Third Time's a Charm

So this was it, my third and final peak week. Since this year marked my first year of competing in bodybuilding contests, I have been trying out different peak week diets and methods over the past 25 weeks to see how my body would respond and which one would bring the best results. 

This week's approach had been fairly similar to my very first plan, as it did not include a keto run over an extended period, but rather slowly decreased carb intake over the course of a week and ended with only one zero carb day. 

In addition, the exercise program and water intake were also very much alike. 

Since I was coming fresh off the Delaware Championships and only had two weeks in between that competition and my next one, I started with the preparation right away and only allowed myself one cheat meal Sunday morning and went straight back to chicken and broccoli afterwards.

Sunday morning treat

Since my body was still sore and exhausted from the long day before, I did not work out on Sunday and gave my body some much needed rest. This was actually the first time in 168 days that I did not work out at all and even though my mind tried to guilt trip me I simply did not have the energy to do anything.

The rest day paid off and I went back to "work" fresh and revitalized early Monday morning.  

My trainer bumped up my carbs Monday and Tuesday which further helped with the recovery and resulted in great chest and back workouts. 

Starting Wednesday he slowly decreased the carbs every other day and increased my daily cardio to a full hour. 

Thursday and Saturday he had me doing two short but intense leg workouts consisting of only three exercises, leg extensions, leg curls and walking lunges.  

Each exercise required 8 sets of 20-25 reps and really pumped some blood into my quads and hamstrings. My legs were completely fried after these two sessions but the separation in between the individual muscles had never been better and I was excited to see how they will look at the show. 

On Sunday I started adding another evening cardio session  to my workout plan.

For the next three days I lifted weights, immediately followed by an hour of steady state cardio, in the morning and did a High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) session in the evening. 

Besides cardio, my weight lifting workouts also changed and the focus switched to low weights/high repetitions. Sunday I did chest and back, Monday I trained shoulders and arms, and Tuesday, as well as Wednesday I worked my entire upper body.
Wednesday was also the last day before I would start loading up my body with carbs and reduce my water intake so my diet for that day called for 3 gallons of spring water, 30 oz. of salmon, 30 oz. of chicken, 22 spears of asparagus and 2 cups of spinach.

ZERO Carb Day

It took me quite some time to get used to having salmon for breakfast since fish, with the exception of canned tuna, hasn't been part of my diet since my trip to Germany (where I developed a strong dislike for broiled fish). Over the past 14 days I ate a total of 13 lbs., which probably equals the monthly consumption of a full-grown Alaskan Grizzly bear, and will definitely avoid any salmon for a very long time after these two weeks.
Thursday I was finally done with fish and started with the carb loading process after twenty minutes of cardio in the morning.

Different to the two previous two times, this time's carb loading only included carbs from foods that were previously part of my diet, such as rice, potatoes and yams.

Carb loading done the right way

My carb loading menu on Thursday consisted of 6.75 cups of white rice, 13 oz. of sweet potato, 12.75 oz. of regular baked potato, 2 whole eggs, 31.5 oz. of chicken breast and 60 oz. of water. I surely missed my apple pie filling/dry oats mix but am confident in my trainer's plan and trust his expertise. 

Talking about my trainer, for this preparation I worked with IFBB professional bodybuilder Fred "Biggie" Smalls of Above and Beyond Physiques and gained a great deal from his vast experience in the sport.
He was very accessible through text messages and email if I had any questions or concerns, and since his office is conveniently located in my gym, I was also able to get immediate feedback from him and have him closely monitor my progress.

After looking at me Thursday, he increased my carbs from 620gr to 810 gr for the following day, which brought my total calories up to 4,500 and limited my water intake to 12 oz..
It is amazing what he has done over the past couple of days. I have never looked that lean and cut.
Despite the great improvements in my physique in such a short time, the past few days seem to have taken forever, as I felt physically and mentally exhausted. This week I was completely drained and had almost no energy left. I could not wait for the contest to be over so I could finally take some time off from the gym and enjoy some less healthy foods. I think after 25 weeks of strict dieting and tons of cardio I deserve some ice cream, pastries, pizza, chocolate, Chinese food, pasta, cakes and french fries. Maybe not exactly in that specific order, but I guess you get the point. 

If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

Like Warm Apple Pie

So this was it. 15 weeks of strict dieting and hard training have lead to this week. The final week before my competition. PEAK WEEK!!!

This week was mainly about recovery, being fresh, and focusing on making sure that my muscles were full and hard, as a result of proper carb loading, sodium manipulation and water depletion. 

Peak week was not about loosing a couple more pounds of fat or making extreme changes to manipulate my body in order to look good on contest day, it was about fine-tuning my protein, carb, fat, water and sodium intake and coordinating it with a series of carb depleting workout.
All the hard work was done and all I had to do was putting the finishing "touches" on and "polish" it.
To do so I had to change up completely my training routine, workout plans, and length of each training session that week. 


