# COMPETITIVE BODYBUILDING - POWERLIFTING - ATHLETICS & SPORTS > COMPETITIVE BODYBUILDING Q & A >  Last 2 weeks Contest Prep need help!!! Sodium/Water/Carbs

## AandF6969

zzzz

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## *Narkissos*

moving this to the contest prep forum...

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## MrMent1on

Wow bro thats a lot of questions. I just answered something like this yesterday, insted of giving you the link i'll just copy and paste for you. this will help you greatly and answer most of your question. Follow to the T and you will be OK. if this i syour first show forget all you heard and follow this. 

The Countdown Begins!

Our hypothetical event is Saturday, so we’ll begin eight days earlier, as there are some pre-seven day techniques we must utilize to make the final days very effective. So, for our Saturday event, we begin the second Friday before. 

All supplements will be taken in the same manner daily, with the exception of the carb loading phase. Protein shakes and bouillon cubes (used for the sodium load) are to be taken with the water you're allotted each day. You may also salt your meals if desired. The amount of water, carbs, protein, etc. you're to ingest will differ based on weight. The amounts below are indicative of a subject weighing about 220 pounds. You'll want to adjust up or down based on your weight. Remember, you should be in relatively good shape for this process to be productive. 

Let's say you're 10% bodyfat or less. Here's how you'd adjust the program, up or down, based on weight. These are general guidelines from instruction and experience; your individual needs may vary, so just use this as a starting point. 

1) Water: You'll want to adjust the amount of water by about 2-3 cups per every 10 pounds you deviate from our hypothetical example. Below I recommend two gallons per day because I'm using a 220 pound guy as an example. A 230 pound person would consume two gallons, plus those 2-3 cups. If one weighed 210, he'd drink 2-3 cups less than two complete gallons.

2) Carbs: The depletion days would be the same as far as timing of meals. To figure out your amount, you should be eating an amount in grams that's about three times your bodyweight in clean carbs during the carb-up phase. In other words, if you weigh 200 pounds, you'll need to eat 600 grams of carbs. This will differ based on bodyweight, but it's pretty accurate.

3) Protein: During the depletion phase, you want to get about 1.5 to 2 grams of protein per pound of lean bodyweight. During the carb load phase, you can concentrate on carbs as the main focus and get as close to your bodyweight in protein as you can. For these three days, you can consume just your bodyweight (or a little less) as the focus is the carb up. You need only enough protein for maintenance; we aren't building or rebuilding anything right now.

4) Sodium/Salt: During the salt loading phase, all sizes of bodybuilders will benefit by salting all food and by using a bouillion cube in water, morning and evening. I've never seen this to be size dependent so there are no recommendations on how much salt you should have. The key here is making the body think it's taking in a ton of sodium, which it is. After this loading phase, you'll want to get as close to zero sodium as you can for those three or four days. It's impossible to consume no sodium, so the sodium load makes the body "think" it's receiving none at all, as it's used to extremely high levels. 

A little confusing right now, I know, but everything will click as we break it down day by day. Let's get started!


Friday — Perform a quick two-set-per-body part workout utilizing high reps (12-15) followed by a posing session to "squeeze out" all that subcutaneous water. Post-workout have some kind of MRP (meal replacement powder) with about 25 grams of carbs and 50 grams of protein. (Remember to adjust these numbers if you weigh more or less than 220 pounds.) 

For the second post-workout meal, have half a cup of oats and two chicken breasts. Take 300 mgs R-ALA and 50 mgs Vanadyl Sulfate (VS) with your MRP and second post-workout meal. (The ratio of carbs to protein is different than normal post-workout percentages, as usually it’s two parts carbs to one part protein.)


Saturday — Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio, just enough to get a sweat going. You should not be stimulating the quads doing this cardio. The only carbs you should take in today are half a cup of oats at meal one and an MRP after posing practice at 5:00 p.m. 

