During the last few days before a bodybuilding show, athletes focus all their energies and efforts upon peaking for the upcoming show. Their diet is designed to finalize fat loss and remove all unneeded water from the body. They must get their tans applied for the show. They must perfect their posing. They must arrive in the destination city and prepare all the logistical details. Drug protocols must be minimized and possibly masked for testing. And, most cautiously, they must carb up. We have read hundreds of articles about all of these topics. The last week before a show is the most important of the entire training year and pre-contest. Rarely do we see anything about that very important aspect of preparation which gave us the muscle in the first place: Training. How much should one train in those days before a show?

We’ve all missed a week of training before. At the end of that week, how do you feel? Usually, after feeling refreshed for a day or two, you feel weak and skinny, lacking your usual sharpness, after not touching a weight for seven days. So we can determine that NO training the week before a show isn’t a good idea. Likewise, we know that it’s hard to perform under the lights, and without much water in our system, if a body part is extremely sore. We know that most bodybuilders are exhausted on show day, and lack the energy to go anywhere near a weight during that last 48 hours. But they still have to train, in order to retain the muscle volume and hardness.

Here is a sample workout routine for the last week before a show.

• Sunday: Full leg workout

• Monday: Back & Triceps

• Tuesday: Shoulders

• Wednesday: Chest and arms

• Thursday: Entire upper body

• Friday: Entire body – very light, more of a pumping routine.

• Saturday: Show.

Less weight is used as the show draws closer and closer. Many bodybuilders will feel like a zombie in those closing days of a pre-contest regimen. It’s entirely normal. Strength levels will fall and a bodybuilder might be embarrassed or disheartened by the weakness he is experiencing. It’s normal. The body is operating on less carbs, less water, and less calories than ever before. Strength will go down as well. The important thing to remember is that bodybuilding shows are based on how you look, not how much you can lift.

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