Pre Contest Sodium

[JonnyO]

Here is an article written by a fellow KingKong. It is very well put together and will give you a very good understanding of sodiums role to us competitive bodybuilders and how to use it to our advantage.

Sodium, I am sure many of you have heard of this troubling mineral. From everything of it being the worst foe leading up to contest to the infamous "sodium loading" which some have tried only to become a water logged buffalo. So what is sodium? Can it be used? Should it be avoided? WEll lets take a look and see.

Sodium is the major extra cellular cat ion that causes balance of water between the intracellular(subQ, Muscle,) and extra cellular(Vascular System) compartments. If you have ever been prepped by an old schooler they probably had you avoid it like the plague. Besides playing a balancing role of the compartments of the body sodium also affects the hormone system aldosterone. Aldosterone is produced when the body senses low sodium levels. Im not gonna get into the whole renin angiotensin system as that is overkill. Basically it goes like this. When your body senses that it doesn't have enough sodium aldosterone levels raise causing the body to recirculation sodium instead of releasing it. And as most of you know where sodium goes WATER goes. So by Decreasing sodium leading up to contest once again people are trying to push and pull at the same time. Think about it the body is trying to retain sodium and what do most people do, HIT A DIURETIC. Then not only do they pull sodium from the vascular space, but also from the muscle, and BOOM they go flat as a pancake. Now many of you have heard about the infamous "Sodium" loading and are curious about what this involves. Unfortunately just like with all concepts people got ahold of this and everyone started using it in an overkill style, ended up watered down, and it has since got a bad rep. First lets look at sodium leading up to contest. As stated in the Contest Water we want the body to be in a “releasing” state therefore if we know that decreased sodium will increase Aldosterone levels which cause the body to recirculation sodium we know that upping sodium will Lower aldosterone levels and cause the body to be constantly ridding the body of sodium. Timed right we can cause the body to release sodium which as stated before water follows. So a general example might be raising sodium levels 7-10 days out from contest then a day before dropping sodium along with water and watching the body naturally kick out both. Now typically a diuretic is used as well and this is where I see the most confusion. You have to realize that most diuretics work by causing acting on the kidneys area of recirculation of sodium blocking its ability to reabsorb and hence causing excretion. As we know WHERE SODIUM GOES SO WATER FOLLOWS. But people get so caught up in getting rid of water they forget that sodium plays a VITAL role in keeping the body full and vascular. So what do you do?? YOU REPLACE LOST SODIUM. Lets look at it like this. You have depleted yourself and its Friday night. Your body looks flat, you have no vascularity, so what do you do? Most people will say to hit some grape juice or carbs right before a show to get the vascularity going and often times they get so caught up in trying to get that vascularity back they had two weeks ago they take in to many simple carbs. The problem is that lost vascularity is NOT A CARB ISSUE but rather a sodium issue. Think about it what causes vascularity,,, INCREASED BLOOD PRESSURE. Do carbs do this,, NO,, does salt,, YES. So the first thing that comes to mind is ADD SALT back into your diet. Now many people freak out over this cause they have been taught that sodium is bad, but what has been the constant theme throughout all this?? Sodium causes water to follow. So if your depleted of water YOU WON”T HAVE A PROBLEM. In fact I have had people the day of the show eating PIZZA, BACON, SAUSAGE, and other salty foods the morning of the contest and even back stage. One guy I had do this said that everyone was freaking out that he had half a pizza back stage eating it,, besides the fact that everyone else was looking at their Rice cakes and Jam LOL. I also have people take in about a tablespoon of pure salt before stage. Yea its nasty but it causes the blood pressure to sky rocket and the veins to POP out. Granted this is not a method to where you just go in and go gun ho on your salt. You have to feel it out. As with all of these methods the key to getting the results is being as lean as possible as well as trying a test run before hand. IT definitely takes some practice as well as knowing your body, but I will guarantee it works way better than relying on carbs to get your vascularity out. Anyway,, there is a lot more depth to this topic but I thought I would get the basics in for those interested.

[bigdaddydrew123]

i always do a macdonalds shit load fri night then bkfst at macdonalds hotcakes sausage and hash browns,fills you out lots of fat sodium and carbs,like said your so depleted almost impossible to spill over,not to mention you feel great the day of the show

[bigtavi8]

interesting read about sodium..Ill tell ya one thing about sodium i noticed after my competition. I depleted sodium for my show although not to crazy and my coach warns me DONT GO OUT AND EAT MCDONALDS or else the sodium will get to you. Me being the smart person i am i figured **** i worked really hard im going to get wendys baconator....WOWOW what a bad mistake my feet swelled up the next morning like balloons just like she sed and it hurt to put my shoes on..lollol...

