TJ
New Brunswick, NJ
Male, 33
As an avid lifter, I decided to compete in an amateur bodybuilding competition to showcase my hard work and appreciation for the sport.
In natural competitions the competitors are drug tested. The percentage probably depends on the level of the show. National shows and larger competitions have more competitors and higher stakes. Some competitors have sponsors and endorsement deals so it is imperative for them to do well and steroids might give them that extra edge.
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Pre-contest workouts consist of two gym sessions a day. The first is a cardio session lasting 30 mins to an hour, depending on how close to competition day it is. This is done first thing in the morning on an empty stomach to burn the most fat. The second afternoon workout consists of the actual weightlifting. The cardio sessions were 7 days a week while the lifting sessions consisted of 5-6 days a week. During the "off-season" is the time where you want to grow and put on quality lean muscle mass. It's not as important to keep up on the cardio. I'll do one gym session 5x a week. Making sure to allow for rest periods for your muscles to grow.
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The diets are very strict. Balancing carbs, fats and proteins spaced out over 6 meals a day, usually eating every 2-3 hours. I hired a trainer who had experience in contest prep diets. He wrote my diets for me, and changed it according to how I looked on a week-by-week basis.
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Yes, it’s important to utilize supplements to gain maximum results. Protein shakes are commonly used, as well as different amino acids (such as Branch Chain Amino Acids BCAA's), fish oils, glutamine and fat burners.
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Days before the competition is usually when you’re feeling your worst physically. The joke is that the worse you feel, the better you look. The day before the competition you do not work out. Your diet is strict to deplete your body of water. It is necessary to dehydrate your muscles to create the striations and definition for your muscles. Usually you carbohydrate-load this day so your muscles fill out. However, you do not eat rice because it is made with water or drink any liquids. Some competitors will go to steam rooms or saunas to sweat out as much water as possible. Others might use diuretics.
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As far as primping goes, it’s necessary to look good on stage. You are being judged for months of work, in a matter of minutes. The obvious primp that needs to be done is complete shaving of the entire body. Shaving should be started weeks before as to make sure you do not get razor burn or ingrown hairs. Nair and other hair removers work on sensitive areas of the body. The day before or morning of the competition it is necessary to spray tan. Specific products are made for spray tan for competitors that work better than everyday spray tans you would find at your local salon. For my competition, I found a woman that had extensive experience that came to the house and spayed the tan on in my kitchen. A good tan could make the difference between placing and not placing. Right before you go on stage, you do what they call "pump up." There are weights provided to get a last minute pump for your muscles to fill up with blood and look their best.
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I actually don't even read them. For years I would read Muscle and Fitness or sometimes Flex magazine. If anything, the pictures were inspiring but often they gave me a false sense of what I could accomplish. Most of the models are at their peak and have exceptional 'genetics'. I would try to pick up new ideas for workouts and just realized it was all turning into the same thing. Everyone is trying to reinvent the wheel and come up with the next best idea. Not knowing what your level of experience in the gym is, but for novices they can be helpful to put a workout program together or give you the discipline to follow a program already written out for you by the magazine. As for valuable tips? I think everyone is different and what might work for someone, does not work everyone else. The magazines do hold some good information, but it can be confusing to sort out what actually works for you. The gimmicks for getting six packs, adding inches to your biceps, and increasing your bench press by 100 lbs all in one week are on the cover to sell magazines. But its not to say that the issue might not contain a good ab workout that you might never have seen before. You might not get the six pack in a week, but it's a good change to your routine ab workout.
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