8 Weeks Out Today!

[hoteacher]

HERE ARE MY UPDATED PICS, its a website showing my progress...please know I am working on the facial expressions...not so good at this time

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/hoteacher_p/my_photos

Well, today I am 8 weeks out....I think I am still in denial that I am even doing this crazy bodybuilding show. I certainly have my good days and bad days with this whole thing. I am certainly not starving, at this time... I am eating about 3000 calories....just 3000 calories of REALLY BLAND AND BORING food! My body has become like a machine...every two hours it needs food and I almost feel it being burned up. I have not done any cardio now for almost two months and my legs have really come along...I am most proud of them ...finally two years of squatting pays off! Who would of known that all I had to do is STOP OF MY RUNNING! I still need lats, abs, calves, and hams as you can see. I am currently doing abs and calves every morning at 4 am..its killing me. My husband was kind enough to buy me a seated calf raise so I don't have to go to the gym at 4! I am currently training my abs and calves everyother day. Seated calves with 70 lbs sets of 30 reps, 6 sets...WHAT DO YOU THINK? TOO MUCH, NOT ENOUGH? I am also doing, as BUNNY suggested, situps on a decline bench with a 10lb weight, 25 reps and 5 sets. MORE WEIGHT? FEWER REPS? What do you think. I have a concave rib cage and it makes my stomach area "sink in", I have the abs in the am, the top four...you can see them in my relaxed stance, but when i felx my abs, they go away! Very strange! Do you think I will see more of them when I am water depleted?

This week I have decided to cut the crystal light and my spray butter...these were my last two chemiclas that I had in my diet. My diet and training is still the following:

4 am ABS and CALVES
4:30 am 10 egg whites and 1/2 cup oats with one table spoon MCT OIL
7:30 am 3 oz chicken or 4 oz talapia, or 3/4 can of tuna green veggie, 3 oz yam
10:30 am 3 oz chicken or 4 oz talapia, or 3/4 can of tuna green veggie, 3 oz yam
1:30 pm3 oz chicken or 4 oz talapia, or 3/4 can of tuna green veggie, 3 oz yam
3:30pm 3 oz chicken or 4 oz talapia, or 3/4 can of tuna green veggie, 3 oz yam
TRAIN AT 5:30 or 6 PM...my jusband is now my trainer since I let my trainer go, this has been a true test to our first year of marriage...I think he is a saint...some days I am a real you know what!
8:30 3 oz chicken or 4 oz talapia, or 3/4 can of tuna green veggie

I AM CURRENTLY NOT TAKING IN CARBS AFTER MY WORKOUT DUE TO THE TIME RIGHT BEFORE BED...IS THIS A GOOD IDEA?

11 PM: Usually I will try to take in one more meal of protein only...usually 10-12 egg whites because it is the only thing I can stomach this late/.

Thanks so much for everyone's support! I admire cometitiors so much now that I am walking in their shoes....can't wait until April 1st...pizza!!!!!!!

 

[the-short-one]

Your legs look great!

I'm not one to give advice in this case because I've never competed. But I will give you support.

 

[Sassy69]

Looking good - LOL! you definitely have a completely different metabolism from me....

Calves -- try this -- I've always had big calves, but didnt' ever really have good cuts - now even at probably 20% bf I have better cuts now than I did in my first show.

Pick what weight works best for you --- carry a 25, 35 or 45 lb plate in each hand (best w/ gloves!) and walk on your toes so you are getting a full extention of your calves -- good complete steps, but on your toes (you'll feel it) - do like 20 steps "there" & 20 steps "back" x 3.

I am not sure about calves every day tho. I don't know much about getting calves to grow w/ frequency of lifting - just lots of reps (e.g. like sprinters or bikers w/ their crazy calves. My questionwould be about recovery time.

Donkey calf raises are good - conceivabley you could get nsash to lean on your lower back where the bar would go to push the stack up & down.

 

[Sassy69]

My only comments are just posing stuff, and again not sure if your pix are your current poses or just posing for pix --- work on your lat spread. Your relaxed rear pose has a fantastic V, but your lat spread isn't pulled out as much as i bet it can go. Also side chest, I'd rotate from the waist just a bit to show more of your chest.

