The Bodybuilder’s Guide to Nailing Show Day

The Prep

Building the perfect body, lean and dry and ripped enough to wow the judges, takes time, so this guide obviously assumes you’ve already built a solid base of muscle that just needs a bit of fine-tuning to get it into stage readiness.

To turn that mass into a dais-topping physique, you need to seriously start planning your angle of attack at around 12 to 16 weeks out, says 2019 IFBB New York Pro winner Juan Morel.

“I like a longer prep because I like to be ready early, so I usually tell my clients to start at least 16 weeks out,” he says.

Lifting

Your workout rotation should always be the same, says Morel. Keep hitting the gym five to six days a week and don’t change your heavy lifting until closer to show day.

“Some people like to go lighter the last week,” he says. “Do not do that. It’s a big mistake because now your body will be used to training heavy, and if you go lighter, you’re going to lose a lot of muscle volume and muscle size—especially in the last two weeks when you’re eating less carbs.”

Some people keep training until as close as two days out from the show, but gauge the intensity on how you feel.

“If you feel good and you want to train,” Morel says, “and you’ve got a little bit of energy and want to get a nice little pump, it won’t hurt you.”

But don’t train on the day of the show, and limit any workout to a preshow pump.

Cardio

Getting in your cardiovascular work is important as you get closer to the day of the show. It can vary depending on the person, but generally you’ll want to go from about half an hour twice a day at 12 weeks out to 45 minutes twice a day at eight weeks out, Morel says.

Then with four weeks left, you’ll want to ramp up to about an hour twice a day.

“The last week of the show, cut back on cardio to about half of it—about a half-hour twice a day,” he says. “And then the last two to three days, cut out cardio completely.”

Dieting During Prep

At around 12 weeks out, you’ll want to clean up your diet.

“Take out the cheat meals and see how much weight you lose,” Morel says. Make adjustments to your diet according to how much weight you drop. “It’s not something that you need to adjust every week or every other week—a diet can remain the same for six weeks if it’s working. The goal is to lose about two pounds a week.”

For a 200-pound competitor, your carb intake can be anywhere from 300 to 250 grams at 12 weeks. When you hit eight weeks out, go for 200 or 150 grams. At four weeks out, try to hit between 50 and 100 grams of carbs a day.

“Cheat meals can be maybe once a week, depending on how you look, then at two weeks out, cut the cheat meals.” Then, on the last week, take about three days to deplete your carbs—which means taking in zero carbs—and then carb-load for three or four days with 2 to 3 grams per pound of body weight, Morel says. 

Protein should be a lot less than it would be normally, around 0.5 grams per pound of body weight, with fats at least 1 to 1.5 grams per pound of body weight. But it’s all determined by how you look close to show day, Morel explains.

“If you’re not dry enough, you need to back off the carbs and kind of focus more on fats. It all depends on your conditioning— if you’re dry, still keep carbing up. That way you’re nice and full,” he says. “You might even have a cheeseburger and fries before getting onstage to get a fuller pop. But if you’re still holding some water, then you need to focus on not eating as much food, and your sources are going to be more proteins and fat, without the carbs.”

Hydration—or Lack Thereof

“I like to water-load,” says Morel. “It puts your body into a kind of a waterlogged state—so it’s constantly trying to release more water. So when you cut it out, tapering off the water to half the amount the last few days before the show, your skin starts getting tighter, and you start getting a dry look.”

Fluids should be very minimal on show day until you step onstage, he says, but don’t cut them completely. You can still drink fluids, but limit it to something like a cup of coffee in the morning and then maybe a little midday, but keep fluids at a minimum. 

Tanning

Too often competitors put off addressing skin tone until the last minute, getting a subpar spray tan at the show itself. But a few weeks of prep can get you the right shade for your skin that will help your muscles look their best under the stage lights.

Some people, though, don’t understand the need to be a certain shade. 

Stacy Kaufman, president of Performance Brands and inventor of Pro Tan, says that it goes back to a very simple principle: “White reflects and black absorbs. When you’re onstage, the lights are very bright, so in order to achieve definition that can be seen by the judges, you’ve got to create something that would allow the light to absorb onto the skin and then reflect and show your muscle definition.”

