Welcome to the bodybuilding log! Here I am going to be sharing the outline of my plan for this year’s competition prep– in hopes of providing insight into what goes on behind the scenes of competitive natural bodybuilding.

TRIGGER WARNING: This blog contains content around nutrition quantities, restrictive dieting, diet-culture, body-image, and body weight.

DISCLAIMER: This is not meant to be replicated. Doing so without proper guidance or consulting with a qualified health professional can result in serious damage to one’s health. This does not replace or supplement the advice given from a health professional. Always speak with your doctor before making changes to your nutrition, exercise routine, or lifestyle.

I’m am 6 weeks out from competing as a natural bodybuilder – lets do a recap of the past 4 weeks.

I was really looking forward to this one y’all because I have a really important message to share with you before we get into the deep end of this prep.

I’m 188lbs and 6.7% bodyfat estimated using skin caliper – not very accurate but just to show the trend from my last update.

I got asked the other day “Aidan what’s the secret to getting lean”?

I’ll tell you the secret. It sucks and for most it’s nearly impossible. And not a lot of bodybuilders are willing to admit that – maybe because they feel it takes away from the social validation, they get from achieving a certain look or discourages the people they’re supposed to be motivating.

Now that I’m starting to leave my personal “set-point” limit for how lean I can get comfortably, my body is reacting; my sleep is getting progressively worse, my hormones are starting to get effected, my memory and mood can be up and down, and my anxiety is heightened. Not to mention the other aspects of health I’ve had to sacrifice to create this leanness like missing out on foods I love or not being able to socialize as often.

Now I’m lucky enough to have studied human physiology full-time for the past 7 years – so I can know how to combat these changes and monitor them to make this as safe and enjoyable of a process as possible. But not everyone has that privilege.

Now it hasn’t all been bad – I’ve been getting back into the artistic nature of the sport – posing! It is something that I really value because it can be so personally unique and it’s a ton of fun.

I am also having so much fun problem solving throughout this prep and challenging what I thought I was capable of. After not being able to finalize my last prep due to my preexisting kidney issues, just having my body hold up to this point is such a blessing as an athlete.

If there’s anything I want y’all to pull from this prep it’s that your goals, whatever they are, aren’t less or more significant than mine or anyone else’s - we are all navigating these together. Your “bodybuilding prep” might be trying to exercise twice a week; and guess what – if you aren’t genetically gifted, had an upbringing that supported being active, have the time, money, or knowledge around exercise that could be a much more challenging goal than what me or other physique athletes are doing, and you should be allowed to feel just as much pride in those wins.”

Week 0

Baseline testing was performed after a 4-week bodyweight maintenance period. The maintenance period followed 7 months of muscle growth, where 1 pound of bodyweight was added per week for 28 weeks.

Baseline Anthropometric Data

Body weight: 209lbs

Body Fat Percentage*: 14%

*Estimated using 4-point Durnin and Womersley skinfold caliper

RHR: 58 bpm

VO2max (estimated): 47.6 mL/kg/min

Resting BP: 136/70 mmHg

Baseline Nutrition

Daily Caloric Intake: 3100 kcal

Protein Intake: 220g

Carbohydrate Intake: 375g

Fat Intake: 80g

Weeks 4-8

Resistance Training

Day 1: Lower body with a hinge focus

Day 2: Push with a chest focus

Day 3: Pull with core

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Lower body with a squat focus

Day 6: Push with a shoulder/triceps focus

Day 7: Pull with core

Day 8: Rest

2 exercises were selected per muscle group (i.e. 2 for shoulders, 2 for the chest, 2 for the triceps). Exercises were selected based on the following criteria:

Apply load into the lengthened range of motion (except when not feasible due to availability or equipment limitations)

Can be taken to failure safely

Do not incorporate antagonistic or muscles from other functional groupings (i.e. no pressing exercises were performed that also trained the core, lower body, or pulling musculature)

2-3 sets were taken within 1-3 reps from failure for each selected exercise. Long length partials and rest-pauses were used sparingly (2-3 sets per session).

Changes Made: proportion of machine work gradually increased from 30% of session to 60% of each session. Also, exercise order was altered, placing compound movements atleast 1-2 movements into the session.

Cardiovascular Exercise

Steps (average): 16,000 (+ roughly 4000 from baseline) per day

Frequency: 6 days per week

Intensity: 65-70% HRmax (130-140 bpm)

Duration: 60 minutes x 4, 30 minutes x 2 (+ roughly 90mins from baseline)

Modality: Elliptical Bike/Stairmaster

Nutritional Intake (estimated average per day)

Caloric Intake: 2150kcal (- roughly 250 kcal)

Protein Intake: 220g

Carbohydrate Intake: 195g (- roughly 50g)

Fat Intake: 55g

Fiber: 30g

Sugar: 20g ( - roughly 30g)

Caffiene Intake: 260-290mg daily

Supplements (dosages not disclosed): Multivitamin, B-Complex, Creatine Monohydrate, Curcumin, Vitmain D, Omega-3, Magnesium Bisglycinate, melatonin (sparingly)

Anthropometric Data

Bodyweight (averages)

Week 5: 192.4 lbs

Week 6: 191.8 lbs

Week 7: 190.8 lbs

Week 8: 188.8 lbs

Bodyfat Percentage Change

9.1% to 6.7%

*Estimated using Drunin and Womersley skinfold equation

Health Data & More

Average Sleep Duration: 6 hours and 40 minutes (- 63 minutes)

RHR change: -4 bpm (48 to 44 bpm)

RBP: 116/62 mmHg

Comparison Photos

Week 0, Week 4, week 8, week 12 (top to bottom

Bodybuilding Log 2025: Weeks 8-12