BF in off-season

[jupiterecho]

OK - does anyone else get over 20% bf in their off-season? If so, how low does your BF get for contest (BB and Figure) and how long does it take - and how do you do it? Just getting ideas before I start to diet down again:)

[imperfectly_lou]

I'm not a competitor myself but several of my friends are. It is not unusual for natural competitors, particularly bodybuilders to go over 20 or even 25% in the off-season in an attempt to gain muscle. The plus side is that gaining that muscle makes it easier to diet down for the on-season.

Depending on how much bodyfat you have gained, you shouldn't need to start dieting until 12-14 weeks out.

[mommy*2*3]

Well off season, I don't like to go over 18% bf because it's difficult to get it off when dieting. In season my bf is around and maybe a little lower then 10%. As far as how long it takes...depends on your metabolism, diet and training. A typical diet is 12 weeks. Some diet 16 and some diet 4...it really depends how much fat you have to lose.
In order to get started you should probably do some research on precontest dieting and training. Talk to some trainers if you can that have contest prep experience. I don't think I could have done my first show without the aid of a friend who guided me along and watched my progress. I had to periodically pose in my bathing suit so he can watch how I'm doing and adjust my diet if needed. A good place to start researching is the bb.com articles in the female section. There are plenty of competitors who've written out sample diet and workout plans. However, there is no cookie cutter diet and it really needs to be customized to the individual.
Shedding the fat off should be a combination of diet and cardio. Most perform an hour of cardio a day...I've done 2 hrs of cardio a day and other times only 35 min....depending on my progress. Precontest cardio is different because you want to make sure you're not burning fat off so it's usually low intesity. Training becomes more intense as rest times between sets decrease and reps increase. Have you gone to any competitons yet?