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NABBA UNIVERSE – 6 WEEKS DOWN AND 6 WEEKS TO GO!

NABBA UNIVERSE – 6 WEEKS DOWN AND 6 WEEKS TO GO!

Still everything is moving in a positive direction albeit slowed down a fair bit. Obviously this is going to happen as we go through prep. Body-fats are an easy source of energy when you have a high BF % but when that % is low your body starts to think “hang on a minute here, if we keep going in this direction we are going to die” so it tries its best to hold onto what it’s got. It’s amazing how the body works at times, so we have to trick it/force it into releasing more stored fats as energy.

So how do we do this?

Straight forward and easy to understand is we have to increase our energy output and lower our calorific intake and mess about with the balance of our meals (proteins, carbohydrates & fats).
plan
As I have now reached the stage of being just 6 weeks out and in the condition I want to be in I can now push forward and let the magic happen. Prep has been plain sailing so far but if I am going to be my best come October 29th it’s time to turn the heat up a little.
My diet is going to be adapted and my cardio side of training is going to increase. I tend to keep my resistance training the same as now as I want to ensure I maintain as much muscle tissue as possible. The training I have used to create off-season gains is now my friend in retaining as much muscle as possible. I tend to train heavy doing basic movements at the start of each workout and drop the weights and concentrate heavily on “mind to muscle connection” training for the rest of the routine. It also now becomes more important to incorporate different movements to ensure each part of each muscle group is attacked – we simply can’t leave any area un-toned for that stage!

So what does all this mean?

Diet adaptions

This will be my diet for the coming week and I will re-assess things next week.

Before I put my diet down I must point out the importance of water intake. This is important at any time and I always ensure I drink over 4 litres every day without fail.
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I do still have the occasional coffee and also incorporate Green Tea which holds many benefits on prep although is a very acquired taste.
green tea
Water ensures correct functioning of internal organs, helps flush away toxins, aids digestion, prevents headaches, helps lower blood pressure etc etc

7.00am Multi-Vit, BCAA’s, L-Glutamine & coffee (caffeine) shot followed by 30mins morning cardio (power walk)

7.45am Straight after cardio – 2 x Weetabix, 50g Muscle King Lean Whey, 10g Natural Peanut Butter, 10 Frozen Blueberries blended with chilled water

10.00am 175g Turkey Breast + 175g Sweet Potato + 25g Green Vegetables (mainly Broccoli)

12.30pm 90g Porridge Oats + 40g Muscle King Lean Whey

3.00pm 175g Chicken Breast + 175g White Potato + 25g Green Vegetables

5.30pm 175g Turkey Breast + 175g Sweet Potato + 25g Green Vegetables

8.00pm 175g Lean Steak OR 175g Salmon + 100g Sweet Potato + 25g Green Vegetables

10.30pm 40g Casein Protein with added Muscle King L-Glutamine made with water

The most important thing when on competition prep and avoiding the risk of losing any muscle tissue is to not miss meals. Sometimes due to my workload my clients may overlap for one reason or another and I may lose my pre-set break time. When this happens I always have emergency back-up food which generally is protein pancake. I always keep a tub in the fridge on hand for such emergencies. This is easy to snack on to remove any hunger pangs and keep those muscles fed. If you want to know my recipe for my on-prep protein pancakes send me a message and I will mail it out to you via private message free of charge! I am nice like that lol

If you want to see how I prep my foods late on a night after a long days work have a look at this youtube link and feel free to subscribe to my channel as I will be posting a few videos over the coming weeks. They will be on the subjects of training, nutrition, my opinions and giving an insight of how my energy levels sit along with all the preparations I make for the stage! I am sure they will be interesting to watch. I try not to preach as there is more than one way to get results but I do have my own way of doing things and its got to make common sense to me to apply it!

Training adaptions

As said before my actual resistance training won’t change as yet except for the introduction of some more muscle isolation movements. This will probably see me doing 3 extra sets per body-part but I will still train by instinct and listen to what my body is telling me.
On the other hand my cardio will be performed 6 days a week on a morning in a fasted state (except for BCAA’s, Muscle King L-Glutamine etc). I am still doing power walks and the time duration is now 30 mins per session. The only day I don’t do morning cardio is the morning after I have trained legs as I believe recovery is more important at this time. Like I have always said it’s not the man who trains the hardest who becomes a champion in this sport but the man who trains the smartest “No Brain, No Gain”.
brain gain

My posted stats this week

Chest skinfold – now 3.7mm from 3.8mm
Waist skinfold – now 5.8mm from 5.7mm
Thigh skinfold – now 3.8mm which is exactly the same as last week
Body-fat – now 5.99% from 6.06%
Weight – now 16st 05lb from 16st 06lb

So as you can see virtually no change but still moving in the right direction. I now feel it is the right time to up my game and start bringing the condition through that I am known for.

Injury update:

For the first time on this prep I have managed to perform pressing movements but I am limited with my grip positioning. On my shoulder routine I managed to shoulder press on our machine here at Tops Fitness & Rehabilitation a movement that allows me to press with my palms facing inwards which took all the pain away from my injury and allowed me to perform reps with a comfortable weight. On my chest routine the following day I managed pressing but once again had to adopt a palms facing in option so it was dumbell’s and machine work yet again with pressing a barbell still off limits. The beauty of performing these exercises is that I have had no shoulder flare up afterwards, so slowly but surely we are moving in the right direction. The adaptions I have made on this prep towards training hasn’t impacted negatively on my physique I am happy to say, so confidence is still on a high although we are now travelling into the unknown of the final half of my prep!

Last week was also a great week for my clients as they are all showing remarkable improvements. Working with these hard working individuals certainly elevates my own level of training as they inspire me! I want to lead #teamtops from the front and show them what they are capable of! I have some amazing athletes that I coach and buzz off their results. It’s also great to see the way they support each other and show a keen interest in their journeys.
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Not all my clients are competitors. In fact some of my most highly motivated clients are only interested in being the best version of themselves. They come to me for a body transformation and if they are willing to put in the hard work and stick to the eating plans I set for them, results will always follow.
If you want to make a positive change to your physique/figure and wellbeing give me or one of my Fitness partners (Oliver South Fitness & Aimee Coulton) here at Tops a shout. We genuinely care about the changes you want for yourself!

My goals for this coming week:

Up my cardio to 6 x 30 minute morning power walks!
Post increased drop in skinfold measurements with minimum weight loss
Don’t miss any meals!
Practice routines for my Guest Spot with Samantha’s School of Dance in Kettlethorpe.
Practice, Practice & Practice my compulsory poses for competition.
Increase the amount of movements I do per body-part when resistance training.
Maintain my positive outlook and push and guide my clients to achieve their goals.
As always maintain a framework around me of positive people! These will always be my strongest weapon!

Hope everyone has a great week!

Here is this week’s health and fitness tip!
Choose wisely what you eat over the coming week, you literally are what you eat!
eat clean (8)

Thanks again for following and all the feedback I have been receiving, it is very much appreciated!

You can follow me on Instagram @stetops and contact me via private message on facebook (Steve Johnson Coaching) or e-mail me at steve@stevejohnsoncoaching.com

Just 6 WEEKS to go to the NABBA UNIVERSE, WATCH THIS SPACE!!!
uni 2016 (3)

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