Contest Prep Week 21

Ok I am now 21 weeks into my contest prep for the WNBF Pro World Championships (well 21.5 weeks as I write this). That means I am now just 6.5 weeks out from my warm up show should I decide to do it and 9.5, 10.5 and 11.5 weeks away from my major pro shows. So realistically there isn't much time to go, but I'm sitting in a good place at the moment.

Right now I'm feeling pretty reasonable actually. My mood is focused but good, my hunger levels are not exceedingly high (granted for the most part I am making food choices to increase volume), training performance is still pretty good for most lifts and in general I'm just enjoying the process. I have a feeling that we are about to start digging a bit deeper though, at least that is what coach Nunez tells me anyhow.

Training

My training has been going pretty well up to this point. Week 21 was a deload week which was quite timely as the weekend prior I hurt my lower back bending over to pick up a sock from the floor of all things. It was following a leg session but I didn't feel anything at all whilst I was actually training. Anyhow it has been sore in the morning ever since (though surprisingly better as the day goes on and pretty reasonable during training). The deload was definitely a good thing considering the circumstances but I am going to see my physiotherapist this week for some treatment because it isn't recovering as fast as I'd hoped and I don't want to risk it getting worse.

Alberto sent me a new training program this week. It is a DUP (daily undulating periodisation) program based on the following lifts: squat, bench press, deadlift, OHP, row with the option for different squat variations eg low bar, high bar, front squat. Intensities are reduced to anywhere from 65 - 90 % of normal loads, hitting 3 lifts each day with reduced daily volume but increased frequency over a five day period. Accessory lifts of choice are also included in the program. I like the general structure of the program and I think it would be a good way to progressively add weekly volume over time. I also like that the structure allows for emphasis to be placed where it is needed (and taken from where it perhaps isn't). Additionally the frequency of the lifts means you get a lot of practice for each of them and therefore theoretically you become more efficient at performing them. I'll admit though that this kind of program is not my typical "style" as I am more of a pure bred bodybuilder and whilst this program is for hypertrophy it is a little bit closer to a powerlifting type program to what I am used to.

Progress

As I said earlier I think I am sitting in a very good place for being ~ 12 weeks out from Worlds. Upper body is more or less in at this point. The lower body still requires more time to come in from both the front and back but progress is gradually occurring on a weekly basis. I have a lot of my poses down but I need to start setting aside some time for specific posing practice soon to really polish my presentation. See below for progress photos from this past week.

Refeed Day

This week I decided to take photos of every bit of food I consumed on my refeed. I hadn't had a refeed for 11 days before this so it was long overdue and I was definitely looking forward to it. No not all of it is wholesome but that's half the point. See photos below:

Kanga Bangas (kangaroo sausages) on toast and 100 grams of banana for breakfast

More kanga bangas with brown rice and vegies post workout and a later meal of turkey breast with brown rice

Pre cardio dessert meal - jam roll topped with mango and vanilla bean jam with cookies and cream ice cream on the side

Some chopped apple, a large hawaiian pizza (I ordered this while doing cardio lol) and a green tea matcha flavoured WPI shake post cardio

Final random dessert - peanut butter, mango and vanilla bean jam and 2 x turkish delight tim tams

WNBF NSW Titles Reminder

This Sunday the 31st I will be guest posing at the WNBF NSW titles at Castle Hill RSL. I hope to see some of you there supporting natural bodybuilding. Good luck to all competitors.

Follow Me

Remember if you want to keep up to date with my prep or what I am up to you can always follow me on social media.

Facebook - www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au

For personalised coaching and contest preparation services email evansmuscleacademy@gmail.com

- Evan

Contest Prep 2014 Week 1 - 20

Blogman Begins

Welcome to my official blog covering my 2014 contest preparation. I've been thinking about doing this for a while but have been so busy that it has been difficult to find the time. I am now half way through my 21st week of prep. Better late than never I suppose.

What I hope to achieve in this post is to catch you up on what I have experienced so far during this prep and then from hereon out follow this post up with regular entries.

Choosing a Coach

The first thing I want to address is that yes I am a coach and I coach others. When it comes to preparing for a big show I like to hand the decision making over to someone else for (a) an objective eye, (b) the ability to make tough decisions which are unbiased by my personal feelings of progress or physical discomfort eg hunger, (c) experience and knowledge that is different to my own ie bringing new ideas to the table. So I knew I was going to work with someone but the hard decision was who. This is something I had thought about for months and months prior to beginning my prep and discussed with others. In the past I had worked with Layne Norton in 2011 when I won my pro card (who is a great coach by the way). This time around I considered and enquired with multiple coaches including Layne, 3DMJ, Dr Joe but ultimately I decided to work with Alberto Nunez of 3DMJ. I had been following Alberto for a while during my off season. I liked his ideas and philosophies, I liked that 3DMJ had a contemporary focus on bodybuilding and felt as if I would personally be able to get along with him well in a coach/client capacity. I'd also attended a 3DMJ Seminar in Sydney in February in which he gave a presentation about peak week which very much impressed me. Anyway I went with Berto for this prep and I have to say it's been a very good decision. The man knows his stuff, his feedback is thorough and I think with his mentorship I am going to blow my previous self out of the water.

