Nutritional Fundamentals to an Off-Season/Growth phase

In terms of the Off-season the obvious difference to a cutting phase is that food is much higher, you are eating in a calorie surplus (you eat more calories than you burn).

The extent of this surplus comes down to a lot of factors, such as:

• gender

• weight

• assisted/natural

• lifestyle

• metabolism

If you have no idea where you should begin your off-season calories and macros then a good way to work this out is to use a BMR calculator (on google). This will give you a rough idea of your maintenance calories which you can then use to find a good start point for your surplus. From here I’d recommend adding 200 calories to your maintenance calories and then tracking your weight and body composition and seeing what effect it has on them and then work from there.

My experience in working within this industry is generally the majority of people can put down a lot of food in one sitting, but struggle to eat 5+ meals a day of larger quantities… if you want to gain some serious muscle then you have to eat a lot in your meals and then do this frequently throughout your day.

You may think gaining weight will be fun (it’s a lot better than dropping weight), but there are obstacles here too… Some of which are below;

• meal planning (eating 5-7 meals a day isn’t easy and timing those meals is important)

• Financial (you’re eating more so your food bill is going to increase)

• Appetite…

When you’re eating at least five big meals per day, At time you will have to be force-feeding yourself (this personally is the worst part of pushing food high)… so a take home here is get comfortable being uncomfortable (at times)…

What to look out for:

• weight gain (good/bad)

• prolonged suppressed appetite

• digestion

• energy levels

• recovery

Key things to consider & non-negotiables for progress …

• food choices

… When in the off-season and consuming large volumes of food, food choices become more and more relevant. Personally, I like to keep my off-season meal plan full of clean food, the reason for this is that I digest clean foods much better meaning I get hungrier sooner and therefore it is easier to get more food in, as well as not being constantly bloated and feeling full.

However, not everyone is a competitive athlete and this time is also an ideal time for a little more freedom in food choices compared to contest prep or (cut) diet.

The general recommendation is aiming to work to an 80/20 split of clean vs less clean foods (we will touch further into this in another post around structuring an offseason diet plan)

Allow yourself time with friends and family, go out for meals, let your hair down and enjoy life just don’t take the piss if you do want to make genuine progress 💪🏼

Consistency - NON NEGOTIABLE

… You need to be consistent while gaining muscle. This is the single biggest mistake I see when working with new clients. Sticking to the plan for three days may pack on another pound, but under-eating for the next three days will just put you back right where you were.

Whatever your goal, consistency is essential in attaining it. It’s OK to have a bad day here and there because that’s bound to happen... Two steps forward and one step back is still progress in the long run.

However, if you end up having just as many bad days as good days, you will just be stationary and not making progress and eventually lose your drive.

Overall eating more food is essential to growing in the off-season, but it is equally as important to give your body a reason to grow, so your priority in training should be to get stronger in your programme and progress your lifts (progressive overload)…

USE THE FOOD AS FUEL

Any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask and our team will reply 👍🏻