Everybody ' s different , but when I see somebody get lean , many times they still have another 15 to 30 lbs . left to lose to get to what is considered truly stage shredded . During this process is where the lower your body weight gets , the more you typically look bigger . Remember that this sport is all an illusion . It is all about how you can make your body appear on stage compared to other individuals .
This is why it is crucial to avoid many of the mistakes people make in their journey that prevent them from getting contest shredded .
What are eight common mistakes I see people make in their journey from lean to shredded ?
Focusing too much on the scale weight- Although the scale weight is important to have an idea as to what your current energy balance is , it doesn ' t say anything about how you ' re actually looking . No judge will ever ask you what your weight is on stage . Sometimes people get so caught up in being a specific weight , that they lose sight of the most important thing which is being in incredible condition . To display a shredded physique , they start either overdoing it or underdoing it because they ' re afraid they will look small . On stage , typically the more shredded you are , the more muscular and bigger you end up looking .
This is where a coach can really come in handy because when your mind is playing these tricks on you , you can have somebody to help you refocus and do the necessary work without making an emotional decision .
Focusing too much on being tired- Some people are so obsessed with complaining about how tired they are during a contest prep that they lose sight of why they are doing it . They should embrace it and see it as a challenge , but instead they ' re plain miserable . These are the same people who will skip out on workouts , skip out on cardio , and give half effort all because they feel tired . For most individuals , this will mean that they get lackluster results and are not able to get rid of every single bit of body fat while still feeling crappy and uncomfortable anyway . You might as well give it 100 % effort if you ' re going to feel like that anyway and get much better results !
Focusing too much on being hungry- These individuals are so focused on food that they will start adding hidden calories knowingly or unknowingly which can prevent them from losing the body fat they need in order to get shredded . This can come in the form of even things like too many veggies , condiments , sauces , extra protein , and just plain cheating on the diet . One of the best things you can do while dieting is to stay distracted as much as possible and have a lot going on . Most people cheat when they ' re bored .
Not training intensely enough- This is a big one . In the last 20 years , I ' ve seen a massive decline in how much focus is given to training in the entire bodybuilding equation . People want to focus heavily on the latest fad diet and the latest PED that they lose sight of the most important thing out of this whole endeavor . Hard training and receiving a stimulus in the gym . Those people who don ' t have their training bang on when it comes to programming , recovery and effort , always end up with a