Following last weekend’s Bermuda Body Building Federation (BBBF) 24th Night of Champions at the Ruth Seaton James Auditorium and then the announcement of their team for the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) Bodybuilding and Fitness Championships scheduled for September 22nd – September 26th in Aruba, www.islandstats.com asked a former International competitor to explain what an athlete goes through on the day of competition.
“First thing you wake up with serious "cottonmouth". Why? As most bodybuilders the day of a competition do what is called "dropping water", where you drink as little water as humanly possible after consuming excessive amounts for the past 2/3 days. This, in concept, helps to draw the last little bit of water from beneath the skin to help achieve a stratiated look to your muscles buy tricking your body into thinking it is getting copious amounts of water, then suddenly stopping. Many a bodybuilders over the years has tried this when their bodyfat is too high to make a difference - you need to be extremely lean for water manipulation to achieve an effect.
On to the tan - everyone who follows bodybuilding knows the deep tan bodybuilders use onstage. This is far past a sun-given tan or even a regular bottle tan; it's a specific stain that is used, with a very strong chemical smell [go backstage at any bodybuilding show and you will see what I mean!]. It is painted on with a sponge paintbrush most times, and most bodybuilders will apply their final layer [or two] the morning of the show. The deep colour helps to show off muscle lines, and counteract the heavy stage lighting.
Then to eat - what to eat the morning of a show is a subject of great controversy in the bodybuilding world - many will fiercely argue for one way or the other. Many employ the concept of "carb loading", which is similar to the water concept. You eat next to no carbs surviving on protein/fats - then at some point before the show [48,36, 24 or 12 hrs depending on who you ask] your "carb load", eating quantities of carbs to help pull water from under the skin into the muscle to create what bodybuilders call a "full" look. Potatoes are a carb of a choice for many bodybuilders, and asparagus is also a popular food close to a show as it is said to be a natural diuretic.
Off to the show; the bodybuilders clutching their bag make their way to the prejudging which, in Bermuda, is normally held the morning of the show at about 10am. This is the first part of the competition, and although the most unglamorous to the public eye, it is considered vital from a scoring perspective, and taken very seriously. After "pumping up", using some smaller weights to prime the muscles and help them to show better, the competitors - in their category and weight classes - are lined up and judged group by group. After the prejudging is over, most bodybuilders will rest up - eat another carb meal and desperately try and avoid drinking water - until the night show.
This last 24 hours the end of a cycle that takes years, and the proverbial blood, sweat and tears. People will often downplay bodybuilding as a sport, when it is a sport that takes 24/7 dedication for years to reach any form of decent level in. Prior to a bodybuilder even beginning to think about competing, they will have trained hard for numerous hours, faced down countless plates of chicken and broccoli, performed anywhere from 1-3 hrs cardio a day.”
