help with competition

[fittxn]

I would love any kind of advice that you could give regarding natural bodybuilding/figure competitions. One of my dearest friends has recently competed on natural bodybuilding and placed in Houston. My passion has always been fitness but I just dont know how to get where I want to be. I am looking to enter a figure competition in August. I am not sure about the diet or how much/ how less to work out.

I am 5'9 158lbs about 28% bodyfat

I work out 6 times a week
cardio in the morning for 45 minutes- 5-6 times a week
In the afternoons
Mon- Legs- 4 sets each bodypart/10-12 reps 3 different excercises
Tues- Chest/tri 4 sets for each body part/ 10- 12 reps - 3 different excercises
Thursday- Back/Bi's/ Shoulders- same as above

Workout@ 5am 45 min cardio
6:45 egg whites/ toast
10am- orange
1pm- grilled chicken salad
workout around 3pm
4pm- orange
7pm chicken w/ veggies
sometimes a yogurt

What am I doing right/wrong in order to get lean and cut.

[atherjen]

I would suggest adding protein to every meal. an orange is not enough. Id also swap the toast for old fashioned oatmeal and one orange for something like brown rice or sweet potates or all bran.
I also dont see and EFA's in your diet.
doesnt look like your getting enough food and nutrients. do you know the total macronutrients? (try www.fitday.com).
seems like an awful lot of cardio right now too. the idea is to slowly work up your amount of cardio as needed... that way when you hit a plateau you can move things along by adding in slightly more cardio.

[fittxn]

Thanks for replying, by the way your journal has really helped me out. You are very inspiring. Why should I cut out cardio if I have fat to loose- just wondering.

[kllowrider]

Good Luck. Go for your dream.
I have been training about 8 months to do a natural show next year. I am in process of trying to find out where the natural show are in Florida.
Keep up the good work.

[fittxn]

Wow 8 months- thats awesome. How long have you been doing this and how did you get information on what to do

[Timbers]

Since you are natural, you need to lift heavy and you'll get more muscle. Granted, every set of judges are different but you do want a good bit of muscle, even in Figure. You are going natural, so don't worry, you'll NEVER look like a guy. Seems to me if you're doing 12 reps, you are not lifting heavy enough. Lift as heavy as you can getting in a good 6 to 8 reps but with good form. I'm sure you'll be very pleased with the results

Normally, even figure gals, will go through a bulking stage and do very little cardio. They don't bulk on junk food but really clean food. They don't get "fat" but this is a period of heavy training fueled by a good clean bulk diet. This will increase your muscle gains. IF you are bulking clean and working your butt off lifting, you will not get "fat". No white rice, white potatoes, white bread or sugar either. Just good healthy food but they will increase their calories and protein. Then two to three months before the comp date, they will begin cutting like crazy and doing heavy cardio. They have to balance the diet along with the cutting cycle also or they risk loosing a good bit of muscle that they put on during bulking.

[kllowrider]

I have a good friend who has done shows before and she is now working out with and training me.She cuts me no slack. We are doing 25 reps, 12 reps 6reps then strip weight to 12 reps. I love it.

[MAURER]

talk to your friend whos a female bodybuilder, im sure she could give you lots of advice, and could help you with some stuff thats just not possible over the net.

[Timbers]

Originally Posted by kllowrider

I have a good friend who has done shows before and she is now working out with and training me.She cuts me no slack. We are doing 25 reps, 12 reps 6reps then strip weight to 12 reps. I love it.

awsome! my husband and I workout together and he loves to have us do drop sets : We do the normal 3 or 4x8 and then a fast drop set. It's a killer

[fittxn]

Thank yall so much for the advice. Can anyone suggest how much cardio I should be doing right now. Im not sure I truly understand what a drop set is, can you explain- I am having a blonde moment!!

[Lady C]

Drop set means drop the reps and increase the weight each time
EXAMPLE: 12 reps @ 15 lbs, 10 reps @ 20 lbs, 8 reps @ 25 lbs and 6 reps at 30 lbs. Do this for any muscle group by time you get to the 30 lbs you will have a tough time completing the 6th rep.

Since you are trying to cut bodyfat - I would do no cardio or maybe one day only. Concentrate on gaining muscle mass by lifting HEAVY weights. It will take some time (many months) being female.

[laura817]

The whole idea behind drop set is to tire the muscle out. Once you reach failure with your heavy weights, quickly drop the weight by about 30% - 50% and continue doing as many reps as you can until you can reach failure again. Your main focus here is concentrating on proper form.

[Timbers]

thanks for explaining drop set, ladies.
And once again and to echo Lady C - lift heavy :

[Cort]

Without reading the entire thread...I'd say eat more. If you don't get enough fuel (food) into your body its going to think its starving and its going to hold onto the fat even harder than before. Don't be afraid to eat, just don't eat bad food.