Do you find yourself frustrated with your progress (or lack of!) in certain muscle groups? Are the same muscle groups lagging behind other areas that are growing quicker?

Do you want that V taper back? Do you struggle to add mass to it? Of course you do. Why? Because the wider your back is, the smaller your waist appears.

If you look at men and women with amazing size and shape to their quads, there a few common traits amongst them. The first is that they all train very hard. The second is that they are all strategic in their programming and incorporate the fundamental aspects of training to continually add muscle.

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.

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.