2008 Competition Prep and Training

[Tatyana]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

I usually wouldn't post this but I think that this is really important.

I have today off work, and it is a REST day.

Completely totally off, minimal work, a bit of laundry, cooking, sort of thing.

LOADS of sleep (I love my naps), plus extra food, including CARBS.

REST and RE-FEED.

I think this gets over-looked and it is just as important as the training.

 

[nikkita]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

Sure it often gets over-looked, but if you are on your resting day take it easy on house chores, it also consumes energy.

 

[Thandie]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

I usually wouldn't post this but I think that this is really important.

I have today off work, and it is a REST day.

Completely totally off, minimal work, a bit of laundry, cooking, sort of thing.

LOADS of sleep (I love my naps), plus extra food, including CARBS.

REST and RE-FEED.

I think this gets over-looked and it is just as important as the training.

You are right Tatyana, most people think is go,go, go and no rest in order to stay in shape and good health, and is as important to work as it is to rest. I had a seminar this weekend and was basically sitting for more then 14 hours and I look as if I've lost muscles, (looks flat) have been cranky all day and it's all due to lack of rest and not feeding properly.

 

[Tatyana]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

Sure it often gets over-looked, but if you are on your resting day take it easy on house chores, it also consumes energy.

Any excuse I can take to not do housework, I use it.

Really, I should hire a cleaner. I love cooking, cleaning, really not my thing.

It was just sweeping the floor, a few dishes (I so need to get a dishwasher), one load of laundry, and then some food prep for tonight and the next two days.

Thandie,

I know what you mean about grumpy, that is a part of comp prep, but too much, I think it is a sign of over-training.

I think in some ways my job makes it essential to take extra rest, I do work overnight at times.

I love when my body aches, and going to heavy with chest and tris the last two days, I can really feel it in my elbows and arms.

I love that feeling, but training on top of that............

Even cardio, I will be doing another 80 miles in the next three days, so doing cardio today (even though I considered it) would just be detrimental.

It is hard NOT to train sometimes, or then not eat as much, but muscle grows when you rest, so I also feed myself well on some rest days.

 

[GUARDIAN]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

I usually wouldn't post this but I think that this is really important.

I have today off work, and it is a REST day.

Completely totally off, minimal work, a bit of laundry, cooking, sort of thing.

LOADS of sleep (I love my naps), plus extra food, including CARBS.

REST and RE-FEED.

I think this gets over-looked and it is just as important as the training.

this is my achilles heel. i will still do 2 cardio sessions on my off day. i havent had a week off in over 1.5 years.

i need 2 learn how to rest and relax but i feel like such a lazy ass when i dont workout.

 

[Tatyana]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

this is my achilles heel. i will still do 2 cardio sessions on my off day. i havent had a week off in over 1.5 years.

i need 2 learn how to rest and relax but i feel like such a lazy ass when i dont workout.

Really?

Just think how much bigger you could be if you gave your muscles the chance to grow.

I took a week off at Christmas, that was the diet, everything.

In all honesty, I wish I had eaten more naughty food as soon as I started dieting again.

I think it is possible to get away with that sort of training for awhile, but you do burn yourself out.

I know I am making much better gains in the muscle domain by only training 4 x a week (and my workouts are usually 30-45 min) and when I use lifestyle walking as my cardio (It is ususally is 2 h/day in total 3-4 days a week).

I walk everywhere, so much better to walk as transport than spend hours on a treadmill.

I have stopped doing cardio proper in the off season the last two years, I might carry on just to say in the habit so it doesn't seem so evil when I have to start again.

 

[dirty~d~]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

I usually wouldn't post this but I think that this is really important.

I have today off work, and it is a REST day.

Completely totally off, minimal work, a bit of laundry, cooking, sort of thing.

LOADS of sleep (I love my naps), plus extra food, including CARBS.

REST and RE-FEED.

I think this gets over-looked and it is just as important as the training.

Rest is VERY important. One thing I miss the most about riding the bus to/from work was the nap time. A solid 40 minutes, one way. I always felt like a champ on lift days.

My rest days are just that... rest and eat.

I love reading this thread. It helps keep me motivated to hit it hard every time. Thanks for the inspiration, T!

