NABBA England 2014 Training Diary: 4 Months Out

This journal follows junior bodybuilder Brandon Allsopp as he trains for the NABBA England 2014 contest in October.

You can read the introduction to the series here.

I’ve been away recently, things have been pretty busy!

So I started dieting yesterday, with 4 months to go until show time.

All that hard work I’ve put in to training over the years, well now it’s time to show it.

What am I expecting?

Well of course I’m expecting to win.

No-one ever said they trained and put all that effort in for anything less than a first place finish.

Now saying that, the guy who works the hardest doesn’t always win, but one thing I can guarantee is that nobody will beat me because they outworked me.

As I said in one of my first journal entries, bodybuilding is always something I wanted to do, it’s always been a dream of mine.

When I say a dream, anybody really can compete, but having that idea in my head of accomplishing something great and taking this as far as I can is what drives me to keep pushing and not stop until I get to where I need to be.

Staying lean in the offseason

My offseason running up to the diet has been brilliant.

I’ve gained a lot size and stayed relatively lean.

In the past when I was lifting weights I just chased the number on the scale.

All I ended up being was a lot fatter and 10kg stronger!

I quickly realised this wasn’t the way to go about things, so I’ve stayed in shape and put on around 12lb this year.

The benefits of staying lean in the offseason is something that I haven’t really spoken about but I believe is crucial.

I just think the days of blowing up in the offseason are over, it’s unnecessary.

Who wants to look like they train for a few weeks a year around shows and just look like a fat fuck for the rest of the year?

This isn’t my idea of what a bodybuilder should be.

You should look like you’re in great shape all year round.

There’s no real excuse for getting out of shape apart from being lazy.

Another reason for staying lean in the offseason is that you’ll definitely lose a lot more muscle if you diet down from being a fat fuck than you would if you stayed in shape all year.

In my eyes, it just makes dieting a lot easier.

The last reason for me is the food!

Yes, we all have cheat meals, and I love a cheat meal, I love food!

But you try going from eating junk to a strict diet, it’s horrible.

I just think eating clean all year round allows you to transition from offseason to a diet a lot easier.

Signing off

As it stands the NABBA England is 16 weeks away.

The plan is to do a few shows around the same time.

I’ll do a local show two weeks before to practice and get some experience for the England and hopefully the Universe a week later.

I’ve never been this excited but at the same time I’m quite anxious.

All I can do is be the best I can possibly be at that given time, everything else is out of my hands.

See you all in the next post!

If you have any questions and want me to talk more in-depth – or if you have any requests for future posts – then please just leave me a comment, and I’ll get back to you.