The Ultimate Guide to Contest Prep PDF

Preview

Summary

Bodybuilding technique and plans for cutting...

Description

About Us JACOB SCHEPIS (LEAD AUTHOR) Jacob Schepis is the Director of one of Australia’s leading personal training facilities and education providers, JPS Health and Fitness. Jacob is a national level bodybuilder & powerlifter with over 10 years of in the trenches experience coaching athletes at elite levels in both disciplines. With a keen interest in science, he aims to bridge the gap between the realms of sports and nutritional sciences and the real world by teaching coaches and athletes how to apply the best available research through a pragmatic lens when planning, designing and executing training and diet interventions. His mission is simple - produce consistent, reliable and impressive results, and his coaching systems aim to provide coaches and athletes the tools and knowledge necessary to implement strategies that yield sustainable but optimal outcomes.

LYNDON PURCELL (LEAD AUTHOR) Lyndon Purcell is the Coach & Education Manager at JPS Health and Fitness; he also has a Bachelors of Exercise & Sport Science and is currently completing his Masters of High Performance Sport at the University of Canberra. Lyndon’s role at JPS involves staying up to date with the relevant scientific literature and working closely with all the other JPS coaches, helping them to develop methods for practically implementing the latest research findings in a safe and effective manner. When he is not assisting the JPS coaches, Lyndon also coaches a variety of athletes and general population clients, as well as creates and presents educational content for other coaches and fitness-enthusiasts within the industry. Lyndon’s ambition is to raise the standard of personal training globally, and he believes this will be best achieved through a combination of theoretical and practical insights as well as an ability to think both critically and creatively.

STEVE HALL (LEAD AUTHOR) Steve Hall is the founder of Revive Stronger, a competitive natural bodybuilder and physique coach who has worked with hundreds of clients. Steve appreciates that it can be difficult to navigate fitness information that is available online. He understands how confusing it can be and how there is really such a mixed bag out there which is why he and the Revive Stronger team dedicate so much work into spreading high-quality information from academics with lots of practical experience.

PASCAL FLOR (EDITOR & DESIGN ) Pascal Flor is a head coach and co-owner of Revive Stronger a competitive bodybuilder and has paved his way to becoming one of the leading physique coaches in the natural bodybuilding community. Pascal is also the head of digital and graphic design at Revive Stronger his talents in this domain were central to bringing this book to life and ensuring the contents of this book were displayed and communicated in an easy to read and digestible manner. Without Pascal, this book would be nothing but the ramblings of a bunch of bodybuilding enthusiasts.

TOC

T HE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CONTEST PREP

Contents FOREWORD ..................................................................................... 1 What are you getting yourself in for?................................................................ 4 How to use this book...........................................................................................

6

Chapter 1: Understanding the Sport of Bodybuilding................. 7 What not to do ................................................................................ 11

Chapter 2: Phase 1 - Primer & low diet fatigue......................... 13 Picking your coach .......................................................................... 14 What are you letting yourself in for? ...............................................15 What does a natural bodybuilding prep entail then?...................................... 15

Starting from a place of strength .....................................................17 The importance of maintenance......................................................19 A very simple maintenance calculation............................................................ 19 A more accurate maintenance calculation....................................................... 19 Training recommendations...............................................................................

21

The psychological benefits of homeostasis....................................................... 22

Show planning............................................................................... 24 Picking your category.......................................................................................

24

Show dates ..................................................................................................................... 25

Chapter 3: Phase 2 - Out of the gates fast ................................ 26 You are now entering Phase 2.......................................................................... 27 Bodyweight Changes........................................................................................

28

A rate of loss that’s too slow at the start........................................................................ 28 A rate of loss thats too fast at the start........................................................................... 28 The Goldilocks Zone........................................................................................................ 28

Rapid weight loss (>1.5%).................................................................................

29

Minimal weight loss ( Applied -> Practice, focus on applied research. 14

Chapter 2

T HE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CONTEST PREP

This would be a great 5 component system to rate a coach on, helping you come to a more objective way to select your chosen coach. We would like to add that when seeking to hire a coach, it would be imperative to have a consultation, so you can get a chance to chat before you commit to anything further. Here you will be able to talk over your goals, question their approaches and style and get a real feel for one another. It’s important you are on a level with your chosen coach because absolute honesty and trust is necessary.

WHAT ARE YOU LETTING YOURSELF IN FOR? This chapter just like this phase. It is going to set you up for what’s to come (a successful contest prep). It might not be as sexy as later phases (peaking for example) but it’s certainly equally, if not more important - thus we call this phase the ‘Primer’ phase. It is laying the groundwork and literally priming you for the entire prep. Think of this phase as the base layer of concrete, which you will be building a successful contest prep upon. Before we delve into what this phase specifically entails it’s important to first have a think about what a contest prep actually entails. Too often you get guys or gals who have seen or heard about preps via social media and get a very limited picture of what is really involved. This chapter aims to give you an understanding as to why the Primer phase is important, and with this understanding, you will gain much more from everything that follows. You’ve no doubt heard of the ‘highlight reel’ of social media. On Instagram or Youtube, someone can show you their shredded glutes, their trophies or post show feeds. But what they cannot show you, is the emotional impact of what it took to acquire all these things. Many actively try to hide these ‘downsides’ as it detracts from their highlights. Becoming a natural pro is a lot less commendable when it cost you a marriage... Thus, we think sources of information such as this book are vitally important, in order to fill this gaping hole between what is depicted (and believed to be true) and actual reality.

