Bodybuilding Coaches

Bodybuilding Coaches

I have done 6 bodybuilding shows in my life. I did my first show in 1998. My second and third shows were in 2005. And I recently competed in 3 shows this year.

Each time I competed I had a little help. I had *very* little help for my first show. For my next two shows I hired a coach for his 12 week program. And for my final 3 shows I hired a coach over one year out from my first show this year. Needless to say, I have some experience working with bodybuilding coaches. And let me tell you, selecting a bodybuilding coach is not something that should be taken lightly.

My First Show

Let's start with my first competition. I was 19 years old and after talking to some bodybuilders at the gym, I decided to compete on my own. That's right! I was going to step on stage without a coach and without ever having competed before. This turned out to be a very bad idea.

Fortunately, about 6 weeks before the show a local promoter, friend, and former IFBB pro bodybuilder took some pity on me. He gave me a few lessons on the mandatory poses, helped me realize that I had cut way too low for way too long, and he aided me in adjusting my diet. I wouldn't really consider him a coach. What he provided me was emergency care. And I was (and still am) very grateful.

At the show, I ran into a bodybuilding coach who had multiple clients competing in the show. They all did relatively well and they were all certainly better prepared than I was. I still remember what he said to me, "You have a lot of potential. But if you ever decide to compete again, contact me." To which several people around him nodded their heads in agreement.

My Next Two Shows

Sometime in early 2005, I decided that I wanted to compete in another bodybuilding show. By this time that coach I met in 1998 had become pretty popular and it was well known that he had a 12-week prep plan to get you in contest shape. So, I paid him a visit at just over 12 weeks out and viola I had a coach.

In hindsight I probably should have started leaner or started earlier, but either way I had a grueling 12-weeks of contest prep. It consisted of 1.5 hours of steady state cardio a day, split into two sessions. One session was fasted in the morning and one at night. I only ate 1800 calories and almost all of the carbs I consumed for the day were in the form green beans, broccoli, or some other green fibrous vegetable. I ate unsalted chicken and steak. I also restricted fluids and salts (to the point of drinking distilled water) and I took water pills during peak week.

After 12 weeks I was not contest ready. But I competed anyway and I came in dead last in both shows that year. I did drop weight tho and I did get noticeably leaner. So, it's not like nothing happened. I certainly improved over 12 weeks. I just wasn't near contest shape.

As I said before, I should have started leaner and I should have started my prep further out. So, I can't put it all on my coach. After all, other clients he had did come in looking pretty good. But I just wasn't one of them. And to top it all off, I was miserable for 12 weeks and in the end I wasn't even competitive.

My Last Three Shows & Working With Layne Norton

In the middle of my weight loss in 2012, I decided that I would try competing again in 2013. After reading a lot of Layne Norton's stuff, I realized that if I was going do it then I wanted him to be my coach. He didn't believe in restricting fluids or spending half the day doing steady state cardio or dragging yourself through contest prep eating nothing much more than unsalted chicken, steak and green vegetables. And what was even more compelling was that he had a Ph.D. and the research to back up his methods and assertions. This was my guy!

So, in late summer of 2012 I contacted Layne via email and before I knew it he was my coach. He helped me stay relatively lean (although I was by no means contest lean when I came to him) and build muscle by helping me to reverse diet. He introduced occlusion training (upon my request) into my training routine and he helped me make modifications that specifically targeted my lagging and disproportionate body parts. He also did something that I think few coaches really do: he set realistic expectations.

When I first talked to him, I said that I wanted to gain 10 lbs of muscle in the 9months of off season we were planning before contest prep. He said, "While that might be possible, given your size and training history, I would be happy with about 6 lbs." He didn't make B.S. promises, he just promised that I would keep progressing and that he would help make me competitive. I thought hmm... competitive... as a bodybuilder, that's something that I had never really been before.

During the off season I made gains. I added some fat but not too much and I certainly added some muscle. If I had to guess, I'd say that I did add about 6+ lbs of muscle over that time. And when it came time for contest prep, I ate what I wanted as long as it fit into my macro profile. Instead of green vegetables, chicken and steak, I ate fajitas, veggies, fruits, nuts, peanut butter, cheese and oatmeal. Sometimes I even went out to eat.

My calories only reduced and my cardio only increased when I stopped making progress. And through the whole process, I never restricted fluids, eliminated specific foods from my diet, or did any weird "tricks." It all made prefect sense. And if Layne made a recommendation that I didn't understand, I asked for an explanation and he gave me one.

In the end, I ended up holding onto more muscle throughout my prep than I ever did in the past. As a result, I progressed further and I was much more competitive this year than I ever had been in the past. I ended up a finalist in the top 4 for all 3 shows I competed in this year. Two of those shows had 10 or more men in my class. But the best part is that by working with Layne, I learned a ton. And I think I now have the tools to take my own physique to the next level. In my opinion, that's exactly what you should get out of working with a coach.

Posted by Clayton Long