Training to Compete

[Hyperchic]

Times New Roman

Hi i am fairly new to the gym scene and have only been training for about 18 months. I have been to the Natural Body Building Championships in Australia and am keen to compete next year. I have started a new diet this week consisting of

7am 3 egg whites and 2 bread, multivitamin and flax seed oil
10am protein shake and piece of fruit
1pm chicken and mixed veges
3pm protein shake and l/f cottage cheese
7pm lean meat and sweet potato, carrot and zucchini

And i do weight training 4 days a week and 5 days of cardio.

When i started training i was 25% body fat. I am now around 12% so i think i have done pretty well. My aim is to get at least 10% and then less for the competition of course.

Do any of you have any tips on how to achieve this, or what are the key things to do to prepare yourself for a competition? I have never competed and want to make sure i look great before i get up on stage.

Thanks.

 

[new@gettinbig]

Welcome to the boards!! Do a search you will find tons of info on diet and trainng and stuff to help ya out. All I can suggest is Train hard, diet, cardio, pose and be organized...and give it time As far as your diet..looks ok..I personally think you could get rid of the shakes...you need more REAL food..to get cut and lean real food is the way to go! More chicken, tuna, turkey breasts etc...Doesnt look like you are taking in a lot of calories etc. The closer you get to your show I would start cutting out some of your carbs...do a few days low 1 day high type plan. I would also cut out the carbs now late in the day...giving yourself more carbs on the days you workout etc. Try some oatmeal instead of bread in the morning. Drink plenty of water....and make sure you are getting enough fats!!! Up cardio as you get closer to your show and PLAN PLAN PLAN....goodluck to you

 

[diamonddiceclay]

eliminate all bread from your diet to cut up

 

[Sassy69]

Congrats on your progress so far -- looks excellent!

For diet, I would suggest, as new@ said - make oatmeal your carb for breakfast. Get rid of the bread - too much processed, hi GI carb. As you get closer to competition time, you will have to also toss the fruit and probably replace the cottage cheese - dairy is an evil thing while prepping for comp.

To begin your planning, I recommend going to see as many competitions as you can just to see how the judging is done, what the girls look like and what sort of shape you should expect to be in to be able to finish first or second.

Identify a competition that you want to do and determine if its a "tested" or "non-tested" show. If NPC, it could be either, or some other organizations, such as NGA are completely natural. The important thing here is to realize that even if a show is "tested", the testing could consist of random lie detector tests or something -- there are always ways around this so, just because the show says its tested does NOT mean you will be competing against all truly NATURAL competitors. Definitely understand what you could be up against. Its very hard for a natural competitor to go up against one using AS. Its also just not cool for a non-natural competitor to be competing in a tested show. But that's a morality issue.

So anyway, identify a show you want to do, and then plan to start preparing 12-16 weeks out from that date. It would probably be good to get someone to help you with training & diet. You will need to start tapering your food intake as mentioned above - get rid of all forms of carb EXCEPT limited amounts of complex carb such as brown rice, sweet potatoe and the ever popular oatmeal! All other carbs should come from dark green leafy vegies such as broccoli or spinach. I would also recommend adding a good fiber drink at the end of the day because all that protein and then broccoli / spinach can do evil things to your digestive system (read: farts... ). It also helps to play with your carbs alittle to see how you respond to different amounts as you lean out -- e.g. carb cycling. And of course, keep the water coming! I still drink at least 2 gallons /day and I have been "off season" for about a year.

For the competition itself -- I dont' know if you are interested in BB or figure or fitness -- if BB, learn all the mandatory poses, start working on a routine that highlights your best features and add some music. Get a good posing suit and find out more about how to do the tanning. At about 4-6 weeks out, start working on your posing and hold the poses for several minutes as you get better at them. Some are awkward to hold, but its excellent conditioning to bring out the hardness you want.

Also be prepared to be miserable as you start cutting your carbs down more and more - competition is very stressful on your regular life, so make sure you have a good support system around you - someone you can go bitch & moan to when you need it! Just following the diet, training hard and getting enough sleep can really cut into your social life too -- e.g. no drinking, no staying out late, etc. so be prepared to sacrifice a little if you really want to do it. But when you get on that stage there is truly nothing like it! And then you can give out this sort of advice (and embellish with horror stories if you want! E.g. "I ate boiled chicken covered in flax seed oil for 3 days straight, w/ about 1 cup of water per day!")

Not trying to discourage you at all -- its a complete trip to compete! But it is definitely taking on a lifestyle that can be very hard on you and sometimes the people around you - so be prepared! And feel free to ask more questions as you approach your decision and your prep!

Good luck!