FIRST STEPS OF BIKINI PREP
Before you stand on stage as a Bikini competitor, you will need to take a few steps to get you on stage. And it will be an amazing journey full of exciting feelings! I’m sure you will enjoy Bikini prep because it means taking care of your body, fully concentrating on yourself and your goals. You will satisfy your desires and not only that thanks to Bikini prep you will achieve the body you desire, but you will also move up on a mental level and you will be more determined to overcome obstacles in everyday life. Preparing for the Bikini competition will move you in all directions of your life. Simply level up!
What awaits you before you step on stage for the first time?
Be healthy in every way
Of course, first of all you have to be healthy, that is, have a completely healthy body, by which I mean okay blood test, hormone levels, menstrual cycle, mental health, be fit and committed to your goal. We have to think that Bikini prep is also a challenge for the body. Because it requires a high weight training intensity and also strictness in nutrition. Therefore, it is necessary that you are healthy in your Bikini competition preparation and nothing just stopped your journey so easily. You want to stand on stage!
Choose BIKINI coach
You have to be coached! You really need a coach who is dedicated to your exact category. This means that if you want to compete in a bikini fitness, your coach must specify the bikini competitor category and not a male bodybuilding, strength training or condition etc. Why? Because each category has its own specifics which subject training and the whole competition preparation. It is necessary to have an eye for detail, for the Bikini body shape and to see the muscle deficits that need to be worked on.
Ask the Bikini coach for an initial consultation so you can talk to him and see if you are on the same wave. You will work with this coach for a few months, maybe years so in time it will be a coach + friend with whom you will manage a lot of personal matters. You should feel confident in this relationship.
Can you ask a friend who competed to help you prepare? How seriously are you taking your goal? Just because someone competed doesn’t mean they can prepare you… Take your goal seriously, ask Bikini coach!
What about training?
Bikini body means that your training will focus on achieving the X shape, so it means primarily on developing the glutes – buttlock, which should be dominant in the Bikini category, slim thighs, slender core and rounded shoulders and back. Overall, you will be wider at the shoulders and back, slimmer at the waist and your bum should be a nice bullet.
You will achieve this with properly and personalised designed training, the right exercise technique, where you will be sure that you will engage the correct muscles. Bad training technique can cost you imbalances and disturb the right Bikini body proportions.
Based on these criteria and your current body structure, your training split will also be built. You will probably start your training with a smaller number of trainings and gradually the amount and intensity of trainings will increase. This means that at the beginning you will start train probably three times a week full body training, depends how skilled you are and gradually you will train five times a week with trainings divided into individual parts of the body with a dominant component for the shoulders and buttocks.
Your training will be about weight exercises that can sufficiently stimulate the growth of muscles and all parts of these muscles that are primarily considered in the Bikini category. There is no time to try some fun exercises from the internet. Follow basic exercises, improve technique, muscle mass connection and constantly overloading muscles.
The closer you are to the stage day, the more cardio you will perform in order to achieve a reduction in body fat. But it is not desirable that you spend hours on cardio. Too much cardio and too little food, that’s exactly what you don’t want!
What about nutrition?
Nutrition is a key. Fitness nutrition is based on higher protein intake per kg body weight than a regular diet. Higher protein intake will ensure muscle regeneration, stimulate it to anabolism (muscle growth) and protect it from catabolism (muscle breakdown). Of course, proper nutrition also includes carbohydrates and fats. The amount and share of macronutrients and calories will change during the preparation according to the microcycle in which you are currently.
First you need to focus on building muscle mass. This phase will last at least a few months to years. If you want to go compete, gym is probably no new environment for you and you have already built up some muscles. This process is about eating more calories be in the caloric surplus but not overeating. You don’t want to gain too much fat.
Closer to the Bikini competition day you will spend some weeks in a caloric deficit to reduce subcutaneous fat. It is important to lose excess fat but on the other hand not to be emaciated. You are an athlete not model. Calories must never be very low so as not to cause you to lose your menstrual cycle or any other hormonal imbalances or athletic triad. It would cost you a lot. This means that you might not even get on stage, and you would then spend months and years to get your hormonal system in order. It is very important to have a sufficient caloric intake!
During the preparation for the Bikini competition you will eat for example meat, fish, tuna, eggs, egg whites, protein powder, high protein dairy products, nuts, seeds, nut butter, oils, avocados, oats, rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, pasta, quinoa, bread and so on. Processed foods should be avoided as always in healthy nutrition. On the other hand, this does not mean that you will not rest from the nutrition plan for the whole Bikini preparation or you will not go to a restaurant or never see ice cream more. But you have to reckon with the fact that you want to achieve a high goal and the nutrition will be stricter. And yes, you will need to weight the food for a while.
How long time do you need for a Bikini prep?
The time you need to prepare for the competition depends very much on your current shape. How very muscular you are, how much percent of body fat you keep, how does your metabolism works, also depends on how well you master the exercise technique and of course how fast you can learn stage posing. The whole competition includes several intermediate cycles. First you have to gain muscle, then work on deficiencies and balance them and finally reduce subcutaneous fat.
It is difficult to define how much time you should spend at each stage. Since it absolutely depends on your character. The best is to spend as much time as possible in gaining muscle, without unnecessary fat gain and the shortest possible time focused on fat reduction. In the phase of gaining muscle, you should spend a few months the longer the better. It will be great for at least half a year to a year.
Restricted calories due to lose weight process is not what our body wants. Therefore, we do not want to gain an extra 10 kg of fat while gaining muscle mass. You can count on the fact that with healthy weight loss you will manage to lose about 0.5 kg per week. Don’t try to lose weight fast. It won’t pay off for you.
You will learn more details about Bikini prep in future articles. Start your prep and light that fire in you!
Feel free to contact me about your prep.
