Peak week for IFPA Pro International Bodybuilding Championships
September 14, 2011 by Ryan Irwin · 1 Comment
This week marks the final week of my 18 week precontest diet that began on May 16th. In a few more days I will take the stage in Overland Park Kansas with some of the top IFPA professional natural bodybuilders in the world. I am feeling ready for it, my conditioning is there and I am going to come on stage with an additional 5-7lbs of muscle which I am very pleased with. The contest is the IFPA Pro International at Johnston County Community College.
The final week is really like most sports, a taper to hit the contest fresh and fully charged. I back down on my training, both lifting and cardio, to allow my muscles to fully heal and fill out. Additionally, I increase the amount of carbs to help my glycogen levels increase to create full muscle bellies and look pumped and vascular when I flex onstage. At this point all the fat loss that is going to happen has occurred and the final week out is not the time to be killing one’s self with last minute cardio. It is also not the time to try some new exercise that you saw someone do in the gym. You don’t want to injure or tear down a bunch of muscle fiber this week, stick with the training you know. I maintain my training blog here.
Additionally, no last minute extreme diet tactics are needed either. Common practices included severe carb depletion then loading, sodium loading then depletion, potassium loading, water manipulation and dehydration, etc.. These are all extreme diet measures that not only don’t have good scientific basis behind them but also can cause extreme reactions and it is a roll of the dice if they are going to improve one’s appearance.
Instead, letting your body be at it’s normal state, after all, if you look good 1 week out from the contest, why mess with it? Dehydrating one’s self is probably the biggest mistake, especially for natural competitors who don’t have to worry about water retention from steroids. Muscle is 70% water, so why on earth would someone want to drop their water intake and flatten out? As long as you maintain the normal environment, drinking water up to the contest won’t cause water retention under the skin, but rather just make you full and hard.
My current supplement stack:
Scivation Whey, Novem (preworkout), Xtend
Global Formulas Bio Heat, Bio Burn, 7 keto, green tea, forskolin, GPLC
NOW Foods multi, omegas, antioxidants, MCT oil, liquid egg whites & casein (before bed)
Creatine, beta alanine, L-carnitine, HMB, D-Aspartic acid/Estracourt, ZMA, Arginine/Ornithine
A huge thank you to Hands on Sports Massage and True Life Wellness for their services in helping me prepare for this contest. Massage therapy and chiropractic care has kept me healthy, recovering and being able to bring 100% to my workouts everyday. Would highly recommend both of these service providers.
Looking forward to bringing it to the stage! Pictures will be coming and will post here on the blog. Goals set for after the contest: reverse diet for lean gains, compete in powerlifting in Dec in Freemont, NE, then the Arnold in March in OH, then switch gears back to bodybuilding and bring an improved package to the stage in 2012.
For questions on training, precontest coaching or meal planning, email ryan at: ryan@nutrisportfpt.com
Nutri-Sport and Full Potential Training
9992 Swanson Blvd
Clive, IA 50325
www.nutrisportfpt.com
515.331.2141
Nutri-Sport East
4400 East University, Suite B (in the Lakeside Fitness building)
Pleasant Hill, IA 50327
515.266.2225
(soon to be at 1003 8th St SW, STE K in Altoona)
Precontest progress update: 7 weeks out IFPA Pro International
July 30, 2011 by Ryan Irwin · Leave a Comment
I have not been doing a very good job at updating our blog with my precontest progress, but I assure you it has been in full swing!! I began dieting 18 weeks out (happened to be the Monday after the Nutri-Sport Natural Iowa) and am currently 7 weeks out. The IFPA Pro International contest is Sept 17th in Kansas City. This is an IFPA natural pro bodybuilding contest that will have two if not three different weight classes.
Prep has been going great, if all comes in like I expect, I will be 5lbs heavier than my last contest, just as conditioned if not more so. Additionally, strength has continued to be there as my powerlifting goals are right there next to my bodybuilding goals. I am invited back to the 2012 Arnold Sports Festival in March of ’12 so I don’t want to lose a bunch of strength and start my powerlifting cycle weak. We have been running 5/3/1 as you can see in my training log here.
Currently I am doing both sprint HIIT cardio and SS cardio. I am still lifting heavy to retain muscle and relying on diet and cardio for bodyfat loss.
My supplement stack is as follows: Creatine, beta alanine, L-Carnitine, Xtend (during), Casein, Scivation Whey, MCT oil, Bio Heat, Great Tea, CLA, ZMA, Arginine/Orthinine, antioxidants, multi, 7 keto, liquid egg whites, Novem/GPLC. Fish oil, D-Aspartic Acid/Estracourt.
I started my off season about 170lbs and am currently about 158. Last time I stepped on stage around 143/145 so hopefully I’m going to be about 150. Below are my 18 week starting pick and my 8 week out pic.
