With sixteen weeks to go, it's time to start seriously. The goal is to maintain bodyweight, unless you are way out of shape, but to slowly lose bodyfat while actually adding lean tissue from your training, improved diet and supplements. One of the mistakes we see most often is a competitor makes an instant calorie drop when he starts his diet. This causes the loss of a lot of muscle tissue right at the outset of the diet. Your goal is to add calories and nutrient density through your diet and supplements at the sixteen weeks out point.
Here are some of the actual diets we've used with various competitors during Phase One of their diet:
James Johnson, 1997 NPC Jr. National BW Champ followed this meal plan 16 weeks out from his first bodybuilding contest, the 1996 Northern Kentucky Championship where he won the overall title.
Supplements: Super Pack, Mass Amino Tablets: 6 / meal, Ultra 40 Liver 6 / meal, Flaxseed Oil 2 tablespoon / daily
Meal #1 6 egg whites + 2 whole eggs 2 servings oatmeal / cream of rice / or cream of wheat 1 orange or other fruit Meal #2 6-8 ounces lean meat ( chicken / turkey / fish, lean ground beef) 1 medium sweet potato, 1 apple Meal #3 6-8 ounces lean meat 1 cup of rice 1 cup vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) Meal #4 6-8 ounces lean meat 1 six oz. baked potato or yam or 1/2 cup rice 1 piece fruit 1 cup vegetables Meal #5 6 egg whites + 2 whole eggs 1 serving oatmeal
*James sometimes substituted a protein drink for any meal where it was difficult to eat a prepared meal:3 scoops Muscle Provider, 1 oz heavy cream, 1 whole egg, 9 strawberries, 12 oz water
Bill Hooks has won his class in the Novice division at the Northern Kentucky the past two years. In 1997 he moved up to 2nd in the Open Division as well. Bill, at a starting weight of 210 lb., had to follow a different dietary approach than James since he was attending school and had to rely on Muscle Provider as a portable meal. His diet works well for those who are on the run and have little time to prepare or eat food meals. Jeff Storch, who is featured elsewhere in this issue follows a similar plan.
Bill's 4000 calorie diet at 16 weeks out is based on these percentages of nutrients - Protein: 54%, Carbohydrates: 20%, Fat: 26%.
Supplements: Super Pak, Flaxseed Oil: 1 tablespoon daily, Mass: 4 per meal, Ultra 40: 4 per meal
Meal #1 2 whole eggs + 6 egg whites 4 oz. lean beef or chicken 1 oz. oatmeal 1 grapefruit Meal #2 2 scoops Muscle Provider 1 oz. (2 Tbs.) heavy cream (or 1 Tbs. Flax Oil) 1 egg 6 strawberries 12 oz. water Meal #3 8 - 12 ounces steak 1 serving oatmeal or small sweet potato or 1/2 cup brown rice 1 cup green beans Meal #4 2 scoops Muscle Provider 1 oz. (2 Tbs.) heavy cream (or 1 Tbs. Flax Oil) 1 egg 6 strawberries 12 oz. water Meal #5 8 -12 ounces turkey breast, chicken breast or lean beef 2 cups vegetables or 1 piece fruit Meal #6 6 egg whites, 2 yolks omelet vegetables
Tracy Beckham, the 1996 Derby Classic overall women's champion used a somewhat traditional diet for the first four weeks of her sixteen week preparation:
Supplements: Ms Power Pack, Lean Out 2 / meal, Ultra 40 4 / meal, Mass Aminos 4 / meal and Muscularity 2 / meal
Meal #1 8 egg whites 1 servings oatmeal / cream of rice / or cream of wheat Meal #2 5 ounces lean meat ( chicken / turkey / fish) 1/2 cup rice 1 cup vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) Meal #3 5 ounces lean meat 1 six oz. baked potato or yam 1 cup vegetables Meal #4 5 ounces lean meat 1 six oz. baked potato or yam 1 cup vegetables Meal #5 5 ounces lean meat 1/2 cup rice 1 cup vegetables Meal #6 6 egg whites 1 serving oatmeal
Meal #1 6 egg whites + 1 whole egg 1/2 cup oatmeal 1 orange or other fruit Meal #2 6-8 ounces lean meat ( chicken / turkey / fish, lean ground beef) 1 small (6 - 8 oz.) sweet potato, 1 apple Meal #3 6-8 ounces lean meat 1/2 cup of rice 1 cup vegetables (green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, etc.) Meal #4 6-8 ounces lean meat 1 six oz. baked potato or yam or 1/2 cup rice 1 piece fruit 1 cup vegetables Meal #5 6 egg whites + 1 whole egg 1 serving oatmeal
*James cut the cream and one scoop powder from his previous protein drink so the new recipe was: 2 scoops Muscle Provider, 1 whole egg, 9 strawberries, 12 oz water.
