Below is the complete 2026 UK bodybuilding competition calendar covering all major uk bodybuilding shows. Including PCA, UKBFF / IFBB, 2Bros Pro / NPC Worldwide, Pure Elite, NABBA, IBFA, UKUP, WFF, BPA, FMC, FitX, WNBF UK, UKDFBA, NPA, BNBF, ICN, OCB, Miami Pro & Miss Fitness Angels. Dates may be subject to change, please also refer to federation websites and Social Media in case there has been an amendment. 

If you’re unsure of which federation to pick or which suits you, scroll to the bottom of the calendar for a breakdown of each.

Use the drop down menus below to choose the TYPE, FEDERATION, LOCATION OR MONTH for more accurate results

uk Bodybuilding federations descriptions

Natural bodybuilding federations (Drug tested)

WNBF UK – The largest natural bodybuilding federation in UK within a Globally recognised International federation offering pro status for tested athletes. First timer and novice friendly.

UKDFBA – UK drug-tested federation linked to DFBA European championships.

BNBF – One of the oldest drug-tested bodybuilding federations in the UK.

NPA – Long-running UK natural bodybuilding federation hosting the NPA British Championships.

ICN UK – In it’s infancy in the UK, international natural federation with strict drug testing.

OCB – In it’s Infancy in the UK, Natural bodybuilding federation offering qualification for OCB professional status.

Open bodybuilding federations (non drug tested)

PCA – One of the largest UK federations with many regional qualifiers and beginner-friendly shows.

UKBFF – The traditional UK bodybuilding federation and route to IFBB international competition.

2Bros Pro / NPC Worldwide – UK pathway to the IFBB Pro League and Olympia qualification system.

NABBA – Historic bodybuilding federation famous for the Mr Universe contest.

IBFA – Traditional bodybuilding federation with classic physique and bodybuilding divisions.

UKUP – UK federation offering bodybuilding, physique and bikini categories with international WABBA links.

WFF – International federation running UK qualifiers for global championships.

Granite City – Scotlands bodybuilding federation

Fitness model federations (non drug tested)

Pure Elite – Large international federation focused on physique, bikini and fitness model categories.

Miami Pro – Popular fitness model federation known for physique and commercial model divisions.

FMG – Fitness Model Global federation focused on aesthetic model-style physiques.

Miss Fitness Angels – Female-focused federation specialising in bikini and fitness model categories.

The post UK Bodybuilding SHOW DATES/ CALENDAR 2026 appeared first on Pro Prep.

WNBF Pro Dr. Andrew Chappell & the ProPrepCoaching Team

The following is not intended to be an exhaustive list of milestones, approaches and timelines vary. The deadlines and elements highlighted here however were considered important by the ProPrepCoaching team. You can download a printable PDF of the check list at the bottom of this article.

Offseason 18 to 9 Months Out

• Identify the show(s) your planning on doing, and then establish a Prep Start Date where you will move from the offseason to comp prep
• Read the Rules of your fed & division you plan on competing in, ask any questions you have about the federation with officials at this point.
• If you’ve never posed before start learning how to do it.

24 to 20 Weeks In Advance

• Start your diet, you want to lost 0.5% bodyweight per week, if you need to lost 10% of your bodyweight that means at least 20 weeks!
• Contacted potential photographers for photoshoot 20 weeks in advance
• Start Posing Practice twice per week (20 weeks Out), Routine music for routine (10 weeks to go latest)
• Sending posing videos to the coach from 20 weeks out
• Order your Bikini with 20 weeks to spare, theirs often que when it comes to getting it made, they will update your measurements as you go along. Guys get your trunks

20 to 16 Weeks Out

• Researching what’s going to happen on the day, Watch shows on YouTube, ideal go and watch a show the sooner the better, Show season begins in March.
• Sign up for the show 16 weeks prior, no later than 4 to 6 weeks before, everything costs money, unless your wealthy you’ll probably want to spread the cost of: (tanning, hair/makeup, photos)
• Consider the song your going to pose to if you need to do a routine

14 to 12 Weeks Out

• You should have your song for your posing routine by now
• Posing Practice 3 to 4 times per week at 12 weeks out.
• Routine practice once per week
• Skin Prep: Exfoliation and moisturinsing once per week
• Ab training twice at least per week, including vaccum training

10 to 8 Weeks Out

• Show season should be nailed down
• Photographs and videos to coach should be weekly
• Weekly weight loss targets
• Logistics of how you’re going to get to the event should be planned out
• Tanning: Sun bed usage for the stage starts here

6 to 4 Weeks Out

• Book Hotels and Travel (Trains/Buses, Planes)
• Booking Tanning and Photography, or when available
• Organise Spectator Tickets 4 week before deadline
• Posing Practice is 5 times per week
• Skin Prep: Exfoliation and moisturinsing two to three times per week
• Hair Removal: shaving, waxing, hair removal creams should start here
• Abdominal training three times per week, including vaccum training
• Stop all banned in competiton or non informed sport supplements here

3 Weeks Out

• Last opportunity to practice a peak week
• Last opportunity to pull out of an event
• Abdominal training four times per week

2 Weeks Out

• Peaking plan should be in place, you should understand the process prior to starting the week prior to the show.
• Post show recovery process should be understood and in place

1 to 3 Days Out

• 2 days out last time for skin prep/shaving
• Travelling to an international event, Be there at least two days before the competition
• Where the time zone is different/long haul, Be there at least three days before the event.
• If the event is over 3 hours away by train or car, consider staying over night for a show
• Photos/video to your coach in the morning and the evening every day
• Meet in person on the day if possible
• Get your tan the night before
• Prep all your meals for show day

Show Day

• Photos/video to the coach in the morning or see them in person
• Get your tan sorted
• Go have fun!
• Have post show pizza and beer!

ProPrepCoaching specialisings in helping people get in the shape of their lives. Founded by WNBF Pro’s Stephanie Noble & Dr. Andrew Chappell if you’re interested in natural bodybuilding, strength sports, body transformations, photoshoots or lifestyle coaching then we want to work with you. Our team of specialists are all experts in unlocking your potential.

Natural Bodybuilding: www.wnbfuk.com

Instagram: @WNBF_UK

The post Competition Prep Milestones Check List appeared first on Pro Prep.

Natural Female Bodybuilding Prep UK

Coached by Steff Noble, Pro Athlete and experienced UK Natural Bodybuilding Coach

Searching for a natural female bodybuilding coach in the UK is very different from searching for a general online PT.
Natural bodybuilding requires strict drug tested standards, long term planning, and a coach who understands female physiology, not shortcuts.

At Pro Prep Coaching, I specialise in natural female bodybuilding prep in the UK, working with women competing in drug tested federations, across the whole world. Including natural transformations that don’t end in stage.

The most notable Natural bodybuilding federation in the World is WNBF. I run and host WNBF UK events and prepare athletes for stage from complete beginner to Pro Athlete. I prepare those athletes and fitness enthusiasts for all manner of goals who want to test their physical ability naturally.

This article breaks down what real natural transformation and natural contest prep looks like, who it is for, and how coaching should actually work.

What Is Natural Female Bodybuilding Prep?

Natural female bodybuilding prep means preparing your physique for competition without performance enhancing drugs, under federations that use polygraph testing and drug testing. WNBF, WNBF UK, PNBA, ICN, NPC, INBA, BNBF, NPA, UKDFBA, PCA NATURALS, 2 BROS NATURALS, NBW, ANBF. To name a few.

This requires:

• Longer timelines
• Smarter calorie manipulation
• Sustainable training progression
• Hormone and recovery awareness
• Psychological support through prep phases

This is not crash dieting.
My approach to contest prep is strategic, evidence based coaching. Taking your body and mind on a journey to do something 99% of people cannot do safely and sustainably whilst learning key skills you will learn for long term health and general life.

Why Female Athletes Need a Specialist Natural Bodybuilding Coach

Female competitors face unique challenges during prep:

• Metabolic adaptation
• Hormonal fluctuations
• Stress sensitivity
• Recovery capacity
• Post show rebound risk

As a female drug tested bodybuilding coach in the UK, my approach prioritises:

• Long term health alongside stage condition
• Strength retention and muscle density
• A clear post show exit plan
• Education so athletes understand the process, not just follow instructions

Natural prep done properly should leave you stronger, not broken. I have prepped for 2 decades safety as one of the leading PRO natural female bodybuilders and coaches in the industry. I have tried and tested evidence based principles on myself to ensure they worked, worked with 100s of women through the years to build their confidence and teach them ways to do this sport in a healthy and rewarding way. In order to coach to this level it is my belief you need to have walked the walk and tried numerous approaches to ensure you have the authority and ability to coach with conviction and certainty.