[Praetorian]

There were some intense discussion on this over at IM. Most guys now go with somewhat less drastic plan. Sodium should be relatively high during your entire contest prep. When you lower carb intake you will flush water much more frequently hence electrolytes. Thus adequate sodium intake is necessary. If this is done consistently through the diet you will not retain any water and be very hard come a few weeks out. All that is necessary is to lower sodium slightly on the friday 24hours out. You can still eat foods with naturally occuring sodium ie eggs. Remember you need sodium to carb up effectively as well. Sodium can be added back into the diet Saturday morning as you are already dry.
P

[natenator]

There were some intense discussion on this over at IM. Most guys now go with somewhat less drastic plan. Sodium should be relatively high during your entire contest prep. When you lower carb intake you will flush water much more frequently hence electrolytes. Thus adequate sodium intake is necessary. If this is done consistently through the diet you will not retain any water and be very hard come a few weeks out. All that is necessary is to lower sodium slightly on the friday 24hours out. You can still eat foods with naturally occuring sodium ie eggs. Remember you need sodium to carb up effectively as well. Sodium can be added back into the diet Saturday morning as you are already dry.
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Curious as to how sodium much one (me on your plan) should be taking in? I don't measure it but try to be fairly liberal with the salt, hot sauce on eggs and dijom on my fish meals.

[Praetorian]

Liberal is about perfect.
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[Andre Gregoire]

Good thread, I read those discussions on IM and learned a ton. Between Skip, Justin Harris and Zilla it's a gold mine.

[steve_d]

I agree with a lot of this...but the big question I have is this:

what is the difference if you have vascularity comparable to a couple weeks ago...Veins don't win shows. If sodium helps carb up properly, then for sure, add a little sodium once your dry. But I wouldn't go overboard trying to get veins to come out. I've never really had any salt in my diet friday and saturday before a show. I've always felt as though i've carbed up properly. This time I will try a little sodium - so hopefully that helps even a bit more.

[Andre Gregoire]

Justin Harris made it a point to say that even if you cut sodium out 2 days before a show your body still contains tons of sodium so that is more then enough to carb up. He believes in having lots of sodium during prep and low sodium the last 48hrs I believe.

The average human has like 50g of sodium in their extracellular fluid so even if you cut salt you will probably be able to carbup properly with your bodies sodium stores.

I just don't like the fact that cutting salt sends a signal to your body to increase aldosterone which eventually makes you retain sodium and water, that's why I like to keep my sodium the same all the way through.

I still cut water 20hrs before prejudging though and most guys seem to do something similar but Layne Norton doesn't touch sodium/pottassium or water and his guys always look great.

There are lots of ways to peak and people get excellent results using many different techniques. I think the most important thing is to be lean enough and to test your peaking strategy beforehand.

[ironwill]

That article is pretty much bang on........Great read, thanks JO....

[steve_d]

Justin Harris made it a point to say that even if you cut sodium out 2 days before a show your body still contains tons of sodium so that is more then enough to carb up. He believes in having lots of sodium during prep and low sodium the last 48hrs I believe.


right on. that makes sense to me just based on past experience. In the past I've cut sodium as early as monday before the show (before I knew anything), then over the years this gradually went to tuesday, wednesday, and thursday before the show. Last time I cut salt on thursday at 5pm, but considering the amount of salt I ate those days (pickles, etc) I am sure the 10 or so litres I drank between 5pm thursday and the time I cut on friday, there was still a little salt in the system to carb up with.

[Praetorian]

The key to coming in your absolute best...being full, hard, and dry is to make very small changes only...drastic things like drinking tonnes of water, cutting sodium out 2 days or more, loading on sodium the last few days, taking too much diuretics, or the wrong kinds etc are futile attempts at best and should be avoided. If you have to do this type of thing you have a bigger problem then just water retention. Keeping water and sodium moderately high throughout the diet is necessary not for vascularity but because you are eating much less carbs youll naturally flush more water out then usual....thus hydration and electrolytes can become an issue. At 24 hours out all that is necessary is to cut additional sodium anything naturally present in food is fine and to cut water the evening before the show. Once you are dry the next morning sodium can be reintroduced. Remember sodium goes hand in hand with blood pressure...increased blood pressure equals vascularity....not candy bars or honey.
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[Praetorian]

This may help clear things up...some info I have gathered over the years from a variety of intelligent people.
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DROPPING YOUR WATER PRE-CONTEST: MANIPULATING THE SCIENCE BEHIND WATER HOMEOSTASIS

The factors involved

*Where the water exists-Water hierarchy

*How the body works with respect to dropping water-Homeostasis control

*Hormone and electrolyte control-Sodium and Aldosterone


THE BODY’S WATER HIERARCHY-where the water exists

*The most important water store is in the blood and the vascular system. Without adequate water in the vascular system blood volume is compromised, and if severe enough, the result is death. So this rates a big number one in the water store hierarchy.

*The second on the big three list is muscle tissue. Water is required within all muscle tissues, both smooth and fibrous, to support life sustaining metabolic processes.