 

[hoteacher]

Thanks Sassy! Yes, the posing I am currently doing is in teh mirror...then i shut my eyes and try to recreate the pose...posing is ALOT harder as you know than it looks! When taking the pics, I am relying on my husband to shout out directions on where I am crooked, etc. Won't have him shouting though when I am on stage...must work on it! Hopefully we will see some improvements in this area next week . Also, question for you...I am only taking in the MCT oil in the am with my eggs. Should I be getting more fats? And...I posted on another board and they thought I was WAY FLAT...these are mostly men and they suggest the flatness is due to carb depletion. They suggest I take in 3X the amount of carbs I normally do on my day off to restore glycogen. Think I will try it and hopefully I will start to look fuller.

Thanks so much for all of your help!!!!

 

[superqt4u2nv]

Your quads are killer whem posing you look great really looking for to watching the rest of your contest prep.

 

[Miss24k]

Goodness girl you are ripped the hell up. lol

Is your husband going to the show, if so no reason he can't yell things to you, lol or make hand signals, I say this because at my last show, I'm trainer was like a baseball coach or something I wanted to laugh so hard on stage he was giving me all sorts of hand signals.

Still need to work on those hamstrings and calves, your quads look so good, that they overshadow the hamstrings. This is just my opinion though

Practice smiling, it may sound silly, but if you start now, it will just become routine. Nothing shows confidence like a beauitful smile.

You're doing great girl, keep it up.

And I don't think increasing the carbs alittle will hurt you, you do look alittle flat.

 

[hoteacher]

Thanks!

You are so funny 24 K....I will chat with him and ask him to do that ...I will probably start lauging on stage .. Yes, increasing the carbs on my day off starting tomorrrow. Went back and looked at progress over the pst couple of weeks and mush sy, i am looking flatter and flatter. Workin' on those calves everyother day at 4 am bright and early...also working on abs every other day. Hams I am now training with Quads and on back day...hope to see an improvement. Thanks so much for everyone's help and advice...can't wait until APRIL 1st!

Thanks Again!

 

[*Bunny*]

Looking good - LOL! you definitely have a completely different metabolism from me....

Calves -- try this -- I've always had big calves, but didnt' ever really have good cuts - now even at probably 20% bf I have better cuts now than I did in my first show.

Pick what weight works best for you --- carry a 25, 35 or 45 lb plate in each hand (best w/ gloves!) and walk on your toes so you are getting a full extention of your calves -- good complete steps, but on your toes (you'll feel it) - do like 20 steps "there" & 20 steps "back" x 3.

UGH these are fun let me tell ya! Sass

 

[bettyboop]

You look great, and very shredded for 8 weeks out. Adding some carbs sounds good and will fill you out a bit.
Where is your 1st show and what federation??
Best of luck in your 1st show, it will be a fun experience!

 

[hoteacher]

I am competing at the Mid-Illinois Championship in Ottawa Il.

HERE is the website
http://www.flexgymonline.com/mibcflash/index.html

When The Mid-Illinois began in 1991, it immediately hit the national spotlight as a well run and organzied event. The Mid-Illinois has evolved into the nation's largest novice competition, drawing over 100 competitors from throughout the Midwest.

Thanks!

 

[Gymgurl]

WOW looking good....carbs might do ya a little good....but you look ripped

 

[Sassy69]

THat's cool that there are that many competitors - the shows I've done have had minimal female BB's. But thousands of friggen figure girls (no offense figure ladies ) But just thousands of them and they take so damn long to get thru. And some of them just shouldn't be on stage. I almost wish the requirements were more stringent for figure. And I swear there's ALWAYS the one weird lady who is like a yoga instructor or some new age whack job who someone told her she could do a competition - except she has no idea how to do it. OMG. And then the posing routine they do --- the audience actually isnt' sure if its part of the planned show & is the comic relief or something. Wow.

Anyway I'm side tracked.

Abs - you will see AMAZING transformation on your abs when you do the water depletion. Seriouosly. So don't worry about that now. Keep working on getting deeper seperation on your abs because I don't think you will have a problem gettign them exposed at comp time. I would be careful tho that the weighted ab work doesnt' get you too thick. Your waist is already more prominent than your hips so just watch that. If anythign you could just do compression crunches -- do a crunch, blow out all the air & hold it for a few seconds. Arnold also did what he called Vacuum crunches. Where you sit upright, contract your stomach & blow out everthing and just really focus on your ab muscles only contracting. You can do these both sides (obliques) and front.

