I have done five shows this year. I started preparing in Jan, did my first show of the season in march then april, may june and the final one on July 17. Each show my physique improved drastically. I ended up with four first places and two overalls. Between the June and July shows I stepped up my training(3 a days) increased cardio and dieted the strictest ever. My physique improved but not with the gains I had expected for the intensity that I had been doing. Could my body be adapting, do I really need an off season? There is another show in mid October I would love to do, however, I am concerned that I would not be able to show any noticable gains or that preparation at this point will not bring me to my best condition. Any advice and/or opinions are appreciated.

Interesting topic and question. My first reaction to your comment

" I am concerned that I would not be able to show any noticable gains or that preparation at this point will not bring me to my best condition"

was - you had four first places and two overalls - how can you be concerned that you are not in your best condition??? One first place or one over-all can just be "luck" but four and two? - Jesse you must be doing a lot of things right. Congrats on the hard work and success!

Now on to your question - I'll come at my answer from an angle first. I think that there is a lot of merit to staying close to contest condition year round. I'm talking about 10-15 lbs above your non-depleted contest weight. I respect those who bulk up in the off-season, but I truly feel that your body adapts, stays leaner and becomes more efficient when you stay lean year round. What you have done by running a series of contests is just that and probably stayed within 5 lbs of your contest weight. I believe that this helps your skin stay thinner and your metabolism stay faster both of which contribute greatly to anyones ability to look their best and to hit peak conditioning.

Now I do think that you would wear yourself down both mentally and physically if you tried to stay too close to contest condition year round. The foods you eat to do that are necessarily limited and the very low body fat levels and low carbs pre-contest can and do have some negative affects on your total wellness. For example you are somewhat less resistant to injury, more susceptable to getting a "bug" and have a diminished mental sharpness during the final phases of contest preparation. So from that standpoint - going back up in weight and adding back just a little bf is probably more healthy over-all on a year round basis. Plus it just lets you lighten up your mental approach and be more "normal" than what you have to be pre-contest.

There are many board members here who essentialy follow the same training regimine year round, making changes occasionally when a change would be beneficial to progress, but otherwise train at the same intensity and frequency year round. Many of these folks have done very well competitively and they look great and continually seem to improve.

Some people feel that they have to train and eat differently to "gain size and get bigger". I say yes and no. There are many examples of people who get bigger, but do not end up looking better for thier next contest. The reasons for that are many, but most common is the difficulty in dropping all of the extra bf that they added while also getting stronger.

So if you mean do I have to loosen up my diet considerably to gain size and strength in the off-season I would say I don't think so. If you mean can I stay on a competition prep type program year round I would say - not advisable, but in my humble opinion there is a lot of merit in staying closer to a pre-contest regimine than there is in loosening things up a lot.

I'll be interested in hearing what other people think.

I too have done the same thing 3 shows thus far, April, May and June and now have one in Sept, Oct and Nov and only reason is I am trying to get that last week just right, the DRY and RIPPED look and then once that is complete an offseason is in order, but I don't go but at most 15 lbs above contest weight.

What have you done to win so many 1st and overalls?
Diet wise and supp wise?

Thank You for your insight. I am very happy with this year's successes. However, my real concern is that if I continue to do shows year round, is it possible that my body will adapt to the regemin of diet and training possibly begin to see it as a normal lif style. Thus, forcing me to drop calories and increase intensity each show in order to see the same results? I do stay w/in 10-15 lbs of show weight between shows but they seem to be so close together that my body thinks its all part of a days work. Do you think that an off season will de-program my body, how long do you think is necessary for this? Any thoughts?

Jesse - My opinion is based on my own personal experiences with contest prep, and that of a few others who I know well, so it is more anecdotal than it is scientific.

I have not known anyone who has run into the problem that you fear - i.e. their body not responding to a pre-contest regimine because they have stayed lean and near contest shape. If anything, I think that while leaner your body becomes more efficient at burning calories. Your BMR will increase with the proportional increase in LBM compared to total body mass so you will burn more calories just existing than you would have at a higher body fat level. Muscle burns some calories just to maintain itself, fat does not, fat is simply storage of energy.

So your body does not really adapt - but rather it changes as you get leaner (higher BMR, quicker to use fat for energy, more affected by changes in diet and training) As an example of the later, think of how you feel "off-season" if you miss a meal, or eat a bunch of higher fat/higher caloric foods. You notice it, but not that much. Now do the same thing when you are very lean - you will know right away that you missed a meal and perhaps even make yourself feel ill by over-indulging. You are simply more in-tune with your body when you are leaner than when your bf levels are higher.

My concerns regarding trying to stay too lean - like always preping for the next contest around the corner, would be a propensity for your immune system to be weakened, more susceptability to ligament and joint injuries and a psychological drain/strain that results from caloric deficits and low carbs.

