On the final Thrus/Fri before the show, I am planning on doing Beef & Grapefruit, however, if I do 6 meals of 6 oz of Lean Beef, that only gives me approx. 650 mg of sodium. Is that too low and cause me to be flat? Do I need to add more sodium in? I plan on beginning the week around 3000 mg and cut about 400mg out per day. My water will be high (3 gallons) and cut back on Thursday, then again on Friday. Then I am starting the carb up meals Sat morning around
1 AM. Do any of you have a peak week from Beverly that you could email me or post?

Are you talking about this weekend?!! I hope not.

Sodium will make you flat if you're carrying too much because it can blur definition. You'll hold water under this skin.

Potassium will keep the water in the muscles.

Frank

No, not this weekend, got about 5 more weeks.
Basically, I just want a "general guideline" to follow for the last week.

start with this article and read it from beginning to end and it should give a real good idea of what to do and what not to do!

I repeat do not use potassium pills!

I am now 1 week out from Tampa Bay Classic. Check out the latest changes I made to my diet, sample day, stats and much more...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



1 Week Out


By: Layne Norton



Click here to view all weeks!
Well everyone I'm back. Sorry for skipping my scheduled three week out article but that was the week of my graduation and my entire family came to watch so I was quite busy. That's right ladies and gentlemen; I now officially have earned my BS in Biochemistry!
I'm not stopping there however; in the fall I will begin attending graduate school at University of Illinois to earn my MS/PhD in Nutritional Science. I will have the privilege of studying under Dr. Don Layman, one of the foremost authorities on amino acid research in the world.

Now without further delay, let's have a little discussion on my one week out preparations. To aid me in my final week of preparation I have enlisted the help of Dr. Joe Klemczewski (www.joesrevolution.com) who also is a writer for bodybuilding.com.

Joe is most definitely the authority on contest preparation for natural bodybuilding and has helped dozen's of natural bodybuilders earn their pro cards and has helped several pros win championships.

My philosophy to peaking for contest day is very similar to Joe's and so it was easy to work with him in developing a plan of attack for my upcoming shows. I'll spend some time discussing some of my philosophies and then I will lay out the plan for the final week.


Myths Of The Final Week


People often believe they can trick their body by using extreme techniques the last week before the show that will make them look super shredded. The truth is, if one has dieted properly, what they do in the last week will not make or break their show.

Few people win a show by tricks they use in the last week of pre contest prep. However, many people lose a show by using these extreme techniques. These techniques I speak of stem from myths that have been perpetuated by bodybuilders who use large amounts of anabolic steroids. These methods include but are not limited to?


Drastic carb depletion followed by drastic carb loading
Days of water depletion
Massive potassium loading
Laxatives
Diuretics
For bodybuilders who use large amounts of anabolic steroids, these methods are needed to shed water, as anabolic steroids will cause one to retain large amounts of water extracellularly (outside the cell or subcutaneously).

For a bodybuilder who doesn't use androgens, this type of preparation is a bit too extreme. One can think of the body as a pendulum. It will stay in equilibrium unless pushed.

One can push their body in one direction and they will experience a certain effect for a while, but eventually the pendulum will swing back in the opposite direction and they will experience the opposite effect.

For example, if one were to cut water intake drastically they would at first experience a great deal of water loss, but as the body senses water levels dropping, it will release anti-diuretic hormones which will cause the body to retain more water. On the other hand, in some cases we can use the body's reactions to our advantage.


Pushing The Pendulum


Many Competitors practice the technique of water depletion. Water depletion consists of reducing one's liquid intake to practically nothing as they approach the contest. Not only is this practice very dangerous, it is also ineffective.

Muscle tissue consists of 70% water. If one restricts water intake drastically, they will lose muscle fullness and appear flat onstage. In addition, reducing water will increase the likelihood of muscle cramps while onstage (this happens quite frequently and is very embarrassing).

Some competitors believe water is what causes them to appear smooth. This is not the case. Water retention intracellularly (inside the cell) will cause one appear hard and full. Subcutaneous (under the skin) water retention however, causes one look smooth.

When the body senses a drastic restriction in water intake it will release anti-diuretic hormones that cause subcutaneous water retention. This makes physiological sense: the body senses it is not getting enough water and releases hormones that cause water retention to prevent dehydration.


