ETX or anyone else,
There were previous messages regarding weight loss leading up to a contest....water lose, 4:1 ratio fat lose: mass lose and %b.f......all in an effort to gauge what weight one might end up at for a contest.......I want to compete but I don't want to until i can compete at 198, SO - Assumming an off season b.f. of 8% I have been trying to work backward to determine what gains i need to make prior to dieting for a competition in order to end up at 198.

Brian

I am going to refer to an earlier post regarding not worrying about the scale.

Look at it this way, you are **** bent at competing at 198. You do and look good.

VS

You let the diet run its course and let your condition and how it changes dictate you weight. In other words what you weigh the day of the comp you weigh..... You come in at 190 ripped, shreaded, hard as nails, with a positive attitude (those that look great and have a confident/positive attitude grab the judges attention) and win you class and the overall regardless of what the rest of the class weighs.

The scale should not drive changes to your competition prep or off season gains. Pre comp your goal should be "your" best condition, off season your goal should be "your" best/biggest condition.

Condition should always drive changes, more cardio, less cardio, more calories, less calories. Obviously offseason the scale should be moving up, but bodyfat/condition should be staying the same.

Ray

Yeah Ray is right. But, beyond that Brian didnt even tell us what he weighs right now, so there is no way we could even gauge if we wanted to.

What are your current stats...

220 at 7-8% brings you in at 190 to 195 bone dry !!

As for my stats:
6-0, 210-212#, +/-8%bf........Is there any way to estimate how much is water weight. (I realize that the body is made up of 90some% of water and this may seem like a unrealistic question, but hopefully someone will know what i am trying to ask.)

ETX,
I am getting the picture concerning not worrying about the scale for a competition I understand the thinking now and it makes alot of sense. I will remember that for my first competition.

GUNS,
I also appreciate your reply. As i know now the competition wieght is not so important BUT the 220 gives me a sense of a longer term goal and that is where my focus is now.

Brian - Guns may be right on, but to me a 20-30 lb drop in weight is pretty much. I'm much more comfortable staying within 10-15 lbs of contest body weight. It is much easier to diet down slowly, thus keeping calories fairly high and preserving muscle as you drop body fat slowly compared to having to lose a lot of weight in the same time frame. An alternative is to stretch out your pre-contest diet phase to lose more weight but still do so slowly, however that strategy can lead to some very long pre-contest diet cycles.

I agree with not getting overly concerned with the scale, how you look is more important, but I think that you do have the right idea as far as aiming for the top half of your weight class. You would not want to be one lb over the bottom of the class and be competing against guys 20 lbs heavier than you if you can avoid it. Better to be a well conditioned 190 - 198 lb Lt Heavy than a 200 lb heavy weight.

Good luck with your first contest prep. You will learn a lot!

VA MadDog

Brian--

Weigh yourself first thing in the morning after a trip to the bathroom. That will be pretty close as for how much is water weight. If you are already doing that then the 212 is pretty accurate.

Jason Theobald

www.geocities.com/chezburger10/JASONTHEOBALDBIO.html

Jason is right about weighing yourself first thing in the morning after you go to the bathroom and before you drink anything. That will give you a pretty consistent and accurate idea of where your weight is going. If you would do the same at the end of the day before going to bed and before using the bathroom it will give you an idea of how much extra water weight you consume and hold during the day. A 2-3 pound difference is not unexpected. Eat more foods with sodium and it will be more. You will find that when you get lean enough you will notice that you look better in the early morning and smoother later in the day. This is primarily from the effect that water and sodium intake have on you during the course of a day.

If you try to manipulate water and use some natural diuretics for a contest you will weigh a little less on contest day. If that works right you will be holding less water than your normal morning state, probably 1-2 lbs less. This weight loss is somewhat offset by the extra carbs that you will likely take in the last few days and the water that will bind with those carb grams.

There are some people who do not manipulate their water and just keep intake high right through contest day. They also go low/no sodium about two days out and keep the sodium out of their diet. Anthony Busacco had an article in the NNN Vol VIII, Num 1 about how he did that successfully.

The best approach is to be at the weight and bf/leanness that you want to be at one or two weeks before the contest. You can then concentrate on doing the things that help you come in with the dry/hard/full look that everyone seeks.

VA MadDog