Day 28: Cutting starts next week

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Life is not about finding yourself. It is about creating yourself." - George Bernard Shaw


MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY

Cold - Wasted Years




TRAINING

Cardio - ~3 mile Run.

Stretch 10 min.

Full-Body (45 sec recovery between sets):
1. Wide-Grip Lat-Pulldown 5 x 8RM
2. Incline DB Bench Press 5 x 8-9RM
3. BB Romanian Deadlift 5 x 8
4. Close-Grip BB Bicep Curl 5 x 8RM
5. Hanging Straight-Legs Raises (toes touch bar) 5 x 8

Post-Weights Cardio - Stepper:
10 min @ 11 floors/min

Stretch 10 min.


COMMENTS

Sleep - Time and Quality: ~5 hours.

Mood/Aggression: Aggressive as hell heading to the gym. Not happy in the gym. Kind of flat about now.

Energy: My body feels heavy and sluggish today.

Mental Focus and Clarity: This can never let up now.

Stress: Where do you draw the line between beneficial and detrimental?

Libido: Maybe later . . .

Joints: PAIN in wrists!

Endurance: Ok.

Strength: Added yet a further 5-10 pounds on all exercises from last week (ignoring the pain in my wrists).

Pump: Strong.

Vascularity: Very strong.

Quality of Training: Since running seems to help me re fat loss, decided to run. Running on an indoor track is definitely not as much fun as running outside, and the time passes much slower. However, did it, even with lateral left knee seizing up after eight minutes and stitch in right side towards the end . . . Resistance training was straight PAIN from the beginning. I honestly felt throughout almost the entire session that my wrists were being wrenched from their sockets, and the pain was - PAIN! . . . Only did 10 minutes of Post-Weights Cardio, but from next week, I am going to have to make sure that I do 20 minutes of cardio pre-weights daily and 20-minutes of post-weights cardio at least 3-4 days . . .

Recovery: I'll feel it later no doubt.

Appetite: DCP should get here early next week, which is good, because I need something to SUPPRESS my appetite (if I could have New Year's week back re this, I would!)

Body Composition and Look: This is all going to CHANGE!

Other Effects: Call me a wuss, but I canNOT handle using Eviscerate any more - my skin is just far too sensitive now (I think the hard water in the US has a lot to do with it, since it has been bad since I've been over here). The burn is never-ending and it's still as fresh >12 hours after application as it was when I applied it, and if it so much as gets wet re sweat (training) or in another shower (anything not cold water), it burns MORE. Honestly, I would rather literally crash from the top of the 45-degree bank of a wooden velodrome and slide down to the bottom than endure this 'I'm burning alive' feeling daily. So, I am stopping Eviscerate and just going to wait until the Eviscerate Smolder arrives.

Other Notes: I haven't had IGF-2 for two days now, so I was interested in seeing if Assault would work as well as it has been with the addition of the Rhodiola Rosea. If yesterday is anything to go by, then it is ok - guess we'll see until more IGF-2 arrives how things go.

Competition Notes: I was going to recomp for another two weeks. However, given where I am now and where I want to be for competition, I am going to adjust that and start cutting from NEXT week. At a rate of 0.5% bodyfat loss per week (give or take, but usually it averages out to this, regardless), it will take me ~8 weeks to get as lean as I can - this gives me an additional two weeks to tweak things, and a further week for the competition diet preparation. Since I AM serious about this, and want to win my Pro card at THIS competition, doing this the right way for results is what I HAVE to do - no more screwing around and letting life interfere with things!


FIT TIP OF THE DAY

I keep seeing and having people ask how to train females with weights, thinking that there are separate distinctions between "male" and "female" training. There is NO difference in training a female than training a male - they should be doing the same exercises re resistance training (albeit most will be lifting less than a male would - this is the ONLY difference). As with everything else, the resistance training programme should be tailored to the individual specific for their goals AND needs.

