I sit here two weeks out from contest, looking back over this past prep and having no regrets. I have executed my peak week bodybuilding plan exactly as I intended. It’s the Indy Pro, and it’s a very meaningful contest to me because this will be my first show as a pro where I’ve run the whole prep coaching myself. It’s given me a new level of confidence as a competitor and coach.
Gaining confidence and knowledge in all areas of prep has been a progression over the years; now, it’s a secret weapon. When you’re new to competing in bodybuilding shows, doubt can creep in at the mere thought of self-coaching. It’s easy to second guess yourself on some very important questions, like:
-
Will I know when to drop calories?
-
Do I have the right peak week diet?
-
Is my timeline on track?
-
Is my bodybuilding contest prep good enough?
I don’t have these questions anymore.
Instead, I’m flushed with confidence that I’ve made all the right moves. I’ve manipulated all the variables in the right way, my contest prep diet is honed to the gram, and my mindset is confident and equanimous. It’s taken me years to get here but I made it. I am ready and proud of the work I have to display. And I want to help you get here, too.
If you’re concerned—or just plain curious—about how to prep for a bodybuilding show, then grab your favorite drink, sit back, and read on. I’ll go over my entire peak week bodybuilding plan, including my peak week diet and training approach leading into show.
Setting A Timeline Is Crucial
Timing—estimating body fat and giving yourself the right timeline—is the key to getting skinned. There’s no shortage of bodybuilding show tips out there, but not many of them cover this crucial foundation of a good prep plan. Creating and sticking to a thought-out timeline will keep you on track right through your contest.
Here’s what you’ll want to lock in with your contest prep timeline:
-
Starting body weight
-
Goal body weight
-
Starting body fat (%)
-
Goal body fat (%)
-
Diet leading up to show
-
Duration (weeks)
I’m following a 12-week prep, with a starting weight of 223 lbs and 10-11% body fat. Basic math has kept me on track: I had 7% body fat to lose, roughly 16 lb, making my goal body weight 207 lbs.
And guess what? At two weeks out, my body weight is exactly 207.0 lb, right where I estimated I needed to be.
Being at my ideal show weight two weeks out, I’m ready to begin my ideal peaking process of “eating into the show.” This is my approach to a peak week bodybuilding diet, one that I’ve found I like and works. What you won’t find is a lot of manipulating of variables.
In my opinion, rapid carbohydrate loads, water tapers, and sodium loads are all extreme measures and usually last-ditch efforts to peak someone that is not in shape. Some studies even show them to be an inconsequential strategy to show prep. [1] (Though more research is very much needed.)
To set the stage for “eating into the show,” you have to get skinned-out lean. You will look like you could walk on stage at any moment, so there’s no need to manipulate all the variables that might ruin your look. My (and your) 2-weeks out contest prep is to drop fatigue by tapering cardio and raising food, then walk out on stage full, hard, and hydrated.
How To Prep For A Bodybuilding Show
I always organize my prep plan into three main layouts:
-
Cardio layout
-
Training layout
-
Diet layout
Cardio Layout:
Step Goal: 12,000 steps per day
Cardio has not been taxing this prep. I’ve primarily focused on getting my steps up. This helps me get some cardio in without taxing my energy stores for training.
I increased my step count only over the course of prep, and any direct cardio work I would do was on the treadmill at 12% incline and 2.7 mph. I tracked steps with a FitBit. At the start of prep, I was clocking around 6000 steps per day and I have since progressed this up to 12,000 steps total. This is such an easy form of cardio that progressing through my peak week bodybuilding plan means I don’t have to drop back on the step count. I’ll only reduce the deficit through increasing food.
Steps are easy to add into your prep strategy. I wake up and take a 15-minute walk in the morning, then stay fasted, have some coffee, and do some emails. Then I will do 25 minutes on the treadmill before Meal 1. This already gets me to 4000 steps for the day. I can then just stay active the rest of the day, taking brief walks before and after meals or by walking around at the gym and parking far away from stores that I visit. Remember, the point of cardio on prep is to just expend energy via the easiest means possible so that it does not interfere with your weight training performance. Keeping training performance high is what is going to keep the muscle on when you diet.
Training Layout:
-
Push
-
Pull
-
Delts/arms/calves/abs
-
Legs
-
Off
My training split only changed once over the course of prep. Again, upholding performance is key during prep. I noticed that my sessions were getting rather lengthy when I was running only push, pull, off, legs, off. So I moved all of my isolation work (delts, arms, calves, abs) to an off day. This kept my sessions short and I was no longer fading out by the end of training. This is all about fatigue management. When it comes to bodybuilding contest prep, you are trying to adjust training to uphold performance (the load and reps you hit) and train within your recovery capacity.
At six weeks out (half way through my prep phase) I did drop some lifts from three sets to two sets in order to uphold training effort, load, and reps. But I’m currently in my “eating into the show” phase and recovery has kicked back up. I am not going to add the removed sets back in; I will just allow my load and reps to progress up organically. In other words, I’ll still allow progression to take place but I won’t go to failure and try for reps I have no way in hell of hitting. What will increase my full look will be my peak week diet. I actually stand to regain any tissue lost in the dieting process as I “eat into show.” This will be driven by the adaptive stimulus created by progressing overload.
