Pre Contest Prep with IFBB Pro

George Farah
Dear Friends,

I got really exited when I joined the MD family, especially when I found
out that I'm going to be writing a column for the best bodybuilding
magazine on the planet! You will get advice based on the best expertise
that my knowledge can offer. Many of you already know my background
of being not just a pro bodybuilder competing in the Olympia, but also a
nutritionist/trainer with a track record of helping other bodybuilders
achieve their goals whether to place higher or turn pro. This column is
about making you more familiar with the basics of how my formula
works for bodybuilders or the average person who wants to add muscle
while losing fat, or prepare for a show.

Creating A Pro

Im going to take an example of a 200-pound guy who is planning to

compete in a bodybuilding contest, or just wants to look good for the
beach. How will we work on his diet and training?

First, his daily caloric need will be based on his metabolism: fast, medium
or slow. If he has a fast metabolism, then I multiply his weight by 20;
medium metabolism, multiply it by 15 and slow metabolism, multiply it by
12. Suppose this guy has a fast metabolism. His daily caloric needs will be
200 x 20 = 4,000 calories/day.

Diet will be followed six days per week, with one cheat day. The
composition of his diet will be roughly high carbohydrate, moderate
protein and low fat: about 50/30/20 percent, respectively. The breakdown
will be 500 grams of carbs, 300 grams of protein and about 89 grams of
fat.

I will start him on a training schedule of five days per week, with legs on
Monday, chest/abs on Tuesday, back on Wednesday, shoulders on
Thursday and arms/calves on Friday, and off on the weekend. He will
begin by doing some moderate cardio first thing in the morning, on an
empty stomach, for about 20 minutes, three days per week. Cardio could
be riding a stationary bike, walking on a treadmill or using an elliptical
machine, keeping target heart rate around 65-70 percent.

Pre-Contest Game Plan

With the contest date approaching, things will start to change counting
weeks backward from the show, as follows:
16 to12 Weeks Out:

Diet and training as outlined above.

12 to 10 Weeks Out:

Start dropping carbs by 50-75 grams (200-300 calories), and add protein
by 12-18 grams (25 percent of the total amount of carbs dropped). For our
guy, we will drop 50 grams of carbs (total carbs = 450 grams) and add 12
grams of protein (total protein = 412 grams).

Keep cardio at three days/week for 20 minutes.

10 to 8 Weeks Out:

Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 400 grams) and add
12 grams of protein (total up to 450 grams).

Add an extra day of cardio and extra five minutes: 25 minutes 4

days/week.

Eliminate cheat day, dieting seven days/week (you may want to consider
eliminating cheat day earlier, by 12-10 weeks if your fat percentage is high).
8 to 6 Weeks Out:

Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 350 grams) and add
12 grams of protein (total up to 462 grams).

Keep adding an extra day of cardio and an extra five minutes: 30 minutes,
five days/week.
6 to 4 Weeks Out:

Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 300 grams) and add
12 grams of protein (total up to 475 grams).

Keep adding an extra day of cardio and an extra five minutes: 35 minutes,
six days/week.
4 to 2 Weeks Out:

Continue dropping 50 grams of carbs (total down to 250 grams) and add
12 grams of protein (total up to 487 grams).

Keep adding an extra day of cardio and extra five minutes: 35 minutes,
seven days/week.
2 Weeks Out:

Continue same diet

Stop all cardio

8 Days Out:

The contest is on Saturday, so carb-depleting starts the Sunday prior to the

show. Drop the carbohydrate in half until about four days before the
contest. So my guy will be eating 125 grams of carbs.

4 Days Out:

Start adding the carbs back on the Wednesday prior to the contest. Add
back all the carbs you took off: 500 grams of carbs for my guy.

On Thursday, add 50 percent more, on top of the carbs you had on

Wednesday: 500 + 200 = 700 grams of carbs.

On Friday, you need to start watching your condition and be careful with
any spillage. If you start to spill, back off the carbs and if you think youre
still flat, you need to go up on the carbs.
These are just the general principles of my formula; there are so many
other adjustments that go with it depending on the progress/condition of
the bodybuilder.

Good luck with your show!!

Congratulations on your contest prep with Dennis James. Many

people had written Dennis off in the past year. What was your
strategy working with Dennis? What changes did you make?

I got a call from Dennis about five weeks before the New York Pro, asking if
I could help him because he had reached a plateau, his body did not seem
to be responding, etc. I told DJ that it would be my pleasure I would
work on something and send it to him, but first please go ahead and send
me exactly what you are doing as far as cardio, training split, diet and
supplements, etc. After I opened his e-mail, I realized that DJ was
undereating and overtraining and he was really doing everything that I
had preached against for years. Double workout sessions, double cardio
and very low-carb diet! I said to myself Wow, this is going to be a piece of
cake!

I put a program together for him that included dropping his workout and
cardio to one session, and cutting his cardio to 30 minutes (from two
hours). On top of all that, I added about 400 grams of complex carbs to his
diet and made a few changes here and there to make sure that his
metabolism would get a jumpstart.

Not even one hour passed and I get a call from DJ telling me, George, I
said that I only have five weeks until the show, not five months! I laughed
and he asked me why am I laughing and I responded, Because I know that
this is exactly what Im going to get from you. DJ, please follow this diet for
one whole week and then let me know what you think.

