Am I Still Prepping for a Bodybuilding Competition?
In February, I posted a blog titled “My Bodybuilding Prep Update”. If you haven’t read that one, here’s a link. It’ll only take a few minutes to read but will give you some more background info. If you’d prefer to not read about body weight, body fat percentage, or nutrition, please skip this one!
My original show date goal was at the end of May, but I turned out having a bit more body fat than I originally thought. This is one reason why having a coach would’ve been a good idea. It’s a bit more difficult to be realistic and objective with your own goals, so moving forward, I’ll probably get a coach to help me with my prep. If you have any recommendations, let me know!
Although I knew I wouldn’t make my original show day goal, I decided to continue my dieting phase to decrease overall body fat until about the beginning of June, and chose to maintain my new body weight throughout the summer. I’ve been able to maintain my new body weight fairly effortlessly, which is a really good sign. Taking a break from being in a deficit was definitely necessary and now I feel ready to dive back in!
To chat numbers quickly, I started my fat loss phase in January at around 158 pounds and averaged about a pound of weight loss for 14 weeks. I’ve been maintaining about 144 pounds for the entire summer. I feel completely fine at both body weights, but because my current fitness goals include altering my body composition, I’m focusing on that at the moment. Bodybuilding is a sport judged on appearance, so the number on the scale doesn’t matter to me much at all. I’m primarily interested in the look while being able to maintain a high level of muscle mass with the goal, as always, to eat as much as possible and feel as good as possible. With that being said, my new guesstimate in terms of predicted body weight is somewhere around 128-135 pounds. It helps me to have some type of number to work toward, and since I don’t have access to a reliable, low error body composition measurement tool (such as a DEXA scan, BodPod, or hydrostatic weighing), I’m very loosely aiming for a scale weight goal. Again, the number doesn’t matter so much, which is why I’m predicting such a large range, but it helps me to have a numbered target in sight. I truly have no idea what I’ll look like as I continue, because I’ve maintained around 155-160 pounds for nearly 10 years since I started lifting weights.
So, what’s my plan?
I’m entering this next fat loss phase with an 8-12 week timeline. I anticipate that it’ll become more difficult to make changes the more body fat I lose, and because I’ve already spent a significant amount of time in a deficit phase this year, I want to think about getting in, doing the work, and getting out. There’s only one more bodybuilding competition scheduled in Oregon for 2022, and it’s only about 7 weeks away. Being completely realistic, 7 weeks won’t be enough time and that’s totally fine by me! This means I’d either have to choose a show and travel somewhere else or wait until next year. There are a couple of shows toward the end of October and beginning of November located in Washington. I might choose one to work toward with a very loose goal of competing before the end of the year, but honestly, I have a lot of life-stuff happening this year. If I don’t get the chance to step on a stage before 2023, it’s not the end of the world, and I know I can always work toward something next year if I still have the interest.
A lot of people say you shouldn’t step on stage if you just want to check it off your bucket list. I can see why they’d say that. It takes a ton of mental and physical energy to complete a bodybuilding prep!
As you can probably tell, a lot is up in the air, but the one thing I’m still setting my sights on is an 8-12 week fat loss phase. We’ll just see how far I can go given the timeline I’ve set for myself. I’m in no rush to wear a sparkly bikini!
In terms of my workouts, I’m still planning on lifting 4-5 days per week. This schedule has been working out nicely for me and I feel like I have enough time to recover from my sessions, my sleep has been good, and my overall stress is very low. I work part time at a very active job, so I get a lot of general movement throughout the week. I’ll be starting out with 3 30 minute cardio sessions on days that I don’t work my part time job.
During my last dieting phase, I didn’t need to adjust my macros at all. I’ll be starting from that point again, focusing on keeping protein high and prioritizing my carbohydrates around my workouts. I’ll also be aiming for at least 7 hours of sleep per night, drinking around 3-4 liters of water each day, and managing my stress as best I can. I’ve found that journaling and talking to someone about my life are two things that really help me when I’m feeling stressed or overwhelmed.
That’s pretty much it. The plan is simple, I just need to do it!
If you have any questions about my deficit phase, or if you’d like to work on your fitness goals together, please feel free to send me an email. I’d love to talk more!
In strength,
Jory
