Competing for the 1st time this saturday, questions about final preparation!

[XClassic10]

I've been following layne's contest prep article the whole way through and it has worked wonders, so thanks a lot for that! I have a lot of questions about some things, I'm trying to get this done right. any answers are much appreciated.



1. for tanning I have pro tan overnight competition color and dream tan #2, heard so many good things about them. I'm either gonna do one coat each day tuesday-friday, or one coat on wednesday, thursday and 2 on friday. then I heard you're not supposed to shave after you start putting on your pro tan coats, so how would you able to put coats on that early if you can't shave after that? layne even recommended starting 7 days out but i don't see how that would be possible if you're not supposed to shave after that.. so I'm not sure what to even do here or when I should shave for the last time. advice on this?


2. I'm putting on my dream tan an hour before prejudging like you're supposed to. do you put on another coat of dream tan an hour before the night show? and i heard this stuff is messy and stains clothes, so that does that mean between prejudging and the night show you have to stay in your posing trunks the whole time or what?


3. do you shave your arms pits and arms? I'll probably end up shaving my pits but I didn't think you really needed to shave your arms. the hair is so thin there that from a distance you can't even see it. but idk anymore, I figured it wouldn't hurt to shave it. what do you guys think?


4. what's a good meal to have 2 hours before prejudging? the article says something with 75-90 carbs, 20-30 fat, and 1000-2000 mg sodium. what's a good meal that fits those macros?


5. what exactly happens in the night show? individual posing routines to music i know, but do you go back out there as a group and do mandatories again or what?


6. and dumb question but does it matter what you wear to check-in that friday night? i know for the meeting that next morning you're supposed to wear a dark baggy sweatshirt and sweatpants, didn't know if the same applies to the friday night check-in.




I know it's a lot lol, I just don't wanna mess anything up. I may have some more questions later that I'm forgetting, but these are the main ones that I was concerned about.

[HTML_Rulez_D00d]

classic, when you were dieting, in the gym did you drop your volume a little bit?

Ive never cut before this is all new to me. Wouldnt it be logical to drop the volume a little bit and get out the gym a little quicker as long as your still lifting heavy and getting the job done?

[OoFaP]

1. You don't need to start Pro tan that early. If you use Dream Tan right then you don't even need the Pro Tan at all most likely but it won't hurt. I would start Thursday with 2 coats and then another 2 coats on Friday. Make sure you apply it, wait about 5 hours to shower it off. When you shower, you will lose a lot of color but you need to rinse between coats or else it will run when you sweat and stuff. Just shave before you start applying it on Thursday morning.

2. Put Dream Tan on an hour before pre judging or earlier. Dream Tan is amazing and looks incredible if you do it right but most people do it wrong. You don't really rub it in. You have to slap it in. It should hurt actually. Check out this thread for how to put it on. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...ight=dream+tan

It's only messy if you are messy with it but it does stain clothes. Once it dries, it won't really get everywhere but it will smudge a little so you may need to touch it up before the night show. You shouldn't need a full second coat. Just touch ups. You can put clothes on top of it if you need to but just be prepared to throw those clothes out after.

3. Shave everything.

4. You can have pancakes with syrup, a meatball sub from Subway, a pan pizza. Anything really.

5. It could be different depending on the organization but most likely you will do your routine to music and then they will call each class out for the awards. Once the class winners are chosen, there will be a pose down for the overall.

6. It doesn't matter what you wear. You will weigh in though in either posing trunks or underwear. The black pants and sweatshirt is just to keep you warm but it's not a big deal. I'd just wear something that you don't care about since everything you bring may get messy and stained by Dream Tan.

[Rsardinia]

Dream tan is all you need. Just put it on the night before (as said above smack it in, not rub, and don't put any on your hands, feet or face so you can sleep in it), then put on some clothes you don't care about over it because they will get messy. Sleep in the stuff, gives you a good base tan, then you just touch up the morning of at the show. Put clothes on in between morning and night show that you don't care about again, then touch up the dream tan before finals again.

[XClassic10]

classic, when you were dieting, in the gym did you drop your volume a little bit?

Ive never cut before this is all new to me. Wouldnt it be logical to drop the volume a little bit and get out the gym a little quicker as long as your still lifting heavy and getting the job done?

i pretty much lifted the exact same throughout my cut as i did when i was bulking, didn't really change anything. what you're saying makes sense too, but i'm not too knowledgeable on the subject lol

1. You don't need to start Pro tan that early. If you use Dream Tan right then you don't even need the Pro Tan at all most likely but it won't hurt. I would start Thursday with 2 coats and then another 2 coats on Friday. Make sure you apply it, wait about 5 hours to shower it off. When you shower, you will lose a lot of color but you need to rinse between coats or else it will run when you sweat and stuff. Just shave before you start applying it on Thursday morning.

