Ahh, the anticipation builds up at the thought of competing in my first bodybuilding competition. Earlier this year in April I had an increasing desire to get lean and fit, more than I had before. I came across a program called "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle" by Tom Venuto (http://www.burnthefat.com), and I dove in right from the beginning. As summer was winding down, I started researching bodybuilding some more, especially with the influence of Arnold Shzwarzenneger's Pumping Iron film. I then found a competition that occurs twice a year; October 16th and April 16th, 6 months apart.
It was in September when I decided I was going to go into this full-out for the April compeition, which is 16 weeks to go. At the time, I was a good 28 weeks out, or so. I sat in the audience of the October 16th show, which you can see here http://www.fordsgym.com/bbinfo.htm. Watching a competition for the first time showed me what it entails of, and really motivated me to pursue an over-all victory relentlessly.
Bulking Phase
I decided to begin my bulking phase in November, to which I would increase my weight training, protein intake, total calories, and decrease my cardio. What really happened was maintain my already-good weight training, increased my calories with BAD foods, and ceased my cardio. End result: I gained 30 pounds, 5-7 of which are lean body tissue; the other 25 are pounds of fat. (Not good). So I've altered my diet and cardio regime to where I am burning off the fat every morning now, and eating a lot healthier. I've got a little over 2 more weeks of bulking up. After that, then I enter a strict cutting phase.
Cutting Phase
While everybody is eyeing the ball drop come January 1st, I'll be eyeing January 15th, to which is the day that my cutting phase of 13 weeks officially begins. The changes that will occur will focus on my cardio and diet. In order to minimize muscle atrophy (loss), I still need to pump my body with protein and put it through arduous weight training each evening. The main different will be my diet. The reason I've gained 30 pounds (used to be 195, now 225 lbs at 18% body fat), is because I've been in one long carbo-load. Usually people carbo load for a big race, a football game, etc. Me? I carbo loaded because I wanted to be big. I am, however, cleaning up my diet this week because I want to slowly ease into my cutting phase diet. I also want to add morning cardio workouts as well, which burn fat most efficiently. Currently they are 30 minutes in duration. Come January 15th, they'll be increased to 45 minutes, and possibly another 30 minute session in the evenings.
Hey, I've got major pounds to lose, in the lines of 28 pounds of fat. That should drop my to 5% bodyfat or less. Drastic circumstances call for drastic measures. And bodybuilding is all about drastic.
For the record, I am currently 225 pounds, 185 of which is lean body mass, and 40 pounds of which is fat (18%).
Weight Training
I first started with a BowFlex Extreme 2, and have since added the SelectTech adjustable free weights. I also constructed my own pull-up bar and am a new owner of an elliptocal trainer (and I thought my only investment would be the BowFlex). I guess it's what they say about tatoos: Once you get one, you can't stop. I'm currently looking to cap off my little home gym with an incline/decline bench.
When I lift, I work out one or two muscle groups to the max, and I mean until I burn and it hurts so much. I'll do up to 9-12 sets to failure on each muscle groups, including squats and forearms. I'll blast my chest with inclines, declines, fly's, and normal bench. I'll blast my shoulders and traps with military press, lateral raise, rear delt raise, front delt raise, upright rows, and shurgs. I'll blast my biceps with normal curls, alternating pinkie up, thumb up, and knuckles up (reverse curl). Triceps are mainly over-head extensions. I'll do squats and "good-mornings" for my legs and lower back. For my lats, I'll either do up to 12 sets of wide-grip lat pull-downs, or up to 50 pull-ups on the bar, in however many tries it takes me. I'll also hit my back another day with wide-grip rows or dumbell rows. When I do calves, I simply find a step and do single calf raises, 15-25 reps at a time, alternating, until I can't do any more; about 6 sets. When I do my abs, I just go to town on them; I'll do hanging knee raises, bicycles, leg lifts, butt lifts, normal crunches, and then start the whole cycle over again until I can't do any more comfortably. I'll KILL my forearms with pronation and supination (curling both ways) by winding a bar to raise a weight. Oh boy does that kill!!!! I usually can't stand more than 3 sets, but I'll try more next time.
The muscles I do not work out are my serratus muscles (side of my rib cage) just because I haven't added them in the program. I might later. I also avoid my obliques, because I'd rather have a smaller-appearing midsection than large thick obliques. I also neglect my neck. I figure it gets a good enough workout supporting my big head. ;-) j/k
And that's my work out plan. I have about 9 muscle groups I work out. If I lift twice a day, I can easily cover them all in a week, with rest sessions. If I'm doing cardio in the mornings, I'm going to have to combine muscle groups and super-set them. For example, I'll super-set biceps and triceps together. I'll also lift my abs and lats together (both hanging from the bar). I might even do legs and forearms if needed.
