fashion show preparation...

[trulygemini]

hi guys...


an inter-college fashion show competition is coming up in 3 weeks from now.

the theme is beach.

i'd like to ask u guys whether i shud keep bulking for 15 days to add some size and then cut like for a week...

OR

start cutting real tight so that more vascularity and six pack is visible.

i know the time at hand is too less. but just to be stage-ready in 3 weeks. i m willing to put in total hard work into this.


ur advice would help me out a lot... thnks.


here are some recent pics..


front relaxed







front double bi





back double bi

[m1ke1]

imo i odnt htink you have time to do an effective bulk and cut in 3weeks. id eat very clean and lift

[gaaaaabe]

an inter-college fashion show competition is coming up in 3 weeks from now.

the theme is beach.

....

[Bondons]

Originally Posted by gaaaaabe

....

Theres nothing wrong with it.


Good luck bro.

As stated above not enough time for a good bulk.
Personally I would use the time to cut a bit more fat.

[eggnog631]

yea just cut for a bit. imo you look cut enough even if you wanted to do it today (no homer simpson)

[izzylicious]

cut so ur muscles looks more defined ..
good luck =]

[aesthetic.]

if its a fashion show, you wont be flexing your muscles. cut.

[PumpinPaddy]

youre already pretty lean, i would just maintain and then cut for 10 days or so

you dont want to look skinny either

[izzylicious]

ill copy this from T-Nation for u lol..

The Level 4 Leanness Plan

This schedule assumes a Saturday bodybuilding competition, photo shoot, or day at the beach.

Monday: 2.5 to 3 gallons of water, 50g of carbs or less

Tip: Buy three one gallon containers of water with a handle. This will let you visually know exactlyhow much water you have left to go. And the handle makes it easy to carry around with you everywhere — which you'll pretty much have to do to get in three gallons!

Tuesday: Same

Wednesday: Same

Thursday: Same

Friday: Begin a gradual carb-up. Today eat five or six meals, each containing 50-75g of carbs.

In the first one or two meals, have fruits as your main carb source. Starting the carb-up with fruit replenishes liver glycogen very fast. We believe that the faster liver glycogen is filled, the more effective the rest of the carb-up will be.

For meals three and four, move to starchier, faster-absorbing carbs (yams, potatoes, rice if it's tolerated well). Meal four should be at 4PM.

Now the "fun" begins. Water intake should be cut completely at 4 or 5PM. One or two more meals should be consumed after you cut water. Have only one if you're already looking "full." Have two if not. These meals should contains carbs derived from simple sugars: pancakes and syrup, pie filling, waffles, chocolate, etc.

Along with this simple sugar meal, have two tablespoons of vegetable glycerine (found in most health food stores). Also on Friday, take an herbal diuretic such as Taraxatone. Although the proper thing to do is go by the label directions with these type of products, best results are usually achieved by taking three servings on Friday: one about an hour or two before you cut water intake, one when you cut intake, and one before bed.

Another trick is to take an Epsom salt bath (400g of Epsom salt in very hot water) for 20-30 minutes before bed. This is what European bodybuilders did to help shed water before diuretics became popular. (The salt and mega hot bat drastically increase perspiration.)

Saturday (photo or beach day): Breakfast depends on how you look.

• Looking flat? Have another simple sugar meal.

• Looking good? Small portion of fruit and protein.

• Holding water? Protein only (shake with very little water).

Forty-five minutes before pumping up for your shoot, take in two tablespoons of glycerol in one can of full-sugar soda.

Explanations

The goals of the low-carb days with super high water intake are to deplete glycogen to better supercompensate later on, but the real goal is to put the body into water flushing mode. Doing both for five days turns you into a fountain: your body simply flushes everything you drink. (Not a good week to take a long car trip. Or see a movie. Or go anywhere where a bathroom is more than 20 feet away.)

When you suddenly cut your water on Friday, you're still in heavy flushing mode. As a result, you'll dry up significantly by flushing and not drinking.

A gram of carbohydrate pulls 2.7g of water into the muscle. So if you carb up when you're in flushing mode and not drinking, where do you think this 2.7g of water will come from? Beneath your skin, of course!

By the way, the glycerol recommended is a plasma expander, meaning that it pulls water into it.



