The Deadline Diet: Skip The Bulk And Stay

m paid to be the guy with the answers. People part with their hard-earned dollars in exchange for me to tell them how to exercise, eat, and sleep, and it’s an honor to have my knowledge held in such high esteem. Coming from a military background, I’m a firm believer in the creed, “a good leader leads from the front.” In the strength and conditioning context, that means a good trainer’s physique should always reflect the benefits of what he or she teaches. In my mind, to do otherwise is both disrespectful to the client and a huge knock on the trainer’s credibility. I feel pretty alone in that regard.

    The strength coaching and fitness industry is overrun with armchair coaches who can’t get their clients, much less themselves, in even fairly decent shape. You can’t judge a book by its cover, but I know an out-of-shape fat dude when I see one.

    Enough with the name calling and finger-pointing; this article entails my personal regimen that I used to go from 191 lbs and 8% body fat to 183 lbs and 4.6% body fat in less than six weeks.

Does My Fat Ass Make Me Look Like A Fat Ass?

When I consult with physique competitors, I usually recommend a six-week contest preparation. Without fail, I always get a look of bewilderment and skepticism, peppered with a touch of mild amusement. Six weeks is much less than the standard pre-contest recommendations of 12-16 weeks that you read about on the web or in muscle magazines (catalogs). Trust me, six weeks is plenty of time for an athlete that isn’t fat to get into contest or photo-shoot shape. With apologies to the contest prep gurus out there who charge by the month, it shouldn’t take a quarter of the year to get ready for a show–unless you’re too damn fat to begin with.

    That’s an important point that bears repeating: If you compete, then you’re a physique competitor; if you’re a physique competitor, then look the part. Don’t get fat in the off-season and then try to convince yourself that you gained muscle, or tell yourself that “It’s unhealthy to be that lean all the time” bodybuilding bullshiznit.

Bulking-up will not improve your physique; it will make you bulky. If that’s what you want, great — just don’t delude yourself that you need to do that to add size, and please, don’t try to convince me, either. So what do I consider ideal body fat standards for athletes? Male physique athletes should maintain less than 8% body-fat and females less than 11%, at least from spring to fall; winter is the only time you have the right to look a little more “normal” and enjoy holiday food and festivities without turning every turkey dinner into an infomercial for Tupperware and OCD medications.

    Which brings me back to six weeks: It’s plenty of time for an athlete with 8% or 11% body fat to get under 5% or 9% body fat. For many, 8% and 11% body fat may be their ultimate goal, but for a true physique competitor or trainer, that’s your job. They should never allow their body-fat to rise above 10% and 13%, respectively.