Please comment, or simply dive into my world as I plan to win this compeition. The one thing I plan to get out of this whole training process is simply practice. Practice for persevering through the difficult, making hard choices, building up focused determination, discipline, and patience. My character will benefit greatly from this pursuit, for which I know it is in preparation for something far greater than a measly bodybuilding competition. But for now, bring on the measly! :-)
Mark
Cutting Phase
While everybody is eyeing the ball drop come January 1st, I'll be eyeing January 15th, to which is the day that my cutting phase of 13 weeks officially begins. The changes that will occur will focus on my cardio and diet. In order to minimize muscle atrophy (loss), I still need to pump my body with protein and put it through arduous weight training each evening. The main different will be my diet. The reason I've gained 30 pounds (used to be 195, now 225 lbs at 18% body fat), is because I've been in one long carbo-load. Usually people carbo load for a big race, a football game, etc. Me? I carbo loaded because I wanted to be big. I am, however, cleaning up my diet this week because I want to slowly ease into my cutting phase diet. I also want to add morning cardio workouts as well, which burn fat most efficiently. Currently they are 30 minutes in duration. Come January 15th, they'll be increased to 45 minutes, and possibly another 30 minute session in the evenings.
Hey, I've got major pounds to lose, in the lines of 28 pounds of fat. That should drop my to 5% bodyfat or less. Drastic circumstances call for drastic measures. And bodybuilding is all about drastic.
For the record, I am currently 225 pounds, 185 of which is lean body mass, and 40 pounds of which is fat (18%).
Weight Training
I first started with a BowFlex Extreme 2, and have since added the SelectTech adjustable free weights. I also constructed my own pull-up bar and am a new owner of an elliptocal trainer (and I thought my only investment would be the BowFlex). I guess it's what they say about tatoos: Once you get one, you can't stop. I'm currently looking to cap off my little home gym with an incline/decline bench.
When I lift, I work out one or two muscle groups to the max, and I mean until I burn and it hurts so much. I'll do up to 9-12 sets to failure on each muscle groups, including squats and forearms. I'll blast my chest with inclines, declines, fly's, and normal bench. I'll blast my shoulders and traps with military press, lateral raise, rear delt raise, front delt raise, upright rows, and shurgs. I'll blast my biceps with normal curls, alternating pinkie up, thumb up, and knuckles up (reverse curl). Triceps are mainly over-head extensions. I'll do squats and "good-mornings" for my legs and lower back. For my lats, I'll either do up to 12 sets of wide-grip lat pull-downs, or up to 50 pull-ups on the bar, in however many tries it takes me. I'll also hit my back another day with wide-grip rows or dumbell rows. When I do calves, I simply find a step and do single calf raises, 15-25 reps at a time, alternating, until I can't do any more; about 6 sets. When I do my abs, I just go to town on them; I'll do hanging knee raises, bicycles, leg lifts, butt lifts, normal crunches, and then start the whole cycle over again until I can't do any more comfortably. I'll KILL my forearms with pronation and supination (curling both ways) by winding a bar to raise a weight. Oh boy does that kill!!!! I usually can't stand more than 3 sets, but I'll try more next time.
The muscles I do not work out are my serratus muscles (side of my rib cage) just because I haven't added them in the program. I might later. I also avoid my obliques, because I'd rather have a smaller-appearing midsection than large thick obliques. I also neglect my neck. I figure it gets a good enough workout supporting my big head. ;-) j/k
And that's my work out plan. I have about 9 muscle groups I work out. If I lift twice a day, I can easily cover them all in a week, with rest sessions. If I'm doing cardio in the mornings, I'm going to have to combine muscle groups and super-set them. For example, I'll super-set biceps and triceps together. I'll also lift my abs and lats together (both hanging from the bar). I might even do legs and forearms if needed.
Please comment, or simply dive into my world as I plan to win this compeition. The one thing I plan to get out of this whole training process is simply practice. Practice for persevering through the difficult, making hard choices, building up focused determination, discipline, and patience. My character will benefit greatly from this pursuit, for which I know it is in preparation for something far greater than a measly bodybuilding competition. But for now, bring on the measly! :-)
Mark
