Found a great 1 Week out article.

[Hugheser]

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0801/is_10_65/ai_n6240772/

Enjoy.

[steve_d]

I disagree with 80% of the article posted above.

[ironwill]

I disagree with 80% of the article posted above.

Can you elaborate a bit on that steve??

[Delt King]

Well first thing is don't drop your water till friday night. not a progressive decrease in water wed to friday.

Carb loading will depend on several factors too such as the persons size and carbohydrate sensitivety not to mention how you've been dieting to that point.

It's a little tricker to nail it down than people think.

If you're not 100% sure on your last week. then don't change anything except dropping water. because to get a 5-10% gain you could lose 50% of your conditioning.

[steve_d]

agreed with above. The biggest thing I didn't agree with was cutting out water and sodum from wednesday through friday. Actually, water and sodium in itself is the major aspect to getting dry, hence my 80% disagreement...

Like dk said above, the carb loading is tricky, yet not the most crucial thing in getting dry. Water and sodium manipulation on its own is enough to get you almost all the way there. Sometimes its easier to keep it simple, and get the sodium and water right. Then from contest to contest you can experiment with what works best in terms of carb loading, etc.

[gingerbreadman]

I've only done 1 show but in that 1 show I learned enough to agree with Steve & Delt King. what's funny is about two months out I asked a pro for advice. he referred me to another post from a friend of his. Now keep in mind I was looking to compete as a lightweight, 1st show, natural when he gave me this advice - here it is - of course for a week or so I thought this was the way to go - what a mess i would have ebeen in - lol


Followed a carb rotation diet

of 150 grams carbs most days, then 400 on thursday, and 800 - 1000 on sunday.

Fat: Did'nt add much maybe a tbs. of PB eod , if I felt i needed the boost.

Protein. Never went under 400 grams.

Cardio:

Did 2 30 min sessions 6 days a week.

4 weeks out upped it to 2 1 hour session 5 - 6 days a week.

Water:

Aldacatone at 50 mg. ED M,T,W,R
Dyazide at 50 - 100 mg. F,S

DROPPED WATER COMPLETELY AT 3:00 p.m. on Friday.

The Loading

Carb depleted with 50 grams, S,Sn, M,T,

Carb loaded with 1000 grams W, R

Protein only til weigh in (to dry out a bit) Friday

Then after the weigh in all hell broke lose as I really Like the fat load method :

6:30 4 Pizza Pops, Large bag of buffalo chicken chips, 2 chocloate bars, Brownies covered with peanut butter, tons of nuts.

8:00 Large cheese and bacon burger, Fries, Cearar salad, Icer cream Cake for dessert.

9:30 Big pice of cheese cake, More chips. more browines, more chocolate bars, 2 bags of skittles.

All night : every time I woke up to pee, which was every 30 minutes I ate a big scoop of Ice cream and some nuts.

6:30 A.M. : Large Cheese and bacon omlette, hadh browns, toast and peanut butter, and a cinnamon bun covered in Gravy

Rest of morning, ate a Peanut butter cup every 10 minutes til showtime. The ate a large can of peach pie filling right before stepping on stage.

Between shows :

A pizza, 1 cup of soda and lime juice, hot wings, cheese bread, and ice cream cake.

Kept eating shit til night time show

The Result,

Came in the driest and tightest of all the men there.

[Memo]

i would be worried about looking bloated with all that food before the show

[Adonis13]

Well first thing is don't drop your water till friday night. not a progressive decrease in water wed to friday.

Carb loading will depend on several factors too such as the persons size and carbohydrate sensitivety not to mention how you've been dieting to that point.

It's a little tricker to nail it down than people think.

If you're not 100% sure on your last week. then don't change anything except dropping water. because to get a 5-10% gain you could lose 50% of your conditioning.

how do you guys cut it out? at midnight the night before the prejudge? do you keep water the same all through that week, then just cut it at a cirtain time?

[Praetorian]

One of the worst articles on peaking...if you want to look good DO NOT follow that advice.
P

[Hugheser]

I actually bought Chris Aceto's Championship Bodybuilding.

The book itself is great, especially for a beginner because it lays out all the ground work from exercise, to diet and basic supplementation. Has a lot of scientific references as well.

It is a little dated but I heard that it helped people without a coach do well in their first shows, so figured it couldn't hurt.

