water and sodium

[mohannad]

hey..

can somebody please explain the effect of water manipulation and sodium at the final week of a contest prep.?

[OTHstrong]

hey..

can somebody please explain the effect of water manipulation and sodium at the final week of a contest prep.?

it is better not to follow a formula TBH since most fuck it up but if you insist

Now keep in mind your question is not black and white since so many roles play factors into devising a suitable protocol so I will give you one that includes diuretics since this is the norm at bodybuilding contests.

SODIUM
7 days out complete glycogen depletion on zero carbs from Sat-wednesday. Thur to sat loading phase

Sat and Sun add salt to your foods, load it up, high sodium foods

monday, tues, wed eat normal range sodium foods (ie 200-300per serving)

Thursday-sat, as close as possible to zero sodium


DIURETICS

a DIAZIDE starting monday-friday, 1 per day
lasix friday afternoon
lasix friday evening
lasix sat morning


WATER INTAKE

sat and sun, regular water intake, however it will be a lot since you are sodium loading.

mon, tues, wed, regular water intake

thurs, drink as much as humanly possible

friday take sips through-out the day, as little as humanly possible

[OTHstrong]

I always pick one day for my guys to ''drink as much as humanly possible" Usually it is the day before ''the loading phase'' which in this case is wed and not thurs.

So I chose thurs the day of ''loading'' because I added lasix to the process. So if adding lasix you can drink as much as possible on the first day of loading, if you chose not to then it would be the day before.

Some people react poorly to lasix, me on the other hand react real good to lasix.

[ProudVirgin69]

Wow, excellent information OTH.  Good stuff to know

[lilhawk1]

Follow that above protocol if you want to be flat as a pancake and soft.  Diuretics are the reason most look like shit on contest day.  There is no reason to further deplete glycogen stores the last week before carbing up, what do you think the whole pre contest diet has been doing?  You're already depleted.  If sodium and water manipulation are done correctly, diuretics are not needed at all.  What most guys think is excess water is actually the last bit of fat from improper dieting.  If anything is used, then use 1/2 tab of dyazide the night before the show, wake up and see how you look, then use another 1/2 tab if needed. 

[OTHstrong]

Follow that above protocol if you want to be flat as a pancake and soft.  Diuretics are the reason most look like shit on contest day.  There is no reason to further deplete glycogen stores the last week before carbing up, what do you think the whole pre contest diet has been doing?  You're already depleted.  If sodium and water manipulation are done correctly, diuretics are not needed at all.  What most guys think is excess water is actually the last bit of fat from improper dieting.  If anything is used, then use 1/2 tab of dyazide the night before the show, wake up and see how you look, then use another 1/2 tab if needed. 

You are in the minority here with the facts at hand and that is that 90% of competitors use diuretics and heavy heavy use, in fact what I wrote is conservative. I live at these shows and diuretics are passed around like candy.

Now having said that, here is the reason why you won't be flat, because you will be eating like a monster for the loading phase and the day I included that makes you drink as much as humanly possible will cause all your muscles to absorb all the water come loading time. This allows you to eat as much as you want.

If this is done properly you will be shredded and bone dry and grainy and full, but like I said most will fuck it up and end up looking worse.

As for loading on thurs, this for the lighter guys, the heavier you are the longer you load, this what happens at bodybuilding show, the light weights load on thurs, middleweights and lighteavies vary from wed to thurs, heavies load on wed and supers start on tues.

This is the pattern I have notice throughout the last 10 years at bodybuilding shows.

People think diuretics leave you flat and they do if you eat like a bird but not if you eat enough.

[OTHstrong]

thanks a lot OTH.. as you said, there is no formula, and i was trying to understand the mechanism of how water and sodium affect the physique. I don't have a coach and knowing every bit of information can help me in my prep. thanks for the valuable info.

Indeed, a couple pointers here to avoid your body producing hormones (aldosterone) that makes you hold on to water

1. Do not cut sodium out before 7 days out, if you do this the body will hold onto water come contest day.

2. Do not drink less the last week of the contest, with the exception of the last 36 hours of course. drinking less will cause you to hold water.

The hormone produced by the body when no sodium is present or when you do not drink water is just as powerful as sodium so the key is to time it so that this hormone gets triggered after the day of the show and not before. It takes a few days for this hormone to be triggered so you have a window where you can drop sodium and stop drinking water and the hormone has not kicked in yet.

I know several bodybuilders that have problems with water retention, some black guys are known for their thick skin like Bayeke and a few others.
\
Anyway some of these guy start wearing sweat suits during cardio as far as 3 weeks out and I ask them '' why are you wearing a sweat suit" and they say trying to get rid of water for the show,  '' 3 weeks out''? that is the worse thing you can do.

Also keep in mind if you are shredded you hold way less water, so most people are just fat, assuming one is shredded the water should not take more then 3 - 5 days to manipulate.

Anyone trying to get rid of water before 5 days out does not know what they are doing.

This post is in reference to sodium and water and not water retention from estrogen related compounds, this is a different ball game altogether.