Sunday, six days from the show,  I did my usual ab routine and a shortened 30 minute version of my cardio routine in the morning. Instead of changing the incline of the treadmill every 15 minutes, I changed it every 10 minutes and cut the entire cardio workout by a total of 15 minutes.

On Monday I did my first of a total of three carb depletion workouts. The focus on Monday's workout was on chest, shoulders, triceps and abdominals. I did three exercises per muscle part with three sets of 15-20 reps per exercise and kept my rest in between sets at a minimum of around 30 seconds. Before working on my posing, I finished off my workout with another 30 minutes of cardio.

Tuesday I followed the same concept and worked on my back, biceps, calves and abs before cardio and posing. 

Wednesday's training session was a full upper body workout and the last "real" gym time before Saturday's competition. I hit my chest, back, shoulders, arms, calves and abdominals with two exercises of three sets each per muscle group and performed my reps until failure. I superset arms starting with a biceps exercise and finished the morning with the last 30 minute cardio session before the big day.

Thursday and Friday I only went to the gym to work on my mandatory poses and posing routine, as well as evaluate my body's progress with my trainer and adjust my diet accordingly.

Along with changing up my workout routine, I also started last Sunday with my peak week diet and changed the variables of it each day in a subtle way so I would be able to predict and control my peaking as good as possible.
As I stated many times before, proper planning and preparation are essential. This holds true especially for this week. Since the ingredients of the meal plan were changing on a daily basis I bought all of them on Saturday and ended up with 20lbs. of chicken, 5 lbs. of lean ground turkey, 5 lbs. of turkey breast, 4 lbs. of lean beef steak, salad, sweet potatoes, 4 cans of apple pie filling, two jars of strawberry jam, dried pineapple rings, Quaker Oats Granola and 15!!! gallons of spring water after my trip to the grocery store. 

Purchasing spring water in plastic gallons instead of using regular tap water has two advantages. 
First, it helps you making sure that you will drink exactly the amount of water outlined in your meal plan and second, you know exactly what amount of nutrients you are consuming, compared to unfiltered tap water.

Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I was told to drink three gallons of water per day, then drop it to two gallons on Thursday and one gallon on Friday.

While I was able to drink the water over the course of the day on all the other days, the gallon on Friday had to be consumed by noon and I was not allowed to have any water  until the end of the show Saturday evening.  

Following my plan, I slowly reduced my carb intake from previously 350gr per day to only one cup of oatmeal on Sunday and Monday and did not eat any on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, while increasing my protein consumption. I also slightly salted all meals until Wednesday and then cut out all additional sodium for the rest of the week. 

My daily food intake for Sunday and Monday was a meat lover's dream come true.

70 oz. of meats (chicken breast, turkey breast, lean beef & lean ground turkey), 4 cups of vegetables (broccoli & spinach), 1 cup of dry oats and 3 gallons of water

Tuesday I completely cut out all carbs, besides the carbohydrates found in vegetables, and upped my protein intake to an all-time high of 606 grams (72 oz. of meat).

I continued with the carb depletion process the next morning and then began carb loading Wednesday afternoon by adding 6 oz. of sweet potato to each my last two meals of the day.

Thursday was finally the day I was waiting for so long. Time to load up my muscles with carbs and experiencing glycogen supercompensation at its best. 

Besides sweet potatoes and dry oats my third main source of carbohydrates was apple pie filling. Being without any sweets or fruits for the past 15 weeks, the taste of half a can of sweet apple pie filling mixed with half a cup of dry oats was simply amazing once it hit my lips. I literally indulged this simple, yet incredible tasty meal and was more than thrilled when I realized that I would have another one for my meal 3 that day and a full cup of oats with an entire can of pie filling twice on Friday. I guess it's right what they say about the simple things in life.     

Apple Pie Filling + Dry Oats = Almost Orgasmic Taste

Friday I continued the carb loading with a total of 540 grams of carbohydrates and was up for a big surprise in the evening. For the first time in almost five months, I was allowed to have a real hamburger, with a real bun, with real french fries and real ketchup. My inner fat kid was doing back flips. Well at least a fat kid version of them.  

My "victim" Friday night.

Even though I felt somewhat guilty cause I haven't eaten anything "unhealthy" in such a long time, this meal tasted amazing and I had the biggest, most satisfied smile on my face when I ate it. The only thing that would have made it almost heavenly would have been some sort of dessert, but that will have to wait til I am done with my "season".

Saturday I woke up and had one more apple pie/dry oat mix in the morning and a 6 oz. steak with a medium sweet potato right before I left for the show venue.
At the show I continuously snacked on a bag of Quaker Oats Natural Granola mixed with 2 cups of dry oats trying to further pull water out from underneath my skin and ate strawberry jam and dried pineapple rings to provide me with the necessary energy to make it through the exhausting day. 
The entire day of the competition was quite an experience and definitely worth its own post, so more about the show, my impressions of it, and of course about how I did, next week.

Getting ready to peak