Navigating the post contest period can be a tricky time for most if not all competitors. You've put your body through a lot getting down to contest levels of body fat and the price of getting that lean is not without consequence. Detailed below are the things you can typically expect to experience post show.
What to expect
Bingeing and over eating
I have put a lot of competitors through contest preps and I have been through quite a few myself. I can say at this point I haven't come across a single competitor (including myself) who hasn't experienced periods of constant or intermittent over eating post show. This seems to be independent of the post show plan I put in place. I have structured plans in detail in all different types of ways, rigid ones, very flexible ones and everything in between. The end result is ultimately always that I see episodes of over eating. In most cases I see this go on for several weeks until the person kind of "gets it out of their system" and they actually want to "eat healthy" again.
In my opinion this comes down to several factors:
1) Appetite is usually sky high for a while after a period of chronic calorie restriction even though more food is being consumed (I was traveling after my last show and I actually started buying vegetables and fruit to keep in my hotel room at night so that I would eat that rather than ice cream or cookies. I knew I should have been full but I just felt like eating, more and more and more).
2) Psychologically people are very food focused at this stage and often feel like they have to make up for all the foods they missed out on during contest prep. Many people will actually line up a list of foods or a list of restaurants they are going to go to after they are finished prepping.
3) There are now no more pending conditions which require restriction or moderation. That is, you've been dieting hard for months for this one show, or series of shows and now that they are done you have no immediate reason to not eat as much as you want, whenever you want.
4) If you didn't do so well in your shows, were unhappy with how you looked or are a bit lost for direction now that they are over then you may take solace in eating delicious foods and/or a large amount of food.
So don't beat yourself up if you do happen to binge after a show. I literally have not come across anyone at this point in time who has been able to perfectly reverse out of a bodybuilding season. If you binge post contest you are not a failure, you are normal.
Though I haven't come across one yet, I think it is possible for some people to navigate this period in a structured manner. I think that I could probably do it myself if I were to do a season purely in Australia where I have access to ideal circumstances like cooking facilities and am not tempted to any great degree by delicious foods. No doubt I would still struggle and I only think I could do it in this context because I am very self disciplined. However what usually happens is I end up doing a show or two over in the USA to round out my season and afterwards I tend to then travel for a few weeks and enjoy the food as part of that experience of traveling (usually without cooking facilities). It might not be the best choice nutritionally to do this but I guess who is going to go to travel to the USA to compete and then restrict themselves from experiencing the food of that region afterwards? Not this guy! So in my case, no regrets there.
Gradual recovery
I suppose what we would like to happen post show is that we start eating "normal" amounts of food again and all the adaptations that we have incurred along the way to getting shredded normalise straight away. And indeed this does tend to happen with some variables. In my case for example my energy levels, mood and libido all recovered very quickly. However this is not the case for all variables. Some things can take a lot longer to return to normal eg strength, appetite, libido, food related behaviours, psychological factors.
It might take many months until you feel normal again after completing a contest season. In my case and in most cases that I have observed, it tends to take around half the time you prepped. So if you prepped for six months, you'll probably be feeling pretty good three months post show. Though this is not a hard and fast rule.
I also want to note that not only does the length of recovery time tend to vary between individuals but that each variable that has been affected can recover at different rates for different people. For example some people might experience very few problems with food focus and appetite after two to three weeks, while others might still be going nuts about food three months after their contest season ends. While one person's libido may recover in one month, another's might take two to three month's to fully return to normal.
In my experience the things that may have been disturbed which you will see return to normal over time are (in no particular order):
- energy levels
- mood
- hormone levels, libido and menstrual cycle
- appetite
- mentality and behaviours relating to food
- body fat levels
- body weight
- muscle mass
- gym performance/strength
- disturbed digestion
- non food related psychological issues experienced during contest prep eg anxiety
- sleep
- metabolism
Feeling lost
It's not uncommon to lack direction and goals after completing a contest season. For many months the competitor's life has revolved around preparing for this one day and before you know it, it's all over. Often afterwards the competitor is left not really knowing what to do next because they have been so focused on that one massive day, very little thought goes into what the plan is going to be after the contests are over. Also because life has been so uber focused on bodybuilding for the past 6 plus months, in some cases the competitor can almost get sick of bodybuilding or aspects of it. The result can be spinning wheels for months, losing interest in training and diet, regressing in regards to physique or taking up related disciplines like powerlifting.
