Contest Prep - The Not So Fun Stuff

I am sure most people will understand that Contest Prep is hard work and just because I may post lots of photos of delicious looking meals and an ever changing body that looks more and more conditioned week to week. The truth of the matter is I don't often talk a lot about the challenges I face and there are many along the way.

I am not complaining as for the most part I actually enjoy the process even with the hard parts, I like the challenge of seeing just how hard I can push myself each time and try and get in even better shape then my previous shows.

The reality is it's not always super fun and here are some of the hard parts that at least for me I find come up during contest prep...

Body aches and pains, the more I exercise the more my body starts to break down, all the walking and weight training and with a lack of food to help with repair my body really does get soar. I struggle with knee pain, foot pain and muscle and joint pain, usually it's just annoying but it can get so bad that I may have to alter what I am doing to make it to show day.

Fatigue is also a huge consequence of contest prep and cutting weight. Being in a substantial calorie deficit day to day with only a few refeeds along the way really wears down on a person and after a while the body starts sending messages to stop moving in the form of physical exhaustion. This is not an all then time feeling for me but it does come in waves and can be hard to get motivated when it hits me hard. This is when I push through even more as I find getting active helps me overcome the feeling of exhaustion.

Moodiness is another side effect of contest prep, being hungry, in pain and exhausted makes a person a bit short tempered so I really need to watch this and make sure I don't take it out on my family and the people I care about, even people I don't for that matter;)

And then there is the fact that I am self absorbed and so my family gets neglected at times. During contest prep I have a lot on my plate to juggle and I will have to say no to family and friends as there are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done.

Of course I have to give up many social functions and if I do go to them then I can not really enjoy them like normal as I am restricted in my food and drink so it can be tuff watching everyone else indulge and let loose while I eat my pre-prepared food and drink my zero calorie beverages.

There are for sure more challenges that come up but these are the main ones I can think of off the top of my head. So when you see someone that has made it to show day and you may think wow, that must feel awesome, yes it does feel awesome to obtain that goal but getting there does come at a cost. It comes down to what is most important to you in the end and for me I am willing to give up some of simple joys and pleasures in life in the short term to be able to look back and say I did my best and accomplished my most with no regrets.

3 Weeks Out - Vancouver Island Showdown - New Date

It's getting close to crunch time now with the Vancouver Island Showdown only 3 weeks away! Generally I consider 2 weeks out crunch time and if I am on track then crunch time isn't so bad but if I am behind even a bit, it can get pretty tuff! Right now I figure I am on track but I will know more next week around this time. I am up a few pounds but I did have a refeed on Sunday and the weather is super hot and humid which will make you retain water. It will cool off over the next few days and I will also dry out a bit from the weekend higher calories and more carbs.

My body weight was 201.5 midday today and should be closer to around 197-198 so I am holding a good 3-4 pounds of water... My InBody H20 home body composition scales says I am 8.2% body fat today, down over a percent from last week and generally my at home InBody scale is at least 1% higher than the gym Pro InBody scale I test myself with. So I am hoping I am in the mid 7% body fat range which makes getting to right around 5% body fat very doable.

Last week went well in terms of diet, calories and macros and is the reason I am down a solid body fat percent, making sure I was hitting my calorie deficit daily. This week will again be much like last week with 2-3 walks per day, why main weight training workout and some posing practice added in. This will yield anywhere  from 1500 to as high as 2000 calories worth of active exercise and out me in a 1000-1500 daily calorie deficit. Once I hit 2 weeks out I may have to make some change, my eating will tighten up a bit and I won't be able to get away with my weekend refeed but I am closing in on the goal and that will keep my mind off the sacrifices I have to make in exchange for being in my best shape possible.

