Why I Don't Cut Water Anymore and Neither Should You...

[christian70]

Even non-lifters assume that getting shredded on show day is about cutting water. I literally get this from everyone when I tell them I compete; "Oh you stop drinking water and shit?". No I don't. I used to, but I haven't for my last 4 shows and 2 modeling gigs.

Here's a comparison AT SIMILAR BODYFAT % (slightly leaner on left):

https://imgur.com/a/XKtXD

• Left : CUTTING WATER
• Right: LOADING WATER

Pretty similar right...? Here the difference when comes show time:

https://imgur.com/a/fWTl9

• Left: VERY DEHYDRATED - DIDN'T DRINK ANY WATER AT ALL
• Right: HYDRATED - STAYED HYDRATED

My experience summarized:

• Water weight is not a problem when you're lean
• Cutting water makes you lose significant fullness

Bonus

• Cutting water cannot make up for not being shredded enough.

Note: I was actually about 1% bodyfat leaner on the DEHYDRATED picture sets. It doesn't show much on the pics, but I had triceps striations, which I didn't have on the HYDRATED pictures. This has nothing to do with water; it's simply because I decided to show up a little fuller to match up with Musclemania's bigger kind of bodybuilders.

Edit: Changed pictures for clarity.

 

[akadouble]

@christian70 Norton recently posted a video on the science of why he doesn’t recommend the one he coaches to manipulate water and sodium.

Your experience of less fullness seems to fit with Nortons view.

 

[christian70]

@akadouble Big downsides for rather small benefits. Maybe if I weighted 243lbs I wouldn't mind giving up a few pounds of size for extra shredz, but this isn't my world.

 

[prestontg]

@christian70 243 lb ≈ 110 kg

[sup]metric[/sup] [sup]units[/sup] [sup]bot[/sup] [sup]|[/sup] [sup]feedback[/sup] [sup]|[/sup] [sup]source[/sup] [sup]|[/sup] [sup]hacktoberfest[/sup] [sup]|[/sup] [sup]block[/sup] [sup]|[/sup] [sup]refresh[/sup] [sup]conversion[/sup] [sup]|[/sup] [sup]v0.11.12[/sup]

 

[paparazi257]

@christian70 100% agree. I did a practice prep week before my first show with low sodium/water and could definitely tell how much worse it was.

 

[christian70]

@paparazi257 It's very sneaky, because you don't necessarily see yourself getting smaller during those 24 hours, but you are. Then you look at pictures and.. Dammit!

 

[playing_the_angel]

@christian70 Hey, i think that the water and sodium intake should be stable and same as on the diet. Your body stores 70% of the total water in the Muscle and 30% in the skin. Supplements like Creatine add the water to the muscle and carbs too (Thats why we do carb loading). I dont think that you can switch the Ratio of 70% to 30% in any kind of legal form. As far as i know you should do water, keep track of your pictures during the peek weak and compare them on contest day. There are methods for peek weak where you do like lyan norton front loading with carbs or like Cliff wilson back loading. There are pros and cons of both mehtods. I suggest you should focus more on the maximum carbs and maybe sodium intake than on the water itself like the other guys are mentioning here already. What do you think?

best regards Machete

 

[christian70]

@playing_the_angel I agree for most parts. Only difference is that I keep sodium stable.

 

[playing_the_angel]

@christian70 Yeah i mean i think it maybe depends on multiple factors if you mess with sodium around like:

• Front / Back loading timing
• Category & Weight class your Competing, i think that for physique Athletes the "hard, cut & vascular" look is not as much important as in the Bodybuilding Category
• Individual Preferences, as a Coach i would look over the photos and the foods you ate and the sodium / Water intake over the last weeks to find the sweet spot where you have been the best in shape. From this point i would just repeat the eating process, and take a good Carbload Method.

I think its usually depends on the genetics and the athlete him/herself because there could be a lot more factors that we didn't quite catch here like: stress (work, fiance, kids, school, ...) , travel distances, sleep and all these brutal things that happen in our live that affects us...

Best Regards machete

 

[yanoca]

@christian70 Not to be rude or judgey but you look like you weight about 135lb does it really matter to that point, I figured I was gonna see a 200lb natty guy

 

[christian70]

@yanoca This is a little bit of a technical post, my goal was not to display myself full or at my best, but to compare the effect of water during depletion. If you want to see bigger picture just go on my Instagram, but that won't be relevant to this topic.

 

[christian70]

@yanoca

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[christian70]

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[yanoca]

@christian70 I just figure that these test would have better results on a larger subject.

 

[christian70]

@yanoca Well I don't have a larger subject.