He responded, Are you sure, man? I said Yes, I am very sure. Just go
ahead and give it a try. A week later, I get a call from him saying Dude, I
dont believe this. I lost like 4 pounds already and I am looking fuller and
harder!

I responded, Great, keep it going and make sure to re-send me everything

every three or four days. We went from there and I kept manipulating
things until I started seeing what I wanted and one week out, he could not
believe that he could look that good, eating that much and doing the least
amount of cardio (at that time he was only doing 20 minutes total, and
very light cardio).

Unfortunately, on his way to New York he caught some kind of bug and by
the time I got to New York, he had already lost 5 to 6 unnecessary pounds.
I did what I had to do to get him back in the game, because he really looked
a bit flat. All in all, he showed up in very decent condition and ended up in
second place. I said Not bad, considering and he agreed. I promised him
that for the next show, no one would beat him because we are going to
have more time. DJ went on to win two pro shows, back to back the
Tampa and the Europa in Dallas, TX.

What is your opinion of pre-contest cardio? Some trainers have

their clients do an hour and a half of cardio. Are you a believer
in long duration, pre-contest cardio?

It all depends on the individual. Some people need to do more than others
but at the same time, if you need to do an hour and a half of cardio to get in
shape, there is something really wrong. First, you are way out of shape to
be a bodybuilder, and second, you are eating way more than you are using
and third, you are overtraining and you think the more, the better. I have
never had any of my clients and I mean never, ever do more then 45
minutes of cardio a day. I have never brought anyone to the stage who
looked horrible. My track record speaks for itself.

You started working with branch Warren at the Arnold, and he

has been making tremendous gains since then. When you first
examined Branch and his training and diet, what were you goals
and how did you reach them?
Branch and I started working together right after the 2008 Olympia. I
asked Branch to send me what he had been doing for his past contest, and I
examined the way he is in the gym and came to a conclusion that he was
definitely not consuming enough carbs to support his kind of workout
regimen. I mean, the guy trains like a machine and I said to myself,
Anyone who trains with that kind of intensity should be consuming tons
of carbs, along with their protein, in order to support the amount of muscle
that is being broken down.

From the look of Branch's diet, I considered him very lucky to have placed
in past shows the way he did. He was consuming the amount of
carbohydrates that I normally give to a bantamweight!

Don't get me wrong, Branch never had a problem, condition-wise. Well,

maybe a few times he was not at his peak but all in all, this is not what
bodybuilding is all about. No, my friends it's about coming in as big and
as full as possible and if course, as shredded as possible. Then the judges
will have no problem rewarding you. Our game is called bodybuilding it
means that every time you hit the stage, you should come in better and
better, and keep on building new blocks of muscles. Otherwise, we should
call it stay where youre at.

Anyway, I started by giving Branch an off-season diet that was full of all
kinds of micronutrients from complex carbs, to tons of fruits and
vegetables and many different kinds if protein so he wouldnt miss any
types of vitamins or amino acids. I made him eat like never before, and the
funny thing is the more he ate, even in the off-season, the better he started
to look. That gave me an idea how to set his pre-contest diet.

Branch told me that this pre-contest diet reminded him of when he first
started doing shows except, off course, he is much bigger now. I
responded, Well, if it worked for you when you were lighter, then the
smartest thing that you should have done especially now that you have
three times the amount of muscle is of course to up your calories even
more instead of lowering them, right?
We both agreed that most bodybuilders seem to forget what worked for
them in the past. Many competitors try to find that magic potion and
unfortunately, most guys are taught that the magic potion is to drop your
carbs to nothing. With certain people that might work but believe me, for
people who are hungrier in the gym than on the table, carbs are the
answer.

Branch came into the Arnold at his all-time best and about 8 pounds
bigger and tighter than ever before and the rest is over. Just imagine that
this kind of diet worked on a veteran like Branch. What could it do for any
average guy seeking to get bigger and stronger?

Add your carbs back to your diet and start working out to build your
muscles not to stay where youre at! After all, that's the reason we all
started working out to build our muscles.

I really like the way you have been bringing your athletes in. I
read a few magazine articles where various pro bodybuilders
and amateurs said you get very sentimental when they are
onstage and winning. Can you explain to me what this is all
about?

Thank you for the nice compliment. I get very sentimental every single
time my athletes are on the stage. I just want every person who seeks my
help to have full trust in me, and there is no better way to show these
individuals who are seeking my help than for me to become very involved
in their achievements.

I'm still an active IFBB pro and I know how important it is to succeed.
Every one of us knows how many months and months of dieting and
pushing yourself in the gym to the max are in involved in contest prep, not
to mention the sacrifices we make in order to stand out. Having me being
there 24/7 seems to help my athletes achieve the unachievable. Believe me,
there is nothing more satisfying than to see the look in my athletes' eyes
after I have helped make their dreams come true. It is all well worth it to
me.
Got a question for George Farah? You can ask him directly on the MD
website and have George personally answer your question! Go to
www.musculardevelopment.com, MD Forums, MD Staff and Pros, Q and
A for George Farah.