9 week out photos

[DoubleDeuce22]

I am preparing to do the NPC Natural Ohio Championships in Lakewood, Ohio on April 4th. These are my 9 week out pictures, any feed back would be appreciated

[scoobysnacks]

Honestly, you are a good bit behind for 9 weeks out. Course we all have our reasons for competing, but if you want to be peak condition, you'll need at least 16 weeks in the condition you are now. Just my opinion.

Also, seek out someone who knows how to pose, although you arent doing horribly, some of your leg placements and the front relax needs help.

Ab thigh legs arent as nicely placed as they could be, everyone looks better in certain ways, but most look better to spike the heel on one leg showing your best quad conditioning and then maybe even placing one leg slightly in front of the other to help create that x shape.

In your front relaxed you look to be crunching down on the abs. Take a deep breath, almost arch the lower back and get "big."

Good Luck, but whatever you had planned cardio wise, Id take it to stage two or three to be ready, you are going to need to sacrifice some muscle to be respectable condition wise.

Ss

[DoubleDeuce22]

THanks, this is my first contest so it's a learning experience..I just started to do cardio first thing in the morning and at night, twice a day for 30 minutes each at low intensity. I do actually have someone I start posing with this week to work on it, and what else do you suggest for me to get in better condition so i can reach the peak?

[scoobysnacks]

THanks, this is my first contest so it's a learning experience..I just started to do cardio first thing in the morning and at night, twice a day for 30 minutes each at low intensity. I do actually have someone I start posing with this week to work on it, and what else do you suggest for me to get in better condition so i can reach the peak?

Well, #1 what is your diet like? Thats gonna be the most important. Common mistakes I see is to low carb from the start to high protein and either an absurd amount of fats or not enough.

If you lost 18 lbs of fat, 2 lbs per week from here on out, I still dont think that would be enough, you are probably carrying around 30 lbs, so youd still be 12 lbs total fat which I can tell you doesnt look that great onstage, it does at the pool though, but big difference. It takes a 7,000 calorie deficit to lose 2 lbs from wherever your cals were when you started dieting. You can achieve that through cardio and diet. As you can see you are gonna have to hustle. Just my opinions here. Others may see it differently.

Shoot for 2.5 lbs fat lost per week. Watch your morning weight from say Saturday to Saturday, dry morning weight, if you arent down 2.5 lbs each week I think you have to increase cardio and decrease diet some. Only way to get it done.

Either way its your first time, give it your all and take notes and mental images along the way so you learn something for next time.

Ss

[DoubleDeuce22]

here is my current diet

M1 - 5 egg whites 1 whole egg, 1/2 cup of oatmeal

M2 - 4-5oz turkey 2 slices of whole wheat bread

M3 - 6-7oz of chicken 1/2 cup of oatmeal or brown rice

M4/preworkout - 6 oz of chicken

postworkout - 35g whey protein, 35g carbs

M5 - 6oz chicken or 5oz turkey cup of broccoli

M6/before bedtime - 5 egg whites cup of broccoli

[DoubleDeuce22]

I started low carbs from the start, I stopped taking major carbs in after my 3rd meal from the start, I usualy do a high carb day once a week, usually on sundays.. what do you think i should do with my diet to help?

[BIG BRI]

from your diet it looks like you havent cut out carbs

[DoubleDeuce22]

Should I cut out my carbs now? as you see I don't have many carbs after M3, i take in about 100-125 carbs a day, is that too low or too many??

[jagill]

How tall are you? How much do you weigh? Post up your macro totals. The less work people have to do to give you advice the more you'll get. None of it will be the same, so you'll have some research to do and some decisions to make, but at least you'll have the opinions of people who have done it before.

Good Luck. See you at the show.

P.S. I think we're 8 weeks out. (or are these pics a week old?)

[scoobysnacks]

Should I cut out my carbs now? as you see I don't have many carbs after M3, i take in about 100-125 carbs a day, is that too low or too many??

dont cut them any lower, up cardio until geting 2.5 lbs per week just my opinion 125 is REALLY low at 9 weeks out.

[GeorgeForemanRules]

Should I cut out my carbs now? as you see I don't have many carbs after M3, i take in about 100-125 carbs a day, is that too low or too many??

By what you listed it looks more like 200g of carbs a day. That is still low so should be ok, how much fat is in that diet?

[Actus Reus]

You look behind but if you work hard you'll catch up !?! Keep your head up and good luck !

AR

[DoubleDeuce22]

I am 5'6" and weight about 162...there is barely any fat in the diet..i just bought some all natural peanut butter with 1000mg of Omega 3 with each serving..if there are any diet recommendations i would be glad to hear them..anything will help...like i said starting this past weekend i am doing cardio twice a day, once in the morning and once at night for 30min each everyday so hopefully this will jumpstart some progress...

[DoubleDeuce22]

It is funny though, as i look in the mirror I look better in the mirror than the pictures display...My abs are more defined and i see definition and musclarity better...I will be posting 6 week out pictures and then I will see from there..thanks for all the advice..by looking at my diet is there any room for improvement or suggestions?

[jagill]

In the ideal situation, you'd calculate how many lbs of fat you have to lose, and plan to lose 1.5-2 per week until the week of the show (try not to plan for any fat loss on peak week).

So...if one had 20 lbs of fat to lose, and maxed out at 2 lbs fat loss each week, that's a 10 week diet. Add peak week, that's 11. Then add a few weeks buffer, since realistically, you probably won't hit that 2 lb mark every week, so a 14 week diet is probalby safe, 16 is perfect for a slow, gradual diet and maximum muscle retention.