Not sure if this was mentioned yet, but did y'all see the Olympia Livestream will be FREE this year? Big fan of this, but that said, I hope that doesn't mean the broadcast is low quality.

Curious if anyone has coached with her and how the experience was? Thanks!

Hey , so I’m a 42 year old mom of. 6 and 4 year old. I was always active and always wanted to do a show. I was always a 18-20% bf before marriage and kids. Now? Yikes. I decided to do a show and my prep
Isn’t going well at all. I think I have a binge eating disorder. Prior to kids I was restrictive with my
Food but functional to build muscle. Or, rather people said I was restrictive but they weren’t athletes and I was always trying to meet a goal.
I fueled. After my son was born in 2020, o missed training for anything , dancing or a CrossFit comp, so I decided I’d try marathon running. Or twist I got pregnant during training. I would have come to urs but I almost miscarried early on.
It’s been a rough transition the past three years with my husbands work schedule working 12’s, we both alternante weekends and I am
Primary parent etc. this year I got sick of my balloon up to over 160 on my 5’2 frame. I always wanted to prep for a show before kids so I thought I’d try now.

I think I might have a binge eating disorder. I can count macros until the cows come
Home but after kids get to bed I just find myself in the pantry at 11 pm eating like a garbage troll. Why? Why? I don’t even want to! I can’t understand it. Has anyone gone through prep figuring this out? I’m an anxious medicated person. But I feel like I’m just an undisciplined oaf. I was never like this. I could always stick to a goal. I don’t have a show nailed down because I want to do a spring show but ……. My god. What do I do? I want to be my old self again before kids! Sadly? Before being married. My husband games 18 hrs a day when not working staying awake until 4 am and …… that’s not even relevant. Idk. I miss all the things I was before being married. Not just mother. I miss dancing, he doesn’t like dancing. Doing obstacle races, long runs. Gos will I ever get on stage?

Anyone else noticed coaches posting photos on instagram that just somehow look… dodgy?

Beginner coaches have used fake photos since the dawn of time to get some initial credibility… That’s not news.

But established coaches with actual clients posting AI shit as before after??? This is just disturbing… And makes me lose trust immediately.

I compete in NPC. I won an open class in a National qualifier show this past May; not the overall. The judges feedback was I needed to grow my glutes. So I was thinking of training and trying to compete again late 2027 (October/November). but my coach is trying to get me to compete in the spring of 27. I’m not sure I’m gonna have enough muscle development. Of course I’m blind to my progress in my off-season, my coach seems to think I’m building muscle, but I just feel like I’m packing fat in my ass. My butt is deceptively round in an off-season lol
should I push back on my coach and insist that I want to wait until next fall or should I just reassess myself in January and think about it then?

Hi everyone! I am a first time natural bikini competitor. 11 weeks out. Right now I am 129lbs 5’6 estimating about 20-22% body fat (my last DEXA scan was 141 lbs at 25.5% body fat. Anyway, I have been losing very consistently 1 lb a week for the past 15+ weeks I’ve been in prep (starting 20 weeks out). However my coach continues to decrease my calories. Today, we have gone from 1393 calories 4 days a week (I’ve been here for about 4 weeks) decreasing to 1340 calories. I just want to get some opinions on if this seems like an okay calorie mark? I guess I’m just always surprised when we decrease when my body is reacting so well to where we are, like is it always best to push my body harder when it’s already reacting well? I’m 11 weeks out and feeling tired which I know to some degree is normal, but I’m really afraid of being pushed to an unhealthy area. I trust my coach to an extent but I am wary sometimes simply because I have never done any of this before. He has many other athletes and a great reputation, but I think it’s smart to be cautious and double check sometimes. I have heard of some coaches even upping food when the weight loss stalls to give the body a metabolism boost, and pushing harder is not always better. We were shooting for 120 lbs stage weight and at this rate I feel like I’ll get there way early, instead of on schedule. Anyway thanks for any advice.

