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help w comp preperation please
- Thread starter crmdogg
- Start date
E
EF Sam
Guest
I am not experienced in this area, so I cant help. However, I will bump this up and hope that someone can. From what I do know, you seem to be doing all the right things. Good Luck with the comp!
mrflexdiesel
New member
This might help you out bro! Got this from FLEX magazine.
The 12 Carb Rules
I'm here to help, with a step-by-step plan of action to dial it in for a contest. Follow these tips and you will peak on Saturday -- the day of the show -- instead of Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. If you're not prepping for a contest, you can use these tips to guide your diet when you're trying to lose weight and retain max muscle mass in a very tight time frame.
1. When you are at your absolute leanest, you should carb deplete for three days and then carb load for three days.
Reason: Depleting for more than three days will lead to a loss of muscle tissue that cannot be recouped during the loading phase.
2. Add sodium to your diet one week prior to carb depletion, and add even more while you are depleting. This will suck the water out of the muscles when you severely and suddenly restrict your salt later in the week (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
Reason: The body craves a natural sodium balance. When you exceed that balance, your body works overtime by releasing a special hormone to expel the sodium. An immediate restriction of sodium intake while this sodium-excreting hormone is hard at work can trick the body into a temporary state of sodium loss. The end result is the dry-as-stone look you are working so hard to achieve.
3. Train on depletion days (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before a contest) with very light weights. Double the reps and increase your total number of sets. If on chest day, for instance, you typically lift in the 10-12 range for a total of 12 sets for the entire workout, increase the reps to 20-24 and the total number of sets to 16-18.
Reason: The light weight, high reps and added volume will use up glycogen, which in turn accelerates the carb-depletion process. This mode of training also stimulates the production of glycogen-forming enzymes that will "suck and shunt" any carbs toward muscle glycogen when you carb up; otherwise, those carbs could potentially be stored as body fat.
4. Avoid cardio in the last seven to 10 days before a contest.
Reason: Cardio performed too close to a contest tends to promote a flat, stringy physique. Plus, cardio stimulates enzymes that tend to shift the muscles into using fat for fuel -- this interferes with the body's ability to release glycogen-forming enzymes.
5. Deplete progressively (reducing carbs by 50% daily) over the three- day depletion phase. Here's how this works: If you diet on 300 grams (g) of carbs during precontest, cut back to 150 g on Sunday, 75 g on Monday and 38 g on Tuesday.
Reason: Although any decrease in carbs will cause a loss of muscle glycogen, a descending pattern of depletion works best, as the body perceives a continual reduction in carbs as a trigger to produce increased levels of glycogen-forming enzymes.
6. On Thursday and Friday -- the two days prior to the contest -- opt for supplements that encourage muscle to take up sugar rather than store it as body fat. I recommend taking 400 micrograms of chromium, 300 milligrams (mg) of alpha-lipoic acid, eight grams of omega-3 fatty acids and 700-1,000 mg of hydroxycitric acid before every meal.
Reason: These supplements tend to divert carbs toward muscle tissue and will help you store the maximum amount of glycogen.
7. Don't train on Wednesday and Thursday. Train light on Friday.
Reason: Deep-sixing the training allows your muscles to refill with glycogen. Training will burn many of the carbs that are destined for glycogen stores. On Friday, however, two sets of 15 reps per body part will coax the glycogen-forming process without burning up too many useful carbs.
8. Double your water intake from Sunday through Wednesday. Cut it back to 50% of your normal intake on Thursday and Friday. It's simple: If you were drinking one gallon per day during your diet, increase it to two gallons daily Sunday through Wednesday and drop it down to a half-gallon on Thursday and Friday.
Reason: High water intake allows you to eliminate extra sodium. As you cut back on the water, your body temporarily continues to shed sodium. Cutting back on water while carbing up will also help to promote a tighter look.
9. Use 1,000-2,000 g of supplemental potassium daily during the final week before a show. This amounts to about 300-400 g with each of your five daily meals.
Reason: Potassium promotes greater sodium excretion and primes muscle cells to suck up more carbs during the loading phase.
10. Supplement with liquid glycerol. Mix 20-30 milliliters glycerol with eight ounces of water on both Thursday and Friday.
Reason: Glycerol prevents dehydration by clinging onto water. You'll add fullness to your muscles because glycerol draws water from beneath the skin and holds it in muscle tissues.
11. Load carbs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the contest.
Reason: Carb loading tricks the body into temporarily holding more fluid in muscles, which gives the illusion of greater muscle size. Loading simultaneously promotes less fluid retention under the skin, which gives the look of crisp muscular detail. For a bodybuilder with a normal metabolism, here's a simple rule of thumb:
First, determine your normal daily carb consumption (the amount of carbs you were eating during precontest, not the amount you were eating during the depletion phase). Multiply that number by 1.75 to arrive at the grams of carbs to load on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. For example, if your daily carb intake is usually 300 g, then you should load at a daily rate of 525 g (300 x 1.75 = 525); if you normally eat 400 g of carbs, then your loading rate would be 700 g (400 x 1.75 = 700).
12. Check yourself carefully in a mirror on each of the three days before the contest.
Reason: If your muscles have taken on a watery look, blurring your definition, you can fine-tune your carb loading by lowering your carb intake slightly. If they're not filling out to your liking, you can raise your carb intake slightly.