Day 21: LIVE!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Life is too short to not pursue YOUR life." - Jammie Bane


MUSIC VIDEO OF THE DAY

Five Finger Death Punch - Dying Breed




TRAINING

HIIT Cardio:
a. 4 min jogging
b. 8 x 20 sec sprint/10 sec easy
c. 4 min jogging

Stretch 10 min.

Full-Body (30 sec recovery between sets):
1. BB Front Squat 5 x 5
2. Close-Grip Flat BB Bench Press 6 x 4-5
3. Reverse Rows (feet on bench) 6 x 4-5
4. BB Push Press 5 x 5

Post-Weights Cardio - Skip/Box:
a. 1 min Skip
b. 1 min Straight Punches
c. 1 min Skip
d. 1 min Hooks
e. 1 min Skip
f. 1 min Uppercuts
g. 1 min Skip
h. 1 min Pitter-Patter
i. 1 min Skip
j. 1 min Plank

Stretch 12 min.


COMMENTS

Sleep - Time and Quality: Little longer today with ~8 hours.

Energy: Energy was fine until after my weights.

Mental Focus and Clarity: Need to be on the ball today.

Stress: My mind just doesn't turn off!!!

Endurance: Good.

Strength: Did better than last week re weight. The extra weight (+10 pounds from this session last week!) re body mass makes a huge difference on the bodyweight exercises (i.e. Reverse Rows) as well!

Pump: During BB Push Press, was getting it painfully in my left forearm near my elbow, which is odd.

Vascularity: Good.

Quality of Training: Did my HIIT outside today through the snow - definitely prefer running outside, even though it felt like the areas of my face exposed were going to freeze off Sprints were good . . . Wow, the BB Front Squats kicked my ass this week - definitely an effort and feeling it up by my hips, which is a surprise. Gritted my teeth and got through the rest of the session . . . My left ankle gave out during the FIRST minute of Post-Weights Cardio, but I just kept on going. Punches were weak, no power behind them, and I felt shattered. With my ankle in pain and my calves cramping badly, I stopped after one round . . .

Recovery: The heavier weights are definitely starting to affect me now.

Body Composition and Look: Up to 125 pounds - +10 pounds from last week and +~15 pounds from two weeks ago. Won't know my body composition until the end of the week, but regardless of WHAT the extra mass is from, it makes me feel highly uncomfortable . . . Also noticed something yesterday that I have never noticed before on me, and felt it again today, even more noticeable. Age and abuse of my body is catching up on me, and this is the final sign that I can no longer "get away" with what I do! I HAVE to start being more serious about my health and fitness . . .

Other Notes: Might be a little longer waiting on the DCP and Eviscerate Smolder, so come Sunday I am going to start using Alpha-T2 again (it's been an effort NOT to start this earlier!), and when the 7-keto DHEA topical is gone, just use the Eviscerate that I have (just got to work through the burn) until the Eviscerate Smolder arrives.


FIT TIP OF THE DAY

If you want to lose fat quickly and efficiently, high intensity cardio is the best mode of cardio to incorporate into your training programme. Not only does it require less time to complete, but it burns more overall calories throughout the day. High intensity cardio makes the body more efficient at using oxygen and elicits the same hormonal response as resistance training - without the stress on the body - allowing for the same fat burning ability. High intensity exercise is also muscle sparing, due to the shorter exercise period performed and less calories burned during the session, allowing the body to be a more effective fat burning machine, since more muscle mass means a greater ability for the body to lose fat. (Read the rest of this article at The Cardio Debate for Fat Loss: High Intensity versus Low Intensity).

Review of Genomyx's Eviscerate Smolder

I was one of those who used the very FIRST Eviscerate Smolder betas, and I had two small tubes of it . . .


What is it?



* Burn Fat, but without the "Burning" Sensation
* Reduce Stubborn Fat Deposits
* Reduce The Appearance of Cellulite
* Enhance Definition
* Shed Excess Water
* Increase Vascularity

For more information on the product, please review Genomyx: Eviscerate Smolder


Smell: 8/10. Smells the same as Eviscerate - strongly like coffee.

