As a Melbourne PT and fitness coach, my job doesn’t stop the moment the show finishes, my eyes light up with excitement seeing what magic I can create with my clients in the coming months.
That said Post comp is a difficult time for many, after many weeks and months preparing for the big day, with no immediate goal in sight, no post competition support (for some) and no strict deadlines its easy to feel lost and in a worse case scenario, experience the dreaded “post comp blues”. You have done the hard work, given your all to show your best on the day, but the buck shouldnt stop there.
Think about it, post show your:
-Workout frequency should be less excessive.
-Calories should increase
-Social life should be more eventful
-Amount of sleep should also increase
-Stress is reduced (physical and mental)
Post show you are more insulin sensitive which means you can utilise carbohydrates for fuel and growth more than ever before – so factoring in all of the above, now is the time to really put in and maximise this window of time for growth and recovery to improve your physique faster than ever before…
Here are my top 7 recommendations.
1: Get out of a defecit ASAP – I used to take the slow and steady approach of “reverse dieting” however using the @bodyseek mentality of “prepping to prep” all clients have ample time with us before a show and have built their calories and metabolism quite high before we begin cutting, so a return to maintenance calories will optimise health and recovery post show with minimal negative effect – and I actually want clients to gain a little bodyfat post show.
2: Take an 80/20 flexible approach to your nutrition: both for a mental diet break and to give your gut a larger variety of foods.
3: Cut the cardio!
Zero need for hiit or long stair master sessions now, a daily average of steps from 7-10k for health is fine but otherwise cardio is not a priority now!
4: Focus on Quality not Quantity with your workouts:
There is far less demand for workouts that create metabolic stress or training 6 days per week, we grow when we rest, also think about your final weeks of comp prep as an over reaching phase, and the immediate weeks post comp as “super-compensation” (more on this in another post)
5: Prioritise Strength
“Strength is the mother of all qualities” you look at the best competitors world wide (natural moreso than enhanced but still applies) – they are all fucking strong!!! Strength phases allow you to train harder in your fatloss / hypertrophy phases, recruit more motor units and add more thickness to your physique.
6: Dont be scared to eat!
After some time at maintenance, you then want to increase your calories and eat in a surplus, girls you arent going to maximise your gluteus maximimus (see what i did there) if you’re scared to eat and worried about an increase in bodyfat – its needed temporarily for optimal growth!!! It also means the next time you compete that you have a higher caloric starting point and will end on more calories than your first prep.
7: Invest in a coach:
It baffles my mind the amount of people that hire a coach to compete then drift off in the wilderness, doing their own thing once the show is over – guys and girls, newsflash, comps are won in their off season!!!
If your coach left you high and dry post comp or just gave a cookie cutter approach, seek and find someone that is the real deal and will guide you through your offseason to maximise your chances of improving your physique from last show to next.
If you’re a competitor who is looking to improve on your physique from this year, or you’re someone who is looking to compete book your free consult with our Melbourne body transformation experts.
