SICk and contest prepping...what to do?

[Vascular Freak]

i am about 6 weeks out and really want to turn on the training but i got this cold or something that is killing me....today i had to take the day off and sleep...hopefully tom i'll be ok....what do all you comp you when your sick and dieting/cutting etc? i am just cutting carbs and cals way back and resting....

 

[Nathan]

Depending on how lean you are, you might ramp your calories back up to maintenance for a week or so to get better - plus, it should help speed your metabolism back up if you've been dieting for a while.

 

[Vascular Freak]

i am hoping to only have to take a couple days off....i did light cardio but i freaking about not being active....i slept almost all day....so still keep the cals up...mainly protein fats???

 

[needtogetaas]

vitamins bro lots of them drink lost of juice I know your cutting but it helps.
full days rest "as in dont do a dame thing"always helps to.

 

[Vascular Freak]

vitamins bro lots of them drink lost of juice I know your cutting but it helps.
full days rest "as in dont do a dame thing"always helps to.

well today i slept for 5 hours and spent the rest of the day sitting in front of this thing....to make matters worse my calfs and quad kills from the sticks....oh well.....gotta luv pain

 

[silverbackn]

Tear up some glutamine and get some rest. You have to get your immune system back. You are already more susceptible when you are dieting due to the stresses put on your body. Take a few days to get right or it will just prolong the struggle and hang on forever.

 

[Vascular Freak]

Tear up some glutamine and get some rest. You have to get your immune system back. You are already more susceptible when you are dieting due to the stresses put on your body. Take a few days to get right or it will just prolong the struggle and hang on forever.

thanks bro....i ALWAYS hit the glutamine hard but for some reason let that out this time round??? i am feeling better after a long days rest....i think the double sessions and the hardcore training sesssions on low cals was getting to me.....gonna hit some light cardio and train the arms tonight..nothing to taxing on the cns.

 

[Nelson Montana]

Depending on how lean you are, you might ramp your calories back up to maintenance for a week or so to get better - plus, it should help speed your metabolism back up if you've been dieting for a while.

Agreed.

It would also be a good time to work on flexing and posing, which isn't too strenuous but will keep you tight and will help in the long run. 6 weeks is plenty of time. The break won't hurt you.

 

[! RUSSIAN BEAR !]

just relax and rest then when your better hit the weights hardcore

 

[Vascular Freak]

just relax and rest then when your better hit the weights hardcore

i'll tolerate the rest and relaxing......and hells ya will i bring it at the jungle....actually the day of rest felt great...kept the diet in check and got a ton of rest....a little cardio this am and arms tonight....gona bumop the carbs a bit today and get the swell on!!! if only my calfs weren't wrecked form the prop....oh well getter done

 

[silverbackn]

thanks bro....i ALWAYS hit the glutamine hard but for some reason let that out this time round??? i am feeling better after a long days rest....i think the double sessions and the hardcore training sesssions on low cals was getting to me.....gonna hit some light cardio and train the arms tonight..nothing to taxing on the cns.

You are damn sure right about the contest prep being draining, especially with the twice a day cardo. A long days rest does seem to make a world of difference! I have been rocking about 30 grams of glutamine a day. This is the first time I have used this much of it. I dig it. Hang in there brotha!

 

[Sassy69]

Sounds like you're back on track - the good news is that you have plenty of time to absorb a few days off. But when you are completely run down, that's your body telling you to take a break or it will take one for you. If you try to work thru it because you feel like time off training will only hurt you, then you are forgetting the other part of the equation that is called recovery. Your body will continue to make you take time off until you are pretty much out of any chance to do your show - so give it the rest it needs to recoup quickly and then hit it again.

Hope you are loading on lots of good quality vitamins, minerals, good anti-oxidants, getting good quality sleep, etc. Its very hard to do that under the constant pressure of competition prep but do everything you can to support your body while it goes thru this. Things like not being able to sleep because you are wired all the time - even that is a good time to step back from what you are doing and work on just relaxing your mind - if it means taking 5-10 min to stretch before bed to "come down" from the day or whatever - competition requires a very holistic approach to managing the stress that affects every aspect of your life 24/7 for the duration of your prep. I think of all the challenges of competition prep, the biggest is just learning how both your body and your mind respond to the stress and learning to manage it.