2. Put Dream Tan on an hour before pre judging or earlier. Dream Tan is amazing and looks incredible if you do it right but most people do it wrong. You don't really rub it in. You have to slap it in. It should hurt actually. Check out this thread for how to put it on. http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...ight=dream+tan

It's only messy if you are messy with it but it does stain clothes. Once it dries, it won't really get everywhere but it will smudge a little so you may need to touch it up before the night show. You shouldn't need a full second coat. Just touch ups. You can put clothes on top of it if you need to but just be prepared to throw those clothes out after.

3. Shave everything.

4. You can have pancakes with syrup, a meatball sub from Subway, a pan pizza. Anything really.

5. It could be different depending on the organization but most likely you will do your routine to music and then they will call each class out for the awards. Once the class winners are chosen, there will be a pose down for the overall.

6. It doesn't matter what you wear. You will weigh in though in either posing trunks or underwear. The black pants and sweatshirt is just to keep you warm but it's not a big deal. I'd just wear something that you don't care about since everything you bring may get messy and stained by Dream Tan.

thanks a lot for the detailed repsonses man, you covered everything. repped ya

Dream tan is all you need. Just put it on the night before (as said above smack it in, not rub, and don't put any on your hands, feet or face so you can sleep in it), then put on some clothes you don't care about over it because they will get messy. Sleep in the stuff, gives you a good base tan, then you just touch up the morning of at the show. Put clothes on in between morning and night show that you don't care about again, then touch up the dream tan before finals again.

ok cool sounds good. i already have the pro tan so i may as well use it, plus it'll give a base tan if any dream tan would happen to rub off. do you know what orgs dream tan is banned in? a friend at the gym today told me dream tan was banned in his nanbf show a few years ago so i'm kinda worried about that now.

[XClassic10]

oh and also, do you have to do side chest/tri for both sides? it probably depends on the organization but yeah. my left side just feels kinda awkward compared to my right.

[OoFaP]

oh and also, do you have to do side chest/tri for both sides? it probably depends on the organization but yeah. my left side just feels kinda awkward compared to my right.

Depends on the organization. I didn't have to with the INBF but be prepared to do both.

[snes85]

This is what I did (since I'm sure these vary a good bit from person to person):

1. I used one coat of Pro Tan on everything but face, hands, and feet early on Friday, then applied a coat of Dream Tan #2 on Friday night. Put on some old clothes and slept in that. Friday morning before prejudging just touched up the Dream Tan, then after prejudging put the clothes back on. Right before the night show just touched up the Dream Tan again. I think it really is all in the application of Dream Tan that makes it turn out good or not (can see the link someone posted above about "slapping" it in).

2. ^

3. Armpits were the most annoying to shave lol, but yeah shaved everything, allows the tanner to be applied better.

4. A sub would probably be the easiest.

5. Night show for SNBF was just a quick run through quarter turns with a couple other mandatories (side chest and side tricep), and then individual posing routines. Then when competing for the novice overall (same for open) there was also a posedown between the winners in each novice class (or open class).

6. Wear what you want to check-in.

oh and also, do you have to do side chest/tri for both sides? it probably depends on the organization but yeah. my left side just feels kinda awkward compared to my right.

I competed with the SNBF and they called out a "best side tricep" and "best side chest," but oddly enough specifically called for "crab-style most muscular"..

[XClassic10]

thanks so much for the guys who have posted and helped. repped everyone. i asked a guy who competed in my show last year and we have to do it on both sides.. damnit haha. nanbf requires some weird poses too.. like the back hamstring pose, intercostal side ab, hands on hip with leg flex and rotation... not used to these.


also, i'm carb depleting right now, and i just feel reallllyyyy small and flat it's seriously really depressing i feel like sh*t. is it normal to feel this small? will filling out and carb loading really make that huge of a difference in how i look? i almost wanna start loading earlier than 8 on friday night as layne suggests just to avoid coming in flat and small.. what do u guys think?

[fltallpaul]

It seems like all the questions have been answered with the exception of your pre stage meal. I have used a hamburger, sub and protein bar to reach those numbers. The best idea is to use something that you know your body can handle. Last thing you want is to be bloated.

