This year I relied on the tried and true methods of Beverly International.
My first experience with competitive bodybuilding came after high school when I enlisted in the US Navy. I started training at the base gym and actually entered a physique contest. I can't show you my pictures from those days because I am thoroughly embarrassed. I posed in my underwear in place of posing trunks. I was fat and came in last place. This experience did teach me a great lesson. I'll never do a show unless I am prepared in every way. That includes diet, training, tanning, posing... and posing trunks. That said, I'll take you along as I tell you how I prepared for my heavyweight class and overall wins at the NPC Drug-Free Monster Mash. I hope that there's something here that will help you prepare for your next show, or even your first show.
Let me tell you first off, that no matter where you train, you will hear or read so many varying opinions regarding training, diet, supplements, and whatever else, including drugs, that you'll be dazed and confused. At least I was. I finally realized that the more theories and methods I tried the farther behind (and fatter) I got. I decided to go one hundred per cent with Beverly International's system this year and it worked to perfection. Lesson Number One - rely on an intelligent systemized plan for your contest preparation.
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In the off-season, I had been known to weigh as much as 270 pounds. This was way too much fat; especially since my competition weight is in the 200 - 205-pound range. I actually would lose more than twenty-five per cent of my bodyweight to get ready for a contest. Not only did I have to sacrifice lean muscle to lose all the fat, but the accumulation of extra fat thickened my waist and was detrimental to my symmetry. As I write this it is three months after the Monster Mash and my bodyfat is still in the seven's. I've learned my lesson. Lesson Number Two - don't gain extra fat, keep your bodyfat percentage at ten or below so you can focus on growing lean muscle year-round.
Another mistake I'd made in the past was eating fewer calories during the week so that I could overindulge on the weekends. This strategy might have worked if I had eaten more clean food during the week and less junk on the weekends. I made the problem worse by eating far too few calories during the week (approximately 2400 calories) and then I would totally over indulge in cookies, donuts, and what ever else I wanted on the weekends. The result was I lowered my metabolic set point during the week then overloaded it with a fat storage dump on the weekends. Now I am eating 3400 to 3600 calories daily with more quality protein and a bit less sugar on the weekends. Lesson Number Three - Practice self-discipline. Eat the correct amount of protein and calories that you need each day to build muscle and don't go overboard on the weekends.
In the past I just bought a bunch of different proteins for my protein shakes. I had the attitude that the cheap stuff was better for me than a Big Mac. Well yeah … for the average Joe. But I wanted to grow the maximum amount of lean muscle tissue possible. I learned that if I want quality muscle I better pay attention to quality proteins. (Muscle is protein, you know.) This year I used Muscle Provider and Ultra Size in place of the cheaper stuff. This new approach may have cost me a bit more money on the initial purchase, but I did not get a blood sugar rush sixty minutes after I had the shake. I can now go a little longer until my next meal without going into starvation mode. Lesson Four - Put only the highest quality protein sources in your mouth. > > next page