4 weeks out QUESTIONS

[canesfan804]

Ok guys and gals my wife is doing her first competition in less than 5 weeks. She has a awesome 6 pack and her back looks like someone took a cheese grader to it. She is worried that her legs and arms are lagging behind. They look good but are still kinda soft looking.

Her trainer is supposed to be meeting with her 2xs a week but we are lucky if she meets us once a week. Trainer says she will lean out fast so dont worry about the weight. We are getting a little concerned since its only 4+ weeks left and she is still above her starting weight. We have started cutting carbs back and her diet has been clean for around 10-12 weeks. Should she be starting to drop weight or does this sound about right? Also what would be the best thing for her to get her arms and legs on track with her core? Any advice is appreciated since this is new to both her and I.

[Metalject]

Well you can never really use weight as an accurate gauge, at least not fully. Granted, the numbers going down does normally happen but when you factor in things like gear this can make relying on numbers very difficult. Just go by the mirror.

As for her parts that are still lagging behind, legs usually come in last for women. Even with men the glutes are often the very last thing to come in and it's not uncommon even in a good diet for them to not look really great until the last wk or so. Hard to say what to do though without seeing where she's really at with things.

When you get down to crunch time, a lot of the time cutting back carbs isn't enough. Ask any bodybuilder whose done a lot of shows and he/she will tell you nothing but protein and vegetables that last few weeks isn't all that uncommon. Now when that kind of thing needs to start is dependent on the person but it usually needs to happen at some point if you're going to nail it. I remember seeing an interview with Sean Ray and Kevin Levrone a year or two back and they talked about this kind of thing. They said a lot of bodybuilders today don't come in at their best like they use to because a lot of them aren't willing to suffer anymore. Both of them talked about eating nothing but fish and asparagus for days on end towards the ends of their diets because that's what it took.

Her trainer, anyone doing prep shouldn't have to meet with their competitor twice a week. There's no need or benefit to this if we're simply talking about contest prep, i.e. diet adjustments and things like that. Once per week is enough. The exception would be the last couple of weeks or say the last 7-10 days. Seeing the competitor as often as possible during this stage can be very helpful. All that said, if her prep coach said she would be meeting with her twice a week then she should be, that's what you guys paid for.

[OnTheSauce]

Metal covers it all.

And i'm out

[canesfan804]

Thanks Metal. I kinda thought the weight is not as big an issue as she feels it is but she wanted me to ask. As for her carbs she is currently at 1/2 cup oats in the am (pre wo) and 4oz(each) sweet potatoe for her 2 meals post w.o. We work out in the am but she works nights so Im thinking she may want to cut the sweet potatoe in her post wo meal because she goes to sleep right after on work days.

[Metalject]

In my opinion post workout carbs have no place in a prep diet the final weeks. She may also very well need to do some no carb days. How many and how often is impossible to say without seeing pics. It's really hard to give good advice like this without pics.

All that said and I can't stress this enough, if you have a contest coach you should really only listen to what they say, not me or anyone else. Of course, if you feel this prep person sucks that changes things, you need to be able to have faith in your prep coach....tough spot.

BTW, bodybuilding or figure?

[canesfan804]

Again thanks for the advice. She is doing figure. Her coach has been competing for a few years and has been a trainer for a couple. I dont think she sucks or anything and I understand what you are saying about the only listen to her. My wife is just worried that her legs and butt are going to jiggle on stage. I think she will do great personally she does have to work on the posing tho because she has a problem with dropping her right shoulder. All in all I think she will do great and I hope she places for her sake. I dont want her to be discouraged if she doesnt. Once again thanks for the help.