The Final Week
I have heard it a hundred times. "I looked great the week before the show, but I looked "(flat, bloated, etc) or "I was holding too much water." People often believe they can trick their body by using extreme techniques the last week before the show that will make them look super shredded. The truth is, if one has dieted properly, what they do in the last week will not make or break their show.
Few people win a show by tricks they use in the last week of pre contest prep. However, many people lose a show by using these extreme techniques. These techniques I speak of stem from myths that have been perpetuated by bodybuilders who use large amounts of anabolic steroids.
These Methods Include But Are Not Limited To:
Drastic carb depletion followed by drastic carb loading.
Days of water depletion.
Massive potassium loading.
Laxatives.
Diuretics.
For bodybuilders who use large amounts of anabolic steroids, these methods are needed to shed water, as anabolic steroids will cause one to retain large amounts of water extra-cellularly (outside the cell or subcutaneously). For a bodybuilder who doesn't use androgens, this type of preparation is a bit too extreme.
You can think of the body as a pendulum. It will stay in equilibrium unless pushed. You can push your body in one direction and you will experience a certain effect for a while, but eventually the pendulum will swing back in the opposite direction and you will experience the opposite effect.
For example, if one were to cut water intake drastically they would at first experience a great deal of water loss, but as the body senses water levels dropping, it will release anti-diuretic hormones which will cause the body to retain more water. On the other hand, in some cases we can use the body's reactions to our advantage.
