Fitness competitors strive to avoid post-event depression

A Saskatchewan woman who competes in fitness competitions says she must guard against post-event depression.

It is a common problem for bodybuilders many of whom have trouble adjusting to the normal weight gain that occurs following a competition. As they prepare for an event, their diet can be significantly altered and when the event is over, reverting to regular eating habits and less rigorous training can be difficult.

"It's not healthy to maintain a stage physique year round," fitness competitor Melissa Hala explained to CBC News. "Your body needs that break."

Hala, 23, has been entering competitions since she was 19. She said she enjoys seeing how her body looks for an event. However, she understands it is not realistic to try to maintain the look.

"It's something that when you start this journey you have to accept immediately, because you can't look like this year round," she said, adding the diet associated with her training can be challenging. "I thought I was just going to rock the six pack all year round, but nobody wants to eat tilapia and broccoli every day for the rest of their life."

Erika Tkatchuk, a trainer and competitor, also takes measures to avoid post-competition problems.

Tkatchuk, 26, said she has to remember that a competition is a single event.

"When you're prepping for a show you're basically prepping for that one day," she said. "So you're going to have that physique for one day and expecting to have that for the rest of your life isn't really logical."

Mental stress also a danger

Hala notes that intense training is not only tough on the body it can be mentally stressful as well.

"It isn't good for you to compete for an extended amount of time at a level like that," she said, adding she has learned a lot since to her early days of competition when she would try to go from one event directly to the next.

Now, with advice from a new trainer, Hala has a diet that gradually adds more carbohydrates to her meals following an event. This diet in reverse, to gain weight, allows her to maintain a look that is similar to what she showed on stage.

"The only differences I've noticed from my peak to now is there's a little bit more water that's sitting on top of my shoulders," she said. "You can't see every single fibre now. And [there is] more water sitting around my abdomen area as well."

Tkatchuk said the challenge of dealing with body changes following a fitness or bodybuilding event are also faced by men.

"I think it happens more often to men then they're willing to say," she said. "Especially in the summer time, there's always guys that want to have shredded abs for summer and then winter comes and they just kind of let themselves go."

She said in severe cases people who compete in multiple shows with no break are always working to maintain a perfect look and end up having no life outside training.