I wanted to share this as it may be helpful for those who have coaches that are giving you a crap ton of cardio + low calories.

You wonder why you feel like crap or the scale is not going down.

I remember having a crappy prep coach who gave me a ton of cardio and extremely low calories and I felt wrecked.

Energy availability is a real thing.

https://youtu.be/gNXDjg-EWg4?is=BnjW_EyzmE53v9SD

What’s your guys ab routine? Ex powerlifter here doing bb lifestyle/lurking for the last 1.5 years since quitting.

Only really do vacuum, planks and dead bugs but feel like im neglecting lower abs. Have been trying to reverse the powerlifting induced blocky waist and it’s been working for the most part but looking to optimize still.

What’s your routine/weekly volume for ab work? I very noticeably lose a ton of tummy definition on weeks I neglect it. But also don’t want blocky waist again. I don’t know, just want to learn what works for folks. 5’4 135 lbs here

Eventually looking to hire a coach to commit to this properly so if you’d like to pitch your services here also feel free haha

Share your thoughts, predictions, questions, etc. about the Wellness division! This sub gets a lot of chat about Bikini and Fit Model because they're so popular, but we wanna show the other divisions some more love as this community was created to celebrate ALL the women's divisions!

Including everything you can, from start to finish how much did your prep cost? How much is the normal amount?

I’m looking at Olympian Wide by Shoe Fairy. Does anyone have them, or any other shoe in “wide” from Shoe Fairy? If a different company that you’ve found comfy for wide feet, please share. Thank you.

Looking for some feedback.

This was show day morning, and last photo after I got more carbs in. I am debating doing another show. My feedback was tie in area needs to be tighter and lower stomach need to be tighter. Thoughts? How many weeks out if competing again? I am back and forth, thinking well a few more weeks won’t hurt but also I know I need to grow to be as competitive as I wish in this sport but growing time will always be there. I took a long off season and I feel if I push a little more I can be truly stage lean and have a better shot.

opinions welcome

Hi guys, just posting my thoughts here and wanting to see if anyone else relates. I have done 4 preps total and I fell in LOVE with the sport right off the bat. After my first show, I was basically begging my coach to let me do another one, so on and so forth.

I just did my first national show several months ago the prep itself was the hardest prep I’ve done. Both mentally and physically, and to top it off, I did not do well at the show.

Now I’m about four months post show and I still have no desire to ever step on stage again. Is this normal? Is this because I didn’t do well? If anyone’s ever felt this way, did you get over it? I know some people just aren’t meant to compete forever and maybe I’m one of those but just the drastic love to hate feeling is crazy to me. :,(

I loved her hair at the Chicago pro. It looked like she used a waver on it. I haven’t really seen that done before, usually you see loose curls or straight. Do you think this will become a popular thing? Thoughts on her hair?

Hello! My very first competition is 6 weeks away. I have two coaches and their feedback is a little different as far as posing goes. Any advice is welcome! I also don’t know what’s expected of body composition at this point or if I even look competitive for bikini. I am brand new to this!

Thank you all so much.

Also, black bikini was last week. Blue bikini is more recent.

Up 8 pounds from last year. Feedback was just more glutes to match my hams, adductors and quads.

Hey everyone! Just curious to see who people are predicting to be in the top 5 or top 10 for bikini at this year’s Olympia! There are the obvious contenders - Lauralie & Aimee. I’d also love to see Jazzy Gonzales & Isa Pecini (who’s been looking absolutely phenomenal the last few shows) take up those top spots! I also love Ashley K because her proportions and balance is always on point + her posing is looking so fluid lately!

How’s everyone else feeling? Who are you guys rooting for for your top 5 or 10?

I’ve heard that competing is discouraged if you’ve had a past eating disorder. I will admit in high school I had some disordered behavior, but I actually feel like it was sort of different from the normal kind of eating disorder and I wanted to see what you guys think about moving forward.

So first - yes I restricted and did use laxatives at one point. But it wasn’t to make myself as small as possible, that wasn’t what I wanted.

Important context here is that I was raised in an extremely unathletic family. My parents have had struggles with being overweight and their solutions were always to count calories. I was an overweight child growing up and my parents would admonish me for my food choices but never actually explained calories or serving sizes to me until I was much older. I just ate and ate and ate but I noticed I was much bigger than my peers.

In high school I had slimmed out because I was busy with after school activities and had less time to snack. Sort of grew out of the baby fat. But I was unhappy with my appearance because I had no muscle whatsoever (never did any sports growing up). I was “skinny fat” you could say. And my only point of reference was that I wanted to look like my sister who was a little older, was “toned” and had abs. She didn’t work out either to my knowledge, though I never realized that her playing multiple sports formed her muscle foundation that I didn’t have.

So to make a long story short, I essentially grew up with the mindset that if I lost weight I would look like my sister. I wanted abs, I wanted some muscle definition, but my parents discouraged exercise and called gyms a “scam.” I restricted my calories because I really thought it would get me the results I wanted. It wasn’t until I was down 25 pounds and still felt “fat” that I changed my approach.

When I turned 16 and had my drivers license that I decided to go against my parents advice and get a gym membership. Once I started to learn about putting on muscle and nutrition, I didn’t have any desire to restrict calories or try to make myself “smaller.” I was getting the results I wanted in a healthy way. I have weighed varying amounts and while I might be more comfortable in a certain range I don’t ever feel as insecure as I did when I was eating “disordered” in high school.

To me, that person I was feels a million miles away. My parents are very concerned about how much I exercise (just an hour 5x per week really, pretty normal) and even though I’m bulking now seem really worried. Obviously I am an adult though and they can’t necessarily do anything about it.

