American bodybuilder Hunter Labrada is on a mission to reassert himself in the mix of title contention after an uneventful Olympia showing. He did not get discouraged by the setback and got back to making the necessary changes. In a recent video posted on YouTube, Labrada shared his thoughts on how to break through plateaus and revealed the changes in his training in the off-season and prep.
Hunter Labrada, son of IFBB Hall of Famer Lee Labrada, entered the Men’s Open division as a legacy competitor in 2020. He dominated the competition at the Tampa Pro with his enormous muscle mass, size, and posing skills and took home the top prize in his maiden IFBB show. The win made way for him to join the lineup for Mr. Olympia, where he placed eighth in his first outing. He scored gold the following year at the 2021 Chicago Pro before improving his standing to fourth place at the 2021 Mr. Olympia.
Labrada’s latest appearance happened at the 2022 Mr. Olympia last December. He didn’t bring his best form on stage and dropped down to seventh place. Following the result, Labrada expressed his frustrations with his performance. His coach Ben Chow admitted he came in flatter than anticipated as there were troubles in timing his peak. Given that he was not in the top six, Labrada eyed competing in two shows for two reasons; to qualify for the Olympia contest and figure out his peak. He started a new diet and training routine for the off-season earlier this year.
Labrada regularly educates his fanbase on a variety of topics related to fitness and bodybuilding. He revealed his full day of eating along with the supplements he was consuming two months ago. Then, he followed up by offering tips on building lower body muscle and smoked a heavy leg workout. One of his biggest ambitions for the season is to lean out his midsection. He detailed three ways of using vacuums to enhance core control.
Last month, Labrada gave fans a look into his preparations for the upcoming guest posing appearances at the Emerald Cup and the Pittsburgh Pro. He weighed in at 283 pounds while fasting and listed the new diet he was utilizing to get ready for the shows.
Hunter Labrada shares tips on breaking through plateaus
In a recent video posted on YouTube, Hunter Labrada shared his thoughts on pushing past any point of stalled progress in the training room.
“If I am stuck on a set and I’ve gotten the same amount of reps more than two sessions in a row what I’m probably going to look to do is employ some kind of intensity technique or a plateau breaker if you will,” said Labrada. “That would probably be in that case the rest pause, doing it for as many reps as I can, which should be a tie for the amount of reps I got last week and the week before, taking 10 breaths resting 15ish seconds and then going as many as I can again aiming to get three or four more. Doing that a couple weeks in a row and then going back to building that straight set.”
Related: 4 Methods For Busting Through Lifting Plateaus
Labrada reveals the difference in training off-season and in prep
Labrada gave his take on the changes in training during the off-season and in prep.
“Not a damn thing. Regardless of the period of the year that I’m in whether it’s a contest prep, an off-season, a health phase, this that or another, I am still training the same way. Very much so logged progressive overload training. The only thing changing is the load and the volume so in the off-season obviously I’m stronger. I’m full of food, body fat’s a little higher, the load and volume might be a little higher although I’m very low volume even in the off-season as we go into the prep.
“The poundages will go down a bit because obviously strength takes a dip but the variable I like to play with a little more is reducing the volume. Heading into a prep I might be doing three working sets on half the exercises I’m doing and then two on others by the end of prep I might be down on two on a lot of them and even on legs days like down to one on most of the exercises.”
Hunter Labrada opened up on developing the gym and bodybuilding mindset last month. He encouraged the more experienced lifters to set realistic goals and allow themselves time to build the skill. A few weeks later, Labrada offered tips on growing weaker calves in a straightforward way. He also laid out a detox drink that helps boost gut health and improve digestion earlier this week.
His latest update will help fellow gym-goers and fitness enthusiasts get back on track for progress and adjust their training routine throughout the year accordingly.