* Oh yeah, by the way, definitely get off Clen before final week. Good luck man!
The 12 Carb Rules
I'm here to help, with a step-by-step plan of action to dial it in for a contest. Follow these tips and you will peak on Saturday -- the day of the show -- instead of Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. If you're not prepping for a contest, you can use these tips to guide your diet when you're trying to lose weight and retain max muscle mass in a very tight time frame.
1. When you are at your absolute leanest, you should carb deplete for three days and then carb load for three days.
Reason: Depleting for more than three days will lead to a loss of muscle tissue that cannot be recouped during the loading phase.
2. Add sodium to your diet one week prior to carb depletion, and add even more while you are depleting. This will suck the water out of the muscles when you severely and suddenly restrict your salt later in the week (Wednesday, Thursday and Friday).
Reason: The body craves a natural sodium balance. When you exceed that balance, your body works overtime by releasing a special hormone to expel the sodium. An immediate restriction of sodium intake while this sodium-excreting hormone is hard at work can trick the body into a temporary state of sodium loss. The end result is the dry-as-stone look you are working so hard to achieve.
3. Train on depletion days (Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before a contest) with very light weights. Double the reps and increase your total number of sets. If on chest day, for instance, you typically lift in the 10-12 range for a total of 12 sets for the entire workout, increase the reps to 20-24 and the total number of sets to 16-18.
Reason: The light weight, high reps and added volume will use up glycogen, which in turn accelerates the carb-depletion process. This mode of training also stimulates the production of glycogen-forming enzymes that will "suck and shunt" any carbs toward muscle glycogen when you carb up; otherwise, those carbs could potentially be stored as body fat.
4. Avoid cardio in the last seven to 10 days before a contest.
Reason: Cardio performed too close to a contest tends to promote a flat, stringy physique. Plus, cardio stimulates enzymes that tend to shift the muscles into using fat for fuel -- this interferes with the body's ability to release glycogen-forming enzymes.
5. Deplete progressively (reducing carbs by 50% daily) over the three- day depletion phase. Here's how this works: If you diet on 300 grams (g) of carbs during precontest, cut back to 150 g on Sunday, 75 g on Monday and 38 g on Tuesday.
Reason: Although any decrease in carbs will cause a loss of muscle glycogen, a descending pattern of depletion works best, as the body perceives a continual reduction in carbs as a trigger to produce increased levels of glycogen-forming enzymes.
6. On Thursday and Friday -- the two days prior to the contest -- opt for supplements that encourage muscle to take up sugar rather than store it as body fat. I recommend taking 400 micrograms of chromium, 300 milligrams (mg) of alpha-lipoic acid, eight grams of omega-3 fatty acids and 700-1,000 mg of hydroxycitric acid before every meal.
Reason: These supplements tend to divert carbs toward muscle tissue and will help you store the maximum amount of glycogen.
7. Don't train on Wednesday and Thursday. Train light on Friday.
Reason: Deep-sixing the training allows your muscles to refill with glycogen. Training will burn many of the carbs that are destined for glycogen stores. On Friday, however, two sets of 15 reps per body part will coax the glycogen-forming process without burning up too many useful carbs.
8. Double your water intake from Sunday through Wednesday. Cut it back to 50% of your normal intake on Thursday and Friday. It's simple: If you were drinking one gallon per day during your diet, increase it to two gallons daily Sunday through Wednesday and drop it down to a half-gallon on Thursday and Friday.
Reason: High water intake allows you to eliminate extra sodium. As you cut back on the water, your body temporarily continues to shed sodium. Cutting back on water while carbing up will also help to promote a tighter look.
9. Use 1,000-2,000 g of supplemental potassium daily during the final week before a show. This amounts to about 300-400 g with each of your five daily meals.
Reason: Potassium promotes greater sodium excretion and primes muscle cells to suck up more carbs during the loading phase.
10. Supplement with liquid glycerol. Mix 20-30 milliliters glycerol with eight ounces of water on both Thursday and Friday.
Reason: Glycerol prevents dehydration by clinging onto water. You'll add fullness to your muscles because glycerol draws water from beneath the skin and holds it in muscle tissues.
11. Load carbs on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday before the contest.
Reason: Carb loading tricks the body into temporarily holding more fluid in muscles, which gives the illusion of greater muscle size. Loading simultaneously promotes less fluid retention under the skin, which gives the look of crisp muscular detail. For a bodybuilder with a normal metabolism, here's a simple rule of thumb:
First, determine your normal daily carb consumption (the amount of carbs you were eating during precontest, not the amount you were eating during the depletion phase). Multiply that number by 1.75 to arrive at the grams of carbs to load on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. For example, if your daily carb intake is usually 300 g, then you should load at a daily rate of 525 g (300 x 1.75 = 525); if you normally eat 400 g of carbs, then your loading rate would be 700 g (400 x 1.75 = 700).
12. Check yourself carefully in a mirror on each of the three days before the contest.
Reason: If your muscles have taken on a watery look, blurring your definition, you can fine-tune your carb loading by lowering your carb intake slightly. If they're not filling out to your liking, you can raise your carb intake slightly.
* Oh yeah, by the way, definitely get off Clen before final week. Good luck man!
