Only 2 more days to go till I show all the hard work I have done on stage at the Vancouver Fall Classic. Today was not an easy one, my body has had it, my legs are aching, my mind is gone, there is no more energy left but it's just one more day of hard work until I don't have to do any more exercise and I can start my massive carb up.
Today was all about making sure I stuck to my eating plan and I got my activity in which needed to total 2000 calories of exercise. I even had to tell myself if I was a good boy I would get a treat at the end of the day and all I can say is I pulled it off.
I am so excited for tomorrow, I almost feel like the carb up and checkin is one of the more enjoyable parts of doing a contest, don't get me wrong, show day is a lot of fun but for sure more stressful.
In this 2 Day Out Contest Prep Video I take you along with me as I get my last work day completed!
So we are just under three weeks out from the Vancouver Fall Classic where I will be stepping on stage to compete in Open and Masters Men's Physique and Classic Physique classes (if all goes well). In today's update video I introduce an interesting Health Tech product from Olive Healthcare called the Bello 2 which is claimed to have Dexa Scan Accuracy. This is not a review video for it as I will be making one after my show once I have been using the Bello 2 for a bit and can give me feedback on how it works and how it compares to my at home and gym based InBody body composition scales.
I also talk about how my prep is going sitting at just under three weeks out. What my plans are for fine tuning my calories in and out so as to hopefully get really close to where I need to be when I hit 2 weeks out in about a week. Right now I am for sure seeing the fat coming off and I am really liking what I am seeing but there is still a good deal of work to do and so I need ot stay focussed and on track especially now.
So here is my latest Posing Update Video exactly 4 weeks out from the Vancouver Fall Classic where I plan on competing in both Physique and Classic Physique in a mix of Open and Masters Classes.
I have been eating 2000 calories for 6 or 7 weeks no (kind of lost count) with a lot of exercise (generally 1500+) each day.
So I can see the fat coming off and even my scale is going down so I know I am losing weight. Sometimes during a contest prep your mind plays tricks on you so it is hard to be realistic about what is actually happening. Even these update posing videos don't always tell the truth as lighting and water retention can play a roll but it is what it is so you be the judge and see if I have made improvements from my 6 Week Out Posing Video.
More importantly am I on track? Will I be lean enough in 4 weeks? I feel like I am on track sitting in what I believe is the high 7% to low 8% body fat mark. I need to get into the 5% body fat ranges but this should not be a problem given I have 4 week to go...
I do get a lot of people asking me to show them what a full day of eating looks like and also what I do in terms of activity like workouts and cardio leading up to a show. We are one day away from being 4 weeks out and for the last 6 weeks or so I have been sticking to this relatively same program of around 2000 calories of food each day with at least 1500 calories of exercise which generally includes around 1+ hour of weight training 6 days per week with at least 6 miles of walking each day.
On my one non day of weight training I try to get a little more activity in if I can like a mike ride or something but I do need that one day off from weight training for sure to give my body a chance to rest.
In terms of macros my diet is low carb with higher protein and a bit more fat than most people eat during contest prep which does mean it is hard to get all my protein in since fats take away from other macro calories. That said I generally get between 150-200 grams of protein in each day, with a little over 100 grams of carbs and a little under 100 grams of fats. It does range a somewhat each day.
During this video I record a short clip each time I do some exercise or eat something so you ca get a get the full picture of what I am doing in terms of diet and exercise leading up to a show. I do change things as I need to but at this point I most likely will continue exactly what I am doing to the 2 weeks out point and then reassess where I am at and where I need to be. If all goes well I will be 99% ready for my show and will be able to cruise the last 2 weeks with a little more food then I usually allow myself.
I did mention a while back that I had plans for a show in the fall and so it begins or I should say it has already begun since I have been consistently training with this goal in mind since April doing my best to stay fairly lean while adding some extra muscle before the really hard prep begins. The show I am doing is called the Vancouver Fall Classic and it looks like Popeye's is the main sponsor with many other sponsors coming to the table so I expect it to be a really good show with a decent turn out. I will be entering Open Physique and perhaps a Masters Class of some sort. Classic Physique I am not sure about but I will consider it as I get closer to the show and see how I am looking, specifically if my legs are up to the challenge.
I am currently sitting at around 205 pounds and would say I am around 11-12% body fat so I need to lose around 10 pounds of fat and would like to be come in right around 195+ pounds before I carb up and fill back in for contest day.
Over the next month my focus will be to slightly cut fat with around a 500 calorie deficit per day which should put me on track to losing around 3-4 pounds of fat for the month, I hope to add an additional 2-3 pounds of muscle so my weight should not change all that much during the next month of prep.
Heading into 2 months out the plans will be to cut a bit harder while maintaining the muscle I have gained, maybe even gaining a pound or two if I'm lucky. I will be in closer to a 1000 calorie deficit during this time which should lead to around a 6-8 pounds of fat loss but everything will be adjusted based on how I look and how I feel.
The final month before the show will be all about getting every last bit of fat off of me which means around a 1500 calorie defect which in order to achieve means with a BMR of around 2100 I need to do at least 1500 calories of exercise each day while eating around 2000 calorie of food. I have done this many times and for me this works. With this calorie deficit I can lose as much as 3 pounds of fat per week but anyone that has done this before will understand that your body does not always cooperate and your metabolism can crash.
Well that's the plan for now but it can change at anytime depending on how I look and feel along the way.
Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 10:30PM ;)
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