April 20, 2006

#5: Contest Dieting

Q: I am 42 and turning 43 this year. After years on and off in the gym, I have been going at it heavily since June 5, and plan on competing in the NABBA show in Philadelphia, May 6, and Mr. Philadelphia, June 24.

As for my diet, I have been eating six meals a day and I drink between four and eight 24-ounce bottles of water daily.

I start out on training days at 4:00 a.m. with a protein shake with 24 grams of protein mixed with water. 

At 5:15 a.m., I take SuperPump 250 by Gaspari Nutrition with four tablespoons of NOS, and start my workout around 5:40 a.m. Then halfway through my workout, I take Vitargo (creatine-glycogen loader). I finish up within an hour and go home and take a shower.

Around 7:30 to 8:00 a.m., I have a protein shake with one to two cups of soy milk (I am lactose intolerant), a frozen banana, four frozen strawberries, a half a cup of raw oatmeal, and a teaspoon of all-natural peanut butter.

At 11:00 a.m., I have a snack of low-sodium string cheese and two cans low-sodium V8.

For lunch at 1:00 p.m., I have six to eight ounces of chicken or salmon with peas.

At 4:00 p.m., I have a low-sodium turkey wrap (three to four ounces of turkey) with mustard on a low-sodium/-carb whole-grain wrap.

Between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m., I have dinner – a steak, or chicken, or salmon, with a baked yam, and a teaspoon of "I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter" and Splenda-brand brown-sugar cinnamon. As well, I have sautéed green veggies (zucchini, spinach, olive oil, garlic) and two whole grain buns.

I am 5’ 2" and weigh in at 144 pounds. I had a bodyfat test six weeks ago and was 15.9%, but they said there is a margin of error of six points down or five points up.

I do cardio twice a week for an hour each, usually back to back (step class and then a one-hour spin class) on Saturday morning. Usually, I lift before the first class, and monitor all of my cardio activity with my Polar watch, and I generally burn about 2000 calories on Saturday mornings.

On Sunday morning, I take a high-intensity-training cardio class that gets the heart rate up and down in about 3-minute intervals.

My question is: When should I start dieting for the May competition?

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

 ...Darryl

A: Hello Darryl,

Thanks for the question. From what I understand, you had some training log attached to this document as well; however, because of space and time I will just answer your question on dieting.

I will try to keep this as simple as possible. Based on the information given above, your bodyweight is 144 pounds at 15.9% bodyfat. Assuming that the calculation is correct, your lean body mass (LBM) is 121.1 pounds and your BF, or bodyfat level, is at 22.9 pounds. Keep in mind, though, that if you weighed 121.1 pounds it would put you at 0% bodyfat, which is not only extremely unhealthy but impossible to achieve. So with this in mind, I would start dieting 12 weeks out, which would have been on February 11. If you had started then, it should have given you enough time to reduce your bodyfat sufficiently. Get into great shape and maintain it for your second show.

Good luck in your contests. I wish you all the best.

...Vince Wawryk, Canadian Champion 2002, 2003, 2004

If you would like to ask Vince a question, please e-mail: askvince@seriousaboutmuscle.com.

SeriousAboutMuscle.com contributor Vince Wawryk is from Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada, and is a three-time Canadian bodybuilding champion. Vince won his class at the 2002 CBBF National World Qualifier, 2003 CBBF Canadian Bodybuilding Championships, and 2004 CBBF Canadian Bodybuilding Championships. Right now Vince is training for the 2006 Canadian Bodybuilding Championships where he hopes to again win his class as well as the Overall title.