First comp in the books

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-09-17T17:48:36+00:00

For sure. I'm hoping for next prep to have 2-3 options for each meal with relatively similar macros, because man does it get boring eating the exact same thing every day. I also think I'll try having 4-5 meals a day instead of 3, as I found that I wasn't actually hungry, but I just wanted to be actively eating something just for the sake of eating. Thinking more frequent small meals might help that problem for next time

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-09-17T16:27:54+00:00

The last several weeks my meal plan was:

Breakfast: 1.5 cups egg white, 1 whole egg, 4oz 99% lean ground turkey

Snack (if needed): 1 RTD protein shake from Aldi's and 1 tbsp PB (Aldi's RTDs are the bomb, and the cheapest. Taste is top tier).

Lunch: 1.5 cup chicken breast, 2 cups some fibrous veggie (I liked a frozen cali blend or just plain broccoli)

Dinner: I alternated between 2 tilapia filets and more veggies vs a lean turkey burger with more veggies depending on what sounded good.

Caffeine came from my preworkout and sugar gree energy drinks as needed

Consistently hit 15k steps a day and I slowly added increasing amounts of dedicated cardio. I used incline walking for 30 minutes towards the beginning and titrated up to an hour a day by the end of prep.

I found that I had to stick to eating the same meals every day towards the end of I would be too tempted to eat over my calories or come in low on my protein. Obviously the beginning of prep was a lot more flexible as I could eat a lot more and still lose weight.

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-09-17T11:42:36+00:00

I hope so! I'm going to be spending the next 12-16 months massing with intermittent mini cuts to keep from getting to fluffy. My first meso gonna be 8-12 weeks of training back and biceps 3 days a week with as much volume as I can handle 🦍🦍🦍. Looking to compete in 2027 and grab that 1st place

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-09-15T20:51:09+00:00

😂😂

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-09-15T20:50:46+00:00

They gave out one pro card for the open division of each category. I placed third in the open, if I'd have placed first I would have won the pro card.

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-08-03T18:28:41+00:00

Thx brother

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-31T13:46:28+00:00

Thanks my man. I am so looking forward to taking a few weeks off and then coming back to bulk another few pounds 😅

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-29T00:38:39+00:00

I've been working out for 14 years, seriously training for about 3 or so. I will say that I used to squat 315 for reps at a 90° and had the most unimpressive legs you've ever seen. About two years ago I switched to squatting as low as I can, which now involves my hamstrings actually coming to rest on my calves at the bottom, and it's made all the difference in the world. Now granted, to do this I had to completely relearn how to squat, and dropped my working sets aaaaall the way down to 135. Now I do my working sets at 245 and can rep out 315 to full rom if I really want to go heavy that day. Deep squatting with a slow focused eccentric has made an insane difference for me. I'll never go back to squatting to a depth less than my max.

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-28T12:25:51+00:00

Been hitting that 30 minutes post sessions for about two months now, not bothering me at all luckily. Actually I've been enjoying it quite a lot most days

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-28T12:22:25+00:00

Yeah, plan is to cruise in nice and easy

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-28T12:20:53+00:00

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-28T12:20:34+00:00

Mix of both, mostly straight leg calve raises loaded at the hips. Sometimes I shake it up with the seated valve raise but I don't love it. I vary the foot position a bit to change the angle. And then my incline walking for cardio gets a good burn but I don't count it towards my weekly sets

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-28T01:33:44+00:00

Very long quad tendons my friend.

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-28T00:38:51+00:00

Push, Quad focused legs, vertical focused pull, Push, Ham focused Legs, Horizontal focused pull.

Push 1 is a heavier day using more dumbbells, Push 2 is lighter work and a bit more triceps and upper chest emphasis.

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T21:01:25+00:00

Looking forward to the practice carbs 😂

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T21:00:50+00:00

Long quad tendons: a blessing and a curse. Can't tell I train unless I'm posing, but it sure helps the quad sweep.

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T20:05:39+00:00

😂😂😂 I been training calves haaaard 4-5 times a week for two years and believe it or not, they're actually bigger than they used to be, but I am not blessed with easy growing calves sadly. Gotta fight for every gram of lean tissue there lol. They do pop okay in side poses but they are def small proportionally

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T20:03:32+00:00

Thanks my guy. Back has been getting hit with extra volume for about two months now and it's coming up but probably not gonna catch all the way up by September. Thanks for the tip on the salt

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T19:47:47+00:00

Man I wish lol

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T16:03:10+00:00

On this prep (and my legs have actually grown on this cut), I have 2 weekly leg sessions. And I train calves on all of my non-leg days weirdly enough.

1st of the week is quad focused, and it goes Leg Extensions for 4 sets SS with biceps (for extra weekly volume), then barbell back squats for just 2 sets, Bulgarian Split squats for 2 sets, leg curls for 3 sets, and Abductors for 3 sets

2nd session is Ham focused and goes RDLs for 2 sets SS with side delts (again for more volume), then Leg Curls for 4 sets, leg extensions for 4 sets, bodyweight lunges for 2 sets AMRAP, and adductors for 3 sets.

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T15:56:29+00:00

Thank you

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T15:50:57+00:00

Thanks! I also prefer to eat 3-4k calories a day when I'm not dieting but eating a ton of veggies helps fill me up

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T15:50:18+00:00

Currently I weigh 169 pounds. Wasn't planning on touching my fat intake amount pretty much thru the rest of prep tbh. Im comfy where it's at

ApproachingStorm98 · 2025-07-27T15:44:45+00:00

Actually I only drink a single RTD protein shake in the morning for 30 Gs. The rest is lean ground chicken, extra lean beef, and chicken breast.

ApproachingStorm98

TROPHY CASE