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Advice for first show prep - novice entry


Icewolf

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Howsit all, 

So looking for any advice (or opinions even), on what I would need to look at foundation-wise before trying out for a first comp (just novice level - just to try it out for the experience).

I wouldn't say I'm a beginner lifter but I'm certainly not advanced. Been lifting for a little over 3 years (first year and a half just dicking around, learning, trying to lose weight etc), after that started liking it more and more, and trying to progress now.

Am looking at entering a comp just for the experience after a friend at the local supp store mentioned giving it a go.

I know asking what kind of foundation should I have is a broad question (and I can't really concentrate on it fully this year with my wedding coming up a little over a year from now - can't pull the trigger fully until that is done obviously), but I workout 4-5 times a week as it is so I figured why not see what I can work on myself until I can fully commit to it.

Also I know I need to look at a coach/mentor before I look at any form or prep but that comes with a cost I can't afford until the wedding is done also -again just looking for advice for things I can try and cover myself for the next year and a bit.

I'm 42yo, 87kg, bf% was 14.5 a couple months ago when I was 86kg (have upped carbs since then - was doing bodybuilding.com challenges online).

Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers guys

 

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Just now, maccaz said:

I'd keep training as you are until wedding is out of the way and you can afford a prep coach. 

 

Definitely go for it i reckon, I don't have the willpower diet wise to go anywhere near it but massive respect for people who do 

 

yeah I'm hearing that (the fiance also said it lol)

Cheers man, yeah I've only tried eating clean this far but from what I've read and heard prep diet is a whole different ballgame so much agreed.

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Train hard and clean and big. Read lots online and ask lots, you have a year. Shouldn't even need a prep coach just a person or forum to bounce ideas off.  

 

Whats the obsession everyone has with coaches to prep them and shit. Learn it yourself! That's half the fun and half the journey. The better you understand it the better you'll do at it.

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8 minutes ago, Realtalk said:

Train hard and clean and big. Read lots online and ask lots, you have a year. Shouldn't even need a prep coach just a person or forum to bounce ideas off.  

 

Whats the obsession everyone has with coaches to prep them and shit. Learn it yourself! That's half the fun and half the journey. The better you understand it the better you'll do at it.

 

Appreciated man, to be honest I'm not exactly the most outgoing person at the gym so talking to people I don't know (mostly the ones that clearly have been lifting for awhile), at the gym is not really me (forums clear that problem funnily enough), and as you say, I do enjoy the learning myself part of it. 

Know enough to realise the gains I have made have slowed due to the newbie phase being over more than the training I'm doing, and I haven't managed to hurt myself yet so I figure I'm doing okay.

Will be asking alot more around that whole mind/muscle connection. I just haven't fully grasped it yet (I try and concentrate on what I'm working but I don't think I'm fully engaging yet).

 

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17 hours ago, Realtalk said:

Train hard and clean and big. Read lots online and ask lots, you have a year. Shouldn't even need a prep coach just a person or forum to bounce ideas off.  

 

Whats the obsession everyone has with coaches to prep them and shit. Learn it yourself! That's half the fun and half the journey. The better you understand it the better you'll do at it.

but if u dont win the comp u can then blame the coach in stead of holding yourself accountable or admitting that the others were better, so having that coach is like an insurance policy or w/e

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2 hours ago, FellowshipOfTheRon said:

but if u dont win the comp u can then blame the coach in stead of holding yourself accountable or admitting that the others were better, so having that coach is like an insurance policy or w/e

 

haha I may hold that line of thinking, to be fair though, whilst I am just looking at giving it a go for the experience, if I do set my mind to it, I'll be focusing on bringing the best me, so I figure there will be quite a few things I don't know about what can help me, what I'm actually doing wrong, what I could be doing better etc, hence the coach aspect, but as you say, the only one you can look at if it doesn't go the way you want is yourself.

That's a lot of dedication training and diet-wise to put towards a few minutes on stage to not get the result though right lol. Still I'm thinking I would like to try it, once I have the bigger things out of the way.

Thanks for that though.

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Mind muscle is bullshit bro I don't even know wtf that means and I have been lifting weights for over 16 years. Compound and isolation exercises or moving weight and working the muscle. These are real things and not some hippy shit.

 

if you aren't feeling the muscle working reassess the exercises you are doing, the way you are doing them, drop the weight on the bar. Look at things like tempo, range of motion, pre exhausting and just think about things. If you are doing a seated row pull your elbows back with your back. Not your hands back with your biceps. This kind of thing. There is no mind muscle connection bro, you are just either doing it correctly it you're doing or incorrectly.

 

 

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2 hours ago, Realtalk said:

Mind muscle is bullshit bro I don't even know wtf that means

I was about to reply, and tell you what I thought it meant... then I read on and you'd just defined it yourself! :-D 

 

2 hours ago, Realtalk said:

feeling the muscle working

 

2 hours ago, Realtalk said:

If you are doing a seated row pull your elbows back with your back. Not your hands back with your biceps. This kind of thing.

Isn't THAT the mind muscle connection? The ability to mentally focus on the muscle you're trying to work, and ensure you're using it and not some other muscle to perform the exercise.

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5 hours ago, Realtalk said:

Mind muscle is bullshit bro I don't even know wtf that means and I have been lifting weights for over 16 years. Compound and isolation exercises or moving weight and working the muscle. These are real things and not some hippy shit.

appreciate the honesty bro. Have heard alot about it on youtube and figured it would help to try and incorporate it

5 hours ago, Realtalk said:

if you aren't feeling the muscle working reassess the exercises you are doing, the way you are doing them, drop the weight on the bar. Look at things like tempo, range of motion, pre exhausting and just think about things. If you are doing a seated row pull your elbows back with your back. Not your hands back with your biceps. This kind of thing. There is no mind muscle connection bro, you are just either doing it correctly it you're doing or incorrectly.

 

5 hours ago, Realtalk said:

definitely hearing what you're saying there. Admittedly was ego lifting for awhile when I started (and not really getting anywhere fast), and then dropped the weight on a few things and started focusing more on squeezing and controlled movement. Feels a lot better

 

2 hours ago, Pseudonym said:

Isn't THAT the mind muscle connection? The ability to mentally focus on the muscle you're trying to work, and ensure you're using it and not some other muscle to perform the exercise.

 

Yeah that's what I've been trying to do more (mostly on curls and squats more than anything), I just wasnt sure whether I was achieving it to the degree they talk about on vids. In trying to achieve it though I have found how off in technique I've been doing some things. Was getting sore biceps when doing Close Grip Underhand Pulldowns (still havent quite got these right but normal pulldowns have improved bigttime technique and feelwise thanks to knowing how off the other exercise was)

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