[Outtapped]

A friend mentioned to me today that people carb load the day before a show, is this true?

 

[stevie flynn]

only if there doing it wrong..lol

steve

 

[Suprakill4]

From what i have read i thought this was common practice to give the muscles a fuller look. You hear alot of bodybuilders say that they looked a lot bigger/fuller at the evening show compared to morning after hammering loads of carb intense foods in......

 

[Outtapped]

So we have a yes and a no lol

 

[Magic Torch]

Well I have a show on sunday and I started carb loading last Sunday!

It all depends on the physique and metabolism.

The weeks. months before a show you are striping BF away so you are (generally) limiting carbs (either by a percentage of what you eat, carb cycling or Keto). This causes the glycogen in the muscle to drastically reduce (or disappear) making you look flat.

The days before a show you want to increase the glycogen in the muslce to make the muscle look full. This can take some people a week, some a few days or some just hours. If your close to your weight limit you may need to do it quickly on the day of show after weigh in, so loads more sugars and fast carbs and in big quantities. If like me you take a long time to fill out, you can just add an extra 100g or so a day, then some sugary foods on day.

Water is also a big issue with carbing.

 

[najybomb]

Have to agree with magic torch. It's person dependant and everyones methods and needs are different. I personally maintain a steady amount of carbs the last week then the Friday befor a show load up on clean carbs and maitain it throughout the Saturday. Well this is the method I'll be useing this year anyway. I have tried carb loading the day befor and I just ended up a watery mess on the day and lost considerable condition. It's a trial and error thing but you should know how your body reacts to certain foods just through day to day eating. Sugary sweets or rich dark chocolate befor stage is always a good one aswell. Bit of energy and abit of vascularity

 

[Outtapped]

thats definately something im going to have to monitor from now on as my experience is limited as this is going to be my first show

 

[Suprakill4]

thats definately something im going to have to monitor from now on as my experience is limited as this is going to be my first show

Water manipulation and carbing up can make or break the physique in my opinion. From what i have read the last few days are vital for a comp.

 

[Outtapped]

Water manipulation and carbing up can make or break the physique in my opinion. From what i have read the last few days are vital for a comp.

well im hoping to get a pre comp prep coach so hopefully they can help me with the diet to perfect that

 

[Suprakill4]

well im hoping to get a pre comp prep coach so hopefully they can help me with the diet to perfect that

Certainly worthwhile. Although i can imagine it takes quite a few times to get right. You often here seasoned competitors that still struggle to get things perfect towards the very end of a prep.

 

[Origin]

The best thing to do is a trial and error for example, make sure your about stage ready a couple of weeks out and do a trial run of how you would like to carb load,(day/time). You can then experiment with carb sources too, eg rice, potato, banana.