Peak Week – Putting the Final Week Before the Competition to the Test – Part 1

The well-kept secret of every coach who prepares athletes for bodybuilding competitions is how to plan the final week before the competition. In the bodybuilding community, this week is known as “Peak Week.”

During my time as both a coach and an athlete, I’ve been exposed to a wide variety of approaches and have even had the chance to try some of them out myself.

Some turned out to be complete nonsense, others were “what you’ve always done and therefore never change,” and then there were approaches based on the current state of scientific knowledge.

A “best of all” is what I practice today with my athletes!

It’s important to emphasize here that every athlete needs an individualized plan for the week immediately leading up to a competition. It’s impossible in good conscience to provide a one-size-fits-all blueprint or generic plan.

So anyone expecting to walk away from this two-part series with a ready-made, universally applicable peak week plan will be disappointed right now—there won’t be one!

However, anyone who wants to get a sense of common and less common methods for conducting peak week—and the reasoning behind them—should definitely keep reading.

 

 

The Purpose of a Peak Week in Competitive Bodybuilding

Competitive bodybuilding is about the aesthetic comparison of athletes with one another.

To this end, they are divided into different weight and/or height classes, depending on the federation. In the months leading up to the competition, competitors undergo a specialized preparation regimen consisting of strict dietary and training guidelines. The goal of this process is to achieve maximum body fat loss while minimizing the loss of lean body mass (3–5).

A final phase of fine-tuning for perfect aesthetics then takes place during the last week before the competition.

This phase is known as “Peak Week” and involves the targeted manipulation of macronutrients, electrolytes, fluid intake, and training (6–8).

Goals of a Peak Week:

• Maximum muscle fullness by maximizing muscle glycogen stores
• Achieving a lean, hard look by minimizing subcutaneous water retention
• Achieving a V-shape by preventing abdominal bloating

Scientific literature on Peak Week strategies is scarce. To date, only a single study (9), for example, has examined the effects of carbohydrate loading on muscle circumference—though it involved non-bodybuilders and was conducted under isocaloric (calorie intake based on energy needs) conditions.

That study found no significant effect, while other studies (also not involving bodybuilders) do report increased muscle circumference resulting from targeted carbohydrate depletion and subsequent replenishment (52).

Despite the unclear evidence, the method enjoys great popularity among bodybuilders in practice—even though numerous real-world examples show that a carb-loading strategy not tailored to the athlete can completely ruin the athlete’s appearance on competition day (8).

Scientists attribute such “failures” on the one hand to non-individualized planning, but also to the fact that, according to studies, only 14.1% of self-proclaimed bodybuilding coaches actually hold a certification as a nutritionist (1, 14).

Even athletes report a lack of qualifications and insufficient scientific knowledge among trainers and coaches (8).

For this reason, articles like this one are important. First, to provide coaches with as solid a foundation as possible, but also to give athletes the opportunity to identify unqualified offerings in the scene and avoid getting involved with them and their methods.

 

Conclusion

With the “peak week,” coaches aim to get their athletes into absolute top form on competition day. In addition to bulging muscles and a lean, dry appearance with thin skin, the goal is also to achieve the narrowest possible waist for the V-shape—or, ideally, the X-shape—typical of bodybuilding.

 

 

Peak Week Planning Put to the Test

Study Design and Participants

Chappell et al. (53) collected data from 81 male (59) and female (22) athletes, all of whom underwent doping tests in accordance with WADA criteria (15, 16).

In addition to questions about general nutrition and training during preparation, details regarding the implementation of Peak Week were elicited.

Among the male participants, the study group consisted of:

• 4 juniors under the age of 23
• 10 newcomers
• 20 athletes in the open divisions
• 13 master athletes
• 5 professionals

Among the female participants, the group consisted of:

• 15 figure athletes
• 5 athletes in the athletic classes
• 3 female bodybuilders
• 9 athletes in open classes
• 4 master athletes
• 2 professionals

On average, the athletes had several years of training and competition experience. Over a diet period ranging from 22.68 to 23.65 weeks, they lost an average of 11.73 kg (m) and 8.62 kg (f) of body weight, respectively.

Of all the athletes involved in the study, only 5 (6.2%) continued their regular diet during the final week before the competition. Often, several strategies typically used during peak week were employed simultaneously.

