What Your LONG Off-Season Should Look Like
Are you currently in or planning to enter a long off-season phase? Make sure youβre doing these 12 KEY things in order to see the most success from this phase!
What is a long off-season?
First, letβs establish what this means. To me, a LONG off-season is at least 1 year, if not longer. This means that there is at least one calendar year between the end of your last contest prep and the start of your next.
Any off-season that lasts less than a year may not be subject to all of the same recommendations Iβm about to give to you here. Anything within a year is in my opinion, a short off-season.
Why take a long off-season?
Typically, when someone takes an entire year off competing, itβs because they need to build muscle. Most amateur bodybuilders, regardless of division, are given this feedback from the judges in some way, shape, or form.
Muscle growth takes time for everyone, but especially for natural or minimally enhanced individuals! Sometimes, multiple years in a building phase are required to achieve a competitive physique. The length of time needed will depend on individual genetics, the division you compete in, any performance enhancements, etc..
In addition to needing more size, individuals may also decide to take a long off-season due to inefficient recovery, mental fatigue, physical injuries, insufficient finances, family responsibilities, or work-related obligations. Contest prep requires a lot of sacrifice and demands a lot out of you physically, emotionally, and economically.
12 Keys to a Off-Season Success
These next 12 long off-season rules Iβve laid out are assuming that the individual needs to add significant size. Not all may be applicable to everyone, as all of us are in unique situations when contest prep comes to an end.
However, the vast majority of competitors entering an off-season will benefit from paying attention to all 12 of these variables!
1) Athletic Body Fat Range
Itβs absolutely ESSENTIAL to gain back SOME body fat post-show. Without it, you cannot effectively build muscle tissue or achieve other markers of adequate health.
However, putting on excessive body fat is also not necessary. It will make it hard to visually see progress during the off-season, and it will make your next prep more difficult for no reason.
My recommendation: 15 to 25 lbs above stage weight. The exact number will depend on the specifics of each athlete and how much muscle tissue is added. And there will always be exceptions where someone may be outside this range.
2) Caloric Surplus
You NEED a positive energy balance in order to maximize muscle gains! But, as mentioned earlier, you also donβt want to overdo things and end up gaining excessive amounts of body fat.
This is where you can really lean on your coach to provide you with the appropriate surplus, and adjust your food intake as needed to promote the most muscle hypertrophy as possible while minimizing body fat increases.
3) Training Quality
The off-season is your ONLY opportunity to add significant amounts of muscle tissue! Especially if you are a natural athlete.
Training quality with respect to bodybuilding means training at intensities close to failure while maintaining optimal technique. Plus expert-level exercise selection and programming (by a coach that knows what theyβre doing).
This will allow you to capitalize the most on the extra energy from your caloric surplus!
4) Food Variety
An underrated but important aspect of off-season nutrition βVARIETY.
Variety becomes so scarce during prep for predictability purposes. But in a long off-season, we can afford to allow for some unpredictability!
Itβs crucial to DIVERSIFY your meals in the off-season to widen your exposure to different micronutrients, which will support your overall health.
5) Training Precision
Itβs critical for you and your coach to structure your training around prioritizing muscle groups that need the most growth. Sometimes certain areas also need to be avoided if theyβre overdeveloped for a particular division.
Your program needs to be personalized and precise in addressing YOUR goals.
6) Sufficient Protein Intake
Consuming enough protein is mandatory for maximizing muscle growth and recovery! Plus, itβs the least likely of any macronutrient to become stored as fat, which minimizes the risk of gaining excessive weight in the off-season.
Typically, between 1 and 1.5 grams of protein per pound body weight is your ideal range. See my list of plant-based proteins with the BEST protein-to-calorie ratio here OR the ultimate guide to plant-based protein powders here!
7) Sleep Quality & Quantity
Without adequate rest, muscle growth and training performance will not be the same. If you arenβt sleeping well, itβs very important to investigate why and rectify the issue as soon as possible.
Lacking restful sleep could be linked to timing of caffeine during the day, screen use before bed, poor time management, or high stress.
8) Minimal Cardio
Cardio in the off-season should be low in order to focus most of your energy into your training, promote recovery, and set yourself up well for your next prep.
If cardio is too high before starting another prep, you may not have enough runway to increase cardio throughout your prep.
9) High Energy Levels
Energy should be high and fatigue should be low due to higher calories, lower cardio, and optimal overall recovery.
If energy levels are still low after following through with each of those variables, it may be a sign to investigate other factors further. For example, digestion, micronutrients, stress, and more.
10) Low Hunger Levels
You should not be experiencing high hunger levels during a true caloric surplus. If you are, then your hunger and fullness cues may not have completely returned to normal yet post-show. If this persists, it may prompt you and your coach to assess other variables in your lifestyle or environment.
11) Optimal Digestion
Digestive and gut health problems need to be corrected during the off-season. Itβs essential for nutrient uptake, inflammation control, hormone balance, and recovery.
Not only that, but itβs much less stressful to figure out digestive issues in the off-season than while in prep. You donβt want to be experiencing stomach distension or discomfort while close to your show date.
12) Healthy Menstrual Cycle
For female athletes, the menstrual cycle often becomes inconsistent or absent during prep. This is a strong indication of hormone disruption.
The return and maintenance of a regular cycle during the off-season is a really good indicator of overall health!
Conclusion & Next Steps
These 12 variables will all play MAJOR roles in how productive your off-season truly is. The expectation is not perfection in all 12 categories βthere will always be room for deeper refinement. But consistently making an effort to improve in all of these areas is what will separate you from others.
Bodybuilding requires discipline, patience, and delayed gratification. So while all of these small details may not seem to be making a difference in the moment, they will collectively all contribute to seeing the best progress overtime.
If youβre currently in an off-season build phase or planning to enter one soon, the first thing that you and your coach need to do is make a long-term game plan. What do you need to accomplish and in what timeframe?
Then, you can break the off-season into smaller chunks and create action steps at the beginning of each new phase. These smaller, more immediate steps will be determined based off of your progress thus far, what still needs more attention, and where more fine-tuning may be required.
Need more support?
Iβm here to help with 1:1 online fitness coaching! Together, we can determine how to make the most of your building season and set you up for a successful prep in the future.
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