I also thought Nelson's suggestion to work on the posing stuff was good - that is more of a cerebral thing anyway but its an aspect of prep - conditioning - that I think is massively underappreciated. Not just the flexing and holding for conditioning, but also getting pictures, working on fine-tuning your presentation - the way you wear the pose the best -- get pix of variations of the pose at different angles - e.g. wider stance on the rear leg of a rear pose, different transitions on variations of an abs & thighs, etc. Work on your own portfolio of poses that you can pull out on stage to make the performance your own.

 

[! RUSSIAN BEAR !]

i'll tolerate the rest and relaxing......and hells ya will i bring it at the jungle....actually the day of rest felt great...kept the diet in check and got a ton of rest....a little cardio this am and arms tonight....gona bumop the carbs a bit today and get the swell on!!! if only my calfs weren't wrecked form the prop....oh well getter done

its good to here the good news your getting there take some carbs give ya the energy to pump them arms , keep up the good work

 

[Mac173]

So you'll be doing alot of posting today?

 

[Vascular Freak]

You are damn sure right about the contest prep being draining, especially with the twice a day cardo. A long days rest does seem to make a world of difference! I have been rocking about 30 grams of glutamine a day. This is the first time I have used this much of it. I dig it. Hang in there brotha!

thanks bro!!! yah i just picked up a couple pounds of Optimim Nutr glutamine....i basically shovel in a teaspoon full between each meal and 2 tsp before and after the gym and again before bed.....much of it goes to waste but i don't care....i hate conservative!! lol

 

[Vascular Freak]

Sounds like you're back on track - the good news is that you have plenty of time to absorb a few days off. But when you are completely run down, that's your body telling you to take a break or it will take one for you. If you try to work thru it because you feel like time off training will only hurt you, then you are forgetting the other part of the equation that is called recovery. Your body will continue to make you take time off until you are pretty much out of any chance to do your show - so give it the rest it needs to recoup quickly and then hit it again.

Hope you are loading on lots of good quality vitamins, minerals, good anti-oxidants, getting good quality sleep, etc. Its very hard to do that under the constant pressure of competition prep but do everything you can to support your body while it goes thru this. Things like not being able to sleep because you are wired all the time - even that is a good time to step back from what you are doing and work on just relaxing your mind - if it means taking 5-10 min to stretch before bed to "come down" from the day or whatever - competition requires a very holistic approach to managing the stress that affects every aspect of your life 24/7 for the duration of your prep. I think of all the challenges of competition prep, the biggest is just learning how both your body and your mind respond to the stress and learning to manage it.


I also thought Nelson's suggestion to work on the posing stuff was good - that is more of a cerebral thing anyway but its an aspect of prep - conditioning - that I think is massively underappreciated. Not just the flexing and holding for conditioning, but also getting pictures, working on fine-tuning your presentation - the way you wear the pose the best -- get pix of variations of the pose at different angles - e.g. wider stance on the rear leg of a rear pose, different transitions on variations of an abs & thighs, etc. Work on your own portfolio of poses that you can pull out on stage to make the performance your own.

i like the post!!! the rest day was really needed....i had a sore throat for a few days but thought it was allergies because everything else felt fine....but yesterday i just knew.....if i trained i would be sick for 3 days...if i rested my body would overcome it...i loaded up on animal paks, vit c, and echinacea and green trea..... i def agree on the posing....although i will admit as freaking lame as it sounds when i get in shape i like to pose and check my results in the mirror haha .....although a true posing session is grueling....i do them in the sauna if i train in the am and no one is around...after training i get in the dry or steam sauna and do about 10 mins.....really kills water retention and also improves your conditioning for that specific bodily demand...makes posing in cool dry air like nothing

 

[Vascular Freak]

vitamins bro lots of them drink lost of juice I know your cutting but it helps.
full days rest "as in dont do a dame thing"always helps to.

juice is for babies....when you grow up to be a man you drink beer!!! haha had to throw that in there to represent arnold......but yes i have been rocking every vit possible....i walk into the supp store and say yes...then back my truck up and loader up.....it takes me almost a whole liter of water to get down all my pills with each meal....and another 3 gallons to make my piss clear from all the yellow vitamins<----i know i know b's etc but just using laymans