Diet Layout
In my opinion, diet is one of the most—if not the most—important component of my peak week bodybuilding plan. Since I’ve dropped all the body fat I need to at the two-weeks-out point, I am simply raising calories for maintenance. For me, that looks like a roughly 15% calorie increase from 1899 kcal (178c/281p/6f) to 2222 kcal (263c/281p/10f).
All of the increase is focused on carbohydrates. This helps my body in four key ways:
-
To aid digestion
-
To fuel performance and recovery
-
To improve sleep, and
-
To maintain muscle fullness
I keep fats at trace levels as digestion is much better this way and I don’t have to limit fiber intake. Increasing food will drop fatigue and cause water to shed. This is where you can obtain an even harder look going into the show.
Hydration and Sodium
A lot of people ask me how to dry out for bodybuilding competition. The truth is, you need to stay hydrated throughout your prep. If drying out in the final 24-10 hours before your show works for you, fine. But it’s crucial to avoid dehydration while you’re still in prep.
Here’s my hydration breakdown:
Total fluid: 2 gallons of water per day
Total salt intake: 7.2g (2.9g sodium) only counting direct salt added to meals
Peak Week Bodybuilding Meal Plan:
My peak week diet is a blend of whole foods and Animal protein supplements to ensure I hit my exact numbers and get the right nutrition. Animal makes a wide range of protein powders, so make sure to find one that works for you. If you’re the type that feels and looks a bit bloated after a scoop of traditional whey, try Animal’s clear whey isolate, which filters out fats and lactose from whey protein concentrate.
This is my personal prep diet for this show. Feel free to adjust yours to suit your own needs and tastes, but take note at the “big picture” of what I’m consuming.
Meal 1
-
200g egg whites
-
35g Animal Frosted Cinnamon Bun Whey
-
55g oats
-
65g pumpkin
-
100g spinach
-
½ English muffin
-
1 scoop Animal Pak
Meal 2 (pre-workout, 90 minutes prior)
-
3oz chicken breast cooked wt
-
45g oats
-
140g white jasmine rice, cooked wt
Pre-workout
-
2 scoops Animal Pump Pro Blue Ice
-
1 scoop Animal Fury Lemonade
Intra-workout
-
1 scoop Animal Juiced Amino Peach Mango
Meal 3 (post workout, 20 minutes post)
-
6oz chicken breast, cooked wt
-
140g white jasmine rice, cooked wt
-
100g spinach/green bean mix
Meal 4
-
6oz chicken breast, cooked wt
-
110g white jasmine rice, cooked wt
-
300g mixed salad (lettuce, bell pepper, red onion, mushroom, tomato)
Meal 5
-
70g Animal Whey Strawberry
-
40g oats
-
65g pumpkin
-
100g spinach/green bean mix
-
1 pak Animal PM
“Eating Into the Show” Benefits:
“Eating into show,” as I call it, has a lot of benefits. It may not be the peak week diet plan for absolutely every bodybuilder out there, but it’s working for me. Here are some of the benefits I’ve noticed so far:
-
Drop fatigue by training volume reductions
-
Increase in food
-
Improving energy availability
-
Improved digestion, sleep, hormone profile
-
More predictive glycogen fullness than rapid loads
-
Regaining lost muscle tissue
-
Essentially being peaked before peak week
How To Do It:
-
Move calorie to maintenance by increasing carbs 20-40g and fats 0-10g (10% kcal increase to start)
-
Reduce cardio by 5-10 minutes per session or steps by 1000-2000
-
Food sources stay the same
-
Water and sodium stay the same, which should be at a high level all prep
-
Assess your weight and pictures daily to make sure you are at maintenance and not gaining weight and getting softer
When To Do It:
Must be fat-free lean 1-4 weeks out from show.
Peak week is often sold as a magical week full of manipulation that is going to transform you into stage-lean condition. The unsexy truth is that nothing is going to have you stage-ready unless you are stage lean in the first place.
You need to set the right timeline for your prep, give extra weeks, be ready in advance, then “eat into the show” without last minute manipulations. Dedication to such a peak week bodybuilding plan will help build confidence to nail a peak without approaching it like a roll of the dice. Following a solid prep plan will also keep you from having to race fat off in the final days and hours before a show. Remember that you want to look your absolute best when you hit the stage. If needed, push your show back a few weeks and come in with the look you intended so you can be proud to walk on stage. I know I will.
About The Author
John Jewett is a IFBB pro, a top five Olympia competitor, and five-time powerlifting World Champion. Beyond his bodybuilding accolades, John holds a bachelors in Exercise Science, a Masters in Nutrition. He’s also a Registered Dietitian and self-proclaimed muscle nerd, generously sharing his extensive knowledge of fitness and nutrition with the Animal community.
