Reality Check!!

It's a little over 12 weeks until the competition in Oxford, Mass on May 22. I came to the conclusion that I have been not doing nearly enough to get the job done. I have been making way too many excuses. I know my back and arm has beeen causing me pain, but I really haven't worked hard enough to find work-arounds. It has become more of an excuse than an actual issue.

Today, I had my bodyfat % checked and I found out I am up to 10.5% bodyfat! This is the highest I have been in 2 years! To add fuel to the fire, my weight is down to 210! So, I weigh less and I am fatter! Wow, what a wakeup call! Here is what I look like at that bodyfat percentage (the messy room in the back is symbolic of how I have let myself go):

Of course, I shouldn't be surprised at all this. It's very obvious why the changes I was hoping to make never came about. I only did about 1, maybe 2 cardio sessions each week (which leads to the bodyfat increase) and my weight training has been quite sporadic. I have been taking 2, sometimes 3 days in a row off after I did back exercises because I thought it would help in healing my forearm and lower back. I can easily see how people who get an injury fall off the wagon! In addition to that, I have been using the excuse that I am "trying to gain weight" to eat practically whatever I want! Since the scale really hasn't been moving for me, I have been giving myself the freedom to eat until my heart's content. Not a good habit to get into! As you can tell, even though the scale may not change, the bodyfat sure does!

So, here is my plan for the next couple of weeks. Since I haven't made the strength gains I was hoping to before I started the cutting phase, I will try about 2 weeks of more VERY regular strength and 3 days of cardio with calories around 4500 and loading with creatine.

This is my schedule:
1 bodypart workouts:
Quads
Arms
Hams
Shoulders
Chest
Back
(rotating abs with calves)

I plan to do 5 weight training sessions each week, with Wednesdays off and doing cardio only.

This plan should help boost my strength a bit and then after 2 weeks, I will start to increase the cardio. These are my plans from now until showtime May 22.

10 weeks out: 5 days weight train (1 bodypart), 6 days cardio (30 mins), 4500 calories (300-350g protein)
8weeks out: 5 days weight train (2 bodyparts), 6 days cardio (3 days double sessions) 4000 calories (300g)
6 weeks out: 6 weight train days (2 bodyparts), 6 days double session cardio, 4000 calories (300g)
4 weeks out: 6 wts, 6 day doubles, 3500 calories (275g)
3 weeks out: 6 wts, 6 day doubles, 3000 calories (250g)
2 weeks out: 6 wts, 6 day doubles, 2500 calories (250g)
1 week out: 6 wts, 6 day doubles, 2000 calories (250g)

This plan should bring my weight down at least 15lbs of bodyfat while hopefully sustaining, if not increasing some lean muscle.  If it doesn't, I will simply modify the cardio or calories so that I bring my bodyfat percentage to less than or equal to 5%.

So, today I trained arms and did weighted abs. I had a quick workout because I only gave myself 1 hour to get everything done. It's amazing how little things tend to steal your workout time! I need to make a more concerted effort to give myself at least 2 hours to do strength, cardio and stretching. So, with my 1 hour I quickly did some tris, bis and abs and 20 mins of cardio! It was effective but I could have done more.

Here is my log for today: