Ask Mr. Canada

By: Santana Anderson, IFBB Pro

Last week I covered water intake and how to manipulate your intake leading up to a show. If you missed that article, click HERE to read it. This week we're going to cover sodium (a.k.a. salt) intake which is the piece of the puzzle that many competitors mess up in the final days before stepping on stage. 

Sodium intake: Again, we need a baseline for the body to be used to throughout the diet, so my personal preference would be to keep my sodium levels at 6000 mg daily. Sodium is an essential mineral for muscle contraction, and cannot be eliminated, as too many bodybuilders do throughout their prep. This causes the muscles to become catabolic, causing us to be weak and feel extremely fatigued. Unless you have blood-pressure issues, sodium is essential.

Two Weeks Out:

At this point, I want my clients to bump their sodium to 10,000 milligrams. Sources of sodium I commonly use are sea salt and Frank’s Hot Sauce. Be sure to measure all additional sources of sodium in your food to accurately hit the number we’re looking for.

9 Days Out:

At nine days out, I ask my clients to bump this sodium to 15,000 milligrams. Keep in mind that each time we raise these sodium levels, we’ll notice some water retention blurring your physique. Wait it out two to three days and you’ll be astonished to see your physique transform back harder and drier than before when your body adjusts for the additional sodium intake.

3 Days Out:

On the Wednesday before the show, I have my clients drop their sodium back down to 10,000 milligrams, and keep that constant for Thursday as well.

Friday

On Friday morning, we eliminate sodium at noon. Now, here’s where the problem comes in for a lot of competitors. They get to this point, then can’t figure out why they can’t fill out when carbing up, and why their muscles looked so much fuller days earlier. We need to reintroduce sodium again at somewhere between 8 p.m. and midnight, depending on the test run completed two weeks earlier. Now, most will think, “How can I add sodium in the night before the show? I will surely hold water.” I would retort, “How will you hold water if you aren’t consuming water?” We’ve tricked the body into removing extreme amounts of water the previous week by slowly increasing consumption of H2O. Now we’ve totally removed it, but the body doesn’t immediately react. It’s used to expelling all the extra water and will continue doing so for a couple days, so by the time it figures things out, the show will be over and the trophy packed in the car. The sodium provides the essential electrolyte needed for muscle contraction and allows you to show your full musculature onstage.

Tune in next week where I cover carb intake leading up to your contest.

IFBB Pro Santana Anderson can be contacted for training inquiries at Santana.delmar@ns.aliantzinc.ca or through his sponsor Fusion Bodybuilding. See you next time with more tips to become the best bodybuilder you can be.