I’m going to take an example of a 200-pound guy who is planning to compete in a bodybuilding contest, or just wants to look good for the beach. How will we work on his diet and training?

• First, his daily caloric need will be based on his metabolism: fast, medium or slow. If he has a fast metabolism, then I multiply his weight by 20; medium metabolism, multiply it by 15 and slow metabolism, multiply it by 12. Suppose this guy has a fast metabolism. His daily caloric needs will be 200 x 20 = 4,000 calories/day.

• Diet will be followed six days per week, with one cheat day. The composition of his diet will be roughly high carbohydrate, moderate protein and low fat: about 50/30/20 percent, respectively. The breakdown will be 500 grams of carbs, 300 grams of protein and about 89 grams of fat.

• I will start him on a training schedule of five days per week, with legs on Monday, chest/abs on Tuesday, back on Wednesday, shoulders on Thursday and arms/calves on Friday, and ‘off’ on the weekend. He will begin by doing some moderate cardio first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, for about 20 minutes, three days per week. Cardio could be riding a stationary bike, walking on a treadmill or using an elliptical machine, keeping target heart rate around 65-70 percent.



Pre-Contest Game Plan

With the contest date approaching, things will start to change— counting weeks backward from the show, as follows:
16 to12 Weeks Out:

• Diet and training as outlined above.
12 to 10 Weeks Out:

• Start dropping carbs by 50-75 grams (200-300 calories), and add protein by 12-18 grams (25 percent of the total amount of carbs dropped). For our guy, we will drop 50 grams of carbs (total carbs = 450 grams) and add 12 grams of protein (total protein = 412 grams).

• Keep cardio at three days/week for 20 minutes.
10 to 8 Weeks Out:

• Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 400 grams) and add 12 grams of protein (total up to 450 grams).

• Add an extra day of cardio and extra five minutes: 25 minutes 4 days/week.

• Eliminate cheat day, dieting seven days/week (you may want to consider eliminating cheat day earlier, by 12-10 weeks if your fat percentage is high).
8 to 6 Weeks Out:

• Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 350 grams) and add 12 grams of protein (total up to 462 grams).

• Keep adding an extra day of cardio and an extra five minutes: 30 minutes, five days/week.
6 to 4 Weeks Out:

• Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 300 grams) and add 12 grams of protein (total up to 475 grams).

• Keep adding an extra day of cardio and an extra five minutes: 35 minutes, six days/week.
4 to 2 Weeks Out:

• Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 250 grams) and add 12 grams of protein (total up to 487 grams).

• Keep adding an extra day of cardio and extra five minutes: 35 minutes, seven days/week.
2 Weeks Out:

• Continue same diet

• Stop all cardio
8 Days Out:

The contest is on Saturday, so carb-depleting starts the Sunday prior to the show. Drop the carbohydrate in half until about four days before the contest. So my guy will be eating 125 grams of carbs.

4 Days Out:

• Start ‘adding the carbs back’ on the Wednesday prior to the contest. Add back all the carbs you took off: 500 grams of carbs for my guy.

• On Thursday, add 50 percent more, on top of the carbs you had on Wednesday: 500 + 200 = 700 grams of carbs.

• On Friday, you need to start watching your condition and be careful with any spillage. If you start to spill, back off the carbs and if you think you’re still flat, you need to go up on the carbs.

These are just the general principles of my formula; there are so many other adjustments that go with it depending on the progress/condition of the bodybuilder.

Good luck with your show!!
posted by F.I.S.T.