Alright, PREP-STYLE CUT - DAY 1! (WTF?! ALREADY?!)
I have very much enjoyed the off season in terms of training, food, mental relaxation, and focusing more on life and family rather than prepping. On a more logistical-side of the off season, it’s awesome not to have to constantly shave my body hair. I am, by nature, a very hairy guy (except for on my head…damnit…) I’ve been keeping my chest hairless for a couple years straight now, haven’t touched it since peak week. I’ll probably keep it that way until I’m 12-10 weeks out of the next show.
I am still technically in the off-season, but after 3 months of gaining, time to pull back some.
165.2 today, so pretty accurate.
After two years of competing, I have quite a lot of data to pull from. Last year I started prepping at:
(2) Low Day - 1710 cal - 165p/160c/40f
(4) Medium Day - 1860 cal - 175p/180c/45f
(1) High Day - 2255 cal - 160p/350c/30f
My low days were cardio days. One of them was HIIT, the other one was a 45min LISS session. On the LISS days, I’d keep the 1710 cals, but would only have some carbs with breakfast, then all protein and fat the rest of the day.
Had great results and consistent scale movement with those numbers. Since I am confident I’ve put on more lean mass since the show, and have been eating at least 3,000 cals a day, I don’t want to start that low. I’m also not show-prepping yet and am not in a time crunch. That being said, I do want to take a fairly aggressive approach within reason, the standard 1-2lbs a week will ensure I’m not losing any LBM, but I want to be sure to start losing right away, and get down to around 153. I am going to California to work with my bands out there late October, always like to look lean out there, so I plan on cutting until then. I have developed a reputation of being the jacked marching band guy, and don’t want to show up with people saying, “is that the same guy?”
So, here are my current starting numbers:
(2) Low day - 1825 cal - 165p/160c/65f
(4) Medium day - 2100 cal - 170p/240c/55f
(1) High day - 2400 cal - 150p/350c/30f
With these numbers I still feel like I’m eating a lot, am not restricted (other than no snacking), and have given myself plenty of room to keep trimming things off and lower numbers.
From previous years, slightly lower protein, giving me more room for carbs and fats. I’ve been able to keep carbs higher and fats lower and do well, but I do notice when fats are higher, my mood is improved. Also reading lately about the effect that fats have on depression, and while I do not suffer from depression, late in a prep I certainly feel those symptoms as many competitors do. Keeping fats higher was very helpful in improving my mood. So, I’m keeping protein to just over 1g per pound, keeping carbs higher and raising fats to about 25%, rather than 20% last year.
I’m going to give myself a “free meal” on high days after legs, my only stipulation is that it’s relatively clean and not super high in both carbs and fat. So, not pizza or burger and fries, but a double burrito bowl from Chipotle, my usual enormous chicken sandwich from the local pizza shop, lots of sushi, all are ok. And of course, a pint of halo top in the evening.
Training Split - 5 day split, 1 HIIT, 1 long LISS as I did last year. Quads, shoulders and arms are being hit twice a week. Last year I hit hamstrings twice a week all year and they really came up well, so I figure trying to the same with quads will hopefully yield similar results.
(Medium) Monday - Chest, Quads, Calves, 20min LISS
(Medium) Tuesday - Back, Biceps, Abs
(Medium) Wednesday - Shoulders, Triceps, 20min LISS
(Low) Thursday - HIIT - 8 intervals followed by 15min LISS (might try outdoor sprinting for now)
(High) Friday - Hams, Quads, Calves
(Medium) Saturday - Shoulders, Arms, Abs (2-3 exercises for delts, bis, and tris, 2-3sets each), 20min LISS
(Low) Sunday - 45min LISS - Doing one HIIT and one longer LISS session last year was a good way for me not to get burnt out too soon, and keep the steady results coming. I also hate HIIT.
Starting with cardio 5 days a week, 3 20min sessions after weights, 1 HIIT and a longer one Sunday. If I was starting a typical long prep, I would not start with this much cardio. Since we’re planning on doing this for 8-10 weeks, I think it’ll help the progress move along and get us there a little sooner.
Going to not overdo volume with the training. I’ve always been a high volume guy, but have found when I lower the volume and focus on intensity, I have better workouts, better results and don’t feel so drained all the time.
I’m also going to prioritize static stretching and foam rolling every day, something I haven’t done before, it was more of an “as needed” approach. I’m only 33, but a little before vacation I really started feeling pretty beat up. I enjoy going to the gym daily, so I need to be sure to not over board on the volume, and take my recovery up a notch.
MEALS - 6 meals a day - going for a consistent plan, but last year in my prep I realized that doing a clean IIFYM is no problem, by that I mean trade rice for a potato, a slice of bread for an apple, chicken breast for lean pork loin or beef, that kind of thing. Small regular changes make it much more manageable to feel like you’re not on a restricted diet.
The following is my general guidelines, but again I’ll rotate food sources as I want to, as long as I still meet my daily numbers. Also making sure to get a little fat with each meal, rather than carb or fat-centric meals.
Meal 1 - Eggs, toast (or waffles) and fruit
-2 eggs, veggies, fat free cheese, 1TBSP ketchup
-2 pieces Dave’s Killer bread with fat free cream cheese and no-sugar jelly, OR
-3 Van’s “lite” waffles with Walden Farms 0 cal maple syrup and stevia sprinkled on top
-1 apple (or blueberries, peach, melon, etc)
Meal 2 - Ezekiel Cake (I love my clean cakes!)
-1 serving Ezekiel Cereal
-enough unsweetened almond milk to cover the cereal
-1TBSP almond or peanut butter
-1 scoop Metabolic Drive Protein
-Splash of egg whites
Directions: Microwave just the cereal and milk for 3 minutes on high. Take it out (use oven mitts the bowl will be HOT), add and mix the rest, microwave for another 3 minutes. I like to add Walden Farms 0 calorie maple syrup.
Meal 3 - Chicken, veggies and fruit
-5oz chicken thigh
-veggies and sugar free BBQ sauce
-1 apple or other fruit
Meal 4 - Preworkout oatmeal and cereal cake - I usually do Finibars, on a cut now I prefer these oatmeal cakes as they keep me a little more full and give me great sustained energy. Follow the same directions as the EZ cakes, but with oats.
-1 serving organic rolled oats
-unsweetened almond milk
-1TBSP almond or peanut butter
-1 scoop Metabolic Drive Protein
-splash of egg whites
-30g cereal of my choice for added carbs (today I went with chocolate organic sprouted puffed rice)
Meal 5 - Post workout
-5oz chicken thigh/lean pork/london broil
-1 cup rice or 200g sweet potato
-veggies
Meal 6 - protein shake
-8oz unsweetened almond milk
-1 scoop Metabolic Drive Protein
Low days are the same except no carbs with dinner. High days are the same except I have a bigger post workout meal of my choice, plus a pint of halo top at night.
Alright, I think I covered all aspects! Just ate my oatmeal cake, getting ready to head to the gym. I remember telling myself after my last cardio session a week out of the show, “I’m never doing cardio again!” So, I’m sure when I hop on the elliptical today, it’ll be mixed feelings of “time to kick ass and get diced” with “WTF, here we go again!”
EDIT: forgot to list current supplementation!
Wake
-20oz water with BCAA
-Carbolin 19
After Breakfast
-Vitamin C
-Vitamin D
-Vitamin B Complex
-Curcumin
-Flameout
-Rez-V
-Probiotic
Pre-Training
-Indigo 3G
-Micro-PA
Post-Training
-Elite Pro Minerals
After Dinner
-Curcumin
-Flameout
Before Bed
-Z12