first competition 1 week out questions

[gymboy99]

Hi people, basically im about a week out from my first show and ive been reading up about loading with creatine a few days before the show date. So basically none of the articles ive read have told me how many grams of creatine i ideally want to be loading with..... anybody have any ideas? Also i live in england and nowhere seems to sell sodium in pill form or anything is this something thats available or what? im not sure exactly where im supposed to get the right form of sodium from lol sorry about the noob questions i have researched with no luck i promise. cheers for any help anyway.

kristian.

[Sylvo]

I wouldn't mess with it this close to the show if you don't have specific guidance on it. You don't want it to have a negative effect if you don't balance it correctly. Good luck!

[MT1979]

You could try bullion cubes fro sodium.

[jauce]

I agree with Sylvo.... don't bother... you'll come in much better if you don't worry about any of that.

[Cape1]

Dont start trying a bunch of water/sodium tricks at this point unles you have somone who knows your body and how it reacts helping you. Put the creatine asside for now too. If you want, salt your food up until the wednesday before the show (along with lots of water) and then just gradually pull back - i.e., thurs. cut the salt in half, friday only what is naturally in the food. Meanwhile you could bring yourself down to a gallon of water by Friday (don't cut it). Show day just drink what you need to wash your food down. I'm not even sure I would try this but it's a pretty low key approach that worked fine for me. Overdone, the water/sodium thing will back fire on you bigger than big time.

[str8flexed]

no need to cut water

[Cape1]

Layne, Understood re: not cutting water. What about tapering it off a bit? What are your thoughts on that? EX: if you're averaging 2 gallons or so on wed. would it make sense to go 1.5 on thurs., 1 on friday and just enough to stay reasonably hydrated on show day?

[italianplaya30]

dont cut water

[TQsmooth5]

.....and again....Don't cut water!.....I had close to 2 gal the day before my show this past weekend.

[Cape1]

How much did all you guys drink the day of the show?

I'm all for drinking more. I was just told to taper it off a bit - Again NOT CUT IT. I think everyone agrees on that much.

[str8flexed]

i keep it high day of the show but i cut it down a bit about an hour before hand, just sipping the hour before I go onstage simply because I don't want a lot of volume in my stomach and I don't want to have to pee while i'm onstage

[db2012]

Peak week is too complex to get complete advice through a thread. There are so many tricks and techniques. Some of my athletes I will advise to take 1/2 Tbsp of sodium 30-45 mins before show time to increase vascularity. It really doesn't have the time to cause you to spill. But I'm not advising this, This is conjunction with EVERY THING else I'm having them do. Sodium will make some throw up also.

I would not recommend getting advice from multiple people on your peak week. Pick one person you trust. So much conflicting info out there, but that doesnt' make it wrong or right. Cut water? add water? add sodum drop it? carb up? tapper carbs down? Eat clean? Eat as much junk as you can find? There are a lot of ways to get hard/dry. Also no one can guarantee you results unless they know your body. Most of my athletes I do a trial run on if time permits 2-4 weeks prior to show.

[risstang]

for a saturday show...

mon- 1 gallon
tues- 2 gallon
weds- 2 gallon
thurs- 3 gallon
fri- 2-3 gallons before 4pm and then sip as needed if any in the evening hours...
sat- sip as needed....

works awesome w/ low sodium..... at least for females....

just some thoughts....

[ankieusmc]

THe point of the over load is to flush your system of water right. I am not sure of the name of the product but its new on the market it is a product that is designed to flush the system of the water for a comp. I saw it at Vitamin Shopee