Body image related psychology
I think that in the case of competitors who have truly gotten contest lean we can agree that body fat levels that low are not something which are sustainable for various reasons. After a contest season body fat needs to be put back on. But having said that, it can be really difficult dealing with losing that level of conditioning and watching yourself smooth over after having worked so hard for a long period of time to achieve it. This can be compounded because having reached such a level of condition, anything above that can now feel "fat". In fact very lean and healthy body fat levels can now essentially make some competitors feel fat even though they are very normal or perhaps actually much leaner than average. So just keep in mind that these kinds of things can be things you experience fear or anxiety over.
How to deal with it
Post contest plan
The most important thing to have is a post contest plan. This plan needs to be realistic and specific. The athlete needs to be able to carry out the plan and they need to know exactly how they are going to go about it. It also needs to be something which is discussed between the coach and competitor in advance so as to set clear expectations of what is going to happen and how it is going to be carried out. This plan needs to be agreed upon by both parties so that both are on the same page prior to executing it.
If a specific plan is not set, the post contest period can become treacherous ground especially for the inexperienced competitor. The competitor is essentially left goalless and without direction or structure after coming off a period which has been extremely goal oriented and structured. At the same time the competitor has a lot to deal with in terms of physical and psychological disturbances related to the diet, their body image, how they did in their show(s) etc.
One thing I feel should be a priority in the post contest plan is recovery. This is something that should take precedence over things like maintaining a lean body composition. Context is important here and I'm not saying staying (relatively) lean isn't desirable but we cannot stay contest lean for a prolonged period of time and recovery of all the things that have happened to the body over the course of the prep is something that should be focused on more than maintaining a six pack.
Setting goals
It's really important to set some goals for after the show before the end of the contest season is reached. This goes hand in hand with building the post contest plan. Goals should be in relation to nutrition, recovery, body composition, physique improvements, training and even areas in life outside of bodybuilding and fitness. If thought goes into all these things and at least some vague goals are set in relation to them, it makes for a well constructed plan and a smooth transition into the improvement season and normal life. It also just makes the process more efficient in regards to progress and avoids time wasting.
Self discipline
This is really something that is under rated. Anybody who has completed a contest prep and gotten shredded has a lot of self discipline because it takes a lot to get through a prep and deal with all those sacrifices and challenges along the way. Along the same lines, one of the elements of a successful post show period is discipline. It's going to require similar or greater levels of self discipline than the contest prep itself to stay on track and execute a reverse diet/recovery diet in a successful manner. Applying willpower and disciplining yourself is a powerful tool in your arsenal and I think competitive bodybuilders can take what they've learned in that regard from the contest prep period to the post contest period.
Patience
Patience is a quality that is going to be necessary for navigating the post contest window. This is because as I have discussed previously, some of the less than desirable adaptations that have occurred during a contest prep can take a long time to return to normal. For example if you were squatting 150 kg during your previous off season and at the end of your prep you are squatting 110 kg, you cannot expect to be squatting 150 kg immediately post contest. It is likely to take a while until your strength increases back to that previous level. This is kind of logical in the sense that when you were prepping your strength would have dropped down gradually rather than plummeting suddenly from 150 kg to 110 kg. So along the same lines it's going to take time for that strength to gradually build back up as your muscle mass increases, body weight increases and your leverages improve. This is of course the case for many other variables too. Knowing roughly what to expect can help put your mind at ease so that you can focus on controlling what you can and being patient about what you cannot.
Dealing with body image related psychology
In this case I think the biggest thing is being educated about what to expect. Just being aware that you may experience things like anxiety about changes in body composition away from contest shape post show is half the battle won. Trying to relax and go with the process with the understanding that it is completely normal to lose that super lean condition is a good idea. This is the general attitude and approach I would suggest taking. As your body changes it is something which usually you should adjust to mentally. Of course if it remains an ongoing issue then you should consider seeking help from a psychological health professional.
The post contest period is not something that is always easily dealt with. Just knowing what to expect, having a strategy in place and having someone to help you work through it effectively can be of benefit.
Thanks for reading. If you have anything to add to the discussion please feel free to do so where I have shared this on social media or in the comment section below.
You can contact me via the details provided below if you want to speak to me about my coaching services.
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- Evan
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