Again, 300mgs R-ALA and 50mgs VS apply to both carb meals and all similar carb meals for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. You should shop for your water, bouillon cubes, ALA, VS, diuretics, rice cakes, honey, Raisinettes (yes, the candy) and other accessories today. 


Sunday — This is the first stage of the carb depletion phase. Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio. After cardio, take one bouillon cube: drop it in hot water and drink. There's usually about 2000mgs of sodium in each cube, so it’s pretty strong! Our sample 220 pound guy gets two gallons of water today. He'll use water from this two gallons to make his bouillon drink. 

Have half a cup of oats at meal one with three scoops of low or no-carb whey protein. Meal two will be flax " href="http://anabolicreview-research.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=70">oil and protein; meal three will be beef only; and for meal four you'll have flax and protein powder again. 

Your workout today is chest and shoulders (3-4 sets of each, high reps) at 4:30 or so with posing to follow. Have an MRP for your post-workout meal, and one and a half cups of oats and chicken for post-workout meal number two. Again, have the bouillon cube at night.


Tuesday — This is the third stage of the carb depletion phase. Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio. No oats at meal one, just lean beef again. Have a bouillon cube with meal one using water from the allotted two gallons. Again, meal two will be flax " href="http://anabolicreview-research.com/shop/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=70">oil) for post-workout meal one. For post-workout meal two, have beef only. Take a bouillon cube and drink it down using water from the two gallons. 

Prepare chicken and sweet potatoes for the next day. You'll use fresh chicken breasts, not the frozen variety which have been drowned in sodium broth. This is one time it must be fresh!


Wednesday — Now we enter the first stage of the no-sodium carb loading phase. Perform 40 minutes of morning cardio (last session of the program!). Water allotment today is one gallon. Meals should be eaten every two hours. Drink water after, not during, each meal to avoid bloat. 

Boil chicken in distilled water or bake plain and shred it up. Mix it in mashed sweet potatoes and make meals. Alternate chicken with potato, just potato, chicken with potato, etc. for your meals. Begin at 8:00 a.m. Your meal schedule looks like this: 8:00, 10:00, 12:00, 2:00, 4:00, 6:00, 8:00. Take 300 mgs R-ALA and 100mgs VS with every meal. Take dandelion root and B-6 (or whatever diuretic supplement you chose) with meals one, three, and five. 


Thursday — This is the second stage of the no-sodium carb loading phase. No cardio today. Meals are every two and half hours. Water allotment today is half to three-fourths of a gallon. Drink water after meals to avoid bloat. Chicken and sweet potato are prepared in the same manner. Meal times are 8:00, 10:30, 1:00, 3:30, 6:00, 8:30. (6:00 and 8:30 both have chicken.) 

Take diuretics at meals one, three, and five again. If you look really bloated for some reason, double them in the late afternoon and take another double dose at night before bed. Don’t panic though, the next day is when you really tighten up and dry out, provided you’ve been following the above instructions to the letter. 


Friday — We now enter the third stage of the no-sodium carb loading phase. Again, no cardio. Meals are every three hours. Water allotment today is one-fourth of a gallon. (Yes, this will suck!) Again, drink water after meals to avoid bloat. Prepare food the same way. Meal times are 8:00, 11:00, 2:00, 5:00, 8:00. Chicken is eaten at every meal. 

Use discretion as to how much diuretic aid you use, and how much coffee to use in place of water to act as a diuretic. (Protein in every meal adds a diuretic effect as well.) A glass of red wine in the evening can also aid in expelling out some excess water the night before your "event," but you're not trying to get a buzz here! 


Saturday — Today is your day! Time to show off! Now, look at yourself and ask, "What can I get away with?" Some kind of solid, starchy carb once or twice, preferably two smaller servings. Have chicken with the first meal. Bring in faster acting sugars prior to your event in the car on the way or upon arriving at the event. This will bring vascularity into play and help absorb the starchy carbs into the muscles. Take sips of water only to keep your mouth wet. Chew gum to avoid dry cottonmouth. Raisinettes and/or red wine seem to bring out vascularity quite nicely, so try one or both of these. Don’t go overboard with the Raisinettes and prepare to stun all onlookers! 


