Stage Shots from USAs

A Recap of Prep for USAs

Now that I've had some time to recover from the whirlwind of competing in my first national level competition, I wanted to share my experience of my final week of prep. Some may see this as torture, I see it as just another day in the life of a bodybuilder.

So to start, there were 4 weight classes at this show and I was trying to make the lower weight class of light heavyweights (125-140 lbs). The show I competed in in April I weighed about 149. I had some weight to drop. About 4 weeks out, my coach had me doing about 2 hrs of cardio a day, as well as carb cycling. On my low days, I was taking in 30g of carbs, on high days around 200g. The week before weigh ins, I was still weighing 148, so my coach changed up my plan. The Thursday before, I started doing 3 hrs of cardio (yes, you read that correctly!!) and I stayed on my low carb diet until I made weight in Vegas. I was also advised not to lift, to only do cardio. I was delusional by the time we were flying out west. 

The morning of weigh ins, before flying I weighed 144. I wore sweats on the plane, and hardly drank and didn't eat until I was making weight. When we landed, after checking into the hotel, I sat in a sauna in my full sweats and had my scale outside the door, checking my weight every 15 mins or so. It took about an hr before I got down to 140 and was able to head over to check in. 

After weigh ins, which I weighed 136 on their scale, I had to carb load and get in my meals...I was so thirsty that I couldn't even swallow from being so dehydrated! But it was absolutely worth it when I saw the size of some of the heavyweights...there were some big girls! 

Inside the sauna...I was miserable! 

These were taken at weigh ins