Bunch of questions.....

[RIPPER]

I'm starting to really harden up and see a lot of new definition. I need to be in the absolute best shape I can be on Jan 20th. A few questions.....


1) How far out do I stop protein shakes?

2) Can somone lay out a good carb load/water deplete schedule for me for the last few days before?

3) When should I drop the creatine?

4) Should I up my cardio leading up to the 20th or cut it back?
Cardio is currently 4 sessions per week. I currently cycle my cardio periods as follows: 40 min low intensity, next day, 20 min High Intensity.
5) Should I start to incorporate supersets and shorter rest period between sets as I get closer to my target date?

I am cycling carbs as follows:

High Carb Day
Low Carb Day
No Carb Day

SUPPS

Sci Fit Thermogen II
EAS HMB
Prolab Creatine
Prolab Glutamine
Isopure
Prolab Vanadyl



Thanks for all the help in advance

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

Here is what I personally would have my clients do.

1.) I typically only allow them to have 1 protein shake from 12 - 4 weeks out. With 4 weeks to the desired time I have them cut that out also.

2.) 2 questions before i can answer effectively. 1.) What do you anticipate your weight the last week of your diet. 2.) will you be using any diuretic.


3.) Ask yourself this. Do you tend to hold a lot of water under the skin with creatine. If yes drop it at 4 weeks out. If the answer is no then 2 weeks is fine. If you do need to drop the creatine at 4 weeks out i suggest to my clients to up the glutamine dose.

4.) Cardio is dependent on how you look and how far from your target you are. Again i like my clients to be pretty close to where they need to be 4 weeks out. If your close then i would actually lower the cardio to 20 min @ 4x / week. Now if your far behind and still have a lot of fat to lose then you'll have to continue at your current schedule or up it. The last week you should be doing NO cardio.

5.) I typically don't have my clients do any supersets in their workouts precontest. I like them to continue lifting close to 75 - 80% of 1 RM, and forced reps are fine until 8 weeks out. After that i like them to drop forced reps out completely. 4 weeks out i usually have them lower sets / bodypart by about 2. I do like on some bodyparts to include Dropsets. This is fine as long as its done on the last set of a few exercises per bodypart.

Hope this can help you. I'm not sure exactly what your goals are if they are to compete or just look good for a vacation, and how strict you've been and for how long. If your competing and your really getting down to low single digits my suggestions will absolutely be great for you. If however you just want to look good and are somewhere between 6 - 8% they can be adjusted as your probably not to overtrained.

I do want to point out one other thing. i'm not a huge advocate of "NO Carb" Days.

 

[RIPPER]

Hey bro,


Thanks so much for the great advice. I am just doing this to look good for a vacation. I was going to compete in my first show but I couldn't get my bodyfat low enough so I am waiting until next October. To help you help me better, right now I am 6'0 224 about 13-15% bodyfat. I plan on my weight being around 210-212 the week leading into vacation. I do plan on using taraxatone or maybe some dandelion root. Not sure which one yet. I was also thinking of switching over to distilled water for the sodium depletion. Anyway, I hope all this helps. Thanks and take care.

 

[DirkMoneyshot]

If you are 13 - 15% bodyfat i wouldn't worry about carb loading and sodium depletion. It won't make a noticeable difference on you at your current bodyfat levels.