Weeks-out planner
How many weeks out?
Put in your show date. The planner works out the weeks to go from today, the phase you should be in, how often we would check in, and the dated milestones from your first GP blood test to the end of the reverse diet.
Your show
Or pick one of the regional tested shows: Swansea Apr 2027 · Cardiff May 2027 · Bristol Jun 2027 · Newport Sep 2027 · Birmingham Oct 2027 · Swansea Apr 2028 · (fictional, named generically).
Saturday 25 September 2027
46 wkand 5 days out
- Phase
- Off-season
- What happens
- Still building. Too early to start a diet; use the time to grow and get strong.
- Check-ins
- Monthly check-in, posing once a month
- Peak week
- Normal water and salt to the morning of the show, small food changes, early nights. No water cutting and no diuretics.
The dated milestones
- GP blood test before the prep
- Prep starts (our usual start)
- Latest start for a new prep with us
- Posing becomes weekly
- Suit or trunks sorted, tan booked
- Show-day plan written
- Peak week: normal water and salt
- Show day
- GP blood test after the show
- Reverse diet ends; off-season starts
Planning, not medical advice. See your GP before you start a prep and for any blood test, and tell your GP and us if anything feels wrong at any point.
How the phases work
From off-season to peak week.
| Weeks out | Phase | What happens | Check-ins |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28+ | Off-season | Still building. Too early to start a diet; use the time to grow and get strong. | Monthly check-in, posing once a month |
| 21–27 | Getting ready | Tidy up the off-season, set the starting point, book your GP bloods, start posing every fortnight. | Fortnightly check-in, posing every two weeks |
| 13–20 | Prep: first half | A modest deficit, about half to one per cent of bodyweight a week. Training stays heavy; cardio comes in slowly. | Weekly check-in, posing every two weeks |
| 5–12 | Prep: second half | Same direction, smaller steps. Posing becomes weekly, the routine gets practised, the suit and tan get sorted. | Weekly check-in plus a midweek message, posing weekly |
| 1–4 | Final weeks | Nothing new. Practise, sleep, keep food steady, and write the show-day plan. | Weekly check-in, posing twice a week |
| Under 1 | Peak week | Normal water and salt, small food changes, early nights. No water cutting and no diuretics, ever. | Daily message, a last posing run-through |
About the planner
How does the planner work out the phase?
From the whole weeks between today and your show. Twenty-eight or more is off-season; twenty-one to twenty-seven getting ready; thirteen to twenty the first half of prep; five to twelve the second half; one to four the final weeks; under a week is peak week.
Is sixteen weeks really the minimum?
For us, yes. Shorter preps mean bigger deficits, and bigger deficits mean losing muscle and feeling awful. If your date is closer, pick a later show.
What is a check-in?
Weight, measurements, photographs and a few lines on training, sleep, mood and hunger, sent through a form and answered within a day.
Why is there nothing about water in peak week?
Because there is nothing to do. Normal water and salt to the morning of the show. Manipulating water is how competitors end up in hospital, and it makes you look worse.
Start with a free half-hour. No sales, no scale.
Come in or call for thirty minutes: your training, your history, the show you have in mind if you have one, and an honest answer about whether it is the right time. If it is not, we will say so and say what would change it.