Water, Water, Every Where: What Every Competitor Should Know!
Everything was looking good for the 3rd show of the 2004 competitive season until a couple hours before pre-judging. Find out what happened and why all competitors need to read this!
[ Click here to learn more. ]


The result is muscles that appear look flat; from lack of water intracellularly, and soft; from retaining water subcutaneously. The competitor's goal is to maximize intracellular and minimize subcutaneous water retention. Part of this can be accomplished via proper carbohydrate manipulation.

Carbohydrate intake in the final week should be based on one principle, that water follows carbohydrates (approx 2.7g water is stored for each gram of stored carbohydrate), and it is the water following the glucose, not the glucose itself that causes the muscle to have tight fullness.

Therefore, we can deduce that it is not logical to deplete ones water and load up on carbs, more logical however, is to keep a high water intake, and manipulate our carbohydrates so that the maximum amount of water is stored inside the muscle tissue and not subcutaneously.


On Sodium Depleting And Potassium Loading


I see that many competitors seem to think that cutting out sodium and raising potassium to ridiculously high levels is the best way to shed excess water. Not only can this process be dangerous, (even fatal if grossly overdone) it is not that effective.

You see, in terms of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone that causes you to retain water) decreasing sodium intake will reduce ADH output. However, your water and ion levels are controlled by several hormones, not just one. This makes sense, as your body does not want to lose a lot of water.

Why? Because an increased urine volume means decreased blood volume, decreased blood volume means decreased blood pressure; which is dangerous in the short term as it decreases the amount of blood to and from the heart. Therefore, if you lower your sodium and increase your potassium, the body will fight water loss by increasing aldosterone production.

Aldosterone is member of the steroid hormone family and it causes water's reabsorbtion in the kidneys (water retention) and triggers you to become thirsty. Production of aldosterone is stimulated by EITHER an increase in blood concentrations of potassium or a decrease in concentrations of sodium (exactly what most competitors TRY to do!).

Wait, it gets better... aldosterone attaches to receptors on the distal tubule and on the collecting duct (part of the nephron... the functional unit of the kidney) and causes water to be reabsorbed into the interstitial fluid.

So instead of excreting this water via urination, your body will retain it to increase your blood volume and return your blood pressure to normal.

The best strategy for losing excess extracellular water (if you don't want to take illicit drugs) is to use a moderate approach. Sodium loading isn't a bad idea starting about 10-15 days out, but when you deplete don't take it to ridiculously low levels... stay within 1.5-3g per day.

By the same token don't load on a bunch of potassium, just eat the foods rich in potassium, no need to take potassium pills every hour.


this is one of the best and most ideal ways for a natural BB to do the diet and the Peak week for a show!
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/layne36.htm

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cytrainer913,

Interesting read.

the other reason Frank, i hear so many people on here get so bloated after shows would nt thik about doing back to back shows or even 2 weeks apart, is becasue of the potassium! I never use and will never use it and I have never had issues with the weight gainl like that after a show unless I ate and ate for 2 days straight and thats just from oevreating and from any water that was not there isbeing held in the cells and you can easily fill out, but this potassium thing realy can cause issues!

LOL...I've not had that problem, either. If you had seen what some of these guys had done, and you did the same, you'd bloat, too. I have no doubt potassium has a good part in it, but it is also the added sodium from the junk foods. That combined with the opposite and old school thinking on dehydration, well, you need the potassium as well as the way of Beverly in overload of water. I think that's still part of their water manipulation.

I sat and watch this one guy scarf down a whole medium pizza, 1 gal of ice cream, Coke after coke...and that was only after the contest. No telling what else he had when he got home. Now...he was not of the natural kind. He more than likely used under-the-counter diuretics, too.

However, I have been interested in the keeping water in as you and others seem to have had great success. I plan to use that route. I doubt if I can make the November show, but I've got my eyes set on the Shredder for next year.

Frank

Thanks for that post, it will be helpful.
Good to know about the potassium pills and the possible post contest water retention because I am gunning for 3 shows in a row. The last show I did the huge carb depletion, sodium load, then carb up and sodium deplete and potassium pills every second of the day. I gained about 33 lbs between sat and tues!! Cannot do that again, of course the pig out was outta control with Outback, Brownies, Doughnuts, and continued Sunday with--oh I gotta stop-getting hungry!

quote:

and continued Sunday with--oh I gotta stop-getting hungry!

Pssst. HT, you weren't going to say, "Peanut Butter" were you?!