Nutrition Guide for Fitness Competitors

We present a Nutrition Guide for Fitness Competitors based on a comprehensive review of the scientific evidence, so that you can be at your best for competition.

What is Fitness

“Fitness” is a misunderstood term, since the concept itself refers to being in shape.

Fitness Competitions

Currently, outside the academic and research environment, “fitness” is referred to as a set of “physical competitions”, types of sport where the performance of the athlete is determined by evaluating their physical characteristics based on standards specific to each category.

There are a large number of national and international federations that coordinate this sport.

Categories

Each category that exists, in both men and women, is further divided into subdivisions according to height or weight, and in each one different aesthetic aspects are positively and negatively valued.

For example: without going into the rules, which are at the least “vague”, excessive vascularity in men’s physique is penalised, while in bodybuilding it is a scoring point.

These differences mean that nutritional approaches must conform to the standards of each category, so we must be very clear what we want to compete in, to what extent our physiognomy conforms to it, and what we need to be competitive.

What we’re going to deal with

In this series of articles, we’ll talk about how a fitness competitor should eat in each of the stages that comprise a complete competitive preparation.

What is a brotocol

Brotocol is a term that I read mentioned by Carlos Mejías (@musclespain1) a while ago, that I think satirises perfectly the empirical approach that characterises this sport.

Figures like Hany Rambod (the world-class fitness competitor prepper) represent it perfectly with FST-7.

FST-7 is a training system that is proposed as a “differentiator”; when we already know that there are no higher or lower training systems as long as the training principles that determine long-term hypertrophy are met.

You would gain muscle mass with or without FST-7.

These types of “preppers” strongly reject the conclusions established based on RCT results following the scientific method, and therefore will continue to tell you that the consumption of carbohydrates at night “fattens” as they are stored in the form of fat because we do not “spend” them.

In these articles, you will not find an apex of these empirical approaches, as the “Bro” does not understand that what worked for him as a single person has been tested in a sample of hundreds of people and it is shown that the average results are unfavourable (although there are outliers who have responded favourably).

Structure of the Guide

These articles follow the following structure as it is the one that a competitor usually adopts.

1. Part 1: Off-season nutrition, bulking, or volume phase.
2. Part 2: On-season nutrition, definition, or preparation
3. Part 3: Peak week, final week, or tune-up
4. Part 4: Post-competitive period, or post-competition recuperation.

So without further delay, let’s get to it!