Unrealistic?
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RainbootsToBikinis
Posts: 465 Member
I've got a coach who is training me and providing me a meal plan for free. This is her first time training someone for competition so she wants to have a success story before she charges for it. Her plan is that I will do my first show in San Diego at the beginning of may (16 weeks out). I am 5'5, 153 lbs, and 27% body fat. Is it unrealistic that I would be competition ready by May? Should I talk to her about pushing back my competition date?
Any tips or suggestions about competition prep? Since this is her first time coaching for competition, I'm trying to learn as much as I can to make sure she's got me on the right track
Any tips or suggestions about competition prep? Since this is her first time coaching for competition, I'm trying to learn as much as I can to make sure she's got me on the right track
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I have no experience to speak of, but I'm okay with math.
You are 153 @ 27% which would put you at about 112 lb of lean mass. Assuming you want to lose around 1 lb per week, if you do everything perfect and lose only fat, you would be 137 lb with 112 lb lean mass, which would put you around 18% body fat.
18% seems a bit high, I'm not sure what your goal would be, but I'd assume at least 15%? To be at 15% with 112 lb of lean mass would be closer to 132 lb, so you'd need to average 1.3 lb per week while not losing any lean mass to be probably closer to the top of competition body fat range.
Seems a bit unrealistic to me, but I wouldn't say completely impossible.0 -
Hmmm, I agree with Award30. 1.3 pounds per week is a pretty high goal. Not to say at first you will have trouble meeting it, but your diet would have to be perfect, and decrease at exactly the right times. That would require perfect knowledge of your body and it's rhythms. If you feel confident in your diet and fitness plan. I think you can do it. You will just have to be on the look out for any time where it seems like you may be plateauing.0
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I didn't even think of it like that lol. I'm definitely going to find a later show, I want room to fine tune my diet and make sure I'm as ready as possible before I actually step on stage.0
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What Kind of competition are you looking at would be my first question? I haven't competed yet and I am working towards it. I am about the same stature as you are and almost the same weight I know I do not want to have 112 lbs of lean mass I'm shooting for 105 lean mass and about 15% body fat. I'm doing a ms. fitness competition though. Anyway my point is depending on your goals whether you want to lose both lean mass and fat or just fat. I definitely think it would be possible. You can lose up to 2 lbs a week with out sacrificing a lot of muscle. Your diet will have to be on point. I wouldn't do it though. I'm a perfectionist I'm not planning on doing mine until next spring good luck though!0
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I want to start with a bikini competition though may move into figure if I end up too muscular for bikini. I definitely don't want to lose muscle, I've worked really hard for my muscle 0
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What Kind of competition are you looking at would be my first question? I haven't competed yet and I am working towards it. I am about the same stature as you are and almost the same weight I know I do not want to have 112 lbs of lean mass I'm shooting for 105 lean mass and about 15% body fat. I'm doing a ms. fitness competition though. Anyway my point is depending on your goals whether you want to lose both lean mass and fat or just fat. I definitely think it would be possible. You can lose up to 2 lbs a week with out sacrificing a lot of muscle. Your diet will have to be on point. I wouldn't do it though. I'm a perfectionist I'm not planning on doing mine until next spring good luck though!
In regards to the tail end of this post, studies show that 1/2 pound to 1 pound of weight loss per week is safe to avoid losing muscle. Any more than that, if you aren't losing water weight, will risk muscle loss. 2 pounds is much too quick of a weight loss, especially once you get close to your "essential body fat" percentage. For men it is 3-5%, while for women it is 10-12%. The closer you get to those levels, the harder your body is going to try to hold onto the fat, and the slower you will lose.0 -
I want to start with a bikini competition though may move into figure if I end up too muscular for bikini. I definitely don't want to lose muscle, I've worked really hard for my muscle
My first competition was a bikini competition, and because I was comparing my progress to pro photos, I looked like a figure girl. Different states (and organizations) have different expectations, and in GA they do not like their bikini girls to be too muscular. As a result, since I still live in GA, I'm competing in figure this time, but am doing the same things to prepare. Except different posing practices of course!0 -
What Kind of competition are you looking at would be my first question? I haven't competed yet and I am working towards it. I am about the same stature as you are and almost the same weight I know I do not want to have 112 lbs of lean mass I'm shooting for 105 lean mass and about 15% body fat. I'm doing a ms. fitness competition though. Anyway my point is depending on your goals whether you want to lose both lean mass and fat or just fat. I definitely think it would be possible. You can lose up to 2 lbs a week with out sacrificing a lot of muscle. Your diet will have to be on point. I wouldn't do it though. I'm a perfectionist I'm not planning on doing mine until next spring good luck though!
