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Bikini Off Season 2019 🐷
In Athlete Log
rhiannonjacobgoldak
Sep 09, 2019
This weekend marked 12 weeks into my first proper off season, and after spending the best part of the last year in a deficit I can really say I’m feeling the benefit of the extra calories. Carbs are high, cardio is low and I’m hitting 5 training sessions a week. I’m starting to feel the off season struggle and the doubts are starting to creep in about my physique. Changes do not come about as fast as they do in prep, it’s really hard to see any gains and I’m constantly terrified I’m not making enough improvements to be competitive in my next show. Watching all the recent shows and the crazy high standard, it’s hard not to be worried but comparing myself to other competitors is a waste of my time and energy. All I can do is use the fear to drive me to do better in every aspect- nailing my macros day in, day out. Tweaks to poses to exaggerate angles. One more rep in the gym. Every variable. You can’t control success but you can control the work you put in. After my holiday/deload I started on a new training block with a focus on bringing my squat, bench & deadlift up to scratch. After hitting an all time deadlift PB 10 weeks out from competing with zero programming I’m really excited to see what I can do now with Llew on board. Starting off slow with a big focus on technique but the numbers are creeping up already and it feels good to be lifting ‘properly’ again. I’m still holding decent condition (abs are clinging on, and I’ve got more definition in my legs than I did on show day thanks to the hack squat/leg extension superset of death) and with a commitment to a solid 12 month push up of eating lots and training like a maniac, I can’t wait to see what I look like next time I get shredded.
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Bikini Off Season 2019 🐷
In Athlete Log
rhiannonjacobgoldak
Jul 11, 2019
5 weeks into off season and I’m sitting at a solid stone over my stage weight. It’s not been linear (I put on half of it in the first week) and I think like most competitors it’s something I struggle with. I can tell myself until I’m blue in the face that I need to eat to grow, but watching my abs fade away isn’t fun! I’d said all the way through prep that I wanted to reverse diet out of it and I attempted it, but honestly found it really difficult. Having dieted for 6 months, cravings were through the roof and my body just wanted carbs 24/7. There was a constant voice in my head going ‘you’re not on prep any more, you’re allowed a piece of toast if you’re hungry’ except I could physically never stop at one.... I remember one time having a rice cake while I waited for my food to cook, then finishing the pack, having two pieces of toast, some cereal, another 4 pieces of toast, more cereal, and then eating a pack of welsh cakes as well. And then eating my chicken and rice. We’ve slowly brought calories back up, but with my, err, supplementation of Nutella and pick ‘n’ mix I’ve probably been in a surplus this whole time. Naturally I’m a little bit disappointed it’s not gone to plan, but I’m still looking the leanest I ever have at this weight so we’ve definitely made some improvements in body composition. This game is a marathon not a sprint- it’s easy to look at your favourite fitness influencer on the gram and start beating yourself up that you don’t look like them, but when I look back at the changes I’ve brought in the last year, I’m excited to see the package I’m going to bring next time I hit the stage if I just carry on ticking the boxes. Obviously with all the extra food, training motivation and performance is through the roof and it’s good to finally feel stoked in the gym again- although I miss the abs, I definitely don’t miss the prep feels! Been a really busy week so sleep and recovery definitely hasn’t been as good as it could be, but still managing to push performance each session and hit a few PBs for my hip thrusts and BB rows.
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rhiannonjacobgoldak

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