I'm guessing I still have some fat on my glutes. What can I do to help? This whole time everyone has said "wait until the last two weeks, major changes will take place, it's all water, don't worry" I am skeptical that anything major is going to happen this week. Maybe the last week I can see... What contributes to hardness? Below is my diet. Let me know what I can do if anything....I'm guessing I should do more cardio.


5:30am- 6 GH factor 3 7-keto, 2 lean out
6:00am- ¼ c. oatmeal, 1 scoop muscle provider protein, 3 muscularity, 3 ultra 40
7:30am- 2 lean out, 2 energy reserve
8:00am- ½ c. chicken, 2 c. green vegetables, 3 muscularity, 3 ultra 40
10:15am- 1 scoop muscle provider, ½ c. yam
11:45am- 2 lean out, 3 7-keto
12:30pm- *1/2c. chicken, 2 c. green vegetables, 3 muscularity, 3 ultra 40
*( this meal was changed from ¼ c. oatmeal on 5-5-06)
3:00pm- 2lean out, 2 energy reserve
3:30pm- ½ c. chicken, 2 c. green vegetables, 3 muscularity, 3 ultra 40
5:30 pm- 1 scoop muscle provider, ½ c yam
6:30pm- 2 energy reserve
Approx. 7pm- gym. 2 scoops glutamine select, sometimes 10-15 muscle mass
Post workout shake= 1 scoop muscle provider
½ hour post workout- 2 lean out
1 hour post workout- ½ c. chicken, 2 c. green vegetables, 3 muscularity, 3 ultra 40
before bed- 6 GH factor

cardio at 3 weeks out= 3 sessions of high intensity stepper intervals( 15 min. each), 1 plyometrics session
cardio at 2 weeks out=?
cardio during final week = ?

just have to lose more body fat, nothing more than that, its one of the last places your body is holding onto it!

ah thanks... That's what I keep hearing. It just freaks me out to still have some left at two weeks out. I can definitely go all out with the cardio, but at the same time I wouldnt want to burn any muscle. This is nerve racking now.

If you decide to up your HIIT cardio to more weekly sessions then be sure to add in more bulk BCAA's between meals and both before and after training sessions to include cardio. You can get good quality bulk BCAA powder from Bulk Nutrition fast via their web site, usually 2-3 days delivery. You can and will still lean out with two weeks to go. That plus the final days sodium and thus water manipulation will also help lean you out and thin out your skin even more.

Some guys just never get to the point where they have striated glutes, and as Craig said it is the last area to come in for many.

My adice is to try not to stress about it. Keep on track with your diet and don't do anything unplanned with your electrolytes or water the last week. I am hoping that you have ramped up your water intake to at least 2 gallons a day and that you plan to keep water in right through show day. That plan works and is much safer than water depletion.

Do you have any pics posted anywhere?

What is the bulk powder, does it have a similar profile to any beverly products or is it something seperate? Can i just add in more glutamine select? Also, i can afford to add Mass aminos back in with my muscualrity and ultra 40 at meals, will this make any difference at this point?

I don't know about the water depletion... my trainer already mentioned depleting water before the show. I talked to another girl at my gym that he trained for figure too and she depleted water and then took a diuretic. I am scared. But I also don't feel comfortable moving away from the support of the trainer. Still not sure....

Thanks!

The bulk powder comes in a 2:1:1 ratio of Leucine:Valine:Isoleucine with a little over a gram per teaspoon... i use it pre-contest myself.

The only difference and possibly a significant one is that the bulk BCAA's contain no calories where the Mass Aminos have 20 cals(from protein)per serving which can add up when you're takin them with each meal...

For a natural i just never understood the water depletion and taking a diuretic. It flattened me out like a pancake. Muscle is comprised of like 80% water, doesnt make sense to restrict it does it?

Take a look at the top three pics in my sig where I am in front of that wall. That was my best placing and look to date, and ITS THE ONLY time I left water IN. I would not deplete, now if you are using other "substances" I have no clue how that all works and you may be best advised to do what your trainer is telling you.

I wrote an article that you should be able to find in the archives about keeping water in and I took most of what I did from an article written by a guy name Anthony Bussaco.

Good luck.

If you are a natural BBer I would strongly recommend against water depletion and/or any significant use of diuretics. Do a search on water or water depletion and you will find a whole series of threads on the topic. A mild natural diuretic like Vit C and/or grapefruit is fine, but stronger things can mess you up.

Even if you are an AAS user, use extream caution with water depletion and diuretics - do it wrong and you will mess up your conditioning, do it very wrong and you can end up in the ER. I'm sorry, but I have to question the credibility and knowledge of your coach if he is recommending both water depletion and diuretics, especailly if you are a Natural BBer.

There are many folks here on this board who have won thier divisions, overalls and some of who are PRO Natural BBers who have all successfully kept water in and avioded any strong diuretic usage. It is much healthier for many reasons.

Good luck with your final two weeks!

No trust me I am scared about the water depletion and diuretic. I am all natural and I worked very hard to get this far. I have no clue what those schemes are going to do for me, but the one thing that is for certain- it's probably going to make me sick. A couple of times when I had bloating with my period I tried diurex (which I am sure is much less strong) and I felt so sick from it. I have a sensitive system in general, glumatime select bothers my stomach! I get nausea very very easily.

The thing is, I have no available resources and I already feel all alone. Its one thing to read the internet and find ideas and then form my own opinion from there, but I need the trainer in my gym who sees me in person to do stuff for me. It's all I have right now. I wont go into details but i am in a bad situation. I dumped all of my money into personal training for 9+ months and just realized I invested it in the wrong people who have no genuine interest in my progress or success.

quote:

No trust me I am scared about the water depletion and diuretic. I am all natural and I worked very hard to get this far. I have no clue what those schemes are going to do for me, but the one thing that is for certain- it's probably going to make me sick.

Geez, don't do it! Trust me and the others here. I also looked like an emaciated body builder left in a POW camp. Follow whatever VA and Craig have to offer on this route BUT DO NOT go depletion.

Frank

I am pretty tiny with a naturally tiny frame. I go flat really easily if I am not taking in a lot of carbs. I found that my body looks best with a straight forward diet and nothing too drastic or off the wall. It is my first contest and i'm happy to just be getting on stage. There are a lot of things that lead me to believe my body type will not respond well to water depletion. I might try to argue this to my traineer. Maybe he will see that I am lean enough without it. I truly do not think it is necessary or healthy.

jsulko1,

I am a personal trainer as are others on this board. NEVER...and I mean N-E-V-E-R! Would I recomend that a client of mine or any competitor, water deplete and/or take a diuretic. This is not only a surefire way to screw up your conditioning but also dangerous. Regardless of what your trainer says...DON'T DO IT!

If he/she takes issue with you on this you are more than welcome to have them contact me and I'll explain in detail why having you or anyone else drop water and take diuretics is unethical advice.

Best regards and good luck with your first competition. You should be very proud that you've committed to getting in your all-time best condition. Which is even more of a reason not to let anyone screw that up, regardless of how much a help they've been up till now.