Case Study: Natural Female Bodybuilding Prep UK – my client chelsea doherty went from amateur to pro.

Athlete profile

• First and second season natural competitor
• UK based natural athlete in Scotland
• Lifestyle background before prep – Midfwife who had a love for health and fitness and has been training through our specific offseason programing to build on her enjoyment of training.
• Competing in WNBF standards

Coaching focus

• Extended improvement and growing (hypertrophy) phase before dieting
• Training performance driven, not cardio obsessed
• Ensuring continued loss through dieting phases whilst on high calories.
• Gradual fat loss phases
• Regular check ins with full feedback weekly

Outcome

• Stage ready conditioning within natural limits
• Strong muscle retention
• Smooth peak week
• Healthy post show recovery

This is what natural female bodybuilding prep in the UK should look like.

Who This Type of Coaching Is For

This coaching is for women who:

• Want to compete naturally or want to transform their body naturally
• Value health and longevity
• Want education, not just a meal plan
• Are serious about standards and integrity

If you are searching for a UK natural bodybuilding coach who understands female prep properly, this is exactly what Pro Prep Coaching does.

Final Thoughts

Natural female bodybuilding is demanding.
It requires patience, trust, and a coach who has walked the process alongside athletes, not just read about it and who really cares about your transformation not just physically but mentally. My coaching is about building you into the 360 athlete and person I know you can be.

If you are looking for natural female bodybuilding prep in the UK, working with a drug tested bodybuilding coach, your coaching choice matters more than your macros.

Natural bodybuilding competitions and Natural female physique transformations demand integrity, patience, and proper coaching.

If you are searching for:

• A diligent prep coach in the UK or worldwide
• UK natural bodybuilding coach
• drug tested bodybuilding coach female or male

Pro Prep Coaching exists specifically for this level of athlete.

Interested in just having a conversation to learn about us and to see if we might be a good fit for you? Join me on a half hour free infromal chat about your goals so we can get to know each other . Click here

The post Natural Female Bodybuilding Prep UK appeared first on Pro Prep.

I love competitive bodybuilding; I’ve done it for the last couple of decades and if you count training generally – my whole life! I’ve got a lot a TONNE of it. I’ve made no secret of that fact, and now I’m in a fortunate position to be able to help others achieve their own bodybuilding goals and now host WNBF UK the leading natural bodybuilding stage for athletes who wish to compete naturally. If you find this information useful and you think I can help you achieve your goals too, then please go to the sign-up link to have a chat with me once you’ve finished reading this article.

INTRODUCTION

I’m a big proponent of balance and taking a healthy approach to bodybuilding and fitness. The main reason for this is because I know how hard competitive bodybuilding is. As soon as you start to diet for a show, everything about your world changes. Prep is tough, so tough in fact that when we look at some published data, the average bodybuilder tends to spends or (lasts) only 3 years in the sport. The reason in my opinion is that some athletes just get burn out. Some athletes will go 100% into offseason and then 100% into a punishing comp prep never having any down time, and consequently they don’t last. It’s probably the only sport you see athletes doing this, in other sports people take holidays and have a pre-season. This is why I always place a huge emphasis on balance, the focus is always on the long game. So, long as you apply yourself around 90% in the offseason, you’ll get much of the same result as someone who went 100%, plus you’ll be happier. So allow yourself that occasional beer, or slice of pizza. All that aside, if you read the article on here on ProPrep Clients first time competitive experiences, you’ll see overwhelmingly that they all loved competing. They all admit though it was incredible tough, but they also say it was extremely rewarding. People find out a lot about themselves when they compete, it changes them, makes more resilient and self-sufficient, and in a way it’s a bit of a spiritual journey. I’ve even likened it to a pseudo religious experience since you to make sacrifices like the Christian and Muslim traditions of Lent and Ramadan. This point alone makes competition prep incredibly rewarding.

Have you head people talking about contest prep dieting as “controlled starving to death” . I have and well with that in mind some studies have been carried out to identify the physiological and phycological changes that occur to the athlete’s body during competition prep. This particular study aimed to find out how true that statement really was. The study recruited 4 athlete (3 male, 1 female) and followed them during the duration of their comp preps over 8 months and the recovery phase (post show). They took blood samples, measured body fat, metabolic rate, done some performance tests and performed a battery of psychological tests. They felt they might be able to better prepare athletes and coaches if they knew what they should expect out and how they might potentially mitigate some of the side effects. A link to the full article and the title is available here for those keen on reading the whole thing. For everyone else I have included the abstract summary:

Further Reading

Simper, T.N., Trexler, E.T. and Helms, E.R., 2021. Biopsychosocial Effects of Competition Preparation in Natural Bodybuilders. Journal of human kinetics, 79(1), pp.259-276.

“Bodybuilders are judged on the subjective visual assessment of their muscular size, proportion, and leanness. This case series tracked four drug-free bodybuilders (3 male) during the off-season, pre-competition and recovery phases. This study aimed to comprehensively profile key biopsychosocial changes occurring pre/post competition in a group of British natural bodybuilders. We measured: resting metabolic rate (RMR), body composition (via BIA, ultrasound and sum of 7 skinfolds), lipid profiles, fasted glucose, blood pressure, power output (Wingate), grip strength, and carried out psychometric questionnaires (EAT-26, STAI, BUT) over an eight-month period. Mean weight loss from 5 months (5M) to pre-contest (PRE) was 8.6 ± 4.1 kg, followed by an increase of 7.9 ± 1.6 kg two months post contest (POST). The mean RMR of the cohort was stable from 1899 ± 630 kcal (5M) to 1897 ± 598 kcal (PRE), before decreasing to 1797 ± 242 kcal (POST). Mean peak power declined from 770 ± 113.0 w (5M), to 700.0 ± 134.4 w (PRE), before increasing to 816.0 ± 116.2 w (POST). Competition dieting had no effect on EAT-26 or BUT scores, suggesting no body dysmorphic or eating disorder concerns, although trait anxiety was elevated in three out of the four participants throughout the observation. Many of the biopsychosocial changes that occur to bodybuilders as they prepare for competition return to baseline measurements 2 months post competition.”

So by now you get the picture comp prep is hard and a whole load of stuff happens mentally and physically. At this point though  I think it’s also important to be very clear that any level of hardship, psychological, or physiological adaptations a person is faced is likely to be individual. Those who get leaner, spend longer dieting, and use more extreme methods are likely to suffer more than others. Those doing softer classes will probably have an easier ride than the harder ones. Personalities also matter some athletes retreat into themselves and become increasingly socially isolated and hangry, while others remain sanguine throughout. So it needn’t be a self fulfilling prophecy, some get on just fine, if you want to suffer though you absolutely will. Mindset like most things in life is key whatever you pursue.

What can you expect then I hear you say? Well if you want a full run down of the physiological and psychological consequences of comp prep dieting then please do check out our paper. What follows is what I’d consider some of the main effects you should be aware of:

Hunger and Tiredness

When you prep you cut calories and do a lot of activity. That activity increases as you prep and the calories also continue to drop. You’re going to reach a point, where the hungry is uncomfortable, you might be quite literally starving. You’re going to be beat up, lethargic, sore, agitated, and demotivated. Train might become a choir, you’re going to struggle to recover from sessions. All the aches and pains you might have had down the years suddenly also get amplified. You might not want to go out and see friends, go to the shops, get out of your desk chair, and fetch something. All this requires effort and the adaptative thermogenesis that takes place, the reduction in your baso metabolic rate, blood pressure and resting heart rate, all occurs in a bid to help preserve energy.

Some like to describe it as being in the trenches, “hurting” or going to a “dark place”. If your goal is to get truly shredded with ripped glutes, striated pecs and quads at the sub 6 % body fat levels you’re going to have to suffer a little bit for that goal. I’ve literally had clients tell me they feel like their dragging their asses around or their legs feel like they’re drunk, that’s how low their energy levels get sometimes.

Disordered Eating & Body Image Concerns

Related to hunger, you’ll also get cravings both for good quality food and junk food. The danger of course is that you cheat on your diet and undo all the hard work. More sinisterly though some may be at risk of developing unhealthy eating practices where they fall into cycles of binge eating and restrict out of guilt. Post competition can be a struggle for some to come out of restrictive eating patterns. Re-establishing healthy relationships with food and eliminating guilt is important here. I’ve heard many a story of a post contest competitor struggling with choice in a supermarket and feeling guilty about taking meals off with family. Post competition it can take a while for some to get back a semblance of balanced/guilt free eating practices. Similar to issues with eating, some may have issues with their body image, they might suffer from a degree of body dysmorphia (aka bigorexia). Personality, is a major factor at play here, since both eating disorder and body dysmorphia like behaviour didn’t increase in the study, while other research that has been conducted doesn’t seem to indicate a higher prevalence compared to other weight dependent sports. Breaking the habit of compulsive self-monitoring and a realisation that it’s okay to have bodyfat is important. The longer you hold onto that contest shape, the longer you prolong the recovery. Coming to terms with the offseason body though can be just as difficult for some to overcome. This is where I wouldn’t discount poor coaching practices as being a trigger to develop eating disorders or body image issues.

Your Sleep gets messed up

We didn’t track sleep in our study, but this is something well documented in the bodybuilding world. Your sleep gets messed up, along with you feeling tired and hungry, you can get extra agitated due to a lack of quality sleep. You might even be waking up in the middle of the night struggling with hunger. Sleep supplements might help, zinc, melatonin, cherry active, CBD Oil. In a lot of cases though your sleep is only likely to return to normal in the post comp period once you regain your body fat levels and your body regains the ability to regulate its own hormone levels and nervous system that bit better

Your Cold All the Time

Related to adaptive thermogenesis, and low bodyfat levels. Fat is an insulator, it keeps heat in the body, however as you drop fat and energy intake, your body adapts to save energy, you stop fidgeting as much and shivering as much. Combine this with the fact you’ve probably shaved off a lot of your body hair and you just get cold. This phenomenon was first reported in people suffering from starvation, and hunger strike. As soon as the calories and the bodyfat comes back athletes stop feeling the chill.

Cramps and Twitches are common

Electrolytes play an important role in muscular contractions and the nervous system, as you restrict your diet some people might end up on very low sodium diets, as a result they may experience more cramps and poor training where they struggle to get a pump. Your nerves in your body which are normally separated by connective tissue and body fat. However, as you lose body fat, sometimes you’ll get pins and needs or twitches as your nerves start to get pinched where bodyfat levels would normally stop this.

Hormones, Mood and Amenorrhea

Your hormones end up in the toilet. Testosterone, Oestrogen, and Thyroid can all end up suppressed during a competition prep as a result your libido goes, as does your energy and training intensity. Both low oestrogen and testosterone are linked to depression and unsurprisingly competitors can suffer with low mood, increased situational anxiety and general anxiety. Combine this with the increase in stress hormone cortisol and you can see a further effect on mood, but also GI symptoms like diarrhoea, lack of sleep, and increased anxiety. Moreover, cortisol breaks down protein tissue, and chronic elevation may lead to a loss of muscle mass. Post show athletes can get the post contest blues, it’s only until the reclaim the lost body fat levels and increase the energy content of the diet do the hormones come back and the mood disruptions dissipate. Thyroid is a master regulator of metabolism, it helps with energy liberation from fat cells, protein tissue and glycogen stores. Because of comp prep in some cases, you can see a degree of thyroid suppression, which can make weight loss challenging. Related to hormonal disruption Amenorrhea and Oligomenorrhea common among female competitors. Periods become irregular, both longer or shorter, they can occur more often, less heavy, or disappear completely because of low energy levels and low body fat levels. Not every woman will experience this during comp prep, and I have known competitors to get their period on the day of an event, despite having extremely low body fat levels. Post show again these issues can be resolved by regaining bodyweight, however I have known some competitors to take 4 to 5 months for cycles to return to normal. I’ve even had to advise male competitors to take time away from the gym 4 months post contest to get their testosterone levels back to a healthy place.

GI Issues, Hair, Skin and Nails

A diet rich in fruit, vegetables and wholegrain is ideal for helping someone reach their daily fibre target of 29g/day. This keeps you regular, however when it comes to contest diet, fibre is often lower because of eliminating the aforementioned foods. As a result, you can get constipated, bloated and they end up holding water and sometimes unwanted bodyweight. What of the lesser known talked about phenomenon in comp prep dieting is the effect on your skin, hair and nails. When you start to get really lean competitors report losing hair, or their hair stops growing or becomes brittle. Consequently, a similar thing occurs with your nails also. While it can just take that little bit longer for scratches or bruises to disappear. I’ve even heard of athletes describe their skin as less soft or poorer quality after long periods of dieting.  Now whether it’s a consequence of nutrient deficiencies or of low body fat levels and energy is difficult to say, since nearly all competitors take multivitamins, and essential fatty acids, but it is just another one of the myriad of symptoms that people experience and which disappear post comp

Social Networks & Relationships can become strained

People report their relationships suffer during comp preps. One partner might be all in trying to get in shape, while the other wants to go out for a meal at a restaurant or away for weekend trips. Family members become concerned with weight loss and with eating patterns and behaviours, while people can become isolated because they feel unsupported and misunderstood. Sticking to a competition diet all the time can, at times be really inconvenient and in practical. These are all things that athletes need to be aware of, comp prep takes up a lot of time, that doesn’t always leave time for lots of other things. Moreover, don’t expect to be going on holiday during comp prep. You’ll not be the only one making sacrifices during this comp prep. Related to mood, eating attitudes and body dysmorphia people can also suffer with comparisonitis. Constantly comparing yourself to people online, who might be competing against you or may be taking drugs can be unhealthy for the athletes’ mindset and self-esteem. Sometimes it’s best to remove yourself from the situation altogether and stay in your own lane.

Training Intensity and Performance Suffer

Mass moves mass as they say in the strongman world. There is some truth in this saying. Competitors typically lose between 10 to 15% of their bodyweight for events, as a result the amount of weight they can shift goes down and athletes can expect to see a reduction in their one rep max. Not only that. Though, performance suffers in relative terms as well. As athletes progress through a comp diet they should get lb fo lb stronger, however there does come a point at which even this starts to suffer. This point probably coincides with a specific bodyfat percentage e.g 4 to 6 % in men, or testosterone concentrations and energy levels. There’s no escaping it I’m afraid, you’ll reach plateaus throughout and sooner or later you’re going to see a reduction in your performance.

Summary

Much of what we do at ProPrepCoaching revolves around trying to maximise our clients performance during their comp preps, while trying to mitigate as many of the negative side effects as possibly. Being seasoned competitors, seasoned coaches and academics that work in this area really gives us an edge in this area compared to our peers. Seasoned athletes are better at dealing with the stress of competing compared to novice competitors. It’s not that they find it any less difficult, they just know what to expect.  As the dieting bodybuilder your consistently walking a tight rope between, consuming just enough calories to maintain muscle mass and facilitate weight loss, and consuming too little calories resulting in muscle loss. When you think about it in evolutionary terms, you can see why many of these adaptations take place. Thankfully though once you regain bodyweight, bodyfat and increase the calories post competition many of the unwanted side effects disappear as was seen in our own study of the 2 months post competition. Prolonging diets and lengthy reverse dieting isn’t recommended and adherence is likely to be poor, although some may benefit from this approach.

Finally if you want to make sure you’re getting the right advice and want to ensure you are navigating your physique/ fitness goal or contest prep with health as a priority let’s chat

We use an evidence based approach to get our clients transform. we know we help you. book a free 30 min chat to talk about your goals and get to know us – Click Here.

The post What they don’t tell you about contest Prep & What to expect. appeared first on Pro Prep.

Steff Noble, Head Coach Pro Prep Coaching, WNBF UK President, Natural PRO bodybuilder

What is peaking? How does it work? Does it work? What do people do? How many times can you peak? Who should peak? These were questions along with many more I had when I got into competitive bodybuilding.  Some 20 years later I’ve made it my main interest to understand from science to bro talk the sport of bodybuilding. I’ve been interested in researching learning and applying what really is the art of peaking and much of what is written here is based on that research alongside my own experience of prepping athletes for shows. The following article should be considered a framework for those looking to put together their own peaking plans or for others just wishing to understand a little more about the topic.

For those seeking a more in depth overview of the scientific basis of peaking and a guide then we suggest you check out the two scientific articles below. The first is an original research article published detailing the strategies that athletes use to get in shape for bodybuilding shows. The article offers a scientific basis for how and why peaking might work alongside common strategies and a framework of how an athlete might peak. The second article offers some more recommendations on why certain strategies may work along with considerations around who should peak. For most however this article on peaking considerations will be comprehensive enough and should hopefully lead to you asking more questions and lead to more experimentation! As always If you find this content useful and you believe we may be able to help you with your own peaking goals then lets have a chat about your goals click here

Chappell & Simper2018. Nutritional Peak Week and Competition Day Strategies of Competitive Natural Bodybuilders. 6(4): 126. / Article 2 – Guillermo Escalante et al . 2021. Peak week recommendations for bodybuilders: an evidence based approach.  BMC Sports Sci Med Rehabil. 13 (1):68.

Why Peak?

The goal of peaking is to try and produce the best version of yourself for the stage. Or the version that is likely to be the most competitive. Competitors should consider that shows are judged over three rounds, symmetry, muscularity and free posing and the best package might mean not being 100% ripped, some might look better at 5% rather than 3% BF. If you were to define peaking then you might come up with something like this:

“Peaking: The goal of creating a physical appearance of yourself that is more competitive than if you were to make no modification to your regular dietary of training regime.”

Peaking therefore involves changing things from the regular plan, that usually means the manipulation of: carbohydrate, protein, fats, water, and electrolytes. It also means the manipulation of training and rest variables such as: cardio, rep ranges, frequency, volume, intensity and rest periods. Peaking Plans can be anything from between 21 days prior to 1 day/on the day principles. Although the one-week protocol is probably the most common. Moreover even where there’s little need for peaking or a coach has little belief in the process, most athletes will have the desire to peak. What is worth stating though is that athletes not in shape should avoid complicated peaking processes. Moreover the desire to peak by athletes reflects the almost mythical status holds in bodybuilding culture. It’s definitely considers an important/special time in an athletes prep, which can fill them with confidence, even if in some cases some peaking plans don’t necessarily work too well. Finally peaking needs to be and should be tailored to the individual, grand plans and templates can be useful but there still has to be some room for manoeuvre in plans.

Now as mentioned above, peaking involves juggling multiple concepts and if you’re unsure about how to manipulate these different variables or how each is likely to interact, or if your athletes seem unsure then it’s best to keep plans simple. Peaking however does seeks to::

• Lower your bodyfat levels (via days of carb depleting)
• Reduce any subcutaneous water
• Maximise muscle fullness
• Minimise any stomach bloating
• Minimise fatigue, for a healthy looking fatigue
• Provide the athlete with enough energy to be able to perform when they are on stage
• In competitions that have to sections, peaking needs to consider both the morning and evening component.

Whatever you decide to do though remember your spinning plates, so the more complex your plan is the more room there is for things to go wrong!

The Science Bit

There are lots of ways a person might decide to peak, but here we’re referring to the method which is the most common and is a variation on classical carbohydrate loading. I first came across this method in Chris Aceto’s book Championship bodybuilding. This method seeks to do the following:

• Take advantage of utilise a concept referred to as muscle glycogen super compensation
  • This loads the muscles with glycogen and water to create an appearance described as full
  • Draws muscle from the extracellular space into the muscle to help create the dry look

Muscle glycogen supercompensation is achieved following three to four days of carbohydrate depletion which primes the muscles to be sensitive to storing extra glycogen. : Low carbohydrate diets, usually between 40 to 60g per day, (for 3 to 4 days) is then followed by 2 to 3 days of carbohydrate loading.

Carb Depletion

Increased aerobic activity and isometric poses, Circuit style workouts usually with Increase the rep ranges for the upper body muscles.

• Goal is to deplete the muscles of their glycogen stores
• Circuit training is common because of it’s high lactate accumulation
• Recovery is often compromised follow a low carbohydrate diet so legs are often ceased to be trained, while light weights and high reps are used.

Water intake usually kept consistent with the regular intake, although some may increase water intake to help satiation from a low calorie approach. Now it’s not uncommon for people to increase their fat intake to offset the loss of carbohydrate from the diet, I’d say this is a mistake, since you are looking to deplete, and three days of low carb dieting can be excellent to bring your bodyfat levels down even lower closer to a show.

Carb Loading

This phase people will want to eliminate all sweeteners, any processed foods, or carbonated drinks. Fibre is also kept low, both to ensure there is no interference with carbohydrate absorption, but also to remove bloating by contest day. Thereafter the goal is to increase the carbohydrate content 3 fold on what the regular intake is (or between 9 to 12g per kg bw), for the first two days, before lower the intake to regular intake by the third day. In terms of loading, front loading is probably safter, it also makes more sense to go fast digesting carbohydrates and simple ones, to get the volume in. Remember your going to need carbs to satisfy your daily energy intake alongside the load, so that’s upwards of 900 – 1100 g for some athlete’s.

• The depletion causes increase in the intracellular levels of glycogen synthesising enzymes
• Increase in glucose transporters on the surface of the muscle cell?

Don’t expect to look good after loading a ton of carbs in on day 1 and day 2, you’ll look tiered, bloated, watery and stressed. Eating all that food is hard work after all, so is drinking all the water.

Water

One of the things your going to try and do is load water to encourage polyurea, take some multivitamins alongside the loading as well to encourage this process. Remember you need fluid for the day, fluid for your loading, around about 3 ml per g of carbohydrate, and fluid to encourage polyurea, Guys will drink between 6 to 12 L of water over the first few days. Then limit it the night before and might even restrict on the day.

Sodium

Sodium is required as part of the Sodium dependent glucose transporters, to absorb carbohydrates so athletes should not reduce their salt intake while carbohydrate loading and may want to consider increasing sodium (although sodium may cause an athlete to hold water), On the day of the competition, you may want to increase sodium to help facility a better on stage pump (fullness).

On the face of things it doesn’t sound overly complicated and the diagram included helps describe the concept quite well I believe. There however a number of practical considerations that need to be considered.

Practical Considerations

• Different classes have different looks. Bodybuilders seek to be as dry, full and hard looking as physically possible, while bikini athletes are only looking for toned muscle rather than a shrink-wrapped look. When it comes to how much condition, remember genetics matter. Some people may look good being 95 or 97% ready rather than 100% peeled, just because of body fat distribution. I’ve seen athletes lose nice round shoulders and arms gunning for those low body fat numbers when they’d have been better placed staying a little softer.

Human Element

Knowledge: some athletes may lack the organisational skills, or nutritional education to effectively carry out peaking strategies compared to more experienced athletes. Intelligence does come into this because people can have lots of questions and sometimes they don’t always understand the answers. Moreover, in my experience teen and Jnr competitors can be prone to laziness, while open class competitors and female competitors tend to be on the ball. I think it just comes to maturity. Your soft skills are going to matter here and some times a less sophisticated plan is merited to stop everybody stressing.

Stress

Some individuals get stressed, and sophisticated plans aren’t might complicated things and make it worse

First timers are particularly prone to stress, having a lot to consider on top of a peaking plan can ruin someone’s look, they can just have a tons of cortisol.

Some people have allergens or might react to new foods they’ve maybe never tried before

The menstrual cycle maybe an issue, I’ve had clients get their period the day before a show or on the show, there’s not a lot you can do about that.

As with the point above about nutritional knowledge, sometimes it make sense to make it simple rather than complicated, otherwise stress levels can overwhelm people. Trial and error and practicing plans can be a good solution here.

Planning Helps

Planning, Planning, Planning. Fail to plan, you plan to fail. Plain and simple, the better organised you are the better any peaking will go. If you write your plan down on the back of an envelope or have one like that, then you’re going to have a lot of unanswered questions and things might go quite wrong. So make sure any plan you have or you put together is comprehensive.

3 or 4 weeks, before the event you want to try dry run/practice run of your peaking plan. Take notes, weigh them, measure girths, take pictures. Have a shot of practicing the posing as well. It’s a different feeling flexing when you’ve peaked.

If your client has more than one show, you can try different peaking plans at different shows, again take notes. You might do peaking light for some show’s rather than others. Consecutive weeks of peaking, (2/3 shows, 2/3 weekends in a row), is unlikely to produce a healthy top physical look week after week, show after show. Peaking can also severely disrupt your momentum accumulated from training and dieting week on week. This can hamper your progress. It doesn’t always make sense to peak for shows week in and out. Sometimes you might be better suited to just sticking with your regular game plan.

Communicate effectively and confirm understanding with whoever might be following your plans or if your following someone else’s.

Have templates to work off and tweak them

Have contingencies, always have spare food and alternatives

Consider travelling and facilities you may or may not have at your hotel

Post show, you need to have a plan on how your going to manage, you will be dehydrate, people are likely to overeat, so consider what’s going to happen next. Like I said earlier, you need to plan.

Summary

Peaking seeks to improve your aesthetic for competition day. There’s a lot to take in and there’s a lot of variables that need to be manipulated. The thing is though, these plans can work, and they can really transform a physique. Implemented badly though and they can have disastrous consequences.  My advice is to work with someone who knows what they’re doing and practice things in advance. Don’t discount the practicalities and alter plans depending on the context.

Finally if you want to make sure you’re getting the right advice and want to ensure you are navigating your physique/ fitness goal or contest prep let’s chat

We use an evidence based approach to get our clients transform. we know we help you. book a free 30 min chat to talk about your goals and get to know us – Click Here.

The post How to Peek Week Right appeared first on Pro Prep.

Building a chest that genuinely stands out is not about gimmicks or random pump sessions. It is about intelligent programming, progressive overload, mechanical tension, and understanding how the chest actually works.

Below is one of my go-to chest sessions from the Pro Prep Coaching training vault, used with advanced natural athletes preparing for bodybuilding, physique, and performance-focused goals.

If you apply this session consistently for six weeks, I am confident you will notice a visible improvement in chest size, density, and overall development.

Here’s a favourite chest workout from pro prep coaching’s training vault!

Why This Chest Session Works

This session balances:

• Heavy mechanical tension
• Moderate hypertrophy ranges
• High-rep metabolic stress
• Intelligent fatigue management

It also progresses through compound to isolation movements, allowing you to load the chest hard early while finishing with targeted fatigue.

Anatomy of the Chest

Anatomy of the Chest

The chest consists of two primary muscles:

Pectoralis Major

A large fan-shaped muscle responsible for:

• Shoulder flexion
• Horizontal adduction
• Internal rotation of the arm

This is the muscle responsible for chest size, shape, and density on stage.

Pectoralis Minor

A smaller muscle located beneath the pec major. It assists with scapular protraction and depression. While not visible, it contributes to shoulder mechanics and pressing stability.

Chest-dominant sessions are often referred to as press days because pressing movements heavily involve both muscles.

How to Train the Chest Properly

Incline, Flat, and Decline Positions

Using multiple pressing angles allows you to target the chest more completely.

• Incline presses emphasise the upper chest
• Flat presses distribute load across the pecs
• Decline presses bias the lower chest

There is a popular belief that female athletes should only train incline pressing due to stage presentation. In reality, well-rounded development still matters, particularly for structure, fullness, and transitions.

Dumbbells

• Greater range of motion
• Increased stretch under load
• Improved unilateral control

They are excellent for hypertrophy and shape but typically limit absolute loading due to instability.

Machines such as:

• Cable crossovers
• Pec deck
• Chest press machines
• Smith machines

Allow you to isolate the chest safely and efficiently. They are especially useful for advanced training techniques such as drop sets, rest-pause, and extended sets.

Fly variations are particularly effective for targeting the chest-shoulder tie-in.

Barbells

Barbell movements allow the greatest loading potential and remain foundational for chest development.

Key movements include:

• Barbell bench press
• Weighted dips
• Chest-focused push ups

Dips are often called the upper-body squat for good reason. They allow serious loading and develop thickness through the chest, shoulders, and triceps.

If you want mass, this is where it happens.

Considerations for rep ranges and advance training techniques

Pro Prep Client Transformation

Much has been written about rep ranges, and you should alter your rep range depending on your goal, e.g. strength hypertrophy endurance. However, I would say that if you want to improve your overall chest development then you need to increase your 1, 3, 5, 8, 10, 12, & 20 repetition max. Essentially you need to train all the rep ranges and you need to get good at them all. That doesn’t mean doing singles as part of your training plans, but it does mean that you have to spend some time lifting heavier and lighter. Using percentages of your 1 rep maximum (1RM) is a great way of doing this, alongside using scales like reps in reserve (RIR) or rate of perceived exertion (RPE). Moreover, with any plan, particularly bodybuilding you’re going to want to do some advanced training techniques, probably 1 or 2 per session as muscle mass is built as a consequence of mechanical tension, metabolic stress and muscle damage.

Percentages of 1RM

Using percentages of your 1RM allows for consistent progress tracking and the ability to target specific training goals. For example, training with lighter weight at a lower percentage of your 1RM (e.g. 60-70%) can help build endurance, while training with heavier weight at a higher percentage of your 1RM (e.g. 80-90%) can help improve muscle strength. The great thing about percentages is they can keep you honest. The numbers don’t lie. If your program says use 80% of your 1RM then you know what out need to do. Moreover it allows you to track your progress by comparison to your 1RM.

Advanced Training Techniques

Advanced training techniques, such as supersets, negatives, rest-pause, cluster sets, and partials, can help increase intensity and provide a greater training stimulus. For example:

• Supersets involve performing two exercises back-to-back with minimal rest in between, increasing the overall volume and intensity of your workout. You can do them agonist to antagonist muscles or across the same muscle group. Fly’s combined with press ups for example work well.
• Negatives involve performing the eccentric (lowering) portion of an exercise with a slow, controlled motion, putting extra stress on the muscles and promoting muscle growth. These are great if you want to test yourself and get used to handling a lot of weight. you can load up a bar with 110 to 120% of your 1RM and just practice the decent on a bench press. Make sure you have a spot though!
• Rest-pause involves performing a short set, resting briefly, and then repeating the same set, leading to increased muscle fatigue and a greater training stimulus. These are great if you’re stuck trying to progress with a rep range. Say you want to hit a set of 10 on the bench but can only manage 8 before you fail. The trick is to rack the weight at 8 reps, take a 10 to 20s rest and then try to push out another couple of reps. that way you get your ten over the course of a rest pause set. Over a few weeks you should hopefully be able to get the 10 without the pause.
• Cluster sets involve performing multiple reps with short rests in between, allowing for heavier weight to be used and promoting strength gains. These are structured rest pause sets. Great for getting strong. check out the scheme below for the explanation on how to perform them. For chest training though you probably want to stick with barbells and machines here, to save you messing about with dumbbells.
• Partials involve performing only a portion of the range of motion of an exercise, allowing for heavier weight to be used and targeting specific parts of a movement. This is a classic powerlfiting technique. You might be strong or weak at a specific point in the movement so with partials you can focus on that phase of the lift. Obviously if you can move past sticking points this can help you excel in all the rep ranges.
• Bands, Chains and Unstable Bars covers a broad range of training styles typically used to increase strength, or stability in the bench press. Similarly to partials, the addition of chains or bands allow the trainer to work harder at specific parts of a lift where you might want to make something harder or easier.

What Exercises are best?

Depends on the goal of the program and the individual, you’ll incorporate a variety of the aforementioned movements and techniques  There’s a lot to consider and I talked extensively about this in the bicep training article (https://proprepcoaching.com/bodybuilding/building-big-arms-how-to-program-to-make-them-even-bigger/). If I was pressed though…(pun intended) I’d always er towards the use of the barbell bench press as a great exercise for any chest program for the following reasons.

The barbell bench press is used to increase muscle mass in the upper body rather than specifically to the pectoralis major. Although you sometimes might break a training programs down into body part specific days e.g. chest, shoulders, arms etc. I always suggest focusing on compound moves for the following reasons:

A) These exercise usually provide the most bang for their buck for the primary muscle group as well as the auxiliary muscles, (something which is important for frequency considerations)

B) With A in mind, a focus on these lifts based on judging experience usually leads to a far more symmetrical physique, they just seem to flow better. This often happens because compound lifts like bench press hit the shoulders, triceps, forearms, upper back, and core training leading to greater overall development compared to say using a chest press machine. Moreover, this is probably why you see people with poor technique suffering from poor symmetry.

C) To develop a classic physique, I’m a big fans of utilising free weights in keeping with golden era principles. Those guys looked great and that’s all they had. That’s not to say that we can’t use machines and every individual has different needs (injuries are a consideration), but free weights form the cornerstone of a golden era approach to programming.

The best movements and Muscle Activation Research

Activation is another interesting question, Electromyographs (EMG) allow you to measure muscle activation across a muscle while exercising. Muscle activation and force production is greater with stable vs unstable loads. Moreover, exercise intensity in terms of RPE is usually greater with stable surfaces. All this makes sense, if you have a solid surface to press from and you don’t have to worry about balancing anything then you can put more into lifting a weight. The ability to produce a high RPE seems to be essential for hypertrophy independent of the load and high degrees of mechanical tension are also know to be important. Hence why a movement like a barbell bench press is favoured. Although it’s not quite as clear cut as you think.

Here’s a sample of some studies representative of the area:

No difference between motor unit activation between Dumbbell flys, Dumbbell chest press, Barbell Bench Press.

Welsch, E.A., Bird, M. and Mayhew, J.L., 2005. Electromyographic activity of the pectoralis major and anterior deltoid muscles during three upper-body lifts. Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 19(2), p.449.

EMG Activation is related to the instability of the exercise, where barbell and bench conditions perform better than dumbbell and swiss ball conditions.

Kohler, J.M., Flanagan, S.P. and Whiting, W.C., 2010. Muscle activation patterns while lifting stable and unstable loads on stable and unstable surfaces. The Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research, 24(2), pp.313-321.

Barbell bench press EMG and RPE activation is greatest by comparison to eight other chest exercises

Schanke, W., 2012. Electromyographical analysis of the pectoralis major muscle during various chest exercises(Doctoral dissertation).

Stable loads result in similar EMGs in pectoralis major with Dumbbell, barbell and smith machine, although triceps EMG activation is greater in barbell vs dumbbell and smith machines

Saeterbakken, A.H., van den Tillaar, R. and Fimland, M.S., 2011. A comparison of muscle activity and 1-RM strength of three chest-press exercises with different stability requirements. Journal of sports sciences, 29(5), pp.533-538.

Flat vs incline vs decline bench press variation indicates limited difference on pectoralis major activation although influences bicep EMG, while grip variations affect triceps EMG. Flat, medium and wide grip variations are suggested for greatest 6 RM loads.  

Saeterbakken, A.H., Mo, D.A., Scott, S. and Andersen, V., 2017. The effects of bench press variations in competitive athletes on muscle activity and performance. Journal of human kinetics, 57(1), pp.61-71.

Wider Grips vs narrow grips result in the greatest pectoralis major activation. Hence the need to alter the grip when hitting the triceps.     

Jagessar, M. and Gray, M., 2010. Optimizing development of the pectoralis major. Sport Journal, 13(1), p.7.

Muscle activity changes with exercise intensity, velocity of movement, fatigue, mental focus, movement phase and stability conditions, such as bar vibration or unstable surfaces. The most important factor for EMG activation is exercise intensity. E.g external load or RPE.

Stastny, P., Gołaś, A., Blazek, D., Maszczyk, A., Wilk, M., Pietraszewski, P., Petr, M., Uhlir, P. and Zając, A., 2017. A systematic review of surface electromyography analyses of the bench press movement task. PloS one, 12(2).

Finally, the program laid out at the outset is for the advanced trainer. If you’re new to training you’ll probably get by just nicely by doing between 5 to 9 sets per week for chest. Use the information in this article and you’ll be able to put together an effective training program. If however you’ve been training for a few years and fancy giving it a go, then I’d simply suggest warming up appropriately and perhaps including some sort of deloading component every 4 to 6 weeks.

Want Help Programming Your Training?

If you want specific coaching that is:

• Evidence-based
• Natural bodybuilding focused
• Individualised to your structure and goals

Then head to the Pro Prep Coaching sign-up page and we will be in touch.

https://proprepcoaching.com/sign-up/

Train smart. Train hard. Build a physique thats for life.

The post Maximise Your Gains: The Ultimate Natural Bodybuilding Guide to Building a Chest That Pops appeared first on Pro Prep.

“You’ll find out a lot about yourself during the journey. It’s the classic hero’s journey”

At the time of writing, there is a war going on in mainland Europe for the first time in 70 years. Inflation is at a 40 year high causing a cost-of-living crisis with energy and food prices soaring. A recent government report suggested 30% of households could be facing fuel poverty. We’re coming off the back of 2 years of a global pandemic that’s cost the lives of millions. It’s also done untold damage to our economies, health, and national psyches. Unions are mobilising as nearly every sector seems to be on strike from barristers, to bin men. Moreover, the effects of climate change is causing record temperatures, droughts, crop failures and forest fires. Feels like the end of days! The current situation is causing real hardship for a lot of people in the UK and around the world. It’s times like this we need to remind ourselves how lucky we are that we get to go to compete and are able to pursue a sport like bodybuilding. 

“…following through with the process can be a spiritual experience”

Don’t get me wrong, preparing for a competition is tough. It’s a real challenge, but it’s one of your own choosing. It’s also something that can be extremely fulfilling. I’d encourage anyone thinking about competing to check out the articles on “first timers experiences” (https://proprepcoaching.com/first-time-competitors/athlete-reflections-of-their-bodybuilding-season/) and “what they don’t tell you about prep” (https://proprepcoaching.com/science-of-bodybuilding/what-they-dont-tell-you-about-contest-prep-what-to-expect/) the physiological and psychological consequences of prep. There are some great reflections in those articles, and it helps to understand what’s happening to your body during prep so you can rationalise things. Emotional thinking is never helpful.  A common thread when you read competitors experiences is: despite athletes noting the struggle, they all talk about how rewarding it was and how glad they are to have completed the journey.  As I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to think of prep “the process/journey” as a pseudo religious experience. In the same way people might give something up for Lent, or fast during Ramadan. Enduring a calorie restriction and making a commitment to working out while tiered can be a spiritual experience. You’ll find out a lot about yourself during the journey. It’s the classic hero’s journey or mono myth. From the mundane to the call to adventure, travelling into the wilderness, the guide, descending into the underworld and then emerging triumphantly to slay the beast before return back to the community as the new and improved individual. The metaphors are clear.

“That goal needs to be at the forefront of your mind, or at the very least the 2^nd or 3^rd most important value”

Bodybuilding culture is full of cliches: “hard work beats talent”, “working in the trenches”,” suck it up buttercup”, “being prepared to hurt”, “nobody is forcing you to do it”, “going to that dark place”, “no pain, no gain”. There’s good reason for all these cliches about hard work. It reflects the challenges anyone must overcome during the journey. A prep really does come down to a strength of will of the individual. Obviously good training and nutritional advice help, but if the desire to complete the goal isn’t there, no strategy will make the difference. This is the part where the hero travels into the underworld and must overcome his own demons, the Minotaur in classic mythology. Simply put, unless you value the goal above all else, you’ll struggle. With that in mind, the athlete really needs to have a strong intrinsic drive to achieve their goal. That goal needs to be at the forefront of your mind, or at the very least the 2^nd or 3^rd most important value they currently hold. If prepping is your 9^th or 10^th most important value then it’s unlikely you’ll put in the hard yards. The work night out to socialise for drinks, that slice of cake, feeling of a full stomach, will be more important that sticking to the plan. You’ll make excuses, skip the cardio, not make time for posing and cheat on your diet. Intrinsic motivation is a far stronger, than any external motivation, or put another way, your goal must be for yourself rather than for external validation. However, if you can combine the two, you’ll really be onto a winner. Top athletes want to do it for themselves, but also want to be winners. Moreover, the athlete needs to be able to understand why achieving their goal positively affects their lives. They need to understand how achieving that goal opens up opportunities for them to positively change their live and they need to be able to visualise how they might look and feel once they’ve reached that goal. The athlete needs to put in work here, they really need to work out why they’re pursuing the goal and how it will really make a difference to their life. Again, if there’s no real intrinsic value associated with the goal, you’ll struggle to adhere to it when times are tough.

“Remember why we got into this in the first place, what we aim to get out of it, and how pursing this challenge has a positive effect on our lives.”

Framing is important. The athlete should always aim to work from a positive position rather than a negative. Things should be considered challenging with a potential reward (think about the vision) rather than as drudgery, hardship, and/or a struggle. If you think in terms of manifesting destiny, if all you think about is how much of a struggling or hardship something is, then you’re going to find it tough. This is one of the reasons I always caution against the martyr mentality and focus on the individual being goal orientated with a positive outlook. Moreover, context is everything, and it’s not to denigrated the athlete’s lived experience, but put into context preps not really that bad! The first prep is always the hardest, you’ve not quite built those coping mechanisms or the resilience yet, the unknown is always more frightening than the known. It’s still a lifestyle choice at the end of the day, one that you’ve hopefully thought long and hard about. A choice that the bodybuilding cliches perfectly highlight: “Nobodies forcing anyone to do it”, “it’s a privilege”, and you can “stop the bus at any point”. We are of course only human and we forget sometimes how good we have it sometimes. In my early days of prep, I’d often ask myself the question, how bad is it really? So, I’m a little bit hangry, but if we go full circle and compare it to others around the world, I was not living in poverty (most of the world lives on less than $1 per day). I wasn’t contending with illness or disability, I didn’t suffer with emotional and domestic violence, I wasn’t really going through any real hardships. It was also my decision as to how hard I really wanted to push myself, I could skip a workout, eat more food and reduce the intensity of my training at any point. My coach was just giving me advice, it was really up to me to follow through on it. Going full circle it almost felt obnoxious for me to complain about my own lifestyle choices, so I just didn’t. That being said, our emotions can get the better of us sometimes, and that’s also okay too. Framing and context though is everything, the next time you feel the urge to cheat on your diet, to whinge and bring everyone down, or throw the towel in because the challenge is too great, we must remind ourselves of our goals, and how incredible lucky we are to pursue these goals. Remember why we got into this crazy sport in the first place, what we aim to get out of it, and how pursing this challenge has a positive effect on our lives.

“Comparisonitis is the killer of many an individual’s goals,”

Finally, it’s important to develop strategies to help us achieve our goals. Planning is crucial and collecting data can help you identify patterns. If you know what the potential obstacles are and when they are likely to occur, this can help you manage them. Moreover, setting realistic expectations and not comparing yourself to others is also of crucial importance. Comparisonitis is the killer of many an individual’s goals, if you compare yourself to others, particularly those further down the line with their physique goals you can end up defeated before you even set out on the path to the goal. The most important thing as I’ve constantly pointed to though is understanding your goal, and why it matters to you. This is one of the main reasons we spend the time with our ProPrep clients working on this aspect and why we vet potential clients to ensure they’re clear on why they want to pursue a comp prep goal.  People like the idea of comp prepping, but you’d be surprised how superficial some peoples actual desire to do it really is. As the old saying goes, dreams are for dreamers, goals are for achievers. Stay positive, set goals and be up for the challenge. Trust me, it will be one of the best things you ever do.

If you find this content useful and you’d like to work with ProPrep Coaching to help you achieve your goals, then hit that sign up button and we’ll be in touch: https://proprepcoaching.com/sign-up/

The post The Positive Prep Mindset: Framing, Context & Goals appeared first on Pro Prep.

“People know it’s going to be tough they just don’t realise how tough”

Competitive bodybuilding is a great sport and at ProPrepCoaching we love helping clients prepare for their competitions. We’re all competitors ourselves so we know how important it is for athletes to have a good competitive experience while producing a physique they can be proud of. Now everybody knows the training and diet can be extremely physically taxing and any that every would be competitor should be up to the challenge. Where most first time athletes fall down is that they very often underestimate the mental side of the sport. People know it’s going to be tough, they just don’t realise how tough. If you ask any current or previous competitor they’ll tell you it’s about more than just pumping iron and eating steam broccoli and chicken breast. From a personal point of view I actually find myself spending more and more time focused on athletes well beings and sports psychology than just the nuts and bolts of nutrition and training.

With all that in mind. For the past couple of years I’ve been asking all my competitive clients to complete a survey on how they found their first season in competitive bodybuilding.

Why I ask competitors to complete surveys:

1) To get competitors to reflect on their best practices, and tools that might be helpful in the future

2) To get competitors to reflect on where they may be able to do better for future preps

3) To identify common experiences so we might be able to feedback and help future competitors

Below I’ve compiled the responses of 9 female first time competitors and 4 male competitors following a competitive season. I find it’s much harder to get the men to complete these surveys and I’m sure you’ll agree the women seem to do a lot better when it came to the reflective practice. The data is useful though and hopefully it can be of use to future first time competitors and returning competitors.

There are three tables in total:

1) Female reflections on competition prep

2) Male reflections on competition prep

3) A summary of responses which I felt reflected the female and male athletes as a whole

If you’re considering competing in the future and you’re new to the sport then take the time to read through the table and familiarise yourself with common experiences. I guarantee you’ll have a better understanding of what you may be about to get yourself into and you’ll be better placed to understand the competitive process. Moreover if you’ve competed before, then then the responses can be a useful way of helping you realise you weren’t the only one feeling a certain way and that you might have more in common with your peers than you think. What struck me is seeing how humble these competitors were. That may reflect the way I coached them or their personalities, but there was some seriously good competitors amongst the 13 athletes surveyed. We’re talking multiple British champions, a couple of pro card holders, a world champion and at least three other athletes who competed at that level. Unfortunately though for the sake of anonymity I can’t name any of them.

The final caveat you’ll notice from reading through the athlete experiences is that although there are some common threads, everyone has their own unique experience. I’m not certain theres a clear difference between male and female experiences and prep can effect people in very different ways. Finally if you find this article useful then be sure to share it with your fellow bodybuilders so others might benefit.

Table 1: Female Athletes Reflections On Their First Competitive Bodybuilding Season

	Female, 20	Female, 47	Female, 41	Female, 31	Female, 39	Female, 33	Female, 39	Female, 24	Female, 23
Why did you set off on your competitive journey?	I wanted a purpose to my training and lifestyle. I’ve always aimed to train like I was an athlete…….I finally felt like my whole purpose for my passion in the gym had meaning when I decided to compete earlier this year.	I felt that I needed a brand new challenge, something special that could light that fire in your belly. I had always dream of competing in a physique competition – it was time to see if I could make that dream come true :-).	To have a specific goal to work towards and to see if I was capable of achieving what I’d always seen as being out of my reach	I wanted to challenge myself and i loved weight training so what better goal to set?	I heard lots of stories how mentally difficult competing is and wanted to test myself if i was capable of doing it. And then I wanted to improve and gain more knowledge.	I wanted to see what my body could ‘do’, physically, and how it could change aesthetically. I knew it would be a challenge, but I wasn’t prepared for how much of a physical AND mental game it is	I wanted to do something I didn’t think id ever be capable of. I wanted to work on my physical and mental health and become a confident assertive individual. I wanted to step out my comfort zone and continue to became the best version of myself. I wanted to learn more about training, diet, nutrition.	To see how far I could push my body and to see what I would look like being stage lean	I wanted to see if bodybuilding was something I would enjoy. I have seen it for most of my life and was really curious. From a young age I’ve struggled with my weight/body image, I felt like I owed it to myself to give it a go.
Was it an enjoyable experience?	Yes! More than words can explain.	Yes though having set ambitious goals in the past I didn’t realise at the time just how ambitious it was!!	Reflecting back – it’s been worth every second of effort and keeping that final vision in mind has allowed me to dig deeper than I thought I could.	It was exciting from start to finish		Yes, and it’s set the tone for future goals!	I loved every minute of the whole experience. it was incredible rewarding seeing my progress, having the confidence to stand on stage and just enjoy the time up there. I cant wait to do it again.	It was enjoyable however very challenging but so rewarding considering the results	100%, its not about the trophies/medals. its about seeing yourself do what you never thought you could do.
Was comp prep what you expected?	Definitely. I knew coming in that prep is only as hard as one makes it to be. For me, any challenge is enjoyable, no matter how hard it seems to others outside looking in	It was initially, I found it quite easy to follow the diet and I loved the training and seeing the progress. It got harder and it was much harder than I ever expected towards the end.	I expected it to be physically demanding but was surprised by how challenging the mental element can be – but I also surprised myself by staying the course 100% even on my wobbly days	At times it was easier than expected and at times it was harder than expected. I expected the hunger and tiredness but was surprised by the mood changes and sleep disturbances.	I did not think the diet is going to be as strict as it was. I thought i will be able to have some refeeds at the beginning, but then i got used to it which proved to be a good thing.	Yes and no. Yes in the sense I already had an idea of prep ‘norms’ but no in that it was a lot more ‘managable’ that I had expected/imagined and not at all extreme	It was everything and more, it is a tough challenge and a long process and I understand even more so this year what it takes to bring the condition you need to be successful.	Yes and no, I knew it was going to be physically challenging but hadn’t expected how mentally taxing it was as well	yes and no. i knew i was going to be hungry as certain points as the calories went down but what i didnt expect to be so hard was the mental aspect of prep.
Did you have to sacrifice for this goal?	I had to sacrifice some family time but it served me well because my family knows how independent I am and how focused I am on pursuing my own goals	Due to Covid perhaps less in some ways as my social life and work do’s died down. I had to sacrifice family meals towards the end or eating the same as my husband which was hard.	Mainly eating out socially – however, I never once questioned this. My end goal was always in mind and there was no doubt that I was fully committed to the process no matter what.	Social occasions – sometimes preferred to just avoid them. I also found dating hard during prep with some people not understanding why eating and drinking dates were not on the cards.	I did not let myself think that i am losing out on something but this is something choose to follow like not to eat or drink, which in turn made it so much easier	Not really. I’d already got rid of one of the people who didn’t like me competing anyway….!	Yes, I had to sacrifice time with my family and friends. I had to say no a lot as I didn’t have time or I had things to do. I did feel quite selfish at times.	I’d say yes I sacrificed a social life which I didn’t mind too much because I was always busy trying to hit my daily goals	I think what took the biggest knock was my relationship Its really hard to have several things that come first in life and I struggled with that. many times during prep my relationship almost ended and every time the common denominator was prep and my priorities.
What have you learnt about yourself through this process?	I’ve learned that I can challenge myself mentally as much as I do physically, and my resilience doesn’t have limits	That I’m very determined and sometimes giving up may not be a sign of weakness.	I’m far tougher and focused in the pursuit of a goal than I thought I was. I’ve stuck the course and never made excuses.	That I am stronger, more resilient and more determined than I could ever have imagined.	I am way stronger than i thought i was. Trust the process, ask questions. I realised how competitive i was.	That despite putting far too much emphasis and worry about what other people think, I am a lot more resilient and determined than I give myself credit for	Ive learned so much about myself. I can do anything I want if I put in the work. Ive learned that I am confident I just need to believe in myself more. Ive learned to be myself and not do things or make decisions based on what other people want or just so that people will like me	I’ve learnt that if I put my mind to something it can be achieved and that I’m stronger than I once thought, this prep has given me the confidence to grow and be comfortable with who I am	i have learned that i am capable of being competitive in this sport, I have learned that i am head strong and can be disciplined when i need to. i have also learned that i am quite an extreme person, in the sense that if im doing something i really do want the best.
What have been some of the highlights?	The highlights have been winning my first bodybuilding show and even winning my pro card! Another one is being able to see the muscle I have at this point in my life. I am very proud of myself	The sense of performance and progress has been addictive. Turning 47 and feeling the best about the way my body looks was certainly a highlight . Winning Novice FitBody was the icing on the cake!	Seeing how amazing the body is and how quickly the adaptations during prep can occur has been such a learning experience for me.	Seeing my body transform through my own hard work, learning how to pose which i never thought I would get the hang of and getting glammed up for the stage. Also the thrill of qualifying for the FitX finals.	Bi-weekly checkins by far the biggest ‘pick me up’ pill which drove me through the whole process	Progress in my body; recomposition, strength…veins! Meeting like minded people. My posing improving. Having people message me – often who i’ve never met – telling me that i’ve inspired them to improve themselves too	The whole prep, posing. My check ins, learning about myself. Having the confidence to step on that PCA stage and have the time of my life, getting my body into the best shape of my life. meeting new friends, being given some amazing the opportunities that have helped me grow and develop.	The highlight for me was the final show and standing on a world championship stage	Building such a great relationship with my coaches. going through prep with my best friend difficult at times but I am so lucky! winning the PCA overall was just crazy, never ever expected that. coming second to XXX at WNBF UK was humbling and I’m so so glad i came second.
What have you found the most challenging throughout the process?	The most challenging would be falling ill during peak week, just because I’m very used to eating a variety of things wihout getting sick; so it definitely caught me by surprise	Eating all the potatoes during peak week, managing injuries and recovery. Posing was much harder than I excepted too.	Initially the increase in output from 3 training sessions & 3 cardio a week was a challenge.	Sleep disturbance and mood changes during the later stages of prep. I also found losing my period quite disturbing when it first happened.	Getting the steps in whilst working from home on top of cardio.	Avoiding comparison and not let my brain play tricks on me!	The external factors that I didn’t prepare for….getting unwell, realising I’ve been in a job that’s made me miserable for the last 5 years.	The hardest thing was the no snacking especially at work when temptation is always there at least at home there was only clean food in the house but at work the tea trolleys were always a temptation	My mental health. Pattern and routine is something I need day to day…..without a plan I will go off the rails. I struggle to see myself accurately during prep which I’m sure is normal.
How has this journey effected your self esteem and confidence?	It’s definitely boosted my confidence. I am always in an “improvement” mood, and I know that I can always do better, but it’s taught me to appreciate the progress I’ve made at every stopping point in my life.	Positively! You really can do anything you set your mind to. Competing against younger people was nerve wrecking but great for my self esteem. You can get into the best shape of your life at any age.	Exponentially sparked a huge change in me – I’ve gone from feeling like maybe it’s not for someone as average as me to I’m going to make this happen for me no matter what. I know I can be bigger and better in the coming years and I’m truly excited to put in the necessary work.	Pushing myself to do something I never thought I’d be brave enough to do has definitely increased my confidence	Work in progress however confidence has gone up.	It has boosted it 100 times over. When I started this journey I couldn’t even imagine myself being on stage, and when the day did come it was very, very surreal, but I felt SO empowered and I can’t wait to do it again, BIGGER and BETTER!	I cant even begin to explain how much this journey has improved my confidence and the way I feel about myself. I am a new person and despite the goings on. I feel fantastic and I am sooo proud of my progress both mentally and physically	It’s helped me feel more confident especially in the gym as I feel I look like I belong there now	I do feel it may have exaggerated issues that I already had such as body image. its difficult to always be judging the way you look. I dont feel it bothered me as much during prep as it has during the two weeks following my last show…….scared that im going to go back to be the girl who couldnt look in the mirror, who felt she couldnt attend social events because she didnt like the way she looked
What key lessons, experiences have you learnt that you will take into future preps?	my goal in future preps: be honest with any concerns I might have		Hugely number one is to believe in myself. Honestly, the realisation that I could have performed better had I not felt so self critical is something I’m taking forwards into the next time I get back up there.	1. Aim to compete in shows later in the year so that if I get invited to British finals, it’s not such a long prep 2. Remember that food is always going to be there, no need to binge 3. Don’t social media stock the people I am competing against or compare myself to them		1. Consistency is key above everything else. 2. trust the process – and coaches. 3. You are not anyone else and no one else is you and never will be, so don’t compare. 4. No sauces during peak week! 5. Rest and recovery is just as important as training and diet. As is an exfoliated moisturised bod!	Tick all the boxes, leave no stone unturned. stick to the plan 100%, trust your coaches, take advice. prepare for life hitting you with unexpected obstacles.	To trust the process!! For ages I doubted whether I would be lean enough and struggled to see the end goal	I would say to be kind to yourself and to remember that unless this is you full time job, its a hobbie. yes a very extreme hobbie but you should have fun- no one is forcing you to do this. have fun on stage! PRACTICE YOUR POSING!!! Try not to let emotions get the better of you, Lean on your coaches at this point and be open and honest about how you feel.
What does ‘SUCCESS’ look like to you now?	Success means putting forth my best efforts every single second of everyday during the process, because that to me means way more than the end goals/stage moment	Giving it 100% and feeling proud of what I’ve accomplished. Being able to pat myself on the back.	Doing exactly what I set out to do at the beginning of this prep – not allowing anything to derail me and keeping my sights set on my goals at all times.	Just stepping on stage, keeping my calm, remembering my poses and not running back off! Now that I’ve had some stage experience I would like to aim for a first place in a future competition.	Success for me is knowledge and experience and ability to apply that knowledge. I want to become a profeesional athlete, simple as that, i want to be a successful in this field and i think i do have the right attidute for it. Just need patience to make it happen.	Developing a positive – healthy – mindset, not just towards competing but everyday life. I read somewhere that ‘success is a system, not a condition, and has to be defined regularly along with failure’, and I now agree with that. Yes validation and being awarded for my prep was amazing, but it’s a small part of a much larger picture.	To set out what you planned to do, to get that end goal, winning isn’t success for me but I would like to win in the future. For me success is progress, gains, improvement mentally and physically, success is being better than you were before	Success for me was on a daily basis and hitting those daily goals	Being proud of what you have accomplished individually.
What advice would you give yourself to set yourself up for success in future preps?	1. Focus on my goal: never feel bad for missing events, overall, be more sturdy in how I say no. 2.communicate with those around me about concerns. 3. Quality over quantity: Focus on quality training over the amount of what I am lifting, especially during prep.	Don’t be too hard on yourself – celebrate the little wins, Listen to your body to avoid injuries,	1) Be patient – you will get there. 2) Focus on one day at a time – as long as you do what you need to do each day the bigger picture will take care of itself. 3) Conquering mindset is key – the body is capable of continuing to perform far beyond where your thoughts stop it.	1. Stay on track and don’t give up no matter what else is going on in life 2. Remember food is always going to be there. 3. Take a long off season. This is to allow me to build more muscle.	1. Train Harder 2. Allow longer time to to prep, if i allowed 4 months before, this time perhaps i need to give myself 6 . 3. Change the mindset and stop being jealous of other competitors better physiques.	1. Reflect regularly. I think we all spend so much time on the ‘going’ that actually stopping and thinking about how far we’ve come. 2. Plan, prepare and review meticulously 3. Don’t beat yourself up if every day isn’t perfect or doesn’t go to plan. Not every training session will be perfect, there will be diet slip ups, but that’s normal and human nature!	Prepare for unexpected things. Life happens and can get in the way just be more prepared for this. Dont beat yourself up, as long as you have done your very best that’s all that matters. Tick every box be strict with yourself because you feel worse if you slip up or make a mistake	Sleep eat train repeat as long as these were done to the best of my ability I already considered myself to be successful for that day	PERSEVERE- to persevere when you cant see things coming together. e.g. weight taking time to come off. STAY IN YOUR LANE- don’t compare yourself to others- it’s exhausting and there is literally no gain whatsoever. SET GOALS/SURROUND YOUSELF WITH LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE

Table 2: Male Athletes Reflections On A Competitive Bodybuilding Season

Table 3. Summary of Female and Male Athletes Experience Of A Competitive Bodybuilding Season

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