August 2024 show prep log

[Slowww]

Going to be prepping for my first classic physique show next year. I posted my first bulk log here from 70kg a while ago and will be periodically posting some updates here until the show next year.
This will not be a daily lifts/food log, I already have one on another forum, just to gauge long term progress more easily until my first body building competition.

Since I left I got 2nd place in a PL competition at 100kg body weight, and decided to commit to body building because my leverages are poor for PL and RPE training is not for me. I just recently bulked up to 240lbs/108kg, self coached and am into my first cut. Lost 35lbs in the last 11 weeks and plan to cut 5 more.

I plan to rebound and bulk again after this cut then start to prep.

Currently
Height: 188cm/6 foot 2
Weight:92.4kg 203lbs

Currently on 2400 calories,
PPL abs UL abs 7 days split
Cardio 1 hour per day
10k+ steps
Cruising: test, primo, gh
Working with a coach for the past 6 weeks.


Physique currently

 

[Mik334]

How long is your bulk going to be before prep starts and what’s the target weight brotha ? Looking lean af rn

 

[BigTomJ]

Shape looks good man, I'll bet you'll do well.

Do not underestimate the value of posing properly. Get with a posing coach, it's worth every penny

 

[Slowww]

How long is your bulk going to be before prep starts and what’s the target weight brotha ? Looking lean af rn

I’ll be starting the bulk early December, probably Dec.5, and I’ll bulk then maintain/recomp maybe 5/6 months to give myself enough time to get lean again. Really depends on body composition.

I hope to put on a couple kgs by then, but I’m trying to make a habit of not getting overly invested of what’s on the scale and put on quality size, more so than keep a set number in mind.

My coach wants to keep me a bit leaner this bulk than my self-coached bulk, so we’re not committing to a number. the bulk should be pretty aggressive but just enough to avoid spilling over into to much fat accrual.

Thanks!

 

[Slowww]

Shape looks good man, I'll bet you'll do well.

Do not underestimate the value of posing properly. Get with a posing coach, it's worth every penny

Appreciate it man! Hopefully I can strengthen the weaknesses a bit by then and get in a bit better shape.

This week I started learning posing with a friend who competes and I’ve been working on cleaning them up since I posted those photos. Also will be taking some posing lessons from a IFBB pro who made it to the Olympia in December but a committed posing coach is probably a really good idea that I’ve overlooked. I know I gotta work on it and its the aspect of BB that I understand the least, so I’ve been making an effort to try and get better at it.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely look into it. I know of a few services online that I could try or just try at the gym I go to as they have some posing coaches there.

 

[Slowww]

94.4kg
Started creatine, and gained some weight over the week. Same calories at 2,400.
Glute-hamstring tie-ins and sweep starting to become slightly visible in legs.

 

[Trainedbytylerlofthouse19]

Bi's and tris need a lot of work.

Back and hamstrings needs to be thicker

Also as BigTom mentioned a posing coach would be very helpful at this stage.

Looking 10x better already for them kgs of water weight so well done I'm interested to see how you do.

 

[Slowww]

Bi's and tris need a lot of work.

Back and hamstrings needs to be thicker

Also as BigTom mentioned a posing coach would be very helpful at this stage.

Looking 10x better already for them kgs of water weight so well done I'm interested to see how you do.

Yeah, I agree about bis and tris, definitely my weakest and got hit cutting the most out of any body part besides lats. I’ve been doing a lot more isolated machine work for them twice a week, so hopefully it will improve. Those parts are very slow to grow for me, and it’s very noticeable due to structure so Ive really got my work cut out.

Yeah hamstrings and back thickness are pretty lacking as well, just due to how I deadlifted when I was powerlifting.

Last week my coach and I also added 6 more sets per week to hamstrings (1 extra movement per leg day), and my second leg day each week is a hamstring focused session to try and bring them up.
Not sure about what to do about back thickness right now so I’ll talk to my coach since right now we’ve just been focusing on improving the V-taper and minimizing CNS and posterior chain fatigue during this part of the training.

Appreciate it, definitely gonna keep on the creatine I suppose haha.

 

[Slowww]

As per coach’s instructions, calories will be dropped to 2,050 ED.
May go lower to get to the end of this cut by the start of December.
Protein will stay the same (310g ED).

 

[BigTomJ]

Appreciate it man! Hopefully I can strengthen the weaknesses a bit by then and get in a bit better shape.

This week I started learning posing with a friend who competes and I’ve been working on cleaning them up since I posted those photos. Also will be taking some posing lessons from a IFBB pro who made it to the Olympia in December but a committed posing coach is probably a really good idea that I’ve overlooked. I know I gotta work on it and its the aspect of BB that I understand the least, so I’ve been making an effort to try and get better at it.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely look into it. I know of a few services online that I could try or just try at the gym I go to as they have some posing coaches there.

Then you're on the right track.
A lot of first time competitors completely neglect posing and it really shows on stage.

It ends up being a real shame because you can see that they put a ton of effort into their prep and came in peeled, only to place lower than they should because they don't know how to show it off.

You'll do alright because you recognize the value

 

[Mik334]

I’ll be starting the bulk early December, probably Dec.5, and I’ll bulk then maintain/recomp maybe 5/6 months to give myself enough time to get lean again. Really depends on body composition.

