hey brahs, making skin thinner?!?

[Jerma]

Oi, i don't don't but i am interested in the last stages of contest prep. I am finishing my cut in a week or two, and even areas on my arms where i can barely pinch any skin i don't look like a lot of the professionals. Is there a secret to losing water in your skin to make it thinner and allow striations to be seen better? Would cutting sodium out do this, if so how much and for how long? also does doing that decrease vascularity at the same time? thanks for the input.

[AustrianOakJr]

Oi, i don't don't but i am interested in the last stages of contest prep. I am finishing my cut in a week or two, and even areas on my arms where i can barely pinch any skin i don't look like a lot of the professionals. Is there a secret to losing water in your skin to make it thinner and allow striations to be seen better? Would cutting sodium out do this, if so how much and for how long? also does doing that decrease vascularity at the same time? thanks for the input.

Thin skin comes from losing body fat. If you cant see striations under the skin it simply means there is more fat to lose. Most people severely underestimate how much fat they actually hold and it takes a couple of contest preps to really dial it in and get that "thin skin" look. Keep dieting!!!

[Cytrainer913]

This also is a very genetic thing as well, some will just never get that extremely thin skin ever, yes they can still be very defined and have some very good separation but for everyone to have that extreme think skin say like Philip Ricardo, I hope I spelled it correctly, isn't just going to happen to everyone. Dr. Joe gets very lean but he will be the 1st to tell you that he was born with thicker skin, and it can have to do with the number of fat cells we are born with, so it could be a dogfight for some to get that leaner look!

[AustrianOakJr]

This also is a very genetic thing as well, some will just never get that extremely thin skin ever, yes they can still be very defined and have some very good separation but for everyone to have that extreme think skin say like Philip Ricardo, I hope I spelled it correctly, isn't just going to happen to everyone. Dr. Joe gets very lean but he will be the 1st to tell you that he was born with thicker skin, and it can have to do with the number of fat cells we are born with, so it could be a dogfight for some to get that leaner look!

I agree to some extent. Some people have thicker skin than others. But striations can be seen on just about everyone who diets long enough. Now, that uber-thin, freaky grainy look? Well, maybe there is a genetic component at work there. Hopefully, not......im still working on getting there.

[areya2005]

I want to chime in because I feel I have "thicker skin." I'm one week out right now, and I'm no Tommy Jeffers lean or anything, but I don't have much fat left. There is a little left on my love handles, but I guess that's not going anywhere in a week....

Anyway...when I pinch the skin in spots like my chest and abs, there's no fat at all, but the skinfold thickness I think is still larger than most. I think that's why losing the sub-Q water is such a big deal for me. I tend to hold a lot of water (prob to my retarded sodium levels), and in addition to the thick skin, it doesn't look as lean as it is.

I don't even know if any of that makes sense....lol

[AustrianOakJr]

I want to chime in because I feel I have "thicker skin." I'm one week out right now, and I'm no Tommy Jeffers lean or anything, but I don't have much fat left. There is a little left on my love handles, but I guess that's not going anywhere in a week....

Anyway...when I pinch the skin in spots like my chest and abs, there's no fat at all, but the skinfold thickness I think is still larger than most. I think that's why losing the sub-Q water is such a big deal for me. I tend to hold a lot of water (prob to my retarded sodium levels), and in addition to the thick skin, it doesn't look as lean as it is.

I don't even know if any of that makes sense....lol

Sub q water isnt held due to high levels of sodium. A massive sodium spike that is out of the ordinary can trigger some holding. But the body is very efficient at controlling water and sodium......your life depends on it. Just dont expect very much from "shedding water" in the final days of pre-comp. Most every male competitor who thinks they are holding water is simply holding fat. Its darn near impossible to get rid of it all the first time out.

[Confidence777]

Here's a way to judge, if you are not at the point of where u have striated glutes, you are not as lean as u think. Shredding water is a myth unless your into some heavy ananolics. Cut more fat! I cannot stress it enough. There is no sugar coating in this sport if you want to get noticed

[Barn01]

I want to chime in because I feel I have "thicker skin." I'm one week out right now, and I'm no Tommy Jeffers lean or anything, but I don't have much fat left. There is a little left on my love handles, but I guess that's not going anywhere in a week....

Anyway...when I pinch the skin in spots like my chest and abs, there's no fat at all, but the skinfold thickness I think is still larger than most. I think that's why losing the sub-Q water is such a big deal for me. I tend to hold a lot of water (prob to my retarded sodium levels), and in addition to the thick skin, it doesn't look as lean as it is.

I don't even know if any of that makes sense....lol

So you pinch a "thick" skin fold and yet you have "no fat at all" in those areas? *Think about that for a min! *How do you know it's just skin and not fat, or how do you know it's water and not fat?

If you are pinching then you aren't measuring water. *You're measuring fat! *What ever fold thickeness you get divide by 2 and that's how "Thick" your fat layer is. * *Now just because you do a skin fold in an area that has a low density of fat, doesn't mean there aren't other areas with higher densities of fat. *As you get leaner the body will choose the fat cells that will release energy with the least resistance. *There's no magic ball here so you'll never exactly know where that is. *You can assume that once you have almost NO fat in an area that the next time your body burns fat that it will have to start coming from somewhere else. *So thick skin or not ... keep getting leaner and your skin folds will get thinner.

I remember when someone took a bicep skin fold after my last comp ... 1.2mm (0.6mm covering the muscle) he said that's the leanest number he's seen.

[simpleguy4]

Oi, i don't don't but i am interested in the last stages of contest prep. I am finishing my cut in a week or two, and even areas on my arms where i can barely pinch any skin i don't look like a lot of the professionals. Is there a secret to losing water in your skin to make it thinner and allow striations to be seen better? Would cutting sodium out do this, if so how much and for how long? also does doing that decrease vascularity at the same time? thanks for the input.

If that "water" is there every day...from morning to night...if is not water__it is fat. What little water may be present at times is very variable...sometimes there and sometimes not depending on variables (diet, sodium, hydration, stress, irritants or allergies, etc). If you are a guy who wakes up dry, hard and grainy and then by afternoon or evening you look a little smoother---that is a case of slight water retention. The bottom line is that once you do achieve exteme stage condition it is very hard/rare to hold any appreciable amount of water.....the guys who are ripped (Jeffers, Ricardo, Norton, Revelia, etc) would probably tell you they are like that 24/7 once in true contest shape.

[areya2005]

That's what I'm saying...it will look and feel different on a daily basis. Fat mass isn't going to accumulate or diminish that drastically so fast, but for me, water will. I rememer there was a day where I thought I looked the leanest ever, and I still weighed a few pounds more than I do now. It was a water thing.

I'm not relying on water loss to make me look "perfect," but I honestly believe it will help. Do I have some more fat to lose? Yes...a bit. However I've been dieting for 25 weeks now and have lost close to 40lbs. My body is just done! I'm just looking very forward to growing and getting leaner in this same show next year.

Note: This will be my first show. Although I've done my best, I don't expect to be leaner than the more experienced competitors. However, I've learned a TON and when I apply it next year, I'm sure I'll bring a better package.