This was such a crazy and busy week! I’ll be updating this post soon with more details!!

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Peak week is here! This was a crazy week, and now I totally understand why people saw this week is so crucial. As you probably know (or have seen from my other posts during bikini prep), training for a bodybuilding competition is sooo different than lifestyle training. Instead of just eating and exercising for general health and wellbeing, everything is geared towards the specific goal of a stage-ready physique on show day.

I want to emphasize that again; I’m preparing to have certain physique on show day, not a leanness that is meant to be maintained. So this week is all about reducing excess fluid under the skin and precise timing of foods to fill my muscles to showcase them for one day only.

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So in an effort to reduce retained fluid for show day, my coach gave me a water manipulation schedule. I started with high water intake at the beginning of the week and then gradually reduced it each day. I’m a little skeptical of all this, but I know I need to trust the process of experienced prep coaches.

Saturday: 2.5 gallons
Sunday: 2.0 gallons
Monday: 1.5 gallons
Tuesday: 1.0 gallons
Wednesday: 3.0 liters
Thursday: 2.0 liters
Friday: 3 oz. for first 3 meals. After meals measure what I pee out, and drink that exact amount.
Saturday: Continue to drink the exact amount I urinate.

My coach actually told me to NOT drink my urine. I thought that was pretty obvious (and so did he), but apparently one of his clients misinterpreted this in the past and actually drank their own uring. Ewww!!!

Vitamins/Minerals:

1000 mg of Vit C 3x/day
Vit B-12 AM and PM
Potassium/magnesium/calcium
Dandelion root AM and PM
Xpel split into AM/PM

I’m also still taking HMB (the active metabolite of the amino acid leucine to reduce muscle protein breakdown and help preserve muscle as my cardio increases and my caloric consumption decreases) and my Best Nest Wellness multivitamin (super high-quality multivitamin that contains all the methylated B vitamins, especially important for MTHFR).

This was WAY too much to keep track of, so I bought this Pill Box to keep them all organized. And yes, I would have felt a little ridiculous going into Target or Walgreens to buy a pill box! The best part about this one is each day’s compartment pops out so I can put it in my purse or lunch bag without the bulk of the entire box.

After meeting with my posing coach last week, I felt a lot better, but I met with her again on Tuesday morning after working out with my trainer just to really nail things down and make sure I was really comfortable.

Training

Luckily with all the other things to keep track of this week, the workouts are pretty simple. Nice, easy weight workouts for the first few days, cardio on Wednesday, a few pushups on Thursday, and THAT’s IT! It was kind of weird to not work out towards the end of the week, but my body really appreciated the extra sleep and some relaxation time in the mornings. It’s always been my goal to have a more focused and intentional morning routine, and now that I’ve been able to fit it in these last few days, I want to make it a regular thing.

Strength

Another week of short and simple exercises! 4 sets of 12 reps

Sunday: rest (my 24-hour call shift at the hospital)

Monday: Back/Biceps/Shoulders circuit

Tuesday: Legs/Triceps/Abs circuit with trainer

Wednesday: Push Ups

Thursday: Rest

Friday: Rest

Saturday: Show Day!

Cardio

30 minutes AM fasted (or PM if AM strength) on Monday and Tuesday, 40 minutes fasted on Wednesday

Sunday: none

Monday: 13-minute Aaptiv Less Time, More Speed + 22-minute elliptical Aaptiv Jam-Packed Intervals

Tuesday: 32-minute Run with Rhythm Aaptiv outdoor run in the afternoon

Wednesday (45 min fasted): treadmill

Thursday: none

Friday: none

Saturday: none – Show Day!

Meal Plan

My meal plan changed a few times this week which made the prep time a little longer than usual. And because I was working 24 hours on Sunday to Monday morning, I was super stressed trying to get it all done on Saturday. Luckily my fantastic and supportive hubby could see how stressed I was and stepped in to help me make all of it by grilling like 5 pounds of chicken and helping me portion it into containers for all my meals this week and scrambling a ton of egg whites. And this just happened to coincide with a sale on asparagus at the grocery store!