Lifting Nerds
Adrian Ma and Brandon Emslie share discussions and interviews with the fitness community's best science-based researchers and coaches.
Lifting Nerds
S3E8: Peak Performance on the Go
Bodybuilding competitions already demand meticulous planning, but competing away from home introduces a whole new level of challenge that requires strategic preparation and adaptability.
• Planning meals for travel requires adapting to transportation limitations and researching what food items are allowed on flights
• Protein bars, rice cakes, cereal, and shelf-stable protein drinks like Fair Life become essential when fresh meals aren't feasible
• Booking accommodation with kitchen facilities near grocery stores and gyms minimizes stress and maintains consistency
• Hotel gyms with limited equipment require creative solutions like higher rep training, supersets, and focusing on contraction over heavy weight
• Eating out during prep requires choosing simple, trackable foods and overestimating calories to account for restaurant portion inaccuracies
• Arriving several days early helps manage time zone changes, water retention from flights, and gives time to settle into the environment
• Experimenting with peak week protocols before competition prevents day-of surprises and reduces stress
• Packing a small bag with food, bands, competition number, and posing suit ensures everything is organized on show day
If you're planning to compete or have questions about managing your prep while traveling, reach out to us through Instagram - we're always happy to help you plan your next competition season!
00:00:10 Episode Introduction
00:03:29 Food Prep While Traveling
00:07:01 Finding Suitable Accommodations
00:12:47 Training on the Road
00:17:26 Eating Out During Prep
00:26:11 Supplements to Pack
00:30:25 Show Day Preparation
00:35:55 Peak Week Protocol Tips
00:42:10 Closing Thoughts and Advice
IG: @liftingnerds
Youtube: liftingnerds
Host
@_adrianma
@brandonemslie
as to our ninth episode. Uh, today we just did both of us and, uh, we have a great topic that we want to talk about today. Uh, things that we relate to very deeply as well. We're gonna be talking about prepping for a bodybuilding show on the road. Now, on this topic, we will talk a little bit about during your prep, things that we want to be doing, as well as peak week, if you're on the road now we want to talk about.
Speaker 1:This is number one. We're actually doing the same thing and I think if you're in Canada or even in the US, it's a big, it's a big country and competitions are all over there, all over the states, all over the all over the world. So we we do have a couple things that we want to just talk a little bit about, and we want to do what I mentioned on some struggles competitors will face just due to the fact that you're not in your familiar environment and probably lack of access to some stuff like foods and just traveling stress, and that's basically that's what we want. We'll probably talk a little bit about that today. But, yeah, you've competed, you know, a good couple times, locally and on the road, I would say.
Speaker 2:Yeah like I've done, I want to say probably four. I've probably done more shows on the road than like local shows. I would say. Actually is that? I think they're about, they're probably about, even I would say yeah, okay.
Speaker 1:So probably we'll say, like you know, peak week is going to be. Everybody, like everybody would probably want to talk about peak week. You know, just being on the road, demands and the flexibility there, but we'll probably get dig into that in just a bit. Um, however, I do want to like highlight that we can actually still nail peak week, you know, if we have a plan. I do want to just highlight this specific word, since you've done it a couple times.
Speaker 1:I've done it probably once here because I went to Calgary. So that's well, it's not like that far away. I mean, it's only an hour, an hour difference, but, um, yeah, but I've actually been with maggie when we went to. So my wife went to toronto one time for her nationals and we had to travel to toronto. So there was a it's a five-hour flight and we we were there, uh, on a night flight. So it was like what, seven, no, 6 pm here on pst time, but the time we actually got to toronto was almost 10, 30, 10, 30 at night. It was a four and a half five hour flight, including the time difference, and the worst thing was the flight actually delayed. It's flare.
Speaker 1:I mean I mean it was what I forgot was WestJet or was flare. It was either or, but then I think that was the. That was the worst thing that the flight delayed and because she was on the road, we didn't actually prepare enough food and water for her. So I think that's something that we that I wanted to actually talk about first is probably is prepping food if you're on the road. So maybe like what would if you're on the road, like what would say would be some of the food that you would prep, or maybe some things that you would be using ingredients that you'd be using if you're traveling yeah.
Speaker 2:So it depends. If it's something like a road trip, like a shorter road trip, like when I was going from klona um to vancouver uh, when I met up with you there for the vancouver show two years ago, I just had like a cooler where I put all my usual meals in there and I was fine. But if it's something like a super long trip or you're going on an airplane and so you can't get that food with you, I always just look up like the regulations for the food ahead of time and like what you can actually bring on the plane, because I've actually had meal prep, meals on the plane.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's fine, I think, for if you're going to different countries, that's when it starts being an issue.
