Update:
So Today, I am 2 days out from my 1st Spring contest. I’ve been carb depleting all week so that I can load up starting Friday and going into Saturday (day of the show). My water intake has been “a lot”, so I will be able to cut it down and hopefully lose a couple of lbs of water before Saturday.
My upper body and legs look thick as hell, and in the right lighting, have quite an abundance of veins present, contributing to the dense look I seem to be sporting. My midsection is so bloated from water intake that not only can I barely flex my abs, but I’ve been constantly distended and ‘squishy’ looking.
I’ve avoided weighing myself each morning this week, realizing that with all the veggies and liquids in me, that it would be pretty ‘off’.This morning though out of curiosity, I hopped on the scale… 178.4 lbs. In the past, I’ve always been a bit lower the Friday before the show, so this will be interesting to see if my weight comes down by tomorrow, or if it even makes a difference in what I will weigh on Saturday. The mantra among competitors is to never worry about your weight, and just come in the best condition that you can. The reality though, is that if you’ve competed before, you have a good idea of what you should weigh to look ‘good’.
Another thing that concerns me, is my lower back. Last year, I had real problems when my bodyfat dropped to very low levels. Apparently the stability of my sacral area is hampered when I diet down this drastically (I have a pre-existing injury). I’ve been fine so far, and been very careful to avoid certain exercises as I dropped lower and lower during the prep (I had to avoid SLDs the last month). Yesterday though, my lower back was just feeling sort of tight on my way to the gym.
I stretched out the way I normally do on back or leg days, did my workouts (just depletion stuff, nothing crazy), and went home feeling ok. In the middle of the night, I woke up, felt a little achy, and did a twisting motion I’ve had PTs and Chiropractors do (I’m sure you all do this), where I lay on my back and throw one leg across my body to the other side. As soon as I had done this, I had the worst shooting pain in my lumbar area. I stretched a bit, balling myself up hoping to release the lower back muscles a bit, but that didn’t help.
Eventually I got up, popped a few Alieves, and tried desperately to get back to sleep, as stretched/sprawled out as I could position myself. This morning, I woke up and was very hesitant to do anything. There was no pain, and I wasn’t limited mobility wise. I even practiced my posing and had no issues. Today I’m obviously going to be very careful, and I may skip more posing practice later just to rest up as much as I can. I’m hoping this isn’t going to be a problem, as I had horrible visions last night of having to pull out of this show. Once I get through Saturday though, I’ll have my brother take a look and do what he can Sunday (usually heat, ice/muscle stim, manipulations etc etc…)
I’ll check in as much as I can the next couple of days. Obviously with this show (and the next one as well) being in NYC, I won’t have to spend the night in hotel, so I’ll be a bit more relaxed.
S
