Final week of contest preparation, what do you do...

I'm curious to see what some members last week eating regimen before their bodybuilding competition looks like. There are so many damn opinions on this it gets to be ridiculous. I know most say you have to find out what works best for you, but if you're only doing a couple of shows a year it's not like you have a lot of opportunites for hit and miss.

I'm trying to put together my last week contest prep. and I'm driving myself crazy thinking about whether or not I want to sodium load/deplete, how i want to do a carb up or if i want to do a carb up, how much water to drink, whether to cut water gradually or cut it all at once about 18 hours out, etc....

The list goes on and on, any advice is welcomed.

You will drive yourself nuts thinking of all the was to enter this final week. If this is your first show then I would suggest the following.

First I don't know what, how much or anything about what you are eating.
If you are happy with the way you look first thing in the morning.

#1- Stay on your current diet plan. If you are very depleted due to low carbs
then I would suggest starting to increase carbs Mon or Tues of that
week. If you are full and not depleted then start to carb up Wed. You
might consider 250 to 350 grams on that day 200thurs, 200 fri. regular
diet day of show plus have extra carbs with you.

#2- Do your final pump up training on Mon and Tues. No legs for 7 days
#3- Ok, to do some posing Mon, Tuand Wed.
#4- Water keep full amount 2 gallon in all week. Cut off 6;00pm Fri. Are you
using anything extra to dry out with? Mike xxl can help here big time.
#5 i would just keep your sodium low from here on out. I have never loaded
sodium. I try to be in shape a few weeks out and do no last minute
tricks. See how you react to keeping as much the same as you have
been doing.

If you are reading all the boards about what to do you will go nuts your final week. Just set a plan and stick with it. Do not change the plan everyday. You will only set yourself up for failure.
#6 make sure your color is good, you are good to go with your routine. have all of your stuff ready the day before NO last minute stressing about stuff. Stay CALM. Stay off your feet as much as possible for the last few days.

I'm sure there is a ton more Mike might add. My point is to not screw with your current plan too much if this is your first time through this. Again if you are tight in the am now then just carb up work your water and go compete.

Best of luck,
kdtl61

Not first show, thanks for the advice. I'll be doing the Louisiana Bodybuilding Championships and then off to National Collegiates. I think I'm starting to straighten it out, I'll post it up here when everything is set. The two competitions vary from year to year as to how good the competitors are, but I know for sure that the LA. bodybuilding championships this year is going to have some damn good competitors for those that can make it there, still hope to bring that hardware home though!