Speaker 2:But I believe in Canada when I, because I had a long trip to Montreal where I literally had like I think two or three meal prep containers on with like food in it on the plane and I was eating it cold and like they were fine with it.
Speaker 2:I don't know if that's changed now, but I would always just double check ahead of time with with like the company that you're flying with and seeing if they allow for that. But things like rice cakes, things like even like protein powder, hydrolyzed protein powder I find digests a little bit better than some other ones. Even like Fair Life drinks can work quite well too, but just having like super easy stuff that you don't have to be keeping cold, yeah, little things like that can go a long way when it comes to like flying. But typically I'll have enough food that I need If I'm flying somewhere. I have the amount of food I need to get in for that time period. But once I get there I go immediately to the grocery store, pick up everything I need and then go to either my Airbnb or hotel room yeah, I think that's a.
Speaker 1:I think that's a really good point. Also, I do believe that bringing like a whole ton of dry foods if you're on the plane, that makes a huge difference, like I think there's one of the most favorite foods if you're, if you're bringing on the take, we have like protein bars, since you can't get enough water to get a shake in. So we probably just bring like protein bars on plane. I mean, you're right, it does depend like how long the flight is going to be. But anything over, like if you're talking about long flights, then if I think, pre-packed meal, if you're, if you're traveling like over over, like six to eight hours, packed meal, if you're, if you're traveling like over over, like six to eight hours, that I do think like having a, a container or even a yeah, a container would be good. Uh, you know, lauren, right?
Speaker 1:Lauren loza, yeah, I think she went to, I think last year when she competed, she brought uh, she had to travel down to washington state, I think, down to Portland, and then she had this cooler, this mini, mini cooler, and then she rolled all her food into a Ziploc bag and that's all her meals. I think it was a three to four day trip and then she just rolled all her meals in these small Ziploc bags, brought a little small container, and so when she'd get there she'd just pour everything out of the Ziploc bag and just heat the food up. So I think that's a really really smart idea from that. But I think you're, I think you can make a really good point to. You know, having a access to a cooler or a travel meal bag, that that's something that's, uh, you know, pretty, pretty convenient to to to, to have. And then you're also bringing for for flights. You're bringing, uh, rice cakes, right?
Speaker 2:yeah, so rice cakes, even cereal. Cereal is another great dry option for getting in carbs. Um, you can stack on them like their potassium to sodium ratio is like really nice too, so you don't have to worry about salting things out more um, um, so yeah, that that can work really well. Um, I'm trying to think of, uh, some of the other things I've done, but yeah, like when I did do that flight, like that was probably man, that's got to be almost like seven, eight years ago.
Speaker 2:So I'm sure things might have changed a little bit with it. But, yeah, just even having your food like making sure you're eating before that, yeah, bringing some dry food like cereal, rice cakes, protein bars, especially if you, if they digest. Well, I know sometimes it can be iffy If you're at the airport. Usually they'll have convenience stores where you can buy stuff too, so there's probably fair life drinks that you can get there too, or protein bars and stuff like that if you're having issues bringing it in in through security, kind of thing yeah, that's.
Speaker 1:That's a really good point and I think you make a really good point. Uh, that you brought up for the protein bars. You know we can't have too much of them. I do think like two is probably, you know, a good place to sit. Anything more I just feel like the fiber and you just start to get bloating from from all that stuff in the protein bar. Just think a little bit too much, yeah, and with the flying too.
Speaker 2:You typically you want to fly ahead of time, like if it's a long travel day, like a lot of times people hold a little bit of water retention. I know sometimes people's ankles will swell up if it's a very long flight. So being like flying there ahead of time, like being there like five days early, six days early sometimes, can just help with that stress, get you reorganized to the time zone and get your sleep kind of more normalized so by the time it's show day you're not so stressed out. If it's just like an hour or two difference changing time and it's not a really big deal. But yeah, I remember going to montreal.
Speaker 2:It was, yeah, quite a, quite a big change in terms of just I can't remember how many hours ahead they were, but yeah this is not as much.
Speaker 1:Is it further than toronto? Or I know toronto is like three hours ahead from uh, from west coast, and it's two hours ahead of where you are in Edmonton.
Speaker 2:Okay, yeah, so, because I was living in BC at the time. So, yeah, it's probably like three or so hours ahead. Yeah, I would actually not sure, I don't remember and that's not important, but, however.
Speaker 1:But you talk about like getting there a little bit earlier, which I do agree. If you have struggling with time time zone differences, getting there a little bit earlier which I do agree, if you have struggling with time time zone differences, getting there early and just setting yourself in and getting used to the time zone, with jet lags and things like that, it will help and contribute to the condition of your body is sitting, as you said, you know you get swelling from joints and adapting to your new environment. And swelling from joints and adapting to your new environment and seeing what's available. I think that's also something that I do.
