Let’s be honest – the chances are that most people need more muscle everywhere (is anyone ever satisfied?!). However, most of us have some stronger and weaker body parts or areas in our physique. As such, when working towards building a well-balanced physique, you will need to focus and plan your training so that you bring up weaker or less developed areas as you go.

If you’ve recently started on your journey, you may have never undergone a “bulk” or gaining phase before. In the past, when I decided I was “bulking”, it would mean I would eat whatever I wanted, not think about the quality of my overall nutrition, and believe it or not, I would have a full on “cheat day” on a Saturday. This was of course to “shock my metabolism” like I had read all over the internet. Hopefully you can sense the sarcasm: I was so wrong.

If you have ever dieted down to the extremes – or even just dieted for a prolonged period of time – you will know that with the joy of wrapping up a diet also comes a bit of apprehension around weight gain

You may have seen bodybuilders on Instagram posting up stories from their glucometer, showing their fasted or post prandial (90 minutes after eating a meal) glucose levels. You might find this odd because you tend to only see diabetics track these values; however, it is becoming increasingly common to do so amongst bodybuilders, as there is a lot of value in having this data.

In the bodybuilding scene, everyone wants big legs. It’s often the trademark sign of a very good bodybuilder and someone who has been at it for a while. For as much as these a readily sought after though, very few people will actually possess “big” legs. In fact, there will be many of you who feel like your legs are simply not growing, and that they never will.

For the most part, if you are new to the bodybuilding scene and have never actually gone through a gaining phase or ‘bulk’, as it’s commonly referred to, you’ll more than likely stick with your coach throughout this phase of your training. However, if you are a seasoned competitor or have some experience/knowledge of offseasons, that might not always be the case.

In the bodybuilding world, it’s well established that we need to progressively increase the food on our plate to continue to grow. However, there will always come a time where one’s appetite simply does not permit them to eat the calories that they require for growth, without physically feeling sick. In the past, I would have always said that you should immediately recomp.

If you read that sentence and think to yourself “wait a minute, I thought I was supposed to be getting stronger!”, then you’re absolutely right! At Prep Coach UK we preach the progressive overload training method and focus on getting stronger over time.

Have you ever wondered why you see people consuming large amounts of carbohydrates around the workout parameters? Are you currently eating chicken and rice and feeling like you are missing out?

If you are experiencing bloating every time you eat and/or multiple times across the day, the first thing to ask yourself is this: what are you doing about it?

Are you supplementing yohombine whilst dieting? If so, do you know how it works? Or are you just taking it because you’ve been told too? Not to worry, I will break down how it works in layman’s terms and why it can aid in fat loss.

Nutrition is – in all honesty – a huge part of your physique development journey. If you want to grow, you have to be in a surplus (eating more than you are burning off); and if you want to get lean, you need to be in a deficit (eating less than your body needs).

Does nutrition confuse you? Do you struggle to separate BS from helpful information? At the start of a fitness journey, most people understand the importance of tracking nutrition in some shape or form. We’ll typically start off looking at calories, and as our knowledge evolves, we start to look at the importance of the types of calories we consume.

We all know that nutrition will make or break your results, and this is irrespective of whether you’re trying to gain muscle mass or pull body fat levels down. However, adherence to nutritional principles is notoriously difficult and probably the thing people struggle with most, particularly in a dieting phase

In this day and age where evidence-based information is so readily available, I’m still baffled every time I speak to someone who has a complete misconception about carbs, and still believes they are the enemy of physique development. This is so far removed from the truth as, in fact, if you don’t use carbs properly then you are missing out on an amazing macronutrient that can support your performance and growth

We’ve all heard the expression “fail to prepare or prepare to fail” applied to the context of nutrition when it comes to physique goals. Although a lack of preparation does not lead to imminent failure, winging your nutrition is likely to slow your physique progress quite significantly for a number of reasons.

If you’re reading this, then it’s likely that you already track your protein. But ask yourself this: are you getting enough of the right sources of protein? We all know protein is essential to build muscle: if you’re consuming 1.1-1.2g protein per pound of body weight, then you’re on the right lines.

It’s almost become a running joke, but it’s surprising the number of people who think that you cannot possibly consume enough protein on a vegan diet! A vegan or plant-based diet is one which does not include any animal foods, such as meat, poultry, fish, eggs, dairy or honey

For as long as I can remember, there has been a debate within the fitness industry about the use of protein intra-workout. The discussion has largely been around the benefits of supplementing branch chain amino acids (BCAAs), and whether or not it helped with the ‘gainz’ or was just expensive piss. All you need to do is type “are BCAAs good” into google and thousands of articles, studies and blogs will come up arguing for and against that argument.

As bodybuilders/physique athletes, we all want to maximise training performance in the gym. We want to perform at our highest possible level whilst ensuring that our muscles are receiving as much “fuel” (i.e. food) as possible too.