Are you guys going to the Arnold at all this year? If you are having any issues w/ the abs & thighs pose itself I might be able to spend a little time, or even get one of the pros or national level competitors to show you. We're at the Road to da Pros booth. LOTS of pros wandering around there.

Another thought I had on the posing - for side relexed pose, the judges might call out "Arms to your sides" - so your pose w/ one arm to front, one to the back & your leg bent might not be what they want. Be sure to practice just a regular pose to the side as well. Exactly like your front & back poses. To cover both of them - because the side pose like you are doing lets you show a little of your muscle - and then settle into the feet down / arms to your side pose -- As you turn, show your arms & thighs like you are posing for the side relaxed, hold that for a second when you get to the side, and then settle to the arms to the side/ feet down position. You never know so be ready for both. I've seen at some shows where the figure girls do their fancy side poses and the judges will yell "Arms to the sides ladies!" and they are completely lost because that's not how they practiced it.

On your rear mandatory poses (lat & rear dbl bi) you can set your outstretched leg to the back instead of the front - this is your chance to show off your ham cuts. When I do those poses, I plant my back leg first (with the ball of the foot as your plant point) and lean back to activate your hams. You can practice this in the mirror to see what angle of turn on the back legs shows off your hams the best.

I already noted that you might want to rotate from the waist more on your side chest as well.

Last of all, if you have a video cam, I'd suggest taping a whole run thru of your poses just as if they were doing the call outs on stage. This is a great way to see yourself how the audience would see you - note which way you present best / worst, where you tend to lean to one side, etc. - trust me we all have a dominant side so that will show up when you look at yourself on tape.

Symmetry round:
- front relaxed
- qtr turn to the right, (side relax)
- qtr turn to the right (rear - remember too pull out your lats)
- qtr turn to the right (other side)
- qtr turn to the right (front)
Thank you ladies.

Mandatory poses:
-(start at front relaxed)
- Front double bi ... and relax
- Front lat ... and relax (they may or may not call this)
- Your favorite side, side chest ... and relax
- Your favorite side, side tricep ... and relax
- Turn to the rear, back double bicep ... and relax
- back lat spread .... and releax
- Abs & thighs ... and relax
- Your favorite most muscular (you never know if they are will call this so have a pose...!) and relax.
- Turn to the rear .. Show of calves (again, you never know...) ... and relax
Thank you ladies.

60 Sec routine (no music)
- here I generally just do the same as the mandatories, leave out the ones that dont' show my best features (or are my crappier poses) at my own pace. Keep the "dance moves" out of this one, hold your poses for 2-3 sec, smile at the judges - esp when you know these are your best poses -- look at the audience like "YEA BABY I"M SOLID!"
and then acknowledge the judges and be done.

90 sec routine w/ music
- whatever rocks your socks!

 

[hoteacher]

Sassy-

Can I just move in with me until April first? You are amazing in how much time you take all of us!!!!! Yes, we are going to the Arnold. We are leaving Thursday night when I am finished with school...will take us about 6 hours to get there. I will FOR SURE stop to see you on Friday. Can't believe it, but at that time I will be 4 weeks out... and probably nearing a nervous breakdown!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Question from reading another thread...I take in only one table spoon of MCT oil in the am on my eggs, that's it for fats...I have cheated maybe once per week and had 10-15 shelled peanuts, just from preventing me from eating something REALLY bad. On the days I have had more fats (the peanits), I wake up visably more ripped and fuller in my opinion...I believe the whole fat loading thing works for me. What do you think? I have heard of some people eating a fatty steak night before competition.

Thanks!!!!!!!!!!! FOR EVERYTHING!!!!!!!! I need and tryly appreciate all of your support!!!!!!!!!!1

 

[*Bunny*]

Hey girl! How's everything going??

 

[Sassy69]

HT is in a very cool position to be crazy lean & have the time to experiment w/ some diet manipulations (like Buns has!!!!!!) - very educational! And also to have the support she does from nsash!

Can hardly wait to see the results.

 

[Frisky]

WOW! you look amazing woman! 8 weeks out..... I'd love to be that cut 4 weeks out

Good Luck! :rose