Pre Contest Nutrition 10/09/2009

Pre Contest Nutrition

If you have ever competed in bodybuilding before you know that pre-contest nutrition requires discipline and commitment for at least 3-4 months before the show. It also requires knowledge about your individual body and what it needs to maintain muscle while eliminating as much fat as possible.

Keeping in relatively good shape year round will definitely make the pre-contest nutrition a lot easier mentally and physically. As a natural athlete, your pre-contest diet must start at least 3-4 months out so that you can lose body fat slowly without compromising your hard earned muscle. I believe there are 4 areas to work on nutritionally when aiming for your biggest and leanest condition possible:

Increase your metabolism by:

Eating at least 6-8 nutritionally balanced meals per day.
Drinking at least 2-4 litres of water per day.
Routinely having a larger meal (still clean food) once or twice a week to prevent your metabolism from slowing down. (I often do this until 2 weeks out from a show and will depend on how lean I am).
Altering calorie consumption daily so the body never gets used to a certain number of calories (useful in the last 2 weeks or if you reach a plateau in body fat loss). E.g. If your normal calorie consumption is around 2500 kcal, having days of slightly lower (2200) or higher calories (2700) will help. This could naturally coincide with your training days also.
Having days with higher fat and less carbohydrates, then days with higher carbohydrates and less fat.
Taking a supplement like Cytolean, Mitotropin or Hydroxycut.
Taking fish oil (I have 2 tbsp a day).
Having 8 hours of sleep per night.


Decrease body fat by:

Choosing foods and eating plans that suit your unique body. (I utilise the “Genotype diet”, an extension of the Blood Type Diet, by Paul D Adamo alongside the “Warrior Diet” by Ori Hofmekler and have had great results). I am a firm believer that you must keep an open mind, try different ideas on dieting one at a time, look at the results and add parts that work well for you into your own unique pre-contest nutrition plan.
Finding the correct ratio of nutrients (protein, carbohydrates and fats) for each of your meals, even for different times of the day, and of course pre and post workout.
Detoxifying the body so that the body does not need to hold onto fat to store toxins.
Taking a Nitric Oxide supplement like Plasmajet, Nitrix, NO Shotgun or NIOX.


Increase lean muscle mass by:

Eating at least 3 grams of protein per kilo of lean muscle mass (not bodyweight). It is hard to get all this from meat each day so a whey protein supplement is a necessity. There are a range of proteins to take, each with their own advantages. (I have been pleased with the results I have gotten from ISOMAXX by Inner Armour at present).

If you feel like your not digesting protein adequately, taking a digestive enzyme supplement will help.

Taking glutamine to enhance muscle growth. (I take 5g morning and night as well as 5 g after training). A larger dose of Glutamine before training (20g) can also give extra training drive when energy levels begin to wane pre-contest.

Taking creatine to help your performance during your pre-contest training.

Taking Nitric Oxide supplements, testosterone boosters and other natural supplements can definitely help during pre-contest dieting and training, but again you will have to try these different supplements (and even different brands) to find ones that work for you.


Increase chances of sticking to your diet by:

Eating vegetables! Apart from the vitamins and minerals, the high fibre and low calorie content in most vegetables is great for keeping you full, satisfied, regular and lean!! (I have at least 10-12 servings of vegetables everyday and aim for 30+ grams of fibre per day).
Adding fish oil and psyllium husks to your protein shakes. The fish oil and psyllium husks slow digestion and keep you full for longer. (You can get lemon/lime flavoured fish oil or you can take capsules).
Keeping a diary of the food you consume so that you can adjust calories easily. Also the next time you compete you can see what worked for you (or didn’t work) and make adjustments. Having your nutrition plan written down can be a powerful way of keeping you on track just like a training journal.
Find foods that are beneficial for you and that you enjoy!
Adding herbs and flavourings to meals so that you enjoy them (I don’t mean sauces and excessive seasoning though!)
Taking fat loss products that also help to suppress the appetite.


I hope this has given you food for thought on how you approach your pre-contest nutrition. My next article will discuss the final week of preparation leading up to the show- until then happy eating!