When a natural bodybuilder is deep in the bowels of contest prep, training will become absolutely brutal. When your carbs and calories are low, and you are a true natural, even an arm workout can seem like an arduous task.
But contest prep is a worthwhile process. Winning the overall and a big trophy at a show are excellent goals to have. And the changes you make both physically and mentally are more important and will change your total outlook on life.
Training Mythology
Unfortunately, there are many ridiculous myths in the bodybuilding game about how contest prep training should look. Many of these myths have been passed down from one iron generation to the next.
One of the most absurd myths is that you must start doing high reps with light weights to get shredded. To the uninitiated natural bodybuilder, pumping up with light weights might seem like a good idea. But in reality, that theory is nothing more than a mummer’s farce.
Doing high reps with light weights does not get you more cut or defined. The truth is that your energy input/output is responsible for reducing body fat.
When I prepared for my first show in 2011, I bought this snake oil by the gallon. And I did not look my best on the day of the show or any other day for that matter. I looked weak, skinny, and flat. After the 2011 NGA Mr. Natural Philadelphia, I went back to the drawing board and started applying the basics.
Tried And True
Before anything else, you need to understand what contest prep training is actually supposed to look like.
After that show, I took a deeper dive into what really builds muscle. I began applying these tried and true methods to my developing training and nutrition system. The consistent, quality effort over time was paying off as I was improving my physique every year.
Eventually, my efforts really paid off as I earned my pro card by winning the overall at the 2022 NGA Mr. Natural Philadelphia. Continuing to lift relatively heavy during prep allowed me to retain more muscle mass.
A former client of mine, who won the overall for figure at the 2019 Ms. Natural Philadelphia, showed up in excellent condition at her first show. She did not show up looking lean and muscular because she was pumping 30 rep sets with light weights. She looked good and won the overall because she continued to lift relatively heavy weights during contest prep.
The Importance Of Lifting Heavy Weights During Contest Prep
The term heavy in relation to the weights you will lift during contest prep is relative.
When your offseason ends, you should theoretically be at your biggest and strongest. Ideally, your bodyweight will be a bit higher at this point in your season. This is because you should have been in the habit of consuming more calories and lifting heavier weights to promote more muscle growth.
Now, in the typical pre-contest scenario, most natural bodybuilders will still do what I did in 2011. They begin to lift light weights for high reps during the contest prep period.
You don’t get anything out of doing 10 easy reps in a set with a weight you could have done 20 reps with. That type of set is the definition of fake hustle. This fruitless approach, combined with an extreme caloric deficit and excessive “cardio” results in a very deflating, but predictable loss of muscle and strength.
This natural bodybuilder will absolutely lose points on stage for lacking muscle fullness and size. And looking small and deflated on stage is not the way to win a show. But there is a way to mitigate these losses in muscle to a degree. Your best move is to train in the 6-12 rep range with challenging weights.
The amount of weight you are using will most likely go down as you get deeper in the contest prep. With low calories and carbs, you just won’t have the gas in the tank to move the same amount of weight as you did in the offseason. But if your set of eight in the squat is a challenging set of eight, you can mitigate those losses in muscle.
The more muscle you can hang onto, the better you’ll look when you’re lean and shredded. For us naturals, muscle is hard-earned and easy to lose during a cut because we aren’t on the special juice.
The Last Rep
Lifting relatively heavy during contest prep is crucial for holding onto muscle and showing up onstage looking bigger and leaner. If your program is weak, your presence on stage will be non-existent. If you are ready to build real stage-ready muscle, my 21-Day Fit program is the ideal starting point.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer & Barber
Fitman x Fademan
