Now first things first - I don't recommend you EVER take steroids and this article is not about promoting drug use at all.
Those who know me know I've never taken steroids in my life and have ZERO plans to do so - this article is about looking the best you can whereby the ignorant can throw such accusations at you!
There are times in a fitness fanatics career whereby he or she can manipulate all the myriads of training to produce a look marvelled at by everyone, that some take drugs in order to achieve.
Now ok, this look does not last forever, but the photographs of it will!
So let's get into the steps.
STEP 1: Drop the Fat
Depending on how heavy you are in the first place, this can take around 12-15 weeks.
Make sure your protein, fat and carb numbers ar perfect, and be consistent.
Drop the fat and get as lean as you can within reason.
This is no simple step, but after that, you're ready for step 2.
STEP 2: Fuel up to muscle right up
Let's say you plan to take some shots on a Saturday - one must strategically consume particular foods in the lead up to Saturday to look their best.
What I find is terrific, depending on how depleted you are, is carbing up on the Thursday and Friday. Begin by increasing your carbohydrate intake by 4 on Thursday, and reducing your fat to under 50 grams. Any carbs will do - white or brown, whatever you fancy.
On Friday, keep the carbohydrates the same, but increase your fat to 2.5 times the amount.
STEP 3 - The Day of
In the morning, have another large fat meal, consisting of around 50 grams of fat, and quite a high carbohydrate intake of 100 grams.
The fat can increase vascularity (1), which is exactly what you're after.
Then, give it 4 hours....and hit the gym.
STEP 4 - Hitting the gym
This is where one must target the weaker body parts that have noticeably reduced in fullness over a cut.
Remember - you don't lose muscle mass when dieting IF you do it properly.
As the link above explains, you lose glycogen, which is very misleading to the untrained eye.
However, the goal of the carb up days before your shoot here is to take advantage of the hardness of your abs, whilst filling up your muscles. This is when you're going to look your best.
So here, I find tri sets work really well for a fast and efficient pump.
Here, we want to train the muscles most prone to losing the full look on a cut - the shoulders, chest, and triceps. Yours might be different but this is my experience and from what I've seen from others.
An example (once warmed up) of a quick workout could be:
3 x dumbbell side raises - 20 reps
3 x bench presses - 15 reps
3 x dubbell side raises ---> straight into 10 push ups ---> straight into tricep pushdowns
Here, you'll be as full as a state school!
Now, whilst you're doing this, try taking some high sugar foods too.
Some like gummy bears or red frogs, but I find dried figs are the goods. They bring out the veins very well in a lot of subjects.
STEP 5 - Capitalise on the moment of looking your best
Continue to do some side raises with light weight and push ups whilst shooting if need be, whilst popping your dried figs.
Here, if done correctly, you'll look full, vascular, and like you've been taking drugs to achieve your look. The only thing is - you haven't!
Now some of you may have a different approach....some tinker with water loading, but in my experience things can go south there.
Don't take any dangerous steps of removing water - your muscles are predominantly water and drinking it is a good idea. Don't make any drastic decisions here.
So there we have it - try this and see how you go. If you don't like it - take a 2 week washout period and try something different.
The important thing is to MONITOR your results...if you feel like you looked better the day before on this protocol, then take those steps in the lead up to your next shoot.
Work out if this is effective for you - and enjoy this magnificent moment whilst it lasts!
When done right, you'l look back at photos of you then - and even on the day - and won't believe it's you.
And that feeling alone let me tell you, is worth training and dieting for!
"Stay Fit, Stay Flexed!"
Reference
(1) Alghoul M, Mendiola A, Seth R, Rubin BP, Zins JE, Calabro A, Siemionow M, Kusuma S. The effect of hyaluronan hydrogel on fat graft survival. Aesthet Surg J. 2012 Jul;32(5):622-33. doi: 10.1177/1090820X12448794.
Author
Dayne Hudson