In regards to the tail end of this post, studies show that 1/2 pound to 1 pound of weight loss per week is safe to avoid losing muscle. Any more than that, if you aren't losing water weight, will risk muscle loss. 2 pounds is much too quick of a weight loss, especially once you get close to your "essential body fat" percentage. For men it is 3-5%, while for women it is 10-12%. The closer you get to those levels, the harder your body is going to try to hold onto the fat, and the slower you will lose.
The key phrase there was "Without Sacrificing a Lot of Muscle" You are not going to lose all your muscle..... I have read studies and I have taken nutrition classes. As long as she stays on point with her diet it would be possible to drop the weight. I know for me I dropped about 10 lbs worth of water weight after I lowered my sodium intake....0 -
I'm doing my first figure competition in just over 8 weeks and my trainer started me 20 weeks out! It sounded crazy but since it's my first one, he wanted to take it slow and not have to build my calorie intake up just to drop it in a week or so. I'm 5'4 and started at 138, I'm not 125 and he wants me to be at 115 for the day of. He said about 3-5 of that will be water weight my last week. I've lost a good amount of fat by doing it slow and doing it right. For your first show that's what you want, you want to do it the right way. If you get thrown in to it and have a bad experience it might deter you from doing another competition. 16 weeks should be a good amount of time though. It's all about confidence when you get out there. Also if you get out there once, you'll get feedback and you'll have more time to prep and tweak for the next show. We all have to start somewhere, good luck!
ISSA CFT0 -
What Kind of competition are you looking at would be my first question? I haven't competed yet and I am working towards it. I am about the same stature as you are and almost the same weight I know I do not want to have 112 lbs of lean mass I'm shooting for 105 lean mass and about 15% body fat. I'm doing a ms. fitness competition though. Anyway my point is depending on your goals whether you want to lose both lean mass and fat or just fat. I definitely think it would be possible. You can lose up to 2 lbs a week with out sacrificing a lot of muscle. Your diet will have to be on point. I wouldn't do it though. I'm a perfectionist I'm not planning on doing mine until next spring good luck though!
In regards to the tail end of this post, studies show that 1/2 pound to 1 pound of weight loss per week is safe to avoid losing muscle. Any more than that, if you aren't losing water weight, will risk muscle loss. 2 pounds is much too quick of a weight loss, especially once you get close to your "essential body fat" percentage. For men it is 3-5%, while for women it is 10-12%. The closer you get to those levels, the harder your body is going to try to hold onto the fat, and the slower you will lose.
The key phrase there was "Without Sacrificing a Lot of Muscle" You are not going to lose all your muscle..... I have read studies and I have taken nutrition classes. As long as she stays on point with her diet it would be possible to drop the weight. I know for me I dropped about 10 lbs worth of water weight after I lowered my sodium intake....
I am a certified personal trainer, so my nutrition expertise relates directly to how it affect weight/fat loss. Your very last statement "10 lbs worth of water weight after I lowered my sodium intake" supports exactly what I said, because I clearly wrote that "if you aren't losing water weight". Eventually, as you consistently keep your sodium intake low, you will stop retaining as much water.
