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 How was I going to do this, what food would I have to cut out? How much cardio would I do? How much sleep should I get? Would I still use the same lifts, and what supplements would I use? These are only a few of the questions floating around inside my brain. Having a strong background in weight training and nutrition I knew I could develop a fool proof plan to get the best physique.
Figure Out Your Nutrition & Diet
I first decided to solve the nutrition problem and when I thought about how I would approach this, the saying “Keep It Simple Stupid” popped into my head. I am not a registered dietician or nutritionist, so I wasn’t going to make my nutrition plan complex. My intent, like so many others, was to lose as much fat as possible and maintain as much muscle as humanly possible.
I opted to keep a high protein intake (1.5-2 grams per lb. of body weight) which at the time was approximately 425-450g. per day. As far as what proteins I was going to consume I kept it to eggs, boneless skinless chicken breasts, ground turkey, and some protein shakes.
Next the dreaded carbohydrates! It is very important, as a bodybuilder, to maintain an adequate amount of protein and carbohydrates, but when dieting the amount of carbohydrates you consume needs to be “played with.” I decided to use a simple form of carb cycling. I made my high carb intake days on Sunday and Thursday, and the other days I was consuming lower amounts.
Sunday and Thursday were days I wasn’t weight training and I knew my body would use the extra amounts of carbs to help with my recovery. I did not set a specific amount of carbohydrates I was to consume. However, I did constantly “eyeball” my intake and I made sure they were all quality carbohydrates. Also I did not consume carbs after 3pm to prevent them from being stored as fat. The carbs I consumed were rolled oats, brown rice, and when I was leaner I did cheat sometimes with pizza on my high days.
My water intake stayed around 1-1.5 gallons per day. I did throw in some crystal light every now and then to add some flavor. My sugar intake stayed low too, except for the high days when I might have pizza and Carbo Force. As I said above when it came to my nutrition I kept it simple.
Do Your Cardio!
If you are like me you hate cardio, but it is one of the key components during contest preparation. I am very lucky to have my own elliptical at home so this made my morning cardio just a little bit easier to do. There are many people out there who do not believe in the morning cardio on an empty stomach but I am not one of them. It worked for me so “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” (Yes, you will be hungry but you will be burning off the calories you stored during sleep). I used the elliptical for 30-40 minutes every morning and I also did cardio immediately after weight training for 30-40 min.
If you are new to bodybuilding then you may be thinking that I was running or jogging, I wasn’t. Running can cause muscle lose and I wasn’t in the business of losing muscle. (There is a whole science behind this and I will go into that in a later article). I used a low setting on the elliptical and I was walking on the treadmill. I also did not set a target heart rate, but if you want to, remember to keep it low. You can use this formula: 220 – your age = your maximum heart rate, then use a small percentage of that solution (i.e. 40% of 200) and that will be your target heart rate. Here is an example for a 20 year old trying to find 40% of his max heart rate: 220 – 20 = 200, 200 x .40 = 80. So for this 20 year old 80 beats per min. is 40% of his max heart rate. (Confused yet)?
Now onto the simple stuff, weight training. Once again “keep it simple stupid”! I stuck with heavier compound movements at the beginning of my routine and threw in a few dynamic movements at the end.
Examples Of Compound Movements
- Squats
- Dead-Lifts
- Bench Press
- Cleans
Examples Of Dynamic Movements
- Leg Extensions
- Leg Curls
- Machine Chest Press
- Cable Flies, etc
When performing the compound movements my repetition range was around 8-10 and for the dynamic movements it was 15-20.
Below are some of the supplements I used during this period that really helped me reach my goals.
Please note that I train a lot by feeling, so the rep ranges and weight I use depends on how I am feeling that day. I also change my routines every four to five weeks. I found that doing compound movements first and then dynamic movements worked best for me. If you need help constructing a solid routine please contact me via e-mail,
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. Above I have covered the plan I used to achieve a great body. I hope this helps anyone who is thinking about competing or just trying to look good naked. It is very hard, but if you stay focused you will change your body. Just remember, NO EXCUSES!
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