While training for a fitness competition requires a high level of commitment to training, it also requires dieting skill and discipline. Your training will create the necessary stress to stimulate your body into adding more muscle and shedding fat. It's your diet, however, that provides the necessary building blocks to ensure your success on the stage.
Considerations
Before dieting for a figure competition, calculate maintenance calories, as most diets will use that figure in their planning. Maintenance calories are determined by multiplying your body weight by 10. For example, if you weighed 135 pounds, your maintenance calories would be 1,350. Then, for every hour of cardiovascular exercise, add 300 to 400 calories and 250 to 350 calories for every hour of weight lifting.
These figures are starting points and will often be adjusted based on your individual results, metabolism and how your body responds to training.
Benefits
Entering a fitness competition and succeeding on the stage is mostly about appearance. While time spent in the gym is critical to building that highly desired muscular physique, diet will not only provide the building blocks for bigger muscles will help you remove body fat and uncover the muscle underneath.
Expert Insight
"The main focus for my fitness competitor clients is to not start too fast," says Jen Heath, a certified fitness coach from Idaho Falls, Idaho. "I like to have them on maintenance calories three to four days a week when they are four to six months out from the competition. Starting too fast leaves no where to go when it's time to pour on the gas."
John Romaniello, a New York-based strength coach and owner of romanfitnesssystems.com, recommends building a body recomposition diet by setting protein intake at 1.5 g per pound of current body weight and carbohydrates at 1.5 to 2 g of lean body mass. The balance of calories should come from fats high in omega-3s, such as fish oil.
Time Frame
The closer the competitor is to the show, the stricter the diet. Five weeks from the competition, Heath has her clients use five calorie-deficit days with the deficit being 200 to 400 calories below maintenance. Depending on how the athlete responds, that deficit is gradually increased each week leading into the show.
The day before and day of the figure competition can make or break the athlete's look. Most athletes reduce their carbohydrate and fluid intake 24 hours before the show to help the body shed extra water.
"You have to know your body and how it responds to water," says Heath. "One athlete could be depleting carbs with higher water or loading carbs with lower water. It all depends on how your body responds to various peaking methods."
The day of the show, the focus is on keeping water intake low, just enough to keep from being dehydrated. Heath suggests ingesting fats and sugars such as almond butter and honey to keep muscles full and the mind sharp.
Warning
After six months of increasingly strict dieting, smart athletes resist the temptation to binge after the competition and eat an entire pizza and a gallon of ice cream. Their bodies needs a period of adjustment.
"After the show, I have my athletes eat one hard-earned cheat meal," Heath advises. "From that point forward, carbs should be cut out nearly all together and then reintroduced slowly." The faster carbs are re-introduced, the more unwanted body fat accumulates.
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