So again I say, if you want to minimize muscle loss, a fat/weight loss goal of .5 to 1 pound per week is optimum. Higher than that, and you may sacrifice some muscle mass. For those of us who endeavor to not sacrifice ANY muscle, this is an important consideration.0 -
What Kind of competition are you looking at would be my first question? I haven't competed yet and I am working towards it. I am about the same stature as you are and almost the same weight I know I do not want to have 112 lbs of lean mass I'm shooting for 105 lean mass and about 15% body fat. I'm doing a ms. fitness competition though. Anyway my point is depending on your goals whether you want to lose both lean mass and fat or just fat. I definitely think it would be possible. You can lose up to 2 lbs a week with out sacrificing a lot of muscle. Your diet will have to be on point. I wouldn't do it though. I'm a perfectionist I'm not planning on doing mine until next spring good luck though!
In regards to the tail end of this post, studies show that 1/2 pound to 1 pound of weight loss per week is safe to avoid losing muscle. Any more than that, if you aren't losing water weight, will risk muscle loss. 2 pounds is much too quick of a weight loss, especially once you get close to your "essential body fat" percentage. For men it is 3-5%, while for women it is 10-12%. The closer you get to those levels, the harder your body is going to try to hold onto the fat, and the slower you will lose.
The key phrase there was "Without Sacrificing a Lot of Muscle" You are not going to lose all your muscle..... I have read studies and I have taken nutrition classes. As long as she stays on point with her diet it would be possible to drop the weight. I know for me I dropped about 10 lbs worth of water weight after I lowered my sodium intake....
I am a certified personal trainer, so my nutrition expertise relates directly to how it affect weight/fat loss. Your very last statement "10 lbs worth of water weight after I lowered my sodium intake" supports exactly what I said, because I clearly wrote that "if you aren't losing water weight". Eventually, as you consistently keep your sodium intake low, you will stop retaining as much water.
So again I say, if you want to minimize muscle loss, a fat/weight loss goal of .5 to 1 pound per week is optimum. Higher than that, and you may sacrifice some muscle mass. For those of us who endeavor to not sacrifice ANY muscle, this is an important consideration.
^^^
WHAT SHE SAID
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What Kind of competition are you looking at would be my first question? I haven't competed yet and I am working towards it. I am about the same stature as you are and almost the same weight I know I do not want to have 112 lbs of lean mass I'm shooting for 105 lean mass and about 15% body fat. I'm doing a ms. fitness competition though. Anyway my point is depending on your goals whether you want to lose both lean mass and fat or just fat. I definitely think it would be possible. You can lose up to 2 lbs a week with out sacrificing a lot of muscle. Your diet will have to be on point. I wouldn't do it though. I'm a perfectionist I'm not planning on doing mine until next spring good luck though!
In regards to the tail end of this post, studies show that 1/2 pound to 1 pound of weight loss per week is safe to avoid losing muscle. Any more than that, if you aren't losing water weight, will risk muscle loss. 2 pounds is much too quick of a weight loss, especially once you get close to your "essential body fat" percentage. For men it is 3-5%, while for women it is 10-12%. The closer you get to those levels, the harder your body is going to try to hold onto the fat, and the slower you will lose.
The key phrase there was "Without Sacrificing a Lot of Muscle" You are not going to lose all your muscle..... I have read studies and I have taken nutrition classes. As long as she stays on point with her diet it would be possible to drop the weight. I know for me I dropped about 10 lbs worth of water weight after I lowered my sodium intake....
I am a certified personal trainer, so my nutrition expertise relates directly to how it affect weight/fat loss. Your very last statement "10 lbs worth of water weight after I lowered my sodium intake" supports exactly what I said, because I clearly wrote that "if you aren't losing water weight". Eventually, as you consistently keep your sodium intake low, you will stop retaining as much water.
So again I say, if you want to minimize muscle loss, a fat/weight loss goal of .5 to 1 pound per week is optimum. Higher than that, and you may sacrifice some muscle mass. For those of us who endeavor to not sacrifice ANY muscle, this is an important consideration.
I am a certified personal trainer as well and have been for the last 6 years, I believe its still possible depending on her body. But like you said she may sacrifice some muscle mass but not enough to be a big deal. It would be a big deal if she has trouble gaining weight or muscle. But from her stats that doesn't seem the case.0
