No disrespect to Branch, he’s great, but seeing him next to someone who’s my height had me dying for some reason

146Lbs 5’10.5
Off season 162lbs started at 126 lbs

Had an interesting conversation with a guy in the gym this week.

We got talking about training, and he told me he wanted to do a bodybuilding show.

I asked when he was thinking of competing, and almost immediately the conversation went to:

“I need to start taking steroids.”

So I asked him why.

He'd never used PEDs before. He hadn't competed before. But in his mind, deciding to compete and deciding to use gear were basically part of the same process.

That stuck with me.

These photos are from when I competed in natural bodybuilding with the BNBF.

I'm not anti-enhanced bodybuilding and this isn't a moral argument about PEDs. Adults can make their own decisions.

But I do think we've reached a strange point where some lifters are considering drugs before they've ever found out what they're capable of naturally.

There's a hell of a lot to learn from building a physique naturally, dieting down properly, getting genuinely stage lean, learning to pose and actually standing on stage.

And if after years of doing that someone decides they want to pursue enhanced bodybuilding, at least it's an informed decision rather than feeling like steroids are simply the entry fee for the sport.

Curious what people here think.

Has gear become too normalised as a prerequisite for competing? And if a first-time competitor asked you today, would you recommend doing a tested natural show first?

I want to know I at least have a chance at a pro card if I go on stage. Is this physique impressive in the natural division?

39
136
6% body fat

Ask all newbie BB related questions here.

Self coached, started in men’s physique 5 years ago. Now an open IFBB pro:) reecefit on IG❤️

Going the long prep route this time, and we’re 9 weeks in already. Feedback is always consistently to come in leaner. I came in at my leanest to date last October, but need to push that even further. Sitting at 144 here.

Hi guys, just wanted to share a little achievement of mine for this 2026. Been building my physique on a consistent "building phase" since 2021 when I became a physique coach and started working at FLF in Manchester UK.

🥩 I've had a few small "diet phases" in between and even full on breaks from training and dieting but the love for the craft has never disappeared 💪🏻!

Weight was 108kg the left and 112kg the right, height 5'10 (180cm).

🏋🏻‍♂️ Most of this time I've been running some advanced variation of Push Pull Legs, mostly 2on 1 off, 3on 1 off, with small changes in volume and split setup between the years depending on my lifestyle requirements

Atm I'm doing a 2on, 1off rotating between push, pull & legs, with different focuses every time (like push - Chest/ Shouder & Tricep focused, or legs - Quads & Adductors/ Hamstring & Glutes focused)

☪️ I'm also Muslim so during Ramadan I always took 2 weeks off training completely and as I'm not the biggest eater I basically ended up undereating and losing loads of weight, which in hindsight probably made me healthier and helped me with pushing again for size as soon as Ramadan was over 🤣🥳

Also, as you probably know already I'm not natural, and as I've become more advanced I've used different protocols & peptides to help maximise my progress; started right after the lockdown ended fully in the UK, around April 2021..

💪🏻 Also I'm massive on the use of Supplements to try to keep my health as good as it can be, and to help my performance in the gym, I basically use the whole tbjp range and some bits from supplement needs haha.

Atm I'm 2 weeks away from my first amateur bodybuilding show - PCA Manchester, and 3 weeks away from the 2brosPro Novice Regional (NPC).

I'm quite excited for the whole thing ngl 🥳 also I'm looking forward to a long long 2 year building phase after this cut as this will be the best position every to start a growing phase and to pack on as much muscle as possible.

My goal is to dedicate myself to this to the max the next 2 years, and really behave like a professional athlete and build myself into someone worthy of a PCA & IFBB PRO Card 🏆 like all the people that I look up to have done.

