The Importance of an Off Season (Improvement Season)
I've been asked a lot lately when I'll be competing again. My answer: not until next year... next spring, at the earliest.
This was a very hard choice for me to make. Why did I decide to put off the one thing I think about all day? I took an honest look at my physique, my strengths, my weaknesses, and my goals.
My goals are not to step on stage at each and every show looking the same as I did the time before. My goals are to improve. To grow. To bring the best possible version of myself each and every time. I've made the decision to remain natural and drug free, and in the natural athlete who does not use drugs or anabolic steroids, muscle growth takes time. It is painfully slow. I think some people have unrealistic expectations of what is possible because of steroid use in the industry, but it's important to have realistic expectations so that you don't become discouraged and so that you can set appropriate goals.
There are many things that need to happen for muscle growth. Workouts must be significant enough to adequately stress the body. The athlete must be engaging in progressive overload. And a caloric surplus (taking in more calories than the body expends) must be maintained.
That's why I prefer the term "improvement season" over the term "off season". It's the time to improve on your physique. Because beyond the goal of fat loss while prepping for a show, dieting does not allow significant improvements to be made. Sure, there may be some increases in strength, but in terms of actually building new muscle mass, it simply isn't going to happen in any significant amounts in a trained athlete while in a caloric deficit.
I need time to grow. Even if everything (my training, nutrition, and recovery) is optimal, I can still only realistically build about 1 lb. of muscle per month. And even this rate of muscle growth is dependent upon my status as still being a "beginner"as I spent a good chunk of time in a caloric deficit dieting for my competition.
I recommend everyone read this excellently written and comprehensive article by Lyle McDonald: "What's My Genetic Muscular Potential?"
Being stage lean can be hard on the body simply because we were not made to walk around at that low of a body fat percentage. Hormones suffer, NEAT decreases, pre-occupation with food can crop up, nutrient partitioning is not optimal, and metabolic adaptions occur. An improvement season should entail restoring the metabolism via reverse dieting and healthfully (not via binging) restoring body fat to an acceptable level so that muscle building can occur and so that we can actually make improvements during the improvement season. Yes, trying to maintain too low of a body fat percentage negatively impacts the ability to gain muscle. The optimal body fat for muscle growth is individual, but those who can actually make appreciable gains at very low body fat are few and far between. After reverse dieting, an improvement season should also entail building metabolic capacity, taking in as many calories as possible without excessive fat gain (fat gain should be roughly equal that of muscle gain), so that the next time a fat loss phase occurs, you can diet on higher calories. Restoring the metabolism and restoring body fat to optimal levels will alleviate the other problem associated with a prolonged deficit. Hormone profiles will improve, NEAT will pick back up, and hunger/appetite will return to normal.
Improvements take time, but the sport of bodybuilding is not a race. When you know exactly what you want, the amount of time it takes to get there doesn't matter. It's about the journey, not just the destination.
This was a very hard choice for me to make. Why did I decide to put off the one thing I think about all day? I took an honest look at my physique, my strengths, my weaknesses, and my goals.
My goals are not to step on stage at each and every show looking the same as I did the time before. My goals are to improve. To grow. To bring the best possible version of myself each and every time. I've made the decision to remain natural and drug free, and in the natural athlete who does not use drugs or anabolic steroids, muscle growth takes time. It is painfully slow. I think some people have unrealistic expectations of what is possible because of steroid use in the industry, but it's important to have realistic expectations so that you don't become discouraged and so that you can set appropriate goals.
There are many things that need to happen for muscle growth. Workouts must be significant enough to adequately stress the body. The athlete must be engaging in progressive overload. And a caloric surplus (taking in more calories than the body expends) must be maintained.
That's why I prefer the term "improvement season" over the term "off season". It's the time to improve on your physique. Because beyond the goal of fat loss while prepping for a show, dieting does not allow significant improvements to be made. Sure, there may be some increases in strength, but in terms of actually building new muscle mass, it simply isn't going to happen in any significant amounts in a trained athlete while in a caloric deficit.
I need time to grow. Even if everything (my training, nutrition, and recovery) is optimal, I can still only realistically build about 1 lb. of muscle per month. And even this rate of muscle growth is dependent upon my status as still being a "beginner"as I spent a good chunk of time in a caloric deficit dieting for my competition.
I recommend everyone read this excellently written and comprehensive article by Lyle McDonald: "What's My Genetic Muscular Potential?"
Being stage lean can be hard on the body simply because we were not made to walk around at that low of a body fat percentage. Hormones suffer, NEAT decreases, pre-occupation with food can crop up, nutrient partitioning is not optimal, and metabolic adaptions occur. An improvement season should entail restoring the metabolism via reverse dieting and healthfully (not via binging) restoring body fat to an acceptable level so that muscle building can occur and so that we can actually make improvements during the improvement season. Yes, trying to maintain too low of a body fat percentage negatively impacts the ability to gain muscle. The optimal body fat for muscle growth is individual, but those who can actually make appreciable gains at very low body fat are few and far between. After reverse dieting, an improvement season should also entail building metabolic capacity, taking in as many calories as possible without excessive fat gain (fat gain should be roughly equal that of muscle gain), so that the next time a fat loss phase occurs, you can diet on higher calories. Restoring the metabolism and restoring body fat to optimal levels will alleviate the other problem associated with a prolonged deficit. Hormone profiles will improve, NEAT will pick back up, and hunger/appetite will return to normal.
Improvements take time, but the sport of bodybuilding is not a race. When you know exactly what you want, the amount of time it takes to get there doesn't matter. It's about the journey, not just the destination.
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| my improvement season progress pics from the past week |
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