Step 1 is to remove your body hair. “I recommend to start doing it several weeks prior and on a regular basis so that you have no stubble and no irritation,” Kaufman says. 

Next is to plan a daily exfoliation routine because that’ll make your skin look more even when you start applying a self-tanner closer to the show. “Your absorption is going to be 100% even, and it is going to wear off more evenly,” Kaufman says. 

Then establish a base tan, no matter your race—Dexter Jackson is an avid user of the tanning bed—about a month before, using the sun itself or a tanning bed. Make sure to at least get a base tan going under 14 days before the show, because your skin cells shed every 14 days. “Whether it’s from a self-tanner or the sun, use that for a few days to get a base.” 

You don’t want to be in a tanning bed or in the sun three days before your show, though, because the UV and heat can actually make you hold water. The night before the show, you want to get a base coat with a product like Pro Tan, which takes eight hours to develop fully, says Kaufman. “After pre-judge, you can rinse it off if you desire, and then just reapply the top coat one more time before your night show, and you’re done.” 

If you just want to rely on a spray tan, make sure it is coming from a certified spray tanner who understands competition tanning. And don’t forget your face—use one application of your base coat, which can be done the day before the show, but avoid your nose because it stands out and will look a little bit darker onstage. Be aware that you don’t need to go superdark, says Kaufman. It’s important to know the right color for your skin and what looks good under the lights. 

“You need to look at your skin tone and make sure you look naturally dark for your specific skin type and body hair—a white, blond, or freckled person shouldn’t look like a black person.” And if you show up and you get onstage, and they tell you your tan looks terrible, just go rinse it off, he says. “Often athletes look stage-ready after they’ve washed off their color. It’s the funniest thing.”

Oil

On the day of the show, oil should be applied at the show, backstage before you pump up.

“It’s always best to put the oil on before you pump up, then you pat yourself [with a paper towel] a little bit if you start to sweat,” says Kaufman.

Go for a natural vegetable oil, which is designed to absorb into your skin without clogging pores and making you sweat more. These oils absorb the light, as opposed to reflect.

“Never use baby oil, or mineral oil,” he says, “as it will clog your pores and create sweat, plus it’s very shiny and very reflective.”

A nice coat of natural oil will let the judges see your definition better and will also protect your tan from running or streaking while you’re onstage.

To correctly apply oil (or “sheen,” which is a lighter oil product that is more popular in the physique division), it needs to be massaged in.

“Too often,” Kaufman says, “some companies that are backstage will not properly spray tan people. They just take a couple of pumps, and they spritz it on them, which leaves dots of oil in different areas. It’s got to be massaged into your arms, your shoulders, your neck, your back of your neck, your abdominals, your thighs, everywhere.”

Practice Posing

At the beginning of your stage prep, practice posing once or twice a week. After you train, pick one or two times a week to pose, hitting all your mandatory moves.

“When I have the most energy, I try to put together the posing routine for my show,” Morel says. “That way, when I have the least amount of energy toward the end of prep, it’s already made.”

If you’ve never posed much before, Morel suggests getting a posing coach or hitting up YouTube or other videos for some pointers. Make sure to record yourself and compare to make sure you’re doing the poses right. Closer to the show, around six weeks out, practice every day, then go to twice a day closer to show, trying to pose for 20 to 30 minutes at a time.

Attire

“Basically you just want to check the rules for what you can wear and follow them closely. In the amateur division, there’s not much leeway in what you can wear”, Morel says. They want certain solid colors and nothing sparkly. 

“But once you’re in the pros, you can have a little bit of sparkle in your designs,” he says.

Registration

You can register only four weeks out, so make sure to set a reminder to register in that window.

“Sometimes they’ll give you a cutoff time”, says Morel, which says that if you don’t register by a certain time you’ll have to pay a late fee if you register the day of the show.

Be sure to read over all stipulations beforehand and prepare accordingly.