8 Weeks Out

[Thandie]

hmmm i'm going to disagree on the cyrstal light..

you can use it, just dont go nuts. Remove it one week out. based on your current pics your well on track. Crystal lite won't impact fat burning.

i used it in both shows and came in shredded both times.

What work for men don't necessarily work for women, believe me.

 

[mydawgs]

I am sure one of the figure competitors said she was between 4-6% at the Arnold.

I thought a lot of the 'hardness' was all about salt and water balance.

I will see what I can find out, it is quite different for figure in some feddies in Europe, like NABBA which is really popular, the girls come in really hard and ripped, and they have compulsory poses, similar to BBing ones, but with open hands.

Keto stix, they should only ever read 'trace' and probably then only after cardio.

The sticks are designed for diabetics, and diabetic ketoacidosis is a pathological condition.

In healthy people, the ketone bodies you generate from the oxidisation of fat will be used as fuel, not excreted, as you have removed carbs as the source of energy in the body.

I have a friend who did the Arnold Amature, she also did the NY show with me on the 12th of April. Apparently there has been quite a lot of discussion on another forum regarding the "look" that is being rewarded in the NPC and the IFBB. The discussion was started as a result of this:

Greeting All TX NPC Figure Competitors,

This update is specifically for you as it pertains to the new judging criteria
we at the NPC are judging. For the past year you have been hearing rumors or
directly from me that judging will move toward a softer athletic look in figure
instead of the muscular, lean look. Well, we kicked off the national
competition year with the Jr. USA in Charleston and true to our word we set the
stage for local and national level judging. The look is soft and athletic. I
suggest that you go on-line to examine pictures of this past weekends
competition. With the exception of Figure Class D as it was too lean and hard,
but we didn't have anything else to judge in that class. But all others are
representative of the new look.

We look forward to seeing you in the near future.

Train hard and demonstrate sportsmanship always,

Lee Thompson
N.P.C . Texas District Chairman/IFBB Judge
8515 Rue De Maison
Missouri City, TX 77459
281.435.8804

At the NY show this appeared to be adhered to according to my friend and I guess I rather agree. My posing coach is an IFBB Fitness Pro and I asked her and the jury is still out as what you said about the lean look at the Arnold for the Pros is quite true. I don't understand all of it but those of you that compete in the Figure on a regular basis may have much more insight than me.

I completely agree about the salt and water balance as I was taught that this is one of the primary tools to get the skin as close to the muscle as possible. Some of the other major factors would include your BF, muscle maturity or the "sharpness" your muscle can portray. The flexing close to competition aids in producing as much of this sharpness that one can produce based on the maturity. I would think it also helps in your ability to control your muscles when you flex due to the practice..not sure about this but it makes sense at first glance to me.

Would be interested in hearing thoughts on the "look" that is being rewarded by the Figure girls here....any thoughts? Is this for real or what exactly is it?????? I suppose this is a hard thing as it is subjective...soft and athletic to one could be quite different to another. Man nothing like making it any harder than it already is to prepare for a show....sigh

Thandie thanks for the compliments, and right back at ya.

I'll have to research the crystal light thng cuz it sure makes it easier to choke all that water down for the first three days...and then of course you are dying for more at the end LOL

From some of the research I have done because I am a hard gainer and tend to lose muscle quickly when I am trying to be as lean as possible without losing size, sometimes it is hard to stop losing size once I get in this state (of course if this happens the week before a show you are in trouble - unless you are huge and can afford to lose size like my husband), I found the Ketone sticks seemed to tell me when I am at that balance. So if you see an abrubt change does anyone know exactly what is happening metobolically? I'd love to understand the mechanism better! I assumed somehow the energy source for the activity had shifted? Not enough carbs to support the work and vary low fat storage..but still a heavy demand on the work you want the body to do. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

I did a little research and asked for some help from my friend who is a nurse. Under the conditions I describe above the energy source is shifted to the protien you are taking in externally. The protien is converted to amino acid and then I think another conversion takes place to put it in a usable energy source...the by product of this I am assuming will be indicated by the Ketone sticks. I have my friend and my daughter (she has a BS in excersize physiology) looking to see what the by products are and would they show on the ketone sticks. So why do you lose size....still researching this but I would assume since your body is now metabolizing the protien you eat for fuel to do work, you are not feeding the muscle, thus the muscle molecule cannot sustain it's current state.....will continue to look at this. I think human engineering ROCKS!!!!! Or at least learning about it.....

