HOW DO I SET UP AND MANAGE PREP

If you are prepping for the first time you will have no doubt seen many competitors post on Instagram about their prep and experience. This is fantastic to gain an insight as to how prep runs but what it may do is cause some confusion when you start dieting as how I prep people might be different to what you have seen.

Therefore the purpose of this article is to explain in detail how I set up and manage a prep. It will also cover the ins and outs of high days, check ins and what we do leading up to the show itself.

PUSHING HARD OUT THE GATE

Before a prep begins I will always guestimate where I think stage weight (bodyweight) will be. This gives us a tangible number to work with and work towards. Bodybuilding isn’t a weight contest, but it is my job to know roughly how much we need to pull off in total to ensure that each week we are on track. For the most part I’m always about 1kg up/down of that initial target once we get to the end of prep. Most preps will be between 16-20 weeks worth of dieting before the first planned show and I will always push someone hard in those first few weeks, perhaps harder than other coaches. Why?

At the start of prep everyone is super motivated, they feel fresh and aren’t experiencing any sort of real fatigue. It’s in this period where I like to take off a good chunk of fat quickly so that we get ahead of the game. Having someone ahead of their planned target week to week is a far better scenario than having someone behind their target. Therefore, it makes logical sense in my head to push hard. From the beginning of prep I will always get clients to check in 2x per week to ensure we on target.

BACKING OFF THE GAS

There is only so long you can push someone before their physique stops responding. What do I mean by that? As you push hard you inevitably elevate levels of stress and fatigue on the body. This will increase the bodies levels of cortisol which can often be seen as the enemy of fat loss. This subsequent effect will slow down the bodies ability to mobilise fat and overall fat loss slows down.

It is at this point you must back off the gas, but how do you do that? At this point I would run what’s known as a high day(s). These are typically run over a 24–72-hour period and in that time, you’ll strategically increase your carbohydrate and fat intake. You will also do no cardio on these days and reduce your step count. In doing so you will lower levels of cortisol and wash away fatigue by reducing steps/cardio. Once you’ve done those high days you typically get straight back to digging and find you hit a new low on the scales very shortly after, as well as being visually tighter.

Let’s give you an example; if a bikini girl were on prep and she was around 10 weeks out: 30 minutes of cardio daily, steps 12k and food is 1650 TD (training day) / 1450 NTD (non-training day). It might be that carbohydrate intake is around the 150g marker and fats 20g. On a high day I may increase carbs to 350-400g and fats to 60-70g whilst running zero cardio and 8k steps. Males will typically be on greater amounts of carbohydrates daily and will run high days anywhere between 650-1000g carb.

ADJUST AS TIME GOES ON

As prep pushes on and we get to the 10 week out marker I will typically increase check ins to 3x a week to ensure we stay ahead of the curve and are making changes sooner, opposed to later. But it’s around this point I will have developed a pattern with clients: digging for 10-14 days, then running high for 1-2 days. What this pattern does is give clients a target to shoot for and one which they are more willing to push for. Prep gets hard around that time and it can be easy to slack off with your cardio or eat a little more here and there. But if you know more food and rest is coming, you’ll be more willing to push hard and stick to the plan, at least that’s what I’ve found from my experience.

As time goes on I will typically increase the total amount of food going in on those high days. I will always start off with 1 high day, then gradually push that up over 2-3 cycles of running high (crica 6-8 weeks out). Once that single high day is maxed out I will then introduce a second high day, often with a little less food compared to day 1. With each cycle of running high I may tweak either day to see the effect it has on the physique. Why am I doing this? 

I’m doing it because the individual needs it to get leaner! The leaner you get, the more food you’ll need to offset levels of cortisol and to allow you to dig harder. But I am also doing it as a trial of what I’ll do with someone going into the show. By the time it gets to peak week, we’ll have run multiple sets of high days and know exactly what they do to the physique. What that means is that we have a sure fine way of nailing the look come show day!

In summary, I will always push someone hard out the blocks at the start of prep and take off a good chunk of body fat whilst they are feeling good, and motivation is high. After 6-8 weeks of pushing, I will implement high days and reduced expenditure to help reduce levels of cortisol/fatigue and allow them to get leaner. As prep goes on I will typically adjust those high days which gives me a good indication of what I’m going to do with that individual going into the show.

Vaughan Wilson Bsc Hons