Are You Stage Ready? For some people, a bodybuilding competition is about conditioning. While being in razor-sharp condition is necessary, the problem is that too many bodybuilders use this mindset to ignore building a good size foundation. This seems to be especially true if you’re competing as a natural bodybuilder. Natty or not, your best chance to win is if you’ve concentrated on building balanced size first and then worry about being well-conditioned. That’s when you will dominate the stage!

Things To Consider When Planning To Compete

Are You Able To Put In The Time?

Let’s say you’ve built a good, balanced size foundation and you’ve decided to test the competitive waters. That means you will have to commit to 12-16 weeks of contest prep (longer if you’re really out of shape). This includes peak week and the actual day of the show. Let’s be clear, you will want as few distractions as possible. 

This commitment means eating strictly and training strictly. Now is not the time for missed meals or missed workouts. It will not matter how tired you are, or how busy you are. Part of this commitment also means posing practice. Is this your first competition? Then you will have to become a good poser. This might mean up to an hour a day of serious posing practice 5-6 days a week. Once you’ve decided to go for it, be certain you have the time to put in the work.

When Do I Begin To Prepare?

When you begin your contest prep depends largely on the shape you’re in. For most bodybuilders, a 16-week prep gives you plenty of time to lean out. Of course, this assumes you do not have too much fat to lose. The goal with your prep work is to maintain as much mass as possible while slowly losing body fat. You do not want to begin by drastically cutting calories. Instead, your initial diet guidelines are to get rid of any junk foods, fast foods, and anything high sugar. 

Using 5% Nutrition Supplements

As you begin your contest diet and training, you’ll want to add in 5% Nutrition supplements. Of course, your protein intake must be kept high, so Shake Time is a must. You will no doubt need as much energy as you can get to power through your workouts. Therefore, you have 2 areas of focus. First, consume at least 50% of your carbs in the hours around your workout. This ensures adequate glycogen for training energy. Real Carbs can help you achieve this. Next, use a good 5% pre-workout for that caffeine kick. 5% Nutrition has several incredible choices, including Kill It Reloaded with 325 mg of caffeine, 5150 with 400 mg, and Kill It RTD, also with 400 mg. 

From there, we have phenomenal fat-loss products including Shred Time, All Day You Shred, and Liquid L-Carnitine 3150. These powerful fat loss aids can be added to your program to turn up the blowtorch on that excess body fat. You’ll kill it in plenty of time with this potent 5% combination! Buy it as a Stack: buy any 5 products and save 20%! 

5% Nutrition Stage Ready

The main goals of contest peaking are: to increase muscle fullness by carb loading going into the show; to achieve a “dry” look by minimizing subcutaneous water; and, to highlight your “V-taper” by minimizing abdominal bloating, making your abs lean and tight.^(1,2,3,4) This includes manipulating water intake to get as ripped as possible. That’s where Stage Ready, our all-natural diuretic, comes in. You will use this potent supplement for up to 10 days before the contest to help get any excess water out of your body, in order to reveal a ripped-to-shreds, contest-winning physique. This impressive product belongs in the arsenal of every serious competitive bodybuilder. 

In Summary

To summarize, if you choose to enter a bodybuilding contest, your priority is to make sure you have enough balanced mass. If you’re new, plan on at least a few years of consistent training before you decide to compete. Once you reach an acceptable mass standard, you can pick your contest. Ideally, the day of the show should be 16 weeks out, more if you’re really out of shape. Commit to giving all aspects 100%,  your nutrition/supplementation, your workouts (including cardio), and your posing. Don’t forget to take advantage of 5% supps to help you get there, especially Stage Ready!

References:

1. Chappell, A. J., & Simper, T. N. (2018). Nutritional Peak Week and Competition Day Strategies of Competitive Natural Bodybuilders. Sports (Basel, Switzerland), 6(4), 126. https://doi.org/10.3390/sports6040126
2. Schwarzenegger A., Dobbins B. The New Encyclopaedia of Modern Bodybuilding. Simon & Schuster; New York, NY, USA: 1999
3. Aceto C. Championship Bodybuilding. Morris Publishing; Kearney, KS, USA: 2001. 
4. Kennedy R. Encyclopaedia of Bodybuilding: The Complete A-Z Book on Muscle Building. Robert Kennedy Publishing; Mississauga, ON, Canada: 2008