 

[mydawgs]

A really good read on Ketosis....

http://www.lowcarb.ca/tips/tips011.html

 

[GUARDIAN]

What work for men don't necessarily work for women, believe me.

crystal light works fine for me. just dont overdo it. i use it with my Waxy Maize PWO for flavor.

 

[Chocolate_Thunder]

You look ALMOST as good as Guardian's quads! And that is saying something.

 

[GUARDIAN]

You look better than Guardian's quads! And that is saying something.

 

[Chocolate_Thunder]

Since you were a little upset about that last post I thought I would make a slight edit for you.

 

[Tatyana]

I have a friend who did the Arnold Amature, she also did the NY show with me on the 12th of April. Apparently there has been quite a lot of discussion on another forum regarding the "look" that is being rewarded in the NPC and the IFBB. The discussion was started as a result of this:

Greeting All TX NPC Figure Competitors,

This update is specifically for you as it pertains to the new judging criteria
we at the NPC are judging. For the past year you have been hearing rumors or
directly from me that judging will move toward a softer athletic look in figure
instead of the muscular, lean look. Well, we kicked off the national
competition year with the Jr. USA in Charleston and true to our word we set the
stage for local and national level judging. The look is soft and athletic. I
suggest that you go on-line to examine pictures of this past weekends
competition. With the exception of Figure Class D as it was too lean and hard,
but we didn't have anything else to judge in that class. But all others are
representative of the new look.

We look forward to seeing you in the near future.

Train hard and demonstrate sportsmanship always,

Lee Thompson
N.P.C . Texas District Chairman/IFBB Judge
8515 Rue De Maison
Missouri City, TX 77459
281.435.8804
ARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHH



At the NY show this appeared to be adhered to according to my friend and I guess I rather agree. My posing coach is an IFBB Fitness Pro and I asked her and the jury is still out as what you said about the lean look at the Arnold for the Pros is quite true. I don't understand all of it but those of you that compete in the Figure on a regular basis may have much more insight than me.

I completely agree about the salt and water balance as I was taught that this is one of the primary tools to get the skin as close to the muscle as possible. Some of the other major factors would include your BF, muscle maturity or the "sharpness" your muscle can portray. The flexing close to competition aids in producing as much of this sharpness that one can produce based on the maturity. I would think it also helps in your ability to control your muscles when you flex due to the practice..not sure about this but it makes sense at first glance to me.

Would be interested in hearing thoughts on the "look" that is being rewarded by the Figure girls here....any thoughts? Is this for real or what exactly is it?????? I suppose this is a hard thing as it is subjective...soft and athletic to one could be quite different to another. Man nothing like making it any harder than it already is to prepare for a show....sigh
No kidding, that really sucks. Personally I think the division between figure and 'physique' as BBing is called here should be based moreso on your natural body structure, so if you are longer in the torso and legs, that is really more of a figure body, and vice versa.

How women are going to balance 'softer' with everything else?

What a nightmare.

The UKBFF (NPC in the UK) changed the name of the figure class to 'body fitness', and also, no mandatory poses, just quarter turns now.

One figure competitor I know, Magda, showed up for a qualifier and the judges said she had to do BBing as she was too hard and ripped.

She did the next qualifier in bodyfitness, qualified for the Brits and then placed 4th in bodyfitness.

It is not standardised, and some of the harder, more ripped girls still win.

I would come in how you want to look.

Thandie thanks for the compliments, and right back at ya.

