To carb deplete or not?

[hondapants3]

i have a show in 2 weeks which i my first one for 14years! i am pondering wether or not to carb deplete. I am at around 5% BF and very tight, i am concerned that if i deplete and then reload i have the potential to mess it up.

What is your opinion?

 

[chazk]

i have a show in 2 weeks which i my first one for 14years! i am pondering wether or not to carb deplete. I am at around 5% BF and very tight, i am concerned that if i deplete and then reload i have the potential to mess it up.

What is your opinion?

its a tough call. I have seen guys deplete then load and get to soft, I have seen guys deplete then load but dont look good untill a few hours after the show.

I would not risk doing anything that might cost you the show. once this is over try a diet down phase as if you getting ready for a show then do a carb deplete and load then see how many hours it takes for you to look at your peak.like a pratice run so you know exactly when to do the deplete and load for your next event.

I guy at the tampa classic did a carb deplete then load that was fatal and covered him in water i suspect it was his first time and he did not know how his body was going to react to what index of carbs he ingested that day.becuase during prejudging it was almost said by all the judges he was gonna win but the day of the show he looked soft and lost the final call out pose downs.

I say practice doing it first

 

[hondapants3]

Thankyou for that, i agree with you and i think it would be a real shame to ruin the months of hard work and dieting over trying something out i am not entirely sure how my body will react and this is what worries me. The other thing is i know i could come in much tighter with more knowledge and experience but without compromising getting a decent place, so i suppose i will be thinking what if!

 

[Vascular Freak]

One trick I learned from a national level competitor who was sensitve to carbs was to load wed to frid on low gi carbs and plenty of asparagus for greens. Then actually pull back the carbs a bit on Saturday or the day of the comp and stick with moderate carbs and prot and add in some good fats.

This way you don't run the risk of looking soft and watery the day of. By Friday afternoon you will have filled out, and will be realxing so you will not burn any glycogen overnight. By the mornig you will have dumped any water that you may have gotten and will feel full and tight with a "light" stomach rather than having a belly from all the food.

Ever notice that when carb cycling, the low carb day following a high carb day is when you normally look the best. Your body excretes all the water but the muscle is still full of water/glyco.

 

[solidspine]

That is a tough one,


But


GOOD LUCK

 

[needsize]

my trainer took a different approach instead of carb depleting me. She had me eat the same as I did throughout the diet, with close to 200 carbs a day. But for the first few days of the week before the show, she had me do entire body workouts, not to failure, but enough to deplete me without actually taking away any carbs. It worked, I never went flat at all, was full right up until contest time. And even if you end up a little depleted, you are eating normally thurs and basically fri, with no training, so your body soaks up the carbs

 

[Vascular Freak]

my trainer took a different approach instead of carb depleting me. She had me eat the same as I did throughout the diet, with close to 200 carbs a day. But for the first few days of the week before the show, she had me do entire body workouts, not to failure, but enough to deplete me without actually taking away any carbs. It worked, I never went flat at all, was full right up until contest time. And even if you end up a little depleted, you are eating normally thurs and basically fri, with no training, so your body soaks up the carbs

I agree 100% with this. I did this for my last comp and stayed very full with no bloating at all. If you are carb sensitive and deplete then load hard one way or another you will battle your water levels the day of the show.

Keep it consistent and your body won't try to hold onto water for any reason.

 

[hondapants3]

you are not the first person who has said this so i am most likely to go this route, i have kept everyting slow and consistant during diet, so the diet hasnt been too stressful (although i have had my moments!!). You mentioned 200g carbs is this the same or less than you normally take?
would a slight reduction benefit in conjunction with the full body workouts? ( i had planned the full body work outs but not going to failure as you mentioned)

 

[DieselGunz]

my trainer took a different approach instead of carb depleting me. She had me eat the same as I did throughout the diet, with close to 200 carbs a day. But for the first few days of the week before the show, she had me do entire body workouts, not to failure, but enough to deplete me without actually taking away any carbs. It worked, I never went flat at all, was full right up until contest time. And even if you end up a little depleted, you are eating normally thurs and basically fri, with no training, so your body soaks up the carbs

very interesting

 

[Triple J]

as others have said, its tough to time it right. u don't want to be still loading the day of the show. i like loading wed-fri for a show on sat, with full body workouts to help deplete all glycogen m-w earlier that week. something like that