Feel: 9/10. This is where Eviscerate Smolder shines over the original Eviscerate. On application, there was an icy wind across my skin where I applied the Eviscerate Smolder, and later a faint icy burn/smolder, and then nothing. When I got warm or hot, I could feel that faint smolder - otherwise I felt nothing, which was GREAT. The second bottle/tube of Eviscerate Smolder had the same icy feeling blow on the application areas as the first one did, but there was NO smolder or burn with it.

Spreadability: 10/10. Eviscerate Smolder spread over my skin quite well. There was no residue after application. I used four pumps - one for the front of my midsection, one for the back of my core, and one for each thigh. My first tube lasted me ~2 weeks, after which I got better at applying the minimal amount to cover the greatest area, and the second tube lasted me TWICE as long (which technically makes it using LESS Eviscerate Smolder during the second tube) - the Eviscerate Smolder in the second bottle was also more runny than it was in the first, which makes a difference in how much each pump spread.

Body Composition: 8/10. To understand how good my body composition effects actually were, you have to see what my training was like over the time using Eviscerate Smolder (since it is my training and not my nutrition that predominantly determines my leanness): 1. The week post-competition I did two resistance sessions and four cardio sessions; 2. The second week post-competition I did Maintenance training; 3. The third week post-competition I did four resistance sessions and six cardio sessions; 4. The fourth week post-competition I did Maintenance training; 5. The fifth week post-competition I did four resistance sessions and six cardio sessions; 6. The sixth week post competition I did Maintenance training. When I started Eviscerate Smolder, I had just been dieting for a week, training for several weeks at levels well over Maintenance training - which is why I used my body statistics at the end of the first week post-competition as my 'baseline' to go from. 'Baseline' was 111.4 pounds at 9% bodyfat. For two weeks my scale weight and body composition increased, coming out at 122.4 pounds and 10.1% bodyfat at the end of my third week post-competition. The next two weeks saw a body composition decrease, coming out at 115 pounds and 9.5% bodyfat. The last two weeks on Eviscerate Smolder saw a gradual increase again in body composition, bringing me out at 9.9% bodyfat at 119 pounds, leaving me with a final gain of pounds at a ratio of 3 to 1 increase in lean mass (+ 5.845 pounds) and bodyfat (+ 1.755 pounds) respectively, making for a reasonable recomp with not much fat gain . . . My girths did not change at all, with my clothes fitting BETTER, which is interesting . . . Please note that for the first four weeks of using Eviscerate Smolder, I was also using Triazole, and the last three weeks, I was using Erase, so not all of my results can be attributed solely to the Eviscerate Smolder . . .

Diuretic Effects: 9/10. Eviscerate Smolder definitely exerts a diuretic effect, and unlike the original Eviscerate, there was minimal to NO water retention while I was using it, despite my very high carbohydrate consumption during the majority of my time using it.

Vascularity: 5/10. As with the original Eviscerate, Eviscerate Smolder did not make a difference to my vascularity, and did not increase it either on application or during exercise - NOT an issue though, since I did not use Eviscerate Smolder for this purpose.

Other Effects: 10/10. I used Eviscerate Smolder with the Flawless/Flawless: IRDT (once my original Flawless had run out). When I started using the Eviscerate Smolder/Flawless combination, I had quite bad burn marks on my stomach from using a scalding hot wheatie almost daily for a couple of months prior (due to my painful and upset stomach during that time). After 11 days, the burn marks had lightened considerably, fading them almost to nothing in two weeks, and after 5-6 weeks of applying this combination once daily, the burn marks were GONE!

