As of this past Saturday, I am officially three weeks out from my string of competitions this spring. If you have been following my contest prep in The March to Competition Season Part I and Part II, you are aware that I have been preparing for three consecutive weekends of competition: two bodybuilding shows and an Olympic weightlifting meet.
At this point, the next three weeks (or six weeks for that matter) are going to fly. I just made it official this afternoon and actually registered for the Fitness Atlantic (I am usually pretty last minute when it comes to signing up for things), but now I really have the bug to compete.
Overall, I am pretty happy with where I am at in my prep. Progress has definitely slowed over the last few weeks, but that is almost always expected. I am just doing my best to make fine-tune adjustments to my training and nutrition based off of what my body is telling me.
Training, day to day, has its ups and downs. For the most part though, I am accomplishing what I set out to do each workout. Grant it, there are some days where I am just not feeling it, and I know I am simply there to punch the clock. Sometimes you just have to buckle down and play the hand you’re dealt.
Regardless, I remain optimistic on the days I struggle in the gym because I know that my next session is going to be an awesome one. I can’t explain why, but it always seems that the less than ideal training days are followed by really productive ones. So I keep my head up and look to keep moving forward.
This week is going to be an important week in the gym, as it marks the last time I will attempt maximum weights in the snatch and the clean and jerk prior to my weightlifting meet on May 1st. I will be reducing total training volume this week and focusing primarily on hitting big numbers in my main lifts.
Because of this, proper rest and recovery will be critical to a productive work week. I will be sure to get plenty of rest so that I can be charged up for each workout.
Continuing to train heavy in the weeks leading up to a bodybuilding competition is also very important to the maintenance of muscle mass while dieting.
So, the heavy loads I will attempt this week serve a dual purpose: both preparing me for max attempts at my upcoming weightlifting meet, as well as staving off muscle loss during the final stretch of my bodybuilding prep.
I have included some progress pics below. These shots were taken last weekend on March 20th (at four weeks out), where I was weighing in at 184 lbs.
Well, that will do it for this week’s update. I will most likely check in one more time at one week out from my first competition. So stay tuned and I will talk to you in a couple of weeks!
Train Hard
-MC