Speaker 1:I do want to also talk about because we want to get into the accommodation on the place where you will be competing usually, where what we do is we usually try to book a place with the kitchen, so airbnbs are basically to most of our go to, since it's got a kitchen and usually Airbnb it's usually not in the middle of nowhere. There should be a grocery store nearby, I assume at least. I've rarely ran into an Airbnb on the road if we're competing and it's up in the mountain in the middle of nowhere. That's very rare occasion. But have you ran into a situation where you have to fly there and you find yourself in an Airbnb and you probably and you don't have a car you probably have to walk I don't know like 30 minutes just to the closest grocery store or even just a gas station?
Speaker 2:I generally look that up ahead of time. So if I'm booking an Airbnb, I just make sure there's something close, because, yeah, that's where it kind of becomes an issue. Unless you're renting a vehicle, unless you're okay with spending money on Ubering more, then that works okay. But usually, yeah, you want to try to find an Airbnb that's close enough to a grocery store, that's also close enough to a gym if you need to do a drop in or if you're in a hotel. Sometimes I've been at hotels where they had like a kitchenette, where there's a kitchen and everything there and there's a gym in the hotel. So you like your, your set, so that that can work really well.
Speaker 1:Um, those ones generally are a little bit pricier though yeah, but speaking of gyms, I think you make uh, you make a really good segue at that for us to talk a little bit about training on the road as well. You, you know yeah, I do agree, you know researching gyms way ahead of time where the venue is going to be. I think that's also very important. You and you, you know where you're competing and you'll probably, we'll probably, look into what's around the venue of competition. So, for me, I would probably look ahead where the competition is held and I'll probably look for Airbnb around that area and we'll probably just stay there. That way, we don't traveling from the hotel room or the Airbnb to to the competition venue isn't too far and we'll probably research ahead of time on what gyms they have, usually in Airbnb. There's not, there's not going to be, let's say, like a hotel, there's not going to be like an available gym there, and so we'll probably have to look for an alternative. Uh, even though if you're there for you know, three to four days, as you said, it's just three to four drop-ins and we probably won't be lifting anymore when, once we get our tan on. So probably just two, two times and just do a drop-ins and we probably won't be lifting anymore when, once we get our tan on, so probably just two, two times and just do a drop-in, and that's very, very easily doable, uh.
Speaker 1:But however we have ran into I think we are I want to talk about hotel gyms because that's something is going to be a bit of a challenge. Uh, hotel gyms, usually some are nice, you know, some are uh, some have the whole shebang of the a lot of equipment, heavy, heavy enough dumbbells and enough benches. However, we've ran into some hotels You've seen some hotels which has the bare minimum we're talking about just an elliptical, probably two treadmills and I think the dumbbells go up to like what, 50 pounds or even less than that, and probably just one bench. You, yeah, you remember those, uh, those gyms, like, how would you get around those?
Speaker 2:so with those like, for example, with peak week, we're not really training as close to failure.
Speaker 2:Um, a lot of times training is looking pretty similar to usual.
Speaker 2:But, like a lot of times, what I'll do is take out any movements that are like very loaded in that deep stretch position that's accumulated a lot of fatigue, and try to prioritize a bit more, shortened by stuff, just to be more like glycolytic and burn through some more glycogen.
Speaker 2:So a lot of times the gym like like worst case scenario, if you don't have access to the gym, the gym's like super far away and you have some bands with you you can run through a little pump circuit which usually, like the last couple days before the show that's all you're really doing is a bit more of like a pump circuit so you don't have to be going super heavy. So that's usually not too too much of an issue. But, yeah, with those kind of gyms, just adjusting the movements to the same movement patterns and make sure you're getting a nice pump in all the muscle groups that you're supposed to be training for that specific day. So, yeah, I would say it's. It's not like the end of the world. I wouldn't recommend doing any dramatically different movements that are, you know, is very fatiguing or muscle quote unquote damaging, as we don't really want to be going into show day being super sore and inflamed.
Speaker 1:So yeah, Okay, so probably that's. I think that's a really good point you make for during peak week, and I do agree on that situation. We're not wanting to risk ourself for injury during peak week. As we're all dried up or we're even slowly feeding into, we want to avoid all injuries as possible during peak week. I'll give you a difficult one dried up or we're even slowly feeding into, we want to avoid all injuries as possible during peak week. I don't know, I'll give you a difficult one now. Let's say we're about four to six weeks away from before peak week and there is a mandatory travel that you have to make, and so you're still prepping but you're on the road. So how would you maneuver around that when you've got a very limited access to a gym of equipment, you know, and we're still sort of lifting heavy. So about six weeks away from your your show day, how would you maneuver around that?
