How long did it take you to reach 6% or less from ~10% bodyfat?

[onerepmaximum]

I varied it. Sometimes I would do a road run for about 4-5 miles, or I would do the stair stepper. They have one of the older Stairmasters at the gym where I work out. It is kind of like an escalator and the steps fold out, you have to keep stepping up, that thing is murder. I think my favorite though is the elliptical trainer because it doesn't put a lot of blood in your legs and you can burn about 900 calories in an hour without really killing yourself. I didn't really pay too much attention to level of the machines. I did monitor my heart rate though. I tried to stay at around 65% of my max heart rate. They say that 60%-65% range is the best for fat burning. If you are able to do cardio first thing in the morning, it is ok to go higher cause that keeps your metabolism higher throughout the day.

 

[molnii]

so u support cardio in the morning on empty stomach??
also how ofthe do u do ABS??

 

[onerepmaximum]

Well, I think that anytime you can do cardio is the best time to do it. The morning would be best because it will increase your metabolism for that day. I really was just trying to make sure that I was burning more calories than I was taking in. It was not uncommon for me to be doing a run at 9:00 at night, just to make sure I wasn't going to store any fat (paranoid, I know). I do abs about 2-3 times a week. I think that my time in the Marine Corps really taught me alot about training abs. The key thing for me is to really overload them. When you think you can't do anymore, kick out about 15 more reps. It hurts like hell, but abs are like shoulders, you really can't overtrain them in one session. Try to kill them.

 

[molnii]

sorry to bother you with all these questions but we have kinda same stats and build so I'm happy when we can share some knowledge!!
so how much cardio do u do for maintaining??
also could u let me know about your training routine??
appreciate it.

 

[onerepmaximum]

Man, it's not a bother. I'm happy to be able to share, because I was helped by a lot of people. When it comes to maintaining though......Today was the first day that I stepped back in the gym since the contest (July 26). I took a full week off. I have been eating everything that I want as much as I want. I gained 17 pounds. I still have abs (a little less pronounce, albeit) and I am vascular too. I'll give you a rundown of what I intend to do. I plan to weigh in at the next competition (in March) at as close to the max as I can. The cutoff is around 165. If I can gain 10 pounds of quality muscle, I will feel very good about walking away with 1st place. I think it is optimistic, but not impossible. I haven't taken any medicine to date. I plan to just eat until that stops working, then see where I end up. Back to training:

I plan to work one muscle group per day i.e. legs one day, chest the next, back, arms, shoulders and legs all on their own day. In no particular order. I won't do chest and arms too close together because I think they take away from each other. I intend to work out each day with the heaviest weights that I can keep form on for about 5 or 6 reps and 4-5 sets. I will do abs after probably two of these workouts per week. I will run for about 3 miles in the evenings 2 or 3 times a week. I don't want to overdo cardio, because I kind of believe that it is counter productive to try to gain muscle if your too worried about fat. At the same time, I don't want to have so much fat on me that it's tough to get down to competition form. I plan to start monitoring what I eat as well. I gave myself until today to just pig out after the contest. I will try to eat around 3500 calories a day spaced out in 5 or 6 meals. I think I will shoot for 40%/30%/30%. I'm not going to carry a calculator around or anything. I'm just gonna eye ball it and see what kind of progress I make.

 

[molnii]

cool thanks for helpin me out!!Really appreciate it....
So can u gimme a one day meal sample when u low carb(<100)
Also do u know any key to get nice/showin vascularity??
thanks again!

 

[onerepmaximum]

I'll go through a sample daily routine when I was cutting for contest prep.

0500 Precision Protein by EAS 100 Cal 20g protein 2.5 g carbs
0530 1 hour of cardio (about 850 calories worth)
0700 1/3 cup of oatmeal with 250 Cal 25g protein 30g carbs
protein in it.
1000 1/2 can of tuna and 300 Cal 30g protein 0g carbs
2 hard boiled eggs w/yolk 10g fat
1100 workout

1300 chicken breast 500 Cal 55g protein 45g carbs
sweet potato
1600 3 hard boiled eggs 400 Cal 35g protein 0 carbs
1/2 can tuna 15g fat
1800 1 hour cardio
1900 6 oz. lean beef 350 Cal 50g protein 18g fat

That works out to be somewhere around 1900 calories, 215g protein, 78g carbs and 40g fat. You could probably take out some of the yolks and get less fat. I wasn't really concerned since my overall calories was about at my BMR with no activity and my carbs were low like that. For some reason, I was thinking that my overall calorie count was lower than this. Perhaps I was doing the math differently before or something. I think that 1900 is a good number though, especially considering the amount of cardio I was doing. Unless I make a break through, I will do this again when it comes time for me to cut. Don't get me wrong, I was tired and cranky all of the time. It was hard to stick to and sometimes I slipped. Overall, I was able to stay pretty close to this.

 

[onerepmaximum]

Oh, almost forgot about the vascularity thing. For the show, I used niacin and this spray called Hot Stuff. The niacin takes some getting used to cause it burns your face a little, the hot stuff is kind of like an analgesic like Ben Gay or something. I think Ben Gay would work in fact. I probably wouldn't do either one of those unless you are competing though. The niacin is a bit uncomportable and the Ben Gay/Hot Stuff stinks. Drinking red wine will help vascularity. I would guess that I am at about 6% right now and I am still very vascular (nothing like the night of the show). Walking around in the sun kind of brings the veins out in me. I guess the key thing is just keeping your body fat low enough for long enough and getting rid of the subcutaneous fat that will hide your veins. Another thing to consider is that if you are on a low carb diet, you will probably be less vascular because your muscle are softer and flatter.

 

[molnii]

thanks a bunch bro.....so back to training.......do u know how to really bring out the shoulder cut??should I do high reps with moderate weight or just stay with heavy weight.....also do I need to do more lateral exercises or more press movements??

 

[molnii]

also how did u finish on that show??
are u competing for a while now??
Good luck on your future shows.....look good on the photo in your gallery!