2012 Tricky Jackson Prep

[rd1]

First off, I just want to thank all of the mods who responded to my first thread last year which helped me a lot for this years prep!

Feedback from 2011 KY Muscle - RX Muscle Forums

I ended up doing my own nutrition again for the 2011 year and was very happy with what I learned, as well as my progress. As for my question, attached are a couple photos from my 2011 Tricky and KY Muscle Prep. You'll be seeing me again in 2012, so I would love to hear suggestions from any of you judges on areas I need to improve on.

Attached are a few photos of how I came in this year. Feel free to drop any suggestions, questions, or even requests for other photo angles. As always, thanks for your time and help to help me improve!

[tammyp]

bring up the wheels, chest thickness and more back.

[Scoobysnacks]

ah you probably competed against my client Jeff Dunn at the tricky.

Overall nice flow.

Condition is pretty good from the front. From the back need to be harder probably another 4 weeks of dieting. lower back to striate and glutes to tie in to hams.

Overall I like your shape Id just get thicker everywhere, but yes the wheels jump out at me first and foremost.

[rd1]

Tammy,

Thanks for your input. I focused hard on my legs this past year as you, Jude, and HolyIntel recommended. Overall i was really happy and confident with my leg improvements over the year thanks to you guys lighting the fire under me. They came in bigger and leaner, but as Jude said last year and Natty just now said, I still have room for improvement in my rear conditioning.

You also mentioned my chest size. This was my main area of self consciousness this year b/c I really felt my chest was flattening out towards the last few weeks of my diet. I agree I need to add chest size and/or figure out how to keep it full during those last couple weeks of the diet...

Natty,

Yes, I competed against him and also met another one of your clients who competed in the (~Lightweight?) class (Todd). I've heard many praises from people who have worked with you, so I'm happy to hear you think I have good flow and shape. Although I absolutely agree I need to come in tighter from the rear as you said (and Jude said last year), I just don't know what else I could've done? I was pretty lean when I started dieting this year and still did an extra 5 weeks! I even had to down multiple tbsp's of almond butter just to be able to sleep at night towards the end b/c I felt so depleted and wouldn't have been able to sleep otherwise?

[Scoobysnacks]

Tammy,

Thanks for your input. I focused hard on my legs this past year as you, Jude, and HolyIntel recommended. Overall i was really happy and confident with my leg improvements over the year thanks to you guys lighting the fire under me. They came in bigger and leaner, but as Jude said last year and Natty just now said, I still have room for improvement in my rear conditioning.

You also mentioned my chest size. This was my main area of self consciousness this year b/c I really felt my chest was flattening out towards the last few weeks of my diet. I agree I need to add chest size and/or figure out how to keep it full during those last couple weeks of the diet...

Natty,

Yes, I competed against him and also met another one of your clients who competed in the (~Lightweight?) class (Todd). I've heard many praises from people who have worked with you, so I'm happy to hear you think I have good flow and shape. Although I absolutely agree I need to come in tighter from the rear as you said (and Jude said last year), I just don't know what else I could've done? I was pretty lean when I started dieting this year and still did an extra 5 weeks! I even had to down multiple tbsp's of almond butter just to be able to sleep at night towards the end b/c I felt so depleted and wouldn't have been able to sleep otherwise?

Yes Todd was his first show, did well. He is doing the NKY this coming March. Jeff we are taking to Masters Nats with his fast improvements he is ready. Just remember dieting harder doesn't always mean it was right macros and the right approach for YOU. Getting the glutes in is a tricky proposition. Keep trying different things. Get yourself to the 4 week out point with a healthy metabolism (thats the trick) then push the envelope. 10-11 x bw in cals, some low carb days, use of refeeds and some HIIT cardio will help.

Ss

[rd1]

Yeah, I told him he was crazy for not having much of an off season and going right back into diet mode for the Northern, but I give him much respect because I know how difficult that would be and takes more discipline than I have.

I hear you on trying new things. I did a lot of two-a-days for my prep. The first 3/4 of prep I did fasted cardio in the morning until I read a few MD articles calling BS on its effectiveness. There are multiple variables involved during the final 1/4 of prep, but I found having breakfast before morning cardio to be much more productive and will probably try that next time to avoid any potential catabolic muscle breakdown from the fasted cardio.

The calorie ratio you quoted is one of the main reasons I've been hesitant to work with a trainer. I've contemplated working with you a few times, but was scared b/c it sounded like you go damn near a keto diet with some of your clients and I know that won't work for my bodytype. My calories were 20%+ higher than your "10-11 times bodyweight" recommendation during my final weeks of prep and I still saw steady results. I think it's probably due to having a fast metabolism, working out 6 days/wk with two-a-days on 4-5 of them, and I feel my level of intensity on weight training is significantly above avg. I probably burn more calories than most b/c of those three factors. Sound reasonable, or do you think my calories were too high? Here was a typical day in the final 1/4 of prep:

(meat and potato weight is "cooked weight")
M1: 6 Egg Whites, 5 oz Chix, 4 oz Sweet Potato
M2: 8 oz Chix, 2 oz Sweet Potato, 2 oz Cucumber
M3: 8 oz Pasteurized Egg Whites (drink them)
M4: 12 oz Chix, 5 oz Sweet Potato
M5: Same as M2
Postworkout: 2 Scoops Hydro Whey
M6: 8 oz Tilapia, asparagus
M7: 6 oz Filet Mignon
M8: 8 oz Pasteurized Egg Whites, w/2 Scoops Isopure Whey Protein
(Almond butter...probably had 1-8 tbsp. every night before bed and middle of night towards the end of my diet and had trouble logging this)

I figured this out to be approx:
445g Protein
80g Carbs
30g Fat

2,700 - 2,800 Calories

[Scoobysnacks]

Yeah, I told him he was crazy for not having much of an off season and going right back into diet mode for the Northern, but I give him much respect because I know how difficult that would be and takes more discipline than I have.

