UNIVERSITY Contest Prep Decision Making Lesson Overview • • • • • • • • • The “Digging” phase of prep Decisions Tree for Stalls FAT LOSS ACTION STEP 1: Calories FAT LOSS ACTION STEP 2: Energy Expenditure FAT LOSS ACTION STEP 3: Fat Loss Agents MUSCLE HOLD ACTION STEP 1: Training MUSCLE HOLD ACTION STEP 2: PEDs FATIGUE ACTION STEP 1: Taper and Diet Break FATIGUE ACTION STEP 2: Refeed The “Digging” Phase Through the initial prep set up you should have made the easy fat loss occur The Digging phase is where we go from lean to skinned out stage ready This is also where you will face the largest mental and physical challenges in a contest prep This final phase is where we go from lean to stage level conditioned Side effects of contest prep can become increased in this phase from low energy availability and fatigue increasing When we run into the first stall out in fat loss, we will have decisions to make to keep progressing Decision Making The mental aspect of prep can drive you to make emotional based decisions A hasty decision can lead to too large of a calorie drop, excessive cardio, too high of training volume, too high of PED usage This can further stall progression and make prep very hard from hunger increasing, crashing training performance, poor sleep, stress to further compound We must stay objective and take-out emotion Use your objective data to make decisions and have a second eye on you to give you some unbiased opinions The decision can be complex and more than just revolve around decreasing food and increasing cardio You must factor in an athlete's mental state, recovery tools, long term adherence Contest Prep Decision Tree Fa t Loss Stall Adherence high >7-14 days No change to plan, address adherence NO YES Vi s ually l ook l eaner and decrease i n scale and/or caliper s ites? YES Fa t l oss within range of 0.5-1.5% wei ght l oss per week? YES NO YES No change to plan NO Is Ca lorie i ntake high enough a nd expenditure l ow enough to a l low for for further deficit? NO Is physical or mental fatigue a n i ssue? NO FAT LOSS ACTION STEP decrease kcal when food is hi gh enough to so and hunger is managed YES FATIGUE ACTION STEP 2 da y Refeed, rea ssess s tall Are you s ti ll stalled? YES Move to a FAT LOSS ACTION STEP (Di gging NOT to be s ustained long term) MUSCLE HOLD ACTION STEP Cons ider adjusting tra i ning volume down NO FATIGUE ACTION STEP If time permits ta ke a 1-week di et break a nd del oad/taper Do you not ve time? MUSCLE HOLD ACTION STEP Increase AAS for gym performance retention FAT LOSS ACTION STEP i ncreasing energy expenditure if ca l orie intake is low a nd further decrease goes below minimum ta rgets and current cardio is not hi ghly fatiguing FAT LOSS ACTION STEP i mpl ementation of Fat Loss Agents NO Other fa ctors involved bl urri ng fat loss? Di gestion Intact PED cha nges Mens trual cycl e Food Volume i ncrease/decrease Poor Sl eep Stres s Wa ter retention from tra i ning Cha nge i n fluids Cha nge i n daily routine Cha nge i n check in time of da y YES Determine if variable is masking progress and stick to plan OR You should Implement an ACTION STEP FAT LOSS ACTION STEP 1: CALORIES General Rules: Make one change at a time Changes made should be reactive not proactive after initial set up Calorie adjustment after initial set up: Option : 10% decrease in total kcal intake (2000kcal diet = 200kcal reduction) Option 2: Calorie adjustment based on goal weight loss target EX: need a 0.5lb weight loss per week = ~1700 kcal per week decrease = ~240kcal decrease per day Assess next week and adjust accordingly Remember you can always add food back in, but you can’t go back in time and take food away Which macros to adjust? FAT LOSS ACTION STEP 1: CALORIES Adjusting Macronutrients CARBOHYDRATES • In Contest prep an increase in training volume and cardio means an increase in glucose utilization, but also fatty acid oxidation • Upholding training performance is of utmost importance and glucose is main substrate • Uphold pre, intra and post workout carbohydrates for as long as possible to fuel performance and recovery • Decrease carbs if: Carbs > 1g/lb and Fat is 1.3g/lb, Carbs