Post Show

Post show can cause some competitors Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD). Anxiety and Depression Association of America defines BDD as a body-image disorder by perceiving yourself with slight defect in one’s appearance. Self-love is something all athletes, and individuals in the fitness community practice all the time. It is easy in today’s age to get caught up on social media, and judge yourself based off someone else’s life. Bodybuilding competitors feel at their low, coming off stage and having to adjust back to a normal weight and calorie intake.

Competitors in the bodybuilding industry strive for weeks on end to get down to a weight that should not be maintain year round. The body fat is to low, and when maintain that low can cause immune system problems. Competitors coming off stage, not reverse dieting the proper way can cause the chemical/hormonal imbalance in their body to fluctuate and retain water. It is important to have, not only a coach you can trust, but one that is well educated on nutrition, as well as exercise science. When competing there is good and bad parts, you have to love the whole process.

When coming off stage, and slowly increasing calories, and lowering cardio the body will adjust and fluctuate back to a proper and healthy body fat. Competitors can’t just get off stage, and think they can eat whatever they want because “they deserve it”. Competitors have to realize the body has adjusted to a deficit and high intense activity. So, to slowly increase the calories, and slowly low the cardio will allow the body to recover. If a competitor were to ignore the reverse process, the body wouldn’t recover properly causing swelling and severe unhealthy weight gain. Therefore, athletes post show should recognize the key important of reverse dieting, self love, and loving the process even the bad parts of the journey.