Competition Preparation

Cutting and Bulking

In bodybuilding competitions, body builder's want to gain a certain stage in their bodybuilding progress where by they have an aesthetically pleasing body and balanced physique. To get this, they have to go through two tasks called 'Cutting and Bulking'. Bulking involves bulking to your highest body weight, to gain weight the bodybuilder has at least 6 small meals a day. The meals should be divided into 70% protein, 20% carbohydrate and 10% fats. It is important that a bodybuilder trains more then 4 times a week, splitting his/her workouts into different body parts so that the worked-out body parts get enough rest to recover and grow.
 Cutting involves losing a lot of fat present in your body so that you get a defined and definite body shape. Losing body weight and fat involes a low carbohydrate and fat intake and high aerobic training. This usually takes between 3-4 months to get in good shape.

Clean Bulking

A lot of non-competetive body builders chose not to go for the normal bulking, as it usually ends up in unwanted fat gain. The attempt to increase muscle mass in the body with no fat gain is known as clean bulking.

Pre-competition

In the days leading upto the competetion bodybuilders usually dehydrate themseleves. The day before the competition water is completely removed and diuretics are usually introduced. Diuretics increase the rate or urination to excrete most water present in the body. The goal of doing all these preparations is to increase the visability of veins and to maximize leanness. Just before the competetion, the bodybuilder will cover himself in tanning lotion to increase visability of veins. Or they may apply oils to make their body shine and to make each muscle look more defined. The last step is to use weights before competition to rush blood to the muscle and get it its largest.

This is an amatuer bodybuilder talking about the important rules when cutting and bulking.