For bodybuilders, the food you eat for the last 24 hours before you step on stage plays a major role in determining how you look at the show. A perfect “carb up” and “water drop” will leave you looking bigger and dryer than you ever have before. At the same time, missing your peak or “spilling over” due to having too many carbs in the body and water under the skin, can leave you looking 6 weeks out when you step on stage. Peaking is a science, and some people make a very good living helping bodybuilder to peak correctly. Bodybuilders take the last 24 hours of nutrition before a show, including those crucial hours between pre-judging and the show itself, very seriously.

Despite the fact that bodybuilding is just about looking good – and powerlifting is about performing well – many powerlifters do not take their nutrition the day of the meet as seriously as they should. They might stop and have a big breakfast with lot of carbohydrates the morning of the show for energy, and perhaps they’ll include some high calories snacks or protein bars in their gym bags to help with the lifts spaced throughout the day. This is poor planning, and certainly short-circuits the powerlifter’s efforts that day. Instead of limiting lifting performance, diet should be planned to maximize it.

Let’s start the morning of the powerlifting meet. We’ll assume that you are completing three major lift on this day – Squat, bench, and then deadlifts. The weigh-in will have already been done at this point (likely the night before) so you won’t have to worry too much about your big breakfast affecting your scale reading. You will want something that delivers a steady stream of fat, protein and carbohydrates, in a slow-digesting format that won’t upset your stomach. After all, running to the bathroom when you’re next in line to squat isn’t a great idea, and you certainly don’t want to suffer an accident when lifting a maximum amount of weight on the movement. You need a source of solid nutrition in a “non-controversial” format which won’t upset your stomach. Leave the pancakes and eggs at home. Today’s meals will all be the same – steak and rice in Tupperware. Four meals packed in your gym bag will be more than plenty to get you through the day. Also included should be a few pieces of fruit, bottled waters, and any other favorites that you have, such as trail mix.

In additional to these meals, you may find that a pre-packed “super drink” can help you perform better and maintain your strength on what will be an exciting day as well as a roller coast of emotions making and witnessing incredible lifts. Keeping blood sugar and amino levels stable is important. A mixture of Gatorade, waxy maize, whey isolate, and BCAAs is a powerlifting favorite to maintain blood levels during a meet. If you do choose to use such a mixture, test it out a few weeks ahead of time to ensure your stomach doesn’t react negatively to the mixture.

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