I suspect that for most people all you need is a month or two of a more "normal" diet and you are ready to go again. Of course "normal" for a BBer who wants to stay lean is not "normal" for the regular population, but it is still a diet that would not be a caloric deficit (probably more likely a maintenance diet or a planned growth diet with a controlled amount of extra calories.) Training is probably just as intense, but perhaps with less or no cardio for those who do a lot of cardio pre-contest.

So...where are some of these winning pics posted. I want to see this lean mean machine in action - lol Congrats again on a fantastic season! You have a bunch of us saying - gosh - how does he do it?

Thank you very much for your input, it has helped out a great deal. The only photos I have on the computer are from the NPC Ironman, not my best physique(i decided to do that show when the promoter called two weeks before and talked me into it.) BUT I am computer illiterate and don't know how to post them. Help?

Boy - no photos of two over-all wins? 30 years from now what are you going to show the grandkids to prove that you were a lean mean fighting machine? - lol Yahoo has a decent and free photo board that allows you to creat your own photo site and post pics. They have a step by step explanation that is pretty straight forward. You have to remember to select the option that allows others to have access. The key is that your .jpg files need to be small, usually less than 200k in size. If they are now larger than that you will have to use some sort of photo software to "re-size" them down to a smaller file size.

Here is the link to the Yahoo photo site:

http://login.yahoo.com/config/login?.src=ph&.done=http%3a//f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos&.intl=us&.linkdone=http%3a//f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/

Just copy and paste this whole thing into your browser search function, hit return/enter and it should take you to the sign-up page.

I think that you also might be able to attach a smaller sized photo file right to one of these posts here, as I have seen one or two others do so, but I have not tried it. Well heck, I'll try it now to see if it works.


If you see my Mad Dog avitar as an attachment it worked. Just use the paper clip tab in the message option bar for a post on this board. You need to know where your file is stored on your pc and what it is called. You can get that info by right clicking on the file icon or line and then going to properties. That info then goes into the drop down box that pop's up when you click on the paper clip tab.

Hope that made sense. Have you tried looking to se if any of the contest/promoters created a web site where they posted the pics of the winners? You may already be out there in cyber space and you don't even know it!

The fact that an already awesome and successful competitor seeks to further improve by way of asking for suggestions , says alot. With your drive and determination, next year, there is no doubt, you will be even better. I also notice an absence of ego and arrogance, which will raise your bar even higher.

Put the weight on. Not for the Oct show, but afterwards. Take about 5-6 months and put on QUALITY weight by eating a lot of clean foods, higher carb, lower fat. I've tried both ways: doing 8-10 shows a year and now I wish I had all those years back. I found myself in a constant catabolic shroud. One step forward, two steps back. Metabolic slowdown, illness, insomnia, joint pain,etc. all became an accepted way of life. I was always ripped, but as soon as I took 6-8 months off to put on quality weight, my conditioning actually improved for the following season. More muscle with less bodyfat as well. This is when I actually started winning titles. Now you're already ahead of the curve, and have probably reached a level that I'll never see, so its only going to get better. In your case, SCARY.

For the Oct show, don't focus so much on gaining, rather than improving your conditioning.Since I am also facing a show in Oct. this is what I do:
increase protein slightly,do less volume but stay with heavy weights, concentrate on optimizing recovery (Glutamine Select), taking joint specific supplements as well as increasing EFA's.
I also like to triple my carb intake on leg day, for recovery aspects and to crank the metabolism up a notch or two.

A big congratulations to you on a terrific year!!

Aram

Thank you guys for the compliments however my physique has a ways to go. Although my record was good this year the competition was mediorce in my opinion. I still have a long journey ahead and that's why I enjoy this board so much I have learned a great deal and will continue to learn more from bodybuilders who truly are successful. Once in a while I can also give a fair piece of advice as well as I do have a passion for the sport and have aquired a fair amount of knowledge over the years. Anyway thanks to my hardworking and lovely wife I now have pictures available, she was able to put them on disk and set up a small website for display. Check them out atJesse Photos Any and all feedback would be greatly treasured as I plan on possibly doing The Northern Kentucky this spring. I am a little concerned with the show being out of my league as it is a non tested national qualifier. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: <JESSE>,

Great pics, I too am a middle weight but at the top of the class 170's onstage and have already done 3 shows and have 3 more coming up Sept, Oct, Nov. as I am trying to figure out how to get the ripped dry look and once I do that then I will rest.

From your pics you seem to be getting sharper with each contest and would do well in the Middles of the NPC, but remember it is all a mind game there, competitors not talking to you etc because they are CONCENTRATING, but in the natural contests you have friendlier people.

If you want competition in Natural try a national level contest, like Team U or Musclemania Worlds or NGA Nationals?

Just curious What is your diet consisting of now and supps are you using?
What is your weight and height?
How old are you?

