anyone have problems re: holding water on comp day? your experience pls!

[Powergirl]

Hi there -- going for my 4th show & need to be sure I don't turn into a water bag day of show from cutting too much water, eating too many carbs, too soon, etc. I've read lots your posts here and have heard some great advice, wondering if you could give me your thoughts...

Relevant info -- I'm a female natural competitor, 5'10", 145 lbs., and although I win my shows (to date, 3) I always seem to hold a little too much water in the legs. This time round I'm going for overalls and it's just this issue I'm worried about.

Just wondering if more experienced out there have some exact ratios/suggestions for me, especially those who are in the same boat as me:
1. carb gram day by day, starting Wednesday before
2. cutting water -- what's your magic formula (understanding it's different for everyone)
3. Taraxatone?
I am more concerned about coming on stage tight and hard, then full, if it means not holding water. Would it be best just to carb up the night before and cut water the Friday?
Your experience is much appreciated -- thanks!

[freaker]

I generally taper water down from 2-3 gallons starting Monday so I'm drinking next to no water by Friday. I also start carbing up on Friday, and go with about 40-50g of carbs from sweet potatos(I eat them raw so I get some water from that) every 2 hours. I take Taraxatone Monday-Friday. On Friday afternoon, before I go to bed, and on Saturday morning, I take 2 oz glycerol mixed with 2 oz water and 25 g Maxpro protein from Max Muscle(high in potassium). I also eat salted oranges and jolly ranchers right before I start pumping up to go on stage.

[jay1514929]

Powergirl, I can tell you my own experience but first I need to address Freaker.

Man how can you eat sweet potatos raw!!! I nearly gagged when I read this!!! I am begining on my "clean up" phase now and am forcing them down! Every time the fork reaches my mouth my taste buds scream! The interesting thing though is after a week or so of moderate carb depleting I will crave them again...

I have been reading a lot on pre-contest water consumption. Now, for my show in October I drank strictly distilled water. 3 and 4 months out I drank 2 to 3 gallons of regular water. Three weeks out I cut water down to a gallon per day. My schedule was as follows.

Mon---80oz. / day
Tue---60oz. / day
Wed---40oz. / day
Thur---40oz. / day
Fri---20oz. / day
Sat---show day--- Munched on Ice chips and sipped pedialite until after the show.

I Carb depleted Mon-Wed and Loaded using no sodium baby food Thur-Sat.

I made sure to bring as I would recomend you do (if you follow a plan like this) potassium pills.

Note: After 300 to 400 mg's of K I was not cramping but (and this is important) I wasn't getting a pump back stage!!! I think I had gone flat!

Please read this article I found on the site as I am re-thinking my next competition stratagy. It is pretty eye opening. I would like to see if the Veterans agree!!! CAN YOU VETS COMMENT?

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/casi3.htm

I also used Preperation H and saran wrap to get rid of stubborn surface water...

I took a water pill for 2 days.

Hope this helps
J

[Powergirl]

Hi there - thanks for your posts...my next question is do you think holding water for that long (5 days..m-f) could actually cause your body to retain? I did this for my second shoe...began restricting on Wednesday and for Thurs/Fri drank no watervirtually. I was a water bag on stage. Now I restricted for my other 2 shows too -- I was not holding so much water, but still some -- and I drank a little bit on the Friday. But my LEGS still were full of water by the morning of the show.
Now I have also heard of people sipping earl gray tea or coffee instead of water...or measuring their water that they urinate and replacing 1/2 of that with tea/coffee. Then there are those who say "nothing extreme" and only cut their water the Friday pm before!
TALK ABOUT CONFUSING! I guess my answer will also come from experience but hopefully some natural's out there can help out with their positive / negative experiences.
p.s. I think I would be scared to cut water from MOnday onwards!

[jay1514929]

Yeah I am begining to think there is a solution for everyone and everyone's solution is different. I guess trial and error will be our professor. This is why journals are so important.

[freaker]

To jay1514929: I think raw sweet potatos taste better than carrots, I like them, but after 4 pounds of them in a day I do tend to get sick of them. About Francesco's article, his plan obviously works well for him, but I know it wouldn't work well for me, we are all different.

Powergirl: When I'm talking about cutting water Monday, I'm talking about 2 gallons Monday, 1.5 gallons Tueasday, 1 gallon Wednesday, 1/2 gallon Thursday, next to nothing on Friday, next to nothing on Saturday. I'm a natural bodybuilder and it has always worked well for me to cut water completely on Friday and Saturday. Other natural bodybuilders will say that the cutting water thing is only for steroid-using bodybuilders, and many say that you should continue to drink plenty of water right up to the day of the show. You really have to experiment to find out what works best for you

[Powergirl]

thanks for clarifying...I know that I am one of those that need to cut water for my show -- I hold so much -- it's of course just the balance and the timing, but of course that is the never-ending question for us bodybuilders, that is.
I think I may do a mini-practice run 5 weeks out (that is, next week) and see what happens...most other shows I throw the dice and do some "basic" carb-loading and dehydration and hope for the best, the day of. What I find is that I should have taken more risks with my carb-up (ie. I don't fill up nearly as nicely until the night show...bad timing!) and I am holding water by the night show...hmmm...so I guess I'll try again - I think I may go with your approach and see what happens. Thanks for your insight -- I also read the article, which was very informative both from a technical point of view and a practical one!
Happy lifting (& happy dieting!)
Powergirl

[AussieTank]

Read that 10 days out article on the front page of bb.com at the moment it one of the best articles ove read regarding water and sodium ect