Post Show- your experiences?

[OldManLogan]

Alright, coming out of my first contest prep and show, following my coach’s advice- but I’m curious, what have your post show recovery and growth experiences been like? Anything memorable? I imagine each prep and contest is different for each of us.

Any fun stories, tips or info you want to share? Do you approach this as an opportunity for growth? Health and recovery? Post away!

 

[Thebiggestdumbass]

My first one started a binge cycle that lasted 2 months. I would stick to my diet for 2-3 days then go off the rails and eat till I was sick. Just a lack of will power and some serious food focus

Kind of funny looking back but wasted a really good opportunity for growth since I was pretty over dieted

 

[Sectør]

Alright, coming out of my first contest prep and show, following my coach’s advice- but I’m curious, what have your post show recovery and growth experiences been like? Anything memorable? I imagine each prep and contest is different for each of us.

Any fun stories, tips or info you want to share? Do you approach this as an opportunity for growth? Health and recovery? Post away!

I’ve seen kind of two opposite approaches

1) where people try to aggressively rebound and push pretty hard on the weight and rebound, although this can lead to a lot of water retention and sides, plus the drugs usually stay in to try to maximize the muscle gain (this is after you beat your body to crap during prep and bloodwork is probably horrible after all the oral usage)

The second, I’d say better approach is to slowly reverse and taper things down/up, usually changing 1 variable at a time. Such as keeping cardio consistent, and maybe ramping off the fat burners like Clen/slu and other compounds while slowly tapering calories back up. This method usually leads to less water retention and overall fat gain, so you can keep your body lean, in a very insulin sensitive state state as you slowly taper cardio down and carbs/food up.

I think the best thing I to just not go too crazy binging on heavy carb/fat meals and fried food and all that stuff. You’ll kind of put your growth phase off to a bad start and won’t be able to grow as long before having to a mini cut

 

[traininsane11]

For myself I tried to maximise the “rebound” phase very similarly to the Justin Harris style method

Next time around and how I now believe is best to approach it

For the 4-6 weeks post show

Drugs down to cruise dosages (that amount being person dependent)

Taper off fat burners

Bump food up to just above maintainence

Keep some cardio in relative to what you were doing

Training I don’t see a need to alter this

After 4-6 weeks assuming health is good then I believe is a good time to begin the offseason properly as using the higher food and less overall stress on your body for then past 4-6 weeks will see most rebound nicely

 

[Growthman]

Thanks for posting this, hoping to get some help from the board members.

I competed 20 days ago, first time in 8 years, 10 shows prior to that +/-. I’ve never experienced hunger like this time. Aside from adding 250-300g clean carbs per day (was down to 25-50 the last few weeks pre contest), I’ve stuck to a clean diet 80% of the time. Weight hasn’t gone up more than 3-5 lbs (until thanksgiving prob)

But my appetite is out of control. Any tips on controlling it? Also, seems like the last 4 weeks of prep have been erased condition-wise, sadly. Face isn’t as carved, lower back fat/water is back to where it was 4+ weeks out.

Stopped all PED’s cept for anavar a week out been in trt 150-175mg/wk since. Probably going to jump to 200-250/week. Thoughts on this? Prep PED’s were nothing really, masters guy here.

Any tips on staying lean?

 

[Growthman]

For myself I tried to maximise the “rebound” phase very similarly to the Justin Harris style method

Next time around and how I now believe is best to approach it

For the 4-6 weeks post show

Drugs down to cruise dosages (that amount being person dependent)

Taper off fat burners

Bump food up to just above maintainence

Keep some cardio in relative to what you were doing

Training I don’t see a need to alter this

After 4-6 weeks assuming health is good then I believe is a good time to begin the offseason properly as using the higher food and less overall stress on your body for then past 4-6 weeks will see most rebound nicely

Do you get much softer with the slight bump in food and trt?

 

[Growthman]

Also curious what you guys who stay lean do for thanksgiving? Just one meal or a few days of leftovers? Asking bc I hate wasting food but want to stay as lean as possible.

 

[Thebiggestdumbass]

For myself I tried to maximise the “rebound” phase very similarly to the Justin Harris style method

Next time around and how I now believe is best to approach it

For the 4-6 weeks post show

Drugs down to cruise dosages (that amount being person dependent)

Taper off fat burners

Bump food up to just above maintainence

Keep some cardio in relative to what you were doing

Training I don’t see a need to alter this

After 4-6 weeks assuming health is good then I believe is a good time to begin the offseason properly as using the higher food and less overall stress on your body for then past 4-6 weeks will see most rebound nicely

Coach rebounded me Justin Harris style this go around and it worked insanely well for reducing food focus quickly but we had to pull back after 11 weeks to cut a little fluff off.

