[quote]Aragorn wrote:
Prisoner—I’m curious and have a question of my own related to your advice for his “week of contest” prep.
You say don’t screw with water loading and eat normally to this pre-cut diet the day before, and you also recommend messing with sodium levels. Thib says pretty much the opposite–don’t mess with sodium/potassium depletion or loading, eat simple carbs/syrup etc the evening before the contest, and use water depletion/loading.
Obviously you know your stuff. And obviously Thib gives fantastic advice and knows his stuff. So I’m curious for your reasons that you recommend 1) eating like a normal person would instead of simple carbs on the evening prior to the show and 2) why you don’t like water loading–is it just because this is the 1st contest and you want him to keep it simple don’t want to mess with the OP experimenting and screwing things up? Or do you not in general like the specific way Thibs recommended things in “Shredded in 6 days”?
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I will clarify what I mean. I don’t believe in depleting salt in the last few days prior to a show, but I don’t believe in adding it either. There is salt in most foods naturally, some foods are more salty then others, and seasonings for example usually have a generous amount of salt. Eating these foods is equivalent to what i call adding salt. That means you eat very blandly for the three days leading into friday for a sat show. Water, fresh chicken breast, and the carb of your choice. I also believe you can start transistioning a small portion of your carb intake to high glycemic carbs - for example mix some white rice with your brown, gradually increasing your cals to maintainance levels through the week.
You really want to be carefull and cautious adding foods that you have not eaten in a long time because of your diet, as you do not know how your body is going to respond. Gastric bloating, excess flatulence, and constipation are things you definitely want to avoid in the home stretch as the last thing you want is to be worried about what your waistline looks like on stage.
Water loading is bad for your kidneys, and it is very risky, as it will deplete all electrolyte levels. Your kidneys really were not designed to handle that amount of water, and really when you think of it we live in an age where freshwater is in abundance. Traditionally throughout history, fresh water was scarce, and people never worried about getting their 8 glasses per day in. And actually the latest research in this area no longer recomends that amount of water intake for the same reasons - it puts an uncessessary load on the kidneys.
Sodium and Potasium loading or supplementation is really a crap shoot. Unless you have daily blood work to go by, It is just your best guess as to where you should be. Thats prior to cutting off the water and after cutting off the water.
As for these programs of getting ‘shredded in six days’ Well in theory they are plausable, but in real world practice they don’t consistently work. It’s either you look great, or you spill over. The biggest problem with these programs is that they give the bodybuilder a ‘license to eat’ You introduce the sweet and fatty tastes into the mouth of someone who has not had these things in months and it is guarenteed they are going to partake way too much.
Also, the window in which you look good is very narrow. You may look great in the morning show, but by evening you have spilled over or vice versa - you haven’t ‘filled’ enough in the morning show, but look awesome an hour following the night show. Its very hit or miss.
It comes down to this. If you put the work in, and have achieved a low body fat % (3% or less) there is absolutely no where for you to hold water anyway. As long as you can get a pump, you are going to look phenomenol on stage. If you are 3% or less. You could do absolutely nothing for pre contest prep, pump up, walk on stage and still look way better then anyone else who is not as lean but incorporated carb/fat loading and water manipulation.