Thread: What is the bodybuilding off-season and what should I be doing?

What is the bodybuilding off-season and what should I be doing?

Bodybuilding off-season is usually when winter comes around and all the bodybuilding competitions are over until next summer. It’s the time of the year to get your baggy gym clothes on and hit the gym hard to gain massive amounts of muscle mass. You should be careful though as many bodybuilders that go into off-season do it wrong and eat too much etc and gain more fat than they wanted too.

Set goals for off-season

The off-season is not a time a bodybuilder can relax. Most bodybuilders make this crucial mistake and get frustrated with themselves when competition season is back. This is the time to bulk up and improve yourself, learn from past mistakes and grow.
You will need to set very clear goals such as:

• Gaining at least one pound of muscle per month
• Eating a well balanced diet daily
• Increase your strength each few weeks adding more pounds to lift
• Maintaining your body fat levels
• Get in your daily required protein to build muscle
• Make journal entries everyday

Set a good diet plan

Off-season is not a time to be eating fast foods and hoping to get bigger from eating those foods. You will still need to keep track of your diet just like you would during competition season. This is the time to get it right and find what works for you. Make sure you stick to your diet plan. You can increase your calorie intake by 10% if you do not see many gains at first and find the sweet spot for maximum gains.
Do not overeat during off-season; you do not want to look like a beer drinking guy with a big belly. The point is to stay in shape yet improve your gains, not fat. Many bodybuilders make the mistake of eating massive amounts of foods in the offseason and thinking that if they continue to go to gym that they will increase in size anyway. What they then realize later is that they only managed to put on fat.

Doing cardio during off-season

Stopping cardio is a mistake many bodybuilders make because they think it will stop them from gaining muscle; however this keeps your metabolism up so you can eat more. And when you do get back into competition season you won’t have to work hard to get your cardio levels back since you didn’t lose them in the first place.

Cardio has many health benefits as well such as lowering blood pressure, releasing stress and many more. You should get in at least 3-4 sessions in per week during off-season.

Conclusion

Bodybuilding off-season is not a time to be kickin back and be lazy if you are a serious bodybuilder. Make use of this time to improve, learn from your mistakes and stay healthy and win your next competition!