For many athletes and fitness competitors, the excitement, goal-setting, and anticipation that come with a competition are no surprise. The depression-like funk that arises just after it’s all over, however, can be unexpected.
You may suddenly feel empty without a deadline, or depressed now that your ever-enlarging goal is suddenly deflated.
Your mind doesn’t have a singular focus and your body starts slipping away from its peak nearly overnight. But you’re far from alone. It’s has been reported that many Olympia champions have struggled with is known as “Post-Competition Depression”.
Two-time Ms. Figure Olympia Erin Stern recommends pursuing something else. Although you don’t want to neglect the decompression, and downtime needed after an event, but maybe another competition or an adventure race (also known as obstacle course racing) is just the boost you need. If you do decide to pursue obstacle course racing make sure the event is a few months out; just so that it does not interfere with the recovery your body needs.
If you didn’t have a trainer before find one to help you get your priorities, and game plan straighten out. The best advice in situations such as these are from industry experts who know what you are going through and can relate.
For finding the best competition trainers, we love Competition Strong (competitionstrong.com). This portal can point you to dozens of top-tier competitor trainers all over North America that will help get the results you want.
As for adventure races, any season is the right time to kick up some dirt and crush those obstacles! Find yours at mudandadventure.com and start training for it as soon as you want.
This will happen by default because you’ll be at your limits!
You won’t want to or need to maintain two-a-days anymore; morning time cardio session can wait. Now is the chance to do something different, like going swimming, doing hill sprints (after a good warmup), hiking, or diving.
Take your body and mind out of the norm. Your body is fine-tuned right now and with some proper rehydration and refeeding, now is the time to push your peak into a more functional fitness plane.
Try new sports for a couple of weeks with friends until the post-competition blues subside.
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Eat Like A (Healthy) Queen
Order in! The last thing you’ll want to do is meal prep the Sunday after a show. So give yourself a break and dial up one of your favorite meal delivery programs, such as Icon Meals (iconmeals.com). Then breathe a sigh of relief!
There are many more meal prep companies to choose from so google “meal prep” and your city and see what you find—Zone Meal Delivery (myzonediet.com), Metabolic Meals (mymetabolicmeals.com), B-Elite (bodybuilding.com).
Eat like a queen and even indulge for a day without cooking a thing, or eat out with friends. This refeeding phase will get you back to a healthy level of body fat and your body will be flooded with nutrients and macronutrients you’ve been missing (like brain-building DHA in healthy fats or comforting compounds in carbs) and you’ll start to feel like yourself again soon!
After the megawatt excitement of the Olympia in Las Vegas, Hers deputy editor Cat Perry took off to go clay shooting, ATVing, and kayaking at Primland Resort (primland.com) tucked in the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to unwind.
Travel gets your head out of the regimented eating, sleeping, and training and into the beautiful environment around you. Find your Primland Resort—with its well-appointed bungalows and apartments that also offer unconventional physical challenges, stunning views, and some of the best comfort food east of the Mississippi River, so you get pumped all over again.
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Keep In Touch With The Community
Research in the 2010 Journal of Sciences shows that motivation from your community can keep your fitness and health on track. Nothing like a little friendly competition to blow off the steam of a serious one!
Utilize this downtime to reconnect with family and friends that you may have lost touch with and you just might be surprised at how much admiration they share with you for competing at all, whether you placed or not.
Soak in the love! Share your downtime on social too! We want to see your beautiful face at every phase, especially if you’re poolside letting loose for a change. That’s what life is all about: Work hard, play hard.
The more you compete and set goals, the more used to post-competition blues you’ll get and you’ll be able to bounce back faster than ever with these expert tips. Figure out what pulls you through and what pushes you forward.
