September 14, 2011 by Ryan Irwin?
This week marks the final week of my 18 week precontest diet that began on May 16th.? In a few more days I will take the stage in Overland Park Kansas with some of the top IFPA professional natural bodybuilders in the world.? I am feeling ready for it, my conditioning is there and I am going to come on stage with an additional 5-7lbs of muscle which I am very pleased with. The contest is the IFPA Pro International at Johnston County Community College.
The final week is really like most sports, a taper to hit the contest fresh and fully charged.? I back down on my training, both lifting and cardio, to allow my muscles to fully heal and fill out.? Additionally, I increase the amount of carbs to help my glycogen levels increase to create full muscle bellies and look pumped and vascular when I flex onstage.? At this point all the fat loss that is going to happen has occurred and the final week out is not the time to be killing one?s self with last minute cardio.? It is also not the time to try some new exercise that you saw someone do in the gym.? You don?t want to injure or tear down a bunch of muscle fiber this week, stick with the training you know.? I maintain my training blog here.
Additionally, no last minute extreme diet tactics are needed either.? Common practices included severe carb depletion then loading, sodium loading then depletion, potassium loading, water manipulation and dehydration, etc..? These are all extreme diet measures that not only don?t have good scientific basis behind them but also can cause extreme reactions and it is a roll of the dice if they are going to improve one?s appearance.
Instead, letting your body be at it?s normal state, after all, if you look good 1 week out from the contest, why mess with it?? Dehydrating one?s self is probably the biggest mistake, especially for natural competitors who don?t have to worry about water retention from steroids.? Muscle is 70% water, so why on earth would someone want to drop their water intake and flatten out?? As long as you maintain the normal environment, drinking water up to the contest won?t cause water retention under the skin, but rather just make you full and hard.
My current supplement stack:
Scivation Whey, Novem (preworkout), Xtend
Global Formulas Bio Heat, Bio Burn, 7 keto, green tea, forskolin, GPLC
NOW Foods multi, omegas, antioxidants, MCT oil, liquid egg whites & casein (before bed)
Creatine, beta alanine, L-carnitine, HMB, D-Aspartic acid/Estracourt, ZMA, Arginine/Ornithine
A huge thank you to Hands on Sports Massage and True Life Wellness for their services in helping me prepare for this contest.? Massage therapy and chiropractic care has kept me healthy, recovering and being able to bring 100% to my workouts everyday.? Would highly recommend both of these service providers.
Looking forward to bringing it to the stage!? Pictures will be coming and will post here on the blog.? Goals set for after the contest: reverse diet for lean gains, compete in powerlifting in Dec in Freemont, NE, then the Arnold in March in OH, then switch gears back to bodybuilding and bring an improved package to the stage in 2012.
For questions on training, precontest coaching or meal planning, email ryan at: ryan@nutrisportfpt.com
Nutri-Sport and Full Potential Training
9992 Swanson Blvd
Clive, IA 50325
www.nutrisportfpt.com
515.331.2141
Nutri-Sport East
4400 East University, Suite B (in the Lakeside Fitness building)
Pleasant Hill, IA 50327
515.266.2225
(soon to be at 1003 8th St SW, STE K in Altoona)
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