Show Choices
Initially I wanted to just do the WNBF World Championships which are held in November. This would be my pro debut. However since the WNBF changed it's rules to allow it's pro competitors to cross over into other natural federations I figured I might as well hit up some other shows. After some discussion with my coach I decided to go with the PNBA World Cup, the Natural Olympia and WNBF Worlds. I also really wanted to do the Yorton but it required me to qualify by placing in another IFPA show and it would just mean too much time and money spent in the USA with very little left to travel after my shows were completed. So for now the Yorton is a no go unfortunately, but perhaps another year. I also may do a local show in Sydney as a warm up primarily so that friends and family actually get a chance to come see me on stage.

Starting the Prep
We decided to start my prep at 33 weeks out from the main show I wanted to do (WNBF Worlds). It was a fairly quick decision and something that I had not expected (I had expected to do a standard 24 week prep and reverse into the show towards the end). I enquired with Alberto, he created a unique plan for me which was to do a fairly assertive "diet before the diet", have a diet break in the middle, go hunting for the final conditioning and then fine tune towards the end of the prep. I was slightly hesitant at first but I decided that Berto was right in his thinking that this was the right approach for me and I went ahead with beginning my prep the very next week. This is what I looked like at 33 weeks out (105 kg).

Week 1 - 13
I started out my prep with my macros set at 260 P, 300 C, 70 F with 1 refeed each week at 240 P, 525 C, 110 F. I was doing 1000 calories/week of LISS cardio as well. Progress was pretty good and as expected I dropped fairly rapidly to begin with. Progress in terms of weight dropping slowed a little around the 99 kg mark but we steadily continued dropping throughout the 13 weeks. The only adjustment we made was a downward adjustment to fat intake. I was pretty good in this part of the prep - hunger wasn't an issue, energy was pretty good, libido was fine, performance in the gym was reasonably well maintained. At the conclusion of the first digging phase I had reached a weight which fluctuated between 94 and 95 kg (over 10 kg down from my starting point) and this is how I looked.

Week 14 - 19
Week 14 - 19 was the Diet Break period of my contest prep. This was also probably the easiest portion. You could think of it as the nutritional equivalent as a deload for training. The goal was to increase calories to give me a physical and mental break before the final dig. Over 6 weeks we took my carbs gradually to 450 g and to 650 g during refeeds and added in some more LISS cardio. I have to say I really enjoyed the diet break as my strength in the gym was good, I was eating plenty of wholesome and also tasty "treat" type foods, energy throughout the day was great and best of all I was getting visibly leaner whilst maintaining body weight. My weight during this time went from 94 - 95 kg to 93 - 94 kg. Not a huge loss but good considering it was a diet break and of course as I mentioned I was progressing visually. I am pictured below at the end of the diet break.

Week 20
So here I am just beyond week 20, approaching week 21. This is going to be the most difficult phase of the diet - the dig for the final shows. The main change we have made in past 1 - 2 weeks is to reduce carbs to 350 g and I have to say I feel worse than at the beginning of my diet. Energy is down, performance is not too bad, hunger levels are way up, libido is taking a hit, cardio seems more difficult. These changes are partly in effect because I'm now sitting below my body fat set point and my body is fighting the changes. But that's how it is, this is the final digging phase. It's just beginning and it's only going to get harder from hereon out so I best strap myself in and enjoy the ride. I'll leave you with my most recent progress photos. As you can see glutes and hamstrings are starting to come in at this point.

WNBF NSW Titles
I will be guest posing and judging (alongside last year's Overall Champion and all around good guy Adam Cooke) at the WNBF NSW Titles which will be held on Sunday the 31st of August at Castle Hill RSL. I know of some of the young competitors who are entering this show and they are peeled! Best of luck to all competitors. If you are keen to see them or myself grace the stage or if you are in the area be sure to stop on by!

Follow Me
Remember if you want to keep up to date with my prep or what I am up to you can always follow me on social media.

Facebook - www.facebook.com/MuscleAcademy
Instagram and Twitter - @evansoooon
Website - www.muscleacademy.com.au

For personalised coaching and contest preparation services email evansmuscleacademy@gmail.com

Until next time - Evan out!