WATER RETENION / CARB DEPLETION

WINNING COMBO!

This category is the grand daddy of them all when preparing for a photo shoot.
Your goal for a photo shoot is to have your skin suck into your muscles, like a
plastic bag on something when the air is pulled out of bag. So, how does this h
appen? Two weeks prior to your shoot, you drink water in the volume of a gallon
a day. You get your body used to having water constantly coming into your body
where your body has to take a piss 4-6 times a day. When you are totally hydra
ted, then you are ready to start the process. If you don t drink this amount of w
ater normally, start a month out or so, but either way, the more water you drink
, the healthier it is for the body. The reason why we drink so much water weeks
before the shoot is to trick the body into dehydrating itself. When you are dr
inking a gallon of water a day, your body understands and accepts this amount of
water coming into the body and flushing it out daily, so it response with deple
ting the body of the same amount. With that being said, you body reacts a few d
ays after the fact, for example, if you don t drink a lot of water and you start d
rinking tons out of normal, you body will hold water for a few days and make you
feel blotted for a bit until it recycles it and passes it out. Knowing this wo
rks to your advantage. You continue to drink a gallon a day the week prior to y
our shoot and then in the last week you cut the water out each day to the point
you are down to a half a glass two days before your shoot. Your last day is not
hing if you can deal with the dehydration, but what happens is your body continu
es to release water expecting more to come and when it figures out that water is
not coming into the body as frequent, it has already let too much water go and
naturally dehydrated itself making the skin suck onto the muscle causing you to
look more cut. You are in sense tricking your body. You have to understand tha
t in this state of dehydration, your will be so thirsty, but anything you put in
to your body will not be released because your body is in survival mode and unti
l it feels it is back to normal levels of water, it will hold as much as it can.
ENDSTATE, you have to time this to the shoot the best you can, as it will give
you the best look possible for about an 8 hour period, 8 hours because you have
to drink some water by then and eat, but you sacrifice it all to create the bes
t look for the shoot. The correlation is unhealthy, as the worse you feel, the
better the photo will be body wise. As a fitness model, you drop yourself into
an unhealthy state for a period of time to do the shoot and then after the shoot y
ou replenish your body with water and food. As for carbs, you do the same proc
ess. You cut your carbs down to minimal for the last two weeks, like 20 carbs a
day two week prior and the week of the shoot or at least the last 5 days, 0, th
at is ZERO carbs, the last three days so your skins sucks into the muscles and s
how all the definition. I am not going to lie to you, during this process, you
are hating life. You will have dreams of jumping into a pool and drinking the e
ntire pool dry as you will be that thirsty, but it is what you decide to do to b
e the best. Is it safe, yes. Is it healthy, no. You cannot stay in that state
for a period of time. That is why I tell people that when I shoot a cover, don t
look at the cover as if that is my daily shape I walk around with, a photo shoo
t shape is 5 days of dehydration and carb depletion to have the skin suck onto t
he muscles like a vacuum and the best part of the shoot isn t the cover your land,
it s the dinner afterwards!
TANNING
The darker you are the deeper the cuts, period. When you are in shape and you h
ave separation between muscle regions, for example, your shoulder and triceps re
gion, the darker you are provides a shadowed area towards the separation between
the muscle regions when photographed to give the appearance the cut is deeper t
hen it really is, end state, you look more defined. Take it a step further, jus
t your shoulder region, if you are in shape, your shoulder flexed will have stri
ation throughout it as if hundreds of bands are holding your upper arm to your m
idsection of you torso, those striations are highlighted with flash photography
and even more enhanced when you are dark as the surface muscles are light and th