Continuing to refeed higher carb days 2x per week for muscle retention and to keep metabolism ramped up. Will add in Burn PM soon as well as HMB to help stay as anabolic as possible.
Thank you to everyone for their support!
Ryan
18 weeks out side chest
8 weeks out side chest
For information on customized meal planning/training or contest prep coaching, email: ryan@nutrisportfpt.com
Nutri-Sport and Full Potential Training
9992 Swanson Blvd
Clive, IA 50325
www.nutrisportfpt.com
515.331.2141
Nutri-Sport East
4400 East University, Suite B (in the Lakeside Fitness building)
Pleasant Hill, IA 50327
515.266.2225
Supplement research results: D-Aspartic Acid increases testosterone naturally
July 7, 2010 by Ryan Irwin · Leave a Comment
Testosterone is the male sex hormone that is well know to be a primary driver for muscle growth. In the pursuit of increasing muscle mass and strength, finding safe and effective ways to boost these levels is usually a priority in men.
Recently, in a scientific study published in the journal of Reproductive Biology and endocrinology, there has been an amino acid that has been shown to naturally increase testosterone and luteinizing hormone (LH) levels in the body. D-Aspartic Acid was shown to increase testosterone by 40% and LH by 25% in males. This was done on healthy males aged 26-37 and are significant increases. (see study here).
Being able to increase hormone levels naturally and within safe levels without dangerous and temporary prohormones and steroids is obviously a very good thing. For males looking to naturally increase their testosterone levels without the negative side effects, look to this amino acid for a boost to your supplement stack.
Come in to Nutri-Sport for this new product and other supplements for scientifically proven ways to get the most out of your training.
“Results speak louder than actions and words!”
IFPA Natural Pro Bodybuilder Ryan Irwin
Nutri-Sport & Full Potential Training
9992 Swanson Blvd
Clive, IA 50325
www.nutrisportfpt.com
515-331-2141
Contest prep -4 weeks out
September 25, 2009 by Ryan Irwin · Leave a Comment
Officially one month to go before the NANBF Natural USA bodybuilding championships in Chicago, IL. Things are really going well, definition, strength, size and even energy levels doing great.
This week for supplements I added in Nitro Burn PM, which is a night time fat loss agent that also helps you reduce cortisol levels and get a good nights sleep. Also, for the workouts, almost always splitting up my lifting and low intensity cardio sessions to get a metabolism boost two times a day.
Hit PRs again this week on some lifts, did sumo deadlifts on Monday and worked up to 455 for a single, which felt surprisingly good.
Tomorrow, headed to Council Bluffs for the Bluffs Classic and IFPA Masters Pro Cup. Great competition, looking forward to watching it!
Ryan Irwin 1 month out
Ryan Irwin, beginning of precontest diet
Ecogreen multi vitamin
Quad protein (timed release protein)
Bio Heat (fat burner)
Nitro Burn PM (night time fat burner/cortisol blocker)
Creatine (Bio Cell)
L-Carnitine/Alpha Lipic Acid (pre/post workout)
Xtend (during workout and in between meals)
Omega 3/6/9
CLA
Multi Whey & Karbolyn (post workout protein/carb shake)
Beta Alanine
Casein protein (before bed and added to whey to help get in between meals)
Psyllium husk
Precontest preperation is on!!
July 3, 2009 by Ryan Irwin · Leave a Comment
July 1st marked the beginning of my precontest preparation for the NANBF Natural USA bodybuilding competition. The event is on October 24 and is in a suburb of Chicago. This is a pro-qualifying contest for the IFPA. Four years ago I placed 4th, three years ago I placed 3rd. I took the last two years off to make improvements, so hopefully this is my year!
My diet is planned out and I am going to gradually dial it in over the next 16 weeks to preserve as much muscle as possible while getting extremely lean. I also am going to do a bench press meet (Iowa Games) on July 26th and a push/pull meet (Iowa State Fair) on August 22nd. Keeping my strength up while in precontest mode will be an interesting experiment, looking forward to the challenge!
For supplements, at this point I am using creatine, alpha lipoic acid, acetyl-L Carnitine, CLA, along with my Essential Fatty Acids and vitamins. Cardio includes both high intensity sprints and steady state.
Below is one of the “before” pictures. I am about 10.5% bodyfat per calipers and sitting around 160-163. I will continue to update and post changes throughout this journey!
Ryan Irwin 16 weeks out
Less than 2 weeks for the Nutri-Sport Natural Iowa Bodybuilding/figure championships!
April 26, 2009 by Ryan Irwin · Leave a Comment
On May 9th, bodybuilders and figure athletes from all over the country will converge on Des Moines to compete in one of the longest running natural competitions in the nation! They will be competing for an IFPA pro card, plus the coveted Mr/Ms Natural Iowa title as well!
Location is at the Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. Prejudging starts at 8:30 AM and finals are at 6:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.hoytsherman.org. More information is available at www.naturaliowamuscle.com.
