1 month out and looking for critiques

[Ahilania]

Hi everyone. Well I am now about 4 and a half weeks out from a fitness competition that I was hoping to do. I am just finishing a two week clen cycle and plan to do one more cycle in 2 weeks (I will take ephedrine and caffeine in the meantime). I am currently eating about 1400 calories and 60g carbs. I'm lifting 5x per week and doing an hour of cardio 6 days per week.

Based on these pics of me that were taken at the beginning of this week, does anyone have any advice as to what changes I should make in my routine and diet over the next 4 weeks? Or does it seem impossible to lose enough bodyfat in that amount of time?

Of course I will manipulate my carbs, sodium, and water in the last week. But other than that, any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

[offroad1]

shaping up good

[wnabeabeast]

Looking good.How much protein are you taking a day?You should take at least one gram protein for per pound of your body weight, try to get it as much as posibile from food,cut down on the protein shakes,take may be once a day after your workouts.
If anybody else wanna add or change anything please feel free to do so. :)

[Ahilania]

Yeah, I am drinking only 1 shake/day post workout. I get about 200g of protein/day. I think I am going to change my workouts as follows:

3 lifting days/week: push/pull/legs w/ 1 hour of cardio in AM
double cardio sessions 3 days/week
1 rest day

The reasoning is that I think my upper body is fairly well developed, but I just have a lot of bodyfat hanging around in my lower midsection and legs. The only thing I am worried about though is losing too much muscle in doing so much cardio.

Any opinions?????

[wnabeabeast]

You said u are eating about 1400 cal a day 200 gr protein and 60 gr carbs comes out to 1040 cal aday. I don't know how much fat you are taking a day but you can add some mct oil to your post workout shakes.Your post workout shakes should contain about 20-30 grams of simple carbs just by itself even than u are up to almost 1200 cals a day.seems like you are not eating enough and doing to much cardio,try to manupilate your carbs,for example start on monday with 100 gr carbs for the whole day then take 20 gr off on tuesday and 20 off wednesday and so on,saturday have almost no carbs,sunday have one cheat meal that contains some complex carbs and some fat.My guess is u can go up to 150 gr for the day.and monday get back to the same rutine.this worked for me for my shows I hope it works for you too.
Oh by the way while u are going up and down with your carbs don't drop the protein.

[meat12]

Looking great, nice work

[redsquirrel]

Yeah, I am drinking only 1 shake/day post workout. I get about 200g of protein/day. I think I am going to change my workouts as follows:

3 lifting days/week: push/pull/legs w/ 1 hour of cardio in AM
double cardio sessions 3 days/week
1 rest day

The reasoning is that I think my upper body is fairly well developed, but I just have a lot of bodyfat hanging around in my lower midsection and legs. The only thing I am worried about though is losing too much muscle in doing so much cardio.

Any opinions?????

If you are going to increase the cardio, I would say you may need to increase the protein/carb intake so as not to burn too much muscle. IMHO, I don't think it would hurt you that much if you did lose a lb or two of muscle.

What about Nolvadex/Proviron to help tighten up your lower half?

[Ahilania]

I was actually thinking about doing the two carb meal per week plan that I have seen you (Red) outline for others in past posts. I would do this for the last 3 weeks before the carb/sodium/water manipulation week. But should I be eating more carbs if I am doing a lot of cardio?

I am definitley planning to take Nolvadex beginning 2 weeks out. But I am a little nervous about taking Proviron after reading the strong "caution" that Anabolics 2005 outlines for women. But I guess if I do it right, it should be okay. But is it too late to start now that the competition is slightly less than 4 weeks away? I also just came off the pill, so getting rid of that extra estrogen alone should do something as well.

[redsquirrel]

I was actually thinking about doing the two carb meal per week plan that I have seen you (Red) outline for others in past posts. I would do this for the last 3 weeks before the carb/sodium/water manipulation week. But should I be eating more carbs if I am doing a lot of cardio?

I am definitley planning to take Nolvadex beginning 2 weeks out. But I am a little nervous about taking Proviron after reading the strong "caution" that Anabolics 2005 outlines for women. But I guess if I do it right, it should be okay. But is it too late to start now that the competition is slightly less than 4 weeks away? I also just came off the pill, so getting rid of that extra estrogen alone should do something as well.

I don't think I'd recommend doing the carb meal thing over the next few weeks for a couple reasons. 1: If you no carb/ low carb for 3 weeks, I don't think your sodium/water/carb manipulation would work as well for prep week. 2: I think you should keep your carbs where they are if you are going to add more cardio. Another thing on your training you maybe should think about is drop sets, or like circuit training...something to get your heart rate up there and exercise the muscles.

Honestly, I think you should start the Nolvadex now, especially since you are just coming off the Pill. The Nolva would really help with your lower half tightening up. Start the Proviron in another week....if you're ok with taking it. IMHO, I think you could use both- just cause of the Pill. The Pill takes about 3 mos, (depending on how long you've taken it) to exit your system. You still have enough time. What negative things have you read about? If you take both of these these correctly, you should be ok. You're not taking them for a super extended period of time, so I think what you may have read was info from extreme cases of estrogen rebound and such from women who may have taken it too long

[Ahilania]

Okay, I will begin taking Nolvadex now, and will order some Proviron. I'm not sure where to get any though...Nolva was so easy to find but I'm not sure where to get legit Proviron. Anabolics 2005 just warned about the readiness of virilization in women taking Proviron. What doses should I take?

Thanks again. I will post some updated pics soon.

[redsquirrel]

Okay, I will begin taking Nolvadex now, and will order some Proviron. I'm not sure where to get any though...Nolva was so easy to find but I'm not sure where to get legit Proviron. Anabolics 2005 just warned about the readiness of virilization in women taking Proviron. What doses should I take?

Thanks again. I will post some updated pics soon.

There is some slight virilization w/ Proviron, simply because it does have some androgenic properties in it. I don't however, think you have anything to woory about if you take it for the next 3-4 weeks. Normally, the virilization chances are much greater for women who take higher doses for a much longer period of time. I would say 25mgs/ day would be fine for you. After the show, take 1/2 of the Nolva, and 1/2 of the Proviron every day for a week. For the 2 weeks following that, take 1/2 of each EOD, and you should be fine. Granted, you may suffer some estrogen rebound, but just know that it is common, and it will go away.