Good luck on the contest

My contest weight is 172-176(172 in March NPC Novice and 176 for June and July NPC Ironman and Natural MI) Offseason 190lbs. I'm 5'8" 26 yrs old. My off season supplements include: Mass Maker, Ultra Size, a little Muscle Provider, Creatine Select, Glutemine Select, Mass Aminos and Ultra 40. For contest prep, I follow my advisor(Mark Ritter's) advice. I have competed in both NPC and NANBF(natural organization). I too have found the friendliness in the natural organization. However, I enjoy the NPC because it seems more competitive(more competitors). Which contests have you done and how did you place? Good luck in the next three.

Well this year:
INBF Shredder Classic 4th out of 8
NGA Southern States 2nd
TNBF Natural 1st, lost overall by 2 pts

I am getting there and am doing the following:
Musclemania, Texas Natural, TNBF Natural, and OCB Champs

I have to figure my diet out, judges keep telling me you "have the size and symmetry" but need to be leaner, so to the drawing board I go.

I have always had 6 food meals per day in contest prep and now am going to try the MRP route for 3 of them using Muscle Provider and Egg White mix 2 scoops/1 mixture for those meals and see how this works from what I can see in research people are leaner.

I have the same problem with getting lean and getting that "shrink wrapped" look. I also tend to over do it on the cardio in attempts to get lean. My final week out still seems to be a mystery on how my body will respond. I nailed my timing on three shows and just missed timing on two. I am going to try the approach that Anthony Busacco(No Nonsense Newsletter, vol VIII-no.1)Basically he keeps his H2O high throughout and load with white rice the day before a contest. It's a constant struggle, hopefully on of these shows we hit it 100% on target.

Jesse - Sure looks to me like you earned your high placings! Great symetry from the front and excellent conditioning. Some of the pics are a little angled or blurry so it's hard to give you extensive feedback. I'm big on the importance of posing. One thing that you might want to do is to hook up with someone who is a very good poser/posing coach and get a few pointers. I'm not suggesting that you are not a good poser now, but most of us could improve given access to the right coach. In the end conditioning and presentation are two of the most important factors in contest placing.

John P. at the OCB board is an excellent posing coach (and poser) and he occasionally holds posing seminars in the Baltimore area. I'd like to talk Aram and or Sully into doing one or two for the BI board members sometime in the next 6 months. Both of those guys have become and are excellent posers also. As they both live in the North East distance might be an issue. I know I'd like to get more pointers from an expert or two.

You look very good at that weight, proportional and balanced. I would keep an eye on those factors as you work to put on more size. Proportion, balance, symetry and conditioning are far more important than size, unless of course you happen to be so lucky as to have it all - lol.

Keep up the good work.

E68 - You also have a strong record of accomplishments to be proud of. Your goal to get that lean/hard/dry/full contest day look just right is shared by many here. Keep us posted on your various efforts to fine tune that. It will be an interesting discussion.

Sully, Aram and a few others here have become very good at coming in to a contest in peak condition and either can share a wealth of experience and perspective. I'm with you - still trying to hit it just right.

Do you have any pics up from your contests? I think that it ads to the credibility of the board members here when they are able to display their accomplishments a bit. Plus it makes us all more real when we have a face and not just a cyberspace signiture - lol Aram is probably the most modest - he has had an outstanding string of accomplishments in Natural BBing but likes to keep a very low profile so you really have to look hard to verify that he does actually exist!

Thanks VA yeah 35 and about to be 36 and still searching, pics of me well my avatar on OCB is posted under E68, as I don't have any posted anywhere else, haven't moved to the digital camera age yet, need to though.

I have talked to both Aram and Sull with some help and that is why I am going to try the 3 MRP/3real food thing to see if it works.

The Ironman pictures on page 2 are a little more clear than the first page. My wife is still mastering the tri-pod for our camera. I agree posing has always been my weakest suit (you should have seen it before)anyway I would be very interested in any seminars. If you know of any or are planning any my wife and I would not mind traveling. we can make a mini vacation out of it. Keep me posted.

My brother in law tweaked the web site a little same photos, better address and fonts. jesse's photos

im sorry but i really have to ask.... jesse in one of your first posts u said u really stepped up ur training to 3 a days????? ur serious? u went to the gym 3 times a day? how? what did u do each time?? i think im just as dedicated as anyone one but i think thatd be kinda hard

Regarding the 3 day split. All I did was take and hour workout or hour in a half workout and divide it by 3. Thus I spent around 20-30 minutes of actual training time in the gym. I work Monday thru Friday from 10am-9pm so my training split for a typical day was 8am to 9am 1 muscle group plus 15 minutes cardio and abs, on lunch break between 1-2:30pm I would hit a very short 20-30minute with another muscle group. From 9:30pm-10:15 another muscle group or cardio. Really nothing too drastic here, just 1 workout split into 3 shorter segments to allow for more intensity. It helped that my am workout was performed at home (my wife gave up her parking spot in the garage to convert it into a fully equipped gym). Thus it wasn't like I was doing Three 1 hour workouts or anything like that. The gym that I workout at is extremely close to my work.