would love any kind of advice that you could give regarding natural bodybuilding/figure competitions. One of my dearest friends has recently competed on natural bodybuilding and placed in Houston. My passion has always been fitness but I just dont know how to get where I want to be. I am looking to enter a figure competition in August. I am not sure about the diet or how much/ how less to work out.

I am 5'9 158lbs about 28% bodyfat

I work out 6 times a week
cardio in the morning for 45 minutes- 5-6 times a week
In the afternoons
Mon- Legs- 4 sets each bodypart/10-12 reps 3 different excercises
Tues- Chest/tri 4 sets for each body part/ 10- 12 reps - 3 different excercises
Thursday- Back/Bi's/ Shoulders- same as above

Workout@ 5am 45 min cardio
6:45 egg whites/ toast
10am- orange
1pm- grilled chicken salad
workout around 3pm
4pm- orange
7pm chicken w/ veggies
sometimes a yogurt

What am I doing right/wrong in order to get lean and cut.

would love any kind of advice that you could give regarding natural bodybuilding/figure competitions. One of my dearest friends has recently competed on natural bodybuilding and placed in Houston. My passion has always been fitness but I just dont know how to get where I want to be. I am looking to enter a figure competition in August. I am not sure about the diet or how much/ how less to work out.

I am 5'9 158lbs about 28% bodyfat

I work out 6 times a week
cardio in the morning for 45 minutes- 5-6 times a week
In the afternoons
Mon- Legs- 4 sets each bodypart/10-12 reps 3 different excercises
Tues- Chest/tri 4 sets for each body part/ 10- 12 reps - 3 different excercises
Thursday- Back/Bi's/ Shoulders- same as above

Workout@ 5am 45 min cardio
6:45 egg whites/ toast

10am- orange
1pm- grilled chicken salad
workout around 3pm
4pm- orange
7pm chicken w/ veggies
sometimes a yogurt

What am I doing right/wrong in order to get lean and cut.


I would change a few things:
egg whites/toast
First eat the whole egg, the fat in the yoke is needed to digest the protein. The toast change that to canadian bacon, I alternate breakfasts oatmeal/toast and eggs/c-bacon every other day as you should eat protein and fats together and carbs seperate from them.
The orange, it's an insulin rush, not good. makes your body store fat. Eat some nuts and a protein bar low in carbs. or a protein shake mixed with water.

Yogurt, Nope not good too much sugar especially if it has fruit in it. Have some crab sticks, shrimp or more chicken, cold turkey, steak or pork chops and some cheese curds. Hard boiled eggs are good too for snacks.

You may be overdoing the cardio, I would only do cardio on off days, 3 days cardio and 3 days workout is still quit a bit at least every other week skip 2 days in a row to really get some rest. You may be burning up your muscles making it harder to cut fat. Make sure you are getting enough calories and drink a protein shake right after those workouts so you don't burn up those muscles.

I don't know too many competitors who did it alone. Everyone I know had hired a coach or associated with a personal trainer who was experienced with competitions at one point or another. So my advice - if you really want to take it to stage, ask around with other competitors and find someone experienced, and have a coach guide you through the process!

Jeremy

I don't know too many competitors who did it alone. Everyone I know had hired a coach or associated with a personal trainer who was experienced with competitions at one point or another. So my advice - if you really want to take it to stage, ask around with other competitors and find someone experienced, and have a coach guide you through the process!

Jeremy
I did have a personal trainer who put many girls in competitions but he has since moved out of the Houston area and I am not sure really what to do as far as more/less cardio and food.

I also do not understand why so much cardio is bad for you.

It's bad as far as burning muscle. Muscle is what burns fat and too much cardio done for too long reduces the amount of muscle weight because your body goes into a catabolic state (uses muscle for energy instead of fat). If you keep cardio to 40 min or less you should be ok same goes for weight lifting, 40 min, after that you risk the same as cardio in losing muscle mass. The more muscle you have the more you can eat, without muscle you gotta starve yourself to keep from getting fat.

Hmm I am currently cutting also, doing this diet hopefully it doesnt effect my muscle growth/losing muscle mass. I am going to the gym 5 times a week weight lifting and doing 3 times a week of cardio session, but next week I am going to do 5 times a week of cardio so i will get use to the cardio every morning. My diet is only high protein meat with veggies and very few carbs. Ill be doing this only for 2 weeks to shed body fat and at the same time gain muscles. I have around 6 meals a day lol thats a lot for cutting but its recommended so I wont feel starved cuz im having really little carbs. so ill see what happens in the next few weeks, see if i get stronger and lose body fat and gain muscles! =)

Hmm I am currently cutting also, doing this diet hopefully it doesnt effect my muscle growth/losing muscle mass. I am going to the gym 5 times a week weight lifting and doing 3 times a week of cardio session, but next week I am going to do 5 times a week of cardio so i will get use to the cardio every morning. My diet is only high protein meat with veggies and very few carbs. Ill be doing this only for 2 weeks to shed body fat and at the same time gain muscles. I have around 6 meals a day lol thats a lot for cutting but its recommended so I wont feel starved cuz im having really little carbs. so ill see what happens in the next few weeks, see if i get stronger and lose body fat and gain muscles! =) Be sure you're getting a sufficient amount EFA's as well.

Be sure you're getting a sufficient amount EFA's as well.

lol wats EFA's?

lol wats EFA's?
EFAs are Essential Fatty Acids, which are contained in foods such as cold water fish, avocados, olive oil, etc.

So can anyone recommend how many times a week/ how long I should do cardio? Is 4 sets of 3 different excercises for each muscle group sufficient enough for cutting?