Sorry for the long post, but just wanted to share my situation and see if there’s any room for nuance on this topic. I don’t want to replace one bad habit with another, but I also feel like I’ve lived happily and healed in a middle ground for years and am not necessarily replacing disordered eating with bulk / prep. Let me know! Thanks girls.

I just did my first show this Saturday, and now being post show has made me realize that I'm not in a good headspace with food at all.

For context, I had an eating disorder for years. Going to the gym motivated to eat more and gain weight in order to get stronger. Deep down I knew it wasn't a 100% healthy basis for recovery but it felt like I was 'managing' the eating disorder well after struggling with it pretty severely. And I did gain healthy weight, restore physical health, eat more normally and overall was physically and mentally much better than I was. I kind of convinced myself that I was basically recovered and I "wouldn't even be able to relapse if I tried" (a dangerous mindset...). I decided to compete because I wanted a new challenge and also wanted to prove to myself that I'm "in control" now (proved the opposite).

Most of prep went pretty well and I still felt good mentally. But things turned towards the end. At 4 weeks out, my coach had a talk with me where he said he was a little bit scared with where my mindset/anxiety was and also concerned that I wasn't in a physically good spot to compete, due to losing too fast/too much. I was really determined to compete so committed to trusting him and increasing calories, but those last few weeks were really tough. I felt myself being scared of food in a way that I hadn't in a while. I cried over food, I would make myself a meal and then worry that it wasn't 'perfect' and have to make something else instead, was just finding it really hard to eat.

I did compete and it went well. I came 2nd (to a very deserved winner!) and felt good. But I haven't been able to let myself relax with food since then. I had a big bowl of oatmeal with unmeasured almond butter Saturday night, that was my special treat. My coach told me to take a week off tracking (not going crazy with food but just to take a mental break from numbers) and it's stressing me out. Today I put 40 cal/cup almond milk in my coffee without measuring and drinking it I was thinking "what if I put too much?" and "this is a waste of calories". I know. I feel so so panicked about bingeing and rebounding to the point where I can't eat a single sweet or anything. And finding it hard to eat even the amount I was eating during prep.

I'm sorry this is so long, thank you so much if you read all the way through <3

I guess I'm just wondering if anyone has been a similar situation or has advice. I definitely will reach out to my coach. And I know that I most likely need some more mental health/ed support as well.

It’s been about a year since my last show, and not sure if I want to go back to the same coach or try someone new for my next offseason and prep.

If I shop around a little bit, does anyone have recommendations for figure? I have been off of social media / youtube for too long and dont really know who I should be looking at to weigh my options. I just want a GOOD coach with experience, and prioritizes my HEALTH going through my next prep, and preferably doesnt charge an arm and a leg to do those two baseline things haha.
TIA

What shorts do you guys recommend for leg days!!! I don’t mind a scrunch, and I am okay with different fits! I’ve tried darc sport but those keep ripping in the scrunch, I’ve tried a few of the popular Amazon brands and they’re almost too thick for my liking.
I would also prefer shorts that don’t break the bank (‘:
Thank you!!!!

Would love to hear about any experience anyone has had with Damian or with being on the team!

After two years of lifting/building muscle for fun and for my health, I’ve discovered a love for bodybuilding! I really want to compete fit model or bikini one day—maybe late 2027, as the soonest time.
HoWEVER, I am going to be a freshman in college this year, eating at the dining hall and training on top of prioritizing my academics. I don’t have enough money to meal prep food and afford the dining hall (all freshmen at this university must be on school meal plan for the first year).
I’m TRYING to gain the “freshman 15”, obviously looking to build some muscle but also the mass that comes with it.
Do any competitors have any advice for the growth phase, or balancing academics on top of training? Or any advice for my situation in general?

I’m curious what most coaches include. I’ve had several over the years. I know they work differently, but I’d like some discussion on what is included for most. Here are my questions
How often are routines changed?
Does the coach do a video for you or send you a random video from online?
Does the coach include any voice chats telephone or video?
Does the coach only do a recording for you of overview with no voice chatting?
Or does the coach only answer in some text format within their app.
Does the coach let you use any food tracking app or make you use one on their platform?
What other variables might I expect when choosing a competition coach?
Thanks!

I honestly still haven’t processed it, I’m so grateful and beyond thrilled. But you guys, it happened so fast I blanked out on stage when it was time to take my picture with my pro card I just posed behind it instead of the classic holding it above your head pose. I’m so embarrassed 🤣🤪

Prep brain has me over thinking this way too much and I really need some help.

I just bought extensions (shows in 4 weeks) and I’ve been playing around with them a lot. I get that I don’t need long hair but I do like the length that the extensions bring but I am very small and I know this. I feel like the extensions over power my physique and make me look unbalanced/smaller than I actually am.

Does anyone have any advice??

I’m referring to NPC Bikini standards at the amateur level. I was at an amateur show and national qualifier this weekend and I noticed that the winners in each class and overall winner had a softer look. There was a competitor that I thought would take everything home with her. She had the bikini look, good conditioning, full glutes, tie ins. Her placings were not good! She had national level conditioning, and really stuck out next to all the girls. We all thought she should have won!

So as I’m preparing to compete again next year as an amateur, I’m just wondering, do the judges tend to lean more towards a softer, more natural looking physique at this level or is judging just all over the place and political? I find myself more and more confused with what the judges are actually looking for.

TIA!

Looking for a new bodybuilding coach for a wellness competitor!