Three weeks out from the Olympia, the intensity and the stress continue to rise. For some, the water tricks and advanced chemistry techniques might just be starting, but for them, and everyone else, right now it’s about survival.

There’s very little you can do about your physique at this point—its structure, anyway. Right now the quest is to deplete and fill up. But the start of that is still another week away. The immediate concern at this point is just making it through the week.

Athletes traveling from afar are starting to land in Las Vegas. It was nice to see Hadi Choopan’s arrival, considering the political friction between his country and ours, it was a relief to know that he made it. Others are trickling in, some still grinding at home, a few we’re unsure about. And there’s always the chance someone bows out—Nick Walker’s disappointing injury scratch last year proves it can happen to even the favorites.

Train It, Don’t Break It

Training into a show is fertile ground for an athlete’s ego to wreck his physique. Some guys insist on moving big weights right to the end, convinced that lighter training will leave them flat. Others back off the weight, focusing on precise form and maximum pump to avoid injury. Guess who ends up on the sidelines? It’s not always the guys training heavy. At this stage it can happen to anyone doing anything.

Suffice to say the obvious though, one torn pec or shredded tendon erases an entire year of work; however you do it, and costs another year to fix.

Hunger at this point is so bad it can make you laugh out of helplessness.  There is absolutely nothing you can do but suck it up. Sure people will try sugar-free Jell-O and frozen flavored water, maybe even some egg whites, or make pudding out of their protein powder, but that’s not what you want. Nothing is what you want. What you want you can’t have. Period. And that rates pretty high on the suck meter.

Busy Bodies

One trick is to stay occupied. Three weeks out can be filled with endless errands: massages, chiropractor visits, posing practice, tanning, cardio, meal prep, obligations, appearances – although most guys cut them out at this point – producing social media content, training. Everyone’s in motion, trying to distract themselves from the constant craving, creeping doubt, debilitating fatigue, and toxic stress.

Sponsors complicate things further. Some guys cut all travel obligations, but many don’t have the luxury. Social posts, interviews, even appearances are still on the calendar. And a few competitors? They’re still punching a clock at real jobs, working around having to eat every two hours. An employer not particularly enthused about what you’re doing in your “spare time” while others could care less, just be on time and get your work done. Some guys can bank their PTO and string together enough days off from work to make things easier, other guys just have to slug it out. Nothing is easy.

The Mental War

This is where the psychological grind intensifies. Doubt creeps in. Am I flat? Too full? Too soft, Too watery? Every variable feels like life-or-death. Stress skyrockets—and stress is the enemy. Some fight it with chemistry, but no pill drowns out the pressure of standing under the Olympia lights. In just a matter of days, it’s on. Of course you can always quit and head to the Chinese buffet, but, really you can’t. You’re in this and there’s no getting out of it. Not with your dignity intact.

Countdown

Three weeks out, the contest hasn’t started, but the competition sure has, the suffering has been going on for weeks and getting worse by the second. Every athlete is walking a razor’s edge between peak condition and total collapse. The ones who manage the chaos and keep their heads while starving—those are the ones who’ll make it to the stage intact.

Because right now, in the heat of prep, one truth is clear: You can’t win if you don’t survive.