Evidence-Based Recommendations for Natural Bodybuilding Contest Preparation
Nutrition and Supplementation
BY Eric R Helms1*, Alan A Aragon2 and Peter J Fitschen
Abstract
The popularity of natural bodybuilding is increasing; however, evidence-based recommendations for it are lacking. This paper reviewed the scientific literature relevant to competition preparation on nutrition and supplementation, resulting in the following recommendations.
Caloric intake should be set at a level that results in bodyweight losses of approximately 0.5 to 1%/wk to maximize muscle retention. Within this caloric intake, most but not all bodybuilders will respond best to consuming 2.3-3.1 g/kg of lean body mass per day of protein, 15-30% of calories from fat, and the reminder of calories from carbohydrate.
Eating three to six meals per day with a meal containing 0.4-0.5 g/kg bodyweight of protein prior and subsequent to resistance training likely maximizes any theoretical benefits of nutrient timing and frequency.
However, alterations in nutrient timing and frequency appear to have little effect on fat loss or lean mass retention. Among popular supplements, creatine monohydrate, caffeine and beta-alanine appear to have beneficial effects relevant to contest preparation, however others do not or warrant further study.
The practice of dehydration and electrolyte manipulation in the final days and hours prior to competition can be dangerous and may not improve appearance. Increasing carbohydrate intake at the end of preparation has a theoretical rationale to improve appearance, however it is understudied. Thus, if carbohydrate loading is pursued it should be practiced prior to competition and its benefit assessed individually.
Finally, competitors should be aware of the increased risk of developing eating and body image disorders in aesthetic sport and therefore should have access to the appropriate mental health professionals.
Keywords: Hypertrophy, Calories, Frequency, Nutrient, Body fat, Resistance training, Competition
Introduction
The popularity of natural bodybuilding is increasing rapidly. In the United States, over 200 amateurs natural (drug tested) bodybuilding contests occurred during 2013 and the number of contests is expected to increase in 2014.
Preparation for bodybuilding competition involves drastic reductions in body fat while maintaining muscle mass. This is typically achieved through a decreased caloric intake, intense strength training, and increased cardiovascular exercise.
Competitors partake in numerous dietary and supplementation strategies to prepare for a contest. Some have a strong scientific basis; however, many do not.
Therefore, the purpose of this article is to review the scientific literature on topics relevant to nutrition and supplementation for bodybuilding competition preparation. Dietary modifications during the last week to enhance muscle definition and fullness (peaking) and psychosocial issues will also be covered.
Ultimately, evidence-based recommendations will be made for nutrition, supplementation, and “peak week” strategies for natural bodybuilders. As a final note, this paper does not cover training recommendations for natural bodybuilding and the training methodology used will interact with and modify the effects of any nutritional approach.
Methods
PubMed, MEDLINE, SPORT Discus and CINAHL electronic databases were searched online. Each author was assigned a portion of the manuscript to write specific to their area(s) of expertise. Authors performed searches for key words associated with their portion(s) of the manuscript; calories and macronutrients, nutrient timing and meal frequency, dietary supplementation, psychosocial issues and “peak week” were the selected topics.
The publications obtained were carefully screened for studies that included healthy humans or humans in a caloric deficit.
Long-term human studies focusing on hypertrophy and body fat loss were preferentially selected; however, acute studies and/or studies using animal models were selected in the absence of adequate long-term human studies.
In addition, author names and reference lists were used for further search of the selected papers for related references. As this review is intended to be an evidence-based guide and the available data relevant to natural bodybuilding is extremely limited, a narrative review style was chosen.
Nutrition
Calories and Macronutrients
Competitive bodybuilders traditionally follow two-to-four-month diets in which calories are decreased and energy expenditure is increased to become as lean as possible [2-6]. In addition to fat loss, muscle maintenance is of primary concern during this period. To this end, optimal caloric intakes, deficits and macronutrient combinations should be followed while matching the changing needs that occur during competition preparation.
Caloric Intake for Competition
To create weight loss, more energy must be expended than consumed. This can be accomplished by increasing caloric expenditure while reducing caloric intake. The size of this caloric deficit and the length of time it is maintained will determine how much weight is lost.
Every pound of pure body fat that is metabolized yields approximately 3500 kcals, thus a daily caloric deficit of 500 kcals theoretically results in fat loss of approximately one pound per week if the weight loss comes entirely from body fat.
However, a static mathematical model does not represent the dynamic physiological adaptation’s that occur in response to an imposed energy deficit.
Metabolic adaptation to dieting has been studied in overweight populations and when observed, reductions in energy expenditure amount to as little as 79 kcal/d [9], to as much as 504 kcal/d beyond what is predicted from weight loss.
Metabolic adaptations to bodybuilding contest preparation have not been studied; however, non-overweight men who consumed 50% of their maintenance caloric intake for 24 weeks and lost one fourth of their body mass experienced a 40% reduction in their baseline energy expenditure. Of that 40% reduction 25% was due to weight loss, while metabolic adaptation accounted for the remaining 15%.
Therefore, it should be expected that the caloric intake at which one begins their preparation will likely need to be adjusted over time as body mass decreases and metabolic adaptation occurs.
A complete review of metabolic adaptation to dieting in athletes is beyond the scope of this review. However, coaches and competitors are encouraged to read the recent review on this topic by Trexler et al. [12] which covers not only the physiology of metabolic adaptation, but also potential methods to mitigate its negative effects.
In determining an appropriate caloric intake, it should be noted that the tissue lost during the course of an energy deficit is influenced by the size of the energy deficit.
While greater deficits yield faster weight loss, the percentages of weight loss coming from lean body mass (LBM) tends to increase as the size of the deficit increases.
In studies of weight loss rates, weekly losses of 1 kg compared to 0.5 kg over 4 weeks resulted in a 5% decrease in bench press strength and a 30% greater reduction in testosterone levels in strength training women.
Weekly weight loss rates of 1.4% of bodyweight compared to 0.7% in athletes during caloric restriction lasting four to eleven weeks resulted in reductions of fat mass of 21% in the faster weight loss group and 31% in the slower loss group.
In addition, LBM increased on average by 2.1% in the slower loss group while remaining unchanged in the faster loss group. Worthy of note, small amounts of LBM were lost among leaner subjects in the faster loss group..
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