So I'm doing the GNC / ALLMAX Canadian National Pro Qualifier in Toronto which is coming up really soon by the way, about 2.5 weeks out... Where I need to be stage ready so I can hopefully impress the judges and perhaps get that all elusive IFBB Pro Card! Like anything in life if you want to do well then you need to be prepared for it.
Contest Prep is really no different, it's making sure you are ready by getting yourself in the best possible shape that you can and for Men's Physique that means being muscular but not too muscular while also being conditioned but not too conditioned. The truth of the matter is that as Men's Physique has evolved over the years the judges seem to be rewarding the biggest and most conditioned guys but that's another topic.
So how does one get in Contest Shape? It's really a process of building muscle first, usually in a slight caloric surplus followed by a caloric deficit for cutting as much fat as you can while keeping as much muscle as you can. There are several ways to go about this (without getting into too much detail as I explain a lot of this in the video), I touch on the bulk and cut method and the grow into the show while cutting method which is more or less what works for me as I have found out by trial and error.