A few reasons why people f*ck up their 1st contest prep and what you can do about it

[christian70]

Too soft, too small and blames judging for their poor performance. This is usually how first shows go. But why? And mostly, can this be avoided? Of course.

Overall Game Plan
* Just knowing what you stage weight should realistically be is a starter. Guys have unrealistic expectations and get caught off guard being fat and 20lbs too heavy at 4 weeks out.
* Planning your cut at a constant 4lbs/week fat loss rate might work on paper, but once you reach single digits, you keep can't keep doing that shi*t and expect to retain muscle mass. But since you're 4 weeks out and still, you'll keep pushing that way and end up looking like an oily shrimp on stage.
* Thinking that any sort of "peak week" magic will help you. No it won't. Peak week is not the icing on the cake, it's the damn sprinkles. If you don't look good before peak week, you won't look good after. Yeah but[sup]Phil[/sup] Heat in 2014[sup]came[/sup] up leaner[sup]at[/sup] the night show.

Diet
* Too big of a deficit. I see guys starting their cut at 3500 calories and ending it at 1500. You are doing it wrong. I personally start my cut at 2850 and finish it at 2600. Understand the impact of macros and be patient. Your body doesn't care if you enjoy your cereals, if you need to go keto, you go keto.

Training
* Study proportions and give less attention to dominant body parts. Success as a natural guy is not about maxing out every body part, it's about balancing them. It's not about being extreme, it's about being perfectly balanced

Posing
* Practice, record, analyze, repeat. You'd be surprised how many people never practice posing before their first show and end up looking like Egyptian Hieroglyphs. Posing is hard. Posing well is extremely hard. We don't have the size of the other kind of bodybuilding. Just showing off our muscles is not enough to captivate the judges and the audience. No one is impressed by your 155lbs package on stage unless is presented with grace and elegance.

Hope this helps.

Bonus
* I'm very much of a loner and like to do everything by myself, so I understand if you want to do the same, but it's always good to have someone watch over you when prepping. Obviously someone who's been there before. Guidance helps as you lose your objectivity when coming close to show date.

 

[dawn16]

@christian70 My first show is next April, so I'll start dieting mid December. You say, if you have to go keto, go keto. I dieted somewhat successfully this summer while keeping carbs in.

At what point would someone decide to hop on a keto diet? When stalling in weight?

 

[christian70]

@dawn16 If you can get show ready without going keto, do it by any means. What I'm saying is that if you need to do it, but just don't do it because you enjoy your daily pancakes, that's a mistake.

Drop carbs before dropping calories. Guys could keep calories much higher if they just dropped carbs instead of keeping them and dropping calories. Replace carbs by fats or protein first, then when you're in keto and hit plateau; start dropping calories. I personally never reduce calories by more then 50 per week. You will often find that changing macros will produce the same weight loss effects as reducing calories, without the associated metabolic damage.

Edit: didn't answer your question directly.

• Answer 1: You don't hop on keto, you just replace carbs with fats until you end up in keto.
• Answer 2: Yes, I usually wait to be stalled for 2 weeks, but if you're doing a short prep (10-12 weeks), you can also adjust weekly. Just don't make any changes because you haven't lost weight today

 

[paparazi257]

@christian70 Awesome advice man. Thanks for taking the time to share

 

[combscreek]

@christian70 Any advice for a woman 6 days out from her first show? Eeep!

Honestly I think I'm doing really good. I feel awesome even on zero carb days. Coffee helps I suppose. Haha!