Good Morning gym rat community! It's another deceivingly sunny day outside with a temperature of about -1,000 F here in Portland. At least it's March though and by that I mean that much closer to spring! I know I have been slacking on the blogs lately but in my defense I am outrageously exhausted and busy with my two jobs, training (basically a full-time job in itself) and of course taking care of my needy pup! I'm running off of about 5 hours of sleep right now so I'm not looking forward to a day of increasing exhaustion. Luckily today's lift is just biceps and triceps which I think I can manage alright. I don't have the slightest idea why I couldn't sleep last night. I've been stressing about my diet lately as I haven't been seeing the cuts I expect to at this point but yesterday I spoke to someone who really knows her stuff and by the end of the day after making a couple diet tweaks for the next few weeks I was feeling much more relaxed. I had a great cardio and shoulders workout last night which exhausted me physically and only used 1/2 scoop of pre-workout so that couldn't have had much of an effect on me. I went to sleep at my usual time of 10:00 pm and slept fine until about 2:30 when I got up to pee (TMI?). Any bodybuilder will tell you that sleeping through the night is nearly impossible when you are drinking a gallon+ of water per day but typically I can get right back to sleep. Instead I tossed and turned until about 3:00 when I got up again all frustrated and popped 2 Melatonin which are supposed to help you fall asleep. Hey, works like a charm for my dog! Unfortunatley they had zero affect on me and I continued to toss and turn until I finally got up at 5:40 to shower and get ready for my day. I'm now on my 2nd coffee and don't see much hope for my energy levels today. Just praying work stays quiet at this point!
I'm still not fully commiting to a show just yet. I am really eager to get back on the stage and my training and diet is 100% focused on a show-date but like I said, I'm just not seeing the cuts to make me confident at this point. I think I may have cut too much too soon earlier in the prep process leaving me with little to cut down from at this point. However, after my discussion yesterday with a seasoned competitor and trainer, I am going to make a couple of changes that will hopefully shock my body into increased fat loss mode. My current macros are about 40% carb / 40% protein / 20% fat. This is typically where I would be heading into peak week but since this is clearly not working for me this time the first change I am making (which started yesterday) is to cut fats down by 10 g (1 serving) and increase proteins by 20 g (1 serving). This will alter my macros to roughly 35% carb / 50% protein / 15% fat. I'm not touching my carb intake at this time because last week after about 1.5 weeks into a scheduled carb cut I got extremely weak and dizzy and had to increase them again in order to function at work and have adequate energy to workout...and after all that torture the scale didn't even budge! After having done 4 shows I know my body pretty well and I just seem to be someone that requires more starchy carbs in my diet than others. Anyway, this weekend I will have my weekly weigh-in and re-assess my diet plan again depending on how I'm feeling and looking. By the end of the month I should know whether I am on track to compete in the show I would like.
As far as March workouts go, I started my new month plan on Sunday with glutes, core, and cardio. It was brutal! I can happily say that the past few months of hitting my glutes twice per week has really paid off. Maybe it's all in my head but I truly think they are much more solid than last season so I'm just praying that with a little more fat loss, they really show on stage! I want to get on stage this spring so badly but I also don't want to show up with the same physique as a year ago. This month my plan has changed slightly going from 6 to 5 days of lifting and 2 to 3 days of cardio. The added cardio should help with the fat loss and the decreased lifting should help with the diet exhaustion as time goes on. I am also doing mandatory rest days on Fridays. I think this really helps me recover from pounding my body all week long and sets me up both physically and mentally to get in some serious strong lifts on the weekend when I am more energized and can spend more time in the gym.
All-in-all I'm feeling really good about where things stand right now. Here's hoping that my latest diet tweaks prove effective and by the time April comes around it's smooth-sailing 'til show time! Anyone out there doing shows this spring? Please share which ones...maybe I'll see you there! xo
I'm still not fully commiting to a show just yet. I am really eager to get back on the stage and my training and diet is 100% focused on a show-date but like I said, I'm just not seeing the cuts to make me confident at this point. I think I may have cut too much too soon earlier in the prep process leaving me with little to cut down from at this point. However, after my discussion yesterday with a seasoned competitor and trainer, I am going to make a couple of changes that will hopefully shock my body into increased fat loss mode. My current macros are about 40% carb / 40% protein / 20% fat. This is typically where I would be heading into peak week but since this is clearly not working for me this time the first change I am making (which started yesterday) is to cut fats down by 10 g (1 serving) and increase proteins by 20 g (1 serving). This will alter my macros to roughly 35% carb / 50% protein / 15% fat. I'm not touching my carb intake at this time because last week after about 1.5 weeks into a scheduled carb cut I got extremely weak and dizzy and had to increase them again in order to function at work and have adequate energy to workout...and after all that torture the scale didn't even budge! After having done 4 shows I know my body pretty well and I just seem to be someone that requires more starchy carbs in my diet than others. Anyway, this weekend I will have my weekly weigh-in and re-assess my diet plan again depending on how I'm feeling and looking. By the end of the month I should know whether I am on track to compete in the show I would like.
As far as March workouts go, I started my new month plan on Sunday with glutes, core, and cardio. It was brutal! I can happily say that the past few months of hitting my glutes twice per week has really paid off. Maybe it's all in my head but I truly think they are much more solid than last season so I'm just praying that with a little more fat loss, they really show on stage! I want to get on stage this spring so badly but I also don't want to show up with the same physique as a year ago. This month my plan has changed slightly going from 6 to 5 days of lifting and 2 to 3 days of cardio. The added cardio should help with the fat loss and the decreased lifting should help with the diet exhaustion as time goes on. I am also doing mandatory rest days on Fridays. I think this really helps me recover from pounding my body all week long and sets me up both physically and mentally to get in some serious strong lifts on the weekend when I am more energized and can spend more time in the gym.
All-in-all I'm feeling really good about where things stand right now. Here's hoping that my latest diet tweaks prove effective and by the time April comes around it's smooth-sailing 'til show time! Anyone out there doing shows this spring? Please share which ones...maybe I'll see you there! xo
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