*The last area of importance for water storage is subcutaneous (under the skin) areas. This of course is the area that a bodybuilder wants to eliminate as much water from as possible the day of the show. The results a ‘make-it or break-it’ issue. Here’s how you do it:


HOW THE BODY WORKS-water homeostasis control

The body functions in feedback loops, including water homeostasis, much like the thermostat and the air conditioner in your house, car, etc.

If you set the AC to 70 (its set point), the temp must reach some threshold (say 72) before it kicks in. It will cool until it reaches some value below its set point, say 68. There is an overshoot in the system. There must be some off-set or error to turn the AC on when the temperature reaches 72, and as a result it will cool to provide somewhat of a temperature buffer (for example 68 or 2 degree below the set point of 70).

Your body works much in the same way: imagine how your inner thermostat would react if you turned a heater on near the thermometer, but on the other side of the room from the AC. The heater would blast the thermometer (sensor) and the AC would be going full blast to cool the room. If you cut the heater off, the "smart" thermostat would not just cool the room to 68 - it would cool it to some level below that, because it remembers that there's a "threat" of heat AND the thermometer still hot, even though most of the room is at or below 70. (It senses a hotter room than is actually the case!) Water homeostasis is a bit more complicated, but you can use this principle to trick the body into drying out - losing water to a level of dehydration below its normal set point. :

How to do this:
-Turn on diuresis in the body by drinking plenty of water.
-The body will respond homeostatically by removing this water from the system. It senses that there is too much water because electrolytes (especially sodium) are diluted in the blood. When the water is lost, there will necessarily be some sodium loss.
-ABRUPTLY stop drinking water and watch as the body continues removing it and "smartly" overshoots previous level of hydration, leaving you dry as a bone.
Additions to this: (very individualistic)
-The use of proper diuretics turning on diuresis even more.
-Take in no additional sodium as you are finishing (day before contest only) your water intake.
-Adding sodium back in day of the show will prevent cramping, increase blood pressure and help with getting a pump




SALT: THE PRE-CONTEST NUTRIENT

Salt contains sodium, and to a less degree potassium in the form of potassium iodide. When salt/sodium is reduced or eliminated from the diet the result is increased Aldosterone release. This makes the body excrete more potassium and hold more sodium/water. The resulting water retention gives the athlete a puffy wet look. This is due to electrolyte imbalances.

Reduced slat intake also negatively affects the all important sodium-potassium pump. This is the mechanism the body used to shuttle many nutrients into cells like those that all muscle fibers are composed of. (Gee, ya think?) This would therefore inhibit creatine and some amino acid structures from adequately transporting, as well as inhibit glycogen synthesis.

If the salt content is reduced in muscles so is the water content. This means catabolism, flat muscles come show time, and a lack of vascularity. (It would also inhibit erectile function, but that is another issue altogether.)

The key to subcutaneous water control depends upon control of the hormone aldosterone. Obviously estrogen control is part of this hormone cascade action/reaction. But, our main focus is sodium and water control, so aldosterone is the key.


While pre-contest dieting an athlete should have a relatively high sodium intake. This creates an environment in which the body does not have to release Aldosterone. This causes sodium to stay in the muscle tissue and the subsequent attraction of water stores there. Also, the all important maintaining of the sodium-potassium pump is accommodated as well. (During diet phases, this also reduces catabolism).

At the same time water intake should be relatively high as well. This helps your body excrete any extra sodium, which of course it will, because Aldosterone secretion in the body has been controlled by elevated salt intake/water intake. The body will continue to dump all excess water and sodium as long as this is followed.

On the Friday evening before a Saturday show, the athlete stops water intake and sodium is reduced 24 hours before the show only. The body thinks it will still get the same amount of water and continues to excrete water at its normal rate. This causes a decrease in blood volume and of course muscle water volume. Remember the body’s water hierarchy? Well, as a survival response or reaction, the body gives up water from the area of least importance as a means of compensation. Yup, you got it. Subcutaneous water is pumped into blood and muscles. The result is vascularity, full muscles bellies, and paper thin skin.

*It’s always a matter of working with, not against, the body’s action/reaction factors to accomplish the greatest progress and/or results.

High water intake inhibits ADH release (high blood volume --> low anti-diuretic hormone release --> less water reabsorption in the kidneys)

....Since ADH is suppressed from the high water intake, once you cut out water you will lose more because less is reabsorbed as it is cycled through the kidneys.........it usually takes at least a couple of days until ADH secretion is back to normal (via feedback loop)

Tapering water causes ADH secretion to increase in response to the slow reduction in water intake. It is COUNTERPRODUCTIVE to taper water!!!

Now being dry is one thing but if you are not lean it makes little difference. The statement I was holding water is used far too often when the issue is the athlete is just not lean enough. Drying out does not make up for a bad diet or missed training and cardio sessions…it is a finishing touch only!! It also takes experience to perfect.

[Delt King]

So many people misunderstand this concept. Thanks P

[Andre Gregoire]

Good post Praetorian, Thanks!