Option #1

The first option would be to drop the total workload by dropping the amount of sets done for each bodypart. You could go from doing 12 sets for back to eight or nine sets and go from doing 12 sets of quads to about eight sets. Keep in mind that as the cardio increases during a prep phase, your legs are going to take on more work, so your legs will likely need changes before most other muscle groups to keep recovery maximized.

Option #2

Option two would be to reduce your workout schedule from training four days to training only three days. This change would give you one more complete day of rest, and extra recovery time will make a huge difference as your prep progresses, because as you get closer to a show, your energy drops while your need for cardio usually increases. It could end up looking something like this:

Monday – Chest, Delts, Tri's

Wednesday – Quads, Hams, Calves, Abs

Friday – Back, Traps, Biceps, Lower Back

Option #3

Option three would be to take your four-day offseason schedule and keep it as a four-day rotation but only workout three days a week. This would stretch out the time before workouts are repeated and would add a good amount of time to aid and increase recovery. It could look something like this:

Monday – Chest, Delts, Abs

Wednesday – Back, Traps, Lower Back

Friday – Quads, Hams, Calves

Monday – Triceps, Biceps, Abs

Wednesday – Repeat cycle: Chest, Delts, Abs

This option adds two days to aid in recovery, yet it doesn’t change the structure of the offseason plan.

Option #4

The fourth option involves doing what would be called "cruising" with or "deloading" your training. This simply means that after a certain amount of weeks you would take a week to either train very light or not train at all. Whether you train light or you don't train at all would depend on how beat up your body is at that point. If you needed more recovery and you were really feeling overtrained, you'd be wise to take the week off entirely and come back stronger the following week. These cruise or deload weeks need to be scheduled proactively, in that they shouldn't be taken when you feel beat to hell but rather when you feel pretty good but recognize a few subtle signs that you need to recover. Knowing when to take this time off will take some getting used to, but the rule is that when in doubt, that week is needed. If you choose this route, I'd recommend taking a cruise or deload week once every 5-7 weeks.

The Right Choice for Recovery

Keep in mind that you don't have to choose one of these four options exclusively. Your best bet is to tailor what you need based on a combination of these options. Personally, I prefer not to cut back on my volume, opting instead for increasing the days between workouts, and I also always use cruise weeks both during my offseason and my contest prep. What you may want or what you may need to maximize recovery may well be entirely different than what I need. Recovery is an individual issue.

The bottom line is that if you're paying attention to all of the components of your contest prep plan, you can't overlook something as important as the relationship between training and recovery. The fastest way to lose that hard-earned muscle is to not maximize recovery while on a restricted-calorie diet. It isn't always easy to consciously do less work, but you have to remember that you want to work smart first and hard second. Forget the clichés -- no one gets onstage and wins a contest because they worked harder than someone else. They win because they have the most muscle and the least amount of skin.

Ken "Skip" Hill has spent 30 years in the trenches of bodybuilding. He owns TEAM SKIP Nutritional Consulting, where he specializes in conditioning for bodybuilders and high-level athletes. You can reach Skip through his website, TEAMSKIP.net.

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