Macro Setup for Bikini Prep
This post is part of The Ultimate Bikini Prep Guide – check out the full guide for more!
Ok folks, this is where it gets real. And by “real”, I mean “real disappointing” for some of you.
I do NOT have formulas or numbers for you that are going to work effectively for your case. What I DO have are some general guidelines and a process you can implement to zero in on what’s going to work for you. Don’t expect this to be an easy process. Good coaches spend years of studying client outcomes across a wide variety of individuals to help determine what’s going to work for each person. If you want to do this yourself, it takes similar effort – the difference is that you only need to figure it out for yourself – so the problem is inherently a bit less complex.
It’s still a lot, though. Let’s dig in.
Macros Are a Tool for Control, Not a Magic Formula
We should be clear here, when we’re talking “macros” it’s really the protein, carb, and fat numbers that your meal plan adds up to. In the strongest possible terms, I do not advocate for using a flexible dieting approach with variable meals during prep. Use your macro targets to build a good, consistent meal plan – and follow that every day without exception.
People who do that ALWAYS get better results than people who try to keep food and meal variability high during prep. What’s your priority?
Our goal here really is to make sure your nutrient needs are met, the body is fed reasonably for performance, while we’re in a sustainable and appropriate deficit. Ratios/etc absolutely do not matter. We’re talking in absolutes here – grams of this, grams of that – not percentages. Ever.
Macros will add up to your calories, for sake of simplicity and precision we’re going to ignore the calorie number entirely. It is what it is, but it’s based on your macros and we’re concerned about getting enough in each column so calories will just be what they are – I never care about this number during a prep.
Don’t copy someone else’s numbers and expect results. Or at least, not the same results they get from it. I work with PLENTY of male client in the 6ish foot range between 210-230lbs (like me) and their targets will all vary wildly from mine during prep. You are your own beast – be ok with that. It’s a good thing.
What Each Macro Is Actually Doing During Prep
We’ve got the big 3 so let’s dive in. There’s also fiber (we’ll discuss this under carbs) and also water is technically considered a macronutrient by definition though I find that stupid – so we’re going to ignore that little fact.
Protein – sufficient protein (along with quality training) is necessary to retain muscle in a deficit. Realistically if you keep this on the lower end (0.8g-1.0g per pound of bodyweight) during a growth phase that’s fine, but I’d increase it slightly from there during prep (1.0-1.2g per pound). Keep this evenly distributed across the day and avoid giant bombs of 50+ grams coming in at once – you can “absorb” all of that but not likely use it all for muscle protein synthesis. We want smaller, more consistent boluses coming in throughout the day. Take your daily total, divide it by 5, and aim for 5 meals with around that much per.
Carbohydrates – this is your primary and most direct energy source, so while they’ll become more scarce during prep I always advocate to keep them higher around your training window – pre and post-workout. If you’ve been using intra-workout carbs during the growth season, your first move is likely to chip away at those and keep carbs elsewhere, where they can be more useful for satiety and appetite regulation. These will certainly need to be cut down during prep, but don’t be overly aggressive here. Also, fiber is a subset of your carb number and helps with gut/bowel regularity and you want to keep this number on the high side, ideally from food sources vs. using a supplement (though do that if needed). A floor of 14g per 1k calories is recommended, higher than that is usually ideal. Focusing on this keep your food quality higher also.
Fats – fats have some wiggle room and this is where PED’s can come into play to some extent also. Hormones will crash harder and faster when your fats are reduced, and for natural athletes this makes a huge difference and I will typically spare fats for carbs to an extent. If running an aggressive prep (think WPD or high level figure) while on PED’s, dropping these lower to reduce calories while sparing carbs can help, but I’d consider this a more advanced tactic and I’d avoid it early in your career. Try running a prep or two with more conventional fats (0.3-0.7g per pound generally) and see how that lands before getting too crazy.
How Adjustments Should Be Made Over Time
Your starting point should be informed by your growth phase and, ideally, a brief phase at maintenance before starting prep. You’re just making initial moves to shift into a deficit – the scale will tell you when that happens. Making a first move entirely based on carbs is typical – keep protein and fats up, your carbs should be high enough here that you have some room to move. A carb reduction combined with a small cardio increase is usually a very sound first move into prep.
Make small, intentional moves throughout prep based only on need and understand that often times NO MOVE is the best move. I’ve had preps where my macros only changed 4-5 times over 20+ weeks. This is not uncommon – we just need to make sure the body continues to respond, not make changes just for the sake of making changes.
My first thought when doing a client check-in during prep is “can we just leave it here and still be on track?” That’s always my goal, because moves are typically just going to make things harder and I like to avoid that if we can.
Make sure to check the previous posts on deficits in prep also, if you missed that:
Individual Response Matters More Than Formulas
When making your own decisions on changes, act and think like a coach. Look at the ENTIRE picture – photos, training data, mood, energy, sleep, stress, etc – AND the scale weight. If you aren’t truly stalled or truly making slower progress than you should be, leave it alone and give it time.
There is no formula here. A good coaching adage is that we always coach the athlete that’s in front of us – meaning the version of YOU that is here this week, not last week’s version and not someone else. Use historical context but think about what’s in front of you right now as you check-in and evaluate possible decisions. This is what the self check-in process inside Bikini Blueprint teaches and the self-assessment form you fill out each week helps guide a more intelligent and less random decision making process.
Get notified when new posts like this get published.
