Question, “Hi Engin. Can you tell us more about the last two weeks before a Contest?Nutrition (supplements), Rest, Stretching and/or Massage but most of all, how a Training should looks like when you approach the day. Thank you!”

Right now i am 2 weeks away from the European Championships and would like to answer this question now. I just woke up and drank carnitine and coffee, then waited for half an hour, and then did cardio with empty stomach to burn more fat. Right now i am eating about 150 gram red meat mixed with 2 eggs and drinking water. Till today i was eating oat meal mixed with protein powder and water but i decided to lower the carbo in last two weeks. After the meal i am eating now i will drink BCAA&Glutamine drink with my multi vitamin and glucosamine pills. I am also using creatine but will discontinue a week before the weigh in.

After noon i plan to eat chicken breast with boiled potato and then drink my amino acids and vitamins again. In the evening i plan to do one more and then i probably will not eat any more meal but drink a protein shake before i go to bed. I may stop eating red meat and eggs in last week before the weigh in and i may only eat chicken breast and boiled potato with protein drinks.

I did a heavy training only 2 days ago and from now on i will train but in a way that will not put any stress on my joints. Probably i will do bicep and pull up trainings in dynamic way.

Last night i had a good upper back massage and dry cupping to increase the blood circulation from brain to my arms to eccelarate the healing. I use warming cream before the trainings and anti inflamation cream after the trainings. İn between i use glucosamine cream on my arm joints.

The days after the trainings i do light opposite muscle group trainings. For example if i trained my wrist then i do wrist extensions with rubber band but not so heavy. If i did finger curls then i do finger extension training with rubber band. Once a week i train my pushing muscle groups (Bench press, military press, tricep).

I plan to wake up with 2 kilos to lose on the weigh in day and lose that weight in sauna or with cardio. If i would be 74 kg a week before the weigh in then it is fine for me as when i discontinue creatine i will lose about 1,5 kilos and the rest will not be so hard i believe.

I also plan to use ibuprofen last 2-3 days before the competetion to minimize the inflamation. I will use cataflam tablet 1 hour before the competetion to not to feel the possible pain during the competetion.

When i was younger i did not even need to warm up but now i realised that without a good warm up i can not perform at my current best and most likely i would be injured as soon as i meet a tough opponent. So i plan to take a small dumbell and rubber band with me to warm up good. I always hated to warm up with someone by holding hand. But maybe i should start getting used to.

I plan to pull both masters and seniors and i plan to rest about 9-10 days before the masters competetion. I may have another prolotherapy right after my last training but kind of afraid to have a shot on my nerve in my elbow. It happenned once and it took 4 weeks for the numbness to go away from my 2 lower fingers.

So in short older i get harder it becomes to get ready for a serious level competetion. After my 10. WAF win maybe i should retire but i don’t have such complexes like “I must quit at the top” etc. I am getting old, my joints are even older than me. So while i can still be competetive i like to pull as much as i can even if i can not win a medal. My challenge is not becoming the best but hunting medal even if it is a bronze.

Wish me good luck.