4 Weeks Out - Vancouver Island Showdown - New Date

We are now less than a month away from the Vancouver Island Showdown hosted in beautiful Victoria British Columbia Canada. I had a really great week last week, stayed on track with all my workouts, all my walking and my eating was on point hitting close to a 1000 calorie deficit Monday through Saturday with a bit of a well needed refeed on Sunday which worked out nicely as it was Father's Day and I was able to live a little as I ate close to 3500 calories with close to 500 grams of carbs. This did make me hold a bit of water the next day which was check-in day but not anything extreme. My body weight was 201.5 pounds and I was 9.6% body fat according to my home InBody body index scale but it always reads about 1.5% high in terms of body fat compared to the Pro InBody machines like the one in my Gym. Unfortunately the gym InBody scale was out of commission as it is waiting for a repair part so I could not check it as a second point of reference...

This week will be much like last week with the exception that I am adding in a 3 mile early morning walk to go with my regular 2-3 miles I usually do in the evenings. This will add in about 400 active calories to my day which should help me be able to eat at least 2500+ calories per day while staying in a 1000 calorie deficit with all my activity added up.

I also hired my posing coach Jeff again to get my posing back on point, it's been a couple of years since I hired Jeff and he really helps out a lot, why do all the work and then let yourself down in the posing department?

5 Weeks Out - Vancouver Island Showdown - New Date

We are back to 5 weeks out to the Vancouver Island Showdown with new date in place (July 17th 2021) so I kind of guess it feels like we are again moving forward in our timeline :)

Last week went really well, I have been planning on not cutting too hard over the extended extra three weeks since I figured I would take advantage of this extra time to put on a couple of additional pounds of muscle which means a hard calorie defect would not be as productive. I still wanted to chip away at some of the fat so the game plan over this three weeks has been to be at a round a 500 calorie deficit each day for the most part. I managed that and perhaps a little bit more without feeling overly tired in life and at the gym.

Next week will be much of the same and then once we hit 4 weeks out things may change but I will figure that out when I get their based on how I look and feel. I'm still holding close to 200 pounds which is more than I usually am at around 5 weeks out yet I feel I am about the same lean as I usually am so I am hoping I am holding more muscle going into this show, that is always the goal but I find every show my body responds just a little bit differently each time, life is constantly changing and so will the changes to my body as I prep. I have not checked by body fat at my gym in a bit since the InBody scale has been acting up but I hope it will be working again this week so I can see where I am at,  am hoping to be in the 8% body fat range, even 8.9% would be good!

Starting at 4 weeks out I will switch to my posing trunks so I can showcase my legs a bit better and I will also start tanning which means it's time to trim some of the leg and body hair :) The lighting in the tanning booth I go to is awesome so I will for sure be making some update posing videos and selfie photos that I will be posting over on my Instagram Channel to take advantage of the anabolic lighting!

Any-how, I am very happy with how things are going and really feel like I am going to nail this show with more size and conditioning then previous years and that's about all I can hope to really achieve...

6 Weeks Out New Date Vancouver Island Showdown

With the new July 17th date we are now just under 6 weeks out to the Vancouver Island Showdown. Prep is going good, the extra time has for sure taken a little bit of pressure off of me and I feel it will help me to come in with a little bit more size for this show as I have three additional weeks to focus on building rather than cutting hard.

At the moment I am sitting at just a hair over 200 pounds and according to my InBody home scale I am right around 10% body fat but generally it is. At least a point higher than the Pro InBody body compositions scale I have access to at my gym. Last week I was just over 9% so I am hoping this week I may be just under 9%? I am not cutting hard but I am hoping to be redistributing some fat for muscle so it is possible even not in much of a calorie deficit right now. I do feel like this is in fact happening based on what I see in the mirror...

Over the next two weeks I will be in a slight calorie deficit each day of around 500 at least Monday to Friday with a bit higher calories on the weekend but not going over maintenance. The 4 weeks out I will begin to push things more hitting around a 1000 calorie deficit most days with more gerneal activity increasing as I get closer to the show.

Well that's the plan for right now but it can and most likely will change a bit as I get closer to the show, every show is a little bit different than the one before and my body even though I understand it well likes to throw some curveballs at me that I will need to adjust for on the fly!