foodHints and Tips on Looking Sharp for That Crucial Photoshoot/Stage Appearance/Beach Holiday
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I had a question last week about Preparing for a Photoshoot. Below is my answer with some added tips and tricks you can use to look as lean and muscular as possible! I’ve used these with bodybuilders and fitness models to refine their look so that they can look as good as possible in front of an audience or a camera!
First of all, this is a general recommendation. There are several “individual” factors that have to be considered such as your current shape, age, training regime, gender, your usual cutting method, whether you are "carb sensitive" etc. So use the below as a guide.
Secondly, ensure that you keep very close records of all activity and food/supplement/liquid intake and how your body reacts, so that you can make adjustments and improve the results for next time!
OK, so here are the five major things you should do to take your look from “lean” to “ripped”. These are designed to move the water out from under your skin and into your muscles, make your muscles look big and full and to burn off that last bit of fat:
1. Depletion Training: Between 7 and 4 days out (7 to 4 days from the photoshoot date), do two or three full body workouts. These should consist of sets of 12 to 20 reps with very short rest periods between sets. I usually do about 50 sets with less than 30 seconds between sets.
2. Depletion Diet: Day 6 to day 4 - if your shoot is on a Saturday, cut your carbs to 50 grams or fewer on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the week before.
3. Repletion ("Carb Up"): Wednesday, Thursday and Friday progressively increase your carbs. Usually something like 200g Wed, 300g Thurs and 400g Fri. Then eat a level of carbs on the day that is appropriate depending upon whether you feel flat or feel pretty full.
4. Water: Decrease the water intake about 24 hours before the shoot starts. You can have a half cup of water every few hours along with a few very thick protein shakes but no other liquids.
5. Salt / Sodium: Keep sodium high from 10 to 3 days out and then 3 days (72 hours) before the shoot, eliminate sodium from your diet. This is when sweet potatoes come in handy as they are not only just about sodium free but are also very high in potassium, which pulls water into the muscle cells.
Alright, now for a few little secrets:
1. I talked about sweet potatoes and their high potassium content, if you aren’t having the sweet potatoes, add about 300mg of potassium, three times per day in the last 2 days. DO NOT use large doses of potassium as it can be dangerous!
2. Glycerol – use 4 tablespoons two to three hours before the shoot. This stuff can really help fill out muscles and increase vasculatiry.
3. Caffeine – 200 to 600mg in the four to six hours before the shoot – depending upon tolerance.
4. Red Wine – Drink a glass or two the night before and drink a glass or two in the two to four hours pre-shoot. This will remove excess water and further improve vascularity.
5. Vitamin C – Take 1000mg every four hours for the last 12 hours pre-shoot. This may have mild diuretic effects.
6. Lipoic acid – Take 600mg with each carb meal starting three days out. This helps jam more carbs into your muscle and helps a bit with fat burning.
7. Dark Chocolate – 20 to 40 grams two and a half hours before the shoot and no, don’t worry about the fat and sugar content.
So there you have it. If you follow these suggestions, you should be able to see a fairly dramatic improvement in the last week to put the polish on your already lean appearance. It’s pretty much the same deal for bodybuilders, fitness models or those who want to trim up for a certain date in the near future. This also works well for losing that last bit of fat and excess water before going to the beach or fitting into that suit or dress that is just a little bit tight for a special occasion!
Be sure to check out my previous article and feel free to ask me any further questions.
http://fitnessinventor.com/articles/738
First of all, this is a general recommendation. There are several “individual” factors that have to be considered such as your current shape, age, training regime, gender, your usual cutting method, whether you are "carb sensitive" etc. So use the below as a guide.
Secondly, ensure that you keep very close records of all activity and food/supplement/liquid intake and how your body reacts, so that you can make adjustments and improve the results for next time!
OK, so here are the five major things you should do to take your look from “lean” to “ripped”. These are designed to move the water out from under your skin and into your muscles, make your muscles look big and full and to burn off that last bit of fat:
1. Depletion Training: Between 7 and 4 days out (7 to 4 days from the photoshoot date), do two or three full body workouts. These should consist of sets of 12 to 20 reps with very short rest periods between sets. I usually do about 50 sets with less than 30 seconds between sets.
2. Depletion Diet: Day 6 to day 4 - if your shoot is on a Saturday, cut your carbs to 50 grams or fewer on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday in the week before.
3. Repletion ("Carb Up"): Wednesday, Thursday and Friday progressively increase your carbs. Usually something like 200g Wed, 300g Thurs and 400g Fri. Then eat a level of carbs on the day that is appropriate depending upon whether you feel flat or feel pretty full.
4. Water: Decrease the water intake about 24 hours before the shoot starts. You can have a half cup of water every few hours along with a few very thick protein shakes but no other liquids.
5. Salt / Sodium: Keep sodium high from 10 to 3 days out and then 3 days (72 hours) before the shoot, eliminate sodium from your diet. This is when sweet potatoes come in handy as they are not only just about sodium free but are also very high in potassium, which pulls water into the muscle cells.
Alright, now for a few little secrets:
1. I talked about sweet potatoes and their high potassium content, if you aren’t having the sweet potatoes, add about 300mg of potassium, three times per day in the last 2 days. DO NOT use large doses of potassium as it can be dangerous!
2. Glycerol – use 4 tablespoons two to three hours before the shoot. This stuff can really help fill out muscles and increase vasculatiry.
3. Caffeine – 200 to 600mg in the four to six hours before the shoot – depending upon tolerance.
4. Red Wine – Drink a glass or two the night before and drink a glass or two in the two to four hours pre-shoot. This will remove excess water and further improve vascularity.
5. Vitamin C – Take 1000mg every four hours for the last 12 hours pre-shoot. This may have mild diuretic effects.
6. Lipoic acid – Take 600mg with each carb meal starting three days out. This helps jam more carbs into your muscle and helps a bit with fat burning.
7. Dark Chocolate – 20 to 40 grams two and a half hours before the shoot and no, don’t worry about the fat and sugar content.
So there you have it. If you follow these suggestions, you should be able to see a fairly dramatic improvement in the last week to put the polish on your already lean appearance. It’s pretty much the same deal for bodybuilders, fitness models or those who want to trim up for a certain date in the near future. This also works well for losing that last bit of fat and excess water before going to the beach or fitting into that suit or dress that is just a little bit tight for a special occasion!
Be sure to check out my previous article and feel free to ask me any further questions.
http://fitnessinventor.com/articles/738
By Mark Gilbert - Supplement Reviews
Sports Supplement Specialist
Sports Supplement Specialist
almost 2 years ago
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