Keep the basic premise of your training in play, employing all the exercises, techniques and routines that regularly work for you, just make tiny modifications in the following senses:Īfter finishing the normal amount of sets you do for an exercise, insert one high-repetition drop set, where you start with a weight you can handle for 6-8 reps, perform 6-8 reps, drop the weight for another 6-8 reps and finally one last time for the last 3 reps. This is not a time to be experimenting, at four weeks out. Why? Simple: You need to maintain muscle without the risk of injury, without sacrificing perfect form and with the understanding that your energy will be lower than in the off-season.Ĭonsequently, you need to stay out of the lower-rep ranges (2-6) and stay away from exercises that may lead to injury (most notable among these are the ones that compromise rotator cuff flexibility).Īt the same time, do not completely revamp your training split. Maximize Training While Minimizing ErrorĪlright, your training needs to be at that fine line between low-intensity effort and high gear, full-throttle lifting. At this point you need to consume approximately maintenance calories, with the increased calories coming from carbohydrates. The purpose of a refeed is to boost the actions of the hormone leptin, which is incredibly effective in burning fat. In this case, you'll have to apply your own knowledge of your body to decide how many times a 'refeed' - essentially a caloric and carbohydrate surge - will benefit you without stalling fat loss. Refeed once to twice per week, depending on body type and personal preference. Workouts will continue to be productive with minimum strength loss. Such a diet will help preserve muscle while shedding body fat speedily.Įssentially, this allows you to take advantage of insulin to have it either kick you out of or keep you from possible catabolic states, without fat storage. The easiest method to follow while still maintaining efficiency and not accompanied by a feeling of deprivation is the 'carb structuring + cycling' format. This will keep energy levels up to fuel your workout and also prevent muscle loss under stress.Īs far as carbohydrate cycling, there are multiple options to performing this. As a general rule, if you have X grams after the workout, consume half-X grams before. To sustain a low-sodium state, the macronutrients in your diet should primarily come from the following:Įssentially, you can manipulate insulin to work in your favor by consuming carbohydrates around your workout. The rationale behind this is to have the cell pump upregulation persist from the sodium loading as sodium is gradually depleted, helping to shed subcutaneous water more efficiently but not too rapidly or unsustainably, which could result in messing up your "peak" at show-time. 2 Days Out - reduce sodium to ~1000 mg.5 Days Out - reduce sodium to ~1500 mg.1 Week Out - reduce sodium to ~3500 mg.1 Week Out - Continue sodium cycling, follow final day depletion plan.2 Weeks Out - Start sodium cycling (loading+lowering, described below).4 Weeks Out - Cut all condiments and seasonings.That said, at four weeks out, you do need a reasonable amount of sodium to compensate for electrolyte loss during cardio and training.Īs far as sodium goes, here's a good plan for each week leading up to the contest: You'll need to start keeping tabs on your sodium intake four weeks out. At four weeks out, there is absolutely no margin for error therefore there is no scope for margins in your diet. Know exactly what you are eating and in what percentages your macronutrients work out. You need to keep track of your diet like your life depends on it, because, well, it sort of does. No ranges, no between-X-and-Y calories daily or "around" 300 g. So in order to be stepping on that stage in sterling form, you need to know what you're eating inside out. I'm not kidding either: in order to achieve complete mastery of your physique, you need to achieve complete - absolute, total, full, all-inclusive - mastery of your diet, and to do this you need to be controlling it, not the other way around. You need to clamp down on your diet until it is 100% in the palm of your hand, until you're its lord and master, until it's calling you 'Big Daddy' and moaning your name in a tone of hushed, respectful awe.
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