Layne Norton's Peak Week Official Q&A Thread

[NFGasparri]

Does anyone recommend taking a pre-workout energy supplement on competition show day directly before posing on stage? If no, what will help for pumping up?

[wrkoutfrq]

Does anyone recommend taking a pre-workout energy supplement on competition show day directly before posing on stage? If no, what will help for pumping up?

Some people do, if it's a pump promoting matrix. I wouldn't add one you aren't familiar with, and even if you are I'd be damn sure you had the timing down and everything

[NFGasparri]

Some people do, if it's a pump promoting matrix. I wouldn't add one you aren't familiar with, and even if you are I'd be damn sure you had the timing down and everything

Thanks. I sure do not want a crash from an energy supp too so I probably will not take one.

[savedbygrace777]

Hey There!
I was reading the nutrition for all the hours BEFORE prejudging, but after?
All it says is to consume 30 g of carbs till night show.
Do you repeat the same plan for the night show (eat a high fat, sodium, carb meal like a sub...)?
Or do you just eat the carbs and you are good to go?

Thanks a whole lot...

[red_cat]

Does anyone recommend taking a pre-workout energy supplement on competition show day directly before posing on stage? If no, what will help for pumping up?

The carbs you've eaten throughout the morning should be enough to get a good pump going. I've taken pre-workout supps before stepping on stage and noticed a small difference. After a long diet, I'm incredibly tolerant to stimulants, so I wasn't worried about crashing at all.

Hey There!
I was reading the nutrition for all the hours BEFORE prejudging, but after?
All it says is to consume 30 g of carbs till night show.
Do you repeat the same plan for the night show (eat a high fat, sodium, carb meal like a sub...)?
Or do you just eat the carbs and you are good to go?

Thanks a whole lot...

If you've followed something similar to Layne's plan, you should be good to go out and have a respectable lunch. Personally I like going to Jimmie John's and after that I generally eat every 3 hours or so, just like I normally do. As for the night show, I just repeat what worked well in the morning. You won't need to do a full load, but have a couple of meals with a decent amount of carbs ready to go in case the night show goes long.

[PaulROSS1]

You said "we should limit vegetables and fiber 16 - 20 before pre judging" then what kind of food should I have at that time? (Give me some examples)

[FlashNutrition]

We filmed this the week of the Olympia in Vegas so I was in between shows. We put a lot of work into these so I hope you guys like them and they are helpful

Its crazy, every coach I ever had in the past had me do all the wrong things. Back loading carbs, cutting sodium, taking diuretics, you name it, and always struggled to get any kind of a pump. I am going to follow you guide for my show in 8 days, I look forward to actually getting that pump before I hit the stage.

[BodySpaceAdmin]

On a sidenote, we're going to revamp the look of Layne's Peak Week series on Bodybuilding.com, so stay tuned for the pages to look different by week end!

[kidkemp]

Hi Layne,

BIG fan of yours!

I don't believe I am quite as lean as I should be for my upcoming competition. If by the last week I don't feel lean enough, should I simply keep my nutrition the same and do a small carb up the day before? Or should I try and attempt the peak weak regardless. If I did just keep things the same and take the extra week would I still do the circuit training etc.? Thanks so much man

[Badgerone]

Hi, I have 4 comps coming up that I have committed to, they are in a 5-6week window, question is how does one go from comp to comp?? How do you peak for each one after the 1st? I have studied everything I can and two is fine but is doing 4 biting off more than one can chew or do I just chew like crazy and give it my all? Cut has gone exceptionally well, just don't know how long someone can hold a peak for? Two is the most I have done before! For the 1st two I am going to front load then back load the second do I keep that protocol?
Many thanks the Shredded Badger

[tjbalan214]

Question on the final days (friday, showday) what should water consumption be like, i understand laynes protocol for not cutting water to zero curious should it drop to say half a gallon? 1/4 a gallon? sips on show day. For which ever would be right does the introduction of carb loading pull all the waterloading you have been consuming in the past week into muscle? and with the proper sodium intake it that how it allows that to happen?

[wrkoutfrq]

I wouldn't drop it at all... just stay consistent. Remember that water is needed to help store glycogen, important for filling out to the show and getting a pump. Not all the water will shuttle into the muscle, your body tries to maintain homeostasis, which means it distribute equally between intra and extra cellular. When combined with carb loading, it will be more inclined to be paired with water as it's stored as glycogen (I think, been a while since I had any physiology)

[red_cat]

Question on the final days (friday, showday) what should water consumption be like, i understand laynes protocol for not cutting water to zero curious should it drop to say half a gallon? 1/4 a gallon? sips on show day. For which ever would be right does the introduction of carb loading pull all the waterloading you have been consuming in the past week into muscle? and with the proper sodium intake it that how it allows that to happen?

