If you’re thinking about competing in a professional bodybuilding competition, you’ll need to frequently change up your training techniques and nutrition strategies to achieve the best results. The way you workout and eat during the bodybuilding off-season, or the time of year when competitions aren’t taking place, will often be very different from the way you train and eat during competition season. At Center Podium, our bodybuilding experts understand how intimidating it can be to compete, especially if you’re brand new to the complex world of bodybuilding. In part one of this article, we’ll discuss some pre-contest tips for the new bodybuilder, so you can feel well-prepared when it comes time to step on stage and flex your muscles in front of the judges.
Pre-Contest Diet Tips for the New Bodybuilder
Competing in a bodybuilding tournament is a very exciting venture that requires a lot of work. While nobody wants to come in last place, it’s important to carefully craft a pre-contest dietary routine to ensure you hit your peak on the day of the actual competition. This means you must focus on several things to prepare for the big day, including athlete nutrition, strength training, cardio, water depletion, supplementation, and even rest.
Know Your Bodybuilding Goals
Before you enter your first bodybuilding competition, make sure you know why you’re competing. In such a subjective sport, many new bodybuilders find it challenging to gracefully accept negative feedback from a group of judges after they’ve spent months working towards the perfect physique. Embrace your body and bring everything you can to the stage!
Transitioning from Off-Season to the Competition Season
During the bodybuilding off-season, bodybuilders make it their goal to gain as much muscle mass, strength, and density as they can. As the bodybuilding competition season quickly approaches, it’s imperative for competitors to shift their focus to increasing muscular definition without experiencing a loss in muscle mass, strength, and density. This means that it’s up to you to reduce your body fat percentage and depleting water content to achieve the hardcore appearance of a lean, mean, muscle machine.
As competition season approaches, you’ll need to start losing weight to pursue your competition weight. A good rule of thumb is competitors should attempt to lose approximately one pound per week. The downside of losing weight quickly is that you may lose muscle mass in addition to your fat. For example, if you weigh 220 pounds during the off-season and your target competition weight is 210 pounds, you’ll need to transition your diet and workout regimen ten weeks before the actual competition.
