Bodybuilding.com - Contest Prep: All The Details - Part 2!

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Did you know?
90% of young men who start to lifting weights do so because they want bigger, more powerful arms.

By: Jonathan Deprospo

Part 2
[ Click Here For Part One ]

In part one of this series I discussed Justin Deprospo's 12 Week preparation for the New England Bodybuilding Championships, in which I discussed the various phases that he went through in preparing for the show.

The first article basically only focused on what he did in order to prepare for the big day, from diet, training, cardiovascular, and a small amount about his supplement regimen.

In this series I will discuss the day of the show and the many different obstacles that he encountered as the day went on. His daily meals will be outlined as in part one of his carb loading process, how the day went, and also how he placed in comparison to the other competitors in his weight class, which was the largest class in the show.

Sunday Morning

Throughout Saturday night and early Sunday morning he continued to load with carbohydrates while continuing to consume minimal amounts of water. The only water he took in was basically to consume his required supplements for the day.

Justin was able to continue to keep loading up on carbs all through out Sunday morning due to two reasons:

The first was that he didn't NEED to make his weight class and he actually came in at 182 which was about 13lbs. under the Light-Heavyweight class, which will change for next year's competition.
Second of all, he didn't start his carbohydrate loading phase early enough so he had to keep consuming carbs or he would have ended up too flat on stage.

Justin is also NOT sensitive to carbohydrates what so ever so this also lead to a problem, whether he would be able to consume the required quantities of carbohydrates to efficiently load for the show. With a metabolism like Justin's after he depletes and starts loading, his metabolism gets so revved up from the loading phase that it gets hard for him to consume the adequate amounts of carbs without feeling sick to his stomach from having to eat so much.

So basically he kept his water to a bare minimum while continuing to load his muscles with carbohydrates so that he could be full for prejudging the next morning, but not so he would start spilling over giving him a blurry look to his physique.

During the period from Saturday night into Sunday morning he began to lower the amounts of protein consumed in his meals due to the fact that the main objective at this point was to keep pushing carbohydrates into his muscle tissue, and the extra protein wasn't needed.

Justin's appetite also began to subside around late Saturday night which gave us all the more reason to cut back on the macro nutrient (protein) in replace of more carbohydrate and fats. Due to the lack of appetite it was going to become more difficult to choke down massive amounts of carbohydrates with fats while not consuming water, and the inclusion of protein (dry chicken or steak) would make it all the more challenging to consistently consume the required amounts of carbohydrates.

The type of carbohydrates consumed through out early Sunday morning remained similar to that of the early stages of his carbohydrate load (Friday night through all of Saturday) except that he simplified his carbohydrate intake by sticking to the same sources in all of his meals during early Sunday morning through out the contest. The only variation to this was his two shit food meals, which were consumed after the morning weigh ins and after the prejudging.

So now for the breakdown of his meals for the day of the show:

Sunday Morning:

Time Meal Consumed

3 A.M. 100 g of carbohydrates from yams and dried fruit.
1 serving of unsalted natural peanut butter.

6 A.M. Same as previous.

9 A.M.
(After weigh-in) Small stack of pancakes with butter and maple syrup.
Medium size T-bone steak.
Small portion of breakfast style eggs.

Weigh In's.
(Pre-Judging) During this time back stage he was snacking on yams, raisins, rice cakes with jam, recess cups, and a small amount of honey before he went on stage.

After Prejudging ½ steak and cheese sub, 3 slices of pizza, 2 snapples and a soda. (did not recommend this much fluid intake)

Before Night Show At this time he was holding some water from the high sugar drinks consumed after the prejudging, but it didn't really matter at this point because he was still holding his look and he wasn't fighting for a top spot. He stopped consuming foods at this point because there was no real need to and his stomach was starting to bloat slightly from all the high glycemic carbohydrates and saturated fats.

The Pre Judging

At the New England Bodybuilding championships Justin was in the largest and most competitive weight class, the light-heavyweights. This was his first time on stage and he appeared to have done it 10 times previously the way he presented himself on stage along side the other competitors.

The top 5 guys came out first for their mandatories, and then the second group came up (Justin was included in this group) to perform their mandatories. Personally I felt that Justin could have been included in the first group of competitors, but there is always next year.

Justin did very well on stage although in the prejudging his tan could have been slightly darker (which was fixed before the night show) under the bright stage lights. Also for Justin to be competitive for a top spot he is going to have to compete at the higher end of the weight class, which will be fixed for next year's contest.

The Night Show

Between the prejudging and the night show Justin consumed a pretty hefty meal along with a good amount of liquids. This caused a small amount of spill over, and slight stomach distention for the night show, but it really didn't matter that much at this point because the final placing were basically already decided.

When we got back into the theater we picked up some more tanner due to the fact that his tan was slightly off compared to the other competitors in his weight class. After applying more tanner to Justin we had to wait about an hour or so before the mens competitors got to go back out on stage due to the woman's class and the figure routines.

When Justin was called back on stage his individual routine was very good compared to some of the other competitors. He flowed fluently from pose to pose hitting them hard while keeping a smile on his face.

By the crowd's reaction to his routine I feel that he did very good in his free posing routine. The announcer also stated that he was only nineteen years old (the youngest competitor in the show) and this further added to the crowd reaction.

The Final Thought

After the smoke cleared Justin was placed 6th, just one spot away from getting a top 5 placing with a trophy. This was also his first time competing in a bodybuilding competition, at age 19, and in the most competitive class at the show, I feel he did very well for his efforts, and so did he. He was not disappointed with his placing at the show because he learned so much through his contest preparation, and also throughout the day of the show.

Next year he plans on coming in around 10lbs. heavier which will put him at the higher end of the weight class, and his last week prep will be changed slightly so he will be able to be drier for the show.

When he does this, and also improves his weaknesses, giving him a more solid and complete package, he will be a force to be reckoned with for sure for a top spot in the light heavyweight class at the New England Bodybuilding Championships.

For now Justin is focused on gaining weight in an effort to get up to around 215lbs.-220lbs. Before he starts his preparation down to 192lbs.-195lbs. For next year's show.

[ Click Here For Part One ]

JDMuscle27@yahoo.com