Wrap Up

The seven day prep period doesn't sound like fun, but I guarantee you'll look your absolute best. It’s these final seven days that can really show off the hard work you put into lifting and dieting correctly. The average weight loss this last week is five to eight pounds. Those of you who hold more water and are "thick skinned" will tend to lose far more. Some just hold more water than others!

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## MrMent1on

In this post I'll try and answer most of your questions. Remember eneryone's different so what work for some might not work for others. you'll have to find out what works best for you and that takes some trial and error. i fyo uare looking for vascularity , forget the niacin and red wine and pop 150mg for viagra or cialis 1 1/2 hour before pre judging.. 

_Questions _ 
_1) Im taking taurine the last week, how much? 5g ED?_ *Taurine has several critical functions and can act similarly to creatine in that it expands your cells by helping the muscle cell itself hold more water DONT THINK THATS WHAT YOU WANT.*
_2) Potassium should be taken the last 2 days, how much? CANT SAY_
_3) Niacin before the show, when and how much? 500 - 1000MG 30 MINUTES BEFORE YOU GO ON STAGE_ 
_4) Should I drink a glass of red wine the night before or before the show? RED WINE IS ALSO DRANK JUST BEFORE PRE-JUDGING_
_5) Do I need SOME water the day before or the day of the show to make sure carbs get absorbed into the muscles? NO WATER WHAT SO EVER_
_6) Is 300-400g of carbs for 2 days prior too much, I cannot risk spilling over. Should I move the Carb Depletion day to Thursday and just load up Friday? IF WORRIED ABOUT SPILLING OVER WAIT UNTIL FRIDAY TO CARB UP. TO KNOW WHAT WORKS FOR YOU IS TRIAL & ERROR_
_7) When should I apply Protan? I was thinking about doing a coat Thursday night, letting it dry, showering Friday morning and applying Friday morning and Friday night, no showers after Fri. morning THATS THE CORRECT WAY TO DO IT_
_8) Preparation H on the abs the last day? NO SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCE TO ME_
_9) Epsom Salts bath the last day to suck out subcutaneous water? COULD MAKE YOU FEEL SICK, NOT NECESSARY._
_10) Should I use the sauna the last day? NO.. IF OVER DONE IT CAN ACTUIALLY HOLD WATER_
_11) What should I eat between the morning (10AM) prejudging and the night (5PM) shows? HAVE A GOOD MEAL , STAKE & POTATOS. NO WATER_
_12) I heard chewing gum the last day and the day of instead of water makes your stomach look bloated is that true?_[/quote]NEVER HEARD *THAT, ACTUALLY KEEPS YOUR MOUTH MOIST SO YOU DONT HAVE TO SIP WATER*

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## getbig32

wow good stuff man!

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## AandF6969

zzzz

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## MrMent1on

Bro we actually to the no carb thing monday, tuesday and wednesday and start carbing up on thursday. some start no carbs from sunday and start carbing up on wednesday. some actually dont carb up until friday night after dropping water. maybe its a stargedy you have or you just have it backwards. did you read the countdown post I provided for you?? well good luck. let us know

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## warlock

Hi,

Does the 500-1000mg of niacin really work for most people or is it a waste of money? I wonder if it is worth investing in it!!

Thanks

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## MrMent1on

> Hi,
> 
> Does the 500-1000mg of niacin really work for most people or is it a waste of money? I wonder if it is worth investing in it!!
> 
> Thanks


Well its not expensive, so why not try it, wont hurt.

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## warlock

> Well its not expensive, so why not try it, wont hurt.



Ok, You make a good point!!

So, you take 500mg to 1 gm 30 minutes before yopu go onstage? And you can take it for both prejudging anf finals, right?

Thanks

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## MrMent1on

> Ok, You make a good point!!
> 
> So, you take 500mg to 1 gm 30 minutes before yopu go onstage? And you can take it for both prejudging anf finals, right?
> 
> Thanks


Yep! thats it.

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