Thinking about Competing - Need Help

[FigureFan09]

So, I'm seriously considering competing in my first Bikini competition in April. I've made some major strides with my fitness level in the last few years and figured why not go a bit further?
I'm not sure where to start and what better place to come for advice than siouxcountry.com?
I've attached some pictures of where I am now and would love to know your feedback on what you think I need to improve on. Obviously I need to lower my body fat - but I'm not sure if there are specific areas I should focus on versus others. Please give me your honest opinion as I'm only going to take it constructively to help me improve myself.

As far as training - I'm not 100% sure where to start - but I've come up with some what of a plan - for the next 12 weeks at least.
Weeks 1-4 - Full Body workout 3x a week + cardio
Weeks 5-8 - Chest/Bis, Back/Tris, Shoulders, Legs + cardio
Weeks 9-12 - Chest, Back, Shoulders, Arms, Legs + cardio
I'd obviously re-evaluate my progress at the end of each time period to see what was working and what needed more focus - but I'm not even sure if this type of training would be the right direction to go to be in shape for a bikini competition.

Also - how often and how much cardio should I be doing now?

Any advice/suggestions you can offer are greatly appreciated!


Thank you for your help!

[AirHarp]

YOu made the best first step you could make.
Congrats and welcome joining us.

[Shelly]

thanks for sharing with us ur pics! id say work on building up upper body first and foremost...shoulders/back.... as far as dieting goes, best bet is to hire someone who can lead u thru the entire process.

Good luck!

[NYCStrongFox]

Hey figurefan. Congrats on wanting to get on stage. What's your height, weight and age? We have some great trainers on here who might get a chance to pop in and give you some advice.

What are you doing right now (training split, cardios per week)? What does your diet look like too?

[FigureFan09]

What's your height, weight and age?
I'm 5'5" - 125lbs - 26 years old :)
We have some great trainers on here who might get a chance to pop in and give you some advice.
AWESOME!!! I look forward to any and all advice!

What are you doing right now (training split, cardios per week)?
I'm starting a new routine tomorrow for my training.:D
Back/Shoulders 2x/week
Legs 2x/week
Chest/Arms 1x/week

My cardio is going to correspond with my diet....doing low intensity training on my low carb days. As of now it looks like its going to be 20 mins/5-6x/week
What does your diet look like too?
My diet is going to follow a carb cycle - looking at two to three days of high carbs and the rest low carb days. I haven't tried this type of diet before, so I'm going to see how my body reacts and reevaluate how I feel each week.

I think I answered all of your questions - Thank you for your help! I'm really excited to get started and working hard towards getting the results and eventually getting on stage!