Fat burners for contest prep

[Blahzay128]

I was wondering if you guys use fatburners (Xenadrine, Hydroxycut, ripped fuel, diet boost, etc.) throughout the entire cutting process. Whenever I use one of these I feel like im burning so much muscle away. I just wanted to see how you all incorporated fat burners into your contest preparation

[Blahzay128]

sorry guys i posted under the wrong form, i meant to put it in contest prep

[Abdominator]

Hey Blahzay.

Ok, I'll post here too.

Although it's tempting, I avoid using fat burners during my competition prep, mostly because I know my system reacts strongly to the effedrine and caffeine things like Xenadrine, Stacker2, etc. have. High amounts of effedrine/caffeine often make my heart race and my blood pressure sky rocket. So I just stick with doing 30-45 minutes of moderate-intense aerobic activity 3-4 hours per week the 30 days before my contest, and I monitor my diet very closely so I don't lose too much muscle mass. My metabolism is naturally faster than most people as I'm genetically an ectomorph.
So depending on how much bodyfat you have, if you decide to go natural, you may have to begin aerobic activity sooner and monitor your diet sooner. Under ideal conditions, you can lose up to 2.5 lbs. of bodyfat per week, safely. Anything beyond that is water, and in some cases muscle (which is a bad thing to lose). You will have to burn 3600 calories to lose a pound of bodyfat. Check out this article about your body deals with food and how diets work:

http://www.howstuffworks.com/diet.htm/printable

Hope this helps.

- Skip

[jay1514929]

Sometimes I use these types of fat burners but I have been told to never use them during the 8 weeks prior to a show. Just use them up till the 8 weeks and your cardio / training / diet should be enough. Otherwise, as earlier said, you will likely be burning muscle tissue for energy. I also have a friend who thought he needed some extra energy on show day. He took two stackers or whatever brand and ended up puking all over the backstage area.