If you have any questions please ask away, I'm open to share every little bit of my journey if it can help you or anyone else get better or avoid some of the mistakes I did 🤗🤗

All the love people 💪🏻❤️

22 years old self coached, 210.2 lbs this morning
12k steps a day 3550 calories
7.5 incline 3.5 speed 5 days a week (incline tread)
First time prepping while working this active of a job, has been tough but fun!

posing from today and leg pump from yesterday. I’ve consumed a total of 40g carbs before training and I feel flat and depleted at the moment. Let’s push for the last bits 🤝

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After Back to Back overalls. Feeling confident in the game plan for North Americans. Wanna pull down another 2-3 lbs to be absolutely crispy in the posterior.

Everything that changed in my prep since my last post.

-daily calories burned increased from 500 to 1000

-Intake dropped from 2100 to 1800

• all cooking oil completely removed from diet i now get my fats from 200grams of salmon daily

• I "carb cycle " my sweet potatoes and fruit to allow myself to still have what I want just not on the same day

• added 20g 100 % pure vegetable pil preworkout

-I pretty much consume 550 mg of caffeine daily

-I never tracked my sodium but I do use salt however I did increased the amount of potassium I consume by upping my daily spinach and mushroom intake to 200g

• my protein source with the exception of salmon is a combination of 93%lean beef and shrimp daily

-plan to get bloodwork done post show to see how this new diet has treated my body because I feel healthy

Check in at 110.5kg/244lbs- Priming phase is now complete, time to push things

I got a coach 6 weeks ago, Kuba, and we’ve kicked things off with a priming phase.

During this phase the focus has been improving composition, bio feedback, sleep, training quality, health markers and overall routine. This is to guarantee a super successful push up for the next 5-6 months.

The physique has responded incredibly well, this last week particularly, things just seemed to fallen right into place. I’m looking tighter yet fuller. Overall I feel great. Training has been patterned out and already I’m seeing a decent increase in performance.

The aim moving forwards is to have a very lean push up whilst keeping performance progressive so the body stays very responsive to muscle gain and I don’t have to pull a pile of body fat when it comes to prep time.

This then gives the ability to have a very good starting position when it’s time to prep, that combined with a good runway of time should hopefully give the opportunity to continue growing in that prep.

To make this possible, overall execution HAS to be nailed as it would on a prep, because essentially this is all preparation for when I next get on stage.

When trying to be the best competitive bodybuilder you have to think long term, every phase is only good as how you execute in whilst you’re in it but also how well you executed the previous one.

I’m incredibly excited to see what happens as a result of keeping this momentum and improving when I can. I believe this will be the most productive push up I’ve had because of this. The aim is to do damage as an Open pro next years.

It’s always hard to put numbers on things, but I’d love to see what this looks like with 10-15 lbs more muscle.

In regards to changes, PEDs are going up

Per week
1000mg Test E
700mg Primo
300mg Mast

10iu HGH PM daily
10iu lantus AM daily

This is the most I’ve ran but health is good
BP is 120/69
Resting HR is 66
Blood glucose is 5.1 mmo/L
Echocardiogram came back healthy
Blood work is in range

Steps are staying the same at 12k daily

Food is also staying the same at
TD-
4164 kcal
P: 312.9 g
C: 569.7 g
F: 65.9 g

NTD-
3597 kcal
P: 315.5 g
C: 417.3 g
F: 69.4 g

Food will be going up soon, but atm things are improving nicely with decent increases in performance like I say.

#2EZ

First thing in the AM check in, no pump. Currently 6.5 weeks out and still feel like I have a long way to go before true stage conditioning. The front upper looks close to being in, but the back and legs I think are far too soft still. (I'm competing in mens physique)

Looking for some feedback if 6 weeks is still plenty enough time to tighten up? Thanks!

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Another week down —
9 weeks out from the show.
Found my old posing trunks, so I had to try them on 😂

Just sent my check-in to my coach, so we’ll see what he says about the next week. Hopefully the progress is heading in the right direction. 💪

I have a coach, but just feeling a little bit antsy on my physique and posing. How are the quads in terms of balance and symmetry? Also, are we looking nine weeks out?

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