I hope to put on a couple kgs by then, but I’m trying to make a habit of not getting overly invested of what’s on the scale and put on quality size, more so than keep a set number in mind.

My coach wants to keep me a bit leaner this bulk than my self-coached bulk, so we’re not committing to a number. the bulk should be pretty aggressive but just enough to avoid spilling over into to much fat accrual.

Thanks!

Hell yea excited to see how you do brotha sounds like a good plan will keep up with how you’re doing occasionally to see the progression ! Good luck

 

[Trainedbytylerlofthouse19]

Yeah, I agree about bis and tris, definitely my weakest and got hit cutting the most out of any body part besides lats. I’ve been doing a lot more isolated machine work for them twice a week, so hopefully it will improve. Those parts are very slow to grow for me, and it’s very noticeable due to structure so Ive really got my work cut out.

Yeah hamstrings and back thickness are pretty lacking as well, just due to how I deadlifted when I was powerlifting.

Last week my coach and I also added 6 more sets per week to hamstrings (1 extra movement per leg day), and my second leg day each week is a hamstring focused session to try and bring them up.
Not sure about what to do about back thickness right now so I’ll talk to my coach since right now we’ve just been focusing on improving the V-taper and minimizing CNS and posterior chain fatigue during this part of the training.

Appreciate it, definitely gonna keep on the creatine I suppose haha.

I'm the absolute same with my arms, seemed to be stuck for years, but I feel I was over training them and once I dropped my sets per week they blew up.

I also incorporate adductor/abductor machine, it helps a lot with shape, especially hamstring width.

Bringing the legs up is going to create a better illusion fo the waist been smaller, back looks thick as it is so maybe stick at what your doing a couple more weeks, nice wide pull down to add some width maybe. Definitely stick with your coach he's doing you justice.
Excited to see more.

 

[Slowww]

I'm the absolute same with my arms, seemed to be stuck for years, but I feel I was over training them and once I dropped my sets per week they blew up.

I also incorporate adductor/abductor machine, it helps a lot with shape, especially hamstring width.

Bringing the legs up is going to create a better illusion fo the waist been smaller, back looks thick as it is so maybe stick at what your doing a couple more weeks, nice wide pull down to add some width maybe. Definitely stick with your coach he's doing you justice.
Excited to see more.

That makes sense for the arms, but at least for my chest, and legs they started to change pretty rapidly when I added more volume. I’ll have to see what happens when I get into a growth phase to see what gets them to grow better.

Right now I’m doing abductor superset with adductors without rest for 3 sets each to failure with a slow tempo because the machine won’t go heavy enough. That’s on my hamstring dominant leg day. I already feel like they are making a difference as I didn’t do these when I was power lifting or for the first year and a half I was bodybuilding.

On my pull day I have 3 pull-down/pull up variations, and on my upper body day I’ve got 2, so i assume that my back is going to get enough stimulus at least for width right now. I used to do a lot more rowing and Deadlift/ deadlift accessories instead so his programming is very new to me. Again just gotta give it time to see how it pans out as I’ve only been working with him for 8 weeks as of now.

I assume after these last 4 weeks of cutting the program is going to change when my diet is in a surplus though.

 

[Slowww]

November 1: neutral pose, no pump, 91.8kg fasted

 

[Slowww]

Arrived at around 9-10% body fat.
Recently I’ve been gaining some strength back in some movements which feels good to keep being able to progressively overload while running a deficit. This is not true of all lifts however. (For example my squat is not where it was during my last cruise/maintenance and not nearly where it was at 240lbs body weight)
Going to continue cutting for approximately 2 weeks, just to keep my cycles on a month by month basis so it’s easy to track. as I am ready to begin my bulking phase again.
Going to push down a little more and get ready for a rebound.
Cutting out sodium now for the remainder of the cut to shed a bit of extra water.
Calories have stayed at 1850-2000.
cardio has been at anywhere from 60-120 minutes per day.
Coach does not want to drop any more calories for the remainder of my cut, but I am encouraged to continue with an hour or longer cardio.

 

[Slowww]

10 weeks of cutting before and after til today
Doses now changing to 300 test/300 eq, adding 100mcg t4, 80mcg clen
91.00kg/200lbs on the dot for second picture

 

[Trainedbytylerlofthouse19]

10 weeks of cutting before and after til today
Doses now changing to 300 test/300 eq, adding 100mcg t4, 80mcg clen
91.00kg/200lbs on the dot for second picture
View attachment 270936View attachment 270937

Looking very good mate

 

[Slowww]

Looking very good mate

Thanks, still got 1-2 more weeks to cut though it’s looking like

 

[Trainedbytylerlofthouse19]

Thanks, still got 1-2 more weeks to cut though it’s looking like

Nice and slow brother just keep that quality you've built..

Would like to see a rear double bicep comparison and front lat spread

 

[Slowww]

Rear double bis
front lat spread


Leg condition from the side


Doing a high carb day tomorrow before training to fill out a bit since I’m looking a bit flat this week.
This Saturday will do a posing session to learn to pose, and will be going to a bodybuilding seminar for the first time focused on classic physique. Hope my diet will be ok on my travels and I won’t need to extent my cut.