The Road to the 2005 Ironman by Andrea Dumon

A new year and a fresh start! And let’s not forget the beginning of a new competitive season in the world of figure, fitness, and bodybuilding. After closing out 2004 on a high note by placing 2nd in the A class at the Arizona Western Regional, I set my sights onto a bigger and better 2005 season! I decided that I would kick off my season with doing the Iron Man. Not only did I know the exposure would be tremendous but the level of competition would be awesome! My challenge was ahead and I was ready to take it on, but only after a relaxing through the holidays in beautiful Hawaii!

My journey started six weeks out (I normally start eight weeks out but I carefully stuck to a clean diet and exercise routine after the Nov. show and was able to stay fairly lean through the holidays. Maybe being in a bikini on a Hawaiian beach had something to do with it!). To give a clear picture of my training program, I’ll break up the components and explain just how and what I did to make it all come together and present the best package I could on stage.

WEIGHT TRAINING

The first thing to remember is that every body is different and how you train should be specific to your body type. I am only 5’2” and am able to build muscle relatively easy. Due to this I train using higher reps and lower weights. My training schedule looked somewhat like this during the six weeks:

I mixed things up every week by utilizing different exercises, super setting, and by doing giant sets. It depended greatly on my energy levels and how my body was looking.

CARDIO

This had to be the hardest component of all for me. Due to my body type and ability to pack on muscle, it will always be a key element in getting and staying lean! My cardio looked like this for the six weeks up to the show:

Week 1-6 x 40’ in the am
1x 40’ in the pm

With each week I added one more session of 40-45 minutes until I was doing six sessions in the am and five sessions in the pm. I know it sounds crazy but that worked for me to get to the level of leanness I wanted for the show. I also did two track workouts that consisted of sprints, plyometrics, and bleachers. I considered that my high intensity days and the other cardio sessions were kept at 60-80 percent of my max heart rate.
My biggest tools that I used for those dreadful cardio sessions were my trusty heart rate monitor and my forever loved Ipod! Without these I don't know if I would've made it!!

NUTRITION

Nutrition was yet another important component that I had to pay considerable attention to. Not only to assure fat loss but to make sure I took in the right nutrients at the right times. I kept to a high protein, low carb, and moderate fat type of diet. For the first three weeks my diet looked like this:

Meal 1- 5 egg whites/1 whole egg
¼ cup oats
Flax oil
Meal 2- 4 oz chicken
½ c broccoli
Meal 3- 6 oz chicken
1 c broccoli
Flax oil
Meal 4- 4 oz chicken
1 tbsp of PB
Meal 5- 6 oz fish
Salad with oil/vinegar
Meal 6- 1 scoop of whey protein mixed with water

At three weeks out I started pulling out carbs one by one until I started total depletion the last week.

In the last week my diet consisted of roughly 6 oz of lean protein in meals 1-5 and then a small cucumber salad with meal 6. I didn't start to carb up until the day before the show. The day before the show my diet looked like this:

Meal 1- 4 egg whites
½ c oats
Meals 2-4- 4 oz lean red meat
1 tbsp PB
Meal 5- 2 slices of Pizza (yum!!)

The theory behind the pizza was that the sodium, fat, and carbs would help “fill” me out an give some much needed energy. By Saturday morning, breakfast consisted of 2 whole eggs and 2 pancakes smothered in real maple syrup and real butter. The rest of the day I snacked on lean protein, rice cakes with PB, and peanut MM’s for sugar and energy.

My water intake during the five weeks was about 1-11/2 gallons a day. The very last week went like this:

Sun- 1 gallon
Mon-Wed-3/4 gallon
Thurs- ½ gallon
Fri- ½ gallon until mid afternoon and just sip as needed
Sat-sip a needed

I am still working on the science of cutting water and when I master it I will be sure to let you all know!!

SUPPLEMENTS

This is a risky topic and because I am careful in telling others what to take, I will make this short. I pretty much took the “norm” meaning, multi vitamins, calcium, fish oil, joint support, and extra vit. C. I also made sure that I took glutamine and BCAA's after my workouts for muscle recovery. For energy I used an ECA stack time to time (you can still find ephedrine in the asthma section at your local vitamin stores but shhhh…didn’t hear that from me!!).

There are no magic pills if you are doing it the “clean and honest” way! Good supplementation is necessary to get all of your nutrients you need but hard work and dedication are the other parts of the equation!!

Competing and getting that trophy is very rewarding in itself but the journey you partake to get there is where the real rewards are gained. The changes that occur to your body and the mental toughness that you attain are something to be said. Look back at the path you have lead and you will realize how many tools you gained that make you a better person. I know that with each show I do and all the preparation that I do for them makes me grow as a person. I compete not just for the love of the sport but for the love of myself and being the best I can be!!

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