Bodybuilding Off Season: How Coaches Plan It

Prep gets the attention, but the off season decides the result. A diet can only reveal the muscle an athlete built before it, and for natural athletes that muscle comes slowly. A coach who plans the off season as carefully as prep gets better shows out of the same athlete.

The phases of an off season

1. Post-show recovery

The first weeks after a show are about recovering from the diet: bringing calories back up, regaining normal hunger, sleep and energy, and letting bodyweight settle. This is the reverse diet, and it should be planned before the show.

2. Building

The long middle. A modest calorie surplus, hard training focused on weak points, and patience. This is where most of the off season should be spent.

3. Holding or a short cut, if needed

If body fat has crept up more than planned, some coaches insert a short fat loss phase before building again, so the next prep doesn't start too far out. It is a judgment call, made from photos and measurements.

4. The run-in to prep

A few weeks at maintenance before the diet starts, so prep begins from a stable, known intake. That makes the first weeks of the diet much easier to read.

How long the off season should be

Plan it backwards. Choose the next show, subtract the prep length (from the fat the athlete expects to lose at a slow rate; see the prep diet guide), and subtract a buffer. What is left is the building time. If that number is a few months, ask whether competing again that soon is worth it. For a natural athlete, visible change between shows usually takes much longer.

Off season nutrition: what the research says

A 2019 narrative review in the journal Sports set out recommendations for bodybuilders in the off season (Iraki et al., 2019):

	Novice and intermediate	Advanced
Calorie surplus	About 10 to 20% above maintenance	About 5 to 10% (review's table)
Weight gain	About 0.25 to 0.5% of bodyweight a week	About 0.25% a week
Protein	1.6 to 2.2 g/kg a day, 0.40 to 0.55 g/kg per meal, 3 to 6 meals
Fat	0.5 to 1.5 g/kg a day
Carbohydrate	The remaining calories, at least 3 to 5 g/kg a day

Source: Iraki et al., 2019. The review's text and table differ slightly for advanced athletes; the text suggests the lower end of 10 to 20%.

The point that matters most for coaches: the rate of gain is the dial. Gaining faster rarely builds more muscle, and the extra fat makes the next prep longer. Our lean bulk guide works through the numbers with an example.

Training: bring up what is behind

The off season is when the training plan should look most different from athlete to athlete. Start from the last show:

Judges' feedback, if the federation gives it.
Stage photos from the judges' angle, compared with athletes who placed higher.
The division's criteria. A classic athlete needs a small waist and full shoulders; see classic physique.

Choose two or three weak points and build the program around them.

How to measure progress

Muscle gain is slow and hard to see week to week, so measure it on several timescales:

Weekly: average morning weight, against the target rate of gain.
Every two to four weeks: measurements (waist especially) and photos in the same conditions. See how to take progress photos.
Per training block: strength and rep progress on key lifts.

If weight rises faster than planned and the waist grows with it, the surplus is too big. If weight is flat and lifts are stuck, it is too small.

Keeping athletes engaged

The off season is a common time for prep clients to drift away. There is no date to work toward, progress is slow and the coaching can feel less necessary. A few things help:

Set off season goals with dates: a strength target, a measurement, a photo comparison at a set week.
Keep a regular check-in, even if it is lighter than in prep.
Show progress side by side every month.
Talk about the next show early, so the off season has a purpose.

More on that in how to retain personal training clients.

Running the off season in one place

Off season coaching is lighter week to week but long, which is where systems matter. In CoachPilot, check-in questionnaires go out on the schedule you set for each client, the meal plan shows the day's macros, and photos arrive in the conversation with each athlete. See contest prep coaching software.

The short version

Plan the off season backwards from the next show. Recover with a reverse diet, then build with a modest surplus, gaining about 0.25 to 0.5% of bodyweight a week (less if advanced), with protein at 1.6 to 2.2 g/kg. Train weak points, measure progress on weekly and monthly timescales, and keep the athlete engaged with dated goals.

Frequently asked questions

The off season is the time between shows when the goal is to build muscle and bring up weak points, rather than to get lean. Many coaches now call it the improvement season, since the work done here decides how the next show goes.

Long enough to make visible progress, which for a natural athlete usually means many months and often a year or more. Plan it backwards from the next show: the prep length, plus a buffer, plus enough building time to justify competing again.

A 2019 review recommends a surplus of about 10 to 20% above maintenance for novice and intermediate bodybuilders, aiming to gain about 0.25 to 0.5% of bodyweight per week. Advanced athletes should sit lower: the review's table gives 5 to 10% and about 0.25% a week.

The same review recommends 1.6 to 2.2 g per kg of bodyweight per day, spread across three to six meals with 0.40 to 0.55 g per kg in each.

As little as possible while still gaining muscle. The faster the gain, the more of it tends to be fat, and every pound of fat gained is a pound to diet off later. Keeping the rate of gain slow is the main control.

Yes, though they can be lighter than in prep. Weekly weight averages, monthly photos and measurements, and training progress are enough to see whether the surplus is working.

Keep comparing: see the full CoachPilot pricing and comparison table, how to lean bulk, reverse dieting after a show and how to retain clients.

Coach the off season as closely as prep

Founding pricing: one flat price with unlimited clients on every paid plan, locked for life when you join before Dec 31, 2026. Signing up takes no payment and no commitment.

Reserve Your Spot