As bodybuilders we have two mortal enemies that can keep us from showing our full potential: body fat and water weight.

Body fat is pretty straightforward when it comes to how we lose and gain weight. Water weight, on the other hand, is a bit more complicated and overall much more sensitive. In my book Rebound Like the Champ, I touch on water weight and I give you dieting tips to help you avoid it altogether.

In all honesty, the only way you can fight bloating from water retention is by fighting it on three fronts: supplements, diet, and water intake in general.

Supplements

If you browse around my site, you’ll see that I encourage taking certain, high-quality supplements to help you with performance and recovery. As a matter of fact, they play a central role in my recovery strategies so that I keep performance high even after a show.  However, you have to be real careful when you take supplements, and you need to know where they come from.

One of the biggest drawbacks to low quality supplements is the fact that they can often contain bad ingredients that encourage your body to retain water. In addition to not doing what you want them to do, these subpar supplements will also be sabotaging your whole physique! What’s the point?

Make sure you only use high quality supplements for your workout regimen.

Diet

The main culprit in causing water retention is sodium. When you increase your sodium intake, your body responds by retaining more water. Additionally, salty foods in general can cause dehydration and tons of issues with your heart. None of these effects are good effects for bodybuilders, let alone the average person.

So, you probably think that you should cut out sodium altogether? Hang on a minute! Just because we have it marked down as a demon to bodybuilding doesn’t mean it’s all around unnecessary. Sodium is essential to many bodily functions, and that can be proven just from the fact that sweat is salty.

What you need to do is follow a strict diet that curtails sodium intake to levels that make it okay for your body to use, but don’t go overboard.

Water Intake

So the biggest culprit for water retention is, obviously, water… Right?

No, not exactly.

Anyone who has taken a science class will know that water is the key to most living things on the planet. It is our base energy that we use for literally everything in our body. What I’m saying is your water intake is important.

While it seems counter-intuitive, increasing your water intake actually reduces water retention. One reason why is because drinking more water eliminates excess sodium from your body. However, it also may be because your body retains water when it is dehydrated, so when you increase water intake it is less likely to retain water.

Stay Disciplined

So after covering these three facts you should know how to fight off water retention and ensure the best vascularity you can get. However, if you look at my book Rebound Like the Champ, you will know that you not only need to know the rules, you also need the discipline to follow them. So, the point of all this is that you should stay disciplined. If you stick to the workouts and diet plans I recommend, you’ll be on your way to shrink-wrapped look that bodybuilders strive for.