I’ve read the dialog between Erik & princess, about Comp Dieting. I just competed last weekend and tried fat loading i nstead of carb loading. It did not work for me at all. I cam in looking very flat. Last second efforts to fill up on some carbs and sugar also failed. It wasn’t until 2 days later after eating a bunch of carbs and fat that I filled out and looked how I would have like to conest day. I am now 11 days out from the next show and I am looking for some advice on what to do different. I am going carb deplete/load this time.
Star, when i mentioned fat loading it was actually to be done after a 3-day carbup, where a LOT of carbs where consumed. The term fat-loading is a bit of a misnomer as my real purpose in doing so is to kind of get the natural diuretic effect of going low carb again. If you want to carb load straight in, simply carb deplete (ketogenic style) for 3 days and then do a full body depletion workout and then begin carbing up – 10g/kg LBM for the first 24hrs, 5g/kg LBM for the second 24hrs and 2.5g/kg LBM for the last 6-12-hrs. When i say 24hrs I dont necessarily mean Tuesday or Wedneday. I mean a literal 24-hr period (ie Tuesday at 4pm to Wednesday at 4pm). Be sure to not restrict sodium or water during the first stages of your carb up. To avoid holding water make sure your sodium is not low going into the carb up, as its changes in sodium that cause fluid balance to change and not chronically elevated levels.
Erik, you seem to have an awful lot of good knowledge about this. How about doing an article for T-Mag about a “generic” pre-contest prep? I’m sure a lot of people would like to see it.
My advice is to choose one person to listen to for precontest advice, and follow only thier reccomendations. Last time I mixed and matched advice from many different people, and looked really watery. I think it would have worked if I listened to Erik, and depleted on the last day
Just bumping this so Erik has a chance to see it…
Well, for one most of us wont ever step on stage to compete so im not so sure it has much application to reader interest. If you’ve got any questions, I’d be willing to answer them to the best of my knowledge however.
Yeah, true, but think about it. Number one, any knowledge is power, so from that standpoint it would be beneficial to most everyone. Number two, even if we don’t compete per se, there’s still that class reunion, day at the beach, etc. where you really want to look your best. And knowing how to peak would be a help in those situations (which I would imagine everyone has at one time or another).
You said you looked how you wanted to look 2 days after your show. So just do the same things you did but time it so that you peak on the day of your show. I’ve been taking this approach before shows and have had similar experiences. Timing is key, but it takes practice.
Maybe not all of us want to compete, but I bet most of us have wanted to look our best for a certain day or some professional pics. I’d say, write the aricle and let the t-mag editors decide. I for one would LOVE to read about it.