Speaker 2:so I would just change the rep range up. So training with higher reps going to failure on pretty much every single movement, uh, depending on your time frame that you have there like if it's a bit more chaotic after shortening your training sessions, that's for super setting, and taking as paired sets, mile reps and stuff like that can come into play just to get that stimulus that you need to help retain that muscle mass while you're there. So little things like that can definitely help. With dumbbells, I know there's little tricks that you can do. If there's 50 pound dumbbells, you can like stack like two on top of it and like turn that into like, uh, if you put 20 and 20 or something like, there's so many different ways that you can little hacks you can do. Or like say they don't have a leg extension, nordic leg extensions on the ground. So there's there's a lot of things that you can manipulate.
Speaker 2:But yeah, if, if there's like no equipment there, uh, you can even just literally do body weight stuff, like if you're doing push-ups to absolute failure. I know, like jeff alberts, like he went on a vacation recently. I know, uh, one of his preps he did he was literally just using, like the table at his hotel doing throws and stuff like that push-ups. He was using his, his bag, like with all his like clothing and stuff in it and doing curls with it. So there's always a way to make it work. It might not be as motivating training like that, but you can still get a good stimulus like you look at covid workouts right like I remember training from home just being super creative with able, well, still getting a really good stimulus.
Speaker 2:And I remember some of those pumps were actually quite, quite gnarly pumps to uh training from home but uh so yeah, there's always a way to make it work for sure yeah, I, I do agree with that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I remember covid workouts, man, those are, um, yeah, and I understand it's like less motivating, but at least like honestly, if we're traveling, like how long would a trip actually be? Say a week, maybe 10 days, 10 days or like 10 days, that's actually a pretty long time to to be away from home. Um, but all in all, if we're traveling and let's say, if it's a week, I don't think you're, if and if you have a really a limited access to, to, to this one week of even skipping some heavy lifts, and really don't think from a hypertrophy standpoint, I don't think it's such a you know the end of the world, you're not going to lose all those gains or what we like to call it, just but consider it like a deload week, something like that. Yeah, yeah, and that that's going to be a problem. If you had a deload week and then you're going on trip, that's going to be a problem.
Speaker 2:Well, not a big problem, yeah yeah, because, yeah, if you plan it out and have it, so that's a deload week, you're just still getting in some steps and stuff like that um, it can be a great, nice little kind of break with your competition. Perhaps you feel really refreshed going back into that next week.
Speaker 2:Um, so no, I I think that can be definitely well planned. I wouldn't recommend, if you're really close to the show, and especially if you're running a little behind, then skipping the workouts and like having a deal of weekend, especially if you're bringing calories and maintenance. That might not be the best option, but it just depends on your situation through that.
Speaker 1:but I do find when we go on trips we probably have, even though if we do have an access to a vehicle or not I do find when every time we go to a trip we walk a hell of a lot more than when we're at home. So I do think that activity level actually elevates over time. Let's say we get like 10, 15, well, not 10, 10 K steps where we're in our comfortable zone, where we're at home, and then when we go out on a trip, we're likely to walk up to a 15 to 18 K steps. I think that's normal. I mean, you go out, you explore, you walk streets of downtowns or there are towns there and I you just see stuff and you just walk more. So at least that aspect, you're getting your, your steps in and you're way above what your target steps are going to be. So I think that is something that it's pretty. At least that's good for you. Yeah, I think also.
Speaker 1:What I also want to touch base is, while we're on this topic, is when we're away from home. Let's go back to not peak week, because peak week is I know everybody is going to be a little bit more delicate. However, we're talking about four to six weeks away, before your show, and you may have to make a travel, some of the foods that you might be eating, uh, when you're away, you, you don't have a kitchen or you don't have all your go-to foods while you're here, even though you're in a grocery store and if you're on a trip, would you really want to be meal prepping every single time and just stay away from, be away from your family or who your friends are going to be? Yeah, I don't think that's yeah. So how would you, what would your calm, like your thoughts, be if you got to eat out and you're on the road?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so yeah, just I would say there's probably like some snacks and like maybe like a breakfast meal from time to time, where you're just having, say, your own food that you brought to like the hotel time, where you're just having say your own food that you brought to, like the hotel room where you're eating, or even like the options at like the hotel. If there's like the bed, what is that thing? Where like the breakfast, where they have like the cereal, the waffles yeah the breakfast buffet.
Speaker 2:There might be things where you can pick out there and make some some solid choices with the cereal, like having a decent portion size there, um with like making sure that you have uh fair lifes or protein shakes or something on hand to keep that protein up a bit more.
Speaker 2:But when, yeah, when it comes to eating out, just choosing for smart options when you're eating out, like, instead of going with the pizza, like see what they have like, do they have like a sirloin steak that you can have it so they're not buttering it? Um, have like a potato with it, have like, uh steamed vegetables or something, so you can still have like a nice like that's. If you're in prep, that food's gonna taste amazing so you can still have that there. Uh, for lunch, like things like subway things like um like burrito places all these kind of things generally have some pretty good options for you. Like you can double up on the protein there and still fit it in that way, um. But I would just say like error on the side of like over all right, is it over underestimating things or over, I think, overestimating?