Overall: 9/10. The period in which I used Eviscerate Smolder was very UNcharacteristic of me, and I was UNcommonly inconsistent, with my training and nutrition unusual and all over the place - Maintenance one week and barely anything the next re training and eating well one week and terribly the next re nutrition. NOTHING went as planned and everything was readjusted and readjusted again over that period from what my goals, etc. were at the start of my usage of Eviscerate Smolder. Although I do not feel that I gave Eviscerate Smolder a fair trial, those six weeks that I used it have allowed me to see what effects it has in an IMperfect situation, and re body composition - which is the predominant reason for using Eviscerate Smolder - show that the product DOES indeed work, and that, in a PERFECT environment re training and nutritional control, it would give even better results, withOUT the unwanted effects (even though they only lasted whilst using the product and went away within a few days of stopping it) that the original Eviscerate had . . .

Would I use again? Yes. No hesitation. With the original DermaTherm no longer being available, Eviscerate Smolder is the best "fat loss" topical on the market, IMO - not only does it provide the effects of Eviscerate (which I considered the best topical on the market once the original DermaTherm was no longer available), but it does not burn and have the other effects such as water retention that the original Eviscerate did.

Would I recommend? Generally I would NOT recommend a topical fat loss product for those looking at "cutting" (unless one is relatively lean to begin with and just wants to lose that last 1-2% BF, then I wouldn't recommend at all) - I would recommend making sure that their NUTRITION was targeted at fat loss, with their TRAINING structured appropriately, before considering a fat loss supplement/product. In saying that, if diet and exercise were right, then just that little something extra could be recommended . . . As also shown with my results, I would recommend Eviscerate Smolder to anyone looking at RECOMPING or minimizing fat gain during a "bulk" . . .

Comparison to the original Eviscerate. Eviscerate Smolder is a lighter colour than Eviscerate. Goes on just as easily as Eviscerate, albeit a little runnier (i.e. without as much thickness/body). Unlike Eviscerate, it left an ICY wind across the skin where it was applied, with a faint icy burn and that is it - no extreme burning and feeling like I want to roll around naked outside in the snow like there was with the original Eviscerate (from my second tube on - there was NO burn with my FIRST tube and experience of it, which is interesting).

Day 281

Training

It's this week's scheduled Day OFF - definitely required before I head into next week. That's not to say that I'm not going to have my active time though - about an hour's yardwork today.

Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: Waking after ~3 hours, which is getting close to 'normal' for me.

Energy: I have been running around non-stop!

Libido: Let's get wild, LOL.

Recovery: My back has DOMS from yesterday's boxing session - it feels GOOD.

Body Composition and Look: Lost half of the extra weight I gained post-competition, and seeing deeply my top four abs again. The rest will be gone by the end of next week.

Eviscerate Smolder Notes: This is like the original Eviscerate in its staying power and lasting effects - definitely, regardless of whether you have showered or not, continue feeling the 'smolder' up to 24 hours post-application!

Other Notes: My week 'off' is now over. Tomorrow it is BACK TO BRUTAL!

Day 260: Two Weeks until my US Figure Debut!

Training

HIIT Cardio:
a. 2 min easy
b. 12 x 1 min effort/30 sec easy

Posing Practice 15 min.

Stretch 30 min.

Comments

Mood/Aggression: Staying positive!

Energy: Definitely there.

Mental Focus and Clarity: Great.

Stress: HIGH.

Libido: Working OVERtime!

Endurance: Fine.

Pump: Didn't actually get much of a pump today during Posing Practice - mustn't have been flexing hard enough (sigh).

Vascularity: Better.

Quality of Training: Just a quick HIIT session today.

Recovery: Legs feel better. Body not aching today.

Body Composition and Look: I should have started the Eviscerate a few weeks earlier, but eh, you live and learn . . . Holding a little water from the Eviscerate, but I knew that would happen, so are not too concerned with it - it will go in a few days of stopping Eviscerate use . . .

