This segment is going to be short and to the point. Why? As I sit here typing this, I am about four hours until I hop on a plan to the city where Drew Carey and the Dog Pound hail from - Cleveland, Ohio. I am now two days away from the competition and feeling pretty good.
I woke up this morning the hardest I have looked yet and I haven't even started my water/sodium/potassium/carbohydrate manipulation yet. I weighed in at 178, but by manipulating all the variables that are accountable for holding water I still should have no problem with making the cut off of 176 and 1/4 pounds for the middleweight class when I weigh in tomorrow night.
We are two days out from the NPC Natural Northern USA Bodybuilding Championships. This contest is one that Bodybuilding.com is a proud sponsor. I would like to personally thank Bodybuilding.com right now for all of their support, not just to me, but to all bodybuilders and the sport itself. It truly is the most complete bodybuilding site on the net. Hopefully, I will get to thank them out loud at the contest.
Back to business...
I left you with the plan for weeks 5 and 4 out. Let me get you caught up to date with my contest preparation and changes that I made the last two weeks.
3 Weeks Out:
Diet changes
- I kept tightening things up by staying with the pattern of gradual calorie reductions. This week I made changes in three spots:
- Pre-Workout and Post-Workout #1: I cut 1/2 scoop of AST's Creatine HSC (68 calories each 1/2 scoop) and added 1 tsp of Micronized Creatine.
- Post-Workout #2: I dropped 1 scoop of VP2 Whey Isolate (100 calories) and added one cup of broccoli. This equals a total reductions of 236 calories.
The reason I added broccoli to Post-Workout #2 is, as I stated in last weeks segment, fibrous vegetables help keep the metabolism stimulated and this, obviously, has a positive effect on fat loss.
Cardio changes
The cardio schedule stays the same with the exception of an increase in my extra morning cardio sessions from 12 minutes to 16 minutes.
2 Weeks Out:
Diet changes
- Post-Workout #2 and #3: This week I dropped my half a serving of cream of rice, and reduced my egg white serving to 4 ounces and my chicken serving to 2 ounces. This made for a total reduction of approximately 294 calories.
I also added broccoli to my Post-workout #3 meal.
I have to admit this week got tough and my physique was looking weak. The subtraction of the cream of rice really effected my appearance and my energy levels. Now the only carbs I take in are from broccoli and the little amounts I received from my Nytropro 40 shakes.
With the two gallons of water I take in a day all the sodium and very little complex carbohydrates, I didn't have much water being pulled into the muscle. I was left looking flat and not very vascular, which is to be expected.
This is all setting me up so when I manipulate my sodium/water/potassium/carbohydrates the last week, my muscle acts like a starved sponge and my muscle will fill up by pulling the water into it as well as draining most of it from between my skin and muscle. This should leave me full, hard, and shredded (hopefully - fingers crossed) by the day of the show.
Cardio changes
None this week. My schedule stayed exactly the same as the previous week.
Conclusion
Alright, that catches everyone up to where we are. I stayed with this plan until the Thursday before the show, which is when I started the manipulation process. I will give you the details next week when I get back from the show with a complete update of how the process worked, how the show was, and how I did.
As always, wish me luck. Hopefully I will see you next week as a winner!