Speaker 2:yeah you want to like overestimate. So, like, if you believe that this thing is 500, add maybe 100 extra calories to like 600. I think that that has 600 calories in it. Um, and just log it that way. So because, like, even if you can find all these uh food items on my fitness pal or on their website, the accuracy is probably not going to be very concise, like it's. It's probably going to have a decent amount of air, like the person's not like leveling off or like weighing out the food that they're cooking for you. So there's going to be a degree to error. So I I always just err on the side of having a bit more earth logging more than what I actually had, and, uh, that way you can, you can still make even progress during your trip if you're tracking the appropriate way.
Speaker 1:I agree, I agree. So things like very simple foods, like try at least trackable foods. You see, on a menu, like I said, I said sirloin if it's eight ounce at least that's if you're on that fitness palette. It's a little bit more trackable if you're. If we're eating something like I don't know, like I know not tilapia, like tacos, I mean that's going to be, that's going to be hard, like a whole bunch of nachos, that's going to be like hard to track by gram. You don't even know how, how how much. Like 300 grams of nachos look like, yeah, we just never know. So I think, yeah, try to stick with rather simple foods if possible. But I think you make a really good point. Is we want to overestimate on some of the foods that you're, you're eating over when we're, when we're out? Um, I mean that way that and then you don't actually overeat and spill and we don't really lose all your gains to just one meal.
Speaker 2:Honestly, but it's, it's still something that we want to be dialed in on yeah, yeah, another hack that uh I've been using now with like ai is like with chat gpt. Like if I say have a meal that it's like I can't find anything close to it on my fitness pal or like on their website or anything, I'll literally search up that meal into chat gpt. Like I've had this specific meal. Um, it has this specific ingredients in it. Uh, what would the macros and calories look like? And then it'll bring up something. Usually it's fairly reasonable.
Speaker 2:I've had a couple times where I'm like that's definitely under, but um, it can be a great way, if you're guest me, like if you have no choice, like it's a homemade meal, like it's brought in front of you and like you fucked up, you didn't prep, or like it's just a way of like seeing roughly where it's at, um, so I would say doing that is going to be better than just be like fuck it.
Speaker 1:I'm just gonna eat it and like like just still having some awareness, bring some awareness to that meal, um, but uh, yeah but yeah, I like how you're using um ai or chad gbt to actually take a photo of the food and asking ai to guess them mate for you. I think that's a really smart, smart move. And then, uh, now we, we can have a little bit more accuracy, other than just eyeballing stuff, like let's say, let's say like, does it work? Like, how does it work if you're, if if you're taking a picture of it's a family gathering and it's a big plate of foods, uh, so I, the one that I think I actually don't take a picture.
Speaker 2:I literally just input in like the specific food name. So like if I'm at a restaurant and there's a specific meal name for it and like I'll type it in and see, like ask for the ingredients of it, and if that seems to match up, then I'll just be like okay, like what are the the macros of a typical this meal at a restaurant? And then it'll kind of bring that up.
Speaker 2:So I know there there are some like ai tracking apps out there that I think still have a large degree of error that I wouldn't recommend utilizing. Yet I'm sure give it dude, give it like two years or probably. Like an invention I always wanted to have is like watch somebody's going to create this now where there's a device in your mouth that tracks how many calories you're consuming, so, and then it's just you just look on your watch and you're I'm at this, I'm just gonna eat a little bit more, and like you know exactly how many calories you're consuming. So, and like there's like a little thing that maybe takes a picture, like records how much food's going to your mouth and somehow dissects it, and I don't know. I feel like that would be very cool, but I don't know if anybody would. I think it would help, but yeah, I'm getting off track here you gotta trademark that right now so if somebody takes your, idea we're missing out, uh.
Speaker 1:But speaking of that, I don't. I do think that it might be coming, maybe not the tooth thing, but at least something. Right now is all underdeveloped. Ray band actually has already developed their second version of those camera with the glasses on that can do recordings and that can do that has a sort of a built-in speaker headphone right next to your ear so it could play songs, it could take a picture. It's got this camera on the side or I don't have it centered on the side, I don't it can record videos and it will directly link up to your phone. So you're getting basically a FPS version of what you're seeing through the those pair of glasses.
Speaker 1:Now they're not very appealing to look at at first run, but I think technology over, as you said, over the course of two years, three years, they develop their skills to develop the aesthetics of the pair glasses and the technology of it. Probably by the time you look down on a on that meal it could pick up, just like the scan your meal thing function on my fitness belt. It could probably potentially do the same thing and do a guesstimate, uh, and link it straight up to whatever app is on your phone. Well, let's hope for the best. But I mean, like eating, I think eating it and putting something in your tooth I don't know, that's that.
