“Perfect!! There's a show only two weeks before my BIG show; I can use it for a warm-up!” Been there, done that, you say? Just as common is the competitor who doesn't do as well as he/she hoped so they plan to “hold their peak” through the summer to compete again in the Fall. Unfortunately, there are many bodybuilders who end up disappointed with less muscle and much flatter or actually with more body fat than the first show. This, after expecting dramatic improvements due to having more time to fine tune! What gives?! How ‘bout I share some secrets that will have you coming in both bigger and harder for that second show?

I'm currently helping two top bodybuilders in the INBF and WNBF do just that. Grab a seat and let me tell you a little story about them. I helped the first competitor peak better than he ever had and he was barely outmuscled at the INBF Hercules Super Pro qualifier. He was unbelievably tight, hard, vascular, and as full as he could be. His eyes set on the INBF Naturalmania in the Fall, we set out to make sure he not only reproduced his peak, but bettered it! Not a task without challenge. How do you not rebound back with a ton of body fat? How do you not lose muscle and get stringy? Should you gain some fat back and then diet again? Can you actually stay peaked for three months? Questions I hear all the time.

First, of course I let Mr. Shredded have the rest of the weekend off. I'm sure it was filled with pancakes, pizza, and ice cream with very little thought about protein, fiber, and cardio. But, even the most physiologically perfect dieting will render you with a slower metabolism by the time you reach a show and your body fat cells are just primed and waiting to suck in every milligram of cholesterol that wanders into a capillary bed. Your liver is just waiting to hit turbo-jet speed and convert every other gram of carbs into new fat. If you go out of control for more than one day you can be in big trouble. You'll find yourself right back where you were 16 weeks ago by Friday. Make sure you have a plan to regroup right away the first week after the first show. Take moderate steps back up with your carbs and fat intake. For my client, we immediately jumped up by about 50 grams of carbs and maybe 10-15 grams of fat. His initial rebound was about 10 pounds of glycogen, water, and a little fat. By the middle of the second week, though, he was already down to about only 5 pounds above contest weight. I prescribed another bump in the carbs for the next week. The following week's report found he was still losing weight! Another bump in the carbs and protein wasn't argued. Now, he is over 1.5 grams of protein per pound of lean body mass, and almost 2 grams of carbs per pound of body weight…and still losing! How can he be losing weight now at such a higher amount of food compared to before the show? Getting to a low level of body fat is tough. It takes cardio, specifically targeted calorie deficits, and consistency. Your metabolic rate decreases as you push for more loss. Once you're there, however, if you slowly add food back in, you start priming your metabolism as you approach maintenance levels of food. Most of us binge up to a higher body fat level before we stabilize. If you go slowly and let your metabolic rate catch up with you, you'll end up staying hard but eating a lot more food. And you know, more carbs means bigger pump, more energy, less catabolism….BUT….it's a fine line to walk and it takes patience and determination to stick to your changes and let the results trickle in for your analysis.

My studious and hard-working client has been 100% compliant with all the changes and is reaping the rewards of eating a ton more food, enjoying looking like a bodybuilder for more than just one day out of the year, and knows he will even be able to better his already super-shredded Spring performance while still eating more to retain muscle and fullness leading up to the next show.

Chapter two goes like this: Another client, this one a female, got close to being ready for the first show but didn't quite get the last couple pounds of body fat off. She started a little late, had a little too much to lose, but made a valiant effort. She was now more determined than ever to replace the distaste of not being ready with the reward of being in her best shape ever three months later.

She also didn't lose control and regain unwanted body fat. I gave her a slight increase in carbs and cut cardio down tremendously. After her weight stabilized carbs were slowly added, as was protein. Like her counterpart in this fairytale story, she also continued to lose weight and body fat though food increased. Now, she too is leaner, harder, but with the increased food, her weight is back to her prior contest weight. I had to increase her one final time today so that she now is eating twice the carbs, 75 grams more protein, and 10-15 grams more fat per day than it took her to get to contest shape. Both clients also have a “refilling” day that includes a big boost in carbs and a moderate jump in fat for one day per week.

At the 4-6 week mark before their next shows, I'll start tightening things back up a little so they can exceed all previous striation standards but with more muscle than ever before. Combined with guaranteed perfect peaking during the last week with yours truly, they will take their lifetime best condition to the stage for battle with confidence. Will you?