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 By: Keith Gmirkin
My name is Keith Gmirkin and I will be competing in 1 week at the first NPC competition in Boise, Idaho on April 8th. After eleven weeks I have dropped to 210 in the high 3% range. Dr. Joe wanted to get me a little lower but didn't want to jeopardize shutting my system down by going at it too hard. We had dropped my carbs down to 175 on Monday and I dropped two pounds in one day, he then decided to take me up to 300. I still ended up losing more the next day. We decided to keep the carb levels at 300 for a couple more days to see if my weight would stabilize. I leveled out at around 211. The carb deplete was easy, he dropped me to 150 grams on Saturday and Sunday and I only had to do 45 minutes of cardio each day, no lifting. In years past I had done 2 hours of cardio along with lifting, for three to four days... talking about feeling horrible!
  Click Image To Enlarge. Keith, 1 Week Out. The carb load wasn't what I shad expected either. I started with 350 grams on Monday, 30 minutes of cardio and a light leg work out. Tuesday was a drop to 300 with another 30 minutes and my back and biceps. Wednesday was down to 250 with another 30 minutes of cardio and chest, triceps and deltoids. Thursday was supposed to be 250 with only 15 minutes of cardio and a light circuit but I woke up feeling pretty depleted so Dr. Joe bumped my carbs up to 300 and kept them there through Friday. Friday I did another 15 minutes of cardio and a light circuit.
This week I'm going to continue with my cardio sessions in the morning on an empty stomach. Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday I will do 30 minutes each morning. Thursday and Friday I will do 15 minutes. The day of the show I have to wake up at around 4:30 and do 30 minutes of cardio then have steak and yams for breakfast. My energy levels have really improved since my carb levels are increasing while my activity levels go down. This natural process will allow my body to push the glycogen in to the muscle tissue but not allow any excess to remain in the interstitial tissue.
My food will change every single day.
Drink 2 gallons of spring water each day. The day of the show I woke up and drink 16oz of water then 30 minutes of cardio.
This is the week before you get on stage, you will not be growing anything, just forcing the sugars in to the muscle tissue. I generally use a weight I can comfortably lift 15-20 repetitions with. I don't ever go to complete failure, just till I feel that the muscle is pumped and hard. The goal of this week is not to lift so hard that you burn up all the sugars, just force them in to the muscle tissue. I like to hit my poses on the body part I'm targeting to force more blood in to the area.
The topic I'd like to discuss is being prepared. Prepare a checklist or find one on someone's site of things you will want to take with you just in case. The items I always put in my bag are:
I never rely on others to provide these items; you pass yourself off as a rookie. It will help your stress levels knowing you have everything you need no matter what happens, you'll have enough to think about while you are at the show. Allow yourself to enjoy the moment, it will be over very quickly, don't let a lack of preparation spoil your incredible achievement.
 
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