Preparing for a Bodybuilding Show Part 2 of 2
Nutrition and Supplementation
By: Andre Rzazewski (ALLMAX Athlete, Personal Trainer and Bodybuilder Competitor)
In Part 1 of Preparing for a Bodybuildig Show you learned about posing, attire and tanning. Cleaning up your diet and becoming knowledgeable about the specific foods you should be consuming the days before a show make a world of difference in your physique when you step on stage. Not to mention, there are several supplements that can really help to take your body to the next level and to naturally stand out.
"there are several supplements that can really help to take your body to the next level and to naturally stand out."
Sodium Cutting - During the final week of the show, you should seek to consume as little sodium as possible to rid your body of as much subcutaneous water (between skin and muscle) as you can. This will enhance your conditioning even more and give the “paper thin skin” appearance. However, when sodium is cut, the body loses its ability to hold potassium (responsible for enabling muscles to hold water). When the body is too low in potassium, the muscles will appear flat and you will be unable to get a pump. You can maintain potassium levels by employing a potassium supplement to keep muscles full.
"During the final week of the show, you should seek to consume as little sodium as possible..."
Competition Week Diet - During the final week, you may also be wondering if you should switch up your diet. There are plenty of popular final week load and depleting strategies- carb depletion and carb loading, fat and sodium loading. Nine times out of ten, these yield disastrous results to the physique, along with much disappointment to the athlete.
The most common mistake one can make, is changing things up on game day, believe me, I have done this a few times. If you look great day to day while you are preparing for the show on your regular diet, there is no need to change things up drastically on the day of the show. For example, If you are not holding water day to day, then why take lots of diuretics? This is like throwing out the playbook that got you to the championships and tossing up Hail Mary’s in hopes of attaining some miraculous changes. If you are ready, then what you are doing is working. The only thing you should change is cutting your sodium 1 week out and your water consumption the night before the show to wake up nice and dry and full. Otherwise, your meals should remain exactly the same, so that your body does not react in a negative way on the morning of the show.
"...take your body to the next level naturally and achieve an award-winning body."
Supplementation – While training for a show the following supplements are recommended to take your body to the next level naturally and achieve an award-winning body.
• ZMA – ZMA provides muscle relaxation to facilitate enhanced recovery from training and supports muscle strength.
• TestoFX – every athlete preparing for a bodybuilding show needs to get their hands on TestoFX, this hardcore Testosterone Optimizer increases free testosterone by an unheard of 98.81% while minimizing estrogen synthesis.
• CLA – CLA helps with leaning out your physique and can also combat cravings which are inevitable while dieting.
• LEUTOR – LEUTOR helps bring the body into an anabolic state and prevents muscle breakdown, which is extremely important while preparing your body for a show.
• KRUSH – As a fourth generation creatine, Krush increases insulin sensitivity, deliverying creatine much quicker to the muscles, enhances muscle recovery and prepares the muscles for your next intense training session.
• ALA – ALA is important for bodybuilders to optimize insulin activity, increase nutrient delivery and as a protection against free radical damage
• ISOFLEX – A high quality whey protein isolate is essential for any athlete. ISOFLEX shakes are delicious to drink and fuel your body with the nutrients and high quality protein needed to transform your physique.
• Glutamine – as conditionally essential amino acid, Glutamine provides the nutrients the muscles need for adequate recovery and builds the immune system which is often compromised during intense training and dieting,.
• RAPIDCUTS Hardcore – as the strongest fat burner on the market RAPIDCUTS Hardcore is a must have for all competitive bodybuilders to get shredded and achieve that striated physique.
Now that you are pumped up, head to the stage confident and pose hard. Your first show will be a great learning experience, validating much of the work you have done and providing you with ideas and direction on what you must do for future competitions. The most important thing with respect to competing is that you keep an open mind when dealing with constructive criticism from the judges. Bodybuilding should be a competition within yourself, striving to always improve on size and conditioning from show to show. If you are able to make the improvements you were seeking, then you have achieved your goals and your first place trophy will be just the icing on the cake.
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Andre Rzazewski is a certified personal trainer, working with several top professional competitive athletes. He is also an Allmax sponsored athlete and a Natural Professional Bodybuilder. Please visit his website at www.totrainer.com for more information on contest preparation.