I'll have to research the crystal light thng cuz it sure makes it easier to choke all that water down for the first three days...and then of course you are dying for more at the end LOL

From some of the research I have done because I am a hard gainer and tend to lose muscle quickly when I am trying to be as lean as possible without losing size, sometimes it is hard to stop losing size once I get in this state (of course if this happens the week before a show you are in trouble - unless you are huge and can afford to lose size like my husband), I found the Ketone sticks seemed to tell me when I am at that balance. So if you see an abrubt change does anyone know exactly what is happening metobolically? I'd love to understand the mechanism better! I assumed somehow the energy source for the activity had shifted? Not enough carbs to support the work and vary low fat storage..but still a heavy demand on the work you want the body to do. Any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

What do you mean? If the keto sticks go purple instead of beige?

You need to take in more carbs then.

I did a little research and asked for some help from my friend who is a nurse. Under the conditions I describe above the energy source is shifted to the protien you are taking in externally. The protien is converted to amino acid and then I think another conversion takes place to put it in a usable energy source...the by product of this I am assuming will be indicated by the Ketone sticks. I have my friend and my daughter (she has a BS in excersize physiology) looking to see what the by products are and would they show on the ketone sticks. So why do you lose size....still researching this but I would assume since your body is now metabolizing the protien you eat for fuel to do work, you are not feeding the muscle, thus the muscle molecule cannot sustain it's current state.....will continue to look at this. I think human engineering ROCKS!!!!! Or at least learning about it.....

There are a few glucogenic amino acids that can be converted to glucose.

There is no store of amino acids or protien in the body besides the muscle, so when the body needs glucose, it will canabalise muscle.

On average, we make 20-200 g of glucose a day (through gluconeogenesis) depending on how much we take in with the diet.

Ketone bodies actually refers to, erm, let me see if I remember this, I will google after, acetylaldehyde, nope, can't remember all of them, but is is three different molecules from the breakdown of fatty acids OR ketogenic amino acids.

If glucose is not available, amino acids are also slotted into one of the other central pathways of metabolism, the Kreb's cycle or tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle.

The two central pathways of metabolism are glycolysis, TCA, and the electron transport chain which converts (mostly) glucose into a form of energy the cells can use, ATP as well as NADPH and FADH.

It is sort of like food is money, carbs and protein are 10 dollar notes, fat is a 20 (just because it has more calories), but cells only take coins. These pathways make the paper money into that smaller currency.

Fat, triacylglyceride, is burned in the mitochondria of our cells, in a process called beta-oxidation. The glycerol backbone of trig can be converted to glucose, but the fatty acid chains have to be oxidised.


I hope this helps, our bodies are ever so clever.


I know some people love keto diets, I find that I don't have the energy to maintain the level of intensity training to maintain muscle, so I diet with carbs.

The insulin response also helps to maintain muscle, and I do think once your bodyfat is low enough, the insulin response drives more nutrients into muscle rather than fat, so it is really not an issue.

 

[mydawgs]

There are a few glucogenic amino acids that can be converted to glucose.

There is no store of amino acids or protien in the body besides the muscle, so when the body needs glucose, it will canabalise muscle.

On average, we make 20-200 g of glucose a day (through gluconeogenesis) depending on how much we take in with the diet.

Ketone bodies actually refers to, erm, let me see if I remember this, I will google after, acetylaldehyde, nope, can't remember all of them, but is is three different molecules from the breakdown of fatty acids OR ketogenic amino acids.

If glucose is not available, amino acids are also slotted into one of the other central pathways of metabolism, the Kreb's cycle or tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle.

The two central pathways of metabolism are glycolysis, TCA, and the electron transport chain which converts (mostly) glucose into a form of energy the cells can use, ATP as well as NADPH and FADH.

It is sort of like food is money, carbs and protein are 10 dollar notes, fat is a 20 (just because it has more calories), but cells only take coins. These pathways make the paper money into that smaller currency.