Bill Hooks at 12 weeks:
Supplements: Super Pak, Flaxseed Oil: 2 tablespoon daily, Mass: 6 per meal, Ultra 40: 6 per Meal
Meal #1 1 whole egg + 4 egg whites 4 oz. lean beef or chicken 1 oz. oatmeal 1 grapefruit Meal #2 2 scoops Muscle Provider 1 oz. (2 Tbs.) heavy cream 1 egg 6 strawberries 12 oz. water Meal #3 8 ounces steak or chicken 1 serving oatmeal or small sweet potato or 1/2 cup brown rice 1 cup green beans Meal #4 2 scoops Muscle Provider 1 oz. (2 Tbs.) heavy cream 1 egg 6 strawberries 12 oz. water Meal #5 8 - 10 ounces turkey breast, chicken breast or lean beef 2 cups vegetables or 1 piece fruit Meal #6 6 egg whites, 1 yolk omelet vegetables
Tracy Beckham at 12 weeks: We decided Tracy needed to improve her muscle density at this point and restructured her diet to include more protein and fat, less carbs, and a high carb meal every third day
Supplements: Super Pak, Ultra 40 5 / meal, Flaxseed Oil 1 tablespoon daily
Meal #1 4 egg whites - 1 yolk 3 oz. chicken, turkey, or tuna 6 strawberries or 1 orange Meal #2 Protein drink: 2 scoops Muscle Provider mixed with 1 whole egg, 12 oz. ice water, 6 frozen strawberries and 1/2 frozen banana Meal #3 1 1/2 cups salad containing choice of salad vegetables w/ 2 tsp. oil +1 tbs. vinegar, 6 - 8 ounces lean protein (lean beef, chicken breast or turkey or fish) Meal #4 4 ounces lean beef or 6 - 8 oz. chicken breast or turkey or fish 2 egg whites 1 small sweet potato Meal #5 6 - 8 oz. chicken, turkey breast, or fish 1 cup vegetables
*Every 3rd day Tracy ate the following meal in addition to her regular meals: 1 cup rice, 1 small sweet potato, 1 small banana, 1 cup vegetables with 1 tsp. oil, butter, or margarine.
We recommend a four on, one day off split at this point. This will allow you to recuperate from each session. There are many variations but training each bodypart only one day a week precontest may be too little and training on a three day on, one day off seems to cause one to overtrain too early in the precontest phase. As far as bodypart splits we've seen and done them all personally and with our clients. We suggest that you choose the split that seems right for you. Just make sure you train your weak parts early in the cycle.
Sets and reps are also a very individual matter, but about 10 really hard "work sets" per larger bodypart and six sets per smaller part should be about right. Remember you're adding muscle during this phase so don't start dropping the weight and trying to do more reps. You should begin to shorten your rest between sets. Start getting focused and do your next set as soon as you have recovered adequately from the previous one.
This simple-but-effective supplement program will add up to seventy-five grams of the highest quality protein to your daily intake. The addition of this protein at each meal can have a very positive effect on your hormonal response to eating, maximizing lean tissue growth while utilizing stored fat for energy. Over sixteen weeks' time you will have ingested almost 8000 grams of additional protein, and 32,000 calories of the highest quality nutrients available.
Since it takes approximately 3500 additional calories to gain one pound of bodyweight, dividing 32,000 by 3500 results in a net gain of almost ten pounds. You could come in to the show almost 10 lb. heavier than if you hadn't taken the Ultra 40 and Mass. No wonder our clients are coming into their contests 5 - 10 pounds heavier!
We always recommend the Super Pak to ensure that you have a high intake of anti oxidants and anti stress vitamins and minerals to counteract the demands that pre contest dieting and training make on your recovery system.
Muscle Provider is a staple of our clients. Every single person you see featured in the No Nonsense Newsletter uses Muscle Provider as their protein powder. We've found too many other brands on the market cause a blurring of definition just prior to the contest.
Finally, women may need to start on Lean Out at the sixteen or twelve week out point. We rarely see it necessary for a male in reasonable condition to start fat burners this early in the preparation period.
Creatine will help you stay strong throughout your precontest training. You should realize however, that creatine works best when your nutrition is maximized for gaining. 7 Keto - the final week before your show. We'll get to that in the next issue also. For now get on the Mass and Ultra 40 program with a good vitamin/ mineral and forget the "supplement of the month" that you read about in each issue of the magazines.
For more contest prep articles, we suggest the following: