Should you do cardio during peak week?
As far as cardio goes during peak week, taper down from whatever amount you’ve been doing. By the day before the show, you shouldn’t be doing more than 15-20 minutes of cardio. You’ll still be engaged in active recovery, but you won’t be so far away from what you’ve been doing to come this far.
What is peak week?
Peak week is something spoken about extensively in the world of bodybuilding and physique sport. It essentially refers to the final week before the big day, and is commonly thought of as a time to ‘rescue’ a look and make significant improvements to a lagging physique.
What is the purpose of peak week?
The object of peak week is to optimize your body’s aesthetics leading up to the day of the show – though this tends to involve making yourself miserable! The whole point is to completely deplete your body and liver of glycogen stores.
What are the misconceptions about peak week?
The biggest misconception about peak week concerns water. The logic is simple: If you cut water, there will be less under your skin and you’ll look more shredded, right? WRONG! Sodium is a related factor routinely mismanaged by competitors on the path to their show.
Is it bad to drink water during peak week?
As I discussed last week, the Bro Science protocol of water and sodium manipulation during Peak Week can wreck havoc on your physique and should be avoided at all cost. It’s one of the most common reasons why so many physique competitors (Bikini to Bodybuilding) do not look their best on stage.
What happens to your body during peak week?
The sodium balance in your body directly affects fluid dynamics and blood volume. What sodium depletion does is increase levels of aldosterone, a hormone whose job it is to cause the re-absorption and retention of water and sodium. After two days of sodium depletion (standard in most peak week protocols) aldosterone levels have doubled!