Fat Loss Training, From Joey, Miscellaneous

16 Week Countdown to FAME Comp.

Its been a long time coming but the days are now counting down to my first fitness competition.

When I first started out training, never did I ever imagine that I would be filling out a registration form to be competiting in a fitness model competition. But alot has changed since the first day I started training and now a lot more is on the line.

This past monday was basically 16 weeks away from competition day on April 17th 2009 in Cobourg Ontario. It just so happened that the sunday before I and many other family members had a case of food poisoning from a brunch we attended Sunday morning. With lack of sleep and many frequent trips to the bathroom that night, needless to say it was not a good start!

I took Monday off from work and just focused on recovering. I didnt eat much but I did my best. Now I am just clawing my way back to the gym. Kinda dissapointing after all the preperation that goes into this I get side tracked by illness.

But enough negative talk, I want to share with you a glimpse of what the last couple of months looked like and what the next couple of months have in store for me.

So I had basically made the best gains in my training career in the past 6 months. In the last two months, I spent trimming excess fat from my body.

Now being from Canada, the hardest part about having to trim the fat is performing about 4-6 early morning cardio sessions. I am talking 6AM wake ups! Why is it the hardest part? Because right now its winter!

I have to deal with waking up at 6AM first of all, dressing up to face the ferocious cold outside (-20 to -30) scrape the ice off the windows of my car, let the car warm up for 5-10 minutes, then get to the gym, take off the many warm layers then perform my cardio.

Once done my cardio I have to do the reverse again which takes upwards of 1-2 hours each morning! Let me tell you, its alot easier in the summertime when I can just roll out of bed, brsuh my teeth and put on a tshit, socks, shorts and shoes and hop into a warm car and head to the gym within 10 minutes!

I am not complaining, but I have to admit, I prefer the summer. I just consider the winter to be another hurdle to overcome in the quest to the first competition.

I am currently at about 10% bodyfat and during the course of the next 16 weeks, I will be focusing on strictly conditioning and bringing out more cuts and definition. Very slow and steady results. Ill be focusing on a little muscle gain while still shedding fat.

My goal is to basically just be at about 6-8% body fat and make my muscles look filled out on the day of the show. Its alot different when you are cutting fat compared to bulking. You have to be very careful to maintain muscle mass while cutting the lat bit of fat.

The lower the % of bodyfat you have, the harder it is to continue losing fat!

It is also difficult continuing with grueling training sessions when you are on a calorie restricted diet.

Ok so onto some precise goals for January.

The key for the next month is gradual progression. Its always about progression, just in different areas depending on your goals at the time.

For now, I actually cut back my cardio from 5-6 sessions a week to 4 session for January. This is just to give my body a break and get it to baseline back to 4 sessions so that later I can start seeing more results from 5-6 again.

But as the month continues, I am focusing on increasing the intensity of each session by either;
1. increasing the RPM
2. increasing the distance
3. increasing the incline
4. any increase at all in any aspect.

I am just making sure I progress each session even if only by a little.

For abs, I am training them 3x per week after morning cardio. Same goes for abs;
1. Every week increase at least 2 sets by 1 rep
2. Decrease rest period
3. Increase weight on weighted exercise.

Just small progressions that add up over time.

For weights, I am training about 5 days a week following a body part split training style that I have found to work really well for where I am at in my training.

I am not really getting stronger because I just dont have the necessary energy to increase muscle mass, but I am focusing on continuing to lift heavy and increase the intensity by performing the same workload under tighter rest periods.
I am going to periodically add more content regarding the competition over the coming months so be sure to stay up to date with new developments and Ill be sure to share some training feedback I get to help you along with your quest for a better body!

Take care,

Joey