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Keep your muscles hard by flexing and squeezing them in a mirror two to three days prior to the contest. This won't deplete your glycogen stores you've gained by carbing up and will keep your muscles defined and in practice for the show.
The night before your contest you've got to watch your water intake. At this point, you don't want to risk looking flat, so cut back a little on your water by sipping rather than drinking glasses of water. If you feel over-dehydrated then don't hesitate to drink a good amount of water though! Your health and safety is important, and being properly hydrated will help you avoid cramping up and will keep your electrolytes high. In fact, you should continue to drink a normal amount of water right up until the night prior to the contest. Don't restrict your fluids too severely beforehand. Try cutting down your water intake to about half of normal that night. This should avoid your body going into a water-retention state and your body should continue to expell additional H2O from your body as normal.
The morning of the show continue to sip water to avoid dehydration. Considering your muscles are about three-quarters water, you don't want to lose too much or your size will suffer. The glycogen in your muscles from carb-loading previously will attract water into the muscles at about a three to one ratio. This represents quite a bit of mass. Getting as much water into the cells and as little between muscle and skin safely is the goal here. You're essentially shrink-wrapping your skin around your super-striated muscles to look as cut and ripped as possible. So, getting rid of water the wrong way...with strong diuretics or severe dehydration for too long, will only cause you to be smaller...not the best way to win the judges favor.
What about sodium?
Scared of a little table salt? Well, you should be...it's true that sodium in too high of amounts prior to the contest can lead to increased water retention in the wrong places. However, if you are completely hydrated, then your body will have no reason to retain water and will expell the additional sodium out with the excess water. Basically, the ones who were having problems with sodium were the same ones who were too dehydrated. That's why the sodium affected them so much.
Actually, proper levels of sodium and potassium are essential to muscle contractions, nerve impulses, and chemical balance in the body. Don't go to crazy on sodium, but don't restrict it too crazily either. Some bodybuilders restrict sodium-containing foods, table salt, and even drink distilled water weeks before a contest. This severe depletion can be the cause painful muscle cramps. Instead, take a more moderate approach to controlling your precontest sodium intake. Avoid foods with excessive amounts of sodium and drink plenty of water to keep yourself hydrated. As long as you're not pigging out on Salt & Vinegar chips with Fast Food Fried Chicken and drinking a normal amount of regular water you should be okay.
Tips to Keep Water Retention Under Your Control:
- Spending a little time in the sun will help your skin tone as well as bake away some of the excess water. Drink a fair amount of water to replenish your supply.
- Keep your blood sugar under control by controlling your diet. Don't get too hungry and don't get too full. It's better to eat six small meals throughout the day than to go without or pig out.
- Stay away from excessively-sodium-filled-foods.
- Check the side effects of any drug or chemical that you may take before you take it. Arnold Schwarzenegger once had a cortisone shot given to releive a shoulder injury before a competition. "I was so puffy that I had to pose all day before the contest and most of the night in order to get my body hard again."
- Practicing posing is a good way to squeeze out extra water from your body.
- Training and exercising can help you sweat out a lot of water, just remember to put some back in to avoid retaining water.
- A sauna or steam room is not the best basket to put all your eggs in, although it can help take out extra water. Just keep in mind, not only do you sweat out water, but minerals too. A definite must is a good multi-vitamin/mineral supplement like Max Complete taken regularly to keep your body balance, strength gains, and energy going smoothly.
- Don't cut down on your fluid intake until the night before the contest and then only cut it about in half. Remember to sip water that night and the next day to keep hydrated.
 The Final Week Info
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