The Journey to Peaking: Part 1
In my journey in competing and modeling I, like most, was always after the perfect protocol that would give me the best look that I possibly could have when the day of that photo shoot or show came. Also, like most, found that there is no straight forward answer as to what gets a bodybuilder to that point. Through years of research and experiment with myself, I arrived at what I think is the best way to prep for either. I am going to walk through a series of steps that I take in preparation to peak my body. This first article will contain the weeks leading up to the remaining 7-day prep period prior to your event.
Supplements:
BCAA's(4:1:1)
Alpha lipoic Acid
Creatine (micronized)
The biggest factors that play into making you look your best are sodium, carbohydrates, and water. This balance is more crucial than anything else in preparation for your show or shoot. It is important that working on achieving this balance start well before your 7 day prep period. I will skip the science behind the "why" and just tell you what to do starting at 4 weeks. The following covers your time in weeks 4-3:
1.) Be sure that all of your legit cutting of bodyfat has been accomplished two weeks prior to your event. You don't want to be trying to cut a bunch of fat this close to your event. It will adversely effect your physique. So if you think that you still need work on your physique as far as body fat %, now is the time to kick it into gear.
2.) Start depleting carbs in your diet at 4 weeks out. This will help to accelerate the fat loss from weeks 4-2 and also begin to make your body very sensitive to carbohydrates. I personally carb cycle 30grams(day1), 30grams(day2), 20 grams(day3), then a high carb cheat meal(day 4) in a 4 day period respectively.
3.) Begin salting all your meals with sea salt. This is known as sodium loading. It will bloat you at first but your body will adapt over 2-3 days and then begin pumping out the excess sodium through your urine. If cramping begins to occur you can supplement 99mg of potassium every 3-4 hours. I do not measure out the exact amount of sodium that I add but 5-6 shakes from a standard salt shaker should suffice. Please note that this is with sea salt and not standard table salt(We do care about our blood pressure:)
4.) Begin taking creatine at 5-10 grams per day.
5.) Begin supplementing alpha lipoic acid with every meal, high fat or not. You can go as low as 300mg and as high as 1500mg per meal. I would deviate based on carb and fat amount in the meal.
6.) Make sure that you are drinking at a bare minimum of a gallon of water per day. I personally drink 2 gallons per day.
7.) Do not deviate from any training schedule that you have been doing up to this point. If it has worked up until now, it still will in this time period.
8.) Be sure that you are supplementing BCAA's during and post workout to keep cortisol levels low and ensure that you are retaining all of your muscle.
You want to take note especially to how your body looks the day after your cheat meal. As you continue to hold a very low carbohydrate diet your body should become more sensitive to the carbohydrates and your glycogen uptake( blowing up of the muscles) should begin increasing ever so slightly. I would suggest not consuming liquids 30 minutes prior and post cheat meal. This will prevent bloating and carb spill.
Hopefully this has given you a little insight into the weeks leading up to a show or shoot and what kind of protocol that I follow. Please stay tuned for the next step in the journey to peaking.
