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POST-CONTEST PREVENTIVE “BAD REBOUND/BLOAT” Strategy Guide

If you’re not familiar with how the Post Contest Rebound works, then let me explain it for you…

Bodybuilders will go on a very strict fat loss diet for at least 12 weeks prior to a bodybuilding contest. This is so they can strip away all their excess body-fat and get as ripped to the bone shredded as possible. Their goal is to step on stage with NO Excess Body-fat What So Ever! This is necessary in order to bring out all their rock hard muscle definition.

However, once the contest is over the celebration begins. Can you imagine how good it must be for all those “starving bodybuilders” who have deprived themselves of their favorite foods for weeks on end to all of a sudden be allowed to eat them again?!

Let’s just say that the typical foods most bodybuilders eat after a show are NOT the most “healthy”…

Pizza, burgers, fries, ice cream, cake, cookies, and chocolate bars are just some of the many things that will get devoured in ridiculous amounts… If they actually added up all the calories consumed it would be scary!

It’s actually quite common for bodybuilders to gain 20+ pounds of muscular bodyweight during the first week after a show! Now obviously a lot of that rapid weight gain will be water and muscle glycogen being stored within the muscle cells.

GUIDELINES TO FOLLOW:
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1. What should I drink right after the Contest when I am dehydrated?

When the contest is over, and you’re in your state of complete dehydration, make sure to first drink Gatorade and/or Pedilite. These fluids are filled with a complete nourishing balance of electrolytes, that your body doesn’t really have at the moment. Drink this ASAP.

2. What foods should I avoid post-contest? Or can I really eat anything I want?

Moderation is key, and I know it’s really hard after a contest, but things that should be somewhat monitored is fat, sodium, sugar. These 3 items have been really limited in the entire pre-contest diet, and so if they are intaked too dramatically, the body will retain a crapload of it, and fat and bloat will commence.

3. Should I go back on diet the next day after the contest?

Let yourself have a day or two to relax, just don’t go overboard. 1 to 2 meals in each of the days of what you’ve wanted for so long; this won’t be a problem.

4. Fluids, how much should I drink?

Lots of water is fine, Gatorade, Pedilite. I usually also add in some amino acid powders to some water, so I can replenish some of lost aminos during the fluid loss period. Allmax Nutrition Aminocore is a perfect supplement for that.

5. What should I be mainly eating then?

Go back to what you were eating 3-4 weeks out from the contest. Just slowly add new elements into each meal, so allow your body to readjust to the change in macro-nutrients, sodium, etc.

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Other guidelines to follow:
– Avoid binge eating for periods longer than 24 hours after your competition.

– Continue eating six to eight small meals per day, maintaining a high protein intake.

– Get additional metabolic stimulation by engaging in cardio and sports activities that normally would have been avoided due to contest preparation.

– Maintain a cardio base no less than 50% of your pre-contest levels.

– Avoid post contest weight gain greater than 5 to 10 pounds for a female and 15 to 20 pounds for male.

– Avoid drinking your calories (except whey protein). Especially avoid canned soft drinks – the sweetener of choice in canned soft drinks is high fructose corn syrup, which doesn’t require insulin and is just automatically absorbed by your cells to manufacture fat quickly and store it.

– Eat foods that are designed to provide stimulation to your diet, but limit the caloric intake.

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If you follow these guidelines, you’ll be saved from the post-contest shit-hole that many of us have gotten into in the past. It’s a real depressing time when that happens, let me tell ya.