Training for Figure Competition

[jrowland22]

Hi Everyone!
I'm entering a figure competition in mid September and have just started lifting really heavy this month. I've read that when this first starts, muscle holds on to water for a few weeks (sort of shock) then the swelling goes down. Just wondering if this is correct? My measurements have shot up as well as my weight, but my diet has not changed (extremely clean diet).

Also, should I continue with the heavy weights to burn the fat? I'm currently at 23% and want to be down to half that. Again, I've done tons of reading but just want to be sure I'm on the right path.

Currently-
5'4"
138lbs
Diet - Super clean all week, 1 cheat meal.

 

[superqt4u2nv]

Hi Everyone!
I'm entering a figure competition in mid September and have just started lifting really heavy this month. I've read that when this first starts, muscle holds on to water for a few weeks (sort of shock) then the swelling goes down. Just wondering if this is correct? My measurements have shot up as well as my weight, but my diet has not changed (extremely clean diet).

Also, should I continue with the heavy weights to burn the fat? I'm currently at 23% and want to be down to half that. Again, I've done tons of reading but just want to be sure I'm on the right path.

Currently-
5'4"
138lbs
Diet - Super clean all week, 1 cheat meal.

Welcome to elite

Yes you can retain water when you shock your system with a new lifting program.

Can you be a little bit more specific about your diet?

Do you have a meal plan you can list out along with your macro's?

Here is a thread wit a lot of details about competing you can check out
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/w...-ever-wanted-know-about-competing-657099.html

This is also a good read
http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/w...e-fitness-womens-forum-start-here-678961.html

 

[jrowland22]

Sure, below is my typical day:

Breakfast: 4 egg whites w/ low fat cheese
Snack: Raw Almonds (about 10)
Lunch: Salad or steamed veggies w/ chicken breast
Snack: Apple or 1 cup fresh strawberries
Post Workout: 1 Scoop whey protein w/ water
Dinner: Grilled fish or chicken w/ veggies (like asparagus)

Daily I take Omega 3-6-9, BCAA & multivit.

I'm guessing that as they say, it took a while for weight to come on, it will take a while to lose. But I'm just wanting to make sure that if I stay on this path, it works out. I've been extremely depressed about my weight this past year and feel like giving up at times. But it this is how I need to train, than I'll continue to do so.

Would adding an a.m. session of cardio kick start the fat burning?

I generally do the following:
Mon- Lower body, abs & 30 min post workout cardio
Tues - Upper body, 30 min post workout cardio
Wed - Abs, 45-60 min cardio
Thurs - Same as Monday
Fri - Same as Tuesday
Saturday - Same as Wed
Sun - Off

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Drop the low fat cheese. It is processed so much you can't even call it cheese anymore. In all honesty, I prefer someone use full fat cheese just a lot LESS of it. Less chemicals, more flavor.

Keep the fruit in for now, but drop it soon. It is a natural food, yes. But full of sugar. If you have to eat the fruit, add a healthy fat/protein w it to help balance it an limit the insulin response. Like apple and 1tbsp natty peanut butter.

Don't do two-a-day cardio at this point. Stick w routine and diet and results will come. If you do two workouts now, what will you do later when you plateau? Three workouts a
day? Save some things for down the road.

 

[Daisy_Girl]

Also, what seasonings or sauces do you use? Salt? Spices? Marinating?

 

[caligirl85]

How many weeks till your show?

Any ideas your calorie count? macro breakdown?

 

[jrowland22]

The show isn't until mid September, so about 18 weeks out still.

Seasonings are all dry, no sauces, butters, etc. Honestly I don't care much for oils & butters anyway, so I use non-stick pans & cooking spray. I allow some salt because it's a necessary ingredient for muscle, but in moderation.

The low fat cheese is not American or processed slices. It's usually a small amount of cheddar or mozzarella made with part skim or 2% milk.

Calories are usually 1200-1500 a day. I'm not terribly strict about them because I eat such a large amount of veggies at my meals. Usually asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, fresh salads, etc.

My main concern is the weight and size I'm gaining right now. If it's just muscle shock and bloating, I'll stick with the workouts I'm doing. It's very unmotivating to push on when you work so hard and gain instead of lose.

 

[figurechamp]

If there's one thing I learned, it's to stay consistent. I'd get frustrated too when weight wouldn't come off, but then all the sudden, it would. I did do some tweaking of my diet, but not major drastic cuts. I'm not an expert and there are others on here who can give better diet advice, so I won't comment on that. But I will say that your doing wayyyyy too much cardio, this early out. At 18weeks, I was only doing 3 HIIT sessions a week. Getting your diet right will help you to feel better about not doing so much cardio. It all sounds counterintuitive, I know. But seriously... Drop all that cardio. Not completely, but do decrease it. Even doing that might leans itself toward some weight loss, believe it or not.

 

[jrowland22]

Thank you for the advice. I was concentrating on lowering my body fat % and thought the extra cardio would help with that. I'll stick it out with the weights and switch over to the the shorter cardio sessions.

 

[caligirl85]

The show isn't until mid September, so about 18 weeks out still.

Seasonings are all dry, no sauces, butters, etc. Honestly I don't care much for oils & butters anyway, so I use non-stick pans & cooking spray. I allow some salt because it's a necessary ingredient for muscle, but in moderation.

The low fat cheese is not American or processed slices. It's usually a small amount of cheddar or mozzarella made with part skim or 2% milk.

Calories are usually 1200-1500 a day. I'm not terribly strict about them because I eat such a large amount of veggies at my meals. Usually asparagus, broccoli, zucchini, fresh salads, etc.

My main concern is the weight and size I'm gaining right now. If it's just muscle shock and bloating, I'll stick with the workouts I'm doing. It's very unmotivating to push on when you work so hard and gain instead of lose.

Any idea how much weight you want to lose? Target stage weight? That helps in figuring out where you should be at calorie wise. Training heavy is important and I agree with the cardio comments but diet is a huge part of getting stage ready. I'd keep your calories up at 1500 to start and I'd track the veggies. As you get closer, you'll need to be fairly precise with your intake. All imo...