I hear you on trying new things. I did a lot of two-a-days for my prep. The first 3/4 of prep I did fasted cardio in the morning until I read a few MD articles calling BS on its effectiveness. There are multiple variables involved during the final 1/4 of prep, but I found having breakfast before morning cardio to be much more productive and will probably try that next time to avoid any potential catabolic muscle breakdown from the fasted cardio.

The calorie ratio you quoted is one of the main reasons I've been hesitant to work with a trainer. I've contemplated working with you a few times, but was scared b/c it sounded like you go damn near a keto diet with some of your clients and I know that won't work for my bodytype. My calories were 20%+ higher than your "10-11 times bodyweight" recommendation during my final weeks of prep and I still saw steady results. I think it's probably due to having a fast metabolism, working out 6 days/wk with two-a-days on 4-5 of them, and I feel my level of intensity on weight training is significantly above avg. I probably burn more calories than most b/c of those three factors. Sound reasonable, or do you think my calories were too high? Here was a typical day in the final 1/4 of prep:

(meat and potato weight is "cooked weight")
M1: 6 Egg Whites, 5 oz Chix, 4 oz Sweet Potato
M2: 8 oz Chix, 2 oz Sweet Potato, 2 oz Cucumber
M3: 8 oz Pasteurized Egg Whites (drink them)
M4: 12 oz Chix, 5 oz Sweet Potato
M5: Same as M2
Postworkout: 2 Scoops Hydro Whey
M6: 8 oz Tilapia, asparagus
M7: 6 oz Filet Mignon
M8: 8 oz Pasteurized Egg Whites, w/2 Scoops Isopure Whey Protein
(Almond butter...probably had 1-8 tbsp. every night before bed and middle of night towards the end of my diet and had trouble logging this)

I figured this out to be approx:
445g Protein
80g Carbs
30g Fat

2,700 - 2,800 Calories

I will always do fasted morning cardio and I dont lose muscle and Im always one of the hardest, if not the, in my respective weight classes.

Also you mention that 10-11x bw is to low, BUT you werent hard enough. So, I dont know. Maybe you should have, know what i mean.

This isnt you, but I saw once where a person goes, "Yeah and I did all my prep without supplements", that person got LAST, I was like wow, yeah it showed. My point is sure i push my people hard as hell and they probably cuss me but they are always shredded from the back too.

That also said, Jeff never went below 3500 cals or 300 carbs lol, so i certainly don't pigeon hole ANYONE, but if you were still soft from behind you better believe id drop cals and push you harder.

Ive never been a one size fits all diet coach and I never will be.

(just glanced at your macros) they are off i see why you struggle to get hard from behind. 445 grams protein is OVERKILL for sure at your size. And 80 carbs and 30 grams fat thats brutal I probably would have had your calories lower but those macros higher so youd have better energy and be fuller and get harder.

Good luck buddy.

[rd1]

I can see logic to both sides of the fasted morning cardio debate and I've done fasted cardio 80-90% of my contest prep experience, so I'm still very open to both sides. All I'm saying is I read some scientific studies in MD that resulted in a more favorable verdict for those who fed rather than fasted... so I gave it a go and saw continued improvement, but it was only for ~3 weeks in b/t shows, so I'm not sold either way.

I'll be the first to tell you I wasn't as hard as I wanted to be. No argument there. And although I'm not sure what Jeff weighed in at, I'm much more reassured of your versatility as a diet coach after hearing he was at 300 carbs and potentially higher calories than me during his diet (although in retrospect that makes me very sad knowing what I suffered through LOL).

You raised some very valid points about my "macros" being off. My only concern was that I kept hearing super low calorie and carb numbers from a couple of your clients and my first thought was, "I'm on higher calories and carbs than they are, and I still have insomnia!" After hearing your comment, I realize they were much different bodytypes so my concern was a moot point. I'll PM you to discuss this further so I don't hijack my own thread into a diet prep. Thank you very much though, and others feel free to comment on specific training areas I should focus on for my next show.

[tammyp]

agree w ss on the diet. your wasting your money on that amount of protein..and how to you go to the bathroom? you need less pro, more fat and carbs...just keeping cals the same i bet you see a big diff in how you look just changing macros.

[rd1]

agree w ss on the diet. your wasting your money on that amount of protein..and how to you go to the bathroom? you need less pro, more fat and carbs...just keeping cals the same i bet you see a big diff in how you look just changing macros.

Yep, if people tell me I need to focus on a particular area, the training is never a problem for me. I trust my natural instincts to build up those areas in my training. However, I do feel I might need a little diet coaching to break thru to the next level. I'm sure ss is well qualified for the job and am discussing the details with him now.

As far as your bathroom question, not to be gross, but it was actually much more pleasant then than it is now (note I did have a fair amount of fibrous veggies despite my low carbs). Now that my protein has dropped and my carbs have increased, I have to go at least 3 times / day and am constantly uncomfortable now!