Speaker 2:That's me sound like a bit of a stretch at this era, maybe last, when we're dead I don't know about putting in your tooth, but yeah, like putting it like having something, yeah, like your glasses, I think would probably be a better, more like Something that would exist now, rather than inserting something.
Speaker 1:Inside the tooth. Yeah, it's something that exists now. Yeah, because I do believe that there, if it's in the tooth and it's a sensor, it's a little bit difficult to sense. Like I don't know, maybe it's beyond our technology right now. Um, I think the taste buds are something that picks up, uh, whatever ingredients in there instead of the tooth. I don't know.
Speaker 2:Then, just random I was more so just thinking like a camera, that kind of like yeah, but your mouth okay, yeah, that that's definitely something.
Speaker 1:Um, you should definitely put a trade market and somebody does develop that man like that's my freaking idea. Yeah, for sure. So we're gonna. We're way off now, but coming back in, would you bring any sort of supplements with you, like your creatine or stuff like that?
Speaker 2:yeah, like typically, I'll just continue like bringing any of the supplements I've been utilizing throughout the whole prep. So if it's like a multivitamin, if it's like vitamin d, creatine, um what other? Like supplements that you've been typically bringing um. I know some people will bring like a potassium supplement if, like the foods that they're having doesn't have enough potassium, so they can match up the ratios a bit more. But I find generally getting it just from like food sources. Generally I think it absorbs a little bit better that way too.
Speaker 1:But yeah, no for supplements, just pretty much the basics.
Speaker 2:Protein powder, definitely bring one that you know digests well with you. You don't want to be trying a new protein powder and have you bloating and getting cramps and drawing more water into, like, your stomach region Due to that. So yeah, making sure that the foods that you are bringing like you've you've had them review, you've experimented with them before.
Speaker 1:But, all in all, I think that's a really good point, as, just like foods, we want to bring all the supplements that your body is used to. And I think you's a really good point as, just like foods, we want to bring all the supplements that your body you used to, and I think you make a really good point. Uh, let's not start anything that your body's not used to. So that's just just to avoid any any different variations that might happen. So that's a really, really good thing that you point out there. How about just now? We're going to be doing this. Well, you're going to be doing this in about two weeks, so things on. Just to plan ahead for day of the show.
Speaker 2:So day of the show like planning there, just making sure that you have all your meals available, you have extra to, the worst thing that happens is you run out of food and you're still a little flat and you're like trying to figure out well, I gotta get more food now and so, yeah, making sure you have extra food. Um, having a small bag I always like having a small bag just to put my, my food in my bands uh, my number, my shorts, if you're not already wearing it. Having a little checklist like I always send out to my clients a little checklist of things like to make sure they have, so that they're good, that they're not stressing, because that's the biggest thing with peak week, right, most people are just they're in a very hyper, sensitive, like high stress place. So anything we can do to lower that is going to be a good thing, because if your stress is constantly going up, higher and higher and higher, cortisol is going to go higher. But it's good.
Speaker 2:It can sometimes act a little funky and you might hold on to a little bit more water retention if those kind of things are happening. So anything like planning ahead with all my athletes for the actual peak week itself, like we have the plan already set up at the next, the week prior. Like we go over everything the foods they're going to be having, what that looks like, what to expect each day. So that's once that week hits. They're not like scrambling to try to get things. They already have it planned out and everything's ready to go.
Speaker 1:That's great. Yeah, that's something that I did. Yeah, I actually wanted to talk about, but you just said it straight out. Actually, literally plan ahead. And I just wanted to add on to that is, besides your, your number, you're posing your food and then you're also planning on your, your, your tan time, your check-in time, so they just don't run each other with your meal times. And yeah, I do want to ask you on this what, since it is show day, we are either limiting water or maintaining water at a certain level on of show day, depending on the individual. Now we have some of our go-tos, are some dry foods like rice cakes, rice krispies, things. These carbs are going to be easier to eat and bring along with you on show day. What are some of the proteins that along with you on show day? What are some of the proteins that you would pick on show day?
Speaker 2:yeah. So I've done two different things like with, uh, like team 3d and jay, like they had my protein intake literally be the exact same amount as like other days. Um, I generally, for most of my athletes, like to lower it a little bit because protein's not as important on that day and it can sometimes add a little bit more just food bulk to your stomach and it might slow down digestion a little bit. So, like generally, protein sources are like a little bit more minimized and then choosing like easy diet like like whey is a good one.
