dialing it in.

[Cincimanatti]

I am looking for advice on how to dial it in during the last week of prep. I can get my body fat low enough. I just need to know about carbing up. how much water. What to carb up with. sodium depletion.

[dvsness]

Those factors are not the same for everyone. It depends on how lean you are, how many carbs are in your diet, how well you tolerate carbs, if you have time for a test run, how much you weigh, how you tolerate glycerol and if you can use diuretics.

[Cincimanatti]

Those factors are not the same for everyone. It depends on how lean you are, how many carbs are in your diet, how well you tolerate carbs, if you have time for a test run, how much you weigh, how you tolerate glycerol and if you can use diuretics.

I got a year to bulk up. right now if I got to 4% I would weigh 184. I hope to be at 190 when I compete which is reasonable. I just want a sample of what someone who was succesful did during the final week. Carb depleting, carb loading. all that good ****. I know its different for everyone but I will gain experience and maybe be able to tell what to do at my next comp.

[Sporto1633]

I got a year to bulk up. right now if I got to 4% I would weigh 184. I hope to be at 190 when I compete which is reasonable. I just want a sample of what someone who was succesful did during the final week. Carb depleting, carb loading. all that good ****. I know its different for everyone but I will gain experience and maybe be able to tell what to do at my next comp.

As Vanessa said, it is ver individual, but here are some scattered thoughts on the subject in no particular order:

1) Typically, a depleted athlete (as in a bodybuilder during peak week from weeks of dieting) can hold anywhere from 12-16 X LBM in Kg for the first 24hours, and the second 24 hours, they can typically hold anywhere from 8-10 X LBM in Kg. Those are good numbers to use as a guidline to get an idea of just how many carbs you can jam pack into a depleted athlete. For more info, look into Lyle McDonald's work, or heck, any CKD, Anabolic Diet, etc. They all base their carb load strategies off of the same data (which was a research study done in marathon runners by the way).

2) To err on the side of caution, especially for first timers getting to know their own body, the less drastic the change (with any of the variables), the better.

3) Salt balance is what determines where you hold water (outside of drugs and diuretics). Do some research on the sodium and potassium pump for more info. Keep in miind that, without drugs, you can't "trick" your body as your kidneys regulate fluid balance by the MINUTE. So, obviously unless you are using drugs/diuretics, cutting water is a no-no. Just use your sodium/potassium ratio to nudge the water in the right direction.

4) Also, to err on the side of caution, you can use a front-loading strategy - that simply means you do your big carb load early in the week (think mon/tues) and then taper off towards the end of the week back to diet numbers to rid yourself of spillover before the final carb load into the show. It's a safer method that might leave you a little flatter than optimal condition, but it is a safer way to go if you are still learning the timing of everything.

My mind stopped wandering around...I can try to answer a little more specific questions if you have any, otherwise there's some food for thought for ya.

Sporto

[Cincimanatti]

Thanks. I appreciate the info from knowlegable people.

[NoelFuller]

Contact me for contest prep if your serious, I trained, Bleu Taylor, Zoa Linsey, Lori Steele, Claire Ohroerbecker, Shelia Bleck.