WHAT DOES A NATURAL BODYBUILDING PREP ENTAIL THEN ? 1. You will be eating in an energy deficit for extended periods of time. 2. You will be taking your body to places it doesn’t want to go. 3. You will experience quite large fluctuations in certain hormones and bodily systems, of

which you might not have ever gone through before and will likely find very hard to deal with. 4. You will also experience a huge variety of emotions including; anxiety, self-doubt, stress, elation, extreme gratitude and much more. In particular, points 3 and 4 are very important to understand. Most of us aware readily aware of points 1 and 2, they kind of go without saying as they are physiologically necessary. However, points 3 and 4 are equally important, because of their impact psychologically. And that’s where the magic (or the tragic) happens. If you have never actually gone through such a contest prep, it can very difficult to imagine. This is why we think it’s difficult (and not recommended) to coach athletes to the stage without having done it yourself first. We know what's going through the above 4 things really feels like and we’ve been there for our clients when they went through it. 15

Chapter 2

T HE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CONTEST PREP

We’ve felt and witnessed the effects first-hand (as well as spoken to innumerable other coaches who have done the same). And although each of us experiences a contest prep slightly differently, there is always common themes. Whether you have a coach or not, this book is going to delve deep into every aspect of contest prep. You’ll not only understand what to expect but also be given ways to handle each element. Expect that there will be highs and lows, but also aim to have an understanding of why each of these happen. Hopefully, this book will help give you that, as well as how to deal with them in the best way possible. For example: expect yourself to be hungry. But the further you go into a prep, the more this hunger turns into extreme food focus. People literally develop short (and sometimes long) term eating disorders. Without a doubt, you’ll find yourself doing some weird stuff with your food and eating habits. As you will now be aware, there are a number of side effects that come with energy deprivation and loss of body fat. But as a reminder (we are going to drum this into you), here is a list of what to expect: » » » » » » » » » »

Insatiable hunger. Brain fog. Lethargy. Low libido. High food focus. Mood swings. Extreme cold. Lightheadedness (low blood pressure). Self-doubt (you’ll think you’re too skinny & too fat) You’ll need to lose more than you think.

The list above is quite negative. This isn’t to say you should expect the experience to be a negative one, but you have to realise you’ll be testing yourself and you are putting yourself through something rather extreme. Something that most cannot do. But we want to reinforce the fact that, if you’re smart, the overall experience will be good. And because you’re reading this, we can safely assume that you’re relatively clued up and will be endeavouring to go about things in an intelligent manner. Many of the above issues can be kept under wraps for the large majority of your season, with their severity being only minor. To give a graphic example, think of it like this: a contest prep is like having a tooth-pulled. It can hurt! But, with the appropriate painkillers (ie. the guidance of this book, and hopefully a good coach) the process is almost pain free. Action Point Stop reading and either record yourself or grab a pen and paper and note down how you currently feel. You’re full of energy, you’re strong, you’re happy and in a really good place. This is where you will spend the majority of your competitive career, know this and anytime you’re struggling look back at this and remember what you’re doing now is short term in nature. Also be sure to re-watch this during your phase after your show, it’s where you want to get back to.

16

Chapter 2

T HE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CONTEST PREP

This is vitally important because along with the expectations above, you can also expect never to look at your body, others bodies and maybe even food the same way again. Especially if this is your first contest prep. Why? Well you’re going to take yourself into an extreme position in which you’re underfed and ultra lean. To get there you will develop some unwanted habits, such as extreme focus on your physique, food, scale weight, how you feel etc. etc. Checking the scale and looking in the mirror daily, hitting macros within very tight boundaries, making meals as high volume as possible, not eating out, weighing every morsel of food etc. These are all actually good habits during a contest prep, they are the ones that will help you get into the best condition you can. However, they gradually become less good as time goes on after your prep. It will be hard to break them and almost impossible to forget them, and with that comes never looking at your physique or food the same way ever again. No matter what anyone else says, you’ve been there, done that and have the experience cemented in your mind. Thus, food and meals will look more like macros, numbers, and thoughts of “that looks nice” will be replaced with “can I make it fit?”. These are not terrible things, you may already have some of them, and so long as they’re moderated, they can be productive. However, don’t expect to look at food the same way again after a contest prep. You’ll also think you’re fatter than you are and may get a little body dysmorphia. The good thing is though, you now can expect it, and your ability to be controlled by these thoughts is greatly diminished. You’ll start thinking these ‘disordered’ thoughts and be able to recognise it and check yourself. It will also get easier over time, as you venture further from your contest conditioning and recover. This will be covered in greater detail later in this book, but it’s important to realise from the get go and take it into consideration as you complete the above action point

