You’ve been training so long and now it’s time to shift gears in the last few weeks before the competition.

At this point, your goal is to walk the line between low intensity workouts and high intensity maximum lifting so you build and maintain muscle without injury. That means staying out of lower repetition ranges and avoiding anything that could lead to injury.

But do not change things up tremendously…

Welcome to the second installment of our Final Countdown series. In our last article we discussed the importance of pre-contest dieting and a couple tips on maximizing its effectiveness. Today we’ll be talking about training,

If you haven’t had a chance to read the first in the series, The Final Countdown to Competition Part 1 – Your Diet, you can check it out by clicking here.

You’ve been training so long and now it’s time to shift gears in the last few weeks before the competition.

At this point, your goal is to walk the line between low intensity workouts and high intensity maximum lifting so you build and maintain muscle without injury. That means staying out of lower repetition ranges and avoiding anything that could lead to injury.

But do not change things up tremendously. In the weeks before competition, you don’t want to be experimenting with your training routine. Instead, make small adjustments such as:

  • Add a high wrap drop set. After finishing your normal workout sets, complete a series of drop sets. This will improve your conditioning and start to bring out striations.
  • Pose between sets. This will make you comfortable with posing. It will also help focus your workout because it indicates which muscles need work.
  • Add 3 sets of stomach vacuums to every workout. Hold in your abs and breathe for a count of 5, then breathe out. Repeat for 10 reps. This will tighten up your waistline and help improve your overall upper body look.

These small changes should give you the extra definition you’ll want to have on stage. Of course, you should be paying special attention to your diet during this time as well!

5 More Ways to Prep Your Body for Competition

  • Don’t overdo cardio workouts. Some competitors add chunks of time to their cardio workout in an effort to enhance muscle definition. The problem is extra cardio will lead to muscle loss more than muscle definition.
  • Make your workouts an all-out activity. You want to keep your workouts productive and anabolic.
  • Get enough sleep. Sleep gives the body a chance to repair itself. Studies show that most Americans do not get enough sleep. Lack of sleep also affects your concentration levels.
  • Get enough practice posing. You want to be so familiar with your posing routines they come naturally on competition day. Practice with video if possible to really sharpen your skills.
  • Tan your body. Tanning is important and many skin types will not benefit from natural or bed tanning to get dark enough for competition day. Use tanning products like Pro Tan or Dream Tan.

Finally, training is difficult and a lot of discipline is involved. You must take on a champion’s attitude—that nothing will stop you from your goal. And you must be willing to sacrifice many other activities in order to devote all of the time you need to training and dieting properly.

Don’t sway from this commitment. You’ve been working too hard to stop shy of the top!