Sassy/Daisy ?

[Daisy_Girl]

ECA is fine 2x a day, IMO.

BUT, you might want to cycle your thermogenics - I find that works best for me. That way, your body doesn't really develop a tolerance (which is why you don't "feel anything")

Do 2 weeks on ECA, then 2 weeks on something else - I do like Thermorexin. If you do this, you will find your "fat burners" stay more effective longer.

THAT SAID, it might be a good idea to take a break from them altogether until you are lower BF. Try ONLY balls to the wall training and clean dieting until you get down to 19-20%. THEN add supplements in. If you go all out NOW, what will you do when you plateau?

What, SPECIFICALLY, are the goals here? I know you want to compete in May, but what are your steps to getting there? WHat are your short term goals?

 

[Sassy69]

I have a question - have you done clen before? Personally I really hate the stuff, but if you are planning to incorporate it into your contest cycle, do you know how you react to it now? I might suggest a trial run while you are way out from your show?

 

[jkmom]

Great advice as always! Thanks everyone!
Goals are to drop body fat - tanita said 19% this morning but I know how innacurate these scales are. @3% was the day after thanksgiving and I was holding a ton of water.
Really want to get lean while maintaining mass(!) Am training like a mad woman!

 

[Sassy69]

What is your cycle schedule up to your show? Full supp schedule.

 

[jkmom]

Yikes! This is where the term rookie comes in!!! Not sure my answer would be acceptable due to lack of experience - what are your reccomendations?

 

[Sassy69]

If you have an opportunity to do var & clen, etc. what is the schedule that you plan to do it on? Or maybe that's part of the question. Here's the thing when you are doing your first show -- I know its a big goal and a really exciting thing to focus on. (Been there, done that!) When I did mine, first we assessed where I was and then looked for a competition date that would reasonably give enough time to prepare sufficiently for the competition. Then we coame up w/ the diet & training and based on my current weight / bf, determined roughly where I would need to be to compete reasonably and then a rough schedule of where my weight / bf should be over the course of the 16 weeks.

Now if you are plannign on throwing in some var & stuff, where do you plan to put it into the schedule? I'm not sure if that actually is part of the question or you are just looking to throw in as much as it takes to acheive your target competition stats. Ideally, you want to know how you react to the supps you plan to take ahead of time so you aren't experimenting during the 12-16 weeks of contest prep. I assume you are planning to do an unteste show?

Anyway that was my only purpose in asking the question - since you are 5 months out you have some time before you are on the tight preparation track so you can plan ahead where you would want to add in the var, come off it, etc. to avoid bloat or whatever as you come right into the final days of the show. I guess its also less of a big deal if you don't plan on stacking anything.

Just a thought if anyone wants to chime in w/ more detail on when one might optimally put in the var, etc..

 

[jkmom]

Sassy, you are so helpful! I thought I would experiment with both and find out how they affect me. Once i know, I think(?) I will be able to determine how and when to use them for the show.

 

[The Shadow]

Just a thought if anyone wants to chime in w/ more detail on when one might optimally put in the var, etc..

Depends.....I would certainly dop a dry run of each individual compound before the acttual cycle to assess sides and efficiency.

Var would be good to add just before the show to preserve lean mass and counter-act cortisol build-up ofrm cardio and low cals

 

[Sassy69]

so what would u recommend at 5 months out? If we're going down 11% bf over 20 weeks....so about 1% every 2 weeks-ish. Totally do-able. And if you're diet has been going long enough that the trend to start bodyfat loss is started? This totally do-able, of course constantly tweaking the diet. Do you need to build any more mass or just cut now?

Cycle-wise, personally I think var on its own is pretty simple to run, so maybe you dont' need to do the test run on it. The clen, maybe run it now for a 6 week cycle to see how you react to it. As I said, I really hate the stuff and the results weren't worth the constant throbbing headaches & anxiety. But see if it works for you. Maybe even get a little boost in fat loss early on. Then maybe take a break from it & if you like it/it likes you, kick it back in around 2 months out? (More input from anyone here ...)

Var cycles can easily run 12 -16 weeks. I'm pulling this off the top of my head, but it seems you could run it all the way to show day. If you are good on mass now, then when you start the var, you won't lose any muscle mass while you're cutting, you can handle more cardio and recover faster.

Others chime in?

 

[The Shadow]

at 5 months....just a dry run of individual compounds...plent of time to drop fat...no cardio for the first twoimonths either