So you just competed.. now what?!
Here are our 5 top tips you should know about post comp weight regain!
When we think about it logically, a slower more progressive approach to weight re-gain post show just makes more sense. The main goals of your post show recovery strategy should be to..
1. Re-establish baseline physiological health..
As well as mental and physical wellbeing from months of pushing with impeded recovery capacity
16-24 weeks is an ideal timeframe for you to bring your best physique to the stage!
In general, your post show/off season should be just as long as your contest prep specific phase.
2. Return back to baseline levels of body fat and regain any tissue lost during prep..
Getting down to single digit body fat is not only unsustainable in the long term, but can also be detrimental to your health and overall physique development.
We need to put ourselves in the best position possible to regain any tissue lost during prep, as well as bring body fat up to “healthy” levels.. Male: 8-15% // Female: 18-22%
In a nutshell, basically undo all of the negative adaptations associated with chronic dieting.
3. Post show is a REALLY hard time mentally..
So many things are skewed in the wrong direction ie; your ability to manage hunger signalling to avoid drastically overeating
Trust me, I’ve been there and heard countless horror stories from clients.. you don’t want to end up here!
This is where, unfortunately, so many novice competitors end up with disordered eating which can affect them for years to come
4. You’re basically primed to gain fat..
Hopefully at a slower rate to return to baseline healthy levels of body fat.. but too often, most people indulge in high calorie, highly palatable foods that are super high in fat ie; burgers, pizza, ice cream, etc..
It’s almost guaranteed that you’ll just store all of this as fat! Any excess calories from dietary fat are more easily stored as adiposed tissue (body fat) than excess carbohydrates or protein.
5. Muscle growth (regaining lost tissue) is a slow process!
Think about how long it actually takes to build 1-2kg of LEAN MUSCLE..
Gaining 10-15kg post show is a surefire way to gain a tonne of excess body fat and not much else
Considering all of these factors, our preferred method is using a slow gradual climb out of your prep and employing a post diet recovery phase (4-8 weeks).
This is so we can capitalise on some really solid progress whilst “fixing” the negative adaptations of chronic dieting.
This is the best approach in the long term if you want to set yourself up for the best possible outcome in terms of physique development and optimising your body composition.
Basically, you’ll end up leaner and more jacked than where you started.. if you do it right.