Why the change in approach for your next go around

 

[TheOtherOne55]

I get it, it comes with the territory. People SEE the opposite ends of the spectrum with either RAPID fat gain and binges and/or guys adding back in 20g of carbs per week (that shit sucks). But...you cannn do it both ways or at least find a middle ground.

Its similar to what @traininsane11 said. Justin's protocol — and honestly, John Meadows protocol way back was very similar as well. Basically, you NEED to get your body weight out of the depths of contest single digits quick. So you can train (the thing you love), so you dont get injured, so you dont binge. But that also doesnt mean you need to get to 15% fatty quick either. So the first week or so had usually been a pretty significant increase in carbs, gain glycogen quickly and fill out. THRU HEALTHY FOODS...not pizza and burgers. Justin usually does this with his high days, several high days in a row (all quality food). This big push in cals also curbs the desire to binge ridiculously well. So your killing 2 birds with one stone, filling back out so you can train hard AND killing all desires to eat your arm off.
Without giving too much away, its basically about tapering off fat burners, keeping cardio in and making small adjustments to food.

In terms of the gear, i do think you can make some great gains of a lower amount of gear. You dont NEED to be running full blast dosages, but maybe 1/2 of that can sustain you for 6-8 weeks of solid progress with food and your overall sensitivity driving you forward. If you are playing your cards right, you can easily be 25lbs+ up and the same level of bodyfat in 4-8 weeks.

One more thing. Each prep is entirely different - fat loss and suffering wise as well as the post show adjustment. Ive had preps where i did these same protocols and weight felt "hard" to put on. The bodyweight wasnt trending like i thought it would. I was 3-4 weeks post show and like 9lbs up. And this year i was 2 weeks post show and easilllly 20lbs up. Why? i have no idea, i felt the same depletion and looked the same level of lean. So who knows.

Last thought. I think this needs to be done IMMEDIATELY post show. If you are reading this and 3-4 weeks post shwo, you already sliiightly lost the edge. The extreme depletion and pendulum swing happens quick, so throwing way high food when you are 4 weeks out, out of nowhere, attempting to do this, will not work. You kinda already got on the horse and you gotta ride it.

 

[Thebiggestdumbass]

Thanks for posting this, hoping to get some help from the board members.

I competed 20 days ago, first time in 8 years, 10 shows prior to that +/-. I’ve never experienced hunger like this time. Aside from adding 250-300g clean carbs per day (was down to 25-50 the last few weeks pre contest), I’ve stuck to a clean diet 80% of the time. Weight hasn’t gone up more than 3-5 lbs (until thanksgiving prob)

But my appetite is out of control. Any tips on controlling it? Also, seems like the last 4 weeks of prep have been erased condition-wise, sadly. Face isn’t as carved, lower back fat/water is back to where it was 4+ weeks out.

Stopped all PED’s cept for anavar a week out been in trt 150-175mg/wk since. Probably going to jump to 200-250/week. Thoughts on this? Prep PED’s were nothing really, masters guy here.

Any tips on staying lean?

There are much more experienced dudes who probably have better input but what I found works for me is high volume foods, potato’s if they digest well, sweet potato’s, oats etc. fruits for “sweets” switch up protein sources for variety.

But realistically hungers going to be high no matter what

 

[traininsane11]

Do you get much softer with the slight bump in food and trt?

If I dropped to legit TRT then probably as it would be dropping down from the 2-3G range which I personally wouldn’t do unless health called for it as it’s just to big of a swing back and forth

However if you’re dropping to TRT from like 600-800mg then a different story most likely

It’s always hard to give generalised advice as all this stuff is super super individual

 

[traininsane11]

Coach rebounded me Justin Harris style this go around and it worked insanely well for reducing food focus quickly but we had to pull back after 11 weeks to cut a little fluff off.

Why the change in approach for your next go around

I think it makes it hard to have cruise periods which once you’re past a certain
Level of gear is needed (of course dose relative cruises) otherwise you’re down to like 1 cruise period at the end of offseason

For me best 2 times are 4-8 weeks post contest and 4-8 weeks end of offseason pre prep

Then I think it kinda cuts your progress short like if within a few weeks you’re at maximum food and gear what do you do for the next 16-20 weeks? Pull back on gear and food? That doesn’t sound very progressive lol

For me I believe it’s about sustainability you need to begin an offseason with a plan that you can sustain and progress for a minimum of 16-20 weeks without having to pull back on any aspect

 

[bbxtreme]

Also curious what you guys who stay lean do for thanksgiving? Just one meal or a few days of leftovers? Asking bc I hate wasting food but want to stay as lean as possible.

This depends on your goal. Are you competing just to compete, or are you competing because you want a pro card and to be a top name.