Some people might benefit from a small reduction in water and Layne even calls for tapering into the show in his "Peak Week" plan on here. I'd say that once evening rolls around on Friday, don't over do it on the water. Drink if you're thirsty. If you've been doing a gallon or more leading into the show, your body should be well hydrated and have plenty of water to pull into the cells with your increased carbs.

[tjbalan214]

should the sodium stick around the same? ive been at 2000mg last5 days or cut it down and just reintroduce the higher sodium with the 2 hour sub layne recommends? Thanks Red and wrkoutfrq for clearing that up! my carbing up starts tonight after the spray!

[PostOfficeRus]

Layne is a beast.

[Bearox]

I'm interested in taking my bodybuilding to the next level and to start competiting, currently natural but I am willing todo what it takes to try reac h the goal in mind of IFBB mens physique

Can anyone point me in the right direction or recommend someone on Bodyspace I should try get in touch with?

EDIT: I have been training for neally 3 years

[maxcabral]

Awesome layne, mad respect.

This will come in handy in 8 weeks

[Dustin216]

Is this thread still active?

[jamezax]

I wonder... Is this thread still alive?

[Leeps83]

Can't wait to try this for peak week even though my show isn't until August. I'm going to do a practice run before hand (once I am lean enough) and will post pics. I'm so relieved that I don't have to go through drastic measures--besides none of that ever made sense.

[DompDiesel]

On show day would it be ok to have chicken instead of the sirloin steak? Also how important is it to have a protein bar with glycerol in it?

[AceHigh03]

Great thread ...lots of good information in here.

[FistoTheSexbot]

Breaking news, Jason Blaha confirmed guest next episode !

[mexr69]

awesome layne thanks once again!

We filmed this the week of the Olympia in Vegas so I was in between shows. We put a lot of work into these so I hope you guys like them and they are helpful

[SkinnyTina]

Just read through all of the pages and you guys are SO helpful. Thank you!

[prakash1988]

I've spent all weekend reading you and Dr. Joe's work..you are both so knowledgeable and amazing.

[garysullivan83]

I'm 8 weeks into my prep and things are going well. My calories are up at 3700 on high days and 2600 on low days (rest days) and I'm consistently dropping. I have a cheat meal every so often if things are moving a little too fast. On Sunday which is my 3700 leg day I decided to have a post workout pizza as my cheat, the rest of the foods were as per my plan and my carbs for the day totalled up to 500g.
The next day I woke up 2kgs heavier, mostly water and muscle glycogen I'm assuming but the fullness was unreal. I looked fuller than I have ever looked through this prep, more so than with my 500g carb day with "clean foods" .
Have you any idea why I'm looking better on 500g of carbs with pizza vs 500g of "clean food" carbs?
Also the pump when I worked out the next day was far superior.

Now I'm thinking about bringing a pizza into my carb load a few day before game day. Thoughts?

[soccerdad5]

Sodium and fat is what brings it

I'm 8 weeks into my prep and things are going well. My calories are up at 3700 on high days and 2600 on low days (rest days) and I'm consistently dropping. I have a cheat meal every so often if things are moving a little too fast. On Sunday which is my 3700 leg day I decided to have a post workout pizza as my cheat, the rest of the foods were as per my plan and my carbs for the day totalled up to 500g.
The next day I woke up 2kgs heavier, mostly water and muscle glycogen I'm assuming but the fullness was unreal. I looked fuller than I have ever looked through this prep, more so than with my 500g carb day with "clean foods" .
Have you any idea why I'm looking better on 500g of carbs with pizza vs 500g of "clean food" carbs?
Also the pump when I worked out the next day was far superior.

Now I'm thinking about bringing a pizza into my carb load a few day before game day. Thoughts?

[garysullivan83]

You think it's just that? My fat is over 100g on normal high days and my sodium is always high. I salt, season and cover most foods with low calorie sauces.
Either way, I want this fullness on stage day. Previous loads haven't filled me out this much and the 3 times I've competed ive spilled each time 🙈
I was planning on front loading this time with moderate/low carbs the day before and on the day. Not sure if I was to add the pizza if it would be two days or the day before.

[soccerdad5]

Definitely test your protocol out before you do it. Front loading is a good conservative approach to play it safe since you spilled 3 times. I would try that. The only thing is you won't get super compensation but I would rather be safe than sorry. I front loaded for 1 contest last year. It worked well. I could have come in better conditioned.

You think it's just that? My fat is over 100g on normal high days and my sodium is always high. I salt, season and cover most foods with low calorie sauces.
Either way, I want this fullness on stage day. Previous loads haven't filled me out this much and the 3 times I've competed ive spilled each time ��
I was planning on front loading this time with moderate/low carbs the day before and on the day. Not sure if I was to add the pizza if it would be two days or the day before.