31/08/2026
Natalie won Wellness at the UKBFF South Coast Classic yesterday.
Great result.
But from a coaching point of view, the interesting part is that we never built the plan around this show.
When I started coaching Natalie, competing this year wasn’t on the agenda.
The plan was recovery from her last prep, a body recomp, then a long growth phase.
That hasn’t changed.
During the recomp she’s lost 18kg, her health and fitness have improved massively and her physique has changed enough that Wellness now suits her much better.
At some point she threw out the idea of competing again.
I was happy with it because SCC and Bedford could both sit inside what we were already doing without changing the bigger plan.
That distinction matters.
Once an athlete enters a show, it’s very easy for that date to suddenly become the target.
You want to look your absolute best.
You start thinking about pushing condition harder, peak week and changing things because there’s now a stage at the end of it.
We had a bit of that wobble last week.
I told Natalie we were keeping the week simple.
Rest.
Posing.
Skin prep.
Presentation.
No reason to start forcing things just because she was competing.
If getting her sharper for SCC meant changing a plan that was already doing exactly what I wanted it to do, there was no reason to chase it.
SCC gave us a chance to see the physique on stage, under the lights, get more posing and stage experience and see where we actually are.
That was useful to us regardless of the placing.
She happened to win as well.
Now we carry on.
Another four weeks of the recomp, with Bedford sitting inside that period, then into the growth phase we always planned.
That’s the part I think competitors sometimes struggle with.
A show can be valuable without becoming the whole reason for the prep.