Holidays are a “free meal” just like any other time of year for top level guys. And if there in prep, it’s a regular meal on the plan. You won’t be doing yourself any favors by going buffet style for days other than a week or two of fixing your GI. Be reasonable and at clean food. Make better choices. Now if this is a hobby then enjoy yourself within reason.

On your hunger and food noise- use Reta or Tirz as this is what they are for. This is the most important time to kill out food noise.

Which leads to me to the OP topic- control the rebound. Have a free meal with the family and then get back to business. The more garbage you eat, the more you will crave it. Most guys go off the rails and don’t control their rebound and get fat while missing their prime period to gain new tissue.

Keep dosages low, keep food clean and simply reverse diet. Keep cardio in and don’t even think about free meals until your rebound is over. Little hack- if you do that you’ll likely not even care so much about free meals.

I’ll also add that I’ve never seen a guy “blow up” and get fat in a rebound by pushing clean food and calories too hard. If you want to push hard just make sure it’s clean sources. Eat crap and you’ll look like crap.

Again, this is for guys pushing for a win or card. If you’ve got crazy genetics or this is a hobby enjoy yourself within reason.

 

[bbxtreme]

Last thought. I think this needs to be done IMMEDIATELY post show. If you are reading this and 3-4 weeks post shwo, you already sliiightly lost the edge. The extreme depletion and pendulum swing happens quick, so throwing way high food when you are 4 weeks out, out of nowhere, attempting to do this, will not work. You kinda already got on the horse and you gotta ride it.

This . If someone is 4 weeks past their show and they haven’t controlled the rebound they need to go back to their baseline diet for a week or two, clean up and restart. I remember Meadow’s saying that years ago and is so true.

 

[Mountolympus]

Can you explain to me more specifically what the Justin Harris rebound consists of? What macro percentages should I follow? I have a show next Monday and I’d like to try it

 

[graybass]

OK a funny story. My girl is a national level figure competitor. Her second year we went a little nuts post show pig out (I always dieted with her no cheats) Day after we ate way too much salt. By Tuesday she was up 25 lbs! Competed at 132, 5'6" We couldn't believe it! She had another show in 6 weeks! Oh No! So we did 1 hour cardio twice a day till just before show. She lost every pound. Lesson well learned! She did end up bigger and more cut then ever! Was a rough experience!

 

[traininsane11]

Can you explain to me more specifically what the Justin Harris rebound consists of? What macro percentages should I follow? I have a show next Monday and I’d like to try it

Google / YouTube

 

[Aikman56]

For myself I tried to maximise the “rebound” phase very similarly to the Justin Harris style method

Next time around and how I now believe is best to approach it

For the 4-6 weeks post show

Drugs down to cruise dosages (that amount being person dependent)

Taper off fat burners

Bump food up to just above maintainence

Keep some cardio in relative to what you were doing

Training I don’t see a need to alter this

After 4-6 weeks assuming health is good then I believe is a good time to begin the offseason properly as using the higher food and less overall stress on your body for then past 4-6 weeks will see most rebound nicely

This is pretty much exactly what I did.

I ate like an asshole for 24 hours, then did protein/veg Tue-Fri.

Then up to maintenance +10%.

Stopped all fat burners except ECAY…tapered that down over 3-4 weeks.

Went down to 600 Test E/ 400 Mast E.

Had protein/veg on rest days, 550g carbs on 3 training days, 1000-1200g carbs on 2 training days.

10,000 steps daily.

Did this 8 weeks, then 6 weeks HRT, dropping carbs to 450g training days, 100g on rest days, no high days.

Three pics in the left, end of 8-week rebound. 2 on the right, Friday & yesterday, end of HRT.

 

[AllOkJumpmaster]

This is pretty much exactly what I did.

I ate like an asshole for 24 hours, then did protein/veg Tue-Fri.

Then up to maintenance +10%.

Stopped all fat burners except ECAY…tapered that down over 3-4 weeks.

Went down to 600 Test E/ 400 Mast E.

Had protein/veg on rest days, 550g carbs on 3 training days, 1000-1200g carbs on 2 training days.

10,000 steps daily.

Did this 8 weeks, then 6 weeks HRT, dropping carbs to 450g training days, 100g on rest days, no high days.

Three pics in the left, end of 8-week rebound. 2 on the right, Friday & yesterday, end of HRT.

Looking good Aikman

 

[npcout]

Lots of good advice here.

The best thing I ever did post show, was not cut diuretics cold turkey. I always slowly weaned them, the post show water retention rebound is not healthy when you eat like crap for a day or two.

Obviously that’s depending on if you use them and eat like that, but I did and I felt so much better slowly tapering them. Mostly hctz, dose to 6.25mg daily for the week after.