Contest Preparation

[krisanne22]

I am competing in a figure comp in 4 weeks. I am down to about 10.0% body fat and hope to compete around 9%. However even with a 2 X day (30 min. each) cardio (recumbant bike) 7 days a week with 2 addtional hours of spin and interval per week, the body fat on my lower body isn't coming off. Not to mention the 5 day lifting schedule. I have plenty of mass I just lack the definition and fat depletion that matches the rest of my body. It is not seere but I think I will be judged down because it affects my symmetry. Any suggestions would be helpful!

Niki

[coloBB]

posting your diet and supplementation would be a good start for us to help you.

[krisanne22]

I eat 180 grams protein, 100 grams carbs (no flour products), 1200-1300 calories, 20-25 grams of fat a day. I use Isopure with water for protein , glutamine (1 X Day 5 grams) and 2 lipo 6 in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. and 2 caps Omega 3's, That is it. My carbs were at 125 and I just dropped them 3 days ago to 100, (considering dropping to 80 grams)

[Pamela_2007]

Good luck with that

[Beefcake Girl]

I would say don't worry about the body fat measurement...go by what you look like. That is all you are judged on And if you are still storing fat, maybe tweak the diet a bit to help get it off and make sure your cardio is intense! Muscle mass is good but figure is judged on conditioning, symmetry and asthetics as well, as you mentioned...and a lot of judges say they don't even start scoring until they see you from the back. For us gals, that is usually where we hold fat and that is how they can tell if we are in shape or not

Also be sure it is fat and not water you are holding...water is easy to manipulate and drop when you have to. Fat, not so much So maybe it's just water?

One idea if you are looking a little soft...try using Preparation H to pull some sub cutaneous water...use it before you do cardio or tan and also sleep in it. It is gross but I use it to keep my skin smooth and tight and it does work to pull a little water out.....

Good luck!

[VenomX]

It is very likely, through eating such low calories and doing such massive amounts of cardio, that you have sent your body into starvation mode, therefore halting or severely stunting fat loss.

Are you taking measurements to moniter progress?

[dvsness]

Excellent post by Beefcake Girl. Prep H before tanning and with Saran Wrap while sleeping for me from 1-2 weeks out. Also, how are your sodium levels? You should drop a fair amount of water when you remove all sodium in the last few days as well.

Those cals and macros don't mean much without knowing your height/weight stats, though.

[Cytrainer913]

AS long as you natural don't remove sodium and throw in huge amounts of potassium except from your foods! And prep H will not really work all that well either as your body will change and adapt hour to hour, water does not just leave and stay out, its about getting the bodyfat down, not plating all these silly games with your body. The body always wants to be in a state of balance and will work to get back there.These statements below are so true, please read and follow and also look over Layne's article:

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/layne36.htm

Here's the way Layne wrote about potassium and sodium one day:
Sodium and Potassium keys


I see that most people on here seem to think that cutting out sodium and raising potassium to ridiculously high levels is the best way to shed excess water. Not only can this process be dangerous (even fatal if grossly overdone) it is not that effective. You see, in terms of ADH (anti-diuretic hormone) decreasing sodium intake will reduce ADH output. However, your water and ion levels are controlled by several hormones, not just one. Think about it, your body doesn't want to lose alot of water. Why? B/c an increased urine volume means decreased blood volume, decreased blood volume means decreased blood pressure; which is dangerous in the short term as it decreases the amount of blood to and from the heart.

so if you lower your sodium and increase your potassium, the body will fight water loss... how does it do this????? By increasing aldosterone. Aldosterone is member of the steroid hormone family and it's production is stimulated by EITHER an increase in blood concentrations of potassium or a decrease in concentrations of sodium. Just wait, it gets better... aldosterone attaches to receptors on the distal tubule and on the collecting duct (part of the nephron... the functional unit of the kidney) and causes water to be reabsorbed into the interstitial fluid. So instead of excreting this water via urination, your body will retain it to increase your blood volume and return your blood pressure to normal.

Just goes to show you that you can't fool your body, it is a lot smarter than you are... that's what millions of years of evolution will do for you.

Your best strategy for losing water (if you don't want to take illicit drugs) is to use a moderate approach. Sodium loading isn't a bad idea starting about 10-15 days out, but when you deplete don't take it to ridiculously low levels... stay within 1-2g per day. By the same token don't load on a bunch of potassium, eat the amount of potassium you normally would.

-Layne

[Beefcake Girl]

Interesting post on the sodium loading and depletion. I am a natural athlete but I don't load or deplete. I follow a low sodium diet year round and I do not maipulate it at all come contest time. I lower my water intake gradually going from 2 1/2 gallons per day to about 84 ounces the day of the show but I never fully dehydrate My dryouts are not too harsh thank goodness The idea is to be lean enough that only subtle changes need to be made to acheive my peak...the moderate approach allows me to compete in show after show as well because I eliminate the rebound effect. But as long as you are "within striking distance" of your peak, you can make little tweaks to your program to get better results...

As far as Prep H, to clarify, you are correct that it doesn't remove fat from the body but it does tighten the skin a bit and remove some water. As my trainer says, you can't "dryout" fat LOL. But for me personally, it helps smooth the skin on my hams

[dvsness]

I do sodium load and then remove table salt from my diet. I keep a low sodium diet year 'round because I hate the taste of salt, I think it's bitter and it makes me gag.

As for Prep H, I maintain that I like it. And it also works wonders for circles under the eyes.

[str8flexed]

Originally Posted by dvsness

I do sodium load and then remove table salt from my diet. I keep a low sodium diet year 'round because I hate the taste of salt, I think it's bitter and it makes me gag.

As for Prep H, I maintain that I like it. And it also works wonders for circles under the eyes.

really? i can't seem to notice a difference with it. Where do you typically use it? Some people swear by it, I just can't seem to find a difference with it

[The Brotherhood]

Originally Posted by str8flexed

really? i can't seem to notice a difference with it. Where do you typically use it? Some people swear by it, I just can't seem to find a difference with it

, didnt one of your contest countdown articles mention that you use Prep H and that it helps? You even told me to use some! And it helped, for sure!

[str8flexed]

well one show i thought it helped but I was very young and really didn't know what to look for; then in 2004 i used it and didn't notice anything; I know it can't hurt anything so if a client wants to try it i'm all for it

[dvsness]

I first used it years ago before I knew anything of bb'ing, etc. I had a friend who used it for eyes only and suggested I try it on my butt before we went away on vacation. Been a fan ever since.

[TheDukeUSMC]

My only advice is to continue to have a positive mental attitude. Champions don't allow themselves to be stopped by anything.