Feeling small is a part of the process. I always feel really strange the last few days before the show because I stop lifiting heavy and lose muscle soreness. However, once I start to pump up for the stage I become a different person and confidence is restored.

[Withoutreason]

Not read through this thread so I might be repeating stuff, I've only done one comp but here is some useful information I found

- Dont eat a lot on the day of the comp, IMO the more you eat the fuller(maybe vascular) you'll look, the less you eat the tighter you'll look (abs)
- Try and get a **** out as close to the comp as possible, and a piss out just before hitting the stage
- Use light weights to pump up, the weights I used were too heavy and I ended up cramping up slightly whilst pumping up
- Dont apply too mush posing oil
- Sip on water
- Smile when posing
- Dont let talking to competitors interfere with your schedule

[OoFaP]

thanks so much for the guys who have posted and helped. repped everyone. i asked a guy who competed in my show last year and we have to do it on both sides.. damnit haha. nanbf requires some weird poses too.. like the back hamstring pose, intercostal side ab, hands on hip with leg flex and rotation... not used to these.


also, i'm carb depleting right now, and i just feel reallllyyyy small and flat it's seriously really depressing i feel like sh*t. is it normal to feel this small? will filling out and carb loading really make that huge of a difference in how i look? i almost wanna start loading earlier than 8 on friday night as layne suggests just to avoid coming in flat and small.. what do u guys think?

Definitely carb load way earlier than the article says. I did 600 carbs on Thursday, 400 on Friday and I could have handled way more than that but decided to play it safe. On show day I had well over 1,000 carbs through out the day and didn't spill over. It will be very difficult for you to fill out if you start loading that late but I was a lot more depleted than you so it could be slightly different. That article is old and Layne even said one belief he has changed since then is using a more aggressive carb load.

[XClassic10]

It seems like all the questions have been answered with the exception of your pre stage meal. I have used a hamburger, sub and protein bar to reach those numbers. The best idea is to use something that you know your body can handle. Last thing you want is to be bloated.

Feeling small is a part of the process. I always feel really strange the last few days before the show because I stop lifiting heavy and lose muscle soreness. However, once I start to pump up for the stage I become a different person and confidence is restored.

i think i've decided on a 6 inch meatball marinara from subway, along with a rice cake probably. the macros seem to fit pretty perfectly.

and ok sounds good, that's exactly what i wanted to hear. hopefully i feel the same

Not read through this thread so I might be repeating stuff, I've only done one comp but here is some useful information I found

- Dont eat a lot on the day of the comp, IMO the more you eat the fuller(maybe vascular) you'll look, the less you eat the tighter you'll look (abs)
- Try and get a **** out as close to the comp as possible, and a piss out just before hitting the stage
- Use light weights to pump up, the weights I used were too heavy and I ended up cramping up slightly whilst pumping up
- Dont apply too mush posing oil
- Sip on water
- Smile when posing
- Dont let talking to competitors interfere with your schedule

thanks man good tips

Definitely carb load way earlier than the article says. I did 600 carbs on Thursday, 400 on Friday and I could have handled way more than that but decided to play it safe. On show day I had well over 1,000 carbs through out the day and didn't spill over. It will be very difficult for you to fill out if you start loading that late but I was a lot more depleted than you so it could be slightly different. That article is old and Layne even said one belief he has changed since then is using a more aggressive carb load.

oh wow. now that's a LOT of carbs haha. you're naturally leaner than me and you were a good deal leaner than i was at this point (you got crazy shredded for your 1st contest, great job), so i don't know if i could handle that many without spilling over.

my whole prep i've been 200+ carbs daily. sunday i was about 190, monday 170, tuesday 145, and today i'm a little over 100. don't really know where to go from this point now.

i was thinking i could either drop again to about 80 tomorrow, then start friday morning and get about 300+ (more even...?) throughout the day, then about 200 before prejudging saturday morning, then another 200 or so before the night show... or, i could get about 200 in tomorrow, 200-300 friday, then same as above for saturday. what do you guys think?


EDIT:

oh and something weird happened with my weight today. i don't remember exactly when i weighed myself last, but i know it was late last week sometime, i was around 172. i weighed myself again today after my final workout and i was only 167! don't know how i've dropped about 5 lbs. since then, i've been making up the dropped carbs with extra protein and fat so it's not like i've been drastically dropping cals. is that due to the carb depletion regardless?

