Introduce Yourself: If you've never Posted, Post here please...

[Scott Stevenson]

Thanks Scott,

I think the thing with the second pic is that the lighting is doing me a whole heep of favors. I weighed in at 82kg (180) there but realistically had another 6-8lbs to come off.

The year before I competed as a classic (I see the NPC has just introduced it for you guys with higher weight limits than what we have in Europe with fewer poses) at 77kg on show day and killed myself getting down there and probably lost 4-5 lb of muscle. I could have been a max of 78kg and a week out I weighed in at 80 so when I manipulated my water etc I'd dropped about 6 lbs (thanks to your guide on the Mountain Dog site).

I knew this year I could make the top of the inters under 80kg if I pushed it and came in at the top of the weight class, which I did just (had to get off the scale once and use the bathroom). However, again, I dropped a bit of muscle to make it - if this happens I lose it from my legs hence them being a bit of a weak point. So post show I had a cheat meal and then another the morning after and then went straight back to my contest diet with the introduction of an additional 75-100g per day of carbs (up to 250g per day Vs 150g). Effectively between shows I regained the tissue that I'd lost and then to top it off I had a MUCH more aggressive carb load compared to the first show (1750g Vs 1000g in 36 hours). Weighed in at 83kg (3kg nearly 7lb diff.) at the second show however condition wasn't as good as the first.

Well, that lighting must be dramatically different (plus pic quality, etc.). Overall, it does sounds it was a better look for you. Nice job, man.

(Glad the peak week strategy worked, too!)

-Scott