Change of Pace

I go through this every year, and you would think I would have it under control by now but I still do not. I am feeling Big with a capital "B". Yeah, I am not trying to make anyone feel bad, I know I am not BIG, but I am big for me. The funny thing is, I am trying to get bigger! It's just hard to accept it. I work so hard to get small, then I turn around and try to get big...go figure (no pun intended).

As you know, I am thinking of competing on Womens' Physique instead of Figure, but that means a lot more muscle, a lot more weight. Putting it on invariably causes some fat gain too, and realistically you don't want to maintain a stage ready physique year round, it's not practical or emotionally advised.

My weight went from 118 on October 1 up to a high of 133 and I have maintained at about 130, 131 for quite some time. I look pretty good but when I see photos of myself at competition time it's hard to accept my newer "softer" look, although I do really like the bigger arms , legs and butt. I guess it's just the soft belly I don't like. Get rid of that and I am a happy camper! 

I always change up my training, that includes what I do with Roy and on my own. As much as possible, I will keep with his current protocol, for instance, I train shoulders twice a week, but only once with Roy. The second day is on my own and I try to re-create what we did. Ideally I would increase weights or reps but sometimes it's just not possible (I need a spotter, physically or emotionally), so I stick to the same. I try to stick to the same for legs too. Back is always on my own, but I try to follow the protocol, if we are doing fewer reps on everything else, I will do the same for back.

What I do vary is my mornings when I am at the gym and not lifting, because I will train with him that evening or afternoon. For quite some time I was hitting the stairmill and then training abs, I would do this Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings since those are the days I train with Roy later, and I would also throw in stairmill on weekends too after lifting.

He and I both agree (as did SC) that abs really pop when you have super low bodyfat, so crunching away day after day isn't what will make a difference. Abs come with squats, deadlifts, pull ups, full body moves, not all those ab exercises everyone toils away at day after day. I do plenty of squats, believe me!

At my last competition I was encouraged to "bring up" my quads and calves, that means make them bigger, and I have been diligently working on them and my quads look tremendously better. We train my quads and hams so hard that some days I don't know who enjoys it more, me, or Roy! 

A couple weeks ago I stopped my stairmill and and abs. I changed it up to train my calves and do the same type of conditioning I learned from Jerome at kickboxing. 

So I train calves then hit the basketball court and recreate the conditioning routine that Jerome taught me. It includes running, jumping, squats, burpees, push ups, crunches, boxing, jump rope and whatever else I feel like throwing in. It's hard, much more difficult than any old stairmill!

We will see how it all goes, I don't want to create too much of a calorie deficit or I won't gain muscle, I have to find that sweet balance we are all looking for, and then hold on tight!