[magrant44]

EDIT:

oh and something weird happened with my weight today. i don't remember exactly when i weighed myself last, but i know it was late last week sometime, i was around 172. i weighed myself again today after my final workout and i was only 167! don't know how i've dropped about 5 lbs. since then, i've been making up the dropped carbs with extra protein and fat so it's not like i've been drastically dropping cals. is that due to the carb depletion regardless?

This happened to me as well with the same weights, 172-167 and I definitely did not take in enough carbs before the show... Just something to think about.

[OoFaP]

i think i've decided on a 6 inch meatball marinara from subway, along with a rice cake probably. the macros seem to fit pretty perfectly.

and ok sounds good, that's exactly what i wanted to hear. hopefully i feel the same






thanks man good tips






oh wow. now that's a LOT of carbs haha. you're naturally leaner than me and you were a good deal leaner than i was at this point (you got crazy shredded for your 1st contest, great job), so i don't know if i could handle that many without spilling over.

my whole prep i've been 200+ carbs daily. sunday i was about 190, monday 170, tuesday 145, and today i'm a little over 100. don't really know where to go from this point now.

i was thinking i could either drop again to about 80 tomorrow, then start friday morning and get about 300+ (more even...?) throughout the day, then about 200 before prejudging saturday morning, then another 200 or so before the night show... or, i could get about 200 in tomorrow, 200-300 friday, then same as above for saturday. what do you guys think?


EDIT:

oh and something weird happened with my weight today. i don't remember exactly when i weighed myself last, but i know it was late last week sometime, i was around 172. i weighed myself again today after my final workout and i was only 167! don't know how i've dropped about 5 lbs. since then, i've been making up the dropped carbs with extra protein and fat so it's not like i've been drastically dropping cals. is that due to the carb depletion regardless?

I got the Subway meatball marinara lol. I got the foot long though and should have eaten like 5 of them. You will have a plan and once you get there nothing fits your schedule. The show runs late, you need to go to your competitors' meeting, waiting on lines, applying tan etc. It's always better to play it safe with carbs but you will be able to handle a lot more than you think.

I'm definitely not "naturally leaner." I hate when people say I'm naturally like this since I can get so fat so easily. I eat clean all year round without cheating contest prep or not to stay lean. You haven't been dieting as long as I did so you won't be as depleted but you can definitely handle more than you think. I would at least start Thursday with 300 and see how you look on Friday and go from there. Your weight drop is from lowering carbs the past few days. You don't realize how depleted you really are.

[XClassic10]

This happened to me as well with the same weights, 172-167 and I definitely did not take in enough carbs before the show... Just something to think about.

strong coincidence lol. how much carbs did you take in before the show? and how many do you think you should have taken in since you feel you didn't take in enough? would be good to know since we experienced the same situation and have similar body types.

I got the Subway meatball marinara lol. I got the foot long though and should have eaten like 5 of them. You will have a plan and once you get there nothing fits your schedule. The show runs late, you need to go to your competitors' meeting, waiting on lines, applying tan etc. It's always better to play it safe with carbs but you will be able to handle a lot more than you think.

I'm definitely not "naturally leaner." I hate when people say I'm naturally like this since I can get so fat so easily. I eat clean all year round without cheating contest prep or not to stay lean. You haven't been dieting as long as I did so you won't be as depleted but you can definitely handle more than you think. I would at least start Thursday with 300 and see how you look on Friday and go from there. Your weight drop is from lowering carbs the past few days. You don't realize how depleted you really are.

sorry man, i was just going off an assumption. you're probably right, i didn't eat clean at all before my prep and that's why i got so fat. if i ate clean like you did, i'm sure our "natural leanness" is probably pretty close. how long did you diet for? mine was about 17-17.5 weeks.

just to play it safe since it's probably better to come in flat rather than bloated, i think i'll start tomorrow late afternoon/early evening and get 150-200 in before bed. i'll see how i look friday morning then assess it from that point. i'll probably get about 30-50 every 2-3 hours all day friday and judge it as the day goes. since i've never really experimented with the whole carb depletion/loading thing it's gonna be a guess and check kinda thing, as it is for most 1st timers. at least i'll know my body better for my next contest and i'll have a better understanding for what my body can and can't take in.

[OoFaP]

lol its ok..just a million people have been commenting lately on how I'm just naturally like this and assume I'm just lucky when I've been working my ass off.

I dieted like 16 weeks strict. No cheats, no off days, no missed work outs. I dieted slowly for like 8 more weeks before that though.

