Want to compete-cutting legs, clen, cardio questions... :-)

[rebel111]

Hi!

I'm 26, 5'8, 148-152 lbs. Have been body building/training for about 8 years now, though on and off, aggressively and regularly for the last two years. I am getting pretty strong and hard, but am having trouble getting super lean. To give an idea of my max strength/level (not even close to some of the ladies i admire so much on here, but good increase from few years ago):

Max lifts:

Shoulder press machine: 70 lb setting
Lat pulldown: 80 lb +
Dumbbell shoulder press: 25 lb dumbbells
Bicep curls with up to 25 lb dumbbells
Squats right now light at about 100-125 lb.
Leg press doing light at about 150 lb.
Bench press 105 lb.
Deadlifts: only with 25 lb plates 95 lb total) as lower back hurts

My weight has been consistent around 150 lb for the last year, though I know I've gotten stronger and a bit leaner.

In the last 8 months, I've added cardio (used to mostly only lift), including running and running/HIIT, and lately stationary bike at home. I am struggling with cardio however. I don't have good endurance and trying to do cardio 4 times+ per week and train with weights Monday-Friday is just too much for my body. I get almost borderline sick by end of the week it seems as I just overdo it. Maybe I have to slowly build up to both cardio and weight training??

As for diet, I have not been tracking cals lately, but when I was tracking, I was at about 1600 per day and as low as 1300 on low carb days. My high carb days (3 high carb days, 3 low, cycling), included up to 150g carbs, and low card days 50 g, but doing this depleted my energy, made me look flat and I was super tired and unmotivated all the time.

Right now, I am eating clean, 5-6 meals a day, but now counting cals. Trying to get a good amount of protein in and not overeat.

Sample daily diet:

Meal 1: Oats with muscle milk protein, coffee with creamer
2: Tilapia on olive oil, sweat peas, brown rice
3. Tuna sandwich with likely too much mayo, whole wheat bread, apple
4. Chicken, sweet potato, veggies
5. Greek yogurt, honey, nuts
6. Protein shake post workout

I have done a Var and Winstr. cycle before a few months back - at no more than 10 MG (think it was MG - half tablet) var or winstr. per day. Seems that my voice though has changed a bit from winstr. as when I sing opera etc I can't hit the high notes, so no more winny for me. ;-)

Now started taking clen, though probably prematurely and the wrong way. Been taking 1/2 Clen tab per day (40 mcg/tab). Please advise on Clen usage/cycle for women too, please.

The main body part I'm unhappy with right now is legs. I have big, strong legs and they just seem too big, and not at all cut. I have good inner thigh muscles, but since legs are not all cut, they just make my legs look too wide/big.

What are the best leg workouts to get cuts in legs?

For how long/day and how many days a week should I do cardio?

For weight training, I train each body part once per week and train 4-5 days per week. 4 sets always, at 15, 12, 10, and then 8 reps, increasing weight for each set, example

Set one: 15x 15 lb.
Set two: 12x 20 lb.
Set three; 10x 25 lb.
Set four: 8 x 30 lb.

Would a different weight training method work better?

How should my clen cycle look (just started)?

Body fat is around 19 percent.


Thank you very much in advance for your help and insight !!

Oh, not sure on figure competition date yet, feel too far away from it, but want to look ready for competition, if I can do it, then I'll definitely set date to compete.

 

[RottenWillow]

Hi!

I'm 26, 5'8, 148-152 lbs. Have been body building/training for about 8 years now, though on and off, aggressively and regularly for the last two years. I am getting pretty strong and hard, but am having trouble getting super lean. To give an idea of my max strength/level (not even close to some of the ladies i admire so much on here, but good increase from few years ago):

Max lifts:

Shoulder press machine: 70 lb setting
Lat pulldown: 80 lb +
Dumbbell shoulder press: 25 lb dumbbells
Bicep curls with up to 25 lb dumbbells
Squats right now light at about 100-125 lb.
Leg press doing light at about 150 lb.
Bench press 105 lb.
Deadlifts: only with 25 lb plates 95 lb total) as lower back hurts

My weight has been consistent around 150 lb for the last year, though I know I've gotten stronger and a bit leaner.

In the last 8 months, I've added cardio (used to mostly only lift), including running and running/HIIT, and lately stationary bike at home. I am struggling with cardio however. I don't have good endurance and trying to do cardio 4 times+ per week and train with weights Monday-Friday is just too much for my body. I get almost borderline sick by end of the week it seems as I just overdo it. Maybe I have to slowly build up to both cardio and weight training??

As for diet, I have not been tracking cals lately, but when I was tracking, I was at about 1600 per day and as low as 1300 on low carb days. My high carb days (3 high carb days, 3 low, cycling), included up to 150g carbs, and low card days 50 g, but doing this depleted my energy, made me look flat and I was super tired and unmotivated all the time.

Right now, I am eating clean, 5-6 meals a day, but now counting cals. Trying to get a good amount of protein in and not overeat.

Sample daily diet:

Meal 1: Oats with muscle milk protein, coffee with creamer
2: Tilapia on olive oil, sweat peas, brown rice
3. Tuna sandwich with likely too much mayo, whole wheat bread, apple
4. Chicken, sweet potato, veggies
5. Greek yogurt, honey, nuts
6. Protein shake post workout

I have done a Var and Winstr. cycle before a few months back - at no more than 10 MG (think it was MG - half tablet) var or winstr. per day. Seems that my voice though has changed a bit from winstr. as when I sing opera etc I can't hit the high notes, so no more winny for me. ;-)

Now started taking clen, though probably prematurely and the wrong way. Been taking 1/2 Clen tab per day (40 mcg/tab). Please advise on Clen usage/cycle for women too, please.

The main body part I'm unhappy with right now is legs. I have big, strong legs and they just seem too big, and not at all cut. I have good inner thigh muscles, but since legs are not all cut, they just make my legs look too wide/big.

What are the best leg workouts to get cuts in legs?

For how long/day and how many days a week should I do cardio?

For weight training, I train each body part once per week and train 4-5 days per week. 4 sets always, at 15, 12, 10, and then 8 reps, increasing weight for each set, example

Set one: 15x 15 lb.
Set two: 12x 20 lb.
Set three; 10x 25 lb.
Set four: 8 x 30 lb.

Would a different weight training method work better?

How should my clen cycle look (just started)?

Body fat is around 19 percent.

Welcome to the board, Rebel.

So based on your reported numbers, your LBM is about 121 and you're 5' 8". Your primary goal is to get lean and hard.

I might suggest you check out this thread to estimate the number of calories you need to properly rip. Too high and you retain bf, too low and you retain bf and loose lbm.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/w...-calculator-katch-mcardle-formula-665955.html

Most women, including you it sounds like, store the preponderance of our bf in our hips, glutes, and thighs. Getting lean enough in those areas to appear very hard is tricky business. By far the most common mistake is to reduce kcals too low and/or burn too many with excessive cardio. Overdieting will never enable your body to achieve really low bf levels, but will instead encourage muscle loss and make you tend to look even softer.

Here's a good general sort of primer on that.

http://www.elitefitness.com/forum/w...odybuilder-get-lean-body-you-want-696819.html


As for your exercise questions, there are none that create cuts anywhere. Reducing subcutaneous bf reveals the skeletal muscles and the boundaries between them appear as visible "cuts". Reduce to extremely low levels and the striations in the muscles themselves begin to reveal. There are, however, no exercises that "cut"