Good read, it's bout 250-260 pages. (lots of diagrams though haha)

[O-Train]

I think most guys end up trying to do too many things that they don't really understand. ie. water and sodium manipulation, carb loading etc... If they just left things alone and ate/drank like normal most people would probably look just as good if not better. A lot of people arn't lean enough for any of this to really make a difference anyways. They end up thinking they messed up something with their pre-contest preperation but in actuality they were just too fat. I may be wrong, just what I've observed.

[ironwill]

^^^ that was my case o-train, and i believe you are pretty correct there.....BUT, i wouldnt believe it at the time, but learned a great lesson....Which will help me next time....

[69challenger]

I think most guys end up trying to do too many things that they don't really understand. ie. water and sodium manipulation, carb loading etc... If they just left things alone and ate/drank like normal most people would probably look just as good if not better. A lot of people arn't lean enough for any of this to really make a difference anyways. They end up thinking they messed up something with their pre-contest preperation but in actuality they were just too fat. I may be wrong, just what I've observed.

I agree

[O-Train]

^^^ that was my case o-train, and i believe you are pretty correct there.....BUT, i wouldnt believe it at the time, but learned a great lesson....Which will help me next time....

And that's exactly how you learn. I've made a lot of wrong choices too so I'm definitely part of the "most" I'm referring too.

It seems like the only way to learn the book is to make every mistake in it. Or learn from someone who already has.

[steve_d]

of course for a week or so I thought this was the way to go - what a mess i would have ebeen in - lol


holy crap. that dude ate alot the night before and day of the show. I like how he ended it with "was the driest guy there"...So what? you were the driest guy there, but STILL would have looked way better if not following this fat/shit load the day before.

Some people think there is a magic formula to get ripped in 2 days when they forgot the most important part happens 2 months before that. Hell, even if you didn't change ANYTHING dropping sodium for just 1 day, you would like way different the next day...If i cut sodium while pounding water, I look completely different in just 5 hours. nevermind all the other stuff unless you know what you're doing.

[Praetorian]

I think most guys end up trying to do too many things that they don't really understand. ie. water and sodium manipulation, carb loading etc... If they just left things alone and ate/drank like normal most people would probably look just as good if not better. A lot of people arn't lean enough for any of this to really make a difference anyways. They end up thinking they messed up something with their pre-contest preperation but in actuality they were just too fat. I may be wrong, just what I've observed.

100% correct O-Train...you hit the nail on the head! The last week is all about fine tuning NOT drastic changes. As well most guys who complain about holding water etc...are not even close to being in shape. The only water they are holding is the one spelled F-A-T.
P

[gingerbreadman]

...If i cut sodium while pounding water, I look completely different in just 5 hours. nevermind all the other stuff unless you know what you're doing.

Yup I went from 178 to 173 in 1 day with the sodium drop no other changes & made the light middleweights weigh-in

[bigtavi8]

Off topic for the thread but how is the prep coming along hughesser. Stick with it and dont do any crazy last week stuff. Just coast in and get your foot in the door. Then next time hire a prep coach and step up the last week with someone expierenced.

[Hugheser]

The prep is going well thanks for asking. Could use a week or two but no turning back now.

Just reduced carbs to 50-75g each day and sticking with the regular cardio schedule. Going to start depletion workouts tomorrow and just do a moderate carb up with sweet potatoes starting Friday afternoon for the show on Saturday at 1pm. Maybe something like a snickers bar and gatorade about an hour before hitting the stage.

[Victor85]

In the article it said, "Use it as a quick fix before a trip to the beach or a weekend cruise." Not "for getting ready for bodybuilding show".
I dont think it was for competitive athletes, maybe the weekend warriors or gym rats.

[bigtavi8]

The prep is going well thanks for asking. Could use a week or two but no turning back now.

Just reduced carbs to 50-75g each day and sticking with the regular cardio schedule. Going to start depletion workouts tomorrow and just do a moderate carb up with sweet potatoes starting Friday afternoon for the show on Saturday at 1pm. Maybe something like a snickers bar and gatorade about an hour before hitting the stage.

Perfect Perfect Perfect.

Keeping it simple and sticking to an easy to follow game plan. You will do well keep up the hard work and lets see them stage pics bro.