 

[GUARDIAN]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

i will have a "forced" layoff in december when i got to cabo for a week but i will most likely be checking out the resort fitness center...lol.

currently i do a 4 on 1 off split. i will try to drop the cardio on those off days.

Really?

Just think how much bigger you could be if you gave your muscles the chance to grow.

I took a week off at Christmas, that was the diet, everything.

In all honesty, I wish I had eaten more naughty food as soon as I started dieting again.

I think it is possible to get away with that sort of training for awhile, but you do burn yourself out.

I know I am making much better gains in the muscle domain by only training 4 x a week (and my workouts are usually 30-45 min) and when I use lifestyle walking as my cardio (It is ususally is 2 h/day in total 3-4 days a week).

I walk everywhere, so much better to walk as transport than spend hours on a treadmill.

I have stopped doing cardio proper in the off season the last two years, I might carry on just to say in the habit so it doesn't seem so evil when I have to start again.

 

[Tatyana]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

I trained legs last night, but as I am cycling so much and have a niggle on one knee, I didn't push it (which was a good thing for how it felt cycling in this morning).

I am focusing on bringing my outer tear drop up, so close stance, toes slightly out, almost like doing ballet plies (sp), not locking the knees out.

I am training legs twice this week, so I will hammer them on a day when I can do a different form of cardio, like walking, or no cardio at all.

I am either 5 or 7 weeks out from the first federation I want to qualify in, the BNBF, and I have A LOT of fat to burn still.

This last week I will have burned about 6000 kcals with cardio and training, and that is 15-16 hours of cardio and training.

Bloody hell.

I have been doing quite a bit of reading on fat burning, I am going to have to start counting all my calories if my weight and/or bodyfat hasn't dropped when I weigh and pinch in tomorrow.

I am also going to do some progress pics in the next few days.

This is the bottom line. It is all about the calories, and our bodies protect us more against starvation than they do against getting fat.

Forget about insulin, I think things like leptin are more critical in the whole grand scheme of things, especially when you are getting to the lean side of things.

When you have a lot of fat/weight to drop, it comes off fairly quickly, but at the leaner end of things, it gets a lot more difficult once you hit a certain bodyfat.

It seems just bizarre that I will eat 1800-2000 kcals/day to maintain muscle while I am burining 1000 kcals with cardio and training, but that does seem to be how it has got to be to maintain muscle and keep the starvation prevention mechanisms from kicking into high gear


I was KNACKERED tonight, but I trained chest, biceps and abs.

I think I forgot that that is what comp prep is like, being hungry and tired most of the time.

 

[Tatyana]

Re: 2008 Competition Preparation

Ok, I just found another medical measurement where bodybuilders may show a discrepancy.

I had bloods taken by my mate yesterday, and I just checked my results.

U/E - urea and electrolytes - renal/kidney function

sodium - 140 mmol/L normal

potassium - 3.9 nmol/L normal

urea - 8.7 mmol/L REALLY HIGH (this is from high protein diet)

creatinine - 121 mmol/L again REALLY HIGH (but this indicated how much muscle mass you have as well, and mine is UP from the last time I checked)

So that isn't the issue, the issue is that there is a calculation to do an estimated glomerular filtration rate, and it said I was in chronic kidney disease stage 3 (CKD3) as my creatinine is so high.

Just so my GP doesn't freak, I peed into a pot and did a urine total protein, and while I was waiting, I also did a dipstick.

I am also doing a microalbumin (which is a super sensitive measure of protein in urine) just to be on the safe side.

My UTP (urine total protein) is normal 0.13 mg/L


My cholesterol is LOW as well, 4.4 mmol/L and my HDL is high 1.95 mmol/L which has me with a ratio of 2.3, very low risk category.

Cortisol results

Cortisol reference values in plasma or serum vary with the time of sampling, from a mean value of 325 nmol/L (range 154 – 638) between 8am and 10am, to about 190 nmol/L (range 79 – 388) between 3pm and 5pm.

I had my bloods done at about 4 pm, non-fasting as well

Cortisol was 209 nmol/L

Glucose 4.9 mmol/L

All my other hormones were all normal

As far as training goes, I am doing 3 on-calls in 5 days, so far it has been riding my bike to and from work.

I am so saddle sore, I see why people wear those really hideous shorts.

I am hoping it is from lower body fat.