#3: Competition Peaking

Q: Hello Guy,

I have been competing for 10 years and I'm still learning how to reach my peak for each show. How do you determine when you are ready to step on stage? Do you go by the scale, or do you go by the mirror? As you may know, you don't want to lose any size, but you want to be hard and striated. Most of the time at the CBBF National World Qualifier, John Raposo is the guy to beat. But this year, I think it was you.

Train hard, stay natural and good luck,

...Ron M.

A: Hi Ron,

Thank you for the compliments and well wishes. I am just back from the IFBB Men's World Bodybuilding Championships held in Ostrava in the Czech Republic, and I am pleased to report that I made the finals and finished fifth in the Classic Bodybuilding Tall class. The finals will be broadcast on EuroSport in the near future where you will be able to see me in action and judge the show for yourself. To add insult to injury, the mostly European judging panel for my class informed me that they had marked me down because I was too muscular for what they were looking for in this category! What will they think of next to ensure that their less-muscular athletes win?

With regard to your question, I use both the scale and mirror to get ready for a show. The scale is used to control my weight loss to no more than two pounds per week. Competing in the Classic category also meant using the scale this year to ensure that I met my maximum allowable bodyweight of 86.5 kg for my height.

The mirror is predominantly what I use to dial in for the show by observing how the definition is appearing on the body. Everyone’s body is different with respect to where definition occurs first and where it is the slowest in appearing. For me, my back, biceps, shoulders and abdominals get defined relatively early in the dieting process, while my quads are the very last thing to show definition and striations. Therefore, I use my quads as my primary indicator of competition readiness.

In order to compete in the Classic category this year, I knew that I would have to come down from my off-season bodyweight of 230 pounds to a maximum weight of 190.7 pounds – a drop of nearly 40 pounds! To achieve such a dramatic weight loss while maintaining as much muscle mass as possible, my pre-contest regimen started a full six months before the show. This would also allow time for my skin to shrink to match my lower bodyweight.

Therefore, on February 1, I began daily pre-breakfast cardio-vascular workouts that were 45 minutes in duration, and I removed all fats, simple sugars, fruits, milk products and breads from my diet, as well as post-lunch starchy carbs. I ensured that I ate sufficient low-fat protein sources and complex carbs to control my weight loss to no more than two pounds per week. My principle starchy carb was oatmeal, but I also used potatoes and brown rice for variety. My principle protein sources were egg whites and chicken breast, with the occasional top-sirloin steak, pork tenderloin, fish and fat-free ham thrown in for variety. I generally ate six meals a day, with my protein intake at roughly 250 grams per day. I do not believe in taking a cheat meal once a week like some others do, as I find this counter-productive to my goal. If I feel I must eat something starchy later in the day, I may occasionally add some rice cakes or oatmeal to a later meal.

Two weeks before the show, I begin restricting my sodium intake by choosing foods that are, for the most part, sodium-free. I also start eating more high-potassium foods such as mushrooms and green vegetables to draw the water into the muscle and out of the skin. A week before the show, I begin drinking distilled water and eliminate all sources of sodium from my diet, replacing egg whites and pork with more chicken and fresh fish.

The Sunday, Monday and Tuesday before the show, I flush my body with 5 liters of distilled water per day. The Tuesday before the show, I begin my carb-depletion cycle, which I maintain until weigh-in. The Wednesday before the show, I begin to water deplete, limiting myself to 4 ounces of water per meal. After weigh-in, I begin carb-loading every two hours with rice cakes and potatoes overnight and through to the completion of the show. I drink 6 ounces of water prior to pumping up to go on stage.

With respect to training, rather than increase my weights by five pounds a week (see "The Five Pound Rule"), I try to maintain using the same weight for as long as possible as I diet down. Of course, the weights will begin to diminish as you get further and further along in your diet. I keep doing the same exercises for the same repetition range of five to eight as I do in the off-season until four weeks from the show. Four weeks out, I switch to keeping to the eight-repetition range to protect my joints from injury as my fat levels are very, very low by this stage. The final week, I generally do 10 to 12 repetitions per set. My last cardio and weight workouts are on the Wednesday before the show, and the remainder of the week I practice posing.

The most common errors made by competitors are not doing cardio at a level high enough to optimize fat-burning, and, of course, cheating on the diet. As a target, you should be able to talk while doing your cardio but not really want to. As far as the diet is concerned, whenever I feel like I cannot go on anymore, I always remind myself that there are many people in the world who would be very glad to have the opportunity to eat this well, and that usually allows me to re-focus.

Having followed this regimen for the past nine months, I realize it is not easy, but if you want to reach your competitive potential, the sacrifices have to be made in order to reap the rewards.

Good luck in your future competitions!

...Guy Bourgon, Canadian Champion 2006

If you would like to ask Guy a question, please e-mail: askguy@seriousaboutmuscle.com.

SeriousAboutMuscle.com contributor Guy Bourgon is from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, and is the winner of the Tall class in the Classic Bodybuilding division at the 2006 CBBF National World Qualifier. Guy also competed at the 2006 IFBB World Bodybuilding Championships held in Ostrava, Czech Republic, where he placed fifth in the Tall class of the Classic Bodybuilding division.