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 1 month out

Ryan Irwin, beginning of precontest diet

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

Ryan Irwin 16 weeks out