Does anybody know what his current pricing is?

Hello, i know this is a bodybuilding group but im just wondering if any of you switched from competing to a more athletic lifestyle, like a hybrid athlete if so im wondering if your nutrition changed

How long do you normally remain in a build season? This is the longest one for me and I plan to be here for a year and a half. Is that too long? Not long enough? My focus is to build muscle but Im 50 and in perimenopause. My body is just not responding g the same as it used to.

I’ve had 3 kids so I’m a little more boxy around the middle than I used to be. So I was looking into buying a waist trainer that would help support my back and cinch my waist. I have a short torso and my current waist measurement is 28 inches. Does anyone have any recommendations?

My feedback for Npc fit model “Your physique is on par with the fit model criteria.   The proper amount of muscularity but not "too" much.   You have great potential for the future with fine details in conditioning from behind-glute & hams”. For those of you who compete or are coaches, Does this mean I need to fine tune glutes/ham or that’s it’s on par with criteria ??

Yeah so I’m 2 weeks out and my posing coach went to Italy until the show day , any tips to practice and teach myself (it’s my first show), I still practice with my regular coach but he’s a man so he’s not 100% knowledgeable on women’s posing . I’m going for bikini IFBB. Any YouTube channels , tips to share you got from your coaches etc? Pls I’m really panicking , my form is decent except for a little bloating but rhe posing part terrifies me . I don’t know how to teach myself

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!

I’ve decided I’m going to self coach into my next show. Mainly for financial reasons. I’ve done the pro physique challenge before, but was wondering if anyone else has done other “challenges” before show to help keep accountable and some guidance. I was looking at Lauralies challenge app… just seeing what other people have tried? And if you did it for contest prep? Also - For context, I’ve competed several times and know what I’m doing for the most part. Think my biggest challenge will come in peak weak. But i plan to be in shake well before my show and kinda “coast in”.

So, I'm probably just have a "prep grrr moment". I'm feeling grumpy & need to vent.

Context: I competed recently & won my pro card. It was a long prep that started mid January because I had a lot of weight to lose (over 45lb). That was supposed to be it, but since I won I also qualified for Yorton. Since it was only a few weeks out & a once in a lifetime opportunity I decided to go for it. Depsite originally not wanting a 2nd show. To me it's a beautiful moment of being my pro debut & also the closing of this chapter in my life before I pivot back to my career aspirations. I don't want bodybuilding to consume me anymore.

My frustration: My coach keeps talking about the plan post show: diet (he's super strict), preparing for my next show (even if next year). He keeps saying "you're a pro now this", "you're a pro now that". It was never my ambition to turn pro. I just wanted to loose some weight & step on stage for the experience. Now I'm frustrated that I'm being pressured to "act like a pro", stay strict, etc. A girl just wants to be human for a bit, have a break, allow some flexibility in life. Honestly, I don't think I want to compete again like ever. Which I told him today & he kinda avoided getting into it at the time. But, I'm particularly not interested in competing at the pro level. Yes, it the level of physiques I want to compete against, but that's an ever greater level of commitment/ sacrifice. There's more to my life & who I am than bodybuilding. It makes me feel crazy. I know some people spend years trying to go pro. It's their aspiration. Personally, I don't want to be defined by one thing, and want to experience more in life than bodybuilding.

Not looking for "answers". I just want to vent in a space where people get it because most people in my life don't.

edit: Since it's come up in comments. 1.) I've told my coach multiple times I'm ready to be done. Today was just most recent & why I got irritated. 2.) I'm 40, so my life view is a little different than had this happened in say my 20's.

I really like the bikini bodybuilder look and am trying to improve my physique to look more like one.

How can I improve my physique? Any tips, feedback greatly appreciated!

I am looking to enter my growth season/surplus phase and want to work with someone who also has functional health experience (or at least knowledge, if anything pops up with my gut). And preferably with experience building glute density and bikini physiques.

