Whoa, my first training log NOT in a "women's section"! Wohoo! 
This will also be a different sort of journey where I'm trying to downsize instead of upsize. I've spent 30 yrs & 11 yrs competing to arrive at where I am now. The NPC is appearing to kill off women's bodybuilding and I feel like I peaked in terms of "growth" and now experiencing age-related breakdown. I don't need the ego boost of lifting heavy anymore, but I have spent the last year trying to reconcile the satisfaction I get from heavy lifting with something, anything, that doesn't hurt as much.
Guys, I promise I will exclude details of "that time of the month" and other "female" things that tend to make guys queasy
I'm discovering its not a short discussion about what led me to this decision, but it seems to be an inevitable one. 30 yrs of Wear & tear = can't lift heavy anymore. That means no grow. Old = harder & harder to drop bodyfat. Mental/physical/spiritual well-being = must lift. How to reconcile all this & still enjoy being part of the brotherhood of the iron & sisterhood of the steel? Downsize & check out NPC Women's Physique.
After a very long year of exploring alternative ways to drop muscle mass via some sort of interval training, pretty much everything I tried was not a viable replacement for lifting while not hurting and still getting some sort of satisfaction out of it. In the process of trying, hurting, getting frustrated, doing nothing, I have actually managed to drop some muscle mass. So I'm grabbing this as my starting point for competition next year. Ideally I'd be targeting something in the summer.
With the help of Shelby Starnes, I'm going after it. Here's my starting point:
Age:46
Bodyfat: dunno - soft
Wt: 150.5 lb -- keeping in mind 150 has been my stage wt in 2009 & 2010. Obviously hugely different body competition.
Goal... 130?? & rippt
So welcome to my new adventure!
I think my immediate goals are to get down to maybe 135 by Xmas and see what I have to work w/ at that point. I haven't seen that number on the scale since my first show 11 yrs ago.
Towards this goal:
Diet guidelines:
M1: 20 g complex carbs, 10 g fat, 20 g protein
M2: 20 g protein, 10 g carb (fruits/veggies), 10 g fat
M3: same
M4: same
M5: 20 g protein, 10 g fat
So roughly 100g protein per day, 50g carbs (30 from fruits and veggies) and 50g fat. Yep.... whole new adventure.
Training:
Still playing around w/ this but its currently looking like 4 days of Poliquin's German Body Comp-style training. Basically supersetting. Obviously more w/ light weights given the limited fuel. Also toying w/ getting into Bikram yoga. I'm finding my flexibility, particularly IT band / lower back / upper back / shoulders are becoming critical and start to go to shit when I don't regularly stretch. My chiro highly recommends Bikram.
Cardio: currently 25 min SS/day.
This will also be a different sort of journey where I'm trying to downsize instead of upsize. I've spent 30 yrs & 11 yrs competing to arrive at where I am now. The NPC is appearing to kill off women's bodybuilding and I feel like I peaked in terms of "growth" and now experiencing age-related breakdown. I don't need the ego boost of lifting heavy anymore, but I have spent the last year trying to reconcile the satisfaction I get from heavy lifting with something, anything, that doesn't hurt as much.Guys, I promise I will exclude details of "that time of the month" and other "female" things that tend to make guys queasy
I'm discovering its not a short discussion about what led me to this decision, but it seems to be an inevitable one. 30 yrs of Wear & tear = can't lift heavy anymore. That means no grow. Old = harder & harder to drop bodyfat. Mental/physical/spiritual well-being = must lift. How to reconcile all this & still enjoy being part of the brotherhood of the iron & sisterhood of the steel? Downsize & check out NPC Women's Physique.
After a very long year of exploring alternative ways to drop muscle mass via some sort of interval training, pretty much everything I tried was not a viable replacement for lifting while not hurting and still getting some sort of satisfaction out of it. In the process of trying, hurting, getting frustrated, doing nothing, I have actually managed to drop some muscle mass. So I'm grabbing this as my starting point for competition next year. Ideally I'd be targeting something in the summer.
With the help of Shelby Starnes, I'm going after it. Here's my starting point:
Age:46
Bodyfat: dunno - soft
Wt: 150.5 lb -- keeping in mind 150 has been my stage wt in 2009 & 2010. Obviously hugely different body competition.
Goal... 130?? & rippt
So welcome to my new adventure!
I think my immediate goals are to get down to maybe 135 by Xmas and see what I have to work w/ at that point. I haven't seen that number on the scale since my first show 11 yrs ago.
Towards this goal:
Diet guidelines:
M1: 20 g complex carbs, 10 g fat, 20 g protein
M2: 20 g protein, 10 g carb (fruits/veggies), 10 g fat
M3: same
M4: same
M5: 20 g protein, 10 g fat
So roughly 100g protein per day, 50g carbs (30 from fruits and veggies) and 50g fat. Yep.... whole new adventure.
Training:
Still playing around w/ this but its currently looking like 4 days of Poliquin's German Body Comp-style training. Basically supersetting. Obviously more w/ light weights given the limited fuel. Also toying w/ getting into Bikram yoga. I'm finding my flexibility, particularly IT band / lower back / upper back / shoulders are becoming critical and start to go to shit when I don't regularly stretch. My chiro highly recommends Bikram.
Cardio: currently 25 min SS/day.
On the other hand I get to pull out my big sweatshirts & long gym pants.