When you consume this thick, sickly sweet liquid, it basically goes to the muscles and pulls water into it. Since you're not drinking any water at the time, the water that's attracted to the glycerol will come from beneath your skin. So, you'll look dryer and fuller at the same time!



Training Guidelines

Remember, our goal here is glycogen depletion, not muscle gain, although the "shock effect" of this style of training is certainly challenging to the body.

Monday: Full Body Workout

• Sets of 10-12 reps

• 3020 rep tempo (That's a three-second negative or eccentric, no pause, a two-second lifting portion or concentric, no pause, repeat.)

• 6-8 sets per muscle group

• 30 seconds rest max between sets

• Never hit failure. Excessive muscle damage slows down glycogen repletion. Stop 2-3 reps short of failure.

• Use alternating sets

Sample Workout

A1. Quad exercise, 10-12 reps
30 seconds rest

A2. Hamstring exercise, 10-12 reps
30 seconds rest

Repeat 6-8 times

B1. Back exercise, 10-12 reps
30 seconds rest

B2. Chest exercise, 10-12 reps
30 seconds rest

Repeat 6-8 times

C1. Triceps exercise, 10-12 reps
30 seconds rest

C2. Biceps exercise, 10-12 reps
30 seconds rest

Repeat 6-8 times

Note: It's best to do more sets of the same exercise than to use many exercises.

Tuesday: Full Body Workout, Different Exercises

Today you're going to do the same type of workout you did on Monday, with these differences:

• You can use different exercises (example: a row instead of a pulldown for back). Still use only one exercise per muscle group.

• 12 to 15 reps instead of 10 to 12

• Faster tempo: 2010

Wednesday: Upper Body Only

• 15-20 reps

• 2010 tempo

• 6-8 sets per muscle group, 30 seconds rest between alternative sets.

• Replace lower body work with shoulder work (dumbbell press alternated with bent over laterals for example.)

Thursday: Off Day or HIIT Day

No weight training today, but you may perform some HIIT-style cardio (intervals) to flush water and increase insulin sensitivity. This is the only day of the week you'll perform any type of cardio.


Friday Morning: Muscle Emphasis

If there's a muscle you want to emphasize on Saturday, train it on Friday morning, but de-emphasize the eccentric or negative portion of the movement as much as possible. Basically, perform sets of 12-15 reps in rhythmic, fairly fast fashion for 10-12 sets.

This will lead to more glycogen surcompensation in that muscle group so the next day it will look more full.

Saturday

It's time to pump up before your photo shoot or "unveiling" at the pool. Here's some guidelines:

1. If you over-pump, you'll have a lack of separation. If you under-pump, you'll look smaller. So, perform resistance training just enough to get a small pump and some vascularity going. This is especially true for the arms.

2. Don't pump up the legs; they look better unpumped.

3. Focus most of your pumping energies on shoulders and chest. It's pretty much impossible to over-pump your shoulders, so nail 'em good!

4. If you have a choice, keep the temperature in the room high. This facilitates the pump and keeps you pumped for longer.

Note: If you don't have it, you won't get it by pumping for 30 minutes! Pumping only highlights and polishes the physique. Again, if you're not lean enough, nothing — not water manipulation or pumping or lighting tricks — is going to help you.




4 Common Peaking Mistakes

Physique peaking and manipulating hydration is easy to screw up. In fact, even the top guys screw this up 25% of the time. Here are the most common mistakes:

Mistake #1: Not being lean enough to begin with

Playing with your water and glycogen levels can enhance the look of an already lean physique. It's the icing on the cake, so to speak, providing you with fuller muscle bellies, more separation, and enhanced vascularity.

But, if you're still a fat ass, then peaking strategies aren't going to do much for you! If you aren't below 10% body fat, don't even bother! A lot of bodybuilders blame their peaking procedures on their ****ty stage appearance, saying that they were "retaining water." No, they were retaining fat!

Guidelines: At between 8 and 10%, you'll see some decent improvements, but not super drastic. If you're between 6 and 8%, these techniques will make a marked difference in your appearance. And finally, if you're below 6% they'll leave you floored by the dramatic visual difference!

Mistake #2: Screwing with your mineral balance


Don't fart with your sodium intake! Many people sodium load for a few days, then sodium deplete and potassium load for the last few days of their peaking procedure. Do not do this!

