Rice, sweet potatoes, chicken, egg, oats, whey protein, etc. For most of the population, these are the foods that are included in the routine of a bodybuilder. However, it is common to see them eating hamburger, sweets or snacks when they are about to compete.
An example is Ramon Rocha Queiroz, Dino, who revealed that he had eaten several cookies during his finalization to Olympia 2023, where he had the best physicist in his career – at least so far – and pressed Chris Bumtead, the Cbum. Edvan Palmeira, in turn, ate gum bullets and no cheese hamburger before climbing the Olympia 2022, where he took fifth place – a mark equalized by him in the 2024 edition of the most important championship on the planet.
Normally, caloric and sugar -added foods are not part of the routine of a bodybuilder. However, this type of approach can occur at the end of athletes for their championships, hours before the competitions. This is for several reasons that will be explained in the following paragraphs.
Generally, bodybuilders go through the “bulking” – a phase when they make a hypercaloric diet to gain muscles – and the cutting – where they will lose all the water retention and fat they acquired when they were gaining muscles. While remaining in caloric deficit, athletes do their best not to lose muscle mass, which can happen when restrictions are rigorous.
At the end of the preparation, that is, the week they will compete, athletes begin to manipulate their intake of sodium and water, because in the championship it is not important to only lack of fat, but also the water present in the interstitium – layer that is between the skin and the muscles.
For this liquid – which hinders the visualization of the muscles – leaves completely, the athletes eat calculated amounts of sodium and water. When the maneuvers are very aggressive, a tendency is for the muscle to look flabby, since there is no water inside it and it is withered.
In such cases, many coaches use the so -called ‘sodium pump’ – a lot of salt meal, which will help in intramuscular fluid retention – as well as foods that contain simple carbohydrates – rapidly absorbed, such as sugar. This manipulation of water, sodium and carbohydrate generates so -called glycogen, which makes the muscles fill and create a rounding and filling aspect.
That is, often, eating ‘bullshit’ before the championship causes the athlete to be able to perform with the fuller muscles, even with low water and fat levels in the body. The whole finish of a bodybuilder aims to achieve this balance between sodium, water and carbohydrate.
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