

No your absolutely right, this is a site for info and help to win my friend...I was just curious as to why you were asking the things you were after doing 4 shows and being 6 weeks out, just seemed odd, thanks for the explanation, listen to SS he knows his shit, amongst others, XXL, I B D, and Nark to name a few....

~M.A.D.

[hotrod1]

Undecided,

After doing 4 shows i have yet to find out what exactly works for my body and how my body really responds to certain changes. there is always room for improvement and change. No one will ever know how to perfect contest prep! Why? Because our bodies are constantly changing, and because humans are never satisfied. Im only 20 years old and still post questions about every aspect of contest prep just to see new ideas and thoughts.

Hotrod1

[Undecided09]

Good stuff, ill understand in 4 weeks from today, lol..

~M.A.D.

[bigsd67]

The only thing that I'm wary of is that when you start asking questions you may have many different responses. After four shows I also have yet to see what truely will dial me in. Alot of trial and error. I have gotten unwanted advice from many people (no one on here, you guys all are very helpful) and all it did was make me lose confidence in my prep methods. My advice is to just stick with one program all the way through and if that absolutely doesnt work then change it up for your next show. I would feel uncomfortable changing my diet up at only 6 weeks out. On a side note the one outlined above is definitely a great one, I'm just throwing in my .02

[IBdmfkr]

Just saw this thread.. Looking good Bailey, but I'd also agree with SS that you are deff looking flat in the photos and holding too much BF, but this can be fixed if you really put your mind to it, and possibly sacrifice some muscle by doing cardio to strip off the fat.

As far as your approach:

First Meal: Whey Protein Shake, 2tbs of low fat Peanut Butter, 1cup regular oatmel Second: 7eggwhites Third: 6oz of Chicken Breast or Cube Steak with Sweet Potatoe and garden salade with Newman Dressing. Fourth : Same as Third Fifth: Protein Shake, 2tblspoon of low fat Peanut butter, 1cup reg oatmel. I have taken my cardio up to twice daily. I started winny at 8wks out will be cutting out EQ this week and Test till two weeks out and winny all the way till show. For my thermogenics I am taking Hydrocut Hardcore at 7wks out. Any tips or advice please.

Diet needs serious help.. SS helped you outline it but you really need to figure out total Macronutrients and number of calories/day you're consuming. Accuracy is a must here, no winging it.
Cardio should be done at specific points during the day, ex.(AM cardio done before first meal at 60-70% intensity for 30-40mins, PM cardio done 2.5-3hrs after last meal followed by BCAA's to prevent catabolism).
I have 2-3different diets that rotate throughout the week, you only listed one.. For me I must consistantly change things to keep my body from hitting sticking points as I came down closer to 3-4%.
The Prop will deff help with muscle loss so I like that, the EQ as stated before is much too low to notice anything at all, I'd drop it all together at this point and save it for a later date. The winny I'd run at 50-100mg/day up to the show as well and I ran Test Prop right through the show also at a very small dosage without affecting my water retention etc on stage.
Are you running diuretics?
Do you have your music/posing routine picked out yet? Are you posing everyday?! All these things are important, there are so many little things that people seem to overlook. Have your trunks/tanning product etc on hand ahead of time, less stressful as the show comes up.

Many other things, try and stick with one person's help.. otherwise you will get totally confused and get pulled in different directions causing more harm than good.

[guest589745]

I would listen to I**, thats him in his avatar.

[IBdmfkr]

That used to be me lol.. Now I'm 35lbs heavier!

Next year is gonna be very interesting.

[MrMent1on]

People we are constantly learning, never stop asking questions, thats how you learn. Undecided i fyou dont have an answer for the man then just read and dont comment, yo umight even learn something from his questions. Bailey I'll have to agree with some of th ebros your looking a bit flat for 6 weeks holding a bit BF, and thats becuase of your diet. I personally think you have too much carbs in it. it some part I see fat an dcarbs together, its either protein/carb or protein/fat. never carb and fat in the same meal. stay hooked up a diet for you and I agree with most of it. only 2 things I'd do different is the potato need to be sweet potato in meal 3 and I would drop the oats in meal 6.