STARTING FROM A PLACE OF STRENGTH Before we discuss what starting from a place of strength looks like we want to show you what starting from a place of weakness looks like. This will make it more obvious why we need to take care about our starting position and how to best set ourselves up for success. Case Study: Jordan Rodgers Jordan was 3 months into dieting, experiencing high levels of hunger, lethargy, food focus and general diet fatigue. Unfortunately he was still a good 10% above his stage weight. Despite all this Jordan still trialled digging further, pushing calories lower, adding in cardio and his body was just not responding. Jordan then got injured and this finally forced him to drop out of prep. Thing is Jordan wouldn’t have been able to get where he needed to go anyway. Why? 1. Jordan came from a background of dieting 2. Jordan had a lot of fat to lose

These were the two biggest forces acting against Jordan. Whenever we do anything to the body, there are consequences and adaptations that occur, and dieting is no different. With extreme dieting, these adaptations can build up and hang around for a long time. This makes dieting progressively more and more difficult.

17

Chapter 2

T HE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CONTEST PREP

A ‘refeed’ doesn’t wipe out many weeks worth of diet fatigue, and a ‘diet-break’ doesn’t drop all the consequences from the months of prior hard work either. They are simply useful strategies to employ, and we will touch more on that later. Here we have identified two key criteria in getting this phase set up right: 1. You need to come from a background of little cutting. 2. You need to be sufficiently lean.

These are difficult and paradoxical requirements, but they are like prerequisites for getting a job. If you want to be a candidate for contest prep, you must satisfy these criteria. Just like if you start a job without the requisite qualities, you’d likely end up getting fired, by starting a contest prep having just dieted or being over-fat, you’ll also be unlikely to see it out till the end. Low diet fatigue (little background of cutting) will ensure that you have lots of time before your body adapts to a point of no return. By being sufficiently lean you shorten the required time of dieting and allow for more periods of not dieting (diet breaks etc.). This combination will lead to the best outcome; most muscle retained with maximal conditioning. The point we want to make here is that it can be difficult to even get yourself in a position where you’re ready to start a contest prep, and that’s how it should be. Far too many start and far too few finish. By taking care of these things, you greatly enhance your chances of surviving, and thriving, during your contest prep.

SPECIFIC PRACTICAL RECOMMENDATIONS First; be lean. Ideally, this means that you are the lower end of your body-fat settling point (e.g. abs present, some striations apparent, 5 to 10% over stage weight). What is your settling point? Our bodies generally like to stick within a fairly tight range of body-fat. Think of this like a temperature you set on your thermostat, when things get hotter the air con comes on, when things get colder, the heating goes up. Your body has similar mechanisms, but by being at the low end of this you ensure you’re as lean as you can be before your body puts up a fight to get you back in range.

Secondly, a background of little cutting - ideally at least 1 to 2 months without any sort of diet or even mini cut and an offseason of a ratio of at least 4:1 non-cutting to cutting periods. This will allow for minimal dietary fatigue and maximum food intake (women may want to lean to the side of even less dieting time, due to gender-specific physiological reasons).

18

Chapter 2

T HE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO CONTEST PREP

THE IMPORTANCE OF MAINTENANCE We highly recommend you actually go through a period of maintenance before starting your prep. That means you’re not pushing any physiological changes, which can be a complete spin-out for a bodybuilder. Yes, that means you’re not trying to lose fat or grow muscle. You are simply aiming for homeostasis. Ultimately, your goals here are to train enough to keep your muscle mass, but no more than that. As well as eat sufficient calories to maintain your current body composition. *Note: We said body composition and not body weight. Your actual weight might fluctuate up or down (depending on a multitude of factors), but if you can stay within a 1-2% range, then you’re pretty much set. For example, if you’re coming from a period of dieting, you’re likely going to be quite glycogen depleted. This means that when you start eating more, you will start storing more glycogen and with that more water, meaning you’ll likely see your weight increase. Conversely, if you previously came from a massing phase, you are likely going to be lowering your carbs, storing less glycogen and having less total food in your stomach, thus your weight may drop. Any changes should settle after the first week or so though, and after that, you can work on maintaining a relatively stable range.

A VERY SIMPLE MAINTENANCE CALCULATION Step 1.] BW (lbs) x 14 to 16 (lower end for less active, less lean individuals &

females)

Step 2.] Monitor your body weight and adjust as necessary.

A MORE ACCURATE MAINTENANCE CALCULATION Step 1.] Take your total Calorie intake over the past month & divide by 4 to give

an average.

Step 2.] Take your total weight loss or gain over the past month & divide by 4 to

give an average.

Step 3.] Take your total weight loss or gain over the past month in pounds & di-

vide by 7 to give a daily average.

Step 4.] Take your average from step 3 & multiply that by 500. Step 5.] Take your Calorie average from step 2 and add (if weight loss) or subtract

(if weight gain) it to step 4’s answer.

Step 6.] Monitor your body weight and adjust as neces...