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Contest Preparation

Thx TV-- I enjoyed reading this-- and it brought back some memories and some things I wish I would've done differently. The interesting part was the sodium thing. Sometimes you hear about people spending the last week or two cutting out even regular water in favor of distilled water trying to get rid of water retention. The mistake there is that distilled water not only doesn't taste like anything, its basically dead -- it doesn't provide any of the good stuff that regular water has. You get into discussions with other bbs as to whether or not there is too much salt in canned tuna so you rinse the crap out of it before eating it or boil your chicken instead of cooking it like a reasonable person. TRUST ME, boiled chicken w/ flax seed oil on it is NOT a delicacy.

For my second show, I actually sodium loaded close to the show and then depleted over a 2 or so day period.

And then at the end of it all, you are standing on stage in your 3 nasty layers of pro-tan and your $75 custom posing suit wondering if it was all worth it....

HELL YEAH! (If nuthin else, ya got some great horror stories about boiled chicken & flax seed oil....!):D
 
i've never been in a comp..obviously. Never even been to see one.
The salt thing was weird to me.
you sure do work frickin hard to compete! Don't think i could take it!

you grow girl!

(i stole that from another site today!)
 
I didnt look at the link yet.....but just reading Sassy's reply.....one word came to mind .....DISCIPLINE......not sure I am the stuff that is made of either Triple V.
 
See now there is no need to explain the mood swings...and everything pissing me off!!!! 4 and counting:)
 
That's the word.... You do that for 12-16 weeks -- and u get so that every time you deviate from the diet, all you can think about is how its going to "cost" you -- like that much more you have to get worked off for that 10 am prejudging on the day of your contest. By the last week you are ready to go off on anyone who pisses you off because you are so carb depleted. But bottom line -- you either do it or you don't. Everything you do that is a cheat you feel like you are going to pay big time .. complete head game by the end of it all.

If I had to break down the effort that goes into bb - its mostly diet & mental -- the training is the easy part, then cardio ... but the diet is critical and then you have to not lose it before the prejudge -- and then don't pig out too much after the show LOL!
 
The kidney/aldosterone thing is a little misleading. It takes your kidneys 36-72 hours to figure out there is a shortage of sodium and water in your diet and start holding water. But this is seriously low sodium and hard to achieve on a regular pre-comp meal. It is enough to sodium and water load for 3-4 days, then dramatically cut back for 1-2 days pre comp. There is no need to eat high sodium right from the start, and it can be detrimental for female dieters since they tend to eat more calories if the food is saltier. For some reason men don't suffer from this. What you should be more concerned about is getting enough potassium in your diet. Save the mineral manipulation for the last week before your show.
 
agree w/ Sassy on the 'mental' discipline... it's the biggest factor in staying w/ the focus. Competing takes you to a new height of finding out what you're made of.

I remember wishing if I could do without one of my senses, it would be taste... (wonder what it costs to have your taste buds removed???)

Broke off a great relationship due to the mood issue... tough lesson there. He wasn't into lifting/competing.. didn't understand it... later when I got it together, he had moved on. Next relationship, we agreed to not see each other the last 4 weeks before show.

Lots of work for only 2 minutes to show for it.
Thanks for the article 3V! :)
 
MS -- thx for the clarification -- I dont' like salt anyway so loading for a few days is no big deal..

flex-- my MOM still gets upset when I talk to her about competing....

Its true tho -- for a lousy 2 min on stage -- but what an amazing two minutes....

It either kicks your ass or it perpetuates itself -- once you do one all you want to do is do better next time. There's no money in it, it f's up a lot of your personal life and your friends & family really do suffer when you have to deal w/ the mood swings and constant dieting & training. But I guess its kind of fun to have something unique like a bb trophy sitting in your living room. The challenge is to keep it from taking over your life-- for some people it really is an obsession. I guess it is to me to a certain degree -- but I still stick to the lifestyle either way....
 
Unless your boyfriend, husband, friend....or whatever is involved in bb and training and has been there and done contest prep etc.....it will be hell and it will get nasty...people in general have no idea what you put your body through, nor have they ever suffered like that....so they can not understand or relate to you. Ends up being too fustrating and so conflicting...not worth the extra shit!
 
I would also throw in, I know a number of former career competitors who constantly tell me to not get involved in it-- having seen the abuse, the depression, the obsession, etc. The constant dieting and low bf can also be evil for your body -- so these are also considerations -- like if you're going to do it, you need to know when to say when...
 
Hmmm.....this really was interesting to read....now you guys are really making me second guess my desire to compete next year:( It will definately be a battle and the support is just not there....is it really that bad???