Strategy #1 – Carbohydrate Depletion and Loading

The most common approach was carbohydrate depletion and loading prior to competition. Depletion lasted between 1 and as many as 4 days, with carbohydrate intake ranging from 0 to 100 g per day. Carbohydrate loading also took place over several days (up to 4, including the day of the competition), with peak amounts exceeding 2,500 g (m) or 833 g (w) per day for male and female bodybuilders, respectively (833 g would correspond to 11.1 g per kilogram of body weight for a 75-kg athlete). The primary sources of carbohydrates on carb-loading days were potatoes, oats, rice, grapes, and bananas.

Strategy Number 2 – Manipulating Water Balance

The second most popular strategy after carbohydrate manipulation was adjusting fluid balance, which also involved alternating phases ranging from fluid loading to, in some cases, even complete fluid restriction over a specific period shortly before the competition.

During the loading phase, athletes consumed between 4 and 12 liters of fluid per day (this amount corresponds to 53.3 ml to 160 ml per kilogram of body weight for a 75-kg athlete).

The closer the competition drew, the more fluid intake was reduced or even suspended. This fluid restriction lasted from 10 to 24 hours before the competition.

Strategy Number 3 – Manipulation of Electrolyte Balance

“Loading” and “dumping” sodium is also among the practices sometimes employed. However, athletes do not report a consistent approach here. Often, salt intake was significantly reduced or even stopped 3 to as many as 7 days before the competition. Other participants report loading up on salt in the 4 days leading up to the competition or specifically on the day of the competition, taking into account the simultaneous intake of water and carbohydrates.

Other Strategies

A significant number of athletes report taking higher doses of 1 to 8 g of vitamin C per day in the days leading up to the competition. Less commonly, athletes practiced so-called “fat loading” or used naturally diuretic supplements such as dandelion tea.

 

Conclusion

The classic peak week focuses on the targeted manipulation of carbohydrate, fluid, and electrolyte balance. Vitamin C or other diuretic supplements are rarely used to further promote subcutaneous water loss.

 

 

Here’s what a Peak Week might look like

The following chart provides an overview of the most commonly followed regimen with average amounts, using an 80 kg bodybuilder as an example.

Explanation:
The athlete consumes 350 g of carbohydrates daily (4.4 g per kilogram of body weight). Three days of reduced intake—40 g of carbohydrates per day—are followed by two days of carb-loading. During the depletion phase, high-volume strength training and high-intensity cardio training are also incorporated to deplete the muscles as effectively as possible. During the loading phase, the athlete then consumes three times the original daily intake (in this case, 350 × 3, or 1,050 g, which is 13.2 g per kilogram of body weight).

The following day, the athlete consumes 750 g (9.4 g per kilogram of body weight) before returning to the original daily intake on the day before the competition. Carbohydrate intake is directly linked to fluid intake, which also peaks on Day 4 and then declines. 12 to 16 hours before the competition, fluid intake is reduced to a minimum. On the day of the competition itself, a large portion of the carbohydrates listed is consumed immediately before taking the stage. Sodium and vitamin C are taken on days 5 and 6.

 

Conclusion

The classic peak week plan involves a coordinated sequence of varying intake levels for carbohydrates, fluids, and sodium. In addition to purely nutritional measures, intensive training takes place during the unloading phase, while no intensive training is scheduled on the loading days.

 

 

Strategies on Competition Day

A significant proportion of athletes (21 men – 35.6% / 4 women – 18.2%) do not change their usual diet even on the competition day itself.

The targeted consumption of carbohydrates before taking the stage is very popular. The following chart shows exactly what is commonly consumed on this day. In some cases, athletes opted for low-fiber sources to avoid unnecessarily filling the digestive tract. In some cases, water restriction continued into the competition day as well. It is not uncommon—though not a regular practice—for athletes to consume alcohol and sodium on competition day, often through salty snacks.

Relatively rarely did athletes consume a diet high in both protein and fat on the day of the competition. The “others” category includes, among other things, taking vitamin B supplements or arginine shortly before the stage appearance, as well as deliberately avoiding large amounts of food on the day of the competition to prevent bloating.

 

Conclusion

Competition days often feature a diet high in carbohydrates but low in fluids and dietary fiber. In some cases, alcohol or nitric oxide (NO)-boosting substances such as arginine and B vitamins are used.

 

 

Summary

A study involving a representative cross-section of the athlete pool of female and male bodybuilders provides an overview of common strategies as well as the timeline as it is applied during Peak Week. Carbohydrate depletion and loading are highly popular, as are adjustments to fluid and sodium intake.

In Part 2, these measures will be put to the test scientifically to determine which ones have a sound scientific basis and which do not.

Best regards
, Holger Gugg

www.body-coaches.de

 

 

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