For many
, the off-season is a time to relax a little on your diet and training, allow yourself foods you would not normally have during a prep, having them in unmeasured amounts and then stepping on the scales once a week just to make sure you are “getting bigger”. However, like with any sport, the progression of science, monetary rewards and the depth of competition has lead to top level bodybuilders and physique athletes leaving fewer and fewer stones unturned as they do everything possible to gain an edge on the competition. This has resulted in much more attention being paid to the progress that can be made during the off-season and coaches are no longer employed by elite athletes solely for those 12-16 weeks prior to a show, but also for the knowledge they can employ during the athlete’s off-season.
Following a competition, or series of competitions, there are two main priorities that should be focused on as the off-season commences:
Restoring a healthy metabolism/improving metabolic conditioning
Increasing lean muscle mass/improving weak points
“You’re able to consume all those calories with that little cardio and still able to achieve that condition! You lucky $%#@!”
The above quote is something I have heard many times before and something many of my clients also often hear! Why is it that some competitors are able to get stage ready with very little cardio and are still able to consume a large amount of calories right up until show day yet others seem to need to drop all their carbs four weeks out and are spending 2 hours a day walking on the treadmill to achieve the same result? Is it really just “luck”? Sure, genetics do play a role, but with time, your metabolic conditioning can be improved dramatically and focusing on doing so with each significant break between shows will mean that each time you diet, you are able to do so from a higher caloric maintenance baseline.
Having
a higher caloric baseline to start your diet from will give you more room to maneuver, make it easier to adjust each time a sticking point is reached and results in your stage condition being achieved with less cardio and/or a higher caloric intake. I have worked with many clients who have sought out my services initially for assistance reducing body fat. In many of these cases, due to their prior metabolic health we have had to go very low on the caloric intake as well as incorporating large amounts of cardio. But once they have achieved their desired condition and we spend time working on their metabolism whilst adding muscle mass, the next time they come to diet, say 6 months later, they are able to do so starting with a caloric intake in many cases 50% higher than they started their previous diet with and consequently less drastic measures are required to achieve the same condition.
As you get closer to a show, your metabolism will begin to fall and hence calories are reduced or cardio increased week on week to maintain the caloric deficit. Resting anabolic and catabolic hormone levels will also become less favorable for fat loss and maintaining/increasing muscle mass. Immediately after the show, focus should be on restoring these hormone levels, so they become more favorable for muscle building whilst minimizing fat gain, as well as on improving your metabolic condition.
Whilst the exact protocols will vary from individual to individual and going into the specific details is beyond the scope of this article, reverse dieting through gradual increases in fats and carbohydrates will gradually improve metabolic health as well as restoring these hormone levels. Calories should be gradually increased over time through increases primarily in fats and carbohydrates relative to weight gain targets. This will allow the athlete’s metabolism, initially to recover and then, with adequate time and continued caloric increases, begin to improve from its state prior to starting the previous diet.
Body composition needs to be monitored throughout, ensuring that weight gradually increases whilst body fat levels are kept in check. Of course some fat gain is necessary when following a caloric surplus, but getting the balance right to maximize possible muscle gains whilst minimizing gains in body fat is an important part of the process. At the start of the next dieting phase, the less fat you have to lose the more muscle you are likely to maintain throughout the prep.
As with the contest prep, careful planning in the off-season is needed to achieve this! Set an initial target of how much stage weight you would like to add – ensure it is realistic and can be achieved within the time allotted. Timing therefore, is another factor – how long are you able to allow the offseason to last? If improving upon your previous metabolic conditioning and/or adding significant amounts of muscle are more important for your long-term goals than competing again as soon as possible, ensure you give yourself the time to do so even if this means competing later in the season.
Make sure you then plan for adequate time to diet down for the next show. With all this in mind, you can know pretty much exactly how long the off-season will last and therefore, you can give yourself a long-term body composition target for the duration of the offseason. This target can be broken down into shorter-term targets and progress can be monitored weekly to ensure you are on track!
Now you have your targets in place, how do you keep hitting them? How do you adjust if you are missing these targets? What if weight is going up too quickly and too much fat is being added, or what if weight gain stalls? Well, like you would during a contest prep, you need to make adjustments and the only way you can accurately make these adjustments is by knowing exactly what you are currently doing. This means that even during the off-season, you need to be logging and measuring your food intake. You need to know exactly how much protein, fats and carbohydrates you are consuming so that you can adjust as and when needed.
Of course in the world of the physique athlete, certainly at the top level, adding all over muscle mass may not be a priority and therefore, after metabolic health is restored, they may wish to cease the caloric increases to maintain the physique they have whilst making more steady improvements to weak points through training adaptions. This in turn allows them to stay in better condition and have the option of undertaking photo-shoots and other physique modelling work year round. But for many athletes, particularly those who are in the earlier stages of their careers, improving metabolic conditioning and adding the muscle required to compete at the top level take priority over this as it is what is required to meet their longer-term industry goals. Either way, a carefully planned and constructed off-season that is in line with the improvements you need to make as an individual can make the difference when it comes to improving your placing the next time you step on stage!
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