Speaker 2:Or just a small bit of chicken or a small little bit of beef or something like that, I don't mind having in there. I. If it's going to be like a large amount of chicken, then yeah, I would. I would try to keep it more forward, especially if you're closer to the stage time. Have it be like a way if you're waking up first thing in the morning having a little bit chicken, that's, that's fine.
Speaker 2:But, yeah, keeping it close you get to the show, the more calorie dense the food items are often are, just so you're not having as much food bulk sitting in your stomach and like another thing is, too, if you say wake up flat and you're like, oh man, I need a lot of carbs, like having like gatorade or dextrose powder or something like that can be a great way to get a lot of fast acting carbs in. Um, but if, if you're waking up and you're like in a good spot just having some smaller but a bit more frequent than usual like mixed meals for there's I generally find a little bit more fat in them just to hold on and like slow things down and make sure that you're you're maintaining, because sometimes if you just have carbs and fats are too low, like you can burn through those those carbs quite quickly. I've had that happen with a couple people before where it's like, oh man, they flatten out like so quick, so we've got to keep the fats a little bit higher.
Speaker 2:Um, but uh, yeah, so there's, there's quite a few variables that you just, you just gotta watch out for yeah, I agree.
Speaker 1:So fats, I think that's going to be quite a straightforward source. Nuts like almond butter I don't know if almond butter is that, is that like high in fats or something yeah, almond butter.
Speaker 2:I find peanut butter, almond butter, even dark chocolate, I find that's. It's got some sugars and stuff in it too and it's it's really dense most people agree and it also adds a little bit of potassium to that. You know, if you're because a lot of times you're not having as much like voluminous veggies, like that's another thing that I've been kind of experimenting with a little bit more on, like like uh is trying to keep the potassium and sodium ratios relatively close. Um, obviously, when we're it will load on sodium right before on stage and stuff like that and make a little bit higher sodium meals, like the second last one. But, um, yeah, I find just to keep potassium up because, like what I've noticed with some people is they'll take out like all their vegetables but they don't make up for it with some potassium sources, so their potassium goes really low and their sodium is really high and then sometimes some weird, weird things can happen there too yeah.
Speaker 1:So I'm gonna ask the a very common question. It's probably semi-myth people will like uh have, will probably remove a lot of their vegetables just to avoid fiber and bloating of the of the stomach. And what they will replace that, uh, with all that potassium is a banana yeah so like what? What about that? So people?
Speaker 1:just like, take out all the vegetables and have banana and the carbs and fats on on show day or even prior to show day, just to uh prevent them from spazzing and all that stuff. I I want to hear your take on this.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So it doesn't really like any food sources is, if you're getting potassium, you're getting potassium right. Like it doesn't matter what source you're getting from. Like, if you're getting it from a source that's bloating you more than yeah, we want to remove that. But if you're having it with a source that, like, you're fine, digestion is fine, you're not getting any weird bowel stuff from it.
Speaker 1:That's totally fine. Yeah, yeah, so that's great. That's a really good insight. So banana does work for for some individuals, but if I, as I just wanted to add on there, if you haven't had these bananas throughout your prep, I will not recommend it. Just to try it on show day, just to remove any variables that might happen to your physique. Uh, it is show day. You might be only 30 minutes or even an hour away from yourself from stepping on stage, and we want to avoid all this. Uh, and if something does happen to your body, you're putting to put yourself into even higher stress and shit's gonna hit the fan. So let's try to avoid any of those, uh, different variables as well.
Speaker 2:Yeah I think I was going to say like, because what I've been actually doing this past, uh, like every second week I've been experimenting with a slightly different kind of quote-unquote peaking protocol.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so like, experimenting with the different types of foods, seeing how my body responds to them, how digestion is with them, and like, um, going and seeing how my body look, physique's looking, in the morning, um, so like, for example, like, um, what was it like three weeks, four weeks ago? I did I've been trying to do something similar to, like the rapid backload that cliff wilson does um with his clients, but I'm kind of not quite as depleted, so, uh, but I've been having some higher carb days, upwards of like 750 to like 850 to 900 grams of carbs, while keeping protein down and um, and fat slightly down, um, and uh, yeah, just seeing how my body responds to those kind of variables, um, and with water and like. Do it because you want to experiment ahead of time, especially if you're doing a protocol you've never done before, to see how your body's going to react. Because if you do something quite crazy, like, say, like something like the rapid backload, and you've never done that before.
Speaker 2:you're probably not going to be looking too good on that day, unless it's like a freak accident. You did everything perfectly, so yeah, probably not going to be looking too good on that day, unless it's like a freak accident.
Speaker 2:You did everything perfectly so yeah if you're doing something more dramatic, definitely practice it ahead of time. If you're doing something more conservative, you you can pretty much just mimic something like you would do with your refeeds, like have, uh, you don't have to actually deplete, and so you can just have your regular low days and then have your two high days right before your show. And usually that's going to bring a pretty solid look.