Other Notes: Used the last of my Shred Matrix today . . For some reason, people seem to think I am experienced when it comes to Figure/Bodybuilding competition - this is simply not the case and highly INaccurate. I have done ONE competition: In 2004, and that was for FUN, just because it was something different, and in New Zealand - Figure is completely DIFFERENT over there than here, and over there we do quarter turns, the five bodybuilding poses, AND a 1-minute posing routine. Anyways, this is all very new to me as well, although I have definitely NOT been preparing the way the vast majority - if not all other - competitors do and are, and it is very controversial. However, I do what works for me. I know that for my next competition a few things WILL have to change, and I will make those changes. Also need to stop feeling like a goof - I'm so self-conscious just practicing posing and my walk in front of my husband, let alone in front of an entire AUDIENCE, and I HAVE to get over it! Otherwise, BRING IT ON!!!

Day 256: Training is definitely carb-DEPLETING

Training

Cardio 20 min.

Gym - Full-Body (30 sec recovery between alternate sets):
Alternate Set A -
1. BB Romanian Deadlifts (on 6" box, BB to touch feet) 6 x 12
2. Bench Step-Ups 6 x 15 per side
Alternate Set B -
3. Flat BB Bench Press 6 x 12
4. Close-Grip V-Bar Seated Row 6 x 12
Alternate Set C -
5. DB Shoulder Press 6 x 12
6. Incline DB Rear Raises 6 x 12
Alternate Set D -
7. V-bar Tricep Push-Downs 6 x 12
8. Cable Bicep Curls 6 x 12
Alternate Set E -
9. Rope Crunches 6 x 12
10. Bicycle (on bench) 6 x 12-15 per side

Post-Weights Cardio - Treadmill:
a. 1 x 2 min @ 12.8 km/hr / 1 min rest
b. 3 x 1 min @ 13.6 km/hr / 1 min rest
c. 3 x 1 min @ 14.4 km/hr / 1 min rest
d. 3 x 1 min @ 15.2 km/hr / 1 min rest

Posing Practice 10 min.

Stretch 20 min.

Comments

Sleep - Time and Quality: A few hours.

Mood/Aggression: Positive. Even though I am not happy with my figure right now, I know that it will change to what I want, and practice will help re posing/T-walk.

Energy: Alternate Set A of my resistance session had me gasping for air and slowing down. After that, though, the time flew by (as it did yesterday), and I still had energy to RUN - with EFFORTS - afterwards! . . . I notice that I have a LOT more energy now that I am training MORE - goes to show that yeah, my body NEEDS THE VOLUME AND INTENSITY!

Mental Focus and Clarity: There.

Metabolism: Good.

Stress: Watching it closely.

Libido: Still high.

Endurance: Excellent.

Pump: Good - although not as good as yesterday.

Vascularity: The veins through anterior deltoids and biceps started showing as blue snakes on my skin during resistance training.

Quality of Training: Once again, a much LONGER resistance session that I am accustomed to - took me ~90 minutes! But, felt fine during. Even practiced a little posing between sets of Alternate Set D - the light is far better in the gym than at home, and closer to what the stage lights will be . . . Ran afterwards and was NOT nauseous. Noticed the stress on my body when I got to 15.2 km/hr pace, but that was it, for which I am grateful . . .

Recovery: Feeling my hamstrings today - but nothing in biceps.

Body Composition and Look: I WAS saving the Eviscerate until after THIS competition and use it for Worlds competition preparation because I only have ~1.5 bottles of it left, BUT, I started using the Eviscerate/Flawless stack again today because: a) my upset stomach over the past few weeks has meant that almost all the time I am at home, I have a hot wheatie on it, and the wheatie is so hot at times that it has left lots of little burn marks all over my stomach, and even though I know the tanning process will hide them, I want them GONE; and b) I am noticing more than ever the appearance of dimples on my thighs (front, side, AND back) and it's disconcerting, and I want my legs smooth again.

Other Notes: I only have enough DermaTherm left for a few days, and once that is gone, I will go back to applying LipoBURN pre-bed . . . I also only have a few days of Shred Matrix left . . .