In the week pre-comp

[nate225]

Question for you Phil,

In the last week (if you deplete) do you continue to smash weights as you always did, or do you tend to do more machine full body sessions as many do (to "chew up the glycogen" as they say!).

Also would you say the sunday/monday before is about the last opportunity for a good leg training session to limit possible inflammation on stage?

Moving on to the carb load, do you still cardio as normal, drop all together or just do light stuff (walks etc). Any weights at all?

Thanks

Nate

[rigger]

Ok Nate I shall give away " some " of my secrets. Actually there's no secrets just bloody hard work. I shall try to answer your questions in no particular order so excuse if I ramble. I guess your right, Legs maybe last trained about Monday. I was slightly out of sequence because of work issues so trained them today ( Sunday ) but intend to do a little on them on Tuesday, probably more hammie area than Quads but will assess that Tuesday when I get to the gym and see how I feel in the legs after todays effort. As a general rule people have the idea ( I think anyway ) " the carb up " is some magical thing that will transform an OK physique into something so much better than the week before. It aint gonna happen.

Most bodybuilders stuff it up in the last week with either some new thing they try ( the mind drives people to do crazy things in the last week ) or end up overcarbing. If you look good a few days out why change it too much, a change in diet and the foods you eat could mess up the way you look. Even the very best bodybuilders, Pro's included mess up the last 24 hours. Did you see Jay Cutler at the Olympia last year. He looked totally unbelievable 2 days out. Dont know what he did the last 24 hours but he sure messed it up. You see it all the time. So if in doubt play it safe. I will generally drop most carbs out this week except for rolled oats for breakfast, possibly taking those out Thursday as well depending how I look and feel. Will cardio Thursday 30 to 40 minutes on treadmill then " maybe" only have protein at breakfast. Will bring in lots of carbs not until Friday so that there is far less chance to spill carbs over. Also lots of water this week up until about 2 pm Friday then thats it completely, just food after that. As far as weight training will still push hard right through to Thursday. This week, monday back and shoulders, tuesday some legs and abs, Wednesday Chest and abs, Thursday Back and shoulders and abs.

There is no doubt by wednesday and definitely Thursday you are running on empty so chances are thursdays workout will only be about half of what I would normally do, the more you deplete the more you can load up on Friday. It is always a fine line between pushing to the limit and going over the top. The thing is to peak for saturday. So basically go as hard as you can all week but leave just enough time to recover for the stage.

[nate225]

Thanks for your indepth reply Rigger - appreciated.

All the best for the rest of the deplete & load, and I look forward to catching up in Chch.

Nate

[Pseudonym]

This info was too good to let disappear, so I've just split it out of Rigger's journal into it's own topic so others can benefit too. Cheers guys!

[nate225]

Such a technical area I've decided to spend some money on good advice. Have emailed a guy regarding training me through the latter period of my Nats build up. Hoping it'll be money well spent!

[rigger]

Good Pre Contest Information? Hey thanks guys, By the way I can do peoples Contest Prep too for a fee obviously, and my own success speaks for itself. Contact me if you need some specialist help only too pleased to help.