Pre contest questions.. input required.

[*Narkissos*]

Got a couple questions for you guys.

1. I was posing tonight.. just after training. During training i was hard.. very very hard... i hit a couple shots during and looked awesome imo. After training, i posed.. ran tru a couple rounds of compulsories.. but was totally smooth then.

The gym owner (who took me tru my posing) thought that to be worrying.. He suggests that i do not warm-up/pump-up backstage for my show on saturday. He suggests i 'warm-up' with a couple rounds of posing prior to hitting stage.. so i'll be getting harder and fuller as the rounds progress.. as opposed to losing my pump and smoothing over. What do you guys think about that? My previous coach did suggest that at some point.. but we never did try it.. In the 7 years i've been competing i ALWAYS pump up and then hit stage.. as i thought the point was to try to be visually striking on the first go.. then try to maintain the pump for the compulsories.

Anyone here ever tried his suggestion of no pumping up prior?? I know some of the 'oldschooler's did this.


2. I'm holding some serious water right now. I'm drug-tested so have never used any otc or script diuretics.. just herbal formulas. My question is not related to these per se.. it is about creatine. I'm using a creatine formula: CEE; AEE etc. I've never used creatine during my carb load or water depletion. I assumed it'd help me hold some fullness while i shedded water.. but this does not seem to be the case. This may seem to be a silly question.. but Should i drop it?

3. This last question goes to Mike_XXL primarily.. but i'd like the input of other bros as well. How would someone who doesn't use diuretics go about the conventional carb-up+ shitload without spilling over? I tried to shitload last year while extremely dehydrated.. I was flat.. the more i ate the flatter i got. When i pumped up i couldnt' hold my pump.

Thanks
Nark

[Random]

Hey Nark

1. Yea i think doing some posing backstage will definitely be enough to get you looking better by the minute, thats what i did and it works man, you seem to just shed that last film of water from posing and sweating and youll build up a great pump while posing anyway, best of luck man (POST PICSS LOL)

2.Yes i would cut the creating and not mess with it


3. My first show, ENTIRELY natural i used MikeXXLs shit load with NO diuretics and i was super cut and dry and full too!, It was probably my best preparation yet even though i didnt have that much knowledge back then, it works wonders man, i ate pizza etc and i posed a little friday night before the show and i got dryer and dryer every hour no joke, youll be fine with that kind of prep, to expel water i drank 3.5 galons then cut it out at 3pm on friday for that show....

[MIKE_XXL]

1. might be because you are decarbed, are you depleted, how is your sodium?

2. Yes i would drop creatine

3. how are you dealing with your water...i would not drop it until friday (assuming the prejudging is saturday around noon) basicly i would go with 18-20 hours before the show, make sure you do not over decarb as it is extremely difficult to carb after that...where are your carbs at now? sodium, i would NOT manipulate it, if anything lower it on Friday, but being natural and not using pharm diuretics i would leave sodium alone, once you cut water, you will get drier, do not over dehydrate, could be disasterouse for fulnes and nardness, i have done that before...so here is what i would do in a nutshell:
cut water 20 hours out
keep water at full consumption untill then, NO gradual reduction.
Carbs in the 100-150gm while decarbing (or whatever you used while dieting do not lower them)
Shiat load 6-8 hours before going on stage high carb/sodium foods NO WATER.
Let me know if you need anything else Bro!
XXL

[spound]

If you were not full after your last shitload you either did not have much/enough sodium with it, or you were too dehyrdrated.

Eventhough many of us dehydrate b4 shows, Water still play's its role in filling out the muscle. If you are not filling out on the proper shitload foods, then SIP 3-5 oz of water and pose and wait for 10 minutes or so, and you should start filling out. If you are still not filling out, another couple ounces of fluid may be needed. I know MIKEXXL jsut stated NO water, but as I said, water still plays a role in filling out the muscle and when it comes to cutting water, there is no "set" time to cut for EVERY individual as everyone is different and everyone holds their water differently, especially while on different diets/sodium levels etc...therefore, SLIGHT amounts of water may need to be SLOWLY re-introduced. This is the reason that many guys peak the day after a show and still arent spilled over...even after drinking tons of water...

IMO people get too anal about water. Yes, it is very important during this phase to manipulate it properly, but it is not like one or two extra drops is going to make the difference in you being COMPLETELY spilled over and smooth or you being hard and dry..it doesnt work that way..think about it. There is no threshhold which states an exact amoutn of water will make you spill, and if there is...a couple extra ounces will not make that difference..the body is too large.

[Random]

water still plays a role in filling out the muscle and when it comes to cutting water, there is no "set" time to cut for EVERY individual as everyone is different and everyone holds their water differently, especially while on different diets/sodium levels etc...therefore, SLIGHT amounts of water may need to be SLOWLY re-introduced. This is the reason that many guys peak the day after a show and still arent spilled over...even after drinking tons of water...

I Completely agree with this, the day before my show i was so flat and nothing worked, the night before i had 1000grams of carbs and still woke up flat as a pancake, i was simply too dehydrated, so i took in about 8 oz of water in the morning and it certainly helped and didnt affect my condition at all....

[MIKE_XXL]

That is why i stae not to over dehydrate, if you play your water and iuretics right you should not have to drink water morning of show, you should just be ON...XXL