Q: Gina, What is the difference between on season and off season training/diet?
A: There are different types of goals for each type of program. Typically your goals for a pre season/prep is to change your body composition, by maintaining as much muscle as you can while losing as much body fat as you can. It is a fine balance and quite a science. Your overall goal is to preserve and condition. Not saying you can not build, during the first few weeks of a program, but as your calories and carbohydrates start to drop and (fat burning) cardio is increased, it is hard to have the energy and surplus in glycogen and calories to gain muscle and also to be able to feed the muscle. Typically cardio starts moderate and increases throughout the weeks and calories/carbs start moderate and decrease throughout the weeks. You are shooting for a body composition goal that is only maintainable for a certain period of time and can NOT be maintained for life. Getting that low in body fat and doing that type of dieting/training/cardio is not realistic for everyday life.
-MAINTENANCE, — EASIER TO MAINTAIN A LOWER WEIGHT GAIN BECAUSE YOU ARE WHERE YOU WANT TO BE MUSCLE WISE, SO IT IS JUST A SHIFT IN YOUR BODY COMPOSITION. THIS IS ME, FOR EXAMPLE. MY WEIGHT STAYS ABOUT THE SAME AS PRE CONTEST BUT MY MUSCLE DENSITY SHIFTS DOWN A BIT AND MY FAT LEVELS SHIFT UP SO THEY COUNTERACT AND THE WEIGHT STAYS ABOUT THE SAME, HENCE MUSCLE WEIGHS MORE THAN FAT.
-FOR INCREASE MUSCLE SIZE, WHICH IS TYPICALLY A MORE NORMAL SITUATION, YOU MAY FLUCTUATE 5-7 LBS AS YOU INCREASE YOUR MUSCLE DENSITY DURING YOUR OFF SEASON, AS YOU TRAIN HARD AND HEAVY AND EAT THE FOODS TO ALLOW FOR YOUR GROWTH.
Keep in mind, off season does not mean stop eating healthy, stop training, stop cardio, etc. It means live again. Train 4-5 x a week, cardio 4-5 times a week and eat a clean diet with a few fun foods here and there and enabling yourself to be normal again! It is the time to be able to enjoy holiday treats, not freak out if you miss a training session, cardio session or a meal, etc. You Still try to be on a specified program but at the same time it is not the same type of program you are on when you are pre contest. Your program has more balanced foods such as dairy, more furits, more carbs, etc. You are still eating clean foods, i.e. complex carbs and low fat -non fat dairy but the foods we eat when we are pre contest are very specific and strict!!! During your downtime, you allow yourself to go back to a balanced nutritious meal plan, still staying clean and making healthy choices.
For example, you may only get salmon once a week during a prep but in the off season you have salmon a few times a week and it isn’t weighed. Salmon is still clean and a “diet friendly” food but you aren’t watching how many times a week you eat it. Another example is you are stuck on the road and are starving, you don’t have your meal prepared because you ran out of time, if you are in the off season, you allow yourself to pull over and get a healthy wrap at your local grocery store. Now this isn’t something you would eat pre contest but it is okay when you are not preparing for a show!
Bottom line is a pre contest diet is VERY strict and specific, because it has to be to get into that type of shape. It is NOT maintainable, reasonable or realistic (and even healhy!!) for every day living. When you are not in prep for a show, it is important to add back in different nutrients and get back to that balanced lifestyle living yet still staying healthy and fit!
Both are very different yet they both have their purpose, reasoning and timing in your life and fitness goals.
This is a very hard question to answer with out going on and on, as I could write for days on this topic but I hope that helped a little.