It sounds simple enough: Sodium makes you hold subcutaneous water, and potassium favors retaining water in the muscles, right? Yes, technically, but it's much more complex than that. The body wants a proper mineral balance. If you drastically cut one mineral and bump up another one, you play with that balance and chances are you'll screw up.

Basically, you have a 50/50 chance of getting this right. You could very easily look much worse by toying with mineral balance. Now, you can avoid salting your foods in those last few days, but that's it.

Mistake #3: Cutting water intake too soon

Note that we only begin to cut our water intake in the afternoon on Friday (taking in only about a half gallon on Friday AM.) Many people attempt to cut fluid intake a full two days before an event, but this leads to deflated-looking muscles.

Cutting water intake too soon can also make you hold water because your body will upregulate its aldosterone levels, which will prevent flushing sodium and water out of your system. And oh yeah, not drinking anything for a couple of full days might just be unhealthy!


Mistake #4: Cutting water intake gradually

Many people will over-consume water (three gallons or more) for the first two or three days, then gradually decrease water over the next three or four days. This is another mistake. By gradually reducing water intake you lose the benefit of the flushing mode.

Why? Because over the two or three days of gradually reducing water intake, the body will adapt and bring its aldosterone levels back to normal. So you're flushing a lot of water at the beginning of the week, but very little at the end (when you really need to).

The best approach is to suddenly cut your water so that your body stays in ''flushing mode'' even when no water is coming in.






Hope this hellps

[trulygemini]

Originally Posted by PumpinPaddy

youre already pretty lean, i would just maintain and then cut for 10 days or so

you dont want to look skinny either

exactly. thats what i m afraid of.

i already have a lagging chest and i m scared of losing whateva muscle mass i have in them. i also have a small frame.


anyways, do u guys think if i start cutting now .. then in 3 weeks, could i go from 10% bf presently (i'm guessing) to lets say 6-7% ?

[btb925]

i had something similar like the 3 week crunch time you're talking about (wasn't a fashion show though, just a bet) ... I had 7 weeks to prepare though so obviously I had more time but the last 3 weeks was like this ...

Week 1 -

Cardio
3x HIIT on the bike/week (5 min warmup, 15 mins HIIT followed by 3 min cooldown)

I also did VERY light (hardly broke a sweat) 40~ mins a day everyday. Yes, even on the days I did HIIT because I did those in the morning and the 40 mins~ light cardio were at night (immediately post-workout)

Diet
I ate about 400-500 calories below maintenance. Very basic staple food. Protein came from eggs, tuna, chicken, whey powder, cottage cheese, lean ground beef. Carbs came from organic veggies, wheat bread. Fat was near zero ... I did not take any fish oils or peanut butter or almonds.

Week 2
Cardio
Same except I did only two HIIT a week instead of three. Light cardio everyday.

Diet
Same thing except the meal I had a turkey on wheat, I subbed it for salad + 2 chkn breast.

Week 3
Cardio
No HIIT. Just 2x 35-45 mins of light cardio everyday except Fridays.

Diet
Same diet as Week 2


In all three weeks, my training was the same ... I kept my workouts 1 muscle a day. And I did about 4-6 sets on each muscle. Rests were never longer than 30 seconds so obviously I used lighter weights but it was impossible not to sweat during my workouts. You literally just gotta keep moving and keep your workouts around 35 minutes (if you're doing 1 muscle/day).

I also took hydroxycut hardcore the last 4 weeks and a water pill in the last 7 days. Some people will obviously disagree with some info here but this worked extremely well for me. You will lose some muscle and you will lose some mass but any cut done properly will lose some. The key is how much and I lost very little .. in fact most people said I looked bigger.

edit -- Also, if you're going to do the light cardio immediately post-workout, drink your protein shake between them.

and if you wanna see the progress ... at 7 weeks out, I was kinda around your leanness except bit fatter (like 1.5% more bodyfat). At 3 weeks out this was me http://i44.tinypic.com/2ephagl.jpg and 1 day out, I was about 1.5% less body fat than that picture and about 3 lbs lighter.

[DC-user]

shredded in 6 days ^ was gonna say that

[trulygemini]

Originally Posted by DC-user

shredded in 6 days ^ was gonna say that

how much bf can i look forward to reduce in 2 weeks time?

[btb925]

like .5 at most ... be realistic ... 2 weeks is incredibly short and you're not exactly far from lean anyways