Speaker 2:So yeah, like if you're like there's a lot of information on peaking processes out there and like if you don't practice it ahead of time, a lot of times it can add a lot of stress and like you might forget some and it's not usually worth it. So yeah, if you're trying to do something that's going to be a little bit different or a bit more, a lot more variables at hand, make sure you practice it ahead of time.
Speaker 1:I agree, and that's all. That goes for first timers as well. Timers as well. If you're doing your first time and just go with it's, just keeping it nice and simple, that keeping it simple and a routine that you're used to also will help keeping the stress levels down and then overall you just peak a little bit easier and a little bit better and even your physique will actually show show that and then in the future when you're, when you're prepping a second time, then I think you can experiment with different pk protocols, uh, like loadings and things like that. But then that for now, I think, for even for first timers keeping it nice and simple, like, as you said, there are a couple low days and then slowly feed into your two high days, you'll be fine. Any funny stories or past travel prep shows, stuff that you wanted to share.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to think let's see no like.
Speaker 2:I think, yeah, like it's. It's like peaking is always one of those things Like I feel like as a coach, the more you know, the almost more stressful it can be sometimes, and sometimes the less you know and the the you just follow something, the less stress there is. Um, because I I've noticed that with myself with certain peaking, like if you're a very high anxiety person, um, and you overanalyze going through prep, sometimes like you can get in your own way a lot where you're like, oh, I think I'm too flat, oh, no, I think I'm too full, and then you're constantly changing your decisions and adding more overwhelming stress. So if you're somebody that's going through a prep and you know you're quite high strung person, like having somebody there to help guide you, to be like that second, I make sure you're you're doing what you need to be. Like that second eye and make sure you're doing what you need to be doing without making last minute crazy changes is going to be something that I couldn't say enough of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, great word of advice, so keep those in mind. If you guys are looking for your first prep in 2025, is that going to be feasible 2025? It's like mid-2025 now. We still have a couple of more shows down the road for WMBF and IMBF down in the US. So if you are looking for your first prep and you're looking to speak to more of a coach, you've got Brandon he's a very knowledgeable guy and, of course, myself. Ha ha ha.
Speaker 1:Here's the time stands for the only part that you have to listen to, and then you can just ignore the rest of the whole podcast. Not just kidding, just kidding. But then, yes, if you are looking for your prep, please reach out to us. We're more than happy to answer any concerns that you may have. And if you're thinking about it, please speak to one of us. You're more than welcome to speak to one of us to plan your next season. So me and actually incorrect grammar Brandon and I will highly recommend a longer period, at least 24 weeks and above. And if you're a first time we've talked about this before If it's your first time, we do recommend even longer than that, maybe up to eight months or nine months ahead, so we can really understand where you are currently and plan out your season and see how far away are you from. Your physique is from what we will consider, you know, stage, weight, uh. Any final things that you want to add before we close out?
Speaker 2:no, and like and that's the another big reason to have a bit of a longer prep time, especially the coaches, just to really get that communication back and forth, understand how people communicate, how they act and like everybody's going to be a little bit different their first time through prep and the more time we have with you, the more predictable you're. We're going to know how your body responds and how you generally behave under high stress, low stress and kind of figure out what? What makes you tick to help push you to those new extremes?
Speaker 1:Yes, I totally agree. Great point, great point. But yeah, thanks for tuning in. Really appreciate your time and stay tuned. You will have your first competition on May 3rd, so that's in two weeks time. Is there going to be a stream for BC Cup?
Speaker 2:Yeah, there should be a stream online. I'll post it on my Instagram story. Um, yeah, there, there should be a stream online. I'll post it on my instagram story. Uh, I guess we can post on, like the lifting nerds podcast story, instagram too, if you guys aren't following that already as well. Um and uh, yeah, and then. Uh, I guess you you'll have a live stream for your show as well, right, yes?
Speaker 1:so there's uh we will be sharing on on the wmbf channel and uh this channel. On this uh instagram, as well as my personal instagram, I will be sharing the live stream for brandon's uh. It's going to be on the same show wmbf and and vancouver and your bc cup show is going to be on the same day. I will share both links up on these instagram so you can go watch brandon compete. Uh for for wmbf. I'm not competing, but I'll be there. You'll probably see me walking around and uh it's. We have a lot of competitors on this year's wmbf uh vancouver show. There's a there's over 100 competitors this year it's a record-breaking.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we've never had over a hundred this year, and the introduction to classic physique really brought a lot of male competitors. This year we have a whole ton of men physique competitors. So that's uh. Let's hope some of them may transition to Kelowna and we may see them there. But all in all, we will be sharing all those links and live streams on our story, so pay attention to that. But that's all that and we'll probably see you guys next time. Thanks,