e gaps go dark giving the illusion you the cut is deeper then it is in reality.
So, the darker you are the better the photograph will turn out. The best way t
o get this dark for a shoot, and just for a shoot, is to use pro tanning product
s that you wipe on with gloves that will make you look dark within minutes, almo
st stains your skin, but in reality, it comes off with anything it comes in cont
act with, such as your clothes or the clothes of anyone you come in contact with i
t s strictly used as a photo shoot s aid, not a walk around town look. If you go ou
t with this crap on, you will be laughed at, maybe not to your face, but for sur
e behind your back. If I see you wearing this out in public, I m the type to walk
up to your face and comment, so play it safe and use it for what it s meant for,
the hours in front of the lens. After a shower you return to your normal color.
But, let s say it s not for a photo shoot, but a long weekend vacation at the beac
h. In this case, plan it out a few weeks and pick up self tanners. Most self t
anners take 3 days to really activate and present themselves on your sink. That
being said, the more applications you use, the deeper the tan will get. Best w
ay to apply these self tanners is right after the shower in the morning, apply t
he self tanner and then wait 10 minutes till it dries, it will not come off on y
our clothes. Continue to reapply after each morning shower for two weeks before
the event and you will have a golden color that will look natural and healthy.
Some products work better then others, you will have to test the shelf stock yo
urself to see what works best for you. I disapprove with going to tanning beds
or laying out in the sun as the results are great, nothing beats the color of na
tural sun, but the wrinkles that come years later nothing says your age like wrink
les, so don t sacrifice the future for the present gift of color. Always look to
the future, never compromise health for the temporary now result ..that is simply bu
llshit and a loser s mentality.
MORNING MEAL OF THE SHOOT
If you have dieted down correctly and pulled the water and carbs out of your bod
y, then the morning of the shoot, you can feed the muscles and literally watch t
hem fill in. Due to your muscles being so strapped from nutrition, eating some
simple sugar the morning of the shoot will cause the suger to go directly into y
our muscles and fill them out as well as causing your vascularity to pop as neve
r before. Good foods for this are fruits or even a candy bar. As you get hung
ry during the shoot, eat lean meat such as chicken, turkey or fish. Even though
you are thirsty as can be, try not to drink anything the day of the shoot until
it is over, as anything that goes into your body during this survival mode perio
d your body is going through will result in your body sucking it all up and not
letting it go as it doesn t know when it will get more food or water. Considering
how hard you worked to get in this peak shape for the shoot, continue to keep y
our mindset on the prize and tell yourself that the victory meal after the shoot
is when you will replenish your body. If you look back on the past year and ad
d up all the different parties you attended, I am sure you are forgetting more t
hen you can recall. I bring this up, because the sacrifice you will have to go
through to get in your best shape is one that you won t forget .the cover will be al
ive much longer then you will ever be you are leaving part of your soul here on Ea
rth for all time. That is what you think of when your buddies are trying to per
suade you to go out .remember what counts in the long run, not the temporary relie
f that you will never remember, actually you will probably remember it only in r
egret if you partake during your training and find the day of the shoot you don t
look your best .tough shit then, nothing you can do about it at that time .just sit
and wonder what if I didn t go out, a question you can never answer by the way. On
top of that, nothing beats going out and having fun when you have earned it and
have a reason to celebrate.
AT THE SHOOT
Be a team player at the shoot. Everyone, no matter what business they are in, w
ant to work with people they like. Even though you are hurting, hungry, irritab

le, etc, don t let it show. Being a team player is helping the photographer with
his gear, helping out with light checks, having a good attitude, showing up on t
ime; more or less, being professional. That type of attitude combined with bein
g in shape will leave a reputation that will earn future work and shoots. If yo
u come into the shoot like some diva and act as if you are some God sent model,
I promise you that will be your last job with that photographer and the reputati
on you just painted will surly find it s way into other professionals conversation
whenever your name is brought up. Also, the pump is huge for the shoot. If yo
u are shooting a gym, it s easy cause you have all the weights there to provide th
e pump. If you are not at a gym, I suggest you bring some dumbbells and work th
em along with push ups and pull ups to give you that pump / full look. Do not l
ift your abs or triceps though, and go light with your legs .for some reason, when
ever you lift these muscle regions, they lose their shreddedness and start to ju
st look bulky and uncut.
THE WORSE YOU FEEL PHYSICALLY, THE BETTER THE PICTURE WILL BE.
I know this sounds stupid, but you have to understand that shooting a cover is n
ot that model s everyday look. They are cut down and dehydrated to achieve that l
ook, and that smile that is on their face is the furthest thing from the truth.
They are hungry and thirsty, flexed to the max and just blew out all the air in
their body awaiting the flash to go off with a smile. So, the worse you feel,
the harder you are flexing, the hungrier you are and dying of thirst equates to
a cut, ripped body that the magazines and lens of the camera love, regardless wh
at it mean in terms of health to the model. That being said, you drop down into
this state for the shoot and then pop back out of it and feed your body. Is it
the most healthy thing in the world to do, of course not, but it provides a cov
er which is something you can be proud of and build your confidence on for the n
ext challenge in your life, so I say it s a fair compromise, but it s not for everyo
ne. The more you put you body through this process, the easier it gets. It s as
if you get used to it and understand the process, and on top of it all, you see
how it worked before so you are not doing it blindly any more, you are moving fo
rward with a purpose to your best shape ever ready to be captured on camera.