My Journey To The 2003 USA Naturals

Week 16

"Judgment Day" is fast approaching and now is no time to let up. I must do everything in my power to improve every day up until August 9th so that I can look back on this journey and KNOW that I gave everything I had. Then, no matter the outcome at the contest, I will have special memories and a sense of pride and accomplishment that I can hold with me for the rest of my life!

Training

This was my last full week of training before the Pacific USA Naturals. I continued to attack heavy weight as much as I could in order to stimulate my muscles, but paid more attention to proper execution and form in order to make sure that I did not injure myself this late in the game. I learned that videotaping is definitely a distraction during your workouts, especially in a calorie-deprived state! However, I am glad that I got this video footage in order to create my training video after my contest is over.

I cranked up the cardio frequency again by performing 12 intense sessions plus a 45 minute brisk walk to be performed on Saturday. My cardio performance was down on the bike, but my effort definitely was not.

Nutrition and Supplementation

Just to show how much my weight is currently fluctuating based on how much water I happen to be holding at any given time, I weighed this morning before my weight training session after not having water all night and only drinking about 25 ounces at 203 lbs, which is down 6 whole lbs from last week. Well, then I weighed again after my weight training session having drunk about another 1/2 gallon of water and eaten my VP2 and HSC post-workout meal. This time I was 206 lbs. After taking a shower, a ten minute sauna, and drinking about another 1/4 gallon of water I weighed yet again at right under 207 lbs. I went with 206 lbs as my "official" weigh in this week since it is in the middle. These fluctuations in weight do not really matter. What does matter is how much I weigh Saturday morning on August 9th at the weigh-ins. It looks pretty definite that I am going to be a light-heavyweight.

I originally thought that I would be in the heavyweight division, but the cutoff for light heavyweight in the Open Division is 198 1/4 lbs. With another week and a half of cardio and dieting, plus the weight I will lose from dropping my water and sodium the last few days before the show, I should definitely fall below the 198 1/4 cutoff. This may be advantageous since I will be in a "smaller" weight class. I am not going to worry about it too much. All I can do is just continue to work towards the best conditioning possible and let my weight fall where it may. In the Novice Division there are only three classes and the cutoff for the heavyweight division is 187 1/4 so I should definitely be a heavyweight in the Novice Division.

With less than 2 Weeks until the Pacific USA Naturals it is time to suck it up and make one more large calorie drop in order to burn off every last bit of fat. I will reduce my daily calories this week by 254 calories a day as follows:

Pre and Post Workout

DGC

Meal #2

Meal #4

Ny-Tro Pro 40

VP2

Meal #8

As you can see, all of the same nutrient timing principles are in effect even at the very end of my contest preparation when my calories are very low. The reduction that is going to hurt the most is cutting my nighttime Ny-Tro Pro 40 in half. I REALLY have been enjoying this Ny-Tro as a treat during the evenings, but what must be done, must be done. Besides, I can handle it for just a week and half, right?

I will follow this nutrition plan through the end of the week and then decide if I want to make any other changes for the last few days before I begin the carb up process a week from Wednesday.

Well, the new plan is in effect and should help me make some good progress in terms of getting more and more shredded over the coming week. I just need to execute the plan every day and let it work. You can check out my entire nutrition and supplementation plan in this weeks training journal.

Updated Pics: