How do you approach offseason and offseason to prep transition

[traininsane11]

Thought this may be an interesting thread to see the different approaches people take as I’ve seen some slight changes to the generic industry approaches of the current era

Just to make apparent I’m talking about none genetic elites I neither care what they do or believe it has any real relevance to the other 99.999% of us

So for the past few years everything seems to have been broken down into quite generic timeframes specifically in the UK at least for example

Compete
6-10 week trt health phase
12-16 week offseason
6-8 week “trt/cruise tidy up/mini diet/health phase/pre prep)
Then either 16-20 week prep or back into
Probably a 6-12 week offseason, trt tidy up phase thing again and then a prep

@bbxtreme made a very good point on his AI thread and made me question the norm of the above basically very situational but if you’re trying to add a significant amount of tissue between shows, going for pro cards / pro shows etc then outside of health issues just having multiple generic cruises especially leading into a prep can be a sure fire way to minimise progress

@TheOtherOne55 and Justin Harris both made me question again the generic “tidy up” thing by saying if you’ve gotten to fat then you’ve messed up just stay leaner and in a lesser surplus for longer and leverage other things to achieve this

Building muscle takes a LOOONG time and if you’re spending 16-20 weeks in a prep and another 20 weeks in trt/tidy up/health phases that leaves like 12 weeks or so of an offseason and talking specifically about myself trying to go from 250lbs on stage to 260/270 and beyond 12 weeks ain’t doing shit

Interestingly I am hearing some of the stereotypical generic coaches changing their minds. Kuba for example believe recently on a podcast he said he’s doing a 30 week offseason because if you stay on top of everything and your bodies in a good place then why not

Anyway what are you guys doing and what have you found to work best

 

[JimminyCrickets]

Thought this may be an interesting thread to see the different approaches people take as I’ve seen some slight changes to the generic industry approaches of the current era

Just to make apparent I’m talking about none genetic elites I neither care what they do or believe it has any real relevance to the other 99.999% of us

So for the past few years everything seems to have been broken down into quite generic timeframes specifically in the UK at least for example

Compete
6-10 week trt health phase
12-16 week offseason
6-8 week “trt/cruise tidy up/mini diet/health phase/pre prep)
Then either 16-20 week prep or back into
Probably a 6-12 week offseason, trt tidy up phase thing again and then a prep

@bbxtreme made a very good point on his AI thread and made me question the norm of the above basically very situational but if you’re trying to add a significant amount of tissue between shows, going for pro cards / pro shows etc then outside of health issues just having multiple generic cruises especially leading into a prep can be a sure fire way to minimise progress

@TheOtherOne55 and Justin Harris both made me question again the generic “tidy up” thing by saying if you’ve gotten to fat then you’ve messed up just stay leaner and in a lesser surplus for longer and leverage other things to achieve this

Building muscle takes a LOOONG time and if you’re spending 16-20 weeks in a prep and another 20 weeks in trt/tidy up/health phases that leaves like 12 weeks or so of an offseason and talking specifically about myself trying to go from 250lbs on stage to 260/270 and beyond 12 weeks ain’t doing shit

Interestingly I am hearing some of the stereotypical generic coaches changing their minds. Kuba for example believe recently on a podcast he said he’s doing a 30 week offseason because if you stay on top of everything and your bodies in a good place then why not

Anyway what are you guys doing and what have you found to work best

I think it probably depends where you are obviously I'm no expert in this, but you're at a very different stage than a lot of us. You're on the verge and probably one of the biggest guys trying to get those last handful of pounds of muscle.

I've dedicated the last 22 or so weeks to following the approach Luki describes in these handful of posts and that Direct breaks down (Luki replied to his breakdown agreeing with him). And plan to run through the full year with that approach and asses my progress to see if it makes sense or a different approach may be better but I've enjoyed the first half of it. I was coming off a cruise and dieting down before the first 14 week "off-season" and since then I've stayed "ON" and my blood work has looked the best it has. It's great to always have a set deadline and goal and a view of the next phase.

Post in thread 'Luki Offseason - blow up arms at 3" with SYNTHEROL(road do 320lbs)' https://www.professionalmuscle.com/...-syntherol-road-do-320lbs.165508/post-3450509



Post in thread 'Luki Offseason - blow up arms at 3" with SYNTHEROL(road do 320lbs)' https://www.professionalmuscle.com/...-syntherol-road-do-320lbs.165508/post-3450293



Post in thread 'Luki Offseason - blow up arms at 3" with SYNTHEROL(road do 320lbs)' https://www.professionalmuscle.com/...-syntherol-road-do-320lbs.165508/post-3450506

 

[traininsane11]

I think it probably depends where you are obviously I'm no expert in this, but you're at a very different stage than a lot of us. You're on the verge and probably one of the biggest guys trying to get those last handful of pounds of muscle.

I've dedicated the last 22 or so weeks to following the approach Luki describes in these handful of posts and that Direct breaks down (Luki replied to his breakdown agreeing with him). And plan to run through the full year with that approach and asses my progress to see if it makes sense or a different approach may be better but I've enjoyed the first half of it. I was coming off a cruise and dieting down before the first 14 week "off-season" and since then I've stayed "ON" and my blood work has looked the best it has. It's great to always have a set deadline and goal and a view of the next phase.

Post in thread 'Luki Offseason - blow up arms at 3" with SYNTHEROL(road do 320lbs)' https://www.professionalmuscle.com/...-syntherol-road-do-320lbs.165508/post-3450509



Post in thread 'Luki Offseason - blow up arms at 3" with SYNTHEROL(road do 320lbs)' https://www.professionalmuscle.com/...-syntherol-road-do-320lbs.165508/post-3450293



Post in thread 'Luki Offseason - blow up arms at 3" with SYNTHEROL(road do 320lbs)' https://www.professionalmuscle.com/...-syntherol-road-do-320lbs.165508/post-3450506

Totally agree it does depend where you’re at for sure and I’m not sure how many seriously competitive open bodybuilders there are that are active on here so may be a bit to niche of a question for a tonne of input. Also thank you I can definitely say whilst progress is still decent it has slowed down a lot sadly it’s probably safe to say I’m trying to gain my last maybe 20 at the very most 30lbs of muscle so I guess it does slow down considerably

Interesting posts you shared and does make sense to me I think specific “holding/maintenance” phases are pointless I think that should just be the natural conclusion to an offseason before prep let’s say 20 week offseason you may get 12-14 weeks of pretty decent growth then that last 6-8 weeks may be spent just letting your body marinade at that new size so to speak with some much lesser growth and then into prep

Diet breaks and pre prep, preps also seem to just be over complicating and achieving nothing. You’re either growing or in a prep/diet in my opinion and then you have down time aka cruise which doubles up as a rebound post contest and repeat the process

Personally this will be by far the longest offseason I’ve had at about 40 weeks when it concludes as I wanted to make up for a wasted year and also the fact I’ve never had a proper growth period before but going forward more frequent preps and growth periods like Luki outlined will be what I do as I think once you’re past a certain level of size that’s the best way to progress in all areas

 

[JimminyCrickets]

Totally agree it does depend where you’re at for sure and I’m not sure how many seriously competitive open bodybuilders there are that are active on here so may be a bit to niche of a question for a tonne of input. Also thank you I can definitely say whilst progress is still decent it has slowed down a lot sadly it’s probably safe to say I’m trying to gain my last maybe 20 at the very most 30lbs of muscle so I guess it does slow down considerably

Interesting posts you shared and does make sense to me I think specific “holding/maintenance” phases are pointless I think that should just be the natural conclusion to an offseason before prep let’s say 20 week offseason you may get 12-14 weeks of pretty decent growth then that last 6-8 weeks may be spent just letting your body marinade at that new size so to speak with some much lesser growth and then into prep

Diet breaks and pre prep, preps also seem to just be over complicating and achieving nothing. You’re either growing or in a prep/diet in my opinion and then you have down time aka cruise which doubles up as a rebound post contest and repeat the process

Personally this will be by far the longest offseason I’ve had at about 40 weeks when it concludes as I wanted to make up for a wasted year and also the fact I’ve never had a proper growth period before but going forward more frequent preps and growth periods like Luki outlined will be what I do as I think once you’re past a certain level of size that’s the best way to progress in all areas

Ya you'll probably receive limited input but the guys that are active are a wealth of knowledge. (That does not include me btw I'm not in that category at all lmao.)

It's a very logical approach to things. When I first read through it it really made sense. I always liked what Justin did for guys. Blowing them up after dieting them down real hard. He's consistently successful with that approach it seems.

Anyway, appreciate you starting the discussion. Hopefully other more experienced guys can chime in.

It's always fun to read your posts and follow your log. If nothing else you're always starting up the conversation at least.

 

[TeaMan]

Even though I believe that every coach has his own "cookie cutter" approach to things(as we all have the perfect scenario in mind) its definitely depends on athlete. I've never believe in "setting specific time frames" even though I do that with my athletes. What I mean by that? Yes "health phases" are great if you needed, pushing phase are great if you needed, "tidy up phases" are great if you needed - but what about making sure we are healthy and in good shape throught the whole journey? What people are building in their mind the thoughts of "destroying your health for certain amount of time" to just sacrifice progress for x weeks to bring the health to "som sort" of good places? Why we just structure everything smart, keep an eye on our HbA1c, Cystatine C, lipids, inflamatory markers, blood pressure, imaging tests etc to make sure we are set for the win at all time? Its obviously not possible for everyone, as athletes are people and people are making "mistakes" like overeating, not tracing their hydration, pushing themselves too much, or not enough, being lazy and sedentary etc and thats may ruin the whole idea (thats why it depends) - but to me, the strike for being a better is constant, not periodical. If you wanna be great bodybuilder, love the process, love the life style. Then the only "structuring" is around. making sure the timeline for specific shows are in line with our yearly plans.

 

[traininsane11]

Even though I believe that every coach has his own "cookie cutter" approach to things(as we all have the perfect scenario in mind) its definitely depends on athlete. I've never believe in "setting specific time frames" even though I do that with my athletes. What I mean by that? Yes "health phases" are great if you needed, pushing phase are great if you needed, "tidy up phases" are great if you needed - but what about making sure we are healthy and in good shape throught the whole journey? What people are building in their mind the thoughts of "destroying your health for certain amount of time" to just sacrifice progress for x weeks to bring the health to "som sort" of good places? Why we just structure everything smart, keep an eye on our HbA1c, Cystatine C, lipids, inflamatory markers, blood pressure, imaging tests etc to make sure we are set for the win at all time? Its obviously not possible for everyone, as athletes are people and people are making "mistakes" like overeating, not tracing their hydration, pushing themselves too much, or not enough, being lazy and sedentary etc and thats may ruin the whole idea (thats why it depends) - but to me, the strike for being a better is constant, not periodical. If you wanna be great bodybuilder, love the process, love the life style. Then the only "structuring" is around. making sure the timeline for specific shows are in line with our yearly plans.

Yesssssss! Been saying this for ages and people just look at me like I’m insane for going against the generic timelines.

I stand by the statement of if you’re blasting your health into oblivion over 12/16/20+ weeks and then pretend your 6/8/10 week trt/health (LOL “health”) phase is fixing it
YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG .
Just don’t wreck yourself to begin with

Be smart then you don’t constantly have to take 2 steps forward 1.5 steps backward

I’ve said many times my health markers were wayyy better on a peak offseason cycle than they were on trt dosages because I am actively really trying to manage health at the same time

 

[TeaMan]

People just like to "do something" like certain phases, special periods, magic programs - when the truth is bodybuilding is most boring thing on planet earth. If you wanna be better do the same shit that works for longer - thats it. And this is why people are fail over, and over again. Theres no magic, no formulas - time and consistency. You dont need to switch compound, dont need to try new diet, dont need to switch training either - just fck do the hard work, consistently. Keep your digestion in check, health markers in check, sleep in check, hydration in check and wait another 2/5/10/15 years.

 

[Anabolix8]

I like the way people are thinking about offseason and prep transition. The offseason really should be treated as growth time, not just a random break. Use it to build strength, fix weak points, learn how your body responds to higher calories, and get hormones and recovery back in a good place before you start dieting hard again.

If you just crash diet, jump straight into prep, and never let your body rebound, you won’t actually improve year to year. Slowly building calories back up, backing off cardio, and focusing on muscle and performance sets you up for better prep results. From there the transition into prep becomes a controlled process where you adjust calories and training based on where you’re actually starting from rather than reacting at the last minute.

Thought this may be an interesting thread to see the different approaches people take as I’ve seen some slight changes to the generic industry approaches of the current era

Just to make apparent I’m talking about none genetic elites I neither care what they do or believe it has any real relevance to the other 99.999% of us

So for the past few years everything seems to have been broken down into quite generic timeframes specifically in the UK at least for example

Compete
6-10 week trt health phase
12-16 week offseason
6-8 week “trt/cruise tidy up/mini diet/health phase/pre prep)
Then either 16-20 week prep or back into
Probably a 6-12 week offseason, trt tidy up phase thing again and then a prep

@bbxtreme made a very good point on his AI thread and made me question the norm of the above basically very situational but if you’re trying to add a significant amount of tissue between shows, going for pro cards / pro shows etc then outside of health issues just having multiple generic cruises especially leading into a prep can be a sure fire way to minimise progress

@TheOtherOne55 and Justin Harris both made me question again the generic “tidy up” thing by saying if you’ve gotten to fat then you’ve messed up just stay leaner and in a lesser surplus for longer and leverage other things to achieve this

Building muscle takes a LOOONG time and if you’re spending 16-20 weeks in a prep and another 20 weeks in trt/tidy up/health phases that leaves like 12 weeks or so of an offseason and talking specifically about myself trying to go from 250lbs on stage to 260/270 and beyond 12 weeks ain’t doing shit

Interestingly I am hearing some of the stereotypical generic coaches changing their minds. Kuba for example believe recently on a podcast he said he’s doing a 30 week offseason because if you stay on top of everything and your bodies in a good place then why not

Anyway what are you guys doing and what have you found to work best

 

[TheOtherOne55]

People just like to "do something" like certain phases, special periods, magic programs - when the truth is bodybuilding is most boring thing on planet earth. If you wanna be better do the same shit that works for longer - thats it. And this is why people are fail over, and over again. Theres no magic, no formulas - time and consistency. You dont need to switch compound, dont need to try new diet, dont need to switch training either - just fck do the hard work, consistently. Keep your digestion in check, health markers in check, sleep in check, hydration in check and wait another 2/5/10/15 years.

This is dead on. And i feel like 90% of guys, and that INCLUDES a lot of competing BBers, fail to realize this.
They want the secret, the special sauce, the new split, the reallll info, when in reality, it juuust comes down to the long game...and the long game isn't sexy at all. It's fuckin boring and it requires you doing the same thing, day in and day out, for extremely long periods of time.
THAT'S where most guys fail. Very few people can kinda do the same shit over and over and over again. But if you can...there is a 99% chance you can and will transform yourself into a freak.

Back to the OG @traininsane11 question — its super hard to put time constraints on stuff. With me, and the random guys i coach, i kinda give a "it depends" answer to a lot of the timeline stuff. Because, we just dont know. You MAY want a cruise period, you might not. You might NEED a health phase, you might not. Its all up in the air until we get around to that time of the year. Yes we can say that IF EVERYTHING GOES RIGHT and EVERYTHING IS FIRING, we can hit this show and have perfect 16 weeks of dieting, no fatigue, no injuries, etc. But we all know shit goes sideways in our life. We may need 20 weeks for the diet. We may neeed like 4 weeks of kinda maintenance just to mentally prepare for prep. That are just the reality of things. Its hard to plan.

Personally, i kind of like a 4-6 week period right before prep to mentally prepare myself for the "its motherfuckin go time" side of prepping for a show. There are no fuckin breaks in the 16-20 weeks of dieting, thats realll. And i know myself and i want to be 100% dialed in during that time. So 4 weeks of kinda maintenance, i wouldnt call it a cruise period, but just backing off a bitttt maybe on drugs and fatigue and cardio, alll of it....suits me and suits the handful of guys i help to diet down hard.

 

[luki7788]

I’ve been saying this for years. Sure, my approach has evolved a bit over time, but for me, if you’re a bodybuilder and you truly live this lifestyle, there’s really no such thing as a strict off-season or prep
You train all year to look good. There’s no real reason to get fat in the off-season or to need constant mini-cuts. If you live the lifestyle year-round and don’t eat huge calorie surpluses just to add useless weight and push bodyweight to 300–320+ lbs, you don’t need that to grow real muscle or build a better physique.
I’m glad to see that more people are starting to understand this and are changing how they approach the off-season. The idea is simple: you live the same way all year. The only time you really need a hard cut is when you’re preparing for a show. If you stay in good shape year-round, 8–10 weeks is enough to be stage-ready.
That means staying lean all year, around 8–9% body fat, no excessive water retention, good blood pressure, good health markers, and no need to push gear hard all the time. There are phases where you push more, and phases where you pull back.

For example, during contest prep, especially toward the end, you use harsher compounds like tren or orals and higher doses. The only time I really drop gear very low – sometimes to around 500 mg total, either just test or test with Primo, EQ, or Mast – is right after a show. Even though most of my athletes have good blood work post-show, I still lower doses for at least 4–6 weeks to give the body a break from high hormones and oxidative stress that doesn’t always show up in blood tests.
During that period, if someone can afford it, I like to run GH high and add IGF. The idea is to use different growth pathways, not just androgens. Post-show, the body is extremely responsive and wants to grow, even on lower androgen doses. Add high GH, IGF, a good insulin protocol, and you can get a great rebound while staying very healthy. Later, you can slowly increase doses again if needed.

Of course, this looks a bit different for someone who already has enough size and just wants to refine their physique versus someone who still needs to add 15 kg of muscle. But the differences are not as extreme as people think.

I could talk about this all day, but the reality is that most people’s mindset probably won’t change anyway.

 

[traininsane11]

It’s nice to see I’m not wildly off with my thinking

I know I keep referencing the UK scene but that’s what I see primarily and I think we created the spreadsheet bodybuilder/coach

Like it’s super standard that in January for example for a coach to map out your full 12 month plan like
6 weeks mini diet
14 week offseason
8 week health phase
6 week pre prep phase
20 week prep
Etc etc

Which I realise if your competing you need some form of timeline but even for none competitors this will be the same just a diet instead of prep

Just seems backwards to plan when and how long exactly you will need a “health phase” (which in itself is amusing), a pre prep, prep (whatever the fuck that is) and everything else like why wouldn’t
You just either be doing all you can to stay in a growth “phase” for as long as possible until you want to diet or prep

99.9999% of us never achieve the size we want or need if competitive yet we box ourselves (or our coaches do) into these 3-4 month offseasons titrating our test from 150-300mg and our primo from 200mg-1g and expect to be “massif bro”

I think as a broad overall thing it’s obvious what it takes to get huge (minus the #1 thing genetics) but because it takes 5/10/15 years no one can be arsed and they need instant gratification hence why men’s physique classes and classic physique run at probably 20-1 against open class BB competitor wise at most uk amateur shows and probably 100-1 as an industry general

If you can step on stage at 180lbs and be competetive it’s gonna take wayyyy less time than needing to be 250lbs

Going off track but guess it just sums up society as a whole “what reward can I get asap for minimal effort”

We need to make bodybuilding great again

I wear this T-shirt to every bodybuilding event I go to , to make my point

 

[luki7788]

It’s nice to see I’m not wildly off with my thinking

I know I keep referencing the UK scene but that’s what I see primarily and I think we created the spreadsheet bodybuilder/coach

Like it’s super standard that in January for example for a coach to map out your full 12 month plan like
6 weeks mini diet
14 week offseason
8 week health phase
6 week pre prep phase
20 week prep
Etc etc

Which I realise if your competing you need some form of timeline but even for none competitors this will be the same just a diet instead of prep

Just seems backwards to plan when and how long exactly you will need a “health phase” (which in itself is amusing), a pre prep, prep (whatever the fuck that is) and everything else like why wouldn’t
You just either be doing all you can to stay in a growth “phase” for as long as possible until you want to diet or prep

99.9999% of us never achieve the size we want or need if competitive yet we box ourselves (or our coaches do) into these 3-4 month offseasons titrating our test from 150-300mg and our primo from 200mg-1g and expect to be “massif bro”

I think as a broad overall thing it’s obvious what it takes to get huge (minus the #1 thing genetics) but because it takes 5/10/15 years no one can be arsed and they need instant gratification hence why men’s physique classes and classic physique run at probably 20-1 against open class BB competitor wise at most uk amateur shows and probably 100-1 as an industry general

If you can step on stage at 180lbs and be competetive it’s gonna take wayyyy less time than needing to be 250lbs

Going off track but guess it just sums up society as a whole “what reward can I get asap for minimal effort”

We need to make bodybuilding great again

I wear this T-shirt to every bodybuilding event I go to , to make my point

View attachment 244648

I already write this for you but must do it again - you think to much

Just do what you think is right because you won't avoid making mistakes anyway.

 

[traininsane11]

I already write this for you but must do it again - you think to much

Just do what you think is right because you won't avoid making mistakes anyway.

This is a very valid point!

Having a knowledgable coach can be a massive help and probably get you to your goal much faster

But there’s something fun and rewarding about learning for yourself and finding out through trial and error and you’d probably end up being a better coach for it maybe not a better bodybuilder though due to time wasted

 

[bbxtreme]

There’s already been so many good answers so I’ll say what has gone through my head since I understood what it really took at this level-

It’s all one big prep until I retire from competing.

That is my mindset and life until I am done. And if someone isn’t willing to do that then do this as a hobby because the guys who win (that aren’t the genetic elite) have this same mindset.

There are no “phases”, we simply pivot based upon our show dates and health.

 

[traininsane11]

There’s already been so many good answers so I’ll say what has gone through my head since I understood what it really took at this level-

It’s all one big prep until I retire from competing.

That is my mindset and life until I am done. And if someone isn’t willing to do that then do this as a hobby because the guys who win (that aren’t the genetic elite) have this same mindset.

There are no “phases”, we simply pivot based upon our show dates and health.

I think this about sums it up for those wanting to push their absolute limits competitively

Maybe Ronnie did take 3 months off bodybuilding

Maybe many of the genetic elite who are already at the top level have extended runs on trt and back off training and bodybuilding in general

If you’re the other 99.999% good luck doing that and progressing.
I put in 100% a 100% of the time and I still suck I couldn’t even imagine putting in any less

Also totally agree you’re either trying to grow or get peeled and win a show and the reality of absolutely maxing that at its most doesn’t include trt/health/diet/tidy up/pre prep phases.

Talking STRICTLY from a progress point of view not what’s most healthy etc (still believe we can be a lot more on top of it whilst pushing mind you as opposed to what a lot do or don’t do in this case)

I guess the simple and harsh reality makes a hard selling point for coaches and their fancy spreadsheets with a different phase each month and dropping back to trt every time something’s off.
Not many wanna buy into 10 years of hardcore bodybuilding if they knew the reality at least

I told @TheOtherOne55 about this (and again it’s not all drugs BUT it’s definitely not in the UK scene and nearly everyone’s small….go figure” But 3 of the top UK coaches said openly if you’re a UK coach and you push gear you WILL be outed and won’t be coaching for long as it’s a small community and ALL the main coaches talk so no one will dare do it because it’s the end from a business point of view this was after saying American coaches are literally the worst coaches going and just drug and macro pushes with no knowledge

 

[Thebiggestdumbass]

It’s all one big prep until I retire from competing.

This mind set had helped me make strides in my physique over the past 2 years.

No extra free meals, hitting every cardio session, food weighed to the exact gram every day. The list goes on but if your not a genetic elite this is what it takes to be a good bodybuilder

 

[Simon90]

It’s nice to see I’m not wildly off with my thinking

I know I keep referencing the UK scene but that’s what I see primarily and I think we created the spreadsheet bodybuilder/coach

Like it’s super standard that in January for example for a coach to map out your full 12 month plan like
6 weeks mini diet
14 week offseason
8 week health phase
6 week pre prep phase
20 week prep
Etc etc

Which I realise if your competing you need some form of timeline but even for none competitors this will be the same just a diet instead of prep

Just seems backwards to plan when and how long exactly you will need a “health phase” (which in itself is amusing), a pre prep, prep (whatever the fuck that is) and everything else like why wouldn’t
You just either be doing all you can to stay in a growth “phase” for as long as possible until you want to diet or prep

99.9999% of us never achieve the size we want or need if competitive yet we box ourselves (or our coaches do) into these 3-4 month offseasons titrating our test from 150-300mg and our primo from 200mg-1g and expect to be “massif bro”

I think as a broad overall thing it’s obvious what it takes to get huge (minus the #1 thing genetics) but because it takes 5/10/15 years no one can be arsed and they need instant gratification hence why men’s physique classes and classic physique run at probably 20-1 against open class BB competitor wise at most uk amateur shows and probably 100-1 as an industry general

If you can step on stage at 180lbs and be competetive it’s gonna take wayyyy less time than needing to be 250lbs

Going off track but guess it just sums up society as a whole “what reward can I get asap for minimal effort”

We need to make bodybuilding great again

I wear this T-shirt to every bodybuilding event I go to , to make my point

View attachment 244648

Agree with everything here. I won't be going back on stage for atleast another year. More like 2 atleast. I wanna be going back on stage with 30lbs more weight really so I'll take as long as I need whether it be 2 years or 4 ill do what needs to be done.

The uk atm seems especially bad for bodybuilders competing every year yet hardly making any progress. I'm sure you know the type as they're all over YouTube and Instagram. Ego, validation, content to put on Instagram to stay relevant, whatever the reasons are they do it are not the right ones. I do believe if it wasn't for social media then a lot of people woukdn't be doing this. Instant gratification is the killer of success after all.

I'm not a big guy, but the fact is I'm almost always the biggest in any gym I go too here now. And I think that is quite pathetic tbh. It's very rare I see someone bigger. Where as in other countries it's a different ball game.

That tshirt is class! Haha I want one

 

[traininsane11]

Agree with everything here. I won't be going back on stage for atleast another year. More like 2 atleast. I wanna be going back on stage with 30lbs more weight really so I'll take as long as I need whether it be 2 years or 4 ill do what needs to be done.

The uk atm seems especially bad for bodybuilders competing every year yet hardly making any progress. I'm sure you know the type as they're all over YouTube and Instagram. Ego, validation, content to put on Instagram to stay relevant, whatever the reasons are they do it are not the right ones. I do believe if it wasn't for social media then a lot of people woukdn't be doing this. Instant gratification is the killer of success after all.

I'm not a big guy, but the fact is I'm almost always the biggest in any gym I go too here now. And I think that is quite pathetic tbh. It's very rare I see someone bigger. Where as in other countries it's a different ball game.

That tshirt is class! Haha I want one

I can relate to this fully!

So I was in (still am to a degree) the exact same mindset as you even though everyone has been telling me I’m wrong (usually doesn’t change my mind tbf ) but the things that changed my mind are the following

1: At 5ft11 and most likely in the 260’s on stage size probably wouldn’t be the reason I’d lose a show so the things that would be would only get better by competing

2: I would also like to reach 270-280 on stage but I realise there’s a huge chance I don’t have the genetics to make this a reality so if I take a prolonged amount of time off competing to chase muscle I’m literally never going to gain I just wasted time and also I don’t require that muscle to win amateur shows or potentially even at a low pro level so it would be like getting a Ferrari before learning to drive yeah it’s nice to have and may be required at some point but not right now so that time (money) could be spent working my way up the competitive ranks whilst still attempting to gain that size on the journey

3: Finally we are one unfortunate incident from never stepping on stage again so pushing it back by years increases the likelihood of this happening (just by the nature of time)

None of that may align with your thoughts at all but it’s always nice to see another point of view

I also couldn’t agree more on the state of
Social media and bodybuilding people just chase the ‘likes’ etc and competing yields that and for some it’s even financially rewarding so if you’re not even that much into bodybuilding AND can achieve some level of fame and fortune by just being smaller and in shape the drive to get huge is none existent because seemingly most 14-20 year olds don’t even want that anyone so you’d lose viewers and that demographic is the biggest consumer by far

My personal opinion on your physique is you could clean up at most amateur shows with the size and insane condition
You have right now

 

[traininsane11]

Where you get that shirt at ? lol

I had it custom printed

 

[Swifto]

Nice

Are you going to behave yourself like an adult here?