The Fact Of The Matter

Recovery days matter during contest prep. If you’re not recovering during contest prep, you’re actively losing muscle and performance.

Your physique is already under the high stresses of the daily caloric deficit, hard training, posing practice, and the anxiousness that comes with contest prep. But recovery must remain a priority. If you do not recover, you will put yourself at a high risk for noticeable losses in muscle and performance in the gym that will undoubtedly cost you on stage.

Less Is More

Sleep, water, and quality food are also healthy. But too much of them will have disastrous effects on your health and well-being. Try eating too many kidney beans and see what happens when you are walking around looking bloated and passing gas like Exxon.

Training falls under the same premise of being healthy, but you still have to control the dosage, or you will overtrain. Now some folks don’t believe in overtraining. But most of the folks who make that claim either take anabolic steroids to mask the effects of overtraining or just aren’t training that hard in the first place.

Overtraining is real for natural bodybuilders if recovery isn’t managed. Almost every natural bodybuilder is guilty of overtraining and under recovering.

If you’re serious about natural bodybuilding and entering a show, your goal is to win the overall. That means doing everything in your power to win without using banned substances.

Bodybuilders with a “win at all costs” mindset can sabotage themselves by doing too much. I’ve been guilty of this myself.

Why Recovery Days Matter During Contest Prep: My 2022 Story

why recovery days matter contest prep

Going into the 2022 OCB Jersey Natural Open I was feeling great.

I had recently achieved a career goal by winning the overall at the 2022 NGA Mr. Natural Philadelphia. By winning, I earned my pro cards in bodybuilding and classic physique. A few weeks after Mr. Natural Philly, I did a Dexa Scan in April 2022 to test my body fat.

I was at 7.2 percent body fat, and I was as lean, muscular, and symmetrical as I had ever been. I decided that for the last month of contest prep I was going to max out my activity levels to make an attempt to get under 7 percent body fat. My plan was to train every single day, with absolutely no days off.

My lifting split was 3 days on and 1 day off. I walked and practiced posing every day. And I sprinted and did conditioning at least 3 days per week.

I wanted to be dominant, especially in terms of conditioning.

What Did I Do During This Contest Prep?

why recovery days matter contest prep

My calories were not super low, (2000-2300cals a day) so I felt very good going in implementing this plan of action. On top of lifting weights and sprinting, I added in a ton of walking.

Walking is a great recovery tool and an easy way to eat up calories, but I overdid it. Again, when you have that lion mindset, you will do anything you can to maximize the chances that you win the show.

My sleep during this time period was not the greatest. When you combine all the training, sprinting, walking, posing practice, lack of sleep, running a business, and the typical pre-show stress you create an ideal environment for losses in muscle.

The next time I took a DEXA scan in May 2022, the day before the show, the results of my plan were revealed: I had lost 5lbs of muscle mass during that month! I didn’t lose because I wasn’t disciplined. I lost because I did too much.

It showed on stage. I lost quality mass in my upper body where it’s hard for me to hold it genetically.

Show Results

I ended up getting second in my class. I was not satisfied because I did not bring my best physique to the stage, and I ended up not in the running to win the overall.

My goal at every show is to win. I won’t win every time, but that has to be my mindset because I don’t do anything in life to get 9th place.

I learned the hard way that recovery days matter during contest prep. If you want to retain muscle, you have to prioritize sleep and manage stress. It’s easier to talk about recovery than to implement it, especially during the actual contest prep process. But it’s entirely possible and necessary to do so.

I was in this recovery state of mind in April. And with better sleep and less stress, I had built my best physique ever. But I took a chance with my experiment and couldn’t hold that physique.

I’m never afraid to try things because I love to learn. Losing hurts, but it’s exciting because it creates another opportunity for you to get better.