New - how do you hold up w/taking care of the baby and still go through all of this??? I lose my patience when Im not dieting:mix:
 
new -- how close to "the big day" now?? All you gotta do is get to the stage baby! You can do it! (and all that rah rah stuff...!):D
 
As my ex coach used to say, competitive bodybuilding is the ULTIMATE in extreme sports. Jumping off a cliff with a parachute on is nothing compared to the months of extreme discipline and sacrifice (and luck) required to make it to a competition stage. And it screws up more people than not IMHO. It is very hard to compete and stay balanced in the rest of your life. Women in particular tend to develop all sorts of dysmorphias and eating probs (obsession is the best word to describe it). It is mentally as tough for many women post competition as pre comp, seeing their hard earned physique rapidly add fat and fluid plays with their minds.

And of course ruined relationships/friendships can also screw up your life.
 
MS,
You meant to say 'the discipline & sacrifice is nothing compared to jumping off a cliff WITHOUT a parachute'..... right??? :think:
 
My contest is Sept 29th so i have a little less than 4 weeks to go....As for how I handle it w/ my little girl...well I have good days and bad days...I just make sure I do not take it out on her....its even harder cause my house has a few cupbards w/ treats in em I love!!!! Im a sugar freak! My family knows I am a little bitchy when dieting so they just kinda leave me alone. And most of my close friends are bb and they understand and are very supportive and they just ignore my little rants. And like MS said it is so mental...especially after a show.....after about 3 days i get really down...very depressed about the loss of my hard..lean physique...its difficult to take and to keep in perspective..you look so good that day of the show...and then reality hits and the water comes in:( If I didnt have my friends who are experienced and understand..I would probably go LOCO! It helps to for motivation and on your weak down days when you do not want to move! Let alone train, pose or do cardio! You gotta love it to really do it and give it 100%....anything less it would be not worth your time and too much work and sacrafice!
 
new,
Hang in there! You're on the home stretch now! :)
Is your show the Tournament of Champions in Ca? Have something fun planned post contest? Seeing all the hard work fade fast is a difficult one to deal with.

Good luck to ya'! :D
 
New... i was kinda scrollin through the boards today and i was LMAO... cause i could hear the "mood" through ur posts, lol... its so funny!! i ahve horrible mood swings already..and now that im training harder than ever and "on" (dont know if that really has anything to do with my mood swings) im a raging bitch!! lots of road rage especially..i hate my crowded city!! its full of complete idiots..i swear.. its like everyone is rushing to go NOWHERE!?!? GOD!! oh no-- feel a mood comin on..better stop now. anyway.. hang in there girl... its soooo worth it though..isnt it!?!? u look wonderful and geeeezzz... must work so hard to accomplish that. keep up the good work and GOOD LUCK at ur comp sept.29. i know u will KICK ASS!!! dont forget to update us.. i want alll the details about the comp:)
 
Lobo ---
I've had that distilled water discussion w/ more people -- I've heard that's "old school" -- whatever that means??? But when u only drink distilled water don't you also miss out on electrolytes and stuff? Basically its just "dead" water...
 
Seemed like the distilled water made a big difference... it's really 'clean'- Sassy, I hear what you're saying.- dead water...

added it the last 2 weeks... maybe everything else was kickin' in then, not the water making a diff, but it sure seemed to help ....hmmmm

The trainer who advised it to me was a guy who had trained Janet Tech... said it worked for her
 
Interesting on the distilled water -- I've talked to some who swear by it and some who laugh at it.. But as I said --I've lived off boiled chicken & flax oil or a week of nothing but orange roughie -- so I wouldn't be shocked by anything...
 
Sassy, I totally agree! It is soooo worth it! So damn exciting. Who cares that youre about to pass out on your ass? You're up there and there are hundreds, maybe thousands of people watching you and the adrenaline is flowing!!

oh, the distilled water thing works for me. That combined with the salt reduction really gave me some nasty striations.. ya wanna go in dry, girlfriend. Good luck!!!
 
To get the ultimate dried out look, you gotta prepare. First, believe it or not, your cutting diet (calories and composition) stays the same..NO CHANGES. You need your energy to perform on stage..fainting doesn't earn any brownie points in competition. Two weeks before the event, I start competitors on certain blood thinners (no danger here). Then, two days before the show, certain diuretics are used, under supervision, to flush all of the subcutaneous water out of the competitor's system. This produces the ultimate dried out look, and the competitor feels strong. No deaths or medical emergencies arise..no problems at all.
 
And I'm betting DrJMW is not gonna supply us 1) with photos of 'his' competitors; or 2) with any details of how these competitors achieved this. I am also willing to bet he doesn't have any data comparing how these competitors looked using traditional (non pharmaceutical) methods of comp prep versus his (unpublished?) methods. Not picking on DrJMW specifically, but just a heads-up to anyone thinking about taking advice or even worse, paying for advice without any guarantee or without any scientific data to support a method of weight loss or muscle gain.

Of course if I'm wrong then I will sincerely and publically apologize to DrJMW or anyone else peddling advice on the internet.
 
The blood thinner/diuretic regimen I speak of is in BodyOpus by Dan Duchaine..I didn't invent it, I just use it. From what Duchaine told me, all of the top BB's use this method pre-prep. I just used his techniques..get a copy of BodyOpus and read the last chapter on diuretics in competition.
 
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