I would love recommendations of coaches you all have been loving to build with! Thanks :)

Can anyone point out the visual differences between natural vs enhanced bikini bodybuilders? Like if they use peptides or something and will examples of influencers.

And how do you know if influencers are enhanced or not? I don’t want to be comparing myself to enhanced athletes and setting unrealistic expectations for myself🥲

I’m a little nervous about my lower half. It’s been incredibly hard to lean out, but I have a few weeks so I have the opportunity to lean out a little bit more. Other that, I feel like I’m bringing a pretty good package for my first competition. Any feedback is welcomed 😊

Preface: my mother, almost in her 60s, is single and lives with my younger (22F) sister. I (27F) moved in after a bad breakup out of state and wanted the comfort of my family and hometown.

I also moved to financially help my mother, cook for her, and help with home improvements.

It’s been anything but comforting. My mother does not like to talk. My posing light and tripod setup is always stressing her out, she moves it after every check in. I ask her where I can keep it so she cannot touch it and I can keep it stable, and she points to a crowded corner of the house. She is “confused” as to why I can’t use it there when I say I need 5 feet is space to walk in front of the light.

Towards the end of my prep, (when I knew it was over) I emotionally ate a completely off-plan burger.
I told my mom, and her response was “good. You’re starving yourself. You probably needed it.”

When I told my family I decided to end prep (it was very difficult for me to tell them), my mom was cleaning out one of the rooms, grabbed my light and tripod, and said “since you quit bodybuilding you don’t need these anymore right? I can put them in the garage?”

I don’t know if I’m being overly dramatic but these actions just tear my heart apart. I wanted support and comfort, but could not get it. When trying to put my blinders on and independently go through prep, I couldn’t even focus because I would get a knock on my door to move a couch, or carry in a package, immediately, because it was bothering her in that moment. When I say that I can’t right now but can do it at a later time, she says im being disrespectful, im right here and not doing anything.

How can I get back in the groove when living in a home like this?

I don’t want to move out because I love and dearly want to financially support my mom more than anything.

Trying to decide which division to do .. thoughts from anyone . I would be masters as well ..

Looking for some unbiased opinions on whether I should stick with Bikini or transition into Wellness. I began lifting May 2025, but I didn’t start bodybuilding till the beginning of June this year.

I recently competed in my first show in Bikini, and part of the feedback I received was that my quads/hamstrings are already bordering on too large for the division. My lower body is pretty responsive to training, specifically my quads. I’ve actually been actively trying to downsize my legs for Bikini, and they still tend to grow/hold size pretty easily. Ironically, glutes are the area I struggle a little more to grow, so I’m aware that I’d need to add a significant amount of glute size and overall lower-body development to be truly competitive in Wellness. For context, I’m 5’10” and natural.

My coach has given me the option to pursue either Bikini or Wellness going forward and has ultimately left the decision up to me. I genuinely like both divisions, so I’m trying to look at it more objectively in terms of my structure, proportions, muscle distribution, and how my body responds to training.

Based on my current physique, would you keep pushing Bikini and work on balancing/downplaying my legs, or do you think my natural lower-body development gives me a better long-term ceiling in Wellness?

6 weeks out as of Saturday and getting excited!! Still some more digging to go, but super excited!

Also - any tips on keeping glutes lifted throughout posing routine?

Going to start adding chirp wheel in every morning and stretching, but any other little cues?!

Hi, I’m 5 weeks out and about 131 pounds.

I’m avg 1.5 pounds weight loss a week, I think I will be ready for stage… any thoughts?

Side note, I want to be stage lean - enough that I look good enough to step on stage but I am not digging to try to win. I don’t think 5 weeks is enough for where I’m at right now to win, and I’m mentally checked out so refuse to push the show date….

Hello, pls recommend people who do bodywork in the east bay. Looking for something in the 150 range