Have you been doign refeeds? I used refeeds to test out different amounts of carbs and sources as a test run for the real thing.

[XClassic10]

lol its ok..just a million people have been commenting lately on how I'm just naturally like this and assume I'm just lucky when I've been working my ass off.

I dieted like 16 weeks strict. No cheats, no off days, no missed work outs. I dieted slowly for like 8 more weeks before that though.

Have you been doign refeeds? I used refeeds to test out different amounts of carbs and sources as a test run for the real thing.

i hear ya there. i've probably had about ~5 cheat meals total, and i was pretty high bodyfat when i started, so yeah, definitely room for improvement next prep.

i didn't start incorporating refeeds until like 6-8 weeks out cause i'm an idiot lol, idk why i didn't earlier. for some reason i always felt like it was "cheating" in a way since you get to eat so many good carbs and cals, that's why i didn't start it earlier. then when i did i realized it was vital and i'm stupid for not doing them sooner haha. but i always felt very full when i did them, kinda bloated though, but i would wake up the next morning looking/feeling good. the bloatedness probably only occurred cause i was taking in 200+ carbs everyday anyways so it's not like i was ever even close to being depleted. since i'm pretty damn depleted right now i'm sure the results would be way different

[Barn01]

lol its ok..just a million people have been commenting lately on how I'm just naturally like this and assume I'm just lucky when I've been working my ass off.

I dieted like 16 weeks strict. No cheats, no off days, no missed work outs. I dieted slowly for like 8 more weeks before that though.

Have you been doign refeeds? I used refeeds to test out different amounts of carbs and sources as a test run for the real thing.

I hear that ... I diet and work my ass off to look like I do for a comp or even just everyday in the gym. Haven't had a drink in over 7 months (not that I was ever a big drinker) and rarely ever have cheat meals let alone a cheat day (I can't even remember the last time I had a cheat day ... well over 6 months). People in the gym including trainers all like to fluff it off on great genetics. If they only knew how much of a lifestyle and work it was to look that way. It kinda bugs me when I hear it but I'm also used to it.

I think the funniest comments are the guys that just assume you're on gear. That use to bug me but now I take it as a compliment

[Warrior9]

i envy you ppl who can cut on 200+ carbs... must be nice, did you get moody at all throughout your prep while you were on 200+ carbs? and what were your refeeds like?

oofap, you as well? were you moody at all during your prep? because you seem like you can cut on a ton of carbs.

[OoFaP]

I hear that ... I diet and work my ass off to look like I do for a comp or even just everyday in the gym. Haven't had a drink in over 7 months (not that I was ever a big drinker) and rarely ever have cheat meals let alone a cheat day (I can't even remember the last time I had a cheat day ... well over 6 months). People in the gym including trainers all like to fluff it off on great genetics. If they only knew how much of a lifestyle and work it was to look that way. It kinda bugs me when I hear it but I'm also used to it.

I think the funniest comments are the guys that just assume you're on gear. That use to bug me but now I take it as a compliment

Exactly. People will ask me for help and then immediately start saying stuff like "well you're young." "well, you're naturally lean." As soon as someone starts to assume stuff, I drop any plans of trying to help them and just blow them off. A few people did compliment me saying that I look good and not to turn to drugs because I look natural and perfect as is lol.

i envy you ppl who can cut on 200+ carbs... must be nice, did you get moody at all throughout your prep while you were on 200+ carbs? and what were your refeeds like?

oofap, you as well? were you moody at all during your prep? because you seem like you can cut on a ton of carbs.

Yeah I was moody. My carbs weren't that high. They never went below 160 on training days though. On my days where I just did cardio they went to 100. I believe in keeping fats pretty low (20% of total calories) and protein not unnecessarily high so that you can eat more carbs.

[magrant44]

strong coincidence lol. how much carbs did you take in before the show? and how many do you think you should have taken in since you feel you didn't take in enough? would be good to know since we experienced the same situation and have similar body types.

I think I took in about 800 total carbs leading up to the day of the show...I think I should have taken almost double that. Although I was not lean enough to see all the benifits of carb loading, I feel like I could have taken in more.

[Dnarts]

I did three shows this season and did a lot of experimentation. The first time, I depleted hard for three days and started carbing up wednesday night up until the show. The second, I did the same thing while tapering water. The third time, I didn't deplete and did twice as many carbs and had a big steak/cheesecake the night before and a pancake/bacon/egg breakfast the morning of. By far, the third show I was the best. I also dieted for 8 more weeks between the second and third shows.