Fat, triacylglyceride, is burned in the mitochondria of our cells, in a process called beta-oxidation. The glycerol backbone of trig can be converted to glucose, but the fatty acid chains have to be oxidised.


I hope this helps, our bodies are ever so clever.


I know some people love keto diets, I find that I don't have the energy to maintain the level of intensity training to maintain muscle, so I diet with carbs.

The insulin response also helps to maintain muscle, and I do think once your bodyfat is low enough, the insulin response drives more nutrients into muscle rather than fat, so it is really not an issue.

Thanks Tatyana, what you say is highly aligned with what I am reading. And thanks for clarrifying the different terminology between BB and Figure in the UK. I knew you were a BB...you have a great body. I think your thickness is FANTASTIC. Before I tore my distal and shattered my thumb I was able to compete as a middle weight, but 2 years of not being able to train heavy reduced me to a LW...oh well, sh*t happens. I love your money analogy, makes it crystal clear.

My husband is totally a keto guy. Hell he stops drinking beer a whole 3 weeks out *major sarcasim*...he eats NO carbs..I said NONE. All fat and protien, you should see him shred up, it's freaky. Of course he can't remember his name...but he looks great, always went in around three percent. The lats from hell. But when you start at 270, who cares if you come in at 240?????? He has long since retired but still has that cobra back....what happened to me???sniff!!!!

Me I'm always begging to hold on to it..very frustrating when you live with nuclear metabolism guy who doesn't have to worry...I still love him though!

All information is good, I am starting to see a little more than trace as I have eliminated my starchy carbs, but tomorrow night I start to carb up...and then we will see. Thank you for your response and good luck to you in what ever you do....you have a great look!!!!

 

[ALIN]

OK, you will have to forgive me if I do not journel well..but I will try and ya all can tell me what I am excluding, then I will add it.

I am on 6 meals a day. First meal is egg whites and 3/4 cup OM with 1 oz almonds. All that follow alternate chicken and fish (4 oz) - 1/2 cup cous cous or yam, and 1 cup of GB or asparagus or spinich. I do a post WO shake with 1 scoop Isopure. I am currently on HMB 3x per day, CLA 3x per day, glutamine in my shake and normal vitamin regime. I am on a gallon of water per day and my treat at night is a grapefruit w/ equal. I exclude the starch meal 6.

I did the MET on 4/12 and I am currently at 125 lbs. I am a little tighter now than I was pre MET I think because I never really left the diet. I basically look the same now as I did the morning before the MET.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b130/MyDawgs/IMG_9000.jpg

Now I have been tanning because I missed on my color at the MET for pre-judging, so I'm not going to make that mistake again. (I am not as dark as in this pic). I will work on getting some pics - I just have not had time.

Any way I am doing 3 days of hamstring post 45 min cardio 3 sets high reps to keep them popped. I have added 2 days of deep front sqats (185 lbs) 15 reps - 3 sets and light leg presses (200 lbs) for same reps and sets to sharpen the separation between my glutes and hamstrings. These are sets I am doing for the first three days in addition to my normal body parts...looking for improved definition at the show.

I work each body part once a week. I do three sets heavy and one at strength reps, to give my connective tissue a rest. All my sets at this point are 4, I will take them down to three at 4 weeks. The only day I use 3 sets is on heavy legs day.

One day I go heavy legs one day - 3 sets front squats at 315 lbs, 3 sets of inner thigh plie squats on my toes at 225 lbs, 185 lb dead lifts 3 sets, and lying presses (lye on the bench, push with your feet up using the smith) 315 lbs 3 sets.

The deep front squats that are light have really effected me...I feel this afterwards, which means I am hitting fast twitch muscle fiber my heavy WOs do not...this is good for me.

Anyway I hope I am doing this right. I will get some pics after next week end, I am going to NC to see my oldest daughter graduate...YEA!!!! So she can start her docterate.......*** taking check book BACK out ****

Naw its all good, but the competing keeps me from killing someone YA KNOW!!!!!!

you are looking awesome my dear!